HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1975-06-26, Page 3d
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John Patterson Hume, "a man' for all seasons", was born
at 'liumeshaugh", the Hume historic family farm for about
98 years in all, in Seymour Township, near Burnbrae. He
• died suddenly on November 27., 1941, in Goderich on„Lake
Huron. It might be saidalsobf him "He lived in a house by
4 the side of the road and was a friend to man."
Throughout his 82 -year. life span, Mr. Hume focussed his
dedicated attention upon his Christian Protestant religion,
his profession as a secondary school science teacher and
ptirkipal, his home and family connections, his gardens, and
his constructive community activities wherever he resided.
Re was highly esteemed as one of the finest, practising
Christians of his day and generation. He was widely
recognized as a stimulating master of scienceand an out-
standing, succes.ful principal. He was. a devoted son and
brother and later he che,rished his.. wife arid therr four
children. As an amateur horticulturist, both flowers and
vegetables, he possessed a notable green thumb. He was an
active community worker and a strong supporter of many
worthy tatisbs thereby exemplifying the most effective CQ -
operation between church and state.
Mr. Hume lived his religion as an active and financially
generous church member as a Sunday School teacher and
superintendent, an Adult Bible Class teadher and as an
elder. His church- connections began at Burnbrae
Presbyterian Church and at St. Andrew's Presbyterian
Church in Campbellford. He was later associated with St. ,
Paul's Presbyterian Church in Ingersoll and-- Knox
Presbyterian Church at Goderich. As a strong, proponent of
organic union in 1925 between the Presbyterian, Methodist
and Congregational denominations, he joined Ndtth Street
United Church in Goderich for the closing 16 years of his life.,
In Waterford, 1906-10, he and his family were active in the
Baptist Church since there was no Presbyterian Church
there. He was, an especially strong supporter of church
missionary programs around the world. He was a com-
missioner attending the United Church of Canada general
council meeting in Ottawa about 1938.
Upon graduation from. Campbellford High School on a
scholarship in his late teens, Mr. Hume enrolled at Queen's
University, Kingste0.." He graduated ' from Queen's
University, about 1880, with his Baclieliiiin Arts degree and
as a double gold medallist in science and Mathematics. He
then taught as a science master for five' years_at the Dun-
tekrnramptonatigh.7.,
• School. .
Returning to Campbellford in 1890 to be married, Mr..
Hume becamea partner of his younger brother, William
Hume, in the establishment of the long known Hume
• Brothers dry goods and general store on Front Street. About'
1894, Mr. Hume returned to his school teaching profession as
principal of Campbellford High Sehool for about 10 years.
William Hume continued to operate Hume Brothers store
-until it was discontinued about 1925, J. P. Hume Continuing
to handle the store books.
• Mr. Hume became principal of Waterford High School,
between Brantford and Simcoe, 1906-19. He was 'science
master at Ingersoll Collegiate Institute for the school year
1910-11.
He became principal of the Goderich Collegiate Institute
in September, 1911, continuing as such until 1935 'when he
retired due to failing hearing. He.was warmly respected by
the teachers on his staff because he stood behind them,
expecting keen- service from them, though no more than
from himself. In these modern, permissive years, Mr. Hume
might be described as "a strict disciplinarian." But he was
able to buildup genuine rapport'between "the students and
. the teachers and the Goderich Collegiate won more than its
share of scholarships. He always recognized students dif-
fered in their intellectual capacity. His yardstick dill was
that individual students, through earnest effort, should work
and strive to achieve the maximum of which he. or she was
capable.
Mr. Hume always kept pace with the latest teaching and
principalship techniques. He took summer 'courses in the.
• Science of Agriculture at the Ontario Agriculture College at
Guelph around 1914.
He was a regular attendant down through the years at
Easter school holiday meetings of the Ontario Education -
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"4-1- ‘1\4$1,P
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Joh-in Potterion Hume by his son, J. Alex Hume
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Association at Toronto. He enjoyed pleasant social in-
terchanges with fellow principals at such OEA meetings, as
he likewise did when marking Ontario Education Depart-
ment student examination papers for many years in
Toronto.
