HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1953-11-19, Page 2RAO TWO
INTON PEWS -RECORD
lump" uOVl; l++rPP t9, 10.53
Cliftto News Record
H cLINTON NEW EM
First issue 14* -1 i,865
THE CLINTON NEWSr'RECORD
(First isette (Karen N+sws•Record)
eannary 188i1
Amalgamated 1924 '.
An independent Newspaper devoted to the. Interests of the Town of Clinton and Surrounding District
I'openation, 2,043,• Trading Area, 10,OQO; ,Retail Market, $2,000,000; Rate, 4.5c per line flat
Sworn Circulation — 2,126
Home of Clinton, RCM Station and .Aclastra;Park (residential)
MEMBER: Canadian Weekly Newspapers Association; Ontario -Quebec -Division, CW11A;
Western Ontario Counties Press Association
SUBSCRIPTION RATES; Payable in advance --Canada and Great Britain: $2.50 a year;
United States and Foreign: $3.50; Single Copies Six Cents
Delivered by carrier to RCAF Station and /Wastrel Park. -,45 .gents a itionth; seven cents a copy
Authorized as second class mail, Post Office Department, Ottawa
Published EVERY THURSDAY at CLINTON, Ontario, -Canada, in the Heart of Huron County
Thur day, November 19, 1953
The Question
44 A RE YOU IN FAVOUR of the Town of
-m Clinton retaining the old school building
for Municipal Offices and renting the remaining
available space?"
When the electors of the Town of Clinton
approach the polling booths on Tuesday, Decem-
ber 1, they will be asked to answer either "Yes"
or "No" to that question.
If the majority of the votes cast are the
affirmative "Yes", then the municipal offices
will remain in the old public school where the
town clerk, the assessor, and the police depart-
ment now have their offices, There will be
arrangements made for the building of a public
works shed to house the new truck, the two
fire engines, the snow plow, and all the other
equipment which is used upon the town streets.
The old school building will be renovated for
the purpose of renting office space. Two class-
rooms on the ground floor will presumably be
made into one, in order to provide a larger
council chamber. Other rooms in the building
will be remodeled to provide office space for
other town services, probably the Public Utilities
Commission. The old town hall then will be
The Case of
TWICE NOW WE HAVE toured the old public
school on Ontario Street, and viewed its
defects with alarm, at the same time that .we
became aware of its distinct possibilities,
To deal first with the possibilities, we see
them this way: It is a well-built brick building,
•situated on a roomy lot. The space around the
building could be used for parking area, for a
green and lovely playground and park, or could
be split up to allow for three residential build-
ing lots, a public works shed and driveway, and
fairly spacious lawn at the front of the building.
Inside there is room for many small offices,
rooms all ready for occupancy by the surplus
enrolment at the fast-growing public school,
plenty of space for public meetings, bazaars,
baking sales, bingos, the municipal offices, the
Public Utilities Commission administration of-
fices and what have you. The furnace is good,
and with attention certainly provides enough
heat to keep the entire building warm. The
basement is a good height; is comparatively
dry, and would provide fair storage space.
There, however, we feel that ..the advant-
ages of the school end.
On the other side of the case are these
facts: First and foremost the building looks like
a school. That is what it was built for, and it
would take a good deal of remodelling to make
it look anything else but a school. It does not
look dignified and stately as a public building
should look. The building there of a public
works shed would place the innumerable articles
of repair and fixing, shovels. wire, trucks, etc.,
right beside any proposed park area. A play-
ground in that location would mean constant
supervision so that no youngsters would harm
or be harmed .by the equipment used by, the
public works department.
Inside, the plastering of the entire building
Is in very bad state. Even an amateur would
estimate that about three-quarters of the wall
area would have to be re -plastered, All of the
woodwork is now painted a cheerful green
which lately has been the accustomed colour for
classrooms and was quite suitable. However it
is quite unsuitable for business offices of the
type which our town should aspire to have. One
wall of each classroom sports a blackboard,
0
permanently abandoned; a buyer for it will have
to be found; the ,building will either be razed or
remodeled to suit other purposes.
If the majority of the votes cast are the
negative "No", then it is understood that the
town clerk, the assessor and the police depart-
ment will be moved once more into the town
hall on Albert Street, and the publicchool will
be sold, Since there has already been one offer
made to purchase the school building, then
there should be Iittle difficulty in turning it
into cash of which the town is in need.
