A SON HELPS HIS FATHER DELIVER MAIL

On February 12, 1916, Charles McCloskey was born at home in Bear River. He is the son of the late Peter and Zilla McCloskey, and the second youngest in a family of six children. At that time, most children were born at home, with the assistance of a mid—wife, who at that time, was Mary (Tom) McGaugh.

At the age of sixteen, Charles was working at home on the family farm, and he also helped his father on the mail route. His mode of transportation was a horse—and—sleigh in the winter, and a horse—and— wagon in the summer. In the Spring when the roads were muddy, he used a horse—drawn road cart, to deliver the mail. Charlie recalls that the horse’s knees were sometimes level with the mud.

On another occasion, when he was delivering the mail through New Zealand, the horse suddenly became lame. He was upset and didn’t know how he was going to complete the mail-route. When he arrived at the home of the late Joseph E. MacPhee, he examined the horse, and removed a stone from the horse’s foot. The horse recovered, and Charlie was able to complete the mail route without incident.

Charlie remembers some very cold and stormy days on the mail- route. He recalls braving the elements wrapped up in the buffalo and fortified with warm clothing underneath. He would sometimes walk behind the sleigh to warm himself. Once he was almost lost when a winter storm came up, and soon there were white-out conditions. However, he was able to turn the horse around, and he arrived home safety.

Later, Charlie purchased his own farm in Bear River, and he spent his entire life in this community, except for a few weeks spent in Debert, Nova Scotia. Charlie always avoided the measles as a young

87