Diary Dr. E.J. Mullally, 1952

This diary was written by Dr. Emmett James Aeneas Mullally in 1952. Much of it records a family holiday spent at the Mullally family home in Souris West, Prince Edward Island, from 23 July to 1 September 1952.

The diary includes recollections of family members and friends, daily life in Souris West, Emmett's childhood memories, the education of his grandsons Peter Gruner and David Skelton, family visits, local history, and events following the family's return to Montreal.

Original Scans: diary_of_dr_e_j_mullally_1952.pdf

Read insights about the People, Places, and Events mentioned.

The following transcription preserves the wording, spelling, punctuation, and capitalization of the original as closely as practical. Line breaks created solely by the typewritten page layout have been removed, while original paragraph breaks have been retained. Page divisions are indicated in square brackets. Uncertain or illegible words are identified editorially.

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The holiday which I spent along with some members of my family in the old house in Souris, West P.E.I., from July 23, 1952 to Sept. 1/52 was much enjoyed by me; some of the incidents which took place during that time I shall endeavor to place on record and it may be that the enjoyment felt at the time may be to a slighter extent enjoyed on reading about the incidents a few years from now.

Fairly early in the summer of 1952 it was planned that Eileen and I would go down to the Island after the middle of July; Eileen had given up her work with the Society of Chartered Accountants a few months earlier and she had been taking up writing exercises preparatory to doing work in short stories at first and later on articles and stories; so she was free to come away from Montreal at a time suitable to me; I asked my daughter Jean if she and Murray would allow their son and my grandson David, to come along with Eileen and me to the Island and they were willing that David should come; Eileen was desirous of spending some hours each day at reading and typing and I did not want to interfere with her programme by having too many young people in the house to look after; as I intended to have David under my charge a few hours each day for tuition purposes and thought his company would not interfere with her plans; there was another and an even more important reason for David coming away from his home for a month or so; Jean is expecting her fourth child and if conditions could be made easier for her by having one of her family away from her care for 4–6 weeks then so much to the good; David was not told about his coming trip to P.E.I. until a few days before we came away; outwardly he did not seem excited but I was told he reacts that way when confronted with unusual situations; I had been seeing another grandchild older than David in the person of Peter Gruner, who expressed a wish to go down to P.E.I. to members of his own as well as to

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members of my family. While I wanted to have Peter and I knew his presence in the house would not disturb Eileen at her work, I refrained from inviting him as I did not want to interfere with any plans Peter's parents may have had about his activities during his vacation from Loyola College; Peter had completed his first year of college work with a quite creditable all round percentage of marks in the examinations of the first year. Two of the books we talked about reading together during the summer holidays were: Plato's Republic and Alexis Carrell's Man the Unknown; I also wanted him to write under my supervision some reviews of Medical books which some time earlier in the year had been sent to me for review by Mr. E. L. Chicanot, Managing Editor of the Canadian Doctor, published at Gardenvale, P. Que.; one book on Bacteriology had among other up-to-date chapters, one on the sexual life of Bacteria, a viewpoint which so far has found little favor in the average book on Bacteriology. Another work he reviewed was a small text book on Psychiatry for nurses and medical students; a third was Treves Handbook of practical surgery. Peter made a very good job of reviewing two of the three books and I forwarded them to the Canadian Doctor from Souris West with a note to the Editor that Peter Hamilton Gruner, whose name appeared at the bottom of the two reviews, was put there by me; that he was my grandson, that he had finished his first year of college at Loyola, that he was entering the pre-medical course of studies at Loyola and hoped to be admitted to a Medical School when he had completed his academic pre-medical studies; that seeing his name at the bottom of the review in the Canadian Doctor would give him a great lift.

We shall not know for two or three months or more whether Peter's name is at the bottom of the reviews he wrote.

My daughter Patricia plans to come down to P.E.I. about August 15th; she will have only two weeks of holidays this year; she had not made any plans about bringing along one or two other of my grandchildren with her to P.E.I. before Eileen and I left home but as it turned out she

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had not then disclosed all the plans she had in mind with us. Patricia, who had been working with the Red Cross of Montreal for about ten years, took up Brenda's job with the M.H.N. Gruner Co. when Brenda married Ronnie McDougall on February 16, 1952. Patricia worked very hard with the Red Cross; being sympathetic, kind and charitable, she gave of herself freely towards those who sought out the Red Cross for relief from their troubles, imaginary and real; I was glad she gave up Red Cross work as it was taking too much away from her and the remuneration was not at all in keeping with what she gave to it. So we knew that our group at Souris West would consist of Eileen, Patricia, David, Peter and myself; we had not counted on twice that number. On the evening of July 23, 1952, over the C.N.R., Eileen, David and I left Montreal for P.E.I. We had two lower berths in the sleeping car. David to sleep with me, David's parents were at the train to see him off as was his sister Brenda Mary, also Patricia and Marjory Gallagher; Brenda and Ronnie had in mind to surprise us by being on the station platform when the train stopped at Drummondville; they drove over from their home in Danville; Eileen and I did not know that they would be at the train; the train barely stopped before it was off again and we did not see them; it was only when we had a letter later on from Brenda that we learned what had happened.

We were looking forward to seeing the house in Souris West; after we had gone back to Montreal in September of 1951 were the pure white sidings made of asbestos and other ingredients put on over the whole exterior by Ikey Cheverie; before I had gone home to Montreal in the summer of 1951 I had been working hard with Ikey to prepare the exterior for these coverings; wooden shutters in two pieces painted black were fitted on to each of the larger windows; three windows on the kitchen smaller than the other windows had only single shutters; all the trim work of the eves and gutters were painted black; Ikey finished the work sometime in October; we had not seen it; so we were desirous of seeing how it looked; we had been told by those who had written us from Souris that the

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house looked very well; the contrast between the white of the main portion of the house and the black painted shutters and gutters was quite marked. Eileen had written an order for food and other supplies to J.J. Hughes Co. store about one week before we left Montreal; the goods to be delivered to Mr. and Mrs. Finnan in Souris, West.

We had in mind on reaching Charlottetown to take the evening bus up to Souris; we expected to be in our house about 10 p.m.; we did not know that this year there was no evening bus; neither did we know that Brenda had written Mrs. Joan Hodson that we were to land in Charlottetown from the Moncton plane at 7 p.m.; we were surprised when we found Neel and Joan waiting for us at the Charlottetown airport; it was fortunate for us that they came, for no bus to Souris was running.

