Why did people come to Nipigon?
From 2006 Interviews , Nipigon Historical Museum Archives:
SOME CAME BY MISADVENTURE
T.M.: "I was born in Thessalon, Ontario. I was about 16, so I thought if I could get five dollars I'd leave."
"So I went to see this old fella and he didn't say anything for a while, because five dollars was five dollars I'm telling you. So he said yes, you can go, so I went."
"I went on the freight, but you weren't supposed to go on the freight, so when we got to Nipigon they threw us all off."
SOME CAME BY DESIGN AND OVERCAME FIRST IMPRESSIONS
G. (B) N. : "So when I came here on a boat, on the S.S. Italia, it was filled with immigrants...it was just like a party boat and we just had a real ball on there. The people on the boat, instead of going to Nipigon, went to Toronto first, and there were some people that I met along the way and then I took a train from Toronto this way.There were trees on either side of the railway track and I thought it was just like Europe where in behind the trees there would be big buildings and citizens living all along."
"I couldn't imagine that there was that much of an expanse between places and there was nothing there."
"So I just thought that there were cities in behind all those trees and along the railroad tracks where people lived but then I found out there was actually nothing there and it was a horrible shock and I hated it."
"So when I arrived in Nipigon I was supposed to be met off the train - and there was nobody there - and it was like, eleven o'clock at night and I stood in the dark on main street."
"People in Toronto, who heard I was coming here told me that there were six bars on the main street here and that there were Indian teepees and that's all there was here."
A.C. : "We were married in Montreal. During the end of the War the aircraft factory where we both worked, there were about 16,000 people working and when I left there was around 1200 people left, I think something like that. I could have stayed right until the end, but her mother and father said, well, the mill in Red Rock is starting up and I can get you a job right away. So I came on the CPR train ahead of her. And when we got to Nipigon and the conductor was there wanting to help me off the train...I said, "What the heck, somebody messed up your washroom?"
"The conductor just laughed his head off. "That's the mill!"
"Right away, I wanted on the next train out. But we got a house for $25 rent a month, three bedrooms and that included electricity."
SOME LIKED THE WEATHER
E.W. : "My father was working for the Abitibi Pulp and Paper Company and he sold our place in Saskatchewan and we moved out with them and we arrived in Nipigon on July 4th, 1951. It was one of the nicest summers we ever had here and, I thought, Oh, Boy, what nice weather they have around here!"
"There wasn't another summer like that through fifty years!"
SOME WERE LOOKING FOR PEACE
Mrs. K.: "I came here on July 8th, 1957., from Hungary because of the '56 Revolution that was happening there. I lost my first husband and my second youngest son died so I had no relatives left. They were killed in the Revolution. So, I said to myself, well, I have to go someplace across the Atlantic Ocean. I was looking for peace and freedom and that was my main target."
"We had to start out by taking the train to the Hungarian border and then to Germany and pick up people with the ambulance to take them over the border and then , not long, we went and landed. I'm not sure what part of Germany but then we had to go and change our clothes and all of the identification was burnt and then people were all put on different trains and every window as dark and we never stopped in any place in the French country."
"I was in that place we ended up for three and a half weeks and it was all boarded up and I never saw anything and then they took over five hundred of us and I remember there were five big buses for us and the windows were all black. They shipped us somewhere else and then they showed us that there was a city coming up that we were to go out of and so we landed at a Red Cross station which was where we got some clothes and things like that."
"When we did that, then we went on the big boat that we came over on and we got to have a shower and things and it was such a good feeling."
"The boat was the Columbia and it sank later on. It was all made up of wood and it was really old. I fished off that boat too, and talked to the captain as best I could but would need a translator to talk to him. I told the captain that I liked to fish and i asked him if I could, and do you know what happened? I saw a big poker with about five pounds of meat on it and a big rope was attached to it and the sailor who worked on the boat would throw those things way out into the water. The sailor told me that it was his job to do that so I tried to speak English to him as best I could but I didn't understand him too much but I just watched him and waited. He said he had to call the captain because he caught a big whale and it was bigger than the boat! So all I could hear was this big cracking sound on the side of the boat and, so, there comes the captain with an axe and chopped the rope! So he said, "Now it's safe. Everything is safe!" That was a big experience for me. I never saw anything like that before. I never knew the ocean had such big fish. I saw pictures of some different types of fish but they told us in school that those big whales weren't around any more."
"I was never able to sleep in the cabins on that boat. I didn't like the smell of the rooms because the ship was old and so I slept on the back of the boat all the time. I told the captain he say whatever he wanted but that I wasn't going to sleep in my cabin."
"I remember we arrived in St. John's, Newfoundland, on January the first and we left Hungary sometime, maybe, the end of November. It took a long time because right in the middle of the ocean we had to stop once in a while and we had to anchor out there. Everything was covered with ice and the captain said that he couldn't promise us anything but reassured us that we had enough food to last us and lifesavers if there was any trouble. There wasn't any trouble though, but it was an awful feeling, you know, but I was happy when we got to dry land."
"We couldn't talk to anyone and we had to go through all kinds of check-ups and vaccinations when we arrived and that took us fourteen days. When we finished we had to go to the immigration office in Winnipeg, and then they started to send people where they wanted to go."
"I didn't know anything about the country and I was all alone and so I landed in Fort William on the train. I was in Fort William and I asked a person I saw when I arrived there, if there was anyone who could speak Hungarian and he said that there was one man that he knew who ran a store there in town. So he took me to that man and his name was Joseph Barlow. I asked him if there was any place that I could go where there is a small town around the area that would have lots of lakes and rivers around and mountains and forests because that was what I liked."
"So he got the map and said, "Sure there is, Nipigon, its not very far away."
"So that is how I got here to Nipigon."
