HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1928-5-9, Page 3THE BRUSSELS POST
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ThrcThree Plefierations of E rio-ucer Fmy
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7
; John McMillan, Famous Axeman ofHuron Co, became �Garli♦amentarpyy Debater ;4
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(11y Hon, Duncan Marshall in The
leamidy Herald & Weekly Star)
JINGTH of tenure on British
ti farms has helped to establish a
pride in agriculture in the home land
that has done much for its success
and permanency. How often is it
told that this is the third or fourth
generation of the same people on
same farm,
In the sane manner the breeding
of high class live stock is handed on
from father to son, sometimes for
several generations, and studs and
herds and flocks have been built up,
and the work carried forward by
sons and grandsons, each one endeav j
ming to add something to the success-
ful achievements of his ancestors. ,
This pride in the land has been one
of England's and Scotland's greatest
agricultural assets.
When one visits a crofter district
in Scotland and sees the struggle
made for possession or tenure of a
bit of land, that may be far more
Productive, he realizes the land hun-
'rer that has made these people such
k p p
splendid settler, in a new country
where they can obtain farms of their ,
own. Once having secured owner-
ship in heel these people have been
very loath to part with it.
Ono strength of Ontario agricult-
ure is •the tenacity with which fam.
Mee cline; to the farms their fore-
bears literally hewed out of the for-
ee•ts that once eo thickly covered the.
province.. The task of making u
]lone by the removal of the timber
in the Queen's bush, was one not to
be lightly undertaken, and required
courage and industry such as is only
found in the hearts and lives of real
pioneers. Afterwards, the keeping
of the 4'e cleared fields and comfort.
able hones in the family name le
well worth while.
A Broad -Shouldered Scot.
In 1813 a young Scotsman then
scarcely out of his teen: was working
iu the New Cumnock Ironworks, in
Lanarkshire, Scotland, to earn a
steerage pt :..ige to Canada, the land
of opportunity, where farms were
within the reach of all. John McMil-
lan had been born in the• t i11age of
1{irkcolnel, in Duntfrieshire, on the
banks of the NMI, one of tha most
delightfully picturesque parts of all
Scotland. His people were very
poor, his father being unwell, and he
was apprenticed to a shoemaker in
the village. But as this was learn-
ing a trade, not earning money, this
broad shouldered young Scot who
stood 6 ft. 2 in. in his stocking feet,
ran away and undertook the labor-
ious tasks allotted to a beginner in
the Ironworks. to earn his passage
money to Upper Canada.
In 1844 he purchased from the
Canada Company Lot 2, in the 5th
Concession of Hallett township, in
the County of Huron, and the third
generation of McMillan's, his grand-
son William, is farming' this land to-
day. John McMillan built his log
shanty on this farm in 1845 and dur-
ing the next seven years he chopped,
cleared and fenced! with his own
hands seventy acres of as solid hard-
wood bush as ever faced any axe
man. The help he got in logging he
paid back with his own labor, so the
entire achievement was his. The
shoemaker's apprentice very quickly
became an export axeman and the
windrows of trees he felled is still a
topic of conversation among the old-
est of the second generation in the
neighborhood.
John McMillan is one of the ex-
amples of a man determined to suc-
ceed in his chosen calling, and bring-
ing to his support not only groat
physical strength but a rare intelli-
gence that readily recognized the
value of knowledge in wresting a
livelihood from the soil. If there
was a better way to handle soil and
so improve the crops, he was out to
learn and adopt it. The condition of
his land, the quality of his crops,
and his methods of farming made
him early recognized as a leader in
his business, consequently he was
selected, in 1880, as a member of
the Agricultural Commission ap-
pointed to report on farming condi-
tions in Ontario.
As a Lecturer.
Though he had no technical train-
ing in agriculture he was asked to
lecture to the students at the Ontar-
io Agricultural College, Guelph, and
being' a gifted public speaker, and
having a sound knowledge of suc-
cessful farming, his work among the
students was greatly appreciated. He
was a member of the Advisory Board
of the Agricultural College, appoint -
THOMAS MoMILLAN, M. 1'.
ed to assist in its management. Mr.
