My dear Apperson,
I am writing a few lines to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and many of them, for you will never have a happier one than I am wishing you.
I came up here about five weeks ago with Martignore to test the first of the 10,000 HP generators for the Canadian Niagara Power Co. – he had to return after a fortnight and I remain and should be here I expect for another fortnight.
I did office work for about a fortnight after he left but got bored of it and volunteered to work on the board till the machines were running on their turbines and some more testing came along.
The electrical plant is nearly all General Electric while the turbines come from Esscher-Wyn at Zurich, Switzerland, and the pen stocks from Skoda Maschinen Fabrik, Pilsen, Austria.
There are a whole gang of Germans erecting them who are in various stages of learning English from saying A – D cards.
Davis and Packer who you doubtless remember once had charge of Slow Speed are here in the Resident Engineers Office of the Ontario Power Co. who are putting up a 210,000 HP plant below the falls.
We have been very unfortunate in the way of accidents here as someone is either killed or injured almost every week.
Last week the magazine storekeeper put a case of dynamite on the boiler of one of the donkey engines to thaw out – the dynamite exploded blowing up the boiler and killing the storekeeper and two Polanders of which latter no traces have been found.
I was very sorry not to have an opportunity of returning your skate sail to you before I left town – it is lying in my canoe in Yate’s boat house – it is very rude of me but I will get it when I return though if you need it you will find it there or Wilkinson will get it if you ask him.
I shall be very pleased if you can spare the time to write me a few lines and tell me how things are going in Schenectady. I hear things are very slack so maybe I will get [out ?] have another job when this is over here.
Again wishing you a very merry Christmas,
I am,
C. Antony Ablett