Saturday, Dec 01
Brought the DR's UTD then made out the accounts. It snowed about an inch today and there was a strong wind blowing. There was a few bad drifts caused by the wind and new snow. After supper Nona went to Miss Catt's and I went over to the Halfway to bring Walt and Cameron over for the weekend. When I returned I worked on the set trying out different values of condensers and leaks. We went to bed a little before 01:00.
Sunday, Dec 02
Nadene was awake most of the night. I got up at 09:30 and got a light breakfast then went out to look over the trap line. Got nothing. Saw a few new tracks in the neighbourhood of the line near the river. When Nona went to church I went out and tried to start the car so that it would not be too hard tonight. I was from 14:00 to 16:30 getting it going. There was some water in the gas that froze in the carburator and gave me a lot of trouble. I ran it till all the oil that was loosened up drained it. I ran it for a few minutes without water just before supper too. Walt and Cameron both came up about 21:00 and Bert Edge and Frank came in. We had a game of bridge which lasted till 22:00, then had coffee. I went and got the car ready. We left here about 22:30. Bert said he would wait till I came back. The car missed and stalled about 10 times going over and I ran it into the garage when we arrived. We had come to the conclusion that there was ice in the carburator. I took off the bulb under the tank and had to use a blow torch to thaw it out. While at it, I took the carburator and gasoline off. We found a big hole worn thru the feed line so while cleaning the other parts Walt soldered the line. It was about 01:00 when I got it started and the car stalled about every 100 yards. It was 02:30 when I arrived. I do not know what the trouble is yet but believe it to be the gas supply is still plugged. We had some more coffee then Bert went home. We went to bed at 03:30. Nadene woke up and wanted to get into our bed. She cried so much and showed such a burst of temper that I gave her a spanking. That made her worse.
Monday, Dec 03
Got to work on time but couldn't get the car started. I had to walk. I worked all morning on reports then at dinner time I looked up Callaghan and asked him to bring his team and give me a tow. He got there just as we were finishing dinner. The car started just after he started towing me but it would only run a short time then stop. I found that by choking it, it would keep going but there was no power. Cal towed me right to the station. I looked it over and discovered that the solder that was used to plug up the hole also plugged up the line. I drained the oil and water then put it into the warehouse for the winter. Bert came up this evening and stayed till 02:00. We had a good time. Welding came up too and we had a number of rubbers of bridge. My luck was fine all evening. We retired at 02:15.
Tuesday, Dec 04
Got up at 09:00 and after short but sweet breakfast Nona and I started house cleaning. We started dinner and Bert came in. He stayed for dinner. We had roast beef that was delicious, roast spuds and onions and cottage pudding with brandy sauce ( only this was flavoured with Gin). After dinner Bert and I went out over my trap line. I got another dozen traps last night from Mrs Conibear and Bert was going to show me the proper way to set them for foxes and minks. We put 16 of them out. The line is about 2 & 1/2 miles long. There was a fox at one of my traps between Sunday and today. He walked all around the trap and I might have had him if the trap was set right. There was a lump of ice under the pan. He didn't step on it but got the bait. Bert says he will be back since he can still small something in the mound. He reset it for me. It was about 30 below and a fog was rising off the river at the rapids. This made it very cold as my line is mostly along the river bank. We had a swell cup of hot coffee when we got back and a stiff drink of gin. Bert stayed for supper. After supper we played bridge and talked till 01:00. Bert promised to take my batteries out to the station tomorrow. He asked me to build him a light super Heterodyne using eight N.F. peanut tubes. I gave him an estimated price of about $175. He left at 01:30 and we went to bed.
Wednesday, Dec 05
Worked all day on reports for this mail. Bert went back to his line. He brought my batteries out to be charged this morning. After supper Campbell came in and Nona went over to see Mrs Campbell. We went to bed early.
Thursday, Dec 06
Finished all the mail today and went up to post it but they were closed. Nothing doing all evening. Nona was over at Campbell's sewing dresses for Nadene most of the day. The radio was fair tonight. I borrowed a few Radio News' from Pop Walters and had an hours food reading during the evening.