Mr. Hume "touched and enriched the lives of literally'
thousatis of secondary school students in six different
commutirtiet• durin his career. He always followed the
subsequent careers of many former students, even after his
• retirement, with keenest, paternal in Fest.
On the family side of his life Mr. Hume was married to
Miss Ida White, a talented public school teacher at Madoc.
on July 1, 1890, at the Roslin home of her Darents. John and
sther Johnston White. Mr. White was Conservative MP for
the riding of Hastings East, 1871-87, during part of which
period Miss Ida White served as her father's political
secretary at his Roslin home base. Those were the•days of
federal open voting — no secret ballot — and Mr. White's
victory margins in four federal elections and two by-
elections varied only froret to 74 Votes, East Hastings
federal riding was about evenly divided between Roman
Catholic and Protestant Orange supporters. Mr. White was a
staunch Protestant Orangeman, but, finally, he was beaten
at the polls by S. B. Burdett, a Roman Catholic, by 64 votes. ,
Mr. White was named to the Canadian Senate b his leader
PO
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DEAR EDITOR
0
(continued from page '2) . distribution center -for con -
world -wide campaign, starting
by telling our , children,
speaking to our neighboti'f's,
writing, phoning or wiring the
Venerable Old Gentlerrien of
Rome who.; even though they
don't "playa da game" think
they're entitled to "maka da
rules".
Our churches should stop
getting excited about Man (and
Woman's) immortal souls,
vrorrra bit more about im-
oving social conditions here.
on Earth. A start would be to
"have churches act -as a
traceptives and birth, control
information, therebyg...causing
queues at abortion clinics to
dwindle and church attendance
to soar, to the mutual
satisfaction, I presume, of
almost everyone. •
I would like to see the net
proceeds of Saturday's march
go to start this project. It it
does, future . walkers will
receive unlimited sponsoring,
and, of course, the free use of
our dpw, trairs washroonl.
Hindmarsh
Sir John A. Macdonald, but he died -before he could be sworn
in as a Senator. -
Mr. and Mrs. J. P. Hume enjoyed a happy and successful
marriage for ,31 years until her death .on March 20, 1921, in
Goderich. They .are buried in the splendidly kept rural
church -yard cemeteryt 'Burnbrae; near the grades of his
parents, ThomaS. and Jane Patterson Hume, and ,also his
grandparents, William and Jane Smith Hume. J. P. Hume
and his wife, Ida White, had a family of four children, all
born in Campbellford: James Smith Hume, chartered ac-':
countant, 1891-1952; Thomas Donald Hume, 1892-1971, Who
• was awarded the Military Medal while serving in France
with the 180th Sportsmen's Battalion of. Tpronto during the
First World War; Miss Esther Patterson Hume, living
retired in Goderich after 34 years astlpindergarten teacher at
Victoria Public School there, still' a Campbellford Herald
subscriber; and John Alexander Hume, born on September ,
7, 1900, a newspaper reporter for 42 years in Goderich,,
London, and Ottawa; now a widower living in _Ottawa after the_ Trent River serham
'973 ,"*"as-a'=retiretktf e'`' t alrniqr-liCa" proposal never was enacted in Ontario to
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4„';',,'''444'.'214)'*,
4: •
GOD5RI CH -SIGNAL -STAR, TIIURSE4Y, JUNE 20! 1975—pAgg,3
n s sojourn
member of the Parliamentary Press Gallery following 32
years service as a parliamentary correspondent of The
Ottawa Citizen' .
