There are enough details in this story to identify the setting as Jamestown, Bonavista Bay in August 1922.

A Story From The Past

The story I am about to relate is a story of the 1920's, when most of Newfoundland was in the grip of the hard times of the depression. There was very little employment for the men, and cash was indeed scarce. Automobiles and telephones were not in use by the common people at all. Nevertheless, it was also a time when the milk of human kindness flowed freely among neighbors.

Perhaps this generation may find it hard to believe some of the facts connected with this tale, but it is every word true.

In a small Newfoundland outport one summer's night my husband and I had tucked our small son in bed and retired for the night. My in-laws, with whom we lived, having gone a short distance to baby sit for the older son's children. We were quite alone in the house when I awoke in the night sensing the approaching signs of my second child's arrival.

My husband hurried to the home of a dear aunt, upon whom I had relied, but she had gone out that night in motor boat, to accompany her visiting son across the bay to board the train to St. John's.

Now I found myself alone without anyone to speak to while my husband set out to walk some distance to seek the aid of an elderly woman, who in due time came to me in my need. Hearing her voice downstairs, part of my load lifted - but only part of it.

Immediately my husband again left for a friend who had promised before hand to be ready at any hour to go across the bay in his motor boat for the midwife. Imagine his dismay to learn that his friend had gone to take the afore-mentioned party to the railway station, some miles away.

Nothing daunted, my husband went further on to another man, who also owned a motor boat. Habing awakenef him from sleep they finally got into the boat to start across the bay when lo! and behold! the engine gave out, refusing to move. There they were in the dark when they heard the welcome sound of somebody's motor boat seemingly getting nearer. This turned out to be a young man returning home late from seeing his girl friend. Waving the lantern furiously they soon attracted his attention and seeing their predicament agreed to help.

Before long they were at the wharf on the other side of teh bay and racing up to the house only to be told that the midwife had gone away on a trip. Reviving his sinking spirits, my brave young husband remembered yet another lady known to act as a midwife in emergency. This time he was successful and when morning came the sun shone brightly on the parents of a bouncing baby girl.

But the story does not end there. There is an amusing little part that runs like a golden thread through the pattern of dark night. I remember it distinctly because it meant much to us at the time. All summer long we had saved and held onto a five dollar bill, but the day before the birth of my child my husband had to take one dollar to buy a gallon of molasses in our need. The original midwife fee was $5.00, but the substitute asked only $4.00.

This had to be a miracle! And while we believe miracles come from above, yet every single person who helped us that night must have had a part in its making.

By Mrs. Alfred Pike

Last Modified: Friday, 06-Aug-2010 11:43:10 NDT