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HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1969-10-16, Page 1Firemen are silhouetted against flames which ravaged Boyes Moments before firemen arrived, blast believed caused by a Transport Company warehouse on Ontario Street in Clinton tank of oxygen, shot chunks of concrete across the area where Monday night. Concrete wall of garage building, just beyond men are standing. There was little of value in the building doorway seen at left, kept fire from spreading into the garage. when fire of unknown origin broke out about 11:25 p.m. Damage is estimated at $7,000. — Staff Photo. Police chief must move here or lose job, councillor says Fireman Don ScrUtOn trains a hose on burning Boyes Transport Co, building in Clinton Monday evening. Fire Chief Grant Rath, centre', heads Off to check on Other firefighters as Bert Boyes, right, ankioUsly watches effOrts to control flames which caused an estimated $7,006 damage, Staff Photo, n News-Record 19401 YEAR — NQ. 42 .QL,IN.TO.N., ONTARIO — THURSDAY, QQTQ5.5R 15, MS PRICE P.5R ,QQPY 15c Thanksgiving Day blazes cause $40,000 damage Clinton's council is reverting temporarily to a one-year term in order to synchronize municipal and school board elections in the future. The present council was elected two years ago, the school board last year. A bylaw passed by the town Tuesday evening sets at one year the terms for councillors'taking office Jan. 1, 1970. The result will be that the terms of office for both town council and the Huron County school board will expire at the same time and all offices can be filled at one election, eliminating the need for balloting every year — one year for council and the Councillor Proctor sought to have the reeve leave the chair and telephcine the police chief to get an answer during the meeting, but Mr. Armstrong refused. Councillor Proctor called the refusal "neglect of duty" and said he wanted to make a motion that ''council advertise for a new chief. "You know and I know," said Councillor Proctor, "that the chief is not going to move. I can't understand members of council saying one thing and making motions and then forgetting about them." "Just make the motion," snapped Mr. Armstrong, "that's all we need." "Might I remind you," the councillor said to the reeve, "that you voted for this stipulation IaSt year." "Was that not my privilege?" replied the reeve. Mr. Armstrong rapped the gavel and asked: "Why do you bring it up now? Where's your motion? All we want is the motion and nothing next for schools, The understanding is that the town will again adopt a two-year term starting in Jan. 1971. Nominations this year for 'mayor, reeve, deputy reeve, councillors and members of the Public Utilities Commission to be held from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Nov. 28 in Town Hall. Elections, if needed, will be held on Dec. 8 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. in' the usual polling places. In other business Tuesday night, council: —Was told that complaints about traffic, parking, littering, trespassing and other problems in the vicinity of Central Huron Secondary School will be aired The first column The Kippen Gun Club will hold trap shoot Sunday at 1 pan. for the Huron County championship. The trophy was won by William Stewart of Goderich last year. * An item in Domtar Chemicals' Sifto Salty News reports that scientists think they have traced the origin of kissing to a craving for salt. A caveman discovered that he could cool off on a hot day by licking his neighbour's cheek. According to one source, he soon discovered it was a lot more fun if that neighbour chanced to be a female. About that' time he forgot all about salt. Thirty-two Huron County boaters are enrolled in junior piloting and seamanship courses being held by the Goderich Power Squadron at Goderich District Collegiate Institute on Wednesday evenings. Richmond S. Atkey of Clinton, squadron secretary-treasurer, said registration will remain open for a short time. H. R. Corbett of Goderich is junior piloting instructor. Ken S. Wood of Clinton teaches seamanship. E. Beecher Menzies of Clinton is chairman for advanced piloting. Junior piloting candidates from Clinton include David Wayne Hallman, Dr. Leland Paul Walden, Harvey Carter and Joseph H. Murphy. John K. Clark from Auburn is also enrolled. Seamanship candidates from Clinton, are Dr. Frank M. Newland, A. John R. Elder and Budd E. Kuehl. * * * Harvey Carter is heading this year's muscular dystrophy fund drive svhich is being conducted by the Clinton volunteer firemen who will place canisters in local stores and offices. * * * Here's an old Gaelic blessing, quoted by the Ontario Safety League: "May the roads rise with you, And the wind be always at your ,back. And may the Lord hold you In the hollow of .His hand." * * * Littering is not just a bad habit, it's an expensive one. Last year it cost the Department of Highways more than $970,000 to clean up along Ontario's highways. Keep a litter bag in your car and help keep Ontario clean. Weather. 