Come to Howley!! In 1972, I was very fortunate to get a job with the extra gang on the railway. This involved replacing ties and track for three summers from 1972-75. It was quite an experience being a part of a White Fleet Crew of approximately 100 men. Several other young men from Howley were also employed there with me that summer including Nelson Cumby (Jr) and Gary Stead. My work experiences were Corner Brook, Stephenville building the track from the main line to the liner board mill and in both South Branch and Howley doing both tie and track replacement. Every second Friday, we were given the weekend off and were free to leave at lunch time. This day in particular I decided to hitchhike by myself and got to Howley Road just before dusk. I left to walk the road from the TCH to Howley which was approximately twelve kilometers. When I got to Kelly Bridge over Sandy Stream I noticed a number of people fishing from the bridge. I spoke to them and one was a cousin who had moved away from Howley some years previous. I was hoping for a ride but no offer was made so I continued to walk and in no time I was overcome with darkness. It is quite an eerie feeling to be walking alone at night. Every sound makes you nervous, even the wind blowing through the trees. I was almost in to the last cabin road on the left where Howard Green had a cabin. All of a sudden I must have disturbed some wild animal because I could hear the loud sounds through the bushes. What a fright I got! My blood pressure had to have gone through the roof and my breathing escalated. I am confident my pulse rate was also on a significant upswing. I quickly learned that bears are not the only creatures that do you know what in the woods. I had just passed a car on the side of the road and I raced back to it. I stayed there for a few minutes which seemed like hours. I was not sure if I should proceed or wait for a ride. After all this time I had not seen a car and my hopes of a ride were quickly diminishing. Then I saw some lights and could hear the sound of a car engine approaching. I waved the car down and I was pleased to see a group of Howley ladies returning from a Bingo game. It was Jean Kelly, Mrs. Harnum, Aunt Bride and Mary Legge. They told me to hop in and I was happy to oblige. They asked me what I was doing out there at that time of night and I quickly gave them my story. They were singing old songs before I got in the car and Mary Legge said lets sing Come to Howley. I had heard a verse or two of the song before but never the entire text. Mrs. Legge knew it all and I believe she said it was written by a Mrs. Hicks many years ago. The feeling of comradery amongst that group was unbelievable. I didn’t play Bingo but would give it a try just to share in the fun. These ladies would also come to our house as members of the 500 Club. I couldn’t wait for it to be Grandmother’s turn because for me it was truly treat night with the homemade lemon pies and the fine assortment of cookies in addition to a big pot of homemade soup. I found a copy of the song Come to Howley in my Howley file. I am not certain of the year it was written but the names of the residents in the song may well give an approximate date. Given the characters in the song I am thinking it was in the early 1930’s. This song gives a remarkable glimpse of life in Howley around the time the song was written. From the song we learn that Olaf Hicks and Clarence Shears were assistants to the cook at the cook house I would assume. Norman Buldgin was the linesman and Herbert White did some barbering. Philip Snelgrove and Richard Ludlow had the responsibility of looking out to the scalers like Lem Snow. Both George Wellon and Mr. Gillard operated commercial retail establishments. Edward Legge was in charge of the section crew and he received his work orders from Ken Coombs who was the station agent at the time. Uncle Charlie George did pig farming during the summer down behind the company barn. The woods department, at that time, was under the management of Mr. Hanson. Some men who worked on the boats are mentioned and included Agustus Johnson, George Vardy, Captain King and Mr. Woolridge. The operations at the company store where under the management of Charlie Oake and he was assisted with his responsibilities by Mr. Walter Ginn. Workers in the office included Norman, Bill and a Ronald Boyde. Romantically we are left with the impression that Lovelett Pelley seemed to have her eyes on Jack Lee. Howley had a population of nearly seven hundred people in the 1940’s. In addition to that people would stay at the bunkhouse and be feed at the cookhouse while working in the community or waiting transportation to the camps. That would nearly double the numbers in the area who would need merchandise from the stores. The Community had two hotels. One was the Stationview operated by Max Simms and the other hotel was called Coish’s Hotel. Today, most of the work in Howley comes from employment with Mike Kelly and Sons Ltd. Mike was grandson of one of the earliest settlers in the community and that was Edward Kelly and his wife Anastasia. Aunt Bride was his mom and his sons and grandchildren have done a remarkable job growing this company to its present form. Both David and Karl and their families live in Howley along with their mom Cynthia. Howley is a beautiful place and I would encourage you all to come for a visit. You won’t need your axes or hammers and you won’t be called upon to build a new town hall. You will however experience the wonderful hospitality of a community that truly was a cultural mosaic composed of so many individuals from so many great communities in our province.
Posted on: Sat, 29 Mar 2014 21:43:34 +0000