beginning. He must have more hospitals than one. He must have doctors
and nurses, medicines and hospital supplies, food and clothing, and a
steam vessel that would take him quickly about to see the sick of the
harbors. A great deal of money would be required, and when the
_Albert_ sailed out of St. John's Harbor and turned back to England he
knew that he had assumed a stupendous job, and that the winter was not
to be an idle one for him by any means.
It was December first when the _Albert_ reached England. With the
backing and assistance of the Mission Board, Doctor Grenfell and
Captain Trevize of the _Albert_ arranged a speaking tour for the
purpose of exciting interest in the Labrador work. Men and women were
moved by the tale of their experiences and the suffering and needs of
the fishermen and liveres. Gifts were made and sufficient funds
subscribed to purchase necessary supplies and hospital equipment, and
a fine rowboat was donated to replace the _Albert's_ whaleboat which
had been smashed during the previous summer.
Then word came from St. Johns that the great shipping firm of Job
Brothers, who owned a fisheries' station at Indian Harbor, had donated
a hospital to the Newfoundland committee. This was to be erected at
Indian Harbor, at the northern side of the entrance to Hamilton Inlet,
two hundred miles north of Battle Harbor, and was to be ready for use
during the summer. This was fine news. Not only were there large
fishery stations at both Battle Harbor and Indian Harbor, but both
were regular stopping places for the fishing schooners when going
north and again on their homeward voyage. With two hospitals on the
coast a splendid beginning for the work would be made.
But there was still one necessity lacking,--a little steamer in which
Doctor Grenfell could visit the folk of the scattered harbors. At
Chester on the River Dee and not far from his boyhood home at Parkgate
Grenfell discovered a boat one day that was for sale and that he
believed would answer his purpose. It was a sturdy little steam
launch, forty-five feet over all. It was, however, ridiculously
narrow, with a beam of only eight feet, and was sure to roll terribly
in any sea and even in an ordinary swell.
But Grenfell was a good seaman, and he could make out in a boat that
did a bit of tumbling. He was the sort of man to do a good job with a
tool that did not suit him if he could not get just the sort of tool
he wanted, and never find fault with it either. The necessary amount
to purchase the launch was subscribed by a friend of the Mission.
Grenfell bought it and was mightily pleased that this last need was
filled. Later the little launch was christened the "Princess May."
Then the _Albert_ was made ready for her second voyage to Labrador.
The Mission Board appointed two young physicians to accompany Doctor
Grenfell, Doctor Arthur O. Bobardt and Doctor Eliott Curwen, and two
trained nurses, Miss Cecilia Williams and Miss Ada Cawardine, that
there might be a doctor and a nurse for the hospital at Battle Harbor
and a doctor and a nurse for the hospital at Indian Harbor. The launch
_Princess May_ was swung aboard the big Allan liner _Corean_ and
shipped to St. John's, and on June second Doctor Grenfell and his
staff sailed from Queenstown on the _Albert_.
Grenfell was as fond of sports as ever he was in his boyhood and
college days, and now, when the weather permitted, he played cricket
with any on board who would play with him. The deck of so small a
vessel as the _Albert_ offers small space for a game of this sort, and
one after another the cricket balls were lost overboard until but one
remained. Then, one day, in the midst of a game in mid-ocean, that
last ball unceremoniously followed the others into the sea.
Grenfell ran to the rail. He could see the ball rise on a wave astern.
"Tack back and pick me up!" he yelled to the helmsman, and to the
astonishment and consternation of everyone, over the rail he dived in
pursuit of the ball.
Grenfell could swim like a fish. He learned that in the River Dee and
the estuary, when he was a boy, and he always kept himself in athletic
training. But he had never before jumped into the middle of so large a
swimming pool as the Atlantic ocean, with the nearest land a thousand
miles away!
The steersman lost his head. He put over the helm, but failed to cut
Grenfell off, and the Doctor presently found himself a long way from
the ship struggling for life in the icy cold waters of the North
Atlantic.
VII
IN THE BREAKERS
The young adventurer did not lose his head, and he did not waste his
strength in desperate efforts to overtake the vessel. He calmly
laid-to, kept his head above water, and waited for the helmsman to
bring the ship around again.
