Cape Sable Economy

Canada is a great country, people from all over the world love to come here for freedom and prosperity, some come from underpriveleged countries, learn our language and it seems in no time they set up their own buisness and do well enough and other extended family come here to work.

Most of the imigrants go to larger cities like Toronto and Vancouver, this is easier for them as there are programs set up to help them get established.

Our way of life on the South coast of Nova Scotia is much different than the busy atomsphere of the larger Canadian centers.

Fishing industry is most important, and the backbone of our economy in this area, it has been for over two hundred years when our forefathers from Massachusetts decided to bring their families and settle on Cape Sable Isld.There have been some lean times over the years, but our fishermen and families are survivors, they practically lived on fish and clams, in winter they made sure they had pails of salt herring and mackerel, salt cod and pollock, in summer they had vegetable gardens, to put in the cellar for the long winter , they didn`t make much money and this is how most of the Island residents survived.

In the beginning of 1970,s the lobster stocks were so low, many of the fishermen sold their lobster lisences for a song in order to help them get by,at the time they were concerned about the future of the lobster fishery, they thought the off shore fisheries were causing stocks to dwindle.The fishermen came together and marched on Shelburne wharf, they were worried about their future and understandably so.

There has been a lot of changes around here, especially in the last thirty years. When they started building fiberglass fishing boats, they lasted longer than the wooden ones and were much stronger, this meant the fishermen could go way out to Georges banks and stay longer, there for they were catching more fish, they had a few good years , but in the mid 1980`s the Department of Fisheries found the fish stocks were getting low and it was a bad news day all around when they put a quota on the amount of fish being caught.Everyone was worried, the fishermen had big payments and operating costs on their boats, and real concern for the livlihood of their families.

At around that time for some unknown reasons the lobster fishing was starting to pick up, increase in catches, and it was a relief for those still holding a lobster lisence, the stocks have steadily increased since then and the fishermen have done better.
The economy is good now , when you have to be in line up at Tim Horton`s for coffee The children are well dressed and many go on to college to furthur their education, unlike in the past when only a few went to college , as their families could not afford to send them.
There are many recent changes especially in the Barrington Passage area , with all the new stores and buisnesses going up , i believe this is one of the fastest growing area of the province, that brings in more people from outlying areas to shop, go to resturants and buy gas too.
From this wonderful natural resource our economy is still good, although the first week of season was good weather, and hope for our fishermen but since then, there has been one storm after another with very high winds,which will result in lower catches for them all. With all of this prosperity , it has also driven prices up and cost for all services have skyrocketed, the demand is there so they figure why not. Some old houses around here are selling for ten times what the cost of building them was.This makes it hard for young couples to start out, and those living on low and fixed incomes, when in a small rural area you are asked to pay the same for some things as in Halifax or even Toronto area, where wages are much higher.

With all this positive outlook, there are still real problems in every level of government,there is only so much money for the different programs, sometimes government do not have their priorities in the right order , there is money wasted that could go for social programs and big concern for health care.

Our elected members of the of the legislature are getting a raise, because they work hard for it, they probably do , other people work hard as well,i have done so called man`s work all my life.how can these officials take that kind of pay knowing people on social assistance , disabled , are asked to exist on .However i do not condone people on social assistance that are strong and able to work,help them get a job. There is too much of a gap here for those who have and have not. Just recently a news story , Canada is giving millions to other countries, what about taking care of our own citizens first who have worked hard , contributed and paid taxes all their lives, i am glad we help the less fortunate,but in our area the rent is expensive, the amount of assistance people recieve, is taken just for a roof over your head.I hope when our elected members take that 90,000 they will remember to give to the food bank on their way home.

Ask someone who is disabled to survive on a meager allowance of 415.00 for one person a month and such things as t v and phone are classified as a luxury, and that is for everything including food too. If you have to rent they will give you a certain amount for rent.

Also ask someone who is on a waiting list for heart surgery, or someone who is hobbling round waiting for hip surgery, up to six months eye surgery ,my husband waited all day , in emergency , no bed, he had pneumonia , was dying with lung cancer, yes that hurt.Our tax dollars are sometimes duplicated and mismanaged,and the real social problems are often forgotten and swept under the rug.There is just too much money wasted by government.

