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HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1950-08-03, Page 21nrunSDAY; AU'G'UST 3 1960 CLINTON NEWS -RECORD '— 'OLD BOYS' SOUVENIR EDITION PAGE NINETEE Clinton Fioneere In Use Of Telephone (By C. B. `SYMON1 S, District Malinger, ' 'Bell Telephone Company) Clinton -is 'one of the few the development of the telephone 'Centres in Canada' that already industry was not to° sed there. ' service when The' Long before her retirement, Mrs, had telephone Rumball's son, Ray, came into the Bell Telephone Company of Can- picture as night operator at the ada was incorporated in 1880. local switchboard. Years went' True, -theextent of the service t 1e and Ray nt moved, v edlse n to, other was pot ,great A: 'i'uile, a' in 1919,: when C'linton's manager local resident, had leased a pri- became ill, who else could be vote line from Alexander ; Mel- chosen to replace her, but her Ville Bell, father of the inventor son, then local manager, at God- in July 1879—but there was a erich. .Today, Raymond 3..Rum ball is' general plant placement telephone in this' town` at the' supervisor of the 'Bell Company time when the invention was in -Montreal, still considered by many cas an ' ' First Service 'in 1881 impractical toy. ' Regular 'telephone •service first Clinton. small as it was, never- becameavailable here in 1881, theless had its progressive citi-. when W. H. Ransford wasnam zens, men of vision,- who settled ed agent for the young company. here and made good. Even as Three years later, eight subscrib far _back as '85, such well -re- ers had telephone service but no membered names as the Dohertys, record of their names has'ever. the Fairs; the Ferrous, the Jack- been discovered. , sons and the Ransfords had left In 1885, the directory, a small, theirmarks in the annals of the pocket-size booklet which con - town's commercial history. They tamed the names of all telephone were also amongst the first to re- subscribers- in the "Ontario De-. cognize the business and social partment" of the Company. •list-: value of the telephone. ed ten subscribers in Clinton.. The Rumbail Family The directory contained no num- bers, as, at that -time, telephone There also was another faro- users were called for by name. Hy ' — the J. B. Rumballs — who William Jackson was then • local wrote a chapter extending almost agent, and the switchboard, was 45 years in the history of the located in a corner of his Gent's. telephone in Clinton. Furnishings store. It was in 1889 that J. B. Rum- He was succeeded in 1887 by ball becatne Bell Telephone agent R, W. Coats and the switchboard here. The primitive switchboard was moved again to Mr. Coats' located at the rear of his jewel- jewellery store. Two years lat- lery store served 16 subscribers. er, he sold 'his business to J. B. When Mr. Rumball died in 1908, Rumball who took over the man- his wife, Clara, who already had agement of the exchange. The, dined extensive experience, at' switchboard was' not to move for e . switchboard, •took over the .a long,: Song time.. For almoggt - under: the dire5- " and years 'it.•was the:agency 45 n ofo5' u ervisiog p ' all and his ,umb 11B. R officioof, J wastion following. earY e•Y. t tamed Bell Telephone manager wife Clara. ' here, a post -she ably . fulfilled Milestone in' 1939 lentil her retirement in 1933. An important milestone in local • She 'saw the 'exchange switch- telephone history was marked on board grow until five operators July 5, 1939. On that day the were required to handle thous- exchange was converted from the ands of tills made daily by 326 magneto system to common bat - local and 570 rural subscriifers tery operation. Subscribers no at the time of her retirement. longer had to .turn a crank to 'The Rumballs had long before reach the operator. It was fit - 'acquired the title Mr. and Mrs. ting 'that on that occasion the Telephone of Clinton.- But the honor of placing the first two story of the family's interest in calls were extended to Mrs. Wil - `Remember This Store? NEW ERA WAS STARTED 185'5 85 YEARS AGO (Continued from Page Two). ° he was getting a little tired .of teaching. (Poor :fellow!)'