SHARING A STORY

The following is an interesting story sent to me by a Face Book friend.... I hope that you enjoy it.

JOE BENOITS DEATH TOKEN ...

In the late 1880's the Anglo Newfoundland Telegraph Company operated a repeater telegraph station at a place called Garia in La.Poile Bay on the south coast of Newfoundland ...The telegraph line from Garia ran about fifty miles over the Long Range Mountains to the community of Sandy Point ,  St.Georges .

On Christmas Day in 1886 the staff at Garia included the telegraph operator , his wife and Dan and Joe Benoit ,two brothers who made up part of the telegraph repair crew for that area .

 The Benoits  were from Sandy Point , St.Georges..and were of French and Mi'cmaq ancestry ...Dan had worked with the telegraph company for a number of years and was the boss of the regular repair crew..His brother Joe had just joined the crew that fall.

Dan Benoit had recently married  , but as there had been a lot of bad weather and breaks in the telegraph line he hadn't had much time to spend with his new bride  . He was hoping that he would get a few days at the station to celebrate Christmas with his family and friends . 

Christmas was a very festive time at the station with lots of rum and fancy foods. , and it was customary for other Mi'cmaqs in the area to drop in to help celebrate the festive season.. However Dan's hopes were dashed , for on Christmas Day the operator got a call that the line was down somewhere between Garia and Sandy Point . This meant the repair crew would have to set out and find the break , even though it was Christmas Day .

Dan Benoit , although he was very disappointed at having to leave his new bride , only shrugged his shoulders and began to get ready to go ..It was then that young Joe begged to go along to find and repair the break ..

Dan wasn't too happy , for Joe was young and new to the job . However Joe was determined to go alone,  and after considering the matter for awhile Dan finally consented , but insisted on accompanying his brother on the first leg of the journey..

Also Dan's dog went with them .

The two brothers traveled together as far as the Blue Hills. Here they parted company..Dan gave Joe his gun and ordered his dog to go with Joe. The dog was very much attached to his master and hesitated.  When Joe started off , Dan ordered him again to go with Joe and this time the dog obeyed...

Dan arrived back at the telegraph station and as the weather was good he didn't worry too much about Joe ...

The following night Dan and his new bride retired early and around two AM they were awakened by the sound of foot steps on the frozen ground outside their bedroom.They both recognized Joe.s footsteps and Dan's wife said she would get up and make a hot lunch for Joe , who must be cold and starved...

They got up and while his wife was preparing a mug up Dan went outside to welcome Joe. He was surprised when he didn't see his brother and searched around for sign of him. He couldn't find him and then he knew it must be his brother's death token warning him of Joe.s death.

There was no more sleep for Dan or his wife that night ...

As soon as dawn broke Dan set off to find his brother. He followed the trail to the Blue Hills and then carried on .He traveled a long way and as it began to get dark. 

He found traces of his missing brother . First he came across the gun he had given him lying across the trail so that no one could pass that way without tripping over it in the dark . A little further on he came upon Joe.s snow shoes , one piled on the other and also blocking the trail . 

At that point a strange phenomenon happened , for Dan found that the trail through the woods was suddenly illuminated by a strange glow .This made it easy to follow the trail and convinced him that Joe.s spirit was leading him..

He came to a gulch between two wooded hills and again found evidence of his brother's trail , for there were impressions in the snow as if some one had knelt down to pray .He was sure his brother had knelt to pray, when a little further on he found Joe.s cap lying in the snow , for no guide or hunter ever removed their head gear unless it was to pray .

A little further on he came upon his dog lying by the body of his brother sitting upright against a tree . His rosary beads were clutched in his dead fingers . He still had plenty of grub and there were no signs of violence or any thing to indicate why Joe had acted so strangely and then died .

He had obviously  completed the repairs to the telegraph line and was returning home when death overtook him .There was only one thing more that Dan could do for his brother , and that was to take his body back to Sandy Point for requiem and burial .

First he took a handkerchief from his pocket and gently covered the face of his brother.  Then he hoisted the body to his shoulders and carried him along the trail to the nearest tilt..

He secured the tilt against marauding wolves or foxes and then quickly returned to the telegraph  station at Garia to report the sad news to his wife and the station operator.

At Dan's request the operator telegraphed Sandy Point with the news of Joe's death .A short time later he received a message back that fourteen men from Sandy Point were on their way to Garia to help Dan take the body of his brother home to Sandy Point .

The next day the men arrived bringing with them boards and nails and the tools necessary to make a coffin 

Dan took them to the tilt where he had placed Joe's body , and as soon as the coffin was ready Joe.s remains were placed in it . 

The men set off to carry the body over the rough terrain to Sandy Point for burial.

Again the mysterious light lit their way and the men reported that the coffin seemed so light that it was as if they carried no weight at all.

They covered the fifty miles in record time and Joe was given a proper wake..Two days later Father Michael  , and later , Arch Bishop Howley officiated with  requiem  sung for the repose of Joe.s soul..

His body was then buried in the Roman Catholic Cemetery  ,where many of his relatives were also buried . However , the cause of his death and the strange light that guided his brother and the other pallbearers could never be explained .

THIS STORY  WAS BY  ALICE  LANNON  AND  MIKE   MEATHY