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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Times-Advocate, 1935-09-19, Page 3T ... Personal Reminiscences • • • by Geo. Fenwick them in those so new and so me. And even as. received by through the activity years cannot wholly a large measure, it me. And even though in this period of happy, and character-building es- Which, though difficult to as to it’s abiding worth, I have been invited to contribute a limited series of short articles for the Exeter Times-Advocate dealing with my reminiscences of Exeter—a rather huge undertaking in my ac­ cepting I must admit; and also a challenging one to my memory. For when one considers that is was away back in the year of 1875 when- we, as a family, first arrived in your vil­ lage—I being but eight yeans of age at the time—it can readily be real­ ized that, throughout my comfort­ able span of life where the years have been many and full of activity, TIME—always living up to its repu­ tation—has been most consistant in it’s elimination of useless events even though fair and upright in it’s warning, that it will await the pleasure of no man. Therefore, I am making no- com­ plaints, offering ho apologies, but happily accept things as they are— just as I accepted days when life was full of promise to though impressions, a developing child-mind, are very liable to be unduly accentuated, as might a word in a line of poetry, or too-highly colored as a depiction in art, yet, there always remains, in­ grained within the soul of that be­ ing, a memory-value o.f events'that time, running of subsequent erase. So, in has been with errors may creep in in description, in the recounting of incidents, in naming names and in summing up conclusions, yet, the panorama. cov­ ering the ten years of our residence in Exeter is still alive and record­ ing. IFhr this period, to me at least, re­ presented crowded years made fruit­ ful through these impressions, as­ sociations and home life wirbre na­ ture, not unlike an anxi-o.us mothei' brooding over the welfare of hei’ children in an effort to- wisely guide and direct them with a loving, far- reaching and possessing tenderness, ushered carefree sentials estimate has enriched my mind with memories that has served to lighten many an otherwise heavy, timorous and lone­ ly hour. And if anything,, related in these articles colored, or if they materially err in ifacts, I hope such will not be mis­ construed as constituting a deliber­ ate attempt to ma'kie light of inci­ dents, or experiences', or o-f people in .this time-effacing drama. For these will be dealt with in that same spir­ it as when the impressions were re­ ceived and retained in my then de­ veloping mind. Therefore I invite corrections by my acquaintances and chums of those days where such will appear in future articles. Our entry into Exetei’ during the summer -of ’1875 behind our span of bays and in a light wagon was a characteristic one for that period, and somewhat at variance with the. mode of travel in these more mod­ ern days. Then horses, mules and oxen were in the heyday of their usfulness constituting, as they did, not «nly the motive power in .the woods means tion. it was not take the measure of an animal at first glance. There were, in fact, more sleek horses trader lurking about the country than there were milch cows feeding from the mead­ ows. Autos,, trucks or tractors wei’e not even dreamed of, while railways were patronized only by the more well-to-do and for the long distant travel. seem boo-highly and on the farms, but the sole of inter-county transporta-' And I might also remark that a dumb egg indeed who could In tlie Seventh Heaven our vil- For many weeks, prior to leaving the sleepy little German lage of Zurich, speculation regard­ ing our newi-dionie ran riot aifiong ius kids to the exclusion of all else. That we were elated beyond the ex­ igencies pertaining .to the delight o-f the seventh heavea is putting it mildly. ,For a new existence was about to be opened unto the world and we Were to be*accepted as the chosen ones to inhabit it. The mil­ lennium was approaching, time was to stop and start again and the rose­ ate bubble oLflthereal grandeur was within our grasp. What wonder it tihen that, in acordan'ce with these wqnderful promises, we literally lorded it oved our companions who were doomed to spend the balance of their, lives among the,ebbing ele- mentzof retrogression and play hide- apd-seek) with t'he pollywogs (a de­ signation we used for a i>oor Ger­ man couple who had .produced noth­ ing better for the world than a fam­ ily ofe girls. (Anc! in these long after years I distinctly rerrtember that memorable day When father packed the whole caboodle of his brood With bag and baggage, two. cate- and a dog, in our light wagon inJwhich he had built seats thus forming a sort of carry- all. And talking df a brood! There was Billy, Amy, Thos., myself, Har­ riett, Martha, Ida and Marie-—count ’em and weep! A bunch of mis- chievlous, petuleht, spunky, fun-lov­ ing and even devilishly-inclined <among