Friday, Dec 07
Mail goes out today. I had to go to the Bay and get the draft made out to send to Ottawa. Was down to Bill's at noon to have him sign some cheques. Then as the Bay was still closed, I made a circuit of my trap line, It has been thawing all day and there is overflow water along the banks. The snow over my traps is all wet so I will have to reset all the traps as soon as it gets cold again. There was one Whiskey jack and 3 squirrels caught. After supper Basler came in. He stayed till 00:30. Nona went over to Godsell's with Miss Catt. She returned at midnight with Mr & Mrs Godsell. They only stayed a little while. The radio was NG tonight. We posted most of our Xmas presents this afternoon. I brought home a bench tonight and put it on the back porch. I am going to fix it up for a work shop out there for building radios. I have 2 to build now. Went to bed at 01:45.
Saturday, Dec 08
Worked on the DR's most of the day. Nona went to Lyall's and I called for her on my way home for supper. While Nona was getting supper I fixed up the screen on the back porch and fixed up my work shop. Mrs Lyall came in for a few minutes. Joe brought a battery up from the station just before supper. Went to bed at midnight.
Sunday, Dec. 09
Got up at 09:00. Worked an hour or so fixing up my workshop. After dinner Nona went to Lyall's while Nadene was sleeping. I made a bunch of notes this afternoon and typed out several pages for my note book. Fixed up my photo and radio accounts. Mrs Lyall returned with Nona about 16:00.After supper I went to the PO and got our mail. The frost arrived this afternoon. Norman Welding came up after supper and stayed till 32:30. I started to type this but the spring in the carriage tension broke so I'll have to ship it to Edmonton. It needs a complete overhauling anyway. Went to bed at 01:15.
Monday, Dec 10
Woke up at 08:45 and made a hurried dress. Arrived at the station at 09:30 with the official mail. Joe and Bill didn't know the mail was in. Started the Delco at 10:00 but had to shut down at 12:00 when I discovered that there was a 1/2 inch end play in the cam shaft. I hurried home, had dinner and rushed back. I pulled the Delco apart and examined the cam shaft. I found that the shaft adjusting collar threads were stripped and worn clean. The threads on the shaft were smooth and badly broken. I wrote out a wire to Ottawa to have the repairs rushed in and Bill signed and sent it off at 15:00. I reassembled the machine and finished at 16:45. I ran the engine till 15:00. The shaft looks to me like it had been had been that way for quite a times I guess it will hang on till the new parts arrive.After supper Frank came in for a while but left at 20:30. Nona and I got ready and went over to Godsell's for the evening. Burstall was there. We stayed till 01:00. It was a swell evening. Temp was about 30 above. Nadene was fine all evening and we all had a good time.
Tuesday, Dec 11
Up at 09:00. We had breakfast then cleaned house. I put up a new experimental aerial then while Nadene and Nona went to the hospital to see Mrs Ryan and the new baby. I worked at my studies ( Super Heterodynes and methods of coupling). I hooked up JT's set to try it out again tonight. I had supper ready when Nona returned. While she read a novel after supper, I tested out the set which showed a lot better results than hitherto, but not yet good enough. Nona went to bed at 23:00, I followed at midnight.
