I must tell you what Granddad told to a young kid, who always hung on to every word he said. When the rivers and lakes were frozen in Edmonton, the poor people who could not afford ice skates, would grow their toenails and curl them under their feet to use for skates. As you can see he liked to pull my leg for I really believed him when he told me.
Granddad took his leave of Edmonton and continued around the world. Unfortunately, I never heard from him any stories of this part of his life. How I wish he had told me.
During the time he was away, the strike had got worse in England. The workers, now frustrated with the lack of progress in the negotiations, began to cause havoc. They attacked the mine offices, and in order to keep warm at home, raided the coal heaps to heat their homes . Remember, in those days, the only heat and cooking facilities they had, came from the fire place.
The British Government, guided by Winston Churchill, who was then Minister of Labour, turned the troops out against the workers. Yes the same Winston Churchill who led England during the war and was a wonderful leader. Churchill, was always hated by the miners, then and forever. He did great things for England during the war, however, the miners never forgave him for turning out the army against them.
Anita recalls her Dad telling her that he went to a big strike rally in London in support of all workers on strike, for no reason the police on horseback just rode into the crowd swinging batons and pushing people down to the ground. Many times this type of thing happened, times were not the best in those days.
The workers eventually had to return to work, practically with the same terrible conditions they had endured for so many years. The strike had done them no good at all. It was at this time, the workers got organized and the beginnings of unions were being formed.
Eventually Granddad returned home to his family, his children had grown up and were now working, so the family were much better off financially than they had ever been. There were now a number of wage earners in the house.
