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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1975-12-11, Page 44 ,PAGE OL$ERICHSIGNAL-STAR,,THUt2SDAY, DEQ.:1\1113I':R I•I~ i`►,5 EDITORIAL OMM EN T Lock it up A suggestion this week .from Goderich Police Chief Pat King that car owners lock their parked cars and take the keys with them, is well worth consideration. Five vehicles were stolen in Goderich in the last two weeks, and each time- the keys had been left in the ignition. Chief King points out that in some municipalities, a bylaw makes it an offence to leave keys in a parked vehicle. Stiff fines are handed out to persons who disobey this law, and fl,ik acts as a deterrent to persons who ..,acvouId otherwise be careless and perhaps become the victim' of car theft. Goderich has no such bylaw, and Chief King isn't suggesting that one be ,adopted here,, He's merely pointing but the relationship between leaving keys in a -parked car and,the incidents of car th1eft. The two Usually go hand in hand. The police chief is absolutely correct. Lock it and pocket the keys .... a good slogan' to remember. — SJK Hats off, citizens Since Tuesday morning this week to time of writing .,(Wednesday morning) Goderich Volunteer Fire Brigade has answered three fire alarms, For- tunately for the pr'dperty owners, .damage was slight in every case. Still, volunteer firemen were 'on the scene - called from their homes and businesses at all hours of the day `and night, It seems an appropriate time ro doff the hat to the fellows on the Goderi,,ch brigade wha--.take K -.:their lobs as volunteers so seriously. By far, the vast majority of the calls " answered by the . local volunfeers in volve"a bit of smoke and not,.much fire. Luckily not many devastating blazes occur in Goderidli and area in -a year, end when the fire alarm goes there is no way of , knowing -whether it's a smouldering heap that can be doused in a Clash, or a full scale fire which could raze a building if left unchecked. But Goderich volunteers are on the job anyway. The-.._zunicipality always ' benefits' from dedication like that. So join this week in expressing a sincere "thankyou" to Goderic,h's. volunteer tire bri=gade, the guys who are ready to serve anytime..,7- SJK The welfare hum -bug Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year! That's nota realistic greeting for the welfare community. For them Christmas is a frightening experience =- seasoned with booze, shattered hopes, blighted dreams. Dare we slip them a Christmas bonus - to make life a pinch more joyous?, Even that special Commission of Senators inquiring into `the wages of poverty • 3 years ago, suggested . a, minimum wage floor through which the poor shouldn't be allowed to plunge. But welfare remains fragmentary, -arbitrary, close-fisted and subject 40 whim. For instance,'Quebec has just raised payment to foster parents „'to', $75 and' $100 a month, which sounds great but it favours one ,grolp at the expense of another. . ' . Parents on' welfare must pay, through deductions, for their children in detention or foster homes to the tune of $37 to $42.per month. Perhaps if we paid welfare families the same rate as foster parents they would be able to care for their oWry children more adequateliy. It is a delightful Christmas present idea. Contributed, ' PEAR EDITOR I'arnilY tree a 4 Dear Editor, Ple-Ase may I have a little Space in your "Letters to the Editor" column.: We h'aVe been trying for ,.years to ' complete a Moore family tl-ue. . Cornelius Moore moved from Flamborough township in the Waterdown Dundas area to "The Queen's Rush". 'As family records , show he had' a large family. They came Aiith him. So there must he some of the descendants some. place, It 'may he , the northern part Of Huron County, but We can't find them, or any °trace of Cor- nelius. They would probably be scattered over a wide area byylnQw, - -Cornelius' grandfather Cornelrius 4: came from England to New York, then made his way. to Penn= ' sylvania. His sons Daniel and. Lawrence (whom I am a descendant of). came to the Niagara Peninsula and John came to Flamborough. Then John's son Cornelius is the one who came to the "Queen's Bush We found . re'cords of a Cornelius Moore north of ('hesley. But his grand- children say he came from Ireland. { 1f anyone 'reading this, if tlier6 was,q Cornelius Moore in your family history. or if you know anything about it. plcase write to me. I will. answer all letters that give me the information I want. Mrs, Hazel Paige, Priceville Ont, RR 1 NOC1KO Needs help' Dear Editor, As a small contribution to the t:SOth Anniversary of the Town of Goderich I have been ' trying to .assemble r: photographs and the histories 'Of my predecessors on the County Court of the County of Huron. ..You may he aware that the r , photographs of almost all prior judges•.were destroyed i,p'the court house fire.,"., I have been able to obtain the photographs of some ten of my predecessors from various. sources. I have been unable to obtain photographs. of the'ollowing:' Judge John Scott, , 2nd Huron- County Judge, 1854` 1855: Judge John Strachan, 3rd Huron County, Judge, 1 855- 1 856 : Judge Robert Cooper. 