A T L A N T C VOL. X IV

:-;0 ;; MAY

I N 20<. 1957

This Month-

The Inn s ofTH E MAGAZINE OF NEWFOUNDLAND Old St. John's

BOOKS AND MAGAZINES

Produced by

GlJAI,nIANAr e in a Class by Themselves

CREATIVE PRINTING IS OUR SPECIALTY

GUARDIAN LIMITED96 WATER STREET ST. JOHN'S

VOL. XI" , Xu, 5, ~IAY, 195iEWART YO U;>;GFd iro r &- Publ ish c r

• GE:-iERAL AR TI CLES

Picture Credits : t' ugc :~_ ( l op) R. L. Stevenson , (bo ttom)(; eorg-e Bro wn : Pag-e ;-.- Ca nadian Xational Railways:Pag-e H.- \l rv. Rcgiuald Che eseman: Pag-e 13_llon Ryan.

IIRIA;>; CAH I LL,I RT SCAM~IELL

Cout r ibu ti ng Editors

.lO ll;>; MAUNDER, IIA.O .C.A .

\ rt Directo r

Atlanti c G uardian i.pd n t ",d a nd published

h y Gu ardian Limit ed, "\Vat er Street, S t . J oh n ' s ,Nfld. , Can ada. Author­ize d as Second ClassMa il, P ost Office De­par tme n t, Ott awa. Sub­Kri p tion rate s , $2 .00 ayf"ar an ywhere in th e

w 0 r i d . (N ewfoundland!lubsc r iben add 3% 5 .S.A.ta x ). Sin .. le cop ies, zOe.

The C.~ . R . in R eviewB) E . .J. Cooke

" A 22 Uullet Call Go Fa st er " ..By Do n R vau

The Inns of Old St . John's ..By ~l idl a c1 1'. .:\l lI rph ~

. \ \\'him of the ScotBy .\1. F. H a rriugtou

• R EI'RI:-iT O F THE ~IO:-iTII

'Tbe Ganlc."1) Town of Newfouudtand .(T he h "cnillg- Telegram )

• !'OI:TRYH orn e Aft er Thirty Years

Ih Esther \Ic,,'ee h

• ()EI'..IRT~IE:-iTS

The Editor' s rtag:t.·

nah~' of the .\Imtlh

...... •.·1

. .. )(i

._. 20

............. ~ :)

. 11

.. 13

Atlantic Guardian's Platform'To make Newfoun dland better

kn ow n at home ,a nd ab road;To pro mote trade a nd travel in

the Island;To encourage de velopment of the

Island 's nat ur al resources;To ' foster good relations be twee n

'Ne wloundle nd and ber neighbors.

COlt."r Pict u re : Xcwfoundlu ud has often been describedp hotogra p hcrx pa radi se , an d who wo uld doubt tha L

-uuemeur after viewing- the magnificentphoto reproduced on our co ver this month ­fhe place. like many hundred.. of others

around our picture-que coactline. has noparticular claim 10 fa me-cxccpt if s nat uraluud rugged bea uty. It is Pat h End , Bu rin ._ Photo b v Da vid Linton , courtesv ~ew.

Ionud land ·T o ll r i, t Office.

GOODLUCK

Betouse it's sweef-(hurned da ily - RIGHT HERE IN NEWFOUNDLAND

BY THE

NEWFOUNDLAND MARGARINE

COMPANY LIMITEDST. JOHN 'S NEWFOUNDLAND

£'51\." Po. '( R e serVIce. nove tne sam dIn per-'Iou. can ·f 'Iou. snoppe ab

moll as \ 't cost 'Iou.'I d It doesn

n onso, more.penn'l norges on

ostol cf\'1re's p~'1ch~oO and over. .._____orders ° _____

--~., ---- ~

~~ATLANT IC GUARDIAN

EDITOR'S PAGE

Dr. E . J . Pratt , Ca nada's Poet Laureate. says that th e photographsreproduced in Atlantic Guardian are "unsurpassed by any o ther magazin eanywhere. " In making that kind and flatterin g remark . Dr. Pratt mayperhaps be prejudiced by the fact that he was born in N ewfound land.A nd for the same reason possibly we echo Dr . Pratt 's sentime nts , at leastas fa r as the subject matter of the photography used in Atla nti c G uardianis co ncerned.

For w here co uld yo u fi nd bett er scenery tha n tha t pic tu re on o ur co verthis mon th ? Y ou wo uld have to go J lo ng ways too for nicer sett ingsthan these pi ctured o n th is page -Clarke's Beach, above, and Best 's H r..Tack 's Beach , below, We' d fill the magazin e wit h scenic sho ts like theseevery month- if we had the m ,

- E,Y .

MAY, 1957

The C. N R.By E. J. COOKE

vtan ager, Xf ld. Sen-ires,Canadian Xa rion a l Railway

D U R ING 1956 th e Ca nadianNa tio nal Railwa ys continued

its program of improv ement of faci ­lit ies and serv ices in the Ne wfound­land Distr ict , and th e year wa s not ­able pa rt icularly Ior th e large am­o unt o f new equipment put int oservice and o rdered for future use.Co nsiderable advan cement was evi­dent also in th e lon g-ran ge plan ofmod ern izati on of all faciliti es.

Pointing up the determinationof th e man agement of CNR toprovide adeq uate servic e in thi sprovince wa s the appointment inJul y of a top -level investigationcommittee to stud y the transp ortneeds of the island in the light ofits rapid econo mic growth. Mr. W .P . Moffatt . chief of research atM ontreal. Mr . H . C. Gra yston .form erly mana ger of the New­foundland District. with CaptainM. G. Dalton . retir ed marinesuperintendent of th e N ewf ound­land District . and Mr. W . D. Til ­ley. also of th e district staff. work ­ing with th e distr ict mana gement.hav e mad e a th orou gh surv ey ofth e situation and it is expected thatth eir recommendati ons will be ofines timable va lue in planning o urfu ture o peratio ns.

Motive Power

The year ju st past brough t agreat advance in the CN R program

E. J. COOKE

of dieselization of motive power- and th e next few months willsee th e complete realization of thatpro ject.

Sinc e plan s were first formulatedin 19 50 to replace all steam loco ­motives in the d istrict w ith dieselequipment. th e chan geover ha sbeen ta king place gradually. and itreached its final stages durin g theclosi ng months of 1956 with th edelivery of th e new 1200-horse­po w er diesel -electric loco mo tives.

The effect of dieselizari on onth e line is already evident fromth e limi ted use we have been mak ­ing of tha t fo rm of pow er. TheCNR is now able to run much

AT LA NTI C GU ARDIAN

In Reviewlon ger and heavier trains. and o ur"o n tim e" perform anc e is impr ov ­ing. The diesels can stay in oper­ation without serv icing fo r muchlon ger period s than th e steam en­g ines, with consequen t hi gh erto nnages hauled per engin e.

Completing th e dieselization pat­tern . sev en new stea m ge nerato rcars wh ich will be used in connect ­ion with diesel-electr ic locom otivesin th e pass enger train sen-i ce hav ebeen receiv ed. These generato rs.mod ern in eve ry respect. we re de­signed especially for th is distr ict .and w ill supply heat for the pas­senger cars. so that it will no lon g­er be necessary to doubl e-h ead th etrains with a steam and a diesellocom otive.

