The Clinton News Record, 1932-04-07, Page 3THURS., APRIL 7, 1932
THE CLINTON NEWS -RECORD"
PAGE 3
When "John ,A.' Was in Kingston their lives, had it represented to him
_by the :"hunters," a secret society of
a,
. men -�••-------� en boond b y a'terrrble oath t
0
,: t
d
Royal' origin on the American eon.
tr tent,' " tlla Canada, like his below.
- ed Poland, was bleeding under the
s iron heel of the oppressor. Von
Shoultz knew_what oppression was
e and his chivalrous soul iburned with
f the terrible tales of oppression of.
" this new country, Canada, .. And
a when having received one hundred
thousand dollars'for the refining of
salt frons the Salt Springs at Selena,
N.Y., he devoted most of this for-
tune to what he was' led to believe,
the emancipation of an oppressed'
people. .
By J, C. Mackay in ;The Family
h'er'ald,
To the youth of today "John A."
---as he was affectionately called by
a former generation—is unknown ex-
- as one of many names which
adorn : Canadian history. They are
missing much, for the man who
achieved Confederation did so, not.
only because of his absolute loyalty
tc a great cause, his dynamic force
of character, but most of all perhaps
:by the great charm of personality
which won him Ixfe-long friends in
every_ walk of life.
John Alexander Macdonald was
born in Glasgow, in a ,little stone
tenement house near the Clyde in
the year 1815. His father, Hngh
Macdonald, "was in the cotton bushnese, but having met with reverses,
to improve himself financially -emir
grated to Canada with his family in
the year 1820, Canada's future Pre-
mier was five years of age..
uproo •every power of authoetiy of
They landed 'in Quebec and came
up ,to Kingston with all their earth-
ly belongings in 'an open French bat -
team the usual mode of travel in
those days. It was necessarily a
tedious journey, .occupying about
four weeks, for the rapids of the St.
Lawrence had to be' negotiated and
this was only accomplished by por-
tages, hauling with ropes from the
shore, by the sailors poling, and: the
use of oars and sails when in calm
water.
Kingston, even in those days was
a town sof importace--a military
stronghold •established by, Count
Frontenac, in the interests of the fur
trade with Indians. It still retains
its military setting with the present
Royal Military College at Barrie -
field, and old Fort Henry, and the
Tete de Pont. Barracks, whilst sever-
al martello towers along the water
front still proclaim to the tourist
the old Iimestone eity's military his-
tory,
Hugh Macdonadl opened a' store
on Princess street—Store street, as
it was then called—sand the family
occupied a house on Rideau street
in the attic of which the youthful
John studied his lessons. „Ssb
But business both on Store sti'eet r
and afterwards on the corner" of n
King and CIaeence, opposite the of
British American Hotel, proved t
be a .dire failure, anti Hugh 1Vtaa
donald, utterly discouraged, took hi
little 'fansily,and moved to Hay Bay
an inlet of the Bay. of Quinte,' Wher
in the country near the. village o
Adolphustown, he started a genor
al store, and did scene farming err
limited scale. The stone was a' par
of his dwelling' house ;which he•had
divided with :clslphloatr'ds. '.Here at
the little country school house, er-
ected almost .fifty years" ' before by
the U. E. Loyalists, Margaret, John,
and Louisa Macdonald went cheer-
fully every day in order to learn the
three R's. _
0 •
It was the,usual type of country
school house in -the early part of the
last century. The equipment was mit
elaborate—one long desk, which ran
around three sides of the room, . a
teacher's table, a b'oxetove; a pail,
for water and a tin cup, and last but
certainly, not least, in the eyes of the
scholars, the teacher's switch, which
it is said he. used often arid without
any .undue partiality.
But here again ;Hugh Macdonald
grew discouraged and with- his little
family returned to Kingston. Though
doubtless Hugh Macdonald came to
doubt his own ability as a business
man, he never underrated his chil-
dren's abilities and early anticipated
a'brilliant career for his only surviv-
ing son. In a new country he felt
sure there would be unlimited oppor-
tunities for professional men, and
early determined that John should
be a lawyer.
