The Wingham Advance-Times, 1944-12-07, Page 2Thursday, December 7, 1944
PREMIER
GEORGE DREW
will speak on
"A TIME FOR DECISION"
Wednesday, Dec.13th
8.30 p.m. •
over the Ontario Regional Network of the
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
and Affiliated Stations
CKNX
WINGHAM
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Wirighain Aivatice Times
'AGE TWO
bY. G 1 EFOR
WIN'GRAIVi ADVANM-TINIES
When the late Edward Whymper
made the first ascent of the Matterhorn
in 1865 the return was marred by one
of the most terrible accidents in the
history of Swiss mountaineering. A
member of the party slipped, the rope
broke, and four people, Mr. Hudson,
lefr, Hadow, Lord Francis Douglas,
and the guide Croz, fell 3,000 feet on
to the glacier below.
Whymper and two guides, the Taug-
welders—father and son—survived,
As, shaken and horrified; they made
their way slowly down the perious
slopes, suddenly they saw in the sky
an immense cross of pale light. This
was actually a kind of fog bow but of
u, very rare and unusual shape. The
impression it made upon Mr. Whym-
per was never forgotten to' the end of
his long life.
A similar phenomenon was observed.
in East England on the afternoon of
Christmas Day, 1928. just before sunet,
and caused a considerable sensation.
First, three pale columns appeared;
these poined and became one column;
the column became a perfect cross and
this slowly turned in to a four-rayed
star.
On that same afternoon a strange
sight was seen by observers living near
Norwich. About three o'clock the sun
was showing dully through a bank of
clouds and to the west of the sun ap-
peared a disc of the same size. This
false sun had the colours of the rain-
bow in horizontal bars.
The Sun Dog
The same thing was seen in Hert-
fordshire and in Kent. The phen-
omenon is common in the Artic where
it is generally known as a sun dog but
is rare in British latitudes, Its form
varies and sometimes. no fewers than
four mock sans may be seen, set in a
wide 'circle around. the real sun,
It is an interesting point that on the
evening of Good Friday in 1929 a
luminous red cross appeared in the
sky over the North Downs, of Kent
,..„4" •
Over the North Downs in Kent
and remained visible until after the sun
had set. "The cross," says an eye-
witness, "was of a soft red colour
against .a grey sky, and was very regu-
lar in shape."
Without doubt we take more notice
of such appearances when they occur
during the great Church festivals, but
it does seem strange that these rare
phenomena should have been so wide-
ly seen on Christmas pay,
Lincoln Line-squall
Christmas, 1912, was notable for a
gale which came up on the night of
Christmas Day and blew furiously on
Boxing Day. At Lincoln there occur-
red what is called a lineesquall, Just
before it the sky had a most sinister
appearance, for the clouds lay in long,
dark lines straight as serings, The
squall which covered only a very nar-
row area was so furious that for some
minutes the air was, full of slates and
tiles, while chimney pots and sheets
of corrugated iron were torn from
roofs and fencing and thrown into the
streets,
On the evening of that Christmas
Day many people along the East Coast
noticed that the sky at sunset was
green, not blue. This phenomenon is
known to fisherman as the "green
blink," It is certain precursor of wind
and rain and if it occurs during a frost
means that the frost will break within
twelve hours.
Green Blink in Tyrone ,
The green blilik was seen in North
Ireland on Christmas Eve, 1919, and
was followed by a gale with a heavy
thunderstorm. It was the worst winter
thunderstorm in living memory and in
the Strabane district of Co. Tyrone
more than twenty cows and , horses
were killed by lightning, while the
tower of a church was wrecked.
Another Christmas thunderstorm of
exceptional severity struck South
Wales, on December 25th, 1917. The
lightning. which was very brilliant, is
decribed as having been of different
colours. One more record of a Christ-
mas thunderstorm is worth recollect-
ing. This was in 1874" when Scotland
and most of England had one of the
coldest Christmases on record. In
London there were 22 degrees of frost.
On Boxing Dayaqelrose had a violent
snowstorm during which vivid flashes
of bluish lightning blazed through the
thickly falling flakes,
On December Kith, 1224 bees were
flying; on the 24th. Scotland had a
magnificient display of aurora which
lit the sky for more than two hours;
On December 20th, 1881, bees were
flying
on Christmas Eve there was skating
all over the North but on Christmas
Day in London the temperature was
51 degrees. Another aurora was seen
in England on Christmas_ Day 1866,
heralding one of the heaViest Christ-
mas rainstorms ever known,
• christmas Meteors
On Christmas Eve 1901 a postman
named Armour was trudging through
fog and slush near the village of Great
Parndon in Essex when the misty
night was suddenly illuminated by a
blood-red glow. "It was like a big red
light rushing across overhead," Arm-
our said. The meteorite, for that was
what is was, fell in a field quite close
to the road and Armour found him-
self staggering along the road, "feel-
ing awful queer." He reached the
village shop -and fainted and when he
came to, found that his right arm and
leg Were quite numb. However, he
recovered and was at work again next
day. '
This postman got off cheaply com-
pared with' those who suffered from
the great Christmas meteor of 1907.
