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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Times-Advocate, 1952-05-29, Page 2the TIMES-ADVOCATE, EXETER, ONTARIO, THURSDAY MORNING, MAY 29, 1952 This journal shall always fight for progress, reform and public welfare, never be afraid to at­ tack wrong, never belong to any political party, never be satisfied with merely printing news. THURSDAY MORNING, MAY 29, 1952 i i council is presently preparing a Highway -No. 83 to indicate to traveller-, >m that road where the business section, if the town is. That’s a good idea which ‘in be expanded to greater advan­I The tourist season is fast approaching’ tnd people from all over Canada and the United States will soon be travelling- hither •uni yon to see the beauty spots of every­ where. Driving through a town and seeing a 'ovelv, well-kept park or public playground k one of the most pleasant experiences of »ravel. tage It would be nice to we attractive muni­ cipal sign-* at either end of town proudly announcing that this is Exeter. At present the inly people interested in telling the publi - what town they’re coming to i.*» the ; department of highways which has erected two littD black and white signs which say iur population is 2,(516 (a generous fig- ; ure 1 j Perhaps the council could secure the cooperation of service clubs and organize- ’ tions tn Hie district to erect a sign which s will tell the travelling public we’re proud of our home town. • Tourists driving down our main drag j wouldn’t have the slightest idea that we ! have two lovely new schools and three use- [ fill parks. ; Signs indicating their whereabouts | would give the town publicity as well as > making it easier for tourists to find them. I It pays to advertise. 1 * * * * > I Oinie Member Speaks His Mmd , (The Winnipeg Tribune) ’ If a few more Members of Parliament ! were to follow the example of Ross Thatch- | er, M P. for Moose Jaw, there would be a i great deal more economy on the part of • the Ottawa Government than there is at present. Speaking in the Commons, Mr. Thatch­ er outlined savings in three categories which he claimed would amount to $315 millions this year. Mr. Thatcher described his three categories as petty savings, major savings that could be effected through changes in Government policy, and ^savings ( in defence spending. • Few Canadians will approve all the , savings advocated by the Member for i Moose Jaw. One of the suggestions—re- I storation of a means test in Old Age Pen- ; slows—would almost certainly be rejected ; by the great majority. ; On the other hand, his proposal to do [ away with double indemnities by reforming ( Parliamentary procedure, his proposal to > cut down some of the flow of publicity • coming from Government offices, and to I trim down the corps of Government econo- | mists, would probably be given overwhelm- j Ing approval. I But the most important thing about > Mr. Thatcher’s chapter-and-verse speech on ; possible Government economies is the fact ; that it showed that at least one M.P. was ■ doing i little homework and was interested enough to examine estimates of spending departments carefullly, This is something that ill Members of Parliament should be i doing The reaction of the Government to ■ Mr. Thatcher’s proposed economics was in- ■ teresting. To his suggestion that $20 mil- 1 lions might be saved by deferring certain . public works, James Sinclair, Parliamentary ’ assistant to the Minister of Finance, \ snapped: “The Moose Jaw Post Office t should be the first one.” Moose Jaw is in I Mr. Thatcher’s constituency. | This peevish statement is a typical s “politics first” reaction to any serious sug- * gestion that Government Departments i should cut down their expenditures. j » * * * 'Do you know what civilization is?" asks a socialogist. “Well, not exactly, In fact, we’re not even certain where it is,” answers The Kingston Whig-Standard, with } an eye on actualities. j Exeter has one of the best potential beauty spots of any town or city in Can- id i. It just has to be developed. With some imagination and careful planning the urea around the Ausable River between the dam and the highway bridge can be one of the attractions of “Scenic Ontario". The two channels of water could be controlled by stone and cement walls to allow the construction of a lawn, decorated with flower plots, shrubbery and trees. Foot paths and public benches, water foun­ tains and bird houses could add to its beauty. The possibilities are limitless. Situated along a main highway, such 1 park could not fail to attract the tourist or the motorist passing by, Coupled with the advantages of Riverview Park as a pic­ nic grounds, it would be a natural haven for the recreation and enjoyment of our local residents as well. Highway No. 4 is not one of the scen­ ic routes of Ontario but certainly a park here would make it more pleasant. Another park could be established at the highway bridge just north of Lucan. The principal drawback is the mess of