After a few years spent at Dr.
Wilson's grammar . school and later
under. "old Baxter's stern discipline,
John Macdonald, at the age of fif-
teen, entered the law office sof
George • Mackenzie, and Mrs. Mac,
kenzie agreed to take him to board.
At the age of twenty-one—in 1886
—he was 'called to the Bar, and al-
most immediately entered upon -a
lucrative practice.
1827 and '88 were eventful years
in Canada. Neils Szolteviski Von
Shoultz—a Pole of , noble birth,
whose father and brother had fallen
efore Warsaw, martyrs in the sac..
ed cause of freedom and whose
tether and sisters had to flee for
1
Daniel 'George, the paymaster of
the "Hunters," as they were termed,
and Von Shonitz, with about :170
men started from,Oswego in Nevem-.
be,r 1888, to join Dirge at Ogdens-
burg in . order to make a night"raid
on Prescott.. But Birge book fright
and would go no further.
Von :Shoultz' ,.and his ' soldiers,
many of them mere bays, several
not ibore than fourteen years of
age; on a Sunday night crossed the
river and entrenched themselves in
the stone mill, still to be seen near
the banks of the- St, Lawrence river
just outside 'the town of Prescott.
The stone circular mill was a strong-
hold not te- be. -despised, but the re-
infoicements promised by l3irge fail-
ed to arrive. Terror was taking pos-
session of the men inside the mill.
One man offered to cross the river
and Procure a boat. He did so by
lying on a plank'"and propelling him-
self as best he might. But the
"Bunters" had fled, terror-stricken.
Shut up inside the mill without re-
inforcernents, Von Shoultz' position
was desperate. His men besought to
give rap without further bloodshed
and Von Shoultz, feeling all was lost,
held 'out a 'white flag and that "war"
was over.
But the rebels had not given up at
once. An of Monday the fight had
continued with a detachment of the
83rd Regiment, whilst a British ves-
sel patrolled the water frorit to
make sure no reinforcements reached
the men in the mill,
The excitement was intense. Not
only in Kingston, but across the
water at Ogdensburg, where the
citizens of New York State had
emphatically declared that they did
not approve of the attack,. and the
ie us
"diS o'
t b g• £ a,peaceful country."
. S
Captain Bettli'.received, the news' of
the invasion in Kingston at ten
e'elo^-k: in the morning and by'three
in the afternoon was on his way to
Prescott with seine sixty young men,
one of ' whom was John A. Maddon-
-ald, but , en reaching Prescott !hey
found their' services Were not of ,te,
quired. ';'The rebels with their few
provisions and a flag artistically' em -
brokered with the words in large
letters "Canada Liberated" had been
eaptured. Von Shoultzwas sen-
tenced to death.
John A. drew up Von Shoultz's will
in which he left one thousand pounds
to his fiancee, one hundred pounds
to the Regiopolis Catholic College,
Kingston, and four hundred pounds
to the widows' end ;orphans of the
Canadipn"Militia who had. fallen h
the battle o£ the wind -mill.
Mi•. Macdonald made strenuous ef-
forts to have Von She'dtz's sentence
of hanging changed to the military
one of being shot, but though in this
he was unsueeessful, he had the sen-
tence carried out at Fort- Henry,
where for some time Von• Shoultz had
been kept a prisoner, instead) of at
the gallows in the city where the
other- poor deluded creatures met
their untimely end.
