Terminology.

The term lumberjack is of Canadian derivation. The first attested use of the word comes from an 1831 letter to the Cobourg Star and General Advertiser in the following passage: "my misfortunes have been brought upon me chiefly by an incorrigible, though perhaps useful, race of mortals called LUMBERJACKS, whom, however, I would name the Cossack's of Upper Canada, who, having been reared among the oaks and pines of the wild forest, have never been subjected to the salutary restraint of laws."  The term "lumberjack" is primarily historical; logger is used by workers in the 21st century. When "lumberjack" is used, it usually refers to a logger from an earlier time before the advent of chainsaws, feller-bunchers and other modern logging equipment. Other terms for the occupation include woodcutter, shanty boy and the colloquial term woodhick (Pennsylvania, US).  A logger employed in driving logs down a river was known locally in northern North America as a river pig, catty-man, river hog, or river rat. The term lumberjill has been known for a woman who does this work; for example, in Britain during World War II. In Australia, the occupation is referred to as timber cutter or cool cutters.

History.

Lumberjack Lifestyle.

Lumberjacks worked in lumber camps and often lived a migratory life, following timber harvesting jobs as they opened. Being a lumberjack was seasonal work. Lumberjacks were exclusively men. They usually lived in bunkhouses or tents. Common equipment included the axe and cross-cut saw. Lumberjacks could be found wherever there were vast forests to be harvested and a demand for wood, most likely in Scandinavia, Canada, and parts of the United States. In the U.S., many lumberjacks were of Scandinavian ancestry, continuing the family tradition. American lumberjacks were first centred in north-eastern states such as Maine. They then followed the general westward migration on the continent to the Upper Midwest, and finally the Pacific Northwest. Stewart Holbrook documented the emergence and westward migration of the classic American lumberjack in his first book, "Holy Old Mackinaw: A Natural History of the American Lumberjack". He often wrote colourfully about lumberjacks in his subsequent books, romanticizing them as hard-drinking, hard-working men. Logging camps were slowly phased out between World War II and the early 1960s as crews could by then be transported to remote logging sites in motor vehicles.

Division of Labour.

The division of labour in lumber camps led to several specialized jobs on logging crews, such as whistle punk, chaser, and high climber. The whistle punk's job was to sound a whistle (usually at the Steam donkey) as a signal to the yarder operator controlling the movement of logs. He also had to act as a safety lookout. A good whistle punk had to be alert and think fast as the safety of the others depended on him. The high climber (also known as a tree topper) used iron climbing hooks and rope to ascend a tall tree in the landing area of the logging site, where he would chop off limbs as he climbed, chop off the top of the tree, and finally attach pulleys and rigging to the tree. After that, it could be used as a spar so logs could be skidded into the landing. High climbers and whistle punks were both phased out in the 1960s to early 1970s when portable steel towers replaced spar trees and radio equipment replaced steam whistles for communication. The choker setters attached steel cables (or chokers) to downed logs so they could be dragged into the landing by the yarder. The chasers removed the chokers once the logs were at the landing. Choker setters and chasers were often entry-level positions on logging crews, with more experienced loggers seeking to move up to more skill-intensive positions such as yarder operator and high climber, or supervisory positions such as hook tender. Despite the common perception that all loggers cut trees, the actual felling and bucking of trees were also specialized job positions done by fallers and buckers. Faller and bucker were once two separate job titles, but they are now combined.

Machinery.

Before the era of modern diesel or gasoline powered equipment, the existing machinery was steam powered. Animal or steam-powered skidders could be used to haul harvested logs to nearby rail roads for shipment to sawmills. Horse driven logging wheels were a means used for moving logs out of the woods. Another way for transporting logs to sawmills was to float them down a body of water or a specially-constructed log flume. Log rolling, the art of staying on top of a floating log while "rolling" the log by walking, was another skill much in demand among lumberjacks. Spiked boots known as "caulks" or "corks" were used for log rolling and often worn by lumberjacks as their regular footwear.  The term "skid row", which today means a poor city neighbourhood frequented by homeless people, originated in a way in which harvested logs were once transported. Logs could be "skidded" down hills or along a corduroy road. One such street in Seattle was named Skid Road. This street later became frequented by people down on their luck, and both the name and its meaning morphed into the modern term. Among the living history museums that preserve and interpret the forest industry are:

Lumberjack Culture.

Tomczik (2008) has investigated the lifestyle of lumberjacks from 1840 to 1940, using records from mostly Maine and Minnesota logging camps. In a period of industrial development and modernization in urban areas, logging remained a traditional business in which the workers exhibited pride in their craft, their physical strength and masculinity, and guarded their individualism. Their camps were a bastion of the traditional workplace as they defied modern rationalized management, and built a culture around masculinity. At the peak in 1906 there were 500,000 lumberjacks, who took special pride in their work. Logging camps were located in isolated areas that provided room and board as well as a workplace. With few females present other than the wives of cooks and foremen, lumberjacks lived an independent life style that emphasized manly virtues in doing dangerous tasks. Men earned praise for their skills in doing their work, for being competitive, and for being aggressive. When not at work, they played rough games, told tall tales, and won reputations for consuming large amounts of food. By 1940, the business was undergoing major changes, as access roads and automobiles ended residential logging camps, chain saws replaced crosscut saws, and managers installed modern industrial methods.

Evolution of Lumberjacks.

Tie Hacking.

A specialty form of logging involving the felling of trees for the production of railroad ties was known as tie hacking. These lumberjacks, called tie hacks, used saws to fell trees and cut to length, and a broad-axe to flatten two or all four sides of the log to create railroad ties. Later, portable saw mills were used to cut and shape ties. Tie hacking was an important form of logging in Wyoming and northern Colorado and the remains of tie hacking camps can be found on National Forest land. The remains of flumes can be seen near Dubois, Wyoming, and Old Roach, Colorado. In addition, a decaying splash dam exists near the Old Roach site as well. There, tie hacks attempted to float logs down to the Laramie River for the annual spring tie drives, and the splash dam was used to collect winter snow-melt to increase the water flow for the tie drive.

Modern Logger.

Modern technology changed the job of the modern logger considerably. Although the basic task of harvesting trees is still the same, the machinery and tasks are no longer the same. Many of the old job specialties on logging crews are now obsolete.  Chainsaws, harvesters, and feller bunchers are now used to cut or fell trees. The tree is turned into logs by removing the limbs (delimbing) and cutting it into logs of optimal length (bucking). The felled tree or logs are moved from the stump to the landing. Ground vehicles such as a skidder or forwarder can pull, carry, or shovel the logs. Cable systems "cars" can pull logs to the landing. Logs can also be flown to the landing by helicopter. Logs are commonly transported to the sawmill using trucks. Harvesting methods may include clear cutting or selective cutting. Concerns over the environmental impact have led to controversy about modern logging practices. In certain areas of forest loggers re-plant their crop for future generations.  A "Wall Street Journal" survey on the best jobs in the United States ended by listing being a logger as the "worst" "3D's" job, citing "work instability, poor income and pure danger". A Bureau of Labor Statistics survey of America's most dangerous jobs put loggers at the top of the list for 2004.

Loggersports.

The sport of Loggersports grew out of competitions in lumber camps aimed at determining the best woodcutters. Today, these competitions are used to acknowledge the rich history of forestry and logging and to keep traditions alive.  STITHL Timbersports Series - Worldwide  The STIHL Timbersports Series was founded in 1985, and brings competitors from across the world to compete in six woodsman or wood chopping competitions. The events are broadcast worldwide on a variety of networks, including ESPN, ABC, and Eurosport.  Squamish Days Loggers Sports - Canada  In Canada, Squamish Days Loggers Sports in Squamish, British Columbia, attracts the finest competitors to its weekend festival in August each year. The event has entertainers such as Johnny Cash, who, in 1991, performed at the 5,000-seat Loggers Sports grounds during his Roadshow tour.  The Woodsmen's Days - New York, United States  The Woodsmen's Days events at Tupper Lake, New York commemorate the lumberjack with logging competitions and demonstrations during mid-July. Many colleges have woodsmen teams or forestry clubs who compete regionally, nationally, and internationally. The Association of Southern Forestry Clubs, for example, sponsors an annual Forestry Conclave with 250 contestants and a variety of events.  Lumberjack Tours - United States  There are also lumberjack shows which tour the United States, demonstrating traditional logging practices to the general public. The annual Lumberjack World Championships have been held in Hayward, Wisconsin since 1960. Over 12,000 visitors come to the event each year in late July to watch men and women compete in 21 different events, including log rolling, chopping, timed hot (power) and bucksaw cutting, and tree climbing.

