Telephone interview with Murdock Morrison Formerly of Framboise May 31, 2019
JS - Jeanette Strachan
MM Murdock Morrison
JS: You worked at Stirling mine when it ran in the 50’s?
MM: Yes
JS: And What did you did you do there?
MM: I worked at the warehouse – the stores for a year then they sent me up to St Peter’s to look after the shipping.
JS: Which job did you like better.
MM: I liked it up in St Peter’s. I had no bosses. I was the boss. All I had to do was dump the trucks and level out the cars and put some oil on them so the stuff wouldn’t blow away and the way they’d go.
JS: When the trucks went up to St Peter’s, did you have to weigh them.
MM: No, they weighed them at the mine. When they were going in for a load, they weighed them on the way in and then they weighed them on the way out.
JS: And who would do that. Would that be at the gate?
MM: No, I think it was over by the mill somewhere, if I can remember correctly.
JS: When they came to St Peters, would you have to give the driver a chit.
MM When he got weighed they’d give him a slip and when they got up to the point where the car was loaded, if they had to cut down a little bit to meet the standards or they would have to bush it up a bit. Anyway, they controlled the weight of the car.
JS: Down in Stirling?
MM: Yes
JS: And then, when they would come up they gave you that slip of paper?
MM: They’d pass me that paper. I think it would take five truck loads to load a car, so we’d dump it. It would be over to one side, so we’d have to level it out, get it all leveled out and then when the car was full we used to move it ahead with car movers and then take another car up.
JS: Who would be doing that? Would the truck drivers be helping you with that?
MM: No, no. I had a helper working with me.
JS: So, when the truck would come, it would dump it (the load) into the car and leave and another one would come, dump?
MM: Yes, well, once the car was loaded, there was a ramp that would guide the ore into the car. I’d pick that up there and I’d move the car ahead. They had car movers and you’d just put them on the wheel and they’d just press them down and they’d move the car right ahead. Then I’d go back and take in an empty car and put the side down.
JS: So, you had a little rig that had a motor on it that pulled the car ahead.
MM: Yes
JS: I guess those cars would be waiting for when the train came back?
MM: Now it seems to me, I had a rope and I had a motor there and when I moved the car ahead, I hooked up to the railing somewhere and pulled the car ahead. I used to get up on the brake in case it went to far. And then I’d take the rope up and put it on the empty car and then I’d take the brakes off and it would come down little by little to where I wanted and then I ‘d put the brakes on it and stop it there.
JS: And then eventually the train would come and (pick up the cars)?
MM: Oh yes the train would come in the morning, Well, it would come in at night and when they’d drop of the freight, they’d go home and in the morning when they were getting ready to go, they’d come in there and take the cars out and put them on the side and then put the new cars in.
JS: OK. They’d be dropping something off too,
MM Oh yes, they’d drop the cars off there.
JS: Yes, the empty cars.
MM: They’d be well organized. Then we had a second ramp because we used to get – there wasn’t enough distance between the ramp and the thing that derails the car. I would continue along the track, If the wheels would hit it, it would go off the track. So, I used to get up on the brake and put the brake on before (it would go off the track). One time it went off the track on me. And then we’d have to get a thing there that you’d put along side the rail, put a couple of screws in it and then get it pried up and put back on the rail.
JS: Did you lose your load when that happened?
MM: No, no. Nothing happened to the load at all. The load was all in different cars. They were only probably half full. It was heavy there, so...
JS: Was the ore sloppy or was it dried up?
MM: Well sometimes it would be sloppy. I remember one time they were – the cars were light. They were put up to Pt Tupper there. I remember one time they had me go up there. I used to stop at Louisdale and then keep on going to MacIntyre Lake right up to Pt Tupper there to see if was seeping out or not.
JS: So, you would be following the train?
MM: Yes I’d follow the train. We’d meet them at stations like Louisdale; then MacIntyre’s Lake would be the next one, then Pt Tupper.
JS: MacIntyre’s Lake; that’s where the people would get on the train when the passenger train went through there.
MM Yes, if they were going to different places they would have to get on at MacIntyre’s Lake. The CN didn’t come into St Peter’s.
JS: The trucks that went up there (to St Peter’s) – were they contracted out by Malcolm S. MacDonald.
MM: Malcolm S. MacDonald, yes.
JS: Were they the only ones who took the ore up?
MM: The (mine) company had two trucks. The rest were Malcolm S MacDonald’s. There were quite a few trucks there.
JS: They wouldn’t go at it at night?
MM Just in the daytime, that’s all.