John A.'s first hours in serving
his country politically time in 1843
when be along with Robert Anglin
were returned by a large majority
to the ICingston city council, as ald-
ermen. The friends of both young
men—and they were many—were
highly elated. They constructed a
hastily improvised platform with a
few boards on- the market square,
and when broth young men stepped on
it in response to cheers and cries for
a speech, the crowd raised the plat -
IT MUST KEEP UP IT'S SERVICE
"A newspaper is in' a more diffi-
cult position than any other business
when there is a widespread business
depression," remarks the Kingston
Whig -Standard. "It can only curtail
its costs by curtailing its service to
the public, and the moment it'starts
to do that it is inviting disaster. A
newspaper is built upon service. It
holds its place in the eonfidence and
affection .of the public because of
the service which it gives. It must
give this service, whether it gives it
at a profit or at a Ioss,"
Which. stores An Advertisement Ad-
dressed to the headers of
lonno Like this Newspaper .
}� est?
Isn't it true that stores which invite your custom 'oftenest, and
which give you most information about their offerings, are those
to which you go by preference? -
Isn't it Artie that silent or .dumb stores ~stores which never
tell you that your custom is wanted and valued, and which never
send you information-abouttheir stocks and prices, are less favor-
ed by you than are stores which inform you, by advertisements in
this newspaper, about themselves, their stocks, their prices?
Isn't it true that you want, before you go shopping, information
about goods you desire, which are obtainable locally,• and about
where they can be obtained?
Always Remember
that the stores which
serve you . best are
those which tell you
most.
The fact Is that advertisements are a fora or kind of news, and
careful buyerswant the kind of news which sellers provide just as
much as they want the news which it is the business of this .news-
paper to provide.
It is advantageous to you, regarded as a purchase% to. be "ad-
vertisement conscious," meaning, to be observant of advertisements,
and to be readers of them ,when seen. in magazines, farm papers
and in your local newspaper,.
The reading 'of .the advertisements appearing In this news-
paper' week by week not only will save you tirne,by telling you what
and where . ko buy, but also they wi 11 direet you 'to "all' alive" stores,
'providing goods .which have been carefully selected and competitively
priced.,
form to "their shoulde-rs. But alas
the inevitable happened. As. John
A. picked himself up out of the mud
and tried to brush the dirt from his
clothing he remarked with '• a droll
shake of his head and his inimitable
smile, "Strange I` should :have a
downfall so soon." Whereat the
crowd' cheered lustily.
It is a fact not generally � g a y ]rnatvrl,
that John A. once played a promin
ern; part in a duelacting as second
for this same hotheaded Highlander,
Dr. Stuart, when he fought with a
Me. Steers. The weapons were bor.
rowed for the famous occasion frorn
Dr. James Sampson, an army sur-
geon, who in 1818 had taken part
in the battle at Sackett's Harbor.
Later he practiced his profession in
the art of healing in Kingston.
It` was in St. Andrew's 'Church.
Kingston, that a meeting was held
to-' organize Queen's University. Sir
John was present and took a leading
par in the discussion. Later when
it was decided that a medical college
was .becoming a ,necessity in the
growing community, Sir John offer. 1 pray tifat I tray share that sense
I ed his home for the neetig, which' greencoverlet when I shall rest;
took place .on the evening of Feb.
7th,1-yyilfre<1 Ilorvo
1854:. 2Q'ucs�
One of his speeches at -Qu. een's is
remembered well, when, he related
with satisfaction how he had help.,
ed' the college financially, .to say
nothing of his old friend -, Principal
Grant, at whom he smiled reminis-
cently, when telling the stery,
Walking along a certain street in
Toronto, he was almost run into by
a wealthy acquaintance, who had
suddenly, in a great hurry, shot a-
round a corner. .Sir John caught
its the span's embrace, extricated.
himself, and enquired from whom
was he fleeing. "Principal Grant,"
the man of money replied. "I saw
him coming so I shot around this
cornet'. I' know -what he's after,
more money for Queen's, and the
last time, I responded I told him
plainly that was the last it was fos
all time;" "Now, now," Sir John
'coaxed, "had you not betternow
give for all eternity?" - "And," said
air John, triumphantly '"he did."
THIS MODEST CORNER IS DEDICATED
TO THE POETS
Here They Will Sing YOU
Gay, Sometimes Sad—
•
and Ins
HOME
Sunshine and shadow,
Sorrow and Care.
