CHARLES BURY Hey Charlie, I was looking in this history book the other day and it says at one time Sherbrooke, Quebec, used to be called the electric city of Canada. You know anything about that? Yeah, a little bit anyway. Sherbrooke definitely was the electric city. Too bad they can't call it that today. Anyway, did you hear what that stupid guy said who runs Hydro Sherbrooke? No. I guess I missed that Okay, I'll tell you. This goes back to the early days of electric power. Sherbrooke was the first city in Canada to be built for industry right from the beginning. And electricity fit right in. Sherbrooke was the first place built for factories? Yup, in Canada at least. There was no unemployment in those days. Just as well, eh? There was no unemployment insurance either. Right. Anyway, Canada's earlier towns -- Quebec, Montreal, Three Rivers, St-Jean, Saint John (New Brunswick), St. John's (Newfoundland), Halifax (Nova Scotia) -- had grown up with plenty of government. They had busy military garrisons, some fur trading with the Indians, small farmers' markets, a bit of shipbuilding, but not much else. Sherbrooke, on the other hand, was created by private enterprise, water power and the Industrial Revolution. Gilbert Hyatt and the other early settlers came here starting in about 1811. They chose Sherbrooke because the Magog River ran steady all year, and the falls where it joins the St. Francis provided plenty of water for power. At first they built the little flour mills, sawmills, and factories that ran on straight water power. Dams diverted water to drive turbines that were connected by drive shafts directly to the machines they drove- saws, grinding wheels, knitting and weaving machines for textiles, and so on. But this meant they had to be located right on the river banks next to the dams, and before long there wasn't any space to grow. So as soon as the electric generator came along, the frustrated mill bosses jumped. Since there were already dams and turbines, converting to electric power was easy. And now the mills and factories could spread out away from the dams. That meant the shops could be bigger, their owners could make more money, and there were more jobs for sweat-hogs like you and me. So that was good, right? Well, I'm not so sure about that. But it was what they call progress. Anyway, then Thomas Edison came along and invented the light bulb. And that caught on so well that everyone started wanting some electricity of their own. I guess so. I mean, how else could they get their microwaves to work? You dummy. That was before microwaves. It was also before TV, before computers, before a lot of things. Anyway, people started thinking it would be nice to have an electric light in the house. And at the same time, the factory owners thought it would be nice to make still more money from their dams. So they got the idea to sell electricity. They started stringing wires all over the place and before anyone really knew it, Sherbrooke became the first city to be "electrified." Wow. So is that why so many people around here seem wired all the time? No, actually I think it's something in the water. But that's another story. But what happened was that more and more bosses caught on, and more and more factories were built. And it all started in Sherbrooke. Okay. But what did that guy at Hydro Sherbrooke say that got you going? I heard him on the radio. I didn't catch his name but they said he was the acting general manager. Anyway, the other day when it snowed a bit, the power went off all over town. We still have a few factories left and the managers were complaining that Hydro Sherbrooke never tells them what's happening. You know - everything goes dark, and you're wondering when the power's going to come back on. And you've got a big dark building full of workers with nothing to do, and you're wondering whether you should send them home. So you call the electric company, and an answering machine comes on, and says there's no one to answer your call and everything will return to normal before too long. But what's normal, and how long is not too long, and when is the damned power coming back? You mean like, time is money, eh? Exactly - unless you're this guy from Hydro Sherbrooke. Then I guess time is just something you waste for other people. Anyway, this guy goes on the radio and says there are a thousand employers in Sherbrooke and when the power goes off they don't have time to phone them all. Instead, he says, we're going to look after everyone the modern way. Hydro Sherbrooke is going to set up a web site where people can go on their computers to find out what's going on. Well, that seems like a good idea, doesn't it? Well it would be I guess, except for one little thing. What's that? Ever try to run your computer when the power's off? Charlie Bury is a freelance writer based in Birchton, Quebec.
Copyright © 1999 Charles Bury/Log Cabin Chronicles/10.99 |
