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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1975-06-26, Page 51y. "f- • — .,"00:0,-*0 • kit0101044114414`,...** Mato , c`lorrotAtte.go, ..," ' •-pt 1001., , • 44,4001*~•orer, 040414400414,4***Witilifipart," , • „t CONGRATULATIONS and Best Wishes to the . TOWN OF SEAFORTH and all its residents on the Centennial Year.' Yours sincerely, Bob igcliinley R.E. McKinley, M•P• you wanted hay fed you paid more. The Royal Stables were located Where Bill. McLaughlin Motors stands today. The Queen's Hotel 'Stables were where Rowcliffe Mot ors are today on the north side of GoderichStreet East. On busy' shopping' days, these horse barns were all filled with horses. ' On the corner where the Blue Sunoco now is, was N. Cluff & Sons planing mill, lumber and coal yard and behind that at one time was Fred Welsh and Son who made wooden well pumps and pump logs. Many wooden pumps were used in those days. Do you remember Gabriel "Reeves, the lightning Rod King, who could walk up the highest roof unaided by safety devices? After Local Option came' in force, about 1913, the bar-room I closed in the Royal Hotel and the lower floor turned into stores. Harry Edge had a hardware store on the corner and there were several offices. I think J.H.Best, Law Office was there. Then Crich's Bakery and J.F.Daly's garage facing on. to ••• 1 , t 1 ate- ltemem (Continued. front. Page 7) with 7 or 8 teams. had, the ever had up 'to that time. I recant barn where Nontgomery's were the colorful 45thHighlander Band I in later years, from TorontS with' their high Etmie Chlttenden had a dray team plumed hats. and swinging kilts. for many years along with Ted Many ,of 'those fine menenlisted- Barnett. Jack Abel delivered coal later in .the Yirst World War for Sdaters for many years, Alex which had just been declared, and McNab dreiv freight froM the a lot of them paid the. supreme •Istation to the merchants in town sacrifice. and. Philip used to deliver Also the Fireman's, bread for Cardno's Bakery. Fred Tournatnent when that Brigade McGavin delivered /for from 'Merlin, Ontario, among „W.E.Kerslake & Son, seed' and others took part: feeds:- I • I was in, the class of 1917-18 There were four hotelS which • attended Seaforth operating over 50 years ago. The -• Qollegiate Institute : as it was Royal owned hy Weir's where the named then. There are several Royal apartments are. o-day. The students wito attended at that Queen's owned and operated by time still around. Others have Thomas Stevens. The moved away' and still others have Commercial in my time was passed on. operated by Alex McLennan and The teachers of Seaforth Collegiate at that time were : J. F. Ross, Principal, who taught Mathematics; Miss McKinley; who taught English Grammar and • .Latin; Arthur Hazen, Science and Botany; Miss •Nelson, Canadian and' Enlgish History and Geography. Miss Allen, and Miss Hall, French and Composition. Miss Wetherell, Spelling and Commercial. Discipline was handed ,out according to the Golden Rule. Physical Training was held in the Old Separate Gymnasium. Seaforth had a lot of blacksmith -11 shops in those days as transportation was by horses, buggies, wagons , 'sleighs and cutters. There were very few automobiles and no' trucks.' To name a few (including carriage repair shops and steel tire " setting on buggies and wagons, cast iron welding as there was very little electric -welding at that time? They were: Jim Davis, later Tb omas Sharpe, where the Datsun Motors are now; Archie Barton on North Main, where Wright Chev.Olds storage shed now stands;. Devereaux • Bros. where Roweliffe's garage is located on Qoderich• Street East, Jack Stewart where Durst's Machine Shop now st ands. Sylvester. Allen worked there before joining the P.U.C. and was later electrocuted while working on a hydro pple. Then there • were Torn Hill and Son George Hill in Eemondville andLouis Van Egmond, wood worker. These shops were all busy especially in winter months when horses had to be sharp shod so they could travel on icy roads. • How many remember, Drs. Scott and McKay and Dr. Scott's team of ponies he' used to drive in the buggy? Dr. McKay's first motorized transportation was a motorcycle, before he had a car. Then there were Dr. Burrows and Dr. E.H.Ross. These doctors were in Seaforth many years. Ament's Sawmill was where Gay Lee eggs are now. They specialized in sawing logs into Barrel staves. They had piles of these staves piled in their lumber yard to dry. They were later delivered to the Cooper Shops where they were made into wooden barrels used to pack apples, flour and other uses. It was something to see a cavalcade of log teams in the winter, hauling in logs from the Country. George Pethick drove Ament's big black team for many years. They also skidded the logs up tp the sawmill to be sawed into lumber. Others whO would draw logs for Aments were : Joe Storey, Harry Martin, Alec