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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1954-07-28, Page 34T’oge Thirty-four The Wingham Advance-Times, Wednesday, July 28, 1954 Tannery on Victoria Street in Wing^- operated Little on • ♦ Only Furniture Industry Following the death of Richard years ago, giving a total of 50,000 sq. Clegg in 1918 and the decision of his ft. for company operation. partner,’’•Clayton M. Walker, to close: During its 34 .years of activity Fry out; the business of Walker and Clegg, and Blackhall nave faithfully stuck an upholstered furniture industry was < to the policy of manufacturing only aaved for Wingham by the quick ac-, good quality upholstered furniture, lion of Norman Fry, Charles Black- They have developed novel ideas and Fall, Walter VanWyck and Samuel secured patents on several unique Bennett, who formed a partnership to: structural features in their products, ■carry on. Messrs. Fry and Blackhall i While the greater part of 4the fac- Jiad been foremen for Walker and tory’s production is distributed in On- ■Clegg, Walter Van Wyck was an ex- tario, shipn^nts are made from coast pert upholsterer and Samuel Bennett to coast, with nine representatives Sad for years operated a planing mill ;calling on the furniture trade. business in town, so the new partner- The products of the company in- ship operated with a fund of practical 1 elude both period and contemporary experience. ’ modern design living room furni- ..... ture which rate the reputation of hav- At the end of the urst year addition- • few equais for quality among ,al capital was obtained through the __J ®.formation of a joint stock company,, Canadian production. The registered • Fry and Blackhall Ltd., taking in sev- i trade names X-Rayed , Chester- -eral local shareholders. Samuel Ben-' Bed” and “Re-p-Rest” are well known nett was the first president, Norman hall marks in the industry. A smart ..Fry and Charles Blackhall, joint man-! showroom is maintained at the factory agers, and E. S. Copeland was the1 where a cross section of the line is . first secretaryttreasurer. ; attractively displayed. Here a design In a short time sickness forced the ma5L be c?ose?1’ a ?over selected, and retirement of Mr. Blackhall, who dis-; Soods ordered, custom-made, to your posed of his stock to :D. B. Porter, taste, with delivery arranged through Though he lived for several years Mr. a satisfactory furniture retailer. .Blackhall was never again actively en- I The management enjoys the loyalty .gaged in the business. It was an early of several long term employees. Jas. policy of the company for inactive to (Wild t has to his credit a combined sell out to active shareholders so that! tof-ai of over fifty years service with in a few years such well-known men j WaU & Q1 d p & Blackhall, as Thos. T. Field, Abner Cosens, Allen | °° ’ „ , , A i,-. Mills and Samuel Bennett, all of whom ‘ H*s ®on’ Harold has worked at his ’ were on the first board of directors,;Slde ^r over twenty-five years. In .no longer -held an interest. For several charge of the cabinet room, father and years in each office, D. B. Porter son have a talent for design, Other served as both president and vice-pre-! skilled employees with over -25 years' sident. Actively engaged from the time {service are Jack Ernest, assistant he joined the company he held the. production manager; David Benedict, post of plant superintendent and was . foreman finisher, Morris Swanson, responsible for all woodworking activ-j Jack sturdy and Percy Gibson skilled Sties until only recently when he de-; holsfc Normal personnel is cided to take life a little easier. He *still retains his interest in the busi-;flt£ employees ness and is on the board of directors ■ At the Canadian Furniture Mart as vice-president. '.held in the Canadian National Exhibi- 1 tion grounds each January Fry & Norman Fry also served as t presi-; Blackhall have one of the imposing dent and vice-president and was in ; displays among the more than three charge of production until stricken , hUnd d and f.ffc exhibitors who draw •with heart trouble. .Nearly fifteen! buyers f— —♦ —<• years ago, a short time before his c re buyers death, he sold his interest to the re- ! Jmce this show i maining active shareholders. (Toronto papers ° ; public one afterj .In the early twenties Harcourt ings, it is a ra Mundy joined the company ’ and be- with pride Wj came secretary-treasurer, when E. S. furniture in Copeland was appointed business man- i ager. Mr. Mundy held this post until ■ B. L. Stuckey entered the firm as■ secretary-treasurer nine years ago. i In 1927 E. S. Copeland became gen­ eral manager and has so continued, . being active in selling as well. Having served as vice-president for several years, Walter VanWyck be­ came president some years ago, which office he still holds. Actively engaged since the company was organized he is production manager and assistant general manager, and is the only sur- , .vfvor of the original organizers. 