'A peek into the past' by Howard Duckering
'My first memories are being with my father watering our team of mules, Darkey and Jinnie, by the banks of the South Saskatchewan River and no doubt bringing a barrel of water back for thehousehold use. Our family had arrived at the small town of Saskatoon late in May 1903 where we shared a tent with another family until my father and two uncles were able to build a small house for us to live in. We had sailed from Liverpool, England, May 12th, 1903, on the Mount Temple as members of the Barr Colony.
My father, a hardware clerk in Bristol, England where I was born, had coaxed three brothers to come with us to Canada -Uncle Ernest, a butcher; Uncle Percy, a carpenter by trade; and Uncle Walter not being impressed with the wild and wooly west went back to England.
After getting mother and we three children, Winnie, Howard (myself), and Arthur, comfortably settled in a house, a portion of which was rented to a neighbor, my father went hunting for his homestead. One hundred and sixty acres looked like a prize to an Englishman which you could own for $10 by living on it for three years breaking a few acres of land and establishing a home on it. My father finally located a quarter section he liked twenty miles northwest of Lloydminster and one each way for my two uncles. This was where many of the Barr Colonists settled atthat time known as the Northwest Territorities.
Lloydminster, which is now a city, was built on the fourth meridian, the Post Office on the east side and the C.N.R.station on the west side of the meridian which in 1905 becamethe dividing line between the two Provinces - Alberta and Saskatchewan.
Lloydminster derived it's name from Rev. G.E. Lloyd, who was Chaplain to the Barr Colonists, a very well desreved honor tothe man who later became Bishop of the Diocese, a man of great discipline and inspiration who could hold his congregation in rapt attention as he spoke from the pulpit. An ideal and hero to a young man such as I. He will always remain so in my memory.
As the C.N. Railway was still under construction supplies to Lloydminster had to be hauled by wagn teams, my father took partin this freighting, sometimes being two weeks on the trail.
During the summer of 1905 I was free to roam about, I remember how quickly rows of houses were springing up in Sakatoon under the hammer and saw of the carpenters, I amused myself with thethin strips of shingle falling from the gables as they were being trimmed off. School starting age was five years and mysister was starting in September. Mother said to her neighbor, Mrs Miles "Isn't it a shame Howard can't start school with Winnie; he is not five until next January which means he can't start until next September." Mrs Miles answered "Oh we can fix that", so she made me a birthday cake put five candles on it and I was packed off to school with my sister when I was four. It was the King Edward School with the staircase. I very well remember coming down those stairs during the fire drill. then there was the day, so exciting, when we all marched down to the station to meet the Governor General Earl Grey who was supposed to arrive in Sakatoon. I was really thrilled to be in such a long line of marching children. The train was late however, and Earl Grey was unable to come and sent a substitute. However, we waited patiently and sang until the train finally arrived. Eventually the C.N.R. was completed to Lloydminster and beyond and my father had a house built on the homestead. We were to pack everything and get ready for the trip on the train. That night we stayed at a friend's house and being short of beds, we children with theirs slept some at each end of the bed with our feet meeting in the middle. I must say, at this early age, I had my misgivings about going to a homestead. I would ask myself"What does it mean ?" Maybe I had a forboding, it meant limited education to become the eldest son of a homesteader. I believe this was one of our dear mothers heaviest crosses to bear, she would have loved for Arthur and I to have regular school attendance. However we thrived physically on hard work which there was plenty of and I loved to read on rainy days and Sundays which proved a blessing. I was able to be among the first group of children to attend our school when it was built,known as Hilltown, later changed to Streamstown School. Miss Bresnahan was the first teacher. Other teachers well remembered were Miss Pilbeam, whose scarf drills were very enyoyable acompanied with music. Miss Dalrymble who later married Ralph McDonell and then Miss Buck who I believe it was put a lot of effort into the play of Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs for the Christmas Concert. She later married Brook Booth.
