HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1957-08-01, Page 11,10th Year ---No. O
A farewell party was held recently iir the
Star --Patriot wardroom at the command head-
quarters of -tile naval reserve, I4amilton; for -
Lt. (S) H. Malcolm Harrison, RCN,' and his
wife, Sub. -Lt. (W) , Barbara Harrison, RCN
(R), prior to their departure for the west
coast where Lt. Harrison will take up a new
appointment aboard HMCS Ontario. Mrs.
Harrison, daughter of Dr. and Mrs. I. D.
Wilson, Lighthouse street, Goderich, served
with _ her- husband, --on the- staff- of thee -Flag
Officer Naval Divisions, Hamilton. They were
married at Goderich in September last year.
Shown with them; centre, is Capt. A. F.
Pickard, OBE, O.D, RCN, chief of staff to the
Flag Officer Naval Divisions,
Frogmen Recover Plane
Locate Wrecked Schooner
Bruce and Allan MacDonald, at.the bathing house at the harbor
whose exploits as frogmen have here.
attracted widespread interest, have Two Drowned to Crash - e._-'-^
been at' it a a.n. The aircraft recovered by Bruce
Several d s ago, working in and Allan was a six passenger
water up to 70 feet deep, they re- Royal Gull amphibian, owned by
covered a $180,000, twin -engine Geolex Explorations Ltd., of Tor -
aircraft `which crashed into Lake onto. Alex Thomas, president' of
.Selwood, near Fergus. the firm, and his son, Gregory, 11,
Then last week -end, for an en- were drowned when the plane
core, 'they located the wreck of crashed early°in June. Their bodies
the three -masted schooner Erie were recovered a short time later.
Sctevrart, which sank off Southamp- Four other passengers were
tion .tl the fall of 1908. rescued.
They raised one of the schoon- The pilot apparcniy hit an air
er's large anchors—an old-time pocket 30 feet above the lake and
wooden stock type—and brought nose-dived into the water. After
it back to Goderich. floating for a few minutes, the craft
The anchor now may be seen sank in 60 feet of water. Mr.
/mother Grain'
I)
11;
age Laid Up
With Canadian elevators in
Great Lakes ports pretty well fill-
ed, up with grain, a number of
gratin carriers are being Iaid up
until the picture changes.
The barge, Oollingdoc, was laid
up at Goderich on Wednesday.
This makes a total of three barges
now laid up at Goderich harbor,
the other two being the Alexander
Holley and the barge 137. The
Owendoc is ila.id up at Fort Wil-
liam and the Portadoc at Midland.
The Bricoldoc brought the' barge
,Colkngdoc to Goderich last Friday.
On the same day, the Imperial
Kingston came in with a load of
gasoline for Imperial Oil.
On Tuesday, the lug Ian Mac
returned from Part Htf-roii to which
port it towed an .American cabin
cruiser, Flo Flo,,which was out of
running prder' due to shaft trouble.
Om Satadaay, the, James -hods was
in
withl• 1 ad of grain.
The Donald Bert recently carried
Ivir. Harold Turner of the Canadian
Customs office out five mile§ into
the lake to meet the vessel, Sir
Thomas Shaughnessey. This boat
was bound from Prescott to Fort
William when it received new ship-
ping orders while out on Lake
Inure ►r. The new orders called for
it to go to Chicago so it had to
receive Canadian clearance from
the closest Canadian port which
happened to" be Goderich,
The Superior arrived last night
from the Lakehead with gain.
Thomas was drowned in a vain
efT'ort to save his son.
Carl Mallard, of Toronto, and
the Department of Transport asked
Bruce aiid Allan to handle diving
operations with a View to raising
the plane. The department was
interested in checking the cause
of the crash.
The MacDonalds, began grappl-
ing and diving to locate the sunken
plane cu July 14, but were unsuc-
cessful' at :that tirne. Two days
later, Mr. Mallard pinpointed the
location by using a metal detector.
On July 17, Mr. Mallard picked
up Bruce and Allan at Sky Harbor
and flew them to the lake. This
time they succeeded in getting a
cable on the craft and raising it
under a raft, with the aid of a
w'r
They towed it under the raft
for four miles. But when they
were within 100 feet of shore, the
Garble broke -and the plane dived
into 70 feet of water again.
