HR8: What My Father Didn't Tell My Mother

My father also wrote many letters 
to his mother, Myrtle Jane (Pratt) MacBeath.
His father, Royal Stewart MacBeath, had died in 1951.

Royal Stewart MacBeath

and Myrtle Jane (Pratt) MacBeath

Married:  January 2, 1922

It's interesting to see what my father 

told his mother and didn't tell his Sally.

Dear Mother

wrote my father to his mother

on Sunday, September 11, 1960.

Thank you for sending me the extra $20.00.
I wouldn't have asked for it
except that I was desperate.
I only brought $175.00 with me,
and my expenses paid
and still owing
amount to $176.47,
and I still haven't reached Lansdowne House.



I have had to spend so much more 

than I anticipated,

and I wasn't being

being extravagant. 

For instance, my room

at the Windsor Hotel

for three nights 

(Tues., Wed., and Thurs.)

cost $24.00.

Additionally, 
instead of just an overnight stop at Nakina,
I am going to have to stay
until Monday or Tuesday
on account of the the transportation problem
of getting to Lansdowne House.
A combination of bad flying conditions
and the fact that they are hauling in
the winter supplies has forced me
to lay over here for three or four days.

Train Station at Nakina, Ontario

Last Stop on Railway

Before Flight to Lansdowne House

D.B.M., Sept. 10, 1960

At Nakina, Ontario 

Which is a Division Point on 

Main Canadian National Railway Line

D.B.M., Sept. 10, 1960

The hotel bill here

(3 nights:  $12.00)

and the extra meals add up.
Here is a detailed list of my expenses.
As you can see I have not been
flinging money around lavishly.

  Dad Tallies Up His Expenses
D.B.M., Sept. 11, 1960

The books I bought at the convention

were books that the various publishing houses

had at the convention for the teachers to buy.

Definitely on My Reading List!

1960 Edition

I bought three books on the general subject 

of teaching to primary grades

because I have never taught primary grades before,

and I needed some sort of guide to help me.

Actually I am terrified 

of teaching grades one and two.

There were books written especially 

to help a teacher to teach 

Indian children to speak English

and then to start them reading English.

All the Indians at Lansdowne House

speak the Ojibway dialect as their native language,

and before you can teach them anything else,

you have to teach them to speak English.

Cree-Ojibwa Village
Frederick A. Verner [Canadian Painter, 1836-1928]

Painting by Verner in the Public Archives of Canada

In spite of the fact that
Helen Cox didn't charge me
for excess baggage,
they reweighed the baggage at Moncton,
and I had to pay 
an excess baggage charge of $7.00.

If I didn't have enough expenses already,
we were all nicked for a $10.00 registration fee.
This covered expenses for
a banquet at the convention
and the yearly dues in
The Northern Ontario Indian Teachers Association. 

I was getting desperate...
However, 
enough about the sordid details
of my financial problems.

I had quite a trip from Sault Ste. Marie to Nakina...

Algoma Central Railway

The train is crossing the trestle over Montreal Falls at the hydro dam on the Montreal River.

The train has five locomotives to pull the train up and down the hills.

It is heading south to Sault Ste. Marie (aka Soo)

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Algoma_Central_Railway_at_Montreal_River.jpg

The Algoma Central Railroad
is a real small railroad
with real character and very antiquated rolling stock.
It reminds me of the old Dominion Atlantic Railway
before they brought in the new modern dayliners.

Passenger Rail in Canada, 2010

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Allrailcanada.svg

Operator (Colored Bars on Upper Right) 

VIA Rail

VIA Rail Corridor

Ontario Northland ~ to Mooseonee

Keewatin Railway ~ The Pas to Pukatawagan (operated by Via Rail)
Algoma Central Railway (a division of CN Rail)
Tshiuetin Rail Transportation ~ Sept-Îles to Schefferville (black)
VIA Rail Corridor (May be jointly operated with Amtrak)
Amtrak

Frequency (Colored Bars on Lower Left)                               

2 trains/week (each way)

3 trains/well (each way)

5-7 Trains/week (each way)

≥2 trains/day (each way)

...all along the railroad, 
which incidentally runs through
some of the roughest, wildest, and most beautiful 
country I have ever seen, 
there are fishing and hunting camps
for wealthy tourists 
who want to rough it 
at about $18.00 - $22.00 per day.