1969 1968 HI LO HI LO Oct.. 7 62 52 58 48 8 58 43 61 37 9 68 33 62 44 10 73 57 58 41 11 71 55 60 34 12 58 48 67 40 13 79 52 69 42 Rain .97" Rain .26" 4se..47- * 'Proctor wrote out a motion and read it aloud, saying that it was seconded by Councillor Ted McCullough. Rather than a move to seek a new chief, it sought to have the acting mayor ascertain from the chief whether or not he would move by Nov. 1 and to have the answer given to council before the meeting ended. It' is up to , the police committee to investigate, said Please turn to page 12 this evening at a meeting in CHSS to be attended by the county director of education, the high school principal, the school board chairman, the student council president, the reeve, deputy reeve and possibly the mayor or someone he delegates to represent him. —Agreed to write to Eugene McAdam to ask that construction rubble in the alley between McAdam's Hardware and Beattie Furniture on Albert Street opposite Town Hall be removed or screened from view. —Decided to seek an appropriate way to commend players on the Colts Intermediate baseball team which worked its way to the all-Ontario finals this season. —Received from the Goderich accounting firm of A. M. Harper a letter stating that cost of the 1969 audit Will be $2,800, up $800 over the 1968 figure despite the fact that the public school audit is no looser included. —Heard that the PUC is trying to get the needed equipment to install new traffic signals at the main corner, but cannot get delivery of the long steel arms needed to reach out over the traffic lanes. —Appointed as members of the Recreation Committee Russ Archer, Don Jefferson and Andrew Peterson and accepted resignations from Mait Edgar, R. Schoenhals and Don Kempston. —Voted to declare Nov. 11, Remembrance Day, as a full holiday, but acknowledged receipt of a letter from the retail inerehantS association Which Wants to go on record as favoring a half-day holiday in the future. The ornerchants endorsed the full holiday plan this year because the town plans to dedicate the radar antenna received from OF% Clinton. and now hi place at the main eisrrierb Fires which broke out in the final hours of the Thanksgiving holiday levelled a Blyth district barn and a Clinton trucking company warehouse. Causes of both blazes remain unknown. Blyth Fire Chief Irvine Bowes said the wind-fanned flames caused an estimated $32,750 damage on the farm of Gordon Carter, RR 3, Blyth. Clinton Fire Chief Grant Rath said the Boyes Transport Co. warehouse on Ontario Street and its contents were valued at about $7,000. The Carter farm is situated in East Wawanosh Township 1.25 miles west of Highway 4 and about 1.5 miles north of Blyth. The red glow over Blyth was still visible from Clinton almost two hours after the fire broke out. Seaforth OPP Cpl. Ray Primeau said he first spotted the fire from Dublin. Spectators converged on the scene from, every direction. Mr. Carter, a widower was in Kitchener when the fire was discovered about 10:25 p.m. by his five children who range in age from 10 to 19. He drove back to Blyth as quickly as possible. The Blyth firemen used their own pumper and tanker and were assisted by the rural tanker from Wingham. Firemen said the main barn, 62 by 104 feet, was involved fully when they arrived. A nearby vacant frame building which once housed pigs caught fire within minutes as wind drove the flames to'tvard the Carter house, and a new steel granary holding 2,700 bushels of grain. Water had to be trucked from a creek about a mile away, so efforts were concentrated on saving the house, granary and an equipment shed from the fierce heat and huge embers. Town keeps cash in bank ' The Town of Clinton has turned down a board of eduCation plea for early turnover of collected school taxes. The school board wants the money to reduce the amount it has to borrow and the resulting expense on interest. The secondary school act calls for payment by the municipalities "from time to time and not later than Dec. 15," according to R. B. Dunlop, board business administrator, who sent a letter to council. Clinton collects taxes twice a year and therefore has some funds invested and awaiting turnover. Many other municipalities have only a single tax collection and in the past all have turned over school tax monies in December. No one argued with Councillor Cameron Proctor's contention that it is "rather foolish" to have municipal Please turn to page 12 The milking cows were led from the barn, but the herd sire and 31 calves born this year perished. Also lost were 140 tons of hay, 60 tons of straw, '25 tons of grain and milking equipment. Mr, Carter is milking his cows for the time being at the farm of his brother, Bob, across the road, Firefighters remained at the scene until 6 a.m. Tuesday and returned later to assist in the salvage of about 15 tons of grain. Women from neighbouring farms supplied the firemen with sandWiches and hot coffee during the night. Monday's rain had wet down surrounding fields so there was no danger of grass fires. Mr. Carter said the bull had been in pasture for six weeks, but became "ugly" several