Three .days before Christmas of that
year people living in the little town
of Bellefontaine, not far from San
Francisco, were terrified by the 'sight
of a great ball of white fire flashing
across the clear evening sky,
The great Christmas Meteor of 1907
It struck the earth near a 'boarding
house belonging to a man named
Westhaven and opened a regular crater
from which rose such a blaze ,of heat
as set the house afire, At the moment
of the explosion a horse was being
driven along the road in front of the
house by an Englishman named Beck-
ett. The horse bolted, upset the bug-
gy and poor Beckett died from his in-
juries. The 'house was burned to the
ground but the people got out safely.
The meteorite was afterwards recov-
ered from the bottom of a pit no less
than 25 ft. in depth. Like all such
visitants from space, it was composed
chiefly of iron and nickel;
Thousands of meteorites strike our
atmosphere every day but most are so
small that they burn to dust before
they reach the Earth's surface, It is
only the larger ones that constitute a
danger to humanity and' it is rather
curious how many records there are of
large bodies falling during the month
of December,
A few days before Christmas,`1921,
the small Lincolnshire town of Hol-
beach was lit tip At midnight by a
blinding white light and shaken by a
succession of thunder-like rumblings.
This was followed by a shrill whistling
noise. It was noticed that the Moon
had a .doll coppery appearance; also
that the birds for a long Way round
were wakened and sent fluttering front
their roosts, This must have been a
very large meteorite and at no great
height overhead --probably not more
than 12 milts. But where it fell ,Was
never ascertained_
Indian Beath-storm ,
At Jhansi, a village in'Centeal India,
the people had a similar scare no
longer ago than December 12th, 1221.
During a heavy taistam a 'blinding
flash of light lit the gloom and a
shower of red-hot stones fell to the
ground. A man aitd a woman were
killed and, despite the rain, a house
was reduced to ashes! The village
priest called the people to prayers.
Christmas DaY of 1022 was tititable
for a widespread series of earthquakes
tecurting almost at the same time itt
many different parts of the world, In
India, the West Indies, and its five
Mates of the Milted Stqtes. of Aluttl~
ea. earthquakes Were l'elt and others'
Wee registered, whielt seem to have
occurred in the bed of the Pacific
Ocean.
Comparatively little damage was
done, hut at Durango in the State of
Colorado, the entire face of a moun-
tain, three miles south of the city, slid
into the valley below., Hundred of
thousands of tons ,of rock and earth
were involved in the fall and the pillar
of-dust which rose could be seen from
a distance of more than 50 miles. This
dust hung in the air, turning the sky
to a most unpleasant reddish colour
while the sun became almost the color
of blood,
Back in history, one might collect
many other Christmas portents, some
of which greatly alarmed our fore,
fathers,
(Copyright; Publishing Arrangement
with N.P.L.)
EAST WAWANOSII
COUNCIL
Council met on November 15th at
8:30 p.m. with a full attendance; Reeve
J. D. Beecroft presiding. The minutes
of the previous meeting were read and
adopted.
By-law No. 7, 1944, appointing the
time, place of nomination, etc., was
given final reading and passed, By-
law No. 8, 1944, ratifying the appoint-
ment of auditors for 1944 accounts was
also passed:
As dogs had played havoc in varie
ors flocks of sheep, several claims
were presented for payment.
The following accounts were passed
for payment: Stuart McBurney, road
superintendent salary. $93.50; Gilbert
Beecroft, brushing, $4.55; Graham
Cook, checking gravel, $22.05; W. S.
Gibson, fire insurance premium on
grader, $17,42; J. Reavie, gas and re-
pair of grader, $22.95; Bert Armstrong,
gas anti repair of grader, $5.95; Cana=
dian Oil Co., 205 gals. gas, $57.40;
C. R. Coultes, wire and staples, $1.20;
T. R. Patterson, bridge plans etc.,
$60.00; Joe Kerr, gravel delivered,
$325,80; Township of East Wawanoett,
road account, share of Hallahan drain.
$134,40; Treasurer of Blyth, Diviion
Court act., $20.00; Wingham Advance-
Times, Voters' Lists and Collector's
Noti"ces, $60.61; Orval McGowan,
sheep claim, $10.00; John Scott, sheep
claim, $40.00; Wm, Gow, sheep claim,
$24.00; J. F. McCallum, sheep valu-
ator's services, $10..50.
Council adjourned to meet again on
December 15th.
