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- More Faces of Tadoussac | tidesoftadoussac1
Été à Tadoussac Summer 1920-1940 Page 7 of 7 Please help! If you have more photos If you have names that I don't have If you have notes I could add If you were there yourself! tomfevans@icloud.com S'il vous plaît aider! Si vous avez plus de photos Si vous avez des noms que je n'ai pas Si vous avez des notes que je pourrais ajouter Si vous y étiez! tomfevans@icloud.com NEXT PAGE PREVIOUS (More) Faces of Tadoussac (Plus) Visages de Tadoussac 1922 Lewis Evans with his mother Emily (Bethune) Evans Jim and Jean Alexander with grandparents Nan (Rhodes) Williams and Lennox Williams, and with their mother Gertrude (Williams) Alexander 1925 Jack Wallace, Nan Wallace (Leggat), Jean Alexander (Aylan-Parker), Jim Alexander Grace Scott 1925 Maye Hudspeth, Kae Evans Isobel (Billy) Morewood 1926 Left Ann Stevenson (Dewart) Right Elizabeth Stevenson (O'Neill) 1926 Erie Languedoc in her garden -- Note! -- Stevenson cottage being built in the background Smut the dog, Emily (Bethune) Evans, Kae Evans, the Stevenson sisters, Elizabeth (O'Neill) (note camera), Maggie (Reilley), Ann (Dewart), May Carrington Smith, Nan Gale at Evans camp at Cap a Jack 1924-25 Dorothy (Rhodes) Evans, Trevor Evans, Phoebe Evans (Skutezky), Ainslie Evans (Stephen) 1927-28 with Trevor Evans Jr 1931 Evans family with Alfred Hovington, Kate Von Iffland, and at right Maye Hudspeth 1931 Evans family with Tim Evans (baby) Kate Von Iffland, Muriel Evans (standing), Monica Rhodes, Betty Morewood (Evans) Lennox Williams with his wife Nan (Rhodes) Williams and his son Sydney Williams 1933 Jean and Jim Alexander, Syndey Williams, Gertrude and General Ron Alexander, Percival Tudor-Hart, Jack Wallace seated Mary (Williams) Wallace, Michael Wallace, Catherine Tudor-Hart, Lennox and Nan Williams Jack Wallace, ?, Betty Morewood (Evans), Bill Morewood, Michael Wallace, ?, ?, Phoebe Evans (Skutezky), Ainslie Evans (Stephen), ? Mary (Williams) Wallace Phoebe, Ainslie, Susie Russell, and Trevor Evans 1934 Iso (Price) & Guy & Ann (Van Alystyn) Smith Elizabeth (Stevenson) and Lionel O'Neill Helen Neilson Maggie (Stevenson) Reilley Catherine (Rhodes) and Percival Tudor-Hart Coosie Price The Alexander family, Gertrude (Williams), Jim, Jean, and Gen Ron Alexander Amatuer Theatre in the shed behind the upper Evans house Standing - Jack Wallace, Jim Alexander, Ron Alexander, Jack Wallace Mary Wallace, Nan Williams, Jean Alexander, Nan Wallace, ?, Lennox Williams, Gertrude Alexander Sydney Williams, Jim Williams, Susan Williams (Webster), ?, Joan Williams (Ballantyne), Michael Wallace Barbara Hampson (Alexander/Campbell) 1936 Jack Wallace, Jim and Jean Alexander, Nan Wallace (Leggat), Michael Wallace, Joan, Susan, and Jim Williams 1936 Standing Frank Morewood, Jim & Gertrude Alexander, ?, Sydney Williams Middle Nan Williams, Henry and Helen Price, Lennox Williams, Enid (Price) and Susan Williams Front Nan Wallace, Joan Williams, Mary Wallace, Ron Alexander 1937 Bill Morewood, Ainslie Evans, Billy Morewood, Jean Alexander, Betty Morewood (Evans) ???, Joan and Susan Williams 1937 Betty Morewood (Evans) and her parents Frank Morewood and Carrie (Rhodes) Morewood The first summer for the new cottage Le premier été pour le nouveau chalet Robin Molson, ?, ?, Verity Molson, Joan Williams (Ballantyne) Enid (Price) Williams with her children Jim, Susan, and Joan Williams and cousins Pam and Ann Smith Pam Smith (McCarter) 1937 Prices, Smiths and Williams Nan Wallace, Peggy T., Betty Morewood, Susie Russell, Joan Shaw, Mary Del Robertson, Mary Fowler, Jean Alexander, Jean? Bar Hampson, Helen Davis, Peggie Durnford, Mabel Warburton, Ainslie Evans Mary Hampson (Price), Ted Price, Mary Fowler Nan Wallace (Leggat) Jack Molson, Doris (Carrington Smith) Molson, Arthur Price Susan Williams, Ann Smith, Joan and Sheila Williams, Pam Smith, Jim Williams Bill Stephen Verity Molson, Eve, Ann and Pam Smith 1941 Sheila Williams (Campbell) and Penny Smith (Younger) PREVIOUS NEXT PAGE La FIN de L'été à Tadoussac 1920-1940 Tu l'as fait! Bien joué! 200 Photos Mais pas la fin Continuez ... >>> The END of Summer in Tadoussac 1920-1940 You made it! Well Done! 200 Photos But not the end Keep going...>>>
- Saguenay Mills | Moulins et villes du Saguenay
La rivière Saguenay compte plusieurs villes fantômes, où de grandes scieries et des villages entiers ont existé pendant une courte période puis ont complètement disparu. The Saguenay River has a number of ghost towns, where large lumber mills and entire villages existed for a short time and then completely disappeared. Saguenay Mills and Towns Moulins et Villes du Saguenay The Saguenay River has a number of ghost towns, where large lumber mills and entire villages existed for a short time and then completely disappeared. The only remains are some slab-wood walls and rocks and bricks. The history is fascinating. Much of the text here is from the excellent website of Petit-Saguenay, which includes St Etienne, https://petit-saguenay.com/notre-histoire/, below is an english translation. La rivière Saguenay compte plusieurs villes fantômes, où de grandes scieries et des villages entiers ont existé pendant une courte période puis ont complètement disparu. Les seuls vestiges sont des murs en dalles de bois, des pierres et des briques. L'histoire est fascinante. Une grande partie du texte ici provient de l'excellent site Web de Petit-Saguenay, qui comprend St Etienne, https://petit-saguenay.com/notre-histoire/, ci-dessous est une traduction en anglais. One of Dufour's ancestors, Cyrille, born in La Malbaie in 1810 and married a certain Marianne, reportedly came to Saguenay to install William Price's sawmills. A document dated 1935, in the National Archives of Quebec, in the Mgr. Victor Tremblay fonds, memoir 263, paragraph 1A, states that Cyrille worked as a carpenter building the mills. These were very small mills that the company had built along the route. They began at the "Moulin Boat (Baude)" (three miles below Anse-à-l'Eau). Then came Anse-à-l'Eau's turn. After sawing for a while, they went to build one at Anse-à-David, located four miles above Anse-à-l'Eau. After building each mill, they spent some time, even a year or two, sawing. Then they went down a little further to build another. The mill at Anse-à-David was followed by the mill at Petites-Îles below St-Étienne. From Petites-Îles, they went down to Petit Saguenay and Anse-St-Jean. One after the other, these two small towns saw a mill rise on their banks, marking, so to speak, the beginning of their civilization. I say "civilization" because when the Prices arrived in these places, there were only savages. After Anse-St-Jean came the settlement of Grande Baie, where the builders remained for a few years, sawing logs, and finally Chicoutimi, that is, Rivière-du-Moulin. LES VIEILLES FAMILLES DE TADOUSSAC, 1850-1950 Gaby Villeneuve Un des ancêtres Dufour, Cyrille, né à La Malbaie en 1810 et marie avec une certaine Marianne.serait venu au Saguenay pour installer les moulins à scie de William Price. Il est dit dans un document daté de 1935, aux Archives Nationales du Québec, dans le fonds Mgr. Victor Tremblay, mémoire 263 paragraphe 1A, que Cyrille travaillait en qualité de charpentier à la construction des moulins. C'était de tout petits moulins que la compagnie faisait bâtir sur le parcours. Ils commencèrent au "Moulin Boat (Baude)" (à trois milles au-dessous de l'Anse-à-l'Eau). Puis vint le tour de l'Anse-à-l'EAu. Après avoir scié quelques temps, ils allèrent en construire un à l'Anse-à-David, situé à quatre milles au-dessus de l'Anse-à-l'Eau. Après la construction de chaque moulin, ils passaient quelque temps, un an ou deux ans même, à scier. Puis, ils descendaient un peu plus bas pour en construire un autre. A celui de l'Anse-à-David, suivit celui des Petites-Iles au-dessous de St-Etienne. Des Petites Iles, ils descendirent au Petit Saguenay et de l'Anse-St-Jean. L'une après l'autre, ces deux petites places virent un moulin s'élever sur leurs bords. Marquant pour ainsi dire le commencement de leur civilisation. Je dis "civilisation" parce qu'à l'arrivée des Price sur ces lieux, il n'y avait que des sauvages. Après l'Anse-St-Jean vint celui de Grande Baie ou les constructeurs demeurèrent quelques années là, à scier des billots et enfin de Chicoutimi, c'est-à-dire Rivière-du-Moulin. LES VIEILLES FAMILLES DE TADOUSSAC, 1850-1950 Gaby Villeneuve ST ETIENNE et la Ville Industrielle/Factory Town 1883-1900 Anse CHEVAL MARGUERITE Mill/Moulin et Wharf/Quai circa 1910 BAIE STE CATHERINE 1902 This photo of the Price Mill in Baie Ste Catherine is from an old copy of the " Saguenayensia" . This would be shortly after the Price Mill at Ste Etienne was destroyed by fire in 1900. Not many trees on the hillside! Also a few detail blowups. Cette photo du moulin Price à Baie Ste Catherine est tirée d'un ancien exemplaire du " Saguenayensia ". Cela se serait passé peu de temps après que le moulin Price à Ste Etienne ait été détruit par un incendie en 1900. Il n'y a pas beaucoup d'arbres sur la colline ! Et aussi quelques agrandissements de détails. ST ETIENNE et la Ville Industrielle/Factory Town 1883-1900 ST ETIENNE et la Ville Industrielle/Factory Town 1883-1900 Anse au Cheval Anse-aux-Petites-Îles Anse de Roche Baie Saint-Marguerite Arrival of the Société des Vingt-et-un in Petit-Saguenay April 25, 1838. The Société des Vingt-et-un prepared a schooner to set off to conquer the Saguenay, then under the Hudson's Bay Company monopoly. This team of 27 men first stopped at Anse-aux-Petites-Îles, between Tadoussac and Anse Saint-Étienne, to unload a group of loggers there, who built the first sawmill on the Saguenay. The expedition thus relieved continued on its way to Anse-au-Cheval, located opposite the Baie Saint-Marguerite, where a second mill was built. They waited for the ice to leave, which takes a month. Then, the rest of the crew continues their journey which brings them to the colonization of L'Anse-Saint-Jean and Baie des Ha! Ha! The first two stops of the Société des Vingt-et-un are therefore in two coves in the territory of Petit-Saguenay. These sawing facilities will be of short duration, since the mills were designed to be easily moved depending on the availability of the resource. At the time, it was pine, which was then abundant in the area, that they felled as a priority. However, these two coves are never permanently inhabited - although they are visited by priests who identify 8 men in Petites-Îles and 2 men in l'Anse-au-Cheval in 1839 - and it is rather at Anse de Petit-Saguenay and Anse Saint-Étienne that future colonization efforts were deployed in Petit-Saguenay. Arrivée de la Société des Vingt-et-un à Petit-Saguenay 25 avril 1838. La Société des Vingt-et-un apprête une goélette pour partir à la conquête du Saguenay, alors sous le monopole de Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson. Cette équipée de 27 hommes fait d'abord escale à l'Anse-aux-petites-Îles, entre Tadoussac et l'Anse Saint-Étienne, pour y débarquer un groupe de bûcherons, qui y construit le premier moulin à scie sur le Saguenay. L'expédition ainsi délestée poursuit son chemin jusqu'à l'Anse-au-Cheval, située en face de la Baie Saint-Marguerite, où un second moulin est construit. On y attend le départ des glaces, ce qui prend un mois. Puis, le reste de l'équipage poursuit son voyage qui l'amène à la colonisation de L'Anse-Saint-Jean et la Baie des Ha! Ha! Les deux premiers arrêts de la Société des Vingt-et-un se font donc dans deux anses sur le territoire de Petit-Saguenay. Ces installations de sciage seront de courte durée, puisque les moulins étaient conçus pour être facilement déplaçables en fonction de la disponibilité de la ressource. À l'époque, c'est le pin, qui est alors abondant sur le territoire, qu'on abat en priorité. Ces deux anses ne sont toutefois jamais habitées de façon permanente - bien qu'elle soit visitées par des curés qui recensent 8 hommes aux Petites-Îles et 2 hommes à l'Anse-au-Cheval en 1839 - et c'est plutôt du côté de l'Anse de Petit-Saguenay et de l'Anse Saint-Étienne que les futurs efforts de colonisation se déploient à Petit-Saguenay. St Etienne is shown on a map of 1744 1865 The Rhodes family had a summer cottage in Tadoussac, and they would row up the Saguenay and camp and fish! The fishing was very good, and St Etienne was a favourite spot. They also loved swimming and shooting. Godfrey Rhodes wrote about it in his diary from 1865, at age 15. 1865 La famille Rhodes avait un chalet d'été à Tadoussac, et ils ramaient en canot sur le Saguenay, campaient et pêchaient! La pêche était très bonne, et St Etienne était un endroit préféré. Ils aimaient aussi nager et tirer. Godfrey Rhodes a écrit à ce sujet dans son journal de 1865, à l'âge de 15 ans. The text here is from the excellent website of Petit-Saguenay, which includes St Etienne, https://petit-saguenay.com/notre-histoire/, below is an english translation. Construction of a company village at Anse Saint-Étienne At the end of the 1870s, the Price company began to take an interest in the Anse Saint-Étienne site to install a sawmill. The site is favorable for development, because it is well protected from the winds and offers an excellent anchorage. On site, there are at most a few fishing families and the remains of a mysterious sawmill whose owner we do not know. It was in 1882 that the Price company decided to build a real company village there, which would be the first of its kind in the region. The establishment is called a company village, since all the buildings belong to the Price company. The mill is for its part of a considerable size: it works with steam and has a power of 200 forces, which makes it de facto the largest factory of this type in Saguenay. Locks, slabs and docks are built around the mill to facilitate the transport, storage and loading of timber. A steam tug, the Belle, is based on site to facilitate the entry and exit of schooners and other sailing vessels at low tide. The workers and their families are housed in rooming houses near the factory, which makes for a very lively working-class neighborhood. The notables, mostly English-speaking and Protestant, were settled on an upper plateau, in what was called at the time the Anse des Messieurs or the Anse de l'Eglise. The village experienced significant growth and once again placed Petit-Saguenay in the heart of the Price empire in the region. Le texte ici est tiré de l'excellent site Web de Petit-Saguenay, qui inclut St Etienne, https://petit-saguenay.com/notre-histoire/, à gauche est une traduction en anglais. Construction d'un village de compagnie à l'Anse Saint-Étienne À la fin des années 1870, la compagnie Price commence à s'intéresser au site de l'Anse Saint-Étienne pour y installer un moulin à scie. Le site est favorable à l'établissement, parce qu'il est bien protégé des vents et offre un excellent mouillage. Sur place, on retrouve tout au plus quelques familles de pêcheurs et les vestiges d'un mystérieux moulin à scie dont on ne connait pas le propriétaire. C'est en 1882 que la compagnie Price décide d'y construire un véritable village de compagnie, qui sera le premier du genre dans la région. On qualifie l'établissement de village de compagnie, puisque toutes les bâtiments appartiennent à la compagnie Price. Le moulin est pour sa part d'une ampleur considérable : il fonctionne à la vapeur et possède une puissance de 200 forces, ce qui en fait de facto la plus grande usine de ce type au Saguenay. Autour du moulin, on construit des écluses, des dalles et des quais pour faciliter le transport, l'entreposage et le chargement du bois. Un remorqueur à vapeur, le Belle, est basé sur place pour faciliter l'entrée et la sortie des goélettes et autres navires à voile à marée basse. Les ouvriers et leurs familles sont logés dans des maisons de chambre à proximité de l'usine, ce qui constitue un quartier ouvrier très vivant. Les notables, pour la plupart anglophones et protestants, sont quant à eux installés sur un plateau supérieur, dans ce que l'on appelle à l'époque l'Anse des Messieurs ou l'Anse de l'Église. Le village connait un essor important et replace à nouveau Petit-Saguenay au coeur de l'empire des Price dans la région. Development of a modern village in Saint-Étienne Quickly after the founding of the company village of Saint-Étienne, it experienced a significant boom which increased the population to nearly 400 people in 1887, when the decision was made to build a church and set up a cemetery on the spot. To house all these workers and their families, they had to build around 30 homes in the working-class neighborhood and install many services. About ten residences were also built at Anse-des-Messieurs to accommodate the manager and the notables. A 27-kilometer-long telegraph line connected Saint-Étienne to Rivière aux Canards (Baie-Sainte-Catherine) and a colonization path - the maritime path - is opened along this line at the site of the current chemin des Îles. A post office is also set up on site and the post office is delivered twice a week between Saint-Étienne and Tadoussac and between Saint-Étienne and L'Anse-Saint-Jean. A farm is cleared on the surrounding plateaus to provide fresh food to the inhabitants. Two schools are also open for the education of children with teachers Adéla and Cécile Gobeil. Visitors are welcomed in a comfortable hotel. Rumors have it that some of the buildings are even served by electricity produced at the steam mill and a water supply service! Développement d'un village moderne à Saint-Étienne Rapidement après la fondation du village de compagnie de Saint-Étienne, celui-ci connait un essor important qui fait grimper la population à près de 400 personnes en 1887, lorsqu'on décide de construire une église et d'aménager un cimetière sur place. Pour loger tous ces travailleurs et leurs familles, on doit construire une trentaine d'habitations dans le quartier ouvrier et installer de nombreux services. Une dizaine de résidences sont également construites à l'Anse-des-Messieurs pour loger le gérant et les notables. Une ligne de télégraphe de 27 kilomètres de long relie Saint-Étienne à Rivière aux Canards (Baie-Sainte-Catherine) et un chemin de colonisation - le chemin maritime - est ouvert le long de cette ligne à l'emplacement de l'actuel chemin des Îles. Un bureau de poste est également aménagés sur place et la poste est livrée deux fois par semaine entre Saint-Étienne et Tadoussac et entre Saint-Étienne et L'Anse-Saint-Jean. Une ferme est défrichée sur les plateaux environnants pour fournir des aliments frais aux habitants. Deux écoles sont également ouvertes pour l'éducation des enfants avec les institutrices Adéla et Cécile Gobeil. Les visiteurs sont quant à eux accueillis dans un hôtel confortable. Les rumeurs veulent qu'une partie des bâtiments est même desservie par l'électricité produite au moulin à vapeur et un service d'aqueduc! St Etienne 1883-1900 The golden age of Saint-Étienne After several years of operation, the industrial village of Saint-Étienne reached its peak at the turn of the 1890s. It figures prominently among the 3 mills of the Price company on the Saguenay, a company which also has facilities in Chicoutimi and the Baie des Ha! Ha!. At the peak of activities, there was a permanent population of 495 people in 1891, which excludes the 400 to 600 workers who stay on the sites each winter. It was then the most populous village between La Baie and Tadoussac. About a hundred workers operate the sawmill, which processes between 200 and 300,000 logs per year. It was mainly spruce, which replaced pine as the main species, the latter having been completely exploited in the first decades of the colonization of the Saguenay or ravaged by recurring fires. The wood comes mainly from the territory of Petit-Saguenay and Baie-Sainte-Catherine. There were up to twenty logging sites per winter operating in the hinterland to supply the industry. The village began to decline from 1891, however, mainly due to two factors. First, the supply is more and more difficult and they had to harvest the resource further and further to bring it to the mill, which reduces the profitability of operations. Then, a major depression hit the world economy from 1891, which affected the wood exports of the Price company to the United States. However, Saint-Étienne remained a dynamic village until its tragic end in 1900. This photo does NOT show the village on fire, the smoke is from the chimneys! L'âge d'or de Saint-Étienne Après plusieurs années d'opération, le village industriel de Saint-Étienne atteint son apogée au tournant des années 1890. Il figure en bonne place parmi les 3 moulins de la compagnie Price sur le Saguenay, compagnie qui compte également des installations à Chicoutimi et à la Baie des Ha! Ha!. Au sommet des activités, on compte une population permanente de 495 personnes en 1891, ce qui exclut les 400 à 600 travailleurs qui séjournent chaque hiver sur les chantiers. C'est alors le village le plus populeux entre La Baie et Tadoussac. Une centaine de travailleurs fait fonctionner le moulin à scie où transitent entre 200 et 300 000 billots par année. On y scie essentiellement de l'épinette, qui a remplacé le pin comme essence principale, cette dernière ayant été complètement exploitée dans les premières décennies de la colonisation du Saguenay ou ravagée par les incendies récurrents. Le bois vient principalement du territoire de Petit-Saguenay et de Baie-Sainte-Catherine. On opère jusqu'à une vingtaine de chantiers de bûchage par hiver dans l'arrière-pays pour alimenter l'industrie. Le village se met toutefois à décliner à compter de 1891, principalement à cause de deux facteurs. D'abord, l'approvisionnement est de plus en plus difficile et on doit aller récolter la ressource de plus en plus loin pour l'apporter au moulin, ce qui réduit la rentabilité des opérations. Ensuite, une dépression importante frappe l'économie mondiale à compter de 1891, ce qui affecte les exportations de bois de la compagnie Price vers les États-Unis. Saint-Étienne demeure toutefois un village dynamique jusqu'à sa fin tragique en 1900. Cette photo ne montre PAS le village en feu, la fumée vient des cheminées ! Saint-Étienne razed to the ground June 5, 1900. A stubble fire started in the morning by colonist Benjamin Boudreault on the heights of Saint-Étienne spread to the forest thanks to the strong winds. In the space of two hours, the flames reached the village of Saint-Étienne, which was reduced to ashes. Only a handful of buildings were spared, but all the residents were literally thrown into the sea, picked up on board two passing ships. The sawmill, the docks, three ships and the entire wood inventory were lost in the fire. Only the district of Anse-des-Messieurs was spared. The next day, thanks to the generosity of the public and the authorities, aid was sent from Chicoutimi: money, food and clothing were distributed to the grieving families. If the workers got by without too much damage, the Price company must declare a total loss since the establishment is not insured. These losses are estimated at between $ 300,000 and $ 400,000, which equates to between $ 9M and $ 12M today. Faced with the scale of the disaster and taking into account the fact that the establishment had already been declining for a few years because of supply problems, the company decided not to rebuild and instead to open a new sawmill at Baie Sainte-Catherine, a mill which moved again in 1908 to Baie Sainte-Marguerite. L'Anse Saint-Étienne, for its part, was abandoned by the Price company, which hardly did any business there until the land was sold to the municipality in the 1970s. Saint-Étienne rasé par les flammes 5 juin 1900. Un feu d'abattis débuté en matinée par le colon Benjamin Boudreault sur les hauteurs de Saint-Étienne se répand à la forêt à la faveur des forts vents. En l'espace de deux heures, les flammes atteignent le village de Saint-Étienne qui est réduit en cendre. Une poignée de bâtiments seulement sont épargnés, mais tous les résidents sont littéralement jetés à la mer, recueillis à bord de deux navires de passage. Le moulin à scie, les quais, trois navires ainsi que l'ensemble de l'inventaire de bois sont perdus dans l'incendie. Seul le quartier de l'Anse-des-messieurs est épargné. Dès le lendemain, grâce à la générosité du public et des autorités, on achemine de l'aide en provenance de Chicoutimi : de l'argent, des vivres et des vêtements sont ainsi distribués aux famille éplorés. Si les travailleurs s'en sortent sans trop de dommage, la compagnie Price, elle, doit déclarer une perte totale puisque l'établissement n'est pas assuré. Ces pertes sont estimées à entre 300 et 400 000 $, ce qui équivaut à entre 9M$ et 12M$ aujourd'hui. Devant l'ampleur du désastre et compte tenud du fait que l'établissement décline déjà depuis quelques années à cause des problèmes d'approvisionnement, la compagnie décide de ne pas reconstruire et de plutôt ouvrir un nouveau moulin à scie du côté de Baie Sainte-Catherine, moulin qui est déménagé à nouveau en 1908 du côté de Baie Sainte-Marguerite. L'Anse Saint-Étienne est pour sa part abandonnée par la compagnie Price, qui n'y fait plus guère d'activités jusqu'à la vente du terrain à la municipalité dans les années 1970. Great Fire on the Saguenay Forty Families Homeless A dispatch announces that a big fire has ravaged the village of St Etienne, on the Saguenay, and that forty families are homeless. The telegraph office was also set on fire, making it more difficult to obtain full details, the distance being sixteen miles. The captain of the "Saguenay" boat was asked to stop at St-Etienne and transport homeless people to St-Alexis de Chicoutimi. LATER The large establishment of Price Brothers & Co, wood merchants of St-Etienne, was completely destroyed by fire this afternoon. The losses are considerable and include nearly 200,000 feet of trade lumber, stores and most of the docks. A schooner and two boats which were at the wharf were also destroyed. Forty families are homeless as a result of the conflagration and find themselves running out of food and even clothing. Most of the workers were occupied in the sawmills, and came to Chicoutimi. It is believed that the fire was started by reckless settlers. Losses are estimated between $350,000 and $ 400,000. The steamer "Saguenay" * Mill Village Anse-des-Messieurs Today St Etienne is a popular picnic spot, accessible by road, and there are remains of the old wharfs in the stream. Aujourd'hui, St Etienne est un lieu de pique-nique populaire, accessible par la route, et il reste des vestiges des anciens quais dans le ruisseau. Match up the hills! Circa 1890 >> 2020 Associez les collines! Vers 1890 >> 2020 Anse au Cheval Anse au Cheval Price installs debarkers at Anse au Cheval In 1838, the Société des Vingt-et-Un set up its first sawmills in the region at Petit-Saguenay, at Anse aux Petites-Îles and at Anse au Cheval. After a few years of operation, these two mills were sold to William Price, who did not continue to operate for long. L'Anse au Cheval was therefore abandoned for a few decades until Joseph Desgagné, son of the famous schooner builder Zéphirin Desgagné from L'Anse-Saint-Jean, took a lease there from the land agent of Tadoussac in the 1880s or 1890s. The activities of Joseph Desgagné at Anse au Cheval are not known, but we can assume that he does either cutting or sawing, since he regularly transports wood with his schooners. He then transferred his rights to Onésime Gagné of L'Anse-Saint-Jean, who obviously operated a mill there, since when the latter sold his facilities to the Price company in 1902, the notarial contract mentioned a " mill with machines, machine, kettle, shingle machine, carriage complete with saws and other accessories, ridges, edging saws [...], as well as the house [...], booms and docks used to pound the planks and other woods. " A small colony even developed around these installations, with some families affected by the fire in the village of Saint-Étienne in 1900. The Price company, for its part, operates debarkers there in a factory supplied with energy by steam. The pulpwood thus freed from its bark is then exported by ship to pulp and paper mills in Ontario and the United States. The Anse au Cheval mill was thus in operation for several years, until a law came to prohibit the export of pulpwood in 1910 and thus led to the decline of activities on the site. In 1914, the installations were dismantled and the kettle was transferred to Desbins, where the Price company operated one of the five pulp and paper mills in the region at the time. L'Anse au Cheval was abandoned for good. Price installe des écorceurs à l'Anse au Cheval En 1838, la Société des Vingt-et-Un installe ses premiers moulins à scie dans la région à Petit-Saguenay, soit à l'Anse aux Petites-Îles et à l'Anse au Cheval. Après quelques années d'exploitation, ces deux moulins sont vendus à William Price, qui ne continue pas l'exploitation bien longtemps. L'Anse au Cheval est donc abandonnée pendant quelques décennies jusqu'à ce que Joseph Desgagné, fils du fameux constructeur de goélettes Zéphirin Desgagné de L'Anse-Saint-Jean, y prenne un bail auprès de l'agent des terres de Tadoussac dans les années 1880 ou 1890. Les activitéss de Joseph Desgagné à l'Anse au Cheval ne sont pas connues, mais on peut présumer qu'il y fait soit de la coupe ou du sciage, puisque que celui-ci transporte régulièrement du bois avec ses goélettes. Il transfère ensuite ses droits à Onésime Gagné de L'Anse-Saint-Jean, qui y exploite manifestement un moulin, puisqu'au moment où ce dernier vend ses installations à la compagnie Price en 1902, le contrat notarié fait mention d'un "moulin avec machines, engin, bouilloire, machine à bardeaux, carriage complet avec scies et autres accessoires, buttes, scies à déligner [...], ainsi que la maison [...], booms et quais servant à piler les madriers et autres bois." Une petite colonie s'est même développée autour de ces installations, avec quelques familles sinistrées après le feu du village de Saint-Étienne en 1900. La compagnie Price, pour sa part, y exploite des écorceurs dans une usine alimentée en énergie par la vapeur. Le bois de pulpe ainsi libéré de son écorce est ensuite exporté par bateau vers des usines de pâte et papiers d'Ontario et des États-Unis. Le moulin de l'Anse au Cheval est ainsi en opération pendant plusieurs années, jusqu'à ce qu'une loi vienne interdire l'exportation de bois de pulpe en 1910 et mène ainsi au déclin des activités sur le site. En 1914, on démentèle les installations et on transfère la bouilloire à Desbins, où la compagnie Price opère l'une des cinq usines de pâte et papier de la région à l'époque. L'Anse au Cheval est définitivement abandonnée. 