Glebe Collegiate Institute - Lux Glebana Yearbook (Ottawa, Ontario Canada)

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UX GLEBANACEQQ- oa,Y5PALERE FLAMMAM THE PAST, PRESENT and FUTURE of HE BEARING of wild fur-bearing animals, in captivity, for their pelts has now been carried on for a con- siderable time in Canada. Although other animals have been experi- mented with, and in certain cases can be raised with son1e degree of satisfaction, the success in raising silver black foxes has been particularly outstanding. Not only can the foxes be easily reared, but their pelts give much greater Hnan- cial returns than any other Canadian furs. To- day the sale of fox furs provides about ninety- live per ce11t. of the proceeds ff0l11 domesticated fur-bearers in the Dominion. The name of Prince Edward Island is indel- ibly associated with the pioneer efforts to domesticate the fox. Epoch-making experi- ments of the 'seventies and 'eighties were suc- cessful in raising, true to type, that superior species known as tl1e silver fox. In these experi- ments was laid the basis of a great Canadian industry. Though fur-farming has extended into every province of the Dominion, Prince Edward Island still holds first rank very decid- edly. Its breeding-stock has gone abroad to establish ranches in Scotland, France, Norway fllld Japan. Two men, Charles Dalton and Robert Oulton, are credited with being the first suc- cessful pioneers in raising silver foxes i11 captivity. They also placed the industry on a commercial basis. Dalton began his experi- ments at Tig11ish, P.E.I., about 1887. When it became known that the lustrous and rare pelts from the ranches of these two men brought exceedingly high prices at the London Fur Sales, much interest was aroused. Others were desirous of engaging in tl1e business and by 1909 a number of farmers in the vicinity of Alberton, P. E. I., were engaged in fox- farming. Up to this time sil- ver fox breeding in Prince Edward Island was practically a monopoly enjoyed by a few breeders. , The Cox arming 6?-0-Lealgipl ALECIA Mc'CLURE11-B profits were so great that those concerned were reluctant to see any enlargement of tl1e field of competition by the sale of breeding- stock. The insistent demand of the public to engage in the business could not, however, long be denied. Thus, by the year 1912, there was a general increase in the number engaged in the industry. At this period the promoter made his appearance. Speculation ran riot and prices of breeding-stock rose almost into astronomical figures, as high as 535,000 being paid for a pair of breeders. The outbreak of the World War brought a reaction in prices and in the demand for pelts. The result was bankruptcy for a number of companies engaged in the industry. Later, improved methods of raising the foxes were introduced and the industry was re- established on a sounder basis. It once again asserted its importance by steady and substan-- tial development. The principal market for silver fox furs, up to the outbreak of the war, had been in Europe. Subsequently, however, there was an increas- ing demand in United States for the precious Canadian animals. Now large sales of live foxes for foundation stock are made to the New England States, Western United States, and our own western provinces. Prince Edward is always in demand Island pure-bred stock 1 everywhere. During if 1929 alone, 5,289 foxes were exported , from the island. The equipment of a fox farm may vary from a few improvised pens in the corner of a barnyard to a spe- cially made enclosure, covering three or four acres and housing sev- eral hundred foxes. lConlinued on Page 96 'nllll' Y ..4.

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UX GLEBANACEQQ- QABPALERE FLAMMAM THE SILVER FLASK SECOND PRIZE, SENIOR Z X . 7 WL P X-,Al 'fa I Rott LOCKEBERG 5-3 1, lfl ALL the region between Hudson's Bay and' Lake Winnipeg, there was no one as unscrupulous and avaricious as jean St. Pierre. Many crimes had been laid at his door by the Mounted Police, but, for lack of evidence, it was impossible to bring him to trial. Not only had he committed many crimes but even now, as he was plodding along the snow-covered trail leading from the trading post to the lonely cabin of Baptiste Legault, the half-breed was planning to break the law once more. It was well known among the traders at the post that Legault's trap-line had yielded him a surprisingly rich catch, a fact which he did not attempt to conceal. ,lean St. Pierre, with every swish of his snowshoes, was perfecting a plan to rob the trapper of his winterls catch. As he emerged into the clearing where Baptiste Legault's cabin lay partly buried in the snow, every detail was complete. He trotted up to the door and rapped, know- ing full well that the hospitality of the trapper would afford a means of entering the cabin of his intended victim. A deep booming voice bade the criminal enter, which he did without delay. In the confines of the cabin the two men became quite friendly for, although St. W l -- 'Z' n'i . I . , J IU' I fly' 'Ifiu I ,wil -' IIII M - tm A I ry, i L-3'-P Susa- Pierre had seen Le- gault several times , I at the post, he was ' X, X X 1 uc, lgl. .XX ,W f f W 47 a stranger to him. At the invitation of ' the trapper, St. f Pierre stayed for a supper of fried ban- nock, jerked moose meat, and dried peaches. After supper the visitor reached into his pocket and produced a silver hip flask, which he passed across the table to Legault. The trapper took a long drink and set the flask down directly in front of him. In a few minutes he slumped forward and fell across the table. St. Pierre knew that his drugged liquor would keep his host senseless for several hours, so he methodic- ally set about robbing the unconscious man ot his best furs. He strapped the most valuable in a compact bundle on his back and left the cabin. The next morning when Baptiste recovered consciousness, he found that his guest of the previous evening and all of his most valuable furs had vanished. Lying on the table where he had fallen over it was the silver flask from which he had drunk the evening before. As he realized how much the furs would have been worth to him, he resolved to do his best to bring the thief to justice. Pl? SI! PK' Seven years later Sergeant Baptiste Legault of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police was trailing the murderer of an Indian. The latter, respected by all the miners and prospectors on the White River, had been found in his lonely cabin with a bullet in his head. His gold, which he had shown to several prospectors, was miss- ing. For two weeks Legault had been following a trail which led into the wilds north of Lake Timagabonga. Now he felt that it would not be very long before he caught up with the killer, for the trail was fresh and a hole which the half-breed had chopped in the ice of a small creek to obtain water was covered with only a thin Sheet of Ice' IConIinucd on Page 61 elwlf'

