This week, the Sault Ste. Marie Public Library takes us on an udderly ridiculous journey through its local newspaper archives
From the archives of the Sault Ste. Marie Public Library:
“Algoma Cow Likes Gasoline.”
The four words jumped out at me from the pages of the June 12, 1940, edition of the Sault Daily Star and inspired this cow-themed article.
Percy Gardiner, owner of said gas-loving cow, lived in Goldenburg, an Algoma settlement not far from Thessalon. Gardiner ran a sawmill whose employees realized one morning that they most definitely did not enjoy the taste of gasoline, especially in their porridge.
On this particular morning, the ‘fellows’ discovered that the milk they poured on their morning porridge tasted strongly of gasoline.
“Then someone remembered that three inches of gasoline had disappeared from a pail in the yard the night before.”
The men went out and milked the cows and discovered the culprit: the milk from one of the cows smelled strongly of gasoline.
Despite the men recalling that gas was missing from their gas pail, they did not moooo-ve the gasoline pail to a different spot.
And so it was that the next morning their milk once again contained the pungent tang of petrol. “After that the boys put the gasoline where bossy couldn’t get at it.”
Fool me once!
After reading this unusual article, I wondered if there might be more interesting historical cow tales in the Sault Ste. Marie Public Library’s Sault Star collection. Imagine my surprise when I came across the flabbergasting article titled, “Moon-Crazed Cow, Tape Measures Played Part in Road Building.”
Who could resist delving into an article with such a title? It turns out this article, from a 1953 Sault Daily Star edition, was referring to some well-known Algoma folklore.
The tale refers to the construction of a road north of Bruce Mines, using the most up-to-date equipment at that time: axes, picks, shovels, wheelbarrows, and tape measures. The author of the article, who resided in Ophir, reported that it was “common knowledge around here that the course of the road was decided by following a wandering cow through the bush and building the road behind.”
Whose cow it was and why it was there seems to be a lingering mystery.
When the crew was ready to begin construction of the road, the cow was apparently “aiming due north, slapped sharply and the road was begun.”
The lore goes on to say that the cow had an axe tied to her horn, and she blazed the trail that was to be cut as she meandered along.
This brainy bovine was said to have realized that the best path was the easiest path and wandered around the biggest trees and bluffs.
She even found the shallowest spot to hoof it across a river.
This udderly delightful tale explains that each night, the place where the cow stopped to rest later became settlements: Rydal Bank, Mount Zion, and Rock Lake. Not only was the hardworking bossy breaking trail for a new road, she was also providing the construction men with milk for their supper each evening!
On the third night, the crew camped at Ophir, and the overly bright moon woke the poor cow and startled her, sending her running off to the east, in the opposite direction of the setting moon.
When the men awoke and realized their prized four-legged engineer had headed east, “they took quick action. Taking out the road map they had sketched, they drew a line to show where the cow had gone, another line to show where she should have gone, called one Dunn’s Valley Road; the other Poplar Dale Road, and returned home.”
And that, as they say, was that!
Cow attack
However, not all cows are so civilly minded.
Just ask poor George Stevens, who, in the summer of 1944, was mauled by a cow.
Mr. Stevens was attacked by a cow at the top of a flight of stairs after enjoying a dip in the pool at Hiawatha Park.
He was drying himself off when he noticed a cow nearby that was hoofing its way towards him.
“He stated that he had nothing to excite the animal but that it knocked him down without cause.”
To make matters worse, the hospital did not have room for him to convalesce so he had to be “interned at his boarding house.” And to add insult to injury, the author of the article ended with the sentence: “Mr. Stevens was wearing a red bathing suit at the time,” seeming to imply that the poor man may have incited the cow’s wrath with the colour of his shorts!
Poor Mr. Stevens may have fared better if only he had seen the article posted in the Sault Daily Star a few months prior: “CONSIDER THE COW.”
Dr. William Peterson, of the University of Minnesota, an all-around cow expert, imparted much cow wisdom in the article.
“You’ve got to treat cows with kid gloves…Use soothing words, pet them in the right places and make out you love them…There’s nothing more damaging to a cow’s personality than a harsh grunt or an unfriendly gesture.”
According to Dr. Peterson, the right places to pet cows are on the stomach or the head, and “if one feels like cussing at a cow one who has just rapped him over the ears with her tail, he must be sure to croon his cuss words.”
Each week, the Sault Ste. Marie Public Library and its Archives provide SooToday readers with a glimpse of the city’s past.
Find out more about what the Public Library has to offer at www.ssmpl.ca and look for more “Remember This?” columns here.