HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1995-12-27, Page 44 -TMX ,WR0N IZPOSITO . O•O«Mae 27, 1211
Your Community Newspaper Since 1860
TERRI-LYNN DALE General Manager
& Advertising Manager
MARY MELLOR • Soles
PAT ARMES - Office Manager
DIANNE McGRATH - Subscriptions -
& Classifieds
PAVE SCOTT - Editor
GREGOR CAMPBELL
- Reporter
JOAN MELLEN
- typesetter, proofreader
BARB STOREY
- distribution
A Bowes Community Newspaper
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weekly Si
nal Star Publish.ing of 100 Main St., Seaforth. Publication
mail registration No. 0696 held of Seaforth, Ontario. Advertising is accepted on
condition that in the event of a typographical error, the advertising space occupied
by the erroneous item, together with a reasonable allowance for signature, will not
be charged, but the balance of the odvertisement will be paid for of the applicable
rote In the event of a typographical error, advertising goods or services at a
wrong price, goods or services may not be sold. Advertising is merely an offer to
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the loss or damage of unsolicited manuscripts, photos or other materials used for
reproduction purposes. Changes of address, orders for subscriptions and undeliv-
erable copies are to be sent to The Huron Expositor.
Wednesday, December 27, 1995
Editorial and Business Offices - 100 Main Street.,Seaforth
Telephone (519) 527-0240 Fax (519) 527-2858
Mailing Address - P.O. Box 69,
Seaforth, Ontario, NOK 1 WO
Member of the Canadian Community Newspaper
Association, Ontario Community Newspapers Association
and the Ontario Press Council
Letters to the Editor
We pay thousands per
second just for interest
Dear Editor,
Your piece on statistics was
of interest.
1 love playing with
figures....and statistics.
Especially since somebody
invented the calculator.
Somebody on the radio said
recently that the cost to
taxpayers to pay the interest
on Canada's national debt
(only the interest) is around
$42,000 a second.
Few people grasp the real
- differentc bofwoen 4- million
dollars and a billion and a
trillion. If a million dollars in
shiny new $100 bills is put in
a pile it is said that it ‘vould
be, four inches high. My
(usually faulty) math then
suggests that a billion dollars
would reach up to something
in excess of 300 feet
high....and a trillion would
push through the clouds to
about 60 miles high. -
The one I like best is an old
Indian legend where a king
wanted to reward his grand
vizier for inventing the game
of chess. When asked what
gift he would like, die grand
vizier modestly kneeled
before ' his king and said,
`Majesty, give me one grain
of wheat to put on the first
square of this chessboard and
two grams to put on the
second and four grains on the
third and eight on the fourth
and so on, oh king, doubling
the number for each
succeeding square until all the
squares arc filled.'
` You do not ask for much,
my faithful servant,' replied
the king as he called for a
bag of grain to be brought to
the throne room.
The bag was emptied before
the 20th square was reached
and it was soon clear that all
the grain in India could not
supply the grains of wheat
required numbering
18,446,744,073,709,551,615.
Assuming that a bushel of
wheat contains about five
million grains, it would take
about 4000 billion bushels to
fill the chessboard to the 64th
square....or the total world
production of wheat for 2000
years.
Counting the star is difficult
but not impossible. Those
above the horizon can be seen
on a clear moonless night and
with patience can be counted.
At. the rate of one a second,
the 2000 visible to the naked
eye could be counted in about
half an hour....and from
another hemisphere a
different 2000 could be seen
and counted. Move up to
binoculars and ice 50,000
more and 100,000 if you can
find a three-inch telescope. If
you really feel ambitious and
can spare the time to look
through the telescope on
Mount Wilson you can spot a
half a billion and count them.
At one a second it would take
just a few days under 100
years.
Although atoms can't be
seen, if they could, and could
be counted, the total number
in the universe.written down
would look something like
this....300,000,000,000,000,
000,000,000,000,000,000,
000,000,000,000,000,000,
000,000,000,000,000,000,
000,000,000.
