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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1962-11-14, Page 2Dwindled to One Advance -Times Emerged from Seven Original Newspapers Many towns in Ontario boast- ed two and sometimes three newspapers, when they were in their prime, It was quite com- mon for each paper to favor a political party, thus, one would take a Conservative stand and the other a Liberal or Reform point of view. Originally, printing plants could be set up without a great deal of equipment, a hand -op- erated press and a quantity of hand -set type being practically all that was needed. The pres- ses used at that time were Wash- ington presses, which had not been changed a great deal from the time of William Caxton, the first English printer. The one major improvement was that the impression of the inked type on- to the paper was made by using a lever to apply the pressure of the platen. Earlier this had been done by the means of a large screw, which had to be turned down by hand. The first power press was in- stalled in The Advance printing plant in the early 1900's. This was the beginning of greater ex- penditures for equipment. Dur- ing the latter years of the two newspapers here, Mr. Elliott and Mr. Smith were faced with mounting costs for labor, equip- ment and materials, and it be- came evident that it wasno lon- ger feasible for two independent papers to survive. Amalgama- tion was the only answer. In 1924 Andy Smith bought The Times and engaged Mr. El- liott as assistant editor. The following year he purchased The Gorrie Vidette, which had been established in August, 1885, by Thomas Nash, and The Wrox- eter News. i i,; c meant that over a period of 54 years The Wing - ham Times and North Huron General Advertiser, The Wing - ham Times, The Wingham Ad- vance, The Wingham Vidette, Howick Enterprise, Gorrie Vi- dette and Wroxeter News had all been amalgamated as one con - Cern, The Wingham Advance - Times, W. Logan Craig purchased The Advance -Tithes in 1927, When he died in 1932, W. W, Armstrong, as editor, and Wm. 6, McCool, manager, formed The Advance -Times Publishing Company. Mr. McCool had been with The Advance since 1913 and knew all aspects of the business, as he had been in complete charge during the two- year illness of Mr. Craig. He 'became sole owner in January, 1946, and continued as publish- er until January, 1951. At that time he sold to Wen- ger Brothers, publishers of The Mildmay Gazette, who operated both plants until 1957 with Ro- bert Wenger as editor of The Gazette and Barry Wenger edit- ing The Advance -Times. When the firm sold The Gazette to The Walkerton Herald -Times and the printing plant to Harold Wittaker, Bob came to Wingham to join his brother. 1872 Wingham Times Issue Published Year After Birth The oldest issue we have of any of the Wingham papers was given to us a few years ago 6y the late Thomas Graham. It is a part of The Wingham Times and North Huron General Adver- tiser of August 8, 1872. Un- fortunately someone had used the paper to cut out a dress pat- tern, demolishing pages three and four of the four-page paper. There is also a second issue of that paper, which we received from the same source, dated November 14, 1872. This was the last issue published by Mr. Graham, and carries an an- nouncement of the sale to the newly -formed Times. Publishing Co. There was very little local news, the bulk of the columns being "boiler plate", which was pre -cast type strips, usually shipped in from Toronto. It was used as an economical method of filling up the columns of the paper. There were, however, quite a few ads; the business directory, legal announcements, hotel ads, (nine in the area), each pro- pounding that its bar had first class liquor and cigars, splendid sample rooms and good stabling. Times of arrival and departure of the stages in all directions were announced. Baptist, Ang- lican, Methodist and Presby- terian churches listed times of services and additional week- day meetings. Wingham and Toronto Markets were a regular feature, the local figures us- ually a little lower than the city prices. Potatoes were 37¢ to 400, apples 75¢ to $1.00, eggs 160 to 17¢ and hay, $12 per ton. The Wingham Times job printing department claimed to be one of the most complete outside the city, and was pre- pared to do plain or fancy print- ing. It also boasted a service not available today -- "Bills Printed While You Wait." Advance Began Operation 1873 The second newspaper in Wingham was The Advance, established by, Mr. Cliff of Kin- cardine in 1873, Mr. Cliff en- gaged James Fleuty, who had been with The Walkerton Tele- scope as managing editor. Mr. Fleuty was able to buy the pub- lication the next year, and ed- ited it until 1895, when John Cornyn became the owner. There are no early copies of The Advance, just as from the more recent years there are GEORGE SPOTTON files of The Advance and not of The Times. Mr. Cornyn sold to Theo Hall, who installed the firstpo- wer press. Mr. Hall published The Advance until 1913, sell- ing out to the Wingham Publish- ing Company, George Spotton being the editor. By 1915 Mr. Spotton found that his ten busi- ness colleges in various centres required his full time and he disposed of The Advance to John Joynt, who employed A. G. Smith as managing editor. Mr. Joynt was elected M.L.A. for North Huron in 1919, and at that time sold to Mr. Smith, who was the last editor of The Advance. MONSTER CAMERA—You are looking into the lens of the Robertson 24 -inch camera which is one of the newspaper's new tools. Taking a picture 18x24 inches, each page is photographed before press plates can be made. • THESE MIGHTY ROLLERS carry the printing plates and rub- piece of equipment in the A -T plant, the nine -ton offset pte ber blankets from which this page was printed. Largest single was purchased in Toronto and installed this summer. Early Files Give Indication Of Business and Industry Here With the exception of twopa- pers from 1872, the earliest re- corded history of Wingham starts with our file of The Times, da- ted Friday, January 30, 1885. The big news of the week was a "A Diabolical Attempt to Blow up British Parliament Buildings': A portion of the ,Tower of Lon- don had been demolished and over a dozen people injured. In April and May of the year 1885, war between England and Russia was reported as