Ffiendship and freedom,
Love always there.
Greener than mountain
Brighter than sea,
Wider than travel,
My home to me.
—4Edita Kent Harrison in The Lamp.
FRIENDS
He knew the :Meek and wintry wind
would blow; •
And like the driven. .leaf before a
• storm,
Adversity would lay our foliage low,
Torn from an oak 'of bent and gnarl-
ed form;
And so God gave the shelter of those
friends,
Whose care did rise like hills on ev-
ery side.
Rage on, Co bitter gale, when love
'defends
No loss or want shall came, what -
o'er betide!
That Providence which marks the
sparrow fall
Has counted up life's nromertts `one
and all.
B
y J, F. L. MacDonalc!
THE FIRST SWEET Bl2EATII
SPRING!
With the jonquiils, comes the
sweet 'breath of spring
Their Songs—Sometimes
But Always Helpful
Airing•
head:
Beauty.. material beauty—from dead
flesh
That once was beautiful! Who
would find' ease
In petty words? , W!hat of the earn-
' plea mesh
Of soul and intellect evhat blooms
from these?
Life is a spirit proving on the hills,
Whence? Ah, who knows? Ane
shall we ask the sod
What quickened it? Question the
-daffodils
How move the urging finger-tips
of • God ?
Music is not in wood or brass or
strings,
But in the :Master's touch from which
it springs.
—Lillah A. Ashley, in the New
Outlook.
YEA, FOUR . , .
Three things on earth are strong
and beautiful:
White, gleaming snow that lies, the
winter done, -
Scattered along the shady' fields like
wool,
And braves beyond its hour the con-
quering sun;
The last of day beyond the western
hill
, Lingering, whose dins tremulous
shaft of light
OF' Touches the verge of sleeping earth,
until
Itself is quenched by the slow dark
of night;
first
Through the earth their firm straight
spears are seen,
Then shy buds all veiled in tender
green
Till the sunbeams brush their' veils
aside,
And' .fair blossoms,—starlike,--open blossoms,—starlike,--open swirl of dying beauty, clown the
wind.
And the last desolate leaf that will
not go
Its fleeting way from naked wood-
land thinned
By autumn, when the ghostsof sum-
mer blow.
wide,
Pouring forth their fragrance with; yea, four on earth are beautiful and
delight, ( strong; •
Each a chalice, filled with radiant These, and the last wise man who
,
light. ' travels yet,
With the jonquills, comes the first ' Untouched by changing Time and
sweet breath of spring.
--Susan F. Campbell.
Fate along
The ancient ways that foolish wren
forget.
G, H. Willis, in John O'London's
POET AND PEASANT I Weekly.
The sunset's golden rods have railed
the west,-
And steel -blue swallows cut with
crescent wings
Across the tawny metal of the sky,;
Like chinking of loose change a
blackbird sings.
10 pathway lives between these hills,
all close
Together huddled - like creatures
crouched in sleep,
The curving .fang of my scythe
swings loose behind
As my grass -wet boots crunch Clown
the open steep.
There at the brown path's end my
cottage stands
With new blue paint upon its wood
- en eaves;One wall a11 grey and flat and win-
dowless,
One hung with a rough green rug of
ivy leaves.
And when•-those'trees have turned to
rich black lace,
And when the stars are fastened on
the night,
Quiet within my secret armory I'll
sit;
And burnish rhymes to beauty while
I write. - '
--441, G. 'Cower, in Poetry,
TO ON -E DEAD
Dearest, the poets sing of bud and
blossom -
Springing ,from dust of the beloved
dead,
'White noses km, the unrespiring
bosom, . ,
The green ivy ' round a -hidden
STARS
This is a song of shooting stars,
Of stars, and wishes three,
Which crossed the velvet of a night—
Swift miracles of curving light,
Above a whispering tree:
To have the flavor, sound and sweet
Of ripening fruit, hung high
Among cool leaves, where shades and
sun
In ever-changing patterns lun,
All woven in the sky!
