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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Times-Advocate, 1929-11-07, Page 7THE EXETER TIMES -ADVOCATE EDITORIAL Witat,'s- doing in hockey? ,e * • 4 e * * Nothing IS IQ. uncertain as an „election or a horse' race the stock .markets, ;. . And then the fine clays, Weather is an incidental to the city laan—it makes, .or ruins the country proper, * * * * * Will the new post office be ready for the Christmas mail? San- iia Claus is,'malting inquiries along this line. • ► * * * * * * Have you examined t116 splendid tall stock displayed by our .local merchants? The- window-dressing is a credit to any town, *. 3 M • * * * * .IYrr. Aledd's majority has been reduced from 1670 to a narrow :margin. The election' was quiet, but clean and earnest. Citizens wait with interest to Mr. Ferguson's next move. * * e * * * * * Church anniversaries are pretty¢ well over for this fall. And -ow tomes •Christmas with its reunions and entertainments. There is nothing like a live church to keep a community lively, * * 3 * * * * * Where did. the rain come from, anyway? And was the rain welcome?' Ask the owrie cattle that had not ..enjoyed a really satisfying. drink for weeks on end. Wells are :freshening up. except ¢ * *, * * * * * WILI.T'S DOING? What about our local chamber of Commerce? Is it not about time to start those bs,nquets again? This good town of ours has :a number of problem9 that must be faced if we are to make the progress that is our due,'but which will not come to us unless the business men of the locality .are up and doing and that unitedly. ''This is not an affair Per the town' only but for the whole commun- ity. Every step forward taken by the town is a step in advance for the whole neighborhood. * • * r, * * ,. * * • A CHALLENGE Lord Meath's death at the age of 88 reminds us of what one man may do for his generation. Hospitals, parks, open spaces in towns and cities, early closing in London, physical training ie. the .schools, workshops for disabled men, cheap popular drama, are some bf the good. things that this good man fostered and vitalized. Not the least of his good works was the founding of Empire Day, • * * * * • * * By the way, this town has a number of men who are not com- mitted to any special line of business. These • men have made a :success of 'what they did in other days. Now that comparative lei- sure is their well-earned lot, would it not be a fine thing for them to pool their powers and, get something, under way that. would put this district on the route to a prosperity and 'general usefulness hitherto unknown? This thing can be done. We have the money and the men to do it. Only undue • modesty keeps some of our men from showing, initiative. in this work. -fi Tragedy in Life of Usborne - Lady The following write up was clipp- .Aed from the Stratford, Beacon -Her- -aid., This story carie to the Bea- , eon-Herald ea-•eon-Herald through the reading of a letter in one of the London, Eng- land dailies written by •Mrs. Raven - Out in the little village of Elim - G ville,' not Par from. the town of Exe- ter, in tete county of, •Huron, and about thirty miles from Stratford, ,there, unfolded itself the other day to a Beacon-IIereld reporter a most .amazing story of trials and sorrows that have fallen to the :lot of one • single person—a woman. If any • one has tasted of the cup of sorrow, even to the last dregs, it is this wo- nian who has suffered from the hor- n rows of desertion by a cad of a hus- band, parted by death from another :and has then been called upon to heal' the mental 'anguish, the heart- breaking torture of having two sons pay with their lives for their misad- ventures. That woman is Mrs.• E. Raveziey, a native of Mother England, one. of the most •outstanding examples of British plunk, that one could imag- ine, a striking evidence of that bull- • doggislt determination that' has narked the Anglo-Saxon race down through the ages, around wheat, and around whose family has been woven an almost unbelievable` net -work of tragedy. Few there are who • will read this narrative, but have been piereed by it Kidney, anti Bladder Trouble lar. J, ;Comstock,: Pincher Creek, .}'Alta,, writes:—"Z had been troubled "with my .kidneys and 'bladder for some •itmo, and had t3o get up fotir-or Ave `!times during the hkight, c I tried several kinds of kidney and 'liver pills, but none of them seemed Co ••do nm any good, "X thought I would try boan'e tZ.idney Pills and after taking one box , : I have been able to sleep all night long, land T now feel that they are the only (thing to take for the . kidneys gad 'bladder, aa X have not been troubled :ghee taking this one tbox.