''Sons of Martha'' Monument

In 1925, the St. John River Power Company, with Moncton's first contractor Parson & Ed, developed plans for the construction of a power plant in Grand Falls. Work began on August 10, 1926.

The contract was later taken over by the Dominion Construction Company, whose president was Harry McLean.

Temporarily, the town experienced a boom with full employment, largely due to the energy project, coupled with the large number of workers at the Burgess Mill and the construction of several new buildings. The construction of the plant had also brought in many new residents, some of whom stayed after the boom.

We know the names of the two workers who lost their lives in accidents during the construction.

The first accident occurred on March 23rd, 1927, when Elmo Dumont died from injuries after a cement car fell on him. He came from Advocate, Nova Scotia, and was taken home for burial.

The second accident occurred on November 11, 1927, when a young man from Grand Falls, Vern St. Amand, was killed instantly by a bolt that went through his head. He was only 17 years old, the funeral was held in the Church of the Assumption on November 14th.

Mr. McLean recognized that he would not have been able to amass his fortune without the contributions of ordinary workers. In recognition of this fact, he erected a monument to the workers on every construction site for which he had a contract for. On which was written Rudyard Kipling's famous poem, The Sons of Martha.

The Grand Falls Hydroelectric Project Monument was initially installed near the water supply valve, but was later moved to O.B. Davis Park near the falls.

The Sons of Martha Rudyard Kipling (1907)

The Sons of Mary seldom bother,

for they have inherited that good part;

But the Sons of Martha favor their mother

of the careful soul and the troubled heart.

And because she lost her temper once,

and because she was rude to the lord her guest,

Her sons must wait upon Mary's Sons,

world without end, reprieve, or rest.

It is their care in all the ages to take the buffet and

cushion the shock.

It is their care that the gear engages; it is their care

that the switches lock.

It is their care that the wheels run truly, it is their care

 to embark and entrain,

Tally, transport, and deliver duly the Sons of Mary by land

and main.

They say to mountains "Be ye removed. "They say to the

lesser floods, "Be dry."

Under their rods are the rocks reproved - They are not

afraid of that which is high

Then do the hill-tops shake to the summit - Then is the bed

of the deep laid bare,

That the Sons of Mary may overcome it, pleasantly sleeping

and unaware.

They finger death at their gloves' end where they piece and

repiece the living wires.

He rears against the gates they tend: They feed him, hungry

behind their fires.

Early at dawn, ere men see clear, They stumble into his

terrible stall,

And hale him forth like a haltered steer, and goad and turn

him till evenfall.

To these from birth is belief forbidden; from these till

death is relief afar.

They are concerned with matters hidden - under the earthline

their altars are

The secret fountains to follow up, waters withdrawn to

restore to the mouth,

And gather the floods as in a cup, and pour them again at a

city's drouth.

They do not preach that their God will rouse them a little

before the nuts work loose.

They do not teach that His pity allows them to drop their

job when they damn-well choose.

As in the thronged and the lighted ways, so in the dark and

the desert they stand.

Wary and watchful all their days that their brethren's days

may be long in the land.

Raise ye the stone or cleave the wood

to make a path fair or flat-Lo,

it is black already with blood some Son of Martha

spilled for that!

Not a ladder from earth to heaven, not as witness to any

creed,

But simple service simply given to his own kind in their

common need.

And the Sons of Mary smile and are blessed - they know the

angels are on their side.

They know in them is the grace confessed, and for them are the mercies multiplied. They sit at the feet - they hear the word - they see how truly the promise runs. They have cast their burden upon the Lord, and - the Lord he lays it on Martha's Sons!