McMillan was also in great demand
as 0 speaker at Farmers' Institutes,
and one of his addresses, "Weeds
the poor farmer's friend," is still re-
membered. In this address he gavo
"weeds" the credit of compelling
bad farmers to cultivate and till
enough to kill therm, and in this way
to firm their soil form 0 dust mulch
to prevent evaporation and so cneure
better (trope. Not long ago Dean
Rutherford, o4' th' •Sitekatebeeome
Agricultural College, was speaking
oi' this address as one of the first that
interested ]tins in slier''ec ngti'ult-
In 1882 John McMillan was elect-
tel to House 1 the H lu of Commons for
South Huron, but Sir Richard Ciut-
w•right having lost his seat, Mr. Me-
3'iiltnn t . rc•ed in hie favor and
gave hint the seat in le83. In the
three following general elections of
1887, 1891 and 1896, he w' cleat-
ed and represented the constituency.
in the Home. of Commons as a Lib-
eral. In 1900 b:, was defeated by
an independent liberal candidate.
On the }nestlings and in Parlia-
ment 'John McMillan was to be
reekoted with in any debate, and
when matters affecting agriculture
wore under discussion he was easily
recognized as an authority. Last
Summer Archie Hislop remarked to
me that Huron County had produced
a great many able public speakers
among the politicians whom he re-
membered; but he said there were
none for whom their antagonists had x
more wholesome respect than John
McMillan. He had a ready command
of language, a great fund of inform-
ation, and a wit and force that made
the most doughty opponent quail.
Tho Second Generation
John McMillan was succeeded in
the "Holm Farm," as they named it,
by his son Thomas McMillan. As a
young man Tom had not the best of
health, though he says he cannot
quite remenebor when he was not
well enough to milk cows. For many
years they were the largest patrons
of the local cheese factory and milk-
ed 20 to 25 cows. Ever ready to
adopt up-to-date methods of farming
McMillans were among the first in
Ontario to use silos, constructing
them in a corner of the barn, in an
octagonal form about the year 1889,
and later, about 189'r, building huge
cement structures that are still
standing and partially in use though
no longer completely filled' as they
had capacity for 40 acres of fodder
corn, which at one time formed an
annual crop on the McMillan farms
and was used to feed dairy cows and
beef steers.
When a lad of about fifteen Tom
McMillan attended a debating soc-
iety, organized in his neighborhood
and took part in a great many of the
discussions. Possessed of a natural
aptitude for public speaking he soon
became quite proficient as a debator.
Some half dozen years later, the late
Thomas lG:bson, then member of the
Ontario Legislature for East Huron,
attended one of these debates, and
when the 'Ontario general election
came on in the following June he in-
sisted that 'PQM. McMillan should
take the "stump" for him ,and that
the part this young man should play
was to attend the meetings of the
opposition candidate, The practice
then was to offer some time to your
opponent at every meeting, and no
better tealning could be given a
young man in public speaking than
to go up against an opposition meet-
ing. That was tate real test of his
mettle. It was soon recognized that
Toon McMillan, like his father, was
an opponent worthy of anyone's
steel. Later, in the Dominion elect-
! ion, McMillan senior was not over
• keen to -trust the battle to the boys
' but party friend, insisted on Tom
tale taking the stump and from
then until the present day any poli-
, tical contest in Huron is likely to
hear the vo ire of Thomas McMillan.
One of the Ontario farm journals
boys
offering prize.. to farm 1 oys
for essays on practical agricultural
- males such es. "Wintering Stock
Cattle. "Undet'dtaining Farms,"
"Soiling Crops," and Tom catered
the competition with the result that
in the twelve or fifteen competitions
he won first prize in all but one,
and in that he came second. He was
writing of what he knew and did,
' 11n(1 11.0 better tribute could be paid
the McMillan methods of farmnig
than the winning of these prizes.
Shortly after this time I'. W Hod-
son became Superintendent of Farm -
ere' Institutes for the Province. He
bedeted on Tom McMillan becoming
one of the lecturers and for some 20
years, he spent a part of each win-
ter discussing farm topics through-
out Ontario, and was regarded, as
WIC of the most practical as well as
one of the most effective lecturers
on the Institutes' staff, He talked
from experience only. This work,
however, was never allowed to in-
terfere with the farm operations.
The winter feeding of cattle has
been the chief operation on the Mc-
Millan farm. This entails of course
the production of feed and other pre-
parations for the winter's work, Be-
ginning in 1880, for forty-eight con-
secutive years, a group of steers has
been fed on the McMillan farms, and
it is doubtful if beef cattle feeding
has been carired on by any other On-
' tarso farmer with uniform succoes.
As many as 118 steers have been fed
in a winter, but of • late years, be-
cause of difficulty in securing help,
the number has been reduced, and
last fall sixty were put in to feed.