We were very glad to see Joan and Neel. We drove to the hospital to see Joan's father; he did not know me; he had a paralytic stroke about last Christmas time and has been in hospital since that time unable to speak; Joan is not sure at times if he knows her; it has been a serious drain financially, paying nurses and hospital fees; I was glad for Joan's sake to see her father; there was nothing I could do to help towards his recovery; Joan got comfort from the fact that I saw her father; his right arm totally paralysed and I presume his right leg as well; I made no attempt to examine him; I could only express regret at his condition and when we went to Neel's apartment at York Lane we recalled how sociable and friendly he had been when Joan had a party at Point Prim for Brenda, Eileen and me a year or two before; while we were at Neel's apartment the phone rang and I was asked for; it was Eileen Hughes from Souris, now working in the Town, who heard from the hostess on the plane that a Dr. Mullally, his daughter and grandson had crossed to P.E.I. with her and had been met by Neel and Joan at the airport in Charlottetown; the hostess was a Miss Rossiter who had been very nice to us; she arranged matters so that David was taken up into the quarters of the Pilot of the plane where he saw a mass of instruments

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used in guiding the plane; it was a great treat for David; it was after nine o'clock when we left Charlottetown for Souris; Neel and Joan and their dog, Eileen, David and I; it was about 11 p.m. when we got to the house and I went to the Finnan's for the keys; Mrs. Finnan came with us; it was a nice warm night; the sound of the waves on the shore was a soothing and well remembered sound to me as the back door was being unlocked and lamps were being lighted; David had fallen asleep in the auto coming from Ch Town and now he was not desirous of going to bed. Wade Hughes and his daughter Pee Wee, home on holidays from a nurses training school in Ch Town came in to greet us; I opened the front door of the house and there blinking across the water of the bay was the lighthouse and the lights from the town of Souris.

Our supplies of food were waiting us; little attempt was made to get things sorted out; Mrs. Finnan had aired the house during the day and had the beds made up. In about an hour we were in bed. David was put to rest in the little room in front of the house upstairs; Eileen, Joan and Neel in suitable quarters and I in my quarters in the front room on the ground floor, a room associated with so many childhood, boyhood and manhood memories; shortly the great quiet of the place was about us and only the rippling of the water on the shore brought other groups of memories of the days that have gone; we had beautiful weather during our holiday in Souris; one fine warm day succeeded another during most of our stay; the following day July 25th (Friday) about 6 p.m., Peter Gruner arrived; he was not expected so soon; he left Montreal the day after we had on a train which brought him by a connection made at Moncton to the Cape Tormentine ferry crossing to Borden, P.E.I. in the early afternoon and a few hours later to Ch Town too late to get the afternoon bus to Souris; Peter was not too anxious to spend the night in Ch Town so he enquired about taxies and found one which would take him to Souris for $10.00. We were all glad to see him. Neel and Joan Hodson, who were staying with us for the weekend, were attracted by Peter's personality; I think it was the following morning that

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David in the course of conversation with Joan, asked her whether she was a Catholic or a Protestant? Joan, who was taken aback by the question, told him she was a Protestant, and quite seriously David informed her that his Daddy was also a Protestant, but he (David) thought he might become a Catholic soon. Joan told us later on about the conversation she had with David; she was amused by the seriousness David displayed in asking her about her religion.

I had in mind before coming to P.E.I. to have a lesson period with David each day and a reading spell with Peter; looking over a trunkful of books that belonged to my sister Florrie, and her two sons and which was stored on the kitchen loft, I found a P.E.I. school reader which according to the inscription on the title page belonged to James Emmet Donahoe, when he was attending school in Souris in the 1920's; because this book had some of the poems I wanted David to learn I put it to one side to use with him; I had brought down with me from Montreal a pictorial account of the early explorers from Europe in North America, including Jacques Cartier's voyages to Canada. On the title page of this book it was stated that it had been given to Brenda and Jean by Dunstan and Robert McNichol; the writing was that of Mrs. Margaret McNichol and the date was Christmas (I can't find the book at this writing to verify the date).

A day or two before coming away from Montreal I bought a small globe. I bought it as a toy for David. It proved to be a useful toy; it had been made in England and had lines of latitude and longitude on it; the different countries of Europe were marked out in different colors; Canada and the United States and Mexico were well shown and we could show David the routes of discovery followed by Columbus, Caboto, Magellan, Vasco de Gamo, Jacques Cartier on it; David was interested to know that there was a Red Sea, a Black Sea, a White Sea, a Yellow Sea and quite pleased when after a few lessons he was able to find them on the Globe! I also brought down a Canadian Government publication with good maps of each Canadian Province. The pictorial account of the early explorers of North

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America attracted David's attention because he was greatly interested in the so-called comic books, which at present are such a craze with children of his age. Serious minded sociologists are talking at present about the harm these so-called comics are doing to young children; another plan I had for David was a short letter of a few sentences which he would print in capital letters each day and send home to his parents.

With Peter we had work to do in keeping with his age and his first year in arts at Loyola, as well as his present intention of studying medicine; in addition we had in mind to cut some sections of flies and other small forms of life and to stain the specimen and examine them under the small toy like microscope he brought down with him; I got together, at St. Mary's Hospital in Montreal, some glass slides and cover glasses, some stains, formaldahyde, ether and alcohol; an old delapidated table which I found on the shore a few years ago was covered over with tar paper by Peter, a safety razor blade was thought to be of use in cutting sections after the specimen had been put in formaldehyde; this part of our plan was not successful; the razor blade did not cut the sections thru enough and the microscope was little more than a toy. So we packed up in a paper box our stains and slides for some other time when we would have better slides and a microscope. We directed attention to our reading; as mentioned before Peter wished to read Plato's Republic and we both wanted to read Carroll's Man the Unknown. I wanted Peter to practice reading aloud to me. I also had him from time to time write down summaries of articles I had him read; we had in mind that we should have him give short talks on some of the things we had read; Peter had as one of the subjects in his coming year at Loyola, Canadian History and he was deficient in his knowledge of that subject; among other school books in the house was a rather poor text book on the subject which we went over together and which I supplemented by views of my own from which I could recall about the subject. I was interested in recalling my boyhood day

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views about the subject and how much they differed from my present views on the subject. I had views then that England was the important country that mattered, that our own country was relatively unimportant compared to Britain; that it was our duty to be loyal to the Crown, that incidents which took place since our Canada was part of the Empire, such as the Expulsion of the Acadians, the Family Compact, the Rebellion of 1837; the intolerance of the early governors sent to different colonies now making up Canada, were all capable of an explanation which would leave no stain or blemish on the British Government.

