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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Times-Advocate, 1949-09-22, Page 2Page 2 THE TIMES-ADVOCATE, EXETER, ONTARIO, THURSDAY MORNING, SEPTEMBER 22, 1949 Cxeter Wime^&tibocate Times Established 1873 Anuilgiunated November 1934 Advocate Established 1881 Published Each Thursday Morning at Exeter, Ontario An Independent Newspaper Devoted to the Interests of tine Village of Exeter and District Authorized as Second Class Mail, Post Office Department, Ottawa Member of the Canadian Weekly Newspaper Association Member of the Ontario-Quebec Division' of the CWNA Member of the Audit Bureau of Circulation Paid-In-Advance Circulation As Of September 30, 1948 — 2,276 SUBSCRIPTION RATES Canada, in advance, $2.50 a year United States, in advance, $3.00 Single Copies 6 Cents Each J. Melvin Southcott - Publishers Robert Southcott THURSDAY MORNING, SEPTEMBER 22, 1949 Good Work A little painting now and then is prac­ ticed by the wisest men. Exeter is to be congratulated on the way in which the ciit- zens pay attention to the appearance of their residences. Not only are the lawns well kept but the houses are becomingly painted. One hears folk talking about new household decorations and of conveniences and ornaments being added from time to time. All of this is to the good. The York­ shire farmer said that it is all right for one to have a wife that looked after the house­ hold but that he did like to have “aooman that war noice to Luke on Sunday after­ noons. All the world agrees with his sound philosophy. We believe in comfortable premises. Of course, we do. At the same time it is refreshing as one turns in from the day’s work to have a seemly home that is suggestive of the finer and better things of life. “The wee house among the heather” with its flowers and singing birds and its lovely inglenook has kept the world at its best when things have been difficult and the sledding heavy. # $ $ $ The Good Old Rocking Chair We have the story at first hand. The head of the big business firm was return­ ing from the funeral of his chief competi­ tor. The two men, a dozen years before, entered the lists with the express purpose of outdoing each other in friendly but keen competition. Each worked to his peak every waking hour. At last came the collapse of the one. As his friend looked his last at his competitor, it occurred to him “There’s myself were I not a little tougher”. Instead of returning to his office that day he sat down on his verandah to do some thinking. Strange was the coincidence but he sat down on a rocking chair. The verandah was cool and the quiet motion of the chair was restful beyond anything he ever dreamed of. “Willy nilly, come hell, come high water, I’m going to spend an hour every day in this fine chair.” he resolved. When I last saw this merchant, well on to his eightieth year, he was resting quietly in that chair. I could get few words out of him. “(,'oine again in a couple of hours. This is my rocking chair time.” ’When that man got to his store, he filled the building with his vim. He was the livest and most vital person in the whole concern. The ac­ cumulated effect of those rocking chair periods had made him a new man. “It’s my life preserver 1” he chuckled as I said some­ thing about the armchair business man. He was a leader because he had learned to rest and kept up the practice of his lesson. # What’s In A Name, Anyway? Our big brothers, in givng accounts of the fairs, are telling us about agricultural day. We used to call the day “farmers* day”. Not so now. We wonder; is this due to the differing names applied to the soil tillers? Formerly such a worker was called a farmer. Princqial Mills of the O.A.C. so spoke of this class. So did George Brown, and Mr. Wells founded a paper that was The Farmer’s Advocate. Came the day when some farmers sought legislation in their behalf. Others saw in organizations of the soil tiller’s difficulties. These men donned worsted suits, bowler hats and fine shoes with fancy toes, secured rooms for meetings, and otherwise uplifted their toil­ ing fellow worker. These men were called agriculturalists and were consulted by gov­ ernments and such bodies. Some say that this class of worker erected fine buildings that oten were monuments of human folly. Still another -class improved their soil and livestock, built roads and schools and churches and accumulated modest bank ac­ counts. These were known as dirt farmers, whose names were respected by bank mana­ gers when written at the bottom of a note -or a cheque. We wish the agriculturalists ; well but confess a deep respect for the ! ■farmer who improves his country by doing a farmer’s work exceptionally well and who gets better results every year from his holdings that have a way of becoming a : little more attractive and profitable year by year, Jjr sis « * ; Quitting The Balkans? “Stalin quitting the Balkins'?” queried* the heading in one of