HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1954-02-03, Page 1With which is amalgamated the Gorne Vidette and Wroxeter News
Subscriptions $2.50 per year, 6c per copy
ALONG THE MAIN DRAG
By The Pedestrian
WHO SAID RAIN?— Reports, al
legedly from the weather bureau, to
the effect that rain would come to
Western Ontario last week, were fol
lowed by a period of zero tempera
tures and snow. Could be the meteor-
ogical office got its signals crossed.
0-0-0
JUNE IN JANUARY—Mr: and Mrs.
A. R. Du Vai report seeing a robin
in the middle of the snow storm last
Wednesday. At this stage of the game
it's a question of whether this was
the first robin of spring or the tail
end of the fall season. Or perhaps
he heard the weather forecast.
0-0-0
SNOWED IN—One family in Hill
crest has missed out on a lot of to
bogganing this Winter for the simple
reason that the toboggan got left out
in the yard early in the season, be
came buried under the snow, and
hasn’t been seen since. Every time
they get tobogganing weather there’s
less liklihood of finding the toboggan.
Chances are the thing won’t re-appear
until the snow is gone and there
won’t be any toboganning anyhow.
0-0-0
DIGGING OUT—Fate of the afore
mentioned toboggan doesn’t equal the
problem of the man who lost a snow
shovel under a couple of feet of snow.
We wonder if he ever did get dug
out^.
0-0-0
DISCONTINUED THIS . WEEK—
The John and Mary story, which has
been running in this paper for the
past few weeks, has been discontinued.
Latest reports were that John and
Mary have settled down together with
that 30-inch range.
0-0-0
LOCKED OUT—Considerable sym
pathy wag. aroused in the Hillcrest
community for the busy housewife
wKo^ engagecl’** in hanging' ofiV’h&f
clothes one day, was locked out by
one of her kiddies.A neighboring
child finally had to climb in the cel
lar window to open things up.
0-0-0
WHERE’S THE FIRE?—Miller Davis
of the Holmdale ’Creamery, who was
sitting in the dark watching television
last week, was rudely disturbed when
the fire chief and a bunch of neigh
bors burst in, fire extinguisher at the
ready. Seems somebody had seen
smoke coming out of the building. As
it turned out^there wasn’t any fire.
The smoke was coming from the town
dump, behind the creamery.
0-0-0
A LOT SAFER—Residents on John
Street will be able to breathe easier
now
been
from
walk
ing their own lives and fraying the
nerves of the people on the street.
that John Street sidewalk has
plowed. Kiddies coming down
the public school won’t have to
on the road any more, endanger
MONTHLY MEETING OF LADIES’
auxiliary to hospital ,
The monthly meeting of the Ladies’
Auxiliary to Wingham General Hos
pital will be held in ‘the Council
Chamber on Friday afternoon, ~ ’
ruary 5, at three o’clock.
Feb-
f3b
WINGHAM, ONTARIO. WEDNESDAY, I EBRUARY 3rd, 1954
Members of thtie Canadian Legion
have been busy .jp? the pa'&t couple of
weeks in the Legjop Home on John
Street, putting in & the preliminary
! work on a renovating program which
• has been planned, far the next
months. " *
• • New inlaid linoleum tile floors
'be laid in the . downstairs of
building, and the rooms will be <
| pletely re-decorated^ A new roof is
I planned for the jkitdpen.
.! The upstairs rooips are being en
larged by knocking* out several walls
and replacing them with archways,
. and a tele vision, se^, will be installed
When the work is -^bmpleted.
Members of the^egion are helping
with the jvork, wj^ich is under the
few
; will
the
com
ST. PAUL’S LADIES’ GUILD
ANNUAL VALENTINE TEA
The Ladies’ Guild of St.Paul’s
Anglican Church are holding their
annual Valentine Tea on Wednesday,
Feb. 10 at- 3 p.m. There will be’a
home baking table and other miscel
laneous articles for, sale.f3:10b
PROGRESSIVE EUCHRE
AT WROXETER
The Howick Lions Club will hold a
progressive euchre on Friday evening
February 5th at 8.30 o’clock in
Masonic Club Rooms. Novelty prizes.
Admission 25 cents. Ladles please
bring lunch.£3*
The Maitland-Lodge No. 119 are put
ting on a First Degree on Thursday,
Feb. 5th. All members are asked to
please attend.
