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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Times-Advocate, 1971-06-24, Page 1F9:777. 77. • S Ninety-sixth Year EXETER, ONTARIO, JUNE 24,. 1971. Price Per Copy 15 Cents No cause yet for blaze ,Exeter home badly damaged No cause has been determined as yet for the fire which resulted in considerable damage to the home of Mr. and Mrs. Arnold Mathers, Andrew St., early Tuesday evening. Damage to the house was estimated at $10,000 by Fire Chief Gary Middleton and another $3,000 or more on contents, The loss was covered by insurance. Mathers, principal at Huron Centennial School, Brucefield, was finishing picnic tables at the front of the house when he heard the crackling of flames around 8:00 p.m. Upon investigation, he found the interior of the kitchen in flames, with flames shooting out a rear window, The Exeter fire department had a difficult time in controlling the blaze. It ran up under the roof above a false ceiling in the up- stairs and wasn't brought under control for almost an hour. The kitchen was badly charred and the'upstairs rooms sustained considerable damage, The remainder of the house was also substantially damaged by smoke and water. Neighbors and onlookers managed to get all the Mathers family furnishings and belongings out of the building before they were too badly KITCHEN CHARRED - Wilf Hunkin looks through the kitchen window at the Mathers home to view the extensive damage caused by Tuesday night's fire. The blaze apparently started in the kitchen. CLOTHING REMOVED — Onlookers at the fire scene quickly stepped in to assist in the removal of furniture and belongings, Hugh Montgomery is shown taking a load of clothing to Mrs. Mathers. Motion didn't materialize, Goderich duo quit instead beginning, During the segment allotted to delegations, he ad- vised the audience that the board would waive their policy in this instance and would hear Coun- cillor Giesbrecht on the matter of Goderich's petition to the board that members not accept the resignation of Mrs. Wallace and Dr. Deathe. The chairman also informed Please turn to page 3 — The cafeteria at Central Huron Secondary School in Clinton was jammed Monday evening for the regular meeting of the Huron County Board of Education. Interest in the meeting had been fostered by a statement which appeared in the Huron County weekly newspapers last week from Mrs. J. W. Wallace, at that time chairman of the salary negotiating committee, and Dr. A. B, Deathe. Both members of the board from Goderich, they had issued a statement of their position concerning salary negotiations damaged, although some of the furniture from the family room next to the kitchen had been charred or smoke damaged. The furniture and clothing were taken across the street to the home of Roland McCaffrey and volunteers with trucks then moved most of it to garages and basements of the family's friends. Two members of the fire department escaped serious injury during the blaze. Reg Stagg suffered a badly bruised knee when the TV aerial came tumbling down onto the roof, The wood had burned around one of the pegs holding the guide wires and it let the aerial loose and down onto the roof where Stagg and two other firemen were fighting the stubborn blaze. A portion of the upstairs ceiling came tumbling down on Fire Chief Gary Middleton, but he escaped injury, The fire was one of three tragedies which befell Mathers this week. Tuesday morning he learned of the death of an uncle, and on Wednesday morning he arrived at the Brucefield school to find that the office had been broken into and ransacked. Mr. and Mrs. Mathers spent the night at the home of Bruce Shaw, wnile their three children were with his sister, Mrs. Jim Gaunt, Centralia. Mathers said he wasn't sure what the family would do for accommodation until the end of the month. They have a home rented in Toronto for the summer months as both he and his wife will be taking summer course^ in that city, Vandalism rampant, report one collision Lifeguards save child STUBBORN BLAZE — Exeter firemen battled for an hour before getting the fire under control. Reg Stagg pushes a hose through an upstairs window, while Ted Wright hangs on to his coat to keep him from falling. Assisting is Har Brintnell. T-A photo There was only one accident investigated by the Exeter detachment OPP this Week, It occurred Sunday morning when a car driven by Eric Campbell, Hensall, was in collision with two parked cars on • Richmond St. The parked vehicles were owned by Marion and Ronald Day, both of Hensall, OPP Constable Bill Glassford listed damage in the crash at $2,200. The OPP investigated a Women drivers in town crashes Re-open price talks at firemen's urging number of acts of vandalism. On June 18, four mailboxes on concession 14 and 15 of Usborne were pulled out, smashed and tossed in the ditch, And on Monday, five more were reported pulled out on the 6th concession. A stop sign, was removed from its position at the intersection of Highways 4 and 84 in Hensall. Early Sunday morning, a beer bottle was thrown through the window at the Lutheran Church in Zurich, The storm window and a small section of stained glass window were damaged. Police also report damage to picnic tables at Morrison Dam. Youths pulled the tables into the water to use them as rafts. Constable Bill Glassford is continuing a theft investigation related to the disappearance of a cutting torch and a box of tools taken from Hensall District Co- Op last week. Value of the stolen property was estimated at $440. Although Exeter and the neigh- boring townships of Hay, Stephen and Usborne have reached a tentative agreement on new fire call rates, the discussion