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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1972-07-13, Page 2Aura ifxpositor Since 1860, Serving the Community First Published at SEAFORTHy ONTARIO, emery Thursday morning by MO AN BROS., PubliShene Ltd. ANDREW Y. MCLEAN, Editor Member Canadian Weekly Newspaper Association Ontario Weekly Newspaper Association and Audit Bureau of Circulation Newspapers Subscription Rates: Canada, (in advance) $8.00 a Year Outside Canadh (in advance) $10.00 a Year +CNA SINGLE COPIES — 20 CENTS EACH Second Class Mail Registration Number 0696 Telephone 527-0240 " SEAFORTH, ONTARIO, July 13, 1972 Assessment problems ratepayers a ities throug changing pro the inconven centralizing Municipal based on ass if the asses creased subs it follows t unless, the t changed. . Tax rates ponsibility icipality an would be les if"they resi t.unity :to revenues eve same time.th nd municipal- h'continually cedures and iences which has created. taxes are - essment and sment is in- tantially then axes will rise ax rates are are the res- of each mun- d councils s than _human sted the,, appVr- crease their n if at the ey reduce rates globe direct to all the principal ports on the Great Lakes." Nicolas Quentin of Normandy, France, emigrated to New France shortly after his marriage to Madeleine Poulois in 1660. He settled at Levis 'where he de- voted his energy to building bat- 'eaux. There was in Montreal, until recent years the Cantin Dry Deck - a reminder of the family name. About 1846 Antoine Cantin came from Joliette, Quebec, and settled in Huron County. A few yeaii later. he purchased land in the area south of Bay- field in a region where other French-Canadian s had settled which was then called "Lake- • view": He divided this pro- perty into three farms, one of which he gave to his son Pierre, who having married Mathilde Masse ( a daughter of an ,early arrival ), became, in 1870, the father of Narcisse. In his--youth Narcisse helped his father ,on the farm, but by • • the time he was seventeen, he was on his own as a cattle buy- • er and trader. lie bought cattle from other farms and took-them to Buffalo to be 'sold.- It was in his role of cattle trader that the idea of a canal to link Lake Erie and Lake Huron seems to have occurred to him. The publicizing of this idea has earn- ed hire the reputation of being the "first man to conceive of a Great Lakes Seaway Plan". At the age of nineteen he mov- ed to Buffalo with his wife 'Josephine, nee Denomme. Here he evolved a new design of. gas burner for which patents were taken out. He is also credited with the discovery of new liqu- id lurniture 'polish which he pat- ented and put on the market. In 1896 Cantin returned to Ontario, and located at "French Settlement", in an attempt to drum up interest for his vision which seems now to have ,ex- panded into the building of " a canal from Lake HurOn into Lake Erie and the opening of a water- way to the ocean". To do this he invested more than $100,000.00 in the building of a town. He constructed general' stores, mills, a pipe organ factory, a hotel, a lumber mill and a dock at which lake steamers cpuld .call. 'An ardent Roman Catholic and close friend Of Brother Andre, who built the famous sh- rine at Montreal, Cantin renamed French Settlement "St. Joseph". He worked tirelessly in his efforts to obtain funds for the erection of a city at St. Joseph which ' he -hoped would serve as the starting point of the canal 'Which would end at Port Stan- ley. He succeeded in obtain- ing the interest and support of Oliver Cabana, president of Lib- erty Bank, Buffalo; Charles Schwab, ,President of Bethlehem Steel, ode of the U.S.'s largest steeli., companies; and Lord Sh- aughnessy, President of the C.P. R., whom he convinced that St. Joseph ought to be-the Lake Hur- • on terminus of the C.P.R. line through Western. Ontario. An a rase% the St. Joseph and Lake Huron Ship Canal Company was incorporated in 1901. Opinion is divided on what was Cantin's prime concern. One writer , insists that"while he was, definitely-interested in the prat-4` tical advantages of the canal, his heart was in Huron and it was the dream of his life that St,. Joseph would become Huron's great city." Another states that "the development of St. Joseph, however, was not to be Cantin's primary objective, it wasTather a means to an end. In his own words it was to be 'a drum to beat upon so that I might draw attention „k1 my Great Lakes and to the Ocean Waterway project4." In any event, St. Joseph never really developed. Some of the 