The train stopped at about every one of these camps
to let off tourists,
pick up tourists,
and unload supplies.
All told I believe there were 19 stops
in addition to the four regular stations.

Apparently these camps are flag stations,
and if you want to catch the train,
you stand out by the track and hail the train,
just like a bus.

Algoma Central Railroad Car

D.B.M., Sept. 10, 1960

Once we stopped in the middle of the woods
for no apparent reason.
I didn't know if we had broken down or not,
and considering the condition of the train,
this wasn't a too remote possibility.

Later I found out that they had stopped
to pick up an Indian
who had come out of the woods
and had hailed the train.

We made another stop about 5 miles further on 
to let off this same Indian 
at another indeterminate point
deep in the woods.

Boys oh boys,
The Algoma Central Railroad is really something!  

Men Cutting Wood, Nakina

September, 1935

http://www65.statcan.gc.ca/acyb05/acyb05-08/acyb05-08_0006-eng.htm

Source:  Statistics Canada

Nakina is a real frontier town of about 1,000 people.

It is a divisional point on the CNR.

Main Street, Nakina, Ontario

Taken From in Front of the Nakina Hotel ~ Looking East

D.B.M. Sept. 10, 1960

Flag is Probably 
The United Kingdom Union Flag
(1801 to present)

D.B.M. Sept. 10, 1960

There is also a very large telegraph station here,

because Nakina is one of the main relay stations

on the Trans-Canada CNR telegraph system.

Telegraph Office at Nakina

This is one of the main relay stations on the CNR Trans-Canada Telegraph System

D.B.M. Sept. 10, 1960

However, apart from the station and the telegraph building,

the only other buildings in the town

that look substantial

and are in a good state of repair

are the Hudson's Bay Store

and the Ontario Provincial Police Station.

The rest of the buildings are of

rather dubious construction, origin, and architectural style.

View From My Hotel Window, Nakina

D.B.M. Sept. 10, 1960

Log Cabin, Nakina

D.B.M. Sept. 10, 1960

There are no paved streets or streetlights.

However, there are two taverns.

One of them is located in the Nakina Hotel,

which incidentally could never be mistaken 

for the Waldorf Astoria.

The Nakina Hotel is clean (I think),

warm, and comfortable,

but that's all you can say for it.

Nakina Hotel

Sketched with Picasa

from a photograph:

D.B.M. Sept. 10, 1960

In several places the plaster

(actually, I think it is beaverboard)

has been broken and the places

where it has been repaired

are too numerous to count.

At first I was very puzzled as to why 

the plaster should be in such terrible repair,

but last night about two o'clock 

the answer to the puzzle was provided.

I was awakened by 

the most awful racket 

outside in the hall.

I opened the door and took a look.

Two miners 

(there is an iron mine near Nakina)

who had been out on the town 

celebrating in the taverns

were having a disagreement.

The fight was short, vigorous, 

and accompanied by the most 

graphic and picturesque language

I have ever heard.

However, the fight stopped just as quickly as it started.

The combatants threw their arms around one another,

kissed each other, and made up.

One of them offered me 

a drink of Indian moonshine,

which I politely declined.

Then they took off to do more celebrating.

One of the miners in his exuberance 

took a swing at the wall

and put his fist through it.

Well anyway, that explained 

the poor conditions of the walls... 

Nothing Like a Good Fight!

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gotland-Bunge_Museum_Hof_18.Jhdt._12.jpg

I have been too busy so far

to write anyone but you and Sara.

Tell Aunt Maude I am going to write to her

as soon as I reach Lansdowne House.

In the meantime, I know 

you will be reading this letter 

to Aunt Maude and Uncle Chester.

   My Grandmother and her Siblings

My grandmother, Myrtle Jane (Pratt) MacBeath (in stripes)

with her sisters, Maude (above) and Belle (below),

and brother Chester Pratt ~

Probably taken in St. Peter's Bay, Prince Edward Island (1900s?)

Give my love to Aunt Maude,

and tell her I am thinking about her

and that I hope she feels better.

Well, I must sign off now

and get this in the mail

and go to dinner.

Bye Now,

Love Don

To Be Continued ...

Links to other northern posts:

Human Refuse 1

Human Refuse 2:  Lansdowne House

Human Refuse 3:  A Northern Teacher Departs

HR4: Indoctrination

HR5:  Heading Out

HR6:  Maps, Arrgghhh!

HR7:  Nakina