Wednesday, Dec 12
Woke up at 08:45 and went to the station. Just started in on the DR's when Bill came in. He told me that the Delco had been run yesterday but it was getting worse. I took the cam shaft out and took it uptown. Y&L had nothing, so went to the Govn't house machine shop. Mr McDougal told me to help myself to anything that I could use and offered me the help of Campbell if needed. Tried to make a nut to fit as when the cam shaft was washed and cleaned it was found that the threads on the shaft were in better condition than the examination at the station showed. The threads were thought to be torn all to pieces but about 3/4's of them were still in excellent condition. I tried to make a new nut out of a heavy piece of cold rolled steel bar the drill was hard to use as nothing was available to hold the bar. When the hole was drilled (2 hours), the wobble on the drill widened the hole so that it made a perfect washer. I then found that the taps and die outfit was for standard pipe threads and I required A.L.A.M. or automobile. The cam shaft being case hardened, it was impossible to make new threads on it so I left there and hunted around for the ALAM threaded 7/8" nut. I found the front axle nut from a Ford was just the thing. I procured one of these from Y&L. I trimmed the nut down to the thickness required, then reassembled the shaft. As a lock washer would have been too long to make, I jimmied the threads on the nut so that it could not turn on the shaft. It was supper time when I finished so did not return to the station. I tried out JT's set but it seems too selective. Went to bed at 22:30.
Thursday, Dec 13
Went to the station at 08:00 and started assembling the Delco. Batteries very low and Bill would not take a call. Voltage on plates only 950 volts instead of 2200. Had trouble timing the Delco owing to cam shaft being fastened in tight. Bill helped me on it till 11:15 to get the engine going. Worked fine when it started. Joe took me home in his dog sleigh. After dinner I worked on mail till 16:00 then fell asleep for 1/2 hour, woke up when Wagenitz came in. I walked uptown with him after 17:00. After supper I studied and did some planning on a semi portable super-heterodyne for Bert. Radio fine tonight. Bed shortly after midnight.
Friday, Dec 14
Got up at 09:00 and had breakfast over by 10:00. Took Nona and Nadene out over the trap line. As the weather had been so warm all the snow around the traps had melted and then froze last night. I had to re-set all the traps. Some dogs followed my line out and got away with a lot of the bait. They had even stepped on some of the sets but being frozen down were not caught. We returned at 14:00. I studied for a couple of hours. After supper Frank and Basler came in and we played a rubber of bridge. Frank went at 21:30 and Basler at 00:30. We retired at 02:00.
Saturday, Dec 15
Woke up at 07:30. Earliest I've been up for over a year. I got breakfast then went to the station. Started on the DR's they are back as far as the sixth. At noon a bad wind came up and as the serial was too tight, I had to lengthen the leaden by 2 feet. JT sent us a hind quarter of moose today, it was about 85 pounds. I put it in the kitchen sink to thaw out so that I could cut it up and hang it out to freeze again. It is too big to handle as it is. After supper I tore JT's set to pieces and decided to start over on it. It sure is a hell of a thing to get working. I do not believe a 4 tube set is any good up here anyway. Especially when the radio weather is as poor as it is now. Norman Welding came in and we chewed the rag till midnight. I retired about 01:00.
Sunday, Dec 16
Up at 10:00. I cut the hind quarter of moose into small pieces and put them out in the warehouse then cleaned the house. I rebuilt JT's set today finishing it about 21:00. It has 5 tubes now. Still too selective on the test. There is very little volume and the selectivity is so sharp that it is very critical to tune. Disgusted with it at present so will leave it till some other time. Mrs Lyall came in about 21:00 and stayed till midnight. She is very much disappointed in not having her set. Your sold theirs and promised to have another in before Xmas but it has not ordered it yet. I walked home with her and she told me that she would get York to buy mine from me.
Monday, Dec 17
Went to work at 09:00. Brought the DR's UTD and finished at noon. Worked on the ledgers all afternoon. Played a couple of games of crib with Bill and lost both. Nona was at Godsell's all afternoon so I called for her on my way home. Godsell asked us to stay for supper which we did. Spent the evening there and had a real good time. Arrived home at 01:30. Turned on the radio and fixed the fires while Nona and Nadene went to bed. I retired at 02:00.
Tuesday, Dec 18
Slept till 10:00 and after breakfast while Nona cleaned the house, I went around the trap line. Still no luck. No tracks since I was there last. When I returned Nadene was out on the veranda asleep and Nona was at Lyall's making Nadene some clothes. Mrs Lyall came in after supper and we had a game of bridge but the conversation interfered with the game so much that we gave it up. My A battery was dead so we had no radio tonight. We went to bed at 01:00.
