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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1953-09-24, Page 9THURSDAY, SEPT. 24th, 1953 THE (0)PERICH ' ONA!,-ST NADA. COMPANY TO FOL -FIRST AID RENDERED TO SICK RADIOS B. R. MUNDA Y Also Portable Fool -Proof Sound Service Certified Radio Technician Call at Widder St., Goderich or Phone 598 32tf BUSINESS DIRECTOkY I CHARTERED ACCOUNTANT A. M. HARPER CHARTF)RI]D A000UNTANT 65 South St. Goderieh, Ont. A. L. COLE Optometrist—Optician Eyes Examined, Glasses Fitted Phone . 33 Goderich. Ont. I C. F. CHAPMAN General Insurance Fire, Automobile, Casualty Real Estate 30 Colborne St., Goderich Phohe 18w EDWARD W. ELLIOTT LICENSED AUCTIONEER Correspondence promptly an swered. Immediate arrangeme can be made for Sales Date calling Phone 466J, Clinton. Charge moderate and Batlef tion Guaranteed. A' COUNCIL DONATION TO HELP PIPE BAND Goderich may yet have a pipe band. Appreciation of the efforts of Donald Bert MacAdam, Bert McCreath and Malcolm Camp- bell, the nucleus, wno hope to get a bagpipe band started in town was voiced at last Friday night's Town Council meeting. Councillor Ken Pennington said that the three men pro- vided a fine greeting for visit- ing Ford dealers who arrived on the S.S. South American, and thought their work should be recognized. ' Council agreed and voted $15 to the group with the stipulation that it be used to help in formation of the band. Councillor Pennington said he understood,a,tourist recent- ly gave the trio $20 with the same stipulation. I Harold W. Shore ALL LINES OF INSURANCE (including Life) and REAL ESTATE Phone 766W North St. Goderich 36tf SUPERIOR PROPANE GAS for better cooking, water heating and refrigeration Alf. J. Schmidt, representative. Stratford Phones 3260. Res. 387J2. . P.O. Box 98 -28tf HAROLD JACKSON LICENSED AUCTIONEER HURON AND PERTH Seaforth Phone 11-661 or Harry Edwards, Goderleh Phone _144 Geo. G. MacEwan GENERAL INSURANCE MASONIC TEMPLE • WEST STREET Peter S. M acEwaa General, Life, Real Estate Phone 230, Goderich 3. SEE J. PREST FOR THE BEST IN ELECTRICAL SERVICE JAMES E. PREST Ri.R. 5, Goderich. Phone Carlow 207 -30tf REPLACE TO GLASS while you wait! Complete auto glass replacement service. Hobbs Duolite and Duplate Safety Glass installed quickly, eco- nomically. Drive' in ,CHIKOPRACTIC 'TORBERT B. SUCH, D.C. Doctor of Chiropractic. Office Hours: Mon., Thum —9 a.m. to 5 Tues.. Fri --9 a.m. to 5 7 p.m. to 8 Wed.. & Sat. 9 to 11.30 ---Vitamin Therapy l®ce-{`Pier of South. St. 'Arita Road. Phone 341. p.m. p.m. p.m. a.m. and Armstrong 4'OPTOMETRIST alone 1100 for appointment SQUARE GODERICH ESDAY, • Organization Which Founded Goderich Announces .'Demise In A Most Obscure Manner NOW LOCATED IN • BANK OF COMMERCE BUILDING ON THE 'SQUARE H. At FORD Get Insured — Stay Insured— Rest Assured TELEPHONE 268w Roy N. Bentley Public Accountant 1 Kensington Ave. Phone. 2-9152 London, Ont. 141 The historic Canada Company whieh played the leading role in the dramatic founding and development of Goderich will pass into history a`t midnight on Wednesday, September 30. Although the Company came- into existence with considerable fanfare in the early part of the last cen- tury an obscure login notice in a few Ontario newspap- ers is the only clue to its passing away and the ending of an era. In the notice, W. A. Hand, an English auditor, disclosed the- Canada Company as "winding up." He warned that anybody with claims on this laud giant had better get them to the Candlewick House, Loudon, England, with all speed since after September 30 there would be no more Canada Com- pany. The Canada Company had its be- day financiers who dabble in 100 - ginning in Canada in a log cabin acre developments. The British whose remains today lie hidden in government turned over to the a weed patch in the city of Guelph; Canada Company 2,484,413 acres and its ending will be in a sombre of virgin Ontario land at an aver - business house near St. Paul's.' age cost of two shillings, 101,;,. Cathedral in London, England. pence an acre. In turn, the Can- ada Company pledged to colonize The Toronto Star recently ran and develop these immense tracts a review article on this incident of land. The largest chunk of as follows: land assigned the company was the Almost Forgotten