>i Price, lib cents a bTf ut an druggists snit aierd, ni a i l o d H ii:roet on receipt of r i e e by tcho . T. tam 00.r Limited, pronto, Ont, the fangs of sorrow; few there are but have seen the ghastly hand of the grim reaper stretched forth in ugly gestures to snatch away one of their beloved. But few, and thank goodness, too, have had to bear the heart rending experiences of this wo- man, not yet fifty years of age. Were Toys of Fate As mere toy ships on a treacher- ous iceberg infested. ocean, tragedy of the most lamentable and ignom- inous sort has twice rent a fancily that admittedly did not get a proper chance in life. qtr, Herself the oldest of a family .of nine 'Mrs. Raveney, early in life, calve to know the meaning of hard work. So soon as she was able her earning powers were tested so that younger brothers and sisters might have food and clothing. With the same spirit that British women car- ried on when their men folk offered their blood on the fields of Flanders for the freedom of the world, so did that girl, who is now Mrs.Raveney. And in due course she married—a mean who had been a school days com- panion but who, as a husband turn- out to be a good, -for -nothing rogue. Ike a rat deserting a sinking ship, •so did he, who dared call himself a mean, one day slink away, leaving her with a family of five children, a sixth unborn. But for once the machin- ery of the state revolved in her 'fa -1 vor; she was • loosed from the fet- ters which bound her to such a worthless eritter. Meanwhile it was necessary that she go to work, at times as a nurse- maid, at times as a domestic. But What of the five children—the sixth died in infancy—they had to be handed over to an organization that arranged for their;lplacement in dif- ferent horses. The parential tie had been out asunder, but not sb the ma- ternal, • she worked, she contributed to their support, but • it was not.her privilege to raise them. In dull' course she. married. again, and happily too, only ,to be widowed by the hand of death after tw,o. chil- dren had- come to` bless the newly founded home. And then as if her cup of sorrow had not' been filled to overflowing, two boys of the first family, new grown. to ,young manhood, one a ten. ant in Atistralitt, the other a soldier in the service of his earthly. king, Caine to at;;isadventure. ,and for their thoughtlessness or inlanclVenttirce their • lives' have been forfeited to the state: Rut Withal, that brave woman, rosy cheekecl, able bodied, alert' of mind, quick of speech and very useful of hand goes' •smillriF.'through,-•As• she hurried about the preparation of :the tlobil-tlay.rliolri,•,11 'the Beacon -Her- .aid representative found her lir this quiet • ilttie villa o pith, thirty. miles frentl atrat:fnrci.'•n'nct, on ensiled obser- vation Weald think that alto had not c: a care in the world, At times she may have 'appeared to have hesitat- ed as if In retrospect but in the same instant ,there was an almost appar- ent shrug of the sheulder, a tight- ness Of the lip—she carried on. Two Objects in Life And why? Mrs, Raveney today has two prime motives for living— one an eager, studious nine-year-old son, the -other a tender, bright-eyed talkative foto-and-a-half year old daughter who can recite her grace after meals just as devoutly as would any man of the cicala. 'I don't give myself time to think' said Mrs. Raveney as she went about readying the table far the noon -day meal, ,, I ani not afraid of work; I have always worked .hard and any-. way it keeps me from worrying.' Notwishstanding the trials thro' Which this woman has passed there Is no bitterness in her voice .es she speaks, •"I carie to Canada in April for the sake of my two children. I: refuse to part with them and Iani willing •to work hard to keep them with me. "My other boys, the boys who are dead, were good boys but were vie-, t'ims of fate," and Mrs, Raveney goes ,to a dresser drawer and takes there- from a package of newspaper clip- pings which unfold stories concern- ing the fate of two good boys gone wrong. "There is little I can say, these tell the stories. Heredity may have been to blame." One clipping tells of the death of Frederick Charley Raveney, the Younger of the two boys, in far off Australia. "He was a very clever lad," spoke the mother just a little wistfully. "His school masters spoke very high ly of him and he passed in all his standards. He was living with a foster mother, but I saw him often. As a lad, he was affectionate and truthful and seemed anxious to make up to me for my husband's cruel desertion. I did not want him to leave England but he longed for ad- venture and in 1924, at the age of 16 years he emigrated to Australia. He was placed on a farm but his progress was so rapid that in a short time the government alloted him 2,- 000 acres of land. Whatever came over him to 'make • him act like he did, I cannot understand, except that when he was a boy, • living with his foster mother he had a bad fall. The shock affected his nerves and left hint with a pronounced stammer. He may • have had, a recurrence of nerve trouble. Or its