Monday, 27 August 2012
Friday, 24 August 2012
ALEXANDER LANDING - DEATH AND LIFE
From an Interview with E.Walker, 2006
Nipigon Historical Museum Archives
"While we lived at Alexander Landing we had a girl that was our neighbour's child and she was about three years old and her mother came looking for her."
"She had been playing outside with the kids. We found her down at the little ravine and it was November and there was a drift of snow and it was a really cold day that day and there was just a gathering of snow. Anyway, in front of our place you went down a little hill where the creek ran through, we found this girl down there with her head laying in the water at the creek and it was November and it was really cold."
"So, anyway, all the Hydro employees were very well trained in CPR and first aid so we brought the girl up to our house and I called the hydro operator and I said, "We've got a real tragedy down here, we found a girl and I think she drowned!"
"We thought she had drowned because her head was laying in the cold creek and she wasn't breathing and there was no pulse or anything. So, anyway, the Hydro guys all came and I remember they ran into the clothesline and sent it flying! But, anyway, they all came in and laid the little girl on our living room floor and they started CPR and we got blankets and hot water bottles and stuff to put on her feet. Then we called the doctor in Nipigon who was Dr. Jeffrey at the time, so he and a head nurse from the hospital came out to our place and there was no heartbeat or pulse and the little girl was as cold as could be."
"Of course the house was full of people and everybody was working on the girl and they all took turns and the doctor came out into the kitchen and told me to put a pan of hot water on the stove and he gave her what he said was the last resort. So he sterilized a big needle and he gave her a shot in the heart and low and behold if that girl didn't come around! No kidding!"
'Because she was dead and that she did start coming around, they took her up to St. Joe's Hospital in Thunder Bay. So, anyway, everybody said that this girl would have brain damage because there was no heartbeat and no pulse for, gosh knows how long, and I don't even remember , but it was a long time she was out. So we were all saying what a shame, but, anyway, the only bad effects that happened from that accident was that we burned her feet from the hot water bottle!"
"She later became a nurse and she had no ill effects to her brain or anything."
"So, what I gathered from that accident was that there was a medical document written up in a medical book about how she had been pronounced dead and how they had brought her around again and they had thanked all the Hydro guys that had worked on her and the doctor and the nurse that came out."
"So that was a really traumatic thing that had happened and we had the only telephone down at those three houses which was why they brought her into our place."
Nipigon Historical Museum Archives
"While we lived at Alexander Landing we had a girl that was our neighbour's child and she was about three years old and her mother came looking for her."
"She had been playing outside with the kids. We found her down at the little ravine and it was November and there was a drift of snow and it was a really cold day that day and there was just a gathering of snow. Anyway, in front of our place you went down a little hill where the creek ran through, we found this girl down there with her head laying in the water at the creek and it was November and it was really cold."
"So, anyway, all the Hydro employees were very well trained in CPR and first aid so we brought the girl up to our house and I called the hydro operator and I said, "We've got a real tragedy down here, we found a girl and I think she drowned!"
"We thought she had drowned because her head was laying in the cold creek and she wasn't breathing and there was no pulse or anything. So, anyway, the Hydro guys all came and I remember they ran into the clothesline and sent it flying! But, anyway, they all came in and laid the little girl on our living room floor and they started CPR and we got blankets and hot water bottles and stuff to put on her feet. Then we called the doctor in Nipigon who was Dr. Jeffrey at the time, so he and a head nurse from the hospital came out to our place and there was no heartbeat or pulse and the little girl was as cold as could be."
"Of course the house was full of people and everybody was working on the girl and they all took turns and the doctor came out into the kitchen and told me to put a pan of hot water on the stove and he gave her what he said was the last resort. So he sterilized a big needle and he gave her a shot in the heart and low and behold if that girl didn't come around! No kidding!"
'Because she was dead and that she did start coming around, they took her up to St. Joe's Hospital in Thunder Bay. So, anyway, everybody said that this girl would have brain damage because there was no heartbeat and no pulse for, gosh knows how long, and I don't even remember , but it was a long time she was out. So we were all saying what a shame, but, anyway, the only bad effects that happened from that accident was that we burned her feet from the hot water bottle!"
"She later became a nurse and she had no ill effects to her brain or anything."
"So, what I gathered from that accident was that there was a medical document written up in a medical book about how she had been pronounced dead and how they had brought her around again and they had thanked all the Hydro guys that had worked on her and the doctor and the nurse that came out."
"So that was a really traumatic thing that had happened and we had the only telephone down at those three houses which was why they brought her into our place."
Thursday, 23 August 2012
CAMERON FALLS 1943 the words
From Hydro News September 1943
The hydro Electric Power Commission of Ontario
Page eight
The Nipigon Historical Museum Archives
This is the article that goes with the photos published as the previous post lists.
HYDRO COMMUNITY AT CAMERON FALLS 1943
Cameron Falls has something more than the wild, rugged beauty associated with Ontario's far-flung northern hinterland where black, cool waters dance and tumble through an interlacing maze of colourful woodland.
Although many miles from the noisy hustle and bustle of populated centres, Cameron Falls has a generating plant and a self-contained Hydro community in which Hydro employees work, dwell and play.
In this community, the visitor meets 40 of these employees whose combined service with Hydro in this remote area totals approximately 450 years. Ten have been at Cameron Falls for over 15 years and 27 have served over ten years.
These employees along with their wives and families number about 150.
In such a settlement one might expect to find log cabins or cottages with limited amenities and conveniences. The Hydro community at Cameron Falls is nothing like that. It is a trim, well-planned and inviting area of more than 30 up-to-date frame and stucco homes, whose tenants enjoy all the conveniences and public services of city dwellers.