That is the situation in a nutshell. A "Yes"
vote will mean that the school will become the
Municipal Building, A "no" vote will mean a
return to the town hall where municipal govern-
ment has been carried on for nearly 80 years.
the Public School
The Case of t
FOR THE FIRST TIME, last week, we visited
the town hall on Albert Street, with the
view to seeing just what was wrong with it,
and to see if something cpuld not be done to
re -instate it as the municipal building of Clinton.
First we will mention some of the many
defects easily seen or guessed at. The wood-
work outside is almost devoid of paint. We
understand that it was last painted during the
depression years of the 1930's. Inside, the
walls are in fairly good condition, and plaster
downstairs is in much better condition than at
the school. Upstairs the auditorium looks as
though it has not been painted nor cleaned,
except the floors and windows, since the building
was erected in 1880. The stage is a disgrace to
any town in • this modern age when huge com-
munity centres with all appointments, are the
expected things in a great many areas. The
ceiling there is much higher than is necessary,
and the windows are so loose that heat is lost,
and cold gained. The floors creak rather omin-
ously when even one person walks across the
room, and the idea of several hundreds dancing
there would raise a worried look upon even
the most thoughtless face.
The basement must have been built for a
race of pygmies, The floor of many levels, none
of them far from the ceiling, is wet and dirty,
The bricks taken out of some wall for a re-
modelling process in the past are heaped in one
section, while close beside is a great pile of
ashes whichsome caretaker has been too lazy
o
earry outside. There is but one drain out of
the big basement, and all the water which seeps
in from below and around the windows, is ex --
p ctcd to find its way by ingenious little half
inch paths in the cement, to that drain. Need-
less to say, the water takes its own time get-
ting there.
Since the ceilings were so low, the men Who
installed the furnace had to dig a hole in the
floor and set the furnace down a good two feet
below the rest of the basement floor. 'Already
blessed with a basement equipped with inade-
quate drainage, this extension of depth quite ob-
v eusly increased thepossibility i
t of Water oozing
n
g
in from underneath, When we were there, al-
though the two -foot deep well in which the
furnace is resting had been completely cleaned
out and dried the day before, several inches of
which is of little or no use to any of the
proposed offices, and therefore each of these
walls. would have to be refinished. Granted
the fact that there is an excellent supply of
lighting fixtures, the fact is nonetheless true
that these fixtures, with the exception of those
in the clerk's office, and the proposed new coun-
cil chamber, are next to useless for office rooms.
The steam -heating system is good for the
purpose for which it was installed, (that is,
heating the complete building for a period of
time, and then allowing the temperature to drop
when no one was around).. The school, used
for a municipal building and other offices, would
be occupied during the day and perhaps one or
two evenings in the week. Then with the ex-
ception of the police department, the place is
vacated. This would be the logical time for the
heat to be lowered, and a saving in fuel could
be obtained. But the constable on 'duty must
have a heated office. This makes it necessary
for the furnace to be kept running all night,
heating the whole building uselessly, in order
that one room be kept warm.
The basement, though dry and spacious, is
not •entirely satisfactory for the storing of sup-
plies. It means carrying everything down nar-
row stairways, and then reversing the procedure,
A public works shed would, of course, eliminate
this need, but then, of what good is the base-
ment? Suggestion has been made that cells be
built in the basement to house transients and
prisoners. Again is raised the difficulty of
shepherding resisting prisoners down the narrow
stairs, and later, back up again. To us, also,
it smacks of the old dungeon idea of prisoners'
blocks below ground,
' Also, from the police department's point of
view, is the remoteness of the school from the
main business district. True, the school is only
one long block from the main corner. But it is
a long block. And anyone familiar with a small
town knows that one block away from main
street is about the same as six blocks away from
it in a larger centre.
In the end of course, remains the fact that
the place looks like a school, not a public ad-
ministration building,
he Town Hall
A Bit of 0
GRADUALLY ACCUMULATING upon our
shelves is a tiny library of the 'nest de-
lightful bits and pieces of Canadian writing we
have discovered anywhere. Ortee every two
Months thislittle goldmine Is increased by an-
other tidy nstallment, and we are treasuring
thene. against a time When We will have a few
minutes to sit down and digest mere of their
beauty,
The Department of Lands and Forests in
Cart silo is doing a tharvellous job iii the interest
Of proved forest protection, forest land use,
and fiah and wildlife eoirservatian in Ontario.