junk and garbage lying on the side of the hill east of the highway. What an unfortunate eyesore in an otherwise attractive valley I The township of Biddulph should take -.teps immediately to ban the dumping of refuse along the hill. II the A iiLrtS /I JR M TIMES" Go By Old World Sends Us Good Neighbors By MAUKELLAR McARTHUR 50 YEARS AGO Horses owned by E. Bossen- berry, Zurich; H. Bossenberry, Grand Bend; Will Kuntz, Exeter, and W. Witzel, ICliiva, won the races at Grand Bend Monday. Mr, Henry Eilber and Mr. M. Y. McLean are the two can di dates contesting the South Huron riding for the provincial election. H. Powell, W. Milyard, D. Sanders and A. Evans won the relay races at the Victoria Day Celebration. J. Blair won the dog race and John I-Iarton, the bi­ cycle race. Messrs. Crowley and Ogden, who purchased Mr. William Snell’s livery business, took pos­ session on Monday. Congratulations are due Mr. H. J. Browning upon his success in passing his first year medical examination at Trinity College, Toronto. General Science in the second year; Mr. Harry M. Greb for mathematics and physics; Mr. Walter H. Johns for public speaking and Mr. Lome S, Tie­ man for English. More Money For M.P.s? (Goderich Signal-Star) According to report, Federal M.P.s want their salaries increased. The use of tile word “salaries” in this connection is significant. M.P.s used to receive an in­ demnity, a modest recompense, for their contribution to public business; but now that this recompense over the years has grown to larger proportions the word “sal­ aries” has come intp use in describing it. Possibly the average members earns his $6,000 a year ($2,000 of it exempt from in­ come tax); but some are above the average in attendance and usefulness as members, and some are definitely below the average. When there is an extra session in the year, a nice $4,000 is added, making $10,- 000. This is what irks the poor taxpayer who stays at home and puts up the" money. Anyone who sees Hansard must be disgust­ ed with the waste of time in long speeches, repetitions, protracted and unnecessary dis­ cussion's on points of order, and so on, that occupy so much of its pages. Members are allowed forty minutes per speech. Some speak far too often, and those who can talk sense for forty minutes at a time are not many. We must say that the members from Huron are not among these time-wasters. Mr. Cardiff in the House confines himself almost solely to questions and interjections and Mr. McLean probably is waiting until he has been longer in the House before ex­ ploding in a speech. (Both of course serve on committees whose proceedings Hansard does not report.) If speeches were limited to twenty minutes they would be better speeches and time would be saved. Then the sessions would be shorter, the members would have more time to attend to their own affairs at home, and the present salary would be ample. Taxpayers will not take kindly to an increase in the amount when so much of the members’ time is wasted in senseless gabble or in listening to it. 25 YEARS AGO A large crowd attended the corner stone laying ceremony at the United Church of Grand Bend. Rev. J. W. Collings is the pastor. The corner stone for the Young People’s Society was laid by Mr. H. W. Houston, Exeter; the Sunday School by Mr. W. G. Medd, M.L.A., the W.M.S. and Ladies’ Aid by Rev. S. A. and Mrs. Carriere and for the Trustee Board by Mr. Thomas McMillan. It is estimated 1,500' were pres­ ent. Captain and Mrs. Whitfield, of the Salvation Army, have re­ linquished their command in Exeter, owing to Captain Whit­ field’s ill health. At the recent examinations jn connection with the University of Western Ontario, former stu­ dents of Exeter (High School carried off a number of scholar­ ships and prizes. Mr. Carl G. Morlock won the scholarship for 15 YEARS AGO Mr, Roy Tash and staff of the Associated Screen News of Mont­ real are at the Masse family home shooting pictures of the family. Promoter Frank Del- bridge has arranged that these pictures will first be shown in Exeter, Winners of the Coronation Contest were Earl Whiting, of Usborne; Janette Scott, Crom­ arty; Mrs. L. Hamacher, Dash­ wood; Mrs. C. Hoggnian, Credi- ton; Mrs. Sarah Ferguson, of Exeter; and Bert Gardiner Kirk­ ton. Messrs. W i 11 i a m Dunsford, Harold Keiler, Brynley Cousins, and Ewalt Gritzka motored to Niagara. Falls and Buffalo over the weekend and witnessed the illumination of the Falls. 