DAIRY MILK DELIVERY
It is a place where hot and cold water are available at the turn of a modern tap; where the housewife cooks on an electric range, stores food in an up-to-date electric refrigerator and washes clothes in an electric washer; where hubby makes the hardwood floors shine, stokes the furnace and tends his victory and flower gardens.
At Cameron Falls you'll also find the Hydro store and post office where smiling John Sutherland makes up orders of groceries, meat, toilet and other articles and exchanges witty repartee with his customers. When it is necessary to make deliveries, the horse and waggon, which are used in delivering milk every morning, make the rounds at certain times.
There's also a school at Cameron Falls and, as the children will tell you, "two swell teachers." Yes, they have a "school board". The members are W. M. Foster, chairman, and R.G. Whitehead, who are both operators, and J.P.Maley, a mechanic.
When there are "big doings" or a dance in the settlement, all paths lead to the community hall. This hall is also used as a place of worship, services being conducted every few weeks by a visiting minister or priest.
Right in the centre of the community - in what might be called "The Square" - is a large, well-equipped staff house which was erected in 1925. Inside, the visitor will discover shining hardwood floors, spic and span appointments, comfortable bedrooms, a large dining room, a lounge room, billiard room and two guest rooms. He will also find a homelike atmosphere in which Mr. and Mrs. James E. Arnold, cook and housekeeper respectively, spread good food and good cheer.
RECREATIONAL FACILITIES
The homes which are occupied by the employees and their families are modern, spacious and well-planned and are comparable to many up-to-date city homes. The trim, attractive flower gardens reflect the keen interest which the employees take in horticulture, while the community is also playing its full part in growing vegetables for victory.
Recreational facilities include a fine tennis court and an area for horse shoe pitching, while there's no "better 'ole" for swimming than the Fraser creek, which is more like a river.
There are many more interesting facts about this community. For instance coal is brought in by the carload and purchased at cost by the employees who may also purchase or cut their own wood. Power and equipment is provided for sawing the wood and a nominal charge is made for hauling.
The community is organized and equipped to fight any outbreak of fire. In each of the eight boxes spotted throughout the compact settlement are a hydrant and hose of sufficient length to cover the houses in the section. W.J. Malcolm, utility foreman, is the fire chief, and Arthur Stanzell is the assistant fire chief.
A PBX dial telephone system assures communication between all sections of the generating plant and the homes of the key employees, while there is also a telephone line which links the community with Port Arthur.
L.G. Dandeno, superintendent of Hydro's Thunder Bay System, is mayor, chief of police, war campaign organizer and counsellor for the community. "This area," he told Hydro News, "is entirely free from crime."
He pointed out that Cameron Falls is actually unorganized territory and is under provincial police protection.
TOOK ROOT 23 YEARS AGO
A native of Waterloo County, Mr. Dandeno has been stationed at Cameron Falls for 20 years. He retains interesting memories of his early school days at Hespler and Galt, his course at Toronto normal School, the time he taught school and the years spent at the University of Toronto where he graduated in electrical engineering. His eyes light up and twinkle when he finally admits that he did play professional lacrosse as a young man. His hobbies now are gardening, boating, reading and "fixing things round the house."
Mr. Dandeno has one son, who is in the navy, and three daughters.
The Hydro community over which he presides took root some 23 years ago with the completion of the Cameron Falls generating plant, a mighty and imposing structure on the Nipigon River. Mr. Dandeno recalls that when he went to this plant in 1923, it had two generators, a total capacity of 25,000 horsepower and one transmission line to Port Arthur. Today there are six generators, with a total capacity of 75,000 horsepower. In 1930, the nearby Alexander Landing plant was placed in service. Operated by remote control from Cameron Falls, this plant has three generators with a combined capacity of 54,000 horsepower. The Thunder Bay System served by these two developments embraces Port Arthur, Fort William and surrounding farming communities as well as Nipigon township and the Beardmore and Geraldton mining areas. When the line from Port Arthur to Steep Rock is completed, 325 miles of 110 kv. transmission line will be in service in the Thunder Bay system.
PIONEER EMPLOYEE
The Cameron Falls plant, Mr. Dandeno stated, was placed in service on December 20, 1920, and the first four homes were ready for the first families to move in by the summer of the following year.
A man who can claim the distinction of being a pioneer of the community and who is the oldest employee in point of service still on the job at Cameron Falls is C.B. Montgomery, the chief operator, who went there on October 6, 1920.
A native of Cardinal Ontario, Mr. Montgomery started with the Ontario Power Company in 1910, while his service with Hydro now totals 26 years. one of his two daughters was born after he went to Cameron Falls.
Other key employees at Cameron Falls include H.D. Booker, electrical maintenance supervisor for the Thunder Bay system; H.J. Pattersen, mechanical maintenance supervisor; G.V. Knisley, line maintenance supervisor; W.J. Malcolm, utility foreman; E.B. Coggin, chief clerk; and L.G. Edwards, chief operator at the Alexander Landing plant.
This Hydro community also has a broadcasting station which stands at the top of one of the slopes overlooking "The Square". It's not listed on any of the networks, however, for its serves only for shortwave communications between Cameron Falls, Toronto, Long Lac and key points in the Ogoki diversion area. The operator is W.J. Skrynski, who transmits and receives messages daily.
For a good many years Cameron Falls was more or less isolated, Mr. Dandeno told Hydro News. He stated that it was in 1927, the first automobile appeared in the community - a 1925 Chevrolet, driven by the late Wally Watts, a mechanic, who died three years ago. At that time there was only a tortuous road leading into Cameron Falls, but in 1929 the present highway was built and it is now possible to drive to Port Arthur in about two hours.
