THE DIARY OF JOHNNY MOON PART FIVE - A FAILED RELATIONSHIP WITH LOCAL HOTELIERS IN BRACEBRIDGE
HOLDING A JOB WAS TOUGH - HE WAS A WANDERER, A BUDDING "THOREAU" IN MUSKOKA
JOHNNY MOON, ACCORDING TO MANY WHO KNEW HIM, IN THE YEARS PRIOR TO THE FIRST WORLD WAR, WOULD HAVE AGREED, HE WAS JUST A LOST SOUL, WHO COULDN'T STAY IN ANY PLACE VERY LONG; AND WHO WAS, IN A STRANGE WAY, ADVERSE TO HARD, REPETITIVE LABOUR, AND THE DIRECTION OF ANYONE WHO PRESUMED TO BE HIS EMPLOYER. EVEN THOUGH HE WOULD THINK NOTHING OF WALKING A HUNDRED MILES A WEEK, HIS IDEA OF IDEAL WORK CONDITIONS WAS SIMPLY UNATTAINABLE. HE COULD CONVINCE A BUSINESS OWNER TO HIRE HIM, BUT DIDN'T HAVE MUCH LUCK CONVINCING THEM NOT TO FIRE HIM LATER ON, WHEN HE BEGAN FALTERING IN HIS RESPONSIBILITIES. HE MIGHT BE DESCRIBED AS A TRAGIC CHARACTER, IF A NOVELIST WAS TO USE HIM TO BASE A STORY UPON. REGARDLESS, HAVING HIS BRIEF BIOGRAPHY IS REMARKABLE IN MANY WAYS, BEYOND WHAT WE MIGHT VIEW ONLY, AS A DISASTROUS TREK ALONG LIFE'S HIGHWAY. HIS TRIUMPHS ARE MODEST, HIS FAILINGS ARE EPIC. HIS FOLK TALE, AN IMPORTANT DOCUMENT TO ENHANCE THE FOLK HISTORY OF OUR REGION OF CANADA.
NOTE: IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE FIRST FOUR PARTS OF THE "DIARY OF JOHNNY MOON," YOU CAN ARCHIVE BACK ON THIS BLOG SITE, TO CATCH-UP. THE ORIGINAL HANDWRITTEN MANUSCRIPT, IS SAFELY CONSERVED IN THE ARCHIVES COLLECTION, OF THE TOWN OF BRACEBRIDGE. IT WAS FOUND IN THE SHANTY, ON THE NORTH BRANCH OF THE MUSKOKA RIVER, IN BRACEBRIDGE, MANY YEARS AGO, WHEN IT WAS BEING TORN DOWN AND THE DEBRIS CLEARED-AWAY. THOSE WORKING AROUND THE SHANTY, DISCOVERED THE BEAUTIFULLY PENNED JOURNAL, AND DECIDED IT WAS AN IMPORTANT RELIC OF LOCAL HISTORY, AND SUBSEQUENTLY TURNED IT OVER FOR THE TOWN'S SAFE-KEEPING. IN RESPECT FOR THE TOWN'S OWNERSHIP OF THE DOCUMENT, I WILL ONLY QUOTE SMALL PASSAGES OF THE JOURNAL, AND OVERVIEW THE BALANCE. THIS IS A CRITICALLY SIGNIFICANT PIECE OF MUSKOKA, AND CANADIAN FOLK HISTORY, IN THE WORDS OF A FORMER BARNARDO BOY, WHO CAME TO THIS COUNTRY CIRCA 1897, ABOARD THE STEAMSHIP, "LABRADOR," AT ONLY ELEVEN YEARS OF AGE. HIS PARENTS HAD PASSED AWAY, HIS FATHER ACTUALLY BEING BURIED ON CHRISTMAS EVE, AND HIS REMAINING FAMILY DID NOT HAVE THE RESOURCES TO LOOK AFTER THE CHILD. THE STORY HAS EXTRA IMPACT FOR ME, BECAUSE MY OWN GRANDMOTHER, DORIS HARDING, WAS A BARNARDO CHILD, WHO WAS SENT FROM ENGLAND, TO WORK AS A MAID, IN A CHURCH MANSE, IN DUNDAS-TOWN, AT ONLY 14 YEARS OF AGE.
