The Exeter Times-Advocate, 1955-08-11, Page 14
Eightyt.$econd Year
$100,000 FIRE DESTROYS GARAGE—The brick front and a concrete block wo•11 were the
only things left standing after fire gutted Lu can Motor Sales garage and adjoining build-
ings Monday morning, Only,one car and a box of tools were saved: from the building which
' burst in flames seconds after- a blow 'torch spark ignited gasoline. One employee had to jump
from a second storey window to safety. Right foreground of this picture shows the ruins of
one of the 1955 model cars lost in the blaze. S even cars in all were destroyed. T -A Photo
ViIiag.e
idearFor Entre
When Fire Guts Garage
A recent rain. and municipal
water restrictions were two fac-
tors which helped prevent razing
of. the entire business section of
Lucgn Monday morning when
ignited gas touched -off a scorch-
ing fire in a garage near the
heart of the village.
Officials said Wednesday that,
had the fire happened last 'week,
when .water supply was low and
buildings and ,grass tinder -dry
from the drou'ght, the village
would have suffered . wholesale
disaster.
As it was, the fire, fanned by
Monday's (brisk breeze, threatened
houses over two blocks away. Oc-
cupants oil 'buildings a block
'away from the garage had col-
lected their valuables and were
prepared to move out. •
Actual loss was confined to
about $100,000 by firemen from
four brigades . who battled the
blaze for three hours. By noon
they had control of the fire after
it had wiped out Lucan Motor
Sales, one of the two largest
garages in town, and a hbuse
owned by Mrs. Emma Downing
and partially destroyed the office
of Dr. Clayton George.
Roof Ignited
The roof of a cottage owned
try Mrs. Irene Coursey, two blocks
away, was ignited by flying
sparks and the house suffered
considerable damage before
neighbours doused the fire with
garden hoses.
Lost in the garage were two
1955 cars, five used cars and
every piece of equipment, ma-
chinery, tools, and records in-
side. Only thing saved was one
box of tools owned by one of the
mechanics.
Three of the cars, including
one new one, wereowned by
customers of the garage. One car
waa driven out after the fire
started."
The frame . building burst into
fire so quickly employees were
unable to remember exactly- what
happened. '
George Thompson, stock parts
manager and former owner of
the business, said he believed a
live spark train a cutting torch
Hensall Taxes
Up One Mill
The increase iii county taxes
has raised tke Hensall rate one
mill for 1955.
+Council set the levy at 55 mills
at a special meeting on Monday
night. The rate. was 54 in '64,
(School and county= assessments
amounted to 1,9 mills more than
last year.. The county is up 1.3,
public school .4 and the district
high school .1,
Members wene pleased to learn
no increase was enecessary to
meet the first debenture for the
installation of artificial ice in
the arena. Reeve William Parke
announced the park beard was
prepared to grant councll $2,000
to be applied against the $2,306.-
28 'loan payment.
The 55 -Mill rate was divided
as follows: county 10.7, tillage
16,5, public library .7, fire engine
debenture 1,2, waterworks de-
benture 1.2, artificial lee deben-
ture .4, hydrant rental .2.9, high
school 4.9, public school 15,5,
park 1.
Council decided to )buy the
sand taken out of the arena for
the installation of. the floor at
25 &Ants •a yard and stook pile it
at the rear of the hall for•side-
walks and streets.
Weed cutting charges against
IT. Swan, M. Stephan, 1Z. Elgie,
Mra. S. 'Welsh, IL Jones and R.
Meek properties were ordeMd
added, to the tax roll.
touched off gasoline spilling from
a gas tank which had dropped
off a wrecked car. "The boys
were cutting a body panel at the
back of the car when a tank strap
broke and one end of the gas
tank fell to the floor. The gas
line broke and gas spilled over
the floor."
"It was Just a small fire at
first," Thomason said, "but as
the gas spilled :• out the flames
leapt to the low ceiling. Once it
hit the ceiling it'went to the front
door as fast as youcould walk
there."
"The men used alf the fire ex-
tinguishers but they didn't seem
to fizz on the blaze."
Saw Blaze Start
"I saw •the ,fire 'a second after
It started," recalled Thompson,
"I ran back to see if I could do
anything, then ran up and called
the fire department. By the time
I'd finished I barely had time to
grab my box of tools and get out.
Some of my hair was singed."
"One of the mechanics, Glen
Prout, was working ,on a car on
the ramp. He grabbed a fire ex-
tinguisher and poured it on the
blaze but it didn't do any good.