When th e complete order ofdiesel lo com ot ives has been deliver­ed and th ey are in operation. th eCN R mot ive pow er roster in New ­foundland will consist of 44 diesel­electric uni ts-three yard switch ers,six 875 -h ..p. road sw itchers. and35 l Z00 -h.p . road engines.

Track Progr am

Improvement of track faciliti esduring th e year was substantial.The CNR laid 18 miles of newrail alon g the line. and o ther workincluded th e installation of 104 .­000 tie pla tes. 60. 000 rail ancho rs.and th e building of eight miles ofnew right -of-way fenci ng . T o in ­crease th e volume of eff ic iency o fth e track maintenance pro gram . 15

Twcnt y-Iivc mode rn rdri~eralo r GUS are a m ongth e rolling: stock recenrlv added hy the C.S .R. here

MAY. 1957

E. &S. BARBOURDistributors Marine Engines

472.474 Water St. WestSt. John's .

Sole Agen ts for

KELVI:-I R ICAR DO and

KELVI :-I IlI ESEL ENG I:-IES

R anging from 7 Y2: to 132 h .p .

HAWIIOLD T

GAS ~[ARI:-I E ElIOGIXES

Also

xt a rtu e P u mps, Bilge Pumps,

' Veil Pumps.Lif e J ack et s, Lifebuoys

.........."MY~ANH"

TO 2 NIIII ON (ANAOIANS

~BANK OF

MONTREAL

Th ere are IG B of .'1 Offices inXewfoumllmuf to sen/I: )'OU

new uni ts of track work eq uip­men t we re put in service.

As a resu lt of th e cha ngeover todiesel power. it was necessar y tolen gt hen ten passi ng tr acks and sid ­ings . and th is has been do ne atvar iou s poi nts across the line toacco mmodate the lo nger tr a ins.Larger trai ns . of co urse . me an th atthe mo vem en t of freig h t is ha ndl edmo re efficie ntly and rapidly. anddelivery delays cut do w n co n­side rably .

Ball asting of the line has beencar ried o n exte nsively , and th eroa dbed is no w in good o pe ra ti ngco nd it io n.

Stat ions

A large amo unt of wo rk o n sta­ti on s. an d stat io n fac ili ties ge ne ra l­ly. was included in th e year's ope r­atio n. A n um ber o f sta tio ns we remod erni zed . stat io n p lat fo rms wer eex te nded wh ere necessary ( aga in toacco mmoda te the lon ger trai ns .)a nd five new back trac ks have beenin stall ed .

Exte nsive modificati on s havebeen co mpleted to th e locom o tiv esho p in St . J ohn 's. to enable thedi str ict to eff icient ly carry o u t th ewo rk o n d iesel engi nes.

Across th e d ist r ict. roundhou sefaci lities have un dergo ne mod erni z ­ation and mod ifica t io n. and thera ilway shops hav e no w all beenco nverted to meet the requ ir emen tsof diesel loco mo ti ve ma in ten an ce.

Equipment

In 1956 we received a numberof un its of ne w roll in g sto ck andmo t ive po we r. an d mor e is o no rde r fo r th e d istr ict.

ATLANTIC GUA RD IAN

With reference to this newequipment. special mention shouldbe made of 25 refrigerator cars.These are the most advanced oftheir type . and form a very import­ant addition to rolling stock be­cause of the greatly increased de­mand for refrigerated space. Theyare being used in conjunction withnew facilities for icing cars whichhave been installed at St. John 's,Bishop 's Falls. and Port aux Bas­ques. and the CNR is now able tohandle shipments of meat. fishvegetables and fruit in a muchmore satisfactory manner. Perish­able freight traffic has increasedgreatly as a result.

During 1957 a great deal morerai lway equipment is scheduled fordelivery to Newfoundland. andwhen it is put in service it willsti ll further increase carrying capa­city.

In 1958 there are an additional100 box cars and 50 refrigeratorcars already scheduled for delivery.

Flat Car Containers

D uring the peak freight movingperiods. difficulty has been exper­ienced in providing sufficient boxcars to meet the demand. and inorder to relieve the situation it wasdecided to use covered freight con­tainers on flat cars. Five hundredof these con tainers. designed forrapid handling of packaged freight.are being applied to flat cars. andby this means the CNR is able tomeet. at least part way. the de­mand for box cars. The arrival ofthe box cars which have been Or­dered will. of course. remedy thesituation still further .

MAY, 1957

Steamships

The past year was marked bythe addition of two splendid newpassenger-cargo ships to our coastalfleet in Newfoundland. Themotorships "Bonavista" and "Non­ia" arrived from the builders inJuly. and were placed immediatelyin service. the former on the St.Jobn's-Lew isporte service. and thelatter running between Lew isporteand Baie Verte .

The "Bonavisra" replaced the"Glencoe" on the Lew isporte route.and this made it possible to placethe older ship in freight service torelieve congestion as it may arisein St. John's . Lew isporte. CornerBrook. or Port aux Basques.

The "Nonia" has replaced thesmaller wooden vessel "Codroy. "which is now being used to aug­ment the freight service on the westcoast between Corner Brook andFlower's Cove.

To speed up the movement offreight from the mainland. thesteamship "Random" has beenplaced on a more frequent servicebetween Halifax and St . John's andit is anticipated that this will domuch to eliminate the back-pilingof Newfou ndland-bound goods atthat port.

Freight service by the "WilliamCarson" from North Sydney toArgentia has also proven of greatbenefit in keeping moving the ever­increasing tonnages being broughtinto the province.

Carloadings

The amount of freight movedby the railway in Newfoundlandhas contin ued to show an increaseduring the year , as it has during

Baby of tl.eMonth

Grinnin!-{ cheerfully at theca me ra is LE\VIS CO RI>ONCHEESE~IAN, only child of M r.and .\l rs. Reg-inald Cheesemanof Burin . Our " Ba b y of theMonth" W;:L'i seven and a halfmo nths old when this picturewas taken.

each year since I 949. Carloadi ngsmoving fro m the main la nd we re up12 per cent over 1955, and load­ings withi n the district rose sevenper cent.

Terminals Expansion

During the yea r elaborate pla nswere laid for the extension of ter­minal facilities at St. John's andCorner Brook . Both these projectsinvolve large expenditures and willhelp mat arial l'I ill improving trans-

island rail service, as well as allow ­ing free movement of freig ht .both import and export. by sea.Property pla ns have been prepared ,and work o n the Corner Brookproject is sched uled to get u nderwas early in 195 7. In the case ofthe St. Joh n 's term inal. it is anti­cipated that at least 12 mon ths w illbe necessary to prepare fo r the ex ­pans io n program contemplated .

Also under co nsideratio n is theex tension of termi nal faci lit ies atClarenv ille and Bishop ' s Fa lls to

provide addi tio na l track space andadded co nve nie nce in the handlin gof freig ht trains at those twopoints..

Newfoundland Dockyard

Work at the doc kyard d uringth e year co n tinued at nor mal level.w ith 275 ships bein g repair ed . O fthese , 92 req uired dry docking , andthe remai nder were repaired w ith ­out being removed from the water.The average num ber o f workers atthe dock duri ng the yea r was 220 .wit h a peak of 270 d uri ng bu syperiods.

