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Vol. Vi. No. 40 
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@]]_A WEEKLY JOURNAL DEVOTED TO THE 
BEST INTERESTS OF THE NORTH SHORE 1) 
ome 
MANCHESTER, MASS., SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5, 1907. 
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Three Cents 
24. Pages. 
THE LABRADOR FISHERMEN 
The Hirdshios of their life. 
Dr. Grenfell’s good work. 
Experiences of Former Manchester Teacher ina little known Region 
By W. S. C. Russet 
{From the Springfield Republican. | 
While the controversy over the 
Newfoundland cod and herring fish- 
eries and the problem of bait is in 
progress between that island and 
the United States, the side light 
thrown upon the question by those 
especially interested, “the toilers of 
the sea,” who dwell upon that bleak 
and fog-bound shore, is illuminat- 
ing. It gives the real reason for 
the acts of the Newfoundland gov- 
ernment. This is a peculiar ques- 
tion for it has three sides; the 
treaty rights of the United States 
fishermen, the rights and wishes of 
the Newfoundland government and 
the condition and wish of the island 
fishermen. It is this third phase 
that especially interested the writer 
and induced him to spend four 
weeks with this sturdy, rough but 
kind and hospitable people. Dur- 
ing this time over 60 fishing sta- 
tions were visited, extending from 
St. John’s and vicinity northward to 
Nain in Labrador, a station of the 
Moravian missionaries, a distance 
of 1200 miles. 
Adopting the fisherman’s garb, I 
visited their traps, attended the 
splitting and curing process and 
questioned them in their tilts, (stone 
and sod huts), over a pot of most 
excellent tea and a liberal distri- 
bution of good American tobacco, 
—this was a quick method of ac- 
quaintance. They talked liberally 
and earnestly, expressing them- 
selves honestly and with fairness to 
all concerned in the controversy. 
The prime factor in the lives of all 
of these people is “‘fish,’—cod. The 
Newfoundlander seldom uses the 
term “cod.” He will mention salm- 
on, caplin, herring, but when he 
Says “fish” only cod is included. 
Since the discovery of Newfound- 
land, (New-found-land, with strong 
accent on the last syllable as pro- 
nounced in the island), by Cabot 
in 1497, fishing stations have been 
maintained around the entire island 
and on all of the Labrador penin- 
sular south of Okak. These were 
established by the Portuguese, the 
French and the British. For many 
years the French had treaty rights 
along what is now called the 
“Brench’"'shore’* ~ ‘Recently-- ‘their 
rights have been purchased, much 
to the advantage of the Newfound- 
landers. Newfoundland is the old- 
est colony of Great Britain and the 
one with the least dependence upon 
the mother country. Newfoundland 
is now in sole control of the fisheries 
with the exception of the condi- 
tions imposed by the treaty with 
the United States in the early part 
of the last century. The island has 
an area of 143,000 square miles and 
a very scanty population, mostly 
scattered along the shore’ and 
amounting to only 180,000. 
This small population is heavily 
taxed to support the ent’: ma- 
chinery of a government. _ ;’olitical 
affairs are mostly centereu in St. 
Johns and in the merchant class, 
many of whom are Englishmen 
who trade with the fishermen by 
barter and ship the fish to the 
Mediterranean, to South America 
and the West Indies. After 15 or 
20 years this class of merchant sells 
out his business or transfers it to 
his son and retires to England to 
spend his days in comfort. Under 
a government administered largely 
by this class the majority do not 
rule and the country is not the free 
country it boasts to be. It follows 
that the fishermen who are in the 
Continued on page 12 
OARD 
Interesting 
Former Manchester Boy Writes Interestingly 
of an Experience in Minnesota. 
Friends of ‘Thomas J. Eagleston, a 
former resident of Manchester, and well 
known here among the younger people, 
will be pleased to hear from him. Mr. 
Eagleston is studying for the priesthood 
at St. Paul Seminary. In a ~personal 
letter to the editor of this paper he de- 
scribed a cyclone of which he was an 
eye witness the past summer Among 
other things he says: 
“Last August | had the strange ex- 
perience of witnessing a destructive cy- 
clone. You have probably never seen 
one because they are a product of the 
west only. It was in a small town in 
Minnesota, where 1 wasstopping. The 
day had been frightfully warm, a sure 
indication of a cyclone. About eight in 
the evening we heard this awful wind 
and thunder, followed by a continuous 
flash of lightning. 
‘“'A cyclone, as you know, is a cone- 
shaped, yellow cloud the width of which 
usually varies from a hundred feet to a 
couple or more inches. This one was 
about one and a half miles, and it came 
with a terrific roar like that of a fast ex- 
press train; and although it passed us 
about a mile to the east our dwelling 
shook and the windows rattled as if it 
were an old shanty instead of a three 
story, well built dwelling. Great oak 
and pine trees, 60 and 70 feet high, and 
5 to 8 feet in circumference, went down 
like so many straws; houses, barns and 
cattle were swept in the air, carried a 
few hundred feet, and fell a mass of 
debris. Shingles were ripped off 
houses as clean as a knife could do it. 
Chimneys were flying through the air as 
if they were bits of paper. The crops, 
such as corn, barley and wheat, were 
torn from earth and scattered like so 
much old rubbish. 
*“' The next morning we went to view 
the scene and we saw the peculiar 
pranks these cyclones play. In one tree 
there were as many as twenty shingle 
nails driven clear to the head. In an- 
Continued to page 12 
