Friday, November 01
Snowed all day today but the snow is melting as fast as it falls leaving the ground wet and slushy. I worked on books for a while then took the set over while Joe cut some wood. When Press time came he took it and I brought the wood in. We piled it on the flat sleigh then I tied the sleigh to the front axle of the sedan and backed up to the door. That stunt works fine. After supper I went up to the house and Jack Carrie came in and bought 4 dollars worth of pictures from me. I came back to the station at 21:15 and Joe was still away so I went into the office and finished up the 28 business that I had left when I went uptown. Joe came back about 22:00 then we turned on the radio and listened to the fight from Hollywood. We put the 2 arm chairs up in front of the radio and with our feet on a footstool and the ash stand between us, we were in solid comfort for the next couple of hours. When the fight started we each picked a man. My man lost. Good thing I didn't bet a couple of dollars on him. We went to bed at 00:30.
Saturday, Nov 02
I was up at 09:00 and went home to do some printing. When I got there I found the coal oil lamp in the bedroom burning and someone had slept in the bed. Walt sometimes stays at the house but he never yet went into the bedroom, he always uses the cot. I didn't know what to make of it at first. Later on I found that whoever came in last night broke in thru the back door. They tore the screen off and reached in and undid the catch. I eliminated Walt then because he knows where the key is and it was still there and anyway if he couldn't find it he would come down to the station to see me, not break in. I began to look around and by the jumping JC I was mad when I saw what was going on. Whoever broke in was drunk and they were sick, vomiting in the front room and going out and leaving it. My electric light globes were all broken and shattered all over the house. I was so GD mad that I would have played hell with the one that did it and set about to find some more clues. It snowed all last night and this morning and there were no tracks around the place that I could see. There was a party last night at Paul Trudels'. It was going on when I was at the house. When Paul is drunk he gets sick and always goes out. Emerson was there and when he is drunk he gets sick and has been up on the carpet before Trudel several times for drinking. He is always scared to return to the Barracks tight. I think that it was on of those two. I hope it was Emerson because I have been laying low for him for sometime, ever since a certain trip that he and I and Behns went to Fitz. If it was, I am going to lay a charge against him and do it so that he will be stripped and sent outside in disgrace. If it was Paul, I am going to do the same only he can't be stripped. They don't get away with it if I can find out who it was. I went to the Halfway and told Walt about it. He told me that he had not been over for over a week, and told me how to go about the thing. There will be a big Armistice Party on the 11. He said to go home that night and do some work then leave about 22:00 and come back about midnight but leave the car down the road and if no one is there to come back a couple of hours later, but lock up as usual so that whoever it is that is coming in has to break in for the second stunt. He said to get a Number 4 trap, this is just smaller than a bear trap and set it just inside the back door and leave it locked as usual. Whoever comes in has to break in, then they can't get in without stepping on the trap and I fastened the trap so that they can't get out. The latter method would break the leg of whoever stopped into it and I'd soon find out then. I haven't decided what to do yet, but will in the next 24 hours. I helped Walt fix up his radio while there and stayed and had supper. We decided to come over to Smith and get a new loud speaker. We came over but Leggo backed down on the deal. He offered Walt a dynamic speaker yesterday but changed his mind. I took Walt and the cook back then stuck around till about 22:00 and came home. I laid awake till 02:00 thinking about who got into the house and what the best plan to follow was but couldn't come to any conclusion.
Sunday, Nov 03
Meteors again . I got up at 05:00 and took them then went back to bed and slept till 11:00. Just as I went downstairs, Emerson and Burstall came in to send a message. While they were talking the alarm went off and they started to kid about any man setting an alarm for 11:00 AM. VEH sent me a 123 word BLK and Hersey was on. He was so rotten that it took both Jack and I to get him. I took about 8 words after making him repeat it 3 times then Jack took over and made him send it all over again. I worked around the station all day to get batteries charged up and wrote a few letters. I sent away the fees for the National Geographic for Mother, Nona's mother, Jack Taylor and myself and wrote to Hutchinson at Norman Wells. Jack and I were invited to Lanouettes for a duck supper at 18:00. We both went in Joe's coupe. There was a big crowd there. The guests were Mr & Mrs C.S. Leggo, McDougal, Murphy, Trudel, Chanpagne, Insp. Trundle, Middleton, Gagnon, Emerson, Dexter, Edythe Murphy and myself. The Pearsons were invited but didn't go. We came back to the station and sat around till 21:00 then went over to Pearsons and got back home at 03:00 and went to bed.