1O YEARS AGO Players on the Exeter team in the opening ball game of the season this week were Dinney, Moore, F. Creech, J. Creech, Ryckman, Nicol, Carscadden, Mc­ Donald and D. Pryde. Students attending the Wester­ velt Business College in London are Arthur Hern, Misses Jean Brock, Margaret Allison, Flor­ ence Southcott, Alta Harvey and Cogueline Simmons, Mr. E. C. Beacom, public school inspector for South Huron, has been notified by the Department of Education of Ills transfer to Stratford, W. J- Routley was appointed road superintendent of Usborne Township. News From Our NEIGHBORS (In “Saturi (Maekellar McArthur farms and writes, following the tradi­ tion of his famous father, the late Peter McArthur. The 100- year-old McArthur homestead is in Middlesex county, 28 miles southwest of London, Ontario. When we came back three years ago to the old family farm after twelve years of city life, the neighbors would often say to me, “You must see many changes,” The changes were easy to see—the pew machines—com­ bines, corn-pickers, forage har­ vesters and hay-balers —roaring up and down the once quiet roads and fields and looking more like prehistoric monsters than farm implements. The faster tempo of life in the old neigh­ borhood could be felt as the tractors throbbed over the fields while the few remaining horses fattened beyond all recognition in the pastures. In town on Saturday nights it was easy to hear an indication of a change which may have an effect even more far-reaching than new farm methods and new machinery. Many of the groups of men and women standing on the sidewalk talked together in mid-European languages or, to their Canadian neighbors, in broken English, The new machinery interests me only mildly—our farm is too small for it; the faster tempo not at all. But the changes being brought about by the influx oi a people different in language, customs and traditions from any I knew while farming before, does interest me greatly. It gives me what public speakers so hopefully try to give their list­ eners—•“food for thou g h t”— something to mull over in my mind as I go about my farm work. In conversation the neighbors often mention “Steve or Joe or Johnny,” as much or more than the once predominant Scottish names, Donald, Alex, Duncan and so on, sons and grandsons of John Archie, Red Malcolm or Big Pete, the pioneers who cleared the land and settled this district in Southwestern Ontario. When the neighbors speak of Steve or Joe they speak of them, not as so many once did, as “those damn foreigners who are ruining the country,” but as one good neighbor speaks of another -—“Joe’s a good worker,” “Steve is a good fellow.” The neighbors even use words and phrases with their own imitation of the Slovak accent. They can’t help it. The new “Ing-a-leesh” invites it even though it gives their typically rural Western Ontario accent, with its traces of Highland Scot­ tish, a startling effect. It made me wonder if my good old neighbors had gone slightly daft when I first heard one say to another, “I be go to town; mebbe you come too?” and the answer, “W e 11, mebbe I be come,” in slightly gutteral tones. The old neighbors chuckle at many of the “sayings” of their new neighbors and now often friends. It is laughter without malice, just as we laughed at the anecdotes of our own people, who spoke a mixture of Gaelic and English. “Ingaleesh” gives a new and 'fun-provoking twist to commonplace words and phrases that is often irresistible. For instance last summer we were working together at a stook threshing, loading and hauling in a neighbor's wheat. Joe’s wagon wag loaded; Steve was at the far end of the field, a long city block away with his wagon almost loaded. There were still 14 big shocks to pitch on and then the job would be done. We wondered if Steve's load would clear the field. Joe yelled at him, “You gonna take it?” We saw Steve look around Slowly as he sized up the situa­ tion. Then his reply drifted soft- ay Night”) ly down the wind, “Well, mebbe I gonna take it.” And of course, he took it all. As four of us old neighbors shouldered our forks and headed for a well-earned supper, we repeated the few words and chuckled over them. Now when a similar situation arises we may not answer, “I guess so,” but “Well, mebbe I gonna take it.” It was just as funny to us and far fresher in our minds than the anecdote that was handed down to us from early days about one of my uncles when he was going to public school. The teacher noticed little Mary crying. “Why are you crying, Mary?” she asked. “Duncan 'peuched' me," sob­ bed Mary. (There’s a Gaelic word for pinched that sounds like “pencil"---the proper spell­ ing I can’t imagine). “Duncan,” demanded the teacher severely, “why did you Pinch Mary?” “She 'peuched me first,” said my uncle-to-be, and settled the matter. As I think it over and occas- sionally talk with my new neigh­ bors myseif, it all adds up to the fact that the old neighbors have accepted the new. They are learning to work and live to­ gether to give the community new color and interest. The men and women who came among us as immigrants have earned their place in our neighborhood through their hard work and frugality, just as our Highland forefathers did a century or more ago. Today they have well-tilled and modernly-equipped farms. They drive shiny, big new auto­ mobiles. The good years have been kind to them. Now they are remodelling their houses and. painting their barns, something the rest of us have ibeen going to do for years but never quite got around to. Several factors have contribut­ ed to bring