The Exeter Times-Advocate, 1930-05-01, Page 7a
£>
THE EXETER tlMES-ADVOCATE
a
came
a
«
the cloyer seeding arewheat andfail
The country roads
few more ditches.
,« *
WWU’r MAY U W*
SW
* * :*
April gave us a raw deal, Now let May have her chance.
1 Farmers report that the
in need of encouragement.
through ip good shape. Let’s have
* «*!is $>)'«*
Interesting History of Bell Family During
Early Years in Huron
the same material,
Their first wheat was <mt with
reaping hook and threshed with
flail, Times gradually grew better1
and the people began to long for
more bread, even though it was to be
got at such a distance. • Once in the
month of July Mr. Bell went to
Goderich with his oxen and sleigh to
buy some. When the boat' came in
with a. load of flour it was found to
be all caked in the barrel because it
had got wet, Great was the disap
pointment when he returned, with
out the flour.
In those early days oxen were us
ed almost altogether and farmers
made their own sleighs, using them
winter and summer for all their
needs. Some farmers had as much
as 60 acres of land cleared before
they bought a wagon, After some
years, Mr, Bell went to London and
bought a horse. After this, hjs eld
est daughter used to take half a bag
of wheat and go on horsebackall the
way to Siddallville, in the Township
of Lobo, and return the next day
with the flour.
Among the early settlers in this
.•community were the Belt family who
came out to this country in 1$3G.
Last year Mr. John Bell .passed
away in Exeter in his 94th year and
. ^ust previous to his death a sister,
Mi's, Hunt died in Hensail, They
were children of the late Mr. and
Mrs, Robt, Bell, of Kippen. ’hhe
(following interesting story of their
learly years in this community ap
peared recently in a London paper;
It is a very interesting record of
the trials undergone and the vicis
situdes through which those pioneers
passed in the early days in Huron
-County. The whole 'Country at that
•date was clothed in the primeval
forest and they began the herculan-
<ean task of hewing out a home and a
-competence for themselves.
The late Mr. and Mrs, Robert Bell
were natives of Kippen, 'Stirlingshire
Scotland, and in the year 1836 they
■sailed,„ for Canada with their nine
. children. To this flock were added
four. more in the next four years.
'They came in a sailing vessel, being
12 weeks on the water on account of
the stormy weather they encounter
ed. . Upon reaching Montreal they
were met by Mrs. Bell’s aunt, who
invited them to her home for tea
-and a rest. The house was so -small,
the family could not be accommodat
ed, yet it was a. very welcome invi
tation* after so many weeks on ship-
Tboard, eating the provisions they had
brought with them from Scotland. [
From Monteal they came to To
ronto, then known as Little York.
From Toronto they travelled -west
to Egmondville-in wagons drawn by
,ox6n. They reached • Silver Creek, ____ _
-.east of Egmondville, one .,cold night,one year three of Mr.°Robert Bell's
November 6, 183 6, with ’six inches sons were on the Huron team and
-of snow < on the’ground and there the Bruce team was vanquished. But
thejr were dumped with* their chil-. returning to the wheat, when they
xiren and. all their belongings. From' had any to sell, it had to be teamed
there,, everything had- to be carried to Goderich or London.
to a log.Shanty on, Count Vgh «Eg-| In the cleaning of his farm, Mr.
mend’s property on the other, side of Bell was ably assisted by his
First Wheat
The first wheat sown by Mr. R.
Bell was bought in Exeter and car
ried home on the backs of Mr. ~
and two' of his sons, he taking
bushels and each of the boys
This may almost seem incredible,
but he was powerfully built man and
his sons were, too, when they grew
up. In truth, it ,is a well-known
fact that when-the aledonian games
were an annual occurrence in Luck
now, the County of Bruce always
beat Huron in the tug-of-war until
Bell
four
one.
son,
* rj:$* »>❖
Cold weather is an expensive luxury. Ask the man who had
to replenish his coal bin and the farmer who had to
loads of extra feed,
secure a few
* * if «>,<
over-produc-
about ruined
Let’s go a bit easy in our complaints regarding
Hon of wheat. Kansas is reporting that drought has
.this year's production of that crop. Word comes from the same
source that drought' has seriously interfered with the cattle indus
try. Wheat growers should jump to conclusions.