Returning on July 21, they suc-
ceeded in attaching a cable again
and raised the plane. It was drag-
ged to shore fnally.
The bottom of the amphibian was
torn and the nose damaged -
"I don't think I'd want to tackle
a job like that again," commented
Bruce later. "Visibility was Only
about three feet at the depths we
° were working in much of the time."
They did the diving without
benefit df any special gear except
their frogmen outfits.
Sank In Gale
As for the Erie Stewant, they
had often heard about the three -
masted vessel frayri the late Bert
MacDonald. Whire trying to make
for the shelter of Chantry Island,
off Southampton, in .a northwest
.gale -in 1908, the schooner sank
!strict
Octogenarans
Stage Annual Picnic
Eighty-four octogenarians at- pearl necklace and earrings as a
tended the annual picnic held by gift.
Goderich Octogenarian Club on The variety program at the pay -
July 24. Several of those in ate ;lion included numbers by Sandy
te'ndance were from Auburn. .MacDonaId, sit- ear -old piper, and
The program got aider way with Bobby Graham% and Trudy 'Adams,
a memorial service at Octogenar- two eight-year-old accordionists.
can Park on St. Patrick street. Mary Ly '-Leonard entertained with
Tribute was paid to those members a sword dance. She was (accom-
who have passed on. panied by piper Bert McCreath.
Ed. Stiles opened with prayer. Tiny Et -tie and J. N. MacDonald,
11)..1. (Pat) Patterson, chairman of aceompr)1ied by Mrs. MacDonald,
the group, was in charge of the played violin numbers, and Joe
p?ogram. Mac4t)onald played the'pipes,,
Frank Skelton and Ken Penning- Spacial Prizes
tali, of Goderich Kinsmen Club, Prizes for the oldest octogenar•
laid a wroth on the ,~enotaph in -ons were presented to Mrs. Wil -
the park on behalf of "Cy" Roibin-. Tian Strau) inn, of �'xoderich, who
son in memory of his parents, Mr. is now in her YOlst year, and
and Mrs. Fred Rnbinkon. ",Cy" Gavin ,Green, 95, of this town. -
was unable to be present himself. John Miele preaidmt of the
At the close of the service, the club, presented 1Mr. and Mrs. Pat
curb members and visitors were Patterson with a lawn lounge in
transported to Goderich Pavilion eecteenition of their long, and de
in ears provided by Kinsmen. voted service to the club.
A (;cuder•ich made pen was pre- The leitettes, under the chair.
anted to the then in attendance, tnanship of .Mrs. Frank Skeltter,
while the ladies each received a furnished lunch.
in 36 feet of water near the br•eak-
wall.
"'he schocraer, which was more
than 200 feet long, struck the
breakwall, knocking over the range
light, before it sank.
About an hour later, the schoon-
er Ontario sought shelter in the
same haven. Discovering too late
that the light was gone, she at-
tempted to turn, but the gale
beached her. There was no;, loss
of life (ti either vessel.
Last week -end, Bruce, A11an and
Jim Valiance, of Atwood, went
north en the MacDonald Marine
tug, Skipper, to seek the ErievStew-
art. They Located the wreck and
raised one of the large anchors.
They reported that much of the
boat still remains, but the timbers
are twisted and broken The to
p" RE'1!'URGV FROM U.K.
sides, rigg:og and spas are gone. Mr. a and Mrs. Wilfred Peachey,
The Erie Stewart was used to of Warren, street, returned home
transport Lurxiber. last Friday from a trip to England
The frogmen had little difficulty and the continent. While :o) Lon -
finding the wreck. They went by don, they met their grandson, Art
directions given them by iild Peachey, of Goderich, who is at -
schooner men around ,the country. 1 tending the World Scout Jamboree.
GODERICH, ONTARIO, THURSDAY, AUGUST 1, 1957
Subscription `1 u ANApA rA0.00
COUNCIL OK'S WAT
BUT
Confidence In Goderich
Copuo fie
SOME RAP FINANCING
Plan Approved 4-3
After $200,000 Cut
Quarter` Million Dollar
Wo�Iw�rthStore Will Be
Erected On Square Soon
Negotiations are un er way for
the ,construction of an F. W. Wool-
worth Company store on the site
of the Old British Exchange Hotel,
the total investment of which will
run more the a quarter of a
million dollars. Mr. G. W. Milne,
of Toronto, manager of the real
estate department of the Wool-
worth chain for Canada, told ace,'
Sig,nal-Star the company has an
option on the property and the
title is now being searched.