Lumberjack Aesthetic.

A "lumbersexual" or "urban lumberjack" is a man who has adopted style traits typical of a traditional lumberjack, namely a beard, plaid shirt, and/or scruffy hair, substituting otherwise clean-cut and fashionable style choices. They are also often adorned by neck tattoos and "sleeve" tattoos, and wear large gauged piercings in their earlobes. Denver Nicks described the trend as perhaps an attempt to "reclaim masculinity". The term "lumbersexual" is a variant of the earlier "metrosexual", which was coined in the 1990s.

Popular Culture.

In popular culture, the stereotypical lumberjack is a strong, burly, usually bearded man who lives to brave the natural environment. He is depicted wearing suspenders, a long-sleeved plaid flannel shirt, and heavy caulk boots, and is often characterized as having a voracious appetite, especially for flapjacks. He works by cutting down trees with either an axe or with the help of another lumberjack and a crosscut saw, as opposed to the modern chainsaw.

Folklore.

The most famous depiction of a lumberjack in folklore is Paul Bunyan. Several towns claim to have been Paul Bunyan's home and have constructed statues of Bunyan and his blue ox "Babe".  Known for their many exploits, many real life loggers have become renowned for their extraordinary strength, intuition, and knowledge of the woods. Men such as Jigger Johnson, the Maine woodsman who supposedly kicked knots off frozen logs barefooted, and Joseph Montferrand (better known as Big Joe Mufferaw), the French-Canadian known for his physical prowess and desire to protect the French-speaking logger, have been celebrated as folk heroes throughout North America, and have contributed to the mythos of the Lumberjack.

Literature, Film, and Television.

Television.

The lives of loggers have been featured on the following American television series:

Lumberjacks are mostly North American workers in the logging industry who perform the initial harvesting and transport of trees for ultimate processing into forest products. The term usually refers to a bygone era (before 1945 in the United States) when hand tools were used in harvesting trees. Because of its historical ties, the term lumberjack has become ingrained in popular culture through folklore, mass media and spectator sports. The actual work was difficult, dangerous, intermittent, low-paying, and primitive in living conditions. However, the men built a traditional culture that celebrated strength, masculinity, confrontation with danger, and resistance to modernization.

Un bûcheron est un professionnel de l'abattage (coupe) des arbres. Les agriculteurs exercent aussi souvent ce type d'activité pour tirer des forêts qu'ils gèrent un revenu et se chauffer. C'est l'un des métiers statistiquement les plus risqués quant aux accidents corporels.


Launch.

Salyut 5 was launched at 18:04:00 UTC on 22 June 1976. The launch took place from Site 81/23 the Baikonur Cosmodrome in the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic, and used a three-stage Proton-K 8K82K carrier rocket with the serial number 290-02.  Upon reaching orbit, Salyut 5 was assigned the International Designator 1976-057A, whilst the North American Aerospace Defense Command gave it the Satellite Catalog Number 08911.

Spacecraft.

Salyut 5 was an Almaz spacecraft, the last of three to be launched as space stations after Salyut 2 and Salyut 3. Like its predecessors, it was long, with a maximum diameter of. It had a habitable interior volume of, and a mass at launch of. The station was equipped with a single docking port for Soyuz spacecraft, with the Soyuz 7K-T being the configuration in service at the time. Two solar arrays mounted laterally at the same end of the station as the docking port provided it with power. The station was equipped with a KSI capsule to return research data and materials.  Salyut 5 carried Agat, a camera which the crews used to observe the Earth. The German "Kristall" furnace was used for crystal growth experiments aboard the station.

Operation.

Four manned missions to Salyut 5 were originally planned. The first, Soyuz 21, was launched from Baikonur on 6 July 1976, and docked at 13:40 UTC the next day. The primary objective of the Soyuz 21 mission aboard Salyut 5 was to conduct military experiments, however scientific research was also conducted, which included studying aquarium fish in microgravity and observing the sun. The crew also conducted a televised conference with school pupils. Cosmonauts Boris Volynov and Vitali Zholobov remained aboard Salyut 5 until 24 August, when they returned to Earth landing 200 km southwest of Kokchetav. The mission had been expected to last longer, however the atmosphere within Salyut 5 became contaminated with nitric acid fumes from a fuel leak, which affected the crew's psychological and physical condition, necessitating an emergency landing.  On 14 October 1976, Soyuz 23 was launched carrying Vyacheslav Zudov and Valery Rozhdestvensky to the space station. During approach for docking the next day, a faulty sensor incorrectly detected an unexpected lateral motion. The spacecraft's Igla automated docking system fired the spacecraft's maneuvering thrusters in an attempt to stop the non-existent motion. Although the crew was able to deactivate the Igla system, the spacecraft had expended too much fuel to reattempt the docking under manual control. Soyuz 23 returned to Earth on 16 October without completing its mission objectives.  The last mission to Salyut 5, Soyuz 24, was launched on 7 February 1977. Its crew consisted of cosmonauts Viktor Gorbatko and Yury Glazkov, who conducted repairs aboard the station and vented the air which had been reported to be contaminated. Scientific experiments were conducted, including observation of the sun. The Soyuz 24 crew departed on 25 February. The short mission was apparently related to Salyut 5 starting to run low on propellant for its main engines and attitude control system.  The fourth planned mission, which would have been designated Soyuz 25 if launched, was intended to visit the station for two weeks in July 1977. It would have been crewed by cosmonauts Anatoly Berezovoy and Mikhail Lisun; the backup crew for the Soyuz 24 mission. The mission was cancelled for the above-mentioned shortage of propellant. The spacecraft which was constructed for the Soyuz 25 mission was reused for the Soyuz 30 mission to Salyut 6. Since it could not be refuelled, and no longer had the fuel to sustain manned operations, the KSI recoverable capsule was ejected and returned to Earth on 26 February. Salyut 5 was deorbited on 8 August 1977 and burned up as it reentered the Earth's atmosphere.

Salyut 5 ( meaning "Salute 5"), also known as OPS-3, was a Soviet space station. Launched in 1976 as part of the Salyut programme, it was the third and last Almaz space station to be launched for the Soviet military. Two Soyuz missions visited the station, each manned by two cosmonauts. A third Soyuz mission attempted to visit the station, but failed to dock, whilst a fourth mission was planned but never launched.

Saliout 5 est une station spatiale soviétique lancée le. Elle est la troisième et dernière station spatiale militaire de type Almaz, incluse dans le programme Saliout pour dissimuler son véritable objectif.


History.

Early history.

The expedition of Portuguese explorer João Álvares Fagundes explored this region in 1520–1521 and they were among the first Europeans to encounter the island. It is likely that he named the island "Fagunda" after himself. An island called "Fagunda" appears on later Portuguese maps placed to the southeast of Cape Breton, fairly near its present location, however the identification of Sable Island with Fagunda is not certain. On the other hand, 16th-century Portuguese sources describe a fishing colony founded by the navigator in Cape Breton Island, further north. It is also possible that Fagundes sighted the island while heading southwest, reaching the Bay of Fundy, as the 1558 map of Diogo Homem and later Samuel de Champlain suggested, but this is unclear. The island was inhabited sporadically by sealers, shipwreck survivors, and salvagers known as "wreckers."  Troilus de La Roche de Mesgouez attempted to colonize the new world with convicts in 1598. When the convicts mutinied, they were left on the tree-less and stone-less Sable Island. Most of the settlers died, but a few managed to survive in mud dwellings for 5 years before being returned to France in 1603.

Shipwrecks.