WHEN WE LEFT JOHNNY MOON, IN YESTERDAY'S BLOG, HE HAD JUST ARRIVED BACK IN BRACEBRIDGE, AFTER HAVING AN INCIDENT WITH A GRAVENHURST AREA FAMILY, WHO DEMANDED THEIR INVESTMENT OF NEW BOOTS, FOR THE YOUNG MAN, BE RETURNED FOLLOWING HIS DECISION TO LEAVE THE FARM ON A SNOWY DAY IN THE LATE FALL. THE BOYS OF THE FAMILY CHASED AFTER HIM, AND FORCEFULLY BROUGHT HIM BACK TO THE FARM, AFTER A FAIR AMOUNT OF WRESTLING, AND TOOK OFF HIS BOOTS, HANDING HIM THE WORN-OUT SHOES HE'D LEFT BEHIND. AS WE RESUME THE STORY, JOHNNY HAS ARRIVED, PENNILESS, COLD AND HUNGRY, BACK IN BRACEBRIDGE, WHERE HE SEEKS SHELTER AT THE PROVINCIAL COURT HOUSE. IT IS THE FOURTH OF DECEMBER, 1906, A REALLY UNFORTUNATE TIME TO BE WITHOUT RESOURCES, WARM CLOTHING AND SHELTER FROM THE IMMINENT ARRIVAL OF WINTER.
IT'S HARD NOT TO FEEL BAD FOR THE LITTLE FELLOW. BUT HE WAS, AS THEY SAY, A SURVIVOR.
"It was a cold day, and snow was on the ground. For awhile I stayed in the hall of the courthouse. and then was advised by someone, to see Magistrate Spencer; so I went to his house, which was just across the road, on the opposite corner and saw him," penned Johnny Moon in his diary, much later in his life as a retrospective.
"There was another man with him, whom I afterward knew to be George Greer, at that time, Chief of Police for Bracebridge. Greer went over to the British Lion Hotel (Dominion Street and Ontario Street), and spoke to Jack Keeler about me. Then he came back to Spencer's, and took me over to the hotel, to see Keeler. Keeler took me on. This was the 4th of December, 1906, therefore, exactly nine years since I first arrived in Bracebridge."
At the time, the British Lion Hotel (still on the site but with a flat roof instead), "belonged to Mrs. Sibbett; Jack Keeler was the manager."
Johnny Moon notes that George Foulkes was the stableman at the British Lion, and it was with this connection, that he made contact with his two little boys, who were named Fred and Aubrey. He was particularly fond of Fred, and this would continue for many years. He would visit the Foulkes home frequently after this, and meet up with Fred, which would later come to a tragic end after an accident.
"About the last of February (1907) and first of March of the following year, Young's Travelling Show Troupe came to town, and put up at the British Lion. They put on their plays at the Town Hall; I saw most of them. I forget how long they stayed; a couple of weeks, I think. The bartender at the British Lion Hotel, at that time, was a fellow by the name of Tom Thornton, who had come from Seattle, U.S.A. He was, to me, a nasty character, and I was glad when he left, shortly after the departure of Young's Travelling Show Troupe."
Johnny notes in his journal, that George Greer, the Chief of Police, died suddenly in April 1907.
The young Mr. Moon, had held his job at the British Lion, from the early winter of 1906, to the autumn of of 1907, when he reported that a disagreement with the hotel owner, Mrs. Sibbett, forced him out of his position, and presumably lodgings. He referred to himself as being "turned out" by the proprietor, but he doesn't offer a further explanation. It is most likely, he would be found asleep, or shirking his responsibilities, of which he had many warnings.
He went to the Albion Hotel, on Main Street, opposite the Bracebridge Train Station, and was hired-on the same day as he had been fired, by Mrs. Sibbett. The proprietor of the Albion, was Robert Leishman, and he gave Johnny Moon the responsibility of being the hotel's porter; and when he was available, he tended the shoe-shine stand in the lobby, "which made a little extra money." His wages then, in 1907, were two dollars a week. He lasted at this position until the next spring, 1908, and in May of that year, rented an old home belonging to Henry Goltz, who lived in the same neighborhood. "The Goltz family, beside Mr. and Mrs. Goltz, were, in order of age, Gustave, Francis, a girl whose name I have forgotten, and a baby boy, Henry. I grew fond of Gustave," he writes.
