RECORDED: [location unknown], 1980-08-11 SUMMARY: [No content summaries available for these tapes.];

CALL NUMBER: T2102:0001 PERIOD COVERED: 1925-1960 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1976-06-11 SUMMARY: Charles Robson was born in 1901 on Cape Breton Island. Worked on the CPR steamer "Princess Mary". Discusses working conditions, division of coast among steamboat companies, canneries, "Charmer", construction of Pier B-C, Triangle Run, wireless radio, navigation by the whistle, examination of masters and mates, winter tie-up, lighthouses, pilchard fishery.

CALL NUMBER: T2102:0002 PERIOD COVERED: 1920-1960 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1976-06-29 SUMMARY: Bad weather at sea. Lighthouses in the Inside Passage. New CPR ships in the 1920s. Picking a crew. Various runs. Accident: "Princess Louise" and "Princess Marguerite". Triangle run. Special features of boat. Conditions during World War II. Changes in CPR shipping from the 1920s to the 1950s. Accident: "Charmer" and "Princess Royal", 1920. Clo-oose. A birth on ship. Fraser River boats. The Merchant Service Guild. Other sailors from the Maritimes.

CALL NUMBER: T3217:0001 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1978 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Don MacLaren discusses: background- born in Ottawa, moved to Calgary in 1898, went to McGill University in 1912, joined Royal Flying Corps in Toronto in 1917, with air force until 1920; locating seaplane station at Jericho Beach; fisheries patrol, forestry work done by seaplane station; 1924, he decided to go into business himself -- bought a seaplane, took over Jericho Beach station, bought a flying boat; at this time, the air board became the Royal Canadian Airforce; got fisheries contract from military; partner at the time of Ernest Rogers; cost of buying good new planes- Fokkers, Fairchilds, Junkers; decided to sell company to Western Canadian Airways, but he stayed on; opened base in False Creek area and business started- taxi service to anywhere in province, 2 trips a day to Seattle; passenger load of planes at the time; jobs done- carrying miners up north, ridding the hemlock of an inch worm, dealing with a spruce budworm up north, ambulance cases, photography for timber cruisers, fishery patrol, mail contract. TRACK 2: Don MacLaren discusses: getting the mail contract (cont'd); navigation in the 1920s and '30s; differences between types of planes; training he received at Long Branch; bush pilot business; the Aero Club of B.C.; anecdote about a military parade; Burns Lake operation. CALL NUMBER: T3217:0002 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1978 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Don MacLaren discusses: the emergence of Canadian Airways; training pilots in Winnipeg; communication on airplanes in mid 1920s- no reliable radio; more about the Aero Club; Sea Island story; difficulty in convincing people that airplanes were a good form of transportation; H.R. MacMillan; near accident anecdote. TRACK 2: Don MacLaren discusses: difficulties with injured people in the bush; round-the-world flights; lack of training caused the downfall of some operations; problem of landing on glassy water; difference between bush flights and commercial flights; experiences in the Queen Charlottes; pilchard patrol story; relationship between CNR and the airline; Grant McConnachie; story about Paddy Burke. CALL NUMBER: T3217:0003 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1978 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Don MacLaren discusses: more on the Paddy Burke crash story; no search-and-rescue formal operation until the war; McAlpin expedition; gliding; more on the Aero Club of B.C. (End of interview)

SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Eino Ahola RECORDED: Vancouver (B.C.), 1976-03-05 SUMMARY: Eino Ahola fished the central area all this life. Was 11 years old when he first fished in a skiff. Fished alone at age 17 in 1915. He was born in Finland in 1897, and came to B.C. at an early age. His parents settled at Sointula, Malcolm Island. Low fish prices then. When the Fins came to Canada, they weren't used to fish, and didn't consider cod as food. They did eat some shellfish. He started out with a flat-bottomed skiff in Rivers Inlet. They did most of their fishing at night, pulling their nets in at the morning. They used a square chunk of wood with license number to mark their nets, and at night they had a lantern. He was part of the founding convention of a union in 1925-26. Discusses union development and the strike of 1936. Had his first gas boat in 1925 with a 5 HP Vivian engine. Discusses engines, new equipment and changes in fishing. Each cannery had their own colour of boat to help the packers identify them: Kildala was white, Wadham was red, Brunswick was blue, Beaver was yellow, and Provincial was green. He was a camp man for 3 or 4 seasons at Storm Bay and Johnson Straits. A camp man repairs the nets for the fishermen, and manages the camp. (Tape becomes garbled due to low battery while recordings -- reduce to 1 7/8 ips). Sointula has changed from a Finnish community to one with all kinds of nationalities. He used to build boats at Sointula for 50 years in the wintertime and fished in the summer. Pilchards were fished by seiners, for the reduction plant, but one year they just disappeared, probably because of the change in water temperatures. Eino was recently made an honourary member for life of the U.F.A.W.U. for his part in union organizing. Story of the Kingcome Indians who got boats from the government but never paid for them. Tells the story about Skookum Charlie and the tourist who took his picture.