Sable Island is famous for its large number of shipwrecks. An estimated 350 vessels are believed to have fallen victim to the island's sand bars. Thick fogs, treacherous currents, and the island's location in the middle of a major transatlantic shipping route and rich fishing grounds account for the large number of wrecks. The first recorded wreck was the English ship "Delight" in 1583, part of Humphrey Gilbert's Newfoundland expedition. There were at least three incidents of ship-wrecks in the 1700s. In 1736, a well known Presbyterian preacher Irish-born, Rev. Robert Dunlap (1715-1776), wrecked on the island on his way to America. Decades later, there were two major shipwrecks: In November 1760, Major Robert Elliot (1715-after 1765) of the 43rd regiment was shipwrecked on Sable island—he was rescued in January 1761. En route to Prince Edward Island under the command of Major Timothy Hierlihy, Lieutenant Anthony Kennedy and 25 men wrecked on the island in November 1778. The crew was stranded on the island for the winter. Two died, and the remainder were rescued and transported to Halifax the following April. It is likely that the construction of lighthouses on each end of the island in 1873 contributed to the decrease in shipwrecks.  The last major shipwreck was the steamship "Manhasset" in 1947. Her crew were all saved, the last significant rescue of the Sable lifesaving station. After the 1991 Perfect Storm, the commercial fishing vessel "Andrea Gail"s emergency position-indicating radio beacon (EPIRB) was discovered on the shore of Sable Island on November 6, 1991, nine days after the last transmission from the crew. Other items found were fuel drums, a fuel tank, an empty life raft, and some other flotsam. All crew members perished and were never found. No further wrecks occurred until 1999, when the three crew members of the yacht "Merrimac" survived after their sloop ran aground due to a navigational error. Few of the wrecks surrounding the island are visible, as they are usually crushed and buried by the sand.

The Nova Scotia Rescue Station.

A series of life-saving stations were established on Sable Island by the governor of Nova Scotia, John Wentworth, in 1801. The rescue station began the continuous human presence on the island which continues today. Wentworth appointed James Morris, a Nova Scotian veteran of the British Royal Navy as the first superintendent of the island. Morris settled on the island in October 1801 with his family. By the time Morris died on the island in 1809, he had built up the humanitarian settlement to include a central station, two rescue boat stations, several lookout posts and survivor shelters. The station's rescue equipment was upgraded in 1854 with the latest generation of self-bailing lifeboats and life cars through the fundraising efforts of social reformer Dorothea Dix who had visited the island in the previous year.

After Confederation and creation of a weather station.

The Canadian government took over administration of the station with Confederation in 1867 and added two lighthouses in 1872, Sable Island East End Light (cylindrical skeletal tower built 1980s, replacing earlier iterations from 1873, 1888, 1917 and 1951) the eastern tip and Sable Island West End Light (pyramidal skeletal tower built 1979 replacing earlier towers from 1873, 1903 and 1935) on the western end. Until the advent of modern ship navigation, Sable Island was home to the families of the life-saving crews and the lighthouse keepers. In the early 20th century, the Marconi Company established a wireless station on the island and the Canadian government similarly established a weather station. Several generations of island staff were born and raised families of their own on the island, although a decline in shipwrecks gradually reduced the size of the lifesaving community. Only two people have been born on Sable Island since 1920.  Improvements in navigation led to a dramatic drop in shipwrecks by the mid 20th century. As such, the rescue station on Sable was reduced and eventually closed in 1958. The Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) first automated in the 1960s and eventually decommissioned the West light station in 2004 leaving only the East lighthouse active. However, during this period, the island's role in science grew, first in weather research. The Canadian government expanded the collection of weather data originally started by the rescue station into a full meteorological station operated by Environment Canada and Department of Fisheries and Oceans. The station conducted routine atmospheric and meteorological studies from a permanently occupied station on Sable Island until Aug 20, 2019. In addition to weather studies, research on the island expanded to a range of ecological and wildlife studies due to its unique position in the Atlantic.  Sable Island is specifically mentioned in the British North America Act 1867, Part 4, Section 91 as being the special responsibility of the federal government ("...the exclusive Legislative Authority of the Parliament of Canada extends to [...] 9. Beacons, Buoys, Lighthouses, and Sable Island."). For this reason it is considered a separate amateur radio "entity" (equivalent to a country for award credit), and with visiting operations using the special callsign prefix CY0. Because it is a separate radio entity, Sable Island is a popular Dxpedition destination.  Out of concern for preserving the island's frail ecology, all visitors to the island, including recreational boaters, require specific permission from Parks Canada. Sable Island's heliport contains emergency aviation fuel for search and rescue helicopters, which use the island to stage further offshore into the Atlantic. Should the need arise, the island serves as an emergency evacuation point for crews aboard nearby drilling rigs of the Sable Offshore Energy Project.  The Canadian Forces patrols the area using aircraft and naval vessels, partly due to the nearby presence of natural gas and oil drilling rigs and an undersea pipeline, all of which were created after the 1983 Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Agreement and the Act that was created in 1988.

National Park.

On October 17, 2011, the Nova Scotia government entered into an agreement with the federal government to eventually protect the Island as a national park. The news followed an announcement made by the federal government in May 2010, increasing the level of protection the island receives by transferring control from the Canadian Coast Guard to Parks Canada, which manages the island under the National Parks Act.  Sable Island became a National Park Reserve on June 20, 2013 with approval of Mi'kmaq stakeholders. Full national park status has yet to be achieved, pending settlement of native land claims. The park is home to hundreds of species of flora and fauna including a breed of the unique Sable Island horse. The park is also a breeding ground for marine life.  In July 2016, a hike across Sable Island was added to Google Streetview. Google worked with Parks Canada to add the interactive views of Sable and five other Canadian National Parks. The imagery was collected in September 2015 by a Parks Canada employee who carried a backpack version of the Street View car camera around an area on the centre of the island, part of Google's Trekker program which explores off-road scenic locations. The route follows a hiking route that Parks Canada staff uses to escort adventure tourists who visit the island.

Geography.

Sable Island is a narrow, crescent-shaped sandbar with a surface area estimated around. Despite being approximately long, it is only across at its widest point. The long crescent-shaped island rises gently from the shallows of the continental shelf approximately east of Halifax, Nova Scotia. Its location, in tandem with the area's frequent fog and sudden strong storms e.g. hurricanes and nor'easters, have resulted in over 350 recorded shipwrecks. It is often referred to as "the Graveyard of the Atlantic", as it sits astride the great circle route from North America's east coast to Europe. The nearest landfall is to the northwest near Canso, Nova Scotia.  Sable Island is believed to have formed from a terminal moraine deposited on the continental shelf near the end of the last Ice Age. It is slowly moving as waves erode the western shore and new sand is added on the eastern shore, and continually changing shape through the effects of strong winds and violent ocean storms.  The island has several freshwater ponds on the south side between the station and west light; however, in recent years their protecting dune-line has been eroded to such an extent that they are changing from one year to the next. In prior years, a brackish lake named Lake Wallace existed in the centre of the south beach. At its largest, it extended for many miles; indeed, during World War II, amphibious aircraft landed on it. Over the years, the lake shrank with an infilling of sand, until in late 2011, it filled in entirely and disappeared. Since the south beach is subject to flooding during fall storms, photos often show water in the area around the former location of Lake Wallace; however, this flooded area is relatively shallow (only a few feet at most) and is not a remnant of the lake. The original lake was of a significant enough depth that even during times when the area was flooded, the lake could be seen in aerial photographs as a darker (deeper) patch in the middle of the flooded area.  The island is a part of the Halifax Regional Municipality, the federal electoral district of Halifax, and the provincial electoral district of Halifax Citadel, although the urban area of Halifax proper is some away on the Nova Scotian mainland.

Climate.

Sable Island has a humid continental climate (Köppen "Dfb"), but its climate is strongly influenced by the sea. As such, winter temperatures average near freezing while during the summer months, daily maximum temperatures average around. The average annual temperature range in Sable Island is only owing to the influence from the sea compared to at Halifax and in Winnipeg. Generally, February is the coldest month while August is the warmest month. Sable Island averages of precipitation a year, which is fairly evenly distributed throughout the year, though October through January are the wettest months due to frequent and intense fall and winter storms. Being located in the path of major frontal storms and tropical cyclones year-round, most of the precipitation comes from these storms. Thunderstorms are rare, with only 11 days with thunderstorms per year. There are frequent heavy fogs in the area due to the contrasting effects of the cold Labrador Current and the warm Gulf Stream: on average there are 127 days out of the year that have at least 1 hour of fog. This makes Sable Island the foggiest place in the Maritimes. The foggiest season is during the summer months where July averages 22 fog days. During the winter, Sable Island has the warmest temperatures in Canada apart from the Pacific coast, and can have the warmest temperatures in the country on some occasions due to the influence of the Gulf Stream. Summers are among the coolest in southern Canada though. It is also the most hurricane-prone part of Canada, also due to the Gulf Stream, and is the only place where Category 3 hurricane-force winds are likely in all of Canada. The highest temperature recorded was on August 27, 1951 while the lowest temperature recorded was on January 31, 1920. According to PlantMaps, Sable Island lies in Hardiness Zone 8a (10 °F–15 °F) for plant hardiness.

