Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Times-Advocate, 1942-01-22, Page 3When Winston Churchill Greeted Canada This ia the seventh story about con­ ditions in Great Britain and other European countries, written for the weekly newspapers of Can* Uda by Hugh Templin of, Fergus News-Record ' There seems to be no doubt Prime Minister Winston Church­ ill is. the greatest wartime leader Britain has had throughout her long history, He took Office at a time when the fortunes of Britain and’ the Empire wefe at a low ebb- Invasion tain and cessfully tervening en the people new heart and has aroused such enthusiasm that Eng­ land has Stood up under bombing and threats with unparalleled cour­ age, vasion Powerful nations which feared Britain could not hold out in late months of J940 allies in 1942. Winstdn Churchill iting this continent.’ talk over the unification to win the war. Actually, presence and his effective have done much to stir up the Un­ ited States and Canada, as they had previously heartened the people of his own country. A number of Canadian newspap­ ermen, met Winston Churchill while he was at Ottawa. Hundreds of Other Canadians saw him during his brief stay. 'Perhaps I might add my story of a meeting with the great Prime Minister in his own of­ fice in London, after hearing him give one of, his rare wartime ad­ dresses in the House of Commons at Westminster. One More Wish Granted The British Council, acting as t hosts- to the group of Canadian edi­ tors in Britain, made an effort to gratify our every wish. They had laid' out theii* own program before ,we' arrived, but they were quite willing to alter it to include any­ thing we particularly desired. Strangely enough, or so it seemed to us, the program did not include an opportunity to meet or even see the Prime Minister. I believe that was because the people in London do not realize what an influence Mr, Churchill exerts in Canada. They did .mp^karp^^how. .unanimously the residents, of this country lay aside their work whenever he speaks over the air waves; they did not know, that we regard him not only as >the leader of the British Isles, but of the Empire. When a request was passed on to E. D. O’Brien, of the British Council, he promised some action. It came at once, through the good offices of the Hon. Brendan Brack­ en,. Minister of Public Information. Mr. Bracken is young (somewhere around 40) and active. ,He has not held his post long. Before that he was secretary to Mr. Churchill. He is, I believe, a bachelor and a.^’ich man. Cartoonists delight in ‘ his features. He has one of the hard­ est jobs in England, the handling of publicity in wartime. I met him several times during my visit and thought him capable, t interesting and quite human. Mr. Bracken came around the next day with a message. We would not only meet Mr. Churchill, but we were going to hear him speak in the House of Commons first. It would be his first speech before Parliament in more than three months. Arrangements were be­ ing made to find us seats in the gal­ leries. Afterwards, Mr. Bracken himself would take us to the Prime Minister’s office and we could ask him any questions xwe liked. A few mornings earlier, our little group had. been greeted’ at Westminster by the officers of the Parliamentary Union and then had been conducted thoroughly through the Houses of Parliament by two titled guides, one a member of the House of Lofds and the other from ■ the House of Commons. They had been thorough, informative and amusing. We had even seen such places as the room, where Guy Fawkes had stored the gunpowder intended to blow up an earlier Par­ liament. We had gazed regretfully at the few piles of rubble and twist­ ed girders which were all that re­ mained of the’ House of Commons ' room. We had seen the room in the same buildings where the Com­ mons now meets, At least one of the Canadians took time out to sit in the red leather seat where the Brittle Minister sits, just hear the corner of the great' table. The Mother of Parliaments The place looked Very different on our second visit, Crowds were hurrying through the halls, with policemen in conspicuous numbers. I sometimes wondered if the Lon­ don police were as wise as they look- as ail the that of England seemed cer- the ability to resist sue- was doubtful, in the in* mohths Churchill has giv* The danger of