With any planned infrastructure program, a big portion of the money is taken up with one study after another. What started out being a big project ends up with much less money for the project itself.

Overall the Atlantic ocean and it`s bountiful harvest have been good for all the people of our region, a great resource, ii hope it continues and if managed well will be there for the future of our economy and the people of our Cape Sable.

written by Deloris (Nickerson ) Anderson Dec. 14 , 2003

Update April 14, 2008
Many of our people have gone to Alberta to work, more are planning to go in June,there are no jobs here for our young people,so they must leave to find work.
There are reports the lobster fishing is not good, catches have been dropping the past few years.
Last winter season the catches were down , there was one storm after the other so they could not go check their traps.
Here it `s not unusual to have storms with strong winds of 100 klms. or more.in those storms the wind really howled around my house,it was very noisy.
I can only imagine what it is like on the bottom of the ocean,it would be constantly churning. There has been much erosion along the coast this winter, at Baccaro we saw where the power of the ocean dragged a lobster trap up over the rocks and across the road.
Rocks the size of footballs were pushed up over the bank, 60 feet or more up on the grass.
All winter there were back to back storms, fishermen could not go out and when the did the catches were way down.
They are hard working men and often risks their lives and go even when it is too dangerous.
only to find many of their traps empty. now they are getting concerned.
Operating costs are high ,for bait and gas,pay the crew,for those with newer boats it`s huge payments and insurance to pay. Sometimes in stormy weather they have to stay ashore for five days or more. Is this a another downturn in the lobster industry?
They will continue to go , doing what they know,besides the ocean is in their blood,it`s a way of life , like their ancestors before them .They just cannot stay on shore for long.
I hope for them, maybe when the weather is better, the ocean will warm up and catches
improve.

May 5 , 2010 There is again concern in lobster fishery , for a year or more prices have dropped, if it is due to slow markets in states, then perhaps they could be looking to other countries and Canada, promote them here , i hope Canadians would eat more lobster, but it`s not good to have all your eggs in one basket.
I heard on T V that some Americans are not going out to eat as often as before,and not eating lobster they have been in recession , so many losing their homes, i believe some in U S are financially worse off than we are. Fishermen have big boat payments as well as operating costs.
I feel sorry for young men who have just got into fishery , but they did good from 1985 up to last few years so the older fishermen have had some very good years.
Deloris Anderson
D Anderson

S. S. Hungarian Shipwreck - Deloris Anderson 2005

Let`s go back to February 8th 1860 when the S.S . Hungarian left Liverpool England,for a voyage across the Atlantic, carrying over 200 passengers and crew, also the Royal Mail bound for Portland, Maine, U S A .

On Feb. 19th, she struck the Cape Ledges, about half mile west of Cape Sable in a rainstorm and heavy seas that were breaking mast high over the ship.

Barry Nickerson , my gggrandfather reported seeing lights in the vicinity of the Horse Race, (shallow area runs outside of the Cape for this size ship especially if tide is running low.)

Henry Nickerson my other gggrandfather who lived on Fish Island, along with his son and neighbour took a small boat from there to the Cape, with a lantern hoping someone may see the light or they may be of some asistance.The storm was so bad they could not launch their boat, imagine how helpless they must of felt to see the waves breaking up on the ship.Within a few hours the masts and pipes were gone, and later could only be seen at low water.

Disasters like this happened often ,with all the shipping across the Atlantic and ports around the world.Only this time it happened here near Cape Sable Island, with such great loss of life, with raging waves one can understand how they were unable to get into lifeboats, one lifeboat was located at Port La Tour another at Shag Harbour,a distance of about ten miles.There were reports of wreckage found that was scattered along the shore,i have been told there were some items of clothing and personal belongings of the passengers, it was mostly mail bags.The strong wind and tide must have carried those on board out to sea.

Taken from Yarmouth Tribune-The ill fated steamship is reported to have been seen by a coasting vessell off Liverpool N S, about 6 p m on Sunday.She was apparently steering N N West, twenty five miles from the coast, must of been nearly four points off her true coarse.

The high winds may have pushed the ship furthur inshore,even a fraction off coarse,it could have put her in danger, with our rocky and rugged coastline, many ships have met their fate in this same area.