How little our own country was regarded 50 - 60 years ago and how much we in the Maritimes regarded England; even at the time of the Boer War, when Lloyd George in England, a future Prime Minister was castigating the British Government of the day. We in Montreal and elsewhere in Canada were parading the streets singing Rule Britannia. What a change of sentiment on my part and I feel on the part of the majority of born Canadians towards England and towards Canada. Well, on these and other matters of Canadian History, I think the views of a person of seventy years who has been an observer of what was going on, could be of some interest to my grandchildren, one like Peter Gruner, beginning to take an interest in world affairs.

David, being much younger than Peter, has no knowledge of History or Geography; I was pleased and surprised that he was interested in the comparatively little we took up together during the five weeks we were on P.E.I. David was not too pleased over the fact that he and Goggie were having lessons for about two hours each day including Sundays in particular, he did not want to learn any poetry by heart and I did not press the matter upon him; I looked over the school book I already mentioned and selected the following: The Burial of Sir John Moore by Rev. G. Wolk of Dublin, an old boyhood favorite of mine; the Battle of Blenheim by Southey, another favorite; The Meeting of the Waters, by Thomas Moore. Jacques Cartier by Thomas D'Arcy McGee, which each

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one of my own children had to learn by heart, years ago, and which I knew by heart 60 years ago and liked; Lead Kindly Light by Newman. Crossing the Bar by Tennyson. No attempt was made to have David learn these selections by heart; however, David read them for me aloud each morning for about ten days to two weeks and then I noticed he seldom looked at the text book when he was reading them. He knew most of each selection by heart; following his reading lesson we had a short drill in the multiplication table and a shorter period in mental arithmetic; then we got the globe and found out where different countries were located on it; the names of some of the larger rivers, seas and lakes; the names of the oceans, etc.; the location of the equator on the Globe and the two Poles, then the book that had maps of Canada; the names of Canada's ten provinces and their capitals; then the pictorial outline of the voyages of the great explorers; this was a favorite book of David's because it was arranged like the so-called comics; a picture with reading matter explaining the pictures; we had on an average from 1-1/2 to 2 hours given to lessons each morning; the session ended up by David going to another part of the house and in printed letters sending a short letter home to his parents. My session with Peter began when David retired from the front room and a reading began, Peter and I sometimes alternating with a chapter of Plato's Republic or Carroll's Man the Unknown; our progress was not rapid as we frequently stopped to discuss a paragraph on as derivation or pronounciation of a word; we had a copy of the Oxford Concise Dictionary which was very helpful, but we had no books of reference, such as Nuttall's Encyclopedia in one volume. We thought it would be well to provide ourselves with such a volume should we come to P.E.I. next summer.

Well, with lessons and readings we arrived close to one o'clock lunch which Eileen, who had been working in her room all the morning, with her reading and her typewriter, had taken off time to provide in the way of sandwiches and milk; I only occasionally had lunch, Eileen a very light one and the two growing boys were ready for something to eat; the rest of the day was left to each one's recourses as a rule; I had some outside job, such as painting woodwork or splitting wood for the kitchen stove or doing some

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work on the breast work which protects our land from the sea. David got to know a displaced family which lived not very far from our house; at first he was not very friendly with them, as he resented as did I, the fact that the children of the family, 5 or six in number, used to throw some of the stones forming the breast work onto the shore or into the water; after a while David and these Dutch children got to know each other better and for the most of the time we were in residence in Souris West, they played together.

About August 1st the school opened in Souris West, the Dutch children went to school each day; they did not understand how it came about that David had lessons at home; some days when school was not in session the Dutch children would come and look in the window of the room where David and I were having lessons or Peter and I were having discussions or readings. After our morning readings were over with Peter, he would go down to Phonsie farm in Glenwood to help with haying. Eileen used to tease him saying his visits were prompted as well by a desire to talk with Helen's neice, a nice little high school girl from Boston, who was spending the summer at Phonsie's farm.

Peter got his hands blistered when working at the hay; we did not pay much attention to them when they first appeared, but two of them got infected and painful, so much so that when soaking his fingers in hot water did not cause their disappearance. I had to incise them; I had no scapel of my own; Peter, however, brought down with him a long sharp pointed one I had given him in Montreal; it was brought down in case we would have fish or small animals like mice or rats to dissect.

So when it came to pass, that by soaking in hot water the impacted blister began to point and be painful, I had Peter sharpen the scalpel on a whet stone I had in the tool chest and after a good boiling of the knife and with Peter stretched out on a couch and the reddened tender skin over the abscess cleaned with ether we had for our specimens, I quickly incised one

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abscess and in a few days it was necessary to incise another on his index finger. David was a careful observer of Peter's ordeal and his enquiries to Peter - does it hurt? did not help Peter's peace of mind. We had gauze and some sulphathiozle powder which we used every night for dressing; I was glad the infection did not spread beyond the plexor surface of the bone of two fingers. Pus came away following the incision and his finger was not as painful afterwards.

Each year during the past four or five years I've been going to P.E.I. in the month of August. I made it a point to call upon my former school teacher, Mrs. Richard Kickham; when I went to school she was Miss Alice Landrigan; the school in Souris West during her year or two of teaching had over fifty pupils ranging in years from those who were learning their a.b.c.'s to those who were beginning the rudiments of Algebra, Latin; she was succeeded as a teacher by Frank Murphy and he by Tom Cullen; it was Frank Murphy and Tom Cullen who turned the minds of Howard Leslie, Alex Campbell and myself towards serious study but no doubt Alice Landrigan and her predecessor, Joe Roache contributed something in that direction. Alice Landrigan and her brother, James, who married my cousin Hannah Mullally, were both good teachers; so was my cousin Hannah, but I never went to school to her; Alice married Richard Kickham, a neighbor of my family all his life; he died some years ago; Rich and Alice brought up a large family in the old John Kickham home which Rich inherited; Lawrence Kickham is a Doctor of Medicine in Lockport, near Edmonton, Alberta. James is a practising dentist in Kitchener, Ont. and Tom, who has the old home at present, is the Federal M.P. representing Kings Co., P.E.I. in Ottawa.

