The Icelandic Canadian - 01.12.2001, Blaðsíða 25

Vol. 56 #3
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
151
assignments followed one after the other,
too numerous to mention. However, one
such was at Vonda, near Saskatoon, where
Emily was witness to a strange chain of
events in the town.
The bank manager in Vonda, and his
wife, had always kept themselves a cut
above the townspeople. They had come
from a larger centre, and clearly felt they
were among the hayseeds. Then the bank
manager unfortunately lost his wife to ill-
ness. While she was ill, they had hired a ser-
vant girl to keep house. Some time after the
wife's death, the banker married the house-
keeper. Unfortunately, he also began beat-
ing her.
Emily happened to be in Vonda, on a
nursing case, when the word was spread
throughout the town. It seems that several
of the town women got together, and
spoke to their husbands about the beatings
suffered by the bankers young wife.
Spurred on by their wives, the husbands
came at night to the banker's back door and
asked to see him. They then took him, in
the dead of night, down the back alley,
pulled his pants down, and spanked him
soundly! What implements, if any, were
used, remains unknown. They then made it
clear to him, that any repeated injury to his
wife, and they would repeat the treatment,
in the full light of day, on the Main Street
in front of the bank. Enough said. The
banker eventually left town after a short
stay.
The Welding Outfit
Another interesting incident occurred
in a town whose name has been forgotten.
Emily was called from the registry to trav-
el to this town, where she was met at the
station. The young doctor in the town had
worked in the city, but was new to the
countryside. The patient had pneumonia,
and the doctor had announced his inability
to save him. He was dying.
Emily's reaction was vehement.
"Don't be silly", she snapped. "Of course
he's not going to die." She applied warmer
blankets, then threw the window open to
the chill air. She then called for oxygen.
"There's nothing like that here!" said
the doctor. Emily said "Nonsense! Get the
mechanic from the service station." They
brought the bewildered mechanic, and
Emily sent him back with instructions to
bring the tank from his welding outfit,
along with other bits to make a makeshift
tent. The young lad was fine in no time at
all.
The family wrote, and sent annual
gifts, for years after that. They even want-
ed Emily to come and live with them in her
later years!
Easing into semi-retirement
After that Emily stayed in Saskatoon,
and took no more matron jobs except every
summer in Gimli, at Betel, the Icelandic
home for the aged. Income from that one
treasured job was carefully guarded, and
this tided her through the winter. She
would come to Elfros at Easter, often stay-
ing till summer when she went to Gimli.
She could still be counted on to come and
care for aging and ailing relatives on occa-
sion.
In Saskatoon, Emily rented a single
room from Maud Devine, a feisty lady with
strong Conservative views (could it be?).
Maud ran a huge rooming house in a for-
mer mansion which was multi-storied, pil-
lared and with a broad but collapsing front
portico. It sat on Spadina Crescent, a block
from the Bessborough Hotel, where the
Sheraton Cavalier is today. Emily had a
tiny room, closet-sized, with single bed,
table with kettle & toaster; a tall chest of
drawers with a hotplate. There may have
been a writing desk. Fortunately, to offset
the cramped character of the room, Emily
also had use of a generous rear balcony
where she could take fresh air; such air was
in short supply indoors.
From 1947 to 1952, my mother was
convalescing after two full years with
Tuberculosis at the Saskatoon Sanitarium, a
landmark which is now demolished. She
was required to take the train into
Saskatoon for regular follow-up checks,
first every 3 months, then every 6, then
yearly. From ages 4 to 6 I often accompa-