Chapter VIII

Some Thought on Early Provisioning

My father took the Commercial Travellers with their samples from Sherbrooke to Brookfield using a two-horse team and truck wagon. It was not uncommon for my father to have to re-shoe his team two or sometime three times between these two towns because the ice, bare ground, and ice again wrought havoc on the horseshoes. The actual shoeing of the horses was done by my father, but he had the shoes sharpened at the different blacksmith shops along the highway.

At each stop he would assist the traveller in moving and opening his sample trucks in the stores. Each of these stops took considerable time.

The purchases of each store were shipped from Truro to Halifax by rail, then by freight boats to different ports along the Eastern Shore.

Until 1946 the majority of highways n Nova Scotia were not plowed by the Department of Highways. Creamery trucks and lumber operators were responsible for clearing the roads which they wished to use. The creamery trucks were equipped with plough blades, enabling them to reach isolated farms. Likewise, the lumbermen had equipped some of their vehicles with blades which equipment made it possible for them to also reach difficult areas with relative ease. This would include transporting lumber to the railroad and taking supplies into the bush.

As has been previously noted, there was no general snow removal program for provincial highways. The Halifax County Council met in the month of March each year in the city of Halifax. Since the highway from Halifax to the Eastern Shore was blocked with snow at the time the council was due to meet in Halifax, Mr. David Turner, county councillor of Moser River, brought a logging team and sleds from his lumber camp. He arranged seats on the sleds and proceeded to the railways stations at Upper Musquodoboit picking up Councillors Hector Smiley at Port Duffer, Mr. Hollis Anderson of Sheet Harbour and Mr. Stanley Ferguson of Tangier. The councillors stayed overnight at the Norman Stewart Hotel. In the morning they took the train to Halifax. When the council sessions was over, the process was reversed and Mr. Turner then took his team and sleds back to his camp.

The history of the Fifteen-Mile Gold Mines near the Fifteen-Mile Stream of East River, Sheet Harbour, is interesting, particularly in the fact that power to run the operation could be a problem.

In the late 1800s and early 1900s in order to operate a "6 to 10" stamp mill crusher, eight steam or water power ha to be used. At first, water power was tried but the elevation prevented this method from being satisfactory. Additional power could not be obtained from a water wheel, however. Evidence of the location of that crusher can (or could) be seen well down Sloan's Lake Brook, almost to where the present road bridge crosses the Fifteen-Mile Stream.

Steam power was considered and was tried, however there was insufficient hardwood near enough to the crusher to fire a boiler.

The company erected a trolley track from the crusher down to what was known as Hall's Landing at the north-east angle or head of Anti Dam Flowage.

Since there was no road on either side of Anti Dam Flowage, boats were used, then the trail from Hall's Landing the mines. Any materials and supplies would come through Trafalgar on the Old Tote Road.

The site of the proposed hardwood cut was located on a hill on the north-western side of Anti Dam Flowage. To locate this area on a map, follow the Musquodoboit School District line coming east from the Beaver Dam Lakes area. The location where the fuelwood was cut was on this School District line, leading from Beaver Dam Lake to the Guysborough County Line, south of Sloan's Lake.

The harvested wood was yarded from the hill to a brow (pile) at Hall's Landing, junked into shorter lengths, then loaded onto a trolley. The trolley was drawn by horse power to the mine site.

Some of the remains of the old trolley track were found by Elwin Woodin while he was drilling for a mine expansion recently. Although I have not talked with him, it would be interesting to discover just how much of this trolley system was left after all these years.

The first bank in Sheet Harbour was the Bank of Nova Scotia, opened there in 1921. While a branch of the bank still exists, that branch operates from the third building since its establishment.

The first building was small -- a one-storey structure which was owned by Mrs. Conrad at the time she owned and operated the Conrad Hotel. She sold this to Mrs. Annie (Ben) MacDonald. The back building was located across the No. 7 highway, across from the hotel. Mrs. Conrad was the mother of Mrs. Thomas Hall. The hotel has changed hands a number of times since. Until 1929 the small building was used as a bank. Then a new two-storey building was constructed near where the I.G.A. store is currently located. The present bank was built in 1959.

The first bank manager in Sheet Harbour was Mr. Palfry. He boarded at the MacDonald Hotel for a time. Mr. Palfry owned a beautiful driving horse and sulky. The horse was regularly exercised and was kept in the barn of Mr. R.B. Henley. The first bank clerk at Sheet Harbour was Mr. Frank Siteman, age 18. Frank and his wife continue to live in Sheet Harbour.

MacDonald Hotel in the early 1920s.