4th Huron County .5 Judge, 18.11-1866; -Judge Wilmot R. Squier, 6th Huron County. Judge, ' 1877-1882,; Judge, Edward Norman Lewis, ' l l th Huron ' County Judge, 1923-1930, I would appreciate it if you •could bring this matter to the attention of your readers in the hope that some one of, them may know where a picture, of any of the above judges may he obtained. II is. hoped- that the collection will he displayed in a proper Part of, the court house as part.of the history of this town and of Huron County. 1 .-. • Median :: .. ar or ......No Median? , r. „ 'New" school bus 'stopping law says vehicles must' stop in both directions when drivers see a chrome -yellow school bus flashing, alternating red lights, except when vehicle is on the other side of,a .median strip. Then oncoming vehicles may proceed, but those behind the bus must stop. If you're not sure about medians, see above. Remember, says the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, if there's no mediaili and you see school bus flashing lights. you must stop, both, directions, in any speed zone. anywhere. -� • DEAR READERS They say there's nothing new under the sun and I never cease to marvel at how life seems to go in. circular cycles. Round and round mankind. gpe .. and just because this'"generation can't remember things' as r they 'were a few generations back, people think all their ideas are original. This week I received a note from Stan McGratten, con- taining a few newspaper clippings written by his mother,rs. ' Jennie McGratten who, is presently residing at Huronview. Mrs. McGratten is in her 96th year. and according to her son, has a "terrific mind'. The column written by Mrs. McGratten in .1959 was en- titled "Former Days In Nile Area".,The columns deal with many subject', mainly '''in-etmories about people and happenings of , Mrs. McGratten's youth. (that would be 85 to 90 years ago Having just seen the return of our postal service, in Canada, a clipping -about the rural" mail conjures up some 1866-1877; and any light that your readers may be able to shed on .this aspect of my research` would he alp_ predated. : Yours very truly, F.G. Carter Good work Dear Editor: As 1 was tasting tidbits, From the local Cookie Press, I fell upon a morsel, -More delicious than the rest, Its flavour conjured visions. And brought to Fight a past, Of similar situations... Oh, the years,, they go so fast! It seems that David's got an I may also add that 1 have eye. ,r been able to discover very To get right to the heart — little of, the history of Judges He's" surveyed doings of a Scott, ;Strachan and Cooper, Board, above referred to, and also And satirized a part. that of Judge Seeker Brought (the 5th Huron County Judge) Well done, S'ir David's =,psyche! .Good wishes to your pen: Keep the feelers probing, And do it soon again, Paul, Carroll Vie gaDecich� SIGNAL -STAR' The County Town Newspaper of Huron Founded in 1848 and published Thursday at Goderich, Ontario. Member of the l'1%. % and OWfNA. Advertising rates on request. Subscriptions payable in advance 411.00 in Canada, 41230 in all countries other than Canada, single copies 25 cents. Display advertising rates available on .request. please ask for Rate Card No. 6 .effective Oct. 1, 1915. Second class mail Registration Number 0716: Advertising is accepted on the condition that, in the event of typographical error, the advertising space occupied by the erroneous Item, together with reasonable allowance for signature, will not he charged for hut the balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rate, In the event of a typographical error advertising goods or services at a wrong price, goods or service may not he sold. Advertising is merely an offer to sell, and may be with• drawn at any time. The Signal -Star is not responfiible for the loss or damage of unsolicited manuscripts or photos. Business and Editorial Office TELEPHONE 524-8331' area code 519 Mailing Address: P10. BOX 220. Goderich ,Second class mail registration number --0716 Published by Signal•Star Publishing Ltd, ROBERT G. SHRIER—pretident and publisher SHIRLEY J. KELLER—editor JEFF SEDDON--editorial staff, DAVE SYK ES-�; editorial staff EDWARD J. BYR,SKI--advertising ma -Wager ti P.S. I hope ,h( actors in that play, Were not offended.much : Of David's tasty offering, It's good to laugh at. such! Suggestion Dear Editor, It was so good to see such a ,.,:.great local parade this year! It was indeed a pleasure to he a part of such. ,an even4t (Hansel ,and Greta! a 3r d , prize). Such an enormous amount of time, forethought and co-operation went into so many of the floats, that every entry, 'I feel, should have won a prize, 'The Goderich and District ( continued on page :1) ti interesting comparisons b'etw'een today's service and the mail service of 90 years ago. Mrs. •McGratten► writes:: There was an,. `old "black - covered stage with a `door at the.. back and high seat up front; which carried the mail from, Lucknow to .Goderich The driver's name was Bob Mullen, He lived the other side of Belfast and drove the stage for years. One thought' it quite., an honor to" get a ride up on that front seat. To get your mail, you had to go to Nile or Dungannon (and to ;post