He ran up front and backed out
the car but couldn't, get back
for his tools." •
Roy Stanley, the garage book-
keeper,. had to jump out the
window from the Second storey
office because the heat prevented
hint from ,going downstairs, A
second, -storey apartment, occupied
by two body painters, Arsene and
Gerry Briere, who had just start-
ed to work at the garage the
week before went up do flames
carrying - the men's belongings
with it.
Needed Assistance
•Lucan Fire Chief Alex Young
said Tuesday his brigade couldn't
have controlled the blaze without
assistance from London, Cen-
tralia and Granton fire depart-
ments. "We couldn't have stop-
ped it without their help," he
,said. He and . his men patrolled
the building Monday afternoon
and night to watch for further
breakouts.
The fire chief said there was
,plenty of water for the brigades.
Seven hoses were pumped stead -
11Y. Water in the, .two reserve
fire wells w•aa used in addition to
the supply in the suspended
tank,
.Chief Young stated the blaze
was .the worst since the public
school burned in 1953. 'Heavy
black smoke billowed from the
building. At trines it flooded the
main street so visibility was al-
most nil.
An earlier report that the
building was not covered by in-
surance was not true. At least
part of the loss will be recover-
ed.
Lloyd .Acheson, owner of the
business, purchased it from
Thomson Bros. in 1952. It was
reported he intends to rebuild
h'he garage,
Roofs of buildings across the
street ignited numerous times
but were put out by firemen.
Brigades poured water on neigh-
boring buildings to prevent
spread of the blaze.
None of the employees was
,seriously injured or burned, The'
staff includes Bab Kehl, Cliff
Rawlings, Lloyd Mason, Art Bell
and Ted Jensen.
Mrs. Downing, an elderly semi -
invalid, was rescued from her
home by Howard Black.
Mrs. Irene Coursey was in St.
Marys when the fire broke out.
She returned home to find her
belongings on her lawn, her roof
gutted by fire and her inside
rooms suffering from water dam-
age.
e (Exefer
s Abuoca e
EXETER, ONTARIO THURSDAY MORNING, AUGUST 11, 1
Price Per
nstruct $1 00,000 Factory
For Production .0f Fertilizer
To Build Retaining Wall,
DredgeChat,n.eI At Park
.Construction of a 100 -foot
f was also authorized.
stone retaining wall and deepen- ' The requisition, presented by
Chief Irwin Ford and Secretary
Frank Creech, included two Scott.
Mr Packs, which allow men to
enter gas- or smoke-filled 'build-
ings, 13 helmets and six rain-
coats.
The air packs, which were de-
monstrated last week to the de-
partment and several members of
town council, provide an air -tight
face mask through which firemen
are able to breath pressurized air
from tanks carried on their back.
With this equipment, firemen can
go into buildings filled with
dense smoke,
"We've been fortunate that
none of our men have gone down
fighting in smoke before," Chief
Ford said. "These packs will al-
low us to go through dense
smoke without difficulty. We
need two so that if one man's
machine goes faulty the other
man will be there to get him
out."
!Councillor Bailey, who, moved
the purchase, said "These boys
are doing a ,helluva good job.
They never ask for anything out
of the way."
Councillor Sne1gr'ove stated:
"If we're going to keep a modern
brigade we have to add a little
equipment every year."
Discuss Sanitary Land. Fill
The formal recommendation of
the Huron County Health Unit
to adopt a sanitary land fill
practice of garbage disposal
touched off another discussion on
the dump problem.
The Unit made its recommend-
ation several weeks ago after
Director Dr. R. M. Aldis and
Sanitary Engineer Williams Em-
pey inspected the area with,
Reeve William ,McKenzie.
Sanitary land fill practice in-
volves dumping garbage into'
trenches dug by a bulldozer, com-
pacting the refuse, then covering
it with fill extracted from further
trenching. A heavy bulldozer is
required for this work.
•Councillor Taylor stated the
problem was to find a machine
which could handle the job .of
sanitary land filling. "I don't
think the scheme is ,possible un-
less you get equipment of your
own." •
--Please Turn to Page 12
ing of the north channel of the
river west of the dam was author -
Ind by council Monday. Cost is
estimated at about $600. .
Charles D. Hay Zurich land -
Scope specialist, will do the work..
He discussed with council plans
for development of the riverbed
area into a park.
The retaining wall is needed
to divert water from the south
channel to the north channel of
the river to prevent erosion of
the south bank. A ^'number of
valuable shade trees and the
municipal road are endangered
by the erosion.
The wail will be about-100-
feet
bout/100-
feet long, four feet high and will
taper to a point at the top. It
will be built of stone taken from
the river area.