This ship was built in 1858 in Dumberton, and had made good time on previous voyages, one that took nine days.It was felt by some that she may have been hugging the coastline too closely to make better time, but the agents of the company had only praise for Captain Jones and his ability to do his job well, considering there was no lighthouse on Cape Sable in 1860. Local citizens has been trying to have one built, this shipwreck sparked interest and one was built in 1861.There was also much praise for the people of the area who so willingly gave up the wreckage they found.
I first heard about this shipwreck over forty years ago from my father in law Captain Ernest Anderson, he often told me of his experiences at sea and about the Hungarian disaster.

He told me there was a diary found among the wreckage, in which a young lady passenger had written "Lizzie Dies Tonight", supposedly to her mother .
Naturally i had accepted what i had been told until a couple months ago, when Mr. Bruce Nunn of Canadian Broadcasting Corp. began his research and putting a story together, to have on his radio show,along with a song written in 1861 by the late Steven Foster of U S ,sang by Susan Crowe. A mystery of the diary and a lady passenger named Lizzie Louden.

A short while after the Hungarian Shipwreck, a Baptist group in Pennsylvania wrote a book, for Sunday Schools, titled , " The Golden Ringlet" or "Lizzie Dies Tonight ".
In some exchange with Mr. Nunn, and after reading the book, especially chapter on Hungarian Shipwreck, i expected it to be true.i think it is mostly fictional, probably based on the shipwreck story circulating in the U S and newspapers at the time By now i was a little disappointed, my thoughts were to find the passenger list, and lady known as Lizzie.

I sent many inquiries to different museums in Canada , U S and U K.After months of waiting i received a reply from the Guildhall in London.They had the passenger list taken from a book written by agents of the Company.I can check for a passenger named Lizzie Lowden.

In the meantime a great researcher and very good friend in U S directed me to a site where i was able to find more imformation on the S S Hungarian tragedy and what a surprise the passenger list.I hurried to check, i am looking over the passenger list, where is the young girl named Lizzie Louden ?

I went over the list a few times and could not find her, another unanswered question.
Was it possible the story of Lizzie`s diary could have found it`s way back here through the book written in the States , titled "Lizzie Dies Tonight"? Or was there really a diary found here? Maybe it found it`s way to U S where the song and book were written.

By having the list , i wondered if i had perhaps solved the mystery about Lizzie and the disasaster that took place near here 145 years ago.
I believe i have the most accurate list available, but it is a mystery that may never be know with certaintly.

This area of Nova Scotia has always had very close ties in trade with Eastern United States, most of our ancestors were first settlers that came from Chatham and Cape Cod area .Many of our residents also moved there to work.

It may have come from families and imformation they shared after the tragic event.
This was one of the worse tragedies of that time with such loss of life , there was oral reports that some were seen clinging to the spars and rigging , until they washed away,there were 205 people (according to the ships passenger list) who perished when the ship hit the Cape Ledges on that February night.

As soon as possible there were many men in their boats involved in the search of bodies and wreckage , but so few were recovered, they were given proper burial and are buried in Old Town Cemetery near entrance to Swim`s Point at Clark`s Harbour.
As for the people of this area who lived to be a part of it , what they saw or heard and passed it on to their families a belated thank you .It was part of our history,it is my wish that you will continue to pass it on to the next generations.

Since i have been collecting imformation about this, i have heard there are items at our local museum. If anyone has any knowledge of a diary found, i would like to hear about it .

This is written from stories told to me and imformation i have gathered on S S Hungarian and hope you find it interesting.

S S Hungarian struck Cape Sable Ledges,most southern point of N S .

Cape sable Lighthouse by Deloris 2004

Cold in Outhouse 2003

Baccaro N S Lighthouse In Ice 2003

Cape Sable Totem Poles

Welcome to this page, here is a short story about a totem pole, carved right here at Cape Sable,beautiful south shore of Nova Scotia. With the sight and sound of the Atlantic ocean always near,clean white sandy beaches,the waves rolling in, invite you to come for a leisure walk.
The pleasure of seagulls all around, plus hundreds of shore birds, with their tiny legs scampering about for food as the tide rolls in.They are an awesome site when in flight.

This is a fine place to share with and be part of nature.

Most of the people here make their living from the sea , or are connected to it one way or another.Just as their ancestors have for over two hundred years. It has been a wonderful natural resource,there is now more prosperity and better way of life, especially the last twenty-five years.
My ancestors came here from Massachusetts, in the early part of the seventeenth century, to fish the fertile fishing grounds along the coast, with good fishing they decided to bring their families and settle here.