successful in­ appears to have passed, that th© herare now hag been He v;s- came to of plans his very speeches ed. With Brendan Bracken guide, it did not matter: they knew him. As Mr« Bracken shepherded past the guards, he told Us that us he i. could secure seats for some in the Press Gallery and others would be distributed in other galleries. I was one of the five or six fortunate enough to go to the Press Gallery. We went to the rooms of the Ser­ jeant at Arms (the -spelling is just as it appears in the documents) and were enrolled as duly consituted members of the Press Gallery. We signed pur names in a huge volume which undoubtedly contains many interesting signatures, and received passes to prove that we were mem­ bers. Mine was No. 34 fox1 this new session. There were some surprises, I had always heard that there were not sufficient seats in the House of Commons members- with the the war months, Among women, without were widely separate row to accommodate all the at once, yet on Prime Minister for the first there were seats the members three s with hats and four No this day, reviewing time in to spare, were seven two sat together. They scattered, each in a of seats. Gallery wasn’t filled.The Press In the row ahead I saw Harold Fair, the Canadian Press representative, whose home is in Arthur, Ontario. In all the other galleries, there would not be-more than one hund­ red spectators. Probably it is hard to gain admission in these days. One would suppose thousands more would like to hear Churchill speak. Among that hundred, the guide pointed out some notable persons. Directly behind Mr. Churchill sat one of his daughters. Directly op­ posite was Mr. Maiskey,. the Russian ambassador. That was in the days when Russia’s part in the conflict was uncertain, but Mr. Maiskey had just told the Inner War Cabinet that Petrograd would be still in Russian hands by Christmas; that the Germans would never take Mos­ cow. During’ the question period, I time to look around. Overhead an ornate ceiling like that in Senate Chamber, at'Ottawa. Around the walls were life-sized statues of the ancient knights. Immediately behind my back, stood a former Duke of Gloucester with spear and shield. had was the u i i '1 X iB THS EXETER TIMES-ADVOCATE ■ChwehW Spepks to- Parliament I When prime Minister ChijrcWlli rose to speak,, he was almost dir-i ectly below me. Over the railing, Ii could look 4own on his partly-bald! head, with wisps of hair brushed across it. He stood at the corner of the . table. on which the mace lay. Before him were his notes in a broad book. He did not reaff the speech but. kept his eye fre­ quently on his notes, Mr. Churchill was dressed , in the .same clothes one sees in so many of his photographs. That is not sur­ prising since his suits are as strict" ly rationed as those of every Brit­ isher. He had on a black coat^.with a white handkerchief showing con­ spicuously over the edge of the breast pocket. He wore the famous bow tie with the spots and spec­ tacles with heavy rjms. The skin of his face and head was a bright rosy pink as I looked down at close range. The only conspicuous ad­ ornment was a heavy gold watch chain across his broad vest. There is no need to quote from that speech now. Partly it review­ ed the course of the war, but to a greater extent, it was an attack on his critics in the House, the press and the countryside. K con­ tained plenty of punch, as all bis speeches do. He used few ges­ tures, Sometimes he grasped the edge of the table in front of him; at times, he held the lapels of his coat or clasped his hands behind ■ his back or over his stomach. It ■was the words that counted, rather than the Thursday, January 22nd„ 1942 In the , Just as manner of their delivery. Primb Minister’s Office* soon as Mr. Churchill had finished his speech^ I- hurried ‘ out of the gallery' and met the other Canadians. Mr. Bracken was wait­ ing for us and took us down wind­ ing stairways and along corridors past three or four more policemen. Outside the Prime Minister’s of­ fice, we waited He came in ready, he had famous cigars, to his room and as we were intro­ duced by the Minister op Informa­ tion, he shook hands with asking the name of the well a’s of the man. He newspaperman himself. The room is large and A huge, ornate fireplace is conspic­ uous on one wall and on either side of it were etchings