Talk:Chapel Arm

List of communities in Newfoundland and Labrador List of cities and towns in Newfoundland and Labrador

Untitled
I removed a huge chunk of text (below) from the article page. It may be a copy vio but it looks like a copy of old news storys. If this is the case and it is out of copyright then it should go on Wikisource. In any case it is not very enclopedic and so it should be paraphrased and cited in a "history" section of the article. Andreww 18:32, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

Historic Items of Interest
Our first Connection to the Outside World -- An Item from "The Newfoundland and Labrador Pilot" A story from "The Daily News" -- Ship Building in Chapel Arm -- Saw Mill Operations in Chapel Arm The Forest Fire of 1918 -- Whaling in Chapel Arm

Our First Connection to the Outside World
Frederick Newton Gisbourne 1824-1802 In early 1850, The newfoundland, New York, and London Telegraph Co. was formed, giving Frederick Newton Gisbourne a charter to build a land line across Newfoundland.

The survey began September 3, 1851. Gisbourne kept a diary of the survey, and had filled 100 pages of his work on the first pages of his survey. Although a resume of this was printed in a Newfoundland newspaper shortly after his return to St. John's, the first parts of his records were never found. The journal starts at page 101. In his journal, there is a small item referring to Chapel Arm. The item goes on to say:

''Dispatch two good men and Mr. Gardiner from St. John's, with three of the five horses stationed there to Pipers Hole, to put line in repair. One horse to be left at Chapel Arm in care of E. Power (account dispatch service). This stretch of road will be put in final order by two companies who finish the section.

Clerk James Matthews James Cantwell''

After completing the Telegraph line across Newfoundland in 1856, The New York, Newfoundland, and London Telegraph Co. placed operators in certain areas across the island. John F. Dryer operated a telegraph office from the home of Thomas Power Sr. in Chapel Arm for a number of years.Mr. Dryer's wife and two children died and are buried in Chapel Arm. His name appears in 'Lovells Dictionary of 1871.

NOTE: (Frederick Newton Gisborne was a close relative of Sir Isaac Newton.) The Gisborne collection was acquired from the Victoria University in Toronto, February, 1990 by the Newfoundland Provincial Archives.

An Item from "The Newfoundland and Labrador Pilot" (3rd Edition) 1897

Old Survey Map

Chapel Arm extends south west a little more than 3 miles, has no danger beyond a short distance from the shore and afford no anchorage for large vessels.

A group of narrow islands and rocks extends 4 cables from a little promontory on the south shore 1¼ miles from McLeod Point and shelters a small boat Harbour.

An islet with rocks of its east and west sides, lies nearly one mile beyond the group and near the head is "Mooring Island". Small and "steep - to" small vessels may find anchorage off the southern cove at the head in from 3½ to 12 fathoms [6 to 22 m] of water, according to their length but, the western cove is shoal.

Compiled from a survey of Cook & Lane, 1765-1772. According to a map drawn up from the Survey of Cook & Lane, 1765-1772, Cook referred to Chapel Arm as Chapel Harbour.

An unedited, original story from "The Daily News", June 21, 1861

''On Monday the 3d. instant, it appears two bait skiffs,... entered Chapel Arm, Trinity Bay about the hour of 4 p.m. The crews of both these boats were seen to land and proceed up and over the hill, on the south side of the arm, and along the telegraph line, and out of sight, probably for the purpose of procuring fire wood.

Between 4 and 5 p.m. the same day, the operators at Brigus and Le Manche found the circuit broken, repairers were immediately sent out from both places, and found about ½ mile of wire carried away, and three poles chopped on the identical hill in Chapel Arm over which these men were seen to pass with their axes.

About six o'clock that same afternoon another bait skiff belonging to Seal Cove, Trinity Bay skippered by William Bayley of the same place, cast anchor in Chapel Arm, and no doubt saw more than he would be compelled to say about the matter.

The party who witnessed these proceedings was engaged in watching his own property on the beach at the time and saw the crews of those filibusters, descend the hill about the time Bayley anchored, and it appears that Bayley boasted that he saw the... jockies, coiling wire on the decks of their boats and remarked what he could do to them if he pleased (etc), but denied everything, when later questioned about the affair.