inevitable with tension rising, and finally the dangers of war subsiding. This, too, was the time of week- ly reports on the Riel Rebellion. From issues of The Times we also get an insight into the bus- iness and industry carried onhere in 1885. The location was con- sidered excellent for future ex- pansion. Being on the Welling- ton, Grey and Bruce, and the London, Huron and Bruce divis- ions of The Grand Trunk Rail- way, transportation was very good and the Maitland River pro- vided the best in water power. Scott & Bell manufactured of- fice, lodge and household furni- ture. In conjunction they oper- ated a saw mill for the produc- tion of their own lumber from raw material. There were two flour mills. Johnston and Turner, proprietors of The Wingham Flouring Mill operated seven run of stone with a capacity of 150 barrels a day in three grades. This mill was about to improve its operation from the old stone system to a full combination system of machinery. The second mill, Hutton, Price and Carr, had just chang- ed to a complete roller system. It had a capacity of 125 barrels daily. The machinery consis- ted of four double sets of rolls, one reduction mill, two run of stones for reducing middlings and one run for feed, one wheat scourer, two flour packers, one wheat separator, four scalpers, six 18 -foot reels running from first to fourth floor; two centri- fugals, three purifiers, onebran duster, a smut and brush mach-. ine combined and other mach- inery of minor nature. Brennan & Co. , tanners, had '79 vats on the tanning floor. They used about 1, 000 cords of bark annually in the process of turning out 200 hides a week. The Wingham Agricultural Works, managed by Robinson and Boag, manufactured mow- ers, reapers, ploughs, gang ploughs and other agricultural implements. The West HuronWoollen Mills turned out about 300 yards of flannels daily and was operated by Inglis & Co. Watt & Kerr owned a planing mill which pro- duced builders' supplies, with a business ranging from six to eight thousand dollars annually. ADVERTISERS Some of the advertisers in 1885 were Drs. Alex Bethune and W.. J. Young, Dr. Gunn and G. L. Ball, dental surgeon. Miss McLeod, doctor of magnetism, was free for consultation in the Royal Block. She used no med- icine and claimed success in 90 per cent of her treatments. J. Wilson was the veterinary sur- geon. H. W. C. Meyer and E. L. Dickinson, barristers, were lo- cated in the Kent Block, and J. A. Morton was also in the same profession. Gavin Wilsoh, local auctioneer, Miss Ella M. Brockenshire and Alfred Wil- liams, music teachers, adver- tised in The Times. J. Mason arrived from Tor- onto that year and opened a "Photograph Gallery" over Web- ster's store, across from the Bank of Hamilton. James A. Cline & Co., sold coal. T. A. Mills advertised everything from furs to tea in his general store, while Wm. Elliott's Cor- ner Store was giving away a JOHN JOYNT was publisher of The Advance for a short period and sold the paper when he was elected as M.L. A. for North Huron. beaver cape and muff worth $34 to the winner of a guessing con- test in his general store. John Kerr owned the Eclipse and sold candy and toys, Gor- don & Mclndoo at the Anchor House were dry goods merch- ants, H. Park was the jeweller, J. S. Barkley sold stoves, tin- ware, etc. , and S. Gracey was the undertaker and furniture dealer. C. W. Henderson was setting out to make his store in the Beaver Block the " Headquar- ters in Wingham" for the better class of dry goods, boots and shoes. W. G. G. Reading of the Book, Stationery and Fancy Goods Store was advertising that new samples had arrived ofgilt parlor paper. There were advertisements for all kinds of miraculous cures for practically any ailment. These could be bought at any pharmacy at very reasonable prices. In the news columns we find ah altercation between the tea- cher at S. S. No. 11 in the Mar- noch area, and the board which had offered her $350 for the next year but she had refused to remain for less than $375. This, the trustees felt, was too great a raise for one year, so the tea- cher accepted a position in one of the Turnberry schools at $375 per annum. C. Leggo Ireland set up an apparatus in the new Barclay & McCrimmon store, to have the place "brilliantly illuminated • by electric light" for their op- ening. The dynamo was locat- ed in Clark's Pump Works and power was supplied by an eng- ine there. Inglis & Co. was al- so fitted out with a complete electric light apparatus at the woollen mill. Mr. Ireland in- stalled this service, and eight lamps were used to light up the mill. The Beaver Block was sold by George .McKibbon to Mr,. Me- Indoo for $9, 000. The Curling Club appointed a committee to see about securing a rink for the winter season. Businesses kept rapidly changing hands and lo- cations. There were accounts of court cases reported in every detail, accidents involving run- away horses, school reports, births, marriages and deaths and the everyday happenings about town. James Fleuty was the f' tor of The Advance. He here from Walkerton to ate the paper for Mr. Cli Kincardine, and the fol year became owner. Will Fleuty, his son, learned business with his father a his years of retirement re to Wingham, where he di about seven years ago. Third Paper One Too Man About 1883 or '84 a thi Wingham paper was starte J. T. Mitchell, called T dette. The office was in north end of the presentH & Howson feed store on Jo ine Street. There are no of this publication in etisi but according to the early ies of The Times, the Vi editor was often outspoke fact, 'downright insulting I ward the other papers. 11 tors of The Times seemed able to handle the situatio often retaliated with scat remarks. The Vidette was short and in 1885 sold its mail to The Times, after some ering with Mr. Fleuty of Advance. The sale was to Mr. Galbraith. The Advance was a Co vative paper, The Times, eral, but The Vidette re free from any political st while it was published. While the three papers in operation there was a nine printers employed in No doubt this did not incl editors. Since the type W set by hand some of the e itors likely worked most o week on setting type for t per, even while the job d, ment was busy at other Hu Today we have ten pe with a finger in the pie th days a week to publish th per, with extra time to ga news, and in the photogt' department.