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so long. He hailed from Greenfield and in all taught fourteen years in both Iona schools, being considered an excellent teacher. He boarded with his first cousin, Mary McCabe, and worked in the store there as well. He commonly came to school by bicycle which was quite a novelty then. At other times he came with McCabe’s 1937 Chev coupe, a car very dear to us pupils since we were habitually allowed to ride in its trunk, although we always waited for his invitation to pack us in. In 1945 Joe entered university and nine years later began the practice of medicine in Halifax.

Visitors to our school were rare, but their appearing was both suspicious and solemn. Arriving by auto, their slowing down and stopping on the hill and the shutting of their car door were sights and sounds never missed by the pupils. Moments later came the steps in the porch and the light knock on the inner door. All within fell silent with the teacher quite nervously answering the call and ushering in the uninvited guest. All hands immediately stood out of respect for the stranger. Twice a year the visitor would be the school inspector, briefcase in hand with its assortment of straps, pockets and papers. His normal routine was to observe the teacher taking a class, engage the students himself in a teaching session, hand out a paper or two and quiz the teacher on various aspects of the school. All of this, of course, was in preparation for a report he would be making to the education department. In my earlier school days our inspector was William A. (Billy Angus) MacPhee from Heatherdale. He was the most welcome of visitors for he was friendly, humorous and had a most gracious Scottish accent. On one occasion he caught us off guard by arriving one blustery day on snowshoes. The only other inspector of my school days was Angus Gilmore of nearby Melville. He was a more serious type, but always mannerly and extremely thorough.

Another annual visitor over many years was Dr. Keeping who came to vaccinate all and sundry. We had a natural fear of his calls, but he had the ideal personality for the job. Gentle and .lOVial, he performed his task with ease and a minimum of pain. He always had a little rhyme to say to each pupil as he or she Stood for the jab. Often he would ask the victim to look outside at the nice trees and fields and on occasion even asked some of us to just look out the window and watch the traffic going by. Traffic was usually light! Dr. Keeping’s visits were for most of us our first and only experience with needles and it was inter- esting to note the reaction. Some minded it not at all, others