our* big dailies. The question was interesting, for it hinted some- ■ thing that was sure to affect the quiet go­ ing people of this village and of the whole world. Stalin for a long time has been try- ; ing to make a comfortable nest for himself in the Balkins. True, the Palkins were, and have been as quiet as a yard of fighting cocks recently introduced to one another, but Stalin knows that the best way to have fighting cocks reconciled to one another is to leave them to fight it out. The harder those birds fight the sooner will quiet ar­ rive. After the fight in tjje Balkins, Stalin's hope was to have those bristling birds act as a sort of protective army for his own beloved Russia. But the birds have proven untractable; we expected and wondered if the man in the Kremlin had grown tired of waiting for the blood letting in the Bal­ kins to subside and so had determined to return to the quiet of his palace. Just then came the word that the big-wigs meeting in Washington had not come to an honest- to-goodness understanding. Ajaparently Sta­ lin saw his opportunity for bigger things in western Europe and quite the Balkins to make an alliance with the western European powers that for some time had been plan­ ning an alliance to hold him incheck.Was he quitting the Balkins to put the kibosh on the plans so carefully made to keep his finger out of the western pie ? * * * * Which Way, Britain? Which road is Britain going to take these awe-inspiring days for awe-inspiring they surely are to anyone who is aware of what is going on among the statesmen of the world. Britain has a choice of three courses. For years she has been hoping to live on the best of business and social terms with the United States. Does she propose at this juncture to go along with the Unit­ ed States and Canada? That is her wish. Are there any difficulties in the way of her so doing? There certainly are and these difficulties must be removed if hearty unity between Britain and the United States is to be achieved and maintained. First of all, Britain must be fed. If her farmers and merchants and factory men are to be at their peak in quality and quantity of pro­ duction, they must be more than half fed. They must be well fed. Britain must have dollars wherewith to purchase this essential nourishment. And dollars are the very thing of which she is distressingly short. She is producing as she never produced be­ fore, or at least in quantities that far ex­ ceed the production of 1938. It is com­ plained that her products lack in quality and in sales appeal. Suppose this were the case. What if her product were the best that may be placed on the market. When she offers her goods (say in the United States), she finds a practically prohibitive tariff wall against her. So that’s that. Till that tariff wall is dealt with. Marshal or any other monetary aid will take Britain a very little way. It is urged, that Britain should look to herself and live to herself and not bother herself any more about the affairs of Empire. Suppose Britain should say to the United States “We’ll not trade with you.” What then would be done with the piles, mountain high, of cotton and wheat and tobacco that immediately would croud the export docks of the United States? What would then be the condition of the American worker on the farm, on the plantation, and in the mine and forest? Should Britain give up her patrol of the seven seas and her policing the world so that men may go in safety about their law­ ful business? There is a third alternative too dark and terrible to contemplate, but it is an alternative that beckons alluringly. Is she to form an alliance with Russia rather than see her children starve? What then of the United States and Canada? If the United States forces this alternative upon the best friend freedon ever had she will be writing the darkest page in human history. Even the United States, mighty as she is and enlightened as we believe lier to be, cannot play the international game on the principle of “heads I win. tails you lose”. Since the United States is economi­ cally on top of the world, she is called upon to use her giant strength in the in­ terest of humanity. Dollars are not the only things that give a nation power that en­ dures. Equally with the United States, Canada must be up and doing. British cash supported Canada when she was but a child. Canada, now that she is grown, is under the most solemn obligation to support the hand that fed her, now that that hand is feeble with the fight that preserved free­ dom for Canadians. Before the Christmas chimes are heard again, Canada has the chance of her history to show the quality of her blood and the stolness of her cour­ age. For the United States and Canada to fail at this critical juncture is for them to hold open the door that leads to civiliza­ tion’s downfall. "MOUNTAIN DEW" As the-------- “TIMES” Go By 50 YEARS AGO (The Exeter Advocate 1899) Mr. John Decker of the ninth concession of Hay, has sold his handsome driving team to Pre­ mier Greenway, of Crystal City, Man., for the snug sum of .