'Inc building will occup3 pore
than 12,000 square feet and will
be 'a one -storey structure. It will
have °a frontage on the Square of
82 feet and will be some 160 feet
in- depth.. The -_new_ right of wiry
will be run farther to the south
on the Art George property which
is also to be purchased. This is
more familiarly known as the old
Nagel residence. The building will
Abe razed,
The British Exchange property
is being purchased from Harry
Levine, of Toronto, who operated'
the hotel until it was razed by fire
I
last December.
"The store will be the nsual
type of Woolworth operation, the
same as in a large pity," Mr. Milne
told the Signal -Mar. He added that
it would be a self serve store with
check-outs, one of 65 such recent
i,nn&vation operatic+is (lI Wool-
worth's in Canada.,, The quarter
million dollar investment will in-
clude -the land, .building and fix-
tures.
A survey was made of the dis-
trict by Woolworth's some time
ago and officials expressed their
confidence :n the, buying power
ere as well as confidence in the
future of Goderich and district.
"Goderich is the County seat and
the logical shopping cntre for
the County," said Mr. Mine. "We
look `to decentralization, too, in
order to get away from labor
troubles :.i cities," he said.
Mr. Milne pointed out they have
a store at Col]ingwood at the pre
sen=t time but that the store at
Goderich will beNao. much bigger
operation.
Just as soon as the clear title
to the land is secured, building
operations will commence and it is
expected the building will be ready
for occupancy late in the fall.
It is stated that .soon after the
Woolworth representatives arrang-
ed for the option on the British
Exchange Hotel property, two
other bids dere made for it. • One
was from a chain grocery store
and the other from an oil firm.
Mr. Milne, who was in Goderich
yesterday, during the searching of
the property title, has a summer
residence at Egerton Beach on the
.Bluewater-._Highway,--just-south of
Bayfield
Let lis Know !
There are, particularly dur-
ing the summer time, numer-
ous little incidents that occur
which make interesting news
items. The Signal -Star is not
staffed to be all places at all
times to get all these items.
You can help make the Signal -
Star a newsier paper by phon-
ing 71 and tipping us off on
thesetories. We will follow
them up. The Signal -Star is
also anxigus to run more per-
scnal- mention items. Tell us
of visitors you have at your
home or when you visit friends
out of town. Thank you!
0 o U
REMODEL SHOP
Goderich News Stand; of which
Dennis Fiueher is proprietor, pre-
sents a bright new look since its
remodelling. A partition has been
moved back, thus enlarging the
front section of the shop to pro-
vide greater display space. New
lighting has been installed end the
walls redecorated.
Mr. and Mrs, Harold Rivers hate
returned from a holiday spent at
Deer- Lodge; Haliburton, and the
Bay of Quiilte. financing it through the OWRC.
Three members of Couicil op-
• posed turning the project over to
the provincial commission for fin-
ancing and administration. They
• were Reeve E. C. Fisher and Coun-
cillors Frank Walkom and Games
Bisset. Deputy -Reeve James Don-
nelly, chairman of finance,,'' was
Two important decisions emerg
ed when Town Council held a
"showdown" meeting Tuesday
night to decide whether to pro-
ceed with a proposed $2,750
Water plant or not.
First, in a compromise, Council
sliced $200,000 off the total estim-
ated cost by deciding to leave a
filtration unit out of the plans for
the present.
Second, by a 4-3 vote, Council
moved to finance the slimmed -
down project through the govern-
ment -backed Ontario Water Re-
sources Commission.
Councillor C. M. Robertson and
S. H. Blake, town clerk, were auth-
orized to go to Toronto with PUC
representatives to talk with Dr.
A. E. Berry, general manager of
he OWRC. They. were instructed
to -seek .Dr, Berry's..approval of the
project and clear the way for
t
Boy Collapses, Dies
After Taking Swim
Funeral service was to be held
today for John Henry Mahon, 11,
who was found dead Monday after- '
noon an Victoria street, one block '
away from Judith Gooderham Mem-
orial Park where he ..had beers ,
swimming.
