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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Times-Advocate, 1973-04-26, Page 1Price Per Copy 20 Cents One Hundred and First Year EXETER, ONTARIO, APRIL 26, 1973 Accept tender on workshop hope to be operational in fall Barring unforeseen difficulties, Association for the Mentally the South Huron Association for Retarded to be held at the the Mentally Retarded's adult University of Waterloo, May 9 - workshop in Dashwood will be 13. Mrs. Don Purdy of Ipperwash, operational by September 1. Mrs, Nonie Hernmingway and Tenders were read for the Mrs. Jim Kneale of Grand Bend construction of the workshop have attended provincial con- Tuesday night, and work will ferences previously at Thunder begin "probably within the next Bay and Ottawa and urged the week, as soon as the contract is local members to take advantage signed," said Bruce Shaw. of the educational experience On the advice of architect involved in the conference held Bruce Martin, the Association for within easy driving distance. The the Mentally Retarded accepted YACMR group is also to be the bid of B,I.B. Construction represented at the sessions of Ltd., London, for $116,994 plus a "Us" conference which lets adult $5,000 contingency. Totalled, this trainees take part in the is approximately $22,000 less than association organized for their the highest bid of $149,000. Five development, tenders were received for the A grant was authorized up to construction, Among those was $100 to register volunteers of the only one local firm from Lucan. Nursery applying for a The tender accepted came correspondence and partial within two percent of the ar- residence training course at chitect's estimate for the work. Humber College, Rexdale. The association has allowed The Flowers of Hope another $10,000 on top of the distribution is to be made through tender for furnishings and extras. the schools of the South Huron The completion date for the and North Lambton and North project is August 30, including Middlesex area - at the both exterior and interior work. discretion of the administration. The architect is from the firm An auctioneer in Exeter has of Murphy, Schuller, Green & offered his services for June 15 Martin. for an auction of available items Also at the meeting a donated by friends of the delegation was named to attend association in the area. Ten- the annual meeting of the Ontario tatively the location of the auc- tion is set for Dashwood, Anyone having disposable antiques and items in saleable condition is on this weekend asked to leave them with members of the board in their community. BEARS WILL DANCE AND SING - During tonight and Friday night's concert at Usborne Central school, visitors will be able to watch a variety of acts in "A Salute to Disney". Shown above as dancing and musical bears are Craig Alexander, Ron Watson, Larry Rundle, Pat DeJonge and Murray Armstrong. Lose hour sleep CEMENT GOES THROUGH BRIDGE - Early Wednesday afternoon a bridge on Sideroad 15 in Stephen township near the Brand brothers property at Lot 15, Concession 5 collapsed. A Canada Building Materials Co. truck of London and driver Garnet Leslie crossed the bridge safely but an attached trailer loaded with cement blocks went into the river. The truck and trailer carried about 20 tons of blocks. T-A photo. Separate school expenses increase by over $180,000 SEVEN SMALL DWARFS - Students at Usborne Central school will be saluting Walt Disney in a special con- cert tonight and Friday night. Shown above as the Seven Dwarfs are Rodney Dobson, Dennis Pym, Jeff Taylor, Bennis Kints, Donny Stroud, Craig Cudmore and_ Mur.r.ay..,•Rpndle..,. .• J-A., photo. Pays fine, loses licence for endangering children A Hensall youth was fined a total of $325 and had his licence suspended for three months when he appeared in Exeter court to face two charges arising from an incident in Exeter on Hallowe'en. Terrance Mattson pleaded guilty to charges of careless driving and creating unnecessary noise with his vehicle before Judge Glenn Hays, Tuesday. Forme!' Exeter Constable Ardell McIntyre laid the charges and the court learned that Mattson had been spotted speeding on several backstreets during the evening, In the area of Huron St,, children were endangered and they had to take quick protection in doorways. Trees and the lawn at Victoria Park were damaged and the local police cruiser also sustained damage of $51.00 in the incident. Mattson