In Hants County, writer Edith Mosher’s Family Book of Fact and Fiction is the story of the fatal crash of a Ventura bomber. The bomber went down in flames in Summerville on June 25, 1943, killing its four-man crew.

Ms. Mosher called me about the Ventura crash recently, remarking that as far as she knew, this is “the only wartime crash site that has no monument or marker.” Later Ms. Mosher wrote me about the incident. Two of the crew of the Ventura were New Zealanders, one was Australian, and these then were buried in Windsor.

It is these gravesites and the crash site that have Ms. Mosher concerned. She believes there has been neglect in that nothing has been done to mark the crash site (“We must be on the wrong side of the tracks.”)

Ms. Mosher writes that while the graves of the New Zealand pilot officers “have had visitors from their homeland,” the grave of the Royal Australian Air Force Sergeant Pilot Cornelius A. Mulcahy “has no one (and) we don’t know the reason.”

“I’m wondering if there is a place to which I could write to learn what part of Australia this young man… came from,” Mosher continued. “There must be some place where records are kept that would provide an address. I would like to try to contact relatives of Cornelius Mulcahy. If he has a brother or sister still living, I would send a picture of his stone and describe the lovely setting of his burial place. I would like them to know that someone here in Nova Scotia remembers too.”

Readers who may be able to assist Ms. Mosher in contacting relatives of Mulcahy can reach her on the Cheverie exchange or they can write to her at Summerville, Hants County, BON 2K0. If I can of assistance in passing information onto Ms. Mosher, I can be contacted through this newspaper.

Remembers Minards Treatment

My column on old-time medicine cabinets kindled a few memories for Madge Chase. Born in Hants County just after the turn of the century, Ms. Chase recalls working for $5 a month and taking molasses laced with Minards Liniment for sore throats. “There were no doctors handy in those days,” Ms. Chase said when she called from Kentville recently. “When we had a cold we drank ginger tea, and warm goose oil was rubbed on our chest.”

Ms. Chase remembers an unusual treatment for headaches. “My mother soaked a cloth in vinegar and held it to her forehead. Then she drank strong black tea at the same time.”

Still Uses Vinegar

“People probably laughed when you mentioned using vinegar and Epsom salts as medicines,” a caller said recently. “Please don’t use my name, but I find malt vinegar to be good for sore throats when I have a cold. The sore throat disappears after gargling with vinegar two or three times.”

The caller enlightened me about old-timers taking Epsom salts with water. “A teaspoon of Epsom salts mixed with warm water is great when constipated,” the called said. “Ask my pharmacist.”