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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1981-03-19, Page 11COUNCIL RETURNS TO TELEVISION .on Wed. March 25 at 9;0, p.m. an Channel 12 ' To discuss and present the 1981 Seaforth ,budge DON'T MISS THIS INFORMATIVE' PROtribudet AfFECTING _YOUR TOWN. - L Gaderich." iwnshIgi Community Centre finimesville Sat., April 4 Dancing 9 :1 Music by Jasper Tickets $5.00 each Available from any member 'Meal Provided Proceeds to Saddle Club Activities. APPRECIATION NIGHT • for Lloyd Eisler and Lori Beier Friday,' Mirth 20, 1981 Scaforth Arena 8:00 • PROGRAM: - Skating by Lloyd & Lori PreiOtations by Mayor John Sinammon and by Mayor Harold, Jordan Social dild Reception to follow after the on-ice program in the Auditorium. Meet Lloyd and Lod and see their past awards on display. ' For SENIOR CITIZENS please call 52168112 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. for a free ride to and from the Arena. compliments of Sealer* OpthnIsta lands( sponsored by ToWn„ol. Seabird. and the Town of Mitchell DONATIONS At THE DOOR 41. " Attention SPRAYER:AND:WEED:' CONTROL CLINIC FEATURING Weed Sprayer Clinic 10:00 a.m. to 12 Noon Not Dinner Provided 12:00 Noon Pat Lynch, 0.M.A,F. Soil & Crop Specialist r, for Huron & Perth Counties,' Bruce Lobb, Minister of Environment 9. Thursday, March 26th Seaforth Community Centro Representatives will be on hand to provide information and answer questions on new & existing chemicals & application equipment. Jim's Flying Service will be on hand to answer any questions. In order to arrange the dinner, please reply by phoning Milton Dietz by Monday,. March 23rd et 527-0608. MILTON J. DIETZ wilted Sesforth, Photo 519427410S m rt r moirtmersa ir O nautt linemoomnm ••4.. t THE HURON EXPOSITORI IVIAltfiftlff* 1 SWOT SOWS IOW here dee' stil .The disadvantage in writing a history column is that often you're forced to leave the final chapter untold- Time takes its toll. diaries and letters end abruptly, the person the story revolVes around has moved on, leaving no traces orpesestrehersboe,,bistrinTereitedirt only one particular episOde in a man or woman's life. It's frustrating. when your appetite has been, whetted: by some- event in- a character's lift. not to' be able to finiNh the .stoa frostratinh t felt Wh-tn: researching me 1434 John- Labatt kidnapping last fall, .0,n the recent visit to London Publit Library's historical collection, ably te.441taincd bX ilitT409..E14i1heth Spicer. 0111eIroh Me city's inund O4t:•tbe , *OAR chapters. Orlbe,tahatt kidna013414•SterY, • As „iatt-plit recall. the kirinapploi.,or , Ote-hrajnehlid of a Beechwood; nattvu, Mtchael ' :K:c:car41174tYmor."*.s9tfigt and worked aS ekVelltee.gna'ralitriadsWitelter .uutA sometime id. the. Depressions years Yeart Wherrtli*MedMil of.'eattittikatt. Income shifted tO 'Meactis...:AS,- -Ihree.-finger'Abe",:he thewas,'' Man ,Who plotted the . kidnapping of .Labatt,... errteRed,for the lankily .0' pay .**150.909, ransom feri_the' Mating brewer and then Called the whole thing off when it seemed the 'police ,.dragnet was .closing. in on. op- klii4appets. It wasolso McCardle who later-turned state,:s evidence and told about the details of the kidnapping in great length. in order to persuade the courts of. the innocence of another Huron County native, year old David Meisner, raised in Ashfield Townthip. Mr. McCardle eventually served 12 years in a Kingston prison for the kidnapping. After his trial and sentencing, the story ended abruptly. FRI. &SAT. - TWO SHOWINGS 7:00 & 9:00 SUN.-THURS. ORE SNOWING 3:00 The Power Behind The Throne - JANE LILY DOLLY FONDA TOMLIN PARTON time of the crime, was mak racetrack, in the town of Coy the river 'from Cincinnatti, sympathy on the town which ii nothing else" filled with speakeas gambling houses and "netts of unn ntionable vileness" (you can use your imagination on that description.) Poor Mr.. Meisner. under a doctor's care for a white growth in one eye which was threatening his vision. turned himself in when he learned he was wanted for questioning in ,the Labatt case, and declared hisintiocence from the start. His lawyers believed their client's tale- Bell describes David Meisner as a victim of circumstance. "Standing, in the deck, a forlorn little figure betweeti-tWo huge guards. once again the absurdity of his acting as a bold, bad kidnapper seemed more pronounced than ever." But John Labatt stuck