The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1904-12-09

DlOWS. n nor easter WOulQ DlOW the
water out O. the bay so there wouldn't
be foot O. water on my lot And
!hen asin a sou-wester for two days
would make tide six or seven foot
high. Consequence is l had to sink
my piles at dead low water"
did you have piledriver to sink
your foundation"
"None O. your guyin, son." said the
veteran Il chopped one end O. the
piles wedgeshaped and worked en-
down into the mud and sand. It's
surprisin' how that meadow sand does
stick to a stick O. timber. One man
can work it down about three or four
feet and 20 men couldn't pull it up"
''How big was this wonderful house
of yours. Bill?"
"'Twas just II feet square. meas
ured it with a siX-foot oar" replied
the bayman when l had all the
piles worked down solid in the sand
sawed off the tops so they were all
even, and the foundation was finished.
There were three rows of piles, four
feet apart.
Twas two months before l got
enough money to get the floor beams.
They were siX-inch pieces of hemlock
that | got from a second hand dealer
in lumber at bargain.
when I got the beams laid down
solid l laid some pieces O scantlin'
down on top of the beams and did a
song and dance on the floor, my floor,
the only floor l ever owned"
The look of reminiscent gratifica-
ton on the baymans face was so real,
SO earnest, that the cynical visitor was
shamed into quiet.
After that the clammin' was poor
and the oysterin' was worse, and twas
six months before l could afford to
buy my joists and weather boards.
When l got my jeists and boards up
it didn't take long to finish the house.
THE roof was made of smooth pine
boards, tongued and grooved, and
covered with tarred paper. To make
the house warm / put tarred paper I'M
house finished had four winders in it,
with panes of glass a foot square,
and two hunks in the corner with ex-
celsior mattresses in 'em.
con summer nights | used to lay in
the lower bunk with the door open lis
TENN to the tide talkin' just like
folks, a-babblin' and a-gurglin' agin'
the pileT, and a-murmurin' sleepylike
through the grass. But when the nor
casters blew l shut the door. That's
when the tide got noisy and quarrel
some.
at spit spray agin the winders and
jumped up agin the floor as if it was
jealous that my house was finished
and / was snug in my bunk. But,
Lord bless you, l wasn't afraid O. the
tide The ebb and the flood are Old
friends O. mine.
The ebb runnin' out and the flood
runnin' in :? there's place in the bay
where they hleet and pile up in q ridge
o. foam t. foot high.
THE eob seems to say: Git out O.
my way; I'm goin' out to sea- And
the food humps itself and says: Don't
be foolish, I'm goin' all over the bars
and the meadows, and I've got the
sea behind me pushin' and, of course,
the food wins.
But twas the ebb and the food and
the wind and the ice that wrangled
together and agreed to push my house
off the bar, and they did it,"
~, OF
Bill?" said the visitor.
Sure" replied Bill. Il was inside
with my three cats"
Three cats?" said the visitor. II
should think that one cat would have
been enough for one man.
lone cat is enough for one man
ashore, but three amt any too many
when you're out here in the winter,
four miles away from solid ground, and
a nor'easter playing peekaboo with
your winders.
when l got the house finished and
a half ton o. coal in the locker, / went
ashore to Canarsie to get some gro
ceries. When I got there l saw man
comm down to the shore with a bag
and inside of it were three kittens that
he was goin' to drown.
''They looked so measly and they
| meowed so sorrowful like that
grabbed the bag, cats and all, and
| took 'em over to the house. | bought
a quart O. milk for 'em before we
| started, and that was the last drink
O. fresh milk they ever had, for there
amt any cows or goats on Ruf1e bar.
| 81 named the cats after the three
men in the Bible that went through
the fiery furnace-Hayshack, Meshacl,
and Bendigo, for l knew the cats was
up agin it and were bound to see trou-
BILE before they got through with me-"
How long was it after your house
was finished before it was swept
away?" said the visitor
From August till March," replied
Bill. Il got along all right through
the winter, and the comfort them cats
was to me in the long evenin's was {
caution. / used to lay in my bunk an(
watch 'em rollin' over each other
while the wind was screechin' 'rount
the house and the tide talkin' noisy il
the cellar.
81 think I'd ave gone crazy will
lonesomeness if it hadn't been for then
cats. You ought to have seen Hay
|. shack sparrin' with a spider crab
! tonged up one day! A spider crab