Wednesday, Dec 19
Arrived at the station about 09:10. Sent a wire home to Mother, today was her birthday and I forgot to send it on the 17. I was too tired to work today so had a catnap. I took home my A battery and we had good reception all evening. The radio weather is getting real good now. B Serens came up with the laundry so I let him listen to the radio for a couple of hours. Nadene had a great time playing tonight. She didn't want to go to bed at all. Nona was going to church tonight to help decorate for the Xmas concert but it was so cold she didn't go. She went to bed at 23:00 and I at 00:30.
Thursday, Dec 21
Got up at 09:00 and printed pictures till 14:00. I did about a gross all together. Nona went shopping about 13:00 and returned at 15:00. The school concert was on tonight and we went. There was a supper at the hotel and nearly everybody in town came. After supper we all went to the school where the kids performed. It was real good too. Godsell acted as Santa and distributed the presents assisted by Const. Burstall of the RCMP. Nadene got a big doll and a teddy bear. We got a set of silver salt and pepper shakers and Nona got some nice handkerchiefs. There was the usual nuts, candy and oranges. Everyone had a good time and it was over early at 21:15. I got a good tip tonight to watch Pop Walters that he was sore about something and trying to get me in wrong. All right Pop, you don't get up early as I do so you'll have to hump to get anything on me. He has pulled off several raw deals already on others and forewarned is forearmed and two can play at eery game. I'll just keep one hop ahead of him. Why he is after me I don't know. I have done nothing to him or anyone else. I do know that he thought that he put one over on me by keeping York from buying my radio. Went to bed at 01:00.
Saturday, Dec 22
Up and to work by 09:00. Brought the DR's UTD then worked a while on the ledger for next year. Some more mail arrived today and we got a letter from Regina. Met PHGodsell and Burstall at noon and went over to the Godsell's house and had a shot of rum. They asked me to stop in for another on my way home at 17:00 and I did. I stayed till 17:45. We were invited to come down for the evening. Mrs Lyall was there when I got home but as she knew we were going out, she told us to go ahead. When we were ready we walked as far as Lyall's with her then went over to Godsell's. I took my mandolin and Uke with me. We had a great time. Syd, Burstall and Woods were there besides ourselves and the Godsell's. Rum and whiskey were plentiful. Jean fainted about 01:30 and was out the rest of the evening. My stomach turned and I had to go outside for a while. Everything came up and I felt better until Syd told me that the best thing for me was to take some raw bacon and condensed milk. Gosh.
Sunday, Dec 23
We left there at 05:15 and arrived home at 06:00. Woke up at 10:00. We cleaned house till noon. JT came in at noon. He just got in town at 10:00. We gave JT his Xmas present. It was a bloodstone ring and he gave us ours, a tea tray beautifully decorated. We had a good supper of roast moose and gravy and onions, boiled spuds and jello. During the evening Frank came in and we had a rubber of bridge. Frank and I vrs Nona and JT. Later Mrs Woods, Walt and Burstall came in. Syd and PHGodsell came in later for a while and brought a bottle of Dimple with them. They left at 22:30. Mrs Godsell gave Nadene a collie pup, "Woodsie", a 1 year old, as a Xmas present. Radio was good all evening.
Monday, Dec 24
Today was a busy one at the station. Raney came down in the morning and worked on the car. He fixed it up and went to Fitz. I had to deliver a bunch of messages on my way home. Stopped at Joe's and had a drink. They have their cottage called the Jailhouse and have a big brass plate on the door. All evening we sorted presents and got ready for tomorrows celebration. Went to bed at 01:00.