Starting on a homestead required many tools and machinery so thefirst few years neighbours would borrow and exchange with oneanother. I remember our neighbour, Frank Lusty, sowing wheat andoats by hand broadcast, and later using a little seeder attachedt o his crest and truning a crank to scatter the seed. Breaking the land was done with a small two handled plow not suitable for brush breaking, so opened patches were plowed first. Dad's first field was sixteen acres which had a fine crop of wheat the first year. Early frosts were common those years so you were lucky to get a grade three on your wheat. The most common weeds at thattime were pigweed, buckwheat and wild mustard. The virgin soil produced lovely crops of potatoes. A big garden of vegetableswas essential on a homestead, we children were taught to keep it weeded. Many homesteads were several miles from town and neighbours were scarce, so the greenhorn or new comer to farmingas many colonists were, had to be advised as to essential equipment. It was most regrettable to break your ax handle, hammer handle or fork handle when you only had one. A monkeywrench was a very handy tool to have. My dad having been a hardware clerk was well versed along this line of necessities. The first implements needed were a breaking plow, a disk, harrows and a sed drill if possible, and then a binder. Ourfirst binder was a three horse Massey-Harris with no carriage under the tongue. The tongue was quite heavy to lift when hitching up horses. The next big problem was getting a threshing rig as you had to wait your turn, there being just a few big steam rigs in the district in the early days. Many farmers would start stacking their grain then it could be threshed later. With the development of the gasoline engine, many farmers soon bought their own threshing rigs. Ours was a fifteen horse power one cylinder, portable with a 22 inch hand fed separator and straw carrier instead of a blower. We boys tried bucking the strawaway with the oxen but finally resorted to stacking it with pitch forks which was dusty job especially if there was somesmut in the grain.
Out first animals were the two mules and Bob a lovely blackhorse my dad bought from a Mr Hodge who farmed one mile out ofSaskatoon. Bob had to do many jobs along with the mules as wellas take us in the buggy or be used as a saddle horse. Eventually dad traded the mules to a Mr Dolan of Strettn for two broncos, called Ted and Dan, along with an Indian Pony called Nitchy. He bucked me off many a time then he would run off a little ways then turn around and look at you always careful not to let youcatch him until you had walked all the way home.Our next important item was a cow, so dad went to see aneighbour about six miles away by the name of Aaron Smith. Hehad come from the United States with his family, and a fairamount of equipment besides livestock. He had a red polled cowcalled Edna that he would sell so Edna became our first cow. Shewas a good milker, though not easy to milk. Her first calf was aheifer, we called it Molly; the second calf being a bull calf wedecided to call Aaron after the man we had bought Edna from; thenext calf was also a bull calf and we being good Anglicans hisname just had to be Moses. These two animals we later used asoxen, I might add they gave me some problems especially Moses -he had a mind of his own. While Aaron and Moses were growing upwe had four other big oxen - Brandy, Bright, Snowball and Charlie. Charlie was exceptional for an ox. As necessity knows now law Charlie would fit in whereevr needed. Hitched up with a horse he would haul grain to town, or in deep snowy weathertake the children to school in the cutter (three miles); or on agang plow pulled by two oxen, a horse and a bull. The horse hadto be between the oxen and the bull or there would be trouble.Setting eggs are essential on a farm. We needed some hens so wemade a trip to the Marfleet family and bought some BuffOrpington hens, nice big yellow hens. They are noted for being broody, they lay a few eggs and then want to sit. Mother, incollecting the eggs would find one sitting on the nest toolong, so she would exclaim "What, you wanting to sit again" - soshe would pick the hen up by the legs and duck him in the waterbarrel. If that was not effective then they would be shut up ina coop until they forgot about being broody. I wonder if this ishow the saying started when we hear it said "Mad as a wet hen" ?