The plan has always been to winter
the cattle well on silage, hay and
grain, and finish theist on the grass,
selling in June or July. Of late
years sweet clover has been grown
for silage. Me. McMillan greatly
prefers it over corn. It leaves the
land richer where corn exhausts it,
and by growing the white nammata
be has cut from 12 to 15 tons of sil-
age to the acre. It is cut quite green
before the stalks begin to darken at
j the roots and makes excellent feed.
It is cut before harvest and the
ground is ready for the plough and
that much work is over. He grows
about 18 acres for ensilage.
• One half of Mr. McMillan's success
in feeding cattle might be attribut-
ed to his judgment ' in buying his
steers in the autumn. No bad doers
can find it place in his feed lot, He
is not looking for thin stuff to put on
a lot of meat, If steers are on any
sort of grass Tom says lie likes to
buy those in the best flesh as that is
rather good proof that they will put
en meat when f ed. He is also look-
ing for shapely animals with some
breeding about them, no sealawny
steer is wanted to spoil the appear-
ance of the bunch. He is looking for
type and uniformity and he always
wants a few of what he calls "top
WEDNESDAY, MAY 9th, 1928.
notehers," they are good to fill a
buyer s eye,
l ul in numb
Millin er of yr:,'n ilio , Me
cot pt ty vitu hr t ,
Robert, exported their own cattle
heel lEuld theist in Glasgow and for
pix years, from 1863 to 1808, the
McMillan cattle realized a higher
price on the Glasgow market than
any other import cattle, and as these
were years when a great many beef
cattle wore marketed across the
water, it was no light achievement.
Tom made nine trips over with the:
NAVA. himself and so had an oppor-
tunity to study the market at first
hand. Since 1900 Mr. McMillan has
sold his cattle at home, with the ex-
ception of 1021, when cattle could
hardly be disposed of in Ontario.
Then with his usual resourcefulness,
he secured space on a steamship et
high rates, but sold well in Glasgow
and made at handsome profit on the
transaction.
In 1913 some of Thos. McMillan's
cattle went to the Buffalo market
and the Buffalo Daily Live Stock
Record, of June 25th, 1913, had this
to say of them: "The two highest
priced loads of Canadian steers that
were ever marketed here, were sold
today, the price being $13,50. Opin-
ion among order buyers for shipping
cattle was generally that they were
beyond doubt the hest finished cattle
that were ever offered for sale at
Buffalo out of the Dominion. The
two loads were fed by Thos. McMil-
len, of Seaforth, Ont., who is one of -
the most prominent farmers in the
Dominion. These two loads averag-
ed 1,540 lbs."
The McMillan's, father and sons,
imported Clydesdale horses for sev-
eral years, bringing over some 35
head, but abandoned it in 1895 when
horses became very cheap. Thomas
eicMillan breeds a few Clydesdales
yet, and both he and his son William
like good work horses and keep such
:bout them, - Mr. Thomas McMillan
has judged heavy hoses and beef
cattle at a great many Canadian ex-
hibitions from Charlottetown, P.P.I.,
to Vancouver, 11. C. In the year
1901 he mint five weeks judging
at fairs in Western Canada.
Thomas McMillan married Il'Iiss
Mary McLean, who lived in an ad-
joining township. She was e daugh-
ter of the land, with a full apprecia-
tion of the value of rural life, and
until her death two years ago was an
admirable helpmate at the "Holm
Form." Their eldest son John oiled
while in residence on the adjoining
farm leaving one son. The only son
living, William, is an ideal rarmcr,
who keeps abreast of his work with
less fuss and more efficiency than
most young farmers I have met.
The daughter Margaret is still at
school and has a lively interest in all
out-of-doors.
One of the most constructive
things I know about Mr. McMillan's
operations, at one time or another,
six young men have engaged to work
for him who at that tune didn't poss-
ess a dollar, and now every one of
the six own his own farm free of
encumbrance. They probably learn-
ed farm management in a good
school and knew something of good
methods of cultivation before they
left the McMillan employ.
Thousands for Drainage.
There are few farms with a more
complete system of underdraining,
Mr. McMillan estimates that in their
present farm of 350 acres they have
$7,000 worth of tile drains. No tile
loss than 3" in diameter were put in
and tho main drains are much lar-
ger. For years they used to bury
one and sometime two car loads of
tile. This said Mr. McMillan was tho
hest spent money on the farm. "It
was a job," he added, "we always
looked after ourselves. We hired
one or two ditchers to dig but we al-
ways saw, when the tile was laid,
that the water would run, I remem-
ber when a youth I disputed with a
ditcher about his levels," he re-
marked, "I well understand that this
man would not readily take the opine
ion of a boy, so I went off to the
barn got a horse and stoneboat and
hauled a barrel of water up to the
ditch, dumped it in and proved to the
ditcher that the tile would not carry
it off because his levels were wrong,
and so got the ditch corrected be-
fore it was too late." This was a
ease where thoroughness counted.