Mai ntenance and annual overha u lof CNR coasta l vessels were inclu d ­ed in the work, and a large amountof work was don e fo r local manu ­factu rers, mainl y the repairi ng ofmach inery boi lerwo rk. etc.

Newfoundland Purchases

In 19 49 , w he n Ca nadian Nat ­ional Rai lways came to Newfou nd ­la nd, the pol icy of mak ing all pos ­sibe p urchases of supplies with inthe provi nce was put into effect.and it has continued to be applied.Whenever Newfo und la nd firms cansupply the necessary goods and ser -

ATLANTIC GUA RDIAN

vices, they get the orde rs. and dur ­ing the past year our purchasesw ithi n Newfou nd land to talledmore th an $1.600.000.

1957 M aintenance

In 1957 the CNR pla ns a con­tinua tio n of its main tenance andimprove me nt progra m. and th e in­tention is to lay nine mil es of newrail. and install 200.000 track ties.104 .0 00 ti e plat es. and 60.000 railancho rs. \Ve also pla n to erecteight additional miles of new righ t­of-way fencing . All this is in ad­dition to sta nda rd mai nte nance ofroad bed and rail.

Topsails

In orde r to alleviate the t ro uble ­some snow conditio ns in the GaffTopsail area. 19 57 will see the firststage of a th ree-year plan wherebyit is hoped to overcome the wi nte rhazards the re. T he grade level ofth e track wi ll be raised. and thr eebridges w ill be lift ed to confo rmw ith th e new level. Culverts w illbe length ened and ban ks w ill bewide ned. Du ring the comi ng yearit is planned to comp lete one-t hi rd

of the track lifti ng and bank wid­ening program.

Extension Train Service

It was decided this year to exte ndthe daily trai n service between St.John's and Port aux Basq ues.which norm ally ter mi nated on Sep ­tember 30th. to Ja nuary 4 th . W h ilethis was not expec ted to br ingabo ut any increase in the amo untof passenger traffic. it does provi dea mu ch better service and co nnect­io n with the main land.

In this regard it is interesti ng tonot e the comparison between thenumber of trains no w ope ratingand the numbe r running in 1949 .Twenty passenger trains each weeknow ru n between SI. John's andCorner Brook and Port aux Bas­ques . and there were just six oper­ati ng in the same period in 194 9.Passengers pay abo ut 40 per centless for th eir fares now tha n theydid in 194 9. and th ey are riding innew er, more co mfortable equip­men t.

In addi tio n. the size of passengertrains has bee n increased from anaverage of 12 or I 3 : the size and

MAY . 1957

T. & M. WINTERLIMITED

W'holesale Provi sionsSt. John'!I

~EWFOUNDLAND AGENTS :

Standard Brands, Limited,'I aple Leaf ~Ii lling co., Ltd.xh trr lff-H orsey Corporation

Limited .

ESTABLISHED IN 1878

number o f fr eight trains has beengreatly increased: and th e complet ­ion of th e di eselizar ion pr ogramwi ll make possibl e sti ll furth er in ­creases.

A sen-ice that is unique in NorthAm erican ra ilroading is th e " p iggy­bac k" car ferr y that th e CNR pro­vides betw een Gamba and Claren ­vill e. making possible the trans-is ­land trip by automob ile. This ser ­vice continues to grow in popular­ity. and the nu mb er of cars andpassengers handl ed up to the closingo f th e season o n Oct ob er 15th wa sco nsiderably in excess o f th e 1955to tal.

Appo intments

Ne wfo undland emp loyee s of th eC N R hav e continued to give fin eservice to the co mpany . and durin g195 6 a number of th em took o nadded responsibiliti es as th ey ad ­vanced in th eir pos it ions. Two of­ficers. E. J. Heal ey. marine super ­in tendent . and A . C. J err ett . CNTsup erintendent. attend ed the CNRStaff Trainin g Colle ge at Le nnox ­ville. Que" durin g th e year. R e-

cent app o intmen ts include that o fJ ohn A. Walsh . former car fore ­man at St. .Iohns, wh o now isassistant superint end ent o f ca req uipment. T . F . H olm es ha sbeen nam ed chi ef accountant, suc ­ceed ing J. T . A . Despr es. who wa sprom oted to J new positi on atM ontreal. Robert Thompson . wh ohas been super intendent of th eNewfoundland Dockyard since19,4. retired at the end of the year .and he is succeeded by R . C. M ac­klin o f St. .Johns. Also at thedock yard. J . W . No el and G .Chaytor hav e been ap po inted gen­eral for em en and estimato rs.

T o sum up . 195 6 wa s a year ofco n ti nued advancem ent for Cana ­dian National Railwa ys in New ­fo undland, as the prov inc e co n tinu­ed its great econo mic ex pansio n.M eetin g th e demand of th is tid e o fprogress has demand ed the utm ost

of every employee of th e railwa y.

and I am proud to pa y tribu te

to the loyal and efficient staff wh o

made possible the h igh level o f

operations.

COLONIAL CORDAGE CO., LTD.ST. JOHN'S, NEWFOUNDLAND

~IANUFACTURERS OF

CORDAGE , LINES , TWINES , NETTINGSALES IlI ST R IR UT O RS OF ABOVE PRODUCTS AND

CORKS, CUTCH, OAKUM, LEADS, TRAWL NETS

and ACCESSORIES

COLONIAL CORDAGE SALES CO., LTD.

P. O. BOX 517 ST. JOHN'S, NEWFOUNDLAND

'0 ATLAN T IC GUARDIAN

GRAND FALLS

THE GARDEN TOWN

OF NEWFOUNDLAND

(Tfu- En'fling- T elcA"ram)

GR AN D FA LLS is an industrialto wn ofte n referred to as the

" Garden Tow n" of Newfoundland.T his is due to in habita nts in theco m mu nity taki ng pa rt in an all ­o ut program to mak e G rand Fa llsbeautiful.

A Co mpany tow n. G ra nd Fa lls.has a pop ulation of o ver 5.00 0peo ple. yo ung and old It s gen­erous bo undaries ho use approxi ­ma tely 1200 ho mes. wit h about1000 of this nu mber in use. T heremainde r are in var io us stages ofco nstructio n. many of w hich are tobe occupied this year .

Grand Fa lls is sit uated in th eExplo its Valley. o n th e bank s ofExplo its River. 30 mi les in lan dfro m th e sea. It is the center of allrail and road travel between PortAux Basqu es and SI. Joh n's.

The streets of the tow n are pav ­ed and are lin ed with stately birc h.po plar . pi ne an d spr uce trees. T hehom es th ro ugh ou t th e tow n aresurro unded w ith well-kep t lawn s,flow er-gard ens and hedges.

There are severa l pr ivate room ­ing and boarding ho uses. and fo urho tels. th e Hillview Inn . Ba ird 'sHo tel. Cabot Ho use. and ParagonHotel. all cate ri ng to the travellingpub lic. O ne motel. the M on terose,is locat ed abo ut one m ile out oftow n east of the Bo twood road .

MAY, 1957

M eals are available at all of theplaces. T here is o ne ot her guesthouse. which is Company ownedand operated . Reservatio ns ace ata premi um . and are subje cted toth e requ irement s of the AN D Co..Ltd .. befo re being let to th e publi c.