2020 there are some remains of the activities in Anse au Cheval. There are probably more remains in the forest. 2020, il y a quelques vestiges des activités à Anse au Cheval. Il y a probablement plus de restes dans la forêt. Marguerite Baie Saint-Marguerite The "MARGUERITE" is a beautiful place. Marguerite Bay is the mouth of the two Marguerite Rivers, which combine a short distance above the head of the bay. The bay is 2km deep and 1km wide. At high tide it is completely flooded, at low tide mostly dry, with the river running down the middle to the Saguenay. La "Marguerite" est un bel endroit. Marguerite Bay est la bouche des deux Rivières-Marguerite, qui se combinent à une courte distance au-dessus de la tête de la baie. La baie est à 2km de profondeur et un kilomètre de large. A marée haute, il est complètement inondée, à marée basse la plus grande partie est sec, avec la rivière qui coule au milieu au Saguenay. The Marguerite Parc Saguenay Visitors Center today Site of the movie set in 1972 Marguerite Rivers join here Ice Caves Banc des Messieurs Sand Dune Amazing Canal Petite Rigolette Remains of Wharf and crib Northwest Corner The Notch Remains of the Village Beach Saguenay River Belugas Village of Sainte Marguerite, built around the sawmill Circa 1910? Village de Sainte-Marguerite, construit autour de la scierie Periode 1910? About 1930's Remains of the town and the wharf, at high tide Environ 1930 Vestiges de la ville et le quai, à marée haute The "Muriel" anchored in the Marguerite, circa 1930 Below the "Hobo" and the "Bonne Chance" in the same location in 1956, the rocks in the background are the same. This is in the middle of the bay, in the river channel, which never dries out at low tide. Le "Muriel" ancrée dans la Marguerite, vers 1930 Ci-dessous le "Hobo" et la "Bonne Chance" au même endroit en 1956, les roches dans le fond sont les mêmes. Ceci est dans le milieu de la baie, dans le chenal de la rivière, qui ne sèche jamais à marée basse. A trip to the Marguerite in about 1935 Bill Morewood (my uncle) looking at the camera Jim Alexander with the crest on his sweater Not sure who the third guy is. Un voyage à la Marguerite en 1935 environ Bill Morewood (mon oncle) en regardant la caméra Jim Alexander avec la crête sur son chandai La "Marguerite" est un bel endroit. Marguerite Bay est la bouche des deux Rivières-Marguerite, qui se combinent à une courte distance au-dessus de la tête de la baie. La baie est à 2km de profondeur et un kilomètre de large. A marée haute, il est complètement inondée, à marée basse la plus grande partie est sec, avec la rivière qui coule au milieu au Saguenay. Putting up a beacon on the old pier at the Marguerite for 'navigation' July 1937 Herbert, Noel, Self (Jack Molson?) This marker (and other ones) stood on the 'crib' for many years. The crib was the pile of rocks that was the remains of the end of the old wharf, where it reached the river channel. Mettre en place un arbre sur le vieux quai de la Marguerite pour «navigation» Juillet 1937 Herbert, Noel, Self (Jack Molson?) Ce marqueur (et autres) se trouvait sur la «crèche» pour de nombreuses années. La crèche était le tas de pierres qui était les vestiges de la fin de l'ancien quai, où il a atteint le chenal de la rivière. Guy Smith and the 'Hobo' and Lewis Evans's 'Bonne Chance' anchored in the Marguerite in 1956 From the log of the "Bonne Chance" August 13th 1956: 4pm Entered Marguerite, schooner "Hobo" on anchorage, she reported having caught 18, and left for the Islets Rouge. Tuesday I fished half flood at dawn on the point above the crip - 4 trout, one a good size. Fished ebb all morning on Banc des Messieurs taking 17, all but 2 on flies. Trevor (Evans) and John (Price) fished Petite Rigolette (the smaller outlet of the Marguerite over the low tide flats), taking 26. Fished afternoon flood, I getting nothing on main channel, Trevor and John 18 on the Petite Rigolette. Sunny and calm. Below they are dumping water from the Nor-Shore Canoe from the deck of the "Hobo" Guy Smith et la «Hobo» et «Bonne Chance» de Lewis Evans ancrée dans la Marguerite en 1956 À partir du journal de la "Bonne Chance« Le 13 Août 1956: 16:00 Entrée Marguerite, goélette "Hobo" sur l'ancrage, elle a déclaré avoir pris 18, et a quitté pour les îlots Rouge. Mardi, je pêche la moitié inondation à l'aube sur le point au-dessus du berceau - 4 truites, une bonne taille. Pêché ebb toute la matinée sur le Banc des Messieurs prenant 17, tous sauf 2 sur les mouches. Trevor (Evans) et John (Price) pêchées Petite Rigolette (la plus petite sortie de la Marguerite sur les bancs de sable à marée basse), en tenant 26. pêché inondation de l'après-midi, je de ne rien obtenir sur le canal principal, Trevor et John 18 sur la Petite Rigolette. Ensoleillé et calme. Ci-dessous, ils déversent l'eau du canot Nor-Shore de la plate-forme de la "Hobo" In 1972 the movie "Journey" was filmed at the Marguerite, and a small village was built at the head of the bay. The movie was directed by Paul Almond and starred Genvieve Bujold. En 1972, le film "Journey" a été filmé à la Marguerite, et un petit village a été construit à la tête de la baie. Le film a été réalisé par Paul Almond et inclus Genvieve Bujold. Remains of the Wharf, 1951 Les vestiges du quai, 1951 Remains of the Wharf, 1970's Les vestiges du quai, 1970's In 2005 Lewis, Tom and Alan Evans spent a night in the Marguerite on Al's boat the "Trillium", a "reenactment" of the many trips we took there with our father. We fished in all the usual spots but did not catch anything. The trout have made a comeback in recent years, but they are smarter than they used to be! En 2005, Lewis, Tom et Alan Evans ont passé une nuit dans la Marguerite sur le bateau de Al le «Trillium», une «répétition» des nombreux voyages que nous avons là-bas avec notre père. Nous avons pêché dans tous les endroits habituels, mais n'a rien attrapé. Les truites ont fait un retour au cours des dernières années, mais ils sont plus intelligents qu'ils étaient! 2014 we visited the "Ice Caves". At the foot of the large rockslide on the nrth side of the bay, ice can be found under the large boulders in July, and even in August the air was very cold. Natural air conditioning! Look for the small stream and follow it up the hill. 2014 nous avons visité les "grottes de glace". Au pied de la grande éboulement sur le côté nord de la baie, la glace peut être trouvé sous les grands rochers en Juillet. même en Août l'air était très froid. Climatisation naturelle! Cherchez le petit ruisseau et suivre jusqu'à la colline. 61
- R Lewis Evans & Betty Morewood Evans | tidesoftadoussac1
PREVIOUS R Lewis Evans 1911-1988 Betty Morewood Evans 1922-1993 NEXT PAGE Circa 1900 Tadoussac Dad's family before he was born, Dean Lewis Evans (sitting), his first wife May, his 4 children Basil, Trevor (with pipe), Muriel and Ruby. On May 7th, 1911, Emily Elizabeth (Bethune) Evans, at age 46, gave birth to her first and only child, Robert Lewis Evans. Her husband, the Reverend Dean Thomas Frye Lewis Evans, was 67 and the father of four adult children and already a grandfather. So baby Lewis entered this world with a readymade niece and nephew, and only nine years to get to know his father. Born in 1911, RLE held by his nephew Miles who was older than he was. RLE with his mother, Emily (Bethune) Evans RLE at Cap a Jack with his Dad Doris Molson and RLE on the beach in Tadoussac Dean Lewis Evans and his (second) family Miles Hudspeth and RLE on the beach in Tadoussac RLE with half-brothers Basil and Trevor Evans, about 1914 RLE with half-brother Trevor Evans, about 1916 RLE with friend Ralph Collyer Dad always loved this photo, with his friend Marjorique sailing a model of a lower-St Lawrence Yawl. Later he owned a boat almost exactly like this one, called the Bonne Chance. There he is, sailing with the dog Fancy. RLE and his dog at the cottage in Tadoussac RLE with his mother, and in a photo by Notman Above, RLE with his half-brothers Basil and Trevor, and father Dean Lewis Evans (Dean of Montreal), at the cottage in Tadoussac. At right on the same day, mother Emily, Kae, Miles and Muriel have joined in. St Stephen's Rectory in Montreal RLE beside Ann Dewart at Cap a Jack RLE worked at a camp at Bon Echo, lots of sailing and building props circa 1930 RLE combining his interest in boats and stage sets! He seems to have mocked up an enormous miniature CSL boat and launched it! Lots of boats! The raft above wouldn't work in the Saguenay, probably above the dam at Moulin Baude, with Harry Dawson, cousin No complaints! RLE on a BOAT with 7 girls Below with the older crowd, tea at Pte a la Croix! Camping at Petit Bergeronnes above, and at Cape Eternity, probably by rowing in a nor-shore canoe Betty Morewood age about 16? on the Saguenay. It looks like Trevor Evans and Bill Morewood in the canoe. This photo was in RLE's photo album from the late 1930's, he married Betty in 1944. Late 1930's, RLE bought a small schooner built in Tancook Island, Nova Scotia, called it the Noroua The Tadoussac gang on the wharf circa 1939, l to r (Mickey) Ainslie Evans (Stephen), Mary Fowler, Marion Strong, Bill Morewood, Barbara Hampson (Alexander/Campbell), Jim Alexander (sitting), Teddy Price, Mary Hampson (Price), Evan Price, Jim Warburton, Jack Wallace, John Turcot RLE taught at Bishop's College School from 1933-1972. Above the only time I've ever seen him on skates much less in hockey gear. Notables include Graham Patriquin, Headmaster Grier, Oggy Glass, and RLE on the right. Mid-1930's, RLE is the coach, and on the team is EM Fisher, son of Evelyn (Meredith) Fisher, she is widow of Jim Williams (died in WW1, see his page). EM Fisher died in 2012. Small world in those days, they were definitely aware of the Tadoussac connection. RLE was a keen skier, coached the ski team at BCS. He broke his right arm badly in the 1930's, and this restricted movement meant he couldn't hold a gun properly (or salute) and it prevented him from serving in WW2. I didn't know about the cool car RLE owned until I went through these albums! He took it to Tadoussac in the winter in the 1939, left, "on the road between Cap a L'Aigle and St Simeon". Above on a sketchy ferry near Portneuf. Left in front of the Prep school at BCS. Below RLE teaching a class! RLE did this drawing of the Noroua and sent it to his future in-laws, the Morewoods, for a Christmas card - what could anyone want more than a picture of his boat! Betty (Morewood) Evans and R Lewis Evans on the beach in Tadoussac circa 1945? married but before kids? 1951 - the Noroua and the Bonne Chance together briefly at the wharf in Tadoussac. The Noroua was sold to someone in Ottawa, shown below on the delivery trip up the river, with John Price one of the crew. (Note I was born on July 4 1951 so I was probably a week or 2 old at this time! I made it to Tadoussac at the end of July, so I'm told) Mum and Dad in 1961 Us kids on a trip to Tad about 1963 Lewis, Tom, Alan, Anne. Lewis Evans in a Tadoussac with Betty 1961 at his desk in the Common Room at BCS and directing a play and all summer on the Saguenay The family in 1975 Back - Lew & Cathy, Alan, Heather, Tom and Rocky Front - Anne, Pauline Belton, Dad & Mum, Ian Kids - Carrie and Ian Belton Wedding of Tom and Heather 1976 Gord, Wilf, Heather, Joan, Gail (all Smiths) Heather, Hank Law, Tom, Suzanne Skolnick Mum, Dad, Alan, Anne, Cathy Kids - Ian and Carrie Belton NEXT PAGE about 1987 in Tadoussac Mum & Dad, Heather and I, and our kids Julia and Sarah R Lewis Evans died in 1988 at the age of 78. This biography is quite random, driven by the photographs that are available. Thus there's a lot missing, and many photos of boats! To be continued... On May 7th, 1911, Emily Elizabeth (Bethune) Evans, at age 46, gave birth to her first and only child, Robert Lewis Evans. Her husband, the Reverend Dean Thomas Frye Lewis Evans, was 67 and the father of five adult children and already a grandfather. So baby Lewis entered this world with a readymade niece and nephew, and only nine years to get to know his father. On October 19th, 1922, Caroline Annie (Rhodes) Morewood, at age 42, gave birth to her second child, Elizabeth Anne (Betty) Morewood. Her husband was her first cousin, Francis Edmund Morewood, who was 5 years her junior. Twenty months earlier, Carrie and Frank had produced a son, William Harold Morewood. On August 5th, 1944, at the Coupe in Tadoussac, 33-year-old Lewis asked 21-one-year-old Betty to marry him. She said yes, and their lives came together on December 27th of that year. Until the Dean died in 1920, the Evans family had spent their winters in Montreal and every summer in their house in Tadoussac, which at that time was the farthest east Price brothers house, later sold to the Beatties. After his death, however, mother and son moved to Toronto for the winter, but still got to Tadoussac each year. Emily must have been concerned that her son should have male role models in his life, so she had him attend Trinity College School – a boys boarding school in Port Hope, ON. Lewis liked the school and had positive memories of it. This is remarkable because on a personal level, these were difficult years. At the age of 14, he was hit by a severe case of alopecia, an autoimmune disorder whereby one’s hair falls out, and over the next year or so, he lost all his hair. When asked how Lewis handled this in an often unsympathetic boarding school environment, one of his classmates said that such was his quick wit that any boy who set out to tease him was swiftly put in his place. Between graduating from TCS and starting at Trinity College in Toronto, Lewis was taken on a European tour by his mother. They travelled extensively and visited many specialists in an effort to reverse the effects of alopecia. The tour was wonderful, the hair did not come back, and perhaps worst of all, they missed their summer in Tadoussac. This was the only summer Lewis missed in his 77 years. It was after this tour that Lewis chose to wear a wig, a decision he frequently regretted especially in the heat of the summer. Meanwhile, Betty, one of Col. William Rhodes’s many great-grandchildren, was growing up in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. She attended the Baldwin School for girls and subsequently Bryn Mawr and University of Pennsylvania. Her family would spend time in Tadoussac most summers, renting rooms in Catelier House (now the Maison du Tourisme) but then, in 1936, her father designed and built a house, now called Windward. From then on, she never missed a summer visit. In 1948, Frank Morewood sold Windward to Betty and Lewis for $1, and suddenly, Lewis, whose mother had died the year before, found himself with two cottages in Tadoussac. He chose to keep Windward, partly because it was newer, partly because it was politic, partly because of its view, but especially because he could see his boat at its buoy in the bay! At university, Lewis had studied English, graduating in 1933, and Betty had majored in business, graduating in 1944. Lewis followed through on his plan to be a teacher, receiving offers from a school in Bermuda and one in Lennoxville. Because Lennoxville was closer to Tadoussac, he started his career in 1934 at Bishop’s College School from which he retired in 1972. He did take a year away to get his teaching credential at University of London where he was delighted to have a front-row seat for the abdication of King Edward VIII and was on the very crowded street watching the parade leading to the coronation of George VI. Any career plans Betty had upon graduation were trumped by her summer engagement and winter wedding... and in the fullness of time, by the arrival of Anne, Lewis, Tom and Alan. She was of the generation when women were mothers and homemakers, and to these functions, Betty added the role of steadfast supporter of all that her husband did, and BCS benefitted from her unpaid and often unknown contribution. For the first 18 years of their marriage, Lewis was a Housemaster. Betty knew all the boys and welcomed them into her home as a matter of course. Every teacher new to BCS was invited to Sunday dinner, and she frequently found herself hosting parties for faculty and friends. She has been called a world-class knitter and a world-class worrier (especially about her children no matter how old they were). Meanwhile, Lewis, who had moved to the Upper School after five years teaching in the Prep, was completely immersed in the life of the school – teaching, coaching, directing plays and running his residences. He was one of the pioneers of ski racing in the Eastern Townships, and spent many hours freezing at the bottom of a hill, clipboard in one hand and stop watch in the other. He was an example of service and character. When he died, one Old Boy remembered him as “an oasis of calm in an otherwise harsh and demanding school.” Indeed, he was. But his contributions went beyond BCS. From the mid-50s until his retirement in 1972, he spearheaded the Lennoxville Players, directing many plays from British farces to Broadway musicals. This was a group of amateur “actors” from all levels of the community who were, like their leader, looking for an enjoyable night out... and all proceeds to go to a local charity. In 1972, Betty and Lewis retired to Brockville, Ontario. Here, they joined Tadoussac friends, Rae and Coosie Price and Jean and Guy Smith who had already retired to this comfortable town on the eastern end of the Thousand Islands. From there, they travelled to Tadoussac – for many years by boat, almost 700 kilometers down the St. Lawrence in their cabin cruiser, Anne of/de Tadoussac. For all their lives, home was where the family was, but Tadoussac was where the family was at home. The village, the river, the tides, the mountains, the beaches, the people, all had a strong hold on their hearts. In late spring, the family would leave Lennoxville before dawn on the first morning after the last teachers’ meeting, and at the end of the summer, they would return the day before the first meeting for the coming school year. After retirement, the summer would extend from the May long weekend until Thanksgiving. An accomplished sailor and boatman, Lewis knew every cove and anchorage on the Saguenay, learned from his own experience, but even more, from local captains whom he respected and adored, and, it would seem, they held him in equal esteem. Over the years, his passion for boats gave way to his passion for fishing. There were many overnight trips up the Saguenay, often to the Marguerite, to fish the falling tide, then the rising, then up early to start again. One can still see him standing in hip-waders off the point above the crib, rod in hand, pipe upside down against the drizzle, as dawn was lighting the sky. Betty and Lewis were practicing Christians, and while their church in Lennoxville tended to be the BCS Chapel, the one that they were most committed to was the Tadoussac Protestant Chapel. Betty’s great-grandfather had been instrumental in its creation, and Lewis’s father, the Dean, had, for decades, been the summer priest. In 1972, Betty, undertook to organise several summer residents to needlepoint the altar kneeler cushions with images of local wild flowers, and for many years, Lewis served as the secretary on the church committee executive. They were also strong supporters of the Tadoussac Tennis Club. Though Lewis played more than Betty, each made a memorable comment about the game. In his later years, Lewis would stand on the court, ready to deliver a flat baseline forehand or backhand (being equally good at both) and declare, “I’ll do anything within reason, but I will not run!” Betty’s line was less attitudinal, but gives an insight to why she did not play as much: “I find every shot easy to get back except the last one!” And then there was golf, which Betty loved and Lewis tolerated, and Bridge, which… Betty loved and Lewis tolerated. Their love for Tadoussac is best articulated in Lewis’s book, Tides of Tadoussac, and his fascination with the history of the place in his fictional Privateers and Traders. Betty and Lewis were amused at the double numbers that marked their lives: Lewis born in ‘11, Betty in ‘22, Lewis graduates in ‘33, Betty in ‘44, marriage in ‘44... so it was not a surprise that in 1988, Lewis died at age 77. Betty survived him just 4 ½ years. Theirs was a great love, a love of each other, a love of family and friends, a love of people and community, and a love of place, and that love of place, of that place, of Tadoussac, has been inherited by each of their four children and by each of their families. God gave all men all earth to love, But, since our hearts are small, Ordained for each one spot should prove Beloved over all. Rudyard Kipling written by Lewis Evans
- SAGUENAY | tidesoftadoussac1