had made restitution for the damage to the cruiser. Judge Hays stated the worst part of the incident was the danger to children and suggested that a car was probably a very glamorous possession to a 17- year-old such as the accused. However, he said that a visit to a hospital to see the results of this type of driving would take away all the glamor. Three other drivers had their licences suspended at Tuesday's court session, although two of the three were given restricted suspensions in that they are still The annual meeting of the Exeter Board of Trade was held, Wednesday. The notice of the meeting asked Members: "Do YOU want someone - to organize another top- notch Christmas parade this year, - to welcome centennial visitors to our shopping centre, - to promote Exeter as a wide awake town, - to attract summer tourists and their dollars?" Few businessmen were ap- parently interested, with only seven attending the event, allowed to drive to and from work. They were Wayne Lloyd Wagner, Clinton, who pleaded guilty to impaired driving and Kenneth C. Stanley, Kincardine, who faced a charge of dangerous driving. Stanley was fined $200 for his driving actions on January 20 when he was clocked at a speed of over 80 m.p.h. on Highway 4 south of Exeter. OPP Constable Ed Wilcox reported that on- coming cars had to take evasive action to avoid accidents on several occasions, Norm Whiting The report of the nominating committee was presented by president. Harold Gunn and was accepted as follows: President, Norm Whiting; vice- president, Don Webster, secretary, Bill Batten; treasurer, Harry Clout; directors, Garr Rice, Emil Hendrick, Jim Russell, Dean McKnight, Jim Hennessey, George Dobbs, Marg Cook, Tom Arthur and Murray Greene, Newly elected president Norm Whiting set the date for the first executive meeting for Thursday (today). He was given a restricted licence suspension for three months. Wagner was fined $150 and had a similar three-month restricted suspension after the court learned that his car was found to be weaving on the highway and a breathalizer test on the accused gave a reading of 150 mgs. Kenneth Richard Kadey, Crediton, was fined $150 and had his licence suspended for six months after pleading guilty to impaired driving on February 16, He was fined a further $30 for having liquor in a place other than his residence and $15 for speeding in Exeter at a rate of 35 in a 30 zone. The latter two charges were laid on January 20. In other cases heard by Justice of the Peace, Douglas Wedlake and Judge Hays, the following fines were levied: William Cornelissen, Lucan, $20 for unnecessary noise with his vehicle. Huron Motor Products Ltd., $20 for operating a vehicle with no - Please turn to page 3 Thieves get tires, seed Four thefts were reported in the area this week, The loot in- cluded tires, veterinary supplies, grass seed and a truck. The six tires were taken over the weekend from the Lloyd Hey garage in Crediton. They were valued at $180, Entry had been gained through a rear window. Dick Zielman, RR 2, Dash- wood, reported the loss of 150 pounds of grass seed valued at $114. The seed had been taken some time during the past two weeks. A break, enter and theft oc- curred Thursday at the Hensall Sales Barn, A quantity of veterinary supplies and a set of tools were taken. Th.ey were valued at $90. A pickup truck was stolen from the Conklin Lumber yard at Grand Bend. It was found later on Highway 21 north of the resort. Police in Landon recovered a truck stolen two weeks ago from 'Parker & Parker Drainage, Hensall. The vehicle was reported stolen on April 11 and WAS found on Saturday in pan apartment building parking lot by city police. Twenty years ago, J.M. South- cott wrote: "Maurice Quance is probably the only true craftsman left in Exeter who single- handedly turns out the finished article from the basic raw materials." Mr. Quance was then celebrating his 47th anniversary as a harness maker, Last week, he did one last small job before selling all the equipment he has gathered in a 67 year career as a harness-maker. He was one of the few, if not the only active harness-maker left in Western Ontario, He finds there is still a demand for harness, even though farm machinery has almost extinguished the work- horse population. He repaired and made harness for race horses, show horses, riding horses and the few work horses that are left. Mr. Quance has lived all his life in Exeter. He started learning his