« ♦ ♦ ♦* T
(Climbers are resolved to' scale Mount Kanchenjunga, said to
be the. second highest mountain in the world, Mount Everest',
credited with being the highest mountain in the world, so far has
defied the sternest efforts to reach its peak.
The use .of it all? The same question was asked regarding the
discovery of and the exploration of America, the harnessing of
steam, the attempt to use electricity and to make the air a high
way. Those mountain peaks have their value but that value will
, not be known till they are investigated. Its an ill day for a nation
and for the race when men cease to greatly care-—and to attempt
to climb.
♦ * * * #* » *
and to observe, tell us that •
lower than during any year
people are not sure whether
Behind The Biscuit
■Ever see a boy behind a Shredded
Wheat Biscuit? You will have to lopk
quick before the biscuit disappears—
but wait and you will sec
another biscuit—and mo
more he chews the qpfSp shreds of
fciked whole wheat JBe more he likes
Reason he is a real
the, creek and where the' town’ ol' William, who was 14 years of ag>
I when he, came to this country, and
also by his other boys and girls as
they grew up. In fact, at 12 years
of age, his children were strong and
able. The late John Bell, who died
in Exeter recently, told us many a
story of hard work while still in his
early teens.
The present London road was then
a blazed trail and later wken it be
came a road, was, in spring and fall,
in very poor condition. Through, the
swamps and swales corduroy roads
were the rule and as the country
settled, the Canada Company made
.a- brave attempt, to make a. passable
read from London to Clinton and
this was ’.named the Lond'on Road,
that from Guelph to Goderich, for
which, they were also responsible,
was, and is still known as the Huron
road.
Mr. Jones, the commissioner for
the company, lived in Goderich and
his span of ponies and light wagon
made a familiar picture for the few
settlers along the road,
spent one night with Mr.
these trips*. As a result, 1
men became good friends
Mr. Jones offered Mr.
chance to run the Kippen
sawmill for them. The i
had been washed out so many times
that Mr. Jones was glad to get rid
of the responsibility of keeping it
running, The Company felt that
they had to provide means in the
shape of mills for the early settlers
to provide lumber and flour for their
needs, hence the Kippen mills.
Builds Dani
■ ,Sea£orth; now stands. ?. ;. .
This was .a rude awdkehing’ from
the roseate dreams they were enjoy
ing as a result of reading the won
derful descriptions given by Dr. Dun
lop, the commissioner for the Cana
da Company, which described Cana
da as a most delightful country, with
oranges and 'other tropical fruits
waiting to be picked by the incoming
settlers. However, Mr. Bell and his
wife, were not deterred, and,
finding’a good fr?end in the late
■Count Van Egmond, Mr. Bell left his
family at the Count’s home for three
weeks until he had located, ,a...home*-..
stead one mile south of I-IenSall, on
the London road, now owned by his
grandson, William Bell, son of the
late Robert Bell, Jr.
On this 'farm they set to work al
■once to make a small clearing and
■erect a log shanty, large enough to
.accommodate 11 persons. From Eg-
mondville they carried enough pro
visions on Monday morning to last
till Wednesday and then the eldest
•daughter walked the 12 miles from
.Egmondville, through the bush, and
•carried enough food to last till -Sat
urday night,' when all walked back
to Egmondville for Sunday. This
lasted three weeks and then Mrs.
Bell said she could not allow her
■daughter to go- again, because she
was 'afraid of what might happen to
her from wolves, bears ’or Indians.
She said they would all move out,
■even if the shanty weren’t finished.
The walls were up, ’but the root was
not on. However, they nailed up an
old carpet in lieu of a roof and it
did very well until' the shanty was
complete. . The space between the
logs were filled first with pieces of
wood and finished with moss and
mud. There was an open fireplace,
in which they burned good-sized logs
from four to -six feet long, which
made a splendid fire. The shanty,
when finished, may not have been
very fine, but it was the home of a
very happy family.
