Some details of early life at the resort were given to us by Helena Pineau of Rusticoville; she is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Dan Jarvis, who were caretakers at the Cliff Hotel in the 19203. She describes the buildings as she remembers them: separate from the main building was a cottage in which the caretaker and family lived in the winter, moving upstairs or over to the hotel in the summer, to make room for the proprietor. There was also a log house, rented to visitors in the summer, and a pool room, for pool and billiards, next to the cottage; and a coach house, where a buggy and coach were kept. An ice-house, large enough to store a year’s supply of ice, cut from Auld’s mill-pond and from John Arch MacLauchlan’s pond, and a laundry, for washing and ironing, made up the auxiliary hotel buildings, separated from the barnyard by a high board fence. The barnyard contained a horse stable, cow barn, hen house, machine shed and workshop. Inside the hotel, the office was on the right of the main entrance, with a smoking room between the office and the main dining room. Opening off the smoking room was the “Old Room”, furnished as a bedroom with antique furniture, but not for use. The small proprietor’s dining room was situated next to the pantry and kitchen; the ballroom and a sitting room were at the far end of the hall. There was a separate lamp room for the cleaning and filling of the kerosene lamps, a daily chore. Boarders were called to meals by the beating of a gong. Heating was by wood stoves, also used for cooking, and open fireplaces. At this time a gasoline engine was used to pump water for all hotel uses; there were flush toilets near the back stairs. There was no hot water supply except from the kitchen. In earlier days at the Cliff Hotel, recalled in 1971 by Mrs. Jerome Peters, then aged 91, of North Rustico, there were no bathrooms, only outside toilets; and Mrs. Peters, as a young girl, had the job of carrying the slops down from the bedrooms and emptying them in the outhouses. She waited on tables as well as working as a chambermaid, and was paid $8.00 a

month.

Helena Pineau remembered that the hotel was largely self- supporting: bread was baked every day, butter was homemade during the winter by the caretaker’s wife and stored in crocks in the cellar, the cows on the farm supplying milk and cream year-round. The garden kept .the hotel in vegetables, the hen house produced eggs and chickens, and fish and seafood were bought from Covehead and Tracadie fishermen. Meat and groceries were bought in large quan- tities, flour came from Auld’s Mill, potatoes and berries were pur- chased from local people. The hotel was a shot in the arm for the local economy: as well as buying supplies, the hotel employed waitresses, kitchen help, chambermaids and laundry workers from Rustico, Covehead, Stanhope and York. The laundry was done with

222