Huron Tract running from present - It might have been assumed that day Guelph to present-day Gode- the Canada Company wound up its rich which contained 1,100,000 operations years ago. The histor- acres. ians assign its place to the 1820's Historians have been unable to and 1830's before launching into agree on how great were the pro an attack or defence of the mighty fits realized by the company. Some scheme of speculation planned and estimate a modest return of 40 carried through by the company. per cent on an investment running Actually the` Canada Company was close to 500,000 ,pounds. Others living ,history in the Goderich area up to two years ago. At that time, the last lots owned by the company were sold. Ten years ago, a travelling° salesman turned up in town and after identi- fying himself as a representative df the company carried out a series 0 Of all persons at work in Can- ada, agriculture directly employs j5 per cent and manufacturing directly employs 25 per cent. -- Quick Canadian Facts. Canadian weather observers are 1 in permanent ,residence at Alec, •° on Ellesmere Island, less. than 500 - miles from the North Pole. --Quick Canadian Facts. term the profits "fabulous" and suggest they ran into the "millions of pounds." Records To Be Stint Mr. Hand said in London that the company's records would be ship- ped to the Ontario archives office. From these, some future research - of whirlwind sales which saw bu ild- er may be able to work out the ing lots go for as little as $10. Despite these concrete evidences of survivdl, it is not surprising to hear a Goderich teen-ager, a de- scendant of settlers brought to the financial details. Mr: Hand said, approximately $150,000 "still ' re- mained in the company's bank ac, count and would be distributed among the last seven shareholders area by the Canada Company, ask: sometime after September 30. "What's the Canada Company?" The announcement of the com- Formed in 1824, the , Caynada pany's liquidation, though couched Company. was the most extensive � in quiet terms, even today stirs On - colonizing and landjobbing enter- prise nter mixed emotions in Western, On - prise in the history of Eastern ; tario. Many of the oldtimers in Canada. It owed its origin to John i the Goderich area were brought up Galt, a Scots novelist and news 'in anti -company families and the paperinan who didn't shirk from feelings still persist. These are expressing his dreams in his writ- the descendants of families that ing One of his dreams was an `charged _ the company's board of emigration scheme that would per- directors were fattening them - mit old countrymen of every class selves at their expense. Promised to settle in Canada. About the time he was express- ing his views in' print, Frederick John Robinson, Viscount Goderich, chancellor of the British exchequer, was :,looking around for methods to replenish a treasury depleted by the Napoleonic wars and two struggles with America. Ontario settlers were clamoring for com- pensation for losses sustained in the War of 1812. Gait Had Solution. roads, harbors and schools were never built, they repeatedly told Ontario's governors. But withal, there is still some affection for the company. George Carrell, an ex -railroader, is the grandson of an• English immigrant brought into the Huron Tract by the company. He took up 160 acres from the company at 50 cents an acre. Was Solid Bush "When he moved on to his land, Galt's writings provided- the :it was solid btish, all elm and maple," related Mr. Currell. "He put up a logcabin and began to clear his land. It wasn't many years before he owned his own ready -r solution. Sale of reserve lands in Upper Canada to a land company would tidily still the up- roar. Actually it created a far mill on Nine Mile river and was bigger uproar than the one it tried doing all right for himself. I to dampen. The chancellor ap- don't think he ever held any. proached Galt and a dozen well- heeled English merchants and the grudge against the company." company was formed. Galt was In Guelph, at the other end of its first secretary. the road constructed across the Tract The scale of their project puts i friendliesthe feelings are held for to shame the efforts of present the company. They thrive on the l story . of how John Galt, as