$350, School Board Minutes: Per J. Senior and II. N. Ilowe that the Principal be empowered to take twenty minutes of two afternoon sessions, weekly, for physical culture for the entire school. A pugilistic encounter took place in this village (Dashwood) recently, at which, means con­ trary to the rules of prize fight­ ing, were resorted to. Mr. George Ediglioffer,. our popular shoe merchant, is so crowded with work that he has to add another man. A good job for .a steady man. ■— Dashwood News. 25 YEARS AGO (The Exeter Times 1924) The students from Exeter High This Is Our Saga Reprinted from the Ausable Valley Conservation Report, this is the story of the development of the area served by The Times-Advocate. . This history is not only authoritive, but it also contains many interest­ ing features never before published for public consumption. The nar­ rative will be produced in a series. Municipal Organization And The Growth of Towns The organization of municipal­ ties and local government in the Ausable Watershed followed the settlement at about the same interval as in most areas settled after 1815 in Southern Ontario. During the first days of settle­ ment, there was no means of registering deeds locally In the Huron Tract. Thomas Mercer Jones, the Canada Company Commissioner at Goderich, pro­ posed formation of a county to be added to the London District, in 1833. This was put into effect, and thenceforth legal business was conducted at London, while the Canada Company did much of the local administration. In IS42, a District of Huron was formed, with a council sitting at Gode­ rich and such local officals as had existed—a constable, a cor­ oner and one or two clerks— were transferred to the new body, and a sheriff appointed. The Western District (Essex, Kent and Lambton) were formed in the same year. A represent­ ative of Warwick was 1837 and who had been chosen to attend by his few neighbours. However, in 1843, the District Clerk was “instructed to inform Mr. Ward that Bosanquet was not a town­ ship, there could be no township clerk”, and Bosanquet remained unrepresented until it organized as a township in 1847. In 1849, the Western District became the United Counties of Essex, Kent, and Lambton, and finally in 1853, Latnbton County became independent. A similar evolution took place in Huron, where the United Counties of Huron, Perth and Bruce were formed in 1850; Perth acquired its own , county buildings and a separate exist- ance in 1853, but Huron and Bruce remained united until 1866. Adelaide and Lobo Townships were organized in the thirties; the rest of the townships in the watershed between 1840 and 1850. The story is told in County Histories only six freeholders could be found from which to choose a council of five. Canada Company Records, however, show sixteen sales oE land before 1840, which were fully paid up by 1850 and more pales were made later, so that the often recounted tale must be regarded as apocry­ phal. The inhabitants of McGillivary and Biddulph found the trip to Goderich inconveniently long and their contract with county of­ ficials otherwise too remote. They therefore petitioned for an­ nexation to Middlesex County; were shifted from Huron to Middlesex. Williams Was .divided into Williams East and West in 1860. There are no cities or large towns in the watershed. Park­ hill is the incorporated town, and except Exeter, none of the incorporated villages had a popu­ lation of more than 1,000 in 1947. Exeter is also the only village, which has shown any appreciable recent growth until within the last ten years. Park­ hill was a town of any size, and is now smaller than many vil­ lages in other parts of the .pro­ vince, (A) Exeter—: The lots which include the sites of Exeter were all granted before 1840. Janies Willis pur­ chased Lot 15, Concession 1 in Usborne in April 1844, and not long after four members of the McConnel family obtained grants between that point and the Thames Road, McConnel’s tavern was already open in February 183 3, but was still in an un­ finished state. The lots on either side of the road through which the river runs, seem to have been unoccupied and uncleared for years after McConnel had set up his mills. Probably this was due to the fact that they were often under water for long periods. The first beginnings of a village were at “Hay Post .Of­ fice “where the post office for Hay Townships was established. This was expected to be .the chief town of the neighbourhood and did develop into a sizeable vil­ lage. However, by the early fif­ ties, there was a hamlet of sorts at the cross-roads a mile and a quarter south of Hay, where Isaac Carling had opened a store and a tannery in IS47. This vil­ lage evidently flourished during the next ten or twelve years. There are several good brick buildings in this part of the country of Exeter, which date from