Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 1978-04-19, Page 2Page 2—Lura now Sentinel, 'WedneaditY, April 19, 1978 The Lucknow Sentinel LUCKNOW, ONTARIO "The Sepoy Town" On the Huron -Brine Boundary Established 1873 - Published Wednesday Published by. Signal -Star Publishing Ltd. Robt. G. Shrier - president and publisher Sharon J. Dietz - editor Anthony N. Johnstone - advertising manager Subscription rate, $10 per year in advance Senior Citizens rate, $8.00.per year in advance U.S.A. and Foreign, $14 per year in advance Business and Editorial Office Telephone 528-2822 Mailing Addres's P.O. Box 400, Lucknow NOG 2H0 Second class mail registration number - 0847 Who would be a farmer anyway? Producing food is a mug's game in Canada, 1978. ,Canadians who used to spend 25 per cent of their disposable income on food, now only spend 18 per cent. The result is that in 1978 the buying power of farm income will be less than it was in 1966. And you think you have trouble keeping up with inflation! Efficient food production is the foundation of Canada's life and econ- omy but people who produce food, the farmers, are taking an economic beating which the rest of us do not seem to care about. Farm costs are rising much more quickly than are farm receipts. So, Statistics Canada forecasts a lower realized farm income for the third consecutive year. What hope is there then for Canadian farmers in 1978? With any luck there will be increased sales of cheese, yogurt and ice cream and increased sales of fluid milk. But, these will be balanced by lower sales of industrial milk. Beef prices are expected to rise, but hog prices will fall. Cereal and oilseed prices are not expectea to improve. It certainly doesn't .inspire great confidence in farmers who face higher prices for ,equipment, fuel, fertilizer, labour and other production costs. Farmers, always at the mercy of the weather, always pressed by consumers pleading for cheaper food, are worried and angry. From their point of view, -Canadian consumers are expecting the farmers to subsidize them. No wonder farmers see marketing boards with strict powers -to control supplies and prices of farm commodites as agents of justice. They offer the farmers some stability of income, some protection against other parts of the . food industry. Canadian farmers in 1978 are facing terrible uncertainties. Their efforts deserve our understanding as well as our admira- tion. (Contributed) Sco ttish s tories BY SANDY NICHOLSON The two articles I wrote for the Sentinel in 1977, concerning the early history of Bruce, brought a response which prompted me to write again. Rennie Graham, managing dir- ector of the. A. W. Miles Funeral Homes, Toronto, reads the Sent- inel and - is interested in ,the history of Kinloss and Bruce. Apparently conditions in the Highlands in the mid -eighties were very difficult and landlords were urging the young to leave for Canada. Rennie was told that his paternal great grandfather, Angus Mackenzie worked in Glasgow like most of those who came to Canada from Skye. It was in Glasgow that Angus met Mary= Rennie. She was very beautiful, had a good education, was fond of music, but could not speak the Gaelic. However, she was willing to marry the young highlander and to go to the New World for better or for worse. In 1851 the newly-weds spent eight weeks crossing the ocean in a sailing boat with other Skye folk. In the following year, Angus and Mary Mackenzie came to Kinloss with Martin Maclnnes and Norman Nicholson and their families. Further research seems to establish that the fourth couple were Mr. and Mrs. Donald MacKenzie who lived on the farm now owned by Mrs. Nancy Maclntyre. My father told me that his father too, worked in Glasgow for several years to save for the great adventure. It --was 1851 when he was thirty that he left Glasgow and returned to Skye to marry his first love, Ann Cameron. Leaving Glasgow he was given. an English Bible inscribed with best wishes in the New World. Donald Maclntyre and family have this Bible now. Another Scottish story - Before the days of penny postage it cost the equivalent of a dollar to send a letter from Glasgow to Skye. They had the option of paying at either end. Money was so scarce. that it was arranged that, the young men would write home but would not prepay the postage unless it was important. When it arrived they would decline to pay the postage but the family knew all was well. In 1926 when going to Europe for a student conference, I discovered I would be able to get to Skye for a few days. Kinnon MacKinnon, the only original settler living, was able to tell me approximately where in Skye the MacKinnons and Nicholsons had lived. I was able to find descendents of Kinnon's sister who had married and remained in Skye. They directed me to a man, Mr. Nicolson, who resembled my father. When I returned home and told him how this gentle- man's name had been spelled, my father said( that was really the correct way. There had been no school for him to attend until he was eight. The teacher spelled his name.. with- an "h". The teacher sand the Scottish spelled it "Nicolson" but now they were in Canada and should use the English spelling with the "h". The first settlers were in Kinloss for several years before having oxen, horses, or roads. They had wheat to make flour but the nearest mill was in Goderich more than 20 miles away. There was a toll bridge across the Maitland River; the charge, five cents. This payment would permit you to go over and back if you crossed just after midnight and' returned anytime before midnight the same day. Most settlers, did