My husband`s grandfather ( Anderson) and great grandfather (Dahlgren) imigrated here from Sweden.Other ancestors came from England,France and Ireland during the great potato famine
of eighteenth century.

Some surnames here are Anderson,Atkinson, Atwood,Blades, Brannen,Newell,Nickerson, Penny, Ross,Smith Symonds and Swim.

Over the years the people have survived the hard times, for most that meant doing their best to put food on the table and hand me down clothes for their large families. Especially during the depression, so called the hungry thirties.

My grandparents planted their garden,grampy Benny planted blue potatoes , he had bins of them in his cellar for winter. They were so good with salt mackerel and fish. They used brine in those days to keep the fish and meat from spoiling .I remember my father ,mixing the salt and water, he used a raw potato to do a test, if the potato floated, he thought it was salt enough.They also had a cow that supplied the family with fresh milk , cream and butter.In the summer they mowed the hay , dried and stored it in the hay loft for the cow in winter, I remember the smell of the new hay when i helped my grandfather rake it up.

Also watching my grammie Thelma milk the cow, one time she squirted the milk right in my eye, and we both laughed.

She worked hard to do all the cooking for a large family, they used an apple barrel to store the flour,it came in fifty pound bags, especially with making all their bread it did not last long.She made the best bread pudding, topped with thick cream.

Grammie Daisy raised a cow, hens and a pig, in the fall when they killed the pig, they sugar cured the hams , she had the ham hanging on the house to keep it cool,when she fried the ham you could smell it as soon as you opened the door.

Our school was nearby her house and at recess i used to go there,i loved her molasses cookies with the crinkles all round.

My mother is an excellent cook, she too has worked very hard,and has done very well on her own in the twenty years, since my father passed away.

Women as well as the men work very hard,Through the years,they made beautiful quilts, my neighbour was kind enough to make one for me.Also my sister has made many different patterns, she has a natural talent and does a great job. My sister had hers at the Sandspit Gallery in Shelburne.

They take great pride in their homes, with beautiful flower gardens. We have good schools for our children,many of them go on to University, some become computer programmers, teachers, nurses, dentists and lawyers.

Some stay here to carry on the family tradition of fishing.Where the buisness is often passed from one generation to the next. We are proud of them whatever profession they choose,it is difficult for one to stay away from Cape Sable for very long. What brings them back is the ocean, the smell of the nice salt air,fish fresh from the ocean, and the best lobsters in the world.

About thirty years ago, Canada Post issued a stamp to honor Emily Carr ( born1871 died1946), a great artist and fine writer. We were stamp collectors, and at the time the more i knew about her the more interested i became.I really admired her,she spent her life painting the villages and totem poles among the native people of British Colombia.

She was a very independant and strong woman,she is still remembered for the the beautiful totem poles that she painted.At the time she probably did not receive the money for her paintings or the recognition she deserved.She would be surprised, recently one of her paintings sold for forty thousand dollars.

She took her little dog on her trips to keep her company and travelled around the coast by any means that was available to her. On one occasion she was travelling on a rickety old wagon,
the road was so bad, it hit a bump, everyone fell off in the mud.

There was such a cloud of dust, they hardly knew where they were.Luckily there was a stream nearby,all hands fell on their bellies in the water , it sure made for a good laugh.
Another time she was in the cabin of an old boat,when she could almost feel the water on her body, from beneath her and on both sides.On some occasions she had to climb up the slippery old ladders, and get ashore the best she could, by the time she reached the top rung, she would throw herself over the dock , so happy she was on shore. She wrote seven books, one of them titled "Klee Wick", the name natives gave her which meant laughing one.

You can still purchase prints and cards of her work at the Emily Carr House in British Colombia.There family and friends are keeping her memory alive so one can learn about her. She had to give up painting due to ill health,and wrote her first book "Klee Wick"and received the Govenor General Award for general literature for it.