us boys) kids. To play a prank on a person was equivalent to raising a city; and we generally counted that day a loss where no mischievous act had contributed to someone’s discomforture. No d’oubt we constituted a problem to our par­ ents. But father, a severe, dyed-in- the-wool, Englishman, whose word was law in the family and where his glance was equal, and as fatal to our exuberance, as the thrusts of fifteen daggers to one’s heart. -Still, with­ all, a loving parent, upstanding and unafraid. Dovetailing into his scheme of life was mother, who be­ ing of German-Canadian extraction, was most gentle but' also most firm in our upbringing. These two. seem­ ed never to have lost the courage of their convictions in being able to properly feed, clothe and control so numerous a progeny to the exclus­ ion -of all else, for they took our number as a matter of course and continued serenely on their way. Af­ ter we arrived in> Exeter brother Frank was born . ■Father was a man stressed with the blood and grit of pioneers. Stern, energetic, unbending—capable. A man qjf untiring tenacity and of great determination!. Slight of build, he gave one the impression of a raider turned for speed and action, and where every inch of his five- foot-six embodiment contained not ; an ounce of surplus matter. A con­ structive idea conceived and care­ fully thought out to its entirety was as good as completed to him; and what remained was execution. There­ after the days and nights were merg­ ed into a feverish, driving, energetic prelude to a twenty-four-hour period of untiring devotion,—a contradictions that upset scribed'limits of human And that mother was a furnished him by the gods was evi­ denced in that she, had a heart of gold, precious beyond estimation, true to the highest principles of en­ during womanhood, kind and lov­ ingly tender to all, careful in shield­ ing her children from the taint of the by-products of human-kind, firm in our upbringing, and withall staunch, Christian woman. medley of the pre­ endurance. helpmate a Wins Cradling Contest a the Creek and He was abstenuous; and I the taste of tobac- as foreign to him a carrier pigeon. These two had come up from poor sand farm lying along banks of the Black not a great distance from its con­ fluence with the Sauble. Here it was that I first saw the light of day; and also where father established quite a reputation for himself by cradling an acre df grain in compe­ tition to a reaper that had just been introduced in that vicinity—by win­ ning by a hair’s-breadfh. very frugal and am positive that co or liquor was as to a horse or Also it was during this period he became deeply conscious of t'he fact (he told me in later life) that his brains had been given him to be us­ ed for his individual upbuilding— his emanicipation from this gropng, sand-beetle life—into a realm of greater dimensions where the stress and strain of accomplishments would automatically, be shifted from muscle to mind—a ra.re decision in any individual, seeing that so few in the ■world resort to it. Consequently, a few years later he purchased a flour mill in Zurich and the following year built a saw mill in conjunction. Setting Up in Mill Business Wise heads Immediately set wagging and prophets exclaiming; “It can’t be done,” and “impossible.” “What? That sand-farmei’ Fenwick setting 'himself up in the mill busi­ ness! Foolish! Sure to go broke.” But Fenwick did not go broke, even though, previous to- this adventure I doubt greatly if he knew much more about a flour mill t'hen to take his- grain into one and receive in re­ turn his quota in four,, and bran. - • ■ ing regarding the English; somehow muddled through” contrary to all decided success business world. One would that, in this venturd, he 'had reach­ ed the pinnacle of his ambition— that he would be satisfied to remain 'here and carry on. But not so. For, like all -wide-awake, progresisve and upstanding men he was ever reach­ ing out, aspiring to greater fields in which to pit his strength, his brains and business acumen, in the field pf commerce andi competition. Also he learned that other things being equal, it became a necessity to coddle and make emendable to circumstance, that elemental gamb­ ling instinct—-latent in all of us— but of necessity to be held in check and macfe to serve as a progressive faictor in leading up to newer and greater ventures. So taking cogni­ zance pf the many vantage points of­ fered in this, husky, new country, he 'finally Settled ujwn Exeter...as^.0Xfep- ■ ing him the most ‘"promising" field. 