Interview # 10

Name: Gordon Kendall

Sex: Male

Age: 87

Place and date of birth: Milltown, December 12, 1912

Education: Grade 4

Religion: Anglican

Occupation: Woodsman

Number of children: 7

Names of children and where they live:

Winnie Burnt Islands Melvin Morrisville

Roland Milltown Norman Morrisville

Mabel Corner Brook Eldon Lindsey, Ontario

Leroy Gander

Phone: 882-2261

Place of interview: Milltown

Date of interview: January 25, 1999

Interviewers: Sheri Peters and Pam Organ

Gordon lived in Morrisville most of his life. He moved to Milltown five years ago. He remembered that when he was ten years old, his grandfather sent him to the store to pick up a pound of cheese and it only cost twenty-five cents. He would have to walk to Head of Bay d'Espoir from Morrisville to get to the store. This would take the whole day. After walking that distance, he can't recall having any cheese when he got home. He also remembered going to Gaultois by boat to pick up supplies and groceries because it was cheaper there. They would store the food for the winter.

For pastimes, Gordon would play cards such as 120's, attend dances, and go skating. For skates, people would make their own "woodstocks" because people couldn't afford to buy skates back then. When he attended dances, he would walk to Head of Bay d'Espoir and Milltown and go across the ice to Conne River. People called these dances "times" back then.

At Christmas time, Gordon wouldn't get what children would get today. He would only get mixed candy in his stocking and maybe half and apple. One Christmas, Gordon got a whistle pipe that was size of a looney. Gordon and his friends would share the pipe. "You wouldn't think of doing that today," said Gordon.

When Gordon first got married, he lived with his parents. There were thirteen people in his family. Eleven of them got measles at one time. Back then, measles couldn't be treated so the people who had it, just had to wait it out. If someone couldn't work, they would get what they called "relief"(the equivalency to Social Assistance today). Even though times were rough, his family always had bread and fish to eat. Gordon remembered that his family never got help from the government.

If someone got sick, home remedies would be used. If someone got really ill, they would get the doctor from Hermitage to come in as soon as he could or they traveled by boat to Hermitage themselves. At one time, Gordon cut off half of his finger. He took turpentine and placed it on the wound then wrapped it up in cloth for nine days. It healed just fine. He also used carbolic to keep the wound clean. During this period, he got twenty-five dollars for compensation and he couldn't work for thirty-two days.

When the tidal wave of 1929 hit, he was down by a mill and he could feel ice breaking under his feet. There was no damage around here only high tide.

Gordon stated that the first store in Milltown was owned by the Lakes. At this store, people could trade logs for food. There were numerous stores in Head of Bay d'Espoir and the surrounding areas. George Perry had a larger one compared to Fred Willmott, Martin Piercey, Ben Pack, and Mr. Roberts.

Gordon thought that the best thing that happened to Bay d'Espoir was when Bowaters came in because it supplied a lot of work for Bay d'Espoir according to Gordon. Gordon thought that a bad thing was when the power house was moved to St. John's because people around the bay were unemployed.

At the age of fourteen, Gordon started working in the woods. He started working with Harold Skinner repairing horse sleds and tractor sleds for eleven winters. He walked from Morrisville to Twillick dam to go to work. There was a path made for a horse and wagon to haul food up to the camps. The wood that was left over after the summer was hauled from Conne Brook to Burnt Woods. Another company that he worked for was Goodyear. He received sixteen cents an hour. Sometimes he worked ten hour days. He was charged sixty cents a day by the campsite for rent. This meant he was left with a dollar to take home.

Gordon also worked at Glenwood and he traveled there by plane. When Gordon was ready for work, he would leave on Monday and come back on Saturday. This left him only Sunday to be at home. He stayed in a cabin and brought his own food. Sometimes he would catch rabbits to eat. He slept on birch rind and he didn't have proper clothing to wear. He was really cold at times. "The winters back then were pretty cold compared to today," said Gordon. After working in the woods for thirty years, Gordon helped build a number of buildings in the Bay d'Espoir area such as the Greenwood Elementary School, the Greenwood High Gymnasium, and sixteen houses located at lower townsite.