about this change in our community. Actually Steve, Joe, Paul and their wives were here before we moved away to the city. They were day laborers in the sugar beet and tobacco fields, doing what the neighbors then said was "work no white man would do.” But Steve and Mary, Joe and Annie, kept at their back-breaking toil, seldom looking up to see us driving by in our cars. They worked un­ heard-of hours, lived frugally' and saved continuously to attain objective the neighbors didn’t quite suspect. First thing anyone knew the former beeworkers, often with a toddler at their knees and a baby in arms, eased the kinks out of their backs and showed themselves as “white” as the next man. They began to use their savings to ibuy the often run-down farms, cleared by the almost forgotten toil of those mighty men of an earlier day, Big Pete, Red Malcolm and their sons, the fruit of whose labors is being garnered now. We buried the last of their generation in our neighborhood last spring, a bachelor well up in his eighties, a life-long neigh­ bor and friend of us all. He had retained all the old-time courtesy of his generation and had a fine sense of humor as well. Not long before he died he said to me as we excused ourselves from the table at a neighbor's threshing, “Did you know that I went to school with your father?” Ididn’t know. TTis eyes twinkled as he looked back in his mind over 70 years. “Many’s the fight we had, too.” “And who won?” I asked. “Och,” he replied, “we both did and always went home the best of friends.” As we so often say when a neighbor passes on, he’ll be missed. He was a good neighbor, as were all of his day. We don’t —Please turn to Page 3 <fje Cxeter ®imt£b$fotoocate Times Established 1873 Amalgamated 1924 Advocate Established 1881 Published Each Thursday Morning at Exeter, Ontario An Independent Newspaper devoted to the Interests of the Town of Exeter and District Authorized as Second Class Mail, Post Office Department, Ottawa Member at the Canadian Weekly Newspaper Association Member of the Ontario-Quebec Division of the OWN A Member of the Audit Bureau of Circulation Paid-in-Advance Circulation as of September 30, 1951 — 2,493 SUBSCRIPTION RATES Canada, in advance, $3.00 a year *** United States, in advance, $1.00 a year Single Copies Each J, MeXvin Southcott * Publishers - Robert Southcott Meters Installed Merchants heard the rattle and roar of the pneumatic drill on Thursday and Friday last, the signal that the much-debated parking meters had at last ar­ rived on the downtown side­ walks. A crew of workmen drill­ ed the respective holes in the sidewalks, others placed and ce­ mented the pipes and oh these pipes parking meter heads were installed. The meter posts put many old timers back in the horse and buggy days when hitching posts were just about as numerous as the meters on Queen >St. (St, Marys Journal Argus) Taxes Up In Smoke • There was a beach party re­ cently—perhaps two! And judg­ ing from the bottles which were left oil shore to get smashed and cut the feet of bathers, it evi­ dently was no children’s celebra­ tion. Or was it, perchance, a party of so-called adults who have never never growfl up to responsibility? Bayfielders like to see people come from other points and en­ joy themselves; but they also like to think that their tempor­ ary guests, so to speak, will respect the privilege add treat our property as they would their own.If there is anything which makes us see “red" it is to have some of our hard-earned tax money go up in smoke, And that is what happened about two weeks ago when visit­ ors took 12 lifts of the steps at the end of Bayfield Terrace for a bonfire over which to cook w e i n e r s, roast marshmallows, and make merry. The trustees have had the steps repaired. (Clinton News-Record) To Build New Road The Township of Bosanquet, with the expected help of the Province of Ontario, is to build a new road along Ipperwash Beach. This new road will be built back of the cottages from the Casino to the Ipperwash Military Camp road. It became necessary due to the high waters of the Great Lakes flooding the beach which has always been used for the road. This new thoroughfare will make the beach safer for bathers as it will lessen the traffic on the beach even when the waters re­ cede to their normal level. (Parkhill Gazette) Milk To Japan Interest was centered this week on the huge 23 ton boiler that came from an American firm to Stacey Bros, in town. It was transported >by truck from Se- bringville and, coming as >a com­ plete unit, was set in ready for piping. It was required on ac­ count of the large amount of milk coming into the plant. At present around 130,000 pounds of milk is coming into the local factory daily. •Citizens have been aware, too, of the manufacture by this firm of skim milk powder but they may not know that a recent ship­ ment of this product, 35,000 pounds, was made recently to Japan and in the first week in June 70,000 pounds will be ship­ ped. (Mitchell Advocate) LAFF OF THE -WEEK