Oh no, there was snow storms and-that but, I remember on time we had a snow storm and ah, the guys went ahead of the snow plough and dug out the big drifts so that they could get through it because they couldn't begin to get through it on their own. Yeah.

Interviewer: D-- do you- that was a big storm, do you remember any other big storms (inc)? Speaker: Oh no, there was snow storms and-that but, I remember on time we had a snow storm and ah, the guys went ahead of the snow plough and dug out the big drifts so that they could get through it because they couldn't begin to get through it on their own. Yeah.

Speaker: Another exciting thing was when Larry was born eh? Speaker 2: Yes. Speaker: Ah, we were still living up on the farm at his parents' place when I went into labour for our second baby. And then snow drifts were deep, deep eh? And not too many had phones back then either.

And I says- we're taking this guy- called- his name was Andrew. We're taking Andrew out. He was a miner, a drift miner. And he had a bad habit after a blast. Instead of scaling before he started mucking, he'd walk in and try to get- get ready to- to drill where the guys mucking eh? And Gerard knew him and says "Andrew, you got a bad habit."

Speaker: There was one time there that we- I was working in what they called a drift. Interviewer: Mm-hm. Speaker: And we were at the end of drift and we ah did our- our drilling- drilling of the holes. Interviewer: Mm-hm. Speaker: Then we loaded the ah- the holes up with powder. Then you had to light the fuses, eh?

Speaker: ... when you go in the museum upstairs and you see the underground setting with the- with the a grey settings it looks as though you're looking in the mine-shaft. That was ah conceived by ah- it was a drift- ah (Speaker 2 speaks). Interviewer: Yeah, that's good.

Speaker: I'm not sure how they do it now but when I was doing it, they had ah- y-- you were drill-- it's like a f-- they call it a face, eh? Your- your face. Y-- it's like in the drift. Interviewer: Okay. Speaker: And then you start your drift. So you had ah one, two- you start with five holes in the middle of the- the face I would say. And two holes are big like this. Like they're about three inches in diameter. Interviewer: Okay. Speaker: They're called bull-bits.

Interviewer: Mm-hm. What ah- what do you call the soil that's not very good, that's very poor? Speaker: Well ah real drift sand's bad. There's lots of it around.

Speaker: Oh, there would be cutters, ah, driving sleighs. Bobsleighs. Sloops. Interviewer: What's a sloop? Speaker: Well, that'd be two- two sleighs with ah, um, bobsleigh would be- would one with the runner on it, and then up- and then it was another piece come across and went down at the back. Well, the sloops, they didn't have this- they were just made this way, and the- the- but ah, little piece put in there, and the bunk was put on that.

Speaker: And then they had the heavy sleighs for hauling logs and-stuff. Interviewer: Now what they were called? Speaker: They ah- we used to call them the sloops. Interviewer: Mm-hm. And what about the double- the- the pair? Speaker: And the big double one, I think they were just a double sleigh or-something-like-that maybe. Interviewer: Mm-hm. Speaker: We never had one of them. We had these sloops, and the frame sleigh and cutter.

Driving-sleigh, we called it. And ah, then there was the sloops, for carrying- or for drawing logs, or poles, or wood.

And they'd been married over fifty years and Melly and I had been married almost fifty but not quite, so after they all left I said to Joe, "You-know," I said "You and I married two Catholic girls." And I said "And we got along good." And Joe was kind-of a drole guy and he says "By golly," he said "That's right! We had over a hundred years!" Between the two of us.

Yeah yeah. And- and so um- we um ah- then we had this friend. He used to be a druggist here before the war. And then he was in the navy and then- his name was Bicker-Logan and then he had a pharmacy over- he was a pharmacist here and then after the war, he got married and he had a pharmacy over in a- in a Valdore.

That was Chad-Grant. His brother Clyde, running a- he was a druggist in town. So when mother was shopping, he'd go up and talk to Clyde

Yeah, and we have part of that Kodac camera yet and Welsh-Sardin who was a druggist in Almonte, he used to borrow her camera and ah, a lot of the photographs on postcards were taken from, you-know, his use of that camera.

Except one. He was a- he was a druggist here in Beaverton. Went through for a druggist. And ah, well they were- yeah they were all in their- they were- some of them were a little older than I was.

Speaker: A-- a-- anyway ah- oh I got the band started when the- ah-ah- about drumheads- the legion drumheads service were going to be held here. Interviewer: And what was that, the drumheads? I'll just put this here. Speaker: Well, it's from the band. It's a- well it's a- well there's lots of pictures in there that have drumheads (laughs). Interviewer: Okay, well I'll just have a look right here. Speaker: The- no- you may look- here also- are drum- drumheads. (inc) the drumheads. Hm, drum, drum, drum. Come on, come on. Better start with the drumheads. Drumhead and or pictures- now here's the drumheads.

Speaker: But that- that was the- the- the s-- drumhead service. Interviewer: I see. Speaker: And that was the m-- this- this is the same here (inc) piling the flags up in the (inc) and-that. Interviewer: Now why is it that they pile the drums up in there? Speaker: Well that- that's the drumhead service. Interviewer: Oh, I see, so they- Speaker: The- the- the service. The- the- the flags are put over them and the- well the drummers ah- th-- three side drums, a base drum and a tenor-drum. Right there, there and there. And then, that's what their- their pi-- pile there dealing them.

No, my mom stayed at home; she ah collected a D-V-A pension.

Interviewer: What- what big things are happening because of the gold? What's it making better? Speaker: We're building a D-V-A. That's just because the government doesn't want to pay rent to the other building, it's not because of gold.