. ; He kept hiseyes open' and discovered a defunct newspaper plant in Blyth, , which -he ' purchased in. Declmber 1880.. . ' Then. the question arose: was he going' to publish a paper in. Blyth or' was he going to start) afresh soii'ewhere else? Tory Arguments, Sway . The Coeservative Party lead- ers in Clinton decided the issue. They made strong inducements to move the paper to Clinton as opposition to The New Era, which was proving 'itself' strongly Lib- eral and Free Trade. The plant was removed to, Clinton, and, presto, in the first week of ''January 1881— one of the toughest times of the. year for any' weekly newspaper — a brand new paper, the Huron Record, had ' come into being. Each' issue contained eight pages,. five columns in width,' and it was turned' out on a Washington hand press, operated in turn by vara ious members of the staff. • Incidentally, the staff consist- ed of Edward Floody, the editor, two printers, and two: "devils". The first office was located in the then new Victoria Block, over Twitchell's harness shop, now occupied by. Pattison's store. Later, -it- was removed 'to On- tario St., and for the past 55 years has ' been ' Located, in its Present two-storey brick build- ing on 'the east:. side of Albert St. THE ABOVE building occupied the site on which the Post Office,now stands andtwas'torn down to make room for it. It was used as a store anti dwelling by H. Wiltse. This' building, which at one was considered about • the best in Huron County, was erected by. Moore and :Hunter and used by _them for years: as a dry 'goods store. The men -shown in the picture are, reading from left to right: 'the late W. Brydone, who was then a young lawyer, just building tip a practise andhas his little brief bag under -his arm; the late Joseph Battenbury and the late F.• Tomlinson, , Bruce field; the late J. Rider who died LU July 1925, is_ sitting; A. Porter being immediately behind him:, the late Rev. W. H. Newcombe. and: the late. Thomas Jackson; Sr.; the late George McLennan and Bert Wiltse... Liam Jackson and Mrs. . Clara' Rumball. At prehent the Clinton ex- change is in 'the charge of Miss• Helen Taylor, chief operator, and the office is under. the ' super- vision of C. B. Symonds, Bell Telephone manager at Goderich. rs I Lela Hoover Ward min.ent Musician Harry 'Partliff has received a very sorrowful negative answer from Mrs. Lela (Hoover) Ward, Guelph, stating she will be un- able to attend the coming Old Boys' Reunion. :Mrs, Ward will be remembered by a' number of citizens front this area as' she is a daughter of the late J ;0. Hoov- • There are seven' switchboard positions in operationhere at present—a"far.cry^. from the days when ten subscribers :hadtele- of 5,500honeervice 1 cal and 450 lonhere. Ag average calls passthrough the local switchboard every day. . Paper Progresses_. Evidently, the new paper took very well with the merchants and others, for there was no dearth of advertising, and subscriptions rolled in ,with the assistance of many friends of the paper and the .Conservative Party, as well .as many Liberals who were anxious to discover what made the sew. watch tick. When things were going pretty Well, Mr. Floody disposed of The Record in May 1882. to a part- nership ' consisting. of ' A. H. Blackeby, factory. inspector : with the Dominion Government, and J. T. Havill, foreman of The Gait Reporter. -I i November 1882, however, they sold out to N. H. Buchner Of- The Hamilton Times, but on account of a heavy chattel er, former Mayor of Clinton. Mrs. Ward and her daughter, Mrs.Ruth Ward Farrell, w h o resides in Connecticut, have made a great success of the music'books which they have, had published. A commentary from The Globe and Mail reads:. "It is hard to find anything more attractive to children : than such old familia,r. tales as The Three Bears. But The Three Bears, while retaining all their original charm, have taken on the added glamour of music and the very delightful drawings in a new' book with story and illustrations by : Ruth Ward Farrell and -music by Lela Hoover Ward. Very young, child- ren will love it." VPerfor Chevrolet's great Valve-in-Headengines can do.more work per gallon of gas than 'tiny other gasoline engine of the same displacement now in use. They're smooth, rugged and powerful - masters of the job! VPayload Lea''s!' Low operating and repair costs of Chevrolet trucks are an outgrowth of finest engineering and rugged Advance -Design construction. Chevrolet trucks let you deliver the goods with real redaction in cost per ton per mile, .0pularity Leaders! For the last full year, Chevrolet outsold all competition. That's evidence of owner satisfaction earned through the years - proof, yes proof beyond any question or doubt, that Chevrolet is the most -wanted truck. /Price Leai.ers!' 