BIG BEN / JIM
by Ernie Walsh

Mr. Jim Ennis would row his flat from his home wharf in Philly's Bottom early every morning probably even before I climbed out of bed, and row out to the Bait Store on the Green Point where he worked. On clear days we could see him leaving the bait store at noon, coming back at about 2:00 p.m. and leaving again at 6:00 p.m. to row home. He was a familiar sight to everyone and for those of us who didn't have a watch, he was a ‘Big Ben’.

It was always something special to row out to the Bait Store and pull the head of the dory up on the rock slipway, or if there was an undertow, Mr. Jim would direct us to tie onto an iron bolt or ring anchor and let the dory drift out from the shore. Inside his office and generator room, it was warm and cozy but he knew why we had come ashore and would ask ‘Do you want to go inside the freezer or cold storage room?" Knowing well our reply would be "yes", Mr. Jim would take us inside the big freezer where we would see the frozen blocks of mackerel, herring, squid and caplin depending on the time of year, and the bait required. We would stay in about two minutes or more and get chilled right to the bones and then come outside and get a big high on the warmth. It was always a friendly spot.

Well, I can see the fog rolling in again, and although I can still see, in my mind many more things happening around the harbour, I'd better row for home before I might end up in Big Merasheen.

As we row past Mr. Mack's wharf, we can see his son Reg and Aiden Best going around the harbour sprinkling blubber on the water, so they can see another flat fish or sculpin. They stab them with their long handled stick with the wood boring drill bit on the end, so they can screw on the live bait on the bottom before they try to pull them up and into the dory to be cut up and used as lobster pot bait.