The Icelandic Canadian - 01.12.2003, Blaðsíða 24

66
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
Vol. 58 #2
Letters from Fridjon Fridriksson
Translated by Sigurbjorg Stefansson

Fridjon Fridriksson
Letter # 5 - To Jon Bjarnason
Kinmount, July 26, 1875
Dear Friend: (Jon Bjarnason)
I have received your letter written on
the 15th of this month. I thank you very
much for it.
I do not remember what I told you in
my latest letter, most likely it has not been
anything too important, and this time I
have still less - to tell you - worthwhile.
Finally all Icelanders here have gotten
jobs, in various places, eight or ten work
for farmers or in roadbuilding in the vicin-
ity. 20 - 30 men work in railroad construc-
tion near Gravenhurst, a small town 60
miles northeast of here.
This railroad is called the Northern
Railway, and it is supposed to be connect-
ed to the Canadian Pacific Line.
They get $1.25 a day. They left their
families at the outskirts of Kinmount to be
looked after by me, and therefore I am
bound to lend them food and other neces-
sities, until the men get paid. They only get
paid once a month. By the way, this is dif-
ficult for me to do because my store's cap-
ital is very limited. Furthermore, a consid-
erable number of debtors fail to pay, leav-
ing their debts up to several hundred dol-
lars - which for Icelanders is a considerable
amount of money.
Anyway, the shop has still a good
credit record and I hope that it will survive
for some time. Most Icelanders are in good
health. Only one is seriously ill. He has
been ill - over 3 months - of tuberculosis. A
few others became sick, but they recovered
soon. I keep thinking about the necessity of
establishing a fund for our poor Icelanders,
but it is still just an idea of mine. There are
many things to be done, but little is done.
If we keep on and do not give in we are
bound to succeed. I am very happy to see
and hear - what I have known for a long
time - that you want to do everything in
your power to promote the Icelanders'
prosperity and social life here in Canada
because this is also my wish, but 1 lack edu-
cation in order to be able to actualize it. I
am, nevertheless, constantly busy - I have
hardly an idle moment. First and foremost,
I have to work in the shop which is gradu-
ally expanding, serving Canadians no less
than Icelanders. Also, I have to assist
Icelanders - be their interpreter when they
are looking for work, negotiating salaries,
etc., since only few are able to communi-
cate in English. Each day new problems
occur in connection with one or more
Icelanders, often due to their misunder-
standing. To tell you the truth, I am often
on the verge of losing my patience because
Icelanders are constantly in one trouble or
another - they do not know what to do,