41, investors became angry, claimed • that he had never intended to build a /canal at all and withdrew their support. Nevertheless, C antin persevered. He now push- ed' for a full-fledged navigation scheme linking the St. Lawrence, Lake Ontario, Lake Erie and Lake Huron, the.,last step to be achieved by his Lake. Erie-Lake Huron canal. ° By.this time he was seeming- ly obsessed with canal construc- tion.. Fascinated by William Pat- erson' s success in securing a charter from the Scottish Par-: liament for the "Company of Scotland" to build a town at Dar- ien on the Panamanian Isthmus and dig a canal which "would hold the key to world commerce and turn Scotland • from one of the poorest to one of.-.the rich- est countries", he constantly 6 harped on the theme that his seaway would cause a revolution. "We should not fail to appreciate the significance of having ocean vessels flying the flags of all nations of the world, carrying passengers and freight from all ocean ports on the globe direct to all the principal ports on the Great Lakes", he insisted. Between 1898 and 1929, Can- • tin made repeated applications (Continued on Page 3) • • • From My Window -- By Shirley J. Keller -- Wharf at St Joseph 1907 What impact the reasses- sment of properties across Ontario will have on mun- icipal taxes remains to be seen. Assurances that increased assessments,will be offset by reduced tax rates there- by holding taxes in balance . are being greeted by some skepticism. There is no do some changes in a ment procedures w 'essary. There wer tions from munici to municipaltty b case of most thwn cities steps to c these imbalances had been taken wh ubt that ssess- ere nec- e ,l/Aria-- paltty ut in the s and orrect already en the province preemptorarily stepped-tn, and took over. Regardless of the out- come of the reassessment the increased costs of its governments action are apparent in the army of assessment people that has been created across the. province, tn the additional enumeration and census. that has been.necessary and in, the loss in time and vo'ney suffered by 11. In the Years Agone ,-- The results in areas where reassessment is .a fact hai/e been so confused and created so many out- cries that the government postponed implementation until the reassessment program was completed. These cries probably are nothing comp-ared to what can he expected when 'the job is completed and the new Assessments go into effect. JULY 16,.1897 The Grand Trunk are' delivering sev- eral car loads of coal cinders at the Kippen station for the purpose of repairing the roadway from the town line to the grain house and station. S. Cudmore of Kippen, while chisel- ling some 'metal, had the misfortune to -nave a small piece strike him in the °eye ball. Mr. John Doig and sons, Kippen are busy erecting their new residence. Harry Pearce of town had the mis: fortune to fall and fracture his arm. Joe Eckert is at present superinten- ding the excavation of a filtering plant at Kincardine.. W, Laing of town has accepted, a position on the teaching staff of the Mliverlim Palle -Sc-hool. The death occurred gat the• Private patent% Pavilion, Toronto, of Henry Keith McLean, only surviving son of Mrs. Ethel McLean. in his 22nd year, A brilliant student he had an except- ionally good record both at the Seaforth Collegiate Institute and the School of Practical Science, University of Toronto, from which 'he had graduated recently. The many friends of Rev. and Mrs. Sam McLean of Egmondville, presented them with a purse of $200, Last week, Messrs. Hinchley Bros. of Seaforth, sold Braptford' windmills to the ' following persons: Joseph ,eScott and John McMillan, RoXboro;, Hebert McKinley, , Huron Road; Richard Anderson, Con- stance; John- Wilson, McKillop; and Wm.- Wilson, Hullett. John McLean and Wm. Cameron on the Mill Road; Tuckersmith, have each had a new horse barn completed this year. John McMillan, M.P. of Hullett, made a shipment of cattle as did also G. Mc-' Michael of the same 'township.. Robert McMillan and John Dickson Wept with them. D. D.Wilson of town shipped a case of fresh eggs to Trail; B.O. near Rossland. The freight charges amounted to 5e a dozen. .