OUR ISLAND STORY I THE ELEVENTH CHAPTER

I Means of Communication in Winter—How Established.

Upwards of two hundred years have elapsed since communi- cation ‘over the ice on the Strait of Northumberland, .in winter, was begun. The first successful attempt to do so was made in the . month of February in the year 1725. It Was made, at the instance of Governor Patterson, between Wood Islands and Pictou Island. The names of those who performed the heroic deed have not been recorded. In the course of many subsequent winters, mails and

passengers were transported to and from the mainland on this - Eastern route under the guidance of a Mr. Smith——father of a_

former well~known citizen of Charlottetown, Mr. Henry B. Smith. According to the reports published by the newspapers of the time, Mr. Smith crossed the ice of the Straits frequently, between Wood Islands and Pictou, until the year. 1827.‘ It was stated that he Often crossed alone. I

During the year 1827 several trips over the ice between Cape

Traverse and Cape Tormentine were made by a Mr. McRae. It" was stated that he crossed the Strait on foot and without the accom-p ,

paniment of a boat of any kind. As this route was shorter and less hazardous than that of the Wood Islands and Pictou route, Lieut.-Governor Ready and others entrusted Mr. McRae with dispatches tothe Imperial Government'and other'correspondence. He drove from Charlottetown to Cape Traverse. There he await- ' ed fine 'weather and favorable ice. Then, crossing the ice on foot, he proceeded to Amherst, delivered the dispatches and other letters entrusted to him to the mail couriers going toHalifax, obtained newspapers in Amherst and brought letters to Prince Edward Island. His success caused the postal officials to transfer the carriage of the mails to the Capes route. In the course of the

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