DANCE IN BELGRAVE
A dance Will be held in the Forest
er’s Hall on Thursday night from 10
to 1 o’clock, in aid of the Belgrave
Midget hockey team. Music by
Robertson and the Ranch Boys,
mission
Don
Ad-
£3b
G. A. Schatte, of Josephine Street, veteran musician andiyiolin rebuilder
who claims to have discovered the secret of the famous Stradivarius violin.
Mr. Schatte, who was leader of the town band for many ye^fs,. has made a
hobby of repairing violins, and owns a valuable Stradivarius,from which he
gained the secret of its tonal qualities. —Staff Photo.
X
250-year-old Puzzle
Claims Discovery of Secret
Used in Stradivarius Violin!
violin
Plan One=Act Festival
For End of March
Wingham around the
are being discussed by
organizations in town,
have an evening’s en-
Plans for a; one-act drama festival
to be held in
end of March,
various of the
It is hoped to
tertainment consisting of’ three one-
act plays, to be produced on the stage
of the town hall.
Three organizations in town, the
Kinette Club, the Presbyterian Young
People’s Association and the Catholic.
Youth Organization are all discussing
the ptissiW^ one-act
plays, although nothing definite has
yet been set. Directors have yet to be
chosen and the plays to be picked.
Bob Ferguson, of the high school
staff, has been doing some of the be
hind-the-scenes work, and has a se
lection of plays suitable for one-act
festivals.
Wingham District
High School Concert
The Annual Variety Concert of the
Wingham District High School will
be presented on the evenings of Feb
ruary 24th, 25th, and 26th in the
Wingham Town Hall.
Because the hall was so greatly
overcrowded last year the concert will
be offered for three evenings, instead
of two, and the number of general
admissions will be limited at each
performance to the usual seating cap
acity of the hall.
There will be an advance sale of
reserved seats at McKibbon’s Drug
Store beginning Friday, February 12.
If you get a reserved seat for the
evening you prefer, you are assured
of good accommodation. It . is hoped,
however, that the three evenings will
take care of all those wishing either
reserved or general admission.
-Tickets are now on sale by the
school students. General admission
for either adults or children*is fifty
cents, with reserved seats ten' cents
extra. The proceeds of the concert
goes into the Literary Society treas
ury and is used for various pupil ac
tivities. The students hope for a good
crowd each evening when they pre
sent a programme .of songs,
physical education displays
one-act play, Remember the
Wednesday, Thursday and
February 24th, 25th and ‘26th.
dances,
and a
dates—
Friday^
F3b
C.Y.O. VALENTINE EUCHRE - .
The Wingham C.Y.O. is sponsoring
a Valentine Euchre Party and Dance
in Sacred Heart Parish Hall on Tues
day, February 9th, Euchre will com
mence at 8.30 With good prizes, fol
lowed by daheing to Tiffin’s jOrches-
wel-
f3b
lowed oy dancing to miin s .v
tra. Lunch served. Everyone
come. Admission 50c .'
LEGION LADIES’ AUXILIARY
SPONSORING EUCHRE
The Ladies’ Auxiliary of the Can
adian Legion are holding a Euchre
in the Legion Home on Monday, Feb
ruary 8th at 8 p.m. Good lunch and
prizes, Everyone welcome, f3b
• A secret that has baffled
makers for two and a half centuries
may have been solved by a Wingham
musician. But whether either ghe dis
covery or the violin makers wijK bene
fit from the discovery 'seeing ,-to be
doubtful at the moment?
G. A. Shatte, of Josephine street,
Wingham, who for many years/has
made hobby, of repairing and^re-
building violins, is sure he has’Re
covered ° the secret of the famous.
Stradivarius violin, a secret that has;
eluded violin makers ever since, the
celebrated craftsman Antonio Stradi
varius first made his violin in Cre
mona, Italy, over 250 years ago.
It was Stradivarius who first fash
ioned- the nowv.fajpc>q§, .Clremp^ type
of violin, acknowledged by all to be
the finest type of instrument avail
able. Modern violins are almost all
made on the "Cremona pattern and
since Stradivarius’ time all violin
makers have patterned their instru
ments on his original model. An orig
inal Stradivarius violin, such as is
used by Fritz Kreisler or other fam
ous violinists, is worth $25,000 or more.
Never Been Equalled
But in spite of the fact that violin
makers have faithfully copied the in
struments of Stradivarius for two
hundred years, using the same design
and even the same materials,; no one
has yet succeeded in producing a vio
lin with the same tone and power that
is' found in the original instruments.
Something, which up until now has
been undiscovered, was built into the
violins giving them qualities that have
never been
How Mr.
ture is an
five years
down violin from a friend in Toronto.