In 1906 Thos. McMillan was ap-
pointed a member of the Special
Connnittee on Horse Breeding in
Ontario, and inspected and valued
foe the Department of Agriculture
all the Draught Stallions in the
Counties of Peel, Simceo, York and
Ontario, In 11320 he was a member
of the Ontario Rural Credits Come
mission that recommended the.estavb-
hshmont of the Provincial g'avings
Banks and Farm Loans,
Mr. McMillan was an unsuccessful
candidate for the House of Commons
Here andThere'J
(62)
Quebec.- -When the 1921 (.hip
ping season opened here April 22
the Canadian 1'ae a
fleet suppiled fifty per cent. o
the sl(ln(-re 1`.+t doelt v1 with 8.8
Mantelare, Mnuu'oyld and Mehita.
19,1' three ships carried in round
figures 2300 immigrants aboard
mostly of British litock and des-
tined to farms in tine West.
International Advertising Con-
vention and Exposition to he held
at Detroit, July 8-12, is already at,
tracting wide notice and will con-
tain under one roof everything re-
lating to organized advertising in
every phase. Advertising men
from overseas will attend and
bookings are being made on ('ana-
dien Paclfle liners from Great
Britain and .Europe well ahead of
time in view of the large demand
for travel that will arise.
Sixty-five miles of salmon fish-
ing in the Caine River, New Brune -
wick, were enjoyed recently by
five anglers from Chicago and the
U. S. Middle West and by a party
of New York newspapermen, in-
cluding W. McGeehan, internation-
ally known New York Herald -Tri-
bune sports writer. Both parties
were staying for shout a fortnight
in the care of Harry Allen, well
known New Brunswick guide. They
travelled Canadian Pacific to their
fishing destination.
Okanagan. — Word is received
from Washington that the Okana-
gan project, during the last year,
had a higher per acre yield of
apples and a consequent higher
acre return to the grower, than
any government irrigation project
in the United States. The local
project, with 2.567 acres in apples,
has a yield of 35,142,750 pounds
or 9.812 pounds to the acre, a yield
which brought the growers a re-
turn of 51,030.851, or the high re-
cord price of 5239 an acre. On the
Yakima project the average yield
was 9,602 pounds to the acre or al
the rate of 1216.16 pc: acre. The
nenre=t 1pplc.aeh to the W.leliiug-
ton record was on the Sus rivet
project in 1T, ,tena, where the
average wee $};i."..33 :air acre, fol.
lowed by the Boise ptoktet, with a
price of 5143.
Ottawa. -- The Department of
Agriculture ht,s 9:001 a rcpuii
showing hot: the nn d an "hull
plane is comltattimt wheat rust—
bow the 1 In (1'.011 Air Force, the
Federal 0-Ivi •tapeta of Agri1ulturs
and the pathological plant of the
1Tanitnbl Tr)(.1131 0 t,,-1 1011..011 ,d
Winnipeg are uniting 10 t'1. 1:1 the
enemy. 1 mut ti, yi: " rhe
work
(0314 initial_: in tLe r
potsnr0 1 t slides at 1 fermi flit•
teles end at different Ire02:uns
These of ro Atlee x904,11 •L at-
tempt to 1 a11,•et turn 1411i:odes des of
from tem to - 0433 tee i , : .t -(t.' of
the earliest ppearinee (t rust
spores, the region over which they
first appear•• the rate at which this
spore content of the air In:'rea -. s
over various regions, t1 :• vi::ibiltty
of spores caught at these hte!e01
alt!tudea and the rela,ion of c.•r-
tain enviconmental and clima,tle
factors to the rale of deveintunant
and spread of rust. Tightly stop.
tiered bottles are used, ventaipine
wooden paddles to which are at-
tached microscopic slide; lite91i)
smeared with vaseltne. These
slides are exposed for 15 minutes
at varying altitudes; the shales re•
placed in the bottles and then re.
turned to the Government labora•
tory at Winnipeg."
in 1917 and 1921, but was elected in
1925 and again in 1926, member for
South Huron, the last tie,m by a maj-
iorty exceeding 1,100. Interested
though he is in politics and public
business, having also served his town
ship as Councillor and Reeve, Mr.