this to save the extra nickel. Each settler thought his wheat was the best and wanted flour from his own. It requires three separate bags to take home the flour, bran, and shorts. A party would usually walk together. Frequently women would be along to take their turn carrying the loads. As there were no hospitals, doctors or nurses, two of the four women in this party lived a very • short time in the New World. Mrs. Mary Rennie MacKenzie died in 1857 and was the first women to be buried in the South Kinloss Cemetery. She was expecting another baby at' the time of her death. In a previous article, I mentioned that Mrs. Norman Nicholson died in 1861, just ten years after her marriage... She left five children - Margaret, Malcolm, John, Alex, and Mary Ann. Alex was my father. My next article will be about early Kinloss settlers from mater- ial found in the Ontario Archives, 77 Grenville Street, Toronto. LOOKING BACKWARDS THROUGH THE SENTINEL FILES 75 YEARS AGO A new Methodist church 'is to built in Langside and tenders are being advertised. The Divisional Court in Toronto on Monday last, confirmed the judgement of, the trial judge at Goderich, some months ago, restraining Harry Days of this village, from opening a third drug store in Lucknow. The government' will shortly issue a proclamation calling for the observation of the King's birthday on Victoria Day. When sleighing broke up this spring, Moorehouse Mitchell of the roller mills had some 900 large maple logs still in, the bush which are now being brought to his mill by the aid of a powerful traction engine. The logs are placed on four heavy wagon trucks and the big. engine moves along the road with them as easily as a team of horses would draw a small load. Each train load contains 25 maple logs or about 2500 feet. The Epworth League' Anniver- sary services at the Methodist Church on Sunday last were very successful. On Monday evening the Legue gave an "At Home" in the basement of the church when a splendid program was given and refreshmentsenjoyed. The householders of Lucknow are requested to clean up their back yards and remove all filth and dirt. The government inspector of trees is on the warpath against black knot, in fruit trees and any of our citizens who have trees in their gardens affected by this pest had better have it cut off and burned as they are subject to heavy penalties if they neglect this duty. 50 YEARS AGO Winter staged a comeback with a howling wind, and snow last Sunday morning, threatening a repetition of the blizzard which swept the area a week earlier. However, this storm was not as severe in this part as on the 8th, and by the afternoon it had blown itself out. Flowerdale: Suckers are report- ed scarce in the river this spring - more fishers than fish. Spring is surely coming as the peddlars are making their rounds. Frank Todd attended the O.E.A. convention in Toronto as a delegate of the Township Council, West Wawanosh. Area school children from Crewe school, Blake's S.S., Zion, and Lucknow gathered in S. J. Kilpatrick's sugar bush where they saw the syrup -making pro- cess many of them' for the first time. They played games, ran races, and climbed trees, but the greatest fun was gathering sap. Ploughing has already begun in the district of the fourth of Kinloss. 25 YEARS AGO Mrs. AI Martin of Detroit, daughter of Mr. and ',Mrs. Ed Thom, recently had the opportun- ity to take charge of the infant son, Desiderio, of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, Hollywood television artists. Lucille Ball won wide spread publicity at the time of the birth of her son on January 19th, which coincided with a previously filmed TV show featuring the birth of a son on her program. The youngster, in fact the whole family, are now on the -TV program. Desi and Lucille have a 19 -month-old daughter, Lucy. Mrs. Martin, who is a graduate of the Toronto Mothercraft Hospital, received the opportunity on the recomthendation of a friend. The engagement would have required her to go to Hollywood for a considerable length of time. Since she has a husband and a school age son, she -decided to forego this opportunity to get a close-up view of Hollywood and its celebrities. Charles Sutherland of Toronto, nephew of the late Wm. Murdie, underwent surgery to amputate his leg at the hip. Charles is the son of the late Jack Sutherland who was a partner in the Murdie-Sutherland hardware business here when Mr. Murdie first carne to Lucknow. Mrs. Sutherland was th former Lenore Logan of Huron 'township. Mrs, Charles Mason under- went surgery in Wingham for the removal of cataracts. The smelt fishermen have had to contend with some pretty bad .,weather in going after these delectable little fellows. Catches have run all the way from bad to good, but anglers have their sights set on Friday, May 1st, when the trout season opens. The Sentinel did Dorothy Gammie out of an Easter time trip to New York along with Kay Macintosh and Hazel Culbert when we reported last week that Dorothy Gibson made the trip. Needless to say the latter young lady is too busy getting ready for Friday's nuptials to go tripping off to New York. Seeding operations which were general on many farms last week, were brought to a halt by, weekend weather conditions climaxed by a considerable fall of snow on Sunday and Monday. Sunday's snow converted this immediate vicinity into a veritable fairyland as it clung to trees and - shrubs and wires. The snowfall however, was not general it seems and west of Lochalsh there was scarcely a flake. In fact the sun was shining while here we were having a heavy fall of wet snow.