He would go back to see Mr. Leishman at the Albion, to see if he could have his job back, but was instead, offered a lesser position, of working on the proprietor's farmstead on Baysville Road, north of the urban area of the town. At this same time, Bob Johnson and family, were living on the farm, and were in charge of its operation. Johnny worked through the haying season at the farm, and then was permitted back at the Albion, to resume his former duties.
An interesting side-bar notation, is his reflection on a pamphlet he picked up, from the counter of Whitten's Store, out of curiosity, as published by the International Bible Students Association, warning "1914, as end of age." Presumably this meant the end of the world.
In 1908 he went to the offices of the Muskoka Lakes Navigation Company, in Gravenhurst, attempting to find employment on one of the steamships plying local waters. He was unsuccessful. "About this time, I worked out a debt for a coat bought from Flaxman, the tailor, from Huntsville, in shoe shines (at the Albion)," confesses Johnny Moon. "I had a scheme for small waterpower, which did not materialize, fall of 1908."
There is also another interesting passage, involving a local death, that Johnny Moon decided was important enough to include in his personal diary.
"Roy Goring was killed by a fall from beneath road bridge at head of falls, above power house, and fell into the river, on Sunday evening, the first of August, 1909. Was carried over the falls. All previous efforts to locate and reclaim his body having failed, he was found floating in the water below old dock, at about ten o'clock on Thursday morning following. Was taken home and buried the next day, Friday, in the Methodist Cemetery, just past the old tannery site."
So then there was the time, that while carrying a hotel guest's bags onto the train, stopped on the platform, opposite the British Lion Hotel, when he got trapped by the large crowd, onboard, and decided he would just stay in the passenger car, as the steam locomotive carried-on south to Gravenhurst. He was forced to walk back to Bracebridge as a result. It is likely, Johnny just wanted to get out of work, and used this as an excuse to Mr. Leishman of the Albion. He didn't see walking as work.
He notes that in August of 1909, he began making payments to Ed Buker for lot 15, concession 4, in Macauley Township, which he had bought from him.
With more bad timing, Johnny was once again "turned out," of his place of employment, and he records that when Mr.Leishman fired him, for undisclosed reasons, he had paid him only ten dollars, of the twenty-five he was owed. As he had been staying in a room at the hotel, he had no where to go for shelter. He went to see Ed Buker, who had sold him a piece of property, a short time earlier, and he was allowed to lodge at his home temporarily. He was situated on Baysville Road, opposite what he refers to, as being "a pinery". He referred to him, (Mr. Buker) in his journal, as being hard to get along with, (a cuss of a man) and particularly interested in running up his fees for accommodation. At this point, Johnny Moon, outside of what he had paid, initially, for the property he purchased from Ed Buker, had approximately $34 left in his account at the Bank of Ottawa Branch, on Manitoba Street. Without a job, it was being quickly depleted.
He writes that "I spent Christmas Day at Ed Goring's house," presumably related to Roy Goring, who had been drowned during a fall over the Bracebridge Falls. He sold Mrs. Goring a little rocking chair, he had hand crafted, specifically for their young son, Edgar, for the price of fifty cents.
On the ninth of January, 1910, Johnny started to work for the Anglo-Canadian Leather Company, on the Muskoka River, in Bracebridge, working in what was known as "the inside yard." Frank Thompson was listed as foreman. He was being paid twenty-five cents a day. But he only lasted a week, being laid off on the 17th of January.
He includes the important observation, that "Between the dates of Monday the 24th of January to Saturday the 25th, 'Berakes great comet, or "Comet 1910A," was plainly visible in western sky during the evenings. This was the largest comet I have ever seen, much larger than the widely advertised Halley's Comet, which appeared later in the year."
