The Cunard Line

The Aquitania leaves Liverpool on her maiden voyage circa 1914 courtesy http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/reflecting-one-greatest-ocean-liners-7233961.

Samuel Cunard, raised in Halifax, was the son of a German Quaker and an Irish Roman Catholic who fled the United States during the American Revolution, part of a large group of United Empire Loyalists.  During the War of 1812, Cunard fought on the British side with the second battalion of the Halifax Regiment.  The young man was a highly successful entrepreneur who was one of 12 people to greatly influence the affairs of Halifax.

In 1830, Cunard founded the Halifax Steamboat Company which ran a steamship between Halifax and Quebec.  Seven years later, Cunard travelled to the United Kingdom where he made a successful bid to run a trans-Atlantic mail service.  The result was Cunard Steamships Limited.  In 1840, the company's first steamship, the Britannia, sailed from Liverpool to Halifax and then on to Boston.  Cunard's ships soon earned a reputation for speed and safety.  However, that reputation came with a hefty cost; Cunard fled creditors in Halifax by 1843, unable to pay his bills.  By the following year, however, the entrepreneur started to turn a profit.

The Cunard Line has owned several famous ships over the decades.  The Carpathia (1901) came to the rescue of the Titanic when it sank in 1912.  The Lusitania (1906) was torpedoed by German U-boats and sunk in 1915.  The Aquitania (1914) served in both World War I and World War II.  The Queen Mary (1936) transported royalty, movie stars and war brides across the Atlantic.

Britannia sails from Liverpool to Halifax circa 1840 courtesy http://postalhistorycorner.blogspot.ca/2014/02/canadian-letter-rates-to-united-kingdom.html.

Halifax Citadel & Old Town Clock

Halifax Old Town clock in 1949 courtesy http://www.toromagazine.com/nytimes-canadian-photo-archive/photo-of-the-day/gallery/555445a8-f8bd-6a54-2d3a-7350b67e2fae/May-1949-Halifax-Town-Clock.

Prince Edward, the Commander in Chief of the British military, was obsessed with punctuality.  As a parting gift to the people of Halifax, he gave them the Old Town Clock in 1800.  The timepiece was built in 1801 in London England by the royal clock makers at the House of Vulliamy.  The clock is a three tier octagonal shaped tower sitting on a Palladium-style building.  Inside, three weights on drums suspended by cables power the clock.  The landmark was installed on Brunswick Street in 1803, sitting high atop a hill overlooking Halifax Harbour (http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/lhn-nhs/ns/halifax/natcul/natcul2.aspx).

Halifax Explosion of 1917 courtesy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halifax_Explosion.

The clock has witnessed many events in Halifax's history including the aftermath of the Titanic tragedy in 1912 and the Halifax Explosion in 1917 and the Halifax Riot on V-E Day in 1945 (the latter not in keeping with staid Halifax).  The clock has been keeping time for Haligonians for over two centuries (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hL2y87PoB3M).

Note:  Perhaps Prince Edward's biggest claim to fame is he is the father of Queen Victoria.

Canadian stamp courtesy http://www.nsstampclub.ca/NSStamps/halifax.htm.

The Maharaja's of Eaton's

Maharaja:  a Hindu prince or king in India ranking above a raja. 

Timothy Eaton, eager to fill the pages of his catalogue, sent buyers overseas to purchase the highest quality goods:  fine china from England, tweed suits from Scotland, rugs from the Orient, crystal from Czechoslovakia, high fashion from France.  As early as 1893, Timothy opened a foreign buying office in London, England.  Five years later, he opened one in Paris, France.  Offices were added in Manchester and New York in 1911; in Zurich, Switzerland in 1912; in Belfast and Leicester in 1913; and in Yokohama (1918) and Kobe (1919).

While most of the trips were a success, disaster struck when some buyers purchased tickets to the Titanic; a buyer named Mr. Graham went down with the ship (http://alinefromlinda.blogspot.ca/2011/09/unused-ticket-to-titanic.html).  The First World War interrupted Eaton's buying sprees in Germany.  Three buyers drowned when the Lusitania was torpedoed in 1916.  An Eaton's buyer was killed in the Tokyo earthquake of 1923.  However, most buyers came home to Canada safely.  Their purchases helped make the Eaton's name synonymous with quality.

