The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

by ANNE TODESCO There are so many things to recall to mind this Bicentennial year for Ontario. Do you re- member when industry was man and _ horse- power? In the early days and that is early days for _ me... at the turn of the century, teams of horses were a necessity to min- ing, lumbering, road building, and also farm- ing. Some companies owned thirty to sixty teams of horses. They hauled food supplies, machinery, bedding and dry googs; and don't forget sleigh or wagon loads of liquor to the halfway depots for dis- tribution to the various camp locations. Early freighting days had its hazards and some good points to consider. I can remember as a child when the lumber companies brought in carloads of horses. The railway engineer would spot the car near the holding pens on a spur near the old jailhouse where the barn foreman would supervise the un- loading and feeding of the animals before they were taken the long miles to the half-way depot. Parents and teachers were warned by the authorities to keep the children in- doors, and owners of horses to stable them until the strange horses' were out of town. Fol- lowing the watering and feeding of the ani- mals, they were start- ed on the long trek to camps. Sometimes two or three horses would be tied to the tail gate of a sleigh or wagon. The teamster and his horses The "Rossport by ANNE TODESCO The village is sport- ing a one page newspap- er. It is called the "Rossport Times" and was inaugurated this month. It is a monthly type of bulletin to be printed once a month, to inform the villagers of local events, weather bulletins, etc. I notice in it that the Nicol Island Develop- ment Corporation has announced that the causeway has been ap- proved with work to begin on it this spring. Another item of inter- est announced in the paper was that kayaks led the way out of town with the work horses following them. Some- times a couple of men on horseback assisted in keeping them on the move. Sometimes a few horses would break out of the string and head for freedom or some- one's garden. It was a day of excitement and fear too for young peo- ple, even people walking the streets to the shop- ping area. This type of trans- portation cost money too. There were large expenditures for wag- ons, sleighs, harnesses to be kept in good or- der, horses shod, fed and stabled. The team- sters had to be clothed, boarded and sheltered. The blacksmiths were kept busy shodding the horses, making shoes, Times" will be available at Mac's Service this year. Inquiries are to be made at the store. This paper is an item of interest and I think will be very informa- tive to the villagers. "Keeping us abreast of. community activities. "' Phoenician wrecks investigated by ANNE TODESCO When looking through one of my scrap books, I came across an old clip- ping with the heading - '*Marine Archeologist says that the Phoeni- cians knew of America long before Columbus."' The article reminded me of the hours that I spent trying to find if there was any truth in the story, and I visited lib- raries to find further information. My clipping was a news item from Acre, Israel by a Florida trea- sure hunter who had a new twist on the old dispute over who dis- covered America. He stated that it wasn't Columbus, the Vikings, or the ancient Egypt- ians, but the Phoenici- ans. To prove his theory, marine archeologist Robert Marx went to scouring the Mediter- ranean Sea, near this old Crusader capital, for Phoenician wrecks. He hoped to build a full sized copy, if he found one. He and his partner combed the coastal wa- ters near the Lebanese border for wrecks. The only pictures or de- signs of these ships have been found on coins. Marx hoped to find a Phoenician wreck in soft sand, where the sand - covered and preserved the timbers. Some wrecks were found on rocky bottoms which caused the timbers to perish. He started along the Lebanese coast near Tyre. Marx had a repu- tation for locating 15th and 16th century Span- ish treasure ships. It is generally known that Phoenician traders did reach England and sailed around Africa. Marx, according to the news clipping, believed that they also reached the American shores centuries before the Norsemen or Christoph- er Columbus. The re-reading of the article has me cur- ious about Marx's theory again. I'll have to start researching, to find more recent data on the topic. It is an interest- ing subject, one to keep one's curiosity alive. New citizens guide is available. by JANE E. GREER The Ministry of Citi- zenship and Culture has recently printed a book- let entitled "The New- comers Guide to Ser- vices in Ontario' which provides information for new residents in On- tario. The edition of the Newcomers Guide is in the mini-guide format used in several recently released language edi- tions. It covers the same range of topics as the full size version, but in less detail. The size, content, and distribu- tion of the guide in all languages has been re- viewed and is adapted to meet the needs of new- comers. The Newcomers Guide covers such areas as your first days in Ontario, Working in On- tario, Housing in On- tario, Health, Social Ser- vices, Managing Your