'Hntil 1927 the company carried on business in part of the Walker and Clegg factory, the plant having been .sold to the Gunn-Son-Ola Co. Forced ito move in 1927, the former Union Factory was purchased from the Can­ ada Furniture Manufacturers, and has been the company’s location since that time. Extensively remodelled at the time, an additional 15000 square feet was added in a new building a few Wingham Auto Wreckers Was Originally Chapman's Tannery W. J. Chapman operated a tannery on Victoria Street, facing the. Mait­ land River, the site of the present Wingham Auto Wreckers. He special­ ized in the tanning of sheepskins, which were bought within a radius of 50 miles from Wingham. From 200 to 250 skins were tanned weekly in 1888, and ten dozen pairs of mitts were produced daily during the season. The mitts were cut out at the tannery and, made at the homes of seven or eight employees. OLIVER GILCHRIST EARLY INDUTBUL1ST William Isbister Served on Council In 1857 William Isbister,. with hiS parents, left their Scottish home In the Orkney Islands to’ seek a home in the new1 world, settling in Ayr, On­ tario, where his father taught in a country school, A year later, William and his brother Thomas, travelled northward to the Queen’s Bush in Huron, County; where they cleared lands for homes in Morris Township, Mr, Isbister was active in the af­ fairs of the community, holding muni­ cipal office for many years. In 1911,. One of the earlier plants ham was the planing mill by John Watt and William the property now occupied by the Co- op creamery. Here they not only planed lumber for general building purposes, but manufactured sash and doors, The firip had about ten em­ ployees and handled 300,000 feet of lumber annually. Mr. Little later re­ tired from the business and in* 1897 Mr. Watt sold to Sam Bennett, who operated, the plant for 24 years, It was he who sold to the U.F.O. It was in 1921 that a branch of the United Farmers’ Co-operatives of On­ tario was formed here and the planing mill purchased.. J. Hirst was appointed manager. Eggs and poultry wpre handled exclusively in the first, year but in. 1922 a creamery department was. opened, when the creamery oper­ ated by Larry Benninger, situated ini the Kent Block, was purchased. The following year J. A. Wilson, who> had been employed in the office, was appointed manager <ff the plant and: remained in that position until he re­ tired! in 1947. Rod McIntosh then became Mr. Wilson’s successor; coming from Guelph where he had been with the U.F.O. for 14 years. This plant is now^doing a million djollar a year business with the latest of equipment for printing butter and in the poultry house, including an ice flaking machine for packing chickens. The equipment in the poultry process­ ing room is capable of handling 2500 chickens a day when necessary. At present the U.F.O. is staffed with 45 people. ARENA ACTIVITIES Curlers and ice skaters msxie. use of the Maitland River befpre there was an arena in town. However, it is believed that the first rink was ©rett­ ed in the 70’s and this building stood on the southwest corner of Alfred and Josephine Streets. Thos. Bell bought the rink in 1893 and whether he used it°in his- Industry or dismantled it, is: indefinite. Another rink was opened on the corner of Maple and Josephine Streets, where the Reliance Garage is now located. J. Stephenson was the owner and operated it for many years. These buildings were used for curl­ ing, and ice skating in the winter months, and as roller rinks in the summer.. Tlie' rink was one of the pop­ ular entertainment sources »a*nd great carnivals: of various kinds were held with -as- many as- four hundred spec­ tators. he moved to Wingham where he serv­ ed the municipality as councillor and reeve. He was a member and a trus­ tee of St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church until his death in 1932. years later a fire destroyed the entire premises and it was then that Mr. Pringle rebuilt a two-storey brick structure, 56’x50^ and a boiler and coal shed 30’x20’, and a one-storey; chemical building. He equipped the plant with two machines for the tanning of glove leathers, and machinery for the manu­ facture of gloves and mitts. Eventual­ ly Mr. 