A man less inured to hardships, or less physically fit, would have
surrendered to the icy waters or to fatigue. Grenfell was as fit as
ever a man could be.
In school and college he had made a record in athletic sports, and
since leaving the university he had not permitted himself to get out
of training. An athlete cannot keep in condition who indulges in
cigarettes or liquor or otherwise dissipates, and Grenfell had lived
clean and straight.
It was this that saved his life now. He knew he was fit and he had
confidence in himself, and was unafraid. While he appreciated his
peril, he never lost his nerve, and when finally he was rescued and
found himself on deck he was little the worse for his experience, and
with a change of dry clothing was ready to resume the interrupted game
of cricket with the rescued ball.
With no further adventure than once coming to close quarters with an
iceberg and escaping without serious damage, the _Albert_ arrived in
due time at St. John's, and Grenfell was at once occupied in
preparation for his summer's work on The Labrador. Materials with
which to construct the Indian Harbor hospital were shipped north by
steamer. Supplies were taken aboard the _Albert_, and with Dr. Curwin
and nurses Williams and Cawardine she sailed for Battle Harbor, where
the building to be utilized as a hospital was already erected.
Then the launch _Princess May_, which had been landed from the
_Corean_, was made ready for sea, and with an engineer and a cook as
his crew and Dr. Bobardt as a companion, Dr. Grenfell as skipper put
to sea in the tiny craft on July 7th.
There were many pessimistic prophets to see the _Princess May_ off.
From skipper to cook not a man aboard her was familiar with the coast,
or could recognize a single landmark or headland either on the
Newfoundland coast or on The Labrador.
They were going into rugged, fog-clogged seas. They might encounter an
ice-pack, and the sea was always strewn with menacing icebergs. True,
they had charts, but the charts were most incomplete, and no
Newfoundlander sails by them.
The _Princess May_, a mere cockle-shell, was too small, it was said,
for the undertaking. She was six years old and Grenfell had not given
her a try-out. The consensus of opinion among the wise old
Newfoundland seamen who gathered on the wharf as she sailed was that
Doctor Grenfell and his crew were much like the three wise men of
Gotham who went to sea in a bowl. Still, not a man of them but would
have ventured forth upon the high seas in an ancient rotten old hull
of a schooner. They were acquainted with schooners and the coast,
while the little launch _Princess May_ was a new species of craft to
them, and was manned by green hands.
"'Tis a dangerous voyage for green hands to be makin'," said one, "and
that small boat were never meant for the sea."
"Aye, for green hands," said another. "They'll never make un without
mishap."
"If they does, 'twill be by the mercy o' God."
"And how'll they make harbor, not knowin' what to sail by?"
"That bit of a craft would never stand half a gale, and if she meets
th' ice she'll crumple up like an eggshell."
"And they'll be havin' some nasty weather, _I_ says. We'll never hear
o' _she_ again or any o' them on board."
"Unless by the mercy o' God."
Such were the remarks of those ashore as the _Princess May_ steamed
down the harbor and out through the narrow channel between the
beetling cliffs, into the broad Atlantic. Dr. Grenfell has confessed
that he was not wholly without misgivings himself, and they seemed
well founded when, at the end of the first five miles, the engineer
reported:
"She's sprung a leak, sir!" and anxiously asked, "Had we better put
back?"
"No! We'll stand on!" answered Grenfell. "Those croakers ashore would
never let us hear the end of it if we turned back. We'll see what's
happened."
An examination discovered a small opening in the bottom. A wooden plug
was shaped and driven into the hole. To Doctor Grenfell's satisfaction
and relief, this was found to heal the leak effectually, and the
_Princess May_ continued on her course.
But this was not to end the difficulties. In those waters dense fogs
settled suddenly and without warning, and now such a fog fell upon
them to shut out all view of land and the surrounding sea.
Nevertheless, the _Princess May_ steamed bravely ahead. To avoid
danger Grenfell was holding her, as he believed, well out to sea, when
suddenly there rose out of the fog a perpendicular towering cliff.