Tuesday, Dec 25
Up at 09:00 and got the house cleaned up. Had a cup of tea then Nona and JT went out to distribute the presents. They did not return till 16:30. Then we got ready and went over to the Godsell's arriving at 18:15. Most of the gang were there when we arrived. There was Vic Ingraham and wife, Bill Staffer, W. Gibson, JT, Woods, Burstall, the Godsell's and ourselves. Mr & Mrs. Ryan and kiddies came in just before supper but have to return to the Halfway before it's too late so did not stay long afterwards. Syd Leggo came in later in the evening. Supper was at 19:30. They had to have two tables. I was roped into carving the turkey at one table. The supper was swell. After supper there was music and the usual Xmas party. Nona, Nadene and I stayed there all night. We went to bed at 05:00…….
Wednesday, Dec 26
………and woke up at 08:30. Was tickled to wake up too as I had thought that I would not wake till noon. I went home and changed into my uniform and got to the station about 09:45. There was practically nothing doing all day. I fell asleep in my chair for an hour this AM. Joe and Freda came up for supper this evening. We cooked our turkey and had a swell feed. Supper was at 19:45. We had turkey and mashed potatoes, creamed onions and plum pudding. After supper we had a couple of rubbers of bridge. The radio was good all evening. They left at 02:30 and we went straight to bed.
Thursday, Dec 27
I had a good sleep last night so felt a lot better today. Nona felt the same. Worked on mail this afternoon and after dinner Bill and I sat and gassed most of the time. Went home at 17:00 and found supper waiting. After supper we listened to the radio and read. The radio was good. Went to bed about midnight.
Friday, Dec 28
My day off and I had intended on sleeping in. However Nona got up at 08:00 and had other ideas about my sleeping in. I got up at 08:00. I found JT had lit the fire before he went out and the place was nice and warm. I turned real cold during the night and I was thankful for the fire. I printed pictures till 14:00 while Nona and JT went to Godsell's to get some of our things that were left there Xmas. They returned at 18:00 and I had supper ready. The evening was quiet. We listened to the radio most of the time. No one came in.
Saturday, Dec 29
Up at 08:15. Had a hard time getting the car started. It was cold all day yesterday and I had not used it with the result the oil was solid. It was 34 below during the night. The radiator froze up before noon and I did not get it thawed out till 18:00. It did not break. Supper was ready when I got home. JT had helped with it. After supper Norman Welding came in and we had a rubber of bridge. He went at 23:30. We went to bed at 01:30.
Sunday, Dec 30
Got up and printed pictures till about noon. Nona and JT went to Godsell's to work on a costume for the masquerade tomorrow night. I looked after Nadene. PHGodsell came in at 15:00 and asked me if I would look after the electrical part of the dance. I went over to the hall with him and connected put the "Bristolfone" thru the amplifier of his radio and to the loud speakers around the hall. When I got home I got the supper ready and waited till 19:00 and as they had not returned I fed Nadene and ate my supper. They came in at 19:30 and as JT's watch had stopped they had thought it was about 18:00. Nona was not very well so she went to bed right after supper. JT and I sat up till 23:30. It was so cold out tonight that JT brought his sleeping bag in off the veranda and slept on the floor in the front room.
Monday, Dec 31
Went to the station at 09:30. I could not get the car started this AM, it was too cold. I brought the DR's UTD and worked till 16:00 on them. I went to the hall and connected up the loud speakers, ready for the dance when they wanted to start. Nadene took sick this afternoon with her teeth. We were not going to the dance at all but Nadene fell asleep at 22:00 and we dressed and went over. We got there at 22:30. Nona and I went as two golfers. We made plus fours out of grain bags that I had painted red, white and blue checks on with red and blue ink the checks whereabouts an inch square. The rest of the outfit matched in a kind of way. Paul loaned us his clubs. JT had Jerry's tuxedo and went as "Count Nodrinkwater". He was a scream. Nona and I won first prize. 1st time I ever won anything at such an affair. Nona got a leather needle case. JT won a prize too and got a powder box. There was a mistake made and his prize was intended for a ladies prize. I think J. Barleycorn had something to do with the mistake. He gave it to Nona. It was a real good one too. Every few minutes during the evening one or the other of us would run over to the house and look at Nadene. She slept straight thru till 02:00. We stayed home then and got to bed at 03:00.