This is a few lines taken from that book,you can read of her love of totem poles(pages 39 -40).
An eagle flew out of its nest and back again. Once again it broke silence, calling after him, "Tell D`Sonoqua"and turning saw her close,towering above me in the jungle.Like the D `Sonoqua of the other villages,she was carved into the bole of the red cedar tree.Sun and storm have bleached the wood,moss here and there softened the crudeness of the modelling,sincerity underlay every stroke.
She appeared to be neither wood or stationery,but a single spirit young and fresh passing through the jungle.No violence coarsened her, no power domineered to wither her, she was graciously feminine. Across her forehead her creator had fashioned the Sistheutl or mystical two headed sea serpent.One of it`s heads fell to either shoulder, hiding the stuck out ears and framing her face from the central parting on her forehead ,seemed to increace her womanliness. She caught her breath, this D`Sonoqua alive in the dead bole of the cedar.She summed up the depth and charm of the whole forest, driving away it`s menace.

If you have a computer you can find out more about her at http://www.emilycarr.ca and
ecar@island.net. In the west they have the huge cedar trees,some of the totem poles are still standing after a hundred years or more.

In the spring i saw some beautiful pictures of the poles Emily Carr painted.In passing i said,i would like to have one. This day my husband was gone all afternoon, when he returned he said, I cut the pole , it is still in the woods, i did not think he was serious.that he would carve a totem pole.It was very heavy when first cut ,so he got some help to get it out of the woods. I am sure it was a challenge, what to carve first or how it would look.

He started with his mallet and chisel and soon he had a raven, when he saw this taking shape, he kept on carving the wolf, bear, woman and man sun faces.At the bottom he carved the little bear that is on the cover of Emily Carr`s book and the words "Klee Wick".

He started it on May 11th. 2000, He put it up June 22nd and just missed National Aborigonal Day.
Alan, Douglas , Garvin and David all came to help, it wasn`t long before it was in the ground.
He surprised himself, to look and see it in the yard, a short time earlier it was just a dream.
It does look nice standing on the edge of the lawn , facing east so it cathes the rays of the early morning sun.

My favorite carving is the woman sun face with her hands uplifting as if she were in prayer.
Cathy Johnson came from the local paper , did the story and took a picture of the carver and the pole.

Many people have been here to see and take pictures.
The images look very real, when you look up it`s like they are looking down at you.
Two native ladies came and had a smudging ceremony to bless us and the pole,I love the smell of the braided sweetgrass.It is a spiritual connection with mother earth,in friendship they gave us a gift of tobacco. Sweetgrass,sage and cedar are sacred plants of our native people.
When driving by, feel free to stop you too may feel the spirit of our native ancestors, who had so much respect for mother earth and all of God`s creatures.

Meanings of the characters on the totem pole are .______
Hawk___Messenger,Woodpecker___Oppertunity,Bear __Protection-Introspection,Sun-East Direction _(male Energy),
Moon-West Direction _( Female Energy),Raven__Bringer of Light From Darkness(Magic),Wolf___Teacher and Family.

July 2002
My daughter Linda went on a motorcycle trip from Oshawa to British Colombia , travelling through these U S states. Michigan,Wisconsin, Dakota`s, Whyoming,Montana, Idaho and Washington.She went through the Badlands,Mount Rushmore and in Yellowstone National Park where she could of reached out and touched the buffalo as they walked across the road. That was the highlight of her vacation.

She sent me a book titled,Legend Of the Medicine Man.
Here is a recipe for sunburn

1 tsp. basil,1 tsp. lemonbalm,1 tbsp .crushed cucumber,1 tbsp.aloe vera,1 tbsp vinegar.Mix ingredients together, put in warm bath to soothe and soak the aches of sunburn.

A SIOUX PRAYER
My Father , Great Spirit,
Who send,est The Wind And White Snow From The North,
To Make Thy Creation Clean And Pure,
Father Make Me Clean and Pure Within My Heart,
That I May Be Accepted In Thy Site And Judgement,
Father , Great Spirit,
To The East From Wence Cometh The Rising Sun,
And All Thy Living creation,
Thou Has Added Another Day To Thy Life,
For Which I give Thee Thanks With All Thine Heart.