This small magazineis printed on Moss paper
that shows off equally well the eo our repro-
ductions of Canadian scones painted by Canad.
fait artists, and the exeelIent Week and white
photographs of outdoor scenes.
The Iitfle magazine, "Sylva", 15 available
water bad collected. The effect of the water on
the metal of the furnace was clearly visible.
Though installed only eight years ago, the fur-
nace is rusting away,
Those are the main defects, and we will
admit that they are not in any way minor
defects.
However, to offset them are these assets;
Firstly, the town hall looks like one, and
is laid out properly for the accommodation of
the main offices connected with the town gov-
ernment. It is in the proper and expected
location for those offices, in the centre of the
town's business district, and beside a beautiful
little park designed with the service of the
townspeople in view, The cells for the use of
the police department in detaining prisoners,
are already built, and are quite satisfactory. The
fire -proof vault just off the clerk's office is aI-
ready built, and it, too, is quite satisfactory.
The clerk's office and the board room were
both painted last year.
The auditorium provides a public hall com-
plete with stage, and dressing room space. The
fire -hall is already in existence, and with some
widening of the doors there, the accommodation
would be quite adequate. If a public works
shed must be built, (and that, too, is an ac-
cepted need,) then there is plenty of space for
one behind the town hall, where the inevitable
untidiness 'which goes with such a shed,' would
be away from any eyes except of those people
who park their cars at the rear of the hall, •
Another advantage to the use of the town
hall rather than the school (as a municipal build-
ing) is the fact that a buyer for the school has
already been heard from, whereas no reasonable
offer has been received for the town hall. Any-
one who bought the town hall would have to
clear the area before he could rebuild, while
there are several vacant lots which would be
available for any proposed building, for less
cost than a buyer would be put to if lie should
consider levelling the town hall, Meanwhile
the school property could be disposed of as is,
or with several building lots sold separately for
residential building.
Strangely
enough, although Ith0 f urnate is
quite visibly in desperately bad repair, it works.
It will be in use on nomination night, and will
probably heat the auditorium as well as that
room ever was heated,
utdoors
for only $1,50 :tirade payable to the Provincial
Treasurer and addressed to the. Ontario Depart-
ment of Lands and Forests, Parliament Hulld.
ings, Toronto. We would suggest that for a
Christmas present to an adult or child friend,
a good choice would ba a subscription to this
sylvan glossary of Ontario`s outdoors,
Fantasia
TARS are theead•hutrg, high toned bells,
The Wind laughs anion therm at night
And blows the sound of their ringing
tate deep valleys,
Where the brooks Well it ort their lips
And splash it Duet' silent reeks,
tins
Stearns
Would This :School Be a Suitable Municipa Centre?
WARS TNe EDITOR
This is an outside view of the
old public school at the corner
of William and Ontario Streets,
where it is proposed that the
municipal offices of the town of
Clinton should be located, rather
than in the town hall. The school
was built in 1869-70, and until
this spring was the headquarters
of primary education in • the
town. At the time it was built
it cost $8,000, and in 1920, con-
siderable expense was put into
two small additions, one on
either side of the front door.
At the present time the clerk's
office is located in the south
corner of the building. The po-
lice office is in the small room
(until recently used as a teach-
ers' room), to the left of the
main entrance. The assessor's
office is in another small room,
to the right of the main ent-
rance.
Council has been meeting in
one of the downstairs class-
rooms, and magistrate's court
(held yesterday for the first
time in many years in Clinton)
was held in another downstairs
classroom,
It is proposed that by re-
modelling this old school' build-
ing accommodation for other of-
fices could be had. Suggestion
has been made that the Public
Utilities Commission, the agri-
cultural representative's offices,
possibly the county health unit
offices, etc„ could be accom-
modated here.
The problem seems to be;
Would the expense necessary to
renovate and remodel the school
building satisfactorily, be just-
ified? The building is away from
the main business district. The
town hall if abandoned on Al-
bert Street, would prove a prob-
lem for disposal. The town hall,
meanwhile, is repairable. It will
no doubt be standing long after
many of us have ceased to care
where the Municipal Offices are,
Would not the expense more
properly be made towards fixing
the old town hall?