hours before the fire and was tied up in the barn. Flames erupted from the roof of the Boyes warehouse about 11:20 p,m. and were noticed by a neighbour who sounded the alarm. Before firemen arrived, one large explosion and several smaller ones shook the area. A 1963 bylaw intended to restrict the Frank Andrews subdivision to residential use was never approved by the Ontario Municipal Board. Restrictions on the lots were not registered properly, and cannot be enforced, the town council revealed Tuesday evening. The disclosure was made by Reeve James Armstrong, in his capacity as acting mayor, in response to a question. The bylaw and a subdivision agreement it supposedly embodied were the basis for council last July ordering Fred Deichert to tear down .a $2,500 frame and metal honey processing building he was putting up 'on a site adjacent to his home at 214 Queen St, Chunks of concrete were blasted out of the west wall and some larger than a grapefruit landed more than 100, feet away. The fire chief said he believed tanks of oxygen and acetylene stored in the building had exploded. He said firemen would almost certainly have been hurt if the blasts came when they were fighting the brief but spectacular blaze. The concrete block garage adjacent to the wooden warehouse section. sustained smoke and water damage, but the fire was kept out. Several Boyes employees moved trailer trucks away from the fire. None of the trucks was damaged. Bert Boyes was at the home of his son, Bud, in town when the fire started and was summoned by a housekeeper who was alone in the Boyes home which faces Highway 8 in front of the garage and warehouse. Other than the tanks of welding gas, the warehouse is said to have held only truck tires, tarps and several small freight shipments awaiting delivery. man was taken to Clinton Public Hospital and later moved to London. Cpl. Primeau said Mr. Tighe was travelling alone in the car and was northbound on Highway 4 when the accident occurred at 3:10 p.m. Mr. Deichert's attorney argued that the restriction was not valid and advised his client to leave the building. "According to our lawyer," said Mr. Armstrong, "this restriction was never registered and was never valid ... we can do little about it." Asked whose responsibility it was to see that the restriction was registered and the bylaw approved, the reeve said he didn't know "and it was a long time ago." John Livermore, town clerk-treasurer, said: "I don't think it is necessary to quote whose responsibility it was. It simply was not approved by the OMB." Either Police Chief Lloyd Westlake s,smust move into Clinton by Nov. 1 as stipulated when he was hired or the town must seek someone else for the job, said Councillor Cameron Proctor Tuesday evening. A brief but heated debate on the subject erupted at the regular monthly meeting of council which was chaired by Reeve James Armstrong in place . of Mayor Donald E. Symons who has been in hospital for three weeks for treatment of a leg ailment. The upshot of the discussion was a decision to have council's police committee question the chief on his intent and report when council meets . behind closed doors as committee of the 'whole on Nov. 3. Councillor Proctor raised the topic by asking Reeve Armstrong if he, as a member of the police committee, could report whether or not the chief would move from his native Bayfield by the Nov. 1 deadline set when the chief was appointed nearly a year ago. "I don't know," replied Mr. ArmstrOng, "... I suppose he isn't (going to move)." "And what if he isn't?" "Then," said Councillor Proctor, "we have no alternative but to advertise for a new chief." Conversing amiably in the Clinton Legion Hall before dinner which closed last Thursday's consumer protection conference are Provincial Treasurer and Huron MPP Charles S. MacNaughton; Clinton Reeve JaMeS Armstrong, County Warden James Hayter and H. L. Rowntree, O,C., Ontario minister of financial and conihriercial affairS. It was Mr,, hoWntree't department Which held the "seminar on consumer matters. — Staff Photo. Council opts for shorter term Cars hit tree, pole Bernard Tighe, 67, a former Clinton district farmer now living in Mildmay, was hurt badly in an auto accident at the north end of town last Friday afternoon and is reported in satisfactory condition in Victoria Hospital, London. Mr. Tighe sustained multiple The car veered left, crossed head cuts, several broken ribs, a the road, ran off the highway, then cut back on again and broken jaw and a broken right, arm when his car smashed \ finally swerved off and into the head-on into a tree in front of tree. A southbound motorist the home of Mrs. Gordon told the police he was forced off Howes. the road by the Tighe car. :• Another motorists- sped into A concrete utility pole hit tOWIT'AiieridtittiirKlieet fir4r Lloyd Westlake whO 'suininonerleaThrtlie—Eirir'HaVen — Seaforth OPP Cpl. Ray Primeau Hotel parking lot was repaired and helped free Mr. Tighe from by the Clinton Public Utilities the wrecked auto. The injured Please turn to Page 12 Land restriction invalid so honey plant can stay