To keep this vital wholesomeness,
This vision, burning bright:
The whole Ideal, undimmed by age,
As Life proceeds, page after page—
Until the final rite.
To have the gift of Happiness
Spread, like to shining Wings
Above :a Hearth, fol all to. share.
Who • cross the threshold, and who
care
To hear the Song it -sings!
—Louisa de Wetter.
THE LAST RESTING'PLACE
I would not -wish' for her a fairer
• resting place than that, amid
green fields, where now she lies;
I would not wish her couch a bright-
'er canopy than the great skies,
I 'would not wish her rest -soothed by
a lay mo1'e sweet than bird-
• song and the whispering. breeze;'
I. would. not see more staunch friends
standing sentinel than stately
trees.
When on the dew -bathed grass I'Iay
my offering of homely posies.
which she loved the -best,
AN,ALEGORS'
A Persi n —,
a renal ch so the :old lroolcs
relate—
Amusement to himself.
and guests to
br•iirg;
Summoned one da his eoer
y iters to*
e
"The
strongest thine
The first the almightiness- of wi
na
-" declares, •
How .firm upon its victhn'its control,
How strongest men have known the
enslaving snares
Of alcohol.
The next proclaims the might or
womanhood;;
"Kings seemto wield a scTtre. all
their own; '
Hort' often, yet, a wornan's hand
you'll rind
Behind the throne;'
The third, a roan of- philosophic cast,
"'Tis truth," cries he, "endures whets
all things fail;
Falsehood and fraud vistorioue
seem at .last. '
Truth must prevail."
The King pronounced the verdict:
"This one has
The prize," and on his brow a chap-
let set:
The palace echoed, "Magna est veri-
tee
Et praevalet "
5 5 r,
Two thousand years had passed, An-
other Ring,
itfore gracious, some alleviation
sought
For all the bitter woe and suffering
Which war had amoughtt
And charged his loyal hencahmen to
set forth,
In full debate—whate'er Iris under-
taking-- --
Each his own stewardship of work
and worth
In nation making.
The Statesman:
"I'm -the Prime Minister; I make the
law.
I am the darling of democracy;
Without nae freedom falls into the
Maw
Of anarchy."
The Banker:
"Clear vision banking interest de-
mand,
In times like these, a steady courses
to steer;
In rare behold the nation's .broker
and
Financier."
The Farmer:
"All wealth, your majesty, from na-
ture cones,
I fill the granary* and plough the
acre,
'Tis I bring health and happiness to
homes—
The furrow -breaker."
The Scientist:
"The mysteries of science I com-
mand,
I spin the factory wheel, T span the
river;
I scatter light and heat o'er all the
land
The power -giver."
The Economist:
"Our barns are bursting, yet our
children cry!
The world's a woman wandering itt
a mist;
'Tis I alone can solve this problem—
The Economist;'
Tho King:
"I thank you, gentlemen. Yet one
book more --
I crave the knowledge, ere your:
labors cease,
Which of you knows the wooing
voice to allure
' The Dove of Peace;
Withaut whose advent there meet
surely coma
011 child and mother, workman and
employer,
On kingly palace and on cottage.
home.
War the Destroyer?"
An Old Man:
None answered. Then an old: man's
voice: "Alone
'Tis Christ can save us from each
shoal and breaker,
'Tis He can make the warring na-
tions one—,
Christ, the Peacemaker.
'Tis He can stern the tides of fear
anti ,
From pridhatee and fatae ambition can,
deliver,
Can teach the way that stakes a
nation great--.
Christ, the Lifegivee."
The King:
"Thou hast the prizel and this my
proclamation—
Men serve and worship Christ, our
Help and Healer,
The Prince of Peace, The Saviour of
the nation --
Christ, the Revealer.
Unless we build • upon the Christ
foundation--.
God -love, kind hearts, pure homer
and righteous dealing
What peace for us, what peace for
any nation,
What hope or healing?" -
-IL P. Plurntre,
St. James' Cathedral, Tota cttst,