just before .and just after IS60. A hamlet had also grown up near the mills, which was called “Francistown”. In 1867 Exeter was referred to as “a thriving village of four years' growth”. The growth had been rapid, for by then Exeter had at least four or five hundred in­ habitants and Francistown and Hay about 200. George Me Con­ nell’s saw and grist mill was still running and there were possibly three other grist mills and two sawmills on the river. Besides these there were a steam grist mill and a steam saw mill in Exeter and a foundry in Francistown. The t o w n was equipped to supply the wants of travellers on the high road, who needed smiths and wagon .mak­ ers, saddlers and harness makers ers, saddlers and harness makers, shoemakers and inns in the same way that modern traffic needs service stations, hot dog stands and repair shops. The necessities and luxuries of the neighbouring farmers were catered to by a long list of tradesmen and store­ keepers, while bricklayers, car­ penters and joiners, an architect­ builder and a .sash-doorand-blind maker were taking advantage of the building boom. It is evident that Exeter was already the chief market town of the district, a position it has maintained eVer since. The build­ ing of the Grand Trunk Line in Lucan increased .the import­ ance of Exeter, since the stage was the only one between the railways at Clinton and at Lucan, In .1871, Exeter and North Exe­ ter (Francistown) contained nearly 1,000 people and were practically one 'village, though the upper part of the present business section appears to have been built mostly after 1875. The two villages were incorporat­ ed in 1873 as the village of Exe­ ter, the population then being well over 1,00'0. The building of the railway was eagerly expected at that time. When it was com­ pleted in 1876 the Station was placed midway between the cross-roads and streets were laid out on the west between the line and the high road. The railway brought further prosperity to Exeter, which is .now the most populous permanent urban settle­ ment in the watershed, having 1,980 inhabitants in 1947, and more than 2,000 in 1948. (B) Clandeboye—: ' In the forties, a centre of some importance liar grown up near ,the fork in the London Road, where one branch turned eastwards to meet the “Proofline Road”, while another led straight south through London Township School who will attend normal school this year are — Elmer Christie, Carrie Davis, Gertie Francis, Mary Ho r n e y, ,Ruth Lamport and Mildred Rowe. A new sign has been erected at the Central Park by the Exe­ ter .Horticultural Society. In ad­ dition to the name of the park on one side it says “Tarry a Time” and on the other side “Rest a While”. Messrs. William Lawson and George Hind left Monday for Toronto to attend Dental College. MITCHELL—AMY — In Exeter on September 18, at the home of her mother, Mrs. E. A, Amy, Miss Louise Amy to Mr. Herman Mitchell, of Stephen, by Rev. W. E. Donnelly. 15 YEARS AGO (The Times-Advocate 1934) Several Exeter lads have at­ tracted considerable publicity through some branding pranks that were played at the bank of the river near the old swimming hole, a half mile east of town. The leading daily newspapers of the province have contained vivid accounts of the affair and the lads have appeared in several papers. The boys branded each other with a piece of iron used for t oasting marshmallows and weiners. The midway of last week’s Exeter Fair was the largest ever seen at the show and included the world’s smallest woman, Princess iCoretta, who is thirty inches short and weighs forty pounds. Three people .were injured, one —Mrs, 'George Link — seriously, to the Egremount Road (No. 7). In 1846, this included three inns and two stores, hut was spread out over more than a mile from the i nn on Lot 1 “Proof Line Road” in Biddulph to the , inn and store on Lot 19, Concession 1 of McGillivery. It is probably because of the straggling char­ acter of this settlement that it was considered not “deserving of the name” of village in 1851. A post office for McGillivery Town­ ship had been opened on Lot 13, Concession 1 of that township before 1845, and this was soon moved south to “Flannigan’s Coroners”, as the village was called at first. It was also known as “Irish Town” or “Ireland” the last being the official name of the village. The post office, however continued to be McGilli­ vray for many years. “Ireland” was at that date a more import­ ant settlement than Exeter, and it remained the local centre until after the opening -of the Grand Trunk Railway, but was then soon overshadowed by Lucan in 1S57, the village contained about 30 O' people, veveral inns and stores, a church and usual com- lement of craftsmen. There was only one mill, but the Division Court sat in the village and gave extra employment to several of the inhabitants. By 1871, the population had shrunk somewhat and the volume of business had declined noticeably. The fact that Clandeboye