Saguenay Geology The Saguenay River Geology[edit ] The geological origins of Saguenay Fjord National Park can be traced to the Grenville orogeny during the Precambrian era. This event is considered to be the beginnings to the Laurentian mountains . Around 200 million years ago, a rock basal complex between a north fault and a south fault collapsed, creating the Saguenay Graben . The graben was 250 kilometres (160 mi) long and 50 kilometres (31 mi) wide. During the last glacial period , the region was covered by ice sheets two to three kilometers deep. The ice sheets cut deep into the Saguenay graben, gouging the fjord in the process. The weight of the ice sheets also caused the region to sink. When the claciers melted around 10,000 years ago, the graben was flooded by seawater. The subsequent post-glacial rebound lifted the terrain, shaping the fjord valleys in the process. Saguenay Graben From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia I've always wondered about the Geology of the Saguenay. There's lots on the internet, this is from Wikipedia! Géologie Les origines géologiques du parc national du Fjord-du-Saguenay remontent à l'orogenèse de Grenville au cours de l'ère précambrienne. Cet événement est considéré comme le début des montagnes laurentiennes. Il y a environ 200 millions d'années, un complexe basal rocheux situé entre une faille nord et une faille sud s'est effondré, créant le graben du Saguenay. Le graben mesurait 250 kilomètres (160 mi) de long et 50 kilomètres (31 mi) de large. Au cours de la dernière période glaciaire, la région était recouverte de calottes glaciaires de deux à trois kilomètres de profondeur. Les calottes glaciaires ont entaillé profondément le graben du Saguenay, creusant ainsi le fjord. Le poids des calottes glaciaires a aussi causé l'affaissement de la région. Lors de la fonte des glaciers, il y a environ 10 000 ans, le graben a été inondé par l'eau de mer. Le rebond postglaciaire qui a suivi a soulevé le terrain, façonnant ainsi les vallées des fjords. The Saguenay Graben is a rift valley or graben in the geological Grenville Province of southern Quebec , Canada . It is an elongated flat-bottomed basin 250 km (155 mi) long and 50 km (31 mi) wide, bounded by normal faults running parallel to its length. Formation of the Saguenay Graben The time of formation of the faults related to the Saugenay Graben is still under debate because it is difficult to accurately measure the age of faulting. Evidence suggests it was either the opening of the Iapetus Ocean (600-400 Ma), or the opening of the Atlantic Ocean (195-170 Ma) that caused the faulting. During the opening of one of these oceans, fragmentation of the landmass occurred creating two fault planes, one to the North and one to the South. The resulting bedrock between dropped down along the normal faults, creating the Saguenay Graben. The extent of these faults are only known at the surface and therefore their extension and shape at depth is unknown. The faults associated with the Saguenay Graben have been the source for earthquakes , including the 1988 Saguenay earthquake . Glaciations The area was covered by ice sheets several times throughout the Pleistocene . The graben was located relatively parallel to the ice sheet movement and therefore caused it to become a preferred travel pathway for ice. The glaciers cut into the graben and widened it in some places as well as making it considerable deeper in others. After the retreat of the final ice sheet, there was considerable isostatic rebound . The total amount of rebound varied from 140 m on the north side and 120 m on the south side. Present day geography The lowlands within the graben have an altitude of between 100 and 200 m. To the east there is the Kenogami threshold which is characterized by having an altitude of 200 to 260 m. This threshold splits the graben into two physiographic regions; the Lac Saint-Jean region to the west and the Saguenay region to the east. The plateau around the Graben is between 200 and 800 m in altitude. The Saguenay River as well as the Lac Saint-Jean are both contained within the Saguenay Graben. Le Graben du Saguenay est une vallée du Rift ou graben située dans la province géologique de Grenville, dans le sud du Québec, au Canada. Il s'agit d'un bassin allongé à fond plat de 250 km (155 mi) de long et 50 km (31 mi) de large, délimité par des failles normales parallèles à sa longueur. Formation du Graben du Saguenay L'époque de formation des failles liées au graben de Saugenay fait encore l'objet de débats, car il est difficile de mesurer avec précision l'âge des failles. Les preuves suggèrent que c'est soit l'ouverture de l'océan Iapetus (600-400 Ma), soit l'ouverture de l'océan Atlantique (195-170 Ma) qui a causé la faille. Lors de l'ouverture de l'un de ces océans, la fragmentation de la masse continentale s'est produite, créant deux plans de failles, un au nord et un au sud. Le substrat rocheux résultant s'est effondré le long des failles normales, créant le Graben du Saguenay. L'étendue de ces failles n'est connue qu'en surface et donc leur extension et leur forme en profondeur sont inconnues. Les failles associées au graben du Saguenay ont causé des tremblements de terre, dont le tremblement de terre du Saguenay en 1988. Glaciations La région a été recouverte de calottes glaciaires à plusieurs reprises tout au long du Pléistocène. Le graben était situé relativement parallèlement au mouvement de la calotte glaciaire et en faisait donc une voie de déplacement privilégiée pour la glace. Les glaciers ont creusé le fossé et l'ont élargi à certains endroits et l'ont rendu considérablement plus profond à d'autres. Après le retrait de la dernière calotte glaciaire, un rebond isostatique considérable s'est produit. La quantité totale de rebond variait entre 140 m du côté nord et 120 m du côté sud. Géographie actuelle Les basses terres du graben ont une altitude comprise entre 100 et 200 m. À l'est se trouve le seuil de Kenogami qui se caractérise par une altitude de 200 à 260 m. Ce seuil divise le graben en deux régions physiographiques ; la région du Lac Saint-Jean à l'ouest et la région du Saguenay à l'est. Le plateau autour du Graben est situé entre 200 et 800 m d'altitude. La rivière Saguenay ainsi que le lac Saint-Jean sont tous deux contenus dans le graben du Saguenay.
- Tadoussac Ferry Historique Photos
Tadoussac Ferry Photos since the late 1800's / Traversiers sur le Saguenay depuis plus de 100 ans The Ferries - Des Traversiers Tadoussac < > Baie Sainte Catherine In the early 1900's the Price Tugboats "Muriel" and the "Mahone" carried passangers between Riviere du Loup, Baie Sainte Catherine, and Tadoussac, and other places. Au début des années 1900, les remorqueurs "Muriel" et le "Mahone" de l'entreprise Price ont transporté des passangers entre Riviere du Loup, Baie Ste Catherine et Tadoussac, et d'autres endroits. MURIEL Many of these photos are from the Facebook Page "Amateurs de Traversiers au Québec" (Fans of Ferries in Quebec) Thanks to all the contributors! Amateurs de Traversiers au Quebec Plusieurs de ces photos proviennent de la page Facebook "Amateurs de Traversiers au Québec" Merci à tous les contributeurs! MAHONE Launched 1909 84' long L'équipage du "Mahone" Capitaine Johnny DesLauriers Des pistes dans la neige Quelque part sur le fleuve, entre Tadoussac et Rivière-du-Loup, les membres de l'équipage du Mahone échangent avec les riverains. Les pistes qu'on voit dans la neige au premier plan sont vraisemblablement celles de l'homme d'affaires et photographe amateur Jean-Baptiste Dupuis. On pouvait même compter sur la présence à bord de deux photographes cette jourée-là puisque Stanislas Belle, actionnaire de la compagnie Trans-Saint-Laurent Limitée, était lui aussi de la partie. Photos trouvées sur le traversier St Siméon/Rivière du Loup Tracks in the snow Along the river at some point between Tadoussac and Rivière-du-Loup, the crew members of the Mahone fraternize with shore dwellers. The tracks in the foreground are most likely those of businessman and amateur photographer Jean-Baptiste Dupuis. Two cameras were on hand to chronicle this day, as fellow photographer Stanislas Belle, a shareholder in the Trans-Saint-Laurent company was also on board. Photos found on the St Simeon/Riviere du Loup ferry Musée du Bas-Saint-Laurent, Rivière du Loup Fonds Jean-Baptiste Dupuis The "Mahone" at Anse à L'Eau, Tadoussac. THOR 1911-1916 The "Thor", one of the most powerful tugs of the Price Company, was used on the Saguenay for several years for the refueling of shipyards and the transportation of employees. In 1911, the Trans-Saint Laurent Ltee puts the Thor into operation, between Riviere-du-Loup and Tadoussac. Built in Lévis in 1881, this side-paddlewheel steamer is only used during the summer season and for Sunday excursions, it will be sold in 1916. The Thor at Anse à L'Eau, Tadoussac. Le "Thor", l'un des plus puissants remorqueurs de la compagnie Price, a été utilisé pendant plusieurs années sur le Saguenay pour le ravitaillement en carburant des chantiers et le transport des employés. En 1911, le Trans-Saint Laurent Ltee met en service le Thor, entre Rivière-du-Loup et Tadoussac. Construit à Lévis en 1881, ce paquebot à roue à aubes latérale n’est utilisé que pendant la saison estivale et pour les excursions du dimanche, il sera vendu en 1916. Le Thor à l'Anse à l'Eau, Tadoussac. February 15, 1909 ICE BRIDGE The last cold of January contributed to form the ice bridge between Tadoussac and Baie Ste Catherine. The first to venture there was M. Gabriel Boulianne of Tadoussac, on February 7th, M. Boulianne was accompanied by his two nephews. ÉMÉRILLON 1920's Ferry? No photos PIXIE B Goélettes served as ferries between the wharves in Baie Ste Catherine and Tadoussac when the road from Quebec City was still a dangerously twisted unpaved road, and most people traveled to Tadoussac by ship. The "Pixie B" is in the wharf. The photo is taken from the bow of the CSL Steamer which is arriving, the people and vehicles are there to meet the boat. ~ 1930 Les goélettes servaient de traversier entre les quais de Baie Sainte-Catherine et Tadoussac lorsque la route de Québec était encore une route non pavée dangereusement sinueuse et que la plupart des gens se rendaient à Tadoussac en bateau. Le « Pixie B » est au quai. La photo est prise de la proue du bateau à vapeur CSL qui arrive, les gens et les véhicules sont là pour accueillir le bateau. ~ 1930 Painting by Frank Morewood, about 1930. The goelette at the wharf in Tadoussac is the Pixie B and it towed the barge which could carry two cars. Painting par Frank Morewood ~ 1930. La goélette au quai de Tadoussac est le Pixie B et remorquer le chaland qui pourrait transporter deux voitures. Wreck of the Pixie B. It finished its career next to the Bar Orace in Ile aux Coudres early 80's photo Éric Desbiens Épave du Pixie B. Il finit sa carrière à coté du bar Chez Orace à l'Ile aux Coudres au début 80 photo Éric Desbiens The Pixie B in the Tadoussac Drydock in the 1940's with the "Norouâ" L e Pixie B en cale sèche de Tadoussac dans les années 40 avec le Norouâ N.B.T. Noel Brisson Transport The "N.B.T." (Noel Brisson Transport) Built by Armand Imbeau in 1939?, 75' long, carried up to six cars on deck. Note the gap in the far gunwale for the cars, and the two ramps on deck. Le "N.B.T." (Noel Brisson Transport) Construit par Armand Imbeau en 1939?, 75' long, porté jusqu'à six voitures. Notez l'écart de l'autre côté pour les voitures, et les deux rampes sur le pont. 1930's Text describing the Tadoussac-Baie Ste Catherine crossing in the late 30's in the biography of Jean-Louis Gendron, former NCB Bank employee. On another trip, there was a storm. We had been waiting for three days in Tadoussac for a schooner that was making the crossing from Tadoussac to Baie Ste-Catherine. The docks of these two municipalities were covered with a layer of ice more than a foot thick. The postilion and I had crossed the Saguenay River from Tadoussac to Baie Ste-Catherine in a gasoline-powered boat through the ice. The tide being low, we were able to get on the wharf at Baie Ste-Catherine by means of a small cable attached to it by a coachman whom we had hired by telephone from Tadoussac! |It was hard to travel and work under such conditions in those days, but fortunately working conditions have improved considerably since then. Texte décrivant le passage frontalier Tadoussac-Baie Ste Catherine à la fin des années 30 dans la biographie de Jean-Louis Gendron, ancien employé de NCB Bank. Lors d'un autre voyage, il y avait eu tempête. Nous attendions depuis trois jours à Tadoussac une goélette qui faisait la traversée de Tadoussac à Baie Ste-Catherine. Les quais de ces deux municipalités étaient recouverts d'une couche de glace de plus d'un pied. Le postillon et moi avions traversé la rivière Saguenay, de Tadoussac à Baie Ste-Catherine, en chaloupe à gazoline, à travers les glaces. La marée étant basse, nous avons pu monter sur le quai, à Baie Ste-Catherine, au moyen d'un petit câble attaché à ce dernier par un cocher que nous avions engagé par téléphone de Tadoussac! || était pénible de voyager et de travailler dans de telles conditions en ce temps-là, mais heureusement les conditions de travail se sont sensiblement améliorées depuis ce temps. JACQUES CARTIER The first real car ferry, holding 12 cars ~1930's - 1958 Le premier véritable traversier pour voitures, pouvant accueillir 12 voitures ~Années 1930 à 1958 Au quai d'Anse à l'Eau, Tadoussac . Le Jacques Cartier et un bateau CSL Baie Ste Catherine Circa 1952 Une belle photo de Jack Molson At right, the Morewood family, Bill, Betty (my mother) and their mother Carrie (Rhodes) Morewood. (colourized) VVV BULLDOZER VVV Vehicles are getting bigger in the 1950's! Larger ferries are coming soon. Both trucks are PUIZE TRANSPORT. Les véhicules grossissent dans les années 50! Des ferries plus importants arrivent bientôt. Les deux camions sont PUIZE TRANSPORT August 1950, the CSL Quebec burned at the wharf, and the Jacques Cartier came over to help. En août 1950, la CSL Québec a brûlé au quai et la Jacques Cartier est venue aider. Late 1950's, the Dewart Family waiting for the ferry at Anse à l'Eau, Tadoussac St Simeon, the big ferry crosses the St Lawrence to Riviere du Loup Saint-Siméon, le grand traversier traverse le Saint-Laurent jusqu'à la Rivière-du-Loup What happened to the Jacques Cartier Somewhere on the St Lawrence, not sure of the dates. These photos are NOT in Tadoussac! Qu'est-il arrivé au Jacques Cartier Quelque part sur le Saint-Laurent, je ne suis pas certain des dates. Ces photos ne sont PAS à Tadoussac! SORELOIS THE SORELOIS: Steel ferry built in 1899 in Montreal, and used along with Jacques Cartier between Baie-Sainte-Catherine and Tadoussac. LE SORELOIS: Traversier en acier construit en 1899 à Montréal et utilisé avec Jacques Cartier entre Baie-Sainte-Catherine et Tadoussac. Many of these photos are from the Facebook Page "Amateurs de Traversiers au Québec" (Fans of Ferries in Quebec) Thanks to all the contributors! Amateurs de Traversiers au Quebec Plusieurs de ces photos proviennent de la page Facebook "Amateurs de Traversiers au Québec" Merci à tous les contributeurs! SAGUENAY and CHARLEVOIX The "Saguenay" 21 cars and the "Charlevoix" 27 cars. 1958 to 1980 La "Saguenay" 21 voitures and la "Charlevoix" 27 voitures. 1958 à 1980 1962 on the ferry in winter My mother Betty Evans admiring the ice on the anchor winch. My brother Lewis Evans in the ski mask (it was cold!) 1962 sur le ferry en hiver Ma mère Betty Evans admirant la glace sur le treuil d'ancre. Mon frère Lewis Evans dans le masque de ski (il faisait froid!) 1964 The Royal Yacht "Brittania" escorted by the destroyer "HMCS Restigouche" 1964 Le yacht royal "Britannia" escorté par le destroyer "NCSM Restigouche" 1960's The ferry trying to pull the "St Lawrence" off the sandbar (see the SHIPWRECKS page) 1960 Le ferry en essayant de tirer le "Saint-Laurent" hors du banc de sable (Voir la page SHIPWRECKS) circa 1975 Forest Fire on La Boule The other ferry is probably the "Pierre de Saurel" in service from 1974 circa 1975 Feu de forêt sur La Boule L'autre traversier est probablement la "Pierre de Saurel" en service à partir de 1974 circa 1972 We used to "see people off" saying goodbye to Tadoussac at the end of the summer at the ferry wharf, probably the McCarters. Evan Ballantyne, Guy and Jean Smith, Susie Scott (Bruemmer), David Younger, Trevor Williams , Steven Webster, (Belle Ballantyne (Corrigan), David Williams (kneeling), Jennifer Williams, Cinny Price and her pet duck (who has a pet duck?), Alan Evans, Gwen Skutezky, Enid (Price) Williams, Sally Williams, Mary Fowler, Penny Younger circa 1972 Nous dirions adieu aux personnes qui quittent Tadoussac à la fin de l'été au quai du traversier Wait! That's not the right way! Where are you going? Attendez! Tu ne vas pas dans le bon sens! Où allez-vous? MV Armand-Imbeau (capacity 367 passengers and 75 vehicles) MV Jos-Deschênes (capacity 367 passengers and 75 vehicles) MV Félix-Antoine-Savard (capacity 376 passengers and 70 vehicles) PONT SAGUENAY Many studies have explored the feasibility of building a bridge at the mouth of the Saguenay River—a major and complex project due to the river's size. The preferred location would likely be around 8 km upriver from Tadoussac, near La Boule, rather than directly at Tadoussac. De nombreuses études ont exploré la faisabilité de la construction d'un pont à l'embouchure de la rivière Saguenay, un projet majeur et complexe en raison de la taille de la rivière. L'emplacement de choix serait probablement à environ 8 km en amont de Tadoussac, près de La Boule, plutôt que directement à Tadoussac. 107
- Armitage Rhodes | tidesoftadoussac1
Armitage Rhodes son of William Armitage Rhodes 1848-1909 Armitage (Army) Rhodes is the oldest of 9 children of Col William Rhodes and Anne Catherine Dunn. His daughter from his first marriage, Dorothy (Dorsh) Rhodes married Trevor Evans (half brother to my father, Lewis Evans). So Army is grandfather to Phoebe, Ainslie, Trevor and Tim. Brothers Francis and Army, returning from a shooting trip in Tadoussac with the Terriens. 1895 - Army with his children Dorothy and Charlie 1905 at Benmore Army Rhodes About 1907-8 with daughters Monica and Dorothy About 1905 on the Terrien Yacht on the Saguenay - back - Frank Morewood, Bob Campbell (who is he?), Bobby Morewood, his mother Minnie Morewood, Kate VanIffland second wife of Army. Middle - Sidney Williams and Billy Morewood, Nan Rhodes Williams and Lennox Williams. Front - Charlie Rhodes, ?, Nancy Morewood and Mary Williams Wallace. Note! 3 young people in the front row have cameras! If you have photos like these please let me know! 12
- William Rhodes & Ann Smith | tidesoftadoussac1
The Parents of the William Rhodes who came to Canada and Tadoussac The RHODES Family Back in time, in England... William Rhodes 1791-1869 and Ann Smith ~1795-1827 Lived at Bramhope Hall, near Leeds, Yorkshire, England. The house no longer exists. Married 1817. Children Caroline 1818, James 1819, Ann 1820, William 1821 , Godfrey 1823, Francis 1825, and then Ann died in 1827. Everybody on the Rhodes family tree is descended from these two. about 1920 These lovely paintings of Ann Smith and William Rhodes are from about 1820, before photography was invented! Thanks to Ainslie Stephen and Lew Evans. These are the PARENTS of William Rhodes (1821-1892) who immigrated to Quebec City, married Anne Dunn, had 9 children, and built the original Brynhyfryd in Tadoussac in 1860. Ann Smith died in 1827, 2 years after her 6th child was born. William lived a further 42 years, and never remarried. He wrote many letters back and forth with son William in Canada, and over 100 letters between them and other family members (between 1836 & 1890) have been compiled (with illustrations & photographs) in a 300 page book! I have printed and distributed about 20 copies, if you would like to get in on the next printing let me know! William (the father) lived in England his whole life, but he did come to Canada once, as he was a military man, and he fought for the British in the War of 1812, mainly in the Eastern Townships/Richelieu River area. He helped Canada stay out of the hands of our southern neighbours! Well done GGGGrandPa! Bramhope is just north of Leeds inEngland 8
- Short Stories by R Lewis Evans
Short Stories by R Lewis Evans R. Lewis Evans was an English Teacher who loved to write. Although his books are quite well-known, his short stories and articles belong mostly to the more distant past. It was during the 1940s and 1950s that magazine short stories were popular and sought after and Dad wrote over 20 of them. Most were published, and many are of interest especially to those of us who know and love the Lower St. Lawrence and Saguenay areas of Quebec, so I decided to get them out of the file and onto the web-site where they can be read once again. I've divided the stories into categories. While he wrote mostly river stories about the Tadoussac area, including some historical fiction, he also wrote 6 stories about World War II (4 of which overlap with our beloved river), and a number of odd inspirations, one biblical, several inspired by newspaper items, and even one (gasp!) Science Fiction. There are also some non-fiction articles which will be coming along later in the year. I love them all partly because he wrote about what he loved and I love it too, but partly because his characters are thoughtful, compassionate and real. I've included a few notes that he kept in the file. Some are news articles he drew his ideas from; others are comments he received from editors either printed in the magazine or sent along to him separately. I've also tried to reproduce the illustrations, duly credited, as all the stories that published were supported by visual art. Only one, Casual Enemy, has no illustrator mentioned. My guess is he drew that one himself. I've read all these stories several times in my efforts to get them up onto the web-site correctly and I've never tired of them. I hope you enjoy them. A fair warning: some readers might recognize a few people! Alan Evans NEXT PAGE R Lewis Evans More Stories "Zeb," he cried. "Zeb, come on up top. Bring your bucket. make it quick." In Case of Fire A Short Story by Lewis Evans (Published in The Standard, October 5th, 1946 - $60.00!) ILLUSTRATED BY MENENDEZ The old hand and the novice found hostility turned to friendship in a battle with death THE windward edge of the fire was below them now, a line that straggled across twenty miles of forest and ate its way in little salients doggedly westwards against the draught. Downwind, ahead of the aircraft, all was confusion for countless square miles—white smoke, and gray and brown, air-borne ashes, and occasionally the peach-glow of flame dimly reflected on the driving smoke. Don Ross, late of the RCAF, held the F-24 on its course, passing over the centre of the vast burning area where thousands of cords of Northern Quebec pulpwood were going up in smoke instead of fulfilling their destiny of providing Canadian and American papers with newsprint. With him in the cabin bronzed, graying Zeb Stearn sat with map on knee, pencilling in the present area of the fire for his report back to the Canadian Forestry Service and the Long Lake, Wolf Lake and River Beyond Pulp and Paper Company, which owned these limits. Old Zeb Stearn concentrated on the job and said nothing. He had been saying just that ever since they had taken off from the North Shore that morning. The northward border of the forest fire seemed to follow the curves of River Beyond, and Don Ross swung the aircraft in that direction. As they approached the river they could see that the fire had already jumped it in several places. Zeb Stearn noted them on his map. Suddenly Don peered at the river beyond the eastern edge of the fire, set the plane on a glide towards it, and then banked on a curve. He pointed, and Stearn followed his finger. A herd of caribou was fording the river to gain the safer north bank. Don turned to smile at Stearn, but the old fellow did not evince interest by even so much as a grunt. He was again working on the map. Don felt rather foolish, as though he had excitedly pointed out the Rhine to a man who had already made many operational tours. THE F-24 was now over the advancing eastern edge, of the fire, and the air was rough. Now and then the thermals rising from the hot earth bounced the plane uncomfortably upwards, and the cabin filled with the raw smell of smoke, making its occupants cough—the first sound Stearn had made so far, Don thought wryly. He started a slow climb to get above the smoke, and suddenly the engine sputtered, livened up again, and quit cold. Don worked at his controls, but nothing happened, and a great appreciation of the multiple engined aircraft he had known overseas was born in him in a flash. He shot a glance at Stearn. The older man’s face betrayed no emotion, but he was peering out at the landscape below — already looking for a spot for a forced landing, Don knew; and Don followed suit. Behind him was River Beyond, but like most northern rivers it was shallow, sown with rocks and seamed with sand and gravel bars—a landing there meant two shattered floats at the very least. To the south, beyond the path of the fire, was Wolf Lake, a perfect landing place, but with a cross wind and his present altitude he didn’t think he could make it. Downwind from the fire was the nearest water—he picked it out between waves of smoke—a tiny lake, almost round, possible for a landing, too small for a take-off. Don tried desperately to make up his mind—take a long chance on Wolf Lake, and maybe not make it and come down in the fire area, or land on this little pond and probably stay there, right in the path of the fire. Stearn grabbed his arm. "Wolf Lake,” he shouted. Don swung the gliding plane towards it, and as soon as he had done so he knew— knew for certain—they couldn’t make it. He shook his head and swung again, losing altitude rapidly. The little round lake appeared and disappeared through the smoke as though it were winking at him. "Okay, honey; here I come,” he murmured, and circled to come at it upwind. The tall spruce round it forced him to glide flatter than he wished, but he almost brushed their tops as he crossed them. The other side of the lake seemed to rush at him, a solid phalanx of dark spruces, but the pontoons took the water with a clumsy splash, the F-24 rocked forward as if she were going to stick her nose down, rocked back, and bucked gently into the matted bushes fringing the shore. “Well,” said Don, “here we are.” “And here we stay till we fry,” commented Stearn. “Why didn’t you try for Wolf Lake, where we could have fixed the engine and had room to take off?” “I knew I couldn’t make it,” said Ross. “It wouldn’t have been any fun putting down in the bush—and the fire.” “It was a chance,” said Stearn. “This is certainty. The fire will be here by tonight.” “We have plenty of water,” said Ross. “We can keep ourselves and the aircraft wet.” ZEB STEARN snorted. “Ever been close to a fire of this size?” he demanded. “Yes,” snapped Ross. “Mannheim.” “You weren’t as close to that as you will be to this, my boy. You try keeping the plane wet, and yourself wet, and breathing at the same time. Take my advice and drown quietly. It’s the more comfortable death.” “Oh, go jump in the lake,” said Don curtly as he opened the door. “I’m going to. I want to find what's wrong with this motor.” He dropped onto a pontoon. “Why?” demanded Stearn. “Even if you fix it you can't get out of here. “I'd feel a lot better if the engine could go, though.” “What're you going to do? Move it on top and take off straight up like a helicopter? We'll get to heaven soon enough without all that trouble.” “Aw, pipe down, and come and help me get this cowling off.” Stearn's reply was to settle back and light his pipe. For ten minutes Ross worked at the engine. The acrid smoke filtering through the bush and bellying out across the lake kept him coughing. Several times he turned the motor over without getting even a kick. At last he opened the cabin door. “Come on and have a crack at this thing,” he pleaded. “The smoke out here tastes much better than that ‘tabac canadien’ you’re inhaling, anyway.” “Fix the thing yourself. You're the pilot,” grunted Stearn. “Oh, come on. You know this engine much better than I do.” “How should I know anything about it?” Stearn's voice was heavy with sarcasm. "I'm too old to know about things like that.” The older man spoke with force, as though he were getting a weight off his chest. Ross stood looking at him for a moment. “Look, Zeb,” he said at length. “Let's have it. What's your gripe?” Stearn's eyes drilled him. “I'm too old – that's what they tell me. For years I fly this bush and never have any trouble—not like this, anyway—” he gestured at the tiny lake. “Then the war's over and they tell me that I’m too old, that