Nova Scotia Archives

Footprints in the Sand

Pre‐1867 Government Records for Sable Island

Letter to the Honorable Hugh Bell, Chairman of the Board of Works from M.D. McKenna

1853. — 4 pages : 30 x 38 cm.

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but I intend giving them a cow and will have to put up a temporary stable. as soon as I get that done I will move them there, likely by the last of this month. Graham and Morash goes off first opportunity but we shall still have our compliment of men for winter. Next summer there should be a house built at the foot of the lake, a barn at the South side, and a vegetable cellar at the principal station, and, and if possible a "Sailors Home" at the Eastern Station, so if Graham can be hired for the [underlined: summer] at a reasonable rate I think we had better have him, He is very anxious to get his family on the Island and altho he is an excellent man I cannot advise that any encouragement be given him. I am afraid that his wife has too much tongue, and I have enough of that here already.

We have had fine weather at gathering cranberries and have done pretty well at it, and have them ready for shipping. I think we should send a barrel of them to Miss Dix, who is so very mindful of us, and have put up one of choice berries and marked it thus # on each end with white chalk, if you see fit to send it to her. The case of books came safe and are really a valuable present, When the life-boat comes I shall see that every care is taken of her. If the Cranberries bring a price sufficient to make them an article worth attending to it would be advisable to reduce our stock of pigs to a number that we could keep up. and to get some good rat catchers (dogs) for between pigs and rats a great quantity of berries are destroyed. I think there is no profit by keeping so many pigs we have ten at the present time that we are trying to make fit to kill, but all that we have to give them would not be more than enough for three. Scotch Terriers are good rat-catchers and if you could send us [underlined: three] of them or some other good kind [underlined: one male and two females]. we would soon have a supply sufficient to reduce the number of rats very considerably.


4 pages 30 x 38 cm

Date: 1853

Reference: Nova Scotia Archives RG 1 volume 426.5 number 7g

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