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Chevrolet trucks -and only Chevrolet trucks—provide what you want! A GENERAL MOTORS VALUE INCE - DESIGN TRUCKS. Ci.5505 Another article from T h e Guelph Daily Mercury of an earlier, date reads: "From ideas put in practice in her own piano teaching - experience, Mrs. Lela Hoover Ward has composed and published two 'very interesting books, delightfully, illustrated by her daughter, Mrs. Ruth Ward Farrell. "Jibbidy-E' and A.C.E.' is a child's first piano book, de- signed- primarily- to teach the pupil the names of the notes, to read music accurately and easily,, and good fingering habits. It con- tains songs to capture, the imag- ination of the young, the apt'. illustrations adding further int- erest. oi�l.ws the "Sugarand Spice" f p ch?id's first' piano book. It ` is filled with- rhythms and tunes for beginners arid again Mrs. Farrell's' illustrations. "Mrs, Ward, -Licentiate of the RoyaL Conservatory of Music, To- ronto, studiedmusic under Frank Weisman,Hagtmga Carman, and composition ,from the late Dr. Humphrey Anger. She taught music at Iiavergal College for five years. Following her mar- riage, Mrs. Ward during residence in New York, was a pupil of Ethel Newcomb, "'and of Sigis round Stojowski, the latter a.. pupil of Paderewski. "Mrs. Farrell, a former pupil at the 'Guelph, Collegiate •'Vora- tional Institute, . later attended Pratt Institute and New York Art School, She has illustrated a number of books, and has had pictures hanaamg in the Art 'Gal- lery Exhibition' in Connecticut. Mrs. Farrell lives In the country near New London, Conn., where her husband, a scientist, is en- gaged in research- at the Under- water Sound Laboratories for 'the United States Government. "Mrs. Ward is president of the • Guelph Registered Music Teach- ers' Association: She has taught in Guelph" for, 80 years ' In a long career of music she has been concert pianist, •tic: enpanist, or- ganist and choir leader hut now devotes -all her tine to teaching piano. "Two :more books from the versatile pen. of Mrs. Lela Ward are to be'published shortly, "Zoo Songs" to play and sing, and "The Three Bears in Song and Story,"" 'mortgage, the latter remained at the helm only two weeks, the plant reverting to Edward Floody once more. "News" and - "Record" Shortly afterward, thebusiness was' sold to Whitely and Todd of The Goderich News: They' re- moved part of their plant to Clinton and changed the name of the paper to The Clinton News -Record Several years later, about half a century ago, the paper was disposed of to W. J. Mitchell, Hanover, whose daughter-in-law, Mrs. G. H. Mitchell, still publishes The Hanover Post. Mr. Mitchell's death occurred very suddenly in London in, October 1916, where- upon G. E. Hall, an employeg, purchased the business. . - The News -Record continued to flourish under the guidance and the editorship of Miss Mabel R. Clark, and when J. Leslie Kerr decided to dispose of The New Era in October 1924, Mr. Hall bought the rival paper and amal- gamated it with The News - Record, the latter name continu- ing. i l a Then. letters stars. .sheCHRIS- TIAN of THE many Readers SCIENCE •MONITOR' tell the Editor how much they enjoy ' this daily world-wide newspaper. 'The Monitor is the most carefully edited news- paper in the U. S...' ." "Valuably aid in teach- ing .. . ." "News that is complete and fair. . . ." 'The Monitor surely is as reader's necessity . . ." too, will find the Monitor informative, with complete World news , and as neces- sary as your i%OME TOWN paper. 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