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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Times-Advocate, 1936-09-03, Page 7THE EXETER TIMES-ADVOCATE THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 1030 Dr. Browning Physician But Loves His Key Exeter Resident Has Not Forgotten Telegraphy Learned in Youth Wcjmper'Ate Life Followed and Saw Great Changes During Long Life By Myrtle E. Home in London Free Press Dr. J. w. Browning, Canada’s oldest and youngest telegrapher, looks forward to celebrating his 93 birthday soon. Although so advanc­ ed in age, time has dealt kindly with him and * the years have left little trace of their passing in his jovial fr^jih-colordd face, and his eyes, so merry ^.nd bright, reflect nothing of the paiX and suffering which they have witnessed in his long practice of medicine. One of his youthful hobbies was athletics, and he used to enjoy “skinning the cat” on his father’s thumbs; and incredible as it imay seem, he is still able to put liis right foot on the top of his head, Dr. Browning was born in the ‘Glastonbury district of Somerset­ shire, England, in 1843. This is the famed apple county of the old land, though, according to the doctor, its apples are not to be compared with thos.e of Huron County. There is an immense amount of cider made from these .Somerset apples, which is the ordinary beverage of the people there. Special occasions provide an excuse for a great deal of drinking, both of cider and of perry—the lat­ er being made from pears. When Dr. Browning’s father and mother were married, they determined that -drinking should not be a feature of the occasion and theirs was the first teetotal wedding in the county. The people of the shire decided to make It an event to be remembered, so clubbed together and got an Im­ mense wedding-cake. This was car­ ried on a litter by1 four men at the head of a procession. The Glaston­ bury paper, in reporting the wed­ ding, humorously referred to the persons who fell by the wayside and -expired, adding that a post-mortem examination showed death was due to the presence of .pieces of ice vary­ ing in size from eight to pounds in their stoanacks* At the end of the voyage ada, when the future doctor t^yo years of age, he developed a s tomach which .±e was sines that time liis lips. Learns 'The family settled in Markham, ‘where „the father carried on a clock and watch-making business, and the father, being a partial invalid, the ahn.bitious young son determined to finance his own education. With this end in view, he sold papers and wrote short stories and skits. When but 10 or 11, he learned telegraphy, which opportunity was made possib­ le when the Georgian line, passing through .started. At that time there no one in the community willing to learn the operating of this invention Senator Reasson took the matter up and persuaded Mr. Browning to al­ low his daughter, Louise, to under­ take the work. The instruments were installed and Louisa’s young brother decided if a mere girl could so readily learn the system, he could surely do so as well. He surrepti-1 tiously obtained the alphabet and in his spare tiime, memorized it; then, whenever there was no one around ■he practised on the key, with the re­ sult that he soon was sendin. receiving messages, family discovered his proficiency, lie was permitted to relieve Louisa, and when she was married he took her .place as operator. (But he was determined to study .medicine, and more money was nec­ essary. Those were the days when photographers used to augment their business by travelling in the sum­ mer to the smaller towns in great vans, iinucili like the tourist trailers of today, but horse-drown, and take photos of the citizens. Young Browning became greatly interested in this work and a Mr. Green, a sixteen to Can- was but indisposition, for given whisky, but it has never passed Telegraphy Bay telegraph Markham was, seemed to. be g and When his photographer of Toronto, who yearly visited Markham, accepted him as a pupil. He soon became as expert at this work as he had at telepraghy and the money he earned in this way foiimed the nucleus of his col­ lege finances. He then entered as a medical student under Dr. Rolfe, and Mrs, Rolfe, who knew and ap­ preciated the odds against which he was working, showing herself his staunch friends. Gets Horse had completed his med- he returned north and practice in Hay Town- He had no transportation* When the ical course started his ship on April 13, 1866. means of transportation- but “Shank’s pony" and day aftfer day lie would walk from Hay to Zurich, Sarepta, Grand, Bend and houne again-. From so Imuch walking he developed a condition that made* a different mode of getting around