Space and time and velocity
and all those wild and crazy
things that Einstein fooled
around with are, in his words,
'easy to understand but often
hard for the layman to
believe.' Like the guy off
somewhere on one of our
own milky way galaxy stars
who invents a super new
telescope and decides to have
a look at what's happening on
planet earth. Does he see you
and I waving back at
him? No, he sees the Battle
of Hastings or maybe Hanibal
crossing the Alps with a
bunch of elephants....or
'Flinstones-like' cavemen
from a million years before
Christ cutting up a dinosaur
for supper.
Hotentot tribes in the jungle
did not have numbers in their
vocabulary beyond 3. It was
no doubt a much less
complicated and less stressful
life than ours for if you ask
the mother how many
children she has and it is
more than three site simply
says' many.'
Cheers,
Clare Westcott
Injury prevention plan in
works for Huron/Perth
Dear Editor,
We'd like to take this
opportunity to thank Janice
I,.conhardt of , Seaforth
Community Hospital for
participating in the
Huron/Perth Injury Prevention
Planning Committee.
Fifteen individuals have
spent the last two months
discussing what could be
done to help prevent injuries
resulting from motor vehicle
crashes, falls, cycling
collisions and farm incidents
in both Huron and Perth
counties. They will spend the
next two months formalising
an injury prevention plan
which is to be presented to
the original committee and
the District Health Council.
The contributions by these
individuals is greatly
appreciated. If you have any
ideas to assist us with
recommendations to decrease
injury in your community
please contact the above
individuals or myself.
Merry Christmas and Best
Wishes for a safe and injury
free New Year.
Brenda Edgar
Injury Prevention
Project Co-ordinAtor
Close-up
Frogs top town hall lire coverage
( NOTE: The week that
Seaforth's Town Hull burned
down on Market Street in
1891, with the town's fire
department inside, the story
didn't make the front page of
that week's The Huron Ex-
positor. Instead, among other
things, that edition's front
page had a scoop on a six -
pound frog on exhibition in
St. Catharines, captured at
Garner's Pond in Fenwick by
John H. Broderick of Louth.
"The frog is said to be the
great grandfather of all the
frogs in the adjoining
townships, The Expositor
commented.
News was defined dif-
ferently back then, when
Seaforth's paper even had a
bureau in Michigan and
regularly carried reports
from Britain and the United
States. Buried on the back
page, near the bottom, of that
week's Expositor was the
report on the big lire. The
new Town Hall Seaforth
ended up building, is the one
that now adorns our Main
Street, now insured for a
replacement value of more
than a million dollars, which
Seaforth Council is currently
trying to figure out what to
ao with in the future.
We thought it would be
interesting to browse through
some of our old editions to
see what we could find on
our then -new -but -now -old
Town Hall, and the following
reports are reprinted ver-
batim, with only the odd new
paragraph started and sub-
heads inserted, to break up
the abundance of type.)
Apg 28, 1891
THE TOWN HALL IN
ASHES --About half past three
o'clock on last Sunday mor-
ning nl*st of the citizens of
this town wcrc aroused from
their peaceful slumbers by the
unearthly strains 6f the steam
fire alarm whistle. It did not
take long to locate the fire as
the flames wcrc bright and
high by the time most people
got out. The old town hall and
market building were in flames,
and the fire had gained such
headway by the time assistance
arrived that nothing could be
saved, the building and entire
contents falling a prey to the
devouring element. The buil-
ding was old and somewhat
dilapidated, but it contained a
considerable amount of
valuable town property. There
was stored in it the hose, hose
carts, hook and ladder carriage
and all the apparatus belonging
to the lire department, also
several electric light lamps, a
lot of wire, tools and sundry
other articles. The new street -
watering tank, which had been
erected this spring at the end of
the building, and which cost
about $150, was also
destroyed. However, there is
meat cause for thankfulness
that we have not to deplore the
destruction of a considerable
portion of the town, including
the magnificent pile of buil-
dings and valuable machinery
and stock belonging to the
Broadfoot & Box Furniture
Company.