Persona Poetry: Wearing a Mask

Character poems, or persona poetry, is a type of poetry where the author takes on the persona of another character.  Persona, comes from the Greek word "mask"; the author wears the mask of another character.  The author imagines the character's voice, age, interests and beliefs.  It is common to put a fresh twist on an old story when writing a persona poem.

The author can use the structure of the poem to mirror the speaker's circumstances.  For example, if the poem is the speaker is confused, the structure could be free verse.  Mary Ann's Samyn's "Alice Falling" is an example of such a poem   However, if the speaker is very structured, the poem should follow a rhyming scheme.  Robert Browning's "My Last Duchess" is written in Iambic pentameter to mirror the speaker's rehearsed speech, trying to convince the world he didn't poison his wife (http://www.sparknotes.com/poetry/browning/section3.rhtml).

https://alyssa09.wordpress.com/2008/08/19/poem-connection-othello-and-my-last-duchess/

A character poem is also a good vehicle for an author to retell an historical event.  For example, "Jessica from the Well" is written in the voice of Jessica McClure, the 18 month old baby who fell down a Texas well in 1987 (http://www.vqronline.org/jessica-well).  Similarly, the persona poem "34", by Patricia Smith, is written in the voice of the 34 New Orleans nursing home residents who were abandonned to die after Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005 (http://zooeysblogg.blogspot.ca/2009/09/patricia-smith-34.html).  Ms. Smith cleverly weaves the words of the Lord's Prayer into her poem.

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-11-28-st-ritas_x.htm

Here is my character poem, The Captain, written in the voice of Captain Smith, on his maiden voyage of the Titanic, last voyage before retirement:

Wow!  She's a beauty and she's all mine.

What a chance to sail for the White Star Line.

Flaunting four funnels placed all in a row;

Four city blocks long with tugboats in tow.

Dropping the anchor twenty horses hauled.

I check my log for our first port of call.

We stop in Cherbourg, Southampton and Cork.

Now we're steaming on cue towards New York.

What a lovely evening; the stars are out.

It's a perfect night for a walkabout.

That crisp, fresh air makes me ready for bed.

but how about a cup of tea instead?

WAIT!  What was that awful, terrible crash?

The stewards ell me her side has a gash!

What should I do here?  What words should I say?

should I take action or should I now pray?:

They told me her compartments were airtight.

Yet it seems as if we're sinking tonight.

They told me there were no icebergs to check.

Yet I see pieces of ice on the deck.

Can I save my stately ship from demise?

Should I tell the truth or a bunch of lies?

Water's filling our hold due to the blast.

Where are the rowboats?  Let's fill them up fast!

Let all women and children get off first.

Another boiler is about to burst.

My S.O.S. is getting me nowhere;

That foll's completely ignoring our flares.

I should have retired when I had the chance.

Now I hear the brass band play the last dance.

There aren't enough lifeboats for everyone.

will my ship last 'til the rise of the sun?

We've only a short time left on this boat.

With so much water, we won't stay afloat. 

I pray my passengers' lives yo will spare.

Losing my crew would be too much to bear.

Please forgive me for this awful mistake!

Make it a nightmare from which i"ll awake.

http://www.maritimequest.com/liners/titanic/crew/smith_edward_john.htm

For more information, read http://classroom.synonym.com/write-character-poem-2303.html.

The Silver Birch Award

The Silver Birch Award debuted in 1994 under the umbrella of the Ontario Library Association. Honouring books geared to Grades 3 to 6, this award recognized both Fiction and Non-Fiction books. Registered classes and/or groups read at least five books from an Official Selections List. They cast their votes in the Spring.  The first winner was Daniel's Story, written by Carol Matas.  Here are some of the titles that stand out for me:

1995 Polar:  The Titanic Bear (Daisy corning Stone Spedden)

The true story of a Steiff bear that, along with his owner, a 7 year old boy, survived the sinking of the Titanic.

