Interview with Mamie Morrison formerly of Stirling -currently living in Ontario
Jeanette: Bessie, was one of the first persons I interviewed (about the mine). She had so much information. It would take you half an hour to read it.Ontario
Mamie: Oh, I think Bessie knew everything. no question.
Jeanette: Are you in your 90’s now.
Mamie: I’m ninety-two.
Jeanette: Most of the people I’m interviewing are in their ninety’s, because, well it’s been over 60 years ago since the mine closed.
Mamie: How many years?
Jeanette: Sixty- two years since it closed. And I was born in 1957 around the year it closed.
Jeanette: So, you said you worked in the kitchen first. And that’s where you were working with Mary Ann (MacIntosh/Troke). She was telling me she worked at the kitchen too.
Mamie: I started in the kitchen.
Jeanette: It seems like a lot of people I have talked to who worked at the mine started in the Kitchen and moved their way into other jobs (at the mine),
Mamie: Did you know we cooked for the Diamond Drillers before the mine ever started (note: this would be in the late 40’s)?
Jeanette: Yes, Chrissy told me that. She ended up in the Assay Office too.
Mamie: Yes, she did.
Jeanette: She said she got paid by the Dept of Mines.
Mamie: Yeah, yeah.
Jeanette: So were those the only people who were eating there at the time. – the Diamond Drillers?
Mamie: Yes, when it first started, before the mine opened. The diamond drillers were in. I guess they were looking for the ore and all that sort of stuff. There was Chrissy and Dolena, my cousin.
Jeanette: Dolena MacLeod, right.
Mamie: Yes, she would be my cousin. She and Chrissy and I started cooking for the Diamond drillers.
Jeanette: Were you the only three working for them?
Mamie: There were boys that were doing other things around like peeling potatoes and that sort of stuff. I can’t remember their names.
Jeanette: There was a guy from Sampsonville, Gus Sampson and there was a Mombourquette who was a chef there at the time.
Mamie: I remember the name, but I wouldn’t remember the face.
Jeanette When did you start, would that be in 49?
Mamie: Well we started before the mine opened. What year I can’t tell you. It was just the Diamond Drillers, we were cooking for, first.
Jeanette: Were you in that big long building, the dining hall, when you first started?
Mamie: No, no, no. We were only working in a smaller place because there weren’t that many men. There were only the Diamond drillers.
Jeanette: Do you remember, was that one of those small buildings they used as a bunkhouse (before the big bunkhouses were built)?
Mamie: It could be. It was a smaller building. It was only the diamond drillers at that time. There was no mine, no big shots and all that sort of stuff, only the Diamond Drillers. They thought they were big shots, I guess. Laughter.
Jeanette: They had good jobs, right.
Mamie: Once the mine started, they started building all these homes and all that sort of stuff. The big cook house was built and then they had a man to come in to do the cooking because we didn’t know how to look after a big crowd of men.
Jeanette: And at that point, when it became the big cookhouse, then the mine took over paying your wages, I guess?
Mamie: Yeah
Jeanette: Do you remember what you got paid there?
Mamie: What I got paid, golly, no.
Jeanette: So, you probably worked there for a year or so and then you moved over to the other office.
Mamie: Yeah. When the mine was starting and the bigger cook house was built, we left the big cook house and I went down to the Assay office.
Jeanette: So, you worked in the big Cookhouse for a little while.
Mamie: Yeah.
Jeanette: So how did that happen that you ended up going down to the Assay office. Were they looking for people there?
Mamie: Oh yeah. They had people there. Chrissy and I were there.
Jeanette: And Mary Ann, she worked in the Assay office.
Mamie: No, Mary Anne worked in the cook house. If she worked in the assay office, I don’t remember her.
Jeanette: Yeah, she did because I interviewed her, and she had pictures of her working there. Her and a few others. The MacNeil boys from up in Soldier’s Cove. Martin and Jim MacNeil. Duncan worked there for a period of time.
Jeanette: Did you work there until the mine closed or did you leave a little earlier?