young fellows like you must have my job, that I'm on the shelf. On the skids, more like,” he added bitterly. “Who says so?” demanded Ross. “When I got the orders to cover this fire,” said Stearn, “they gave me to understand very plainly that you were the pilot, and I was to leave the flying to you. I was to go just because I knew the country, because I have experience.” THERE was a silence. Don had only come to the base a week ago, but already he had heard the story that Zeb Stearn had learned his flying in World War I, had come to the bush in 1919, and long ago had been forced to reckon his air time in months instead of hours. He felt sorry for the old fellow, and admired his pride and his record. He felt that what he said next—and how he said it—was desperately important. “Well, you may be too old, and you may not—I haven’t seen you fly. But I’ll tell you two things: first, I’ve seen plenty of pilots who were too old at twenty-one; second, I’m darn glad that you’re along.” “Thanks,” said Zeb Stearn dryly. "It’s nice to be wanted on what looks like a fatal journey.” Ross grinned at him. “Come on and play with the engine.” Zeb Stearn climbed out of the cabin, a little stiffly. “Why do you want to fix it?” he demanded. “It’s just work for nothing.” “Feel a lot better when it’s in working order,” said Don, and Stearn snorted. “We can move it to the far side of the lake, keep it wet with buckets, and maybe save it.” Stearn turned on him almost savagely. “You talk a lot of hot air,” he shouted. “Save it for what? A curiosity for the caribou?” He ended up coughing. Ross gestured towards the yellow and black fuselage and the big CF and three more letters on the wing. “That’s the best mark there is for anyone looking for us,” he said shortly. That shot went home, for Zeb Stearn nodded and turned towards the engine. “Air intakes clogged up, I’ll bet,” he said. “Those ashes, maybe.” Inside ten minutes he proved himself right, and the engine exploded into life. Don Ross plunged waist deep into the water and weeds and brush of the lake edge and heaved on a pontoon. Slowly he worked the aircraft round and shoved out from shore. Live sparks were falling round them as they taxied to the down-wind edge of the pond, and when the motor was cut they heard for the first time the actual sound of the fire to the west, a faint menacing roaring that rode on the wind. Zeb Stearn listened to it for a few minutes and shook his head. “There'll be a hot time in the old town tonight” he quoted. “Put on all the clothes you have, get well soaked in the lake, and have a wet rag to tie over your face.” Don nodded. There were a canvas bucket and a galvanized iron one in the plane, and he was tying a length of rope to the handle of each. He got a blanket from a packsack in the cabin, wet it, and draped it over the nose of the aircraft. He climbed onto the wing top and sent a few preliminary buckets full splashing over wing, fuselage and tail, killing several hot sparks. The exertion made him pant a little, and his coughing became steady from then on. IN THE last of the afternoon light he saw a couple of porcupines and a skunk pass along the shore near by, all very intent on their business, which was travel. The faster moving animals and the larger ones must have cleared out long ago, he thought. Smoke snuffed out the last of the daylight, and the fire became visible, like a nearer after-glow of the sunset, silhouetting the tall timber on the west bank of the pond. Right opposite him, across the water, the trees seemed more widely spaced, and Don could see an inferno of flame roaring towards him. Now and then an evergreen ahead of the fire would flare with the roar of a rocket as its branches caught, and then the blackened trunk would be surrounded and hidden by flames. Don had a sudden qualm—the gas in the tank. Perhaps they should have tried to drain it off somewhere, but it was too late for that now. He went on lowering the bucket, dragging it up, sloshing the water on the aircraft. Below him he could hear old Zeb wheezing and coughing as he stumbled waist-deep from side to side underneath the plane, dashing water up at the fuselage and tail assembly. Now and then Don's clothing steamed out and began to feel hot, and he had to climb down and dunk himself in the water. He fought against the temptation to stay in its delightful coolness — each time the climb back seemed tougher, dragging his sodden clothes, and each time the plane was drier and hotter as the first bucketful dashed over it. The hot blast of the wind seared his throat and was painful in the lungs, and coughing was agony that never ceased. His thoughts became disjointed and he knew it and could do nothing to marshal them. In case of fire break glass . . . for use in case of fire . . . those funny axes like tomahawks — if he had one he could chop up the plane and save it from being burnt. Nuts — that was all wrong. Ice — that would be swell, a great big block of it on top the plane, melting and running down all round. Heat, hot as hell, hot air . . . “You talk a lot of hot air." Zeb had shouted . . . hot air bouncing the aircraft upwards — up — hey! wait a minute! Don slithered down into the water and ducked his head under. Hot air — thermals — there must be a lift from all this heat — quite some lift. In the red glare he measured the distance across the water — not enough, of course, but that place where the trees were more widely spaced — even as he looked the branches of the spruces flanking that gap went up with a roar and a fountain of sparks. “With those branches gone and the heat,” he thought, “there’s a chance.” “Zeb,” he croaked. “Zeb, come on up on top. Bring your bucket. Make it quick. He clambered up again, wincing as the heat blasted through the cloth muffling his face. Zeb dragged himself up, and Don told him. “We could hold her while we rev. her up,” he added, “and get a fast start.” Zeb Stearn manipulated his bucket in silence, and squinted at the far bank of the pond. “I don’t like the frying pan,” he said at last. “I'll take a crack at the fire with you." Don left him to sluice her down, and dragged a mooring rope from the cabin. He wrestled it into a sort of bridle on the rear struts of the undercarriage, stumbled ashore with the end, and took a turn round a tree. Already sparks had started fires on this side of the water, he noted. HE GOT up on top again at last, his mind snatching at the problems to be solved. “Go on down, Zeb. Get yourself cooled off, and then start her up. When she’s ripe race her a couple of times and I’ll come down.” Stearn literally fell into the water and Don could hear his coughs bubbling through the wetted mask. Get the blanket off the nose, chuck it in the lake . . . up with a bucket, slosh it on, up with a bucket — the branches seem burned out of that gap . . . the trunks are burning now . . . up with another . . . which pocket's my knife in? . . . got to get it . . . He felt the aircraft heave as Zeb got aboard again, and then the engine started. The slipstream blasted the heat at him and dashed the water away in spray. He couldn’t wait for Zeb to signal. He plunged down, got his head into the cabin door, groped for and found a packsack to wedge it open a bit against the slipstream. “You take her up,” he yelled at Stearn. “No,” shouted Zeb, “You take her — better chance . .” “You gotta take her,” Don yelled. “I’ve got to cut the rope. You couldn’t climb back in — Zeb Stearn nodded. He knew he was too old for that. “Give her the gun,” yelled Don. He had knife in hand now, and crouched on the pontoon, one hand gripping the door jamb, the other holding the blade on the quivering rod-like rope. The engine roared, the aircraft strained, and water squeezed from the taut rope. Don slashed and the plane leapt forward. Water and spray snatched, at his feet, hot air punched and tore at him. Inch by inch, straining and groaning, he fought his way into the doorway. Head and shoulders in, he felt the aircraft lift steeply. He panted and prayed. Zeb Stearn sat like a statue. There were flashes of fire and blackouts of smoke and then, suddenly, he gasped air that was fresh. With a last struggle he got his legs in, kicked the pack out, and the door slammed shut. He lay half on the floor, half on the seat for a minute. Zeb was coughing again, he noted, coughing continually, and he was heavy on the controls. You could feel it. “Take over,” the old man wheezed. “Can’t take it, I guess . . .” They changed places with the supreme care and slow effort of drunken men, and Zeb slumped in his seat. Don Ross settled his course by the stars and shivered. The cold was seeping through his wet clothes, blessed cold. Not good for the old man, though, he thought. “Get out of your clothes, Zeb,” he said. “Get a blanket or something.” Stearn moved slowly and said nothing. He seemed to be trying to stifle his coughing. Don suddenly realized that he was broken by the knowledge that he was too old — too old to climb into a moving plane, yes, but far worse than that — too old to fly it after that tough afternoon. Don eased the plane gently off course, steering a wide arc under the stars. “You sure lifted us out of that frying pan, Zeb,” he said. “Nice piece of judgment. I was glad to be out of that job.” ZEB STEARN said nothing, but went on fumbling with the blanket and coughing sporadically. Don tried again. “Check my course, will you, Zeb?” he asked. “I'm not sure of myself.” Zeb glanced at the sky, and gestured Ross back onto his former bearing. “Thanks,” said Don. “I'm a bit shaky on direction in these parts. You navigate, huh?” Zeb Stearn slowly straightened in his seat and cocked an eye at the sky. “Okay, I'll navigate,” he said. “Steady as you are.” There was a pause, and then Zeb added, “Don't you worry, Don. I'll get us home.” The End Note: 22 years after he wrote this story Dad was interested to find this short article in the Montreal Star, (Sept. 28, 1968) which tells of a similar, if less successful, situation. Team seek to salvage vintage plane from lake Kapuskasing Ontario, Sept. 28 — A federal team will go into a remote lake in this area next week to salvage an ancient seaplane that may be the last of its type in the world. The Curtiss HS-2L has been sitting in the silt in about five feet of water since 1925 or 1927, when the vintage “flying boat” made a crash landing on the lake. Air museums all over North America have sought one of the twin-engined H-boats, used as submarine hunters during the First World War, then as bush planes, but the one on the lake bottom is the world’s only confirmed find. R. W. Bradford, curator of the aviation and space division of the National Museum of Science and Technology, described it in Ottawa today as “a real find.” A team from his division will salvage the plane for the museum. The work may take a year. The HS-2L’s last flight was a colorful combination of ingenuity and farce but not tragedy. Bush Pilot Duke Schiller was forced down by engine failure on the tiny lake or so the story goes. The engine was repaired but to take off from the short lake, Schiller had the seaplane tied to a tree while he revved it up to full throttle. A woodsman was supposed to chop the rope at the appropriate time. The woodsman chopped but the rope was only partially severed. The fearless lumberjack then gave the rope a shake and it broke, hauling him into the lake as the seaplane burst away. Maybe it was the drag of the lumberjack but the plane didn’t gain quite enough altitude to get over the trees. It brushed them, then gently twisted back into the lake. No one was hurt but the plane was written off as a loss. The Fishermen Published in the Quebec Diocesan Gazette, (November, 1968) By Lewis Evans CARRYING the fishing rod, Joe left home at dawn for two reasons: he wanted to be a hero, and he couldn't stand another day of listening to his little brother Johnny whining. He really couldn't blame Johnny for whining, because Johnny was desperately hungry, and not old enough to understand why, or tough enough to be brave about it. Joe was both, because he was seven years old. But he was desperately hungry too, and had been ever since his father had had the accident at the mill, and was still too sick to work. Joe wasn't sure just how he could be a hero, but he figured if he could be the breadwinner even for one day his father would be pleased, and perhaps Johnny would stop whining for a while. The last time his father had gone fishing, on a holiday a week before his accident, he had taken Joe with him, and they had caught nine fat perch. Well, his father had done the actual catching, but Joe had helped by finding some of the worms for bait. As Joe ran down the valley path he had visions of coming home as proudly as his father, with nine perch dangling from a hooked twig. When he came to the place where the stream had undercut the valley side in flood-time, and had caused a small landslide, he stopped and put down the rod and started digging into the soft earth with his fingers. There was a worm - but he was too slow, and got only half of it. Those things could really move. There was another, and this time he was quicker, it took him about half an hour to get a dozen, and he shivered when he felt them wriggling in his pocket. He picked up the rod, and ran on down the valley, which flattened and widened out into grasslands as he neared the shore of the lake. The sun was higher now, and it was going to be hot. Where the stream flowed into the lake and the fishermen’s boats were drawn up it was too shallow for fishing from the shore, but a couple of hundred yards to his right there was a steep bank, and the water there was deeper closer to shore, and shaded at this hour by the height of the bank. Joe scrambled to the very edge of the bank and peered down. The lake water was very calm, and he could see the stones and pebbles dim and wavering on the bottom. He unwound the line from the rod, and impaled a wriggling worm on the hook. There was no barb on the hook, and Joe was afraid the worm would wriggle off, but that was a chance he had to take. He dropped the hook into the lake, and watched it waver down till it was on the bottom. He twisted the rod over and over so that it wound up the line a little and the hook hung about a foot above the pebbles. Then Joe began to learn how hard it was to be a hero. Nothing happened. The sun climbed higher, and it was getting hot. He tried to concentrate on the line where it passed through the surface, watching for any tremor that might be the sign of a bite. He felt a little dizzy, lying there staring down, and his eyes didn't focus very well. He pulled up now and again to check the worm, and twice found it had wriggled off and he had to put on a new one. He began to feel that nothing would ever happen, and he again raised the rod to check the worm. This time something did happen - the line went taut, and there was weight and a wriggle on the end. He scrambled to his feet and raised the tip. The rod bent a little, and there was a flash and then a splash on the surface. Joe heaved back and the perch soared over his head onto the grass behind him. He dropped the rod and fell on the perch, which had come off the hook, finally got hold of it, and banged its head on a stone, bruising his fingers. Triumphant, he laid the perch - it was a very small one - in a shady spot, and baited up. Where there had been one surely there were more. Sure enough, hardly had his hook broken the surface when he felt a tug. He jerked up and thrilled to the pull of the line. He swung the rod up violently, and it cracked and the tip sagged. He dropped it and snatched at the line, pulling hand over hand, and another perch came flipping to him over the edge of the bank. Two! But the rod - it was finished, it wasn't much of a rod really, and his father could make another when he was better, but how could he, Joe, catch more perch? Two little ones wouldn't mean much at home, and without a rod he couldn't get the line far enough out from the bank. He unwound the line from the broken rod, wondering how else he could be a hero. Putting it in his pocket he felt the remaining worms, and thought of throwing them into the water. That would be nice for other perch, but not for the worms. Instead, he dropped them to fend for themselves in the shady spot, and picked up the two perch. They were so small he didn't bother with a twig to carry them, but stuck them in his pocket where the worms had been. He was aching with hunger and discouraged. How could he get something more than two little perch to take home? Suddenly he put his head back and sniffed. A gentle breeze was blowing down the hillside now, and the odour it carried was like an answer to his question. Someone at the little farm had been baking. Perhaps . . . Joe started up the hill, not knowing what he would do, but drawn irresistibly by the smell. There was the squat little farmhouse, and there, off to one side, was the hump of a clay bake-oven. Joe paused in the last cluster of bushes before the open ground around the farmhouse. There was the farmer's wife, laying her baking in a row to cool on a wooden bench in the shade thrown by the house. Joe stared, and his hand crept to find the size of the perch in his pocket. He could hear Johnny's whining, and see his father lying hopelessly on his mattress. The farmer's wife wiped her hand on her apron, took a look at the sky, and went into the house. A moment later she reappeared with a basket of linen, and went round to the back, out of sight. Joe moved forward, and then broke into a tip-toe run. he reached the bench, and snatched up as much bread as he could carry, ramming it under his arm, and darted back to the bushes, he looked back, panting. There was no movement. Crouching, he started away to his right, back towards the valley that led homewards. Keeping among bushes and trees wherever he could, he stumbled along, sweating. He felt the heat of the bread through his shirt, and the smell of it was almost unbearable. Ahead of him was the crest, and beyond was the valley, wide and grassy near its mouth. He reached the crest and stopped dead. The valley was full of people. Joe sank behind a bush and stared, he had never seen so many people in one place in all his life. He had never imagined that there were that many people in the world. What could they be doing there? For a moment the awful thought flashed in his head that they were all waiting for him, to catch him and punish him for stealing the bread. But they weren’t looking at him. They were all in groups of different sizes, some standing, some sitting, some moving about from one group to another, and all, it seemed, talking at once. What in the world could they be talking about? Joe straightened up and moved closer. He had never been more curious. Closer and closer till he was almost up to the nearest group. Why were they there? Suddenly a big strong man, just an ordinary fellow, a fisherman perhaps, turned and looked straight at Joe, and his eyes fell on the bread. He started towards Joe. Joe dropped the bread and turned to run, but in a couple of long strides the man had him by the arm, and swung him to a stop. “Here, my lad,” said the man, “not so fast. You have nothing to fear.” Joe looked up at him trembling. The man did not look angry. He was smiling down at Joe. “Where are you off to with all that bread?” he asked. "I . . . I don't know,” said Joe, and in his confusion he really didn't. “Well,” said the man. “I'll tell you what. How about letting me have the bread? I'll find some way of paying you back for it.” “But I need it,” cried Joe. “That's all right,” said the man. “I'll see you get some more. But right now you just let me have it, will you?” And with that the man stooped, and swept up the bread, took Joe by the arm again, and led him into the midst of the nearest group of people, and up to a tall gentleman in the centre. “What have you there, Andrew?” asked the tall gentleman. “There's a lad with five barley loaves,” answered the man called Andrew, “he is willing to help us.” Some strange impulse sent Joe's hand to his pocket. “I have a couple of fish too,” he said almost proudly, pulling them out. The tall gentleman smiled, and all the people around laughed when they saw the two small fishes. * * * “I think, Joe,” said his father after the men had gone, and Joe had told his story, “you'd better take some of those twelve baskets to the farmer's wife, it may be only fragments of bread and fish, but there is more than you and I and Johnny can use, and, as the gentleman said, it should not be wasted.” The End NOTE: I remember when Dad wrote this story, back in 1968. At chapel that morning at Bishop's College School where he taught, the lesson for the day had been from the Gospel of John, Chapter 6, Verses 1 - 14, The Feeding of the Five Thousand. For some reason Dad took an interest in the actor in the story with the smallest role, and of the smallest size. Dad went back to the staff room and spent every spare minute he had that day writing feverishly and telling his colleagues to go away! I have included the text of the gospel reading below: John 6:1-14 Revised Standard Version (RSV) Feeding the Five Thousand 6 After this Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tibe′ri-as. 2 And a multitude followed him, because they saw the signs which he did on those who were diseased. 3 Jesus went up on the mountain, and there sat down with his disciples. 4 Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand. 5 Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a multitude was coming to him, Jesus said to Philip, “How are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” 6 This he said to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. 7 Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii[a] would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.” 8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, 9 “There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what are they among so many?” 10 Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place; so the men sat down, in number about five thousand. 11 Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted. 12 And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, “Gather up the fragments left over, that nothing may be lost.” 13 So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten.14 When the people saw the sign which he had done, they said, “This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world!” Winged Victory PUBLISHED IN THE MONTREAL STANDARD November 1, 1947 ($50.00!) He'd been waiting since last Hallowe'en to show them he wasn't afraid anymore By Lewis Evans ILLUSTRATED BY JEFF CHAPLEAU Pete cowered, and a sob of fear shook him “WELL, I made them for you,” said the old lady, and watched the light of excitement and anticipation flare up in Gordie’s seven-year-old eyes. He bounced off the chair by the kitchen table. “Oh Granny, did you? Can I see them? Can I see them right now?” “They’re upstairs. You’d better come up and try them on, in case they don’t fit.” Gordie shot out of the kitchen into the hall and up the long flight of stairs. The little old lady could hear his restless feet drumming their impatience on the floor above, but, spry as she was, she did hot hurry. “Wings, indeed!” she murmured as she started up the stairs. “What an imagination they have at that age!” When Granny Tompkins reached the top of the stairs she opened a large linen closet, and from the bottom shelf drew out a complicated black object. As she unfolded it it resolved itself into a pair of wings, and, between them, a sort of hood with pointed ears and nose, and slits for eyeholes. Gordie’s round eyes could not take it all in at once. They darted here and there, and his feet danced under him. He recognized parts of two huge old-fashioned black umbrellas — or was it one of them cut in half ? -— that made the framework of the wings and gave them their bat-like trailing edges. He remembered those umbrellas among countless other treasures he had seen in Granny’s marvellous attic. But over the umbrellas was some shiny black stuff, sewn on as though it were feathers, stuff that shook and rustled as the wings were moved, and the same material covered the head and shoulders. “Oh Granny!” cried Gordie. “They’re wonderful! Pete won’t have anything as good as this for his costume. Why — why he may even be scared of me in this!” Gordie became so enthralled at the prospect that his Granny had to shake the wings to recall his attention. “Here,” she said. “You’d better try them on. Why are you so worried about Peter Martin?” "OH,” said Gordie, as he struggled to get his arms into the tight sleeves that ran across the forward edge of the wings, “he thinks he’s pretty good. At the Hallowe’en Party last year he was dressed like a skeleton, and he kept jumping out and scaring people, and—” Gordie paused. “And?” “And he jumped out and scared me when I was passing the cemetery on the way home. I was dressed as a ghost and I tried to run and I fell down and I cried.” “And he’s never let you forget it all year, I suppose?” said Granny. She knew Peter Martin and had some idea of the constant battle Gordie had with him at school. Peter was a year older, but in the same class, and at everything but school-work he was just a little bit better and stronger and quicker than Gordie. “There,” said Granny. “They fit pretty well. How do you like them?” Gordie contorted himself trying to take in the general effect. “Can I go down to the hall and look in the big mirror?” he asked. “Of course,” said Granny. Gordie bounced to the head of the stairs. He was already savouring a triumph over Pete. “Whee! I’m a bat!” he cried, and he spread his wings and jumped down two steps at once. Then he emitted a shrill squeak of surprise and fear, which sounded quite bat-like, for his feet barely grazed the second step down, and he found himself floating swiftly and silently down into the gloom of the big hall below. Granny Tompkins gave a gasp of amazement and started down the stairs at a speed that did not look much like that of a seventy-year-old, but before she was half way down Gordie caught a wing-tip in the hatstand and crashed to the floor. “Gosh, Granny, they work!” he gasped, struggling to his feet. “Are you hurt, boy?” demanded the old lady. “Gee, Granny, you sure are smart. Betcha Pete’s granny can’t make a pair that really work.” Granny Tompkins took Gordie by the shoulders and shook him. “Listen to me,” she said. “They’re not supposed to work. It’s — it’s an accident. You must promise me never to try to fly with them again. You might break your neck, and then what would your mother say? Will you promise?” “Aw, Granny—” began the boy. “Promise!” demanded the old lady. “Or I’ll take them back and break them up.” “I promise,” said Gordie reluctantly, starting