JS: So, they’d have two loads a day. And the company, Mindemar, had two trucks and their own drivers for them.
MM: Yes.
JS: Do you know who they were?
MM One fellow was Butts. I can’t remember the name of the other fellow. They were “Internationals”. They were small ones -only five tons or so. They didn’t take a very big load.
JS: I have some pictures of some trucks that were at the mine. They looked like they hardly carried anything. I wasn’t sure if they were just maintenance trucks or not.
MM: They used to have maintenance trucks around there, yes.
JS: So, Malcolm S (MacDonald), would he take two loads a day as well?
MM: Yes, two loads. Most of those guys were from St Peter’s. They’d go up with a load, have lunch and then go down and get another one and unload it.
JS: How many trucks would be running in a run of a day? Bbetween Malcolm S and the two mine trucks there’d be?
MM: Seven.
JS: Altogether
MM Yes. Malcolm S had five trucks and the two company trucks. The company trucks were small, so they didn’t take a very big load.
JS: That’s interesting. That was a nice job to have then.
MM: I was the boss. I could roam around where I wanted, go uptown. I used to go up and visit Jamie Calder. He was the station agent there. I’d have a visit with him while I waited for the other trucks to come back in the afternoon.
JS: When did you start in Stirling, around 50?
MM: Oh, it was later than that. I guess it would be 50 or 51. I guess they’d have it built up by then..
MM They’d have 5 cars every 2 days. The train only came in Monday Wednesday and Friday.
JS: They’d come in at night and pick up the load (of ore) the next morning.
MM: Yes
JS: Do You know where that went – the ore- after it left St Peter’s.?
MM Sudbury. I’m not sure of that because it went down to the states to a smelter down there. I’m pretty sure some of it went to Sudbury, the smelter in Sudbury.
JS: Do you remember a recreation centre up in the mine? Where they would have dances.
MM: I remember that, yes. I don’t think (it was there) the second time it opened. I think they had one there when the mine was open in 1937. I remember they had a hall there where they had dances and an orchestra there. They would dance all night.
JS You didn’t work in the mine in the 30’s, did you?
MM: No In the 30’s I was only 6 years old.
MM: It must have been after I came back from the war. I was about 21 I guess. I came back from the war in August of 45. I was still 20. I wouldn’t be 21 until September so I started after that.
Working in the warehouse
MS: I received the shipments, checked them out, made sure everything was correct and put the things away on the shelves and that there.
JS: And what stuff would they be getting there?
MM: There would be all the stuff for the mill. There’d be pipe fittings and there would be lime -all the chemicals they used to get the copper (and other minerals) out of the ore.
JS: Where would they get building supplies for the carpenter's work.
MM: They got their building supplies from Chapel’s, I think.
JS: Bessie said “Stephen’s.
MM: I don’t remember getting it from there (Stephens). I remember Chapels.
MM: The mine was built by an outfit from Kirkland Lake. They had an engineering company that laid out all the wood they needed and when they started to put the mine together, the wood was all there.
JS: So, who put up the buildings - the carpenters who were working in the mine?
MM: the carpenters were there, from Framboise, Soutter (Strachan). He worked there, at the mine and there were several people who worked there from the community.
The Mine houses:
JS: The houses that were behind John G’s was that the same way they had it all laid out and
MM There was a fellow from L’Ardoise who built those.
JS: Do you remember what his name was
MM His name was Sampson. I’m not sure what his first name was.
JS So he built all those houses behind John G’s.
MM yes behind John G’s. I think there were five or six of them. They were for the managers.
JS: The big one that was for the manager that is now out at the Meadows. That was behind John G’s but was closer to the mine Road.
MM Right at the end. Right overlooking the lake there. I don’t know what they did with the houses there. I know they moved them; I know Dan Norman he got one. He put it up there near the MacDonald Rd. Whatever they did with the rest of them...
JS: Dan Norman got a little house from there.
MM: He got a little house from there and he set it up there.
JS He also had a long building someone said it was the movie theatre.
MM: I don’t remember that.
JS: Dan Norman used it as a garage.
MM There’s a big garage there. I remember that.
JS: There were three other management houses on the way down to the mine almost behind the bunkhouses.
MM Oh yes behind the bunkhouses. That was for the mechanic foremen. Henry Bunclark. He had one in there and Bill Wright. They all had one in there.
JS: Barswick?
MM: Oh yes, he was there. I don’t’ know if he had a house there or he had it up behind John G’s.
JS: and the head guy, Chisholm, he had the big house on the right had side
MM Oh Yes, that’s it yes
Stay tuned for a follow up interview to be held at a later date with Murdock.