Mamie: The mine was still working when I left.
Jeanette: Maybe they came after that.
Mamie: Yeah, maybe.
Jeanette: There’s a lot of pictures of the Assay office. There’s one picture there. There is a bunch of bottles in the sink full of water and there was a tap there and it looked like they were sitting in the water. Would you have any idea what that was for? See photo below.
Jeanette: Bessie, was one of the first persons I interviewed (about the mine). She had so much information. It would take you half an hour to read it.Ontario
Mamie: Oh, I think Bessie knew everything. no question.
Jeanette: Are you in your 90’s now.
Mamie: I’m ninety-two.
Jeanette: Most of the people I’m interviewing are in their ninety’s, because, well it’s been over 60 years ago since the mine closed.
Mamie: How many years?
Jeanette: Sixty- two years since it closed. And I was born in 1957 around the year it closed.
Jeanette: So, you said you worked in the kitchen first. And that’s where you were working with Mary Ann (MacIntosh/Troke). She was telling me she worked at the kitchen too.
Mamie: I started in the kitchen.
Jeanette: It seems like a lot of people I have talked to who worked at the mine started in the Kitchen and moved their way into other jobs (at the mine),
Mamie: Did you know we cooked for the Diamond Drillers before the mine ever started (note: this would be in the late 40’s)?
Jeanette: Yes, Chrissy told me that. She ended up in the Assay Office too.
Mamie: Yes, she did.
Jeanette: She said she got paid by the Dept of Mines.
Mamie: Yeah, yeah.
Jeanette: So were those the only people who were eating there at the time. – the Diamond Drillers?
Mamie: Yes, when it first started, before the mine opened. The diamond drillers were in. I guess they were looking for the ore and all that sort of stuff. There was Chrissy and Dolena, my cousin.
Jeanette: Dolena MacLeod, right.
Mamie: Yes, she would be my cousin. She and Chrissy and I started cooking for the Diamond drillers.
Jeanette: Were you the only three working for them?
Mamie: There were boys that were doing other things around like peeling potatoes and that sort of stuff. I can’t remember their names.
Jeanette: There was a guy from Sampsonville, Gus Sampson and there was a Mombourquette who was a chef there at the time.
Mamie: I remember the name, but I wouldn’t remember the face.
Jeanette When did you start, would that be in 49?
Mamie: Well we started before the mine opened. What year I can’t tell you. It was just the Diamond Drillers, we were cooking for, first.
Jeanette: Were you in that big long building, the dining hall, when you first started?
Mamie: No, no, no. We were only working in a smaller place because there weren’t that many men. There were only the Diamond drillers.
Jeanette: Do you remember, was that one of those small buildings they used as a bunkhouse (before the big bunkhouses were built)?
Mamie: It could be. It was a smaller building. It was only the diamond drillers at that time. There was no mine, no big shots and all that sort of stuff, only the Diamond Drillers. They thought they were big shots, I guess. Laughter.
Jeanette: They had good jobs, right.
Mamie: Once the mine started, they started building all these homes and all that sort of stuff. The big cook house was built and then they had a man to come in to do the cooking because we didn’t know how to look after a big crowd of men.
Jeanette: And at that point, when it became the big cookhouse, then the mine took over paying your wages, I guess?
Mamie: Yeah
Jeanette: Do you remember what you got paid there?
Mamie: What I got paid, golly, no.
Jeanette: So, you probably worked there for a year or so and then you moved over to the other office.
Mamie: Yeah. When the mine was starting and the bigger cook house was built, we left the big cook house and I went down to the Assay office.
Jeanette: So, you worked in the big Cookhouse for a little while.
Mamie: Yeah.
Jeanette: So how did that happen that you ended up going down to the Assay office. Were they looking for people there?
Mamie: Oh yeah. They had people there. Chrissy and I were there.
Jeanette: And Mary Ann, she worked in the Assay office.
Mamie: No, Mary Anne worked in the cook house. If she worked in the assay office, I don’t remember her.