HOSE INSIDE
The building was large and of
very inflammable material and
made a terribly hot fire, and
the waterworks were rendered
useless, and the citizens prac-
tically helpless, as the hose and
all the accompanying applian-
ces were in the burning buil-
ding and could not be got out.
Stearn at the waterworks had
been got up promptly and in
short order, and had . the hose
been got out the fire could
easily have been drowned out
of the building before it got to
its worst. Mr. Broadfoot had
some hose which he kept , for
use in his factory, and with that
his lumber piles near the bur
ning building and the walls of
his factory building were kept
cooled. With this and the
calmness of the aunostphere,
and the heroic efforts of the
firemen and others with buck-
ets, the fire was kept from
spreading, although cinders
wcrc flying in every direction
and alighting on the adjoining
buildings, but these were
closely watched and promptly
extinguished. So that, further
than a slight scorching .the
buildings in the vicinity were
not injured, although the
owners of them were badly
frightened, as they had good
cause to bc. Had there been
anything of a strong wind
blowing in almost any direc-
tion, in view of the helpless
condition in which the people
wcrc, it is difficult to say
where the fire might have
stopped, as it was surrounded
on all sides by buildings, large
and small and mostly of
inflammable material. The fire
was first noticed .by a young
man named Edmonds who
resides on the west side of the
building. The light shining
Continued on page 3
GREGOR CAMPBELL PHOTO
ANOTHER ANGLE ON TOWN HALL - This slightly distorted photo of Seaforth's Town Hall shows the "new" structure
that was built in 1891 after a fire destroyed the original town hall. The story above and on page 5 tells of the ordeal.
Seaforth man to dog -sled to oil fields
FROM THE PAGES OF
THE HURON EXPOSITOR
JANUARY 3, 1896
CHRISTMAS TREE
ENTERTAINMENT - The
entertainment given by the
pupils of St. James' church
Sunday school, in Cardno's
hall, on Friday evening last,
was a great success. The plat-
form was neatly arranged for
the occasion.
The opening chorus by the
Sunday school children was
well rendered, in fact no excep-
tion could be taken to any of
the numbers executed by the
various performers, while the
Scotch dancing by the McMann
children was especially
enjoyed. The boat scene was
equally taking, and reflected
great credit on the participants.
The accompaniments during
the evening were played by
Miss Marie Kidd, and were
executed with great taste and
skill, while the piano used was
furnished by Mr. John
Downey, the local agent for the
Kam Organ & Piano Company,
Of Woodstock.,
* * *
SHALL THE COWS RUN
AT LARGE? - The rate -payers
of McKillop arc invited to vote
on this ever -important question
at the municipal elections; in
this township, on Monday next.
Those who desire a by-law
passed, prohibiting all animals
from running at large. will be
asked to signify their desire on
that date, and those who do not
will do the same. This vote is
to be taken for the guidance of
the council in the matter.
* * *
BULL PURCHASED - Mr.
David Ross, cast of Winthrop,
has purchased from Mr.
William Ross, of Stanley, the
superior thoroughbred bull,
Perfections Heir," purchased
as a yearling from Mr. David
Milne, of Ethel; for $130.
This . animal is now three
In the Years Agone
years old, is dark red in colour,
and is one of the best of the
kind in the county. As a 'year
• old he took second prize at the
Brucefield show, in a ring of
six, and the following year won
the same honours.
JANUARY 7, 1921
FOR NORTHERN OIL
FIELDS - An Edmonton paper
of a recent date contains the
following news item which will
be of interest to many of our
readers, as Mr. Ncis is a for-
mer resident of Seaforth and is
well known in this section.
"Tony Neis, a well known and
experienced trader and explorer
in the north, will be the first
adventurer to get under way for
a winter trip to the Mackenzie
river oil fields.