Today there are two grandchildren of Mr. And Mrs. J. P
. Hume, both children of James S. Hume and his wife, Jean
-Nairn — Dr. James Nairn Patterson Hume, professor of
physics and professor of Computer Science at the University
of Toronto for the past 21 years; Dr, Hume and his wife, the
former Patricia Molyneux, . have three sons and one
daughter; and Mrs.' Fred Seedhouse,5 the former 'Mary
Hume, of Webster, New York State, also With three SoT and
a daughter. '
Mrs. J, P. Hume, always active in chfirch work, played a
Jeading role in southwestern Ontario, about 1916, in the union
of the earlier separate Presbyterian Women's Foreign
Mission Society and the Women's Home Mission Society into
what became,known as the Presbyterian Women's Mission
Society, In Goderich Mrs, Hume was a vice-regent of the
Imperial Order of the Daughters of the Empire, Ahmeek
Chapter, one of%the oldest chartered chapters in Canada of
that organization.
Communitywise, Mr. Hume was active '1'n Goderich in
such organizations as The Blible Society, Horticultural
Society, Temperance Society (he -Was a life-long teetotaler
and non-smoker), 'and the Board of Trade. While as a
,collegiate principal he took no active part in politics, it
'became well understood, in- such a town of about 6,000
population as Goderich then was, that both Mr. and Mrs,
Hume were of Conservative persuasion.
In the 1920's, through the Goderich Board of Trade, Mr.
. ,Hume enthusiastically espoused the cause of what was
called "Flat Rate For Hydro", as launched by T. J. Han-
negan of Guelph. Mr. Hume made numerous cogent public
speeches- in Goderich and southwestern Ontario advocating
that a flat rate be charged municipalities for Hydropower,
regardless of the variable distance required for high voltage
transmission of power from Niagara Falls and other power
development sites in the province. "Flat Rate For Hydro",
he felt, would be much fairer since Hydro ,power develop-,
ment sites properly were the heritage of all the.people .of
Ontario, not just for the chief benefit of municipalities
located closer to the power sites. Even though Campbellford
hasenjoyed low hydro rates through power development on
. .
ndefiendent schools
By Chris Zdeb •
. Ralph Schuurman, principal of the
Clinton and District Christian School. is
angry. at the double taxation that parents '
must -pay if they decide to send their
children to an independent school. He is
also upset about the misconceptions that
the general Oublic holds regarding the
independent School system and is deter-
mined to clear up the myths.
"Our school is like any 'other Canadian .
, school only the children are.taught from'a
Christian point tor view. But that doesn't
mean that we. make little angels, he said at
• the Tuesday meeting of the Christian
School Board. "The school was originated
by people .of Dutch background, but we
don't teach the Dutch language like many
peoplethink,we do,"
Another fallacy 'stems from the con-
• „ nection that people believe exists between
the school and the Christian Reformed
Church, he said.
"People call us the Christian Reformed
School, the Reformed school ... you name
• it. Unlike the separate school which is an
extension of the Roman Catholic Church,
the Christian school .is not an extension of
the Christian Reformed Church.
"Our school is basically as public as the
Clinton Public School next door," Mr.
Schuurman said. "I only' wish they'd call
themselves a public humanist school,
because that's what they are, where we are
the Christian school."
The Clinton and District Christian School
r is in its 13th year of operation in the town
and has an enrollment of 207 students
which is steadily increasing. The Children
are conspicuously all of Dutch background
and the, school board is trying to draw in
students from outside this cultural circle,
but the myths that people have about
education,, that • the Christian. sch 61
, provides is the major stumbling blodirin
this regard as well as the extra piph that
parents feel in their pocketbooks rice they
have decided to enroll their eh' 'dren in an
independent school.
./
. "The, only real beef that we have with the
government bs that We -have to pay our
municipal taxes and ilien,phy an additional
amount , to finamcially support our in-
dependent schools,' Mr. Schuurman said.
The government argues that the public ,
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Top Round
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EXTRA LEAN
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fig
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Pork Chops L. 88f
FRESH
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schools are there -to be used and if certain
individuals want to have their own system
•of teaching they shoulbear the burden of
supporting it.
Mr. Shuurman said that many people are
afraid their. taxes will rise if the govern-
ment should finance independent schools,
but pointed out that the ministry of
• education sets spending ceilings of $980 per
school -aged child every year. He said that
, goVernment grants are made available for
ckildren attending iSetrrident schools but
are not released. •
"Where are the grants going that were
set aside' for our people?" he .,said. "The
- money is likely just sitting there but we've
tried to find out what happens to it with
little success."