No Roads Then
In those days there was np- roads.
'They found their way by pieans of a
blazed trail, which means that a
ple&e of bark WaS; chbpped off the
trees along the path^so that travel
ers could follow by keeping these
marked trees-'in sight;
For -twq^years they had no oxen,
d, of. course, no horses. Every-
in 4’was done by 'hand. .Trees
were/chopped down, cut into logs,
tolled together and burned, )Som«
of .’the freps were fouY feet iii diame
ter. Ever^pian and boy was at
, fcvork at' daybreak and, except for
/ the dinner hour, there was no cessa-
/ £ion until darkness set in.
.1
I
He always
. Bell on
these two
and later
Bell the
flour -and
mill dam
was
and
age,
and
IFolk, with a tendency to figure
the general price of commodities is
since 1916. These same thoughtful
the present low prices indicate a permanent condition of the busi
ness world or whether this is but an accident consequent upon the
financial folly that came to a disastrous consummation’ last fall.
They are quite sure that 'the heed of the diligent use of brain gray
matter and of elbow grease is as imperative as ever. It must be
remembered that the United States required eighteen years to get
, going steadily after the Civil War.
Britain had a similiar experience. Let’s
• World demands more than a score of years
malcy after the disaster of 1914-1918.
After the Napoleonic wars
not get peeved if the
to get into its new nor-
SjC ❖
NEED OF
Those prison riots can all of
. the foul hand' of corrupt men who
Where the theorist and the grafter have shown themselves an evil
pair. -
Folk cannot but woncler when the government of the day will
show the same good sense in handling its criminals that is displays
in the care of its sick. While •we.have not the slightest sympathy
with sob sisters wlio-■ see ’ill thieves'atid murderers tile victims of
something or other, we regard it as high-time for society to see
that the criminal is taken, care of in the way that best, meets his
needs. This never will be done as long- as jailers and wardens and
prison guards get their appointment through pull of one sort or
another. Fitness for these responsible offices must come to be
the sole reason for appoilitmetn.
ACTION
them be
make politics a gainful
traced to one source—
business.
WORTH WHILE?
the districts of Northern Ontario a large foreign
being beseiged by communists to keep clear of
>So far successful had
In .one of
population was
Canadian customs and of British ideals,
proven their propaganda that the new comers were becoming’ a
thorn in the side of civil government and of decency.
At this critical houi- the church, sent in a cultured Christian
missionary and his wife who not only taught but who exemplified
the principles and teachings of the New Testament. Tn a little
while they had a small following.. Immediately the communists
called upon the missionary and his wife and ordered them to move
on. The reply was, “We were sent here by the Church to tell the
folk about Christ. We cannot leave.1’
The work of the missionary and his wife increased and their
following steadily grew.
There followed a second visit from the communist leaders with,
more imperative orders to be met with the same reply given, with
added firmness.
Tn a few weeks, the -foreigners themselves ordered the disturb
ers of peace and the foes of all decency to leave the district.
While this is not an age of miracles and all progress is slow,
that community is now decent, orderly and British. What is the
answer to the question, “Is the work of the home missionary worth
while?”
drew the timbers for the first church
built
known
so the
bridge
in Brucefield, afterwards
as the Ross Church, and al-
timbers for the first large
built in Mitchell.
Interesting Stories
In the third year a yoke-of oxen
was secured .by Mr. Bell. Mr. Rod
gers, of Rodgerville, pnd Robert Pat
erson aldo got a yoke each and every
body thought good times were com
ing. 'This' ili spite of tife fact that
they could not get flo„ur nearer than
Lqndoh, 3-5 inileh-awhy; Or Goderich,
about 26 miles distant. ’ They lived
principally upon jpotatbes, meat and
fish, thought, when their .'first* crop
of wheat ripened and was threshed
with a flail> they boiled it with
maple sugar and milk. The day
they got a cow was a wonderful day
with thorn. She whs the beginning
•of their stock. The sap was caught
’in handmade black ash troughs and
ithe spiles, for a time, were made of
Mr. Bell accepted the offer and at
once set to .work to build a clam that
Stood for many years and for more
than half a century afterwards these
mills were supplying' the needs of
the surrounding country with these
goods. < The last man to run these
mills-'was the John McNevin,- who
.died in the early part of this century.