Monday, Nov 04 Temp +10
I put my overalls on this morning to work. It snowed all night and there was a blizzard, but not bad, for a while this morning. The snow was 5 inches deep in the places where there was no drift and a 30 mph wind all day. Then I went uptown and when I came back Jack couldn't get his car going so I gave him a tow and the low gear band gave out. I could hardly get home. Jack nearly had to tow me back. I towed him as far as Ingraham before getting his going. I cleaned out the warehouse and am using it for a garage this winter. We cleaned the oil warehouse and Joe is using that one. I changed the low gear and brake bands but couldn't get the brake band back in as it was so cold my hands lost their nimbleness, so I reassembled it without the brake. It was suppertime when I finished and as we had no bread or eggs here, we went Lanouettes for supper. After supper I went up to see Insp. Trundle and told him all the details of the breaking into the house Friday and he said he would try and find out. I told him who I suspected and he wasn't surprised. I got home at 21:00 and we listened to the radio till after midnight.Word came thru from Aklavik this morning that MacAlpine and his party that were lost in the arctic since Sept. 08 were safe. It appears from the report that they became lost in a snow storm and found that they were over the Queen Victoria Island, so landed. There was not enough gas in the 2 planes to take one back to help so they camped there. They lived on seals. After freeze up when it was safe to fly, a couple of days ago, they packed up and flew to a spot 40 miles from Cambridge Bay and walked to Cambridge. They brought an Eskimo with them as a guide and he took them in the rest of the way. There is an amateur there that works with Riddell at Aklavik and he reported on down to us and Jack forwarded it to GFD, the search base of the "Dome" Explorers. It still has to be confirmed but a plane will undoubtedly fly over from Baker Lake the first good day with skis and gas for them. The report states that they are all safe and well and both planes are OK.
Tuesday, Nov 05
I intended on putting out some traps today but when I got up and discovered that it was 20 below, I changed my mind. I worked 2 hours trying to get the car started but there was nothing doing. I walked uptown and did a little shopping then went home and got it warmed up then printed pictures finishing them about 20:30. I went back to the station and had a bite to eat then Joe and I listened to the radio till bedtime.
Wednesday, Nov 06
I've finished all the Oct business today and got things ready for the totalling. I have to borrow the adding machine from the govn't house before I can finish. I tried to get the car going today but it was still so cold that I couldn't turn it over, so I drained the oil out and brought it into the station to heat it up. It does not appear to be the fault of the oil but rather the grease in the differential that is making it so stiff. I didn't go uptown at all today but worked on the books. After supper I put the stove in the engine room and got it going. I was working around till after 23:00 then went upstairs and Joe and I had a lunch and listened to the radio till about 00:30 and went to bed.
Thursday, Nov 07
It was a lot warmer today so I took some boiling water and the hot oil and went at the car right. It started in about 15 minutes. I heated the manifold and put the hot oil in then jacked it up. It wasn't bad then. I went uptown and borrowed the adding machine from the govn't house and spent the rest of the day balancing up. I did not get finished and as they wanted the machine back tomorrow to finish their own books, I will have to finish at a later date. There is no hurry anyway as the mail does not go out until the end of this month. After supper I went home and developed 9 rolls of films for tomorrow's work. I am off tomorrow. It was nearly 23:00 when I returned to the station then I spent an hour on the books. Joe made some egg sandwiches and called me at midnight and we had lunch then listened to the radio, it was excellent tonight. I banked both the fires at 12:45 and went to bed.