at his macabre reflection in the hall mirror. “Very well. Now get along with you to school. I’ll put these away so no one will know, and you can pick them up here on your way to the party.” She watched Gordie go down the path and turn left along the road past the cemetery and the church towards the school. He had not even thanked her, but Granny Tompkins was wise enough to realize that that was a compliment to the magnitude of the thing she had done for him. He would have thanked her for a doughnut, all right. The joyance in his gait was enough thanks for her. Note: This article is the one Dad had pulled from the paper to inspire his reluctant students: The Montreal Gazette. ADVENTUROUS WOMAN MAKES PAIR Of WINGS Virginiatown, Ont., Oct. 2/46. CP. An adventurous Virginiatown housewife has invented a pair of wings which she uses to jump from buildings 20 to 25 feet high. Mrs. Phil Golden, the mother of two children, began working on her wings two years ago after disecting birds in an attempt to learn how they fly. She made the wings of parachute silk and bits of plastic. They look like a mass of gigantic feather-like pockets built onto even larger feathers. These feathers or air pockets flush the air back through the larger feathers on to a plastic back. In so doing, a vacuum is formed underneath the outer feathers. The vacuum together with a movable outer attachment at the wing tips allows for the possibility of propulsion by means of earnest wrist action. Mrs. Golden said a weak heart so far has prevented her from more stringently testing her wings. Up until now she has been jumping from platforms at least 20 to 25 feet in height. Most of her "flying" has been done at night because she is shy of publicity. She started folding up the costume, but then she paused, and stood in the hall staring thoughtfully at the wings. “YAH! Gordie Allen — think you’re smart, eh? We all know you’re Gordie Allen.” The words ripped through Gordie’s disguise, and inside the black hood his face turned scarlet with disappointment and rage. Peter Martin was supposed to be a black cat, and he had a long black tail made of stuffed cotton stockings. Picking it up in one hand he swung it at the bat, and Gordie felt the umbrella ribs buckle under the blow. Powerless to retaliate, he turned to walk away, and another blow curled itself round his ankles and he fell to his knees. “Weren’t you scared to come?” went on the hateful voice. “Bet you went all the way round by Main Street so you wouldn’t pass the graveyard. “Bet you’re scared to pass it going home. Remember last year?” “I am not scared,” exploded Gordie, forgetting his incognito. “I’ll go past it any old time,” and he moved away, followed by Pete’s unbelieving laughter. There were witches on broomsticks and owls and ghosts and all sorts of spooky creatures in the big assembly hall, and the decorations were all orange and black, and there was even orange coloured stuff to drink and black candies that tasted much as they looked, and were probably designed to induce dreams of “things that go bump in the night.” GORDIE forgot all about Pete Martin for a while and began to enjoy himself again, but all of a sudden his stomach felt empty and his heart dropped into the void. Pete was nowhere to be seen! Gordie knew what that meant. The party was nearly over. Pete had gone to hide in the cemetery. When Gordie went past he would jump out and scare him. If Gordie detoured it he would broadcast the fact that he was afraid to pass it. Miserable, Gordie lingered in the coatroom as the children left. Finally, last of them all, he started homeward, his battered costume clutched under his arm. As he passed the church his steps slowed, and his ears and eyes strained to catch some forewarning of Pete’s onslaught. The tombstones loomed grey in the darkness to his right, and his footsteps grated loudly on the road. Suddenly, far ahead of him, there was a piercing shriek. He stopped, frozen stiff. Then there came the sound of running footsteps, pounding down the road towards him. He couldn’t move. “Gordie! Gordie!” It was Pete Martin, white-faced and panting. He grabbed Gordie by the arm and cowered behind him. “You should’ve seen it. It flew down out of the sky and landed right beside me . . . it was like a great big black bat with big black wings . . .” GORDIE tried to steady his voice. “Where were you?” he asked. “In the cemetery.” “Yeah — down at the end near the old Tompkins place, where there aren’t so many gravestones. I—I was waiting for you. . . . Come on, Gordie— go round by Main Street with me.” In all his confusion Gordie’s mind was able to realize that this was his great opportunity, if he only had the nerve to use it. “There’s nothing to be scared of in a cemetery,” he said stoutly. “Come on, Peter. I’ll take you past.” He gripped Pete’s arm, which made him feel a little braver himself, and set out. “We’re nearly past,” he whispered to the dragging Pete as the black shape of the Tompkins place loomed against the night sky ahead, and the tombstones on their right thinned out. Pete’s fingers sank into his arm. “Look,” he breathed, and pointed. Silhouetted over the roofline appeared a winged creature, and suddenly it launched itself into space, floating down towards the cemetery. Pete cowered, and a sob of fear shook him. Gordie braced himself. If it was Granny Tompkins practising flying with the wonderful wings she had hit upon, he wasn’t scared of her. If it wasn’t—well, they were nearly past, and the street lamps began in another hundred yards. “Come on,” he said. “There’s nothing to be afraid of.” And he led Pete on. NEXT morning Gordie fell in beside Granny Tompkins as they came out of church. “Enjoy your party?” she demanded. “Sure did,” said Gordie, and told her all, ending in triumph with the victory over Pete. “You sure are a wonderful grandmother,” he added. “I bet not many guys have grannies that can fly.” Granny Tompkins made no rejoinder, and after a short pause he clutched her arm. “It was you, Granny, wasn’t it? It was you who flew?” The old lady hesitated, and then glanced round to make sure no one else could hear them. “Yes,” she said. “It was your Granny, all right. Thought I’d scare that Pete for good and all. But don’t you breathe a word of it, Gordie.” She shot a frightened glance at the long line of respectable neighbours filing out of church. “Just think how folk would talk!” “He’d never go by it again, day or night,” she added to herself, “if I told him the truth.” She had gone to bed with a headache last night — right after supper. THE END Short Story 3300 words DEAD MAN STEERING by Lewis Evans UNPUBLISHED (Dad always said there was no accounting for publishers who couldn't recognize sheer genius when they saw it!) AHEAD in the darkness, a pair of red and green running lights, canted at a sharp angle, told Pete that a sailing vessel was beating up the Sound towards him. He stuck his head down the cabin companionway and called to his wife. “Ann, there's a yacht about a quarter of a mile ahead. Want to have another try at a night photo?” “Sure.” Ann left the supper she was fixing in the galley, grabbed up the necessary equipment, and came out into the cockpit. “Careful going forward,” warned Pete. “There's a fair sea running.” They took most of their photos from the forward deck of the cabin cruiser in order to keep their own wake out of the pictures. Pete had built a sort of sword-fisherman's pulpit just aft of the anchor bitts. “Don't worry about me,” said Ann, climbing round the edge of the bridge deck. “Concentrate on getting me a good angle and distance.” Pete altered course to pass close to the yacht on her leeward side, so that her angle of heel would present her deck to the camera. Experience had taught him that most yachtsmen liked to see all their favourite gadgets in a photo, and most of these were on deck. Pete cut down the speed, and the little cabin cruiser's exhaust made bobbling noises as her stern squatted and lifted in the quartering seas. He hoped that the motion of the boat wasn't too difficult for Ann's aim, and that their speed in passing the yacht wouldn't be too much for Anne's camera. It would have been better to turn and run with the yacht, but it was too late for that. The green starboard light was abeam, and the flashbulb went off. Pete got a momentary impression of a yawl under plain sail smashing along close-hauled, and then the blackness of the night contrasting with the white flesh left him blind. He closed his eyes tight for a moment, and then opened them, and could pick out once more the flashing lights of buoys and the shore lights a mile away. Ann clambered back into the cockpit. “Not bad,” she commented. “I got it at the end of a roll, so I don’t think the camera was moving too much.” She went below and back to her job as cook, and Pete advanced the throttle and steered for their anchorage at Porthaven, twenty minutes away. The worst of this racket, he thought, was that it looked to the outsider as if his wife did all the work. And so she did, as far as the photography went, but he was learning the job fast and had some outstanding pictures to his credit already. And the boat was his responsibility - its maintenance and navigation, and the selling end of the business too. He had become engaged to Ann during the war, when he was in the Navy and she was a photographer for a small town newspaper. He remembered the first date they'd had after he'd been demobilized. He remembered the canned music in the little restaurant, and the cuba libra on the table, and that he had had to drink it with his left hand because his right was gripping Ann's under the tablecloth. He remembered too how desperately they wanted to get married, and how they had got the idea that had made it possible. “Got a break last week,” Ann had told him. “Had to cover a sailing race for my paper - it was for a trophy the paper puts up every year. I was lucky and got a really perfect picture of the winner crossing the line, and now one of those boating magazines wants to buy it for a cover, and the owner of the yacht wants a dozen big prints.” “Yachtsmen love to have pictures of their boats,” Pete had said. “Guess it's because it gives them something to dream over through the winter.” “Yes, and they never can take them themselves, because they’re always aboard the boat at the most photogenic moments,” added Ann, and Pete had got the idea. “Look,” he cried. “We want to get married and have somewhere to live - the only thing I know is boats, the only thing you know is photography - “ “Not the only thing, Pete,” murmured Ann. “Well,” continued Pete after a pause while his eyes answered that one, “we get a boat out of what I saved in the Navy, and live on it, and follow the regattas and races and sell photos of their craft to owners. Why, we could go South in the winter and keep right on with the job.” And so it had worked out. “Sea-Photos, Inc.” was well established, and the thirty foot cabin cruiser Photofoam was beginning to be recognized and welcomed at regattas and yacht clubs. Pete eased the cruiser into the anchorage, put her into the wind and cut her way, and went forward to drop the anchor. After supper the cabin became a darkroom, and the day’s take was developed and printed. Later, when Pete had worked over Lloyd's Yacht Register and other lists, small prints were mailed to owners, with a price list of enlargements. “That flashlight job we took on the way home looks good on the negative,” said Ann. “I'm going to enlarge it right away.” Night photos were an experiment they were trying out - the novelty might be good advertisement. So far their attempts had been disappointing. He bent over the developer tray with Ann. He still got a kick out of watching a picture emerge on the white paper like a ship breaking out of a fog bank. Slowly the photograph materialized - much the same as the split second impression he had got at the moment of the flash. He made out the yacht's name, Mistress Mine , on a ring lifebuoy on the shrouds. Suddenly Ann drew in her breath sharply, plucked the enlargement out of the developer, slid it into the hypo, and pointed. Her finger indicated the only figure visible on the yacht - the helmsman in the cockpit. “Look, Pete, look!” she breathed. Pete bent closer. The man sat with the long tiller tucked under his arm, and his bare head was slumped forward and to one side, presenting his right profile to the camera. Down his cheek ran a dark smear. “That man's dead,” whispered Ann, and her voice shook. “Get a magnifying glass and turn up the light.” Pete took the lens and peered through it. He couldn't be sure, but it certainly looked as if that dark smear started from a round dark spot on the helmsman's temple - a spot that could be a bullet hole. “But Pete, it's impossible - the yacht sailing straight on like that....” “No, it's not. With a yawl close-hauled and well balanced, and the hold he has on the tiller, even if he is dead - that's what would happen. She'll plough straight on till the wind shifts or she piles into something.” Ann sat down suddenly. “But who – what....?” she began. “Look up Mistress Mine in the register,” ordered Pete. “I'm getting the hook up.” “But Pete,” cried Ann, “you can't handle this. Go ashore and phone the police.” “Meanwhile the yawl piles up and the evidence is lost.” He scrambled forward and hove on the ground tackle. In three minutes the Photofoam was at full speed, bucking the chop in the Sound. Ann came to his side at the wheel, the register in her hands and a flashlight to read it by. “'Mistress Mine , yawl, built 1938 by....'” “Skip that,” cut in Pete. “Who's the present owner?” “'Joseph D. Bartram,'” read Ann. “Oh, Pete, I know who he is - he's 'Little Joe' - he's a sort of successful racketeer. The paper I worked for used to have a lot to say about him. He's always mixed up in something shady like gambling and the black market, but he always keeps just out of trouble.” “Just the sort of guy who'd get himself bumped off,” commented Pete. “But who - ?” began Ann and her voice suddenly lowered. “Pete, the murderer might still be aboard.” “Uh-huh,” said her husband. “But why should we stick our necks out? If it's 'Little Joe' he probably got what was coming to him, and I'm not crazy to meet his murderer.” “Listen, Ducky,” said Pete; “our picture is very dramatic, but it might be a picture of a suicide, not a murder. If we find the Mistress Mine as she was in the picture, and no gun in Joe’s hand or on the cockpit floor, we know it was murder. Personally, I think we may find the yawl, but I don’t think we’ll find Joe.” “Why?” “Seems to me the murderer would plan to tip Joe overboard with a weight to keep him down, and leave the yacht drifting, as though he’d been knocked overboard by the boom in the dark. That has been known to happen to men sailing single-handed. No body, no crime - and no Joe. A perfect set-up.” “How does the murderer get away from the yacht himself, though?” asked Ann. “Maybe we'll be in time to find out,” said her husband. “The yawl carries a dinghy, but that would be missed. To make it a perfect crime he would have to be taken off by a pal in another boat, or better still sail the yawl in close to shore and swim. Then no one need know he was there.” There was a pause while Ann thought it over. “Pete,” she said, “if you're right the murderer must have been aboard when we took the photo.” “He must have been somewhere below,” said Pete. “My guess is he hid aboard, waited till Joe sailed her well offshore, and shot him from the darkness of the cabin.” “Well, what about our flash?” demanded Ann. “What would he think of that?” “I don't know. He wouldn’t see much from inside, especially when the portholes on the side near us were heeled 'way down almost to the water. I don't think he could help seeing a bit of a flash wherever he was. He might have thought we'd raked him with a spotlight for a second. I don't think anyone would think of a photoflash.” There was another pause, and again the girl broke it. “You'll be careful. Darling? If we find the yawl, I mean?” “Of course. You're the only wife I've got.” “I don't know why I married such a madman,” sighed Ann. “If there was any truth in what you said when you proposed,” said Peter quickly, “you couldn't resist my good looks and you were dying to get your hands on my money.” Ann let him have a left jab to the ribs and Pete slid an arm round her and sought safety in a clinch. The Photofoam ran down the Sound on long zig-zags. The breeze was moderating and the water calmer. It was after midnight now, and most pleasure craft were snug in anchorages, so Pete was not surprised when the first running lights he picked up turned out to be those of the Mistress Mine . As the cabin cruiser closed the distance between them Pete switched on his spotlight and caught the yawl in its beam. She was hove to, fore reaching a few yards and then luffing and falling off. “There's a man moving about in the cockpit,” he said. “Get your photoflash and give it to me. We'll be friendly and pretend we think it's 'Little Joe' - what's his other name?” “Bartram,” breathed Ann. Pete leaned beyond the side wing of the bridge and hailed. “Mistress Mine , ahoy! Do you need any help?” “Sounds just too romantic,” he heard Ann murmur behind him, and his brain took a split second off to think what a swell girl she was. “What boat's that?” demanded the man on the yawl sharply. “Take us alongside,” Pete told Ann, “and give me that camera.” He slung it round his neck and clambered forward. “Photofoam , of Sea-Photos, Inc.,” he shouted. “We saw you hove to, and thought you might be in trouble. Mr. Bartram, isn't it?" The direct beam of the spotlight was off him now, but Pete could make out the man steadying himself with his left hand on the cockpit coaming. His right was below its edge; Pete could guess what that hand held. “No trouble, thank you,” the man replied, and Pete felt he could almost hear the fellow's brain racing to explain his position. At length the explanation came out. “I am cruising single-handed,” he said, “and I was cold, so I hove to to go and get myself some warmer clothes and a drink.” He paused, and then asked as if he couldn't resist it, “How do you know my name?” “It's our business to know yachts and who owns them,” said Pete. “We take photos of them, you know. Mind if I take one now?” “Portrait of a murderer,” Pete's brain quoted at him. The flash was over and he was blinded again before the man's reply started. In the blackness Pete moved quickly to one side. He was afraid of a shot. “No - I don't mind a bit.” The words came smoothly and slowly, and Pete's impression was that the man on the yawl had everything figured out now. “How many have you aboard?” the voice went on. “Can't see a thing after that flash.” “Two,” replied Pete. “Myself and my wife.” Only a yard or two separated the craft now. “Come aboard and join me in a drink,” the smooth tones continued. “The boats will be okay alongside each other - there’s little wind now. Come along.” The last two words were edged with insistence. “Hell,” thought Pete. “I'm behind the eight ball now. He’s got to have the camera....” His stomach contracted as his mind added, “and he’s got to have us, too. We're too close - he can get us both if we try to scram.” The boats bumped gently. “Play along, play along with him,” Pete’s mind kept telling him. “Maybe you'll get a chance to slug him or something.” He moored the cruiser fore and aft and helped Ann out of the cockpit. She slipped and he caught her to him. “It’s 'Little Joe',” she breathed. Pete's brain reeled. 'Little Joe' was the murderer, not the victim. Who, then, was the corpse? Bartram was awaiting them in the cockpit, his right hand in the huge side pocket of the heavy canvas hunting jacket he wore. He motioned them down the companionway ahead of him. “Whisky, rum, gin?” he asked. “Glad to have someone to drink with. Sit down, won't you?” Pete sat on a transom on one side of the central table, and Ann beside him. Joe moved past the table on its other side towards the door in the bulkhead at the forward end of the cabin. Beyond it was the galley, Pete guessed. “Whisky for me,” said Pete. “Ann?” “The same, thanks,” said Ann. She looked at her husband, and for a second her eyes crossed. Pete felt that his senses were leaving him, and then he got her warning - 'Little Joe' would probably fix those drinks, the two of them would go out like lights, and he would dispose of them and their films as he wished. Bartram was standing in the doorway, his left shoulder towards the cabin. Pete could bet that the gun was out of that right side pocket now and handy to grab. Bartram smoothly small-talked about the delights of night sailing and his sentences were punctuated by the clink of bottles on glasses. They couldn't refuse the drinks - that would just bring the gun out. They must drink, and go out like lights - out like lights - like a flash.... Pete remembered the way the photoflash had blinded him twice already that evening. He unslung the camera from his neck, and leaned over Ann as he put the sling over her head. “Here, Honey,” he said, “why don't you try a snap of this cabin? It's a swell job.” And he added under his breath, “You flash, I switch 'em.” Bartram placed the drinks on th e table, Ann's, Pete's, his own at the end nearer the galley. Ann stood up. “How about a picture, Mr. Bartram?” she smiled. “'The skipper at home' - that sort of thing.” She raised the camera. There was a pause and Pete imagined Bartram thinking, “One more doesn't matter - camera and all will be at the bottom of the Sound in a few minutes.” “Okay,” said 'Little Joe', leaning back against the side of the doorway, glass in left hand and his right in that side pocket again. Pete's heart sank, but Ann came through. “Put the drink down, if you don't mind. They spoil a photoflash - er - reflections, you know.” 'Little Joe' placed the glass on the table. “Ready?” asked Ann. “One, two, three....” Pete knew she was counting for his benefit and on three he shut his eyes. The flash was still perceptible through his eyelids, and he opened them quickly, reached out both hands, and switched his drink and Joe's. Then he looked up to find Joe passing a hand over his eyes and blinking. Pete copied him. “Some flash, eh, Mr. B?” he laughed. “Well, here's cheers.” He picked up his glass and knocked back about half of it. Thank Heaven it was whisky too - had 'Little Joe' decided on something different that gun would be out with his first sip. He was glad to see Ann fussing with the camera, not drinking. “Mud in your eye,” said Bartram, and to Pete it sounded as though, he meant it. The Sound had a muddy bottom. 'Little Joe' drained half his glass, and noticed Ann's preoccupation with her camera. “Drink up, lady,” he invited. He raised his glass to her. “Here's luck.” With that his knees folded and he crashed down across the table. Pete leapt on him to pinion his arms and yelled the one word “Rope” at Ann. Their haste was from fright rather than from necessity, for 'Little Joe' was out cold. In two minutes they had him trussed up, and Pete broke open the gun he had taken from his pocket. “One shell fired,” he commented. “But who at?” “At whom,” corrected Ann automatically. She was crumpled on a transom, white and shaking. Pete raised her head and kissed her. “Stick with me a little longer. Darling,” he said. “Pull yourself together.” He pointed forward. “There's a big sail-locker in the forepeak - that's probably where Joe hid when the other guy sailed the boat out into the Sound. But who was that other guy?" His eyes fell on a club bag on the port side berth. He started pulling out shirts, a toilet case, an opened envelope. “Ann,” he said, “ever heard of anyone called Victor Marsh?” “Sure,” said Ann. “He's an associate of 'Little Joe's'. He was up on a gambling rap last year. Got off with a fine or something, though.” “Listen.” Pete had the letter out of the envelope. “'Dear Vic: In reference to our conversation yesterday, about your borrowing the Mistress Mine next week end, you can pick her up at her moorings in Flounder River any time Saturday afternoon or evening. Have a good cruise, and don't worry about being single-handed - she handles very easily. Drop into the office Monday and tell me all about it. Joe.'" “Exit Vic,” commented Ann. “Don't let me hurry you, but don't you think we'd better scram? We're not close enough to land for Joe to swim ashore, so he must have been waiting for a pal to come and take him off.” Pete sprang into action. He lowered the yawl's sails, left them lying unfurled, and took her in tow. When they were some three miles on their course to Porthaven he caught a glimpse of a speedboat's white bow and red sidelight as she whipped by a mile away. Perhaps she was going to pick up 'Little Joe'.” By five in the chill dawn a sleepy Porthaven policeman was in charge of the yawl Mistress Mine and her passenger, police headquarters had been notified, and detectives were on their way. Once more the Photofoam dropped her hook. Pete yawned and stretched. “Bed, bed, beautiful bed!” he exulted. “Pete I'm going to develop those last two pictures first. If they're good we're famous.” “Aw Ann,” expostulated her husband, “for Pete's sake-” Ann smiled at him. “Okay; I'll come – for Pete's sake.” The End (Short Short Story) 1000 words (Date unknown. Sometime in the late 1970s or 1980s.) (Unpublished) FLASH POINT by Lewis Evans We on the planet Nereus, who have through these many aeons communicated with each other by thought-transmission, find it limiting to try to express ideas in the antiquated medium of language. However, as my report concerns the planet which calls itself ’Earth' (but which we know as The Flasher) it would seem appropriate, and an interesting exercise, to express the report, this time, in an 'Earth' language. I have chosen the language they called English, for it was, perhaps, used by most of the people responsible for the recent incident on their planet, though had the incident been delayed for a few of their years the Russian and Asiatic tongues might well have been by then the sole surviving languages. It is with this incident that my report is mainly concerned. We have, of course, been expecting it for some time, for these things generally run true to pattern, but the thing happened while the attention of most Nereans was centred on the Millenium Peace Celebrations on The Blusher (which in 'Earth' parlance, ironically enough, is called Mars after, of all things, a war god), and I was, by chance, the only close observer on this planet. My attention was first attracted to 'Earth' by my happening to notice the detonation on that planet of two nuclear explosions in short succession, evidence that the inhabitants had developed their intelligence and ability to the point where they had discovered