JS - Jeanette Strachan
MM Murdock Morrison
JS: You worked at Stirling mine when it ran in the 50’s?
MM: Yes
JS: And What did you did you do there?
MM: I worked at the warehouse – the stores for a year then they sent me up to St Peter’s to look after the shipping.
JS: Which job did you like better.
MM: I liked it up in St Peter’s. I had no bosses. I was the boss. All I had to do was dump the trucks and level out the cars and put some oil on them so the stuff wouldn’t blow away and the way they’d go.
JS: When the trucks went up to St Peter’s, did you have to weigh them.
MM: No, they weighed them at the mine. When they were going in for a load, they weighed them on the way in and then they weighed them on the way out.
JS: And who would do that. Would that be at the gate?
MM: No, I think it was over by the mill somewhere, if I can remember correctly.
JS: When they came to St Peters, would you have to give the driver a chit.
MM When he got weighed they’d give him a slip and when they got up to the point where the car was loaded, if they had to cut down a little bit to meet the standards or they would have to bush it up a bit. Anyway, they controlled the weight of the car.
JS: Down in Stirling?
MM: Yes
JS: And then, when they would come up they gave you that slip of paper?
MM: They’d pass me that paper. I think it would take five truck loads to load a car, so we’d dump it. It would be over to one side, so we’d have to level it out, get it all leveled out and then when the car was full we used to move it ahead with car movers and then take another car up.
JS: Who would be doing that? Would the truck drivers be helping you with that?
MM: No, no. I had a helper working with me.
JS: So, when the truck would come, it would dump it (the load) into the car and leave and another one would come, dump?
MM: Yes, well, once the car was loaded, there was a ramp that would guide the ore into the car. I’d pick that up there and I’d move the car ahead. They had car movers and you’d just put them on the wheel and they’d just press them down and they’d move the car right ahead. Then I’d go back and take in an empty car and put the side down.
JS: So, you had a little rig that had a motor on it that pulled the car ahead.
MM: Yes
JS: I guess those cars would be waiting for when the train came back?
MM: Now it seems to me, I had a rope and I had a motor there and when I moved the car ahead, I hooked up to the railing somewhere and pulled the car ahead. I used to get up on the brake in case it went to far. And then I’d take the rope up and put it on the empty car and then I’d take the brakes off and it would come down little by little to where I wanted and then I ‘d put the brakes on it and stop it there.
JS: And then eventually the train would come and (pick up the cars)?
MM: Oh yes the train would come in the morning, Well, it would come in at night and when they’d drop of the freight, they’d go home and in the morning when they were getting ready to go, they’d come in there and take the cars out and put them on the side and then put the new cars in.
JS: OK. They’d be dropping something off too,
MM Oh yes, they’d drop the cars off there.
JS: Yes, the empty cars.
MM: They’d be well organized. Then we had a second ramp because we used to get – there wasn’t enough distance between the ramp and the thing that derails the car. I would continue along the track, If the wheels would hit it, it would go off the track. So, I used to get up on the brake and put the brake on before (it would go off the track). One time it went off the track on me. And then we’d have to get a thing there that you’d put along side the rail, put a couple of screws in it and then get it pried up and put back on the rail.
JS: Did you lose your load when that happened?
MM: No, no. Nothing happened to the load at all. The load was all in different cars. They were only probably half full. It was heavy there, so...
JS: Was the ore sloppy or was it dried up?
MM: Well sometimes it would be sloppy. I remember one time they were – the cars were light. They were put up to Pt Tupper there. I remember one time they had me go up there. I used to stop at Louisdale and then keep on going to MacIntyre Lake right up to Pt Tupper there to see if was seeping out or not.
JS: So, you would be following the train?
MM: Yes I’d follow the train. We’d meet them at stations like Louisdale; then MacIntyre’s Lake would be the next one, then Pt Tupper.
JS: MacIntyre’s Lake; that’s where the people would get on the train when the passenger train went through there.
MM Yes, if they were going to different places they would have to get on at MacIntyre’s Lake. The CN didn’t come into St Peter’s.
JS: The trucks that went up there (to St Peter’s) – were they contracted out by Malcolm S. MacDonald.
MM: Malcolm S. MacDonald, yes.
JS: Were they the only ones who took the ore up?
MM: The (mine) company had two trucks. The rest were Malcolm S MacDonald’s. There were quite a few trucks there.
JS: They wouldn’t go at it at night?
MM Just in the daytime, that’s all.
JS: So, they’d have two loads a day. And the company, Mindemar, had two trucks and their own drivers for them.