Each summer I enjoyed a visit when in Souris West with my

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former school teacher; she was bedridden and had been for most of the preceeding year when I called to see her in August, of this year. Her memory was not nearly as good as when I had seen her the summer before; I asked her if I might bring the two grandsons who were with me in Souris to see her some day soon; about one week after I had seen her she died rather suddenly in the night; her passing severed a link with the past. Her funeral to the parish church in Rollo Bay was attended by 76 automobiles; there may have been a few horse drawn vehicles but very few; what a contrast to the funeral processions I had known on P.E.I. in my younger days. She was 89 years old when she died; she was a good woman, a good teacher, a true mother to her family; she leaves a very pleasant memory with many. At the burial I was interested to see the introduction of so called modern methods in burial of the dead. Embalming had been done at the undertaker's shop in Souris; the usual fluffy stuffing of the casket; the artificial imitation sod effects, a carpet-like substance over the top of the grave, a metal frame of cross pieces upon which the casket rested after it was taken from the church to the grave, and at the conclusion of the religious service a mechanism was set in motion which slowly, gradually lowered the casket into the rough wooden box structure, the undertaker's staff filling in the grave. How much simpler, how much nicer, in my estimation, was the procedure sixty and less years ago in the same hamlet of Souris West in the disposal of the dead. Let me recall some of the procedures as a boy I recall being present in the carpenter shop of John Cantwell in Souris West, when he was called upon to make a coffin; dry boards of pine or other soft wood were chosen, the coffin effect was done by this fine carpenter by partially sawing each board at the intended bend and then bending them to the required angle; the coffin was lined inside and out by a black textile material; it probably had a special name which I have forgotten; it was bought by the yard with the rest of the funeral supplies at Kickham's Store in Souris West or Matthew and McLean

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in Souris East; on the inside of the coffin it was kept in position by ordinary tacks; on the outside, a special large headed bright tack was employed; where two portions of the black covering material came together as at the long seams from end to end these tacks with their large bright heads tacked into place about one inch apart gave a pattern to the coffin that was not without an artistic effect; this was noticed on the sides and cover, holes were made for ordinary screws to fix the cover in place; three handles on each side of bright colored metal were adjusted with either screws or small bolts; one of those handles on each side would be put above the hand and two on each side below; I don't recall any soft material being used to line the coffin beneath the black textile material lining the coffin; a metal breast plate was provided upon which the name and age of the deceased and date of death was inscribed by someone in the place capable of making such an inscription on metal; this breast plate was removed as a rule before the coffin was covered with earth at time of burial; only this summer of 1952, in the attic of the kitchen of our house in Souris West, I found the breast plate that had been removed from my mother's coffin; she died on March 20th, 1911. The hearse for transporting the dead was kept in an out-building at Rollo Bay Church; on the morning of the burial, the man who was to drive the hearse went to Rollo Bay Church with a horse and harness, usually a dark colored horse and brought the hearse to the home in which the body had been waked; the pall bearers, usually six in number, with crepe tied around their hats or caps in winter and with a band of crepe around their left arms, after prayers had been said, screwed the cover on the coffin and removed it to the hearse drawn up before the front door of the house; the man drawing the hearse had crepe about his hat and around his left arm; the crepe was kept in place by black headed pins; no bow effect was made with the crepe but the ends were simply pinned together three or four inches from the ends giving a tail like effect; the crepe was adjusted by the women folks before the coffin was closed.

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I have dwelt longer on this incident of my visit to P.E.I. this summer than I had intended; I suppose at my age one likes to recall the past, particularly one's early years; the death and burial of my former school teacher afforded the opportunity of comparing the past with the present in some affairs pertaining to life.

Before we left for P.E.I. any conversations I had with my daughter Jean about the Island and holidaying there were connected in my mind with next year; I did not think she would want to go down there when she was expecting a baby on or about Sept. 23rd. I was pleased and surprised when she came along with Patricia on the evening of Saturday, August 16th and with them were Brenda Mary Skelton, Jane Skelton and Lela Gruner. Jean's coming was intended to be a big surprise for me and Eileen; James unintentionally spilled the beans as the saying has it, when in writing to me about another matter he mentioned the arrangements for departure for P.E.I. on the part of those whose names appear above. It was a great reunion in Souris West when Joan and Neel Hodson met them at the Ch Town airport and brought them to the house about 10.30 p.m.

The following day, Sunday, the usual routine of our P.E.I. holiday carried on with Neel taking most of us out to Rollo Bay for 10 o'clock mass; I made an attempt to bring Brenda Mary and Lela into the tuition periods David and I were having and of course there was no place for them with Peter and me.

Brenda Mary is a bright girl. She will be difficult to fit into any plan of procedure which she does not wish to join; she reads well, perhaps better than David; she has not David's ability to make friends; she is more original than David in her comments and may be quicker in grasping an idea. She is likely to be difficult to lead; if her affection can be secured she will follow, she is more inclined than the average child of her years to have opinions of her own.

Jane is a lovable child; she had her first birthday in Souris West two years ago on July 13, 1950, without a tooth in her mouth when

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she went back to Montreal after September 1st she had practically all of her baby teeth; we got to Souris West in 1950 on Jane's birthday; in 1952 Jane arrived with her mother as already recorded on August 16.

I should like to record some of the things she did and said during the two weeks she was there; she has had a habit of swaying back and forward when seated on a lounge or in a bed; she has had that habit for well over a year or not longer; in Souris she kept up the habit. It normally indicated she was getting tired; she varied it by chanting with every sway the words Ronnie, Danville. Before she came down to P.E.I. she had spent a week with Brenda, her Aunt, and Uncle Ronnie, in Danville, P.Que.; they were attached to the child and she to them, particularly to Ronnie.