and begun to make use of that type of energy. These first two explosions, which occurred at almost the same spot on the 'Earth's' surface, were shortly followed by others, of different intensity and at varying intervals and widely separated points. Assuming that the inhabitants of various parts of 'Earth's' surface were, as usual, at war with each other, I thought it might be interesting, and useful for our records, to have detailed information about the steps leading up to the inevitable climax of a nuclear competition, and so, through our normal channels, I arranged to obtain this information. I dispatched, therefore, a thought-conveyor of moderate size to 'Earth' from an orbit where it had been cruising until needed. It landed successfully in a good central position, and immediately went into action, receiving significant thought emanations from various parts of 'Earth', and relaying them to our receiving recorders here. The accuracy and delicacy of this thought-conveyor were well attested, by the way, almost as soon as it got there, by the fact that it immediately absorbed and passed on to Nereus the news of its own arrival. I record the actual item here as a quaint insight into 'Earth' lore, though, of course, it is scientifically ridiculous: “Saskatoon, Saskatchewan (an English language place name): Scientists here announced today that a meteorite ('Earth' name for our thought-conveyors) is believed to have fallen in barren lands near the northern borders of the province. An expedition under the leadership of Professor Hegstein is being organized to ascertain the exact locality of its crater and other scientific data.” (Though hardly credible to us, there is a widely accepted belief on 'Earth' that certain large circular declivities on the planet's surface mark the landing places of what they call meteorites. We, of course, know what really created these ancient craters, and the latest ones as well.) As soon as I began to correlate the information which came in from our thought-conveyor, I realized that my first conjecture had been wrong. The widely spread and sporadic detonations of a nuclear nature were merely the proving of scientific products by various inhabitants of 'Earth' who were, apparently, working independently of each other, and against 'Earth' time. It seems that each group felt that the more powerful and more numerous the items of nuclear energy it had, the less likely would any other group be to use its own stock against them. This state of affairs, with each group afraid of provoking the other, and yet equally afraid of falling behind in stock and power of nuclear energy, continued for some 'Earth' years, until I was almost convinced that the moments I devoted to its observation and record were being wasted, since the outcome was a foregone conclusion. However, curiosity as to the exact manner of the actual impulse which would promote the final incident prompted me to persevere in my observation. The primary impulse was one that appears to be second nature to the inhabitants of 'Earth', and one without which they do not seem able to survive for any extended period of their time – war. A trifling dispute between two small groups over the control of a small area of solid surface surrounded by liquid - or it may have been over a small area of liquid surrounded by solid, for the thought-conveyor did not seem to be able to gather the details, or perhaps did not consider them worth gathering - and all inhabitants of the planet ranged themselves in one or other of the two camps. Some desultory campaigning with antiquated weapons ensued, but each side existed in fear of the other initiating the use of nuclear energy. This situation might have continued until I was sure that the subject was not worth my momentary attention, had not the secondary impulse suddenly occurred. A single individual of one of the opposing groups, while controlling an air-borne vehicle on patrol over a large liquid area, feeling, no doubt, weary of the situation in general and of his own activity in particular, yawned uncontrollably. His primitive pressurized garment became disarranged, he made a sudden movement to adjust it, and triggered a nuclear item which his vehicle carried as a precaution against the surprise use of such by the other group. This item was detonated in the water area without damage to any inhabitants of the planet, but the detonation was recorded by both sides. At once each side assumed that the other had initiated a nuclear competition, and threw all its most potent weapons into the action. The result was an interesting - even spectacular - sight, and I was glad that I had not desisted from my observation a few moments earlier. First one and then another area of The Flasher, or 'Earth', was momentarily illuminated by the comparatively brilliant flashes that inspired our name for it. Beautifully patterned cloud formations occasionally obscured the play of light, and the emanations from our thought-conveyor became weak, confused, and distorted. Undoubtedly some of the larger detonations meant that the surface of the planet was again being pitted by large craters, and it amused me to conjecture that perhaps they in their turn would be explained by 'Earth' inhabitants of the future as the landing places of 'meteorites'. Hardly had it begun when all such activity ceased completely. The surface of the Flasher reappeared, unobscured by cloud or vapour, its well known features hardly altered, but with no illumination of any sort in any place. Needless to add, there was no communication whatever from our thought-conveyor, for a thought-conveyor cannot convey thoughts when there are none to convey. Such is my report of the most recent of such incidents on 'Earth'. Since we Nereans have been equipped to observe that planet, our records show that this is the fifth time that life on 'Earth' has destroyed itself, and, if the established pattern is repeated, in several Nerean years (or 'Earth' aeons) infinitesimal and primitive forms of life will gradually develop, and finally attain to the intellectual standard which is the prerequisite to the 'invention' of nuclear energy. Almost immediately, control of this medium will be lost, and it will once more destroy all life on the planet. If I thought that there was any hope that the pattern might be changed when next the inhabitants of The Flasher approached the flash point, I would be willing to take the time to observe the course of events. It would be an interesting study if they learned to live with and by what they have evolved, and it might even result in our having to discontinue the name The Flasher as inappropriate. (Short Short Story) (1000 words, Unpublished. Date unknown.) THE PLOTTER by Lewis Evans A great B-47 of a June-bug droned in through the open window of the class-room and started making bombing runs at the chandelier. Flak in the shape of Johnny Calder's Geometry book whizzed up and the dazed insect crashed on my desk. He was still alive, so I swept him into my pocket for future reference and was hard at work, like everyone else, when the master on duty stuck his head in at the door to see what the disturbance was. I wondered whether this particular bug was fast on his feet. The night before I had won thirty-five cents in the dormitory when my June-bug had been the first to crawl from the centre to the circumference of a circle chalked on the floor. Then I had sat on him by mistake at Prayers that morning, and so had to build up a new racing stable. The blank pages of the exercise book on my desk caught my eye. Old Hawk-eye, the English master, a guy with the most extraordinary ideas, had been teaching us the short short story in class, and we were supposed to have one written for him by next day. A thousand words to write, and I had not even the first glimmerings of a plot. I could remember most of his lesson, though. “Short first paragraph,” he had told us; “jump right into the middle of action at the beginning. Get some dialogue on your first page if you can. And don’t forget that somewhere in the first third of your story there must be a clue to your surprise ending - your 'kick in the tale'.” That was one of Hawk-eye’s little jokes - the same every year, they tell me. He had droned on about development of tension up to a crisis where everything was right for the crooks or the communists, or wrong for the cops or the Yanks or the British, and then the sudden twist. Oh, I could remember all that, but my mind was still as blank as the pages. The only thing I could think of was how I hated evening preparation in springtime, with the windows wide open and the smell of fresh leaves and grass coming in from the playing fields. “Hey, Johnny,” I whispered. “Lend me a cigarette? I’m going out for a smoke.” Johnny looked impressed - smoking is against the law at our school for some ridiculous reason. He found a battered butt in his pocket and chucked it across. I waited till the master - it was Davies, the Science man, and he's a bit vague or I wouldn't have thought of skipping out - went past again in the classroom corridor, and then I whipped over the window-sill. There was an eight foot drop to the ground, but I knew there was an old plank near by that I could lean against the wall to help me back. I had found it near the carpentry shop and brought it over for just such an occasion. I ran across the quadrangle, keeping out of the splashes of light from the windows, and ducked round behind the dark mass of the gym. There I sat down and lighted Johnny's weed and tried to enjoy life, but that blasted story was still on my mind. Perhaps if I started with the crisis I might get somewhere, I thought. Let's see - the good guy has to be in a jam. His plane's on fire and he has left his parachute at home - no, that's too tough; I'd never get him out of that. Well, he's a paratrooper, and on his way down. He realizes that he is going to land in the shark-infested sea, so what does he do? I don't know. Let's make him drift down over a volcano, and just when he thinks he's done for the hot air from the cone sends him up again; kind of hard to persuade old Hawk-eye there wasn't too much accident in that, though.... Oh, the heck with it. The cigarette was down to the last half inch so I stamped it out and started back. Half way across the quadrangle a familiar voice from the school steps said, “Johnson, come here." It was Hawk-eye in person, having a pipe in the fresh air - a good idea too, if I know his pipes. I started thinking fast and getting nowhere, except closer to him. “What are you doing outside the building during preparation?” he demanded. “Well, sir,” I began, and then I had an idea, a poor thing, but mine own, as someone said before I did. “Well, sir, Mr. Davies told us all to bring a specimen of insect life to his biology class in the morning.” “Yes?” “Well, sir, that's why I'm out here. I suddenly remembered I didn't have one.” “And have you succeeded in getting your - er - specimen, Johnson?” “Yes, sir,” I said, and produced the June-bug from my pocket. “Get back to your class-room,” ordered Hawk- eye. It was too dark to see the expression on his face, but his voice sounded amused. I don't think he liked Davies much. That meant I had to go back by the corridor instead of through the window, but Davies was quelling a noise in another class-room, and I made it without being seen. “Okay?” asked Johnny Galder. “Hawk-eye pinched me in the quad,” I whispered, “but I talked my way past him. I'm all right if he doesn't check with Davies.” As I turned to the blank pages of my English exercise book the bell went for the end of preparation. The next morning in English period old Hawk- eye made us read out our stories. The first two were passable, in a comic-book sort of way; lots of screaming jets and chattering guns spitting death, and stuff like that. Johnny was the third boy he asked, and he had summarized a de Maupassant story in the hopes that Hawk-eye didn't know any French. He did, though, and an afternoon dropped out of Johnny's life forever. Then it was my turn. “I'm sorry, sir,” I apologized, “but I couldn't think of a plot.” Hawk-eye chose to be sarcastic. “You couldn't have written a story with a June-bug as the hidden clue, I suppose?” he suggested in honeyed tones. And as he measured out my doom I thought, “My gosh! I could have, at that!” The End Dad did submit this story for publication but it was soundly rejected with the following note. I include it because Dad thought the note was very funny and he always kept it clipped to the top of his manuscript. NEXT PAGE
- Maps,Art&Images | tidesoftadoussac1
Tadoussac Historical Maps, Drawings, Paintings, Images- History of Tadoussac Early Tadoussac Maps/Images Cartes/Images de Tadoussac Tadoussac Harbour Sounds - Patrick O'Neill 00:00 / 00:00 Turn on SOUND on your computer Sounds from Patrick O'Neill Activer le son sur votre ordinateur Les sons de Patrick O'Neill The small portrait was drawn by Champlain of himself, the only known true image of him. The other portrait was painted 20 years after his death. This map of Tadoussac was drawn by Samuel de Champlain in 1600. He stopped in Tadoussac many times on his trips to Quebec. The map includes the Chauvin settlement of 1600. Le petit portrait a été dessiné par Champlain lui-même, l'image authentique seulement connu de lui. L'autre portrait a été peint 20 ans après sa mort. Cette carte de Tadoussac a été dessinée 15par Samuel de Champlain en 1600. Il a arrêté à Tadoussac à plusieurs reprises lors de ses voyages au Québec. La carte inclut le colonie de 1600 Chauvin. Champlain's map of Canada 1605? Tadoussac is here La carte de Champlain du Canada de 1605 Tadoussac est ici Champlain's map of Canada 1612? Tadoussac is here La carte de Champlain du Canada de 1612 Tadoussac est ici 1628 English under David Kirke in Tadoussac Bay by GA Cuthbertson 1628 Anglais sous David Kirke dans la baie de Tadoussac par GA Cuthbertson Champlain's map of Canada 1632? Tadoussac is here La carte de Champlain du Canada de 1632 Tadoussac est ici Huguenot Trader leaving the Saguenay by GA Cuthbertson Huguenot Trader quitter le Saguenay par GA Cuthbertson !!! In another dimension... CANADA ou NOUVELLE FRANCE south of the Great Lakes and MER DE CANADA !!! Dans une autre dimension ... CANADA ou NOUVELLE FRANCE au sud des Grands Lacs et MER DE CANADA Course map of the Saguenay River as told by les sauvages PITCHITAOUICHETZ Maps and Plans of the Navy 1744 by N. Bellin, Inginieur Navy Carte du Cours de la Riviere Saguenay appellee par les sauvages PITCHITAOUICHETZ Dressee sur les manuscrits du Depost des Cartes, et Plans de la Marine 1744 par N. Bellin, Inginieur de la Marine Montagnais at Pointe Bleue, Lac St Jean This drawing must be very old, showing Montagnais teepees on the plateau where Dufferin House now stands, and the small church and the Hudson's Bay Post in the background. The hotel is not built, maybe 1840. Ce dessin doit être très ancienne, montrant des tipis Montagnais sur le plateau où Dufferin House est maintenant, et la petite église et la Hudson's Bay Post sur le fond. L'hôtel n'est pas construit, peut-être 1840. Montagnais on Indian Rock Montagnais on Pointe d'Islet Montagnais in Murray Bay Hudson's Bay Post in Tadoussac mid 1800's? Merci/Thanks to L. Gagnon & Benny Beattie for maps This painting by Cornelius Krieghoff shows Colonel William Rhodes putting on his snowshoes Somewhere in Quebec Circa 1860 Cette peinture de Cornelius Krieghoff montre Colonel William Rhodes mettant ses raquettes à neige Quelque part au Québec circa 1860 Painting "Calm on the Saguenay" by C J Hay (collection Alan&Jane Evans) at Anse de Roche two natives sneaking up on some ducks - at left, Alan re-enacting behind the same rock, 2014. Peinture "Calm on the Saguenay" par CJ Hay (collection Alan et Jane Evans) à Anse de Roche deux indigènes se faufiler sur des canards - à gauche, Alan rejouant derrière la même roche, 2014. Painting "Squall on the Saguenay" by C J Hay Painting of Pointe Rouge by C J Hay Fishnet off Indian Rock, Pointe Rouge across the bay Filet de pêche près de Indian Rock, Pointe Rouge à travers la baie Late 1860's. Where does this road go? 1860's. Où est-ce que cette route mène? Tadoussac in 1860's by Washington Friend (1820-1866) from the collection of Lewis and Cathy Evans showing the original Brynhyfryd (Rhodes cottage) with the hotel and Hudson's Bay post in the background Tadoussac en 1860 par Washington Friend (1820-1866) de la collection de Lewis et Cathy Evans montrant Brynhyfryd (Rhodes cottage) avec l'hôtel et le Poste de la Baie d'Hudson dans le fond "Rocks on the Saguenay" by Washington Friend (1820-1866) 1865 Tadoussac by Edwin Whitefield from the collection of Michael and Judy Alexander Cid's Store by Tom Roberts 1969 Mosaic in tile and seaglass by Tom Evans 2007 Mosaïque dans carreaux et verre de mer Tom Evans 2007 2009 38
- Short Stories by R Lewis Evans
Short Stories by R Lewis Evans R. Lewis Evans was an English Teacher who loved to write. Although his books are quite well-known, his short stories and articles belong mostly to the more distant past. It was during the 1940s and 1950s that magazine short stories were popular and sought after and Dad wrote over 20 of them. Most were published, and many are of interest especially to those of us who know and love the Lower St. Lawrence and Saguenay areas of Quebec, so I decided to get them out of the file and onto the web-site where they can be read once again. I've divided the stories into categories. While he wrote mostly river stories about the Tadoussac area, including some historical fiction, he also wrote 6 stories about World War II (4 of which overlap with our beloved river), and a number of odd inspirations, one biblical, several inspired by newspaper items, and even one (gasp!) Science Fiction. There are also some non-fiction articles which will be coming along later in the year. I love them all partly because he wrote about what he loved and I love it too, but partly because his characters are thoughtful, compassionate and real. I've included a few notes that he kept in the file. Some are news articles he drew his ideas from; others are comments he received from editors either printed in the magazine or sent along to him separately. I've also tried to reproduce the illustrations, duly credited, as all the stories that published were supported by visual art. Only one, Casual Enemy, has no illustrator mentioned. My guess is he drew that one himself. I've read all these stories several times in my efforts to get them up onto the web-site correctly and I've never tired of them. I hope you enjoy them. A fair warning: some readers might recognize a few people! Alan Evans NEXT PAGE R Lewis Evans War Stories Casual Enemy (As Published in “Boating Magazine”, Vol. 18, no. 3, April, 1942) by Lewis Evans PIERRE TREMBLAY put down his pipe and listened. The hollow chug of a diesel engine had suddenly broken the silence of the bay as some craft rounded the steep headland at its outer end. “No running lights,” the old French-Canadian murmured to himself, and then he smiled at his own comment, for his own little work boat, anchored close under the rugged hillside near the head of the bay, carried no riding light. The bays off the Saguenay River are deep—thirty to a hundred fathoms; small craft have to anchor close to shore in order to find bottom, and lights of any kind attract mosquitoes from the woods. The jarring clang of a bell slowed the engines of the incoming craft, and Pierre sat back and drew on his pipe again. She was the “Phantome”. He knew that engine bell—it had been cracked for years. The “Phantome” was a diesel-engined coaster with a shady history. Five years ago, meeting her under the same conditions, Pierre would have known that she was bootlegging cheap French liquor from St. Pierre and Miquelon in the Gulf of St. Lawrence to the dry counties up river. Not much money in that game now, though, and the “Phantome” had been out of it since her crew had had to jettison a cargo worth well over a thousand dollars, and the pursuing government patrol boat had just enough evidence to get Xavier Bouchard, the “Phantome’s” captain and Pierre’s sister’s son, two years in the Quebec jail. Well, he hoped that Xavier was up to nothing that might get him into trouble again. That jail sentence had nearly broken his mother’s heart, for she was a gentle and pious woman. Perhaps he was netting salmon—that would get him a fat fine if he were caught, but the government boats were too busy trying to keep the St. Lawrence free from German submarines these days to worry about coasting vessels breaking the Fish and Game Laws. Only a week ago a freighter had been torpedoed out in the Gulf, not so very many miles from the Saguenay. Two patrol boats had already claimed the destruction of the submarine. Why couldn’t Xavier get some honest work, and save Marie, his mother, the anxiety which was making her old before her time? Honest work was to be had easily enough these days, though Pierre himself was not too sure what kind of a job he could pick up now that this work on the fish-hatchery dam was over. His had been the supply boat for that—a government project to build a salmon hatchery on the stream that emptied into the bay. Today the dam had been finished, the gang had been taken out by launch, and Pierre’s boat was loaded with shovels and picks, unused food stores, cement and dynamite. Ah well—he’d get something to do. There was work going on aboard the “Phantome” — sounded like heavy oil drums being rolled along the deck. Surely they would not be shifting their cargo at this time of night. Still no lights, and only occasionally came a subdued order. Pierre could see nothing — bateme, but the night was a black one. Then came the louder rumble of oil drums — empty ones. Pierre suddenly stood up and peered into the darkness. Surely Xavier could not be such a fool . . . but still, the St. Lawrence was a long way from Germany, and diesel engines needed fuel oil, and Xavier had always liked easy money . . . Quietly Pierre hauled in the painter of the ten-foot flat-bottomed boat that served him as tender. As he eased himself aboard he remembered to leave his pipe behind — the dynamite was stowed in the tender for safety’s sake. Two stealthy strokes with a paddle moved him away from his boat. The tide had begun to rise and a slight current set round the bay, drifting him towards the “Phantome”. At last he could make out the shape of the coaster, her stump mast, and the wheelhouse at her stern dimly silhouetted against the mouth of the bay. Pierre peered at her waterline . . . was there? . . . yes — a long, low, shelving shape protruded astern of the coaster. The submarine lay on the far side of the “Phantome”. Pierre worked his boat back against the tide, which was running more strongly now, and almost bumped his work boat before he saw it. He got aboard and sat down, holding the tender’s painter. Poor Marie — what would she do if Xavier got into trouble for this piece of work? And this might be only the first of many refueling episodes. Straightening up with decision, Pierre hauled his tender to that side of his boat farther from the “Phantome”. Leaning over, he worked fast. Once he paused to peer at the position of the coaster, once to dip his hand into the current slipping past the side of his boat, testing its strength. He rummaged in the cockpit and came up with a large reel of cod line, one end of which he secured to the tender. Leaning over the smaller boat and opening his coat wide as a shield, he struck a match. An end of fuse lay in the bottom; he lighted it and doused the match quickly. Manoeuvring the tender round the stern of his boat, he felt to make sure that the cod-line was not snarled, and then gave the tender a long, gentle push towards the “Phantome”. Sitting down, he carefully paid out the line as the little craft, in the grip of the tide, asked for it. The rumble of oil drums on the “Phantome” had ceased, and now came a clanking. She was weighing anchor. Pierre gave his tender more slack and felt her take it up. Slowly the coaster’s anchor chain clanked inboard, and her engine was started up. So much of the cod-line was now in the water that Pierre could not feel a definite pull from the tender, but he went on giving slack. The cracked engine bell jangled aboard the “Phantome”, and her propeller kicked ahead slowly. The clanking of the chain had ceased. Pierre found that the end of the cod-line was in his hand. Knowing the length of the line, and praying that his judgement of distance was right, he pulled in a fathom or two, and crouched in the cockpit. Suddenly there was a hoarse shout in the darkness — the tender had been seen. Pierre tensed, gripping the cockpit coaming. Then a flash lit the bay — lit up for a second the silver streak of the submarine stretching forward from the flash, three figures on the deck frozen in their movement, and the “Phantome” clear of the submarine and heading out of the bay. Pitch darkness blinded Pierre; a scrap of wood clattered into the cockpit beside him — of the tender’s gunwale, by the feel of it; his ears, deafened by the blast, heard dimly confused shouts and the hurried thump of the “Phantome’s” motor as she fled out of the bay. The old man, trembling a little, hauled up his anchor and started his motor. Expecting a fusillade of rifle shots at the very least, he zig-zagged along close to shore, heading for the open. No shots followed him, and he rounded the headland and dropped his hook in the next bay down the river. On such a night that explosion should have been heard in Tadoussac, two miles away at the mouth of the Saguenay. If so surely the patrol boat based there would investigate. Not long afterwards he heard the drone of the patrol boat. It swept up the Saguenay towards him, its searchlight probing. Pierre hastily lighted his running lights and got under way back towards the bay. The patrol boat caught up to him just off the headland. Pierre pointed towards the bay and was left rocking in the wake of the grey launch. By the time he had rounded the head the patrol boat was almost alongside the submarine, her searchlight and gun trained on it. There was no resistance, however, for the submarine was submerged and aground at the stern, her bow protruding from the surface at a sharp angle, her crew clinging to the deck. Apparently the blast had occurred near the stern, which had gone down, while the forward part of the hull remained buoyant. Pierre drifted up to the patrol boat. “What do you know about this?” demanded the Naval Reserve Lieutenant in command. Pierre explained, partly in French and partly in broken English, with expressive gestures, but not mentioning the “Phantome”, which by now should be far up the Saguenay, frightened to death but above suspicion. The Lieutenant