Hydro's own railway line links Cameron Falls with the stop on the C.N.R. line and the plant at Alexander Landing. The small gas car operated on this line, can carry six passengers, mail and small consignments of freight. When a transformer or other piece of heavy equipment have to be moved from the plant to the railway stop, the Hydro "locomotive" and a railway freight car are used. Although small and quaint in appearance, this gas-powered engine does an efficient job.
IMPRESSIVE SPECTACLE
While much might be written about the wild, and rugged grandeur of the country in the vicinity of Cameron Falls, and Alexander Landing, there is another colourful and impressive spectacle which invariably fascinates and holds the attention of visitors: that is the driving of thousands of logs down the Nipigon River, over the dam at Cameron Falls and down the log chute at Alexander Landing.
Above the dam, the drivers with their long spiked poles guide the masses of floating timber toward an open sluice-way. A each log nears the dam, it steadily gathers momentum until it is caught in the surging flow of rushing water. As they sweep over the dam, the logs almost disappear into a foaming mass of green and white spray. For a moment they rise high above the boiling, swirling river and are then carried on their way to Lake Superior.
The hydro Electric Power Commission of Ontario
Page eight
The Nipigon Historical Museum Archives
This is the article that goes with the photos published as the previous post lists.
HYDRO COMMUNITY AT CAMERON FALLS 1943
Cameron Falls has something more than the wild, rugged beauty associated with Ontario's far-flung northern hinterland where black, cool waters dance and tumble through an interlacing maze of colourful woodland.
Although many miles from the noisy hustle and bustle of populated centres, Cameron Falls has a generating plant and a self-contained Hydro community in which Hydro employees work, dwell and play.
In this community, the visitor meets 40 of these employees whose combined service with Hydro in this remote area totals approximately 450 years. Ten have been at Cameron Falls for over 15 years and 27 have served over ten years.
These employees along with their wives and families number about 150.
In such a settlement one might expect to find log cabins or cottages with limited amenities and conveniences. The Hydro community at Cameron Falls is nothing like that. It is a trim, well-planned and inviting area of more than 30 up-to-date frame and stucco homes, whose tenants enjoy all the conveniences and public services of city dwellers.
DAIRY MILK DELIVERY
It is a place where hot and cold water are available at the turn of a modern tap; where the housewife cooks on an electric range, stores food in an up-to-date electric refrigerator and washes clothes in an electric washer; where hubby makes the hardwood floors shine, stokes the furnace and tends his victory and flower gardens.
At Cameron Falls you'll also find the Hydro store and post office where smiling John Sutherland makes up orders of groceries, meat, toilet and other articles and exchanges witty repartee with his customers. When it is necessary to make deliveries, the horse and waggon, which are used in delivering milk every morning, make the rounds at certain times.
There's also a school at Cameron Falls and, as the children will tell you, "two swell teachers." Yes, they have a "school board". The members are W. M. Foster, chairman, and R.G. Whitehead, who are both operators, and J.P.Maley, a mechanic.
When there are "big doings" or a dance in the settlement, all paths lead to the community hall. This hall is also used as a place of worship, services being conducted every few weeks by a visiting minister or priest.
Right in the centre of the community - in what might be called "The Square" - is a large, well-equipped staff house which was erected in 1925. Inside, the visitor will discover shining hardwood floors, spic and span appointments, comfortable bedrooms, a large dining room, a lounge room, billiard room and two guest rooms. He will also find a homelike atmosphere in which Mr. and Mrs. James E. Arnold, cook and housekeeper respectively, spread good food and good cheer.
RECREATIONAL FACILITIES
The homes which are occupied by the employees and their families are modern, spacious and well-planned and are comparable to many up-to-date city homes. The trim, attractive flower gardens reflect the keen interest which the employees take in horticulture, while the community is also playing its full part in growing vegetables for victory.
Recreational facilities include a fine tennis court and an area for horse shoe pitching, while there's no "better 'ole" for swimming than the Fraser creek, which is more like a river.
There are many more interesting facts about this community. For instance coal is brought in by the carload and purchased at cost by the employees who may also purchase or cut their own wood. Power and equipment is provided for sawing the wood and a nominal charge is made for hauling.
The community is organized and equipped to fight any outbreak of fire. In each of the eight boxes spotted throughout the compact settlement are a hydrant and hose of sufficient length to cover the houses in the section. W.J. Malcolm, utility foreman, is the fire chief, and Arthur Stanzell is the assistant fire chief.
A PBX dial telephone system assures communication between all sections of the generating plant and the homes of the key employees, while there is also a telephone line which links the community with Port Arthur.
L.G. Dandeno, superintendent of Hydro's Thunder Bay System, is mayor, chief of police, war campaign organizer and counsellor for the community. "This area," he told Hydro News, "is entirely free from crime."
He pointed out that Cameron Falls is actually unorganized territory and is under provincial police protection.
TOOK ROOT 23 YEARS AGO
A native of Waterloo County, Mr. Dandeno has been stationed at Cameron Falls for 20 years. He retains interesting memories of his early school days at Hespler and Galt, his course at Toronto normal School, the time he taught school and the years spent at the University of Toronto where he graduated in electrical engineering. His eyes light up and twinkle when he finally admits that he did play professional lacrosse as a young man. His hobbies now are gardening, boating, reading and "fixing things round the house."
Mr. Dandeno has one son, who is in the navy, and three daughters.
The Hydro community over which he presides took root some 23 years ago with the completion of the Cameron Falls generating plant, a mighty and imposing structure on the Nipigon River. Mr. Dandeno recalls that when he went to this plant in 1923, it had two generators, a total capacity of 25,000 horsepower and one transmission line to Port Arthur. Today there are six generators, with a total capacity of 75,000 horsepower. In 1930, the nearby Alexander Landing plant was placed in service. Operated by remote control from Cameron Falls, this plant has three generators with a combined capacity of 54,000 horsepower. The Thunder Bay System served by these two developments embraces Port Arthur, Fort William and surrounding farming communities as well as Nipigon township and the Beardmore and Geraldton mining areas. When the line from Port Arthur to Steep Rock is completed, 325 miles of 110 kv. transmission line will be in service in the Thunder Bay system.