Public transportat ion is prov id ­ed by two taxi firms and SCOres ofprivately owned automobile-typebusses. If a vacatio ner in G randFalls is interested in sports. thereare regu lar local league senior base ­ba ll ga mes played two or threet imes a week in a bea ut ifully con ­d it ioned ball -p ark and ath let ic field.This is o n th e main th or ou ghfare.C h urch R oad . whic h leads to th ebusiness district and ch urches.

The name Church Road is der iv ­ed fro m the fact that th e U nited.Presbyteria n. C hurch of Englandand Roma n Catholic churches arcall locat ed on the one st reet. TheSalvatio n Army is located on l st ,Ave nue and Circ ular Road. in thedo w n to wn residen tial sec tio n.

Gra nd Fa lls can acco mmo da te ali mited number of transie nt guests.U nfort unate ly . the tow n does no thave a large mode rn ho tel or mo telw here accommodatio ns can be hadfor the asking. Vacationist plan ­ning on spe ndi ng any time inGrand Falls. other tha n wit h rela ­rives or with friends who hav e their

11

ow n hom es. wou ld be well advisedto make advance enquires for reser­vations at any of the establishmentsmentioned .

It is a quiet town with no TV.o ne local radio statio n. part of theCBC network , and littl e to offerin the way of nigh t life or ente r­tai nme nt . But it is a beaut ifu lto wn , certainly the cleanes t andbest kept on th e Islan d.

Fo r adults, Grand Fa lls has sev­eral club s, one to th e east andone of the west of tow n, as well asthe frate rnal and servi ce clubs wi th­in the town proper. For theyou ngsters and teenagers. th ere isswimmi ng in a com m unity pool ,shows and ball games.

Besides club entertai nme nt forthe adults, there is a golf co ursetwo m iles west of tow n boastingone of the finest links in New­found, I t offe rs a cha llenge to visit ­ing golfe rs. part icul arly if they areused to shooti ng th e low 70 's or

80's in their o w n borne tow n.T he vacationist can expect rea ­

so nab ly good service and atte ntio n.He is welco me. Grand Falls is al­ways pleased to have v isitors and todirect them to their des tinat io ns. tothe best fishi ng places. swi mmi ngholes . beaches and campi ng gro unds.

If a tourist likes to laun ch h is car­top boa t, han g his motor over th etranso m and cruise. there JCC hun ­dreds of square mil es of wate r inthe immediate vicinity of th e inlandGarde n T own . Grand Falls Boat ­ing and Fishi ng Cl ub. on Ru sh yPo nd abo ut three miles west ofGra nd Fa lls, w ill help to make yo ufeel at hom e, eager and w illi ng tolend a wo rd of ad vice and help .

T ou rs can be arranged thr ou ghthe A.N.D. Paper M ills, thr ou ghthe Indu str ial or Co mmu nity Re­lation s offices but th ese officesmust be con tacted fi rst for th enecessary perm issio n to enter theprop erty.

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Baine, Johnston &Co., Ltd.AGENCY DEPARTMENT

241 ·243 WATER STREET, ST. JOHN 'S

PHONE 2102

II ATLANTIC GUARDIAN

am on a visit to Xewfound la nd after th irt v vears or- more.gi\'e God thanks [ had sig ht to sec that bleak and rocky shore.

lhe dark deep hills that rise so h igh over-looking valleys low .w h ile down their sides, through fo liage wild, lillie rivers flow.

I t was sad to see t he old church at Torbay f..lllillg- iuto dl'(';l~

\ nd the gr.I\·CS of my dear parents, long since pa ....cd away .

.-h I ... rood there I said a prayer for them, the tears came into m ~ e~l'''',

.\s I soft ly said Amen and recalled old fa mily tics.

T he convent school h.HI little changed, excepti ng old St , .\ nn '"\\' h ir h look ed as though it would not sta nd lJla ll~ more winter vnu tu...

BUI the roses st ill h'TCW wil d arou nd t he opl'n door.It hroug ht hack p leas a nt me mories of the happy d a ~ s of ~ore.

Dea r Sister Hritl~l , wit h whom I went to sehoulBrou gh t IIIC down t he garden to show mc Reveren d ~I ol h er '" to III 1>•

.\nd a... she said t he Angel us. it was So quiet and peac'ef u l t hcrelhat I wi shed w ith all m y h ea rt that the world m'igh t han' a ..ha re.

I went dow II th c roa d a way. some old fr iend s IH seeHil t lime had hrought some cha nges and t he y di dn 't reme m ber me.

\rhell t hey found o u t who I was th ey a ll ga thered 'ro u ndAnd we d rank a health to Newfoundland a nd K()()(I Old Boston ' Town .

I st.u-tcd fu rt he r do wn th e roa d w here m y oid horn e on rc stoo d.T he re I slop ped a nd po ndered a nd wo ndered if I xho u ld ,

T o see th e land with out th e house wo uld mak e rue feel too ha dAnd o nly h rin g' th e tears afres h for Mo th e r a nd 1'01' Dad .

I wCIII lip to m y uncle' s house. he took me bv the ha nd.'cakt he. "no not fo rget li S d ead or living- when )'011 g-o fro m Xewf ou ud fan d ."

- Fs r Il ER " ,S EELY

.31 South Hu n t ing to n Avenu e . J am a ica I' Ia!n. ~[a s s .

w. ANGUS REIDRailway Passengers Ass ur a nce Co .

Scottish M etropolitan A56u ran ceCo .• Ltd.

ALL KINDS OFFI RE AND CASUALTY

INSURANCER eid B Id... , Duckwort h S t .• St . J oh n ' s

MAY. 1957

FURS SEALSKINSGRENFELL HANDICRAFTS

K..~!"''''' I~~~''13

14

By rights "At lantic Guardian" should be dead and buried­and perhaps even forgotten. However, as the old saying

goes, it may appear to be dead but it won't lie down.

The reason for A.G.'s stubborn persistence is that severalthousand people in Newfoundland and elsewhere just won'tfo rget it and let it rest .

Even when issues are irregular and late-and everything elsethat a monthly magazine shouldn't be, subscriptions-and par­ticularly renewals-keep pouring in from allover.

And the letters of complaint that come in are enough tomake you weep. Right now we have a wad of such lettersthat would choke a cow.

Because of this, and as a means of replying to all the lettersat one time, we have decided to make a perfectly frank reporton the situation, and at the same time give an assurance thatwe are not going to call in the undertaker-yet.

The truth is that "Atlantic Guardian" has become the orphanof the organization which was built around it. Now that isin no way due to undernourishment or neglect with intent tokill. It is simply because it has happened that way as a resultof changing circumstances.

When the magazine was started back in 1945, in Montreal,all the creative effort and energy of those behind it was pouredinto A.G., and it became a hea lthy, th riving publication reach­ing the subscribers-and the newsstands-right on the buttonevery month.

ATLANT IC GUA RD IAN

Then , in 1951 , the Guardian was moved from Montreal toSI. John's and re-established in a brand new print shop of itsown, where inevitably it had to go through growing pains allover again . A year and a half later it went under altogether ,but was revived after six months- -at the request of the sub­scribers.