to his testimony- despite The fact he'd earlier described his kidnapper as tall, dark and weighing about 175 pounds, he was equally yonvineed the slim, undersized mystenes al Serendipity ng a haphazard living at the gton. Kentucky, just across hit). Mr. Bell wastes no labels "a plague spot. s (remember' them?). !The much , og .10.0014 ago,- .0.. writer Om* ;he, fitmitgial Pesr", spent' sow time at the,:4WQ-Jegional,,!;1400 trowIns40,,,kffspog: -.tor an • ertlek. •Ip • publication. co also recalled . Case, WW1* 001100 in many daiiy newspapers last '• spring, , • • There are still, everal MYsteries illireUttding the Labatt,' • 4 kidnapping- Mister** which will Okely never hetolved. Why jileOtify:sopoOtively--..-tnett who'syere both Wet acquitted of any involvement in-the crime. was oi n18;:elloYell.nliaMs tehiesngeardgwfietandtehre. Sdiinscteinivictieiesnwerh'ist'pillcr9MArethhaidn employee in the Labatt company. :as the- kidnappers the plot worked out with the assistance eir-a trusteU 'circulated 'in most Ontario newspapers before the claimed, and why did the kidnappers abandon the plot just witnesses from the -Muskoka area. where-thekiditippers when success seemed in sight? ' Perhaps the most had hidden Labatt, also swore under oath that Meisner wa interesting question. after seeing McCardle's testimony sone of the gang. , and reading several interview; with the Beechwood native. Poor Meisner, who didn't testify on the stand himself, is why Michael McCardle decided the life of a criminal was - 'was sentenced to 15 years in Kingston .pen. John Labatt more appealing than life on the straight and narrow. went to the West Indies to recuperate from the ordeal of his court appearances, and Meisner was shipped off to jail. Still declaring' his innocence, he sent a lengthy letter to Bell and. his other lawyers, thanking them for "yhe yery brilliant manner" in which they conducted his defence , although at that point, the defence seemed pointless. Later.'when Michael MeCardle was on trial, he testified "Meisner was asked to go in on it, but his answer was that he did notlike the proposition wished we would not have anything'to do with it." McCardle also testified that when ,he heard of Meisner's sentence, he wrote a letter to John Labatt, which he signed Three Finger Abe. urging Labatt "not to be a fool" and 'telling him Meisner definitely wasn't involved in the case. The lawyer's book ended before the case was finally resolved, but Bell does tell of a meeting with McCardle, shortly. after the Beechwoodoative confessed to the crime. Mr. Bell was also surprised by McCardle's candidness ancf his pleasant personality e writes',McCardle asked him.- -Is It true that in a there's one law for the rich and another for the r,?" Bell, in a candour not always eineeted frOM-members--e,iithe legal-profession, replied, "InCanada, there is no law for the poor at ail." His statement proved, true in.-Meisner's case. After 18, months in prison. the 'little Kentucky gambler" was finallyieleated. He tried tosue for his, false imprisonment, to recover some 'money to 'meet his legal expenses..hutin..., those days, lawsuits weren't as common' as theygre today. Seaforth W1 enjoy 0T • , o tfte,:mairt who'd grown up outside Dungannon, and likely Met lvliceardle when he worked railway, published* booklet on the ease telling his life strkey, and the tale of his, imprisonment on false charges. He planned'to expandthia • into a full-fledged autobiography, but since the book - doesn't-vim to tr ntentionedinany of the Labatt files tit London libraries, its likely the book was never finished. Another-pan Wiegman Prank .-Crowevf Toronto. alto Phallne4 trrpol/ilsh shook (*.tire. cash. niter he Roil active4tolick work. Bat. he 01.04.40 1974, the marpwopt • • S.,tillAntnrngincangliVs.first IcidnaPping,iicno , died..most of those invotv0 in,the 9,1(0 -hAtee. WEDDING INVITATIONS THE HURON' EXPOSITOR ST The 40w- ers and the Snpepi meters started !o thelatoorth'ineet- thill*Seainktit ettOie e-ItooL March-le tirwork:mgert dike samples, After working on the samples for awhile, Jane Rimmer showol us how to press -dam Their after that, .members answered toll cull, "Whatetoo your ttse. interfacing fort''' • , 1 by.Alice.Gi.b1?