3^or here was the greatest asset- of, all-railway facilities. In addition to this it was. backed up by a farm­ ing poinmunity second to none in produatity and peopled by a hardy, in-lustrous class of farmers that would assure him a never failing • abundant AWpply of milling material. middlings But true to. that apt say- “He and, predictions, made a of his step into the naturally conclude THE EXETER TIMES-ADVOCATE THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 1», J9S5 Au ideal situation; and a situation he seized upon. Builds Four-Storey Mill But in order not to outrun his as? pirations and find himself straddling a pine log instead of being in busi­ ness, he was astute enough to first establish a strong, flexible credit in the Molsons Bank at Exeter. This accomplished, he promptly purchas­ ed an acre or two of land on the noirthweet /corner of the cross-roads at the extreme limits of Francistown and. began the erection thereon of a flouring mill, four stories high, ca­ pacity unknown, but great enough to supply, if need be, the- entire vil­ lage of'Exeter and surrounding vil­ lages, as well as being able to com­ pete in the markets of London and Montreal where, as. it finally devel­ oped, a considerable quantity of 'his products were shipped. I mention all .these foregoing facts in order to build up a background for the ar­ ticles to follow. I stated previously that our entry into Exeter was a characteristic one. It was. Neither was it attended with any degree of pomp or cere­ mony. We (us kids) were .chatter­ ing and exclaiming like a surprised band of caged monkeys. Restraint— an unknown quantity with us—had completely disappeared into the deepest oblivion. For here at last was the promised land, the new ha­ ven of our speculations—a .fruitful field through and by which we could exercise" our innocent deviltry. We had .completely forgotten the ad­ monition of brother Bill back along the road before entering Hensall when he cautioned; “Now you kids don’t want to look and act like a lot of jay hooks w'hen we reach Exeter. Look and act as if you knew something.’’ Good ad­ vice, but about as effective as try­ ing to wash the face of the moon with a cup of water. For, as we rumbled along the road leading in­ to Fran cis to w.n, there, bulking large in the distance, was father’s new mill- tion- ____ ___ __ ____ __ yaps and yells and exclamations astonishment and delight. A Ddn of Iniquity -still in the couree of construc- -whic'h brought forth many > of admonition* And no doubt she vis­ ioned an added care suddenly settl­ ing upon her in their new environ­ ment. And in later years we nil were brought face to face with the fact that not only iniquity but dev­ iltry was housed therein, ahd. emin- ated, from, that cursed structure, and the course of all our lives were changed in consequence. So for many months after mother had cautioned us, when we had. occasion to go to the mill, we kids always sheered off at the grocery store that adjoined the Walper building and took) to the middle of the street, the while cast­ ing fugitive side-glances mingled with fear and curiosity. iFather having .rejoined us we sped down the street passing, as I remem­ ber, very few buildings in addition to the Verity home which stood on an eminence like some fairy castle in it’s splendid isolation. And when we came to the,bridge spanning the Sauble, midway between Exeter and Francistown, more uncontrolled ex­ clamations of surprise, even terror, escaped us when we found ourselves suspended between the heavens and the running water beneath. Brother Bill was on the job again with: “Jayhooks! Shut your big mouths!” he rasped, a sarcastic smile twisting his youthful lips into a snarl in an effort to convey his dis- , gust. ■ The lathered horses bad slowed to a walk in ascending the hill leading into the main paj’t of the village, while our forcibly-sudbued exclama­ tions was an irrjtant painful to en­ dure. However we were all eyes to behold the wonders that lay ahead of us. And before we realized just what had happened the horses were forcibly drawn to a sudden halt, sweved sharply to the right and came to a standstill before a gate that led to our temporary future home. This was located a half block south of the street leading down to the railway depot. The barn lined the edge of the sidewalk, while the house set back fifty feet or more from the Street. Upon realizing this to- be our home I blurted out. “ 'Taint as nice home as we had in Zurich!” My sister Mary Amy cast me look of pitying contempt. “Hush!” she rebuked in a whisper, “or daddy will hear you.” Then a" moment later she whispered back); “Nice little dog house!” But, apparently this did not fully express her kin­ dred contempt for she again* whis­ pered; “It looks like a rat house!” and it would have taken an entire book of adjectives to express the antipathy she felt at that moment, And no wonder, fo,r we had just left q three-storey, massive, stone liouseJ of ten rooms resembling a feudal castle, built by some German Count where we had spent several years of our young lives. Brother Billy swung the gate open, and a minute later we had all piled out and made a run for the a a newAs we drew abreast of this addition to' Francistown, father left us for a few minutes to see how things wore progressing and roving eyes quickly spied out the Wal-per House and saloon, located on the diagonal'-corner, and which, if I re­ member rightly, was a two storey log, structure. “What’s that over there, mother?” asked brother Thomas. “Thats a den of iniquity and I want you boys to- keep away from “What’s a den of inickety?” -there,” cautioned mother, the 'prompt interrogation. “It’s a place where they that terrible whisky and fight—so never go near the place,” came the was house to give it the ouce over and pass judgment on it. Watch for next instalment.