'Pringle employed between 60' and 75 people, and had installed three1 glove cutting machines and 52 sewing; machines. Wingham'. produced some excellent skaters which sometimes proved pro­ fitable. James Cornyn was one of the renowned skaters of his day and on one occasion* was' challenged by a Sea­ forth man. Each skater had backers from his own town. The Seaforth con­ testant was quite confident, and stat­ ed that he would' skate five miles and five laps while Cornyn skated miles, the race being for $50 a The Wingham man won the quite handily. Second Arena ' What was to be called the “Second Arena”, built of cement and corrigated iron, with a skating area1 of 60x175 feet and a curling rink 25x175 ft,, was commenced in 1919. Plans for the new arena on the northwest corner of Victoria Street and Diagonal Road, promised Wingham a very complete sports centre with check, locker, mu­ sic, waiting rooms, etc., and a long gallery for seating several hundred people. The erection of such a building was the enterprise of Wardsman Brothers. When the arena was in the last stages of completion, the severe wind storm of November, 1919, demolished it and the^ cement walls and ruins remained an eyesore for several years. The Wingham Lions Club started the ball rolling in 1924 and ’called a public zation of the at $10 completed, with the official* opening early in 1925. ♦ The arena is now owned by the five side, raceIn 1889 the firm expanded and a new solid brick, three-storey building was erected on a stone foundation. The main portion of the old frame building was raised and bricked, oc­ cupying one corner of the property. Mr. Chapman sold the tannery to Messrs. Pringle and Groves in 1903. W. D. Pringle had been in business in Georgetown before coming to Wing­ ham, and the year after buying the Chapman tannery, Mr. Groves retired from the business with Mr. Pringle assuming full control. W. H. Gurney leased a portion of the building in 1906 and took over i furniture buyers from coast to coast. well publicized in is open to the and two even- pportunity to view am’s place in the the glove making department. Three Gilchrist; Green & Co. Began {Making Furniture in 1886 j What is now known as Fry and j Blackhall Ltd., on the corner of Vic­ toria Street and Diagonal Road, was originally the thriving Gilchrist, Green and Co. furinture factory. was again opened, but not for long. Following an interval during which the building was vacant, Fry and Blackhall Ltd. purchased the premises and have been located there since that time. Due to ill health, Mr. Pringle was forced to give up operations in 1923 and the business was sold1 to William Stewart, who carried on extensive tan­ ning operations for some time, with facilities for handling up to 200 dozen hides daily. Part of this leather was used at ■ the plant for manufacturing gloves^ and mitts, and the remainder was shipped to other glove concerns in the province. Later Mr. Stewart discontinued tan- ningC/ and operated only the glove­ making department. He became ill in 1939, and the building was rented by C. Lloyd & Son Ltd. for a short time. It'then stood vacant until it was purchased by Joe Clark about 1943, and has been operated by him as an auto wrecking and radiator repair service since that time. ' '"Oliver Gilchrist was a Scotsman, j •and was born at the Village of Mey. j ’The village is very close to the Queen’s Castle of Mey, and it is in-1 teresting to note that his nephew was the Queen’s postmaster at that place Until his recent death. When Mr. Gilchrist left Scotland he 'went to Buffalo where he finished his education, later going to Grand Rapids. It was at the latter place that lie learned the furniture trade with Berkie and Gay. About 1880 he came to Wingham, and was employed by Thomas Bell as foreman. In 1886, he, and three others, formed what was known as Gilchrist, Green and Company and erected the Union Factory on the present site of Fry and Blackball, corner of Victoria ■ .Street and Diagonal Road. Mr. Gilchrist was married to the ■ former Catherine McKinnon, a tailor- ess, who was employed by Mr. J, J. Homuth. Mrs. Gilchrist remembered well the days when cattle were al­ lowed to roam the streets of Wing­ ham. One evening when she was re­ turning to her home on Scott Street she fell over a cow lying in the centre of the thoroughfare. A Very short time before Mr. Gil­ christ’s death in 1901, he retired from Union Factory ' and erected a small factory north of the- CNR tracks on Josephine Street, with the intention of operating his own furniture indus- * try, but he became ill before the ma­ chinery wds installed. John Joynt purchased the building from the es­ tate with the hope of opening an apple evaporating plant, but leased it to AmOs Tipling for flax storage. It finally went into decay, never having been used for its original purpose. Oliver Gilchrist and Walter Green were the active members of the com­ pany. Mr. Gilchrist had been foreman at the Scott and Bell factory, and these men decided to go into business for themselves. They purchased a lot in Wroxeter with intentions of build­ ing, but the citizens of Wingham in­ duced them to erect a plant here. Gilchrist, Green and Co., commenced operations in 1886, with seven em­ ployees. By 1889 the staff had increas­ ed to 70 people, who were working overtime. The main, two-storey frame building was 156’x60’. Many improve­ ments were made and the building enlarged, becoming three storeys in height. The break-out and engine rooms were housed in a brick struc­ ture 50'x30'. The factory was equip­ ped with a 75 h.p. boiler and a 50 h.p. engine. WALTER GREEN Huron Chapter No. 89, O.E.S., Wing­ ham, was instituted on December 14th, 1921 by Mrs. Elizabeth Taylor, Pres­ ton, Worthy Grand Matron of Ontario, assisted by other Grand officers and the officers of Perth Chapter, Listo- wel, with Mrs. Marietta Rennie, W.M. There were 37 charter members of which the following remain. R. A. Coutts, Mrs. R. A. Coutts, J. A. Fox, Mrs. J. A. Fox, Mrs. H. W. Shane, Mrs. J. H. McKay and Mrs. H. S. Chit­ tick. Mrs. G. Olver joined during the first year. M1ITL1ND LODGE I00F One of Wingham’s early lodges is the Maitland Lodge No il9, organized on August 4th, 1873 with Walter J. Hayward, N.G.; Samuel G. Cox, V.G.; John Dinsley, R.S.; D. G. Wilson, fin. sec.; and Alexander Dawson, treas. At one time the Oddfellows intended to erect a building of their own and purchased a vacant lot on Josephine Street, adjoining the Brunswick Hotel in 1885, Plans were made for a brick structure with stores beneath and lodge rooms on the second floor. For some reason this was never done and the lodge continued to meet in the Mason Block until 1908, when Jack Wilson, V.S., erected what was called the Wilson Block, on Josephine Street, now owned by R. A. Currie. The I.O.O.F. at that time provided Mr. Wilson with specifications for the Oddfellows Hall and the -lodge rooms were built according to the plans, and continued to be the meet­ ing place until the spring of this year when the lodge vacated to the build­ ing on Alfred Street, occupied by Mil­ ler Wholesale. Officers now filling the chairs are N.G., J. Schneider; V.G., Roy Ben­ nett; R.S., Wilf. Caslick; fin. sec., E. Lewis; treas., Roy Mundj/. Roy Manuel served as District De­ puty Grand Master last year. J. Brennan Tannery In 1877 a two and. a half storey frame building was erected on Josephine Street, the present site of Nelson Cunningham’s implement shop, by J. Brennan and Co., for the pur­ pose of tanning leather. The tannery was equipped with 30 double and 21 single vats, with a capacity of 250 hides per week. Sole leather was manu­ factured and sold in Ontario cities with monthly shipments amounting to $5500. Thirteen people were employed at this tannery, the payroll being $110. per week. P. B. Flanagan was the foreman. Mr. Brennan later sold his interest in the business to the other mem­ bers of the firm and it became known as: Hymen’s tannery. OATMEAL MILL meeting to discuss the organi- of a company for the erection present arena. Stock was sold a share and the building was town and operated under the manage­ ment of A. J. Lockridge. Artificial ice facilities were installed in 1950 and the following year the pipes were covered by a concrete floor over the entire ice area. Wingham Arena Built 1924 x The first officers of the chapter were: W.M., Mrsi Richard diegg; W.P., R. A. Coutts; Assoc. M., Mrs. H. W. Tamlyn; sec., Mrs. E. NaSh; treas., Mrs. A. G. Smith; Cond,, Mrs. O. Thompson; Assoc. C., Mrs. Pettigrew; Chaplain, Mrs. W. J. Boyce; Marshall, Mrs. R. A. Coutts; organist, Mra. C. E. McCawley; Ada, Mrs. H. W. Shane; Ruth, Mrs. J. A. Fox; Esther, Mrs. A. M. Crawford; Martha, Mrs. T. Tay­ lor; Electa, Mrs. W. S. Mitchell; War­ der, Mrs, W. A. Miller; sentinel, Dr. H. E. W. Tamlyn. The Order of the Eastern Star, or­ ganized in 1850, is an International organization with over two and a half million members. Huron Chapter