In consequence of this barbarous act and this wilful and useless destruction of private property, the Telegraph Company, suffered a great deal of loss, and owing to the remoteness of Chapel Arm to St. John's, where alone the wire could be obtained, to replace that which had been carried off, the line was not connected until the following Friday,when the "Blue Jacket" was dispatched to the spot with the necessary wire and insulators.

It is greatly to be regretted that so much wanton mischief exists among us, and we do sincerely hope that we shall have to record less of it in the future."''

Note: This incident happened probably about the time of the caplin run, and the property the person was protecting was very likely his caplin. The beach mentioned in the news item was Souther Cove beach. The "Blue Jacket" was lost September 17th, 1862.

Ship Building in Chapel Arm, 1834-1889
More than twenty years before Chapel Arm was mentioned (1857 census), ship building records help fill a void in the early history of the community. In 1957, there were one hundred and thirty people who made a living fishing. In 1834, Chapel Arm was populated by a winter camp of ships' carpenters, who had found enough wood to quickly frame out and launch a brig schooner. It was not a Chapel Arm resident who led the enterprise, but a New Harbour shipwright by the name of William Pollett. This wasn't the first reference to woods activities in the Chapel Arm area. Benjamin Lester sent collector boats to Chapel Arm in 1767 to pick up birch and ships' timbers cut that fall. Timber stands in the Chapel Arm area were scouted quite early for use in Lester's dockyards at Trinity. It was a successor to Lesters business, John Bingley Garland, who had William Pollett build two vessels there, one in 1834 and the other in 1835. William Pollett built the Beaver and the Castor, establishing a temporary dockyard and town site in Chapel Arm. Records have been found of eight vessels built in Chapel Arm from 1834-1889:

The Beaver...............156 ton brig (built 1834) The Sweet Home...........22 ton schooner (built 1877) The Castor...............40 ton schooner (built 1835) The Cygnet...............32 ton schooner (built 1880) The Mary.................81 ton brig (built 1841) The Ethel*...............34 ton schooner (built 1880) The Thomas & Elizabeth...59 ton schooner (built 1841) The Sea Queen............23 ton schooner (built 1889) ''* "The Ethel" was lost April 20, 1895. James Newhook of Trinity, Master.''

Another early reference to Benjamin Lester's business is found in Rev. Edward Wix's book entitled 'Six months of a Newfoundland Missionaries Journal': "The early months of 1835, he visited the area and after leaving New Harbour one Wednesday morning 'struck out in the direction of Chapel Arm where...' by 9:30 o'clock we reached Chapel Arm where, and at Little Gut, in its neighbourhood, were about seventy souls, chiefly from New Harbour for winter work assembled two dozen people, all who had not gone into the woods for their work, before our arrival, for full service, at the tilt of William Pollett." The woodcutters and Mr. Pollett were working on the schooner 'Castor'. Chapel Arm is not a community which is know for its ship building today and not one of the major centers of the craft in years gone by; but it did contribute these vessels to the benefit of the families that lived there.

Saw Mill Operations in Chapel Arm
The names Stowes Brook, Southern Cove Brook, Western Cove Brook and Little Gut are only place names in Chapel Arm today. However, after the survey of August 1894, these names played an important part to wards the economy of the community. Saw Mills, operated by water power, produced the timber that was needed for most of the homes that were constructed during that period.

At Southern Cove Brook, a saw mill was operated by Thomas Smith (son of Jacob Smith Sr.) of Norman's Cove. According to local history, because he operated the mill himself, he stayed at the mill during the week, and went home on the weekends.

At Stowes Brook, another saw mill was operated by Robert Stowe and was in close proximity to what is referred to as Stowe's Bridge. Robert Stowe came to Norman's Cove in the late eighteen hundreds and worked closely with the United Church either as a lay reader or a minister. His son Samuel was a mail carrier and his wife was postmistress.

Water Wheel of Little Gut Saw Mill Eli Pretty came from Dildo Cove circa 1865. He owned and operated a mill located on Western Cove Brook about 1894. Eli Pretty died in 1898 and the mill was taken over by a Mr. Pelly of whom there is no information available. People of Chapel Arm are familiar with the Mill Path or the Brook Path, where many of their ancestors worked.Some of the older residents today can remember Joseph Pretty and Eli Williams, both from Chapel Arm, working at this site and they also recall the remnants of an 'old shack' where the workers ate their lunch. The land was later fenced by Jacob Reid of Chapel Arm. It was passed down to his grandson, Donald, who now resides on the property.