may be that my boy's Sudden lapse was due to the influ- ence of heredity. Who can say? In Love With Girl Tersely the newspaper clippings told of the untimely end which be- fell Frederick Charles Raveney.. The youth was working fora farmer who had a daughter of about _his age. They had been keeping company more or less for some time and it was understood. that the father re- sented it. The youth ,became annoy ed. One day the father of this girl and, young Raveney quarelled. Shots were fired and Frederick Raveney fled. Neighbors formed a posse and gave chase. An exchange of shots followed and,, young Raveney fell dead. The coroner's jury returned a verdict of 'death by misadventure.' This was in September 1928. Scarcely had the sorrowing, yet brave mother recovered from the shock of this tragedy than another is laid at her door, the one, more shocking than the other. Arthur Leslie Reverey, aged 25, the eldest of the first family joined the army at the age of 16, almost nine years ago. His term of office would have expired next Tune when he intended to join the London po- lice force. But something happened fate again toyed with the Raveney fancily, a lance -corporal in the same company as Raveney, the Royal Tank Corps,, was mortally wounded by a bullett from a revolver. And for the death of this man, Lance -Corporal Leslie Godfrey White, 25 -year-old, Arthur Leslie Raveney forfeited his life to tlie state. The oireumstances sarrounding this tragedy •are pathetic in the ex- treme. Like his brother Frederick this young man was also clever and of an inventive turn of mind. He dabbled some in chemistry .and lits sketchings in black and white where the admiration of all who saw thein, I For eight years young Raveney had, performed his duties in the army with entire satisfaction. His char- acter was without' blemish, He was looking forward in anticipation of the .time when his period of service would terminate and he could Settle- down ettledown iii London with his wife and three-year-old son. But fate inter- vened. While on. leave one time ho attended a dance in a neighboring tower, Thre he met .a girl 'and im- mediately became infatuated. At the time the girl did not know he was married but upon making the discov- ery, said that they must sepwrsate. Raveney, according to published re ports, became very much pertnrbed1 Ido refused to give up liis; recently made acquaintance •and front thenon his interests in his 'army duties lag- ged, T'or some dismeanor he was "Mined," the first ]Hack mark hi his lengthy army career, and it was hinted. that he blamed Lance-Corpor- al White for bringing it about. ontc;+ time later he overstayed his leave and the tial] authorities were asked to be on the leak -out far hint. Il was apprehended and the military atithorities notified. A detachment 'V•J L RSPA ', NOV ri B R of three men was Sent to return hint to barracks. One of that number was Lance Corporal White, The journey to the barracks was begun lit a motor lorry. Two of the men were in •the front seat, White and li•aveney were in the enclosure at the back.. It was not long before one of the men' in the front heard what lie thought was an exploding tire. lie glanced behind only to see White slumped in a corner of 'the truck and Raveney making off over the fields. White died in a few moments later and Raveney was' caught after a chase. At the trial. Raveney stoutly main- tained his innoeence end declared the shot was accidental, lie claimed he was in the act of searching his pockets for a smoke when White drew a revolver and threatened him. Relieving he was in danger he wrenched the revolver from White's hand and it fell to .the floor of the, lorry. At that time the truck sway- ed around a korner and the weapon. discharged, But the state took its toll in August of this year. In an interview in a London paper the young lady with whom Raveney •became infatuated describing him as "the most remarkable man I have ever known in my life and one who had before him the most remarkable career I shall ever know," She told of receiving an anonymous letter one day concerning Raveney which' she' traced to White. With that unquenchable British spirit his wife remained true to him to the very last. In an interview .fol- lowing his death she is reported as saying, "I shall 'always believe that Arthur was a victim of circumstances over which he had no control." But it remained for the mother t receive the 'son's legacy of tangle memories and for her to show he unquenchable love for her bo Shortly before his death young Ra eney wrote, in part to his mother: "I have not written before 'as I dreaded to tell you the verdict. There is a chaplain of my own religion here to whom I can look for comfort. • "Mother, dear, I know • you are broken hearted, but please be brave . . . if it is willed tha I should leave you all. Please, mother, do not expect a letter of farewell—I. shall