Just B'Cause it's Thirstday!

[Dennman]

A pic of my dear old Danish landlord Pete on his mill.All handbuilt,except for the blade, outa scrap repurposed metal.It was gravity feed and powered by a '36 Chrysler engine.He'd set the logs, for the width of the slabs to cut, in the dogs of the slide;hand crank the logs to the top of a ramp;powered up the '36 w/ an overhead wooden slat throttle;release the brake;ride the slide down;clear the cutoff plank and repeat the whole process.
Hauled his  logs (3' trees at the butt handcut w/ an old x-cut hand saw) usin a Fordson Major.Fordson had a cracked block that he'd repaired with a 1x2 of wood wired through the side of the block.Had his own drip carb outa soldered sheet metal.
He was quite the fella to sit and listen to.Sailed for free on a 4 masted ship to Argentina to work on the cattle farms.Worked at the head of Lake Superior buildin forms for casting iron.Lived in a sod shack on the prairies.At one time in his life he rode an old in line 4 Henderson.Gave my heart a jump when he told me.Hoped he still had parts layin around in his shop. No luck.Built his own fiddles outa plywood and picture hangin wire.These had up to 26 strings.Old hands couldn't fret the strings so each string had its own tone when the old bow caressed it.Played popular tunes of the 1900-1919s.
Old boy had no use for gov'ts. He had no deserving,surviving relatives in Canada.Hans ,the shoe repairman, had died. His brother in Vancouver, that played in the symphony, "had enough money". Only had one sister in Denmark with no use for his possessions.He didn't want his land to go to the gov't; so, he willed it to me,my ex and my brother AND gave us back ALL the rent we had paid in 3 years.
Sadly he died in his 88TH year on Christmas morning.I went to get him for the meal at my sister's and found him sprawled half outa bed.Called the RCMP and hung out til the coroner showed.Helped him get Pete in the van.Needless to say it was not the merriest of Christmases.

Here he is doin what kept him alive.

[sunnydog]

Damned fine story Denn....Pete sounds like a great man.
Is the land you're on now part of the willed property, and where is the mill now?

Sunny

[Dennman]

Damned fine story Denn....Pete sounds like a great man.
Is the land you're on now part of the willed property, and where is the mill now?

Sunny

The mill was on what is now my brother's share of the inheritance.He scrapped it all.He's doesn't really get a thrill outa old machinery the way we do.

I haven't lived on my share since about '97. Rented it out over the years.Pretty much just derelict old buildings now. Abused by every renter that I had ,including my daughter and her entourage of friends.

[sunnydog]

Well its great that somebody remembers...Carlos and I were BS'in last nite that it's so important to think about and give tribute to these people in our lives...and to learn from their example...what an unusual person Pete was in the world we live in.  Who's gonna fill their shoes?  We're doin our best, but damn them's big shoes...

[kootenai]

condolences for pete dennman,,,,sounds like a real cool character,,,, seeing that pic took me back to memories of Bob tegart who cut his own lumber and timbers on his farm in invermere,, kind of like petes but it had no roof ,his was powered by belt hooked up to sheave off the tire of his tractor,, I wasn't even 10 yet,and he would let me hang out and try to help him run logs through it,,
he died of stomach cancer the same year,,,,,i always think back to the things that he did teach me and my brother,,considering my dad was no where to be found,,,,,,

[h.d.ryder]

Nice story Denn. Sounds like Pete was quite a character , with a heart of gold.
Condolences!

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