PIONEER EMPLOYEE
The Cameron Falls plant, Mr. Dandeno stated, was placed in service on December 20, 1920, and the first four homes were ready for the first families to move in by the summer of the following year.
A man who can claim the distinction of being a pioneer of the community and who is the oldest employee in point of service still on the job at Cameron Falls is C.B. Montgomery, the chief operator, who went there on October 6, 1920.
A native of Cardinal Ontario, Mr. Montgomery started with the Ontario Power Company in 1910, while his service with Hydro now totals 26 years. one of his two daughters was born after he went to Cameron Falls.
Other key employees at Cameron Falls include H.D. Booker, electrical maintenance supervisor for the Thunder Bay system; H.J. Pattersen, mechanical maintenance supervisor; G.V. Knisley, line maintenance supervisor; W.J. Malcolm, utility foreman; E.B. Coggin, chief clerk; and L.G. Edwards, chief operator at the Alexander Landing plant.
This Hydro community also has a broadcasting station which stands at the top of one of the slopes overlooking "The Square". It's not listed on any of the networks, however, for its serves only for shortwave communications between Cameron Falls, Toronto, Long Lac and key points in the Ogoki diversion area. The operator is W.J. Skrynski, who transmits and receives messages daily.
For a good many years Cameron Falls was more or less isolated, Mr. Dandeno told Hydro News. He stated that it was in 1927, the first automobile appeared in the community - a 1925 Chevrolet, driven by the late Wally Watts, a mechanic, who died three years ago. At that time there was only a tortuous road leading into Cameron Falls, but in 1929 the present highway was built and it is now possible to drive to Port Arthur in about two hours.
Hydro's own railway line links Cameron Falls with the stop on the C.N.R. line and the plant at Alexander Landing. The small gas car operated on this line, can carry six passengers, mail and small consignments of freight. When a transformer or other piece of heavy equipment have to be moved from the plant to the railway stop, the Hydro "locomotive" and a railway freight car are used. Although small and quaint in appearance, this gas-powered engine does an efficient job.
IMPRESSIVE SPECTACLE
While much might be written about the wild, and rugged grandeur of the country in the vicinity of Cameron Falls, and Alexander Landing, there is another colourful and impressive spectacle which invariably fascinates and holds the attention of visitors: that is the driving of thousands of logs down the Nipigon River, over the dam at Cameron Falls and down the log chute at Alexander Landing.
Above the dam, the drivers with their long spiked poles guide the masses of floating timber toward an open sluice-way. A each log nears the dam, it steadily gathers momentum until it is caught in the surging flow of rushing water. As they sweep over the dam, the logs almost disappear into a foaming mass of green and white spray. For a moment they rise high above the boiling, swirling river and are then carried on their way to Lake Superior.
Cameron Falls 1943 in photos
Photos of Cameron Falls Hydro Community of 1943 are in a post on my" just naturally speaking the blog"
August 23, 2012 "Cameron Falls - By Request"
http://justnaturallyspeakingtheblog.blogspot.com
August 23, 2012 "Cameron Falls - By Request"
http://justnaturallyspeakingtheblog.blogspot.com
Monday, 20 August 2012
PALAEO POINTS - MAYBE
In all one hundred and thirty artifacts found in the Lake Nipigon "area" in 1976 and donated to the Museum this past month, not one had a notch. That puts them into either the Palaeo or very early Archaic time.
We hope to get the Lakehead University archaeologists to clear that up for us shortly.
Any way they are old, running 5000 to 7000 years.
We hope to get the Lakehead University archaeologists to clear that up for us shortly.
Any way they are old, running 5000 to 7000 years.
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| These two photos go together. I was trying to get a close up of the workmanship. It is all in one piece. |
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| These are large scrapers about hand size. |
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| Bottom right is the second and third "point" in this post. (circa 13 cm.) As you can see the colour is very bright compared to what we are seeing in our photos. The top left is a bone fragment with three lines/cuts. |
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| Some of the large points |
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| Good person also picked up the "pieces". |
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| A broken "end" of a point? |
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| Some "pieces" cut paper or drill holes. |
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| Generally 3 to 4 cm. |
Sunday, 19 August 2012
THE HOUSEWIFE'S MARKET 1912
From the Daily News, Port Arthur April 1, 1912
Nipigon Museum Archives
1912 Prices in Port Arthur for Life's Necessities
I, myself, have a local store flyer by my keyboard,
Nipigon Museum Archives
1912 Prices in Port Arthur for Life's Necessities
- Butter, table, per pound ........... $0.45 or 2 lbs for $0.85
- Butter, dairy rolls, per pound.... $0.40
- Eggs, local, fresh, per dozen ....$0.35
- Eggs, fresh, per dozen...............$0.35
- Potatoes, per bag (burlap)........$2.00
- Apples, cooking, per peck ......$0.40
- Apples, eating, per peck...........$0.60
- Lettuce, per bunch....................$0.075
- Oranges, per dozen.....$0.50 - $0.60
- Bananas, per dozen ................$0.40
- Lemons, per dozen .................$0.30
- Milk, per quart........................$0.10
- Cream, per quart ....................$0.50
- Bread, 3 loaves for .................$0.25
- Bread, per 2 lb. loaf ...............$0.10
- Beef, roasts, per pound...........$0.125 to $0.15
- Beef, boiling, per pound .........$0.10
- Beef steak, select per lb. ........$0.22
- Beef steak, round, per lb. .......$0.18 to $0.20
- Pork, roast, per pound ...........$0.18 to $0.20
- Pork,hams, per lb. .................$0.20
- Pork, steak, per pound ..........$0.20
- Lard, per pound, prints ..........$0.20
- Lard (pails) , per lb. ...............$0.15
I, myself, have a local store flyer by my keyboard,
- Beef, T-Bone Grilling steak, is on sale for $5.98 per pound.