never write one, for I should break down if I did. I clo not want to do that —I want to go as I have lived, a man. "Buck up mother . . au re- voir . . . with love, Arthur— Arthur." The Mother's Reply In response to this letter Mrs. Rav- eney wrote to the Sunday News, of London, England, as follows: "I want to tell you readers that I was brokenhearted at my • son's terrible affair, but since receiving full details of his last moments, and the way he died, • I am proud to be his mother. . "I am positive that the lad never intended to kill this man White. It was an accident. It is hard to feel that his exit would be in such a way, but I am proud to feel that he went out a brave man and not a co- ward. s, '"My boy was a brave 1 oy and he died at attention—thank God, just as I wished. He was not afraid to die. He knew, if it had been possible, his mother would have shared it with him. "He was not a criminal—he was a clever, pureminded boy." Is that not a typical example, of mother love? And today Mrs. Raveney is in Ca- nada. Two sons are dead, three daughters are living in L-ondon, Eng- land. She has but two objects for living a bright studious nine-year- old son, a tender, bright-eyed talka- tive four -and -a -half year old daugh- ter. As the sun shines in all its glory • over this vast Dominion, this land of plenty where all have an equal chance it is to be hoped that this sorely tried wife and mother will re- ceive her share of comfort, and hap- piness to compensate to some extent for the misery and tragedy through. which site has already passed. So long as England• and tl,e Col- onies have in ,their midst a woman of the typo of Mrs. Raveney—one who will never say die, then will the British Empire ever be able to make it's proud boast, "an Empire on which the sun never sets." READY IN TWO MINUTES A HOT NOURISHING BREAKFAST E SHREDDED AU th added, ly thou With.igiii the bran ' of ,the whole wheat body.bui g elements of the iihole :wheat, nothing othin en away. So easy to serve and so delicious. ishan Ives new vigor and life; to tired tissues. Serve with hot or cold .milk or fruits. MR•. HARRY SWARTZ HURT Mr. Harry Swartz, of Crediton had the misfortune to meet with what might have been a serious accident recently. 'When he was about one utile south of Centralia, a car ran into the car he was driving, wreak- ing it considerably. Fortunately Mr, Swartz escaped With a broken •collar bone and a broken arm. The other ear was baldly damaged also; but we understand the driver suf- fered only minor injuries, Tho ladies of Varna t;"sited' church gathered at the ]tome of Mrs. Alfred Ings and presented Mrs. So1hn. Wanless, who is soon to leave the community with a handsO a brig. Mr. I•I, t. t orke's car was stoldn. from his garage in Clinton while the family 'were taking tea. The ear was in the garage et six a'eloek and a few minutes before sevo1i it was diacovored that it was gone. SUPREME BUILDING . ;,art.`• ADVANTAGES WHEN building a new home or mak- vv ing over an old one, use this greatest of all wallboards. You will get these four supreme building advantages : Pall %" thickness—giving greater s weal strength and rigidity. Easier Application—Goes u ' uickly, without muss —saving time ; - abor and money. Plre.Proo f -- Non•TV • ing — Gyproc walls are fire barriers - or shrink. Takes any D ;';' ation--Including Ala- bastine, wall annot crack, warp , paint and panels. 219 Fireproof Wal boa For Sale By he Ross -Taylor Co., Ltd. - Exeter, Ont. A. Spencer & Son - - - Hennall, Ont. 1 Ell 11 1111 11 1 it I 11 '11111 11 S AMAMel\1eN l ' tY FLO)HARDwooto 1 J JG S. The idea settillt for the home beautiful 'T IllutIIlhIIlIIIIIIIIHhIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIi IlOIIIIIIIIIIiiIiIIIIIliii lIIIIIIOHQIIIIIIIIlhIIIIIIIIIIII 11 ifl�1. 1 Ross -Taylor Co. Exeter, Ontario? Estimates gladly furnished for a Grade of Seaman -Kent Oak, M Ltd.: in any or Birch mimnimmumIpflliiiIii1111II1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111I1111ilmoiINmBmminMuwi i Don't Pity Poor Young Men Pity Poor Old Men I N health and strength young pc.,p. a who ar poor should not be an obje of pity. Rath , should one strive to arouse birion in them. "t is the poor old folks that quire help. You k ow of poor old mothers . 16 are shifted aroun• amongst sons and daugh;'rs for" three or four onths at a time, becau, they have no mane- -1 means. Well, t; en, do you yourself,,' nt to be in this positio+; some day ? Do y.., want your wife to suffer ? Not if you can h -,' • it! 'Then, provide now fo ; an income, for ,' ither or both of you while y ur earning pOWpermit it. . reaso ! 1 b1e premi will enable you to buy substanti 1 protectio in a Confederation Life t Policy, rite now •r pamphlet entitled No Matter \ at {as .ens" which tells how this may be d., e. A. fress: ;.i $bath Offi v: TORONTO era.ti Life Association qtr, tont.` lame r toed llgeni r'ln,