expressed his amazement profanely, and added: “Meet us in Tadoussac. The government will be very grateful . . .” Marie would be grateful too, if she knew, thought Pierre. “And we'll get you a new tender and some more dynamite,” went on the officer. “Oh, the dynamite — it belonged to the government anyway,” said Pierre. The End He heard a yell and the sound of quick movement from the pit as he swooped towards it and tossed the grenade Monte Cassino Downhill (Published in The Montreal Standard, Spring of 1944) Lieutenant Johnny Martin takes a long chance on a tricky slope by Lewis Evans ILLUSTRATED BY GEOFFREY TRAUNTER TO USE his own expression, Lieutenant Johnny Martin was skunked. He crouched and shivered in the hole he had scooped in the snowdrift under a stunted bush and mentally compared it with what the Americans called foxholes in the Pacific battle zones. The only fox that might condescend to call this "home,” thought Johnny, would be an Arctic fox. The miserable shelter in which he crouched was on the southwest shoulder of Monte Cassino, and below him was the valley in which lay one of the main roads to Rome, the valley up which units of the Fifth Army were advancing towards the town of Cassino. Johnny could see the road down there, about a thousand feet below him, and the gaps in it where the retreating Germans had blown up the culverts. He could see the railway line, too, with the twisted girders of a steel bridge sagging into a small river; the Fortresses had fixed that, in a precision daylight attack weeks ago. The slopes on which he lay, and all the other mountains in that jumble of southern spurs of the Appenines, were deep in snow on their summits but on the lower contours the snow became patchy, and down in the valleys mud reigned supreme. The regiment would be wallowing in it as usual, Johnny thought. The Italian weather had been horribly wet for weeks, and turning cold in December had resulted in the unusual amount of snow on the mountains. Well, he thought, at least his snowdrift, if cold, was cleaner than the mud down in the valley. Opposite him to his left were the slopes of a smaller valley running into the main one, and that was where his regiment was. His problem was to rejoin them. The considerable obstacle directly in his way was a small sector of the German defenses, consisting of a machine-gun nest in the lee of a knoll about halfway down the shoulder of the floor of this minor valley. In front of the nest and below the knoll stretched a mare’s nest of barbed wire, protecting the gunners from a frontal charge. Their field of fire covered the lower slopes of the mountain, where the snow gave way to grass and mud. Monte Cassino had been causing the Allies plenty of worry as they hammered their way through ancient Campania. It was crowned by the huge monastery which had been founded by St. Benedict in the year 529, but that historical fact held little interest for the men whose job it was to rid the mountain of Germans. They hoped that the monks had had the sense to clear out before their mountain became a military objective, and wanted desperately to know if the Germans had established any form of artillery in or near the monastery or the ruined castle just below the two valleys and could break up any advance in force towards Cassino. Air reconnaissance had failed to reveal any gun sites, but the two buildings afforded such opportunities for concealment that the risk of advancing without further information was too great—hence Lieutenant Martin’s uncomfortable presence on the mountain and on the wrong side of the remnants of the German rearguard. JOHNNY had been amongst the Canadians who had qualified as paratroopers at an American training camp early in the war, and last night he had been dropped onto the slopes of Monte Cassino from an ugly Lysander Army Reconnaissance aircraft. In the gray December dawn he had scrambled up and onto the monastery courtyard to find the snow lying clean and untracked, and the great stone well standing in the middle as it had stood through the centuries of war and peace. Then he had slithered down to the ruined castle and satisfied himself that the Germans had established no artillery in either place. Possibly, Johnny thought, they considered the buildings to obvious, too likely to be bombed flat by Allied planes. Into the first rays of the morning sun as it rose behind the Allied armies Lieutenant Martin had flashed the pre-arranged signal which told the watchers that the buildings hid nothing of military importance, and then he had started for home. Worming his way down the shoulder he had seen the machine-gun post. He had expected something of the sort somewhere, and after reconnoitering enough to find that there were other similar nests on other parts of the lower slopes which the advancing troops would probably have to silence by mortar fire, he decided that his only chance was to wait until dark or until the Allied advance had cleared the enemy from their positions. So he lay and shivered, and considered the terrain below him. As the hours crawled by the sun warmed him a little, and the surface of the snow melted. Like spring snow in the Laurentians, thought Johnny, and his memory conjured up visions of Hill 70 at St. Sauveur, and beer and singing in the pub at night, and ski races against Dartmouth, and the Quebec Kandahar on Mont Tremblant, in the days when he was a Red Bird and used to ski for McGill. He thought of standing on the brow of Hill 70 in the cold brightness of a Sunday morning and watching the Montreal train, looking ridiculously small from where he stood, pulling into the station, and the unbelievable number of skiers who poured out of it and fanned out towards their favorite hills. From the stationary locomotive a great white plume of steam would go up like a huge mushroom, and yet he would be looking down on its top, just as he was looking down on this valley and the occasional mushroom of smoke from a bursting shell as some German gunners far up the main road searched for the Allied advance units. SUDDENLY Johnny’s gaze centred on a movement halfway down the slope and well to the right of the machine-gun post. Working round the shoulder of the hill was a man in the white parka of a ski-trooper, and to Johnny’s incredulous eyes he appeared to be on skis. He had apparently come from the steep zigzag road which connected the monastery with the valley below, and where another of the enemy outposts was. From his actions as he traversed the hillside he appeared to be carrying a load, and Johnny figured it must be ammunition or food for the post directly below. His surprise diminished as he realized that the man would hardly dare approach the post in daylight without that white protection, for a field uniform would be seen against the snowy slope from the other side of the valley. Perhaps the Germans had some mountain-trained and equipped regiments here. Their organization was supposed to be efficient and controlled by such inflexible rules that they might easily have sent skis with troops who were to fight in mountainous country even if the mountains were in Southern Italy. The skier moved on and eventually came to the post, stooped to undo his harness, and then dropped out of sight over the lip of the emplacement. Johnny’s thoughts ran on the subject of skis and skiing. Looking down over the machine-gun nest by the knoll and its protecting wire, he idly wondered whether a good skier taking off from the knoll could clear that wire below it. It might be possible, he figured, as the lower face of the knoll was cutaway steeply and the wire ran close under the face. The landing would be too flat for comfort, he thought, but one could hardly expect a natural jump to have everything. If he had some skis he could wait for night and the moon, which was strong, and then run straight for the knoll, lob a grenade into the nest as he passed, and hope that his speed would take him clear of the wire before he landed. If the grenade did its job and if no other machine- gun covered that field of fire — and he had seen no other post close enough to do so — he might ski on down to the snow-line and find cover and perhaps his own advancing units beyond that. Oh, well — what was the use of wishing? — but it seemed silly that after volunteering for a special ski course and being bored to death learning to “bear-walk” and do the “crawl” all over the snowy flats of Petawawa he should need a pair of skis in Southern Italy, of all places. The sun was sloping westwards toward the Mediterranean, and the air was getting colder. Johnny Martin thought of the long night on the mountain – he did not dare seek shelter in the monastery or the old castle as some of the Germans might have the same idea. Another twelve hours before he could reasonably expect his friends to attack – Johnny shuddered. “If I stay here all night,” he said to himself with a smile that was a bit grim, “I shall probably wake up in the morning with a very bad cold in the head – if I wake up. And if the attack doesn't drive those Germans away, or if we don't attack at dawn, I may have to stay on and on.” Anything was better than that, he thought. If that fellow in the parka would start back, and if he could get his skis. . . Johnny got out his large scale map. There was Monte Cassino, there was the winding road from the monastery to the valley, and there was the contour line followed by the skier from the road to the macine-gun emplacement. Johnny's finger followed along the contour line and stopped where it swung deeply in towards the mountain and out again. That must be a stream or stream-bed seaming the slope, he knew. If he could meet the skier in that gully they would be invisible from anywhere but directly above or below; they would be, as it were, in a fold in the ground. JOHNNY MARTIN got going. He wriggled out of his foxhole, and keeping the height of the drift between him and the post below he crawled up the shoulder towards the ruined castle, and then bore to the left towards the upper end of the gully. He reached it and slithered into it. It was just what he had expected – a rocky stream-bed with a trickle of water from the day's melting, a trickle that would be a torrent if the weather warmed up a little. Johnny scrambled down it till he came to the tracks made by the skier crossing the gully on the way to the post, and then he crouched by a rock a little uphill from the tracks and where he could see them disappear around the shoulder of the slope. The sun had gone, and visibility was being cut down to a few yards, until at around nine o'clock the rising moon should increase it considerably. Finally Johnny heard the indescribable sound of skis over snow, and a figure loomed against the sky-line. The Canadian gripped the icy butt of his automatic and tensed himself for a spring. The skier slid into the gully, lost his balance as his ski tips hit the opposite slope, and crashed with a grunt. He grunted once more – a grunt of surprise – as Johnny jumped on him and slugged at his head with the heavy gun. Johnny struggled to strip off the man's parka and heard it rip as at last it came away. Then he freed the skis and picked them up, together with the single ski-pole the German had been using, and started climbing up the gully with his spoil. Back in his shelter in the drift Johnny waited while the moon cleared the silvery summits of the distant hills. His plan was a chancy one, he knew, but he could not face any more hours in the damp cold and inactivity. WAITING for the moonrise he adjusted the leather harness to fit his boots, and his thoughts went back to cable bindings and long arguments before log-fires on the merits of super-diagonal and other down-hill devices. “'The time has come,' the Walrus said . . .” murmured Johnny and stretched himself flat on his skis. Using his hands and feet as a seal uses its flippers he slowly and cautiously tobogganed down the slope as far as he dared. There was a bush a hundred yards or so above the emplacement, and there he stopped. Beyond was the clear, steep ground, ground bathed in moonlight where he would be spotted if he tried to sneak across, then the knoll with the shadow of the weapon pit to one side of it, and dimly seen below the knoll was the tangle of wire. Crouching, Johnny got his feet into the harness and produced his two grenades from under his parka. One he left on the ground by the bush – he would only have time to use one, and he didn't like the idea of taking a mighty tumble with enough explosive on his person to blow him to bits, safe though grenades were supposed to be until the pin was out. Slowly he straightened up and launched himself forward. His skis gathered way, and for a moment his mind flipped back to a mad moonlight race on Mount Baldy one March long ago – then he was checking with a forced stem in the yielding snow and pulling the pin from the grenade. His skis came parallel again and he heard a yell and the sound of a quick movement from the pit as he swooped towards it and tossed the grenade in. Then he was on the knoll with his knees bent deep, snapping straight as he crossed the lip of the mound, and he had a blurred impression of white ground surging up at him and a roar from behind him. His skis hit the snow and he wavered, steadied, hit a bump and crashed with a cracking sound that he hoped was breaking skis, not rifle fire. He struggled up to find one ski intact and the other broken off short behind his foot. On he plunged towards the darkness of the valley, trying to keep most of his weight on the unbroken ski. A clump of bushes loomed up and he swung round it in a forward leaning turn that would have been appreciated on the Taschereau run, only to see a great patch of snowless ground beyond it. He tried to stop but his skis bit the earth, and he somersaulted madly. In the first roll his head hit a chunk of half-frozen turf and he was unconscious as he hurtled into a depression in the ground where a very large Canadian sergeant and two men with evil designs upon the German machine-gun nest were setting up a mortar. EVER since dark the sergeant had been heaving his bulk forward from cover to cover to get within range of that emplacement. To have his prospective target blow up for no good reason at all was one thing, he thought, but to have a one hundred and eighty pound unconscious lieutenant impinge on his stomach at that time of night was something else again. Johnny Martin came to dizzily to hear the sergeant emphatically muttering what seemed to be a prayer – except that the words were in quite the wrong order. The End NOTE: It was the following article in the February 7th, 1944 edition of the Globe and Mail newspaper which gave Dad the idea for this story. The (fuzzy and difficult to read despite my best efforts) original is included below. Germans Shell Abbey Housing Own Troops Montecassino Monastery (arrow) high above the town of Cassino, was founded by St. Benedict in 529, on the site of ancient Temple of Apollo. By C. L. SULZBERGER - New York Times Special to The Globe and Mail. Copyright With the 5th Army in Italy, Feb. 5 (Delayed).—German artillery, for some peculiar and perverse reason, today shelled the famous old monastery atop Monte Cassino where the Benedictine Order was born, although there is every reason to believe some of their own troops were within the vast abbey which the enemy is believed using as an observation post. Shortly after 3 p.m. this correspondent happened to be looking at the historic landmark above the lacerated town of the same name, where American troops are slowly battling their way forward in vicious street fighting, when geysers of smoke billowed from the abbey, standing out clearly in the crisp, bright atmosphere. As the smoke drifted southward in huge clouds, careful scrutinizing through binoculars revealed no visible damage. In order to ascertain the reasons for this extraordinary event, since Lt.-Gen. Mark W. Clark has issued strictest orders to his army not to fire on the abbey or any other papal property or a series of specified clerical buildings unless it is a question of the most vital military necessity, the writer made a careful inquiry among American artillery officers. Major A. J. Peterson, Minneapolis, Minn., who observed the same bursts and then inquired of various artillery observation outposts in the immediate vicinity of the monastery, said: “We could identify the shell bursts. There was one direct hit on top of the abbey. Our observers were able to plot the direction of the shells. They came from the north, in the Atinia region, and from the northwest which areas are in enemy hands.” Meanwhile, further evidence of Nazi violation of those few courtesies remaining in modern warfare was received when a French prisoner who escaped last night informed Allied authorities the Germans were forcing British, American and French captives to carry ammunition and dig positions in the Cassino vicinity. These prisoners are forced to labor under the shellfire of Allied guns, and there have been casualties among them. The Frenchman escaped during the night in the confusion following an especially heavy Allied barrage on Cassino positions still held by the Germans. He said that to the best of his knowledge, 12 Englishmen, six Americans, and two Frenchmen still remained with the enemy as prisoners in his group, doing forced labor under fire. Of Assistance to the Enemy (Published in the Montreal Standard, Date unknown) By Lewis Evans ILLUSTRATED BY BEN TURNER “AND SO,’’ concluded the announcer who was summarizing the news in French over Radio Rimouski that night, “of the ten German long-range bombers which made an attempt at five o’clock this morning to destroy the great dams at the head of the Saguenay River, seven were brought down by interceptor aircraft from Bagotville and Mont Joli before they reached their objective, one dropped its bomb load harmlessly into the waters of Lake St. John and was brought down by anti-aircraft fire, and the remaining two fled south from the fighters towards the St. Lawrence, jettisoning their bombs over uninhabited parts of the Laurentians. The crews of these two bombers are believed to have bailed out over the north shore of the St. Lawrence, as their aircraft were observed to crash in the river some miles off-shore. These men are being sought by military units and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. So ended the first enemy attempt to do to a Canadian industrial centre what the British succeeded in doing to the Mohne and Eder dams in Germany some time ago.” Old Captain Tremblay switched off the radio in the cabin of the coasting schooner St. Casimir, tied up at the wharf in Ste. Catherine’s Bay at the mouth of the Saguenay, and listened for a few moments to the comments of his companions as they continued their late meal. Outside, rain had come up on the rising east wind, and the three French-Canadians who formed his crew did not hurry over their food. They were in no haste to return to the rain-swept wharf and get on with the job of loading the St. Casimir with pulp logs. The Captain reached for his battered green-covered copy of “The St. Lawrence River Pilot” and turned to the chapter that dealt with the mouth of the Saguenay and the waters of the St. Lawrence in that vicinity, for he and his ship usually plied farther upstream, and his present route was not a familiar one. With his finger on the place he looked up. "Get going,” he ordered. “About twelve more cords to load. Tide’s full now. so the sooner we can sail the better — the ebb will be in our favor, and I don’t want to waste it.” “The three men, two deckhands and an engineer, put on their sodden caps and went out. Climbing the steep face of the dock they mounted the pile of four-foot pulp logs and bent to their work. With one hand they drove their short hooks into the logs and jerked them upwards, and then hook and free hand heaved them forward and downward into the semi-darkness to land with hollow thunder on the St. Casimir’s wooden deck, illumined by the half-hearted floodlight permitted by the dim-out regulations. When half an hour before midnight Captain Tremblay came out on the bridge to see how the work was going, the twelve cords on the wharf had become six and his men were on the schooner's deck converting the jumbled pile into a well-stowed deck load. The east wind had increased and even in Ste. Catherine’s Bay, sheltered by reefs from the open St. Lawrence, small waves were bunting the schooner against the wharf and her rubbing strake groaned from time to time on the massive piles. The Captain moved aft to slacken a taut mooring line, for the tide had dropped a foot or so. When he turned back there were four men on the deck amidships instead of three. As the newcomer’s shadow came between them and the light the workers straightened up from their task and stared. “Good evening,” said the stranger. “May I speak with your Captain?” He spoke in French, but each of the men listening knew at once that he was no French-Canadian. He was speaking careful school-book French, as most English-Canadians and Americans do. The engineer indicated Tremblay with a gesture and the stranger turned towards him. “Captain, you have a small boat—” he jerked his thumb aft, where the schooner’s lifeboat hung on davits across her stern— “and I want you or one of your men to take me out beyond the reefs to the St. Lawrence. I will pay you what you ask for your trouble.” “Impossible, monsieur,” exclaimed Tremblay. He motioned towards the pulp logs. “We have work to do and besides, the weather ...” He gestured vaguely towards the rainy darkness off-shore, and through his mind went the words he had heard less than two hours before—“The crews of these two bombers are believed to have bailed out over the north shore of the St. Lawrence. . .” “Nonsense!” said the stranger rather abruptly, and he took a step nearer the Captain. “There is no sea to speak of, and I saw from the wharf that your boat has an engine. I will pay you well. I must insist.” Tremblay was silent, staring at the man before him, a tall, fair fellow, bareheaded, who kept his hands in the pockets of a raincoat so soaked and dirty as to be colorless in that dim light. At length he spoke. “No sir,” he said firmly. “It can’t be done.” It was no surprise to him when his words seemed to lift the stranger’s right hand— and Luger—out of the pocket. “Listen, Captain,” said the German. “I am in a hurry. You or one of your men must take me where I want to go — out beyond the mouth of the Saguenay.” “Submarine!” murmured the Captain, stating a fact rather than asking a question. “Ha!” said the other. “You’ve heard of the bombing. There are U-boats at points off the north shore tonight and we were instructed to get to them if we could. You see my position — I will stand no foolishness. Make up your minds — will one of you take me, or . . .” THE CAPTAIN’S eyes travelled over the German. The man was tired — that was obvious. His clothing bore the marks of a day-long battle with the Laurentian bush. A tired man, but the tired man held the gun, and was impatient. The Captain turned to his men. “Lower the boat,” he ordered. The three men turned slowly and shuffled aft to uncleat the falls, conscious all the time of the gun behind them. Captain Tremblay followed. He was under no illusion — that Nazi might shoot one or all of them, whether they did as he told them or not. The blocks squealed and the eighteen-foot boat slid towards the black water. Tremblay glanced over his shoulder and saw the German peering at the illuminated dial of a military pocket compass—but the Luger in his other hand was still on the job. He turned to the German, who was putting the compass back in his pocket. “I’ll go with you,” said Tremblay decisively - and out of the corner of his eye he noted his men’s heads turn suddenly toward him. “That little compass you have - it's no good in a small boat because of deviation caused by the engine . . . and there are reefs outside, you know, and cross-currents. You must have a man with you who knows these waters.” “And you know them?” asked the German drily. “I was born near here,” stated Tremblay, conscious of the stares of his crew, who knew well that he was a Baie St. Paul man. The German was no fool. He saw the men stare and he saw the craftiness in the Captain's eyes, so naive that he almost laughed aloud at it. He could trust him as far as he could see him — and not even that far in a small boat. “Good,” he said. “Get into the boat, then, and start the engine.” Tremblay’s stomach felt cold. He had tried to make the man suspect a trap, and he did not know whether he had succeeded. He turned and swung over the schooner's rail and dropped into the boat under her counter. The German moved up and straddled the rail so that he could watch both Tremblay and the men on deck. The Captain set about priming the engine. After a preliminary cough or two it spluttered to life. The Nazi swung his other leg over the rail. “You make one move from where you are and I'll shoot your Captain,” he threatened the three men on deck, and then he, too, dropped into the boat. “Cast off those ropes and then get back aboard,” he ordered Tremblay. “Back aboard?” echoed the Captain. “Maybe you know these waters too well. Get back,” snapped the German reaching for the clutch lever, and as the other took a grip on the ropes hanging over the schooner's stern he eased it forward. The propeller bit the water and the boat shot forward and was swallowed up in the windy darkness. As Captain Tremblay climbed over the rail the three men on the St. Casimir's deck looked at one another and then all broke out talking at once. The Captain said nothing but made straight for the cabin, where he slumped onto a chair by the table on which still lay the battered green pilot book, open as he had left it. The others followed him in, jabbering. “Why did you offer to take him?” demanded one of the deck hands angrily. The Captain looked up wearily. “Because I wanted him to go alone. I remembered your Marie, Jacques, back in Baie St. Paul. She seemed too eager for the wedding, so you jilted her.” The deck hand’s puzzled look slowly gave way to one of understanding. Suddenly the engineer broke in. “Shouldn’t we go ashore and find a telephone?” he asked. “Perhaps a patrol boat could be warned to pick him up.” The Captain roused himself. “Telephone? Yes one of you had better report about the submarine.” “But the airman,” insisted the engineer. "Couldn’t they—” “They won’t get him,” stated the Captain. The finality of his tone fixed their questioning glances on him, and in explanation he pushed the open pilot book across the table towards them. “Read that,” he said, pointing to a paragraph. “It’s what I was studying after supper.” The engineer picked up the St. Lawrence River Pilot