He was paid off for his hours at the tannery, by January 31st, of that year, and could not land a job for some time to come. He did get some hope for a job, at a wood camp at Nelson and Anson Rowley's property, travelling with Amos Buker to Utterson. The Rowleys did not want to employ Johnny, but allowed him to stay in the camp shelter over-night. Turned out again, he confessed, "not knowing what to do next". He realized then, that walking back to Bracebridge was pointless, considering there were no jobs there, and he couldn't return to any of the places he had once been employed. He decided, that being that far north, he would travel west to the hamlet of Raymond, in the area of Three Mile, and Skeleton Lake, and visit at the farm owned by George Hammell, who he knew had just suffered a serious injury, the result of a kick from a horse. His friend, Fred Foulkes, was there, working around the farm, to help the Hammels out. Johnny Moon felt there was no other choice, but to see if the Hammels would offer him a position, on the farm, even if it was only in return for room and board. He had burned most of his bridges, by this point, in Bracebridge and Gravenhurst.
"Leaving Utterson,' he wrote, "I made several enquiries on the way, as to how to find Hammell's, and was told, often, to look for the little log house and the big frame barn. I arrived at the little log house, and the big frame barn that afternoon. This was the 9th of February, 1910. The first to greet me, as I entered the wide gate near the barn, was the big dog, Hammels had at that time. Right behind the dog came Fred. with Fred I went to the house, and into the kitchen. In the kitchen was Annie, Mrs. Hammel. From the kitchen I went into the sitting room, or parlor, where George Hammel was. George took me on, explaining there would be no wages, as, for Fred was to return home, and to school again, the following Monday. The Hammels, at that time, had two children; Aubrey and Annutt. Aubrey was three years old; Annutt one year old. Fred went back home to Bracebridge the following Monday, the 14th of February. I felt lonely without him. The winter dragged slowly on. Choring, splitting wood; and later, when George was able to get around again, sawing wood in the bush, down by the lake, and occasional trips with George, for hay, on some farm at some distance off. Came March, about the middle of which month, the (maple) sap gathering and boiling began in the maple bush down by the lake. This is Three Mile Lake, at the back of Hammells."
He includes the fact, that on the 24th of that month, 1910, another Bernardo Boy arrived in Muskoka, this time at the Hammell farm, being only eight years of age. His name was Thomas Harold Brown. The historian has to pause a moment, in contemplation, of what exactly Dr. Bernardo was thinking an eight year old boy, likely from urban England, could do, in terms of chores, at a backwoods Muskoka farmstead.
Hiking back to Utterson, Johnny then caught the southbound train, back to Bracebridge. He stayed with the Foulkes family until the 6th of April, and then headed back to Raymond, and the Hammell Farm. This must not have been met favorably, especially as far as room and board went, because he was back in Bracebridge a couple of days later. He didn't have enough money for a train trip, so he began the long walk back. He records in his journal, that he met his friends, Mr. and Mrs. Goring on the way back to Bracebridge, between the hamlets of Beatrice to the north, and Falkenburg on the south. When he finally arrived back in Bracebridge, he decided to afford himself a room at the Albion Hotel that evening. The next day he tried to find a suitable place to lodge, but he found himself again homeless. By good fortune, he was given another chance, at the Anglo-Canadian Leather Company, later that same afternoon.
He was able to rent a house from Nelson Powley, where he was happy to live alone. Within days, he was once again fired from the Bracebridge tannery, with no reason given. Later he went to Shier's Lumber Mill, and was given a yard job, but several days after this, he was discharged by the proprietor. One can assume Johnny wasn't very good at listening to his bosses, and competent at the jobs he was given. He went back to the tannery, and after a week, was dumped once more. Bouncing back, a day after dismissal, he was hired on at Watson's brick yard, where Arnott was the foreman and manager of the operation.
"On Wednesday evening, the 25th of May, I had first sight of Halley's Comet, in west sky (1910). For several evenings after, it was visible; then it disappeared. As this comet was said to appear regularly at intervals of 75 years, it's next appearance will be in the year 1985."
He adds in the very next paragraph, that "Gustave Goltz died on Sunday, the 17th of July, 1910, after a serious illness, in the Sick Children's Hospital in Toronto. He was brought home and buried in the English Cemetery, just north of town, on Tuesday the 19th. He was eleven years and eleven months old. He was born in August, 1898, which was the time I was just beginning the blazed trail of destiny."
In the days that followed, he had been able to get a small amount of work time, at Watson's brick yard, until the machine broke down. He notes that Nelson Rowley was laid up with a fever, and Ed Buker, had come to live with him in the rented house. Johnny went to George Foulkes home and sold all is tools. He got paid from a chap he called "Eddy."