IT NEVER HAPPENED
Well, it DID and then again it DIDN'T.
Looking Back One hundred years ago
DAILY NEWS: Port Arthur April 1, 1912
NIPIGON SEES A BOOM AHEAD
Headlines:
MacKenzie & Mann have men surveying at Alexander Falls for big proposed power Development.
(Cameron Falls got the first dam in 1920, it was 1930 before Alexander dam went into operation)
Hope that Pulp Mill may be built there (Nipigon) - Some see a population of Ten Thousand in Next Five Years.
(The Little Mill of Nipigon went into operation in the 1920's - Red Rock started in the 1930'3 and got really operational after the war - the population of Nipigon never came close to that increase -)
Nipigon, Ontario, April 1, 1912 ... A dozen or more men in the employ of MacKenzie &Mann left Saturday for Alexander Falls, about 12 miles from here, on the Nipigon River, to do survey and preliminary work on the proposed power development which it was announced a few days ago that this company would undertake in anticipation of the building of large pulp mills here or at Port Arthur.
It is generally believed here that the industry is a certainty and many hope that this point will be decided upon as its location.
As a consequence of the probable industrial development real estate holdings have already increased in value and convenient properties are in big demand.
Some of the optimistic ones can see a population of ten thousand within five years.
END
So, here we are one hundred years later, 2012 - Red Rock mill is closed; The Nipigon Little Mill closed in the 60's and was taken down; The Plywood Mill of Nipigon burnt some few years ago and never rebuilt; all three hydro dams are still in operation.
Looking Back One hundred years ago
DAILY NEWS: Port Arthur April 1, 1912
NIPIGON SEES A BOOM AHEAD
Headlines:
MacKenzie & Mann have men surveying at Alexander Falls for big proposed power Development.
(Cameron Falls got the first dam in 1920, it was 1930 before Alexander dam went into operation)
Hope that Pulp Mill may be built there (Nipigon) - Some see a population of Ten Thousand in Next Five Years.
(The Little Mill of Nipigon went into operation in the 1920's - Red Rock started in the 1930'3 and got really operational after the war - the population of Nipigon never came close to that increase -)
Nipigon, Ontario, April 1, 1912 ... A dozen or more men in the employ of MacKenzie &Mann left Saturday for Alexander Falls, about 12 miles from here, on the Nipigon River, to do survey and preliminary work on the proposed power development which it was announced a few days ago that this company would undertake in anticipation of the building of large pulp mills here or at Port Arthur.
It is generally believed here that the industry is a certainty and many hope that this point will be decided upon as its location.
As a consequence of the probable industrial development real estate holdings have already increased in value and convenient properties are in big demand.
Some of the optimistic ones can see a population of ten thousand within five years.
END
So, here we are one hundred years later, 2012 - Red Rock mill is closed; The Nipigon Little Mill closed in the 60's and was taken down; The Plywood Mill of Nipigon burnt some few years ago and never rebuilt; all three hydro dams are still in operation.
Saturday, 18 August 2012
CARNIVAL DAYS
With the Fall Fishing Festival coming up on Labour Day Weekend it is a fitting time to re-print E.C. Everett's account of a 1929 carnival. circa 1966.
THE EARLY NIPIGON NEWS
It is just 37 years ago, July 1,2, &3rd, 1929, that Nipigon had its biggest and most successful 3 day carnival, put on by the Nipigon Canadian Legion, and directed by Zan. Zantolas an Ex-Circus man.
The time and place was very opportune, since Nipigon was always looked upon as being a Tourist-Natural Mecca for hunting, fishing and natural relaxation. Our District was well supported by the Lakehead New media.
The second Hydro Electric project had just been started at Alexander Landing on the Nipigon River and now Nipigon was emerging from the trappers' trails and pulpwood camps to construction and Highway building.
The Trans Canada Highway had been opened from the Lakehead as far East as Nipigon in 1925 which trips took from 3 to 5 hours to make from the Lakehead and was considered more of an adventure than a pleasure trip. Construction horses were always on hand to give the motorist a pull out of the swamp.
Nipigon generally had a good baseball team; competition was keen between Hydro, Hurkett, Murillo, Port Arthur, Rossport and Schreiber. The local fans follow their team with enthusiasm.
The Nipigon Plywood's Mill is located on the old baseball grounds which was then chosen for the Carnival grounds. Most stores bought concessions and erected booths to display and sell their holiday goods in Midway style.
On display was a live sturgeon weighing 134 lbs. five feet ten inches long, which was caught in Lake Helen, also a young fawn. City bands were in attendance, Fortune telling, Ice-cream, Pop - at 5 cents - was sold out clean. Baseball games were competing against our Reeve and Councillors at quoits & etc.
All stores were decorated with flags and bunting. Votes for the Carnival Queen were given with all purchases for weeks in advance. Competition was keen between the Finnish and Canadian girls, which was finally won by Miss Mona Hill sponsored by the Consumers' Co-Operative Store in Nipigon. Her reward was a free trip to Toronto to be honoured there with a letter from the Reeve of Nipigon.
On the second day the food in Town ran short, no wieners, buns nor milk. Special trips had to be made by train to the Lakehead to get more supplies which were again soon used up.
Then, Alas! The sleeping accommodations was overtaxed, many slept in the corridors while dozens walked the streets all night. Some store stayed open most of the night entertaining the people with gramophone music and serving coffee. Some slept on the counters. The C.P.R. sent 3 sleeping coaches for the final night spotted by the water tank on the siding.