- tic .press lost interest in McCardle and his co-conspira- tors, and although many of the more cynical memhers of the public still believed itewhelle -plot had been a schenie to advertise Mr,. Labatt's beer. soon interest faded in the . celebrated crime. My only clue abOut Mr. McCardle's fate way a.. letter •frent a -Windsor-area' Undertaker- Ventirtding ' ' ,..gai itrte, handled. :fetter. .,. a1, arrangement. for the 'BeeehwoOd n ' . . , . .4119$0,, the extremely likeable, tat le trent, the, Mal . .. repe4 and interviews) Mr, MeCardlei'S, died career b ' '' in Greee ,floSPititl. Windsor: lee w4,'Iogikrip(Vio, that 'City'S.•`-. .kt4Aralth ..Tatrobi,CsZettIZ..e,z aiitt:00,' noilii; 4vielyStitrijOhtio:41itte41 '::: frombirn for 25. years When he.- w.a* arrested, in. fite .1.*0 , ease The The "loaner kidnapper was. in the nov.s. again briefly ,ilk the 1940's, In 1946. 14 months after Ateing released for :. the kidnapping, ' he was sentenced- to five mere years in . pritnri for the armed - rebbery, .or, the People's Fruit Company in . .- . When Mr. McCardle died, the Windsor Star published a front page story recalling the• local man's past as "Three-Finger Abe" and the "Sensational manhunt" which followed the kidnapping of Jahn Labatt. Another interesting chapter added..tatlicaale is found in a book titled Who Said Murder, the memoirs of Hamilton lawyer Charles Bell, K.C., which was published in 1935. Mr. Bell was one of three defence lawyers who represented the unlucky David Meisner. nicknamed "the little .Kentucky gambler" by the press,- ,falsely identified by Labatt as gee of his kidnappers and sentenced to IS months in Kingston prison for &crime he didn't commit. Mr. Bell's book. 'Which was published before Michael '..McCardle and his cohorts were convicted of the crime, diseusses. the Meisner trial- in great . length. since Bell firmly believed in his client's innocence. Meisner, at the ......... Fe, HW'Y 8 GODERICH AT CONCESSION RD 4 PHONE 524'9911 WILL DANCE ON. ,TV—Denie Bedard, the granddaughter of Leona & Lloyd Bedard, • George St. Seaforth is 12 years old and has been taking dancing lestons for five years. She has won several awards and will be appearing on Tiny Talent Time on Channel it at 4:00 p.m. 9n Sunday,' MarCh 22. Denise and her parents, Ken and Elaine Bedard live in Niagara Falls. 4 Mrs. tome Date, was iosiess for the March meet:, ais of the •Seaforth•Vil i last,. Tuesday evening. Mrs,. L. Carter was the co-hostess. Members answered the roll tali with "Something 'they have done or plan to do this year to be a better citizen.- Fred Cosford. Seaforth gaVe a most interesting travelogue of places he had visited within a radius of 100 miles from home. The route lay in 'the,. valley of the Thames and Grand Rivers and 'he noted the historical interest of each place visited. Mr. Cosford was introduced by Mrs. A. Crozier and thanked by Mrs. L. Dale. The motto-"A man's feet 'should be planted in his country. but his eyes should survey the 'world"' was given by Mrs: L. Dale. Current. 'Events given by Mrs. A. Crozier reminded members of happenings in the country and the 'community. President Mrs. Eldon Kerr wetted the meeting with a reading, "An 'Irish Prayer" and ,conducted the ouenine Egmonclviile Mr. and Mrs. James Cam- eron, of Sarnia visited with their daughter and son-in- law Mr. and Mrs. Charles Geddes, Egmondville and they also visited with their granddaughter Sheila and Brent Schenk,' their daughter and Mr. and Mrs. Kevin Ryan and their daughter. An Expositor Classified will pay you dividends. HaVe you tried one? Dist 527-0240. Plan to attend • exercises and the businets. Communications included a letter from the PrCSident of " . F. W .1.0. • Mrs. Keith • Hiepleh, and several thank you cards. Events coming up are "Food Forums", "Part-., ics to Please Your Purse" in Ontario Street United Church, March 24th at 7:30 p.m.: open house for. crewel embroidery April 1st; Spring board. meeting for Huron , South in Hensall U.C. April 7th: District 'Annual hosted by Seaforth W.I. in -May. Mrs. R. Richt read the slate of officers for the coming year and the courtesy it:marks were, given by, Mrs. J. Keys. Lunch was served. by Mrs. E. StepheOson, Mrs. G. Kerr. Mrs. L. Pipe and the hostess. Sat., Mai: 21 st-,9- 1 DANCE SporgneorerVig the Snowmobile Club Music By SPIRIT Food Available $2.S0 person Pitietidge Chalet • A co-operative effort of THE SEAFORTH COUNCIL and MITCHELL SEAFORTH CABLE TV 345-2341 " WANTED HOCKEY FANS AND PLAYERS PUBLIC MEETING to form All Ontario OHA•C Intermediate team for Seaforth 4rea. All interested persons welcome. Seaforth Arena March 25th, 7 P.M.