Friday, Nov 08
I took back the adding machine as they wanted it at the govn't house. I went home and got a fire going then went out on my old trap line and set 5 fox traps. There are lots of tracks again this year. A Silver was seen around Smith and everyone has traps set for him. I went back home then and printed a bunch of pictures and was going to the Halfway when I met Joe Lacombe. He told me Walt was over at the Mission putting in a power washing outfit, so I went over there. I was just what was needed as a helper, so stayed and helped them the rest of the afternoon. They have a Fairbanks Morse Engine, without the overhead drive shaft running two machines at present and room for two more. I stayed and had supper with them then when they were finished Walt came up to the house with me and stayed and talked till 22:00. We went to Lanouettes and had a cup of coffee and some apple pie then Walt went to bed and I came home. The radio was good so I sat up with Joe till 01:00 listening to it then we went to bed.
Saturday, Nov 09
I have not had no more word from Nona and as her last wire asking for another $50 came too late to send to Regina before she left for the coast, if she get away Wed. AM, I wired to Dad to find out if they had gone and if he had word from then yet as to where they were. I got my cheque for $200 this morning and left $75 at the Bay to be wired to her and have the wire made out waiting to put in the address, then paid the rest of the money out to settle up some bills. The cheque was for the radio I sold to Hilker. I didn't go anywhere tonight and Joe came home early and we listened to the radio for a while then went to bed.
Sunday, Nov 10
I went out over my trap line this morning. There was a raven in one trap but nothing else. I went down on the river bank and set two ermine sets then when I came up the hill I met Leggo. He asked me if I would come in and see if his set was OK. The thing squeals so that he can't hear a thing. I found the B batteries noisy then we had a look at his new Marconi. He doesn't like it a bit. Has put his old set back and is trying to sell the new one. Walt phoned over and asked me to bring him four bottles of grape juice if I was coming over and as I had nothing else to do I thought I'd go over. Maybe I could see some birds on the way. I didn't get any but saw one flock of ptarmigan. When I got there I cleaned out the gas line and the timer and tinkered around on the car for an hour and got it all tuned up for the winter. PG Mercredi was there and he and Walt decided to go to Fitz. I took them over in my car. There roads are fine now. The snow has packed down so hard it has filled all the little holes up. We went to Phillips house and listened to the radio then came back to the Halfway. They went over for a bottle of rum. That is what the grape juice was for. They are making punch for the dance tomorrow night. There is a big dance at Smith to celebrate the wedding. Callaghan and Mrs Smith were married at 19:00 tonight. The punch was some punch, it contained 1 gallon coca cola, 4 bottles grape juice, 2 bottles of rum and 1 bottle lemon extract. The lemon extract killed the rum and the rum killed the extract although the lemon could still be tasted which was not as it should be. It was non intoxicating but it had a nice kick. I brought Philip ( Mercredi) back to Smith when I came home and we got here about 23:15. I came home and listened to the radio with Joe then went to bed.
Monday, Nov 11
Today is a holiday so we stayed in bed till 11:00. I took the noon call then got the car started. Joe tried to get his going but one cylinder wasn't working. I told him to clean his timer. He took it off and it was half full of ice, then he bent the roller support and couldn't get it back. We worked till after 14:00. I then told him to leave it and I took him as far as his trap line which starts at the boundary then went on over to the Halfway. The cook, Bill Johnson, was bringing the new maid for Ryans over to the dance and didn't want to come in the big car so asked me if I would take them over. He would fill my tank and pay me for it. While I was waiting I went up to the garage to fix up a heater for the car. I didn't get it finished however but it is only a small job from now on. Mrs Ryan was in one of her funny moods today and about supper time decided that Josie wasn't going to the dance. Josie was going but Mrs Ryan won. Bill wouldn't go then so I brought Jean Ryan and Collins cloths and the punch over. I went out to the station and cleaned up then came back to the dance. It was snowing so I called for Pearsons but they were just getting into Joe's coupe. I called for Ingrahams and went over. There were 11 from Fitz and only one car so Walt wanted to know if I would take a load over after the dance and save him a second trip. $10 looked good to me so I said yes. The people from there are like so many sheep however. As soon as the supper was over Mrs Waganitz and Florence wanted to go home as they were tired. Then everyone was going home. Syd Porter and a couple of others decided to wait over till morning, then nobody was going till morning. So I told Walt I was going home. He was sore too because he was hanging around and no one knew what they wanted and was waiting till someone else made a move. Walt went back to the Halfway and told me that they would know what to do when he got back. I came home and went to bed.