After the bank moved to its new quarters, the one-storey building became the local telephone exchange office. Previously the exchange had been located in the home of Patrick Coady Sr., whose daughter, Teresa, was the telephone operator.

A unique service was offered to local residents by Mr. Robert Hall. In his trade as a blacksmith he had built a large iron safe which was installed between his living quarters and the post office portion of his house. I remember my father using the safe to keep his valuable papers. I am quite certain that the safe will still be intact and perhaps still in use.

Another "first" for Sheet Harbour was before the telephone office was in the town. The Western Union Telegraph Company's line was installed in the company store south of the road in front of Havelock McC. Hart's saw mill at West River. I can remember being in the store when Mr. Roy B. Henley would be sending messages to Halifax.

The safe made by Robert Hall, a blacksmith at Sheet Harbour, is still in good condition. The compartments inside were made from mahogany. Michael Crowley owns the Hall residence today.

With the advent of gasoline and its introduction to Sheet Harbour, Mr. Wm. Fahie's General Store became the local source of supply. He built a gasoline storage shed on the side of the road opposite his store. Gasoline was delivered to him from Halifax once each week by boat. At first he dispensed the gasoline from drums lying on their side. The drums were fitted with a tap in the vent hole. He used a one-gallon measure and funnel to service the car. This meant that for each gallon sold, he had to make a trip, since his measure only held one gallon.

After a time the primitive method of dispensing gasoline was replaced by a hand pump, threaded into the drum vent. Now the drums were stood on end. The gallon measure continued to be used and the endless trips were still necessary. On many occasions I was with the old gentleman when he was serving gasoline. One day Arthur Currie came for gas, noticed the hand pump on the drum of gasoline and commented: "I see

A reminder of the old days.

you have a new hand pump, Bill." Answered Mr. Fahie: "Yes, Arthur, I felt that if I were going to handle gasoline I should do it the proper way."

The next change was much more up-to-date. A storage tank was put underground with the pump portion and gas container sitting above ground. For those who have never seen one of these installations, there was only one grade of gasoline. A glass container with a capacity of 10 Imperial gallons was set on a stand above the tank. A long-handled pump lever was fitted to the side of the bottom potion of the assembly. This allowed gasoline to be pumped from the underground tank into the glass container on the top of the assembled "pump." When the glass container was filled to its capacity of 10 Imperial gallons, any excess would be channeled back to the underground tank. The container was marked off in one-gallon increments, consequently you could record the amount of gasoline you purchased each time. It was now possible to pump gasoline directly into the car's tank by means of a hose

Number one first, then number two were axes used by the lumbermen in the 1800s and early 1900s, previous to the crosscut (number three) then number four, number five (the buck saw) used in many household wood yards for cutting firewood, number six (the bow or sweed saw) used by pulpwood cutters previous to the power saw (number seven).

connected to the glass container. Gravity was used to allow the gasoline to flow into the car's tank.

It was not until the fall of 1925 that an electrical power line was run into the village of Sheet Harbour. This first line, which ran along the shoreline, was an off-shoot of the power line to the mill, which received its power directly from the Ruth Falls power house. In 1928 a second line was constructed along the west side of the highway through the village in order to provide street lighting. There was a lighting ceremony after all of the village houses had been wired. It was requested that

Building of the concrete piers for the new dock or wharf at East River for the Sheet Harbour Industrial Park in 1987.

each house turn on at least on light, however one man "had no use for electric power" and he hung out a kerosene lantern on a post at the front of his house. Otherwise the celebration was a roaring success!

By today's standards the wiring done by the installer was a real "jerry-built" arrangement. He used one switch per house for an outside light with one outlet in the kitchen. Then the lights on the ground floor were all pull-chain, while those upstairs were toggle switch lights. The local citizenry were "up-in-arms" over the way in which this work was done.

Apparently "it is all in the eye of the beholder" -- or so it would seem. A certain Mr. Hollis Anderson read a newspaper ad for property on the Little West River of Sheet Harbour. The ad suggested that "one million board feet of lumber could be cut from this property." Mr. Dan Chisholm, manager of the Sheet Harbour Lumber Company, arranged for Mr. Andrews to take Mr. Anderson over the property. What Mr. Anderson saw was a lot of trees. It was really not

Flood on West River, Sheet Harbour, August 1971.

known if Mr. Anderson was taken over the same ground several times in order to impress him with the amount of wood available.

My grandfather, Patrick Coady, was contacted and asked if he would cut the stand. His response was the "there was no way in which there could be one million board feet on that site. Rather there could be about half of that amount." Nevertheless he contracted to do the cutting which yielded only about 400,000 board feet. These logs were stream-driven to Sheet Harbour where they were manufactured into lumber.