Every evening when he got home from his office and their evening meal was finished, the three of them Ronnie, Brenda and Jane would go for a drive and Jane would be seated on Ronnie's knees with her hands on the steering wheel; so when she got back home and while she was at Danville, her swaying movements were accompanied by her chanting of Ronnie Danville with each swaying movement; she brought the performance to Souris and to anyone outside the household who witnessed Janie performing for the first time an explanation had to be given of the unusual actions of the child. She had a number of little ways other than the one just mentioned; she might be put to bed at her usual hour but she wanted contact with her mother by calling out from upstairs good night. If she was replied to right away, she repeated the call in a louder tone until she got a reply, when she would stop to begin again in a few minutes if she found things monotonous; this was liable to annoy Brenda or David who might ask Jane in a far from pleased tone to shut up. Jane has the impulsive habit of rushing into the arms not only of her own relatives but of near strangers who may happen to be around when she comes into a room; her well known fondness for the personal ornaments and jewelery of others is of such a nature that those who know about it guard their

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brooches or ear rings or anything bright and shining on their clothes when Jane is close to them; she is very quick in thrusting out an arm and making a grab for the object that has taken her attention; on more than one occasion Jane's mother has been greatly embarrassed by Jane on a street car when seated beside some strange woman, Jane's engaging smile on the stranger is followed by a sudden grab at some shining article on the stranger's clothing. Jane's vocabulary increased while on the Island and after she got home; at present she amuses her elders by telling them in a laughing tone to “shush up”. Another of her actions is to come up and whisper some gibberish in your ear and then burst out into gales of laughter, swaying back and forth and slapping her hands on her knees; Jane has a very friendly personality; the dimple in her right cheek is much in evidence for she is frequently in smiles. Her large eyes look at one very closely to see what kind of expression is on your face, if it is smiling, Jane is radiant, if severity, is assumed Jane is downcast; she is a lovable child. A year or so ago Brenda Mary's mind seemed to be occupied frequently with Ollie Kingdon's name; she would be holding imaginary telephone conversations with Ollie whether he was in Toronto or in England; if she were told that Ollie wouldn't like her if she did such and such a thing, she would be likely to stop doing what was objectionable.

Around about the time Ollie married Mrs. Frazer in St. Helen, Jersey Island, perhaps before, but having no definite connection with the event Brenda Mary did not speak about Ollie so frequently; perhaps going to school took up more of her interests (Ollie was married April 14, 1952).

Elaine Cecilia Gruner, to be known as Lala, born January 8, 1946, eight days before her cousin Brenda Mary Skelton came to P.E.I. with her Aunt Patricia and Jean, on Saturday, August 16, 1952, along with Brenda Mary and Jane Skelton. I have not had the same opportunity for seeing Lala at close range as much as other members of her own family and her cousins, the Mullallys and the Skeltons; Lala is a shy little girl;

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she does not make friends readily, but is attached to those she likes; her parents did not send her to school last year, this year she has gone; she may have taken Kindergarten last year. One thing she did last year was to learn the rudiments of ballet dancing which she does very well for a child; she likes it; and what training she has so far had has given her a graceful carriage; she has a pleasing face and a graceful body; in the home atmosphere where she is fortunate in having, she should have little difficulty in keeping up with children of her own age in matters pertaining to the mind. She gets on well with her five brothers and does not allow any one of them to boss over her; she swims not at all badly for a beginner; a form of grippe was in evidence in our household in the latter half of August when we were about nine and then ten in residence; it was accompanied in some instances by vague abdominal pain; Lala had it. She bears pain well; for a short time I was worried as temperature and abdominal pain are not to be lightly regarded in children. I had some sulpha tablets and Lala was kept in bed; her appetite was off for a short time; she did not wish me to palpate her “tummy”. She was stoical in her behavior, no complaints. Quietly, lying on her side and taking treatment as prescribed for her; she was more at ease with her Aunt Patricia than with me. Lala and Brenda Mary played a good deal together. They had differences of opinion but on the whole got on well together. I think at parties in Montreal for children they got together more than either of them does with other little girls known to both of them; no doubt Lala has her own particular girl chum whom she plays with more than any other children of her own age and I presume the same thing may be said about Brenda Mary. I hope as cousins, only one week apart in age, they may become good friends throughout their lives.

It would be premature to have much to say about the child who on October 18 is going to be christened Matthew Emmet Skelton. His mother surprised me by coming to P.E.I. so far away from Montreal and

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St. Mary's Hospital; however, she was told by her Doctor, John Lefebvre, that it was all right to go and I was real glad to have her; on one occasion during her two weeks stay, she gave us cause to be a bit worried about her; she did not feel well for a day or so; looking back at it now, it was very likely the prevailing grippe; I thought for a short time it might be the beginning of delivery and had plans laid for taking her over to the little hospital in Souris should definite labor pains set in; knowing from experience how speedily she proceeded in her three former deliveries I know there would not be much time to spare in getting her to hospital should labor start. It would have been the first of the grandchildren born on the Island had what we were a bit apprehensive about for some hours taken effect but fortunately in a matter of hours she was again normal and the possibility of remaining longer on P.E.I. than Sept. 1 was removed; not that I would have minded remaining with her and sending the rest of our guests back to Montreal, but commitments made some weeks before, for action in the first few days in September would have to be postponed.

Jean had been told that she was more likely to give birth to a girl than a boy and on the Island we spoke about the baby girl that was to arrive towards the end of September, as if a little girl had already arrived. Dr. Gruner, who as a bit of research, has been taking drops of blood of expecting mothers and examining them under the microscope, had told Jean early in her pregnancy that it looked as if she could expect a girl; in the majority of cases he had been right in what he had, as it were, foretold, in a few instances he had been wrong and this pregnancy of Jean was one of them. Jean enjoyed herself during the two weeks she was on the Island and when Murray arrived from Halifax where he had been doing some work for his company, the Murray Skelton family was complete and we all had a good time.

When we arrived on the Island the lobster fishing season was over, that is the law ordains that lobsters are not to be trapped at certain times of the year and we were on P.E.I. at one of those seasons when it

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was not legal to catch them; everyone knows that a few lobsters caught out of season would not injure the industry. I asked Reggie Peters, who lives not far from my place, if he could get a feed of lobsters for my family and he said he would; as he was delayed in getting them I asked a Chevarie man who was fishing cod, and hake out of Souris West, if he could get me some and he said he would try and put down a few traps for me; well, one morning about nine I heard the Chevarie boat chug chugging up the channel and taking a potato bag with me, I went over to the east end of the bridge where his fishing shack was located and sure enough he had some; he put about twenty live lobsters in the bag for which I paid him two dollars; he gave instructions how to cook them in salt water which we followed carefully and put the cooked shell fish down in the cellar to keep for the evening meal; about one hour before the meal was due I met Reggie Peters coming down the road with a large cooking dish in his hands and he said I brought you something for your supper; he had over twenty cooked lobsters in the large pan and would not accept any payment for them; for three days our family of ten had the best feeds of lobsters we had had for years; Peter and David were successful in picking up a bucket full of oysters when the tide was fairly low up the Souris River and then Peter and I on another occasion picked a bucketful and on a third occasion, Peter, Murray and I collected two bucketfuls; so we had no lack of shell fish during parts of our holiday, not to mention clams which we dug up on the shore from time to time.

