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• ,THE
LUCKNOW SENTINEL,L:UCKNOW, Q�
nA1ad Ring5.Iile
Georgetown
The rioting 'and destruction in.
the city of Georgetown, British
Guiana, was cause for local con-
Vern for the safety of Rev. and.
Mrs. Alex MacDonald and their'
..- two children. Alex is serving in.
the Presbyterian Mission work'.
in British •Guiana. He is the son
of Mrs. Alex MacDonald (Mar-
garet MacKenzie) andthe late
Alex MacDonaldof LLicknow, &
a grandson' of the late Rev. and
Mrs: Ewan MacKenzie,
Mr. and Mrs. E. H:, Agnew,
cousinsof • Alex,have received
the: following bulletin in '• which
he describes and gives • the back-
. ground. story of this great trag-
edy:
11 Brickdamn,.
Georgetown, . Demerara,.
British Guiana, •
February 19th, 1962.
Dear Friends: ' •
One week ago, Georgetown was
•still brightly'. decorated in hon
• our of the visit of the Duke of
Edinburgh. The, main section .of
the city, which is just three or
four blocks from our house; look-
ed ,lovely indeed. There were
rurmblingsF • of discontent against
the Government 'even 'during the
Duke's '' visit, and a few • anti-
.' Government -placards had ap-
peared on the': streets, and there
were rumours'` of a generai_:strike
to come •in protest against .the.
rigid Budget ,which; the Minister
of . Finance had introduced just
a few days before the Duke'sar
rival here. But for the mar:OM;
people were still' in their holiday
mood.
Today Georgetown is a wrecked.
city' Armed police, militia, and
British soldiers and marines are
guarding certain sections of the
city, and are patrolling the streets
throughout. Fires set deliberately
• last Friday afternoon, have burn-
ed 'millions: , of dollars worth of
_property; and -goods 1/ any shops
not burned have.: been .complete-
ly , stripped by" looters. Several,
people--wex� e._killed,. and dozens.
of • ,others• .injured' in the rioting
of : last Friday::
On Saturday night, after elec-
• tricity had been restored to tile
central part of the city,. Ruth and;
I listened . to the BBC news. We
.heard for the firsts tine ;what the
a rest : of the world.". was hearing.,
about ;;events;. in. British Guiana.
It was terribly. shocking but.
true. We theUgh ' that we had
better ` get this letter off right
away, to. let :you'.know 'that we'
are alright, as are all the members
of.: our Mission Council. We feel
that the danger is over now, even
though in going' through., the
streets we do not get the feeling
that everyone^ is sorry for what
has happened. Large numbers of
irresponsible people, last Friday.
afternoon, . had the time of . their
lives, burning, looting, and break
ing. I really believe that it .would
be 'going on. • yet, • if it.'were'..not
:
that even a mdb is intimidated
by troops in full battledress, with
fixed bayonets. •
Many comParigons will be.
drawn with 1953, when, at the
Vine off the Constitutional Crisis
troops' were brought • in to
. stere 'order in British GUiana.
Probably much ef the foreign
Ores's.; will present this present
crisis a§ jtist .another failure .by
Dr. Cheddi Jagan.„ It should be
•pointed out that in 1953 •violenee
was. apParentlY threatened, . but
nothing had actually happened.
In 1962 the. business centre .of
Georgetown was largely destroy•t•
ed, and the mob .was in the
streets. In 1953 the Government
called in by.. the Governor. In
, 1962 the troops have been called
in by Jagan'S Ministry, for the
PurpoSe of restoring 'and preser,
ving order, This countrY, has had
full internal. self-government
since last August, and this 'has
not been affected by the Present
crisis,' an serious and:tragic as' it
,NOv(t , to run over the develop-
Ments. :The Budget was, I believe,
an honest attempt tb raise local
.surns necessary ,for the develop-
' men programme, but was a case
of "too much;lott soon:" Taken On
consumer goodS were upped;
whacking big property and.capi-
tal gains taXes were, suggested;
ineoMe tax exemptions were low-
ered;_ there was to be 5% com-
pulsory savings, in the form of
Governinent Bonds, en incomes
over $100 •per month. The oppo-,
sition leaders, Burnham of .the
People's National Congress and
D'Aguiar of the United Force,
both held huge anti.Budget;,•anti-
Government Meetings. TheY Were
tont to farce' vvithdriawal of the
Budget, and.thus bring about the
resignation of the. Government
This they both stated .from3heir
platforms. Their main line of
attack was that the new tans
ment, which prides itself on be-
ing the .friend .of the werking-
class,'Would strike hardest•at the
wottleing:-class. Jagan *denied this,
but the Budget was net brotight
into the. legislature for the se-
cond. reading. It was, withdrawn
for* arnenchnent. Apparently the
Vehemence of the oppokitien was
a:real Surprise to Jagan, and=
'Monday the 12th saW walk -opt
Of clerks from most of the large
•stores, downtown, Ind this ton-:
tinued.the next day. On 'Tuesday
the Traden.Union Congress with
•abbirt 30 affiliated Uniona staged
a tremendous anti -Budget detinon-
throUgh .the City, The
same day the-Ciy21.:Servants' As-
Sociation, 'the Teachers?. :Associa-
te :go ori strike also.. Their rea-
son .was *partly. solidarity with
the , and partly' because:
of long7StandingirievanceS Which
date, back ,to about 1954, and
whieh :have 'been pnly stirred up.