The weather was ideal, hot the first two days, straw hats was a sell out. The third day was cool and all turned to sweaters. What a boon to Nipigon.
In all, Nipigon was booming that summer, while the depression hit many other places. Locally the depression started in 1930 and continued until 1933 when the mining boom started in Beardmore and Geraldton.
Nipigon has had many ups and downs and no doubt it will continue that way for some time yet; but it never fails to come back.
The Carnival finally ended up with a monster dance and the crowning of the Queen and a scramble for any loose change that was left.
THE EARLY NIPIGON NEWS
It is just 37 years ago, July 1,2, &3rd, 1929, that Nipigon had its biggest and most successful 3 day carnival, put on by the Nipigon Canadian Legion, and directed by Zan. Zantolas an Ex-Circus man.
The time and place was very opportune, since Nipigon was always looked upon as being a Tourist-Natural Mecca for hunting, fishing and natural relaxation. Our District was well supported by the Lakehead New media.
The second Hydro Electric project had just been started at Alexander Landing on the Nipigon River and now Nipigon was emerging from the trappers' trails and pulpwood camps to construction and Highway building.
The Trans Canada Highway had been opened from the Lakehead as far East as Nipigon in 1925 which trips took from 3 to 5 hours to make from the Lakehead and was considered more of an adventure than a pleasure trip. Construction horses were always on hand to give the motorist a pull out of the swamp.
Nipigon generally had a good baseball team; competition was keen between Hydro, Hurkett, Murillo, Port Arthur, Rossport and Schreiber. The local fans follow their team with enthusiasm.
The Nipigon Plywood's Mill is located on the old baseball grounds which was then chosen for the Carnival grounds. Most stores bought concessions and erected booths to display and sell their holiday goods in Midway style.
On display was a live sturgeon weighing 134 lbs. five feet ten inches long, which was caught in Lake Helen, also a young fawn. City bands were in attendance, Fortune telling, Ice-cream, Pop - at 5 cents - was sold out clean. Baseball games were competing against our Reeve and Councillors at quoits & etc.
All stores were decorated with flags and bunting. Votes for the Carnival Queen were given with all purchases for weeks in advance. Competition was keen between the Finnish and Canadian girls, which was finally won by Miss Mona Hill sponsored by the Consumers' Co-Operative Store in Nipigon. Her reward was a free trip to Toronto to be honoured there with a letter from the Reeve of Nipigon.
On the second day the food in Town ran short, no wieners, buns nor milk. Special trips had to be made by train to the Lakehead to get more supplies which were again soon used up.
Then, Alas! The sleeping accommodations was overtaxed, many slept in the corridors while dozens walked the streets all night. Some store stayed open most of the night entertaining the people with gramophone music and serving coffee. Some slept on the counters. The C.P.R. sent 3 sleeping coaches for the final night spotted by the water tank on the siding.
The weather was ideal, hot the first two days, straw hats was a sell out. The third day was cool and all turned to sweaters. What a boon to Nipigon.
In all, Nipigon was booming that summer, while the depression hit many other places. Locally the depression started in 1930 and continued until 1933 when the mining boom started in Beardmore and Geraldton.
Nipigon has had many ups and downs and no doubt it will continue that way for some time yet; but it never fails to come back.
The Carnival finally ended up with a monster dance and the crowning of the Queen and a scramble for any loose change that was left.
Tuesday, 14 August 2012
FLORIAN ZECHNER
From a 2006 Interview with his daughter, Doris.
Nipigon Historical Museum Archives
"I know my father came to Canada in 1922."
"My Great Uncle had a farm in Hurkett and he needed one of the boys from my father's family (there were ten children). My father, being the most adventuresome agreed to come as a labourer farm boy."
"He travelled from Austria to Germany and then across that big ocean to Halifax. When he got to Halifax he had spent what little money he had on the boat. The immigration people didn't know quite what to do with him. He says they gave him a loaf of bread and a roll of garlic sausage and put him on the train for Hurkett."
Florian never got interested in farming. He tried working for Ontario Hydro putting in the new line from Alexander to Port Arthur. Then he worked a bit for the railway. What he really liked was working in a grocery store, which he did in Hurkett. In 1930 he became a Canadian citizen and in 1932 he married.
"My father came to Nipigon to work for E.C. Everett." (1936) " We lived in one room behind the store."
"Life was quite difficult then until my my parents decided to put an apartment in behind the store, then things were a little better. We had four bedrooms back there but every time my father wanted to expand the store I lost a little more of my bedroom."
"My Dad was working for Everett in this particular store, probably about where the theatre is now, then, E.C. somehow got another store down the street where the pharmacy is now and E.C. went down to that store and my Dad stayed ."
" My father was doing a better business than E.C.. Then E.C. made my Dad go down to the other store that was not doing so well. So, after Dad started running that store he decided he was going to buy it and he made two or three payments to E.C. before he realized that E.C. didn't even own the store! My Dad laughed about that so many times."
"So, my Dad bought that store. The Royal Bank was right beside it and there was a furrier, Anderson Furrier. He ended up buying them all. That's what the Drug Store is comprised of now and Dad also had a store in the basement. It had a big staircase you went down on. He had dry-goods and groceries on the main floor and down below he had hardware...that came after a few years
".Dad was the butcher of the store and he built up the business by being the butcher. He was always so good natured and he was always whistling and laughing and happy. He loved his job and was always up in the morning whistling and cutting meat. We lived right behind and we woke up to that every morning and it was wonderful."