to his patients desirable, so he got a horse and rode horseback—which lie found more painful still* Even­ tually, a friend of his in Toronto re­ ceived in payment of a debt a horse, buggy and cutter, and having no need of them, he sent them up to Dr. Browning by a mutual friend, with a line telling how “he had come by them and instruction to send a note in payment or cash—to which instructions were added words to- the effects that if either of these means of settlement failed to meet with liis approval, he could go to tlhe —! And thus Dr. Browning became the possessor of the fastest horse in this part of tlhe country, and of all the 19 horses which he has owned during his practice, this was by all means the best. Almost human in intelligence, it early ac­ quired a knowledge of the urgent need for speed in an emergency, and at all times suited its pace to the mood of its master, never needing to be tied, and at a word, turning the buggy around alone in a small­ er space than when directed by a driver. In December, 1866, Dr. Browning left Hay with the intention of going to England. However, when he reached Markham he met his old l sweetheart and was married instead. “I didn’t marry for money,” said the doctor, seriously, “but I got cash just the same”—laughingly ex­ plaining that the lady’s name was Miss Casih. On July 3rd, 1867, he imoved Exeter, here he has carried on extensive practice for nearly years. In 1892 Dr. Browning went England and spent six months visiting the hospitals in London. While there, he became a good friend of Dr. Treves, the late King’s physician. In connection with his office in Exeter is a drug store, owned and managed by his son P. H. Brown­ ing. Another son, his eldest (now deceased), followed his father’s pro­ fession and conducted a private hos­ pital in Caledonia, Minnesota,' said to- be the finest owned by a single individual in America. Another son is a traveller and lives in Kingston, and Dr. Harry Browning, of Lon­ don. Dr. Browning also has three daughters, Mrs. George Hawkins, Exeter; Mrs. (Judge) McHaffie, Red Deer, Alberta and Mrs. O. H. Becker, New Hamburg. to an 70 to in KING EDWARD STAMPS WERE ISSUED TUESDAY The first issue of stamps bearing the head of King Edward VIII were issued on Tuesday and will con­ tinue until September 5, After that George V stamps will be supplied until the stocks are exhausted. The new stamps are of the same ’ size and color us the present issue, but plainer and Imore vivid. The head of King Edward VIII stands out against a shaded background. Economy “Dear, I don’t think I’ll be home for dinner tonight." “No? “If I you on answer, back.” What will I,,.do?” change my mind, I’ll call the phone at six, but don’t then I’ll get my nickle You see, you can always stop your car. ******** Sunday School Lesson TURNING TO THE GENTILES Sunday, September 6,—-Acts 13:13 to 14:28; R.mans 10:8-1’5. And now for those nice smelly smells from madam’s kitchen! **•** *•• Here’s to the success of -our coming improved water supply. *****• • * Basket picnics are better than political pork barrels. * * * *** * * The Lord loves a stowed. * cheerful giver, provided the gift is wisely be- * *♦ • » » # And those deep apple pies that beat all Araby. with those thick crusts and the spices • ♦ *• • « It takes old Quebec to get all the fun tion. there is out of an elec- *• V * « *B We just heard of two trees—-bigatree and deviltree. Both are bad. *♦ *• * ♦ The C. N. E. is all the Exeter article. very well in its way, but wait till you see **♦*** (Five minutes waiting month in the hospital. till all danger is passed is better than a **♦• B Why not a few firehose-laying colmpetitions? It's the first five minutes that count at a fire. w * When the patient gets better, we ihave evidence of the benignity the stupidityof Providence: when he dies we blame everything on of the doctor! Sprain once mess, thanks to lack of moral earnestness. was forlmerly the glory of grandeeism, ecclesiaticism, ******* TIMELY Europe. political Now she’s a humbug and * a We saw a (man. taking home a brand new wheelbarrow this week. It was made by a local blacksmith who manufactured it last winter when other workmen were playing checkers of talking about Mitch. That’s the way scads are won. BEYOND ALL TELLING To realise that -our brothers and sisters in the West have en­ countered another crop failure is to pause in the day’s occupation to think, to sympathize and to share our best with them. Out there, as autumn crimes on men note their wives becoming thin of shoul­ der and hollow-eyed, and their children ’ceasing t-o- play, through siheer lack of food; to look out on the world with bewildered eyes, wondering why mother puts so little on the table