Vegetation and wildlife.

Sable Island derived its name from the French word for "sand". It lacks natural trees, being covered instead with marram grass and other low-growing vegetation. In 1901, the federal government planted over 80,000 trees in an attempt to stabilize the soil; all died. Subsequent plantings resulted in the survival of a single Scots pine. Although planted in the 1960s, it is only a few feet tall.  The island is home to over 550 free-roaming horses according to a 2016 report, protected by law from human interference. During a 2017-2018 study, the estimated population was 500 horses, up from the roughly 300 recorded in the 1970s. Because of the harsh spring of 2017, the mortality rate was about 10% but the normal rate is about 1% annually, primarily due to starvation and hypothermia.  This feral horse population is likely descended from horses confiscated from Acadians during the Great Expulsion and left on the island by Thomas Hancock, Boston merchant and uncle of John Hancock. In the early 1800s, many of the horses were used by men patrolling the island, searching for ships in distress, and the animals also moved lifeboats and equipment to sites of shipwrecks.  In 1879, 500 horses and cattle were estimated to live on the island, and the island vegetation was described as covered with grass and wild peas. In the past, excess horses were rounded up, shipped off the island, and sold, many used in coal mines on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. In 1960, the Canadian Government, under the Canada Shipping Act, gave the horse population full protection from human interference. This was partly motivated by a plan in the 1950s, eventually aborted due to public pressure, to remove the horses from the island, after some biologists reported that they were damaging the ecology of the land. Nonetheless, some continued to view the horses as an invasive species which is not suitable in a protected region where ecological integrity should be preserved according to the National Parks Act. Harbour and grey seals breed on the island's shores. Seal counts from the 1960s for the grey seal population estimated 200–300 pups born at that time on the island, but surveys from as recent as 2003–2004 estimated the number of pups born in that season at 50,000. The seals are occasionally preyed upon by the various shark species that inhabit the waters nearby. Unusual 'corkscrew' bite wounds on dead seals suggest that the Greenland shark is probably responsible for most attacks here.  Several large bird colonies are resident, including the Arctic tern and Ipswich sparrow, a subspecies of the Savannah sparrow which breeds only on the island. Many other species are resident, migratory, or transient, blown out to sea in storms and returned to land out of their natural range.  It was formerly believed the freshwater sponge "Heteromeyenia macouni" was found only in ponds on the island. However, it is now considered to be the same species as "Racekiela ryderi", found elsewhere.  Rabbits, cattle, and goats were also released on the island, with little success, at one point.  At one point, there was a walrus population on the island, until hunters drove the population to extinction.

Sable Island Station.

The Sable Island Station, managed and staffed by Parks Canada, is the only permanently staffed facility on the island. Climatological record-keeping on Sable Island began in 1871 with the establishment of the Meteorological Service of Canada, and ran continuously from 1891 until Aug 20, 2019.  Sable Island has been the subject of extensive scientific research over the years. The Meteorological Service of Canada operated a wide range of manual and automated instruments, including the Automated Weather Observing System, an aerology program measuring conditions in the upper atmosphere using a radiosonde carried aloft by a hydrogen-filled weather balloon to altitudes beyond, and a program collecting data on background levels of carbon dioxide, which began there in 1974. Research was done to monitor the long-range transport of pollution aerosols. Fog chemistry has also been studied, examining the transport and composition of atmospheric toxins it carries. Tropospheric ozone was measured and analyzed by researchers in Canada and the United States along with 20 other North American sites. The installation of the BGS Magnetic Observatory on Sable Island was funded as a joint venture between the British Geological Survey, Sperry-Sun Drilling Services, and Sable Offshore Energy. The data it collects aid scientific research into rates of change of the Earth's magnetic field and increase the accuracy of the BGS Global Geomagnetic Model. Data from the geomagnetic observatory is used by the offshore energy industry for precise positioning activities such as directional drilling.  Supplies are delivered to the Sable Island Station approximately twice a month by Sable Aviation using a Britten-Norman Islander. Although the island has a heliport (CST5), there is no permanent runway for fixed wing aircraft, which land instead on south beach in an area designated as the Sable Island Aerodrome (CSB2). Prior permission is required to land, as the area is often unusable due to changing sand conditions.

Sable Island in popular culture.

The unique landscape, history of shipwrecks, and wildlife, especially horses, have made Sable Island an iconic place in Atlantic Canada and attracted considerable international following.

In non-fiction.

Shipwreck survivors published early survival narratives about their experiences at Sable Island, beginning with the sinking of the "Delight" in 1583. The first formal history of the island, "Sable Island: its History and Phenomena", was written in 1894 by George Patterson. Many other histories of the island and its shipwrecks have been published since, such as Lyall Campbell's two books - "Sable Island, Fatal and Fertile Crescent" in 1974 and "Sable Island Shipwrecks: Disaster and Survival at the North Atlantic Graveyard" in 1994 - and more recently, "A Dune Adrift: The Strange Origins and Curious History of Sable Island", written in 2004 by Marq de Villiers. In his 1997 book, "The Perfect Storm", Sebastian Junger briefly describes the geography and history of the island. Joshua Slocum describes Sable Island in "Sailing Alone Around the World" during his 1895 solo circumnavigation.

In fiction.

The island has also inspired works of fiction beginning in 1802 when Nova Scotia author Thomas Chandler Haliburton published "The Sable Island Ghost", a story about a ghostly woman inspired by the loss of the brig "Francis" in 1798. His story helped raise support for the establishment of a rescue station on the island. Canadian writer James MacDonald Oxley wrote a youth novel "The Wreckers of Sable Island" in 1897. Frank Parker Day's 1928 novel "Rockbound" features a vivid depiction of the sinking of the schooner "Sylvia Mosher" during the 1926 August Gales at Sable Island. One of the island's most notable temporary residents was Nova Scotian author Thomas H. Raddall, whose early experiences working at the wireless post there served as the inspiration for his 1950 novel "The Nymph and the Lamp". In his novel "The Templar Throne" published in June 2010, author Paul Christopher mentions the island as the final location of the True Ark of the Christian Old Testament.

In photography.

The dunes and horses of Sable Island have drawn many photographers. Among the first was Arthur Williams McCurdy who photographed the island, its horses and shipwrecks in 1898 for "National Geographic" during a visit with Alexander Graham Bell. A further "National Geographic" visit in the summer of 1964 yielded an article entitled "Sable Island; Graveyard of the Atlantic". In more recent times, Roberto Dutesco, a fashion photographer, began taking photos of Sable horses in 1994 and features this work in a permanent photo exhibition entitled "Wild Horses of Sable Island" at his gallery in New York. Nova Scotian photographer Paul Illsley's photographs of Sable Island horses inspired both a Canadian stamp and coin in 2005.

In music.

In 1970 Stompin' Tom Connors published his song "Sable Island" in 1970's "Stompin' Tom Meets Big Joe Mufferaw". Canadian folk singer Catherine McKinnon recorded a song arranged by Don Gillis also entitled "Sable Island" for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in 1975. The first line of the Buck 65 song "Blood of a young wolf" is "Ten thousand horses, Sable Island, endless summer".

In documentaries.

The island has been the subject of many Canadian documentaries by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and the National Film Board of Canada, beginning with the 1956 NFB film "Sable Island" by Allan Wargon, the 2003 NFB documentary "Moving Sands" by Phillipe Baylaucq, and more recently, an episode of "Land and Sea". The most recent works about Sable Island is the 2015 Canadian produced film, "S(t)able Island: The Beauty of the Free", created by Rae-Anne LaPlante. The film explores in-depth the wild horse population that has called Sable Island its home for over 250 years. A number of international documentaries have also explored the island including the 2007 film "Ile de sable" made by Jean-Francois Ducrocq and Malek Sahraoui for France 3, French public television. In 2007, Matt Trecartin of Halifax directed "Chasing Wild Horses", a documentary about photographer Roberto Dutesco and his photography of the Sable Island horses.

In other films.