The north channel will have to
be deepened about four feet .to
carry the flow, It is three feet
higher than the south channel
now.
Mr. Hay also proposed seeding
of the river bed, which has been.
levelled %by the town grader, at
a cost of $725 not including top-
soil. He recommended a lawn
grass be sown on four inches of
topsoil. .Council felt the town
men could plant a .coarse ,grass
on the ground as it is.
Purchase of $850 worth of
epuipment for the fire brigade
Woman Fined
For Bootleg
Mrs. Alex Tolson, 56, of, 03..R.
3 Ailsa Craig, was fined $50 and
costs or two Months in jail for
bootlegging in' magistrate's court'
London, on Tuesday.
A charge against her husband,
of unlawfully keeping liquor foci
sale, was withdrawn.
Mrs: Voison was charged fol-
lowing a raid on the farm in
McGillivray township on June 1'9.
A dozen cases of .beer were con-
fiscated.
'Magistrate F. G. McAlister
warned Mrs. Voison she would
receive a- jail term for a second
offence. The magistrate also de.
clared the Voison farmhouse a
public place for one year.
ti
DOG PREVENTS ROBBERY—A y o u n.g Great Dane
"Queenie", prevented thieves from robbing Rick's Foodland
Sunday night by alerting her owner, Sam Hendrick, above,
when she heard pounding in the store, When. Mr. Hendrick,
who lives about 200 yards away, turned on an outside light,
he saw thieves dash from the store into a nearby field. The
safe had been damaged but not opened. —T -A Photo
'' 'Foils Thieves
ueen�e •
Q
Working On Store Safe
A young Great Dane dog,
sleeping in the breezeway of a
home over 300 yards away, foiled
thieves trying to crack the safe
of 'Rick's Foodland early Sunday
morning. The . safe: was -reported
to contain a "large" sum of mon-
ey.
The dog, •apparently disturbed
by the noise of hammering, bark-
ed until it awakened its owner,
Sam Hendrick. When he turned
on an outside light, he saw
thieves dash out of the building
and run west across the fields.
Exeter Police Chief Reg Tay-
lor, notified by Hendrick, caught
FarnousBritish Track Star
Tries For New Record Here
Famed British runner, Gordon
Pirie; w,1ii attempt to set a 'iiew
redord for the three mile distance
in a race at Exeter on Wednes-
day, August 24.
The bid will be staged on the
cinder track of South Huron Dis-
trict. High School after the horse
raees in CommunityrPark have
been completed.
Pirie, holder of the world's
six -mile and mile and one-half
records, is visiting . Canada at the
invitation of a committee' inter-
ested in .stimulating interest in
Olympic sports. He •will be a fea-
ture runner at the Canadian
National Exhibition., this fall.
Coming to Exeter with Pirie to
pace him in his try for a new
record will be his brother, Petelr.,
who is also an excellent runner;
the Canadian three-mile champ-
ion, Claude Michard, of Montreal,
and several Other outstanding
Canadian athletes. One or two
Council donates Land
For $6,000 Scout Hut
A $6,000 name for Boy Scout
and Girl Guide organizations will
be constructed near the Wartime
housing area :by Eiceter Lions
Club this summer, President B.
W. Tuckey .announced this week.
Town Connell agreed Monday
night to sell the club land for the
building for ,$1.00, The site will
be en John Street west, between
Carling and Marlborough, Berth
of the open ditch which runs
through that block.
Ilona Intend to launieli a cam-
paign immediately to raise Bunds
for the building, 'b7,teter Legion
has promised Ota active saga-,
Once in money -raising ac4Jivitles.
Construction of the centre was
aithotited at .a LIMA' meeting
last week if a site could be ob,
tanned. Agreement by tonna!!
Monday night to provide the land
fitutlized' plans.
Tate club originally ,planned to
bulla near Community Park but
no site was evadable.
'Building committee chairman,
Lion Ulric .Snell, said he hoped
the construction would start
soon, 'Lion A. J. iSweitzer, a for-
mer deputy -,governor of She or-
ganization, Will build it,
The connmittee plans on a
37x48 building which wd1l pro-
vide •a large assembly hall with
fireplace, storage rooms, toilets
and heating facilities.
Organizations who will use the
building Will 4itdlude Boy Scouts,
Cubs, Girl Guides, ,Brownies and
hangers.
The Inions and Legion will start
immediately selling Rickets oii a
new ear which will be drawn, for
at a apteial bingo in the fall,
Lion H. C. lovers is in charge of
the ways and means tont/nittee.
The Boys and tl.irlacommittee,
under lObeirman Lion Jaek Sntith,
handled. the preliminary .planning
for the project.
district runners may also com-
pete.