will be opened again at the request of Exeter. This action came after a meeting with four members of the Exeter fire department, Monday, when the men pointed out that Exeter ratepayers were paying more than their share of the actual costs of maintaining the department. • "We feel the townships should be prepared to pay more," stated spokesman Ted Wright, a former member of Exeter council. "We don't think they can expect to get protection so low." He was emphatic that the firemen were not attempting "to hose the townships," but rather only suggesting the costs be apportioned more fairly. Wright also noted there was no Quick action by lifeguards at the local swimming pool saved the life of a 10-year-old Exeter lad Sunday afternoon. Michael Parsons, son of Mr, and Mrs. Doug Parsons, Exeter, was pulled unconscious from the pool shortly before 2:00 p.m., after being spotted by Cheryl Sweet, who was helping another youngster at the time. Lifeguard Bob Dobbs ixn- mediatelystarted mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, while other members of the pool staff called the Exeter fire department and Hoffman's Ambulance. The lad had regained con- sciousness when the firemen arrived and he was taken to South Huron Hospital by the Dashwood ambulance. The grade four student at Exeter Public School was treated and released, but later in the day was admitted to hospital again when he started to vomit at home. The youngster couldn't remember exactly what had happened in the pool, although he told his mother he got a pain in his stomach while swimming and couldn't reach the deck. He was doubled-up, when pulled from the pool. He was kept home from school on Monday and Tuesday, but Mrs, Parsons indicated he would probably return to classes on Wednesday. She was high in her praise for all those who had assisted in the rescue, "They all did a great job," she commented. Some criticism arose over the incident and Fire Chief Gary Middleton, who was not at the scene, received four calls from onlookers who were critical of the department, The matter came up for discussion at Monday's council Please turn to page 3 — expressly for the information of Goderich citizens. Mrs. Wallace and Dr. Deathe served notice in that statement they would present a motion at Monday's meeting asking that the board of education settle the salary dispute with the county's secondary school teachers on the basis of parity with teachers in other counties surrounding Huron. At the same time they requested that persons sup- porting this stand be present at the board meeting. However, before Monday's meeting, both Mrs, Wallace and Dr. Deathe had given public notice that they would resign from the board of education. Neither was present and only Mrs. Wallace's written resignation was before the board for consideration, Councillor Ed Giesbrecht of the Town of Goderich was present bolstered by several other council members from that municipality to urge the Huron County Board of Education not to accept the resignations of the two Goderich board representatives. Councillor Giesbrecht also carried the written resignation of Dr. Deathe which was to have been forwarded by the municipal spokesman Monday evening to the Huron County Board of Education. As is usual procedure, the board began its meeting with the adoption of the agenda, the call for delegations, the approval of minutes from the previous meeting etc. Chairman Robert Elliott was well into the third item on the agenda when one spectator in the crowd rose to complain that persons seated at the back of the cafeteria could not hear what was being said. Elliott suggested that spec- tators move closer to the front. Some did. Then Elliott called for a microphone. During the delay in obtaining sound equipment, Councillor Ed Giesbrecht spoke to the chairman of the board and the director of education D. J. Cochrane. It was then that the board went into committee-of-the-whole in camera to discuss whether or not to entertain the delegation from Goderich despite the fact that the usual seven-day notice of delegation had not been ob- served. Upon re-entering the cafeteria, Chairman Bob Elliott began the meeting over again — from the WATERLOO GRADUATE Elizabeth Ann Snell, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Russell S. Snell, graduated from the University of Waterloo with a Bachelor of Mathematics in Computer Science. She is now employed at Carlton University, Ottawa. ACADEMY GRADUATE Julie Schenk graduated recently from Wells Business Academy with a diploma in the executive secretarial course.A graduate of SHDHS , she is the granddaughter of Mr. and Mrs. Hugo Schenk of Crediton. way they wanted to get into any bitter debates as have been the case in other area communities regarding fire agreemtnts. "They are fair thinking people," Wright said of the townships. At the present time, Exeter pays all the operating costs of the department and the town- ships pay an hourly rate for each fire call. The tentative agreement reached last week would bring the hourly rates to $100 for the first hour and $70 for each hour after that. The firemen explained that the hourly rate does not cover any of the operating costs. Wright,presented figures which showed that in 1966 the actual costs of the fire department were just over $3,500 and $450 was received from the townships in fire call fees. By 1970, the costs had risen to $7,100 and only $1,890 was received from the townships in fire calls. The firemen noted that even by paying the large share of the costs, Exeter ratepayers were still getting fire protection at a 'reasonable cost, Councillor Bruce Shaw said he had had discussions over the weekend regarding the fire agreement and learned that because Hay township had no calls in 1970, they did not pay anything towards the department costs although they still had the protection. He suggested the four municipalities should share the fixed or capital costs so all contributed something, whether they had a fire call or not. — Please turn to page 3 Exeter worker sustains burns Ronald -Hayes, Thames Road west, Exeter, an employee of Dobson Roofing is in satisfactory condition in Victoria Hospital, London after suffering burns at a construction site in London, Tuesday. Hayes, 41, suffered burns to his left arm when a quantity of tar was spilled. The local firm are doing roofing work at the Westgate Apartments at 790 Wonderland Road, London., Hayes is expected to be in hospital for about a week. Three women drivers were •4 involved in the two crashes in- vestigated this week by the Exeter police department. On Saturday at 10:20 a.m. cars operated by Margaret Lovell, 188 Sanders, Exeter, and Muriel Stephens, 256 Ridout, London, collided at the entrance to the Darling IGA. Both were travelling north and the Exeter woman was stopped to make a left turn when struck from the rear by the Stephens car. Constable Robertson listed A damage at $700. The other crash occurred Sunday at 6:10 p.m. when a car driven by Rosemary Beswarich, London, struck the fence at the Chuckwagon. Damage was set at $70 by Constable McIntyre. r The police warned this week they plan to crack down on local cyclists who fail to obey stop signs. A number of warnings have been issued, but now the police plan more stringent measures to curtail the unsafe .14 practice. Jail one for theft; two lose licenses Two doctors coming to GB evade the officer by fast driving and turning corners. When he was finally caught, a breathalizer test showed a reading over the legal figure of 80 tngs. The court learned Gorrill had several previous convictions for other offences as well, Kenneth Neil Smale, Hensall, paid a fine of $150 and had his license suspended for three months on a charge of impaired driving, Please turn to page 3 — Next issue to be early A community project to attract a doctor to Grand Bend has paid, off two-fold. Jack Mennell, secretary of the Medical Centre Committee, reported to the T-A this week that two doctors from Ireland have indicated they will take up • practise in the medical centre now nearing completion. The two are Dr. Sean Trapp and Dr. William O'Connor who expect to arrive in time to start working around mid-July, Both graduated in 1969 and have been working at a Dublin hospital, k Dr. Trapp is single and Dr. O'Connor is married and has one child. Mr. Mennen said work on the medical centre, being built by public donations, is expected to be completed by the end of next week. Light fixtures and rugs are now being installed. He said a concentrated drive - will be made in the next few weeks to raise the remainder Of the $35,000 needed for the building. To date, about $25,500 • has been realized. The campaign started in .Marsh. The medical centre also in- cludes a dental Office, and the committee hopes to attract a dentist from an upcoming graduating class later this year or early in 1072, A Huron Park youth was sentenced to 15 days in jail and three others were put on probation for one year by Judge Glenn Hays, who handed out the sentences, Tuesday, for a car theft in which the four were in- volved on April 12. Kenneth Edward Walker was sentenced to the jail term. He had been on probation for another offense at the time of the theft and probation officer William Craven indicated he was not well behaved while under his care. Given probation terms were Norman Walker, Huron Park; Kenneth J. Smith, Crediton; and David Lloyd Vincent, Exeter. All four had previously pleaded guilty to the theft of a car owned by Oscar Pfaff, Crediton, and Judge Hays emphasized that each should make a personal apology to Mr. Pfaff. The three placed on probation were ordered to keep the peace for one year, report to the probation officer every. two weeks and not associate with any of the Others involved in the theft or any other person whom the probation officer names. A Parkhill man, Joseph George Gorrill, had his driver's license suspended for six months and Was handed a fine of $125 in the Tuesday sitting in Exeter court oh a charge of driving with an aleOhol content over 80 rags. Iiis driving actions had at- tracted the attention of OPP Constable LIil1 Glassford on Waterloo St. in Exeter on May 9 and the accused attempted to BESIT STEPPE — The honour of being the top step-dancer in the class 'over 26 years of age at the Ontario riddle championship sponsored by the Hensall Kinsmen went to an 13xeter man. Above, 79 year-old Bobby Hatter shows his title winning steps. T-A photo, Just a reminder to our readers, advertisers and correspondents that next week's issue of The Times-Advocate will be printed One day earlier than usual due to the July 1 holiday. Because the holiday falls on a Thursday, next week's issue will be available to readers on Wednesday, June 30. Deadlines for news and ad- vertising copy will be advanced one day to enable the staff to meet the earlier publication day. Classified ads will be accepted until 6:00 p.m. Monday. Correspondents should have their news in the mail one day earlier than usual or arrange to have it delivered to the office Monday. FiDOL8 CHAMPION - The grand championship of the Ontario fiddling contest held at Hensall over the weekend was won by Gord Ekon of Ingersoll. Elm, second from the left receives the Ward Allen Memorial trophy from 11 year-old Randy Allen. At his loft is master of ceremonies Johnny Brent while 'Actual! kinsmen president John Baker is at the right. TA photo I I