When Mr. Bell took -over the mills
he had tcrlook for a flour miller and,
being told that a miller lived some
where on the Thames Road, he made
a trip- through the forest, his only
guide being, a compass, but lie found
his mans d^Thonias Oke, who ran the
mill for him-'.for many years. It
here that his'1 family grew up
the children, at a very early
began to take' the place of men
women. The boys, at the age of 12
and 13, were able to take their place
as choppers and loggers like men,
and did it, clearing up a number of
I the farms in those early days.
His son, the late John Bell, born
on December 15,( 1835, remembered
taking the timbers for thy' bridge
over the Bayfield River, at Clinton,
with three yoke, of oxen, when he
was only-14 year^'bf age. ■The'sticks
of timber, had -.one end loaded on -a
Crotch and tlie other enxl trailed be
hind on the'road,/. tVo'croteft was
made from a natural crotch cut from
■A’ ti;ee; two limbs.”,being' left about
five! or six feet longf/lltid across them
v/as pinned a huhltHvith ..wooden pins
all parts being about”eight to ten
jPclies square. On tho bunk was
placed one end of the log, attached
to itr by a chain which passed
through a hqlo at the front of the
crotch and was continued up be
tween the oxen, where it was fas
tened to the staple in their yoke. In
the same way this same J.obft Bell
John used to tell many interesting
stories of those early days. One told
how he went for the cows one morn
ing and, getting lost, he caine out
near Staffa, seven miles from home.
Another tells that one day, while he
was returning from Clinton, he spied
a band of Indians that seemed to
in. his boyish eyes, to stretch for
half a mile down the London Road.
However, lie didn’t wait to scrutin
ize them too closely, but wishing to
retain his scaly, he took to his heels
and didn’t stop until he was hidden
deep in the woods. Another very
stormy winter day he was coming
down the London Road from Kip
pen to the old homestead, south of
'Hensalt He was .overtaken by a
man named Whiteford, who had liv
ed' one and a half miles north of
Klppen and who was driving this
day a span of horses and sleigh. Mr*
Boll asked him for a ride and was
-refused, Mr, Whiteford had not
gone far when a tree, blown down
by 'the storm, fell across his sleigh,
between him and the horses, but do-
m take
^milk. The
and that’s th
radi-
REPORT WINCHELSEA SCHOOL
ing him no harm. The sleigh was
smashed in two and the horses ran
away. Some years after this,
Whiteford moved - to the U...^„
States, and the early 'traditions say
that he. was hanged l’or horse-steal
ing. Such, is the irony of fate. One
thing is certain, Mr. Bell was very
glad he had refused the ride.
Many good stories were told of
the capture of black boars in bear
traps; in fact, Robert Bell, jr„ who
lives just east of Hensail, still owns
one of the traps in which the bears
were
wore
were
To-
trict
cende
who came here in 1836, almost a
century ago. Tilby are good citizens
quiet, thirfty, and industrious, and
may well be proud of the part tho
family had taken in the settlement
of this ’part of Routh Huron,
John Bell, who died recently and
who gave much of the information
in this article, left one sop, Robott,
'.who founded and is still at the head
of tho Robert Boll Threshing Co., of
Seaforth; Miss Boll and lilts. Kot-:
chum, widow of the lato A.
chum, deputy minister of
ture, -Saskatchewan*
Mr.
United
caught. The rivers and creeks
full of fish and speckled trout
caught in large numbers.