Following a post mortem exam-
inatieneTuesday;. Corcoier Dr. N. C.
Jackson said that death was causeei
by acute congestion of the lungs.
John was the son of Mr. anrd Mrs•
Robert Mabon, of East street.
Dr. J. L. Peni'stan, provincial
pathologist, of Stratford, was in
attentheice at the post mortem.
The coroner said there were no
signs of foul play. He added that
it would be difficult to .say exactly,'
what caused the fatal congestion.
Dr. Jackson said it was probable
that the boy was not feeling 'well
wheri he went to the swimming
pool Monday afternoon,
Ted Williams, Goderich recrea-
tic of director, said that John ap-
peared normal when he was seen
at the pool during the afternoon.
At 3.30 p.m., the boy's crumpled
body was found near the corner
of Victoria and Brock streets by
'dike Helesic, 13.
Al first, Mike thought the boy
was sick and he asked, "Are you
all right?" Then, noting that he
did not seem to be bre th
Mike went for help. He told lla -py absent from the meeting.
Westlake, who was working nearby. The water issue, subject of num-
and Mr. Westlake called Dr. G. F. erous special meetings, came to
Mills, who pronounced the boy a head when a "committee of the
dead. a whole" report was brought before
After the arrival of police, the Council ,for approval at the end
body was removed to the Stiles of Tuesday night's meeting.' The
funeral home where identification report contained four recommend -
was made later by Samuel Mabon,
uncle of the boy.
Only Monlay, Robert Mahcri,
father of the dead bay, had started
a new job in Mitchell. Police
brought hien word of the tragedy.
Born in Toronto, the boy had
lived for 'four years at Seaham
Harbor. England. His family moved
from there to Goderich. He was
an "adherent of Victoria Street Un-
ited Church and belonged to 3rd
eroderich Cub Pack.
John had played per wee soft-
ball here last year and seemed to
he in robust health. He had earn-
ed promotion into grade 6 at
Goderich Public School.
Surviving besides his e parents
are one brother, Robert, 5, and
three sisters, Margaret Rose, 7:
Patricia Ann, 3, and Heather ,Jean,
1. Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Reed, of
Goderich, are grandparents.
The fi'ieral service was to be
held today at 2 p.m. in Stiles
funeral homee followed by inter-
ment in Maitland 'cemetery.
ULTIMILLIO `, DOLLAR RSC
SALT MINS PROJECT STAR�"E
An ;initial labor force of more
than 20 men, together with bull-
dozers, are transforming the land
scape west of Snug Harbor in pre-
paration for the new rock salt:
mine, cost of which will be between
4,6,000,000 and $1900,000. - Work
was launched Wednesday of last
week, follow'ng a sod turning cere-
mony. It is estimated it will be
the summer of 1959 before the
mine goes into production. When
it tjoes, its productive capacity will
equal that of any other salt mine
on this continent.
Mr. Wilfred Hall, president of
Dominion Tar and Chemical Com -
piny, turned the fiat sod in the
ceremony.. Mr. Walter Spence,
vice-president of Dominion Tar. at
a dinner meeting at the Bedford
Hotel Wednesday of last week,
stated that the new company, 1)0
minion Rack Salt Company, already
has, a market RIP,' 300,000 tons
which it will supply frolri United
States imports until the new mine
is ready here. The company also
hopes to get an export market
of 200,000 tons.
When the new mine goes into
operation it will have a production
of 400 tons an hour or about 3,000
tons a day. C'i strolled by hoist
capacity to the surface, production
'ban easily be doubled.
Mr. Muir, Manager
Mr. Gordon Muir,- former plant
manager at Sifto Salt Company,
Sarnia, will be the manager of the
rock salt mine plant here. The
production of the Sifto Salt plant
here will not be affected eby the
,productker of the rock salt mine
plant. Sifto Salt will da the
marketing for Dominion Rock Salt
Mr. J. C. Milling, of Montreal
resident engineer for the construe
tion of the rock salt plant, will be
moving to Goderich next week
He told the Signal -Star that whcar
work had progressed to the point
where piles are driven and shafts
sunk, 45 skilled miners or shaft
sinkers would be brought in.
