The schooner was chartered, the store was stocked and opened, and
there was enough to keep the people well-fed, well-clothed, happy and
comfortable through the first year.
In the beginning there were some of the men who were actually afraid
to have it known they were interested in the store, such was the fear
with which the traders had ruled them. They were so timid, indeed,
about the whole matter that they requested no sign designating the
building as a store be placed upon it. That, they declared, would make
the traders angry, and no one knew to what lengths these former
slaveholders might go to have revenge upon them. It is no easy matter
to shake oneself free from the traditions of generations and it was
hard for these trappers and fishermen to realize that they were freed
from their ancient bondage. But Doctor Grenfell fears no man, and,
with his usual aggressiveness, he nailed upon the front of the store a
big sign, reading:
RED BAY CO-OPERATIVE STORE.
It was during the winter of 1905-1906 and ten years after the
launching of the enterprise and the opening of the store, that I drove
into Red Bay with a train of dogs one cold afternoon.
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