It' had been picked up .during the
first world war in the ruins of a mus
eum in Germany, and bore the scars
of the fire which had consumed the
museum. Suspecting that it might be
a valuable instrument, Mr. Schatte’s
friend brought it home with him, and
afterwards sold it to Mr. Schatte with
out either1 of them realizing just how
valuable it was.
Construction Quirk
Mr. Schatte took the instrument
home, dismantled it, repaired it and
assembled it agaih. It had a tone such
as he had never heard before in a
violin, even in his long experience as
a musician. And then it occurred to
him that a quirk he had noticed in
the construction must have been re
sponsible for the deeply resonant tone
and volume of the instrument. After,
a good deal of historical research on
the subject, he deduced that the violin
must be an original Stradivarius, and
that he had stumbled on the secret
(Continued on Page Ten)
with the Avork, w&ich is under
-direction of Ken Baker.
-----KJ----
Officers Installed at
Legion -A^Uiiry
At the regularAnjionthly meeting of
the Ladies’ Auxiliary (ft the Canadian
Legion, Mrs. E^wwis was installed
as president fop^a^econd term.
Others installe^ivere
dent, Mrs. ST.Fp^syth;
E. .Shera; treksiiner,
ston; pianist/
standard bearer; ^Mrs.
Members ofx,tH^:. executive include
Mrs. W. McKbnzfe, Mrs. G. Tervit,
Mrs. H. Browp^ jj^/Mrs. G. Hall, Mrs.
F. Edgar, Mrsf.^. Tpwne and Mrs.
W. Kennedy. i
The Auxilary/fl^d as their guest
Zone Commandex^Mrs, Luella Hall.
■ t ■ 'of Blyth,. yzho ^conducted the instal
lation cerembnies^The annual report
Of each officer wai£ given and showed
that the AjSxiliar^ had a very suc
cessful yejiB/ 7
Followin^^lic^b$^ness a social hour
was enjoyedt?W^^^---
' r- Ws. .
Vice presi-
secretary, Mrs.
Mrs. L. Hing-
V. Sanderson;
, H. Brown Sr.
Mr. Richards, of the Frank Cowan
Company, Woodstock, insurance bro
kers, was present at the council meet
ing on Monday night to discuss the
question of the town’s liability in
surance policy with the council. The
company specializes in municipal in
surance, although they place their
policies through local agents at the
discretion of the council.
Mr. Richards explained that there
were three policies available to muni
cipalities, the standard, broad and
comprehensive plans, and he outlined
the coverage given by each. He cited
numerous incidents and claims which
had been experienced by other towns
to illustrate the problems of liability
insurance, and impressed on council
the importance of full coverage.
After a full discussion on the matter
council decided
should be taken
committee and
handed down at
that the question
up by the finance
a recommendation
a later date.
Recreation Delegation
A delegation from the recreation
council presented the financial re-
i
port of the council for the year 1953,
and asked that a part time* recrea
tional director be hired by the town
to organize the summer program, and
take charge of minor sports both in
the summer and winter. Chairman
Bill Oonron reported that a man was
available for this position which he
estimated was worth approximately
$1,200 per year.
Mr. Conron pointed out that govern
ment grants would cover one third of
the cost of such a director, and that
further grants could be realized on
such matters as the park and the
arena, which would cut down the
cost to the town to a large extent. He
said that if the town would finance
the project to the extent of $1,500, a
rebate of $500 would be received, and
that other grants not now in effect
would lower the figure to not much
more than had been paid out on re
creation last year. Total cost to the
town of last year’s recreational pro
gram was in the neighborhood of $700.
Council received the suggestion
favorably and decided to discuss the
before
Arena
to the
making a de-
Salary
salary of the
Takes Job with TV
Station in Kitchener
Don Hildebrand, announcer on sta
tion CKNX, has obtained a position as
news announcer on the new Kitchener
TV station, CKJCO-TV, . and will be
leaving to assume his new duties on
February 15th.
The new station will be sending out
test patterns around the middle of the
month, and is expected to go on the
air full time on Monday, February 28.
equalled.
Schatte got into the pic-
interesting story. About
ago he bought a broken
W.I. EUCHRE AT BLUEVALE
The Bluevale Women’s Institute
sponsoring a Euchre at the Commun
ity Hall, Bluevale, on Friday, Febru
ary 5th at 8.30 p.m. Admission 25c.