Tuesday, Nov 12
I went uptown at noon to get some things for supper then took Joe up at dinner time and we ate at Lanouettes. Walt hadn't come back yet and everyone was waiting for him. Most of them were ready since 09:00 .They were mad too because they had to shell out for meals at Lanouettes. They kept phoning the Halfway every little while and I guess that Mickey was wise because he told them that Walt wasn't up yet but would be over this afternoon. I bet the Wags and the Coops would rather have gone hungry than spend a couple of dollars in a restaurant. During the afternoon I worked on the books and odd jobs around the station till suppertime. After supper I had to go uptown for a while then came back and worked till 11:30 on DRs and back stuff. I guess I'll have to work a good many nights to get things caught up. I think my best plan is to work on the current stuff during the day and then work about 4 nights a week on back stuff such as ledgers, vouchers, mail, etc then everything will be caught up about the same time and things will be easier. I was figuring it out tonight and I see enough to keep me busy till about the end of Feb. We listened to the radio for a couple of hours before going to bed.
Wednesday, Nov 13
This is my Wed. on Meteors. I would have overslept but Joe called me when his alarm went off at 05:40.After, I slept in till 10:00 then had to go uptown and I didn't get back till 11:50. I went over to see Trundle and he had to show me all the dogs and tell the history of each. They have a real good bunch of dogs there this time. After dinner I built a heater for the car. Today was a nice warm day and just right to work outside. It took me about 20 minutes to make it. It is made of a piece of galvanized sheet tin cut to fit over the exhaust from the first cylinder to the dashboard. It is open at the front end and comes out about 3/4 inch above the pipe. From there to the dash it slopes up so that at the last cylinder it is about 3 inches above the cylinder and goes thru the dash thru a 3 inch square hole. The ends are bent over to make it a smooth job. I was uptown this afternoon and tried the heater out. It was warm outside but after 20 minutes running it raised the temperature inside the car about 20 degrees. While I was uptown this afternoon I visited my traps but there was nothing in them. After supper I went home and lit a fire as I intend going up to print tomorrow. I tried out the Westinghouse set and it works fine. When I was thru I went out to the 3 mile Bridge then onto the station. The car was as warm inside as a house when I got home. I noticed the change as soon as I stepped out. Joe had listened to York rave about some of the sets in town especially the tone of McDougals and Joe had brought him out to hear his. They were here when I got home. York was some surprised too, believe me. Joe took him home after midnight and while they were gone I fixed the fires and got ready to go to bed.
Thursday, Nov 14
Off today. I got up at 09:30 and went up to the house. It was still warm there from the fire last night but I had to relight it. I printed until 14:00 then was busy until 18:00 drying and trimming them. I did some more of my own and have 300 prints finished for the new album. Joe and I both had supper at Lanouettes then we came home. We listened to the radio all evening and went to bed about 00:30.
Friday, Nov 15
Slept in till 09:30. Joe woke me and as Jack was not over yet I went downstairs and called VEH. It was too late to call VED. I just got him when Jack came in and took over. I went back upstairs and had a cup of coffee and cleaned up and was back downstairs at 10:00. I worked on books all day and have caught up to 2 days behind. That is about as close as I dare go on account of back dated traffic that comes in. I was uptown several times today and while up one trip collected most of the radio accounts. Only have a couple more to come in now. After supper I went down to the office and worked on the October mail and DRs. Have them all finished and ready for Jack to sign. Have to get the draft yet before sealing and posting. I wrote a letter to the HM Kipp Co. asking some information on their new Mercury using the big tubes. Listened to the radio till 01:00. Joe took the push pull amplifier that I used to have up to Leggo and tried it out on his set. It worked OK and Leggo is trading some Super parts out of Godsells old set for them. I have the best of the bargain. We went to bed at 01:30.