1
From Our Early Files
40 YEARS AGO
The Clinton News Record
Thursday, November 20, 1913
James Finch, Sr., has bought
Dan Livermore's house and lot on
Bond Street. He made the deal
1 " on spec." ase he does not propose
leaving the more convenient loca-
tion where he has lived for several
years,
Messrs A. J. Grigg and Will
Hamblyn are exhibiting some of
their fancy chickens at the big
show in Toronto this week. Messrs
Will' Moffatt and Newton Davis
are going into chicken raising and
are having erected an up-to-date
chicken house.
The new rink is up and roofed
and presents quite an imposing ap-
pearance, -
Charles F. Libby, who was for a
number of years associated with
the Shaw Hosiery Company at
Lowell, Mass., has taken over the
management of the Clinton Knit-
ting Mill.
Little `Miss Marion Andrews,
young daughter of Magistrate and
Mrs. Andrews, met with an acci-
dent recently. She was running a -
Quick Canadian
Facts...
1. Which province had the great-
est percentage gain in popula-
tion from 1941, to 1951?
2. Which is our fastest -running
wild animal?
3. In 1939, 658,114 Canadians
were employed in manufactur-
ing. What is today's total?
4, The cities of Fredericton, N.B.,
Regina, Sask., and Victoria,
B.C., have what in common?
5. Federal government tax reven-
ue was $45 per capita in 1939.
In 1952 was it $76, $192, $284?
ANSWERS; 5. $284 per capita
in 1952. 3. Almost exactly twice
the 1939 total, 1. British Columbia,
a gain of 42 per cent. 4. Each is
capital of its provinee. 2. The
pronghorn antelope.
Material supplied by the editors
of Quick Canadian Facts, the hand
book of facts about Canada,
THE VOICE OF�yv
TEMPERANCE
This "Voice" has been silent for
some time past. But The Voice
of Temperance for Ontario has
been very vocal in a practical way.
There has just come to hand a
summary of the results of all the
Local Option votes for the years
1947 to 1952, inclusive, and it
makes good reading, This sum-
mary lists all the different ques-
tions on which a vote was record-
ed, such as beverage rooms, cock-
tail lounges, brewers' stores, etc.
In some cases It was only one, in
one case all eight possible ques-
tions were submitted. Incidentally
the vote on that occasion went
solidly more than 75% dry on
every question, The Ontario sum-
mary shows that 92% of the votes
held went against liquor and four
for liquor, This fact should be not-
ed too. The Trade is Choosing its
ground for contests much more
carefullynow than
formerly,
O
rI
y
where they it they
have a good
chance of winning do they join
issue,
This advertisement is inserted
by the Huron County Temperance
Federation, 45 -le
1
bout the school yard and suddenly
turning a corner she collided with
another little girl. An arm was
quickly thrown out and the force
of the impact was so great that
the arni, while not 'being broken,
was badly "bent" as it were, neces-
sitating the use of a bandage and
a sling. The little patient is now
recovering nicely however.
The Clinton New Era
Thursday, November 20, 1913
On Wednesday evening, Decem-
ber 3, His Lordship Bishop Wil-
liams of the Huron Diocese will
dedicate the Owen Memorial Hall
of St. Paul's Church.
Mrs, T. Beacom moved on Mon-
day to the cottage which she pur-
chased from Mr. F. Hill.
Von Rohl moved to "The
Maples" this week,
Mrs. French has taken up house-
keeping. again at her home on
Townsend Street.
An accident happened to little
Gordon Campbell, son of Mr. and
Mrs. W. G. Campbell while at
school on Friday, November 7,. The
classes had been dismissed and in
his hurry to get downstairs and
out, Gordon slid down the ban-
nister, but in coming downlost
his balance and fell to the hall
floor below. He was severely jar-
red and his arm fractured in two
places.
25 YEARS AGO
The Clinton News -Record
Thursday, November 15, 1928•
Owing, it is thought, to over-
heating of an engine, a small fire
was caused in Murdock's grist mill
on Saturday evening, The alarm
was sounded and the firemen ar-
rived but their services were not
needed as a few well -directed pails
of water extinguished the fire
without damage being done,
R. W, Marlowe, who has been
looking for a suitable residence to
buy, has taken the furnished cot-
tage of E. W. Rodaway, Princess
Street, for the winter and gets
possession today.
Misses Helena and Jean Middle-
ton and Robert Middleton motored
up from Toronto and spent the
thanksgiving weekend at the home
of their parents, Sheriff C. G.
and Mrs. Middleton.