Can -1 I adian superintendent of the corn -1 pany, stumbled to the bank of the Speed river accompanied by the ieccentric Dr. William "Tiger" Dun - lop and hacked away at the first tree to be removed in the future clearing of Guelph. But for all their pride in Galt's pioneering achievement, the people of Guelph have been mighty slow in making efforts to perpetuate it according to W. A. Cowan, 78 year-old building assistant for the city. Along with George Sleeman, the city's first mayor, Mr. Cowan made mighty efforts to have GMs log home preserved for posterity: As the Canada Company's first headquarters in the Huron Tract and as Galt's residence for nearly two yearst the building, both men felt, should be retained as a shrine. Guelph Didn't Listen But Guelph refused to listen. The large log building of rock elm was torn down. The logs of the main building, still in a good state of preservation were piled in . a city park. In the depression days of the 30's, t:elielees were given permission to chop up the logs as firewood. The logs forming the two wings of the Galt homestead were pur- chased by Mr. Sleeman who hauled them away to his garden where AL they were re -erected as a memor- ial. But time and neglect have al- most erased this last connection with the Canada Company. Tod•iy the log cabin is a sorry, sway- backed building lost in a bed of weeds. The choice of the junction of the Speed and Eramosa rivers for the site of the future city was happy choice. Galt said power from the tumbling rivers d would one day drive the turbine of a dozen mills. His prediction was more than fulfilled. Announcing a baby derby in which the first, child born to permanent settlers' in Guelph would be awaraded 50 acres of land, Galt» said a day would come when hundreds of babies would be born in his new settlement. Again he was right. Directors Badgered Galt Had it not been- for the company, directors, Galt would have been a happy man • as he watched the fledging settlement sprout. But the directors badgered him in every mail. They were affronted, they said, that he had named.the city Guelph. What about their TIGER ,DUNLOP benefactor, Viscount Goderich? He had been slighted. Galt wrote back that it was too late to do anything about it and, in addition, he had intended it as a compliment to. his sovereign, George IV, who was of the House of Guelph. With the founding of Guelph, John Galt proceeded with the, carrying out of the most difficult portion of his commission, the con- struction of a road from Guelph to the present town of Goderich. Today a cairn on a bluff' over- looking Goderich harbor commem- orates the comaletion of this com- mission. The success of the mis- sion ruined Galt. Funds Ran Out He was allowed by the company the royal sum of 3,000 pounds to construct the nearly 100 -mile long road. Knowing it was almost im- possible, Galt and Dunlop proceed- ed with the plan: Before they were half finished a sizeable por- tion of the road- crew --were down with ague and Galt was not per- mitted to hire a doctor. Funds ran out. Cajoling -and pleading, Galt persuaded the workmen to continue. On his own, he made 11 all started with a FAULTY CHIMNEY. Beevers Aute Supply' Goderich phone 295 Cemetery Memorials T. PRYDE dt SON Clinton, Exeter, Seaforth Write Box 150, or phone 41J, Exeter and .we shall be pleased to call. LIFETIME sAFEn arm a FARMERS! Now is the time to Change to Shell Gasoline and Oil for your tractor Pbone 9 $ EDWARD FUELS Shell Tank Track Dealer 40/MIOH •12tt Fay to hottili leeks lest like - brick above reef. Fireproof vermiculite Insolation. Ialerllser ale -space a positive heat break. Oera-Flue liner requires eo mortar. SMppotted by Hoer w ceiling foists. Listed by Underwriters' Lobora- tories of Canada. Eliminates many feet of construction. Re- quires no brick, mortar, scaffold Erected in as little as 2 "ours. For buildings of any type. High efficiency, low cost Lifetime safety. • GUY IVES & SONS General Contractors R.R. 2, Clinton Phone Carlow 1612 37tf grants to them of land parcelsin lieu of payment. . In 1827, Dunlop slashed through to Lake Huron and chopped down a tree to mark the site of a future town. This time there was, no slip-up. The chancellor had his name commem- orated. The triumph was short-lived. Angered at Galt's