Mr. Milling explained that the
present small causeway .separating
the waters of Snug Harbor would
be removed and Snug Harbor would
be tirlarged somewhat and deep-
ened to take care of small boats.
The road at the far west side of
the area would disappear but an-
other road running immediately to
the west Of Snug Harbor would
join the north shore road to the
north pier, enabling cars t o .still
. make use of- the channclside park-
, ing area there. There will be a
- total of four buildings erected, i.ai
office building, crusher house,
screen house and storage shed.
The entire area will be landscaped
which he said he had discussed
with the manager of the PUC.
Under this plan, said Reeve
Fisher, the $200,000 filtration plant
would riot be built at present.
By thus reducing the total cost,
of the project to $382,750, he cal-
culated that the project could be
paid for by adding about seven
dollars per year to the average
household water bill. The cost
would be paid off in' 20 years,
instead of 30.
Present Cost
At present, water is costing the •
average Gotderich household about
$16 ,per year. This cost would
almost certainly be doubled if
Council built the $582,750 piaci
originally proposed and frhanced if
through the OWRC over 30 years.
There was one possible catch,
said the reeve. Council would
have to obtain approval of Dr. A.
E. Berry4 general manager sit
111cWRC, to build a neve system with-
out a filtration plant.
AC present, Goderieh does not
have a filtraticu plant, yet local
water always gets an "A" when
tested, say officials. .
Reeve Fisher indicated that he
favored building up'a reserve fund
for a couple of years before tackl-
ing the slimmed -down proposal,
which would include a new pump-
ing station and a new line up the
hill but no filtraticn plant. Then,
when the town did proceed, the
money still needed would be an
amount low enough that the town
would be able to raise it without
getting OWRC. assistance.
ations, including two not related ,-,4 . step-by-step plan of this na
to the water question. ...,4....wind be much easier on the
Moves Amendment pocketbooks of local householders.
When it was moved that the emphasized „Reeve Fisher,
report be approved, Councillor Sees Drawbacks
Walkom stepped forth to move an Councillor Peter S. MacEwen ham
amendment that it be passed ex ; some o .getions to the idea sug-
cept for the recommendation about gested by the reeve. He warned
financing through the OWRC. that in the interval between the
.His amendment, aimed at -stalling,time the first part of the plant n
the move to fidatice---tkrough the built a the last part completed
OWRC, was carried by a 4-3vote ; new eq ipment might be develop -
with c
h the support 0
rt n
f Reeve Fisher ed w i�
Pp erwhich � �
would make the orif,ina�
and Councillors 1A'alkom�, Bisset plans obsolete. It might be rill -
But
f
and Robertson. ficult to harmonize twits of the
But the effect was nullified a project - nless all were built ar
few moments later when Council- the same time, he said
lor Tipple, sec( sided by Councillor People might object, too, he said,
Joseph Allaire, moved that the if water rates were increased with.
clause re OWRC financing he ap out some immediate dividend such
proved also. Councillor Robertson as better water.
voted for this, too, and it was To this, Reeve Fisher replied
carried by a 4-3 vote Others who that it has been estimated that the
supported it were Councillors quality of water would be ;n -pro -
Peter S. MacEwan. Allaire and cd 30 to 40 percent under the
Tipple. slimmed-dovtn plan. even- though
Though not required -to vote. it did not include a filtration plant -
Mavor John Graham indicated The reeve •aid he doubted if the
earlier in c,immittec of the whole average consumer could afford to
that he favored financr.ng thropgh pay doubled water- rates -
the OWRC. Councillor James Bi --t' -aid he
The meeting ended without any favi -real raring rates and gather,
action being taken to revise local ing a reserve fund for three in,
water rates_ Some members of i four yearn before starting the pro
Council felt it would-be better to ' ject.
interview 1)r_ Berry before increas- Though he indicated that he des
ing rates, liked the thought of paying out so
Reviews Plans much money in aiterest, Coun.cil-
Startine the debate: Reeve lor William Tipple said he would
Fisher .said that three possible rather finance the whole original
courses of action had been con- plan through OWR(' than build it
sidered so far. First, the town "piecemeal." The town must
could ask the OWRC to build and grow, he said, and a complete nevi
operate the proposed $582,750 water plant would clear the waa
plant right away. In this event, for more growth.
the project would be financed over Reeve Fisher mentioned the pea
30 sibility of taking the water ques-
tion to the ratepayers to :cecide
but there was little discussion
along those lines.
in time and trees planted to pro- the
vide an attractive overall appear-
anti. Overhead loading chutes aro
will extend from the plant overtop
years and it had been calculated
t the town might have to pay
und $900,000 in interest alone.
