Loon Island Log continued. (entries by Vera Drury Failing)

Aig 30 1933

D. Bert and I up Early in evening. Moonlight. Had lovely trip for our anniversary yesterday. Tupper Lake and back to Canton for supper. Fireplace lookiing better all the time.

Oct 1

Dad's (C.S.D.) 77th birthday. Bert and I came up last night. in beautifl moon. Dorthy Drury's wedding (Gouveneur) Dot and I left camp at 2:30 and reached church just as the bride was going in. Very pretty wedding Back to camp a]t 8:00. Waked in night by coons

Oct 12

Charlie S(alg) came to work on fireplace at 6;30 found four coons in a tree and spent all mornig chasing them for pictures. Pretiest sight I've seen in long time.

Oct 13

Beautiful October day. After breakfast went to Waugh's for rowboat that has been missing since July. Then went to mica mine - gorgous view of lake. Gathered mica rocks and running pine. came at 1 p.m. got dinner. Spent p.m. outdoors, warm and lovely. Dot and E. left at 4 Water rough and Bert got wet coming back. I carried dirt for flower beds - enljoyed radio.

Oct 14

Bert and I and doggies up at 11 p.m. Pretty chilly. Had no key. Bert climbed in through the fireplace opening upstairs. Fireplace forms done and looks great. "Another dream come true." Sat up until 2.00 a.m.. looking at fireplace and eating crackers and tea.

Oct 15

Beautiful day, temperaure 70 degrees. Bert cleared logs back of island so can get boat though . In p.m. I helped him carry and burn brush from back trail and carried dirt for flowers. Home monday a.m. Beautiful day.

Oct 18

Lovely morning. Bert and I and Blanche(Irv Priest's sister) came after 10 a.m. Burt helped Chas with fireplace. Got boiled dinner for the men.

Sunday Oct 22nd

Arrivced 11 a.. quite warm 58 degreees. Rained off and on all day. Laid around and read. Bert took a wet tramp. No fireplace yet.

Nov 2

Bett's birthday. Temp 60 degres. beautiful moonlight. Bert and I broughtt Blance P. up in evening thnking we could have fire but found we could not - disappointed.

Nov. 5

"The Day" Bert and I arrived ant 12:00 at 12:10 Bert lighted the 1st fire in fireplace - grand and glorious feeling. Had to go home at dusk: Mrs Adams away and Rachel W. with mother. Disappointed E. and D. couldn't be here (Uncle Win's funeral yesterday)( meaning Wynnfield Scott Boney),

Nov 11

( entries by Dorothy Failing Warren - Mama Dot.)

This was to celebrate E's bitheday. We wandered around the mainland, Donna carying E's cake. Finally I spottted the big rock on the shore of mainland, so we knew where we were.

Dec 5 (entries by Vera, Durry Failing - Donna)

Celebrated ending of Prohibition by coming to camp. Bert and I and doggies arrived 4 p.. by way of back route via a swamp and rubber boots. Temp 42 degrees. soon had roaring fire and game dinnner. Spent eveing from 6 until 9 reading and gazing into fireplace. however the rest of the night deserves no praise - between odors and snores and digging and licking the hours wore on until 5. a.m.

Jan 16 1934

Bert and Ernie Thomas up filling the ice house. E. and Anstey (Walt) worked Monday - stomred so hard that the men couldn't work - drove across on ice. E.T.(Ernie Thomas) and Bert stayed over night. put 256 cakes of ice up alt0gehter. Burt came home aobut 5 the 19th.
Back Side of Main Camp
In front of this group is my grandfather, H.A. Failing Slighly behind him are some other ealy members of the Diana Club, which also included my father E.N.Warren and Great Grandfather Drury, as well as another doctor or two shown here, and two Fred Smiths, (Harrisville Fred and Carthage Fred). One man in this picture looks like Hemmingway and another like Faulkner. The young man on the right looks like me oir my father, but is neither, and I wonder who.. I had thought this picture group included Ernie Thomas, f whom I have no other pictures I can think of,, but I see he is not there now.

I believe that Ernie Thomas died when he went through the ice of mud lake while running traps down there. In my imagination, my grandfather was with him at the time, but I have never been told . I don't even want to imagine what it is like to die while trapped under the ice, except that I used to put in a good amount of time, imagining just that.

H.A.F. and Herbert Lee Warren in the "Arc" , a St. Lawrence River tour boat which he bought, and to accomidte which he, sawed a deep bow notch in the the boathouse inner dock, so that the boathouse wouldaccomidate the whole boat.
Native Chimney
A pair of resident water snakes warming on rock in front of old beaver Lodge on Berger Pond Outlet. Ernie Thomas and H.A.F. tied the boat up here and carried milk cans containing trout to stock in Berger Pond. This was a heroic thing to do, and the more so because they got lost trying to get there, which they had tried to do by folowing the ridges. All those ridges lead to swamps - you have to walk the water line and get wet once in a while and not lost at all. They got lost and wet, and delayed, but they did get to Burger Pond, I don't assume that the trout survied all this, and I don't think they did, There were sunfish and suich there when I returned, and it seemed like it might be warm. But maybe there are some depths to it, if the scarey caves around there are any indication of what is below. I expect to see Cougars and Wolverines , and bears when I am there. I have come to close to a bear up in that draw. Bears are a well know animal which should be considered scarey. I have had one try to get into the camp I was sleeping in. That was in Alaska, but it happens here too.
The old mica mine (though according to an old Irv Priest post card there were two) was up on the bluffs behind Round Island, and many generations of my family have hiked up there to pick blueberries and to pick out a few chunky little books of mica crystals. It burned to the bare rock back there around 1900 and has been growing and changing ever since so often we do not find the mica mine, or just plane get lost, like when my Brother and I when we went looking for Irv Priests second Mica Mine, and never new where we were again until we came out on the shore of Indian Lake. And I still don't know how we got there.. but I am always trying to tell the story. .
Sacred Book of Bonaparte Mica