"Lest We Forget" Sunday, March16, 1913---Not much going on!

Still snowing I stay
at Birts' all day and
read nearly all day
too much snow to
work. It cleared up at
4 oc. got colder.

[caption id="attachment_785" align="aligncenter" width="252"] "Still snowing"[/caption]

Not much going on because of the storm. We all know that Clem wrote in the diary every day, but I wonder what he was reading? The bible? I know he was a reasonably strong Catholic. The newspapers? Were there any available out in the boondocks where they were building the Grand Trunk Pacific? Did they bring books with them for days like this? We'll never know!

Saturday, March 15, 1913: Big Storm!

[caption id="attachment_777" align="alignleft" width="236"] Big Storm![/caption]


Saturday, March 15, 1913

"Lest We Forget"

Last night a big snow
storm snowed all night
and all day I left Lea. [Leaman, where he went on Friday]
for Jenkins at 8 oc
arrived at Jenkins
at 11:30 I had to pull
the spreader about 8 miles
had dinner at Jenkins
and left for Entwistle
arrived at Ent. at 4:31
had to pull the spreader [-?-]
all the way 10 miles

Well, I hope there are no "big snow storms" in our forecast!

When he says "I had to pull the spreader", I imagine he's pulling it with some kind of motorized rail car. From what I think a spreader does and how big it must be, I can't believe that a man was required to just throw a rope around it and tug it up the line for 8 or 10 miles!

Dark, cloudie and cold...Tuesday, March 11, 1913

[caption id="attachment_745" align="alignleft" width="238"] Today was dark and cloudie[/caption]

Today was dark cloudie and cold with a little snow fall. Cullerne and I in the car all alone. We did nothing all morning
In the afternoon I copied a few notes. After supper Arthur came over too the car to fix his album
staz till 9:30 then I went to bed.

I don't know about you, but it seems that there are a lot of days when they "stay in the car all day". How did they ever build the Grand Truck Pacific Railway? I imagine that things will pick up as we move into the spring.

Sunday, March 2, 1913

[caption id="attachment_727" align="alignleft" width="225"] Near Edmonton, Alberta, Lest We Forget Sunday, March 2, 1913[/caption]

Weather dark and cloudy all day but warm. I was all alone in the car all day. I started to wash about 9 oclock and finished about 3 oclock

After that I work on my album till supper time

After that Arthur and I went to church

And here's another shot from "The Album"...by the way, this is the first time he mentions the album, which I assume is the photo album that contains the pictures that I've been putting up here occasionally.

February 28, 1913 "Lest We Forget"

Now, I've said this before and I'll say it again: This diary can be excruciatlingly BORING!! Aside from the nostalgic value to me or maybe it's the historical value from a family history standpoint, it's interesting. Interesting enough to take the time to post these blogs, anyway!! Clem died in 1955 at age 67. I was only about 2 1/2 at the time and my memory of him is more from the pictures that I've seen of him with my grandmother, or the picture of him holding me outside the house at 32-34 Tyler Street in Springfield, Massahcusetts. (That reminds me, I should track that one down and scan it for the blog) And, of course, this diary which is 100 years old this year! So for me, that's where he lives...in the photos and this diary. In that respect, this diary is important to me, and I hope that some of the readers can get at least a little something out of it!

[caption id="attachment_677" align="aligncenter" width="241"] "LEST WE FORGET" February 28, 1913[/caption]

Weather a little colder with a little snow. Cullerne and Steve went to town on the 1:30 AM. Steve left for Seattle.

I stay in the car and over in the office all day.

Wednesday, February 26, 1913 "Lest We Forget"

[caption id="attachment_675" align="alignleft" width="236"] "Lest We Forget" Wednesday, February 1913[/caption]

Weather a little warmer The three of us stayed in the car all morning Cullerne working on a gravel Pit note Steve copyed note: I had a chance

In the afternoon I helped Steve to copy notes and check them

February 8, 2013? 3 feet of snow.... February 8, 1913?

