OFFICERS' ALLOWANCES.
To readers of H-T-T descriptions of modes of living in by-gone days
will, no doubt, be as interesting as actual hunting or trapping. I
therefore submit a reminiscence of days in the early sixties, gone
never to return.
Transport then to the far inland posts was so tedious and costly that
it was impossible to freight heavy stuff so far away, and the
employees of the company had to live on what the company in which
they were stationed produced. However, a scale of allowances of a few
delicacies were allowed, and these were made up every year at the
depot of each district, and were for one year. The laborers or common
people about the post got nothing in the way of imported provisions,
except when at the hard work of tripping. The officers' scale was as
follows, be he a married man or a single man, it made no difference.
Their several grades were as follows:
Chief Factor, Chief Trader, Chief Clerk, Apprentice Clerk, Post
Master.
A Post Master did not mean a master of a post, but was generally a
long service laborer, who could supervise the general work about the
post and act as interpreter if required. He also received a minimum
allowance from headquarters, but of fewer articles than that of
clerks and officers. A Chief Factor, being of the highest grade in
the service, received the largest allowance, which was as follows:
Three hundred pounds flour, 336 lbs. sugar, 18 lbs. black tea, 9 lbs.
green tea, 42 lbs. raisins, 60 lbs. butter, 30 lbs. tallow candles, 3
lbs. mustard, 6 3/4 gal. port wine, 6 3/4 sherry wine, 3 gal. brandy.
Exactly one-half of the Factor's allowance was the share of the Chief
Trader, and a half of the latter's portion was the scale for a Chief
Clerk or Apprentice Clerk. A Post Master however, not receiving the
full list, I will give in detail.
Fifty-six pounds sugar, 3 lbs. black tea, 1 1/2 lbs. green tea, 7
lbs. rice, 1/2 lb. pepper, 1/4 lb. pimento.
At every post where it was possible to grow potatoes they were given
the greatest attention, as they constituted a very material place in
the feeding of the post people. They were, however, kept under lock
and key, and a weekly allowance given out by the Post Master. At
posts where cattle were kept the allowance of butter was not supplied
by headquarters, as we were supposed to make our own.
The allowances never came up with the general outfit, but were sent
up in bulk to the headquarters of the district, and there parceled
out for each post in that Factor's territory. The clerks or officers
in charge of these out-posts went to headquarters about the 15th of
August with a half-sized canoe. This being a special trip, made
especially for the allowance of any small thing that might have been
overlooked in the indent, was called "The Allowance Canoe."
A week was generally spent at headquarters in friendly intercourse
with the staff there. The prospects for the ensuing year were talked
over, and the requisition for the next year's outfit read carefully
over, and any article requiring explanation or comment was then gone
into by the Factor while he had the framer of the indent at hand.
This was the only time of the year that all the officers of that
district met together, their respective posts being east, north and
west, and hundreds of miles of forest and stream separating them.
This reunion was a red letter week, and no sooner were we back to our
posts but we looked forward to the next meeting. I doubt very much if
today such a self-reliant, hardy and easily satisfied body of men
could be found to fill similar circumstances.
It was etiquette not to arrive at headquarters before the date
appointed. Occasionally a canoe from some post would have made extra
good time coming out, probably gaining a day or part of a day, and
would camp back of some point almost in sight of "The Fort." A noted
last place of call before reaching the fort was called "Point a la
Barbe."
Here a general clean-up took place, from a shave to clean linen and
store clothes. As the lake upon which the fort is built was the main
dropping-in thoroughfare from several parts of the interior, often
two or three canoe parties would be at the "Point a la Barbe" at
once.
A start would be made from there together, and when the rocky point
which had hidden them from view was rounded a "flee de joie" was
fired from each canoe, the paddle seized, and in unison with the
quick stroke of the "paddle for the avenue," one of the usual French
canoe songs was sung by the voices of the combined fleet till the
rocky shores reproduced it from cliff to cliff.
Almost with the firing of the first shot the people at the post who
were on the lookout ran up the glorious old Hudson's Bay flag to the
flagstaff head, and an answering volley was returned. The
handshaking, talk and laughter when the canoes beached was never to
be forgotten.
Most of those at the fort had relatives or friends at one or other of
the outposts, and if they were not present anxious inquiries were
made and answered on the beach. Possibly some loved one had been
called away since the last opportunity of communication with the
fort; in such a case it devolved on some person of the new arrivals
to break the sad news or receive bad tidings himself. In that case no
words were necessary, the downcast look and the prolonged clasp of
the hand told as well as words the bereavement. I have witnessed such
meetings, and know it was only hours after the meeting that the
details were imparted by words, and that night far into the small
hours could be heard the death chant of the sorrowing relative.
Every night during our stay at headquarters our crews congregated at
the men's guard room, and there hoed down the Red River Reels, and
entered into other harmless pastimes till well up to midnight. During
that week the former rigid discipline of the fort was considerably
relaxed in honor of the strangers.
In the days of which I write liquor had been abolished for the
servants and trade throughout the country, and a few years after even
the officers' allowance of wine and brandy was cut off, so these
dances were not attended by any discord or disturbance.
When the rum allowance was done away with to the servants, they
received in lieu thereof two sterling per annum added to their wages,
and to the Indian who had been in the habit of getting a gill of rum
for every ten "made-beaver" traded, was given one skin for every ten
traded, taking whatever he chose, to the amount of the aggregated
skins, in goods.
For that one good deed alone, Sir George Simpson deserved the thanks
of all throughout the territories when he abolished liquor as a
stimulant to the men and a vehicle of trade with the natives.
The officers received no equivalent when their allowance was
discontinued. It was brought about by the bad use one officer made of
his allowance, and the others suffered thereby. A clerk's allowance
of wine and brandy was done up in three oak kegs, each wine keg
holding 2 1/4 gallons and the brandy one gallon. These were laced
together with stout raw hide lashings, and the piece was called a
"Maccrow," and a very awkward piece it was to portage.
The majority of the officers made it a point of honor to debark the
Maccrow unbroached at their respective posts, and make the contents
spin religiously through the next twelve months. Some could not
withstand the temptation of sampling the liquor enroute, and had very
little when they reached home.
It was one of these gentlemen who was the cause of the allowance
being cut off. A petition was sent in to the Governor asking that we
should receive the equivalent in money for the discontinuance of wine
and brandy, which amounted to seventeen dollars at cost price, but no
answer came, and we had to bear our loss and offer up some nightly
words in favor (or otherwise) of the person who had made an abuse of
his allowance.