MacDonald, sometimes Roy McGeoch -and garry Chesney. There were a lot ofDray Teams' hiBeiforth In those days as there were no trucks. Wilson Hawkins had a big busbies§ at one tithe 4, e. 11t THREE SETS OF SEAFORTH TWINS — Three sets of twins posed on a shady 'Seaforth atreet perhaps about 19104for this photo. At the left are the 1arkin girls, in the centre; the Sutherland babies and at right the Westcott boys, the same two who are in 'Their World War I uniforms eliewhere on these pages; Hugh and Rat Chesney, Abe and Hank Forsyth, Bille Forsyth , Scott Boyes Orehestra, Herb' Fowler and Frank ' Hogg Orchestra, Mrs. Ken Ament, Lizzie Neilans,- Edith Hund and many others. Mr. and Mrs. James Mullen and Mrs. Murless Jones also jive their talent to-drama and George Cardno could dance the Sailor's hornpipe so perfectly. Jim and rence Stewart who have been faithful as choir leader and organist at Northside. I would like to mention a few \ other names, that meant a lot to Seaforth over the years. Do you remember John Dodds and later Frank Arnold who had the Pop Works on the property lately owned by the late W.D.Hopper • inHarpurhey. Soft drinks were made and sold in Seaforth and surrounding towns before the days of Coca-Cola. In the days of so many horses, buggies and wagons, each one of the four hotels had their own stable for tying up the horses that came into town. Every stable had a Hostler. You paid 10c for a single horse or 15c fora team if main street. He also 'had a j .ewelery store and was named Canada's oldest Ford dealer: A chap named Howard was one of his mechanics and George McGavin later and Jack Daly's father, Peter Daly had a grocery store across the street. On the next corner on the west side of Main Street was Tom Dickson's seed and feed store. Later Marshall Stewart had a grocery store next door. On the east side was Bulger'S Jewelery and Dawson's Liquor about where the I.G.A.Store is. After the first World War Jim Willis started the second silent picture show called the Strand Theatre situated where McConnell and Stewart law office is today. Do you remember When the old Post Office was on the west side of Main Street across from the Commercial Hotel and Sam Dickson was postmaster? Do you remember the Gillespie Bros.,.one a harness maker , one the weigh master at the town scales and the other brother was the town 'constable? (Continued on Page 23) - • j THE HURON EXPOSITOR,- JUNE 25, lt76 later by Charlie Dungey" and the Dick House owned and-operated by :lames Dick and later by QttO Dick. Over 60 years ago. Frank Kling's father operated the Dick , House. Before my time the Grip House was in operation where Topnotch Feeds have their offices. Later it was a shoe factory owned and operated by Billie Duncan. Dr. F:H. Larkin was Minister of First Presbyterian" "Church way ' back 50 or 60 years -ago. Rev. W.P. :Lane was minister in Northside Church, when Union came in' 1925. Rev. Brown was minister in the Anglican Church about then. I remember when Father Cochrane was the pastor in St James' Church. Also Mr. Naylor was principal in the Old Seaforth Public School at that time. How many remember the terrible flu epidemic in the fall of 1918 when so many residents of Seaforth and surrounding area died from its effects? Schools were all closed for a long period at that time. During the first world war, a Mr. Anderson ran a flax mill east • of town. The building was used by Wright and Leyburn to store trucks and office building. It was burnt down not too many years ago. There was a big demand for fibre Flax during ' both World Wars and Hesky Flax Co. had a big flax business in the old furniture 'factory during the Second World War. On both occasions it gave a lot of employment to men and women too both in the mill and in the fields. , C During the years there were a lot of local mI\sical artists both instrumental ' and vocal who contributed their talent to the'- social life of the community, -mostly in Cardno's Hall and in the G.W.V.A. "Great War Veteran's Association" in the ground floor of the I.0.0..F. building on Main Street. . This was before the Canadian Legion and after the First World War. Here are some of the artists of those years.: • First I would like to say that SeArth nearly always had a home town band under the able leadership of such men as E.11,Close, Bill Freeman, Frank Novak and of course, in later il* years George Hild rand and the Seaforth High ool Trumpet Band and Dr. oll, the junior band. I remember quite well when the Seaforth Highlanders Band was organized. How proud we. all were, A few of the vocal artistswere Jonnie .Scott, James T. and Anderson ,SCott's dad, D. F. McGregor, 'Jim Sleeth, Dalton Reid, Milne . Ronnie, Fred Willis. George Israel, Jack eattie and W.E.Rays, druggist, son- of Thomas E. Hays and Many others including a great many lady, soloists. A feW instrumental artists , of 50 and 60 years ago were L., • -L.T.Dolacey ;, Earl Van Egmond, O