Horrible Sight

It's the anniversary of the Great Fire of 1892. The Great Fire in St. John's on July 8, 1892, is remembered as the worst disaster ever to befall the city.

At approximately five o'clock in the afternoon on the July 8, 1892, a dropped pipe in Timothy Brine's stable at Freshwater Road at the top of Carter's Hill began what would become the worst fire in St. John's history. Initially the fire did not cause any widespread panic, however a series of catastrophic coincidences caused the fire to spread and devour virtually all of the east end of the city, including much of its major commercial area before being extinguished.

Rev Moses Harvey witnessed the initial stages of the fire and remarked to his friend that it "was a bad day for a fire. A high wind from the north-west was blowing, hurling the sparks far and wide on the roofs of the clusters of wooden houses. For a month previous hardly any rain had fallen, and the shingled roofs were like tinder." The situation was exacerbated because of work completed earlier in the day on the water mains. Although water flow was re-established by 3 p.m., two hours before the fire began, water pressure was insufficient to force water up into the higher sections of the city where the fire began. W. J Kent remarked that the "flames therefore made headway before water was procurable, and as a very high westerly wind was furiously fanning the fire it began to spread rapidly."

An hour into the blaze the people of St. John's realised that the fire could not be contained in the area of Brine's farm. Because locals believed stone walls would withstand the flames, residents moved valuables into numerous stone buildings in the city. One of the most common refuge areas was the Anglican Cathedral of St. John the Baptist. The ....

Traditional Method of Catching Caplin

Fishing vessels have returned to waters off Newfoundland for the first time in years for a commercial harvest of caplin, despite warnings that the health of the stock may be fleeting. Caplin, a delicacy in the Japanese marketplace, were once part of a vibrant fishery in Newfoundland and Labrador, although catches fell as cod stocks began collapsing in the late 1980's.

Right now, there's more caplin than has been seen I'd say in 20 years in Conception Bay. Vessels could harvest about 450 tonnes of caplin in Conception Bay alone.

Scientists are still trying to figure out why caplin, a key source of food for cod, disappeared in the first place, and what's bringing them back again. They are limited, though, because old research programs fell by the wayside over the years.

"The recovery is a combination of things, but certainly we've not done the offshore acoustic surveys that we used to do in the 1980s," said a research scientist with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.

This year's caplin harvest has been the busiest in two decades. There have been commercial catches of caplin in subsequent years, but nothing compared to this year's activity.

Giant Spiders

OK. I don't want to jump to conclusions, but I was on the CBC News website today and saw that a giant spider was decending on the buildings across the expressway from CBC. There was nothing on the news about St. John's being invaded by giant spiders, however, it is possible that the giant spiders are in control of the media and are preventing any news of the invasion from getting out.

If you live in St. John's, please be warned that you may be under attack.

We will keep you posted as we continue to monitor the situation in St. John's.

Fishers of Men Video is the brain-child of two UpAlong-ers, Cheryl and Steve Thomson. Steve is a retired rock musician and CBC TV editor, and Cheryl sings, plays keyboards, and motivates Steve.

Steve is now a freelance reporter with NTV News and produces many of their human interest stories.

“When we came on holiday to Newfoundland for the first time in 2001, Cheryl and I both fell in love with the Rock, we bought a little house out around the bay (Champneys, Trinity Bay), I quit the CBC, bought my own camera and editing gear, moved out here in 2003.”, Steve shared with us.

The Fishers of Men Video website is a wonderful place to view some terrific videos that Steve has done (via his YouTube Channel), purchase his DVD’s and his and Cheryl’s DVD’s and CD’s.

Visit Steve and Cheryl's website here: Fishers of Men Video.

Laying the Keel

As the crowd of 150 to 200 people in the shed sang "Down, boys, down," 14 people - representing English explorer John Guy and his Indeavour crew - set down the 350-pound bare ship's keel.

The piece is the centre of what will be a life-sized reconstruction of the frame of the Indeavour at the Wooden Boat Museum of Newfoundland and Labrador.

The reconstruction is connected to an Indeavour exhibit at the museum, part of this year's Cupids 400 celebrations highlighting the anniversary of the English settlement in the New World.

"Originally we had thought that we would actually have the voyage of the Indeavour, with all the sailboats and everything from Conception Bay coming here, coming around the bay," said Gerald Smith, board member Baccalieu Trail Heritage Corp.

"Then about two years ago, we decided we would bring this to the Winterton Boatbuilding Museum and of course they took it and took off with it.

"We're pretty proud with what they did, no doubt about it. I think it's going to cause a big influx of tourists and everything here.

"There's no joke about that at all. I think it's going to help Cupids; I think it's going to help Winterton. It's going to help the whole Baccalieu Trail," he said.

Known as the Winterton Boatbuilding Museum before 2008, the Wooden Boat Museum of Newfoundland and Labrador now represents the boatbuilding tradition provincewide. Museum board member Beverley King said the location had about 2,800 visitors last year.

"That's only a beginning," board chairman Bruce Whitelaw said, echoing Smith's assessment of the potential draw of the Indeavour.

Visitors to the museum's Indeavour exhibit will be able to see storyboards of the initial explorations of th ....