It's Friday, February 8, 2013 and we're getting up to 3 feet of snow. What did the weather bring 100 years ago on Saturday, February 8, 1913? As usual, Clem always gives us a brief weather report:

We got up at 6:30 weather very nice a little cold till the sun came up and then it was warmer. Steve and I left Otley for Edson at 8:15 and walked all the way 27 miles arrived at Edson at 5 o"clock a little tired.
Cullerne came in with the outfit on the local from Otley got here about 10:15 then Steve and I went to dreamland.

[caption id="attachment_542" align="alignnone" width="217"] Edson Joseph Chamberlin, President of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway. He took over from Charles Melville Hays who died in the RMS Titanic disaster[/caption]

Although I can't find a listing for Otley, there is a description of Edson, Alberta in Wikipedia [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edson,_Alberta] once again, mentioning an executive of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway:

The town was originally named Heatherwood, but the name was changed around 1911 in honour of Edson Joseph Chamberlin, vice-president of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway. Local history maintains that Edson (Heatherwood) was built in its current location because it was the first level spot after Wolf Creek. (The land at Wolf Creek was quickly bought up after the announcement of plans to develop a town there, which rendered it uneconomical for the railway.) When Edson was declared the local rail centre, smaller communities such as Rosevear (abandoned), Wolf Creek, Carrot Creek and Niton Junction fell into a decline that continues today. In the 1950s, upgrading of Highway 16 caused a dramatic increase in private, commercial and industrial traffic. Today, the Yellowhead Highway carries some of the heaviest traffic flow in Alberta and has been officially declared the second Trans-Canada Highway.

 

So it sounds like there were a few areas Like Rosevear that were abandodned. Otley must have been one of them! It was certainly there in 1913...Clem Dickson walked there with Steve!!!

Alberta, Canada...Grand Trunk Pacific Railway...February 7, 1913

From "Lest We Forget", Clem Dickson's diary entry for February 7, 1913:

Weather a little milder with sun shine all day. Steve and I took the Local from Otley to Leaman and walked from Leaman to Otley 15 miles. We got in about 4:30. We sat around the fire till supper. After supper I went out and had to cut some wood for the next day. Went to bed at 8:30 because we had a long walk.

[I can't find any contemporary reference for Otley but Leaman is a "populated locality" in Yellowhead County, Alberta.]

a cold morning in Alberta! February 3, 1913 "Lest We Forget"

Today I start transcribing again. The past few weeks had already been transcribed so posting was as simple as a copy/paste with a few comments. Here are the comments from the January 3rd entry, one hundred years ago!

Monday, February 3, 1913
We got up at 6 30 and the weather was much colder than Sunday. After breakfast and I got ready to go to Lemon on the rail change notes. We left at 9 30 and got to Lemon at 12 oclock sharp and had dinner. We did not start back till about 2 oclock because we did not want to get to early we would make the walks longer. We thought 22 miles iwas enough for one day. We got back about 4 00

Well, there you go! Walk 22 miles round trip for dinner??? In January??? In the CANADIAN WILDERNESS!!! And we worry about getting a parking spot right outside the entrance to the mall so we can wander around in a temperature controlled environment! I'll be honest, I'll take the mall over a walk in the woods to a place called "Lemon"....

February 2, 1913---Do They "Celebrate" Groundhogs Day in Canada???

Here's the last page that I've transcribed ahead of time. Starting tomorrow, I'll be transcribing directly from Clem Dickson's diary, "Lest We Forget". It's getting pretty fragile so I hope I can work with it without causing any additional wear and tear.

Sunday, February 2, 1913

We did not get up till 830 this morning. Our morning to sleep. We had breakfast in Jenkins. Then the day’s work starts.

By the way, Karen and I went to a fundraiser at First Church in Ludlow this morning called "Ice Cream for Breakfast." This a "really?" moment: Ice cream for breakfast? REALLY?!?!? The place was MOBBED!!! I think this will catch on....go figure!

And yes, "First Church in Ludlow" was the first church in Ludlow, MA. It was established in 1774 and the first minister was a guy named Pelatiah Chapin. By an outrageous coincidence, Rev Pelatiah turns out to be an early cousin of mine, a few times removed, of course! More on that in another post...it gets sorta interesting!