"Atlantic Guardian" was begun more or less as a labor oflove, and now more than ever it is being continued as a laborof love. Anybody who can add two and two must realize thatthe publisher of a slick magazine in a field as small as New­foundland will never spend his winters in Florida .

Apart from the economics of the thing, there is the factor ofavailable time. The editor of A.G. is also the manager of theGuardian Limited printing plant which gives full-time employ­ment to more than thirty people. And there are still only aboutsixteen hours a day in which one can stay awake and work.Something has to suffer and unfortunately-and ironically-ithas to be "Atlantic Guardian."

A simple solution, of course, might be to get some help onthe magazine. The answer to that one has already been givenabove. You cannot expect people to work for the love of thething. And certainly nobody can live on love. even love ofcountry as expresed in a magazine that seeks to extol it.

So there you have the truth of A.G.'s anemia . Obviously ablood transfusion is the answer. Where is it going to comefrom?

That is the sixty-four-dollar question .

PUBLISHER.

MAY. 19:57 15

HUJIlor en live ns an eventfu l t r ip Oil the u o na vista Brun ch

" A 22 BULLET CAN GO FASTER"By DON RYAN

D U R I NG a recent ja unt ove rthe Bon av isra Branc h rai lway.

I had the occasio n to w itn ess thetype of spo ntaneo us Newfo undlandhumor that makes light of even th ewo rst of circumsta nces.

The trip , I may say at the o ut­set, was an eventful o ne, tak in gth irtee n and a half ho urs to com­plete a journey whi ch on th e aver­age can be done in abo ut hal f th attime. The delay was th e result oftwo run -offs-- on e o f thr ee hoursdu ratio n, the other th ree and aq uarter.

For the wes t-bo und passengersthe delay was serio us. If theyco uldn't get to Clarenville in t imeto mak e co nnec tio ns with th e MainLine, they wo uld have to waitove r a full day. How ever, th eirw orri es w ere lau ghed awa y as aresult of co mpetitive w it o n thepart of two or th ree who just

I.

didn 't give a diesel' s hoot whetherthey were two hours lat e ortwe nty- two.

The jo urney, how ever, began o na not e of witticism . A s I w asgetti ng m y ticket in the sta t ion atBonavista . I overheard a remarkthat was mad e somew he re alon g th eLi ne by a sta tio n-age nt who, whe nasked ab ou t th e arri val o f th e train ,said: "I can tell yo u when she's du ebut I can't tell yo u when she' llarrive."

An y sta tion- agent west o f Cata­lina o n th e da y of thi s particulartrip dur ing late April could hav emad e th e same remark . for it wasjust four miles afte r leav ing Cata­lina that th e rear wh eels o f th eth e second car jumped th e track andmad e splinter wood of 25 0 ties.It was thr ee hours after this firstdelay befor e the section men go tus ro lling aga in.

ATLANTIC GUA RDIA N

The delay want felt too bad lysince it was o nly abo ut thre eo'clock in the afternoon . The sunwas shining but the wind chilly.Som e passengers were able to stepoff and treat the mselves to deliciouspartridge berri es.

It was about six whe n we beganto chug along again. All wentwell for nearl y three hours whe na deafeni ng whist le signalled a sec­o nd run-off west of T rinity. Thisresulted in ano ther thr ee-h ourdelay .

Sa id one. tha t was echoed bymany : " T h is is the limit !"

T he west-bo und passengers werenow deeply concerned. T heirtrai n was d ue in Cia renville aroundeleven o'clock. It was about ninenow. Impossible to make it ! Andno train to mo rrow , except -

" Yo u' ll probably get a slowfreig h t thro ugh in the morning. 'o ne anxious passenge r was to ld.T he wo rd "s low " was caught upand ba ndied abo ut. Slow freigh t!T he comparison bro ugh t fo rthspo ntaneo us laughte r, spa rked bythe two or th ree local wits .

It sta rted :" We' re certainly getti ng some ­

where now. \Ve've been goi ngthree and a half hours and stoppedfive."

" By the time we get to Claren ­ville ." sprouted a young farm -ha nd ."the Old Man will be cutting seed!"

THE NEWFOUNDLAND FIREAND

GENERAL INSURANCE CO .LTD.

E. F. KENNEDY (Manager)175 WATER ST . ST . JOHN'S

PHONE 5186

MAY, 1957

- meaning, of course, getti ngready to so w potatoes. The daywas April 28th, potato sowingtime-around mid-M ay.

" If you had 2.000 miles to goon this o ne, " a competi tive re­mark shot across the car , " you'dbe too old to get the old -age pen ­sio n whe n yo u'd get there."

Another-'TI need a new pairof shoes. I 'll have those walkedoff before I get there."

'O ne th ing fo r sure yo u'll beable to hang up your stocki ng forCh ristmas ."

"Certainly the conductor wo n'thave the face to ask me for aticket. "

" A 22 bullet can go faster thanthis o ne ."

And so on .. . Absurdities adinfinitum.

Cook Cutting up Tea Leaves

T he subjec t of food came up.Fo rtunately th ere was a combinat ­ion din er-sleeper on th e train forvery few of th e passengers had pro ­vided themselves wi th lun ches.O ne young lad. however. had alarge package of fresh ly - caughttro ut which he was taking backwith him . The tro ut. entom bed ina cardboa rd carton on the hat rack.were consta ntly the subject ofsome laughable or unlaughable re­mark . His humor bordered on theabsurd . Just retu rni ng from th edi nin g car, he said . "T he cook isout cutti ng up tea leaves." T henhe added: " If this keeps us, I ex­pect to get abou t $20.00 a dozenfor those tro ut. "

Chi med in anot her : " T he onlythi ng ou t in the di ner is cherrypie. and nor much of tha t." It

17

was late lun ch time, towards mid­nig ht.

" No raisin pie ?" he was asked ." No raisin pie ," he echoed." T oo bad . If there was a piece

of raisin pie , we migh t all be ableto get a raisi n.

The truth of the matt er wasthere was no shortage of food . Itwas humor for amusement 's sake .The passengers relished it.

Of all the q uips and witticismsthe best musc le-quivering bit ofhu mor emerged from the smoker :

" Befo re I get out of this . [ ex­pect [ 'II have to get two spikes tokeep my pants up. "

T hose w ho k now the size andweight of a railway spike will ap ­preciate h is remark.

A run ner -up fo r firs t place wasthis one w hich we nt off like an

alar m at 2:05. an hou r and a hal fbefore we reach ed o ur desti na tio n.One of the coach wi ts stretchedhimself out with a fellow h u moriston a double seat to get some sleep .He took down his coat. and pu lli ngit over hi m, remarked: " If [ didn 'tcom e away in so big a hurry tocatch this o ne, [ would hav ethought about bringi ng a pillow­[ had only to wait three hou rs atthe station ."

Still another :" R ock ' n Roll is not somet hing

new. It was int roduced to New ­foundla nd when the BonavistaBranch was put through ."

And so on ...S uch is a sampling of local

h umor and w it. that enlivened thejo urney . But fo r it we wo uldhave had an unpleasa nt trip .

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D1STRIIlUTORS FOR

THE G LOB E FUR N IT U R E C O. LTD.Your requirements, large or smal l" wtll have our best attention.