The event is being sponsored
by .the Exeter Recreation Council
and Director Doug Smith Is in
charge of arrangements. The race
will have the sanction of the
Amateur Athletic Union of Can-
ada which will appoint a referee,
jhdges, clerk of the course,
starter and timers.
Officials ' of the Lake Huron
Recreation Zone, which is pro-
moting traek and field competi-
tion are assisting in the promo-
tion of the race. Members of
track Clubs from as far away as
Owen Sound are expected to at-
tend. Pirie may. conduct a short
instruction class at a banquet
following the race.
The 24 -year-old Pirie, who
started running at the age of 10,
is a member of South London
Harriers, Britain's most outstand-
ing athletic organization. He ,is
6'2" and weighs 148 pounds.
Pirie has, won a host of track
PREPARE TO LAY ARENA FLOOR—Hensall 11insnveii plan
t lay a concrete floor' over the artificial ice pi� cs in the arena
o y cpp
i 1onda- with as nnueh volunteer help as possible. Members of
y 1 p
the club with the help of other men in the community, have
already spent weeks preparing the ground for the concrete.
the �
Shown unloading ;same of t c 1s000 bags of cement which
will be used in the floor are left to right, Jack Drysdale, Joe
McLellan, a district fanner; 1rnie Chipchasc and President
Doug McKclvie.----T-A Photo
and cross-country honors in Brit-
ain and Europe since 1947. In
1963 he ran in 33 races and
established 36 records. He won
the ` Elms Memorial Trophy as
Europe's Sportsman of the Year.
This year, Pirie has set a
world record for .one and one-
half miles in 6:26 and he has
run three miles in 13:29.8, the
fourth fastest time in which this
distance has ever been covered.
Pirie's tour in Canada is being
sponsored by K. R. Thomson,
executive vice-president of The
Thomson Company Limited, To-
ronto. In a letter to Director
Smith, Mr. Thomson said he
hoped the Exeter race would
prove to officials "that a small
community with lots of enthus-
iasm has sometimes more to offer
than a larger impersonal affair,"
three mint driving away in a car
on the second *concession of
Stephen township minutes later,
They had no tools.
Ontario Provincial Pollee Con-
stables Elmer Zimmerman, Cecil
Gibbons' and John Porde and
Chief Taylor .held the men for
several hours but finally released
them. They were out on bail on
charges of break, enter and theft
in the Hamilton area.
Couldn't Find Tools
Police searched the fields but
failed to find any tools. A sledge-
hammer and crowbar were re-
ported stolen from the CNR tool
shed at Parkhill the same night
and the marks on the safe in-
dicated that tools of a similar de-
scription had been used on it.
The incident occurred albout 4
o'clock. When first awakened by
the dog, Mr. Hendrick said he
heard the sounds of pounding
but thought it was someone
changing a tire. He believed the
thieves fled when they saw his
outside light go on.
Chief Taylor had made a • rou-
tine check on the su'iermarket
just a short time before but had
noticed nothing unusual.
The break-in was the sixth at
Rick's Foodland which opened at
the south end of town earlier this
year. In the last robbery thieves
netted some $800. Owner of the
store is Wes Rickman who was
on holidays at Grand Bend when
the break-in happened.
Visit Here Monday
Mr. R. N. Towle, Vancouver,
and Charles Towle of Thamesford
visited In Exeter 'on Monday, They
are the sons of Mr. Hezekdath
Towle who, with six sons and
two daughters, Left Exeter fifty-
seven years ago and settled at
McGregor, near Winnipeg, Man.
Club • Seeks Volunteers
To Lay Floor . I n Arena
Hensall Kinsmen are seeking been hired by Kinsmen to super -
volunteers to help them, lay a vise the work. Meinbers of the'
cement floor in the arenaon club and as many volunteers as
Monday. The club hopes to cover can be found will supply free
the artificial ice pipes in one labor.
continuous pouring starting at 7 About 1,000 bags of cement
will be used in the floor sur-
face. It will take about 16 hours
to complete the job.
Kinsmen finished taking sand
ottt from between the pipes Fri-
day night. They worked nights
for two weeks to complete the
tedious job. Members of the
Chamber of Comnierce, the Le-
gion
and district farmers assist-
installation of the floor will
mean the arena can be used in
spring and tall for events suoh
as fairs and bingoes. It will also
facilitate ice -making,
Kinsmen Meet, to use the
arena during, their Ontario 'Bean
Festival on Labor Day,
a.m.