Another problem facing the homesteader was an adequate water supply. I can remember six different wells attempted before wefound one that did not go dry and that was when Bert Moon camealong with a well drill and struck water at a depth of 48 feetand this well lasted us continuously. We children took turns atpumping water for the livestock until finally a little gasengine took over for us. Inthe course of time other quater sections were added to the homestead, the livestock increased in numbers, horses, cattle and pigs so we needed a grinder to grind the grain for feed.Neighbours would also bring their grain to be ground. The I.H.C.portable engine was ideal for this work. Notable for abundancein those early days was the wild fowl such as the (Prairie Chicken) Sharp Tailed Grouse, Ruffled Grouse or Partridge, Ducksand Geese. We boys never tired of watching the large flocks asthey flew over in the spring and fall. How exciting especially in the spring after a long winter of deep snow to hear the honkof Canada Geese or the Snow Geese; then the cry of the SandhillCrane or the Whooping Crane as they circle higher and higher.Try as we will who can mimic those deep throated sounds ? Whatfarm boy is there who after a full days work, the chores are done, the cows are milked and turned out to pasture, the cowbell gently tinkles as bossy chews her cud; the full moon is slowly rising through the trees; the hoot of an owl is heard, anight jar whirrs close by again and again. While all around it would seem a chorus of frogs are singing their song from onepond to another, and if that were not enough to his startledgaze a meteor streaks across the starlit sky. Slowly turning togo for a well earned rest he exclaims "Surely all nature is awakening and praising her creator," Oh the joy of summer after a long cold winter.
In the early days there was a considerable amount of free range and your cattle would sometimes roam quite a distance, hunting for them on horseback was a common occurance.
Throughout the Townships certain sections had been alloted toand known as the Hudson Bay section, the C.P.R. section and the school section. My dad's homestead being NW 28-51-2-W4. This was a homestead abandoned by Bert Hulets. During the haying season whoever made the first round with a mower on an open meadowwould claim it as his. This was usually accomplished with good neighborlyness. One section no. 33 north of us was known as the Countess section, owned by a Countess.
It was not long before herd law came into force and most farmers soon had their land fenced. This in turn hastened the opening upof road allowances with graded roads and culverts. Previous tothis most trails took you through neighbours yards which lent asociable aspect to the community. Queen Victoria Day"24th of May" was usually the first picnic day of the summer and later ona farmer's picnic day would be held with races for each age group also some horse races. Cricket was played the firstyear or two but it soon gave place to baseball. In the winter,besides the Christmas Concert by the children, there would bebox socials and dances in the school houses. A piano, fiddle,and a mouth organ quite often for music. Quite popular was thehard time dance, also whist drives. Many a winter's night wasspent playing cards amongst neighbours. There was no gambling.At house parties amongst friends many exciting games would beplayed and the night would seem to pass all too quickly. Thenthere was the occassional surprise party, many neighbours comingwhen you totally enexpected, this usually caused lots of fun.You would wonder "How many more are coming".
In the year 1910 my dad took a trip to B.C. and went up theFrazer River as far Fort George, now Prince George. He was quitefascinated with what he saw but it took several years for it todevelop so he never went back. that year we had the excitementof watching Halley's Comet. April 1912 was the disaster of theTitanic sinking. An unforgettable tragedy. Two years and fourmonths after this the First World War broke out. One closeneighbour, Tom Pritchard, enlisted and did not come back. UncleBert Duckering enlisted in the Horse Artillery and saw serviceoverseas. The years 1914 and 1915 saw good harvests of grainwith heavy stand of straw, some sheaves were tied with threebands to hold them together giving the man on a hand feedseparator lots of work. By the end of the war, 1918, price ofgrain was up somewhat and farming was number one business.The gasoline tractor was coming into fashion. The Titan and theMogul tractor were put on the market and dad bought a Mogul. Itwas good for belt work but lacked power on the drawbar for fieldwork. This meant I had to keep on plowing with the horses and atwelve inch gang plow, all the time longing and scheming howgreat it would be if | could only hook onto that big oldtractor plow sitting by the fence doing nothing. I knew dadwould not give me permission to attempt anything with that bigplow, he was afraid I would have an accident so I had to becareful and prove that I could do it some day when he wasaway. That day finally came to taking pulleys off the hayslingand two cables and eight horses, an apple box to sit on and dragharrows hooked on behind, which harrowed the plowed land,besides holding the plow from running onto the horses heels atthe end of the furrow, seeing there was no tongue on a tractorplow. Well the long and short of it all was I never went back tothe twelve inch gang. With an outfit like this I had to get ridof those little fields, so Arthur and I started cuttingbush in the winter saving all the poplar poles for wood, gettingit ready for breaking in the summer. This inspired dad to investin a 12 - 20 horse power Rumley Oil Pull tractor along with aVan Slack tractor breaking plow. With this outfit we cleaned upall the unbroken bush land on the Hulet quarter and also theS.E. quarters of section 32. This was Uncle Percy's which hetraded for dad's homestead.