He has had three big dog
sleds specially built for the
purpose, and is now getting his
dog teams ready. The fact that
Fort Norman is a long way off
and will mean hard travelling
has not discouraged Mr. Neis
in his plans for an ovdrland
journey this winter, for from
past experience he knows
exactly what is ahead of him,
and he will make his prepara-
tions accordingly. He has not
yet definitely set a date for
beginning the trip, but hopes to
get away early in the season."
* * *
FIREMEN ELECT
OFFICERS - At the annual
meeting of the Seaforth Fire
Brigade, held in their rooms on
Tuesday evening. last, and
which was very largely
attended by menilsers, the
following officers were elected
for the coming year: Chief,
A.R. Box; Captain, R.O. Parke;
assistant Captain, John
Cumming; Secretary, H.R.
Scott; Treasurer, G.A. Sills.
JANUARY 4, 1946
Hereditary hockey rivals,
Clinton Colts and Seaforth
Bosharts tangled in the opening
game of the Intermediate "B"
OHA here Thursday night of
last week, but failed to reach a
decision, when they battled to
a 3-3 tie. Attended by a large
crowd of enthusiastic fans, the
game produced a nagged type
of play, with 14 penalties being
imposed, the homesters draw-
ing eight of thein.
Both teams scored two goals
in the first period, and it was
not until the third period, and it
was not until the third period
that each nicked another to
wind up with three apiece.
SEAFORTH - Goal, V.Hesse;
defence, Nicholson Hubert;
centre, McFadden; wings, Hay,
O'Shea; alternates, F. Sills, T.
Sills, Shantz, Morrison,
Elwood, Yeandle.
CLINTON - Goal, . Brush;
defence, Cook, Cucquebom;
centre, McEwan; wings, Cunter
and McEwan; alternates,
Schoenhals, Bartliff, Miller,
Lockwood.
**
Apparently well satisfied with
the conduct of Seaforth town
business, little interest .was
shown in the nomination meet-
ing held in the Town Hall on
Monday evening last, as only a
handful of ratepayers were in
attendance, and all offices were
filled by acclamation.
At the close of the nomina-
tion hour the following nomi-
nations had been made for
Mayor and Council, Reeve J.F.
Daly's name being the single.
name for the Reeveship:
For Mayor - F.S. Sills, JJ.
Cluff and M.A. Reid.
For Council - Thc six former
members of council: J.E.
Keating, M.A. Reid, F.S. Sills,
I. Hudson, R.D. Parke,
N.Hubert, and William Edgar,
Sidney Pullman and W.A.
Wright. The three latter did not
qualify, leaving the old council
in by acclamation.
For PUC Commission -
Kenneth M. Campbell.
JANUARY 7, 1971
Seaforth Community
Hospital's first baby of 1971
was born at 12:32, Sunday,
January 3. Thc first arrival was
a 7 lb. 7 oz. boy, the first child
of Bill and Katie Teal! of
Godcrich St., Seaforth. The
Tealls have named their son
William Scott.
The baby and his parents will
receive an impressive array of
gifts from area merchants
including Mainstrcct Variety,
Box Furniture, Hildebrand
Paint and Paper, Canadian Tire,
Read's Shoes and Luggage,
Anstett Jewellers, Wilkinson's
IGA, Geo. A. Sills and Sons,
Keating's Pharmacy Ltd.,
Stedman's dealer and staff,
Gingerich's Sales and Service,
Smith's Superior Store,
Seaforth Jewellers and Stewart
Bros.
***
The winners of the
Expositor's annual Christmas
colouring contest have been
chosen by Miss Mable
Tumbull who again acted as
judge for the event.
First prize went to Heather
McPherson, aged 11, of
Seaforth. Eleven -year-old Kim
Anstett, of SFaforth was the
second prize winner and Gayle
Siemon, aged 5, of RR 1
Bornholm, placed third.
Miss Turnbull said the judg-
ing task was extremely hard
this year as the winners had to
be culled from almost a thou-'
sand entries from as far away
as Hamilton and Toronto.