Every holiday at Souris West we have been in receipt of many kindnesses from Wade and Ella Hughes; from George and Ella Mullally; from the Cairns family from Phonsie and Helen MacDonald and the holiday of 1952 was no exception to what they and other friends and relations had done before. In particular, Wade and Ella scarcely a day went by without a visit from one or the other and in many instances from both of them. Wade's conversation and stories were readily looked forward to.

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Their family is growing up. Eileen is working in an office in Ch Town, Jimmy is working in the J.J. Hughes Co. store; Billy and Tommy and Jimmy are going to school as is Catherine; Pee Wee is in Ch Town training to be a nurse. Mudgie, the eldest, by reason of her invalidism, is at home where the poor child, now over twenty years, is destined to remain all her life. What is in store for this fine family, who can tell. Like every family, it will break up, young people will seek opportunities to carry on for themselves, and it is very likely as in the case of so many other families on P.E.I., that these opportunities will be sought in other places than the Island. The George Mullally family will be heard from in the future; the great work accomplished by Ella in taking charge of her brother's children when their mother died while the five of them, four boys and one girl, were very young children, is likely to get results in the near future; John and Joseph are approaching the end of their college courses; Helen is now in St. Dunstans and Junior has had his first year in college. Sinnot is working on the farm.

In Rollo Bay Cemetery, my mother and father and my sister Jessie Josephine are buried. My father died January 7, 1950, my mother on March 20, 1911 and Jessie on August 23, 1905. On August 23, 1951, and Aug. 23/52 I went out to Rollo Bay for mass and went through the cemetery after Mass was over. Peter Gruner learned from me on night of Aug. 22/52 that I was going to Rollo Bay to Mass on early morning of August 23 and he asked if he might come along with me. It was a nice walk out to Rollo Bay.

I seem to recall the events of going to Mass and afterwards visiting the graves of my dead and the graves of a number of old friends on the morning of Aug. 23, 1951 quite vividly; I remember them quite well. On morning of Aug. 23, 1952 also; it may have been the very lovely morning and being alone and not greived, but in a mood one had when calling

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on old friends that makes me recall my visit of one year ago more vividly than the visit Peter and I made last August. I must have visited at least a dozen graves after I had prayed beside those of my family. My step-father, John Kickham, Uncle Archie, Cottie and Alex Campbell; Isabelle and Ian MacDonald, my cousins, the children of Val and Maud, who were taken away so soon by polio a few years ago; Father Walker's monument and many more. It was a beautiful morning, across the road from the cemetery was the old Rollo Bay church, more intimately connected with my memories than by new ones, which were built on the site of the old; in the cemetery are the bodies of young people who went to school with me; they are perhaps unmarked but some of them came to mind as I wandered about. Father Walker's monument erected in great part by former residents of the parish who had gone to the United States and some to western Canada. As I walked home on that particular morning, every foot of the road brought back memories of the many times I went out to Rollo Bay to serve Mass for Father Walker, when I was quite young. It seemed as if many of my associates and old friends of years ago were along the road and I stopped and talked with them. Bodily contact is out for the living with those who have gone to another world but spiritual contact may be achieved by prayer and meditation; part of the interest I have had each summer that I go back to my former home in Souris West is the recalling of past memories, reliving in memory, some of the incidents of the past. I hope I shall be able to have more of my grandchildren along with my own children in summers to come to the house in Souris West; conferences and lessons, improving the land our house is on, planting trees, painting wood work, playing in the water, walks, the occasional visit, meeting old friends and relations. These things blended together make up an interesting combination for an enjoyable holiday.

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Labor Day, Monday, September 1st, was the day we had chosen earlier in the summer for our return to Montreal. We would have liked to stay longer, but each of us had things to do; Peter, David, Brenda Mary, Lala, had to go to school. Patricia and Eileen and Jean had jobs to do. Jean had a most important job to do - to give birth to a child. Neel and Joan said they would take over half of our group of ten in to the airport on Monday, Sept. 1, they would come out with their car on Sunday evening and after breakfast on Monday we could leave the house about 9 in the morning and get to the airport in plenty of time for the 11.30 flight to Moncton; some of us would go in by the bus, due to leave Souris (so we thought) at 8 o'clock.

It happened fortunately for us that our cousin Billy Archie and his wife and daughter Stephanie, came from Ch Town Sunday, Sept 30 and brought back with them practically all of our luggage along with Peter and David, who would meet us at the airport on Monday. Patricia, Brenda Mary and Lala and I went down to the end of the bridge where the bus stops for passengers going to Ch Town; we stood there for half an hour waiting for that bus, then I went to Hughes house to find out what was wrong; we were told no bus would go into Ch Town until the afternoon. What a dilemma to be in! If we did not get to the plane we couldn't make the train connection at Moncton going to Montreal; we couldn't get a taxi. We had to ask Neel to take three extra passengers on an already crowded car; seeing the fix we were in, he consented; Neel, Murray and myself, adult males; Jean, Patricia, Eileen and Jean, adult females; Brenda Mary, Lala and Jane and there was Joan's dog. Seven adults and three children, and a dog with some handbags and a pound of butter. Neel drove very carefully for with so much weight, a tire might explode or a spring break. Fortunately the day was fine, the road was good and Neel, an expert at driving, avoiding any holes in the paved road and going slow; how many of the ten in the group were saying prayers that no accident would happen and that we would make the plane on time, we shall never know;

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we got there in good time; the pound of butter which we found over and above our needs, we were giving to Joan and it was placed in the dash board of the car; it fell down to the floor in front of me where I was holding the dog from getting up on Jean's lap, who was seated between me and Neel on the front seat with Jane, sometimes on her lap and sometimes on mine; the butter package was trampled on during the journey and had to be thrown away. When the others were assembling themselves at the airplane station, Neel, Joan and I drove into the hospital to see Mr. Winchester before I came away from P.E.I. His condition was unchanged. I could give no comfort to Joan, except the fact of seeing him. The trip on the plane from Ch Town to Moncton provided us with the same fine views of the Island as we had experienced on former occasions; Murray, Peter, David and Brenda Mary occupied the compartment I had got before we left Montreal in July; I had a lower berth to myself; Patricia, Eileen, Jean, Jane and Lala had the parlor car Patricia had engaged when she came away from Montreal on August 15; we got to Montreal about 9 a.m. Sept. 2 and during the day got into our usual places of work, a fine holiday over for another year.

