POTPOURRI

TRAVEL ON THE RIVER

The mode of travel on the River depended upon the changing season. During the spring, summer and early fall, the most popular way of crossing the River was by ferry boat. Travel by horse and buggy around the head of the River on rough and often muddy roads made a rather uncomfortable journey.

The first ferryboats were sail boats. There once was two ferry services, one between Annandale Wharf and Launching Sand Beach and the second one be- tween Poplar Point Wharf and the Chapel Wharf in St. Georges.

In 1890, John Howlett of Annandale built a ferry scow. It was a large flat bottomed boat and could transport horses and wagons between Annandale Wharf and Launching Beach. One day while Roy Howlett was working on the road with his father, he recalled a well turned out, dashing fellow driving up to them to inquire about ferry service down at the Wharf. Shortly thereafter, they were surprised to see him return. He informed them that he had no intention of risking his valuable horse to that old man and that rig.

If the Ferryman was on the opposite side of the River a flag was raised on a pole to signal him that he had a passenger. If there were just one or two people on foot waiting to cross, the ferryman would use a small dory. Elizabeth Stewart had fond memories of playing with her sister, Sadie, on Launching Beach while waiting for her mother, Bridget Blackett, to return from a ferry trip to Annandale to shop at McFarlane’s store. Nickey Clark was the ferryman at that time.

On April 24, 1916, the Annandale-Launching ferry was no longer landing at

Launching Beach. A new wharf had been built a little further up the beach at what was known as Red Point.

On September 29, 1893, the residents of Poplar Point had erected a new wharf across from Chapel Wharf in St. Georges. This ferry service provided a direct link with the church in St. Georges for the Roman Catholics on the north Side of the River. Those ferries were also used as a connecting link to shorten the way to Georgetown.

Many residents remember youthful adventures when the ferry was used to carry them over to social events on the opposite side. A group of Little Pond boys who were courting girls from the other side of the River went to a dance in St. Georges one night. While the others boarded the ferry, one of the boys tied the horse to a tree, not knowing the horse’s habit of chewing rope. Upon their return after an enjoyable evening they found to their horror that the horse had left for Little Pond without them Gerard MacDonald remembers clearly the long walk home in the early hours of the morning.

The job of ferryman was a government one and political patronage was a Way of life. When the government changed, the ferryman did too. Some of the ferry operators for the Annandale-Launching run included George Howlett, Nickey Clark, John Morrison, Angus MacPherson, Fletcher Robertson, and the last one, Victor LaPierre. The Poplar Point-St. Georges run was manned by

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