“Tabby Loops the Loop”
On the Lighter Side of History
By Allan Goddard
There have been numerous stories written about the D R Fraser Lumber Co. and their time in the lumbering industry around the Breton area from the mid 1920’s to the mid 1950’s. However, stories from the past do not need to be dry and filled with historical facts. I recently came across a short news story from the Edmonton Journal dated October 20, 1934. The headline reads, “Tabby Loops the Loop”.
It appears that the D R Fraser Lumber Co. had a camp cat which located itself on the inside rim of a large 12 foot diameter fly wheel … that’s 3.6 metres for the younger readers. This flywheel provided power to all the moving parts of the sawmill through a series of shafts, pulleys and belts from the steamer. Maybe the cat decided to take a nap in the sun on the inside rim of the flywheel, no one knows, after all it was a cat. The mill’s steam engineer fired up the mill for a period of 75 minutes. The story indicates that this flywheel turned at a speed of 100 revolutions per minute. So, if I do the math correctly, the poor cat went around and around 7500 times.
After a 75-minute run the engineer stopped the flywheel, and as the tremendously heavy wheel slowed to a stop, the engineer noticed a peculiar-colored spot on the inside rim of the huge wheel. Upon closer examination he realized that it was the camp cat. The poor tabby had to be jarred loose with the toe of his boot, at which time the cat headed to the tall timber.
This is where the news articled ended, but did the cat come back? I have to wonder what the cat would have said about its ordeal, if it had been interviewed. I would like to imagine the quote would have been… “I AM NOT HAPPY”. As the children’s song goes… “The cat came back… the cat came back the very next day … he just wouldn’t stay away”. Who says that museum people don’t have a sense of humour.
It appears that the D R Fraser Lumber Co. had a camp cat which located itself on the inside rim of a large 12 foot diameter fly wheel … that’s 3.6 metres for the younger readers. This flywheel provided power to all the moving parts of the sawmill through a series of shafts, pulleys and belts from the steamer. Maybe the cat decided to take a nap in the sun on the inside rim of the flywheel, no one knows, after all it was a cat. The mill’s steam engineer fired up the mill for a period of 75 minutes. The story indicates that this flywheel turned at a speed of 100 revolutions per minute. So, if I do the math correctly, the poor cat went around and around 7500 times.
After a 75-minute run the engineer stopped the flywheel, and as the tremendously heavy wheel slowed to a stop, the engineer noticed a peculiar-colored spot on the inside rim of the huge wheel. Upon closer examination he realized that it was the camp cat. The poor tabby had to be jarred loose with the toe of his boot, at which time the cat headed to the tall timber.
This is where the news articled ended, but did the cat come back? I have to wonder what the cat would have said about its ordeal, if it had been interviewed. I would like to imagine the quote would have been… “I AM NOT HAPPY”. As the children’s song goes… “The cat came back… the cat came back the very next day … he just wouldn’t stay away”. Who says that museum people don’t have a sense of humour.
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