Money, The Law In On- tario, Information for Immigrant Women, Culture and Recrea- tion, Immigration, and Becoming a Canadian citizen. The Newcomers Guide is available to Ontario newcomers and anyone that would be interested in such a booklet. For your copy, con- tact the nearest North- ern Affairs office locat- ed at 2 Gilbert Street, lower floor Peninsula Building, Marathon, Ontario or telephone 229-1153. or Zenith 33160. Major Appliance _ Repairs Servicing done in your own home to ranges, washers, dryers, dishwasers, fridges, electric hot water tanks and electric heating units. Bill Campbell Electric making and repairing harness, wheelwright- ing and doctoring the horses. Twenty-five hundred pounds was considered to be an average load; mileage covered by horses two and three teams to a load depending on the bush roads and grades to climb had to be used. The teamsters were well paid according to the times. These men had to understand hor- ses and be reliable to carefully and_ skillfully handle them. Above all, they had to like horses and take good care of them. If a man mis- treated his horses, he was immediately fired from the job. The team- sters were a colourful lot and picturesque in their clothing. They possess- ed a most unique vocab- ulary that anyone had ever heard of. When things went wrong, their language was just out of this world. It came into effect when things went wrong, like a wheel fall- ing off a wagon when negotiating around sharp ends or rutty road- beds. The teamsters just went on and on in their colourful language. The men, when questioned how they learned such a language, usually an- 'swered that they didn't have to learn that parti- cular language, that it was a gift only for teamsters. Such profan- ity! But it never did mend a broken wheel or axle. When the horses ar- rived at the halfway houses, they were fed and watered at a river or creek, usually nearby, and then taken on to the sometimes -- Terrace Bay-Schreiber News, Wednesday, March 28, 1984, page 3 ROSSPORT - "Our heritage" main camps. These men lived from day to day, often many of them not seeing their families un- til spring-breakup. Most were Quebecers. After a day of twelve hours of work, and after supper, they gathered about the big box stoves to tell talltales of the day's happenings and the power of their own particular team of hor- ses before they went off to bed at an early hour. Most of them were easy- going and kind-hearted. 'These characters were a necessity to the lum- bering industry. When recalling the horses on the move through town, I often wonder that God was good to us, as there never was an accident when the big lumbering animals were taken through town. The same procedure took place when the horses were reloaded to be taken to some farm to be running free for the summer and fattened up for the long winter ahead of them. We children all wel- comed the summer; as Dad would have a Sun- day off from railroading, he would borrow grand- father's team and surry _and drive to some close river or lake to swim and have a picnic, for which mother filled the lunch basket with all the goodies for the picnic, topping off the meal with either homemade ice cream or a white layer cake filled with her own special lemon cust- ard and topped with a boiled icing. How she ever managed to arrive at the picnic grounds with that fluffy icing in- tact, I could never un- derstand. Many of the town people had their own drivers (horses) and sur- ries or buckboards for pleasure driving. The doctors, business hous- es, the mine executives, clergymen and lumber- men, especially had great specimens of hor- ses and rigs. Then the cars and: trucks came along. All bushwork is mechaniz- ed, no more river driv- ing of the timber to mills, good roads and truck drivers, instead of horses and _ teamsters. Times keep changing as the years slip by, but we have a nostalgia for the old days. I could handle a driver or team of horses but I could never ride the darn things. I was frightened to climb on their backs. They always seemed so far up to feel safe to me. ° Incidently, cows were brought in the same way and taken to the camps for fresh milk or for butchering. ae Shier: EVERY SIX aanris. Good teeth are basic to good health. Healthy employees are happy employees. Happy employees have employers with a Blue Cross Dental Employers write or phone for information. Al King 34 Cumberland Street North Suite 707 Thunder Bay, Ontario P7A 4L3 4 (807) 345-5451 ONTARIO BLUE CROSS 5101-4 | 824-2743 or 824-2574 ai eae Servicing Jackfish, Terrace Bay, Schreiber, * Rossport and Pays Plat. Township of Schreiber BI-CENTENNIAL MEDALS Mr. M. L. Cosgrove, Bi-Centennial Committee, c/o Municipal Office, P.O. Box 40 Schreiber, Ontario The Office of the Premier of Ontario, has recently announced that the Ontario Government, would like to honour some 2,000 people this year for their volunteerism, and community service. The Schreiber-BiCentennial Committee, would like to: receive suggestions/nominations, from groups, organiz- ations, or individuals, to assist the Committee to make a nomination to the Office of the Premier, as to who should receive a Bi-Centennial Medal for Schreiber. Please forward your suggestions to: