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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1954-07-28, Page 30Thirty The Wingham Advance-Times, Wednesday, July 28, 1954 Wingham Publisher's Sense of Humor Reaches Climax in Court • , By W. J. Plenty Mr, G. R. Osborne was the publish­ er of the Wingham Times and Mr. James *Bleuty was publisher of the Wingham Advance* This incident to be unfolded occurred about the year 1875. George Hagyard was the editor of the Teeswater News. He had been an apprentice in Walkerton under Mr. Fleuty and was a warm personal friend. ON THE MAITLAND By Leon Cantelon Back in the 1906-1915 years both branches of the Maitland River were✓ much deeper and wider at some points. Bor instance, the south branch One night a clothes line in Teeswa­ ter was robbed and the news of the theft was duly chronicled in the next issue of The News, which in report­ ing the theft specifically mentioned that one article stolen was a man’s shirt, The published item, as a news-, paper joke on a contemporary con­ cluded with the words: “The editor of the Wingham Times was in town that night.” Any other editor might have replied that he could afford to buy his shirts, but instead, Mr. Osborne was incens­ ed at the mere suggestion that he was interested in the theft and was so filled with wrath after the Ad­ vance had copied the item the follow­ ing week with the added remark that The Times editor had not been seen wearing any new shirt since the theft, that he at once entered an action for libel against the publishers of The News and The Advance. of the stream, east of No. 4 Highway, was much wider and deeper. At the “Blackey” (just east of the gravel road bridge) we had a spring-board, or diving-board, on the south bank, which was the higher one, and it was considered no mean feat for a 10 to 12-year-old lad to dive in, swim under water and come up west of the bridge. Similarly, the water was much deep­ er at the Upper Dam and it was con­ sidered "tops" to dive in off the “slides”, swim under water and come up near the high C.N.R, (Grand Trunk) bridge. How the water has become shallow in many of the once- famous swimming holes! It used to be common practice to toss in a white door knob and then dive in and bring it up. Hanna’s Travelling Emporium to loosen their jaws from anything> ludicrous incidents although very em- they bit—unless the head was cut | barrassing to the star actors. One off, Some of these turtles pleasured a foot or more in the diameter of their shells, and a few had many ini­ tials carved in their shells. The older turtles must have been from 50 to 100 years old, and it was apparently one of these that was mistaken for a large rock. north branch of the Methodist Sunday at that time was a Neither publisher was much wor­ ried about the outcome of the libel action, yet it was not a pleasant thought for either of them to carry around with them day after day. The case was duly called when the assizes came along, Nobody appear­ ed in court for the prosecution and naturally the case was thrown out of court. The publishers accused had a legal representative present, and to say the least, it was a relief when a telegram came telling what had hap­ pened. A. J. Conover, formerly of Wing­ ham, who is said to be the notorious bank draft 'forger and ex convict, has been arrested in Peru, Ind., charged with fraud by the American Bankers’ Association. —News item 1896. The writer recalls the time when he helped a number of the boys clean out some stones near the “Blackey", just to make certain no diver would get injured by making too deep a dive with eyes closed. Of course, a pro­ ficient diver always opened his eyes under water, but some never seemed to be able to do so. Tom (Irish) Lut- ton dove in and got his hands on a large rock that he surfaced and Below the water wheel at the power house the flume or spillway was (and still is) a narrow channel between successively higher steps or sections of cement walls. Before the First World War the writer recalls occa­ sionally swimming in this channel and diving in from the different steps of wall. It was absolutely necessary to take a shallow dive as there was only a few feet of water; and the direction Of the dive had to be accurate in such a narrow channel. However, nothing deterred youthful bodies with strong muscles and nerves, and stout hearts. such took place near the Ashery, just west^pf the foot of Leopold and Alfred Streets, on the river. The writer’s School teacher wonderful and lovable gentleman, the late Mr. Albert E. Lloyd, of the firm of C. Lloyd and Son. He owned a flat- bottomed punt which he was keeping on the Mill Pond. He often took his Sunday School class for boat rides and this day there must have been six or eight of his boys in the boat. At fhftt time a family named Beal (or some such name, m&ybe it was Behl) lived in the most northerly house on the west side of Leopold Street, the Frank S. Edgar residence now. I remember that thejr name is scratched in the cement sidewalk, so those interested may check, One of the daughters of that family came along that day for a boat ride and she was Sitting on the seat at the very prow Of the punt, thus facing the others in the boat. Her sister or some other girl may also have been with her, but , that is incidental. She had an oar and was paddling backwards. Just as the boat was near the Ash­ ery, at about the closest possible point to her home, Miss Beal took such a strenuous backward lunge as she dip­ ped in her oar that she over-balanced and turned a back somersault without use of her hands into the water. The boat was moving forward at a fair speed and it passed completely over the unfortunate girl, who was grabbed and dragged into the punt by the two boys sitting in the stern seat. Happily the accident happened with­ in a few hundred yards of her home so Miss Beal's discomfiture was short­ lived and she suffered no ill effects because of her'* unexpected immersion. The writer cannot remember the names of the boys in the boat that day, but the following belonged to the Sunday School class: Frank Gal­ braith, (now Dr.) George W. Howson, Earl Johns, George Thomson, the late Clarence Brooks, the late Leonard Brock (K.I.A.)* the late Bddie Helps (K.I.A,), the late Harvey Willis (died of disease overseas), John Martin, Gordon Buchanan, Gordon Ransom, Bert Isard, Chas. Lloyd, Lloyd Hing- ston, and others. From 1906 to 1916, the writer’s fam­ ily lived on the south side of Victoria Street, fiye houses west of Minnie St. The lot was very long and the south end was the Maitland River. About half way back the lot continued dpwn a rather steep hill and then the rest of it was river flats to the stream's edge. There were some trees on the lower part of the lot strategically placed for the attachment of a boom, which conveniently caught much of the summer’s firewood during each spring freshet or flood, The writer generally managed to have a boat or raft moored on the lot each spring also, which he and his chums used to s.alvage bridge tim­ bers, fence posts, etc., from the fast­ flowing main current. For safety’s sake the boat or raft was always an­ chored by a long rope to a sturdy tree, and was manipulated from place to place by pike poles. One spring, Tom (Irish) Lutton was helping the writer catch some flood- wood and a most enjoyable time was being had until Irish mistook a large compact mass of swift-moving slush for a solid chunk of ice. The boat was far out at the end of the rope, at the edge of the faster^flowing main cur­ rent, where the water was quite deep, at the time. Irish made a wicked lunge with his long pikq PQle Into the fast-approach­ ing mass of supposed ice, and there, was nothing solid there. It looked as though Tom was trying to spear a fish beneath the fee because the pike pole pierced into it like butter. As the front end of the pole did a dis­ appearing act its other end followed, and Irish still had his hands firmly gitied to that end. The result was that one Irishman also dived through that mass of slush fee. Of course the writer also had a pike pole and it was only a matter of sec­ onds before he Pulled the very wet, very red faced youth from the water. Irish lived about two blocks away and he raced home and soon had dry attire again. Even a war later failed to dampen that Irishman’s spirit so the above incident never even "wiped the Irish grin off his handsome, Irish face.-* The writer had several similar nar­ row escapes caused by plunging through the river ice, but we will mention only one. About forty-five years ago there was a game which uncertain memory names "Honk-Ho”. In it some would be given time to get away and hide and then after giving a clue to their whereabouts by shouting "Honk-Ho” a few times, .they would remain hidden while the others searched for them. The final object of the game was to get back to the starting point without being caught. One winter there was a big thaw and an early flood, which a sudden drop in temperature soon checked and he coudn't move, so called for help. Cruickshanks swamRoy (Diddo) over to help, and they dived (we call­ ed it dove in those days) down to the supposed rock. Just as they got a good hold on the surprisingly round “rock" a mud turtle’s head shot out from beneath it, and, you may be sure, Diddo and Irish got away from there fast. The “Blackey" and several other muddy sections of the south branch were infamous for snapping turtles. These snappers could never be forced i After the war a party of the above mentioned swimmers, returned veter­ ans, went to this power house swim­ ming hole for a dip, and one look was enough. Not one of the war-hardened veterans had nerve or foolhardiness enough to dive into that narrow, shallot channel as they had formerly done. We will not say anything about the drowning tragedies in the Maitland River, although there have been a number down through the years. Some near-tragic river accidents ended as Please turn to page 31 Fry & Blackball Ltd. Factory and Staff in 30’s WELCOME FORMER WINGHAMITES AND HEARTY CONGRATULATIONS TO WINGHAM ON ITS 75th. ANNIVERSARY LLOYD C. LLOYD & SON LIMITED C. Lloyd' & Son Limited have manufactured doors exclusively since 1888. Founded by the late Charles Lloyd and his late son Albert back in 1888, the first plant was a small 32’ x 85’ building situated in the centre of the present plant. Through the years this business has grown steadily and has never closed down for Jack' of work throughout these years of operation. By specialization combined with quality production, Lloyds are able to produce the finest doors at lowest cost. Into every- Lloyd Door goes “66 Years of Manufacturing Experience” MANUFACTURERS OF * SOLID DOORS * VENEERED DOORS * COMBINATION DOORS * GARAGE DOORS * READY HUNG DOORS DISTRIBUTORS OF * BERRY STEEL GARAGE DOORS * WEISER LOCKS C? LLO YD & SON LIMIT ED WINGHAM, ONTARIO