by .GoVernment's Mont. recent
, Wednesday, then, British
Guiana was in the middle ef its
.first General Strike; though..many.
shops .cnitside the main centre'
of Georgetown reinained open.
The centre Of .the city was. filled
,.with picketers and, denionstrators
*and mere, important; .with theUs7
ands of' people with. nothing, to
de but 'mill' around,- looking ':iaor
miSchief.. Ruth' and I. hive 'long
held a theory that. the ' George-
. town croWd. iS a.real danger, and
that. 'political leaders like 'Burn.;
ham; .who are so good at stirring
Up --that crowd;:°MaY find it quite
.a different proposition when, the
•mob goes out 'of control. On. weci-
'nesdaY evening the • Governor
banned all meetings; 'processiOns;
ant demonstratiOns in. an area
of seyeral blacks around the Le-
gislatiVe Buildings. Apparently,
he ;felt the. same:way
But Burnhain and D'Aisgiar
looked.. uOon this. Proclamation as
•an Attack upon the liberty of the
people Of Guiana. It 'was another
Proof, to them, that the Governor
his "march'. toWard. a Communist
Guiana". On Thursday these tWo
fighters 'for :;freedom led mobs
into tbe ,prescribed area. There.
the two groups met 'before the.
Legisiative Building and there
was a touching scene of 'reconoil-
been' screaming impreCations ,it
one another for alinost a year,
marched •Off arm-in,arm. They
no doubt felt that they had struck
a blow for liberty. What they
had done was ; set an• example
for the Georgetown, mob — ran
example of deliberate flouting' of
Within 36,* hews that exatnple
.ihad_..b_Orrie terrible fruit, Friday
morning, for the first time, the
water Was 'off. There was still
a skeleton, itaff at the electric
plant, and an attempt:was made
to invite them to . cOme aWay
from Work. Whatever hapPened
there, the police riot squad • used
tear -gas 'for •the hint time, ,and
the explosion that had been.
building. up all• week was at last
set eff. Georgetown wak without
water. and without electricity. &
at. a time like that the rest of
the day was •deyoted CO riot.
arson, and z•nasn looting,
By mid-morning we' noticed
crowds running past our' house,
MRS; STAN /DRENNAN
After a. long illness the death
of Mrs. Stanley Drennan, the fer-
field TownshiP occurred In Kiri-, •
cardine hospital on Sunday. She
'The funeral service was held
On Wednesday at° the MacLennan
funerei home in Kincardine with
interment in Lochalsh Cemetery.
, She is survived by her husband;
four daughters, Mrs. Finlay (Mar,
garet).Macbenald, Lochalsh, Mrs,
Donald (Mary) 1VlurraY, Detroit
Miss Anne Drennan and'., Miss
Jane Dre'rman at home; son Jas.,
at home; five . grandchildren; 3
sisters, Mrs. George (Sadie), Blue,
Detroit;. Mrs.• David .(IVIarybelle)
AgneW.. Plyzneuth, Mich., Mrs.
Noble. (Jessie) Johnston, Luck -
Found. Dead I
13grn" Tuesilay
The Community was shocked
this week to learn of the sud-
den death of Jack Gillies, Bound, -
Jack has had 'd heart condition
for some time. On Tiiesday even-
Phersen noticed there was no
other neighbours investigated.
They found Jack , dead in the
barn, where*he had been clean-
ing the stable when stricken. with;
the fatal, seizure. He had been
dead for ,a few hours,..it was
been completed as this was writ-
ten early yirednesday morning.