In the 1937 film "Captains Courageous", the fishing boat passes Sable Island on the way to the Grand Banks of Newfoundland. Spencer Tracy's character Manuel later says his father died off Cape Sable. Sable Island is briefly featured in the 2000 feature film "The Perfect Storm", which depicts the sinking of the fishing vessel "Andrea Gail" near Sable, although the island is erroneously portrayed with trees and a giant stone lighthouse. Sable Island is the setting for the 2002 film "Touching Wild Horses" starring Jane Seymour; however, little attempt was made to mimic the natural landscape of Sable, with trees and rocks abounding in the background of most every scene. Instead, Sandbanks Provincial Park in Ontario stood in for the island in the film.

In exhibits.

A permanent exhibit about Sable Island is featured at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic in Halifax, which includes two rescue boats from Sable and numerous name boards and figureheads from Sable Island wrecks. A small exhibit about the Sable Island horses is found at the Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History. The horses were featured in a 1994 exhibit at the Equine Museum of Japan in Yokohama.

On radio.

On September 11, 2014 Don Connolly of CBC Radio's Information Morning broadcast part of the daily current affairs program from Sable Island. It was the first ever live public radio broadcast from the island. (Amateur radio operators have been transmitting from Sable Island for decades.)

Sable Island (), literally "island of sand", is a small Canadian island situated southeast of Halifax, Nova Scotia, and about southeast of the closest point of mainland Nova Scotia in the Atlantic Ocean. The island is staffed year round by four federal government staff, rising during summer months when research projects and tourism increase. Notable for its role in early Canadian history and the Sable Island horse, the island is protected and managed by Parks Canada, which must grant permission prior to any visit. Sable Island is part of District 7 of the Halifax Regional Municipality in Nova Scotia. However, the Constitution of Canada specifically names the island as being under the authority of the federal government. The island is also a protected National Park Reserve.

L'île de Sable est une petite île canadienne située à au sud des côtes de la Nouvelle-Écosse dans l'océan Atlantique. L'île est, dans son intégralité, un refuge d'oiseaux migrateurs depuis 1977 et comporte une population remarquable de chevaux sauvages.


Overview.

The Portuguese Constitution of 1976 specifies that Portugal has only, as first level divisions, the autonomous regions (Azores and Madeira) and the administrative regions (to be created in mainland Portugal). According to the Constitution, the districts shall be disestablished in the territories where an autonomous or administrative region has been created.  So, the districts were abolished in Azores and Madeira when these autonomous regions were created, in 1976. In 1998, a proposal was submitted to referendum to create eight administrative regions in mainland Portugal, and, therefore, to extinguish the districts. This proposal was rejected in the ballot and so the districts continued to exist in mainland Portugal. It is worth noting that, despite their abolition in the autonomous regions, the areas of the three former districts of Azores are still used as areas of jurisdiction of some Government and non-government entities, like the district finance directorates (Tax Authority regional offices) or the district football championships.  However, the importance of the districts has been decreasing. In recent years, some administrative, financial and political competencies have been delivered to the CCDR's (Comissão de Coordenação e Desenvolvimento Regional, English:Commission for Regional Coordination and Development) and to the municipalities, to the detriment of the districts. In 2003, the Portuguese municipalities were allowed to organize themselves into intermunicipal communities ("comunidades intermunicipais") and metropolitan areas ("áreas metropolitanas"), which allowed for a lessening in the importance of the districts.  Besides, the abolition of the districts is a subject that came back for discussion in Portuguese society. In 2009, during the campaign for the legislative election of 2009, the leader of the Socialist Party, José Sócrates, promised a new referendum to the administrative regions and therefore, the abolition of districts, if he won the election. Other personalities support the creation of administrative regions and therefore the abolition of districts.  Nowadays, despite being in the process of being phased out due to the decentralisation policies of the government, the districts still remain the most relevant subdivision in the country, serving as a basis for a series of administrative divisions such as electoral constituencies, police and civil protection regional commands, sports district associations and championships.  In September 8, 2011, a decree from the Portuguese Government "de facto" extinguished all the offices of civil governor, transferring most of their functions to other bodies. As the existence of the civil governors is still included in the Portuguese Constitution, its "de jure" extinction can only be done after a constitutional amendment.

Present purpose.

In mainland Portugal, for administrative purposes, the districts are still used as the areas of jurisdiction of the local branches and field offices of several Government ministries and agencies. Some of the bodies that have each district as their jurisdiction area are:  Furthermore:  For non-Government purposes, the districts are used as the area of jurisdiction of many entities, including:

Districts of the Portuguese Overseas.

Following the model of European Portugal, the major Portuguese overseas territories (Angola, Mozambique and Portuguese India) were also divided in districts. In these territories, each district was headed by a district governor, subordinated to the governor-general. In Angola and Mozambique, the former district areas mostly coincide with the modern province areas. In the former Portuguese India, the Damão and Diu districts are still divisions of the present union territory of Daman and Diu, while the present state of Goa (former Goa District) is now divided into two districts.

The Districts of Portugal (), are the most important first-level administrative subdivisions of continental Portugal. Currently, mainland Portugal is divided into 18 districts. The Portuguese Autonomous Regions of Azores and Madeira are no longer divided into districts.

Le Portugal compte 18 districts sur sa partie continentale, qui portent tous le nom de leur capitale. Les îles portugaises n'ont plus de districts depuis 1976 et sont devenues des régions insulaires autonomes.


Background.

During the First Balkan War, the Balkan League (Bulgaria, Serbia, Montenegro and Greece) succeeded in driving out the Ottoman Empire from its European provinces (Albania, Macedonia, Sandžak and Thrace), leaving the Ottomans with only East Thrace. The Treaty of London, signed on 30 May 1913, which ended the war, acknowledged the Balkan states' gains west of the Enos–Midia line, drawn from Midia (Kıyıköy) on the Black Sea coast to Enos (Enez) on the Aegean Sea coast, on an "uti possidetis" basis, and created an independent Albania.  However, the relations between the victorious Balkan allies quickly soured over the division of the spoils, especially in Macedonia. During the pre-war negotiations that had resulted in the establishment of the Balkan League, Serbia and Bulgaria signed a secret agreement on 13 March 1912 which determined their future boundaries, in effect sharing northern Macedonia between them. In case of a postwar disagreement, the area to the north of the Kriva Palanka–Ohrid line (with both cities going to the Bulgarians), had been designated as a "disputed zone" under Russian arbitration and the area to the south of this line had been assigned to Bulgaria. During the war, the Serbs succeeded in capturing an area far south of the agreed border, down to the Bitola–Gevgelija line (both in Serbian hands). At the same time, the Greeks advanced north, occupying Thessaloniki shortly before the Bulgarians arrived, and establishing a common Greek border with Serbia. When Bulgarian delegates in London bluntly warned the Serbs that they must not expect Bulgarian support on their Adriatic claims, the Serbs angrily replied that that was a clear withdrawal from the prewar agreement of mutual understanding according to the Kriva Palanka-Adriatic line of expansion, but the Bulgarians insisted that in their view, the Vardar Macedonian part of the agreement remained active and the Serbs were still obliged to

Preparation.

Bulgarian war plans.

In 1912 Bulgaria's national aspirations, as expressed by Tsar Ferdinand and the military leadership around him, exceeded the provisions of the 1878 Treaty of San Stefano, considered even then as maximalistic, since it included both Eastern and Western Thrace and all Macedonia with Thessaloniki, Edirne and Constantinople. Early evidence of the lack of realistic thinking in Bulgarian leadership was that although Russia had sent clear warnings expressed for the first time on 5 November 1912 (well before the First Battle of Çatalca) that if the Bulgarian Army occupied Constantinople they would attack it, they continued their attempts to take the city.  Although the Bulgarian Army succeeded in capturing Edirne, Tsar Ferdinand's ambition in crowning himself Emperor in Constantinople proved also unrealistic when the Bulgarian Army failed to capture the city in the battle of Çatalca. Even worse, the concentration on capturing Thrace and Constantinople ultimately caused the loss of the major part of Macedonia including Thessaloniki and that

Opposing forces.

According to the Military Law of 1903, the armed forces of Bulgaria were divided in two categories: the Active Army and the National Militia. The core of the Armed forces consisted of nine infantry and one cavalry division. The Bulgarian Army had a unique organization among the armies of Europe, since each infantry division had three brigades of two regiments, composed of four battalions of six heavy companies of 250 men each, plus an independent battalion, two large artillery regiments and one cavalry regiment, giving a grand total of 25 very heavy infantry battalions and 16 cavalry companies per division, which was more than the equivalent of two nine-battalion divisions, the standard divisional structure in most contemporary armies, as was also the case with the Greek and Serbian armies in 1913. Consequently, although the Bulgarian Army

Outbreak of the war.

