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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1979-01-17, Page 11KEEPING THE CLOCK RUNNING—Gordon Carter and Doug Foxton try to keep Wing - ham's town clock running but it is a tough job In the unheated, damp room at the top of the old post office tower. Mr. Carter is shown spraying a lubricant onto the clock movement. The thin Iron rods running from the top of the clock to three of the dials turn the clock hands. q IT WAS WORKING—The 800 -pound bell controlled by the town clock had been working for about a month when the clock stopped recently. Gordon Carter and Doug Foxton repair and maintain the clock, which was installed In the old post office tower in 1914. They hope to have it running for centennial week Aug. 1-6, so people can climb up to see Win action. 0 The Wingham Advance -Times, January 17, 1979—Pam it Town clock is65years old and rang in centennial year By Dave D110ee0 the men had the massive bell injured Mr. Carter. , x The Wingham town clock, Its tinging out the hours for the first The heavy weight which y y„ four faces. overlooking ttw town, time in quite a while. powers the bell hammer plunged pealed out the hour recently as The clock wasn't working when to the bottom of its shaft, turning Wingham entered Its centennial lir% Foxton first volunteered to . the crank furiously, bending a S-4 year New Year's Day. repair it eight years ago. It had inch iron bar and finally hurling _ First installed in 1914 ilsordY been idle for a few years before the crank bandle past Mr. Carter after the old post office acrM that and needed to be cleaned and through the north clock dial from the town hall was erected, thoroughly before it would run. The minute hand is missing " the clock and its Wo -pound 1361 He has a collection of old clocks from the east face and will be have measured the minutes and he repairs himself so he had difficult to install. The dial must hours of more than half a cen- some experience in fixing be remoyeO, the hand installed tury. timepieces. and the dial put back into its r" The clock hasn't worked the Mr. Carter has had a large part position. entire 65 years (at the time of in'maintaining the clock as he When the clock is repaired and it had been stopped more sets the time on it every few days the faces replaced or repaired, ,y '.. t , ✓:" ; f 4 a week) and often needs while it is in operation, because they plan to again have the four r urs and adjustments. Even the years have worn the old clock dials lighted at night. The dials wi the big clock and win- and it gains about a minute a day. had been lighted until rewiring di its bell is a chore which For the last three years he has was done when the Wingham requires' climbing up several also been responsible for winding museum was located in the flights of stairs" and two ladders the bell weight to thle top of its 30- building. to the unfit, unheated chambers foot shaft every three days and- Mr. Foxton and Mr. Carter feel in which the clock and the bell the clock weight to the top of its it is important that Wingham's are housed high above the shaft every three or four days. town clock work properly, ground. during the town's Doug Foxton and town em- MEN TAKE PRIDE _especially centennial year. So far, they have ployee Gordon Carter, volunteers Mr. Foxton and Mr. Carter had no encouragement from the who have been repairing and winding the clock for several take pride in the clock and try to keep it running properly. They town or from the centennial committee but they're thinking years, got the bell mechanism aren't paid for their efforts and that people might like to have a working in early December, the few people encourage them to look at the old clock, imported first time in several years. The keep the old clock going. from Birmingham, England, 65 clock stopped early in January They work on it and keep it years ago. They are hoIling to and has been silent since. going because they think have it in perfect condition for : IU Tcold, damp chamber and Wingham should have the clock the big week of centennial the age of the W. F. Evans and workin working and because they are �ebr000ns Aug. 1.6 in order to Son clock combine to make it fascinated by the.. clock's { show 1 off to the people who take X difficult to keep it running movement in which each second the time to climb up to see it. properly if at all. Mr. Foxton has been repairing is measured by visible motion. ." maintaining the town clock Because he had a four-day d for about eight years, while Mr. holiday at Christmas last year Carter has been climbing to the tower of the old post office to dna knew the clock wouldn't Foundry spill work until his return to work, Mr. wind the clock and the bell movement forthree years he on Ch mas ter'vaa Day �fronghmm his was only fire has been working for the town. Lucknow home just to wind it to BELLS WERE WORKING Before the clock quit recently keepit o g The spill of an estimated 33 "Lots of days I went up therea tons of molten metal at Western dozen times to start it and