Little Gut played a very important part in the history of Chapel Arm and Norman's Cove. Records of Little Gut dating back to 1835 indicate that when Archdeacon Wix visited the area, timber was plentiful, he mentions, "seventy people engaged in a woods cutting operation, mostly cutting timber for boats." The first mill at Little Gut was operated by William Moore of Dildo. This mill was later bought by Robert Smith of Norman's Cove and was operated by him and his son for many years. Thomas Power and Michael Power worked at this mill until the 1920's. Robert Smith sold the mill to his son James Smith, who operated it until 1949.

The Forest Fire of 1918
The summer of 1918 started as any other of the past four years. The war was still raging in Europe; everything was in short supply. Many of our young men were being sent home after suffering wounds in battle, while many others had made the supreme sacrifice. Things were very depressing, and everyone was praying for an end to this dreadful war. However, before the summer was over, the people of Chapel Arm were called upon to fight another battle, that of saving their community from a huge forest fire.

The fire started at a railway some five miles away. The trains then were coal burning locomotives. It had been a hot, dry summer and sparks from the train ignited the tinder dry brush. In no time the whole country side was ablaze!

Every man in the community struggled valiantly to put out the flames but, unlike today, there were no firefighting equipment of any kind, including waterbombers. The men were defensless against the searing heat and smoke of this monstrous fire. Preparing for the worst, people removed furniture and belongings from their homes, and boats were made ready to take everyone to safety, if the need arose.

The western side of Chapel Arm, called "The Green Hills" was ablaze and fire was getting close to houses. At one point the flames jumped western cove brook and continued toward Southern Cove, putting the houses there in danger as well. Suddenly, by some miraculous twist of fate or by Divine Intervention, the wind veered, blowing the smoke and flames from the community and turning the fire upon itself, eventually causing it to die out.

The people tired and weary, breathed a sigh of relief and a prayer of thankfulness. Apart from the nerve racking experience, the hard work and confusion, there were no homes destroyed or a life lost. Our once beautiful Green Hills were left anything but green. All that was left was a black tangle of destruction. It was seventy years before the countryside recovered and returned to its normal state. Some of our older citizens can still remember vividly the terrible forest fire of 1918.

Whaling in Newfoundland
Whaling, in Newfoundland, was first introduced from Europe, where it was practiced for hundreds of years. It is not know when whaling was first started in Newfoundland. Although whaling records go back as far as 1835, it was probably carried on years earlier. An excerpt taken from the diary of Archdeacon Wix reads as follows: "April 15, 1835 (Wednesday) 'I looked today over the whaling establishment of Messers Hunt and Newman at Gualtois, the machine with which the fat of the whale is cut into small pieces for the broiler, reminded me of a similar machine, which I have seen, used by sausage makers in England. The refuse pieces of the whale, which are left in the broiler, after the oil is extracted, furnished, I am informed, all the fuel needed for heating the Coopers'.

By 1911, there were 26 whaling stations in the Atlantic Provinces, which carried on a lucrative business.

The "Pothead" Whale Drive in Chapel Arm

In many magazines promoting tourism today, Chapel Arm is mentioned as a place once note for its pothead whale drives. However, in living memory of the community, which goes back some ninety years, no one can remember when the whales were first driven.Ches Thorne (middle, facing camera), others unknown Like so much of our earlier history, there are no records of these important events, yet most of the people of Chapel Arm and surrounding areas remember well the whale drives which lasted until 1967.

Pothead whales usually came into Trinity Bay in mid-August, to feed on the squid. They were hunted for the rich oil, which was extracted from the fat of their outer bodies. This oil was used for lamps, soap, tanning leathers and perfume to name just a few. During the first World War the oil was in great demand; fishermen were paid one dollar a gallon, a great price in those days.