In early 1926 the Rumley Co. were putting on a week's tractorschool in Saskatoon. Dad asked me if I would like to go, ofcourse I said "yes". When the time came to go we had to catchthe train at Kitscoty in the wee hours of the morning, to mysurprise, dad was still sleeping, so I had to wake him up hopinghe had not lost his enthusiasm. The week was very enjoyable withlectures, slides, and doing dismantling of some of the parts. Arousing sing song in the evening with all those farmers added toits enjoyment.
The outcome of it was dad ordered a new 20-35" horse powerRumley Oil Pull with extension rims and spade lugs. It was myjoy to be plowing with that tractor in the spring. What a stepforward from the day I was plowing with oxen and a 12 inch gangplow. "Oh boy" I don't have a stop, just put more fuel andgrease in it and keep going. To the steady pom-pom of that twocylinder motor, you could sing at the top of your voice one ofthe ditties they taught us at tractor school. It went to thetune of Turkey In The Straw and the chorus was -
For it's Hi Hi He for the Advance Rumley
We've got the country going strong.
Where e'er you go you will always know
That the Oil Pull is rolling along.
The following winter Arthur and I started clearing bush on theNW quarter of section 29, the 20 - 35 Rumley proved good forbreaking so dad decided to make a down paymeny on section 21,the north half. Arthur and I were soon busy cutting bush on it.I decided we would break the full mile which we did afterbreaking more land for dad. I managed to break 78 acres on 21the first year then we had a spell of wet weather making itdifficult for a spade lug tractor so dad decided to try a HoltCaterpillar tractor. This little tractor proved excellentespecially on the drawbar. I broke 110 acres with it that year,first for dad and then more on section 21. Dad had his biggestcrop of wheat ever that year and had joined the Wheat Pool.Arthur and I had not joined as we wanted to make a payment rightaway on the half section, besides we had no bins yet to storethe grain. by hauling it out early that fall we received wellover $1 per bushel, by the spring it had dropped down to $0.25and $0.3 a bushel. Dad was very disappointed. We were cuttingmore bush on 21 when dad came out and said we had better notcut any more bush until the price of grain went up. What was Ito do through the winter months ? I had heard about a ChristianCollege in Red Deer and seeing my education had been so sadlyneglected, why not go and see what it had to offer ? With thehelp of my dear mother, Mrs Rutherford and Mrs Sonley, wehadheld Sunday School in Fenham house through one summer, Ienjoyed it very much but I soon realized my need of training forsuch work, now was my opportunity. My welcome at the College wasvery gracious and I often wished I could have been there yearsearlier.
The College was a venture of faith and needed willing helpers,so besides taking some studies I was soon involved in necessarywork that had to be done. Cows to be milked, feed to haul, coaland wood to be brought in. Then I took the liberty to invest ina flock of hens as there was lots of scraps from the kitchengoing to waste. There was a big garden to tend and also two beehives to look after. There were chapel services to attendevery morning and inspirational services on Sundays. One cannotforget the big camp meetings held each summer where many a needysoul comes to know the Lord as Saviour and Friend. While at theCollege, the Second World War broke out and I enlisted in theArtillery 4th of June 1940 - the 13th Field Regiment, 3rdDivision. We left for overseas in November 1941. Later in thewar I was transferred to the Signal Corps and assigned to dutiesin London England and finally a short term on the continent nearOldenberg, Germany, coming back to Canada in August 1947 on theAquitania.
One clear morning as the sun was rising the hills of Nova Scotiacame into view. What a beautiful sight after six years ofuncertainty.'
