THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH IS GONE

The village blacksmith is gone,

The man with the arms of brawn;

No more he’ll make the sparklets fly,

He just closed up with a heavy sigh.

No more he’ll make the anvil ring;

As downward his hammer he ironed swing; No more we’ll talk of events of the day

In the little shop which was just down the way. Where are the sturdy horses he used to shoe? With his arms of brawn Without adieu;

They too have passed to the great beyond And the animals of which we all were fond. No more he’ll build circular fire

To heat the old wagon’s worn tire;

Even the old farm wagon has passed along

And now you can buy them for a song.

No more he’ll charge the little accounts With items he’d done for like amounts;

His pencil just wore short and thin

And he closed his books with a saddened grin.

Well, the people who declare that the auto has completely replaced the horse may have second thoughts if they look around to discover how many bronze statues there are of a man sitting on a horse and how

few behind a steering wheel. Mrs. H. H. Galloway

FUR FARMING TUPLIN’S FOX RANCH

In 1895 Charles Dalton of Tignish and Robert Oulten of Alberton commenced raising foxes in wire-netting enclosures.

Steady progress was made, breeders got high prices for pelts; some pelts brought as high as $20,000 (twenty thousand or more). In 1913 foxes were selling for as high as $25,000.

The first fox ranch in New Annan was owned by Frank Tuplin when foxes were booming.

An excerpt from the Crapaud History: “In 1912 a company was formed in Crapaud knovVn as The Silver Tip Fox Company; they pur- chased a mated female from Frank Tuplin, New Annan for $20,000 and left her in his care until after whelping. She produced a litter of six

pups, which they sold thus enabling them to pay off their indebtedness”.

In 1914, the first great war broke out and the market for fox fur in Europe, which was considered the big market, collapsed and silver fox pelts were down to $15 to $20 each.

Quite a number of people went out of them completely, some con- tinued on although the conditions were grave. After the war ended in 1918, the market for silver black foxes improved; breeding stock in the early 1920’s, was being sold for $400 to $600 per pair.

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