They were almost in the white surf of the waves pounding upon the
rocky base of the cliff before they were aware of their perilous
position.
Every one expected that the little vessel would be driven upon the
rocks and lost, and they realized if that were to happen only a
miracle could save them. Grenfell shouted to the engineer, the engine
was reversed and by skillful maneuvering the _Princess May_
succeeded, by the narrowest margin, in escaping unharmed. To their own
steady nerves, and the intervention of Providence the fearless mariner
and his little crew undoubtedly owed their lives.
Grenfell suspected that the compass was not registering correctly.
Standing out to sea until they were at a safe distance from the
treacherous shore rocks, a careful examination was made. The binnacle
had been left in St. Johns for necessary repairs, and the examination
discovered that iron screws had been used to make the compass box fast
to the cabin. These screws were responsible for a serious deviation of
the needle, and this it was that had so nearly led them to fatal
disaster.
A heavy swell was running, and the little vessel, with but eight feet
beam, rolled so rapidly that the compass needle, even when the defect
had been remedied, made a wide swing from side to side as the vessel
rolled. The best that could be done was to read the dial midway
between the extreme points of the needle's swing. This was deemed safe
enough, and away the _Princess May_ ploughed again through the fog.
At five o'clock in the afternoon it was decided to work in toward
shore and search for a sheltering harbor in which to anchor for the
night. Under any circumstance it would be foolhardy for so small a
vessel to remain in the open sea outside, after darkness set in, in
those ice-menaced fog-choked northern waters. The course of the
_Princess May_ was accordingly changed to bear to the westward and
Grenfell was continuously feeling his way through the fog when
suddenly, and to the dismay of all on board, they found themselves
surrounded by jagged reefs and small rocky islands and in the midst of
boiling surf.
Now they were indeed in grave peril. They must needs maintain
sufficient headway to keep the vessel under her helm. Black rocks
capped with foam rose on every side, they did not know the depth of
the water, and the fog was so thick they could scarce see two boat
lengths from her bow.
VIII
AN ADVENTUROUS VOYAGE
The finest school of courage in the world is the open. The Sands of
Dee, the estuary and the hills of Wales made a fine school of this
sort for Grenfell.
The out-of-doors clears the brain, and there a man learns to think
straight and to the point. When he is on intimate terms with the woods
and mountains, and can laugh at howling gales and the wind beating in
his face, and can take care of himself and be happy without the
effeminating comforts of steam heat and luxurious beds, a man will
prove himself no coward when he comes some day face to face with grave
danger. He has been trained in a school of courage. He has learned to
depend upon himself.
Fine, active games of competition like baseball, football, basketball
and boxing, give nerve, self-confidence and poise. Through them the
hand learns instinctively, and without a moment's hesitation, to do
the thing the brain tells it to do.
Down on The Labrador they say that Grenfell has always been "lucky" in
getting out of tight places and bad corners. But we all know, 'way
down in our hearts, that there is no such thing as "luck." "God helps
them that help themselves." That's the secret of Grenfell's getting
out of such tight corners as this one that he had now run into in the
fog. He was trained in the school of courage. He helped himself, and
he knew how. He was unafraid.
So it was now as always afterward. Grim danger was threatening the
_Princess May_ on every side. Each moment Grenfell and his companions
expected to feel the shock of collision and hear the fatal crunching
and splintering of the vessel's timbers upon the rocks. All of
Grenfell's experiences on the Sands of Dee and in the hills of Wales
and out on the estuary came to his rescue. He did not lose his head
for a moment. That would have been fatal. He had acquired courage and
resourcefulness in that out-of-door school he had attended when a boy.
The situation called for all the grit and good judgment he and his
crew possessed.
Under just enough steam to give the vessel steerageway, they wound in
and out between protruding rocks and miniature islands amidst the
white foam of breakers that pounded upon the rocks all around them. At
length they were headed about. Then cautiously they threaded their way
into the open sea and safety.
This was to be but an incident in the years of labor that lay before
Grenfell on The Labrador. He was to have no end of exciting
experiences, some of them so thrilling that this one was, in
comparison, to fade into insignificance. Labrador is a land of
adventures. The man who casts his lot in that bleak country cannot
escape them. Adventure lurks in every cove and harbor, on every turn
of the trail, ready to spring out upon you and try your mettle, and
learn the sort of stuff you are made of.