* Timothy Ryan of 1VicKiliop was in town the other day sporting a handsome new covered buggy and set of new harness to correspond. The Seaforth company of volunteers returned from London where they have been putting in 12 days drill. Although tired they were all in good health and spirits. JULY 14, 1922 The annual demonstration of the South ' "Huron district Orabge Lodge was held in Seaforth when the glorious twelfth was celebrated. The ,procession Comprised some 20 lodges and was headed by the Seaforth Highlander's Band. Mayor Gold- ing gave an address and welcome. ....Samuel Lee, a resident of Londes- • bore Met death in a tragic Manner while drawing hay. Something went wrong with the hay' loading device and intrying .to ascertain what was wrong, the team bolted, throwing him between the wagon Mid the barn dobr. Melvin Crich of Tuckersmith, met r with an accident while trying to fasten a barn door. open. The wind blew it off its hinges •and it fell on him,' breaking tr his leg in two places., The Grand Trunk are delivering sev- eral car loads of coal cinders at the Kipper; station for the purpose of repairing the roadway from the town line to the grain house .and station. S. Cudmore of Kippen, while chisel- ling some metal, had the misfortune to have a small piece strike him in ,the eye ball. Mr. John Doig and sons, Kippen are • busy erecting their new residence. Harry Pearce of town had the mis- -fortune to fall . and frechire his arm. Joe Eckert is at present superinten- - dieg the excavation of a filtering plant' at Kincardine. W. - Laing of town has accepted a position on "the teaching staff ,of the Milverton.Public_School. The death occurred at the Private "•• Patients Pavilion, Toronto, of Henry Keith McLean, nly surviving son of Mrs. Ethel McLean in his 22nd year. A brilliant student he had an except- ionally good record• both at the Seaforth Collegiate Inet.1* and the' School of Practical'Sciefick, University of Toronto, from which he had graduated recently. The many friends of Rev, and Mrs. Sam McLean of Egmondville, presented them with a purse•of $2p0. • JULY 18, 1947 The severe electrical and wind storm which passed over Hibbert Twp. did severe damage to property and crops in the district. The hall which accompanied the storm, damaged wheat fields on the farms of Alex. McDonald, Ed Chappel and Howard Wright. A large' crowd gathered at 'the Hay- field pavilion in honor of Mr. and Mrs. Harold Rice. During the evening they were presented with a purse of .money by Harold Corey, and an address was read dy Robert Wallace. A burning transformer in front of Thomas Phillips residence on Market St. gave the Sea-forth fire brigade a run, but the fire was soon extinguished. Gordon McKellar, son of Mr. and Mrs. M. McKellar, of town who has been on the C:N.R. Toronto for the past six years as brakeman. has parsed his final examinations and is now clasSed as a diesel conductor on the C.N.R. A bain belonging to, Harry Paliri, McKillop,' was burned to the ground when at the height of the electric storm light- ning struck the building. There were several implements in the barn, along with a quantity of hay. Jack Hotham Sr., Chas. Barber and Ross Sproat won first, prizo at Exeter in lawn bowling. Two other rinks from Seaforth were present.- They were Lorne Dale, James MacDonald and Alvin Dale, and Leo Johnston, George Bays and Eric Munroe. Mrs. Wm. Hoegy of McKillop, had the misfortune of having a wagon wheel of a load• of hay pass over her foot, causing painful injuries. The marriage of Mary Blanche Broads foot, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James ilroadfoot of Seaforth, 'to wm. Robert Dalrymple took place at Sgmendville United Church manse. • • An historical plaque Will be unveiled in St. Joseph on Sunday. The plaque comIneMorating Narcisse Cantin, "Feunder Of St. Joseph", will be unveiled at the junction of Highways -8.4 and • 21 in St. Joseph. The plaque is among a series being erected throughout the province by the Archives of Ont- ario, acting on the advice of the Archaeological and Historic Sites Board of Ontario. The St., Joseph ceremony is being arranged and sponsoyed by the Huron County HistoricalSoc- iety, whose president, Harold Turner, will apt as program chairman. Others invited to take part in the ceremony include: Hon. Charles MacNaughton, Chair- man of Ontario's Management Board of Cabinet; Joseph Hoff-- man, Reeve of Hay Township; Robert McKinley, MP (Huron); Joseph Wooden, of lxeter, a local historian who produced a book on Caritin, and Father Lor- enzo Cadieux, S.J. Professor of History, University of Sudbury, who will represent the prov- ince's Historic Sites Board. The plaque will be unveiled by Narcisse Cantin.'s grandson, Napoleon Cantin, and will be dedicated -by the Right Rever- end M. W. Bourdeau, of Bay=' field. The inscription on the plaque reads: NARCISSE M. CANTIN 18'70 - 1940 "Descended from a long line of FrenchiCanadian shipbuilders Cantin was born on