MM: Yes.
JS: Do you know who they were?
MM One fellow was Butts. I can’t remember the name of the other fellow. They were “Internationals”. They were small ones -only five tons or so. They didn’t take a very big load.
JS: I have some pictures of some trucks that were at the mine. They looked like they hardly carried anything. I wasn’t sure if they were just maintenance trucks or not.
MM: They used to have maintenance trucks around there, yes.
JS: So, Malcolm S (MacDonald), would he take two loads a day as well?
MM: Yes, two loads. Most of those guys were from St Peter’s. They’d go up with a load, have lunch and then go down and get another one and unload it.
JS: How many trucks would be running in a run of a day? Bbetween Malcolm S and the two mine trucks there’d be?
MM: Seven.
JS: Altogether
MM Yes. Malcolm S had five trucks and the two company trucks. The company trucks were small, so they didn’t take a very big load.
JS: That’s interesting. That was a nice job to have then.
MM: I was the boss. I could roam around where I wanted, go uptown. I used to go up and visit Jamie Calder. He was the station agent there. I’d have a visit with him while I waited for the other trucks to come back in the afternoon.
JS: When did you start in Stirling, around 50?
MM: Oh, it was later than that. I guess it would be 50 or 51. I guess they’d have it built up by then..
MM They’d have 5 cars every 2 days. The train only came in Monday Wednesday and Friday.
JS: They’d come in at night and pick up the load (of ore) the next morning.
MM: Yes
JS: Do You know where that went – the ore- after it left St Peter’s.?
MM Sudbury. I’m not sure of that because it went down to the states to a smelter down there. I’m pretty sure some of it went to Sudbury, the smelter in Sudbury.
JS: Do you remember a recreation centre up in the mine? Where they would have dances.
MM: I remember that, yes. I don’t think (it was there) the second time it opened. I think they had one there when the mine was open in 1937. I remember they had a hall there where they had dances and an orchestra there. They would dance all night.
JS You didn’t work in the mine in the 30’s, did you?
MM: No In the 30’s I was only 6 years old.
MM: It must have been after I came back from the war. I was about 21 I guess. I came back from the war in August of 45. I was still 20. I wouldn’t be 21 until September so I started after that.
Working in the warehouse
MS: I received the shipments, checked them out, made sure everything was correct and put the things away on the shelves and that there.
JS: And what stuff would they be getting there?
MM: There would be all the stuff for the mill. There’d be pipe fittings and there would be lime -all the chemicals they used to get the copper (and other minerals) out of the ore.
JS: Where would they get building supplies for the carpenter's work.
MM: They got their building supplies from Chapel’s, I think.
JS: Bessie said “Stephen’s.
MM: I don’t remember getting it from there (Stephens). I remember Chapels.
MM: The mine was built by an outfit from Kirkland Lake. They had an engineering company that laid out all the wood they needed and when they started to put the mine together, the wood was all there.
JS: So, who put up the buildings - the carpenters who were working in the mine?
MM: the carpenters were there, from Framboise, Soutter (Strachan). He worked there, at the mine and there were several people who worked there from the community.
The Mine houses:
JS: The houses that were behind John G’s was that the same way they had it all laid out and
MM There was a fellow from L’Ardoise who built those.
JS: Do you remember what his name was
MM His name was Sampson. I’m not sure what his first name was.
JS So he built all those houses behind John G’s.
MM yes behind John G’s. I think there were five or six of them. They were for the managers.
JS: The big one that was for the manager that is now out at the Meadows. That was behind John G’s but was closer to the mine Road.
MM Right at the end. Right overlooking the lake there. I don’t know what they did with the houses there. I know they moved them; I know Dan Norman he got one. He put it up there near the MacDonald Rd. Whatever they did with the rest of them...
JS: Dan Norman got a little house from there.
MM: He got a little house from there and he set it up there.
JS He also had a long building someone said it was the movie theatre.
MM: I don’t remember that.
JS: Dan Norman used it as a garage.
MM There’s a big garage there. I remember that.
JS: There were three other management houses on the way down to the mine almost behind the bunkhouses.
MM Oh yes behind the bunkhouses. That was for the mechanic foremen. Henry Bunclark. He had one in there and Bill Wright. They all had one in there.
JS: Barswick?
MM: Oh yes, he was there. I don’t’ know if he had a house there or he had it up behind John G’s.
JS: and the head guy, Chisholm, he had the big house on the right had side
MM Oh Yes, that’s it yes
Stay tuned for a follow up interview to be held at a later date with Murdock.