Second, he said, the town could
se water rates immediately ,and Councillor Bisset said that water
ild up a reserve fund. In a fewer rates are due for an ii crease
ars, there would be enough whether a new water plant 1. built
ney in the fund to give a good or not. The RUC water depart -
rt to the project. This could ment, has been operating at a lam.
an a substantial saving on inter Councillor Bisset saw loca1 con
payments. Furthermore, the trol as an important argument
n would then he el a posit ion ' favor of delaying the proje0.- untff
ere it might he able to finance the town is able t:i finance 't with
balance of the rost without out. help of the provincial cemmss
'pending on the OWT1C. cion. Ile said he had he ir1 oe
The third course, said the reeve, other centres which have had deal-
s to do nothing about the water Ings with the OWRC that were jaw
the area along the 'iorih pier to car
the harbor entrance for the bu
Jiur ye
pose of loading rock salt on
freighters. mo
900,000,000 Tons st
It is estimated that salt• dowel) me
at the harhor,con1ains 000,000,000 est
tans of salt about 99 per cent pure. taw
wlt
The rock salt t duct is used for
he
(Continued on page 4)
ice control on streets and high- , ale
yr
`r Wa
eea
A milestone in the industrial progress of Goderich was
marked on Wednesday of last 'week when the official sod
turning ceremony was held to launch the multi -Million
dollar rock salt mine ofthe newly formed Dominion Rock
Salt Company, whose parent company is Dominion Tar and
Chemical Company, - In the above photo, Wilfred Hall,'
president of Dominion Tar and Chemical Company, is seen
turning the sod where the main shaft is to be sunk. Mr.
Gordon Muir, formerly plant manager of Sifto §silt Company,
Sarnia, is to he manager of the rock salt plant At (loderieh.
S.S. Photo by, I .
situ tion. exactly satisfactory in some re
'Flee then sug.g(' 1c d a fourth plan. ',peels
' c'
Biters Fro
See» Eski:os
The yotrhg cell of a couple
from Labrador found things a
hij ,strange after the family
had completed a tour of Huron
County Mu,eum on • Tuesday.
Ile complained to, ,1}s parents
and then to Cunttor'tf, II. Neill:
"Where's the Indians -and the
Eskimos same as we have back
home in Lalarador? I thought
they'd be down here, too!"
,Even at that, the youngster's
idea of this part of Canada
could be excused in the light
of what or.'euered at the same
M ileum -two years ago, this
summer. Tharists from the
United States, after they had
visited the Mtiseum, ' asked
whether it was 109 ar 0
miles farther north they had
to go before running into the
leek ime Settlements.
it is surprising tite dintaant
spots visitors Mae from to
look over the trur'ont County
ititaseum. Amiciig the places
so far this kiutittraer are Italy,
J
hr
ere
Germany, England, the Nether
lands, Switzerland, India and
I,abrador.
A visitor at the Muscum on
Friday will be Dr. Carl Guile.
who is making a survey of mus
eums all across Canada on be-
half of the Canadian ,Museums
Association. He Will leave
suggestions° for..:.improveni(at:. -
and will look for ideas here
to pass on to other trinanums
Vti Jrilr ill this area, Tiro will
also visit the Bnice:County
Museum at Southampton.
The 1,600t1r visitor sm tar
this, Tear.was recorded 0t theMu..t0uin list Friday. Elie was
Mrs. Marian V. 'J t :0t r •o1
Vi'illor dal , Onl.r'ii'ic►, ,y
The latftt, rt o :)el�wdulei; to .
arrive at the Mtiaseram fa?nn' 12M.
lw a (Double thotltl'bz:n 3 thr�et-
way plow, presentcai lx Thom,
as A. Miller,blit. 4, i)essela
This plow will: 1,- hill up ..
•potataes; .2. dig 1 0ttil(ge�: 8
make drills for roving tout°ni t
apt Ilan nl .
9