Later in the evening they again felt their way landward through the
fog. To their delight they presently found themselves in a harbor, and
that night they rested in a safe and snug anchorage sheltered from
wind and pounding sea.
There was adventure enough on that voyage to satisfy anybody. The sun
did not set that the voyagers had not experienced at least one good
thrill during the daylight hours. On the seventh day from St. Johns
the _Princess May_ crossed the Straits of Belle Isle, and drew
alongside the _Albert_ at Battle Harbor.
The new hospital was nearly ready to receive patients, the first of
the hospitals to be built as a result of the visit to the _Albert_ the
previous summer of the ragged man in the rickety boat. The other
hospital was in course of building at Indian Harbor, and Doctor
Grenfell dispatched the _Albert_, with Doctor Curwin and Miss Williams
to assist in preparing it for patients, while Doctor Bobart and Miss
Cawardine remained in charge of the Battle Harbor hospital.
Away Doctor Grenfell steamed again in the _Princess May_ nothing
daunted by his many difficulties with the little craft in his voyage
from St. John's. It was necessary that he know the headlands and the
harbors, the dangerous places and the safe ones along the whole coast.
The only way to do this was by visiting them, and the quickest and
best way to learn them was by finding them out for himself while
navigating his own craft. Now, light houses stand on two or three of
the most dangerous points of the coast, but in those days there were
none, and there were no correct charts. The mariner had to carry
everything in his head, and indeed he must still do so. He must know
the eight hundred miles of coast as we know the nooks and corners of
our dooryards.
Doctor Grenfell wished also to make the acquaintance of the people. He
wished to visit them in their homes that he might learn their needs
and troubles and so know better how to help them. He was not alone to
be their doctor. He was to clothe and feed the poor so far as he could
and to put them in a way to help themselves.
To do this it was necessary that he know them as a man knows his near
neighbors. He must needs know them as the family doctor knows his
patients. He was no preacher, but, to some degree, he was to be their
pastor and look after their moral as well as their physical welfare.
In short, he was to be their friend, and if he were to do his best for
them, they would have to look upon him as a friend and not only call
upon him when they were in need, but lend him any assistance they
could. To this end they would have to be taught to accept him as one
of themselves, come to live among them, and not as an occasional
visitor or a foreigner.
With the exception of a few small settlements of a half-dozen houses
or so in each settlement, the cabins on the Labrador coast are ten or
fifteen and often twenty or more miles apart. If all of them were
brought together there would scarcely be enough to make one fair-sized
village.
All of the people, as we have seen, live on the seacoast, and not
inland. Only wandering Indians live in the interior. Though Labrador
is nearly as large as Alaska, there is no permanent dwelling in the
whole interior. It is a vast, trackless, uninhabited wilderness of
stunted forests and wide, naked barrens.
The Liveyeres, as the natives, other than Indians and Eskimos, are
called, have no other occupation than trapping and hunting in winter,
and fishing in summer. Their winter cabins are at the heads of deep
bays, in the edge of the forest. In the summer they move to their
fishing places farther down the bays or on scattered, barren islands,
where they live in rude huts or, sometimes, in tents. They catch cod
chiefly, but also, at the mouths of rivers, salmon and trout. All the
fish are salted, and, like the furs caught in winter, bartered to
traders for tea and flour and pork and other necessities of life.
To make the acquaintance of these scattered people, along hundreds of
miles of coast, was a big undertaking. And then, too, there were the
settlements in the north of Newfoundland, among whose people he was to
work. Doctor Grenfell, and his assistants were the only doctors that
any of them could call upon.
And there were the fishermen of the fleet. The twenty-five thousand or
more men, women and children attached to the Newfoundland summer
fisheries on The Labrador formed a temporary summer population.
He could not hope, of course, in the two or three months they were
there, to get on intimate terms with all of them, but he was to meet
as many as he could, and renew and increase both his acquaintances and
his service of the year before. With the _Princess May_ to visit the
sick folk ashore, and the hospital ship _Albert_, which was to serve,
in a manner, as a sea ambulance to take serious cases to the new
hospitals at Indian Harbor and Battle Harbor, Doctor Grenfell felt
that he had made a good start.