Jeanette: Yeah, she did because I interviewed her, and she had pictures of her working there. Her and a few others. The MacNeil boys from up in Soldier’s Cove. Martin and Jim MacNeil. Duncan worked there for a period of time.
Jeanette: Did you work there until the mine closed or did you leave a little earlier?
Mamie: The mine was still working when I left.
Jeanette: Maybe they came after that.
Mamie: Yeah, maybe.
Jeanette: There’s a lot of pictures of the Assay office. There’s one picture there. There is a bunch of bottles in the sink full of water and there was a tap there and it looked like they were sitting in the water. Would you have any idea what that was for? See photo below.
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Mamie: Well we were measuring the ore and then they would put it in the beakers. Then they would put it on a - I can’t remember if it was a stove or what not (see picture above right hand side) and they would run it to see the amount of lead, Zinc or Copper or whatever they were looking for was in the beakers.
Jeanette: Yes
Mamie: Maybe that had something to do with the sink and the water.
Jeanette: There was a few different things they did with that. (See photo below of Mary Ann MacIntosh/Troke)
Jeanette: Yes
Mamie: Maybe that had something to do with the sink and the water.
Jeanette: There was a few different things they did with that. (See photo below of Mary Ann MacIntosh/Troke)
Jeanette: They had a "Lazy Susan" kind of thing that you would put on a table and it would turn around. They would put something in the flasks. It had to be measured. It was some kind of chemical, I think.
Mamie: Yes. Everything had to be measured and weighed and so on and so forth.
Jeanette: So, you met your husband, Johnny, when you were working down there, I assume.
Mamie: Yeah
Jeanette: How did you meet him?
Mamie: In the cookhouse, I imagine. I think. That’s going back a long time. Yeah I believe it was when we were in the cookhouse.
Jeanette: And what did he do there, Johnny - Johnny MacMaster?
Mamie – He worked underground.
Jeanette: And where was he from?
Mamie: Port Hood.
Jeanette: There were quite a few people who came from up that way down there (to Stirling)
Jeanette: Did you know of any love stories, anyone meeting up with their husbands at the mine, besides you?
Mamie: Chrissy and her husband. He was one of the Diamond Drillers.
Jeanette: And the other girl you were talking about, the other Dolena, Kenny William, right.
Mamie: Dolena Kenny William. She married
Jeanette: Trembley
Mamie: Yeah, Trembley
Jeanette: Did she meet him at the mine?
Mamie: Yeah
Jeanette: Do you know what he did?
Mamie: I’m sure he was some kind of miner.
Jeanette: And when you got married, you had your party at the dance hall at the mine, am I right?
Mamie: Did we ever. Laugher. It was pouring rain. Oh, my goodness it was an awful night.
Jeanette: Did you get married in the dance hall or did you get married in a church?
Mamie: No, I got married in Sydney.
Jeanette: And then you went out from Sydney and had the party at the dance hall at the mine?
Mamie: No. The party was before we got married, I think. We had a big party before.
Jeanette: Where was the dance Hall?
Mamie: Up on the hill where all the mining buildings were. They had so many buildings, you know, there.
Jeanette: There were some buildings in the picture, and they looked like they were over to the left, so it was probably there. (See cropped picture below of the hill - mid foreground. It is hard to make out but there's a long building there - it is likely the recreation center/dance hall where Mamie and Johnny had their wedding party)
Mamie: Yes. Everything had to be measured and weighed and so on and so forth.
Jeanette: So, you met your husband, Johnny, when you were working down there, I assume.
Mamie: Yeah
Jeanette: How did you meet him?
Mamie: In the cookhouse, I imagine. I think. That’s going back a long time. Yeah I believe it was when we were in the cookhouse.
Jeanette: And what did he do there, Johnny - Johnny MacMaster?
Mamie – He worked underground.
Jeanette: And where was he from?
Mamie: Port Hood.