it, too)4,r. and if you vu.anted a ride to Goderich, you had to be at the road at 8 a.m, Sounds as thou the mail service then was more dependable than' it is now. Maybe there was a little more inconvenience for people 90 years ago, but the mail was on time and • efficiently delivered between towns and villages in , the area. We haven't come that much farther,' have °we? We have trucks and airplanes and whatever else modern technology can devise, but we - haven't actually found a -faster or more efficient° method, to get letters 'from Lucknow to God&rich than Bob Mullen's service with his horse-drawn stage, + + + Mrs: McGratten had something to • say about Christmas, too',,.. and school days. Sounds like the central schools of today aren't such a new idea, either:. "'There was no school at the Nile 70 years ago," wrote Mrs,. McGratten in 1959.. "Everybody went. up north to the two-r•or�med school south of the Jim Girvin farn-44now Harry Girvin's) and as far west down the boundary at McKnights and "on down` the Gore to Morris. , "They came as far east as Readers are cordially invited to exprass their opinions • of local, provin- cial and federal' Issues through the Letters ,to. the Editor column of,The Goderich Signal -Star. All letters must be signed to be published, although pen names are permissible providing it is understood that upon request from another reader, the Ietier Writer's true name will, be revealed. While there Is no limit ~to .the length of a letter Which cane be offered for publication, the editor does:reserve tiro right to delete portions of any copy submitted for In- clusion In this newspaper. Take en active interest In your hometown newspaper. ,Write a letter to ilhe Editt 'r today. 1 Bg Shirlei J. Keller Hardy's, Tom Sh,ields,'and . he Jvould say he was'killing .Henry Carrs, and as far south two birds with one stone. as Ottie and Eddie Stewart's "We would call for the fliour (presently ' owned by Jim on our way horse, for in those McIntyre) „", she •remem- days our 'flour barrels were bered. "North of the Nile they kept full and not in a paper went as far ,as "Sam` San- • bag, ' she remembered. derson's (now _ the Frank "`here (in Cransford) We 'Pentland farm) and one the had the best sleigh rides in second concession of our lives, down those hills Wawanosh East" as °far as which I'll always remem- Young's and Smilie's down to ''her," Mrs. McGratten said, As I read about tho Hollow and putting the home-made sleighs in the other sleigh to transport them to the hills, I though, about the modern trend toward the outdoors 'in winter .,. and the Snowmobiles, which .,'are-, dragged behind cars for miles and miles until you are in snow. country, And I thought about the youngsters who once in a long, ,long while get a very special treat of enjoying a' horse-drawn,:.sieigh ride (the horses all belled and jingley): While that used to be as common.. -place as •cars are t'oday, such .conveyance today is a pastime only for those who have not succumbed to modern ways ..', or who have., a fortune with which to in- dulge their whims and fan- cies... And the flour ground from wheat? In the natural way? Isn't ,that the latest thing ,... and a very expensive way of 'acquiring flour at than? But for the sake of your health, John Bailey's (now Howard Sproul's): They came as far. down as the second con- cession of Ashfield as far as Jim McWhinney's. "At Christmas time, our concert was a 'big affair!" Mrs. McGratten ' recalled. "We had a spelling 'match, readings, recitations- and singing. The other teachers were invited to be theejudg.es. I' mind how Alex Shepherd was always one of them. "All the parents came to see us perform. We got prizes, which were lovely . books' .which we treasured very much," Mrs. McGratten Wrote. "The concert was held in the senior room and the dinner in the junior room. -We satup to ourold desks'with all the names carved on them.. "0; those were the good old days," she said, "when we had our rag dolls and. wooden toys! Now everything seems .so artificial while ours, you' must admit, Was the real McCoy!" %Yes, Mrs, McGratten,. you really consider the we've gone the route from the natural flour again ....'like the big schools to the small kind 'Mrs. McGratten"_had schools and now back to the e've'ry day.from Disher's mill. big schools. We've gone from Oh, you can buy that kind of co m m U n i t y C h r i s t ri a s flour in hags at the store now concerts to no Christmas but it's a specialty item concerts • and back to worth saving for. Christmas concerts again.. We've gone from "the real + + + McCoy" gifts to the artificial ones and now, thankfully, we'r'e getting back to homemade ones again.