a nearby farm 'which his grandfather ac- quired about 1850. An energetic entrepreneur, inventor and cattle. trader, Cantin began work ' here,' in 1897, on a city named St. Joseph from which he hoped to, construct a canal linking Lakes Huron and Erie. Undaunted by his inability to raise sufficient funds for this project, he init- iated and, between 1900 and 1930, tirelessly promoted the concept of a Great Lakes seaway system which would take passengers and freight from all ocean ports on the Don't hold your breath waiting for its publication, but this is the summer I'm going to write a book. • It's the tenth summer .in a row that I've been going to write a book, but this year will be different. It's the year in which I'M• not going to write a novel. Other slimmers I didnit get aroung , to writing a play, or an ,expose of the educational system, or a series of pen- gent essays, or an attack on Marriage. This year it's the novel. That doesn't leave too much, does it? Maybe I'll write -a' slim'' volume • of verse. Any dam' fool can write poet- ry these days. The secret is to avoid' capital letters and punctuation, make your'llnes' all dif- ferent lengths, toss in a little erotic imagery; and make the end result a vis- ceral experience which nobody un- derstands. • Here,. just to show you what I .mean. If you don't get ,a real charge out of it, a profound emotilonal experience, that is, and haven't a clue what It's about, you're a connoiseur of modern poetry. Oh, one other thing: no rhyme - please, We'll just call it Poem , yesterday '' • in the supermarket a fat lady or maybe she wasn't really a lady . ran over my toot not really 'ran but walked I guess it was her buggy laden with a quarter-ton of cat food and orange juice and tide and glide and wax and snacks ing to provide services for my family which my mother never dreamed of giv- ing. For instance, I run a taxi service on a 24-hour basis. You would imagine that in a small town like ours, there,,.would be no problems about getting around. Distance isn't the hangup. It is the time- tahling which causes the hassle. Crafts at the playground for our young- est run, into our lunch hour. Baseball practice interferes with dinner. Track and field practice is simultaneous with swimming....and so on and so on. And then there's• our eldest son, the one who does the Odd jobs about town. It "is mother who transports the lawn- mower from Point A to Point B several times each week. It is also mother who makes its physically possible for our son to be at two different jobs within a few minutes of each other. Only through my efforts can he hold down so many pos- itions and keep all' his appointments on time. I also provide a catering service. When the neighborhood hikers go on safari, I provide the snacks (and the transport- ation to the starting point). There's pizza to make for the record club; sandwiches for the rock band in ,the basement; hot dogs for the 'sandlot aoftballers;potattr salad for the boys' night-out group; coffee and Sweets for the social committee.1 Shirley's shopping servied -is second,' to. none. When anyone needs a new tooth- brush or a shirt and tie, Itm the one who , either goes to the 'needy Store to, pick it up or drive the one to the city to get it in person. I run a telephone answering service, also open 24 hours daily. I take orders for lumber; record messages regarding- the latest band practice changes; -inform and four bases of non- returnable bottles and twelve pounds of pallid meat two bags of spuds 16 cans of, chunki - soup that ran over my foot (not the soup) driving my seed Wart into my metatarsal • i w fePot notr because lovable it hurt like hell but fat ladies and unlovable super- markets 'and because I couldn't do a - thing. Now, don't tell me that's not a poem. It was,,i,viy„id personal exper- ience which I attempted to convey to the reader. It's got everything. There's sex in it: a secret yearn for fat ladies: the Word metatarsal. There's plenty of ', concrete' images. There's symbelism: how about seed wart? a fertility symbol if I ever saw one. There's masochism, social criticism and a , deep personal sense of futility and frustration. It's What I would call universal in its appeal. They won't 'all be so deep and bitter°, of course. There'll be the hearty bucol- ic touch: • ' The garden ain't hoed The lawn ain't mowed But I'll be blowed If she's gocng to goad . Me into doing any of them.' Then there'll be the fragile, tender youthful callers that my daughter is away and will return about 3:30 p.m.; pass on the word' that the game