On the 8th of August, he started a job at Eddy's Brick Yard, but by the 30th of August, he was off to Toronto by train, where he would commence looking for work. He reports that the Canadian National Exhibition was still on its summer run, while he was lodging there. But despite his best efforts, he had to return, after only a few days, back to Bracebridge by train, where he again begged accommodation from the Foulkes' family. Then he went back to work at the tannery. As was becoming a tradition for the young man, it didn't work out for him for very long. His residential opportunity, was at Ed Goring's place, at Longford Mills, on the east side of Lake Couchiching. Goring had been a former bartender at the Albion Hotel, in Bracebridge. After failing to get a job at the local stone quarry, he once again, hopped on a southbound train, arriving in Toronto, a short time later; where he would stay at the home of James Gordon, someone he had met at the funeral for Roy Goring (drowning victim).
Once again, he landed a job, this time, at a glue factory. He was sent to Talbot's Farm, where he had to pull roots such as turnips, and because it was hard work and bitterly cold at the time, he claimed to have been very unhappy in his circumstance. He quit on the third day of November. You guessed it. He headed back to Bracebridge on the 1:45 p.m. train, which he referred to as the "ol '65," and became a boarder at the "Banks" rooming house. Then there was a sickness spreading through the residents of the house, so it was quarantined by the local medical authority. He was forced to leave. He stayed temporarily with George Foulkes. Back to Gravenhurst, and then returned to Bracebridge. Johnny could not stay in one place for long, or hold down a job, before emotions got the better of him.
In this time, he made his way back to the Hammell Farm in Raymond, and walked both there and back in twenty four hours, which by the way, is a long, hard, hike on foot. He found odds jobs around the community, including handyman assignments for the Presbyterian Church, under direction of Mr. Bastedo, and he was dwelling at a house, belonging to Hudson Burton. Also, he was hired by the Lount family, to do odd jobs around their large house, perched on the top of Rosemount Hill, (Tanbark Hill) where Bracebridge High School would eventually be built, in the later 1920's.
Call it the happenstance of life, his life, but whenever Johnny would find himself in a secure position, with money, and a piece of property to build-on, he would become indebted, and have to sell-off possessions to pay for such things as medical bills and a hospital stay when he suffered during the influenza epidemic of the 1920's. Something always seemed to come up, that knocked him off his feet financially. Some times it was the result of his handiwork, but often it was just the luck of the draw. It might be said then, that Johnny Moon was an unlucky man. Yet, I don't think he felt this way, day to day; because he never gave up trying to improve himself, despite the many set-backs.
It can be said, based on his biography this far along, that the good Mr. Moon was much better suited to occasional employment over days versus months and years. He was a friendly soul, who seemed to make friends easily, but as experience had show, there were many who targeted him for labour, with no intention to offer compensation. He did feel others were trying to steal his money, of which he was usually careful to conceal, but because of his unfortunate penchant for quitting his job, and train travel to and from Toronto, he was virtually guaranteed, to never have much in the way of a bank balance. He would soon come to settle down on his little riverside lot, between Bass Rock and Wilson's Fall, on Bracebridge's River Road, where some oldtimers used to say, when I was a kid, that his ghost still rowed the leaky little scow, he used for many years, to cross the river, to shorten his walk to town, and transport his supplies to and from his property. He loved this little slice of paradise, and it would thusly be logical, at least in the paranormal sense, for his ghost to haunt this stretch of black river, in the misty pine valley, of the North Branch of the Muskoka River. It was his Thoreau's "Walden Pond." His company consisted of all the forest creatures, who used to visit him, from the blue jays, and chickadees, to the chipmunks that ran in, and out, of his wee shanty. Of all his emotional eccentricities, he was undeniably kind, and he shared what little he had, with the creatures around him. He knew what it was like to be hungry and alone.
And we conclude today's chapter, with Johnny Moon's declaration, which read, in beautiful penmanship, "On September 4th, 1911, I began writing first record of my life."
Please join me in tomorrow's blog, for part six, of the "Diary of Johnny Moon." Thanks for joining with Johnny (in spirit), and I, for this special heritage series, of Muskoka folk tales.
See you tomorrow. Thanks again for your kind support.
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