" ATLANTIC GUARDIAN

NOW AVAILABLE

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THIS IS NEWFOUNDLAND :!i0 photographs of Xcwfoundland by Cyril Ma rshall with descript ion InEwa r t Young. historica l bac kground hy Bria n Cahill, a nd containing 20portrait s hy Karsh . .. $4.00.

NEWFOUNDLAND HOLIDAY :n y ] . I larr y S'mith of th e Press Bureau of th e Canadian Pad fie Ra ilway.describing a trip Irom Port a ux Basq ues to 51. .Jo hn 's hv train . automobile ,boat and 011 foot. Hluvt rated. . . . $4.00.

ST. JOHN'S, NEWFOUNDLAND :.\ booklet of photog-raphs and hi ..to ri ra ! text. published by th e x cwfound.land Board o f Trade. xrd Edition.... $1.25.

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the curator of th e Xewfo und lau d vtu scum. . $1.25.BIRDS OF NEWFOUNDLAND:

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MAY. 1957

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:>;EWFOU)'; J)LA:>;D

19

The Inns ofBy MICHAEL P. MURPHY

T HE wi nds that wh istle dow nth e co rridors of ti me ha ve car­

ried away all the sign boa rds thatonce swu ng in the breeze fro m theinns and taverns of old St. Joh n's,Gone . too. are the inns and tavernsand the men wh o played the partof "Mi ne Host" in the m, No re­collectio n of the period in whichthey flo urished now exis ts even inthe memor y of the oldest inhab­ita nt. H istor y mak es sca nt m en tionof the old -time hostelr ies and it iso nly fro m the narrat ives of w riterswho were famili ar w ith them thatwe can derive any w orthwh ile in­fo rmatio n conc ern in g th em .

There were inns and taverns o fso me so rt in St. J ohn's eve n fromearl iest t im es al thou gh hi storian s.who are quick to record dr y-as-du stmatters that have litt le bearin g onthe ord ina ry, everyday life of th epeople, make littl e or no referenceto them, Fro m old records we findthat even as far back as the vear1708 there was an inn doi ng bus­iness on the Lower P ath in St.Joh n's,

All taverns and inns bore dis­ti nctive sig ns . In most cases thesigns were rough copies of thosecarried by in ns back in the O ldCo untry . They were by no meansworks of art. In fact , they wereonly crude representations of thesubjects mentioned in the nam es ofthe inns such as " T he Dove, ""The Red Cow ," "T he Ship, "The

20

Swan." T he men who paintedthem made no claim to artis tic tal ­ent. but in those days of wide­spread illit eracy the signs thernsel ­ves stood out prominently as guideposts to person s unable to read, andconseque ntly served a useful if notesthetic pu rpose .

In th e Royal Gazette of Decem­ber 2 4, 1807 , there is a list ofpersons licensed to keep taverns inthe tow n of St. John 's fo r the en­suing year. The nam es of the tav­erns are inte resti ng to not e. F rom" River Head to Mr. Bou cher's,Bulley's Farm" there stood theBun ch of Grapes, the Rose andCrow n, th e Ship, the Br itanni a, theNelson, the Tavern fo r all W eath ­ers, th e Flower Pot. th e Hop e, theStru ggler, the Dove, and th e RoyalStanda rd. The list fro m " Bo uc­her's to Hu dson 's (Job's) Cove"including the Ship Assistance, th eAn gel. the Agincourt, the Swa n.the R ed Cow, the Jolly Fisher ma n,the Blue Ball, the Shoul der of Mu t­ton , the White Hart. the RoyalOak, and the Soldier, T he thi rdand last divisio n of the list contain­ed the names of tave rns fro m"Hudson 's Cove to the eas te rrnostpa rt of St. John's." They werethe Lo ndo n T avern , the WheatSheaf. the Bird in Hand, the U nio nFlag , the Butchery, the Sun, theDuke of Yor k, the T h ree Crow ns,and the Plough at Brine's Bridge .

ATLANTIC GUARDIAN

Old St JohnsTHE QUAINT OLD-TIME TAVERNS HAD COLORFUL NAMES

The Lon do n T av ern was afamo us p lace in its day . It w ashere that th e Ben evol ent Ir ish Soc­iety w as o rga nized and for so metim e held its m eet ings. It wa s awell-e q uip ped hostelry in every re­spect and provided "accommodatio nfo r man and beast". as th e old ad ­vert ism ent s say. It had stables. alarge yard in th e [ear o f th e tav ern .and also a billiard room and anelab orat e bar room that w as th ebest in town at that period . th eearly part o f the nineteenth cen ­tury. It cate red ch iefly to the up ­per cla sses and to vis ito rs from for ­eig n countries and was generallyregarded as the best hostelry in St.John 's,

Very few . h owever. of the estab­lishments mentioned in the 1807list were "inns" in the strict senseof th e term. Very few of them .besid es d ispensing drinks. providedaccommodation for man and beast.They w ere far different from th einn s o f Old En gland. No aura ofromance surro unded them . Forthe most part they had no spacio usya rds for coa ch es. carriage s. andwagon s : no hostl ers. no "boo ts."no rubicund. apron ed landlords :no pretty . cu rtsyin g chamberma ids :ve ry litt le. in fact, to fas cinate aDi ckens. a H azl itt. o r a \V ash in g­to n Irving . M o st of the m we reo nly pla inl y b ui lt hou ses licensed tosell liquor - som e o f them veri tabl edives-with a rou gh and ready at ­mo sph ere abo u t th em that just su it-

MAY, 1957

cd th eir patron s and w as co m patiblealso w ith th e rou gh a nd read y tim esin w hic h they flourish ed .

The Crown Tavern

Let us tak e a gla nce at o ne th atwas typi cal of such esta blish me ntsin St . J ohn ' s in th e early eigh tee nt hcentury. In o utw ard appearance itlook ed no differen t fro m the ave r­age dw elling hou se of that period .It catered. how ever. to rath er selectpatr on s such as Go vernment offic ­ials. Arm y and Na vy o ff icers. m er­chants and pr of essional men . andhad little w elcom e for persons oflesser degr ee. It was known as th eCrown Tavern . was situated nearthe h ead o f Pilot' s Hill . and waserect ed so me time during the1790·s. From th e upper windowsa goo d vi ew could be had of theNarrow s and . no doubt. at a tim ewh en th e o nly co n nect io n w ith th eoutsid e w orld wa s by sea. th e en­tranc e to th e harb o r mu st hav e beena co nstant o bject o f int erest. TheCrow n T av ern was a tw o -sto reystructure with a ga ble ro o f and alarge attic w ith tw o bay w indow sat th e fro nt. The seco nd sto reyhad fou r window s faci ng th e har­bor. The gro und floor. wi th th emain door in the cent re. co ntainedtwo large room s in fr ont . one oneach side of the hall . and a lar gek itch en at th e rear. In o ne o f th elarge fron t r ooms was the bar. withshel ves fo r sto ring \,..in es and li ­qu ors. and kegs co nta in ing drau ght

21

beer. A number of small rabIesand chairs, and a few cheap printson the walls, completed the furnish­ings of this room. The otherroom in front contained tables andchairs and benches and a large fire­place which in winter time waspiled high with brightly burninglogs that cast a cheerful glow overthe room. In this room many im­portant meetings were held fromtime to time and many matters dis­cussed to the clink of glasses andtankards. The keeper of theCrown back in those far-off dayswas Henry Fowles. a native ofSomerset, England, who had retiredfrom the Royal Navy after manyyears of service.