Grand Trunk Pacific Railway January 30 and 31, 1913

Missed yesterday....Sorry! Getting behind in a few areas and I need to get caught up. Here are yesterday's and today's diary entries from my grandfather, Clem Dickson, as he worked the construction crews building the short lived Grand Trunk Pacific Railway:

Thursday, January 30, 1913

Today is the same as yesterday with a little more snow and a little warmer. We were to go east today but the snow did not let up and Cullerne feeling blue because we had to stay in. He made us work. Steve was copying notes all day. I (hunge?) two axes all day at it


Friday, January 31, 1913

Snow all day so that we could not go out to work. Cullerne was raising cane all day because he could not work.
About 4.30 Cullerne got word not to run in spine (?) and to move to Junkin on saturday that was ok for us.

"Lest We Forget" Entry for January 28, 1913

I'm running out of transcriptions! I started this a long time ago, but never did anything with it. So, I've had a Word document on my computer from which I've been just doing a copy/paste....pretty simple. But starting February 5th, I have to go to the original diary to continue posting the entries. I just have to be careful not to break the binding or the spine. It's a little brittle!

Tuesday, January 28, 1913

We went out on the line to the Quarrie (sic). We run levels over it in the afternoon

Steve and I put in the station on it in the morning

We had dinner at the hotel

Weather was very mild a little rain and snow all day sun came out for a little while in the afternoon

Pembina Hotel Reference---January 27, 1913! It's still there...

Monday, January 27, 1913:

We three all worked on line all day. We had dinner over town at the Pembina Hotel. We had a very good dinner
Weather was very soft all day with a little rain fall but not enough to do any harm.

Two thoughts here:

1) I Googled "Pembina Hotel" just to see what the search would return. The Pembina Hotel is still operating in Winnipeg! The room service must be world class!

2) Rain??? On January 27th??? In Canada??? Global warming 100 years ago??? I'm jus' sayin'.....

After 2 days of technical meltdown....January 25 and 26, 1913

First, the furnace, then the trip to New York, then the water heater leaked all over the floor, so, new water heater, then, it wasn't the water heater, it was a condensation drain that led outside that should have gone to the laundry drain but went through the sill plate (who knew???) and froze which caused another water leak, then Microsoft Office 2007 crashed, then the upgrade to Office 2010 wouldn't install properly, then a Microsoft tech fouled up EVERYTHING, then I didn't get the promised call back from Microsoft on Friday, then I've been on the phone ALL DAY TODAY with a level 2 tech who claims that what he's set up should finish processing later tonight and he'll call tomorrow morning.

In the meantime, I've had to catch up on 3 modules of my on line course at BU.....So, I missed yesterday's post! Here is Friday and Saturday!!!

Saturday January 25, 1913:

Saturday, January 25, 1913
Cullerne and Steve went in to Edmonton to a meeting of the real estate. I stayed in the car all day. In the morning I hung an axe for the first time and was told it was alright. In the afternoon I copyed (sic) a few notes. In the evening the station agrey (?) and I went up town and got a hair cut. Got back about 9.30


Sunday January 26, 1913:

Steve, Cullerne and Harry got back from town about 1.30 AM. I was in bed. we all stayed in the car all morning. Harry worked on a plan .In the afternoon Steve went hunting and I went for a walk in the bush. Bart came over to the car with Cullerne and Harry




Everybody wore a hat! I believe the man in the center (or rather "centre") on the boat is my grandfather, Clem Dickson.

"Lest We Forget" January 20, 1913

Although in this entry, Clem did not put a “$” sign on the "windfall", he did underscore the “30” which is how he usually wrote dollar amounts. The underscore won't copy over to this post, but trust me....it's there! And I can easily see how he meant to say he had $5.30 left for the week. Some “wind fall”!

First snow for some weeks Snowed all morning we did not work. In afternoon Steve and I went out and made station sur. And I went up to the store and bought over shoes and 2 pair socks. And cashed my cheque and still got some left. Wind fall about 530

This post gets us up to date in "Lest We Forget"

Wooops! Missed the 17th because of the mix-up in the pages where Clem wrote his daily entry on the wrong page and.... Oh, never mind, it's too hard to explian here...