McMillan is above all else a farmer,
with pride in his land and his cattle.
His clean fields, hearing excellent
crops, are a tribute to the industry
and efficiency or himself and his son.
They are farming 355 acres now but
hope to reduce the area bringing the
work more within their own efforts.
"Holm Farm" stands as a monument
to the ambition of a young Scots-
man who in the vigor of his young
manhood desired to make a home
on the land in a far country,
It is this pride in the possession
of a piece of land that will save Can-
adian agriculture.
CREATES LARGE SURPLUS
Right Hon. Winston Churchill,
Chancellor of the Exchequer for Gt.
Britain, who presented the first fin-
aneial statement showing a surplus in
years, His plans for the coming'
year created a sensation by their
drastic and daring qualities,
4
Suburban railroads of Sidney,
Australia, are to bo electrified.
o tC.t N4
]Si° fro, orff
te
JHEN you build a new house or
repair an old one be sure to use
Gyproc.
Gyproc also gives quick construction;
insulation against cold and heat—and
fuel economy,
Write for free book, "Walls That Reflect
Good Judgment," containing interesting infor-
mation on home planning with Gyproc, Roc -
board and Insulex.
CANADA GYPSUM AND ALABASTINE, LIMITED
Paris Canada
4)
Fireproof x=fl1bodrd
For Sale By
Wilton & Gillespie - - Brussels, Ont.
S. F. Davison - Brussels, Ont.
PERTH COUNTY
Ex•\Vardsoa Jas. Dickson, of Stint -
rot d, and fai,ner,esiilen,1 and ex•teeve
of Elora, passed away on Friday uiaht.
Chas. Skinner, a native of Alitcltell
and who has been tllanaget of the Mit-
chell Nurseries Co., died in Tot on to
General Hospital.
Jnu,'l'ait, of Ellice Twp,., pleaded
guilty in police court to four chat ges
of fraud, three committed do the town-
ship and one in Stratford.
While taking a !nose to water, Wil-
liam Miller, aged 0 years, Octet ante
nl' .1nu. n\iills•r, Con. 2, ltlornington
Twp., was kicked (01 the. head by the
animal and suffered severe CUES. w Welt
neeessilntrd(001111stitelms He was
also badly Meisel Main( the face.
T1,1. 1lfficifal Board of St. John's U11-
ilt0 ('hatch. St hal fon d, in x4,11111 les-
ion, go tinted Doti. pUctot, 1{i v
Stanley Owen, hear,• of (absence fc l 2
months, July arid Angtoit, th1' year
so that he may 1::110 a tttp Ur the 1191
Lr'nd,
N• 1(win Bode, of Logan. is musing
male Ie+nil ao Ili,. 1esult of 01, tac-
c•idc•„t while p011pir 9 air into a pas -
aline 9111,-111' The 11(141,•11 Wa,lith (
est the tithe.011d the fo1co of tir
di the gasoline rut, 11 gait g , n his
hand aid at m, igniting au the same
time.
Sone 11 (11ine1R of AI ilOwl) crt'ar3l,•
uteri in fines end coot^( 2110 .111 194141 iu
police r(1111, as it 11,1111 of luv'tg
<om,• I..•4', slid whiskey fn t.1 n11'
Sisal f, td vnutl•s nn illi1,1,11. s,n(e'
day, (ago. 'rimy vele chat aid ver•-
ir usly With with pUlsliasirl. 1'grlro il-
legally and looting 911 11lt•)aai lilac•
rs.
nVellingino 'Hughes. aged 23 years,
i in Solari,' i! (1i•0t cal lio>,pital snit -r-
ing E OM 11 111%,,h,4 wrin,d itl Lice ab-
domen. Elie „cel,lel(t immured at th„
young man's bottle, hour St. Malys
.R•t9ti. The other members of the
2011111y were iii boa at. 1)14' 1'1 1110 111111
Upon hearing the report, ruse»d 8 'wn'
4.111(141, 13,181,11 111,11 9, .lhiot lylrtt 1111
the 11^min 11n I111e0nscln113 condition.
The young tease is not mal lied, and,
according to the family, had been in
goon health and spirits pievb,u1 to
theshootin': ilatia
The Union School Section on the
boulder y, ^2/, miles East of Listowel,
11<:s decided to enter the competition
for school ground's improvement.
