[MacIvor Crest] Crest of Clan MacIvor

Chapter XXVI- A

Canadian Builders and Other Interesting Matters

The following is part of a speech given by H. J. Logan, M.P., for Cumberland, at the Canadian Club at Boston in 1922:

The speaker said, he had been told that there were more Nova Scotians and their descendants in the New England States than the total population at home. These Canadians had given a good account of themselves in the land of their adoption, as could be learned from the biographies of New England College and university presidents and from the law reports of the judiciary, and by following some of the greatest teachers and leaders in theology, law, medicine and the arts, and the most successful masters of industry. He wondered, however, if they devoted as much energy at home as here, whether they would not be at least as well off and as happy.

Mr. Logan next drew attention to the wonderful natural resources of the Maritime provinces, and of their attractions for the tourist. Nova Scotia, he said, contained more varied natural resources within its 21,000 square miles than any province or state on the continent. It had 800,000 acres of land under cultivation in 1921, which yielded a crop of $18,000,000. value. The deposits of coal in Cumberland, Pictou, Inverness and Cape Breton were estimated to contain over 8,000,000,000 tons and last year total coal production was valued at $31,200,000, with the coke and by- products giving an additional $3,400.000.

With sufficient capital provided, the coal mines of Nova Scotia could meet all the requirements for bituminous coal east of the Great Lakes and also of New England. In addition to its coal mines, iron, gypsum, clay, immense fisheries and forests, great orchards, and fertile farms, which had an aggregate production in 1921, valued at $165,000,000.


What Judge Patterson Thought

Judge Patterson, who in a most happy manner presented the prizes, told the audience something of the early days of Pictou Academy, and dwelt on the coming to Canada of the forefathers of many of those present, in the good old ship Hector, taking occasion to mention the coming celebration next year of the 150th anniversary of the landing of the immigrants from the Hector and pointing out what a memorable celebration this would be as marking the start of the Scottish immigration to Canada, and claiming that in the development of Canada, the Scottish had played perhaps the leading part. There would be in old Pictou next year, as claimed, the greatest gathering of the exiled sons and daughters of Pictou County that had every been seen or would again be seen until they all met in heaven, there being apparently no doubt in the judge's mind that all Pictonians finally land in the abode of the blessed.


The Ex-Kaiser's Guilt Speaks for Itself

To the Editor of the Witness:

Sir,-- Tirpitz has been to me the Kaiser lately. He is very much concerned about him. He finds he has taken to religion, reads the Bible a great deal and prays. He concludes he is going insane. Possibly Satan would be of the same opinion in view of those odd features in the Kaiser.

The Kaiser has some conscience apparently, a thing that Tirpitz cannot comprehend. The Kaiser keeps complaining of the false accusations that he willed the war. That, at least, is a change of heart. There was a time when he would have been affronted had any one hinted that he did not will all that was done. If he did not will the war, he was the helpless tool of those who did, the most wicked of whom was probably this same Tirpitz. Tirpitz tells us he could not interest the Kaiser in German policies, and it is quite possible that the Kaiser looks upon him as his evil angel, as he certainly was of Germany. He was the man who sank the hospital ships, and the Lusitania, and was primarily responsible for all the German villainies and beastly rascalities on sea and land. He was the man behind whose command the actual perpetrators of these crimes took refuge.

We need not be surprised to be told that the ex-Kaiser is going mad, as he never was much otherwise and his present circumstances, disappointments, and bitter remorse, are such as to undo the firmest intellect. Sometimes, though not often, we hear people saying Germany is too hardly dealt with. But the ex-Kaiser has given proof positive of this culpability in the letters in his own hand-writing, which have lately been unearthed, written to the Austrian Emperor:

"It rends my heart, but all must be put to fire and sword. Men, women and children, and the aged must be slaughtered. Neither a tree nor a house left standing. Those methods of terrorism are the only ones capable of making any impression on a people as degenerate as the French. The war will be ended in less than two months; whereas, if I pay regard to the humanitarian considerations it may drag on for years. Therefore, and despite all my repugnance, I have had to choose the first course which will spare much blood, although appearances may suggest the contrary."

These words in his own handwriting prove his personal culpability as the originator of the war, and lead us to infer that the beastly license given to the German soldiers in France and Belgium by the military authorities in Berlin met with his approval; also the murder of Nurse Caveil and Captain Fryatt.

It is said that Lord Hamilton, Chairman of the Great Eastern Railway Company of England, and the line of steamers plying between Harwich and Rotterdam, has established the fact that the ex-Kaiser was present at the Council of Berlin when Fryatt's death was ordered, and that he actually signed the death warrant.

These and many other charges can be easily established and prove him guilty of causing this most terrible of wars.