Florian built a temporary store at pine Portage during the dam construction and he had Gordon Waghorn run that. Florian also exported Blueberries to the Poplar Canning Company in Poplar Wisconsin. In 1950 Florian built the Liquor Store on Third Street leased to the LCBO. In 1958 he built the Royal Bank building ,( now used by an Insurance Company), and leased it to the Royal Bank. He bought the old Consumers' Co-Op building on Railway Street and moved his hardware business there with Uno Mannila as manager.( Beside that building is the "new " Zechners' Store built in his lifetime.) Soon he became the sole owner of the Beaver Motel on Highway 17.
Florian died in 1987.
This year , 2012, marks the 75th anniversary of "Zechners" store in Nipigon. A FAMILY, now into the fourth generation, that has stayed and helped build a community, Nipigon.
Nipigon Historical Museum Archives
"I know my father came to Canada in 1922."
"My Great Uncle had a farm in Hurkett and he needed one of the boys from my father's family (there were ten children). My father, being the most adventuresome agreed to come as a labourer farm boy."
"He travelled from Austria to Germany and then across that big ocean to Halifax. When he got to Halifax he had spent what little money he had on the boat. The immigration people didn't know quite what to do with him. He says they gave him a loaf of bread and a roll of garlic sausage and put him on the train for Hurkett."
Florian never got interested in farming. He tried working for Ontario Hydro putting in the new line from Alexander to Port Arthur. Then he worked a bit for the railway. What he really liked was working in a grocery store, which he did in Hurkett. In 1930 he became a Canadian citizen and in 1932 he married.
"My father came to Nipigon to work for E.C. Everett." (1936) " We lived in one room behind the store."
"Life was quite difficult then until my my parents decided to put an apartment in behind the store, then things were a little better. We had four bedrooms back there but every time my father wanted to expand the store I lost a little more of my bedroom."
"My Dad was working for Everett in this particular store, probably about where the theatre is now, then, E.C. somehow got another store down the street where the pharmacy is now and E.C. went down to that store and my Dad stayed ."
" My father was doing a better business than E.C.. Then E.C. made my Dad go down to the other store that was not doing so well. So, after Dad started running that store he decided he was going to buy it and he made two or three payments to E.C. before he realized that E.C. didn't even own the store! My Dad laughed about that so many times."
"So, my Dad bought that store. The Royal Bank was right beside it and there was a furrier, Anderson Furrier. He ended up buying them all. That's what the Drug Store is comprised of now and Dad also had a store in the basement. It had a big staircase you went down on. He had dry-goods and groceries on the main floor and down below he had hardware...that came after a few years
".Dad was the butcher of the store and he built up the business by being the butcher. He was always so good natured and he was always whistling and laughing and happy. He loved his job and was always up in the morning whistling and cutting meat. We lived right behind and we woke up to that every morning and it was wonderful."
Florian built a temporary store at pine Portage during the dam construction and he had Gordon Waghorn run that. Florian also exported Blueberries to the Poplar Canning Company in Poplar Wisconsin. In 1950 Florian built the Liquor Store on Third Street leased to the LCBO. In 1958 he built the Royal Bank building ,( now used by an Insurance Company), and leased it to the Royal Bank. He bought the old Consumers' Co-Op building on Railway Street and moved his hardware business there with Uno Mannila as manager.( Beside that building is the "new " Zechners' Store built in his lifetime.) Soon he became the sole owner of the Beaver Motel on Highway 17.
Florian died in 1987.
This year , 2012, marks the 75th anniversary of "Zechners" store in Nipigon. A FAMILY, now into the fourth generation, that has stayed and helped build a community, Nipigon.
Friday, 3 August 2012
A TIME OF TRUST
From a 2006 Interview with DZ.
Nipigon Historical Museum Archives
"You know, living behind the store you got to see a lot of different people."
"Some guys would come in from the bush and they had spent the whole winter in the bush and they would come in with their cheques and they would give them to my Dad. Dad would cash them and put the money in an envelope in the safe for them and then they would head for the beer parlor, then they would come back every so often for more money. When the money was all gone they would go back to the camps to work again."
"I saw that many times."
"Imagine, they trusted my Dad with their money. He would cash it and put it in an envelope and away they would go."
"There was a lot of trust in those days."
Nipigon Historical Museum Archives
"You know, living behind the store you got to see a lot of different people."
"Some guys would come in from the bush and they had spent the whole winter in the bush and they would come in with their cheques and they would give them to my Dad. Dad would cash them and put the money in an envelope in the safe for them and then they would head for the beer parlor, then they would come back every so often for more money. When the money was all gone they would go back to the camps to work again."
"I saw that many times."
"Imagine, they trusted my Dad with their money. He would cash it and put it in an envelope and away they would go."
"There was a lot of trust in those days."
A TIME OF INNOCENCE
From a 2006 Interview with DZ
Nipigon Historical Museum Archives
It was good growing up in Nipigon.
It was very innocent times.
It was a time of having lemonade stands on the main street and making 25 cents and running next door and spending it.
We had an outdoor rink. You had to cross over where the old CPR station used to be and then there was a trail through there in the winter-time. A hard trail that you just walked on over to the rink. The one we remember is the one over on First Street, and we went skating every night and then we would gather in this old shack with the pot-bellied stove to get warm and take off our skates. We played all sorts of games on the ice and came home about nine o'clock and went to bed, and that was it.
They were good days.
Nipigon Historical Museum Archives
It was good growing up in Nipigon.
It was very innocent times.
It was a time of having lemonade stands on the main street and making 25 cents and running next door and spending it.
We had an outdoor rink. You had to cross over where the old CPR station used to be and then there was a trail through there in the winter-time. A hard trail that you just walked on over to the rink. The one we remember is the one over on First Street, and we went skating every night and then we would gather in this old shack with the pot-bellied stove to get warm and take off our skates. We played all sorts of games on the ice and came home about nine o'clock and went to bed, and that was it.
They were good days.
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