is hide-and-seek at the park; confirm dates; and co-ordin- ate wardrobe problems for the blue- jeaners. My laundry is also . operating 24 hours a day. I'paa responsihle for fresh gym stilts and sweat socks for my would- be track star; clean sleeping bags for the campers; fluff-dried towels and face clothS for the constant bathing and show,- ering in our house; dustless wiping cloths for the car; and stacks and stacks of worn-once-but-must-be-washed T-shirts and blue jeans. On top of all this, I run an enter- tainment bureau with all the latest infor- mation Inducting times and places for all the major events in town; an information desk • with complete data on every con- ceivable subject of interest to children between the ages of 6 and 16; a statist- ics file all the gen on when who had the measles and the date for the -next dentalappointment; and an on-the-spot counselling service which doles out re- assurance, hope and encouragement on demand. •• . You see I'm trying to provide all these services in addition to the regular routine of a, mother, housewife and car- eer woman. And there, lust aren't enough TOW the-d'arttractomplish Not even •iny Mother could have kept up to this pace. ' - What now? ' Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Like everyone else in this crazy modern world I'll run , myself ragged and get further .,r.-.._-•• and• further away from the t‘gooii'lite":: • • my mother knew, That's the price we pay foe progress; I gueee.. little lyric that makes real poetry lovers just 'wriggle and almost turn themselves inside out. Something like: .• love myself more than anyone but you sorry baby but maybe it's not even true. Sorry about that rhyme, _bet some- times it just comes so automatic-like you can't hold it back. And of course there'll be 'some dram-. atic narrative stuff. I'm working on a sort. of epic called The Day I Shot the Black Squirrel Thinking It was a Black Bear. But it still needs a little polish- life in the last twelve cantos. Maybe you think this is just advance publicity' for my book. But I guarantee there'll be something for everyone, though some of it will be pretty strong stuff, and you may have to hide it from your• teenage kids._ I Was thinking particularly of . a couple: Down By the Old Gravel Pit, and Let Me Call You Meathead. But there's also some' stuff coming up that is really haunting. One is entitl- ed simply "Puke." It is based on a great storm on the Great Lakes when I, as junior porter, did great things with a 'mop after people' were sea-sick. it's been haunting me ever since, anyway. So, there's a delectable foretaste of my - summer -prole-et: can hardly wait to get started. Except. that I have a golf date, then I'm going swimming then there's a barbecue, and somehow after a day like that, the •Muse and I are both ready for the sack.' P1a4ue will recall, founder of St. Joseph Sugar' and Spice by Bill Smiley I have .it figured out. I'm trying to do too much in the time allotted to me daily. That's the reason I'm running in circles...and that's .the .reason•• everyone else I know is on the same kick. When I think back to my childhood (and man, that's going way back) I remember a ifey of life which was htch, much different. My mother, bless her soul, was a hard-working woman. She , * the, sewing for our family;'she :aimed jars and jars of fruit and vege- tables for, the year; she. baked every- , thing we ate that was baked and at one point in- time, she even churned' our butter; she kept our farmhouse shining clean (with a little help from me, under 'protest of course); she helped my father around the barn; she kept a huge garden; she was in constant touch, by letter, with our 'relatives; she did all our, redecorating; she embroidered "a lit- tle something" on every pillowcase and tea towel we owned; and she had 'plenty of time left over to be a mother to me, a wife to my father and a help •inthe 'neighborhood. In my house, things are frantic all the time..,and,I sew nary a stitch; I've given up canning; the list thing I baked was at Christmas; my house loeks a cyclone had ripped through it; I haye ' ' no "garden and-no barn, not even a gold- "— -fishy-rewrite. ncr letter3, ledo .no .redec, orating; I haven't done' any embroidery since I was a teenager; and I belong to no clubs. Where do I spend my, time, I 'ask myself ever and over. Last week I took stock of my act- ivities, for seven days and at last— at long last - I know wh y at my wit's end. I don't do half the things my mother did, that's true....but I'm attempt- • 00 o to! ti 9 • • • • . A • r.