Here's the entry for the 17th:

Cullerne bill the outfit out and there was no trains west, so we stayed in car all day. On that account it was about 30° below this morning no wind bid Ellen goodbye but did no go. Steve and I played 2 games of Pool on the last two bits we had. Broke now till pay day that won’t be long till the 20th

And now we're up to date...

Lest We Forget January 18, 1913

[caption id="attachment_384" align="aligncenter" width="300"] From Clem Dickson's Album of photos taken in Manitoba and Alberta Canada[/caption]

Sometimes I try to imagine what my grandfather would think if he could see this blog...100 years after he wrote the words and took the pictures! What a world!!! "Lest We Forget"

On Sunday, January 19, 1913, Clem and his co-workers decided to "sleep in". He didn't get up until 8 o'clock!! Half the day was gone!!! The transcription here is exact with all the misspelling and grammar as he wrote it.

Our morning in, didn’t get up till 8 AM. went and had breakfast at Smith. When Steve and I came back I had a bath and did a big washing, suite of underware shirt towel, two pair sock 4 hank. Got through about 430 then had a little sleep till 6 oclock then went to supper after supper I wrote to Maud. Cullerne still in Edson. Three trains ran over us and Cullerne didn’t come home.
[Maud was Clem’s eldest sister. Her married name was Fisher and her husband may have been the “Jim Fisher” to whom he had written a letter on the 16th]

"Lest We Forget" January 16, 1913...Clem gets the days mixed up!

[caption id="attachment_433" align="aligncenter" width="219"] This is the diary "Lest We Forget", a small 4X5 book in its 100th year![/caption]

Here's today's entry:
We did a little better today. Weather was a little warmer about 10⁰ below. Steve and I walked to Carval (?) left Stony Plain at 1 oclock and got back at 3.25 PM. 17 miles. Cullerne went to Edmonton in the afternoon. I wrote to Jim Fisher.

[Note: At this point in the diary, Clem started filling in Saturdays’ log on Friday’s page. So he crossed out “Friday” and “17” and wrote in “Saturday” and “18”. Then he did the same for Saturday and Sunday, making “Saturday” “Sunday, January 19” and “Sunday” “Friday, January 17”. In the interest of accuracy and to maintain the way the diary was written, I have followed the exact transcription as it appears.]

January 15, 1913 aboard the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway....

....or what would become the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway! Clem mentions "the car" which is, of course, the railcar where they lived throughout the construction project.  No mention of the temperature today, but it did snow.  So much for today's weather report!

Here's today's entry in "Lest We Forget":

Steve and I in the car all day keeping on the fire.  Weather about the same as yesterday with a little snow.  No work all day.  I went out in the afternoon an (sic) started to clean the flat car.  I just got it cleaned when it started to snow.  All that work for nothing.  Cullerne came home on the mixed about 4.30 PM.  I wrote home to father.

 

[caption id="attachment_382" align="alignnone" width="300"] Winter Scenes...Huge Snow Removal Car Up Front[/caption]

I've never said, "...a little warmer about 15 below..." !!!

Below is the diary entry for January 14, 1913. There are a few words on this page that I can't figure out, but I've come as close as I can. For example, I don't know what a "clavor" is or an "elavor" for that matter. If anyone out there knows, post a reply! For now, it's the best I can make out from the handwriting. Maybe a "clavor" is a railroad term or maybe it's hard to read because his hands wouldn't stop shaking from the cold! Good grief....15 below!!!

If you're at all interested in the Grand Trunk Pacific, there's an article at this link at Wikipedia.

Here's the transcription of what he wrote 100 years ago today:

Weather a little warmer about 15 below. We stayed in the car all morning. Cullerne went west on the mixed he had some work on the line. In the afternoon Steve and I went out and staked out the clavors/ elavors at Stony Plain worked about 2 hours. After supper Steve and I had 2 games of Pool. Then went home to bed. 9.30 good hours.