Saturday, Nov 16
Joe and I on today, I took the first call as we both overslept till 09:15. I went down in my dressing gown while Joe dressed. He came down and relieved me then I put on the breakfast. It is warm today and has been thawing for the past week with cold nights. The car starts easy and I went uptown several times. I worked on the books for a while and then got most of the issue vouchers ready and UTD. I will work getting the ledgers ready to close on Dec 31. I sold my enlargements today. Joe Lanouette bought 2, the "Channel around the Mountain Rapids" and the "Channel around the rapids of the drowned". Mrs Callaghan bought "Evening". I got $8 each for them, frames and all. Will send the negatives out first air mail and have them reprinted. After supper I worked around the station till about 22:00 then listened to the radio for a while and went to bed about 01:00.
Sunday, Nov 17
My week on Meteors again. Got them off OT this AM and went back to bed till 10:30. I got up and called Joe then went down and worked VED, CFD, VEH but couldn't raise VEC. When I finished Joe had the breakfast cooked. Right after we finished we got the cars going and went out over our trap lines. I got nothing, Joe got a weasel. So far though Joe had 15 ermine and one mink. When I got back from my line, I stopped at Pearsons to take them out hunting ptarmigan. They were just getting up and had promised to go skiing with Mrs Leggo and Champagne. I had a couple of cups of coffee with them and stayed and talked till 15:00. Joe just got home as I did so he came with me. We went out the Bell Rock Road to the forks. The snow was about 6 inches deep and the bus didn't have any pep. After we passed the beaten trail to Joes old Fish trail, I had to go most of the way with low gear. We got one ptarmigan just after we left and saw no more. When we got back we had supper then I called Walt. He said to come over so I took his tools back. The road was good all the way. I was there till 22:00 and we went down to the cookshack and had a cup of coffee. Bill, the cook, is the same as ever. He just made some pies of apple and cranberry. They were good too. I came back and found Joe's car stuck in front of the Pearsons. I went in and he said that he was out of gas. We stayed there till about 01:30 and I towed him home. We went to bed at 02:00.
Monday, Nov 18
Meteors off OK. I got up again at 08:30 and at 09:00 just started calling VED when the aerial fell down. The weight of the hoar frost and the fact that al the stretch had gone out of the halliards (lines) was the cause of it. It was the north end that fell. I went out and looked over the damage. The two insulators were broken and the block was down. It tore Joe's receiving serial down but it was not very badly tangled. I woke up Joe and called Jack but no one answered. Jack just got his phone in yesterday and it was handy to be able to call even though he didn't answer. I knew he was on his way over. He got here in a couple of minutes. I climbed the mast and took up the halliard and the block and run the halliard thru. We decided to put in a new one while we were at it so I brought out the spare. I went up again and ran the new rope thru then tied it to the old halliard and Jack pulled it on thru. there was a 25 mph wind blowing and I might just as well had no clothes on for all the good mine did. The wind went right thru me. Coming down this time I jumped the last 6 feet and sprained my left ankle. It didn't hurt much and I stuck to it till we were finished. The set was going again at 10:45. I went upstairs and bathed my feet in hot water then rubbed some white liniment on the sprain and kept pretty well off it for the day. It kept getting bigger and by 16:00 when Jack was taking messages uptown he took me to the hospital and Doc McDonald examined it and fixed it up. The big toe , ankle and instep and a ligament in the leg were sprained. I went to bed right after we had supper and did the dishes. All night I dozed and woke up about 4 times/hour.
Tuesday, Nov 19
I woke up at 05:00 and came down and sent the Meteors and was just going back upstairs when the alarm rang. Joe was just going to get up and take them for me when I was coming back. I didn't do much today. I worked in the office all morning and part of the afternoon but did work that I could do sitting down. During the day I bathed my foot and massaged it with liniment 3 times. Joe did most of the work upstairs and after supper I went to bed. I didn't sleep very well but I was keeping off my feet.
Wednesday, Nov 20
Joe took the Meteors and I stayed in bed till noon. I got up and put the dinner on. My foot is a lot better today. During the afternoon I cleaned out the upstairs and painted 2 more of my big enlargements. After supper I wrote a long letter to Nona but as I do not know just where she is and how long she will be there I addressed it to Regina. Went to be at 00:30.
