MONUMENTAL MESSAGE
Community heard about First World War armistice first
North Sydney museum hosts re-enactment of telegraph announcing end of First World War.
Annie Butler Smith’s voice quivered as she read the telegraph aloud.
She sprang from her seat, waved her hands in the air and declared the Great War was over.
Only moments earlier, the North Sydney telegraphist was sitting with headphones on, decoding a message hidden in a series of dots and dashes.
In her role as the historic operator who received North America’s first message the war was ending, Janice Harris could only imagine the joy Smith felt on Nov. 10, 1918.
Harris’s home community of North Sydney would hear the telegraph first, placing it in history books.
“I was going to play it just kind of hush-hush,” said Harris, while donning a black dress similar to one worn by the Western Union operator in an old photograph.
“Once I realized the significance of exactly what happened that day, I really became very emotional with my message.”
Although not much is known about Smith, historians say that exactly 100 years ago she would have received a variety of messages from birthday greetings to fuel orders.
“I’m sure she was a precocious lady who couldn’t keep that (news) to herself, and I think that’s how all of North Sydney found out what was going on,” said Harris.
“I looked at the picture of the Western Union ladies who worked there, and it looked like she had a sister that worked there too. There were surprisingly a lot of women that did work in that building at the time. It was quite a special place.”
After more than four years of war, the bustling Western Union office had become accustomed to messages of causalities, defeats and sinking ships.
Not a single message during that period was leaked until that fateful morning. According to locals, hundreds of people marched in the streets beating pots and pans or any other noisemakers they could find. The alcohol flowed that night until the bars ran dry.
“A hundred years ago today, you could probably only describe it as pure pandemonium,” said Richard Rose, a North Sydney historical society member, who dressed in period garb. “People would have been totally overjoyed.”
During the First World War in Cape Breton, the 94th Victoria Regiment, also
known as the Argyll Highlanders, would be placed on active duty to protect the coastline.
The same regiment would later recruit upwards of 2,400 men for the Canadian Expeditionary Force, whose members later fought throughout Europe according to the Cape Breton Highlanders Battalion website.
Rose said the Western Union office in North Sydney had been the busiest out of more 600 courier offices in the world.
“The messages had a number of ways of coming here when they left Valentia, Ireland, (but the message) … would have been destined for North Sydney as this was the major transit point. Virtually all the messages came through this office.”
A parade, similar to one that happened a century ago, was cancelled Saturday due to the rainy weather.
Organizers had gone through great lengths to make parade special, having acquired a selection of army, navy and air force uniforms from the First World War for local cadets to wear.
Royal Air Force veteran Simon Jones attended the North Sydney museum’s reenactment events with his wife Jennifer Lemoine-Jones and the couple’s son Matthew, 10.
Originally from England, Jones has been living in North
Sydney for three years after serving in the military between 1988 and 2007, including four operational tours of northern Iraq.
“Today’s a unique day for the world — 100 years since the end of First World War — and as a veteran I feel very deeply about commemorating and celebrating and passing down the information,” he said.
“I only found out about it recently and was extremely proud to live here and to know that this place was the first place in North America to find out about (the armistice). My son was supposed to be playing hockey today, but he decided rather than play hockey he’d come and commemorate this unique event.”
Representatives from the Cape Breton Regional Municipality, including Mayor Cecil Clarke and District 2 Coun. Earlene MacMullin, proclaimed Saturday to be North Sydney Armistice Commemoration Day.