I should place on record that a few days before we left P.E.I., my nephew, Emmet Donahue and two of his sisters-in-law, called at the house in order to take with them medals his father had won in athletic meets in the Maritimes and at McGill during his student days in St. Dunstans and in Montreal; they had been in the house in Souris West following Bob's death in Rocanville Sask. in Nov. 1918 from the influenza epidemic when his wife, my sister Florrie, moved to P.E.I. with her two sons Emmet and Raymond, the third son Robert died shortly after his father; along with the medals he took a trunkful of books belonging to him and Raymond, his father's group pictures of athletes at McGill and Montreal and also a table belonging to his mother; a second table along with the case the medals had been in which were later on crated and sent to Emmet Donahue's address on MacDonald Ave. in Montreal. The removal of Bob's

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medals from the house they rested in longer than any other place, to their rightful owners, his own sons, will not remove from my mind the memory of one I was very fond of whose remarkable powers as an all-round athlete at McGill was never equalled during Bob's four years at McGill and the forty-four since his graduation; following his graduation in medicine at McGill in 1908, he went for a short time to Minnesota, where his brother, Rev. James Donahue, was working as a priest in that large diocese; he preferred western Canada and set up a practice in Rocanville, Saskatchewan; he married my sister Florrie in Montreal in St. Patrick's Church in 1910; in August 1912, I visited them in Rocanville. Ronnie MacDonald, my cousin, was staying with them preparatory to taking up practice in Saskatchewan. In Nov. 1918, Bob died of influenza, and shortly afterwards my sister came to Souris, P.E.I.

From the time Jean got back to Montreal on Sept. 2, she was under observation of some kind or another until she went into St. Mary's Hospital (room 410) on Sept. 22; she was under the care of Dr. John Lefebvre who looked after her three years ago when Jane was born. He has looked after Jessie and Jean in obstretical matters since Dr. James R. Goodall, my classmate and friend, died.

Jean's activities during the three weeks following her return from P.E.I. were not greatly curtailed. She took part in the work and parties that took place when Brenda and Ronnie came in from Danville. She attended the reception held in the Ritz-Carlton Hotel on Saturday, Oct. 4, following Elaine and Jim Cleary's marriage at St. Ignatius Church at 11.30 a.m. that morning. One of the parties Jean attended in September was my birthday celebration held at 2021 Union Ave. on Saturday evening, September 20th. She attended her usual household duties, came in to 2021 Union Ave. when doing downtown shopping. She had been told that Sept. 23 was to be her big day; her doctor on a weekend, when he wanted to stay at his country place in the Laurentians for an extra day, suggested

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that labor he induced; Jean did not care to do that and she had an uncomfortable experience with a like procedure before Jane's arrival about three years ago. When she came to hospital she was placed in one of the labor rooms on the 5th floor, close to two young women who have their first experience with child birth; she heard the usual statement from me that it would never happen again, from the other details of her married life; to both she could give some comfort when she told of the short time she had been in labor, particularly with Brenda Mary and Jane. Jean had little sleep that night of Sept. 22 and no labor pains; she began to get strong pains shortly after eight in the morning and soon outdistanced the two women whose pains and woes had kept her sleepless the night through; in less than one half an hour from the time her pains began the baby was born and when Dr. Lefebvre phoned me some minutes later that a boy, weighing 7 lbs. 3 ozs. had been born, it was a surprise; not a surprise as to the shortness of time in delivery; we had all been led to believe that she would have a girl. On few occasions Dr. Gruner's blood test had not been accurate, strengthened the belief we all had in its accuracy; the day Jean went to St. Mary's, Jane Elizabeth was taken to the home of Madame St. Laurent on Molson Street, where she and her daughter Jeanne had rooms with her nurse and husband, Mr. & Mrs. Austin. Jane made captives of the entire household to such an extent that when her mother came back from St. Mary's on or about October 2nd or 5th or 10th they were loathe to part with Jane. It was while Jean was in St. Mary's that she and Murray decided upon the name for the new baby, Matthew Emmet, they also decided upon the godparents; I think I was in Jean's hospital room when Jean asked Brenda and Ronnie to be the child's godparents, Saturday, Sept. 27 or Sunday, Sept. 28th.

On September 29 and 30 I was in Three Rivers, P. Que. attending the two days Convention of the Canadian Catholic Historical Association when Rev. W.J. Osborne, Pastor of St. Rose Church, Fairville, New

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Brunswick became President General succeeding Jean Bruchesi, Deputy Secretary of state of Quebec Province.

Jean was up out of bed the day after the baby was born; she was up for a longer time, each succeeding day; it is becoming more and more the way to carry on now with young mothers to get them out of bed early when no symptoms of disorder or trouble are to be found.

In the years when I did obstretics, two weeks were the usual time spent in bed after childbirth; the mothers of today's mothers are hard to convince that this early rising of today is a good thing; most of the ills that one sees in present day mothers are attributed by today's grandmothers to getting up too soon after childbirth. With such a view I do not agree.

I think Jean and her baby came away from the hospital on Oct. 2. I know she had the child circumcised about a week before and on the day she came away she delayed her departure a few hours while an X ray was taken of the child's chest to see if any enlarged thymus gland was present. On Saturday, Oct. 4,/51, Elaine Lapres was married to James Cleary at St. Ignatius Church at 11.30 a.m. by Father M. Healey, one of the curators at St. Augustine of Canterbury. One of Elaine's wedding attendants was my daughter Brenda. Brenda and Ronnie gave a party for Elaine and James at 2021 Union Ave. on Sept. 27. Jean came to the reception at the Ritz Carlton Hotel which began about 1.30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 4.

Jean and Murray arranged for the baby's christening Saturday at 3.30 p.m. at St. Ignatius Church; the arrangement was made with Father Monahan S.J. a native of P.E.I. Mrs. E. M's christening robe was used; there are, I believe, two christening robes at 2021 Union Ave.; the christening robe which Matthew Emmet Skelton used has been used a number of times before by others of our grand children. Ronnie and Brenda drove Mrs. E M and me and Pat along with David and the twins, first to

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the twins home at 3501 Vendome Ave. and the rest of us to 4960 King Edward; the twins had been with Pat to a concert and they met David at 2021 Union; those three children have a good time when they get together; they had lunch at 2021 Union, afterwards Mrs. E. M. took the twins with her when she went to buy a gift for the new baby. David went shopping with Pat and me when a pair of breeks was bought for him at Morgans. From 4960 King Edward, Jean and the baby Brenda and Ronnie and Mrs. E M Pat drove out to St. Ignatius Church. David, Brenda Mary and I had got about half way to the church walking when Murray and Eileen and Jane caught up to us in a taxi and we drove the rest of the way. Pat may have gone with the baby and Jean and the godparents. At the church a children's religious service was in progress. Father Frank MacDonald S.J. was helping out at the front of the church where off the vestibule in a fairly small room, is the christening font; he bustled around and got this room cleared out of some of the things that were in it connected with the religious services for the little ones, such as, holy pictures, rosaries, etc. He then proceeded with conferring the sacrament of Baptism on the child.

