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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1954-11-03, Page 2Bag® Two The Wingham Advance-Times, Wednesday, November 3rd, 1954 WHY NOT MAKE IT ANNUAL? Every town seems to have an annual celebration or event of some kind. Read over the newspapers of other towns in the Province and you’ll find accounts of seed fairs, trade fairs, -hobby fairs, rutabaga festivals, bead festivals, highland games, trotting matches, and all. sorts of other events, Any town worth its salt has at least an annual fall fair. Except Wingham, that is. And we haven’t had even a fall fair for the past twenty years or so. We suggest that something should be done about it. Maybe the fall fair idea is out, but there must be other .annual events which could .be promoted in Wingham as well as anywhere else. Last summer’s anniversary cele­ bration proved that Wingham can put on as good a show as anyone else, once it gets started. ’ During the hectic days of the anniversary, Fone well- fcnown citizen made reference to “Wingham’s 75th annual centennial celebration”. He may have something there. Perhaps we should have one every year.* SOMETHING WRONG HERE Last week’s assessment appeals before the court of revision point up once again the fact that the present assessment set-up is, in many ways, a trifle unfair. We are referring’, of course, to assessments in general and not Wingham’s assessments in particular. Lor instance a home owner who never puts a tap of work or a lick of paint on his house is given a bonus in the shape of a lower assessment,while the fellow who makes his house the showplace of the town gets the tax roll thrown at him. Likewise the businessman'who expands, provides em­ ployment, and owns a shop which is a credit to the town gets soaked for his pains, and the fellow who doesn’t worry about improvements has no worries about assessment in­ creases. Maybe it’s reasonable, but it doesn’t seem like a very good way of nurturing new industries. Perhaps it’s a problem which will never be ^solved. But we’d like to see somebody have a try at it.> # NO ONE TO FIGHT WITH At a recent contest sponsored by the Canadian Weekly Newspaper Association, one of the judges lamented the .fact that there were few contraversial editorials in the weeklies he reviewed. What weeklies need in their editor­ ial columns, he implied, is more up-and-at-’em fighting .spirit. How true. If there were more Eearless Fosdicks amongst weekly editors, readership would undoubtedly ascend to new highs. Everybody would have fnore fun— with the possible exception of the editors. _ What the gentleman forgets, of course, is the fact that a,weekly editor mustjive with his readers. An$ while "he sometimes gets into trouble forgwhat he leaves out, he rmore often catches it because of what he puts in. The knock-’em-down, drag-’em-out fights of yester­ year were well suited to the days when two newspapers in one town could hammer each other. Most of today’s newspapers have no one to fight with, except their read­ ers. * ■ And who wants to do that? NOW’S YOUR CHANCE Wingham probably hasn’t any more unhappy citizens’ than any other town, of a comparable size. But there are .a few, and as usual, the minority is fairly vocal. People with beefs about the way the town is being run should sharpen up their arguments, for pretty soon they’ll have .a chance to do something about it. Nomination day is just around the corner. If you aren’t suited by the type of civic administration you’ve been getting, this is the time to take action. You ■can either run for office yourself, or nominate somebody you think can do the job better. The platform a*t the town hall will be available to anyone who has something to say on the subject, and everyone is invited to say theii* piece. If you’re too‘ busy, tired or apathetic to go to the meeting, it’s every citizen’s privilege to stay home. But let’s not hear complaints from the non-attenders.. * c * DEADLINES For some reason or other people don’t seem to associ­ ate deadlines with weekly newspapers. Or at least they don’t with this one. , , Comes Tuesday afternoon, in the'heat of the rush to get the paper out, and who should appear but the press correspondent of the Primrose League, with a story oh a meeting held last Wednesday. We don’t like to leave it ■out, but it’s an awful job to get it in. Correspondents could save us many a gray hair by bringing in their reports on the morning following the event. Advertisers could ease our ulcers considerably by bringing in their copy Friday afternoon.- Oe Wittjhant Yrifrante-Yltnes ■ *' Published at Wingham, Ontario Wenger brothers, Publishers, W. Parry Wenger, Editor Member Audit Bureau of Circulation Authorized Us Second Class Mail Pest Office Dept, Subscription Rate — One Year $2.50, Six Months $1.25 in advance •«, 9. K $3.50 per year , Foreign Rate $3.50 per year Advertising Rates on application i < Reminiscing * FORTY YEARS AGO On Saturday a number of pupils from the Public and High School, under the direction of the Women’s Institute went apple picking. They Visited tile orchards of several near­ by farmers who had generously given permission, and as a result of their efforts, forty-eight, bags- of apples were gathered, These will be distri­ buted among the poor of the town. The War Office is applying for more men. Canada is desirous of sending in the second contingent as representative a body of native-born Canadians as possible. This does not mean that other British-born appli­ cants will be discriminated agriins t; but it is an appeal to the patriotism and loyalty of all native-born Can­ adians whose affairs are such as will enable them to render to their King, and country the support that comes of actual participation in the struggles of the nation during this crisis. Recruiting for the second con­ tingent is now going on. Do what you can to lend stimulus to the move­ ment, and so encourage your fellow Canadians. One night last week some party or parties entered the garden of Mrs. bovey, whose husband is at present with the first Canadian contingent, and robbed her of nearly all of her garden stuff. The police are now en­ deavoring to locate the sneak thief and an arrest is expected shortly. Other gardens have also been robbed. The Bell and Union Furniture fac­ tories, which have been practically closed down since the first of July, commenced work on Monday morn­ ing and are expected to run eight hours a day during the winter season. Hallowe’en passed off quietly, and few pranks were played, owing, no doubt, to the precaution of having, a few extra policemen on duty for the occasion. The picture house will re-open on Thursday evening, after being closed undergoing impairs. The new electric player piano has been installed, and a high class five-reel special picture has been secured. . .......................................................... .............................................. ......................................................................................................... ................................................... « « Thumbnail Sketches » » <<I<IIIUIU<IUIIU...........<<<IIU<<<<UU<<<<U<<<<<<..........lllllll'llUUUirilHHMHWHII............ A man who has seen a lot of his­ tory written in' Wingham is W. H. Gurney. Born in Acton, Mr, Gurney early in in his life entered the glove-making business there. He came to Wing­ ham in 1906 to, look over the glove­ making business of W. J. Chapman, and liked the town so well that he located here. At first he rented the glove-making department at Mr. ’ Pringle’s tannery on the present Site of Joe Clarke’s building. But following a disastrous fire in which both his business and Mr. Pringle’s were wiped out, he rented and later^purchased the build­ ing on the east corner of Victoria and Scott Streets, now the residence of Horace Aitchison. After seven years in that location he purchased the present building,known as the Kent. Block, where his firm has been locat­ ed for the past forty years. ~ Mr. Gurney ’ was a great lacrosse player in his early days, and is still interested in sport in spite of the fact that it has become almost ex­ tinct in these parts. He played la­ crosse *for Acton before coming to Wingham, and can still remember getting down to, the race track in town at six oclock in. the morning for an hour’s trackwork before going to work at seven, “The boys won’t do that nowadays”, he says, . “They’d* rather be riding around in motor cars”. Besides his - business activities and his interest in sport, Mr. Gurney found time to devote to community affairs. He was a member of the town council irt 1916 and 1917 and served as mayor in 1918 and 1919. He was also a'member of the Utilities Commission for 27 years. He is very proud of the fact that while he was • mayor Wingham got hydro electric power. Before 1919 the town had its-own power plant on the river, a costly and uncertain under­taking. The advent of hydro power | brought the price of electricity down from 13c tp 3c per kilowatt hour, contributing the economic devel­ opment of the town. Although hydro electric power is taken for granted in these days, Mr. Gurney recalls that there was quite a battle ip. the council over the question of whether the town should go into hydro or continue with its own power system. History, of course, has proven how right Mr. Gurney was in his fight for hydro power. An active man all his life, Mr. Gur­ ney still preserves his good health to this day, and enjoys the. out-of-doors at his cottage near Kincardine. At a time when most men would be think­ ing of retiring, he is still looking for­ ward to a future of active participa­ tion in business and community af­ fairs. His first wife, Margaret Wallace, died 18 years ago. His present wife is,the former Mrs. Alf Posliff. He has one son, Jim, and a daughter, Mar­ jorie iMrs. R. E. McKinney). Our New District High School by A. D. MacWilliam ‘ c 0-0-0 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO A quiet wedding took place on Monday morning at the parsonage of the Wingham United Church, when Jean Dott, eldest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George Orvis of Wingham, became the bride of Victor Lough- lean, son of Mr. .and Mrs. John Lou- ghlean, "of Wiartorj.. A happy coinci­ dence of -.the occasion was the fact that it was. the forty-fifth anniver­ sary of the marriage of the bride’s grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. E. W. Orvis, who wereAn attendance. Mark Garniss, of concession 3, Mor­ ris Township lost his fine barn and all his season’s crops by fire Sunday night, when a bull broke loose while he was doing the chores, attacked him and upset a lantern. After sup­ per, Mr. Garniss went out to finish up his work and while he was busy with it the bull became enraged, and breaking out of his . stall made a rush at him. Mr. Garniss was knocked down and’ his leg badly disldcated, but managed, however, to summon help and all the stock, including the bull, were taken out safely. The fire made such rapid progress that noth­ ing could be done to save the build­ ing. The loss is placed at $5,000, part­ ly covered by insurance. Tonight is Hallowe’en when mis- chevious young- boys and girls take delight in pranks that are- sometimes a little too practical. So if the 10- year-old decked out in a false face and humorous dress trying to imitate the witches of old, comes knocking at your door, a tic-tac at the window just don’t do it, but remember you were a youngster yourself even if long ago. Of course, no one expects wanton damage done, but if the young ones want an hour of make believe escapades, there should be none to say nay. 0-0-0 FIFTEEN YEARS AGO Joe Kerr made a quick trip to the Malartic Gold Mines,, which is in the Noranda district. He left here oh Wednesday morning with six tons of provisions, arriving at the mines on Thursday riight. He arrived back in town at 8 o’clock on Saturday morn­ ing. The complete trip totalled 1,138 miles. Mr. Joe Brophy wrenched his back on Thursday‘when he fell from a load of hay. It was feared at first some bones might be broken, until an X-ray was taken at the hospital. Two local hunters, H. L. Sherbondy,. and Clare Adams, took part in the. Pheasant shoot at Pelee Island on Friday and Saturday. They were with a party from Lbndon, The week pre­ vious D. B. Porter had good success hunting pheasants at Wheatley. Those who desired to see the eclipse of the moon here Friday were dis­ appointed as clouds obstructed the view. Mr, and Mrs, W. A, Elliott, Brand­ on, Manitoba’ were visitors in town ori Friday. Mr. Elliott is an old Wing- ham boy, having lived here 50 years ago. He Was the architect on the Field building of town, He was on his way to Vancouver from Timmins, when he called. He said nearly all his Wingham friends had moved away or passed Oh, He was Very sorry to hear that Ed, Sherman had died. They were members of. the 33rd. Bat­ talion together. While it has been recognized that the Province of Ontario has one of the best educational systems in Can­ ada, there have’ been many irregular­ ities. The larger cities, although hav­ ing a lower school tax, due to larger assessments, "have in the past been able to offer many more advantages to their students than the schools in the smaller centres. To overcome this the Department of Education inves­ tigated district schools. The rural sections of the Province were to be divided into High School Districts with a tax assessment of from 8 to 12 million dollars. - It was felt that a school district of this size would be able to afford the varied courses given in the city schools. ■ Our new,, District High School, be­ sides giving academic • classes, will have facilities for shop, home econ-, omics, commercial ’and agricultural science.,It will also have a large com­ bined -auditorium’, and gymnasium' and a fully-equipped cafeteria to serve 250 students at a sitting. The school grounds are large enough to have suitable playing fields and an area set aside for agricultural. Con­ siderable agricultural equipment has and is in the process of being pur­ chased for use under the supervision of the agricultural instructor. At the present tipie it is intended to con­ tinue the serving of one hot dish to the rural pupils'who stay for lunch, and for which no charge is made. This practice, when the demand aris­ es can be increased to serve_ a full course meal. One should not forget that the dis­ trict school is for the use of the adults as well as the., students. The combined auditorium, which has -a large stage, arid the gymnasium will be open for the use of any respon­ sible group in the school district and can be used for many types of enter­ tainment. The cafeteria will serve a long-felt need for banquets. Night school classes will permit the general public to use the" specialized equip­ ment in shop, ‘ home economics and commercial classrooms under • the guidance of specialists. Now, while every effort is being made to see that our new District High School will, be one of the finest in the Province, no doubt there wi’J be .some flaws. However, if we re­ member that What constitutes a fine .^school is the rise that is made of it, we can assuredly have the finest Dis­ trict High School in Ontario. e----------------------------- -—. .............. 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SB | Sports and Auto Supply I --------- .. 1r- ■ „mi 111^11)10,11 —II IM n — Raul’s (£i)urtfj I (CHURCH OF ENGLAND IN CANADA) . .' ■ OTingljam..... • ■ | Twenty-First Sunday after Trinity I Remembrance Sunday * | 8,30 a.m.—Holy Communion | a.nv—Civic Remembrance Service Parade of Wingham Branch 180 B.E.SX. | 2.30 p.m.—Church School A | > 7.00 p.m.—Evehing Prayer and Meditation „ | ♦ * * I Wed., Nov. 3rd 7.30 p.m.—Board of Management | ’ Meeting. i * I Thurs., Nov. 4th—3.00 p.m.—W.A. Meeting in .the I , Parish Room.