Earl ,Dick, of Cromarty, has
c�Frolic
Seeon
At Dashwood
A playoff ball game, band
tattoo and variety concert will
Mature Dashwood Men's Cub
second annual frolic On Wednes-
day, August 11,
Zurich Lumber Kings and the
Tigers will clash in the third
game : of their beat -of -seven lin-
ron-Pertli "D" finale starting at
S p.m,
At least five bands will per-
form in the band tattoo later in
the evening. These include Sarnia
Citizens' Band, Forest, Strathroy,-
Thedford and the Dabhwood
band,
Lee Paul,. papular Rrlrkton
entertainer, will 'emcee the vat*
ie'ty concert.
Start Bi liding
Next Week
Read's Fertilizers Ltd., oi4
Elmira, will start construction of
oaf
Ex$100eter,000 plantnext one mileweek, southVice-
President Howard Read told The
Times -Advocate Wednesday.
The plant, which will feature
a unique circular stm'age building
125 feet In diameter and 40 feet
high, will employ 10 to 15 men
when in operation. Officials ex-
inteCX95Gduction will start early
The factory will consist of
four separate buildings; the bulk
storage plant, a circular building
where the fertilizers will be mix-
ed and housed; a warehouse for
bagged fertilizers, an office build-
ing and machine •.shop. A 500 -
foot siding will be constructed
to link the plant to the C.N.R.
line.
Manufacture All Types
The factory will be equipped
to manufacture all types of mix-
ed fertilizers used for general
farming. ,The company expects to
produce albout 6,000 tons the
first year.
Facilities will be provided for
convenient loading of bulk fer-
tilizer into trucks and wagons.
Three ingredients for fertilizer
-superphosphate, potash and
nitrogen—are imported by the
company from as far away as
New Mexico. The firm makes its
own superphosphate by blending
phosphate rock and acid.
Mr. Read told The Times-
Advocate this district was select-
ed for the plant because of its:
outstanding farm area. "Con-
sumption of fertilizer in your
area has been climbing every
year," he said.
To Hire Local Labor
Mr. Read said .the company
will hire local labor to staff the
plant rather than bring ia.
employees from Elmira.
Read's . Fertilizers Ltd. was.
established in Elmira nine years
ago. Eldest of the two brothers,
John :C., is :president of the firm.
'Site for the factory was pur-
chased from Ernest Willard In
Stephen Township. Six acres in
size, it is on the north-west
corner of the intersection of No.
4 highway and the Kirkton
Road.
Tribe Downs
Auburn 6-4.
Exeter Legion Mohawks shook
off the Auburn jinx Wednesday
night 'by !defeating the northern-
ers 6-4 in the first game of the
best--of-five •Huron -Perth "•C"
semi-finals.
The tribe, who had more trou-
ble with Auburn than wlith any
other team in the league during
the season, came from behind to
edge ,the visitors in a seven -inn-
ing contest. Keown 3-2, Mohawks
tied the score in the fourth and
added two more in ,the fifth and
another in the sixth.
Auburn rallied for a single run
in the sixth when Exeter hurler,
Chuck Parsons ran into trouble
'but Bob Russell Came in .to retire
the side.
Bob M:eharg, who had a two -
for -three night, and Red Loader
scored in the first inning to give
Exeter a short-lived '2-0 lead. Au-
burn countered with three runs
in the second on two hits and
two walks.
Jack Bison drove in Ken Sax-
ton with the tieing run in the
fourth and .Meharg and Loader
scored again in the firth. Jack
Fuller, who also clouted two hits
in three tries, scored the final
run in the sixth.
Bill Patterson and Barry Yung -
'Nut were Auburn's best hitters.
Bob Yungfblut was the losing pit-
cher.'
,Parsons allowed only five lilts
and struck but five to Will his
first playoff victory for the tribe.
Reliefer Bob Russell Struck out
three of the four men he faced.
Victim Recovers
From Bike Crash
Condition Of Alvin Cornish, of
Andrew St, N., who suffered head
and shoulder injuries in a bicycle
accident Saturday afternoon, was
described as "very satisfactory"
by London hospital officials on
Wednesday. He expects to return
home this weekend.
Mr. Cornish, • an employee of
Canadian Canners Ltd„ was
knocked off his bicycle at .the.
crest of the hill on the north
aide on the bridge on Main St.
A taxi driven by Jack Cutting,,
of town, struck the vehicle from
the rear and the rider went fiver
the handle bars and Tended oft
his head on the pavement. The
bicycle was not damaged.
Polite Chief Reg 'Taylor, who
investigated, said, the accident
ooeurred during a driving rain-
storm, ,�„