As already suggested, this was an adventurous voyage. Twice that
summer the _Princess May_ went aground on the rocks, and once the
_Albert_ was fastened on a reef. Both vessels lost sections of their
keels, but otherwise, due to good seamanship, escaped with minor
injuries.
At every place the Doctor visited he made a record of the people.
After the names of the poorer and destitute ones was listed the things
of which they were most in need.
In one poor little cabin the mother of a large family had, though ill,
kept to her duties in and out of the house until she could stand on
her feet no longer, and when Doctor Grenfell entered the cabin he
found her lying helpless on a rough couch of boards, with scarce
enough bed clothing to cover her. Some half-clad children shivered
behind a miserable broken stove, which radiated little heat but sent
forth much smoke. The haggard and worn out father was walking up and
down the chill room with a wee mite of a baby in his arms, while it
cried pitifully for food. Like all the family the poor little thing
was starving.
The mother was suffering with an acute attack of bronchitis and
pleurisy. All were suffering from lack of food and clothing. The
children were barefooted. One little fellow had no other covering than
an old trouser leg drawn over his frail little body. The man's fur
hunt had failed the previous winter. Sickness prevented fishing. There
was nothing in the house to eat and the family were helpless. Doctor
Grenfell came to them none too soon.
In every harbor and bay and cove there was enough for Doctor Grenfell
to do. His heart and hands were full that summer as they have ever
been since. His skill was constantly in demand. Here was some one
desperately ill, there a finger or an arm to be amputated, or a more
serious operation to be performed.
The hospitals were soon filled to overflowing. Doctor Grenfell afloat,
and his two assistants with the nurses in the hospitals were busy
night and day. The best of it all was many lives were saved. Some who
would have been helpless invalids as long as they lived were sent home
from the hospitals strong and well and hearty. An instance of this was
a girl of fourteen, who had suffered for three years with internal
absesses that would eventually have killed her. She was taken to the
Battle Harbor Hospital, operated upon, and was soon perfectly well. To
this day she is living, a robust contented woman, the mother of a
family, and, perchance, a grandmother.
Grenfell was happy. Here was something better than jogging over
English highways behind a horse and visiting well-to-do grumbling
patients. He was out on the sea he loved, meeting adventure in fog and
storm and gale. That was better than a gig on a country road. He was
helping people to be happy. He prized that far more than the wealth he
might have accumulated, or the reputation he might have gained at
home, as a famous physician or surgeon. There is no happiness in the
world to compare with the happiness that comes with the knowledge
that one is making others happy and helping them to better living and
contentment.
Without knowing it, Grenfell was building a world-fame. If he had
known it, he would not have cared a straw. He was working not for fame
but for results--for the good he could do others. Nothing else has
ever influenced him. Every day he was doing endless good turns without
pay or the thought of pay. In this he was serving not only God but his
country. And he never neglected his athletics, for it was necessary
that he keep his body in the finest physical condition that his brain
might always be keen and alert. Grenfell could not have remained a
year in the field if he had neglected his body, and he was still an
athlete in the pink of condition.
IX
IN THE DEEP WILDERNESS
Imagine, if you will, a vast primeval wilderness spreading away before
you for hundreds of miles, uninhabited, grim and solitary. None but
wild beasts and the roving Indians that hunt them live there. None but
they know the mysteries that lie hidden and guarded by those trackless
miles of forests and barren reaches of unexplored country.
And so this wilderness has lain since creation, unmarred by the hand
of civilized man, clean and unsullied, as God made it. The air, laden
with the perfume of spruce and balsam, is pure and wholesome. The
water carries no germs from the refuse of man, and one may drink it
freely, from river and brook and lake, without fear of contamination.
There is no sound to break the silence of ages save the song of river
rapids, the thunder of mighty falls, or the whisper or moan of wind in
the tree tops; or, perchance, the distant cry of a wolf, the weird
laugh of a loon or the honk of the wild goose.