adjust Foundry was the only blaze Wingham firemen attended in the „ it, Mr. Foxton said. seven days ending at Tuesday Despite the work they have put noon. into the clock there is lots to be Firemen stood by as flames done to get it in top condition. leapt from the metal, but they They plan to repair three of the couldn't spray water because the WINDING TOWN CLOCK—Every three days or so while six-foot faces soon. Vandals threw snowballs through the face intense heat of the iron would have caused an explosion. the town clock is working, Gordon Carter climbs to' the which overlooks J. Street Further dqtails of the,#ouudry tower of the old post office to wind the big clock, Ho.,&4 adjusts the time periodkAly; as the clock, fnstalledin 11�►lii�,... so it must 1W_ repafred.he north spill are in another story in The face is also damaged. Advance -Times this week. gains about a minute a day. While repairing the bell movement" in December, an accident with the cranking mechardsaf for the bell" hammer To save mone on y ymu food TRANS - CONTINENTAL BOLT CO. -broke the north face and almost bill, make it your business to Representative know what you're buying. Get the most goodness Jor the least money. Did know that by No Belgrave news you government law the ingredients K Due to a death in the family of a product are listed on the label BOX 255 BLYTH, ONTARIO Belgrave correspondent Mrs. in decreasing order of amount' That means if sugar is the first NOM TNO Lewis Stonehouse had no reports ingredient listed, you're paying TELEPHONE 357-1288 this week. The Belgrave news mainly for empty calories. we spec"ie In No. s mwhine be1w will appear as usual next week. We extend out sympathy to Mrs. Stonebouse on the death. of her �• `� uncle, Alf Lockridge. - - - - - 1 *r-ma&of 10D%pokeoer by Dominion Textiles tirrdted to gkv wanyth wkhout weight. Fug 71 "x83" sine. Maddnewashable and a dlable in gold, blue or bone white ooburs. From now until February 16, Standard Trust than bank. In fact, most bank chequing accounts Company will give you—free—an Esmond Mon- pay liitle or no interest. terey blanket when you open a high -interest sav- You'll be able to write three free cheques each ings and chequing account with $100 or more at month, plus an extra free cheque for each $100 our branch in Wingham. minimum balance over $300. If you are a senior You'll receive vour free Esmond blanket at citizen. 60vearcr,ravcr a!! your equescit veiree. once, and your Standard Trust 1 -Account will Blanket offer expires February 16. , Come .ip ..,. . immedihtely begin earning 10% interest calculat- today! We are open 9 A.M. to 5 P.M. Monday to ed on the minimum monthly balance, compound- Thursday-, Friday till 6 P.M. ed semi-annually—more that: paid by any Cana - Everything you need in one convenient savings-chequing account plus a tree Esmond Monterey blanket in your choice of gold, glue or bone white. Come in today, open a 1 -Account and take your Esmond blanket home with you. One blanket to a customer. Use it yourself, or as a welcomed gift for family or friend. STANDARD TRUST COMPANY 237 Josephine Street, Wingham Telephone 357-2022 A Federally Chartered Trust Company/ Member Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation MRS. JOE WALKER Blu a val e Church service at Knox Presbyterian Church was can- ceiied due to the weekend storm. The euchre party which was to have been held Thursday evening was cancelled because of furnace problems. Miss Dayle Fischer spent Sunday with Mr. and Mrs. Joe Walker and family. Preparing machines recalled The Canadian Standards Asso- ciation (CSA) is urging con- sumers who have "Le Gourmet Food Processor" Model 8000 to return them to their retail store because of potential hazards. About 1800 of these appliances have been sold i retail stores across Uanada since May In& ''Imported by GENII Products of Lachine Quebec" appears on the bottom of 1300 and "Made in USA by American Electric Corpora- tion, Culver City, California" is stamped on 500. The CSA mono- gram appears on all of these units and the units are not identi- cal or do not conform to the units originally examined by CSA under file number LR41715-1. CSA has initiated this recall be- cause the appliances fail to meet the requirements of the Canadian Flectrical Code standards. All the machines were manu- factured in the USA by American Flectrie Corporation, -Culver City, California. DMONSTRATION DAYS Enjoy winter.. almost the entire snowmobile season is still ahead of us. That's why we're having Demonstration Days... to give you a chance to see how good the Arctic Cat Machines wally are. FRIDAY= SATURDAY= SUNDAY The most competitive prices anywhere Complete line to choose from EXTRA SPECIAL VALUES SNOWMOBILERS PANCAKE BREAKFAST AVAILABLE SUNDAY MORNING � V Isis Y GULti VARNA$ ONT. - IHW� p, NORTH ON Hf NSAtt tOOK rOR TNF Adult 2 Pts.1-4 CHILDS Fortrel` ADULT '�� • JACKETS SNOWMOBILE SNOWMOBILE SUITS JACKETS .y„ $59.s 524.5 SNOWMOBILERS PANCAKE BREAKFAST AVAILABLE SUNDAY MORNING � V Isis Y GULti VARNA$ ONT. - IHW� p, NORTH ON Hf NSAtt tOOK rOR TNF