BRO NIE NE S
.2ND . PACK LUCKNOW
.The 2nd Brownie Pack. met op
•Tuesday.: Marilee , McLeod *as
chosen Toadstool Fairy , for. the
meeting., In the, Fairy Ring, the
two sixes chose the .Leprechauns
and' Kelpies for their six names
arid learned, their song.' The new
sixers.. Valerie 'Morningstar and
Donna Leader were presented
with their sixer stripes and Mari-
lee McLeod Was presented With
her second stripe. The Tweenies
made Brownie Diaries. •
In pow -wow the sixes acted out
some Good Turns and the Tween-
ies were' told how to wash dishes
and' instructed to bring a note
from their mother saying they
had done dishes. at home. The
meeting closed With Brownie
then running. back this went
on for about en •hour. The. Mob
was storming Freedom House,
headquarters of •the, 'People's
progressive •Party, :Which is just
three blocks away.: Again ',tear-.
gas was • used; and a few, shots
were fired. Two men were, killed
and several wounded; including
several.' policemen. . Then. fires
were set. -in Shops justz- a •hlock
East' af here; arid *streams of peo-
ple began passing carrying Shoes,.
bolts of cloth, furniture, dresseS---
hundsedi of people, carrying thou-
sand§ of dollars worth of lebt. Per
a while it looked as if we/ might
have to Wear out,/ but the . fire
was contained. Then in theshoP-
ping Centre to the' West .
ings began tO go up,, and again
the looters went, inte action. Re -
Member, we - live right acrosi
from the main police( .station,.
there were armed police ori guard
outside it, and the looters went,
right ,past There were so Many
that 'the -few police around here
_could do kothing. It *as a ter-
rible afternoon. 'By dusk die fires -
were under Control and the police
had hegun to crack doirn on the
looters. Over thelWeek-end they
went• house-to-house in certain
districts, and Over 100 arrests
have ' been made. The largest
priie so far .is a piano! •
1902 was supposed to be Free -
dein Year for British' Guiana. No
doubt, Friday, FebrUary 16th, has
put a .stop to that It will take
Merfk yearn fbr the commercial
life of GeorgetoWn to recover.
and for respect for the tale of
law to be restored,
Alex MacDonald,
ARM
WEPiltDAY, MARCH 7th, 198Z.
Bieauti ul Tuberous Begonias,
For early beauty MAY is the tinte to start yeur beg: .enta,
Plump first size • •
AT FANTASTIC PRICES
Huge Double Carisellia Type FloWers, in Seven 'delightful
CRISP* FLOWERED OR • PENDULA: TYPE
in Red, Yellow,. White or Pink. First size bulbs ya..ch 21le,
' Carman Pries* And Save!! Get . Ypurs Now At
'BRISTOW'S GARDENS
ded,, In Ice DriVei
$ends, .:$1,0Q.00:,
Luc Arena has speeded up
my. heart beat, at the prospect
of ' helping to' as§iire •total ice
amusement during the winter
months for' the; youngsters in the
ways reMember••the many enjey.,
playing' hockeY in.' the old rink
many years- ago. '
that the Lions—ClUb incliided
in this "Drive."' In 'connection
with 'this endeavour, I -was ix -
ten's 'letter. a 'few. isiues back in:
the Sentinel. in Which •he named:
the Olayern of an old Lucksow
haPpy• memories as I remembered.
.the name arid 'pesitien Played hy
each, and if I may 'add to Jack's
the outstanding player (star).'On
this project goes oYer. the "top"
of ',the established amount ' in re-
eord
10-- To.. 'Be,. tritjui
-Stirred;
The response of former resi-
dents to. th,e ,Lions •Club' artificial
ice' fund appeal, has been the
that this community has enjoyed
since .the centennial homeceming
"Wonderful, amazing, deeply.
thiehing," are. some of the ex-
pressions that. have been heard
as letters and donation§ steadily
conie.in •from the four corners of
the 'continent •••.and in fact,. from
A $100 ,deriation from Robert
Lyens. of Florida, gave the fund
a. gpod.boost_this Oast week. A
native, of L‘ucknow:„ Bob, special-
ized in forestry research and. rose
to an 'important executive post
with the KimbeileY,Ciark. firm:
'He is now retired. and Wiling in
., St. Petersburg .4, Flerida,
bear .ComPbell:
, The .Lions Chib letter outlining
their ' undertaking, narnely, the
installation of artificial ice in the
1-C Groups Give
mpersonation
•
Stars
(AMBERLEY NEWS
Smeltzer accompanied
Donald Murray of Kincardine on
Mrs. Grant McDiarmid visited
at the week -end With Mr. and
Mri. John Blue,
'David:, and Carl Lowry, Cliff
Ems/lei-ton • and Jim Farrell. at-
tended the Ice Capades.in Kiteh-
ener last week.' •
Mr and Mrs -Chester Campbell
of London visited. with friends in
this Vicinity last week.