The main Bulgarian attack was planned against the Serbs with their 1st, 3rd, 4th and 5th Armies, while the 2nd Army was tasked with an attack towards Greek positions around Thessaloniki. However, in the crucial opening days of the war, only the 4th Army and 2nd Army were ordered to advance. This allowed the Serbs to concentrate their forces against the attacking Bulgarians and hold their advance.

Bulgarian offensive against Greece.

The Bulgarian 2nd Army in southern Macedonia commanded by General Ivanov held a line from Dojran Lake south east to Kilkis, Lachanas, Serres and then across the Pangaion Hills to the Aegean Sea. The army had been in place since May, and was considered a veteran force, having fought at the siege of Edirne in the First Balkan War. General Ivanov, possibly to avoid any responsibility for his crushing defeat, claimed after the war that his Army consisted of only 36,000 men and that many of his units were understrength, but a detailed analysis of his units contradicted him. Ivanov's 2nd Army consisted of the 3rd Division minus one brigade with four regiments of four battalions (total 16 battalions plus the divisional artillery), the I/X brigade with the 16th and 25th regiments (total of eight battalions plus artillery), the Drama Brigade with the 69th, 75th and 7th regiments (total of 12 battalions), the Seres Brigade with 67th and 68th regiments (total of 8 battalions), the 11th Division with the 55th, 56th and 57th regiments (total of 12 battalions plus the divisional artillery), the 5th Border Battalion, the 10th Independent Battalion and the 10th Cavalry Regiment of seven mounted and seven infantry companies. In total, Ivanov's force comprised 232 companies in 58 infantry battalions, a cavalry regiment (14 companies) with 175 artillery guns, numbering between 80,000 (official Bulgarian source) and 108,000 (official Greek source according to the official Bulgarian history of the war before 1932). All modern historians agree that Ivanov underestimated the number of his soldiers but the Greek army still had a numerical superiority. The Greek Headquarters also estimated the numbers of their opponents from 80,000 to 105,000 men.  The Greek army, commanded by King

Serbian front.

The 4th Bulgarian Army held the most important position for the conquest of Serbian Macedonia. The fighting began on 29–30 June 1913, between the 4th Bulgarian Army and the 1st and 3rd Serbian armies, first along the Zletovska and then after a Bulgarian retreat, along the Bregalnica. Internal confusions led to heavy Bulgarian losses in 1–3 July. The Serbs captured the whole 7th Division of the 4th Bulgarian Army, without any fight. By 8 July, the Bulgarian Army had been severely defeated.  On the north the Bulgarians started to advance towards the Serbian border town of Pirot and forced Serbian Command to send

Greek offensive.

The Serbian front had become static. King Constantine, seeing that the Bulgarian Army at his front had already been defeated, ordered the Greek Army to march further into Bulgarian territory and take the capital city of Sofia. Constantine wanted a decisive victory despite objections by his Prime Minister, Eleftherios Venizelos, who realized that the Serbs, having won their territorial objectives, now adopted a passive stance and shifted the weight of carrying the rest of the war to the Greeks. In the pass of Kresna (Battle of Kresna Gorge), the Greeks were ambushed by the Bulgarian 2nd and 4th Army which had newly arrived from the Serbian front and had taken defensive positions there. By 21 July, the Greek army was outnumbered by the now counterattacking Bulgarian armies, and the Bulgarian General Staff, attempting to encircle the Greeks in

Romanian intervention.

Romania mobilized its army on 5 July 1913, intending to seize Southern Dobruja, and declared war on Bulgaria on 10 July. In a diplomatic circular that said, "Romania does not intend either to subjugate the polity nor defeat the army of Bulgaria", the Romanian government endeavoured to allay international concerns about its motives and about increased bloodshed. According to Richard Hall, "[t]he entrance of Romania into the conflict made the Bulgarian situation untenable [and t]he Romanian thrust across the Danube was the decisive military act of the Second Balkan War."  On the day of Romania's declaration, 80,000 men of the 5th Corps under General Ioan Culcer invaded Dobruja, occupying a front from Tutrakan to Balchik. The corps cavalry occupied the port city of Varna until it was clear that there would be

Ottoman intervention.

The lack of resistance to the Romanian invasion convinced the Ottomans to invade the territories just ceded to Bulgaria. The main object of the invasion was the recovery of Edirne (Adrianople), which was held by Major General Vulko Velchev with a mere 4,000 troops. The majority of Bulgarian forces occupying Eastern Thrace had been withdrawn earlier in the year to face the Serbo-Greek attack. On 12 July, Ottoman troops garrisoning Çatalca and Gelibolu reached the Enos–Midia line and on 20 July 1913 crossed the line and invaded Bulgaria. The entire Ottoman invasion force contained between 200,000 and 250,000 men under the command of Ahmed Izzet Pasha. The 1st Army was stationed at the eastern (Midia) end of the line. From east to west it was followed by the 2nd Army, 3rd Army and 4th Army, which was stationed at Gelibolu.  In the face of the advancing Ottomans, the greatly outnumbered Bulgarian forces retreated to the pre-war border. Edirne was abandoned on 19 July, but when the Ottomans did not occupy it immediately the Bulgarians re-occupied it

Negotiating a way out.

Armistice.

With the Romanian army closing in on Sofia, Bulgaria asked Russia to arbitrate. On 13 July, Prime Minister Stoyan Danev resigned in the face of Russian inactivity. On 17 July the tsar appointed Vasil Radoslavov to head a pro-German and Russophobic government. On 20 July, via Saint Petersburg, the Serbian Prime Minister Nikola Pašić invited a Bulgarian delegation to treat with the allies directly at Niš in Serbia. The Serbs and Greeks, both now on the offensive, were

Treaty of Bucharest.

Bulgaria had agreed to cede Southern Dobruja to Romania as early as 19 July. At the peace talks in Bucharest, the Romanians, having obtained their primary objective, were a voice for moderation. The Bulgarians hoped to keep the Vardar river as the boundary between their share of Macedonia and Serbia's. The latter preferred to keep all of Macedonia as far as the Struma. Austro-Hungarian and Russian pressure forced Serbia to be satisfied with most of northern Macedonia, conceding only the town of Štip to the Bulgarians, in Pašić's words, "in honour of General Fichev", who had brought Bulgarian arms to the door of Constantinople in the first war. Ivan Fichev was chief of the Bulgarian general staff and a member of the delegation in Bucharest at the time. When Fichev explained why Bulgaria deserved Kavala, a port on the Aegean occupied by the Greeks, Venizelos is said to have responded, "General, we

Treaty of Constantinople.

In August, Ottoman forces established a provisional government of Western Thrace at Komotini to pressure Bulgaria to make peace. Bulgaria sent a three-man delegation—General Mihail Savov and the diplomats Andrei Toshev and Grigor Nachovich—to Constantinople to negotiate a peace on 6 September. The Ottoman delegation was led by Foreign Minister Mehmed Talat Bey, assisted by future Naval Minister Çürüksulu Mahmud Pasha and Halil Bey. Although Russia tried to intervene throughout August to prevent Edirne from becoming Turkish again, Toshev told the Ottomans at Constantinople that "[t]he Russians consider Constantinople their natural inheritance. Their main concern is that when Constantinople falls into their hands it shall have the largest possible hinterland. If Adrianople is in the possession of the Turks, they shall

Aftermath.