'And Now, to the future' by Howard Duckering (a Barr Colonist).
O Canada! What a land of opportunity,
So full of exciting potential and fame.
Calling your sons and your daughters,
Setting their hearts aflame.
Sensing a greater tomorrow,
May they work with might and main.
Transforming your waiting meadows
To fields of ripening grain.
Gone are the days of the buffalo,
They served their patient past.
Today, a hungry world is calling
"What have you to share at last ?"
Yours the glorious privilege
Of filling an urgent need.
May we pause a moment in memory of those
Giving their all - keeping you free indeed.'
(Articles sent to me by Shirley Hutzkal 1996)

'At 83, Advocate worker not sure it's time to retire', Articleby Carolyn Martindale of the Advocate.

'After almost 30 years of delivering newspapers to drop-offpoints, The Advocatee's oldest worker retired last month. However, Howard Duckering, a spry 83 year-old, is not certain hemade the right decision when he decided to pack it in. "Without your work there's no mission in life," says Mr Duckering, who wants to find work to occupy him in hisretirement.
"How am I going to change at my age ?"
While he would like to keep his delivery job, Mr Duckering saysthere are younger people who need the money more than he does.
"There are some people who criticize you. They say 'do you knowyou should be retired ? You're doing someone out of a job.'
"Just because a person is past 65, is it his duty to quit ?" heasks. Mr Duckering has pondered the question many times in 18years since he passed that milestone. He's not convinced agealone should determine when a person retires.Mr Duckering said he never dreamt of staying home from work ifhe had a cold. The only day he remembers missing was when he wasstruck in the side of the head while on his job.
"That's one thing I've always been blessed with was a pretty active body." Mr Duckering has fond memories of his years delivering for The Advocate. "I will remember it was a job I always appreciated. It was a pleasure to work for them. If you have a job like that,prize it. Put your best into it."He says the younsters who deliver the papers were a fun bunchwho often played tricks by hiding each other's bundles of newspapers. Sometimes the prank was on him, when they hid hisdelivery box, he said. Times have changed during his 28 yeartenure. The Advocate has moved several times and technology madehis job easier. "In those days we had tocarry up all those papers up the staircase. Now they come up on endless rollers right near your wagon, " he said. Mr Duckering remembers one time when he was delivering papers he noticed aman breaking into the downtown Eaton's store.
"I chased him and caught him. I just hung onto him until the police came." He respects The Advocate for upholding "moral standards."
"There's quality there. It's just occasionaly people object to something. A good newspaper has to face criticism."
Mr Duckering never married. "I never had time," he said. "You have your ideal. My ideal was to find a girl who was educated. But here I was'nt educated. It wouldn't be fair to court a girl who was higher in social standing. "Mr Duckering was born in England in 1901. He came to Canada in1903 with his family where they homesteaded in the Lloydminsterarea. He worked on the family farm until he was 30 when he moved to Red Deer to attend and work at the Nazarene Colllege.
He served overseas during the Second World Waras a gunner signaller and messenger. In 1947 he returned to Red Deer wherehe worked at the Nazarene College until 1950 when the Collegeclosed. Then he joined The Advocate as a hot type caster. Healso delivered papers to drop off points for carriers until last month.' Article dated 26.3.1984. (Shirley Hutzkal letter 17.3.96)

Howard died on the 4th March 1997 at Ken and Rita's home. Thefuneral service was held at the Living Stones Church, DelburneRoad, Red Deer, Alberta. The service was led by The ReverendGlenn Boyce and Pastor David Forrest. Interment was at theAlto-Reste Memorial Gardens, Red Deer. See order service onfile. (Shirley 4.3.97)

Speaking with Clarence Duckering, Howard's younger brother, recollected that Howard probably had a romance with a teacher from the local school to the farm. She, Miss Reece, who was keen on hunting. She used to come over to the farm to go shooting with Howard. When the school learnt of this association, she was sacked by the school. Herbert, Howard,s father was a school governor, who would have been involved in taking the decision. It would seem that Howard never got over this first love or his father's involvement in this decision. (Clarence 27th July 2012)