Mr. Robert Hall had a large windmill on the roof of his barn. He used this power source to cut his firewood. Later he acquired a small steam outfit to do the same job.

Flood on West River, Sheet Harbour, August 1971.

Demon Rum!!!

Until 1931 there were no police in rural areas. However, in that year, the Nova Scotia Police Force was organized. After one year this force was taken over by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

In the 1920s, as the result of the passage of Prohibition legislation, it became necessary to have revenue officers for its enforcement.

William Fraser of Sherbrooke, A.T. Logan of New Glasgow, and Reginald MacDonald of Sheet Harbour were three of these officers.

In the late 1920s, an informer told Mr. MacDonald that 75 kegs, 5 gallons each, were stored in the ice house of Aaron Rood at the mouth of Sheet Harbour. The rum was seized and was taken to the basement of the custom house, which was also the home of Mr. Robert Hall. This building housed the local post office as well.

Certain local gentry learned of the location of the rum and they "laid plans" to "capture" it! One evening, rather late, by removing a window from the basement wall, they gained access to the basement, hoping that their point of entry would correspond with the actual location of the rum kegs. However, the "best laid plans -- etc.," they searched further into the basement, located the cache and to their horror discovered that the window was too small to permit the passage of a 5 gallon rum keg! They enlarged the opening by using an axe on the wooden frame, got out 45 of the 75 kegs, loaded them into boats and proceeded out into the harbour.

Their plan was to sink the run in weighted sacks to be recovered at a later time. Part of this plan was completed, but, human nature being what it is, they tapped a keg of rum and proceeded to drink it.

In the morning two of the men were spotted by a towns woman who reported their presence to Mr. MacDonald who immediately took action to apprehend them. They were discovered, tin cups in hand, consuming their booty.

Of the 45 kegs stolen, only 17 were recovered. It was not known if the rest had been sunk or hidden.

The culprits were duly brought to trial and spent two years in penitentiary.

School Bell

The school bell, housed in the ventilator tower of the Primary School at Sheet Harbour, is said to have been from an early steam locomotive. The bell was donated to the school in 1944 by Mr. D. Francis Daugherty of Bangor, Maine. At that time Mr. Dougherty was the general manager of the Halifax Power and Pulp Company mill at West River, Sheet Harbour.

The bell came to Sheet Harbour in 1870, according to information supplied by the late Mr. Anderson Behie. It came with machinery brought by Mr. Malcolm MacFarlane, for the erection of a sawmill on the West River. Because this mill was powered by a water wheel rather than by steam, the bell was needed to signal when to start and when to finish a day's work.

East River School House, located near where Joseph Farris' house is today, burned in 1916.

In 1922 the mill and timberlands were sold to the Albany Perforated Wrapping Company of New York. The sawmill was torn down to make room for the groundwood pulp mill, which began operation on October 5, 1925. The bell was then erected on the roof of the carpenter shop building in the mill yard. For about three years the bell was used to signal the beginning and end of work. From 1928 until 1944 the bell was not used, but remained on the roof of the building.

From time to time Mr. Daugherty received requests from local residents to have the bell erected on a school or church. In 1944, while a member of the local Board of Trustees with Mr. Daugherty, I asked him if he would donate the bell to the school just prior to his being transferred back to Bangor. He complied with my request. Since that time the bell has had regular use, summoning the pupils to class.

************************************************************************As

As for the truth of the following story I am not prepared to say.

Many years ago traps or snares were often set on moose trails. This arrangement involved a spring pole with rope attached. When a moose tripped the pole the rope would catch the animal around the front legs. Two old friends, Jake Barkhouse and Abe Malay, usually had one or two traps set, hoping to catch some fresh meat.

On one occasion they found a bull moose caught in one of the snares. Abe took steady aim at the animal's head, pulled the trigger, but nothing happened. The gun did not go off. After some discussion it was agreed Jake climb a nearby tree, to cut the animal's throat. However, when Jake landed on the back of the moose, the frightened animal reared up, broke the rope and with his reluctant rider went crashing through the woods. In the meantime Abe was trying desperately to get his gun, an old Martina Henry, to shoot but with no success.

By this time the moose and rider were out on a nearby barren. On the north side Jake sighted a line of trees which gave him an idea. Placing both hands on the animal's horns he hoped to steer him between two trees, brace his feet between the trunks with a sudden jerk, and break the neck of the moose.

However things did not turn out that way. He was never sure what did take place. A short time later when he came to and picked himself up, the moose was gone as well as his hunting knife.

The next time the friends went to look at their snares Jake made sure he had his own trusty rifle, a Snyder.

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