The Second Balkan War left Serbia as the most militarily powerful state south of the Danube. Years of military investment financed by French loans had borne fruit. Central Vardar and the eastern half of the Sanjak of Novi Pazar were acquired. Its territory grew in extent from 18,650 to 33,891 square miles and its population grew by more than one and a half million. The aftermath brought harassment and oppression for many in the newly conquered lands. The freedom of association, assembly and the press guaranteed under the Serbian constitution of 1903 were not introduced into the new territories. The inhabitants of the new territories were denied voting rights, ostensibly because the cultural level was considered too low, in reality to keep the non-Serbs who made up the majority in many areas out of national politics. Opposition newspapers like "Radicke Novine" remarked that the 'new Serbs' had had better political rights under the Turks. There was a destruction of Turkish buildings, schools, baths, mosques. In October and November 1913 British vice-consuls reported systematic intimidation, arbitrary detentions, beatings, rapes, village burnings and massacres by Serbs in the annexed areas. The Serbian government showed no interest in preventing further outrages or investigating those that had taken place. When the Carnegie Commission, composed of an international team of experts, selected for their impartiality, arrived in the Balkans, they received virtually no assistance from Belgrade.  The treaties forced the Greek Army to evacuate Western Thrace and Pirin Macedonia, which it had occupied during operations. The retreat from the areas that had to be ceded to Bulgaria, together with the loss of Northern Epirus to Albania, was not well received in Greece; from the areas occupied during the war, Greece succeeded in gaining only the territories of Serres and Kavala after diplomatic support from Germany. Serbia made additional gains in northern Macedonia and having fulfilled its aspirations to the south, turned its attention to the north where its rivalry with Austro-Hungary over Bosnia-Herzegovina led the two countries to war a year later igniting the First World War. Italy used the excuse of the Balkan wars to keep the Dodecanese islands in the Aegean which it had occupied during the Italo-Turkish War of 1911 over Libya, despite the agreement that ended that war in 1912.  At the strong insistence of Austria-Hungary and Italy, both hoping to control for themselves the state and thus the Otranto Straits in Adriatic, Albania acquired officially its independence according to the terms of the Treaty of London. With the delineation of the exact boundaries of the new state under the Protocol of Florence (17 December 1913), the Serbs lost their outlet to the Adriatic and the Greeks the region of Northern Epirus (Southern Albania). This was highly unpopular with the local Greek population, who, after a revolt, managed to acquire local autonomy under the terms of the Protocol of Corfu.  After its defeat, Bulgaria turned into a revanchist local power looking for a second opportunity to fulfill its national aspirations. After Bucharest, the head of the Bulgarian delegation, Tonchev, remarked that "[e]ither the Powers will change [the territorial settlement], or we ourselves will destroy it." To this end, it participated in the First World War on the side of the Central Powers, since its Balkan enemies (Serbia, Montenegro, Greece, and Romania) were pro-Entente (see articles on the Serbian Campaign and the Macedonian front of World War I). The resulting enormous sacrifices during World War I and renewed defeat caused Bulgaria a national trauma and new territorial losses.

The Second Balkan War was a conflict which broke out when Bulgaria, dissatisfied with its share of the spoils of the First Balkan War, attacked its former allies, Serbia and Greece, on 16 (O.S.) / 29 (N.S.) June 1913. Serbian and Greek armies repulsed the Bulgarian offensive and counter-attacked, entering Bulgaria. With Bulgaria also having previously engaged in territorial disputes with Romania, this war provoked Romanian intervention against Bulgaria. The Ottoman Empire also took advantage of the situation to regain some lost territories from the previous war. When Romanian troops approached the capital Sofia, Bulgaria asked for an armistice, resulting in the Treaty of Bucharest, in which Bulgaria had to cede portions of its First Balkan War gains to Serbia, Greece and Romania. In the Treaty of Constantinople, it lost Edirne to the Ottomans.

La deuxième guerre balkanique (du 16 juin au ) eut pour objet le partage des gains de la première guerre balkanique, non-conforme aux accords initiaux ; elle opposa la Bulgarie à ses anciens alliés, la Serbie et la Grèce, qui, mis en difficulté, appelèrent à la rescousse la Roumanie. Lorsque les troupes roumaines approchèrent de la capitale Sofia, la Bulgarie demanda un armistice qui déboucha sur le traité de Bucarest, dans lequel la Bulgarie dut renoncer à ses revendications, céder une partie de ses gains de la première guerre balkanique à la Serbie, à la Grèce et à l'Empire ottoman, et en plus céder une partie de son territoire initial à la Roumanie, ce qui créa des différends territoriaux avec ses voisins. La guerre provoqua la rupture de l'alliance russo-bulgare, laissant la Serbie comme seule alliée de la Russie dans cette région importante. C'est pour cela que la Serbie reçut le soutien total de la Russie lors de la crise de juillet 1914 qui mena à la Première Guerre mondiale, et c'est aussi pour cela qu'en 1915 la Bulgarie s'allia aux Empires centraux dans l'espoir de réunir à elle les territoires (à majorité bulgarophone) qu'elle n'avait pu gagner lors des deux guerres balkaniques.


Early life.

John Molson was born in 1763, in the parish of Moulton near Spalding, Lincolnshire, England. His father John Molson senior (1730–1770) had, in 1760, married Mary Elsdale (1739–1772), the eldest daughter of Samuel Elsdale (1704–1788), of Surfleet. Her brother, Robinson Elsdale (1744–1783), was a privateer, whose unpublished exploits formed the basis of the novel by Frederick Marryat, "The Privateersman" (1846). Before the marriage, John Molson senior inherited a property known as Snake Hall, in Moulton Eaugate which consisted of a house and various outbuildings associated with of land.  John Molson senior died on June 4, 1770. His will bequeathed properties to his wife and five surviving children. Under their marriage settlement, Snake Hall went to Mary, and was to then pass on to his eldest son, John, upon her death. She died on September 21, 1772, and thus John was orphaned when eight years old. John senior had named four guardians and trustees for the estate; the young John Molson's financial affairs were overseen by his paternal uncle, Thomas Molson, but in September 1771 Thomas turned over the duties of trustee and guardian to Samuel Elsdale, possibly due to poor health, as he died the following spring. Under Samuel Elsdale's oversight, Snake Hall was rented out to the benefit of their trusts. John went to live with a man named William Robinson, and at age 12 in 1776 was consigned to the care of a Mr Whitehead, who was paid for his board and education until 1780, when he turned 16. Writers have criticized Samuel Elsdale for his oversight but he seems to have performed his duties prudently, although John Molson plainly chafed under his guardianship.  In 1782, at the age of 18, Molson immigrated to Quebec, in a ship that was leaking so badly he switched ships mid-ocean. In 1783, Molson moved into the home of Thomas Loid just outside Montreal, who had begun brewing beer the previous year. Molson became a partner in the brewery and took over on 5 January 1785, eight days after he had turned twenty-one. In 1786, he returned briefly to England, and it was during that year that Molson picked up the book "Theoretic Hints on an Improved Practice in Brewing" by John Richardson. Molson returned to Quebec with more money and a new mindset. Many Loyalists were immigrating to Quebec from the United States and this influx increased the demand for beer. Molson worked hard, staying up long into the night. He hired an apprentice, Christopher Cook, and a loyalist housemaid, Sarah Insley Vaughan. He married her on 7 April 1801 at Christ Church in Montreal after she had borne him three children.  Sarah (1751–1829) was the daughter of Thomas Vaughan of Harnham Hall, Morpeth, Northumberland. She was the niece of Wilmot Vaughan, 1st Earl of Lisburne and through her mother's family, the Aynsleys, a cousin of the Duke of Atholl. She emigrated to the American colonies with her first husband, David Tetchley, but ten years later left him, and reverting to her maiden name, she made her way to Montreal, penniless, until taken in by Molson.  Soon Molson's beer was in such demand that according to one of his diary entries "Cannot serve half my customers and they are increasing every day." One of the major reasons for this was the wide appeal of his beer to different classes of Montreal society. High British officers had been drinking imported London porters and the city merchants preferred Bristol. Yet Molson's beer was special as it was "universally liked" (a quotation from Molson's diary). It was at the Anglican church that he met many influential and wealthy businessmen like fur trader James McGill, Joseph Frobisher, founder of the North West Company, and Alexander Mackenzie.

Career success and later life.

Between 1788 and 1800, Molson's business grew quickly into one of the larger ones in Lower Canada. Already in 1791, he sold 30,000 gallons of beer. During these years Molson and his wife had four children, John junior, Thomas (who died shortly after birth), another Thomas, and William (Billy).  The year 1800 marks the first recorded use of (imported) bottles by Molson. About this time arrived "The Philosophical Principles of the Science of Brewing" by Richardson, which marks the introduction of the thermometer and the saccharometer to the English craft. By the start of the 19th Century, his small brewery had grown tenfold. Molson now had the money to improve his business by buying new technology.

Steamship pioneer.