Although pothead whales were know to be driven into other areas, Southern Cove in Chapel Arm was considered to be the ideal place because of its shoal, sandy bottom. Since the fishermen of Normans Cove and Long Cove lived further out the arm, they were the first to spot the whales and start the drive. Very soon, they were joined by the Chapel Arm fishermen and the drive continued up the arm. This lasted a few hours, but sometimes much longer. Once the potheads reached Southern Cove, the drive was usually secure. (Not all drives were successful). The fishermen would then anchor their motor boats and switch to the smaller row boats. The whales were then killed with harpoons or lances, made by the fishermen themselves.

Pothead whales were huge creatures and could easily destroy a boat or kill a person with one slash of its great tail, but apart for the occasional boat over turned or damaged, no on was ever killed or seriously injured.

Our early settlers hunted the whales in small row boats, but in later years, with the coming of the motor boat the whale drive became much easier. The number of whales driven in each particular drive varied, but according to oral history, the largest drive at one time was five hundred, followed shortly by a drive of another five hundred.

After the whales were killed, some responsible person was put in charge of the operation. Each whale had to be hauled onto the beach by the men using hooks and ropes secured to the whale. During which time the men often sang an old English shanty, which went as follows:

"It's My Johnny Poker we will start this heavy joker and it's my Johnny Poker- haul, haul boys, haul!"

and with that the fishermen would pull in unison until the whale was in the desired place.After a successful drive to Southern Cove This procedure was repeated until all the whales were beached. Then the removal of the fat began. After the fat was removed and weighed, each person was given his share; a boy of fourteen years got half a share, while boys of sixteen years and older were given full shares. Only the fat was use, the carcass with the meat was left on the beach to rot. A drive of whales sometimes meant two or three days work, depending on the number of whales driven. The work was messy and hard, but the fishermen took it all in stride.

Fishermen bought their share of the fat to Western Cove Beach. Tables were setup and the fat was put into cubes and then put into huge cauldrons or 'tan-pots' and rendered-out over fireplaces made by the fishermen. When the oil was extracted from the fat, it was strained into 50 gallon drums and later sealed. Then it was loaded aboard the "Rita Pearl" and taken to St. John's. (The Rita Pearl was skippered by Jacob Smith, son of Robert Smith, general merchant of Norman's Cove.)

The day of the pothead whale drive was a great day of excitement in Chapel Arm and Norman's Cove. Most people dropped what they were doing to go see the killing of the whales.

Schooner-Rita Pearl Even though the drive was very busy work the men would take time to enjoy their lunch and socialize. No lunch was complete without a "boil up". Every man who took part in the whale drive can remember the 'spring' where they filled their kettles with water. The 'spring' was just a short distance from Southern Cove, on Little Gut Road. It was the clearest, coldest water ever drank, even on the hottest days of summer. It seems as though this spring was put there for this special purpose. The spring became an important part of the whale drive in Chapel Arm.

With the opening of the Cabot Highway, and the advent of cars, people came from all over the country to witness this thrilling spectacle, some taking the opportunity to record the event on film.

Because of their limitations the earl settlers killed a minimum of whales. There were years when there were no whales taken at all. By toady's standards this practice would be considered cruel, but to our early fishermen, it was a part of living. They though no more of going out in their boats for a drive of pothead whales than going for their traps for a load of fish.

By the mid fifties a great change took place in the pothead whale industry. Mink farmers in western Canada were running out of wild horses as feed for their mink. With cheap whale meat available in Trinity Bay, many thousands of mink were flown here to take advantage of this opportunity. In 1954, mink farming was introduced to Newfoundland and the "Fur Farmers Feed Co-operative was established at Dildo Cove, Trinity Bay.

With the use of power wagons and the sale of whale meat, whaling in Chapel Arm became easier and more profitable. Arctic Fisheries acquired three whaling ships for driving the whales, with such name as the Arctic Venture, the Arctic Skipper, and the Arctic Matthew. These whalers were equipped with a combined harpoon and bomb, fired from a swivel gun, which was introduced from Europe in 1898.

Unlike earlier years, when there were few drives in a season, the whaling ships made it possible for drives to occur every other day. After years of hunting the pothead whale became scarce and the hunt became no longer profitable. The last pothead whale drive was February 12, 1967. (The Canadian Government imposed a moratorium on whaling in 1973.)