The Gamecock

At the foot of Long's Hill, onthe west side where the TheatrePharmacy is now doing business,there once stood, back in the twen­ties of the last century, a well-fre­quented inn known as "The Game­cock." Its owner and proprietorwas one Peter Sullivan, a big andbelligerent native of County Cork,Ireland, who was noted for hisquickness and despatch in evictingobstreperous patrons from his pre­mises, and also for the promotionof rhrilling cock fights that tookplace in the spacious yard behindhis tavern. Peter dispensed goodrum and ale and also a prime dropof good whiskey that came over onthe emigrant ships and had neverbeen contaminated by the rod ofthe gauger. \Vith the passing yearscock-fighting fell into disrepute,and Peter Sullivan, his GamecockInn, and good ale and Irish Whis­key disappeared into the mists of

Z2

time . On the same spot was latererected the Phoenix Fire Hall.headquarters of the old PhoenixVolunteer Fire Brigade. A bell towarn people when an outbreak offire occurred was also placed thereand it was a familiar sight until thedestruction of the hall itself by fireIn November of 1876.

The Bull Inn

Near the foot of Prescott Street.at its junction with DuckworthStreet, and just about where theRoyal Stores building stands today,there once stood a tavern called the"Bull Inn." It was kept by oneAbraham Saunders, a carpenter bytrade and a giant in stature, for hestood six feet six inches high in hissocks and weighed two hundred andfifty pounds. Abe was of a veryquite disposition at normal timesbut when aroused he was a mightyfighting man afraid of no two menon earth. Unruly customers weregiven short-shrift by Abe, but theonly person who really threw ascare into him was his wife. a lit­tle Irish woman who tipped thescales at one hundred pounds andmore than made up for her lack ofweight by her sharp, ever-activetongue that castigated Abe at allhours of the day and night.

The Calibogus House

Another well-know tavern wasthe "Fisherman" which was situat­ed at the head of Willicott's Lanenot far from the western side of theCongregational Church on Queen'sRoad. Over the door was a signdepicting a fisherman in oilskins,with sou'wester on head and pipein mouth, calmly looking from his

ATLANTIC GUARD IAN

at LLOYDS

CHoSBIE &CO.. LTD.

Agents for

Underwri ters

The Traveller's Joy

One taver n on Water St reet inth e old days had a sign depictinga sailo r in a blue jacket and brassbuttons. with the right hand ra isedaloft and beneath it the inscription ,'" fight for all ." A fishe rmanwas represented with the inscript ­ion . '" pa l' for all ."

At her tavern at Twenty-MilePond. Peggy Rose had the follow ­ing sign over the door:" Ive trusted often to m)· sorrow.Pa y today and trust tomorrow ,"

The Ship Inn

One well -known house of enter­tai nment fo r man and beast wasthe Ship Inn which stood on Duck ­wo rth Street o n the site where thesto re of Cross and Compa ny is no wsituated. Ove r the door there hun ga sign with a pai nting of a full ­rigged ship on it. The owner ofthe tavern was Mr s. Betty Burton.the widow of Capt. Burton of theBritish emigra nt sh ip Gaze lle whichmade freq uent trips fro m Br istol.Eng land. to Newfo undland andwas later lost wi th all han ds. T hi stavern was mu ch freq uented by thecaptains and mates of vessels andby seamen in gener al. and was , inits day. the most popular seafarer'sresort in St. John 's.

were the hangovers that resultedfro m too muc h imbibi ng of the pot­ent Calibogus at Andy 's establish ­ment. For the mor e sedate mem­bers. Andy. being of a literary turnof mind. always kept a batch ofOld Country papers on ha nd. andalthou gh th e papers wer e often sixmonths o ld they never lost theirsavor until a new batch arrived .

ST. JOHN'S

FIRE

MARINE•

•

WATER ST.

sta nd o ut to wards the Nar rows.The proprietor of the ta vern wasAndy Brad y. a ma n of good educat ­ion who at one time had been abut ler in the Beresford mansion inWaterford. Ireland. Andy was th efou nder of the famous "CalibogusCl ub ," a mysterious association thatbound its memb ers by solemn pro ­mise not to drink any liquor butrum and spruce beer mixed . Themixture was known as "Calibogus"and the Fisherman-or the " Cali­bogus House" as it also was kno w n- was freque nted by a nu mber ofjolly seadogs and others who we remembers of the club. H igh re­vels were held there and ma ny goodstories to ld , some of which laterfou nd their way into the local press.Da ncing. singi ng, and d rinkingdeep of the flowing bow l were keptup un ti l early morn in g and man y

MAY, 1957 23

At Riverhead there stood a tav­ern called the "Traveller's Joy,"The tavern was kept by one Lam­ber, crier of the Supreme Court,and had a swinging sign which heldout the following alluring invitat­ion on the town side:"Before the Traveller's Joy you

pass,Step in and have a parting glass,"

And on the country side to greetthe wayfarer on his return waswritten:"Now that your journey's almost

overStep in. your spirits to recover. "

Though the practice of tavernscarrying signs had gone out in the

first half of the nineteenth century,a few public houses kept up theold custom-such as Patrick Mul­lowney's Golden Stag's Head andMrs, Leamy's tavern which stoodon the site of the present day Muir'sMarble Works. The sign over thedoor of Mrs, Leamy's showed theresailors dancing around a demuredamsel who held a well-filled de­canter in her hand. It was pro­bably the last of the old tavernsigns-and the merry maiden andthe jolly tars have gone the way ofall who lived, laughed, loved, andtoiled in their time and whose sign­boards can now be found only inthe various cemeteries of the city.

We havea IMilLION oflhem.It has always seemed to us that thefirst Function of any advertisementis to get itself read,

People do not bave to read aduer­tisements. Therefore any art or de­vice, even as simple and inexpensiveas this adoettisement was to prepare.commands more attention than justcold type,

Z4 ATLANTIC GUARDIAN

THE CABIN BOY WAS SAVED BY

AWhim Of The SeaBy MICHAEL FRANCIS HARRINGTON

S O MET IM ES the sea doesstra nge thi ngs. as if it were

possessed of a sort of grim humo r.As tho ugh to d isplay its tremend­ous power. and its ability to takehuman lives at any mom ent itwis hes. the sea often permi ts aseemi ng ly mirac ulous escape - anescape that is j ust as amazing tothe- wo uld-be rescuers as it is tothe near-v ict im . S uch an exa mpleof wh at migh t well be term ed aw him of the ocea n is recorded inthe sto ry of the Fr ench bri gant ine"Alice a M ar ie." lost at Cla m Covenear Cape Race in 18 7 7.

The sto ry details th e inexo rabledestru ct ion th at o ve rtook theFre nch vessel and all her compa ny.with the exception of o ne person .a yo ung cabin boy nam ed H enriR iou. The sto ry began in th e sum­mer of 1877 whe n th e br igantine"A lice a M arie" sailed fro m Bo r­deau x France. on the 13th of J uly.The ship's compa ny included hercap tain . mate. six sea me n, and thecabin boy .

