Dancing In a Jar (9 page)

It’s been fascinating to watch the piles of spar grow on the wharf. People come down just to pick it up and look at the beauty of each piece. There is every shade from pale pink and yellow, right through to bright green. We all come home from the mine so wet and dirty it seems inconceivable that we could be mining something so beautiful. I picked a particularly brilliant piece I hope to have made into a pendant for Urla.

The town turned out en masse to watch the loading operation. We laid down rails for the little cars to haul the fluorspar right into the hull. Now keep your fingers crossed that DOSCO will be happy.

That’s it from my corner of the world today.

As ever,
Donald

St. Lawrence, Newfoundland

April 6, 1934

Dear Mother,

What a delight to receive your package yesterday. Our mail boats have been very irregular all winter. Sometimes we get two a week and sometimes none for several weeks. We all watch the Cape to see her come around and then the telegraph office gets word that the vessel is storm bound ten miles east of here and won’t be in until the morning. Waiting for the mail boat can preoccupy the whole town!

Anyway, it made it in yesterday morning and your timing was perfect. I was feeling a little lonely as Don has gone into St. John’s, our first time away from each other since we arrived. It’s a business trip and he left in good spirits as things are going well at the mine.

I am waiting for the Farrell sisters to visit this afternoon and watch their faces as I show them real hair curlers. All the women here use bobby pins and rags to tie up their hair at night, so you can be sure that your package will cause a sensation.

Tonight is a meeting of my reading circle. I’ve just loved getting to know this little group of young women. We meet at the Etchegary place, mostly because Don comes along to play cribbage with Mr. Louis, the head of the house. The family is Basque and came to Newfoundland from the south of France via Saint Pierre. Theophilus is the oldest boy. (Most of the children here are named for saints. Funny, I’ve yet to meet another Urla!) He has qualified as a teacher and walks eight miles in the morning to the next town and home again in the evening. The whole family is bursting with energy, intensity, and good humor.

The two girls are so lovely and I’m thrilled to be able to expose them to more language and literature. I think I told you that when their mother died they were expected to leave school and take care of their father and brothers, Louis and little Gus (named for St. Augustine). Despite that, they have maintained a love of learning and love of
life that I find inspirational. When I first arrived, I was concerned no one seemed to be thinking about the future as we seem to obsess about. But I think here, not focusing on what the future may bring enhances your chance of survival and certainly your capacity for happiness.

Both Kathleen and Florence work at the telephone exchange, a pretty rudimentary one, that is located in the front room of their house. All the phone calls from the peninsula are relayed through St. Lawrence and are handled from this little room. No one here has a telephone in the home, so this is an important service. Such a contrast to Nutley, as Mr. Poynter wrote last week to say that the number of private telephones in Nutley has reached 5,000.

I’m so glad to hear that everyone is well, even Granny Crammond, who we all know will live forever. News about the daffodils and new hats for Easter was a little disheartening as we have the same gray snow that fell in December. I pine for some warm spring days and hope that will pull me from the lethargy I’ve been feeling of late.

For now though, the new hair curlers have perked me up.

Love,
Urla

St. Lawrence Corporation Ltd.
St. Lawrence, Newfoundland

April 12, 1934

Dear Mom and Pop,

Well let the bells ring out as your firstborn turns twenty-seven. The whole town could be celebrating for all I know as we are experiencing pea-soup fog, but Urla has been for her morning walk and didn’t remark on passing a birthday parade. I appreciate the lovely card signed by all that arrived on the mail boat this week. The boat also brought a puncheon of molasses, so Mrs. G is
promising the best beans ever for my birthday supper tonight.

I arrived back a few days ago from St. John’s. The Depression is still very obvious in that town although it was a treat for me to find barbers and haberdashers, newspapers and a wider range of food. You would be surprised to learn that even there the clothing shops are owned by Jews and jewellery shops by Lebanese. Most of the financing and trading businesses are owned by English Protestant merchants, with the Irish bringing up the rear. There are some very impressive churches, however, which tells you a little something about priorities. Not too far from the churches you could find any number of brothels, so the town has a pioneer feel even though it is such an old city.

I walked by the seat of Government, quite an impressive building not far from my hotel. It was there two years ago that a mob stormed the building, while the Prime Minister escaped through a back door. People had enough of the poverty and joblessness. Of course the government appealed to Mother Britain to help them with their finances. The deal was struck to lend the money but also run their administrative affairs until Newfoundland proved capable of steering the ship itself. It is quite an unorthodox arrangement.

The mood in St. John’s is quite unsettled as most people are not in favor of having their government usurped by the mother country. Of course, in the outports like St. Lawrence there is greater support for the new British Government Commission since they don’t have a lot of confidence in the rag tag group of merchants who normally run things in St. John’s. I just hope the Commission decides to give mining their support.

The best news is that money finally came through from Siebert as DOSCO paid up for the shipment of spar. I came back to St. Lawrence with bulging pockets ready to repay the local shopkeepers who have been fronting our wages. The timing couldn’t be better as men are returning from the winter fishery now and will be looking for more work. I can use all the able
bodies I can find as I have plans to build a proper mill. We just have to be able to high-grade the ore before shipping. With DOSCO taking everything we can produce things are sure looking up.

Please use that Power of Attorney I’ve signed to check on my account and let me know if Siebert has brought me up to date on salary. I would like you to pay off the Bamberg account and please send a check to Gordon Engineering for the transit.

I sure hope my account is flush since I splurged on Urla in St. John’s and bought her a new blouse. She was tickled beyond belief and seems to be over a small bout of winter tiredness. I treated myself to a new pipe and some English tobacco. I’ve been smoking on my evening walks with Urla, but the fog is so thick she hasn’t noticed yet.