Messrs T. G. Scribbins, r. T.
;race son, H, C. Cox, W. J. Plum -
steel, G. E. hall, A. E. Fines, G.
H. Jefferson, Elton Revell, P.
Flunasteel, H. Clark, G. R. Pater-
son, Dr, F. 0. Thompson attended
a special gathering of Masons hi
St. Marys on Thursday last.
Miss Ruby Irwin was with her
sister in Fullerton on Thanksgiv-
: rig Day,
10 YEARS AGO
Clinton News -Record
Thursday, November 18, 1943
Don Pickard of town and Bob
Harris of p'orter's Hill have re-
turned home from the West where
they assisted with the harvesting.
Firemen answered the call of
the siren last Monday morning
mils. and went to the home of
Mrs. Gordon Roy, King Street,
where the chimney had caught on
fire. It was quickly put out and
no harm done.
ne
.
Rumour has it that Councillor
M. J. Agnew, who has held a seat
on the council for the ,past five
years, and who Beaded the polls
last January, is Doming out for
mayor.
"Sate in Gibraltar" were the
words contained in a cable to Mr.
and Mrs. W. J. Cook on Monday,
from their only son, Flying Offic-
er William (Blondie) Cook, re-
ported a while ago to be missing
while flying over France. No other
information was given, except that
he was well and that a letter
would follow. Yesterday, Mr. and
Mrs. Cook received word from
RCAF headquarters in the United
Kingdom, stating that their son
had landed safely there,
Louis Dutot, Brucefield, is a re-
cent enlistment in the Canadian
Army at London.
Kenneth Miller, son of Mr. and
Mrs. Norman Miller, has enlisted
in the Navy and reported for duty
in Toronto on Monday to take a
radio artificer course.
George F. Elliott, King Street,
has been awarded the contract of
supplying and operating a truck
with sufficient power to operate
the town'ssnoW plow, to clear the
snow from the streets this winter.
Only two tenders were received at
a special meeting of town council
Monday evening and Mr. Elliott
was awarded the contract,
W?ifA' WILL TI EY' DO?
The Editor
Clinton News -Record
DEAR EDITOR:
I am sorry I haven't renewed
my Subscription to your paper as
we stilt enjoy getting it very much.
We were in Clinton this summer
and noted many changes. We
have beep laving away from Chil-
ton for two years,
It will be interesting to know
just what they are going to do
with the old school, You will be
hearing from me soon.
Sincerely,
SGT. CYRIIL W. $ RTRA'ND
RCAF Station,
Claresholm, Alberta
November 10, 1953
slDllr SIVil'J@I
The Editor
Clinton News -Record
Clinton, Ontario
DEAR SIR;
Your cut of the Clinton fountain
in ,your latest issue reminds me
that some tune ago you asked
whether anyone remembered the
late Sydney Smith, in whose mem-
ory the fountain was established.
In case no one gave you this in-
formation, may I go back to mem-
ories of years ago?
Sydney Smith was one of the
biggest cattle dealers in Huron in
a day when many farmers "finr
fished" steers for the British mars
ket and drove the elephantine
animals to town for shipment by
rail, This was long before trucks
were invented and the huge anim-
als could not travel more than I
should guess two or three miles
an hour. The weight Iost in tran-
sit from stall to market must have
been great and, combined with the
unfair British slaughter regale. -
tions, helped to kill the industry
in Canada.
Mr. Smith was the biggest
dealer in cattle in more ways than
one. He was inches over six feet
and with a girth even more than
proportionate to his height. He
lived in Clinton for some years
and eventually bought the former
Robert Coats property on the
Bayfield road, where he died not
long afterward.
He married Miss Penelope Mc -
Hardy, a brilliant pianist and or-
ganist, who taught music in Clin-
ton for some years. Unless I am
very much mistaken on this point
—and I think I am note -it was
she who had the fountain erected
to her husband's memory some
years after his death.
Yours faithfully,
"A Clinton Old Boy"
Montreal, Quebec
November 16, 1953
0
Shipping on Canadian water-
ways, including canals, inland la-
kes and rivers, is open to all the
world countries on equal terms
except in the case of the coast-
ing trade.
Manufacture of fishing tackle
in Canada is a business worth
close to $2,000,000 annually.
Canada has roughly 1,200,000
trade unionists in a population
of 15,000,000.
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PHONE 51
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