Thursday, Nov 21
Meteors OK then back to bed till 08:30. I came downstairs at 09:00 and called VEC. They were right on the dot but had nothing. Jack came in shortly after. I worked on the books and brought them UTD. My foot is lots better today. I can get around on it now without hurting but am still taking it easy. Was on the set a couple of hours this afternoon. After supper Joe and I started to make an amplifier out of old parts to hook up to the telephone line so that a loud speaker can be used. McDougal connects his radial to the telephone every night so that the buffalo rangers out in the park can listen to it. As it is they have to use phones and stand there and listen. If this will work and no reason why it won't, we ought to get about $20 each for them. Joe has parts for 2 and I have parts for one and we might as well turn them into gold. I was hooking it up while Joe was making a cabinet for it. We are going to make it so they can't get inside it. They all have a disease here of pulling radio sets and parts to pieces to see if they are going OK then they can't get them going again. To make a successful set for the people of this town they must be made mechanically strong enough so that they could be taken a few thousand feet into the air by plane and dropped on a granite rock without harm. Otherwise they will have them to pieces and send them back for repairs. Those who are that kind, that is those that are continually pulling them apart to "fix" them are the ones that object to paying for service in fixing them afterwards. We were about half way thru this one when in came Bill Schafeur. He just got into town and had seen everyone else that he wanted to see and came down to the station last. He said that he left our visit till the last as he said he didn't want to have to leave too early. He stayed till a quarter to three. The radio was real good all evening and he enjoyed it very much. He showed us some stunts about taking the steel scent off our traps and how to make some snares. Then he left and I fixed the fires and Joe and I went to bed.
Friday, Nov 22
Didn't move around much today on account of my foot. It is about the same today as it was yesterday. I did some work in the office, enough to keep things UTD and spent the rest of the time upstairs. After supper Joe and I tried out the amplifier that we made, we finished it tonight. It worked OK so Joe took it uptown and tried it out in the govn't house office. It worked like a charm there so McDougal had him take it up to Murphy's. It was a humdinger and when they were finished Murphy and Trudel wanted it right there and wouldn't let Joe even take it out to paint it. McDougal said he would find out from the buffalo rangers how many wanted them. I have parts for 2 more and will hook them up later. Gerry Murphy is going out thru the park and we will hook up these two and he said he would take them out for us and sell them. We went to bed about 01:00.
Saturday, Nov 23
My day off today so I went back to bed after sending the Meteors and stayed in bed till 13:15. I monkeyed around all day doing nothing but read and slept for a couple of hours. My foot was not so good today. The swelling is going down fast but there is still sharp pains in the instep. After supper Joe went uptown but I stayed around. I slept for an hour and 1/2 then came out and listened to the radio till he came home. He got back about 22:00 and we sat up till 01:00.
Sunday, Nov 24
I slept till 01:30 today and when I got up noticed a big improvement in my foot. It still pains and aches but I can stand on it without attenuating the pain. Joe was on the set all day and as it was too cold and snowing so he did not visit the traps during the afternoon lull. He had to go uptown with some messages and while he was there I hooked up the other amplifier. I had it all finished with the exception of the cabinet when he returned. After supper we went downstairs and tried it out. It is OK. During the morning Jack was over and we were talking over the business of the station then it was decided that after the aerial coming down last week, we had better take the other end down and put on a new halyard. I thought my foot was OK for it so we went to work. It took an hour to do the job and it wasn't' done any too soon. One strand of the halyard had already broken where it goes over the pulley. Jack went up the mast however as I could not trust my foot to it and he wouldn't have let me anyway. We listened to the radio till about 01:00 and went to bed.
Monday, No 25
I slept till 10:00 then came down and did one days books and went up and made dinner. We had boiled potatoes and roast beef. I read a serial nearly all afternoon. I forgot to mention yesterday that we had a fire in the chimney of the engine room stove about 23:00 and it was a bad one although did no damage. Joe went up on the roof and emptied a pyrene down the chimney while I stayed down in the engine room with the Garth incase the chimney buckled and fell. That is always our big worry. My foot is fine today. It still has a dull ache but all the swelling is gone and I can stand on it OK but still have to walk more or less flat footed as the big toe hurts if I bend it too much when walking. Things are very quiet around here now. We are passing away a little time reading but that gets monotonous and I guess Joe has the same ailment I have-lonesomeness. We read and listened to the radio till nearly one AM then went to bed.
