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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1964-04-30, Page 1{ }tJ { t s t Combustion Is Cause of I3Iaze ur Second Iectric ire in Store building, fixtures, • stock and tools were complete- ly destroyed during the early hours of Thursday morning last week when fire gutted the Burke Electiic Building on Josephine Street, Wingham. The fire, which was the second outbreak in the building within a week, was spotted by Dr. W.A. Me- Kibbon as he drove past the building about 2 a.m. A week previously a fire which started in the repair de- partment at the rear of the ' building was brought under con- trol with limited damage. Clean-up crews had just com- pleted their work when the sec- ond fire destroyed the building and contents. Investigators from the fire marshal's office reported on Saturday that the second blaze was a direct consequence of the first one. It was explained that cellar joists which had been dampened at the time of the first fire and were drying out rapidly in the area of the furnace had taken fire from AA ALONG THE MAIN DRAG By The Pedestrian LOOKS NICE - Elmer Wilkinson is in proses: of re -decorating the fronts of his three store properties on ' the main drag, those occupied by his own wallpaper and paint store, Angus Grocery and Mc- Donald's Ladies' and Children's Wear. With basic coral and white tones, the three stores look most attractive. • 0--0--0 NOT SERIOUS - Mrs. Thomas Burke suffered a nasty fall on the stairs at her home at the week -end and was removed to hospital, where it was found that she had not suf- • fered serious injury. She will be released shortly. 0--0--0 A FEW LEFT Some potential readers of the Advance -Times were disap- pointed last week when several news dealers sold out of the April 23rd issue. We failed to allow sufficiently for the wide- spread interest in the high school edition, although sever- al hundred extra copies were printed, If you are still look- • ing for one;, it is likely that a few will be available on Thurs- day this week when returns come in from country dealers. 0--0--0 THE RAINS CAME Rains on Monday and Tues- day of this week were wel- comed, especially by farmers who would like to see some growth in their fields, After an unusually dry fall, light snow- fall over the winter and a dry spring the countryside is badly in 'need of rain. 0--0--0 LOOKING BETTER • Those who are interested in the development of the River- side Park area were relieved to • note that the sewer contractors are busy this week leveling out the disrupted contours along the banks of the lower pond, It is expected that re -seeding will be done promptly. 0--0--0 TO START SEASON - The Brophy Goodyears inter- mediate softball team will hold the first practice of the season at the Wingham park to -night, Thursday. The practice will start at 6.30 and will be held each Tuesday.and Thursday night till the playing season starts. Anyone interested in trying out for the team will be welcome at the park on these nights. • pyro-carbon combustion, sim- ilar in nature to the cause of so many Karn fires where moist crops are a factor. Damage in last week's blaze will reach a minimum of $50, - 000 according to the owner of the business, Calvin Burke. De- stroyed along with his own pro- perty were several motors and appliances belonging to cus- tomers and in the building for repair, OTHERS THREATENED Both Wingham trucks were on the scene shortly after two • o'clock and later the Blyth brigade was called in. For two hours the fire burned its way through the basement area, largely inaccessible because the concreteffloor in the front part of the building had broken in the centre and fallen down over the blaze, thus preventing water from the hose lines from reaching the focus of the fire. Somewhat after four o'clock the flames burst through into the main floor section and then mounted rapidly through the second storey. As they burst out the gable end at the north side of the building it ap- peared inevitable that the building next door, owned by Mr. Burke and occupied by the Simpson -Sears order office, would be enveloped. At this time a call was placed for Wingham, Ontario, Thursday, April 30, 1964 ut eek assistance from the Teeswater fire department. With the combined hose- lines of the Wingham and Blyth departments enough wa- ter was poured into the build- ing to contain the fire without damage to the second structure although it was filled with smoke and the upstair occu- pants, Mr. and Mrs. Horst Kohnert and their small child were forced out shortly after the fire started. The occu- pants of several apartments on both sides of the burningbuild- ing took to the street as smoke filled their rooms and the fire threatened to get out of con- trol, Mrs. Jack Mason, an invalid, was removed to the Wingham and District Hospital as a precaution. Early this week the shell of the Burke building was cleaned out and the blackened and twisted remains of appliances were counted for inventory. The business has opened an office in the vacant Supertest station on the corner of Jose- phine and Victoria Streets half a block south of the burned - out store. Customers are asked to call at the temporary location. Mr. Burke has not yet final- ized his plans for re -building, but expects to do so within a few days. Garbage Cntract To Ge Carer At a special meeting of Wingham town Council on Mon- day evening tenders were open- ed for removal of residential garbage. Nine parties had placed bids, the highest being $6, 500. However, council ac- cepted that of George Carter for $5, 200.00. At the same meeting Gordon McGregor cancelled by letter, his contract with the town, naming poor health as the rea- son. Council told the clerk to write a letter of appreciation to Mr. McGregor for his long years of service and ordered that he be paid a $100.00 honorarium in recognition of his faithful service to the community. Moving to other business Councillor Bennett said that Lewis Flowers should be told that the council would prefer flowers with more profuse bloom in the flower pots on main street. She was asked by coun- arded y Council cil to contact Mr. Lewis re- garding this matter. Mayor Hetherington reported that Tri -County Athletic Sup- ply of Milton wished to open an office in the P. U.C. build- ing. After some debate coun- cil decided the firm should be charged regular business tax, rather than operate under a transient trader's license. Mayor Hetherington said he would be away on May 4th, and