Late in the second decade of last century, a young English teacher by the name of Clara Ashall responded to an urgent call from distant Labrador to "come over and help us." The young pries the Anglican Mission of Sandwi Bay, himself from England, had put in place tentative plans for a Boarding School centrally locat-ed. It would replace the old itinerant system of educating the young. He desperately needed a capable person to head up this innovative project.

An already serious situation became desperate in the fall of 1918 when the Spanish flu that killed off millions of people worldwide hit Sandwich Bay and Northern Labrador like a cyclone. 69 people out of a total population of 300 died in Sandwich Bay alone, and some 40 children were left orphaned.

With no social agency to intervene, the responsibility for their care fell on the shoulders of the Priest, the Rev. Henry Gordon. They were temporarily placed with relatives and in several "group homes." In the meantime, Gordon set about to raise funds and recruit staff for the proposed boarding school.

Clara Ashall arrived in the summer of 1919 and became the Principal of the Labrador Public School when it opened a year later. Her philosophy was at the school environment should reflect a way of life that closely resembled t from

which her students came. "In addition to her school duties, she openet fight

school for adults (a first for Labrador), taught Sunday School, directed choir, put in place a drama group, and, in the absence of the Priest or Le sarler led worship, and taught Latin to a prospective ordinand. She organize.

c veral

women's groups so that the ladies would have a social outlet when their husands were on the trap lines." (Preface)

In 1921 she married Henry Gordon. They marvelously complemented each other's work and sphere of influence. Their lives may best be summed up in those words:

"They gave their strength to the weak, their substance to the poor, their sympathy to the suffering, and their heart to God." (Adapted from General Charles "Chinese" Gordon's epitaph.)

Francis Buckle, a Labradorian by birth, has spent thirty three

years as a Priest in Labrador, including five years in the Cartwright Mission, formerly known as the Mission of Sandwich Bay. This is Archdeacon Buckle's third book. The Anglican Church in Labrador:1848-1948 was published in 1988 and Labrador Diary:1915-1925/The Gordon Journals in