James Stenhouse


Canada's Crucifixion

(The News, Cleveland, Ohio)

North, over the border, today in every community leal-hearted citizens of the Dominion are holding commemorative services for the sons of the maple lying in Flanders Fields, who held the line for liberty from April 22 to April 24, seven years ago. In proud and loving memory, mothers and fathers of those heroes recall the battle of battles of the World War, in which the picked conscripts of Europe hurled themselves for three consecutive days on the flower of youth of Canada and in the end retired baffled, leaving on the field thrice 10,000 dead.

The true story of the world's salvation from militarism by that little band of stalwart souls, known as the First Canadian Division, history will tell. The battle of St. Julien was the start of a series of displays of Canadian heroism and efficiency that marked the Flanders and Picardy campaigns of the great war wherever emergency occurred, and which has added to the glory of patriotic achievement the events chronicled by the names of Festubert, Givenchy, Vimy, Cambrai and a score more.

Untested from farm and factory, numbering less than 10,000, had been placed between two French armies to block the enemy's determination to achieve the French channel ports. To Von Falkenhayn's command to his German troops to pulp the Canadians and break through, no matter what the cost, an answer was given which ranks St. Julien with Thermopylae and The Alamo, with the difference that St. Julien had her messengers of victory, albeit they numbered but 400, all that was left of Canada's vanguard in the fight for civilization.

Deserted by the Algerian corps on its left; its right bared by the retreat of the extreme eastern French wing, this pigmy army stood. Defying the repeated charges of the magnificent Prussian guard, ten service battalions of which dissolved themselves against that unbreakable human wall; scornful alike of gas and bomb, these Canadians fought for 72 hours to achieve the result their commander curtly ordered in the words: "The line across St. Julien must be held. The Canadians will hold it."

And when, after the three-day agony, the third British army came to the relief and the battered men of the western continent marched out, no more inspiring sight was ever witnessed than the little army passing through in infacing serried ranks of seasoned British warriors, each rigidly standing at "the present."

The salute of St. Julien is Canada's forever!


United States Senator Pays Tribute to Canada

Senator Walsh of Massechusetts, in a three-minute speech at the Kiwanis luncheon in Montreal, where he was present as a guest of one of the members, paid an amazingly high tribute to this country and made a remarkable allusion to his own.

Referring apparently, though not specifically, to the action of the United States Government in the matter of the League of Nations, and other attempts at national isolation, Senator Walsh said: "Any nation which thinks to `go it alone' is not serving God Almighty and is making a big mistake. Such action is profoundly wrong and is bound to react against it. If I were a Canadian, I should be the proudest man in the world. Here your men are virile, highly industrious and intelligent, and your women -- one of whom is now my wife -- are of the finest. You are not led by the nose by politicians and you believe in, and practice, free discussion. I have spent my holidays in Canada for the past twenty years now, and have therefore some experience and knowledge of your country on which to base a judgement. Your future should be great, because your citizens have many of the qualities which make for true greatness."


The Assassination of Michael Collins

If de Valera and his red-handed accomplices hoped by getting Michael Collins, head of the Irish Provisional Government and the National Army, out of the way, to establish a republican government, they have made the greatest blunder of their lives. Not only has this dastardly act created intense indignation throughout Ireland and the whole Empire and united the Free State forces as nothing since the beginning of the civil war has done, making them more determined to put down rebellion with a strong hand: it has also alienated what little sympathy still existed abroad for the republican leader in his pursuit of an elusive hope.

The New York World, at one time of de Valera's best supporters in the United States, declares that Michael Collins was "butchered by members of the irreconcilable minority." In a scathing denunciation of de Valera's cowardly gang of murderers the World says:- "They have gone a long way toward proving what Collins has almost succeeded in disproving -- that Ireland does not know how to govern itself, and is not willing to learn." Doubtless the World reflects the opinion of the great majority of Irishmen in the United States.

De Valera need never again appeal to America for assistance in his mad ambition to satisfy his consuming vanity. His political career is at an end, as surely as if it had been he had feel at the hand of the assassin. And, if he gets his deserts, he will not cause much more trouble in Ireland or anywhere else.

The one man, in whom more than in any other the hope of Ireland lay, has fallen a martyr to the cause to which he had consecrated his life. Others may, and doubtless will, carry on his work, but Collins will live in the hearts of the Irish people as Lincoln's memory is immortalized in the United States.

The mourning in England over the tragic death of Michael Collins was as sincere as in Ireland, for like the great Boer leader who, though he once fought against Britain, afterwards became a great supporter and strength to the Empire, Collins turned from his hostility to England to allegiance to the Crown, and the change of feeling toward him throughout Great Britain was as genuine as it was sudden. His courage and dash as a soldier, and his Celtic warmheartedness and generosity as a friend, made him a popular hero and a born leader of men. It may prove to be the greatest contribution to the cause for which he lived.