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UX GLEBANACH5- QAEPALERE FLAMMAM sw f' - in M DEEVY A I C .4 ' a we ai ee 2- f 9 if QE - FIRST PRIZE, JUNIOR 54,51 ?g G Ili X , Wil, . af fi -fee-H HE DAY had been sultry, dark and ff 7 ig ng K4 15- fu oppressive. The night was !., YNY , 'd '-' worse, consequently, when we ef F mmf---H A awoke next morning it was with JW ef- gf f- T-T' sour dispositions and sleep-laden eyes. jig .A TT' ' ixmkeim There was one individual in our village ' whose eyes were ringed, not by loss of -, realms. wr sleep but by tears. She was Widow 115,-mfijfu Trason. If ever there was a person struck by ill-fortune it was that woman. Her husband had died five or six years after their marriage, leaving a boy of four. The widow strove to give her son opportunities which the other village boys enjoyed, but when the lad PAUL FOX 11-C was Hfteen he ran away. Then, one unforget- table night, he returned. Yes, he returned, but what a return, with his conscience troubling him and the police on his trail! It was soon whispered about town that he had stolen a car and robbed a bank, then he had fled back to his home town to his mother. His friends for a few days devised plans for his escape from the police. The latter, it was reported, were quickly nearing the village, and, therefore, it was with amazement I heard john MacCallaughn, the oldest and wisest citizen in our community, call the fugitive into his store and offer to tell him a story. A story at this time in the boy's life, a story! Any of Mac- Callaughn's offers were something of a com- mand, so the boy humbly sat down on a convenient soap box. I followed Trason into the dingy general store. There among the boxes of biscuits, kegs of cider, boots, clothes, lanterns, hammers, and farm implements Mac- Callauffhn began his story. thirty years ago, when I was in an About Halifax, a man I knew by the name of Dan McDeevy signed aboard a fairly small sailing vessel, the Denver Lad, as Hrst mate. Where they got the name I don't know, but anyway that isn't the story. The captain was a short, crabbed little man, with a shoremaifs tactics. He knew next to nothing about sailing, it seems he held his position through his friends, the directors of the company which owned the boat. Five days out of port the ship struck heavy weather. The wind tore at the sails, and the sea rose. The vessel scudded before the wind with masts practically bare. The captain left the deck and descended to his cabin. Mc- Deevy took command and issued orders of his own. The captain learned of this, and, jealous of the mate's popularity with the men, anyway, and realizing his own inferiority in the aft of sailing, began to interfere. His orders con- flicted with those of McDeevy. Well, the little ship tossed about, shipping water. For three more days things kept on in the same state. On the fourth morning the mate visited the captain in the latteris cabin. The conversation began politely. After a few minutes' talk the first mate came to the point of his visit. He requested that he be allowed to run the ship until it reached port or at least till the rough weather abated. With a shout the captain jumped to his feet, as if he had been shot, 'Na, of course not, ye fuili, he roared. He stood still for one short second, his fat little face as red as a beet, then, fairly bursting with rage, he bel- lowed, 'I'll thank ye to git out o' me cabin, too, Mr. McDeevy.' The mate strode to the door, 'If that's the way you feel maybe you won't be here in the morning to change your mind.' With that he slammed the door. The next morning the captain was found on the deck in front of his cabin with a knife in his back. Not many of the men were sorry either. lConlinued on Page 60 422k