—Ed- RODGES—MdURTNEY A lovely church wadding___ was solemnized in ‘the Holmesville^ Unit­ er Church when Elizabeth Altalinda only daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ro­ bert McCartney, was united in mar­riage to Mr. Orville Robert Rodges, younger son of Mr. and Mrs. Robt, Rodges, all of Goderich Township. Rev. Mr. Herbert, Pastor of the Church, pronounced the nuptials. SYSTEM A truck carry­ well driller did passing through DISRUPTS PHONE LUCAN, Sept. 15. ing a separator or consideable damage the main street of the village when it tore down telephone wires putting the telephones in several of the stores out of commission. A number of hydro wires were also torn down, by by noon all had been replaced. Not a Servant ? Woman (to applicant for a post the household)—I want a man to do odd jobs about the house, run er­ rands; one who never answers back and is always ”eady to do my bid­ ding. Seeker for Work—You're looking for a husband, ma’am, not a servant in CROP CONDITIONS IN HURON Rambling Reporter of London Free Press Describes Trip Through Huron Trekking northward from Lon­ don on highway number four, it be­ came early apparent that the rain­ fall for the summei nad not been nearly so generous as in the count­ ies to the south. Pastures in .many districts were seared and grey and sometimes four and five-horse teams were seen turning the ground over in th© preparation for fall wheat. In the clay belt huge chunks were be­ ing turned up while in the sandy districts' clouds of dust proclaimed the dryness -of the soil and the need of coipious showers. However, value of this tionable owing to the fields of stocked and grain. Sometimes as far could see, field after field, farm af­ ter farm, undulating into the dis­ tance sVpd millions of sheaves a- was quee- far flung unstooked as the eye waiting the threshing. In cases much cf this grain was1 dark and discolored, especially the wheat for it had stood thus since early in July, and tanned by the weather, it had taken on a dingy dun color that gave it the appearance of age and decay. Crowded out of the barns! by the overflow of hay, the grain must wait its turn in due This condition, we noted in every locality where grain in grown. And although we noted five ing machines busy within one mile? yet such seemed to mean nothing in the mammoth task that was before them, and their efforts seemed al­ most futile in the face of the thous­ ands upon thousands of acres of un­ threshed grain. Between London and Clinton we noticed a few fields of second-cut­ ting alfalfa still standing. Already this precious crop has been taken care of largely, but the few still un­ cut or being harvested showed plain­ ly the lack of opportune showers and sufficient moisture. In Huron Corn crop in Huron, as we notic­ ed it, does not, for some reason, look so good. Borne farmers con­ fessed that this& was owing to drought and cool nights, other far­ mers found -their corn up to or above the average and were look­ ing forward to a bumper crop. .Howeyer, this crop tn the districts we observed, proved much hit-and- miss, so to speak and not up to the quality either to the north or to the south. Clover, especially red, through out Huron looked promising and good, and some of the most beauti­ ful fields of this flowery legume were passed from time to time. Commenting on this I would like to say that it seemed to me the Huronites are particular about their clover seed for not a weed of any description did we notice in the big field we examined. It is any' won­ der Huron seed is in big demand? One surprise greeted us in Huron county. Hitherto we had supposed ' the bean belt of Ontario lay through the qentre of the southern counties with a fringe of beans in North Mid­ dlesex and ,8'Outh Huron. To our surprise we found splendid fields of beans plentifully sprinkled through south and middle Huron and odd fields both to the north and well into Grey and Bruce. Some of these were already harvested and seemed to be well podded and promised a profitable crop, providing a fair price was realized. season, almost thresh- A Sound, Peaceful Night's Rest Half the Battle of Life Peaceful rest is Nature’s great restorer and the first sign of a nervous breakdown is inability to get proper sleep. The sufferer is under a constant physical strain when the nerves will not Telax. The purpose of a tonic medicine, one containing iron, is to apply first aid for the relief of Buch a condition. Take Milbum’s H. & N. Pills and note their beneficial effects. That feeling of nervousness will lift and new enjoyment of life will be found in the restoration of physical vigor. Sold by all druggists and dealers in medicine. ^RVEPlU-S drink ACTION/ You're Entitled to Both of These TWO VITAL FEATURES! 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