and read the paragraph aloud. “ 'The Mouth of the Saguenay River . . . The ebb tide from the Saguenay River on meeting the ebb from the St. Lawrence sets up very heavy tide rips, so strong as to interfere with the steerage of a vessel. When these ebbs are opposed to a heavy easterly gale, a particularly dangerous cross-sea is raised, which is considered dangerous to small craft, and in which no boat could live’.” The End The Sitting Duck (Published in The Montreal Standard, Date unknown) By Lewis Evans ILLUSTRATED BY GEOFFREY TRAUNTER THE LANDING BARGE lay as still as if she were floating on the fog rather than upon the waters of the North Sea. Somewhere, invisible, the sun was rising, and slowly the thick fog turned from black to grey. For the first time in hours the R.C.N.V.R. Lieutenant on the bridge could see the lines of his ship before him—that is if a medium sized landing barge can be said to have any lines at all. Lieutenant McNeil doubted it, and never could look at the scow-like bulk of his craft without seeing in his imagination the dashing motor-torpedo-boat he had hoped to command. At her very best speed his landing barge could hardly be called dashing, and for the greater part of an hour she had been anything but — she had been left powerless by a defective unit in her reduction gear. McNeil resisted the urge to go below again to see how repairs were progressing. He might as well stay where he was, and if he was sweating with impatience he knew well that the Petty Officer below was sweating too — sweating blood to get the repairs effected. Somewhere to the south and east was the attacking-force of which his craft was supposed to be a part — by now it should be fifteen miles away and almost grounding on the long, low sandy beaches of the Belgian coast, but there had been no sound of gunfire as yet. When his engines had failed he had had simply to drop out of the armada, the dense fog and strict radio silence preventing from letting even the commanding officer know of his plight. NO ONE but the commander of the force knew whether this attack was part of the real thing, the invasion itself, or merely one of the dress rehearsals or feints promised by the Prime Minister. Whatever it is, thought the Lieutenant as he gazed down into the waist of his ship, it will have to get along without those two tanks. He could just see them now, crouched one behind the other, facing the closed ramp at the bow, and their crews lounging round them and smoking. Suddenly McNeil raised his head and listened. Then he glanced at the Leading Seaman in the other wing of the bridge. He, too, had heard the faint throbbing and was peering into the blankness of the fog ahead. The Lieutenant crossed to him. “What do you make of it?” he asked quietly. “Sounds quite close, sir, but faint. Certainly not an aircraft — might be an M.T.B. or an E-boat throttled right down.” They listened again and the subdued hum continued, punctuated once by a faint clang. The killick swung toward McNeil. “Sub, sir!” he whispered urgently. “Surfaced and charging her batteries — that clang could have been a hatch-cover.” “Go forward,” ordered McNeil, “and tell ’em to keep completely quiet. Send someone below to tell the engine-room, too — and find out how much longer they’ll be.” “Aye, aye, sir.” The Leading Seaman slid down the ladder into the waist of the barge. The Lieutenant went from one to the other of the machine-gun crews at either end of the bridge and warned them. Their weapons were designed to ward off low-flying aircraft, and would be practically useless against the sub’s gun. The sun’s warmth could now be felt, and soon the fog would thin away. “That’ll be the pay-off,” thought McNeil, and resolved that while landing barges usually were known by numbers rather than by names, this one might well go down in history as “The Sitting Duck.” “Don’t know about history,” he added aloud, “but we might well go down.” THE IRONY of the situation struck him. For months as the junior officer in a Fairmile he had patrolled the Strait of Gibraltar hoping for a chance at a sub, and the nearest they had got was to let fly at a rock awash in the seas in the grey light of a dawn such as this. In consequence they had become the butt of their flotilla until a few weeks later when their flotilla leader made the same mistake himself with the same rock. Now, here he was with a sub within three hundred yards, and instead of commanding the M.T.B. or Fairmile that he had hoped for when he got his second stripe, instead of having a fighting ship to meet this opportunity, all he had under his feet was a glorified ferry-boat. The men were still lounging by their tanks, but their little motions and gestures of a moment ago had ceased. They were very still, very quiet. The Leading Seaman silently rejoined the Lieutenant on the bridge. He looked straight up into the sky above the ship, and then peered again towards the source of the steady humming. “Fog’s getting thinner, sir,” he said. “Whatever it is, it seems to be dead ahead.” McNeill resisted a light-headed temptation to say, “Wish it were dead, ahead,” and at that moment the Leading Seaman stiffened and pointed. Right over the ramp at the bows McNeil could make out a darker blur of fog. “Oh for a gun, a real gun,” he thought, and then swung towards the killick. “Lower the ramp,” he ordered, and threw himself down the ladder and made for the sergeant in charge of the forward tank, leaving the killick wondering if the Lieutenant had gone crazy. FOR MONTHS of the tank gunner's training he had been prepared to deal with various beach defences. Now as the ramp before him ponderously swayed outwards and sloped away to a level position he saw, framed in the gap, the silhouette of a submarine against the receding fog. “Gaw’ love me,” he muttered, spinning wheels efficiently, “join the Army and see the world." Figures rushed to the sub’s gun and it swung towards the landing barge. The tank gunner fired and as the barge shuddered at the shock there was a great splash close to the sub’s conning-tower. A shell from the sub screamed over the barge, carrying away the wireless mast. “Get his gun, blast you!” yelled McNeil in the general direction of the tank. He was back on the bridge and on either side of him the machine-guns were chattering ineffectually, for the sub’s gunners were protected by a gunshield. He afterwards thought that, though his words were inaudible in the surrounding bedlam, he had been rather rude to the tank gunner who, after all, was performing somewhat in the capacity of a guest artist. The tank’s second shell was over, but its third took the sub’s gun fair and square, and that was that. The figures on the sub's conning-tower disappeared and slowly her deck became awash — she was submerging. “Red, one-four-five, a ship, sir,” called the Leading Seaman. "Destroyer - one of the Hunt class, sir.” McNeil gave it a brief glance and then went on watching the disappearing conning tower. The sub had moved forward and was no longer ahead of the barge – the tank gunner could no longer see his target. IN A MATTER of seconds the destroyer plowed through the swirl left by the U-boat and let go a pattern of depth-charges. “That ought to fix 'em,” muttered the killick. Apparently the destroyer thought so too, for she paid no further attention to the sub but swung in a wide arc and steamed past fifty yards from the landing barge. MacNeil could see a figure in the wing of her bridge, and a megaphone pointed in his direction. “Quite a fighting ship you have there,” came the voice. “Good luck!” and the destroyer melted into the remnants of the fog, bent on her own urgent affairs. As an engine room artificer stepped up to MacNeil and said, “All set now, sir,” far to the southeast all hell broke loose. “The Sitting Duck” hauled up her ramp and set off towards it. The End Surprise Party Published in "The Standard" (date unknown, $20.00!) By Lewis Evans ILLUSTRATED BY ROY DYER HIS SUBMARINE idling at periscope depth in the cold waters of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Ober- leutnant Seidel watched the plume of smoke climb over the horizon. It was still too early to figure the ship’s course and manoeuvre into effective range, and far too early to identify the type of ship. “Well,” he thought to himself, “at least she is no Banks fishing schooner—not with that plume of smoke.” He still regretted the expenditure of his last but one torpedo on that fisherman two nights ago. She had been running under auxiliary power, and with her stump masts he had mistaken her size in the gathering darkness. An investigation of her wreckage with the sub's searchlight had revealed several broken-backed dories and a mess of cleaned and salted codfish, and his second in command had looked for a moment as though he wanted to laugh. Ah, well, the destroyed schooner didn’t look so badly in the sub's logbook as “motor-driven coastal cargo ship.” Oberleutnant took another long look at the approaching vessel. She was no destroyer, anyway—her slow speed and broad beam told him that. He made out derricks on her foremast—that ruled out a corvette. She was steaming almost at right angles to his bows, and would pass about two miles ahead of him. He decided to close in, and grated an order to his second. The order echoed from man to man in the steel hull, and the sub began to move. Five minutes passed, and then Seidel slipped off his stool. “What do you make of her?” he asked his second in command, motioning him towards the eyepiece. That officer peered for a minute. “Flushdecked,” he muttered, “A tanker, sir but . . .” He hesitated, still peering. “But what?” “Her engines are amidships, sir. Unusual for a tanker.” Seidel took up his position at the periscope again and had another look. Then he lowered the periscope below the surface, ordered half-speed, and turned a superior smile on his puzzled second. No wonder the fellow was puzzled, thought Seidel—the ship was unusual, all right, but he knew what she was. Just before the war he had been on a training cruise and had put in at Bergen, and there he had seen a vessel with a peculiar stern like that. “She’s a whale factory,” he said, and laughed at the expression on the other’s face. “The Norwegians had such ships before the war — South Atlantic, mostly. There is a great ramp in the stern, and they used to pull a whale’s carcass aboard whole and do all the work of a whaling station while keeping up with the trawlers that did the actual harpooning. Our friends must be very short of ships if they’re using that tub for cargo-carrying.” He took another sight at the ship. He could see her ensign flying from a gaff on her mainmast, but it was either too dirty or too distant for him to tell whether it was Norwegian or British. His thoughts went to the single torpedo in the forward tubes, and to the long trip home. Then he looked at the expressionless face of his second in command and made his decision. He didn't want it said that he had expended his last two torpedoes on a fishing schooner and a whale factory, of all things. “We’ll surface and attack by gunfire,” he said. Bells rang and the gun crew got ready for their dash to action stations. The sub lifted towards the surface. ABOARD the ex-Norwegian whale-factory Odda a lookout had reported a periscope off the starboard bow, distant the best part of a mile. Gongs had clanged for action stations, and the ship held her course. The R.C.N.V.R. lieutenant on her bridge was pleased. “Not forty miles from where the Coastal Patrol plane reported wreckage of that schooner yesterday,” he thought. He glanced astern over his strange command and saw the men who handled the smoke-pots at their stations right aft. He could not see the old whale-ramp because of the superstructure amidships, but he could imagine the scene there . . . the fifty foot motor-launch in her sliding crib, her bow towards the Odda’s stern, her high-powered, specially cooled engines warmed and idling, her crew tense and watching the great steel flap which cut off the after end of the ramp from the sea, the rows of depth charges on the launch’s after deck. “Sub on starboard beam!" Two lookouts dead-heated on the shout. There she was, white water pouring from her decks, about half a mile off. As her gun crew swarmed on deck a machine-gun from the Odda started an intermittent chattering, and a gun crew staged a well-rehearsed rush for their antiquated weapon mounted on a bridge-like structure over the ramp astern. When their first shot eventually got away it raised a spout of foam just where they wanted it—three hundred yards wide of the sub and a little short. The first shell from the sub screamed over the Odda’s bows. The second hulled her forward, at the waterline. The lieutenant on the bridge thought of the watertight bulkheads and the whale-oil tanks now crammed with buoyant lumber, and grinned. His quartermaster, according to plan, swung the ship towards the sub to close the distance, and the sub altered course to port to evade any ramming action by the Odda . Another shell from the sub crossed the Odda’s bows and a fourth burst on the superstructure abaft her funnel. The whale-factory’s machine-gun fell silent, but it had not been hit. The smoke-pots astern burst into acrid life and their contents billowed over and around the Odda’s stern. The lieutenant snapped an order and a clang from far astern told him that the great flap had been lifted, and he could imagine the released crib sliding smoothly aft with its load. "Surprise, surprise!” he murmured happily to nobody in particular. The motor-launch’s heavily guarded screws were already turning as she took the water, and then she was out of the smoke and roaring for the sub, a heavy machine-gun on her bow searching for the gun crew, and echoed by renewed fire from the Odda’s guns. OBERLEUTNANT SEIDEL knew all about the “Q-ships” of the last war. He was not to be fooled by them, but this was different. He took one more amazed look at the grey shape bouncing towards him, ordered a crash dive, and threw himself down the conning-tower hatch. His gun crew, less three men who had been hit, scuttled for safety. As the sea foamed over the submerging U-boat the launch roared past parallel to her, not twenty feet away, and two ash-cans set for eight fathoms plopped into her seething wake. The Oberleutnant’s thoughts at this moment, freely translated into English, would have been “Let’s get to hell out of here,” which is precisely where he got. The End Down To Heaven (Published in “The Standard” Montreal, September 27, 1941, $12.50!) By L. EVANS He dropped to Earth and thought he was in heaven HIS packed parachute bumped clumsily against the back of his thighs as he crossed the dark field towards the sound of the idling motors. He tried to make himself believe that this was just another practice, that he was still in training, but the horrible emptiness in his middle gave him the lie. He was scared, and he was thankful that the darkness hid his face. He and his companions groped their way into the big transport and sat down. A dim light forward showed them the pilot and navigator, their heads bent over a map. Helmut stared at them fixedly, hoping that concentration of his mind would prevent him from being sick — sick with fear. Their job was simple, he thought. They just had to fly high to certain points, dump their living cargo, and fly home. Compared with his job theirs seemed easy, safe, comfortable. IT was the unknown that frightened a man thought Helmut. The plane crew knew what to expect in the way of danger - attack by fighter planes, anti-aircraft fire, or forced landing on land or sea. But he - Helmut - how could he know what was in store for him? Death, probably; death or capture certainly. But how? Before or after he had done his job on the power plant? How? A sentry’s rifle? A night watchman’s baton? A farmer’s pitchfork? Helmut shuddered and closed his eyes. The plane took off, climbed gradually, and steadied on its course. There’s the difference, thought Helmut suddenly. The plane crew’s brightest hope is return, and my brightest hope is capture. The very best I can expect is capture and internment. A fine thing my life is, when prison seems like heaven! The plane droned on through the black night, flying very high and very steadily. The parachutists began fidgeting with their equipment. They’re scared too, thought Helmut, but the younger ones, anyway, are partly afraid of failing in their task. They know only this stern life, and they are efficient. So am I, or I wouldn’t be here, but I am older. I can remember another way of life. The navigator made a signal, and two men moved towards the door. Another signal, and they were gone. The plane altered course, and in a few moments the navigator’s gloved hand reappeared. Two more men dived into darkness. MY objective is the third we come to thought Helmut, and the waiting is over. I am not afraid of the jump - I know all about that part of the job. I fear only the unknown future. The glove moved and Helmut flung himself into the blackness and cold. The opening ’chute jerked him savagely, and gradually his dizzy swinging slowed down. As he drifted downwards he tried to figure the direction and force of the wind, if any. That was the first thing - to fix his own position, and then to find the power plant. The little fear he felt about landing was lost in the great fear of the unknown future, and he felt little relief when he dropped on open ground, though it might have been a wood or a power line. His, efficient training showed as he quickly got rid of his parachute. He did not have to think - his hands busied themselves and the complicated tangle of ropes and material was stowed under a stunted bush. Luminous compass in hand, Helmut crouched, listening. The silence terrified him. He felt the whole hostile countryside of England round him, deadly still, but ready at any moment to extinguish this lone enemy by some unknown unpredictable action. Helmut forced himself to read the compass, putting it on the ground and getting as far from it as sight permitted, so that the metal in his equipment would not affect the needle. He was supposed to have been dropped two miles south of his objective; so he started to move northwards. If he did not find it in the first half hour he would start circling east and west. He crept on across the field, surprised that it took him so long to reach its boundary. He expected a hedge - England was covered with hedges, they said. HE encountered no hedge - he came to wire. A fine seven foot barbed wire fence, and on each side a barbed wire apron, arranged with ingenuity. Helmut stared at it in amazement. According to his instructions the power plant was the only important point in the district, and therefore the only one likely to be so protected. Could he have hit upon it already? He could cut his way through the fence, but those aprons would take time. He decided to move along the fence to the west, and perhaps he would find a spot where the aprons were less formidable. A hundred and fifty yards to the west he stopped. The fence made a right-angle turn - to the south. Helmut was inside the angle. His training made him turn east, retrace his steps, and he moved faster than before, with less regard for stealth. Two hundred yards or so, and another angle - turning south. His stomach cold as ice, Helmut threw one look over his shoulder and started cutting the wire. Whether he was inside the defenses of the plant or not he would need some means of exit. He would make a passage through the wire, and then find out what lay to the south. He cut rapidly and the apron gradually yielded a passage. Suddenly he paused. Someone was coming - a sentry? A flashlight flicked on and off. Helmut’s training sent his hand towards his gun. A cut end of wire scraped on the shears in his left hand. The flashlight’s beam cut the darkness, wavered, and then fixed on him. Helmut froze. A safety catch clicked. So this was the unknown. “Don’t move,” commanded the advancing voice. Then - “Wot the ’ell! It’s a ruddy parashooter! Come out of that, Jerry, you’re home. You’ve landed inside an internment camp." The End NEXT PAGE
- Windward
Windward, Tadoussac Quebec PREVIOUS Windward NEXT PAGE Frank Morewood (1886-1949) and Carrie Rhodes (1881-1973) are both grandchildren of William Rhodes, who built the first Brynhyfryd in Tadoussac in 1860. They both spent summers in Tadoussac with the Rhodes family, in the photo (~1891) below Carrie is 3rd from right, Frank asleep on the right. Frank's family lived at Benmore in Quebec, and Carrie's family lived in Pennsylvania. They married in 1920 and had two children Bill (1921-20??) and Betty (1922-1993), and lived in Bryn Mawr and Doylestown, Pennsylvania. Frank and Carrie Biography www.tidesoftadoussac.com/tadbios/morewood%2C-frank-%26-carrie-(rhodes) Benmore in Quebec www.tidesoftadoussac.com/benmore Frank Morewood (1886-1949) et Carrie Rhodes (1881-1973) sont tous deux des petits-enfants de William Rhodes, qui a construit le premier Brynhyfryd à Tadoussac en 1860. Ils ont tous deux passé des étés à Tadoussac avec la famille Rhodes, sur la photo (~1891) ci-dessous Carrie est 3e à partir de la droite, Frank endormi sur la droite. La famille de Frank vivait à Benmore au Québec et la famille de Carrie vivait en Pennsylvanie. Ils se sont mariés en 1920 et ont eu deux enfants Bill (1921-20 ??) et Betty (1922-1993), et ont vécu à Bryn Mawr et Doylestown, en Pennsylvanie. Frank was an architect and designed a house to be built in Tadoussac in 1936. The location was just east of Brynhyfryd and the Barn, on land that had previously been part of "Dwight Park". The stone entrance which still exists had a wrought iron gate with the name Dwight Park, the gate is in the Molson Museum barns near the lake. Johnathan Dwight died in 1911, and the plaque below sits beside the house. His widow apparently offered the park to the village of Tadoussac, but they refused, so she sold lots to cottagers. In a letter written by Lilybell Rhodes in 1939, there was an interesting note: ...and Mrs. (Johnathan) Dwight were the Tad people present. Mrs. Dwight came up and spoke to me. I would not have known her. She looks so much older (as do we all know doubt). She looked very handsome, but stern and said "you know Frank Morewood has built a house on a bit of my land that he does not yet own". Frank était architecte et a conçu une maison à construire à Tadoussac en 1936. L'emplacement était juste à l'est de Brynhyfryd et de la grange, sur un terrain qui faisait auparavant partie de "Dwight Park". L'entrée en pierre qui existe toujours avait une porte en fer forgé portant le nom de Dwight Park, la porte se trouve dans les granges du musée Molson près du lac. Johnathan Dwight est décédé en 1911 et la plaque ci-dessous se trouve à côté de la maison. Sa veuve aurait offert le parc au village de Tadoussac, mais ceux-ci ont refusé, alors elle a vendu des terrains à des villégiateurs. Dans une lettre écrite par Lilybell Rhodes en 1939, il y avait une note intéressante : ... et Mme (Johnathan) Dwight étaient les personnes Tad présentes. Mme Dwight est venue me parler. Je ne l'aurais pas connue. Elle a l'air tellement plus âgée (comme nous le savons tous en doute). Elle avait l'air très belle, mais sévère et a dit "vous savez que Frank Morewood a construit une maison sur un morceau de ma terre qu'il ne possède pas encore". The photo below shows the bank below the proposed site for the house, just before it was built. The Barn can be seen at upper left. Everyone told the Morewoods they were crazy to build there. Today, 86 years later, the house is 35' from the edge of the bank. The view is terrific. La photo ci-dessous montre la banque sous le site proposé pour la maison, juste avant sa construction. La grange peut être vue en haut à gauche. Tout le monde a dit aux Morewood qu'ils étaient fous de construire là-bas. Aujourd'hui, 86 ans plus tard, la maison est à 35' du bord de la berge. La vue est formidable. The wood arrived on a goélette. The interior of the cottage will be BC Fir. Le bois est arrivé sur une goélette. L'intérieur du chalet sera en sapin de Colombie-Britannique. Painting below by Tom Evans Bundles of cedar shingles for the roof, which lasted over 80 years Peinture ci-dessous par Tom Evans Des paquets de bardeaux de cèdre pour le toit, qui a duré plus de 80 ans right, Carrie Rhodes Morewood below, Frank's mother Minnie Rhodes Morewood Bill Morewood, Ainslie Evans Stephen (hiding), Billy Morewood, Jean Alexander Alan-Parker, Betty Morewood Evans, boys probably Jim Williams and Parkers, Joan Williams Ballantyne, Susan Williams Webster Watercolour by Frank Morewood below Anne and Lewis Evans with grandfather Frank Frank Morewood died in 1949, and the house was passed on to Betty and Lewis Evans for one dollar. We still have the dollar. Frank Morewood est décédé en 1949 et la maison a été transmise à Betty et Lewis Evans pour un dollar. Nous avons toujours le dollar. My parents, Betty and Lewis Evans, were both Tadoussac summer residents, and in 1948, with the deaths of Frank Morewood and Emily Evans, they inherited 2 cottages in Tadoussac. Lewis Evans was a professor, with ample summer holidays, but his family cottage (now the Beattie House) was 80 years old, whereas Windward was on 12 years old, and had better view of Tadoussac Bay so he could keep an eye on his boat! Mes parents, Betty et Lewis Evans, étaient tous deux des résidents d'été de Tadoussac, et en 1948, avec les décès de Frank Morewood et Emily Evans, ils ont hérité de 2 chalets à Tadoussac. Lewis Evans était professeur, avec de nombreuses vacances d'été, mais son chalet familial (maintenant la maison Beattie) avait 80 ans, tandis que Windward avait 12 ans et avait une meilleure vue sur la baie de Tadoussac pour qu'il puisse garder un œil sur son bateau! In 1961 we had an 80th birthday party for Carrie, shown below with Dorothy Rhodes Evans and Anne Evans Belton. Right, Betty and Lewis Evans Circa 1962 we visited Tadoussac at New Year's, at right Lew, Tom, Alan, Anne, the current owners of Windward. Vers 1962, nous avons visité Tadoussac au Nouvel An, à droite Lew, Tom, Alan, Anne, les propriétaires actuels de Windward. Christmas Card Sometimes the shutters were different colours In 1979 two grandchildren had arrived and more were coming, so Betty and Lew built "the Wing", a bedroom and bathroom without all the noise! En 1979, deux petits-enfants étaient arrivés et d'autres arrivaient, alors Betty et Lew ont construit "the Wing", une chambre et une salle de bain sans tout le bruit ! Minke Whale by Tom Evans, only appears in the winter! Minke Whale de Tom Evans, n'apparaît qu'en hiver ! 54 NEXT PAGE
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Saguenay River Anchorages by Lewis Evans Saguenay Anchorages By R Lewis Evans 15