Tuesday, Nov 26
Well, this is my day off so I stayed in bed till 11:30 then got up and cooked dinner. My foot is fine today and I can walk on it without limping. I had intended staying around here all day but went out and tried the car. It started fine after sitting there all week so I went uptown. I went home and warmed up the place then started to put in the hot air pipe to the bathroom. I finished it about suppertime then went back to the station for supper. I came back after supper and did a little more on it. I got back to the station at 21:00 and Joe and I listened to the radio till about 01:30 then went to bed. When I was uptown today I saw the doctor and he congratulated me on my constitution for being out and around already after the foot that he saw when I first went to see him. He said that he expected to see me laid up for a month. The Campbell kids have the measles. They got them yesterday somewhere. The baby and Bill have them. The baby is none months old yet and just the same as it was when it was 3 months old. It doesn't know anyone but the mother. It can't sit up yet.
Wednesday, Nov 27
My morning on Meteors. I got them away OK and went back to bed till 08:45. Jack came in just as I was going to call Edmonton so I turned the set over to him. Started the Delco. I worked on the books all morning. I took a wire up to Joe and he got up and started dinner while I ran uptown with some messages. Freda has the same trouble that Bill Loverock had, ulcer of the stomach. That is what has been the matter I guess. It's a good job that she went out when she did. She is doing splendidly and Sonny is fine. I went to the police barracks today and my trail in there is getting deep. There is 2 feet of snow now and Joe and I have worked like Trojans to keep a trail open for the car uptown. He and I are the only ones still running them. We have kept them open by making at least two trips a day each uptown. We got from the station to our place, turn around at the hotel, then into the barracks and back. That takes us near every place when delivering messages but the Mission, but they have few anyway. We can go to the hotel and walk from there. The running boards, engine and axles drag in the snow now but the continual going back and forth keeps the ruts hard and clears off the loose snow on the top. It is impossible to get out of the ruts now. We had our usual midnight lunch and listened to the radio till 01:00 and went to bed.
Thursday, Nov 28
Up at 09:00. Still snowing. While uptown just before dinner time I met Billie Berens and brought him back to the station to pile and cut wood for us. We get him out here about once a week for that. In order to keep him here we gave him his dinner and I took him back when I took the Press up to the govn't house. I worked on the books most of the day. After supper Joe went uptown to get a haircut and I worked in the office till after 10:00 then went upstairs and read a few short stories in Cosmopolitan. Bed at 01:30.
Friday, Nov 29
This is my day off so I went uptown about 10:30 and got a fire going in the kitchen and cut a small window a foot long and eight inches wide between the bathroom and the kitchen right up against the ceiling then filled the tank and got a roaring fire going. I printed a bunch of pictures and developed 6 rolls of film. I was nearly finished when Mrs Conibear came over and told me that Mrs Cameron and Mrs Couture had gone out the Portage Road about a half mile with Mrs Couture's little boy and Frances and that they were supposed to be back before three pm and it was then four-thirty. As there was a blizzard blowing all day and nearly a foot of snow fell, she wanted me to go out to look for them. I was the only man in that part of town. I didn't want to take the car out that road as I was afraid I would get stuck. Even the trail back to the station was drifted over so that it was impossible to tell where the ruts were. I was going to walk but it was dark and I had no flashlight, so I decided to take a chance with the car and go as far as I could. I went out nearly to the dumping ground sign post when I met them. They were OK. Mrs Couture was better dressed than Mrs Cameron as she was in nickers. They had Prince with them hitched to the Conibears little carryall, so Mrs Couture said she would take Prince home as it was only a little ways now but the children and Mrs Cameron got into the car. It was as warm as toast in the car as the heater was on and I had to go out all the way in low. I was afraid to turn around so backed all the way back to town and the snow was so deep that the car stayed in the ruts all the way. It was nearly suppertime so I decided to go to Lanouettes and eat then take the car back to the station before it got any worse. Then I was going to walk back home and finish up, I had some films still washing. When I went in Bob Middleton came in and said that Joe had phoned and told him to tell me that his car was stuck just past the cemetery and to go around the back road behind the cemetery. As no cars have been on that road this winter I thought it rather funny that he would suggest that road then thought that maybe he had taken