• .Mr. and Mrs. Art Courtney
yisited with Mrs. •Mary Bell of
Kincardine. on Monday. .
Mr.. arid Mrk. Lloyd CourtneY
and family of Lond'on were 'guests
with relatives in Ripley and with
Mr. and. Mrs..' Art Courtney of
A . Euchre was held at Reids
Corners Hall on WednesdaY ev7
ening. At the conclusion of the
games, the annual Meeting' was
The HiLC of 'Bethel and Pine
River congregations ' held' their.
caneert in Reids goreers. hail 'on
Friday ..everiing with a good at.:
tendance. The program toe& the
form of .Ed. Sullivan's Show with
Linda Reid in the role 'of Mr.•
presiding. A sing -song
was. led bY the' young peoples
group with Gail Boyd at the pia-
no. An instrurnental, "C•ourstry
Garden" by Mary •.-Ellen Shiells
,as.•LiberaChie Was 'enjoyed. Short
skits by Carol Irwin and Kenneth
Farrell -also by. -Mary ---Ann -
sten and. DaVid CoUrtney were
followed With a ,trio by Murray
Ferguson, Paul Farrell and Mur-
ray Thompson. Lynn,Lowry gave
a humorous reading from,George
Gebbers famouS book, after which
a skit by Carol Irwin, •Mary Ariri
Ellen, Sbiells. Joyce Funston and
Phyli§ Bradley was given. Gait
Boyd as *eommentator for Art
Gary plifitirtne'y Elainel'itobb. Er-
nie Irwin and Mary Ellen Nilson.
•ley advertiSing. the fine merits of
SPI6hiee'rsenzid's `.`13.Praol'uwe'.'ithwalraeraY;;Yille-.1.
Lynn.,and carpi Lowry as the
know why I leve' yoi.V° and "De-
voted tO ,Yoe, which brought
hearty,. applause' froili.. the audi-
Courtney; 'MurraY Fergrison and.
.Paul . Farrell 'after which. lielea
McNair' 'as ;"Brerida ,tree" sang
two. solOn, which were /enjoyed as
Were' duetts by Judy ancl Mary
' re'irtinevark. SeLaftC.e .r1:1- : wutht°1cnh gLaivned:fa ifeerd
A fine impersonation of Jimmie
.Durantes!' wan :.'given by Lynn
'Lowry 'Whe sang "When :you,
smile; ,the' whole World 'sniiles
with you:" The .proininent nese
number. A scene from the "Garrk
Mogre" ,ShOw was well acted .by
Joyce-Funston and Ronnie Fun-.
,ston after Which °BC commenta-
tor. Sharen 'Craigie talked to the
inan in orbit (Ronnie •Funston)
Two zunribern by Mary Ann Fun -
sten, Carolyn; Barbara and toyee:
.atheeh'ieL.eni7 S..is,ters. ,r.v..ith .7i,la,:tio.ns.
by Mary; Ellen Shiells is Libel'.
'Shirley, Steele. as eornme.atator
*as the 'puppet show with ;Joyce
Steele and Murrak '. ThormiOori
back,: stage. The Wayne. and Shy-
bGagerkY sCt:gi:lernweaYa wgrithenK• en Far'r,ell
' terehste' 4warthce. prirrtici7prantrseatind elyn:
Youing People's group was' the
"Quiet Hour" aS they sang, "HO
Great Theu„ Art" "The Lo_rd's
ari4 Carol, Lovv.ry, "My Mang
'on the Hill" after. --which a Psd.
said. of -scripture. was read bY
MurraY Thompson, followed hY,
,0"St•oltlayina, n,. d Ten:de:1y:: . an d • illot
Boyd was ,acdoinpazust ior
Mrs, Carrick,- Calling anti. ill,'
prileprraaYa:tiFenaroreflitheacsi4teedrt1.11.'6e