A `011 ,1 Bowling Association (, t B As n ration has
been formed at Sti•atfotd, New Ham -
8111g Emit, o, St. Mat ys. Milverton,
illitetieli, Tavistock and Atwood in the
grrup. A schedule has been drawn
up,
no. Dalton's valuable flock of sheep
were attacked by vicious Dublin dogs,
' on Ftiday night orSntur•day rooming.
Sevens sheep and four lambs were de•
strayed and r•iioht.l("obs left mother-
less '1'114' doge could .ca1e.•Iy be driv-
en off,
BRUCE COUNTY
Che,;ley is pu(131,4. ug 1c fire truck,
Lucknnw wilt observe Thursday aft-
er 1100115 4/.5 a hail-haliday.
A llu1illet of untried bates In Ludt -
new are being pulled dcul;, the nlat-
e1la) Eli f e Used it: build]( t, e 9 etvltere.
Tile high pi ire , i lumber dr (- 11.
Huth M1{r:111Ts•0r, '0,11 ,1 fin -roan
1a the t'. N. 11,111sBip9y, rut twith a
1 etiU'.'ui eteider t t.1,)), ithim dil:g • tool
, nils. in the ye, 43, Ore r f thee" ac-
' c•irteui ly tell cis his trot, 01115111ng a
of ru16.1
of his to es
1.'h,• �i omens In:411rue 1f Cl, natio
bolo- 444,id, 41t( 41 pug.. 1( tt+ctet, at
j'1' hewnto loci, : ft,r the health of
iv-Moms11 the 131,1111411 Et (Akin
lir ore E t i, su!a 1741 -r ,-1ha1.i2-
. vid(d 1: .1 ri;2, l'utd to
.mb,rdize e. t'• eh t far !beet (1110 11•
L• l,' lid Ed. kilo dy, of the Cue-
• tens. mai Excise 1 tit., Tit- urs., paid
a 011( 1, tie nrigi,larr},. r(1a. rf (Thep-
-1.0w. C'att'g11i, sow bamptotl and Nil-
u.•0e, 9 sea,clt of i'lieit stills, but
l
was unsuccessful in 1 ,(:141tg guy. lie
1, (ma that, ben r big w tva" being
made ht bap- 9113:1ities in all the
phtres, 17:1 clean bottle,. being f(?mud
;1114(4 111)110.
T,,roneo cleat. 411149cas ern:pittiu that
hoes shipped ft nm Port. Elam shrink
24 lb, ;•a.0h, fn spite of facet that the
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"Oswald" Adopts First Alders'
test aid, so invaluable to human
sufferers in time of need, is
usually highly appreciated by the
recipient but never more so than in
the case of Oswald, who showed his
gratitude by adopting those who
had rendered first aid and probably
saved his life. As a result, Oswald
has a private car in which lie
travels regularly and has become
well known throughout that sec-
tion of Ontario in which he travels,
while the first aiders, employees of
the Canadian National Electric
Railways, have a new pet.
Oswald is it pigeon who suffered
severe injuries when while flying,
he attempted to push aside a
rapidly -roving electric car on the
Canadian National lines near El-
dorado Park, Ontario. The pigeon
was struck by the car and when
picked up by the crew, Motorman
Cecil Brown and Conductor Joe
Watson, was found to have sus -
tallied a broken wing and other in-
juries. Tho employees of this rail-
way standhigh in their First Aid
tests, having won the Galloway
Cup on two occasions, A First Aid
kit is carried on each of the ears an
the contents of this hit were used
in rendering first aid to the injured
pigeon. Results were such that the
injuries soon 'healed, and the
pigeon was able to fly again, but it
became evident that Oswald, as
the pigeon was named, had found a
new home for himself, for through-
out the winter he lived in Line Car
252, making his home under the
Quebec heater which is carried for
heating purposes. And any stran-
ger entering the car is greeted by
Oswald with a flood of "pigeon
English."
Since the accident occurred last
Fall, Oswald has made every trip
with the car covering 150 utiles
daily, and is tthoronghly at home m
his new surroundings. If taken
from the ear he immediately flies
back to it. At Georgetown, Acton
and Guelph, "ports of call" for the
car during its daily journeys,
children and adults join en asking
after the health of the bird which
has become a pet all along the
roAt Brown's Mill! Norval Ont.,
where the crew go in with cars o
grain and come out with cars
loaded with flour, Oswald has
learned to make a practice of
leaving this private car and dally-
ing for lunch durfitg the switching
operations each day.
The photographs show Oswald
with his rescuers! the crew of Car
No. 252.• -•Canadian National Rail-
ways photograph.