and fails to re­ mend overworn dresses and jackets and why the blankets and quilts are so thin and scant these increasingly-chilly nights. There is no oil in the lamps, of many a hitherto prosperous farmer and prac­ tically nothing'in his pantry or cellar. ’ There are no newspapers and no new books. But there is the wind, the never-ceasing, knocking iwin, and the Northern lights that sparkle and dance with a brillance that brings no cheer. The abomination of desolation is there for* another winter, save as relieved by the good will and practical kindness of the portions of 'Canada where rain has fallen and har­ vests have waved and plenty has blessed every field and fireside. The situation is starving, shivering, maddening horror. ♦ ♦ * ♦ THOSE R Gohlen Text I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldst be for salvation unto the ends of the earth. (Acts 13:47.) When God favored a certain small people known as Israel or the Jews, and made them His chosen people, He never did so with the purpose of limiting His blessings to therm. Some Jews, in ancient times and today, have mistakenly thought this. But seven centuries before Israel’s Mes­ siah came Isaiah, one of Israel’s greatest prophets, predicted by di­ vine inspiration that the Messiah should be “for a light of the Gen­ tiles” (Isaiah 42:6); and twelve centuries before that, or nineteen centuries before Christ came, God Himself promised Abraham, “in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.” The time had come, in the early church, to fulfill these prophecies. Yet even so, while the Gospel of Christ “is the power of God unto salvation to every one that be- lieveth,” it is “to the Jew first, and also to the Greek” (or Gentile) (Rom. 1:16). Wherever Paul and Barnabas, the first Christian Mis­ sionaries, went in their missionary journeys they gave the good news of Jesus Christ as Messiah and Saviour to the Jew first. It was only when the Jews stubbornly and repeated­ ly rejected the Gospel that the mis­ sionaries turned away fretm them to the Gentiles. Paul and Barnabas sailed from the island of Cyprus up through the Mediterrean to what we now call Asia Minor. They pushed north from Perga in Pamphylia until they came to Antioch in Pisidia, an im­ portant city. As true and devout Jews they went to the synagogue on the Sab­ bath Day and sat down, in the con­ gregation as worshipors. But the rulers of the synagogue observed them, and the visiting missionaries were invited to speak. Paul accepted the invitation, ad­ dressing his hearers respectfully as “men of Israel, and ye that fear God.” Then he gave a remarkable birds-eye view of the history of Is­ rael, down to the moment when he was speaking and showed that Jesus was a direct descendant of their great King David and fulfilled God’s promise to David. Furtherlmore, Paul told his Jewish congregation that the Jews at Jeru­ salem, and their rulers, because they did not know their wvn Messiah “nor yet the voices of the prophets which are read every Sabbath Day," had actually fulfilled the prophecies of their own Scritptures by condemn­ ing Jesus Christ to death and hav­ ing him crucified. Then, they had buried Him.—“But God raised Him from the dead." Paul quoted the Old Testament ■Scriptures to these synogogue Jews in Antioch, especially Psalm 16, where David .prophesied the resur­ rection of his Greater Son, Jesus Christ. Then came the straight Gospel: “Be it known unto you therefore, men. and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness o,f sins; and by Him all that believe are justified from all things, .from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.” We can well understand how this almazing, revolutionizing explosive sermon stirred not only the entire OF LONG WEAR . JlSiSilix Automobile Accessories and Electrical Supplies Phone 109 Exeter rate Goodyear lieved. And the word of the Lord was published throughout the re­ gion.” Now began afresh, following the martyrdom of Stephen, the Jews’ deadly persecution of the true Is­ raelites who were witnessing to the Jew’s own Messiah, The Jews drove Paul and Barnabas out of the city. The missionaries moved on to near-by cities, Iconium, Lystra and Derbe, and they had the same sort of experience everywhere. Some welcomed the Gospel and believed; others turned bitterly against the message and the (messengers. At Lystra the Jews stirred up such op­ position and hatred that they had Paul stoned, and his body was drag­ ged out of the city, supposed to be dead. But Paul “rose up and came into the .city.” He and Barnabas kept on in their fearless and courag­ eous campaign, 'preaching again in the same cities. Finally the travel-worn, bruised, but irejoicing missionaries