Out of the Mists

All last week there was unwonted activity among the rolling hills of Grindstone Island, one of the "Misty Magdalens" which lie athwart the Gulf of St. Lawrence steamer lanes. In one spot the scrubby balsam firs had been cleared and a power shovel scooped deep into the earth. At week's end, under a crisp, blue sky, a couple of dozen Madelinot workmen stood around with mining engineers and newsmen to watch a diamond drill bite into the cocoa-colored rock. At a depth of 49 ft. the drill hit high-grade ore containing about 53% metallic manganese. With 40,000 tons proven reserves, and 140,000 more probable, it looked like a good thing for the island, and Quebec Manganese Mines, Ltd. Every ton of hardened steel requires an average of 14 lbs. of manganese, and most reserves in the U.S. and Canada are low-grade and unprofitable.

No Newfangled Industry. Known for four centuries and settled for two, the Magdalens (pop. 10,000) have never before had modern industry. They have long been notorious as a menace to navigation--"the Graveyard of the Gulf." Of the most westerly, Deadman Island (see map), Tom Moore wrote in 1804:

To Deadman's Isle, in the eye of the blast, To Deadman's Isle she speeds her fast; By skeleton shapes her sails are furled And the hand that steers is not of this world!

Fifty miles from Cape Breton and Prince Edward Island and twice as far from Newfoundland, the islands have passed from the French to Newfoundland to Quebeo. They were one of the last outposts of feudalism in the western world: George III gave them to Admiral Sir Isaac Coffin for services to the Crown, and for a century they paid tribute to Coffin's heirs.

No Snakes or Americans. The Magdalens are still unknown to most Canadians. As a native puts it, they "don't have no oxen, frogs, toads, snakes or Americans." Lately, life has brightened for the Madelinots. They have four quick-freezing plants, so their fish brings a higher price. On the islands there are eight producers' cooperatives and seven consumers', 50 schools, with eleven new schools under construction. There is no divorce, virtually no crime.

Soon, Quebec engineers hope to take out 160 tons of ore a day from Grindstone Island pits. It can be shipped cheaply to Baltimore for $2.50 a ton (it costs two or three times as much to ship ore from the great world sources in Brazil or India). The industrial revolution is bringing the Magdalens--once known mainly for their sea birds, especially gannets--out of the mists at last.

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