Free Dancing In a Jar by Poynter Adele Page B

the future as we seem to obsess about. But I think here, not focusing on what the future may bring enhances your chance of survival and certainly your capacity for happiness.
    Both Kathleen and Florence work at the telephone exchange, a pretty rudimentary one, that is located in the front room of their house. All the phone calls from the peninsula are relayed through St. Lawrence and are handled from this little room. No one here has a telephone in the home, so this is an important service. Such a contrast to Nutley, as Mr. Poynter wrote last week to say that the number of private telephones in Nutley has reached 5,000.
    I’m so glad to hear that everyone is well, even Granny Crammond, who we all know will live forever. News about the daffodils and new hats for Easter was a little disheartening as we have the same gray snow that fell in December. I pine for some warm spring days and hope that will pull me from the lethargy I’ve been feeling of late.
    For now though, the new hair curlers have perked me up.
    Love,
Urla
    St. Lawrence Corporation Ltd.
St. Lawrence, Newfoundland
    April 12, 1934
    Dear Mom and Pop,
    Well let the bells ring out as your firstborn turns twenty-seven. The whole town could be celebrating for all I know as we are experiencing pea-soup fog, but Urla has been for her morning walk and didn’t remark on passing a birthday parade. I appreciate the lovely card signed by all that arrived on the mail boat this week. The boat also brought a puncheon of molasses, so Mrs. G is promising the best beans ever for my birthday supper tonight.
    I arrived back a few days ago from St. John’s. The Depression is still very obvious in that town although it was a treat for me to find barbers and haberdashers, newspapers and a wider range of food. You would be surprised to learn that even there the clothing shops are owned by Jews and jewellery shops by Lebanese. Most of the financing and trading businesses are owned by English Protestant merchants, with the Irish bringing up the rear. There are some very impressive churches, however, which tells you a little something about priorities. Not too far from the churches you could find any number of brothels, so the town has a pioneer feel even though it is such an old city.
    I walked by the seat of Government, quite an impressive building not far from my hotel. It was there two years ago that a mob stormed the building, while the Prime Minister escaped through a back door. People had enough of the poverty and joblessness. Of course the government appealed to Mother Britain to help them with their finances. The deal was struck to lend the money but also run their administrative affairs until Newfoundland proved capable of steering the ship itself. It is quite an unorthodox arrangement.
    The mood in St. John’s is quite unsettled as most people are not in favor of having their government usurped by the mother country. Of course, in the outports like St. Lawrence there is greater support for the new British Government Commission since they don’t have a lot of confidence in the rag tag group of merchants who normally run things in St. John’s. I just hope the Commission decides to give mining their support.
    The best news is that money finally came through from Siebert as DOSCO paid up for the shipment of spar. I came back to St. Lawrence with bulging pockets ready to repay the local shopkeepers who have been fronting our wages. The timing couldn’t be better as men are returning from the winter fishery now and will be looking for more work. I can use all the able bodies I can find as I have plans to build a proper mill. We just have to be able to high-grade the ore before shipping. With DOSCO taking everything we can produce things are sure looking up.
    Please use that Power of Attorney I’ve signed to check on my account and let me know if Siebert has brought me up to date on salary. I would like you to pay off the Bamberg account and please send a check to Gordon