Milford chronicle., 1949-05-06
NewioundIand's Future


NewioundIand's Future
IN CHICAGO there lived, within
! block Of my home, a family
that owned Newfoundland dog.
He was big and black. with a thick
coat Of curly hair. Characteristic Of
all Newfoundlands. He was beau
tiful animal. and dignified, cours
teous gentleman.
Twice each day he walked around
the block in which he lived He paid.
no attention to other dogs. or 70
people he met. / passed him many
times before detected friendly
CLINT in his eye, and wave Of his
magnificent tail. After we had
struck up an acquaintance we
walked together on many occasionst
and I appreciated his campany So
much that ] wished to know more
of his kind. II was not long after
wards that / arranged to visit
Newfoundland, which I presumed
was his native habitat
arranged with two friends,
fishing companions of many sum
mer pilgrimages into the northern
bush. to accompany me. They were.
interested in the gamey, hard fight
ing land locked salmon, reportedly
denizens of Newfoundland lakes.
From Sydney, Nova Scotia,
we crossed Cabot Strait, and {
landed at Port au Bas. On the
dock, as / stepped ashore, /
asked a native about Newf0und-
land dogs. He had never heard
of such an animal. I'm fact"
he said, "there not only are no
Newfoundland dogs, but there
are no dogs Of any breed on
this island" / found that to be
literally true, and have never
discovered the homeland OF my
Newfoundland dog friend. He
may be a dog without q cOun-
try"
Neither / nor my friends caught,
or saw any one catch, land locked
salmon. That trip was a. total loss
except that / saw at first-hand what
is today new province Of the
Dominion of Canada, and. because
Of that, is still in the limelight
today.
From Port all Bas, on the south-
west coast of the island of St. John
on the northeast coast we rode the
narrow, narrow-gauge railroad, that,
in 48 hours, traversed the $40 miles
between the two island ports.
Throughout more than 500 Of those
miles there was but one town. It
is inland, some $50 miles from the
north coast. It's one industry, q
paper mill, produced print stock
for the London Daily Times. New
foundland forests provide the raw
material.
Aside from that, there are no +,
towns, no farms, no houses in
the interior Of the island. There
are only forests and great herds
Of elk. 1t is elk meat and fish,
principally cod, not salmon
that form the main food sup
ply Of the people, and fish, pulp
wood and paper constitute the
islands chief exports.
Newfoundland is, or was in TIL
mid-20s when visited it. pionee
crude, but it was attractive AM
interesting in a wild way. The fish
ing villages that line the coast ar
scrupulously clean, but all mucl
alike with the exception Of color
Each village had its particula
color scheme, with all houses an,
the one church faithfully followini
the village colors, but no two vii
: lagos were alike. The range is al
the way from white, with greer
trimmings, to a combination of reS
and brown, and every color be
tween the two. The fisher folk arr
largely of Irish descent, with thosl
of each village representing soml
one town, one county or small sec
ton Of the old sod. Each village ha
but one church.
The transportation was provide
by that narrow, narrow. gauge rail
road across the island, or boat
around its coast line. Aside from tn
streets and roads in st. John. an
a few miles beyond that town
there were no highways, and bu
few trails.
! At the time 1 visited New
: f0undland the man who occu-
pied the big white house on the
= top Of the hill was named Reid.
He owned the railroad and the
bathtub-sized little steamers
that served the fishing villages.
I He was the 'tpoOh-bah" Of New
3 foundland.
!. such. briefly Is Newfoundlar
as I saw it. and pres8rne it
x much the same today. It was Il
le first English colony on the Nor
+ American continent. TO large e
a tent it is as primitive today as
er was when the English sea captai
W John Cabot landed on its shore
n and took possession ia the name
lr King Henry VII in 1497. Near
a 500 years, and still a priniti1
Il, frontier. Win it go forward und
Canadian rule?
The money the government pa
out, We, the people. must pay
er When Joe Doak gets a pension fro
as the county, state OF federal &c
a. ernment, his neighbor, Joe Smii
& must help to pay that pensic