HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1985-05-08, Page 67Fr tARIU page 2
tbe required medical examine--
o ills wept :out through'ex
i rat on.�•soc +l ties and by edve r
tiling. Meetings Were held` Where
saers, who had been to Canada, could
answer questions.
Ship sets iito
On June 17, 1947, the first ship bund
for Canada with 1,100 immigrants on
board Left the harbor of Rotterdam - all
aboard leaving the familiar behind and
facing a new, unknown future. The
Amerrican-built "Waterman," just back
from the Dutch mast Indies with a cargo
of troops, was ill equipped for its
passengers.
The large hold _was divided in: half -
men and older boys went in one part,
women and children in the other.
Bunkbeds stood four feet high. Sanitary
conditions were crude and when the
ship's sewerage became plugged, the
washing hall turned into something like a
. covered swimming pool. Seasickness
took its toll and waste and vomit ended
up on decks and in the halls. The stench
from open barrels set out for the seasick
passengers to vomit in was unbearable.—
There was enough food, but milk for
the laaktea an4lehild en waslaard toet, .
plane 24, the ablp docked at Moil'
WOOL evoyage waso'vet, •
Ftratimmigrauts
• Cornelis Buruma, of Goderteh
Township, l4 been a reaaiber. of •:tile
Christian Inimigrgtion Society in 1945,
and was eager to immigrate. On
September 8, 047, Mr. and Mrs. Burwina
and their five children boarded the se-
cond ship to leave Reiland, the "Tabin-
ta" - another troop ship with inadequate
facilities and the same.difficulties.
The trip finally ended in Montreal on
September 18. From there the Burumas
travelled to Kitchener by train. They
were met by a Mennonite couple, their
sponsors, from Baden. Upon arrival in
Baden they found they would be living in
the same house as their sponsors.
That winter the farm was sold' to a
younger couple and Mr. Buruma was left
unemployed. With the help of the Dutch
embassy and a fieldman from Chatham,
the Buruma family moved to an old
house, previously used as a storage
place, on Bell's Fruit Farm, Concession
4, Goderich Township.
Seasonal work on a rasberry farm was
found for Mr. Buruma, but soon he was
:sank
x...:•1...111
+Congr itnintions4
to Clinton
on your
FIFTH "KLOMPEN
FEEST"
*Specializes in the
preparation of forage
mixtures.
•Cereal Groins *Also Custom Cleaning
[ondesb
•. Seed dila
Robert Shoddick
523-4399
loon:
9li' WO
KWhl
hoer All latex ro king m epia
tory in Clinton,
ambition wasbuy a fad, The .
Were many farms: or, sale in GOrl
T'owushl after the war, ley, young
men di'tt come home from overseas
and thetr'parents, left alone on the fes,
lost interest and could lno longer maw e.
The farms were not expensive and tt e
land was good. Mr. Buruma remembers
an 80 acre farm wittl a good. house and
barn could be bought during the: post -rear
years for $1,600. But a Dutch immigrant
had no gash and in those days 00 ep .
would lend an in�unigrant money, By 1950
the Burumas had bought a farm iri
Hullett Township. They lived there for 20
years.
During the early 1950s empoloyment
rose with the building of the Air Forc.
Base near Clinton. Many people found
work there and rrlany Dutch immigrants
worked there and then moved on, Tom:.
Buruma seemed to have a "nose" for fin-
ding jobs and farms for the immigrants.
In 1958 he applied for his real estate
Turn to page 27
WO
nl
EL
:,41X
ENJOY
yourselves at
CLINTON'S
4th Annual
KLOMPEN FEEST
ft, •General Repairs
•Towing
DUNLOP
4.
'''ROAD KING
TIRES
Sales and Service
and
SUNOC
Wanted:
CARS and
TRUCKS FOR
WRECKING
CLERE-VU
AUTO WRECKERS
Hwy. 8, three miles West
of Clinton
482-3211