a walk there and had seen what it was like and being sheltered it hadn't drifted. If it was as bad as that, I decided to return home and finished hanging up the films before going. I had a good hot bath then drained the rest of the tank and things with water in them and closed up shop. Miss Murphy was on her way to the govn't house so I gave her a lift then went around by Godsells place then past Camerons and turned down behind the cemetery but only got about 50 yards. There was a drift there about 3 feet high and it took some time to get thru it. I went as far as I could then backed out and went back and forth making a solid trail and when it was packed pretty well I took a run at it and made it half way thru. I had some trouble getting back out but made it and went back and forth a dozen times and took a run at it again and went thru but around the corner I met my Waterloo. I ran into a drift a good 4 1/2 feet high and was about the length of the car into it before I stopped. I stalled a half dozen times before I got backing and then kept right on backing out to the road again. I came back and started across the sand plane by the cemetery and although the drifts were about 2 feet high, I had no trouble getting thru. I kept a lookout for Joes car but finally came to where he had gotten stuck in a bad drift but had backed out and turned around and gone back to the station. From there it was clear sailing. The wind had covered up the ruts but they were so well made and solid that the car couldn't get out of them anyway. When I got home Joe told me that Bob had misunderstood his message. He phoned and told him to tell me to come home right away if I wanted to get here and that he had started uptown to break a trail for me thinking that I may be stuck somewhere as I had not been near the place since this morning and at overtime they went up today they had to break trail. Jack had gone up once and broke trail all the way up and after being around town 20 minutes had to break it all the way back it covered so fast. He had also said that he got as far as the back road of the cemetery and got stuck and had to turn back. He had broken about halfway thru this drift and was afraid to try any more as his low gear is slipping and he was afraid of the sand plain. When I hit the same drift that he had gotten stuck in I was going fast enough to break thru about halfway when I hit his rut then it picked up and I came on. I put the car into the garage and it's going to stay there now till spring. I am going to drain it tomorrow and take out the battery and jack it up off the floor. I just put new bands in it a short time ago and I don't see the use of tearing them out now.Joe was lying down when I got in and he fell asleep shortly afterwards. I read for a while then washed the dishes then read some more. About 23:15 I turned on the radio. That woke him up and he made lunch then banked the fires. It was 01:45 when I went to bed.
Saturday, Nov 30
( Bright and clear for the first time in 3 weeks). Worked on books this mooning then after dinner I cleaned up in the engine room. I swept it out and threw out some things that had begun to gather and then shined up the Delco and the Motor-generator. I found that the communicators on the motor-generator needed attention while I was working around them. There was a lot of oil on the base that has seeped from the bearings. The snow around the station was about 2 feet deep so I went out and made a wide path from the engine room door to the warehouses and around to the front.Two planes flew over Smith at noon. They were Sutton and Dewar from Stoney Rapids. They were going to Resolution with supplies for MacAlpine and his party who are at Reliance. They landed there an hour and ten minutes after passing over here- 190 miles. About 16:00 Mrs Pearson called up and wanted to know if I was coming uptown. I said yes but I was walking. She was at Mrs Leggo's and wanted to know if I would call for her as she was afraid of going out thru the bush alone when it was dark. I told her I would. I took the Press up about a half an hour later and called for her on the way back. Joe was around his trap line today for the first time since the big snowfall. He wore snow shoes and walked about 8 miles thru the snow up over his knees. He was nearly all in by the time he got home. Sutton and his party landing in at Resolution. When he did it flooded the system temporarily with traffic. Jack was on the set till about 19:30 and as Joe and I had had our supper, we came downstairs and Joe told Jack to go on home and we would finish up. We were at it till 21:15. I went upstairs and did up the dishes and when we finished we decided to go over and show Pearsons a trick in bridge. We went over but found the door open, the lamp on but no one home. We waited there till 22:00 then came back home. We left a couple of service messages there for Jack to see and he called us up shortly afterwards. We went back over and sat and chewed the rag for a while then played a rubber of bridge. Mrs Pearson and Jack vrs Joe and I. We won the points they won the rubber however. It was nearly 02:00 when we got back to the station.