The ceremony connected with bestowal of this Sacrament is more elaborate than the ritual connected with receiving any of the other six Sacraments; while we all know that the essence of bestowal consists in pouring water on the child's body while saying the words and baptise thee in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost; the water need not be more than a few drops and it may be put on any part of the body and any one may do it in case of emergency; yet when the ceremony is carried out in a church with all that is laid down in the ritual, it is an impressive ceremony. Brenda Mary and David watched with the greatest interest every part of the ceremony, Jane Elizabeth was not old enough to be much interested in the proceedings; she was more taken up with the people who were there.

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Mrs. L. Skelton, the child's paternal grandmother, had seen the ceremony before. Mrs. Naomi Calder, Murray's sister who drove in from her home in Hudson Heights to be present, was quite interested. A part of the ceremony requires the godparents to recite together the Apostles Creed. Father Frank MacDonald asked the godparents were they able to say it without reading it out of the book which he was using during the ceremony; they demonstrated to his satisfaction that they were able to say it without the aid of his manual and thinking that perhaps he may have hurt their Catholic feelings by even doubting their ability to say their prayers after the ceremony was over he told a P.E. Island story.

Those present at the ceremony, in addition to Father MacDonald were: Matthew Emmet Skelton, Mrs. Jean Skelton, Mr. J. Murray Skelton; David, Brenda Mary and Jane Skelton. Mrs. Leslie Skelton, paternal grandmother; Mrs. Naomi Thomas Calder, paternal Aunt, the godparents, Mr. and Mrs. Ronald Hugh McDougall; Mrs. Emmet J. Mullally, maternal grandmother, Emmet J. Mullally, maternal grandfather; Miss Patricia and Miss Eileen Mullally, maternal aunts; the baby was very quiet throughout the ceremony. I have been present at many baptisms and the majority of the recipients have been noisy at some time throughout the fairly long ritual, some when the salt is placed on their tongue, most when water is poured on their head and some keep up a howl throughout; the minority are quiet and sleep throughout. Matthew Emmet was one of the quiet minority. Father MacDonald's memory for names may have been deficient, like many others for years, or it may have only been noticeable to him in recent years; in any event, when he had reason to pronounce the names, he was inclined to hesitate for a moment or so before carrying on. The P.E.I. story Father MacDonald told came from Rev. Pius McLellan, S.J., another P.E. Islander. At a wake on the Island, it is the custom so it seems, to ask the oldest man at the wake to say the rosary, “put out the prayers as it is called” Angus was asked to say the beads and not feeling

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sure of his ability to say the creed without the using of the prayer book, and not having his “specs” with him to read the words, he turned to his elderly friend Roddy - he said “you say the beads Roddy, I feel so sorry for the one who's dead.”

Mrs. Skelton, and I, along with Jane, David and Brenda Mary and Eileen, drove back to 4960 King Edward in Naomi's car, after the christening; the remainder of those at the ceremony went with Ronnie and Brenda. Refreshments were served and in a short time after the party was joined by the Misses Murray, aunts of Murray and grand aunts of Matthew Emmet, by James Mullally and his wife Mary, Uncle and Aunt of the child, by Jessie and Malcolm Gruner, Aunt and Uncle of the baby, by Mr. and Mrs. George Higden, friends of the family, living a few streets away from Jean and Murray; Mrs. Higden, as Miriam Goodman and Jean and Brenda Mullally, went to school together in the earlier years of the Thomas D'Arcy McGee High School for Girls, when that school first began. Marjorie Gallagher, another friend of the family, also joined the party. A toast to the baby was proposed by the maternal grandfather and was drank or drunk on Canadian Champagne, another name of which is Chateau Gai. A very enjoyable party followed, refreshments were passed around by David, Brenda Mary and others; Jane was much occupied by going from person to person and was attracted by the earrings and brooches on the persons of the ladies present whom she favored with her friendly attention. The next day was Sunday. Brenda and Ronnie stayed at 2021 Union Ave. the night of the christening and afternoon mass the next day they went along with Eileen and Patricia on a little party of their own getting to Jean and Murrays about 4 p.m. and to 2021 Union about eight P.M. When food and liquid refreshments were being served in the kitchen of 2021 Union, Brenda and Ronnie told Mrs. E M and me what they had already told Patricia, Eileen, Jean and Murray, that Brenda was hopeful that at the end of eight months or so of having a child of their own.

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This was very good news; I would feel sorry for a child of mine who is married and childless;

Perhaps it is well in drawing these notes to a close to refer briefly to one event of world wide importance. The Presidential Election in the United States.

On Tuesday, Nov. 4, 1952, this election resulted in the return of General Dwight Eisenhower, the Republican candidate by the largest popular vote ever recorded in the United States, over thirty one million votes were recorded for the Republican Candidate and over twenty-six million for the democratic candidate Governor Adelai Stevenson, governor of the State of Illinois. The electrol college vote for Eisenhower 430 or thereabouts, the largest vote ever given a Presidential candidate. Up to the eve of the election the different polls throughout the U.S. predicted the results would be very close; it was reported that Lloyds of London, England, whose reputation for putting up bets on any national or international question throughout the world, were not taking any chances; on his personal reputation Eisenhower won a landslide victory surpassing the election returns of F.D. Roosevelt, the successful democratic candidate in three (was it four?) Presidential elections. At this writing, Nov. 5/52, the world at large is recovering from the surprise of such an election return; he was accorded an even chance by astute political observers but in their wildest dreams no Eisenhower supporter ever thought he was to be given such an impressive vote of confidence by the ordinary every day people; his running mate, Nixon, as vice president, will be recalled as one who took a prominent part in a congressional committee in exposing the part communism has penetrated into high places of U.S. government circles; a remarkable book, The Witness by Whittaker Chambers, a self-confessed former communist who by conviction broke with communism and whose book is in my opinion one of the aids in timing the recent election by its exposure of communistic methods throughout the United States should also be noted in these concluding references.

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