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| Orthez (pronouced OrTheeze)
was siding north of
Boissevain on the railway line that connected Boissevain with Lauder in
1912. John Arthur Trefry was a section-man on the railroad. In 1952 he was stationed at Orthez just north of Boissevain, (southeast quarter of 22-4-20). Here a cooperative was organized known as the Royal Dunallen Cooperative handled lumber, coal, cordwood, flour, honey, etc. for many years. In winters Frank Howell, a farmer on 14-4-20 W .P .M., sold coal at Alcester and men hauled it to their homes by team and sleigh. Mrs. Frank Howell was a very outstanding lady in the community. She, with Mrs. William Little, drove around in their Ford car to try to convince people that women should have the right to vote. Mr. Howell took an active part in the United Farmers. He was also active in the Dairy Co-op., and Egg Pool, and was for many years manager of the Royallen Co-operative Society at Orthez. When Jack Vandusen was a young lad growing up on the farm near Hartney, the service made it much easier for him to to visit his Grandparents at Orthez. Orthez consisted of an elevator, a freight shed and two homes; one housing his grandfather who was a railway section man, and the other for the elevator agent. Sometimes his parents would take him to the station at Lauder and he would make the trip on his own. Those were simpler times indeed. The thought of an eight year old traveling alone would seem quite irresponsible today. Even so, his parents and the train staff did take precautions. To make sure there was no mix-up and that the young passenger was not misplaced, they would take one of the tags that were normally used to place on cream cans, write his destination on it, and pin it on his jacket. Telling that story many decades later, Jack’s final comment was, “It was kind of demeaning.” |
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