a motion was passed mov- ing the date of the next council meeting to May llth. Councillor Cruickshank said that a by-law should be passed prohibiting parking on both sides of Josephine Street from the north side of Bristol Terrace to the south side of North Street (B -Line). Mayor Hetherington said the by-law would be ready for first and second reading by next meeting. Committee increases Fire Fighting 1 totes The Rural Fire Committee held a meeting on Monday eve- ning which was attended by Ivan Haskins, Roy Pattison, Norman Coultes, Ross Smith, Stewart Procter, G.A. Wil- liams, F. John Bateson, Harold Wild, David Crothers and Fire Chief James Carr. After considerable discussion on the subject, the group passed a motion raising the hourly rates to be charged for fire- fighting. The increase was necessitated by an increase TO BE ORDAINED James Perrie, B.A., elder son of Mr, and Mrs. W.J.Perrie of Brussels, will be ordained Tuesday evening, May 5th at 8 o'clock in Melville Church, Brussels. Dr. Wm. Fitch of Knox Church, Toronto, will be assis- ted by Rev. Wm. J. Morrison of Brussels in performing the or- dination. granted last fall in the pay of the firemen. The rate was changed from $25.00 per hour to $35.00 per hour at rural fires and was set at $15.00 per call for Wingham fires. Fire Chief James Carr said he is still looking for a suitable tank for a truck, and hoped he would obtain one in the near future: This action had been approved last fall as well. The financial statement was read and approved by the com- mittee. The statement listed 31 calls handled by the brigade in 1963 in the five -municipal- ity area. Total cost was $3, - 418.34. This amount will be made up as follows: East Wawa - nosh, $518.70; Turnberry, $796.12; Howick, $898.22; Morris, $643.70; Wingham, $561.60. With other operating costs set at $2,103.84 a deficit of $2,048.34 will be made up by the municipalities on a pro - rata basis. FIRST SECTION AFTER FIGHTING a stubborn fire at Burke Electric for nearly three hours local firemen, assisted by brigades from Teeswater and Blyth, were finally defeated when the fire got into the partitions of the building and even. A..; tually broke through in the upper floor. The blazing building is pictured above just after the roof blazed up, creating dense clouds of acrid smoke, The building and contents were a total loss.—A-T Photo. Vocational Addition Is Dedicated un;l;_. r -` FHcisI Several hundred persons from this district turned out on Thursday evening to witness the official opening of the new vo- cational Wing at the Wingham District High School and to hear the Hon. William G. Davis, Q.C. , B.A. , Minister of edu- cation for Ontario, who was the guest speaker, Ile was intro- duced by W. T, Laing, B.A., assistant superintendent ofsec- ondary education for the pro- vince. Mr. Davis, opening his ad- dress, spoke highly of the way the principal, staff, students and caretaking staff had carried on since the opening of the fail term last September, despite the fact that the building was in a turmoil because of the un- completed building program. Buy Home on Carling Terrace Mr. and Mrs. Ken Crawford and family who have been /ly- ing in Kingston for the past couple of years have returned to Wingham and have boughtJack Stephens' home on Carling Ter- race. Mr. Crawford was an em ployee of the Lloyd -Truax plant in Kingston and has been trans- ferred back to the plant here. ds Tour HigH'�. pening by He also remarked on the excel- lence of the newspaper cover- age provided by the Advance - Times in connection with the school opening. The minister said that the Wingham school is now equip- ped and staffed to provide train- ing in the three main educa- tional "streams" - academic, commercial and vocational. Students will now be able to select the course best suited to their needs and capabilities. Schoo after mister The Department of Educa• tion, he said, has two main objectives: the equalization of education costs across the pro- vince and a simultaneous equal- ization of educational oppor- tunities, The Ontario Founda- tion Tax Plan has been insti- tuted with the purpose of achieving these equalizations in 1964. The speaker said that equalization of opportunity is being achieved by the establish• ment of central elementary and Rec. Committee Plans Program A meeting of the Wingham Recreation Committee washeld in the Wingham Co}incil Cham- bers on Sunday afternoon, at which time plans were made for the summer program, Santana, Midget and Juven- ile softball teams, as well as a Junior Girls' softball team will be entered in the W. 0.A. A. In addition, the committee will again sponsor Pee Wee baseball in a house league. Registration for both ball and swinttning will be held some time in May. Rates for the use of lights at the hall park will remain the sante as last year; Wingham teams, regular games $5.00, play-off games $10.00; out side teams, regular games $7.00, play-off games $12.00. The Lake Huron Lune of the Ontario Recreation Association will sponsor a Playground Lea- ders' Training Course, which will be held the last week in June. Further information for anyone interested in attending could be obtained from the sec- retary, Charles Perrott, The Community Programs Branch of the Department of Education will conduct a Dis- trict Leaders' Institute, a train- ing course for teachers at the Ontario Agricultural College, Guelph from July 6th - 10th, 1064. Representatives were present from the Women's Institute, Figure Skating Club, Catholic Women's League , Legion, Lions and Kinsmen. secondary schools and the re- cent re -organization of secon- dary school education into three major streams of learning. He outlined the differences be- tween these streams and how each will equip young people tc face the future with greater se- curity. TO MEET AUTOMATION Mr. Davis said that one of the main purposes in today's educational system ,s to trail. voung minds and hands not only fur spe eific tasks, but also ro prepare them for unf'r;een changes which are likely to he brought about by autoniatiiin. Thus, when rapid technologic- al changes make jobs obsolete in future years, the properly Please turn to Page Two, Support the Cubs Paper *rave On Saturday Wingham Cub Packs A and 13 will he collecting scrap paper on Saturday and ask that you have your bundles ready. The boys will held their pa- per drive in Winghatn,I3luevale, lh lgrave and Whitechurch. The paper will be sold and the mon- ey used to help support projects undertaken by the Cubs.