Hi Dee,
Me again.
During my recent 20 day train trip in May from Vancouver on the west coast to Halifax on the east coast of Canada with two day stops in various cities along the way I saw a few interesting things.
The most striking was the Titanic passengers graveyard in Halifax, visited by tourists from around the world.
When the Titanic sank the White Star line hired boats from Halifax to sail, two days to the area to help with the recovery of the bodies.
The bodies identified from wealthy families, ergo the first class passengers, were returned to England or forwarded to New York.
The rest were interred in Halifax, those identified have a name on their tombstone and the those not, a number.
The most bizarre are the tourists who according to our tour guide confuse the movie Titanic with the reality of the sinking of the RMS Titanic and place bouquets of flowers, movie ticket stubs and photos of themselves, periodically cleared away, at the tombstone of J. Dawson. Apparently the name used for the male hero in the movie.
In truth he was a coal trimmer on the ship, his body identified by the number of his National Sailors and Fireman’s Union card he had thoughtfully placed in his pocket.
He was an Irishman from Dublin tying to get to America.
He and his below decks colleagues were permitted topside after the lifeboats were launched.His body was barefoot when found, having like other below decks crew removed their work boots to make it possible to swim – briefly.
Observed listing in the Halifax public park, and much appreciated by yours truly.
Whatever floats your boat.