Jeanette: There were quite a few people who came from up that way down there (to Stirling)
Jeanette: Did you know of any love stories, anyone meeting up with their husbands at the mine, besides you?
Mamie: Chrissy and her husband. He was one of the Diamond Drillers.
Jeanette: And the other girl you were talking about, the other Dolena, Kenny William, right.
Mamie: Dolena Kenny William. She married
Jeanette: Trembley
Mamie: Yeah, Trembley
Jeanette: Did she meet him at the mine?
Mamie: Yeah
Jeanette: Do you know what he did?
Mamie: I’m sure he was some kind of miner.
Jeanette: And when you got married, you had your party at the dance hall at the mine, am I right?
Mamie: Did we ever. Laugher. It was pouring rain. Oh, my goodness it was an awful night.
Jeanette: Did you get married in the dance hall or did you get married in a church?
Mamie: No, I got married in Sydney.
Jeanette: And then you went out from Sydney and had the party at the dance hall at the mine?
Mamie: No. The party was before we got married, I think. We had a big party before.
Jeanette: Where was the dance Hall?
Mamie: Up on the hill where all the mining buildings were. They had so many buildings, you know, there.
Jeanette: There were some buildings in the picture, and they looked like they were over to the left, so it was probably there. (See cropped picture below of the hill - mid foreground. It is hard to make out but there's a long building there - it is likely the recreation center/dance hall where Mamie and Johnny had their wedding party)
Jeanette: So, everybody from around went to that I guess?
Mamie: Oh, yes there were packs of people.
Jeanette: Did you have a band, like Musicians playing?
Mamie: If there was a band I don’t know who it would be other than Melvin and Dan (Note: This would be Melvin and Dan Morrison, Mamie’s brothers.)
Jeanette: Oh, yes, they played the fiddle, right?
Mamie: Yeah
Jeanette: So, they probably played for your dance.
Mamie: I’m most sure they did. They played for all the dances around there.
Jeanette: I remember Melvin telling me that wherever they went, they would have their fiddle with them. They would be playing the fiddle while walking on the road on the way to visit somebody.
Mamie: Yeah
Jeanette: After you got married did you leave the mine, or did you live in Stirling after that?
Mamie: We lived in Stirling.
Jeanette: Did you live in the house where you grew up?
Mamie: yeah, in my father’s place. And Johnny and Melvin and Dan went to Nfld (after Stirling mine closed) to work in the mine down there (note: I believe this was Till Cove).
Jeanette: OK, then you stayed in Stirling.
Mamie: Yeah
Jeanette: Do you remember any of the people who lived around the lake there?
Mamie: Well it wasn’t too far from where we lived but I couldn’t tell you. There were so many little houses built along that road. I can’t even remember who lived there in those houses. I’m trying to think if Dolena and Trembly stayed in one of those homes. I’m not sure.
Jeanette: They were married while they were working there at the mine?
Mamie: Yeah
Jeanette: There are about 15 people that I have interviewed so far, and I am still coming across more people to interview. I have about 300 names of people who worked there so far.
Mamie: Oh, my goodness. I remember that there was a Dunphy boy who worked in the office. I think his name was Ray Dunphy.
Mamie: I remember some of the other guys from Soldiers cove. I remember where they came from, but I don’t remember their names. Bessie would tell me about one of the guys. He used to sing Gaelic songs.
Jeanette; Yes, that would have been Jim.
Mamie: I think it was.
Jeanette: He passed away a few years ago.
Mamie: Maybe if you found that Ray Dunphy.
Jeanette: I wonder, there was a picture that Mary Ann had in the assay office and there was a man he was standing by one of those titrating machines and he had a white shirt on. He was tall and had black hair and nobody knows who he is. I wonder if that’s him. (See picture below)
Mamie: Oh, yes there were packs of people.
Jeanette: Did you have a band, like Musicians playing?
Mamie: If there was a band I don’t know who it would be other than Melvin and Dan (Note: This would be Melvin and Dan Morrison, Mamie’s brothers.)
Jeanette: Oh, yes, they played the fiddle, right?