South Side Savannah

Hi, I will begin my story as a child growing up Cape Sable on the southern tip of Nova Scotia, Canada. Near the savannah, in the winter time my parents took me on my sled through the woods to the nearest town. As i was pulled over the ice i loved looking down at all the moss beneath it.How beautiful it was, all the different shades of green and brown.To me it was like a huge green carpet, some of it was sticking up through,so i could reach out and run my mittens over it.Was a happy time looking up at the smiling faces of mamma and daddy, i am doing this with loving thoughts of them.They were young and just starting a family,eventually a large family. They were probably going to town to do some shopping.There were many other paths through the woods.My uncle recently told me how he used to run through the woods to town and sell clams. He said,"Doctor Brown always bought them, and treated him with a piece of cake.'' He was hungry after hours of work, all that for 10 cents, not to mention the bumps and bruises in his bare feet. All those sticks he had to run through.You see the other boys from the nearby villages were also digging clams,and selling them. He could not let the other boys get to town first,that meant he would not be able to sell his clams.He needed to do his very best to help out his family,10 cents isn`t much worth today, but during the depression years it would buy a bag of sugar to bake with. In those days and with large families,the children helped in all the chores or whatever there was to do. From milking the cow, mowing the hay,tending the garden and mending the fence.

Often the older children helped to take care of the younger ones. I am sure there are many stories to be told about the way of life back then,and today my uncle is still doing his very best.(note update ) I am saddened to write that my uncle Edward passed away on Oct.31st.2000, at 76 years.fishing and the ocean was his life,he survived numerous operations,also open heart surgery,and has his leg amputated, He is in heaven now , and is another of the brightest stars that i look to find at night. He was a special uncle, who i loved and had a great deal of respect for..

By now your probably wondering where is this savannah, it is a piece of land running through the interior of Cape Sable,which was an island prior to 1949.Thats when we were joined to the mainland by a causeway. Before that the people used the ferry boat to go off on the mainland.This is a great place for bird watchers,we also have many have many rare and unuasual birds, due to our geographic location. It is also in line with migration, in the spring we watch them come back from the the different southern places,in the fall we watch them leave. It sure is a beautiful site to see them gathering up, especially the waterfowl, huge flocks of ducks and geese. Soon after the causeway was built,we had electricity installed in our homes, life was a lot easier. One of my chores after school was to fill the kerosene lamp and clean the chimney, we used newspaper to really make it shine. I remember being so excited because we had electric lights.Couldn`t wait till it got dark to turn them on. I believe the washing machine was the best invention, it saved all those hours of back breaking work of doing the wash on the washboard. Another was the refrigerator,and electric radio,my father was a fisherman,he got up real early to go fishing and listen to Wheeling West Virginia.

There have been many changes over the years,in the late fifties , the fishermen were catching more fish, although the price was low there was a lot of work in the fish plants. The largest plant at that time was working a night shift as well. The place was full of fish,there was always fresh haddock,cod,catfish and halibut. Around nineteen seventy more boatshops were opening up and started building larger boats of fiberglass. These were much safer for the fishermen who went way off to George`s and Brown`s banks. In the early nineteen eighties the lobster catches were increasing and a much better standard of living. Later on when things were looking up for the fishermen,there was the depleating fish stocks to be concerned about.That was a real downturn in the fishery with a lot of uncertainty all around. Just when and if the fish they would return,The fishermen all have restrictions on their catch and are allocated a certain quota. There have been many ups and downs in the fishery over the years, but overall the sea has been good to the people of Cape Sable.It has been and is a wonderful natural resource for the people of this area of Canada.If it is managed well,i hope it continues to be. Fishing has been a way of life around here for almost two hundred years, many of our ancestors came here from Cape Cod area, the men came first, here they found good fishing. They later brought their families and settled here. The fishermen now have much safer boats, with the latest electronics and navigational aids to make it better while at sea.While in nice weather the ocean is so calm,fishing is still very dangerous way to make a living. We are truly blessed to have so many beautiful beaches.Also a great place to go beach walking especially in the summer. Unfortunately there have been many lives lost while at sea, reguardless of how safe the boats are in bad weather , accidents will happen. There have been many ship wrecks years ago along our rocky coasts. one of them the Hungarian with all the passengers drowned. Cape Sable has much history of the sea,the stories and real life adventure especially when the men went to sea in sailing ships. when they left port, there was no way of knowing just when they would return.

There is much more prosperity now, than when my uncle ran through the woods to sell his clams.We have fine schools for our children to get a good education. Our men and women of Cape Sable are proud and hard working people. I want to dedicate this page to them all , my family who continue to be the survivors of Cape Sable.