trade at the age of 12 at the harness shops of W.J. Beer and Peter Frayne. There were three men in Mr. Beer's shop, which was located at the present site of Russell Electric, In those days, harness-making was a big industry, There was enough work to keep four shops busy. Besides those of Mr, Beer and Mr. Frayne, William Bissett and Thorn Baker conducted similar businesses. Mr. Quance, Ed Snell and Ernest Taylor were apprentices. The busy days were Saturdays when the shops would plan to spend all day working on livery horse harness which had to be ready for the travellers on Mondays. During those busy years, he was absent from business on a Saturday night on only five occasions. One of those occasions was during World War I. Mr. Quance injured his right hand quite badly. "I got my hand smashed and couldn't go to the front lines," said Mr. Quance, "But they kept me at Aldershot Camp reparing harness and saddles for the troops. I even soled shoes for boys then," he added. He was stationed in Aldershot, England for 14 months. That is really the only time he was away from Exeter. The harness-making industry reached its peak about 60 years ago when hundreds of harness sets, mostly fancy, were shipped out west. The men turned out six sets a week, which is top production when it is considered that, on the average, it is a week's work for one man to turn out a single set of harness. In 1920, Mr. Quance purchased the business of Mr. Frayne, whose shop was located where Pat's Pet Shop is now, Later, he rejoined Mr. Beer and his suc- cessor, R.E. Russell, until he built a new house on William St. in 1945 and outfitted a shop in the basement. He carried his work on there until last week, Mr. Quance used to make his harness from western steer hides and he used to buy it from McCallurns Tannery, beside the river in Exeter, for 25 cents a pound. Twenty years ago it cost $1 per pound in Toronto, and it was very difficult to get because harneSs leather was not in heavy demand, Today the cost per pound of leather is over $1.90. There are no tanneries in Canada, so all the The Huron-Perth Separate School board Tuesday approved a leather must be imported from England or the United States, Mr. Quance used American track leather. A store in Stratford imports the goods and retails them, and this is where Mr. Quance bought his materials in recent years. It takes 60 pounds of leather to make a single harness, "When I 1973 budget of $2,607,132, an in- crease of 7.36 percent, or $180,166 over last year. Jack Lane, Business Administrator is presenting the report said the maximum or- dinary expenditure this year is $620.79 per pupil or a total of $1,961,113. The provincial ceiling on ordinary expenditures for 1973 is $630 per elementary school pupil. The increase for the board is $60 per pupil over the ex- penditures in 1972. Extraordinary expenditures total $582,325. - The prbvincial grant 'for' or- dinary expenditures in 1973 has increased by 1.8 percent and on recognized extraordinary ex- penditures by .35 percent. The equalized assessment per pupil, which determines the Board's grant percentages, has increased by $1,390. Of the total budget of $2,607,132, 13,68 percent is to be levied against local taxpayers. Mill rates established for each municipality in 1973 for separate school support follow with the corresponding rates for 1972 in brackets: Clinton 26.65 (29.65); Exeter 22.59 (20.59); Goderich 29.97 (27.97); Seaforth 23,13 (26.13); Wingham 28.72 (26.72); Hayfield 28.45 (24.00); Hensall 22.50 (22.14); Zurich 29.89 (27.89); Ashfield 25.50 (23.50); Colborne 25.21 (23.21); Goderich Township first started, we sold a first-rate, completely finished harness for $13. The same thing today costs $185," said Mr. Quance. The skill in harness-making is knowing how to cut up the hide so that most of the leather is used. Mr. Quance knows by heart the length of every strap that goes into the harness, whether it is for 22,00 (19.41); Grey 24.72 (22,72); Hay 29.45 (27.45); Howick 19.00 (15.00); Hullett 21.22 (19.22); McKillop 23.08 (26.08); Morris 19.00 (12.50). Stanley 22.62 (20.62); Stephen 28.19 (31.19) ; Tuckersmith 25.42 • (23.42) ; Turnberry 25.20 ( 23.20); Usborne 19.90 (17.09); E. Wawanosh 21.47 (19.47); W. Wawanosh 22.50 (20.50); Bid- dulph 21.25 (19.25); McGillivray 30.45 (28.45); Cuirass 5.40 (18.57); Kinloss 5.36 (18.05); E. Nissouri 22.00 (20.00); W. Zorra_ 26.60 (29,60); Statford 24.25 (27.251; Mitchell 19.96 (17.96); St. Marys 5,00 (5.00); Blanshard 26.00 (22.77); Downie 28.44 (28.44); N, Easthope 29.04 (27.04); S Easthope 24.00 (22.00); Ellice 22.27 (25.64); Fullarton 21.70 (20.29); Hibbert 21.54 (24.54); Logan 24.19 (27.19); Mornington 25.46 (23.46); Wellesley 25.61 ( 23.61) ; Maryborough 21.83 (19.83); Peel 21.37 (19.37). The largest item in the ex- penditure list is instruction listed at $1,603,000 or 61.5 percent of the total budget of $2,607,132. In 1972 the actual instruction budget was $1,488,657 or 61.3 percent. In addition to revenue from local taxation the budget estimates general legislative grants of $2,173,306 compared to $2,005,577 in 1972. years heavy or light horse, a single or double set. He can cut up a side with remarkably small waste. Once the strips are cut, the edges must be trimmed. Mr. Quance could slice his knife through the leather with the speed and finesse of a modern machine. When the trimming in com- pleted, the straps are blackened and holes for sewing punched by hand. Most of the sewing on harness is done by hand and Mr. Quance took pains to do a thorough job. He used to make his own thread, twisting strands of hemp into iron toughness and blackening it with wax. More recently, he used machine thread which he could buy in Stratford, Although demand dwindled with the introduction of power machinery, Mr. Quance always found some harness work to do. He has taken other jobs during slack seasons, but never has he given up his trade, until last week. Mr. Quance will be 79 in July, For the past few years, he hasn't worked steadily, but continued doing small jobs, and making his own harness, as he has always done. He sold his equipment to Charles Webber, Hensall. When asked if he was sorry to be losing his machinery, he answered, "Well, it had to come sometime. Charlie's a good friend of mine and he's wanted the equipment for a long time", Mr. Webber is planning on continuing the harness-making. But Maurice Quance is probably the last original member of what was once a flourishing and proud craft. Whiting heads board, seven attend annual Area residents are reminded that Daylight Saving Time goes into effect this weekend. Clocks are to be moved ahead one hour before going to bed late Saturday night or early Sunday morning. The hour lost will be regained in October. Starve-In nets $50 for needy rge,,,,,f; than $50 in pledge% was realized during a weekend- Starve-In sponsored by the Young People of Carmel Presbyterian church in Hensall. With Rev. Wilfred Jarvis in charge, 23 young people from the Hensall Presbyterian, Anglican and United churches and from Caven Presbyterian in Exeter ate only soda biscuits and drank fruit drinks from 5 p.m. Friday until the same time Saturday. The monies will be sent to the International Development Fund. Rev. Jarvis said the group was able to get very little sleep during their stay at Carmel church, "but we had a good time." "We munched on the soda biscuits about every four hours and drank just enough fruit drinks to "wet our whistles". WIE•StatatM . ,,WASSOMMINMSMS Education cost jump 2.1 mills The Huron County board of education approved its es- tiniates .of ,expenditures and revenues for -the4c urrent year, fhe'T-A was advised just prior to press time. „ Total cost of operating the board's elementary schools, secondary schools, schools for the trainable retarded and administration costs is $12,019,586 compared to $11,621,- 324 for 1972. This is an increase of $398,262 or 3.4 per- cent. Largest portion of the revenue will come from the provincial treasury in the form of grants and subsidies. This is expected to amount to $8,430,800 this year, or 70.1 per- cent of the total. Another $2,851,956 or 23.7 percent will come from the municipalities of Huron and the balance of $736,830 will be picked up from such sources cis tuition fees from other boards, rentals, night school tuitions, etc. Director of education John Cochrane reported that $5,927,458 of the total expenditure will be allocated to eleme'ntary schools, while $6,092,128 will be for secondary schools and schools for the trainable retarded. He said the effect of the 1973 budget on the ratepayers of Huron is an average increase of 2.1 mills. Craftsman retires after 67 `RIDING' FOR LAST TIME - last week Maurice Quance sot astride his stitching horse for one last time. After 67 years as a harness-maker in Exeter, Mr, Quance sold his equipment to Charles Webber, Hensall left. Looking on is Cal Cutting, Exeter. 1-A photo