R. R. Redmond, Clerk.
SALY'le i:41.-fi
MASSUTARRIS HEAD
TELLS OF' FRANCE
fames S. Duncan, president and
general manager of Massey-Harris
Company, Ltd., brings back from a
tour of France the impression that that
country will emerge from its harrow-. leg experiences during the war and
even harder times in the next six
months much stronger than its outside
friends could have, had reason to hope
in the earlier years of the struggle.
Mr. Duncan went to France in his
capacity as chairman of the Farrn -
Machinery subcommittee of the Com-
bined Production Resources Board of
Canada and the United States, In all
the districts which he visited and as
a result of 'the best information he
could gel about other, districts, he be-
lieves agriculture to be in a fairly
properous condition, It had been
thought that difficulties in 'the way of
getting artificial fertilieete, of which
France has always been a great con-
sumer, would bring down output but
does riot seem to have done so,
Prosperous Franc earners
"The Prenelt farmers have had very
good crops during the war 'and have
sold most of their surplus in France.
They continued to supply Paris until
D-Day and they were paid le Preach
money. Prices throughout the war
were for them on a steadily increasing
settle and that applied as well to the
things they had to buy, A great black
market operated because rationed sup-
PILE pottoding pilot
blooditg and
StItiottes of
• s hould know
Bwikers Herbal Pills treat the, cause
at Ito, source. Money back tho. NW. bottle does 'net satiory, At
Maltibhotet or 141e it
et. .441,
Alureditoke•
hafti*.tV ,040.•0 0.,AtsW40Aetelie
plies of staple articles were not suffici-
ent and prices in that market were
higher still. As everybody was forced
to deal to some degree in that market,
the farmers did better than 'they had
done before, that is, as measured by
francs,"
Asked whether there were many
shortages of staple goods, Mr, Dun-
can said:
"With the aid of the black market
there was enough to eat. The. produc-
tion of clothing was substantially re-
duced. Correspondents have referred,
to the general shabbiness of the
French 'people. Overcoats and' other
clothing. for instance, had been turn-
ed: Shoes were so short that wooden
soles were used instead of leather,
This was particularly noticeable to the
because I was born in Paris and grew
up there. In the workmen's districts
I did not notice much difference but
in all the better districts where I had
been accustomed to see well dressed
people the difference was very notice-
able."
Transport Problem Great
"The great problem of France now
is one of transportation. The rail-
ways have been paralyzed by destruc-
tion of 4,000 bridges. The ports were
in many cases put completely out of
"business, especially where the Ger-
mans established pockets of resistance.
There were 360,000 railways trucks in
1939, now: 31,000; and in, 1939 there
were 6,000 locomotives, now 1200 or
much less because a lot of these were
taken back into Germany where trans-
portation problems are also acute,"
In their retreat-the Germans requis-
itioned everything on wheels:" horse-
drawn carts, motor cars, trucke, any-
thing they could get, With 'all this
'destruction of railroads, canals, tele-
graph and telephone lines added to by
sabotage from the underground, it is
"Appreciated All Year"
The Advance-Times is a year round gift. A gift that goes to the
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Soldiers, Airmen, Sailors would appreciate such a gift.
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scarcely to be wondered at that the:
events of recent months have produce&
an abundance of food and other pro-
ducts in rural districts and shortages-
of food in populous centres. I found, •
the same conditions in North Africa,
where high prices and a black market.
were directly traceable to difficulties.
in transportation.
"Imagine how Canada would be if
there were no outgoing mail and very"
littleinternal mail being moved. In
France efforts are now in hand to-
remedy that and in a few weeks there'
may be a great difference."
In my opinion France is going to'
have a six months period of great dif- •
Belay.
France Coming Back
"But six months from now, I am
confident there will be a great differ.-
ence. Correct . that fundamental !dis-
organization and France will gee to,
work again in 'a laige way. I think:
France is going to be much stronger.
and more influential in the future than.
commentators guessed some few.
months ago,"
As to how far the Government will'
go 'on entering business in France, he-
said;
"I found the de Gaulle Government'
strong in popular favor. It is not a
Communist Government, as some
people on this side seem to think. r
would say that it has definitesocial-
istic tendencies. I think it goes so
far as to intend State ownership of
certain public enterprises and 'mines,
but I do not think it' intends to-go,
down as far as business or industry.
France is a country of small farm
holdings and of numerous highly de-
veloped but small industries, I do
not think any Government, would at-
tempt to get in between the people and
these assets which they own and
value."
S
To Keep Long Distance Lines Clear.
PLEASE SEND YOUR
HOLIDAY GREETINGS
01•000""!....0,
4etgmogteoxaP.WgftfeAitataggo.WAwoViweetoeoot
The eager voices of our men and women
in uniform, calling home at Christmas
and New Year's, will crowd the Wires
again this year. tielp to make sure that
every one ofthese calls goes through
that all those on duty away from limn° hear the volees
of their loved ones.
Please send your greetings by mail--some one id the
services will be grateful. (Anti please send theta early
-,-the postal people have a big holiday job on their
hands, tee)
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