of famous prime ministers of the past. In for him to. arrive, a few minutes, Al- lighted one of his He invited us in- each one, paper as is an old L-shaped, ill’s desk, but he did not sit down. Instead, he walked up. and down all the time- he was talking to uC He was bubbling over* with energy, and apparently pleased with the speech he had. just -delivered. He begap with a joke. “You have had plenty of time to see the City of London?...You have visited the damaged areas and the House ot^Coibmons?...Now, I suppose you have come here so that you could say you had seen all the ruins? ” ; But there was nothing that look­ ed like a ruin about him. It was amazing that man could carry the nares of an Empire at war and show the effects so little. We told him how glad we were to be there and how highly he was regarded in, iCanada, We said that when his voice comes over the air, people stop work to listen. We said we were sorry he had not been able to come to Canada after th,e meeting with President Roosevelt on the Atlantic, He seemed to like that and re­ ciprocated by praising what Can­ ada and Canadians had done, He would like to visit Canada, again but it was hard -to spare the time away from London now. His answers to questions about the war were “off the record,” but that did not matter. He told us little that he had not already said in the House. He joked over his use of American slang and asked us if it had been correctly done. (He had said: “The Foreign Office ill deserves the treatment it has re­ ceived from natural and profession­ al crabs”). Before he shook hands again in bidding us farewell, he promised to give us each a written message to bring back to Canada. Two days later, copies arrived a.t the hotel for each of us. They read: “(From visits such as yours we in Britain gain fresh and heart­ ening assurance of the unremit­ ting effort and unconquerable spirit of the Dominions overseas. Now you are going back to toll the, people of Canaca what you have seen and heard. Tell them also that never before have we at home felt more sure of our­ selves and of our Cause. WINSTON CHURCHILL” ---------V-------- PERTH COUNTY TO MAKE. .FARM SURVEY Full cooperation in all the town- ships of Perth -County is evidenced by the way in which the councils; have responded to an appeal by Perth County Agricultural Repre­ sentative R. > E. White that they organize all school sections for the purpose of conducting an agricul­ tural wartime committee survey of farm conditions. The townships of Fujlarton, Lo­ gan, Mornington and Blanshard have sent along the lists Of the workers named to conduct the sur­ vey. All township clerks seem to express the full willingness of the various township councils to assist in the important war work. In Blanshard township the work- in. the various school sections as folows: No, I, John Steph- ers are ens, William Switzer; No, 2, Nel­ son ~ 3, Nelson Baker, Robert Marriott; No, 4, Andrew Knox, Harvey Park­ inson; No, 5, George Jones, Jack Mills; No. 6, William Mossey, Thomas Parkinson; No. 7, Carson’ Lamond, P. G, Morison; No., '8, William Cade, Hugh McCourt; No, 9, Mac Simpson, Science Hill, Wil­ liam Crawford; No. JO-, T, A. Crags, George Hotson; No, II, Clarence Switzer, Maurice Blackley; No. 12, William Morley, Bert Duffield; No.' 13,• Fred Doupe, iFred Thompson; No. 14, Howard Bearss, Archie Pliail; No. 15, Roy Ralston Arnold Robinson. -------—V----—~ Colthart, William McKay; No. No. Mc- and MRS. MARY WISEMAN Mrs. Mary Wiseman died at home of her daughter, Mrs. William Ratcliffe, R.R. 2, Blanshard, and Was buried Wednesday’ afternoon of last week from that address. The 83-year-old woman had resided with her daughter for the past four years, previous to that time having spent’ many years -near Kirkton, Where her husband farmed. She was born in Ontario, of Scottish parents, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Som- Her husband predeceased One son,' Arn- Kirkton, and one daughter, Ratcliffe, are the only surviv- There are four grandchild­ interment was made in Kirk- the e Dr. Quackster (the cheerful com­ forter in best bedside 1 manner); “Pardon bringing my bill with me, but you know how difficult it is ’to Jifront of the fireplace is Mr. Church-, drag .money out of any one’s heirs. • .A ■ . ’ I L. t 0 ♦ erville. her nine years ago. old, Mrs. ors. ren. ton