There are approximately 50,000 childrep
attending independent schools in Ontario;
. 8,000 of them students of Christian grade
and high schools. Last year, 45 independe
schools joined together to form the Ont io
Association of Alternative and In pen-
dent Schools (OAAIS)
• Christian School Board Chair
an Peter
sa,d the OAAIS sn't really,
n, it just acts
ependent school
f taxation. •
vernment has been
ssoc'iation's cause but
is very little hope 'for
ethod of double taxation.
"We don', admire the government for
holding tfr problem in a political light, but
- we ve to be realistic about • the
situ ion," Mr. Schuurman said. -
e Christian School Board hopes to get
ome kind -of commitment on their eause-
from. local candidate's whcrwill be running
in the upcoming provincial election. Mr.
Damsma said a spokesman for the Liberar
party had expressed sympathy with the
independent- schools' cause ,at a recent
convention of the OAAIS in Toronto, but
added,, "you can take that for what it's
.worth."
„The Christian School operates on a
&get of $130,000 of which $15,000 is ob-
tained through 'donations. Each family
supporting the school pays$1,300 yearlyin
tuition fees. „-
,• Althaigh the school's financial situation
'has aly,vays been shaky, Mr. Ddnisma said
have a philosophy f educa
as 'spokesman for the in
systems on the questio
' He added that the
receptive to the
holds that ther
changing the
• .14
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suffer d
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have promoted wider distribution of industrial development
in the province.
Wherever they lived, Mr. and Mrs. Hume enjoyed a lively
social life for themselves and for their children. They both
much enjo9ed such card games as Euchre, King Pedro, and
500. They generously opened their home for dancing parties
for their teenage children and their friends and the food
provided was always more than adequate, both as to
quantity and quality.
Mr. Hume always was a thorough -going Canadian.
Accompanied by his daughter, different years, he made a
train trip to the Pacific,Coast and a train and ship trip to the
-Maritime Provinces and to Newfoundland and Labrador; A
socially inclined extrovert, Mr. Hume made friends -easily
everywhere he went. tie kep,t, close contact ,with his two
brothers and four sistersasiong.as they and 040.0,
• -r
J. P. Hume was particularly proud of his eldeAroth'er,
Alex IIume, who inherited •"Humeshaugh" from their
father. Alex Hume was a noted,' pioneer breeder and im-
porter from Scotland of Ayrshire cattle, He exhibited his
champion Ayrshires. for many years at the Canadian
National Exhibition and the Royal' Winter Fair at Toronto
and on occasion at the even stiffer competition Chicago
Livestock Show. As Reeve of Seymour, Alex Hume became
warden of the United Counties of Durham and Nor-
thumberland in 1914, and as such he officiated at the
Cobourg welcome of Queen Victoria's sonthe Duke of
Connaught, governor-general 'of Canada at that time. He
was an unsuccessful Conservative candidate for Nor-
thumberland riding in the 1919 Ontario provincial election
when the United Farmers of Ontario candidate defeated him
as that party swept to.victory to become the government at
Queen's Park. Alex Hume made a notable contribution also
to the development of the cheese -making industry in Nor-
thumberland county over a long period, and also to the
Campbellford Fair. Alex Hume's younger son, William A.
Hume, operated "Hurneshaugh" and carried on his father's
work as a noted Ayrshire breeder until ill health forced him
to give up farming some years ago, a•fewyears before his
death. •
""*"-ririchecelir for the of John PattersorHume on this
arth.
,?1(
Ott le taxation
that somehow the 'school boayI would
- continue to make ends meet an that there
was no chance of the school c sing down.
-While seeking financial gtants from the
goVernment, Mr. 'Schu rrn,an said 'the
independent. school wpld not 'want to see
the governnie er ` take complete
financial control QV r the institution.
