~116- SOCIAL CUSTOMS

With the passing years, most things are subject to change; even the physical aspects of a community are not the same today as they were fifty years ago. New roads have been built; old ones have been abandoned. Wooded areas have been cleared; 1.638 that once bore bountiful harvests have gono back to brush. This transformation is especially evident in Prince Edward Island, and nowhere in the Island is it more evident than in the territory to the north of the West River -- particularly in New Haven and vicinity.

A native who returns today after a half-century absence will truly imagine himself a stranger in a strange land.

He will discover, too, that the people bear but slight resemblance to those whom he remembers. Practically all the old families have disappeared; those who have taken their places will impress him as being slightly citified in speech, in attitude, and in general outlook. Gone, t60, are the old conversational style, the humor, and ths repartee that were the distin;;uishing marks of the old-time Islander.

For .the verbalisms, the speech patterns, and the satire of those days, © were in a very true sense unique. They were of a nature entirely different from anything to be encountered in the neighboring provinces. For example, when a person made & remark apropos of almost any subject, the reply would very probably be something like this: "Hell, look at that, now!" or it might be: "You don't tell mo!" re the remark referred to something very much out of the ordinary, the answar might be: "I wwnt to know!" The answer to a question ~-- any question -- was likely to be prefixed by: "Well now, I'll tell ye." Or, "Well it's this way." All these incidental phrases actually meant little, but their use seemed more chatty and less formal than would a brief, direct reply. They also gave their user an opportunity

to arrange his thoughts before coming up with & pertinent response.