Cemetery. ----------V- The need of a job for every man is not nearly so great just now as a good man for every job. ffl M JELrJK-rPl t I People who are. off colour say they’re liverish or their liver is bad! ®o you know how serious this is — that it may lead to permanent Hi health — your wholesystem poisonedand broken down? ® Your Jiver R the largest organ in your body .and most important to your health. It supplies energy to muscles, tissues and glands, If unhealthy, your body Jacks this energy and becomes enffoblgd—-youihful vim disappears, Again yotir liver pours out bile to digest food, toOtrid of waste and allow proper nourishment to reach your blood. When your liver gets » out of prder proper digestion and nourishment stop—you’re poisoned with the waste that decomposes xn your .intestines. Nervous troubles and rheumatic pains arise from this poison. Yon become constipated, stomach and kidneys can’t work properly. The whole system is affected and you feel “rotten,” head­ achy, backachy, dizzy, tired out—a ready prey for sickness and disease. Thousands of people are never sick, and have won prompt relief from these miseries with ’'Improved Frui.t’-a»tives Liver Tablets.” The liver is toned up, the other organs function normally and lasting, good health results. Today “Improved Fruit-a-tives” are Canada’s largest selling liver tablets. They must be good! Try them yourself NOW. Let “Fruit-a-tives’’ put you back on the road to lasting health— . feel like a new person. 25p, 50c, .... ..- ... ... .» «... . « “Ccrutantly In Fain, |»ow A New Woman'* For a Jong time I feltvery miserable With UV«r trouble and constipation which brought on such bad bead-' achesthatI could hardly do jny housework. I started Fruit-a- tives and felt bet­ ter at once. After using only one box ,thb awful headaches were gone, constipation left me and J felt like a new woman. Miss J* Duplante, Cornwall, Ont. “Suffered For Years, Now Feel Grand’* I was always Irritw able, tired, head­ achy. I could not eat or sleep well and had very severe constipa­ tion, After tryinft many medicines I foupdL “Fruit-a- tives”. My head­ aches and consti­ pation have disappeared and I am never tired or irritable now’. Mrs. J. H. Laliberte, Montreal, jP.Q. DENNIS HEENAN DIES IN BIDDIULPH TOWNSHIP A lifelong resident of Biddplph Township, Dennis Heenan, ' died Wednesday of last week in his 70th year. A well-known resident, he was born at the home in which he died, lot 20, concession 9, Biddulph. He was a son of the late James and Bridget Heenan. ■ Mr, Heenan was a member of the Holy ‘Name Society, the Propaga­ tion of the Faith and the League of the Sacred Heart. He was a mem- ber of St. Patrick’s Church, Bid­ dulph. Surviving are three sisters, ;Mrs. Catherine iCasey and the Miss­ es Elizabeth and Norah Heenan, and a brother, Patrick Reenan, of Bid­ dulph. Fun'eral services were held on (Friday from the residence at 9.30 a.m. to St, Patrick’s church, ■where requiem high mass was sung. Interment was in St. Patrick’s Cemetery. ■V- One of1 the best ways to keep a friendship is to return it. Metter Not to Blame for the Children’s Colds Despite all the mother can do the kiddies will run out of doors not properly wrapped up; have on too much clothing; get overheated and cool off too sud­ denly; get their feet wet; kick off the bed clothes, and do a dozen things the mother cannot help. •®alf the hattie in treating children’s colds is to give them something . eJLsomething they will take without any fuss, and this the mother will find m Dr. Wood’s Norway Pine Syrup, a remedy used bv Canadian do a dozen things the mother cannot help. will find in Dr. Wood’s Norway Pine Syrup, a remedy used by Canadian mothers, for the past. 48 years. ■Price 35c a bottle; the large family size, about 3 times as much, 60c, at all drug counters. ■■ The T. Milburn Co., Limited, Toronto, Ont. ff <P These prizes will be given to subscribers of the Times.Advocate who pay their subscription before February 28th' Four Coupons will be given for each year’s subscription, one coupon for each 50c paid. On February 28th a draw will be made and the holder of the first number drawn will be given the Grand Prize of a $25.00 War Saving Certificate.The next five will receive $2.00 eSecond Prize $5.00. receive $1,00 each. Only one prize to a M * *■ i .00 a year 0 4- We club with all papers and magazines