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Rattlesnake park it and white pine by Michael Bennett Pollock McDougall's memories of the lumber camps oi the north are well documented with pictures because the folks back home were skeptics. “I was two years in the north," aplains Pollock. Pollock McDougall lives at RRa, Lanark~a few miles north of Watson’s Corners. "The first time I was up was in 1907i" “In 1907 I didn't have a camera to take pictures, and when I told people ahoiit the loads they drew and the work they done they wouldn't believe me. That‘s why I took a camera up in 159le show peopleâ€"so they would believe. It was a two-way Browny.ltcost$l.58." Pollock was a bigger man then. “I've wasted down so that the crows won'teven look at me, ‘ he muses of his present condition in comparison to what it once was, and goes on to relate that, although the work was hard and the days long, there were no complaints in the lumber Camp at biuwood Lake. Bigwood Lake was north of Sudburv. “We marched out of camp at 7 am in the short daysiwhen we camped [ate) in the bush. We never saw the camp again in daylight. We would come back at dark. " lle looks at the old crew standing in front oi the camp in one of his pictures and comments: ‘Noboily L'omplaincd about hard work They were able [or it and fed For it. You spent the whole winter and never saw a it man." "Two men will put down a pretty big tree in 10 minutes. They had saws that would out. They UM'Il [thrlllull i: sscut saws," Pollock states. “They used a seven-foot saw for a bio tree," he says, and then adds. "The biggest tree we cut was 60 inches on the stump-pure White Pine. That‘s all we cut." “They were all nice men,“ he says of the B5 men in the camp. “Everybody was good. The best of men," he repeats, and adds that he would love to get in contact with some of the old survivors of the Bigwood camp. “There was two tier of bunks and two men in each bunk.” Pollock explains when asked how one camp could possibly sleep 85 men. He also adds! at the cooking was not done in the same building. “The cookery and tables and everything was 50 yards from camp. There was two cooks and a choreboy. Oh, they worked day and night," he recalls clearly, “They baked a bag oi flour a day." Rattlesnake Pork “We had everything.“ Pollock continues as he remembers the camp pub. There was the best of beef, rattlesnake pork, all kinds of canned goods, pies. cakeieverything you could think of." Pollock explains the term “rattlesnake pork'. “The rattlesnakes got so plentiful on the Muskoka Islands no one could go on them. These islands was beautiful islands and the government wanted to use them," he relates. “The government put the pigs on the islands and the pigs ate the snakes. Pigs don't care anything of rattlesnakes,“ he tells. meaning that the rattlesnake venom had no deadly effect on the animals. "They shot the wild pigs in the fall. dressed them, and packed them in brine. The government shipped it out for the lumbermen," he says, then points out that the pork was availableI at no charge, to anyone who wanted it. “If they had two or three barrels left ' over, they buried them until the next year." he says. “Nobody ever saida word. i Never any kick about the grub of any kind. They were glad to get itat was the best of meat. Itwas sweet " Taken Pollock grins as he remembers how the men in the camp were once suckered into parting with a dollar apiece. He tells that on one day a woman came to their camp and gave them along and detailed story of hardship thathad fallen on her. Her son was hopelessly id and was in hospital. She needed money desperately to pay the bills and take care of him. As it turned out, she was nothing more than a beggar who [allowed the lumber camps around, picking the dumps With her husband and ‘healthy‘ son. Pollock McDougall is 90 now, and enjoys owning “one of the Iinesl farms in the area'. It has long been known for its , remarkable displays of roses around the farmhouse. Pollock and his late wife have had as many as 400 roses blooming at one ‘ time. His spring project is to replace 300 roses that were 'winter killed', and returbishthe old home to its earlier beauty. After that his plans are quite simple. He hopes to sell the property to someone who can look after ‘ it ‘the way it deserves' and move to Perth and take it a little easier. Pollock will then be fully retired, at 90 l years of age. Peeg into the gast 100 years ago May 1874 The first locomotive has arrived for the Kingston and Pembroke Railway, and the last cargo of iron rails At the Brockville money market as reported by Mr W M Fulford Exchange Broker and General Railway and Steamship agent â€" ureenbacks and New York exchange bought at 67 and a half and sold at 88 and a half Dominion at Canada Bank Notes. Buying American silver at discount and buying Bank of Upper Canada Bills and Deposit certificates at 55 cents on the dollar. Sealed tenders are being accepted this month (or the mail route Eganville to Renfrew. Six times a week and com- mencing August first. The conveyance to be made in a two horse stage or wagon. May 22, 1903 John Lorri McDougall. Auditor-Generalof Canada ‘ who was brought up in Renirew. visited with his brother Sam McDougall and renewed old acquai tanccs around town._ The route pursued in conveyance of this Mail to be via the Post Offices at Douglas and Admaston. The computed distance betwaen Eganville and Renfrew is 27 l miles. The rate 0! travel to be not less than five miles per hour. including stoppages for all purposes. ‘ Last Friday evening a meeting was held to discuss the prohibition of the sale of intoxicating liquor. Held at the Temperance Hall the ‘ Reverend R Campbell was called upon to ‘ take the chair. Reverend Beckwith of New Brunswick first addressed the meeting on the evils of intemperanee and the progress of the Temperance movement His main points being medical documents attesting to the evil consequences of the habitual use of intoxicating liquors both physically and mentally. - Jidpa"