sailed back to Antioch in Syria and brought back the wonderful story of the miracle-working grace of God. Men are just .the saline today—and so is the Lord Jesus Christ. “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." But, as Paul writes to -the Romans, how can men believe without knowing, and how can they know without be­ ing told, and how can they be told without missionaries? Therefore, “How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the Gospel of peace and bring glad tidings of good things.” aranteed. Fi It’s a wise idea to eat Kel­ logg’s, Rice Krispies. They help you keep cool because they nourish without over­ heating the system. Everybody loves these K toasted rice bubbles. So criip they actually crackle iupnilk or cream. At grocers everywl $he Mother Gocy ^package. Mad^ in London, Ojj|jfeo. Quality We calme upon a real boy into possession >of an unusually district representative has been directions as to general care. ’ representative “Do you tell the “Of course” 'was the reply. '‘We About a week later this youngsteiH^’V^Z^ calves? 1 He always wins prizes The result? This youngsteBHHEH^BBmnHgHRMHH|HH caLf out-conditions any other real pals in this deal. Better real price for his calf win or We look for real results frogl this boy. it is the extra that wins the blue ribbon and that captures the nim­ ble dollar. All this is a big secret among the boy, the boy’s Mr. Brown and ourself. dad and STAYING HOME TO HELP DAD We came across one of our farm igirl’s just this week back to school?” we asked. “No. I aim going to stay home to (help dad! This lassie had been to High ‘School for two years. jLthere was good, but in face of this she was going to stay home ?melp dad. We confess that those words had a good ring. Later we saw (her busy with a riding, plow. She is busy among the .calves and there are 200 odd chickens that look to her for daily care. I un­ derstand that she is receiving moderate wages' that will be increas­ ed. as her ttnsefulness grows. No this farmer .girl is not taking the way of sheer stockings and daily and hourly talcum and lipstick drill. All that may be con­ sidered on .Sundays and (holidays. Nor will this lassie be in hourly contact with a whole lot of situations that Intake discerning people shudder. She will not be cooped in a stuffy office. Nor will she be obliged to cater to a lot of youngsters who barely get by in men­ tal equipment. She will not be snubbed by scores of mothers who do not know what is good for their offspring. Nor will she be obliged to cringe to make sales. No indeed! This young lady will live in the open, engage in work that grows more interesting every day, work that brings sound sleep, a vigorous appetite, strong muscles and a clear eye and the glo w that comes froim helping dad, her best friend. Congratulations, lassie! “Going Her re­ synagogue congregation of Jews and Gentiles, but also the whole city of Antioch. Here was a new preach­ er with an utterly new message. Was he right otr wrong? It was too much for the seif-right- eous, sin hardened, unbelieving Jews who saw their religious leadership tottering, their prestige gone, and their race actually accused of hav­ ing crucified the Messiah predicted in their own Scriptures. So “when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy, and spoke a- gainst those things which was spok­ en by Paul, contradicting and blas­ pheming.” Paul and Barnabas then spoke a solemn, seairing word to those false leaders of God’s 'people. “‘It was' necessary,” said the missionaries, “.that the word of God should first have been spoken to you; but seeing ye put it from you, and judge your­ selves unworthy of everlasting life, lo we turn tO' the Gentiles.” And they quoted the prophecy from Isaish, which is ouir Golden Text: “And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord; and as many as were oirdained to eternal life be- A barrel of dimes is worth more •than a barrel of silver dollars. Acciunpulatcd Dents Jones—I have come to the con­ clusion that my car’s a ■wreck. Bill—A wreck? Jones—Yes: every ti/me I leave it anywhere, ‘policemen come up and ask me if I have reported the acci­ dent. B. C. Shingles The Best Quality of Edge Grain Shingles to at the lowest Jarices as money. Now. A. J. GRANTON WORTHY PHONE 12 life we load, in the extreme nervous ifcnsionjIRd fever heat with which we follow in the/pursKt ®f wealth, position and, pleasure. Late hours, want of necessary rest, excessive mental or physical exertion all put a strain on the system it is unable to withstand. No wonder then you pass restless nights and get up in the morning with no ambition to go about your daily tasks. Take Milburn’s H, & N. Pills and see what they will do for you,