had a station and siding on the London, Huron and Bruce Railway kept the village fro m disappearing altogether, but it now shows few signs of its early importance. Of the earliest settlements on tile Ausable Watershed, which may be said to have started be­ fore 1840, only Exeter has been able to maintain its prosperity until today. The increased settle­ ment of the early fifties produced a crop of villages in all parts of the watershed. In 1846, there were only three post offices in the watershed, all “township” post offices. In 1851, the number had increased to five, but only Adelaide was a “village” office. In 1857, the list had increased to sixteen,or seventeen, only four of which were still named for townships. The developement of post offices is a good indication of the spread .of settlement and the opening of roads. Of the vil­ lages which centered round the hew post offices opened before 1856 only Arkona (Bosanquet Rost Office) was able to main­ tain its growth after the re­ adjustment which followed the building 'of the railways. (O) Arkona—: A post office was opened for Bosanquet Township about 184$ at the junction of the road to Port Franks and the line of the south boundary of Williams Township. T h e village grew rapidly in the fifties and by 1857 had a population of more than 300, There was a grist mill in or near the village and others not far away, a tannery and pos­ sibly a saw and shingle mill. A good deal of building was evi­ dently going on in the village and the district. In the next few years, Arkona developed to some extent into an industrial village. Situated at an important road junction, equally distant from three important railway stations, and in an area which was heavily lumbered the railways increased its prosperity and importance. A large foundry was opened in 1858, a woollen factory In 1860 and flax .dressing plant In 1871. The steam flour mill had then a capacity of fifty barrels a day, when a light truck crashed into a horse and buggy on the lake road, a quarter of a mile west of Dashwood, about 8 o’clock Thursday evening. 10 YEARS AGO (The Times-Advocate 1939) Mr. W. W. Chapman, Hay Township, has a five-weeks old calf that has its heart in its mouth. The action of the heart is quite visible and can be read­ ily felt. A fire which threatened the entire business section of Zurich at noon on Monday completely destroyed a vacant barn, owned by Mrs. John Hey, and did slight damage to the roofs of the town hall, telephone office and flour mill before being brought under control. The skull of an unidentified drowning .victim was recovered in the gill nets of Grand Bend fishermen working in Lake Huron eight miles northwest Of Kettle Point. The sport fans of this com­ munity got a new thrill Friday evening when indoor softball was played beneath the. floodlights at the Exeter Arena foi' the first time. and there were three other flour mills, a paint mill and sawmills not far from the village. Arkona was still a fairly busy place for another generation, although there was little growth of .popu­ lation, but the exhaustion of the time and the depopulation of Williams West and the other townships have affected Arkona to some extent and it is now seventh among tlie villages of the watershed. The other pre-railway villages have practically disappeared. Sylvan began with a sawmill, in 1851; a steam mill was built the next year and .before long Sylvan was the centre of a number of wood working mills. There was also a brick-yard south of the village, but the proximity of Parkhill and Thedford prevented any growth of population. The mills were closing down or being moved by the beginning of this century and Sylvan is now little more than the name of a cross­ roads. (D) Widder (Pinehill Post Offficc) A similar situation existed in Bosanquet, where a considerable market town and centre of popu­ lation had grown up by the early fifties at village of Widder. Wld- der was laid out by the Canada Company, one of , the few ex­ amples of the Company's “town planning” in the watershed. It shared the local lumbering trade with Sylvan and Arkona. .When the Grand Trunk line by-passed Widder in 1858 on its way to Sarcia, the railway company built a station about a mile and a half from the village. Around this grew up a town which at­ tracted merchants and mills from the older site to new locations, so that Widder declined rapidly in population as ‘Widder Station’ grew in Thedford. There were never any large villages in McGillvray west of the second concession; the mills were scattered and no one of the small settlements, which grew up near them became especially im­ portant before the growth of the railway villages. West McGilli­ vray Post Office was opened in the 1850’s but the village even With the neighbouring hamlet of Lleury, remained a small place. Brinsley was a cross-roads vil­ lage near a grist mill and .Moray owed its Importance tn three nearby sawmills. (To bo continued next week).