I have to tell you about a beautiful schooner that put in here the other day and is still in the harbor. She is an exact picture of that
Bluenose
schooner that used to lay off the yacht basin in Englewood, only twice the size. She’s here on the way to the Grand Banks for the first trip of this season, but before she goes she has to stop in Fortune Bay for a load of herring. The first few trips to the Banks are made on herring bait, the next few on capelin, which is a small fish much like a smelt (it’s now time for Pop to get off his famous “three herring and one smelt” joke). After they have made their last capelin trip they come in and load up with squid and away they go. These Bankers are the most beautiful vessels I’ve ever seen.

I hope someday you can come and witness this yourself.

As ever,
Donald

P.S. I am enclosing the map of Newfoundland and the crosses show all of the spots where we have been on our way up here.

St. Lawrence Corporation Ltd.
St. Lawrence, Newfoundland

April 20, 1934

Dear Mom and Pop,

Well when the weather opens up here the fun begins all over again.

Last week I was smoking local tobacco and bemoaning the fact. It really isn’t too bad a smoke but it takes an hour to cut and rub enough tobacco for fifteen minutes of smoke. Now here I am today smoking the finest Edgeworth tobacco, beautifully presented in a glass jar. For you foreigners, this means that we are able to get back into Saint Pierre and the goods and good times are flowing.

About Thursday, the wind hauled around to the north and took all our ice away to sea. Two nights later, in the dark of the moon, a skiff returned from Saint Pierre, bringing with it various and sundry bundles. The skipper declared the smallest bundle and then waited for an opportunity to deliver the rest to us. What a treat to get our Christmas box from you in April!

We didn’t invite the customs officer to our box opening party. My slippers and Urla’s collar fit exactly, so thank you for that. The skates are perfect but will have to wait until next winter. The Giovannini children bedecked themselves with beads and ribbons from the box till they looked like ancient Romans. We are saving the fruitcake until we move to our new house. I will let Urla tell you about that new development.

We have to tell you about the Christmas box from Siebert for Doc Smith that arrived at the same time. Urla is steaming mad about it, but I think it was an honest mistake. The box contained two cans of cranberries and two of blueberries. There hasn’t been a day since we have arrived when we haven’t had one or other of those berries on the table and lo and behold Siebert sends out two cans of each. The only thing he forgot was a can of codfish to make the job complete.

The town is looking forward to a banner year in the fishery.
Everyone is repairing their nets and traps. Skiffs and dories are all being overhauled. If there are fish out there you can bet this place will make up for the lean years when they had no fish and no price.

I am enclosing the final notes for the bank and you can tell them I will have it paid off within the month.

I’ll pass this over to Urla now.

More anon,
Donald

. . . . . . . . . . . .

Dear Mom and Pop,

I will add my thanks for the wonderful Christmas box. We think it might be better to get Christmas in April after all. The collar is very striking and I can’t wait to wear it. The Christmas cake will be on offer when we have an open house at our new place. I won’t delay the mail now but will write soon with a description of the house. We are both thrilled.

Spring is in the air here and there are lambs everywhere—black, white, and some so dirty you can’t tell if they’re black or white. The calves should be along in a month and then the town will be full of livestock. They add such a comic element it brings a smile to my face whenever I see them around.

On Easter Monday there is going to be a “breaker downer” at the hall. In other words, you dance until you drop and then you go to somebody’s house for breakfast. Lent is strictly observed here, but once it is over, joy is unrestrained.

Thanks again for the wonderful gifts. Don has asked me to remind you not to send things by express, only by freight. We only need them delivered to the pier in Saint Pierre and Mr. Maufroy picks it up from there. It will get to us eventually. Parcel post is fourteen cents a pound to here from there, so don’t think about sending anything that way.

Love to all,
Urla

St. Lawrence, Newfoundland

April 25, 1934

My sweet Ivah,

I was so sorry to get your news in this morning’s mail. I know this William meant a lot to you. And to find out, you poor darling, that Vanessa had deceived you about her own feelings for him is a real blow.

But you must pull yourself into the strong determined woman you are and show them both you have moved on. We Crammond women don’t wait for the world to come to us, so put on your best face and get back out there.

I now see that it is a luxury to let your heart rule anything. It’s been fascinating for me to watch the young women here and the place that romance governs. Life is simply too hard to allow much romanticism. Yet within the practicality of their lives there’s plenty of room for levity, laughter and, dare I say it, love. You will find it too.

So take heart, darling sister. There will be another William waiting for you very soon.

Love,
U

St. Lawrence, Newfoundland

May 1, 1934

Dear Mom and Pop, Edith, and Howard,

Well my May Day does not need a maypole to get me dancing. Urla has just surprised me with the news that she is expecting! We both feel like dancing although this wasn’t really in the cards yet. Of course here everyone has been waiting for us to announce something since Mrs. G said the whole town knew once Urla professed to be tired.

I have also decided we will not wait for Siebert to build a house. I think I told you about old Mr. Greg Giovannini, with whom we have become quite close. We will rent a house from him that is only a few doors away from here and has a beautiful view of the harbor. We will move as soon as I make some small repairs and wire the house. Although we have all the bathroom fixtures, we don’t have the piping so I have to hope that my pregnant wife won’t fall off a cliff as she makes her way to an outhouse. Seriously, we are not near a cliff and we have gone all this time without an indoor toilet, so we will be fine.

Please don’t tell the Crammonds if you see them at church as Urla is only writing them today too.

The
Herald Tribunes
have been coming through quite regularly and they sure are great to receive. The radio is full of static most evenings now. We don’t have the radio reception we used to get because the seal fisherman are just off the coast and their radios are interrupting our service. But this will return to normal soon. In the meantime, the
Trib
is keeping me full of news although a few weeks after it happens.