>-day, many farms in, this dis-
are owned and farmed by des
an ts of this same Robert Beil,
K Ket-
agi'iciti-
, full o
,nt health. J
Delicious
f sliced bananas or any fruit.
as good for grown-ups
th prunes, baked apples
WITH
OF THE WHOLE WHEAT
ALL THE BRAN
THE CANADIAN SHREDDED WHEAT COMPANY, LTDRr
6 4
kuMEf % ■ Jfc
p7'"-x£r| I is TBS
SOLD EVERYWHERE |N CANADA
LlMItED
C4/V4DAS GREATEST SEED HOUSER
TORONTO- HAMILTON-WINNIPEG -REGINA- EDMONTON
lillllllll 111'1'11
Report of the Senior room of the
Winchelsea School for the months
of March and April. Pupils were
examined in all subjects.
Sr. V—Margaret Johns S3, Lorne
McNaughton 72.
Jr. V—Flsie Heywood 75, Mai2je
O’Reilly 72, Vinetta Routly 71, Rus
sell (Mills .70, Lorne Elford 70, Olive
Johns 69, Greta Fletcher 68.
Sa’. IV—Clarence
Cornish 74, Lloyd
Hern 69.
Jr. IV—Gertrude
'Faint, Dizzy'SpeEEs .
For Four Years*
Got Worse Every Year
Prance 75, R.
Bell 73, Philip
Mrs. J. .Bennette, North Rydn«rr,‘
N.S., writes:—used to have 'faint
and dizzy spells, for four years,
.was getting worse every year.
11 One day riiy husband asked merSf1
I had ever used - ’
Camm 78, Laura
Ford 7S, Ella Routly 75, Ruby Johns
66, Gordon Brooks 62, Ronald El
ford 56.
•Sr.
Gower
M'urcli
III-r-GIadys "Johns 67, Alma
63; Kenneth Hern 62, Lillfan
60, Ethel Coward 54.
9 •- L. McCulloch, teacher
I said X had itoty
so he -got me st
box, and afwr. E
had taken half <*jf
it. I found I was
-getting bettor,
t h e n. got’,' ,
mare and ■ ttflejr*' .
finishing 'them
was greylyim**’
I Used the PHIS
.that was five .year* -
REI’01 T S* S. NO* 12, VSBORNI2
proved in health
two months, and ■ago, and I . have never had a fcAnt-Mw/
dizzy spell since.”
Price, .50 cents h box at all flrjxggijEia
a nd dealers, dr mailed .direct, on•of, price, by The T* Milbumf CU.y''L®t^ ,,
T^ponto'F Ont. < : " • ' ' r,.'/ ■
IV—Mary Morley 74.
IV—Gladys Squjre 73, Lloyd
69*
III—Dorothy I>zlewood Ss,
Elliott 73, Eric Brown 71,
‘•N$ l(aw, will maite^ien .hibra'i
need’'a ’law.”-^-rWiliiam Allen
' The following is the school report
of S. S. No. 12, Usborne, for the
Easter examinations.
■Sr.
Jr.
Dobbs
Sr.
Mabel
Ruth Hodgson 66.
Jr. Ill—Margarot Hern 79, Rus
sell Morley 75, Merle 0-qulre 74,
Velma Squire 70, Harry Dobbs 61,
■Sr. II—-Jean' Morley $4, Taylor
‘Mossip SB, * Andrew Arkse-y 78, Da
vid Hodgson .67, Grantoii.. J-bnes .fiSt
Promoted tn Jr. IIL-Goralrt Hern
68, Joffreine Johes 59. • V ’
Promoted to First Class*—Jeap
Ogden SS, Maida- Motleyg/'jjhiy-
Ogden 78, RoyHodgson /70, 1W-
raino Dobbs,54. < • ’ : 4
Primer Class—Betty JenqU ’Bobby
Jones.
• ■**.',, *
■You can’t 'acquire moblO birt'is, lnti£
you. can-get <ho sajpe’ niae feqli^' od
Sitperforify Ij-y being morh- righteous.-
than lyottr peighboy.
u;
M, Sadler; teaciie:
Arash—askin
ip has nW-Wtai
n, disordoj^ry,
blemished skin Is
W. S. HOWRY, DRUGGist t
X>I
ski
ti£_ fi/d
i/tb
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