CALL NUMBER: T1856:0001 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): The Gordon Gibson story (part 1) PERIOD COVERED: 1904-1940 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1960 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Gordon Gibson describes his early life as a logger, especially on the West Coast of Vancouver Island. Work for the Munitions Board during the First World War. The Gibson family's involvement in the shingle industry, logging and in the pilchard industry, all on the West Coast. The Gibson's accidental entry into the shipping industry. Anecdotes about the SS "Malahat". TRACK 2: More about the "Malahat", especially on the Queen Charlottes. The Gibsons begin to prosper. More about the "Malahat". CALL NUMBER: T1856:0002 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): The Gordon Gibson story (part 2) PERIOD COVERED: 1916-1957 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1960 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Getting into the forest industry in the 1930s and 1940s. Logging shows on the west coast of Vancouver Island. The Gibson family's business deals. Description of early camp conditions. TRACK 2: The construction of Jeune Landing logging camp. Changes in loggers' lifestyles. CALL NUMBER: T1856:0003 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): The Gordon Gibson story (part 3) PERIOD COVERED: 1948-1960 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1960 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Gibson recalls a 1948 speech by his brother Clarke to the Truck Loggers Association. Discussion of the development of forest policy in B.C. TRACK 2: Continuation of the discussion of forest management policies. Discussion focuses around the situation in Quatsino Sound. CALL NUMBER: T1856:0004 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): The Gordon Gibson story (part 4) PERIOD COVERED: 1948-1960 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1960 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Continuation of the discussion of forest management policies in B.C. Discussion of the 'Sommers Case': how Gibson got into politics; disagreements with the East Asiatic Co.; early discussions with Sommers; money to Coalition for campaigning funds; the Lord Commission; involvement of Gordon Wismer. TRACK 2: The Sommers Case (cont'd): connection between FMLs and Coalition campaign funds; more on the Lord Commission; Gibson's resignation and the Lillooet by-election; the Sturdy-Eversfield connection; Sturdy's presentation of evidence to the Sloan Commission; Eversfield and Sturdy visit Bonner; the RCMP (Butler) Inquiry. CALL NUMBER: T1856:0005 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): The Gordon Gibson story (part 5) PERIOD COVERED: 1948-1960 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1960 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Continuation of a discussion of the Sommers Case: the RCMP (Butler) Inquiry; Johnny Fairburn incident; Britannia Beach story; Liberal Party opposed Gibson; speculation about the amounts involved; philosophical implications. Orchard gives his side of the story. Further discussion of forest management policies. TRACK 2: More on forest management policies and matters of political philosophy. (End of interview)

SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Mac McLean RECORDED: White Rock (B.C.), 1976-03-08 SUMMARY: Mac McLean started to work for Canadian Fish Co. in 1928 for 2 years. Then went to work for California Packing Co. where Richie Nelson was superintendent. It was located on the West Coast of Vancouver Island. Went to the Albion Plant situated in Ucluelet at Barkley Sound. Spent several seasons there, then went to Canadian Packing Co. (a reduction plant) and stayed there for 5 years. Explains the process of reduction. Built a fish reduction plant for B.C. Packers at Namu in 1936. In 1937, built a reduction plant at the Imperial Cannery. The first reduction plants in B.C. were what you call the old hydraulic type of plant that reduced dog fish; there was one on Pender Island. The continuous reduction plant didn't come to B.C. until 1927. These reduction plants were seasonal. In 1929 there were 32 reduction plants on the west coast. By 1931 they were all gone. From 1930-1935 there was very little profit made from the reduction plants. It started to improve after 1935, and from then on there were good or reasonable profits made. Discusses a population of pilchards that got trapped at one of the northern inlets. So instead of processing herring that year they did pilchards which was much more profitable. Did up to 10-15 thousand tons of pilchards that year. Explains the technique of fishermen finding fish with piano wire. At the Namu reduction plant they had electricity but didn't use electrical driven motors. For power, the cannery used a steam engine to a line shaft and then wire belts off of a line shaft to each individual machine. Plants were rated based on the number of tons you could put through in an hour. Namu was a 5 ton an hour plant, which by today's standard is very small. The Imperial Plant used to have 50 tons an hour. They used to catch and reduce about one quarter of a million tons of herring a year. Discusses fish prices. Speaks on canning herring during the war years. Japanese herring saltery on the Gulf Islands. Describes and explains trolling.

Industrial film. Shows purse-seining for herring and pilchards off the BC coast, including the different seining methods used. Pilchards (i.e., Pacific sardines) are caught on the open Pacific by the seiner "Tatchu" and the tender "Westisle". Herring seining footage includes use of echo sounder and "feeling wire" to locate herring schools. Seining in a coastal inlet with the seiner "Southisle" and the tender "Wawanesa". Cannery operations.