• "The principl ,of. the thing is that we.
believe that th /educationof children is the
parents' dutyliot the government's. It's not
that we're gainst public 'schools."
`Ne e in a society that believes in free
enter'? 'se, and freedom is allowed in
ever 'aspect of life except education which
is r,e1egated to one system," Mr. Damsma „
s id. "If -you can go to the church of your ,
choice why can't you send your children to
the school of your choice without being
/ heavily penalized?'.'
In Alberta, the'Progressive Conservative
• government gives substantial grants to its
Christian schools after they have been
• operating for a minimum of two years. Mr.
Schuurman said the board would be quite
41
,r1A0110. .ro
satisfied with such a system here in.
Ontario.
"To be reasonable we would even agree
to a requirement of minimum enrollment,"
he said.
. •
• The fight for financial assistance from
the government seems hopeless, but the
OAAIS will continue to seek the funds
because it believes in the right of their
cause.
"We don't want the Christian Schools
because we want to see our children Dutch
educated, or because we think we're better
than the public, schools, Mr. Schuurman
• said. "We just believe that Christianity
can't be departmentalized. We just can't
say, 'I've gone to church on Sunday so, eve
fulfilled my obligation as a Christian."„
"We believe Christ Can't be shutout of
any part of our lives and for that reason we
support the Christian School, but at the
same time we're not out t� convert
everyone to our way of thinking just to help
them understand what we're trying to
accomplish"
ANOTHER COMPLAINANT TO .4.)ELyou ABouT THE. ,GE_EN ?PEP, EKING hi"R AMDP,
Vim
Smoke, smoke that cigarette
. ..
..,.• .,
!u ilm. Ilut 066 can hardly expect the government to
campaign against such a arge source of revenue. - ,
Man can at times be a,study in futility-. Yet from that l
111,1.973 the ministry produced a pamphlet at a cost of $825
14 -
futility and Seemingly senseless actions can be deri ed some and repfinted a larger quantity in 1974 for approximately
merit. 1100. Another pamphlet was also produced in 1974 called,
Smoking has to be one of the finer exampleftofan exereise • ' ' 'Quitting. ..A Mind Game" at a cost of $3,000 with a reprint
in -futility. Men and women burn up Millions of dollars in ,.. earlier this year eating $1,100. •
smoke every year while over the years, the smoke settles the
score by deteriorating one's health. ' films The minittry of health has also distributed a selection of
ms and printed material to health units, schools and in -
If' there is any merit to be derived from the habit one can dividuag1§-. It has also mainta)ned and made avtailable
only look to the fat that the Ontario government's revenue : statisticarantl medical data on smoking and health from
• ft -ori taxes on cigarettes and other tobaecoprodu4s. was „4.
various sources and provides‘thm on request to research
almost $96 million in 1973 and reached well over $107 million groups, medical personnel and sttidents.
• in 1974. Nowthat kind of money can easily pay for the costs The baget for these activities 'was shared by the health
• young kids caught stealing cigarettes. . • • the heading of Printing.services, salaties and travelling and
promqtion brahch and the communications branch under
incurred hy our judicial and penal systems prosecuting
But our elected officials in the Ontario Government are meeting expenses. -
----itnootthtehetukninedodff$107
. roVer $97 millron while tobacco packages and cigar§ kicked in
7 .„,.For the fiscal year 197374 tax from cigarettes amounted to'
people who would faxa fdrm of entertainment ...
No sir! ' Million and thentake the,rnoney and run.' 4
..
•
. • nearily $5 million apiece.
The proportion of the ministry expenditures for items The figures merely represent the revenues frotit cigarette
and tobacco taxes. It wpuld probably be alarming t� know
directed to Smok
the actual amount of dollars that go lapin strioke in evdty -
in,g pnd healtiraceivities in,1•9,73-74 came to a -,
grand WW1 Of S25,000. Perhaps it is enough but it just conies
iteross as merepittance stAked *up adainst reve,nues of $107 year. .
N ' •
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ummummima, • ,
BY DAVE SYKES
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