Ladies please bring lunch.
is
f3b
WINGHAM BUSINESS
ASSOCIATION
The annual meeting of the Wing
ham Business Association will be held
on Thursday, February 4thf in the
council chambers at 8 p.m.
tion of officers will be
matters of importance to
ham businessmen will be
All members of the association are
urged to attend, f3b
The elec-
held, and
all Wing-
discussed,
WINDSOR
&S been employ-
nk for the past
e.ntransferred
Victoria branch
TRANSFERRE
Ron Murray,
ed aLthe/D»minj.Qj
to the Tecumseh and
of the Dominion Bank at Windsor.
He left for his new position Monday.
Mr. Hildebrand has been with CKNX
for the past two years, coming here
from Stratford. The job in Kitchener
will 'be his’ first. experience in TV,'
and he is looking forward to the ven-
A
ture into a new field.
Lady Bowlers Play
\ Bridge and Euchre
j The lady bowlers of the Wingham
Lawn Bowling Club held their open
ing game of bridge at the home of
the president, Mrs. R. E. McKinney
on Monday night with five tables
of bridge and two of euchre in play.
High prizes for bridge went to Mrs.
W. H. French and Mrs. Charles Lloyd
with the same score and to Mrs. Wf
W. Gurney for the high
euchre. A travelling prize
by Mrs. W. M. Davis.
It was decided to have
game in the council chambers on Mon
day, March. 1, the hostesses to be
Mrs. George Williams;''Mra Elsie
Sturdy, Mrs. G. Godkin, Mrs. Charles
Lloyd and Mrs. O. Heselgrove.
members are welcome.
prize in
was won
the next
All
Several Accidents During
Bad Snowstorm on Saturday
wich, he was returning home to
Wroxeter when the accident occurred
He was attended by Dr. Frank Mills,
of Wroxeter. The driver of the other
car suffered minor cuts and bruises.
Damage to the Wylie car was esti
mated at $700, and to the Pritchard
car $1,000.
Provincial constable J. J. Lewis, of
the Wingham detachment investigat
ed both accidents.
Accidents at Clinton
Thirteen cars were involved in ac
cidents in1 «the Clinton area during
Saturday’s storm. Total damage to
the vehicles was estimated at $5,650.
Cars driven by Harvey Johnston
and James E. Walsh, both of RR 3,
Blyth, collided on No. 4 Highway
near Blyth. Damage to the Johnston
car was $200 and to the Walsh car
$350.
Later at almost the same spot cars
driven by Robert Charter, of RR 3,
Blyth, and James R. Wilson, of Wing
ham were involved in a collision re
sulting in damages of $50 and $150
respectively to the two cars.
Poor visibility and bad weather
conditions were responsible for sev
eral accidents in the district on Sat
urday, when loose snow on the roads
made driving treacherous and gusts
of drifting snow cut down visibility
to zero.
Two Owen Sound residents, Mr.
and Mrs. Daniel McMillan were in
jured on No. 4 highway about a mile
south of Belgrave, when their car
collided with a truck belonging to
Howson and Howson, and driven by
Wilfred Vollmer, of Wingham.
At the time of the crash the Mc
Millans were following an ambulance
from Owen ‘ Sound, carrying their
daughter Mrs. Thelma Lang, to the
Beck Memorial Sanatorium in Lon
don. The front end of the late model
car was extensively damaged when
they collided head on with'the truck
in the jnidst of a blinding snow
storm. Damage was estimated at
$2,200 to both vehicles. •
Mrs. McMillan suffered a fractured
right leg, chest and knee injuries.
Mr. McMillan sustained a fractured
right wrist, .cuts to his head and con
cussion. The couple were rushed to
Wingham General Hospital where
their condition was termed satis
factory.
Mr. Vollmer said that he had pass
ed the ambulance on .the road and
was passing through a
of snow when he saw
the other car in front
hit the brakes and
swerve off the road but was too late
to avoid collision. The impact of the
crash moved a three-ton load of
feed on the truck a full two feet for
ward,
, Crash on Highway 87
James Wylie 22, of Wroxeter was
injured on Saturday on Highway No.
87 between Gorrie and Fordwich,
when his car collided with a vehicle
driven by Thomas W. Pritchard dur
ing a heavy snow storm. Wylie was
admitted to Wingham General Hos
pital suffering from a fractured skull,
injuries to his chest, pelvis and right
arm, cuts and shock.
An employee of the bank in Ford-
blinding gust
the lights of
of him. He
attempted to
are
Torontonians Are
Soft=Hearted After
All, Reeve Finds
Not all the people in Toronto
hard-hearted, Reeve R. E. McKinney
has found.