giveaway of com- pany lands, the board of directors recalled and dismissed him. He died in poverty in Scotland in 1839. The redoubtable Dunlop as "war- den of the company's woods and forests" continued with the colon- izing and before he died, at his home across the Maitland river valley from Goderich, witnessed ships by the score disgorging .ol- onists on the shores of Lake Huron. The Canada Company 'had its shortcomings but the devotion of its Canadian Servants more than adequately compensated. By 1843 the company had fulfilled its con- tract and vast expanses of Western Ontario had been thrown open to settlement. The demise of the Canada Company closes an ,.epic chapter in Canada's story. TBE,CalvCit SPORTS 60LOMN orif 7e-gredefs A lot of people believe thoroughbred horse- racing to be a completely commercial un- dertaking, the accent on dollars, with no sport overtones. With such folk, the much - abused term "improvement of the breed" is strictly for laughs. But admitting racing to be the most 'completely -commercialized of sports, it possesses, paradoxically' cross-sections that are rich in generosity and sentiment. The Quebec King's Plate, oldest 'race in America, founded in 1836, when, according to tradition, British soldiers raced through the fields at Three Rivers for the guinea§ donated • by King William IV., ` furnishes instances of lavish outlay made merely to pre- serve a sentimental sequence. Breeding of thoroughbred race -horses in Quebec province does not and never has achieved the proportions of that in- dustry in the sister -province of Ontario. Quebec is not so well suited, climatically, for rearing thoroughbred stock. And so the Quebec Plate race, as such, dwindled for lack of equine support, until its scope was broadened and it was opened to all 3 -year olds of Canadian breeding. Even that has not proven sucessful. In the last two years, despite the $5,000., added purse offering each year, the race has been run as'a betless undertaking, the sponsoring club thus getting no return whatever for its purse outlay by the ordinary avenue -of wagering through the mutuels. In fact, since 1927, when only one horse faced the starter to race for purse and royal guineas, there have been nine bet - less runnings, meaning that the sponsoring club got no returns via the mutuels. Instead, the sum IA $14,500., was paid out to the winning horse in these years and half as much again to the placed horses. In 1927, there was a walk -over for Saguenay. Naturally, with one horse, there was no betting. 'In 1928, and for three years in a row starting in 1933, again in 1945, 1949, 1952 and 1953 the race was run as a betless affair. The highest purse given 'a winner in this list was $3,910., which went to Ontario= owned Chain Reaction this year. The least was $250., to Tor- bruk in 1945. Jim Fair got $2,465., when Last Mark won a betless race in 1949. So, it's a "minus" proposition. There is no compulsion on the club to stage the Plate re- newals. The advertising value of the, race, in Quebec, is neg- ligible as compared with the tremendous interest generated in Ontario each year. But the annual running goes on, so that America's oldest race shall not fall into disuse, and the spon- soring club cheerfully pays the freight. And over • $20,000., we think, is a generous price to pay for -the maintenance of those qualities. which the cynical insist do not exist in racing- , sentiment . Your commentsandtraditiand su4ongestions for this coluMwt u' be wekoaaeel by Elmer Ferguson, c/o Calvert House, 431 Yong. St., Toroeto. Calvert DiSTILLERS LIMITED AMHERSTBURG, ONTARIO hat a ear! What abny! eitin new Studebaker! Its low in he'h(/Ifs low in upkeep! Its low in price! 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Come in and select your Studebaker at once —a sedan, coupe or hard-top—a brilliantly powered Commander V-8 or a big, impressive - Champion 6 in the low price field. BANNISTElI . MOTORS VICTORIA STREET AND ELGIN AVE • 5TVINEI A,L'IR ChemP The new Stud.bak.r is a star In gas economy! All the Studebaker Models made sensational scores in the 1953 Mobilgas Run. Studebaker gots Fashion Academ,' Award! Noted New York oche*: of fashion design here Whip id lb*'13 9tudobeker outetaedla le KO* - MONS 7.7 • BUILT IN CANADA—BY CANA^!AN CRAFTSMEN ra.