Later the starch was put in bags and shipped out on vessels. One such shipment occurred on October 12, 1911 When Captain Richards went out of Bridgetown on a vessel loaded with starch. The starch was also taken by horse and truckwagon to Georgetown. One person who had this job of hauling the starch to Georgetown was Wallace Taylor of Strathcona.

One humourous story told to us involved the near loss of a coat into the processing area. A gentleman arrived at the factory on a day so warm that he had removed his coat and placed it on top of this load of potatoes, promptly forgetting its presence there. He was not reminded of it until he spotted the tail of it disappearing through the small hole at the top of the escalator; Throwing all caution to the winds, he leapt on the belt in a last ditch attempt to save his coat. Using superhuman strength he grasped the coat and held on like grim death, only to discover that he himself was trapped in the entry way to the pro- cessing area. Unable to free himself, he had to continue holding the coat until he was rescued by a bystander who no doubt had been highly amused by the antics involved in the rescue of the wayward coat.

The factory was run by steam power and people for miles around remember hearing the steam whistle blow. The piercing whistle blew to summon the workers early in the morning, to release them for dinnertime and to end their working day.

It seems that the last year the factory was in operation was 1922. In 1927 the building was torn down and Albert Quigley got the lumber. The equipment was sold to Matthew and MacLeans for a starch factory in East Baltic.

Many of the youngsters in the area missed the building for playing some of their favorite games. One game the building was ideal for was hide and seek.

The closing of the factory also ended seasonal jobs for several people, which were desperately needed at the time.

WORK EXCURSIONS

Many of the younger Islanders were forced to leave home in search for jobs. The small Island’s resource based industries simply could not support a large number of unemployed young people. The bleak future prospects and a longing sense for travel, adventure, and new experiences lured many an island offspring to locations far and wide.

Not all these people settled away. Many returned to the Island, often as soon as they raised enough money for the return ticket.

One early wave of emigration for the Island was to the American West. The frontier life attracted many, as did the California gold rush of 1849. The trip was long and arduous as they were forced to sail around the tip of South America. William Cooper of Sailor’s Hope travelled to California taking his family with him.

16