by the name of Wellington MacNeil from Southport ( Stratford ) came in the store looking for old cheese, cheese used to come in big round layers of about 30 pounds each and there were three layers in a wooden box. Wellington tasted a sample and said in an angry voice, "You must have something stronger than this." I was afraid of this man because he was loud and it seemed as though he always had one drink too many. If he was in a bad mood, he would take a swing at you from across the counter. On this occasion, my father remembered that he had six boxes of cheese in the basement that he had forgotten about for almost a year. He took Mr. MacNeil down to the basement, removed the cover from the box and showed him an inch thick layer of cheese that had turned to powder, which had been caused by maggots. He took a large knife, cut two inches off the top, tasted the underlying cheese and bought the whole layer. This same gentleman was a well-known cattle buyer who used to ship cattle to Newfoundland . Although not a common occurrence, I remember 20 to 30 head of cattle being corralled down on their way to the wharf for loading on the Newfoundland boat. I often wondered how they were able to get them across the bridge without losing a few. Going across the Hillsborough Bridge was a real challenging experience, especially in the winter. It was an old-fashioned steel bridge barely wide enough for two cars to cross, although most of the traffic was by horse and sleigh or wagon. There was a rail line in the middle and the bridge was closed twice daily to regular traffic to accommodate the train. The traffic was such a small fraction of what it is today, that, during the summer, we would sun ourselves on the pavement leading to the bridge after swimming off of the huge boulders along the bank. Bathing houses lined the beach where the Irving oil tanks now stand. Charlottetown children would spend their free time swimming and playing in this area. We walked from our home, sometimes twice a day depending on the tides, to swim. If we walked off the road on the right- hand side, we would sink up to our knees in mucky, gray clay. Apparently, all of this section, right up to East was under water at one time. If you walked on the left-hand side, you would be walking in the city dump. One of our favorite pastimes was to flush the rats out of the holes and shoot them with a 22-calibre rifle. This area which housed the Esso oil tanks for years and is now home to the Joe Ghiz Park. Winters seemed to come earlier in those days and they seemed longer and colder as well. Every winter, I would watch the sleighs cross the harbour to Southport ( Stratford ) on the ice. Small spruce trees would indicate the safe area for crossing. 21