is under the purisdiction of the Grand Chapter of Ontario and the General Temple, Washington, D.C. The present membership of Huron Chapter is 160. The presiding Worthy Matron and Patron are Mrs. W. M. Davis and Mr. James Walpole. Through the years,^thp chapter has generously supported Grand Chapter benevolences and special projects as well as local causes. In 1936 the presiding Worthy Ma­ tron, Mrs. J. H. McKay, recommended, to the chapter the x furnishing and maintaining of a room in the local hospital to be known as the Eastern Star Room. To raise money for this purpose, the chapter holds each year a Christmas dance which has proven a very enjoyable and profitable event. Support is 'also given to the O.E.S. Florence Nightingale Home, for aged members in Ontario, at Agincourt. Since its institution the chapter has had three members serve the district as District Deputy Grand Matrons, Mrs. H. W, Shade, Mfrs. J# A. Fox, qnd Mrs. T. A. Currie. A three-storey, frame building, situ­ ated on the east side of the G.T.R. station, near the present Falconer mill, was operated by the firm of Elder and Clegg as an oatmeal mill in 1888. The mill had a capacity of 60 barrels per day. Hamilton Beverages A recent industry in Wingham the bottling plant on Josephine Street, erected by Bert Mathers in 1937 and sold to Earl Hamilton in 1951. The firm is now known as Hamilton Bev­ erages, authorized bottlers of Wishing Well and John Collins soft drinks. ' From five to nine men are employed with yearly production of 50,000 cases': Three trucks are in operation and delivery is made within a fifty mile radius of Wingham. is «■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■!■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■« 6 \ i s. s factory was prac- In 1914 the Union closed during the when employees in 1917, following a fire at the Wiar- ton branch of the the Uhioh the Thos. Bell factories, Unlike others, however, Union Factory sold outright with no shares ta­ in C.F.M. I I "R. A. Graham boarded at the Wing­ ham Hotel in Lower Town in the early days. Dr, Garnier happened to be staying there for a short time, and invited Mr. Graham to be his guest for a very special supper dish. The latter was hot able to be back to the hotel in time and later asked Mrs. Helm, the landlady, what treat the debtor had prepared for the occasion. She informed him that it had been A pot of hihd legs Of groundhogs with OOfn cobs; floating x»n the top. The firm manufactured bedroom furniture, sideboards, tables, etc., of good sturdy quality and low price, designed to meet the needs of settlers moving to Western Canada. Mr. Green later became interested in the development of electricity in town an4 withdrew from Gilchrist, Green and Company to look after his other interests. A fire razed the factory in 1891 and at that time a joint stock company was formed. The present brick build­ ing was erected on the site and be­ came known as Union Factory. ^The Union was purchase by the Canada Furniture Manufacturers in 1901, as were the Button and Fessant and the was ken Previous to the time the C.F.M. purchased Union Factory, about 150 men were employed, 'Gradually the number decreased and within a period of a few years the tically closed down, and Bell factories summer months could secure other ehiployment, and opened in the fall and winter. The following’year an order for shell box­ es helped to provide work, The Uhioh employees wete Working at the BeH factory and. for a while worked teh hours a day. GEO. A. FHIPPEN Provincial constable for 25 years, Gedrge A. Phippen was also bailiff* tie was a resident* of Wingham for over 60 years and died in 1932. HiS hobby was painting. He used ordinary paints and tnixed the colors himself. Complaints have been registered by Citizens th regard to the town ball be­ coming a nuisance to the public shied it is a common occurrence for the bell to vary ten to fifteen minutes at noon hour alone, —News Item 1885. While renovating the present Ma­ sonic Hall, Bill Hayes and Jack Adams had ah unfortunate but profitable ex­ perience, The left front of the build­ ing near the roof had to be rebuilt and during this part Of the repairs, they came upon A hive of bees that insisted on giving them a merry chase. Later/ with beta over their heads, they removed about 100 lbs. of honey and then finished their wofk We specialize in fitting Children’s Shoes by X=Ray. ------------- ------Agents for DR. LOCKE SHOES DAGK SHOES SCOTT - McHale shoes DUNLOP'S SHOE STORE Wingham’s Shoe Headquarters for Over 50 Years