Pugwash

Pugwash, March 20, 1921

Dear Editor:

Perhaps a short article referring to the Town of Pugwash and the vicinity, may be of interest to your readers.

Pugwash is situated on the mouth of the river of the name, being named Pugwash by the early aborigines, which means "deep water" in English, and in the early history of our County was the centre of trade for the surrounding country. on account of the safe harbour, it being easy of access by vessels drawing deep water.

Before the advent of the railroads, the traffic was confined to shipment by water. This was the shipping port for lumber and some of the largest steamers have loaded there for the Old Country. This was also, at one time, a busy shipbuilding town.

The railroads have changed the trend of trade, and other towns have grown up and drawn away from Pugwash some of the old lines of business, but Pugwash has yet several natural resources which are being developed.

This is the hub of a very fine farming section, extending from Amherst Head to the lower point on Gulf Shore, with Northport, Shinimicas, Linden, Port Howe, Wallace Bay, West Pugwash, Middleboro, and many others that I could mention, but I do not wish to crowd your space. All of this country is the very finest of farming country, and it is all tributary to this port for shipment either by rail or water. The produce shipped through this Railway Station during the year 1919 was said to be great than from any other station on the Government Railway east of Sackville, N.B. Besides this, there was a large quantity went by water transportation, to Newfoundland and Cape Breton.

There is an unlimited bed of pure lime, which was at one time burned and sold for building purposes. Now that the value of ground lime as a fertilizer is becoming admitted, this is a valuable asset. We have here also a bed of clay suitable for making bricks, and this has been worked by the Nova Scotia Clay Works Company.

They have in operation one of the best plants in the Maritime Provinces, and they ship their output by water to Newfoundland, and by rail all over the Lower Provinces. They have a siding right into their works.

We have also a live active tannery in operation all the year round. This is one of the two tanneries in operation in Nova Scotia, at the present time. This business is conducted by Stewart Brothers. They make principally harness leather. The Pugwash Manufacturing Company is managed by Percy L. French and this is also a live business, open all the year round. The steam sawmill owned by N. B. Mattinson, is a great convenience to the public, as lumber can be floated in rafts to the mill and sawn at any time during the summer. The shingle and lath mill operated by William McKiel is also a great convenience to the public.

The Pugwash Milling Company, Limited have been operating the Roller Flour Mill in Pugwash now for more than a year, and they have given good service to the farmers.,

This mill was first started by Edward Demings some 25 years ago. Mr. J. N. Benjamin took over the mill in 1909 and organized the company known as The Pugwash Milling Company Limited of Pugwash, N.S. He added a lot of new machinery, and this mill was pronounced, by a competent judge, to be the best equipped mill in Nova Scotia. For several reasons the mill was not operated during the wear. Mr. Benjamin's two sons went to the war, and it was not found possible to get a competent miller. The two boys never came back.

Along in 1917 Mr. A. F. Lockhart was in Pugwash, and learned of the mill, and that it was idle. He went and looked it over. Mr. Lockhart was a practical miller; he saw that this was a first class mill in every respect and one that if operated should be of great benefit to the farmers of this section of the County of Cumberland.

The result was he got his son, Mr. H. A. Lockhart, who is also a practical miller, to come down from Caribou, Maine, where he was then employed in a flour mill, in the summer of 1919, and they decided to buy out the property of the company from Mr. Benjamin.

They started the mill grinding in November, 1919, after having overhauled and put it in good working condition. They have given good service. The flour made from the home grown grain compares favourable with that imported, some patrons say "they never had better flour in their homes."

When we get ELECTRICITY furnished by hydraulic power, into Pugwash, we will have the best opening for manufacturing in the county. We do not need to mention the well known advantages we enjoy as a cool restful summer resort. Every one who has ever inhaled the pure salt air will want to return.

Just imagine Pugwash with good clean streets and good sidewalks, with ELECTRIC LIGHTS, making it as light as day.

What Some Great Men Think of Nova Scotia, and Canada in General
Sir Wilfred Laurier said that never since the days of Attic Greece had any country with so small a population, given to the world such a coterie of brilliant men and women as had Nova Scotia.

Earl Gray, speaking of Nova Scotia in 1907, said: "After three years' study, I am prepared to hold the field against the world on this proposition:-

"That great as are the resources, advantages and attractions of the sister provinces, Nova Scotia need not be afraid to pit her charms against those of her sister provinces, however fair they may be. If the people of Nova Scotia do not reach greatness, they have only themselves to blame."

In conclusion, Pictou County plans next summer, 1923, to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Scottish emigrants arriving there.

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