Molson toyed with the idea of buying a steamship after seeing Robert Fulton’s "Vermont" go down the Hudson. Molson's steamship would be the first in Canada. Molson teamed up with John Jackson and John Bruce who would build a ship for Molson in return for putting up the money and part ownership. Built in Montreal (with engines produced at Forges du Saint-Maurice in Trois-Rivières) in 1809, "Accommodation" became the first steamship to ride on the waters of the Saint Lawrence River. This was a great feat for Molson but, from a business viewpoint, it was a net loss, costing ₤4000 by 1810. Molson was determined to make money on his ships so he dismantled "Accommodation" and purchased in person two steamship engines from Boulton & Watt in Birmingham, England. He combined the two engines and the remains of "Accommodation" to create "Swiftsure", a magnificent ship that was a vision of elegance and speed, traversing the route at an average of seven miles an hour. "Swiftsure" measured 130 feet on the keel and had a beam of 24 feet. The steamship provided a ready cash business, while the government in London had suspended the transfer of specie from 1800 to 1817. Most other Canadian business was carried on with London bills of exchange, and the transfer of those bills from Montreal to Quebec earned the Molsons up to 20 per cent. And since brewing occupied the months when the steamboats were laid up, a harmonious concordance of activities resulted. During this time Molson's business continued to grow and the War of 1812 pushed sales even higher. "Swiftsure" was leased to the British Army and brought in a supplemental income. In 1815, Molson was elected to represent Montreal East in the legislative assembly on the platform of building a wharf. Molson Brewery is the second oldest company in all of Canada.

Plutocrat and banker.

As Molson became more occupied by his multiple businesses and his seat in the assembly, his three sons began to take a much larger role in the companies. John Junior managed the steamships, Thomas was married in England and would frequently travel sending back tips and advice to his father, and William was in charge of the brewery. In 1816, the year he took his sons formally into partnership, Molson built Mansion House Hotel which coincided with the Assembly's acceptance of the wharf. Molson's hotel was only for those who could afford luxury. The hotel offered Montreal's first library, boat rides on the river, well-furnished rooms and six-course dinners, famous throughout all of Montreal.  To the John Molsons and Sons partnership were leased at 6% per annum Molson's accumulated capital assets; the term was seven years. The four partners divided equally, share and share alike, the profits and the losses. If any insoluble difference arose between the partners, two indifferent arbitrators were to be appointed. By December 1816, Molson had accumulated £63,550.  In 1817, John Richardson and George Moffatt created the Montreal Bank. Molson declined a partnership in it as the backers of this project had been involved with multiple failed banks in the United States and he felt it was a risky investment. Molson changed his mind not long afterwards and the bank became fully Canadian-owned when the U.S. partners sold their shares after the U.S. financial crisis in the fall of 1818. By 1822, the bank had received a charter from Britain and changed its name to the Bank of Montreal. Between 1826 to 1834, Molson presided over its affairs.

Hospitaller.

In 1819, Molson had a short bout of sickness. It was during this time that he noticed the only hospital in the city, Hôtel Dieu, only held 30 beds. Molson proposed to the assembly that a new hospital be established that would contain 200 beds. Although the assembly denied his request, there was much private support and soon donations came pouring in. By May the new hospital, the Montreal General Hospital, was opened on Craig Street (now Saint Antoine Street).

International beer and spirit merchant.

A crisis almost struck the Molsons in 1821 when the Mansion House Hotel caught fire; some of the books from the library were saved but not much more was salvageable. Molson was undaunted by this and had ideas to build an even grander hotel, a true testament to his character. While John junior and William took care of the businesses within Canada, Thomas was busy working in England. Thomas brought over 237 gallons of beer to London, England. The response was encouraging and Thomas brought another 1385 gallons on his next trip. Molson's had its first international market.  The first Canadian distillery on an industrial scale was a Molson endeavour. It was in response to the economic collapse that occurred from 1817 to 1820, that Thomas convinced his partners to enter the distillery business, which was industrially a virgin land. From 1820 to 1866, one or another Molson partnership were the largest distillers in Canada. The trade in liquor was only wholesale in nature, because trade at the retail level had been forbidden the managers of a distillery under a law passed in 1794. The Molson company official historian maintains that until 1846, the single most substantial source of revenues were duties on alcoholic beverages. In those pioneer days, alcohol was the primary form by which was monetized grain, and in the absence of Scotch supply the British craved Canadian whiskey. One historian has concluded that, because the cost of transportation rises with volume shipped, Molson shipped concentrated alcohol to his British agents, Grayhurst & Hewat, who then cut it down for retail.  In 1828, the temperance movement in Canada was begun, with Methodist preachers setting up shop first in the Niagara Peninsula, then in Montreal and at Bedford, Nova Scotia. Prohibitionists called for the elimination of import, manufacture and sale of strong liquor for beverage purposes.

Theatre impresario.

By 1825, Molson's hotel was completely rebuilt and renamed the British American Hotel. After the hotel was completed Molson built a theatre adjacent to it. By November, Molson's Theatre Royal was completed, the first theatre in Montreal. It seated 1,000 guests, presenting Shakespeare and Restoration authors and was also used for circuses and concerts. Edmund Kean and Charles Dickens both performed there before it was demolished in 1844 to make way for the Bonsecours Market.  Never resting, Molson continued to build his empire by purchasing multiple steamships and creating the St Lawrence Steamboat Company. This fleet of ships was so big that it outnumbered all of those operating in the United States. In 1826 Molson decided to run against a young Louis-Joseph Papineau but resigned quickly after discovering the amount of support Papineau had from the French and the Irish.  On March 18, 1829 Molson's wife Sarah Vaughan, died after treating her rheumatism with laudanum. Sarah became addicted to this opium-based painkiller and died from the effects. Molson sold the house they lived in together and moved on with his life. His four-year term as President of the Bank of Montreal (1826–1830) ended and Molson did not run for a second. Even at the age of 67 Molson did not contemplate retirement; one of his biggest projects still lay ahead.

Railway entrepreneur.

Since 1825, Molson had followed reports of the first railways being built in England. Molson had told the head of this project, Jason Pierce, that he was interested. Pierce did not forget about Molson's interest and in 1832 Molson's request for a railroad was accepted by the Assembly. The Champlain and St Lawrence Railroad was to connect the St Lawrence to the Hudson River, making the trip from Montreal to New York much quicker. This was the first railway ever constructed in Canada. Molson became the Railroad's largest shareholder, when a cholera epidemic that struck Canada in 1832 and 1834 added to echoes of the economic depression caused by the crisis closure of the Second Bank of the United States. This all caused the railroad project to lose much of its momentum. Many businesses closed in Montreal but the Molsons continued work as usual. Construction of the railroad was begun in 1835, and was completed on Thursday 21 July 1836 with great pomp and ceremony, but without the senior Molson.  After his multiple successful proposals, John Molson was appointed to the Legislative Council of Lower Canada. He was considered part of the "Chateau Clique" as he was a rich English businessman. The people were losing their faith in English businessmen like Molson and were turning to men like Papineau and Robert Nelson, both members of the Patriote movement. In 1833 Molson's hotel burned down again. This time though, Molson decided not to rebuild it.

Freemason.

Molson was appointed Provincial Grand Master of the District Grand Lodge of Montreal (Freemasons) by the Duke of Sussex by Letters Patent dated May 15, 1826 and installed in office by Claude Dénéchau on September 5, 1826; Molson resigned in 1833.

Death and legacy.

When things returned to normal after the second cholera epidemic, Molson's railroad project began to gain speed. Unfortunately, he did not live long enough to see his last dream realized. Molson caught a high fever in December 1835. He wrote his will on January 11, 1836, and died that day. In his will, Molson named John Molson junior, Thomas Molson, William Molson, George Moffatt and Peter McGill executors. His remains now rest in a family mausoleum at Mount Royal Cemetery.  In 1955, a historian noted that of the many and myriad businesses started in 18th-century Montreal, only three remained to that date. The Molson Coors Brewing Company still has the dominant share of the beer industry in Canada.

John Molson (December 28, 1763 – January 11, 1836) was an English-born brewer and entrepreneur in colonial Quebec, which during his lifetime became Lower Canada. In addition to founding Molson Brewery, he built the first steamship and the first public railway in Canada, was a president of the Bank of Montreal, and established a hospital, a hotel, and a theatre in Montreal. The dynasty he founded, the Molson family, is still a wealthy and powerful force in Canada.

John Molson, né le à Moulton en Grande-Bretagne et décédé le à Boucherville au Bas-Canada, était un brasseur et homme d'affaires montréalais. Il est le fondateur de la brasserie Molson.