The first port of call was Cadiz.Spai n. where the vessel loaded acargo of salt consigned to theFrench islands of St. P ierre andM iquelon. There must have beena co nsiderable. perhaps unexpected.delay at this stage for it was no tuntil the 8t h of A ugust. mor e tha nthree weeks later. that the briga n­tine sailed from Cadiz . She bo re

MAY. )957

up for the French islands which.at that time. were a great head ­q uarters for the fleet of Fre nchfishi ng ships that came out eachseason to fish off Newfou ndland .

The "Alice a Marie" apparen tlywas J poor sailer. or met wi th ex ­ceptionally unfavourable wea therfo r the season of the year. becauseshe was forty -two days out ofCadiz before she raised the New ­fo undla nd coast. and they raised ittoo late fo r their ow n good . Itwas abo ut 6.30 p.rn , on the afte r­noon of Saturday the 2 2nd ofSepte mber when they sighted lan d.and th e briga nti ne was stee ringN.W. V. N. The w ind was deadfro m the so uth. a heavy gale. pil­ing up a w ild sea aro und Ca peRace. The land fi rst seen was theiro n cliff face near Cla m Cove . ad isaster-strewn area abou t six mil esNo rth-North East of Cape Race.

"We Are on The Rocks"

As soo n as the headlan d wassigh ted the Captain of the "Alicea M ar ie" ordered the top-gallantsail to be taken in. the topsai lsrolled up . and the vessel's headbrought speedily into the wi nd .The peak of the mai nsail was the nhoisted and all the sheets t rimmedtaut. They held the briga ntinethat way for a few sho rt minutes,until the lookout sudde nly let outthe dread cry : " \Ve are on th e

roc ks. " T he he lm was alte red atonce to br ing the sh ip in stays andp ut h er o n a la rboard tac k toweather the cliff.

However, as this ma noe uv ringwas goi ng on . the " A lice a M ar ie"was drifti ng in the brea kers towardsthe storm -lashed shore. and th eCaptain must ha ve seen in a singleglance that the brigantine wouldnot weather the land either to star­boa rd or to port. The doomedvessel was now close in a nd he atonce gav e the order " A ba ndo nship ." He ordered the shi p 's boa tmade ready with all the gea r neces­sary for lau nch ing a nd fo r aidingthem once they left the ship .

T he brig anti ne was now lab o r­ing in the heavy surf and all h an dswere expecti ng her to stri ke a t anymoment. The boat was p ut indavi ts and swu ng overboard. andas it went dow n the fa lls into theseethi ng waters 1\\'0 of the sailorsju mped in . a nd seized the oars tofe nd her off from the hull. Asthey did so the boat and the vessellu rched in different directions inthe sweep of a heavy sea. Theboat 's pai nter parted at once. andth e boat was snatched away by thewa ves and instantly disappea redfrom sight. The boat and the menwere no t seen aftcrw ards.

Drifting Through The Surf

M ean wh ile o n th e sho re a groupof residents had gat hered. defy ingthe fury of the storm. They h adseen th e wrec k co me dr ift ingthro ug h the surf a nd ha d hurriedto the beach to see if there wasan yth ing they co uld do. an y aidthey co uld g ive. to lessen th e d isas­ter w h ich obv io us ly w as pendin g.But such J was te o f fo am and sur­

ges a nd jagged roc ks la y bet w een

the la nd w ash a nd the doom ed br ig­

a nt ine that it was impossible to

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those aboard her. There was noth ­ing the watchers could do but standon the storm-swept beach and beready to dash into the surf and res ­cue the survivors. if there were anysurvivors. and drag them to safety.

They did not have long to wait.Barely had the ship's boat partedits pai nter and drifted to seawa rdto be lost whe n the brigantincstr uck h eavi ly a nd bega n to poundand sp linter almos t at o nce.' Onthe dec k. wi th no m ean s of escapestood th e cap tai n. the mat e, thefo ur remai ni ng seame n. and theyou ng boy H enr i R iou. T h erethey stood a nd waited for the endas resigned as any men can be whosec their death staring them in theface. T here was not one cha ncein a thousand of any of them escap­ing. except by a miracle. Thepeople on sho re were just as much

aware of that fact as the ill-starredcrew 0': the briga ntine.

None of them escaped . . . noneof the men . at least. but the boyHenri Riou lived to tell the [ale.and even after liste ning to a scoreof such tales. his escape is stillsomething to arouse wo nder. Thebrigantine had started to spli nterand break up as soon as she grou nd­ed and the waves began to beat overher fro m all sides. O ne h uge co m b­er li terall y smas hed her to fragm en tsand the six men and the bo y wereh urled into the frot hi ng water in aterrib le and dead ly ta ng le of floatingand tossing wrec kage.

A Wh irlpool of Death

There th ey str uggled. ca ug ht in asort of whirlpool made by the eddiesof the racing seas among the rocks.Spars. casks. bea ms a nd pieces of

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ti mber of all sizes. so me of it studd ­ed with iron . sw irled around intheir midst. br eaking bones and kill ­in g som e of them outright. Thosewhom the wreckage did not kill.and the sea did not drown. nev er­th eless perished. as th e sea hurledthem aga inst the terrible rock s.M eanwhile the residents watch edpow erless knowing there was notb ­in g th ey co uld do to help th e v ic­tim s and nothing th e v ict im s coulddo to sav e themselv es.

Unable to gi ve aid or comfort.and unwilling to look upon th efri ghtful destruction of human be­ings lik e th ems elve s. the watchersw ere just about to turn away andleave th e horrifying scene. when amost sin gular and remarkabl e th inghappen ed. Suddenl y out of th e

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boiling writer of rocks. wrec kageand foam , shot through a crevicein th e reefs lik e a bundle of sea ­we ed. cam e the bedraggled andbruised form of H enr i Riou. th ecabi n boy o f th e "Al ice a Marie."so me stran ge. unaccountable tw istof th e tid es and edd ies : some oddquirk o f an especially bi g and pow­erful wave ; so me whim of the sav ­age ocean. had lifted h im clear outo f th e vort ex in which he and hi ssh ipmates we re drownin g andp itched him safe ash or e.

Saved By a Whim of The Sea

He stumbled up the shin gle withth e bewildered look of a personwho has been as near death as an y ­one can be and yet remains alive.T he resid ents thron ged about himanxious to bestow kindness andho spitality o n this true orpha n ofth e sea. At first th e cabin boywas still fu rth er bewildered andeve n frig htened at the sight ofstrange people on such a wi ld coast ,but he soon realized they we re fri­ends. In a short time he was en ­joying good food. warmth andshelter far from the scene of theharrowing death of his shipmates.the officers a nd crew o f the ill -fated" A lice a Marie."

Henri Riou wa s brought into St.John 's so me tw o w eek s later . onSaturday O ctober 6th. by ConstableGrant of F err yland and contact wa smade with th e Fr ench consul whoarra ng ed to send him back toFrance. with th e sad story of th e"A lice a Mar ie. " So was H enriRi ou save d from th e sea near ClamC ov e. N ew foundland. saved indeedby a wh im of th e sea .

ATLA NTI C CU ARDIAN

LLl.II.I.ON of tl.@ J.t l fJN 7 '11

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