The winter of the big snows of 1923 was the worst of all times. The
return trip between Richibucto and Kent Junction took 24 days from March
2nd to 26th. It took three trains to get her around the 54 miles. The
trainmen bailed every bit of coal into the boilers on that run. They
gathered up all the wood alongside the tracks and fed it to the hungry
engine. Dr. Bourque, the senator, was taken off the train and escorted
back to Richibucto by horse and sled. His house had been badly damaged
by fire. The house still stands today. It was later owned by Premier
and now senator Louis J. Robichaud. Another owner was Dr. Boucher. When
the train arrived in Richibucto, it was led by the wooden plough try
to clear a path. The shovelers had to use three men to get the snow
over the bank. The first shovel was tossed to the next man who stood
higher up on the bank, he whipped it further and higher to the third
man who flipped it over the 20-foot embankment. «picture»
To explain how bad the winter of 1923
was we'll listen to a couple of stories. Many may call them tall tales,
but the oldster still swear by every word. The old guys tell of how
some sat on top of the poles, often up to 20 feet high and that the
snow was every inch as high. Bill Barnett lived on Sheddon Street. He
claimed if you watched from the window up above and looked straight
out, all you could see was the sled and horse's hooves. The fishermen
used to bring their catch in with hand-sleds. The weight of the snow
kept melting the ice. But they always made it to shore with the smelts.
The most unusual story of the Kent Northern
saga is when a boxcar went over the wharf. In
those days, (the year was 1919) the tracks went right to the end of
the wharf. The Fishermen's Wharf (now the public wharf) was about thirty
feet shorter than we know it today. Sometime
in the night, the weight shifted and over the wharf went tigers and
all. It was the first night that the big circus was in town. The old
timers still tease the youngsters when they go swimming at that spot,
"watch out for the tiger". Rumors have it that when the crowd gathered
around the next morning, they just didn't know what to make of it at
all. One in the crowd supposedly screamed out, " See, see tigers can
so swim!" «picture»
The circus was evidently a beautiful
sight. This was the first circus in our town and considering the town,
Province and County were starving for entertainment, was more than welcome.
One man handled a stage driven by forty horses around Joe Doiron's corner.
Men lined the road by the picket fence so to guard against the snagging
of the harness. The horses rounded that corner as smooth as silk «picture». The
next day a trapeze artist lost his life.
«picture»