A visitor in the city a couple of
weeks ago in connection with a dele
gation from Huron County, Mr. Mc
Kinney had occasion to park his car
on one of Toronto's streets, and re
turning minutes later, found that he
was the recipient of a parking tag.
The cost was $2.00.
In mailing his cheque for $2.00 to
cover the fine, Mr. McKinney also
sent along a letter explaining that he
was in Toronto on business for the
Town of Wingham, that he was there
at his own expense, and that the town
allowed him no expense account to'
take care of parking tickets. He said
that while he was enclosing his
cheque for the tag, he would appre
ciate it very much if they could
their way to forgive him this time.
To his surprise Mr. McKinney
ceived a letter back this week,
plaining that the matter had been
considered by the judge, a;
had decided against the fine,
cheque for $2.00 was enclosed.
matter further
cision.
Ratify
With regard
arena manager, Alf Lockridge, coun
cil ratified an agreement drawn up
some time ago with Mr. Lockridge,
agreeing to pay him $500 for manag
ing the afena for the winter season
from October 1st to May 1st. The
mayor, in reporting on arena matters,
said that the junior hockey team had
been drawing good erwds and
been drawing good crowds and
there was a strong possibility
the arena would make money
year.
Discuss Snow on Streets
Overnight parking on the streets
was brought to the attention of the
council by Councillor Athol Purdon, of
the streets committee. Mr. Purdon
said that the snow plow had exper
ienced some difficulty in plowing the
streets because of the number of cars
parked there during the night.
Chief T. W. Platt reported that 21
parking tickets had been given- to
overnight parkers last week, and that
a noticeable improvement had occurr-.
ed since. Most of these had been
warning tickets, involving no fines,
but it was understood that second
offenders would not be treated so
lightly.
Councillor Earl Hamilton thought
that the sidewalk on at least one
side of John Street should be plough
ed, so that children from the schbols
would not have to walk on the road,
running the risk of accident. He said
that. traffic on this street was heavy
and that the school children were in.
constant danger because they were
unable to use the sidewalk.
Other councillors thought that other
sidewalks should be ploughed as wall,
principally Diagonal Road and the
^apprp^gh, ^.tawh on north: Josephine V
Street. Difficulties of ploughing these
sidewalks, which had become choked
with snow, were discussed, but no
decision was made.
Correspondence
A letter from the Canadian National
Railways was received, claiming that
the scale in the stock yard was not
assessable under the act, and asking
for a reduction of $272 in their assess
ment. The matter was referred to the
assessor for consideration.
A letter from W. H. Edwards, who
complained
arena roof
was read,
they could
present time, but decided that the
situation would be investigated as soon
as weather permits.
Letters from the Huron County Soil
and Crop Improvement Association
and the Canadian Institute for the
Blind, asking for grants, were filed
A cheque from the British Empire
Insurance Company for $310.75, cov
ering hospital and doctor’s expenses
in connection With the accident of
Mrs. Michael Willie, was received.
End Rental Control
The council in effect ended rent
control in Wingham as of March 2nd,
when they filed a letter from the Pro
vincial Government, notifying them
that the government is stepping out
of the rent control field on this date.
The question of whether rent control
is to be continued after this date has
been left to the individual municip
alities.
In discussing the matter council
felt that the government had put
on rent control, and it was up to
them to take it off. No motion was
made on the matter, since rent con
trol automatically goes out of effect
if no action is taken to prolong it.
that
that
that
this
about water from the
damaging his property,
Council questioned what .
do in the matter at the
see
re-
cx-
YearsWed 50
and Mrs. Albert Spencer, parents of Mrs. Whitney Grose, and formerMr
residents of Wingham, who celebrated their fiftieth wedding anniversary at
their home in Bowmanville last week. Present for the occasion were Mr.
and Mrs. Whitney Grose find their 15-month-old daughter, who presented
them with gifts from' the family.
LOCALS« PERSONALS
—Mr. Joe Passiona_, of Niagara
Falls, N.Y. was a week-end visitor at
the home of Mr. and Mrs. Mike Mc
Phail.
—Miss Anne Bartropp of Swindon,
England was a weekend guest of Miss
Marjorie Hobden.
—Mrs. R. R. Hobden Is visiting in
Hamilton for a few days.
—Mr. and
Hillcrest, are
and. relatives
and Sarnia,
Mrs. Jack Gillespie, of
holidaying with friends
in Toronto, Wallaceburg