Mamie: Yeah
Jeanette: So, they probably played for your dance.
Mamie: I’m most sure they did. They played for all the dances around there.
Jeanette: I remember Melvin telling me that wherever they went, they would have their fiddle with them. They would be playing the fiddle while walking on the road on the way to visit somebody.
Mamie: Yeah
Jeanette: After you got married did you leave the mine, or did you live in Stirling after that?
Mamie: We lived in Stirling.
Jeanette: Did you live in the house where you grew up?
Mamie: yeah, in my father’s place. And Johnny and Melvin and Dan went to Nfld (after Stirling mine closed) to work in the mine down there (note: I believe this was Till Cove).
Jeanette: OK, then you stayed in Stirling.
Mamie: Yeah
Jeanette: Do you remember any of the people who lived around the lake there?
Mamie: Well it wasn’t too far from where we lived but I couldn’t tell you. There were so many little houses built along that road. I can’t even remember who lived there in those houses. I’m trying to think if Dolena and Trembly stayed in one of those homes. I’m not sure.
Jeanette: They were married while they were working there at the mine?
Mamie: Yeah
Jeanette: There are about 15 people that I have interviewed so far, and I am still coming across more people to interview. I have about 300 names of people who worked there so far.
Mamie: Oh, my goodness. I remember that there was a Dunphy boy who worked in the office. I think his name was Ray Dunphy.
Mamie: I remember some of the other guys from Soldiers cove. I remember where they came from, but I don’t remember their names. Bessie would tell me about one of the guys. He used to sing Gaelic songs.
Jeanette; Yes, that would have been Jim.
Mamie: I think it was.
Jeanette: He passed away a few years ago.
Mamie: Maybe if you found that Ray Dunphy.
Jeanette: I wonder, there was a picture that Mary Ann had in the assay office and there was a man he was standing by one of those titrating machines and he had a white shirt on. He was tall and had black hair and nobody knows who he is. I wonder if that’s him. (See picture below)
Mamie: No, no, no, no. If he had a white shirt on he must have been one of the bosses. (Note: Wendell Holmes has identified this man as being from Reserve Mines).
Jeanette: Oh, really.
Jeanette: So, Ray Dunphy, was he from around Arichat way?
Mamie: I think Soldier’s Cove or up that way somewhere.
The Stores
Jeanette: I guess you remember the stores that were there?
Mamie: Yes. It’s not that long ago that I was thinking about those stores.
Jeanette: So, there was Morrison’s store. That was a big store, on the corner there. And then there was Spinner’s Men’s wear.
Mamie: Yeah and there was the television, the guy from Fourchu.
Jeanette: Oh, yeah, Charlie Hooper.
Mamie: Yeah. Charlie Hooper, he had a store (down the mine road).
Jeanette: And did you say, “televisions”?
Mamie: Yeah. He sold televisions and things.
Jeanette: That was what Pearl MacDonald was telling me - Pearl MacLeod. She was a student at the time. She remembered a lot about the mine (click here on Pearl MacLeod MacDonald to read her interview).
Jeanette: Oh, really.
Jeanette: So, Ray Dunphy, was he from around Arichat way?
Mamie: I think Soldier’s Cove or up that way somewhere.
The Stores
Jeanette: I guess you remember the stores that were there?
Mamie: Yes. It’s not that long ago that I was thinking about those stores.
Jeanette: So, there was Morrison’s store. That was a big store, on the corner there. And then there was Spinner’s Men’s wear.
Mamie: Yeah and there was the television, the guy from Fourchu.
Jeanette: Oh, yeah, Charlie Hooper.
Mamie: Yeah. Charlie Hooper, he had a store (down the mine road).
Jeanette: And did you say, “televisions”?
Mamie: Yeah. He sold televisions and things.
Jeanette: That was what Pearl MacDonald was telling me - Pearl MacLeod. She was a student at the time. She remembered a lot about the mine (click here on Pearl MacLeod MacDonald to read her interview).