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2157716.Polar_The_Titanic_Bear

2000 The Secret of Gabi's Dresser (Kathy Kacer)

When the Nazis conducted house searches for Jewish children in Eastern Europe during WWII, Gabi hid in a dresser in her dining room.  The only piece of furniture that survived the war, it now sits in her daughter Kathy Kacer's Toronto home.

https://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/015020/f1/nlc000500-v6.jpg

2003 Hana's Suitcase (Karen Levine)

Holocaust education centre operator Fumiko Ishioka received an empty suitcase from Auschwitz. Children visiting the centre asked her about the owner, whose name was written on the suitcase.  A year of research revealed that Hana Brady, born in Czechoslovakia in 1931, was deported along with many other Jews in her town, to Auschwitz during WWII.

http://www.cbc.ca/doczone/m/episodes/inside-hanas-suitcase

2008 The Secret of Grim Hill (Linda De Meulemeester)

Cat Peters wins a soccer match and accepts the prize of going to a private school.  However, inside the halls of the old school, a mystery waits to be revealed about what happened to the last soccer team that attended the school and then disappeared.

http://grimhill.com/the-books/

2010 At the Edge:  Daring Acts in Desperate Times (Larry Verstraete)

Over twenty stroies about ordinary people who show extraordinary courage during the Halifax Explosion, the Tianamen Square protests, 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, etc.

http://www.amazon.com/At-Edge-Daring-Desperate-Times/dp/0545273358

2012 Undergrounders (David Skuy)

Twelve year old Jonathon's mom dies and his landlord kicks him out.  Facing life on the streets, he finds a group of kids living underground who steal to survive.  Jonathon steals hockey gear, suits up and is welcomed by his new "family", a hockey team.  How does he keep his homelessness a secret?

http://fernfolio.edublogs.org/2011/12/14/undergrounders-by-david-skuy/

2013 Making Bombs for Hitler (Marsha Skrypuch)

Lida is kidnapped by the Nazis during WWII and forced to work as an Ostarbeiter in a German munitions factory making bombs.

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12524125-making-bombs-for-hitler

2014 One Step at a Time:  A Vietnamese Child Finds Her Way (Marsha Skrypuch)

Brought up in a Vietnamese orphanage, Tuyet is rescued during the last airlift out of Saigon. Adopted by a Canadian family, she now faces surgery to correct her leg, crippled by polio.

http://pajamapress.ca/news_reviews/?page_id=983

For more information, visit http://www.bookcentre.ca/awards/silver_birch_award.

The Unused Ticket to the Titanic

Canadian Eaton's department store buyer Nathan Mills paid 86 pounds for a ticket to the Titanic and yet he never boarded the ship. 

Timothy Eaton had taken 50 years to build up his business and now Canadians were quite familiar with the name, thanks in large part to its catalogue.  The Eaton's Catalogue was referred to as the "Homesteader's Bible" since it was used for anything from reading material for new immigrants to hockey pads for young boys to paper dolls for little girls to toilet paper for outhouse occupants.  Capitalizing on the success of the catalogue, Timothy's son Sir John, who carried on the business after his father's death, was looking for more goods to fill its pages.  Canada's population was relatively small at the time, sitting at a mere 8 million.

Back in April of 1912, Mr. Mills, from the hamlet of Woodham, Ontario, was sent to England to buy merchandise for the T. Eaton Company.  Mr. Mills, an employee of the Toronto Eaton's, along with his co-worker Mr. George Graham, a Winnipeg store employee originally from St. Mary's (near Woodham) were hoping to purchase goods in the metropolis of London (population 1 million) and other British cities, that they would not find at home:  tweed suits from Scotland and fine bone china from England.

After a week of buying, the Eaton's colleagues were ready to return to Canada, both eager to be a part of the Titanic's maiden voyage.  However, at the last minute, Sir John Eaton sent Nathan Mills a telegram detaining him for another week, saying he had more business for him to attend to.  Mr. Graham headed to Southampton without his business partner. 

The ship sailed, collided with an iceberg in the Atlantic and sank, many of its passengers perishing in the icy waters.  Mr. Mills read the death list and was shocked to learn that his colleague went down with the ship.  Mr. Mills returned to Canada later on another vessel, his life spared all because of some unfinished business. 


I dedicate this post to my Great Aunt Florence, a niece of Nathan Mills

Photograph of the Titanic courtesy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Titanic.