`" Why, everybody wants an old-fashioned Christma's agtTin with snow and families .and 'real trees and o corn and cranberries [O�KINB fi-ACk 80 YEARS AGO The _literary contest to be held next Friday evening in the Collegiate Institute promises to be a very in- teresting affair. The leaders of the rival sides are working overtime in their endeavourt, to make their team "come off on top As admission is only a dime to defray expenses, a large attendance is expected, Lovers of the; skate have been disappointed very frequently lately An- :their expectations of a whirl on the ice, hut Wednesday evening they had the opportunity to enjoy themselves to their heart's content at the new rink, The ice wa"s in capital. shape and everyone wail delighted, Caretaker William Wallace is a very obliging official - and the interests of the rink will not suffer in his hands, Thtd� new knitt ing factory has been hustled u.p.,in great style and soon the hum of machinery will he heard within . its walls, When Goderich capitalists get their backs ,or rather their greenbacks - up, they can really make things hum. The town has been dead with 'industrial ,aictiVity , but arp- parentlybtYen awakened from_ its lethargy. Factories are the -vitals of a go•ahead toe, n and we hope ---,soon to see it flourishing as in days of yore. The death of little May 'Williams tor.re the' hear't5' 'of ar,derich residents last week. No more familiar character this town has ever had. Few will forget the pretty little child. with • her arm fondly . over the neck cif her big St. Bernard Sim, walking down the street,' the picture of love and innocence, No child in . town will be so missed and mourned, as she, `was a favorite with everyone, as evidenced by the large at- tendance at her funeral. • ° 60 YEARS AG,O p p . That's the newest in -thing ,.,. an old-fashioned Christmas with lots of, tradition to bobt, Mrs. McGrattep had pleasant 'tales to tell about winter. ' '.'On a bright winter's morn my dad would say, well, 1 think we will go to the Hollow today,'" Mrs. McGratten said, adding the Hollow was a dip in the road called Cransford wher, e�h-er uncle Pete Canton lived, "W ,would get , our big home-made sleigh ready to take along and m'y dad would hitch the team to the sleigh:" she remembered. 'There would he lots of bells on the horses and he would put hay in the sleigh box for us to sit on. -"Then he would drive as, chose to the door as possible, plate' us in ablanket and , cover us up in 'front on three or or four bags of wheat," Mrs. ,McGratten wrote. "He went to bisher's mill to get the wheat ,ground in flour and Stan McGratten told me his - mother ,was telling him -a little while 'ago about some trips home with,the flour. "If they were a bit late in the evening getting back up the bush trail to WNile, the. wolves would give them a rough time," Mrs. McGratten .,repeated from his mother's story, "They would have to feed omc of the flour to them to e , them from attacking the rses." That memory reminded me about the wolf hounty in Huron` mond- the fact that wolves are a .questionfor conservationists these days. Are there too many wolves in Huron? Should they he on the protected list? Certainly, wolves aren't a danger to modern lifestyle as they were,,to Mrs. McGratten as a child, Could, they be if left to breed uncontrolled? I don't. know ,,.. but it only points up °the fact that though Mrs, McGratten was recalling life nearly ten decades ago in this part of the country, not that much has really changed. We can relate to nearly everything she writes about. My thanks tc Mrs. McGratten and her son Stan for bringing' this fact to my attention once again. And a very .. ,Merry and Old- fashioned Christmas to them both. There is very little discussion of municipal af- . •fairs iii .,Goderich, or, °the neighbouring townships .,this year. Listen as hard as you, m,ay, you will not hear any tomahawks being sharpened. Mr. and Mrs, John Brown of Stephen Twp, have been appointed keeper and matron. respectively of the .Iluron House ofRefuge, The ap- pointments were made by county council this afternoon. The council has decided to protest against the proposed legislation with respect to teachers' superannuation The Police Court was crowded for sevet'al hours on Saturday while Magistrate . Kelly • listened to a couple of liquor cases. 'The first was a charge against Andrew, Calder,ltssee of the Colborne,,, 1I -louse bar of selling in- toxicating liquor- on Nove•mher 25, The defendant pleaded not guilty but the evidence" press,ted .con- vinced r the judge that a breach of the. law had been committed. A fine was. im- posed of $50 and costs. A charge against Clare Swarts of bringing liquor into Huron County was dismissed, there being no evidence to prove that the I..luor brought in Mitchell was actually brought into the !pounty, 5 YEARS AGO The Hon. Charles S. McNaughton will- not retire along with Premier John Robarts. `M'r. McNaughton • an- nounced Wednesday he had no retirement plans and in due course looks forward to participating in selecting a , successor to Mr, Robarts„ along with other members of the ProgressiveConservative Party. Reeve Harry Worsell will he the next mayor of Goderich. The people decib'ed Monday evening with almost 200 votes difference in the polls between incumbent mayor Dr., F,G. Mills and Mr. Worsell, In the race for reeve, ,Deputy Reevem, Walter Sheardown was ~ defeated almost 2-I by Coun. Paul Carroll, The only other decision to be.,,made by the electorate showed they were not in favor of a municipally operated , tttailer park and campsite facility on the South Beach area, The Goderich Police Department has acquired a new emergency' oxygen unit that is particularly easy to use and very portable.