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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Clinton News Record, 1940-10-10, Page 2• PAGE 2 THE CLINTON NEWS -RECORD` PUBLISHED BY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT COPYRIGHT CHAPTER. XIII (CONTINUED) "You're a lucky fellow, Mosson. I'd willingly sacrifice six months pay for such a chance. Not many greater thrills in life than to be in an aero- plane going into a power dive straight for a pirate boat,while a warship pops away .with a six inch gun: to add extra spice." "Gunboat," the major corrected. "Good enough,". Caythers said enviously. "Something different to sitting in an office in uneventful peace." "That's exactly what I thought at the time, though not, in such nicely'I acknowledged when Major Mosson chosen phrases," the major retorted. came aboard to inspect the result of "The words I used while I tried to the timely insurrection. "Better than keep my heart from jumping right the rough house in Reykjavik last out of .my mouth were terse and to Lammas." the point." "Where is the young lady?" "At all events the pilot played al "Snug and well out of it. Yon trump hand." scum threatened to do her in if they six weren't allowed to go scot free, On my ship, too. We'd ha'e had some- thing to say about that. What •are they—escaped lunatics?" "At present they look like lumps of raw meat," Mosson replied, but he expected to 'sit in this den of yours had no pity for the men who had "Oh yes, but I'd have given months of my salary to ,have been anywhere else. One minute we were high above the Emily and Vera, the next our propeller was scraping the wireless aerial. Believe me, I never again, calmly swapping eongratula i only received a tithe of the punish tions.' ment they deserved. Eventually the The Clinton News -Record "Which reminds rte," Caythers law would take its course and they with which is incorporated said reflectively. "There was a cer- would be treated f according to civil - THE NEW E1tA TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION $1.50 per year in advance, to Can- adian addresses; $2.00 to the U.S. or other foreign countries. No paper discontinued until all arrears are paid unless at the option of the pub- lisher. The date to which every sub- scription is paid is denoted on the label. was settled;. AtDVERTISING RATES — Transient "You mean if it had been deliv- "They make a fine couple,",Skip advertising 12c per count line for ered." .4,''''At i per McPherson observed, beaming, first insertion. 8c. for each subse- "Ah yes! We shouldn't have gone «Tae think we called this a bogle's spent insertion. Heading counts 2 up and lost Ghost Island to such good island!. Mebbe it would make a fine lines. Small advertisements not to purpose." place for a honeymoon." Hughie's dour face wrinkled slight- ly. "Dinna forget we're happy bach- elors," he said. "Aye, I fear so." "Came away then, and leave them to it." tain telegram." "Telegram?" "Ordering you back to London." "That one? I never received it" "A gross libel on the excellent post office service. Still, we won't go into that," "Hang it all I should think not. Imagine the result if I had taken any notice." THURS.,, OCT. 1t, 1940 The Man Behind The Air Training Plan Canada Needed a Big Job Done. And 1900 sold out to NI II. and became a Rig Man Appeared — James' the firm's 'manager for France. Duncan, a Director of the Joint J. S. Duncan_ was born in Paris in Air Training Plan 1893, wns educated there, spent a year in Germany learning German. His destiny was already fixed; he was to ,become a farm implement man. The then head of the firm, the late Sir Lyman Melvin ;Jones, later a Canadian senator, on his annual trips to France, saw to that. When he was 17, Jim Dungan, more French than Scotch, more European. than. Canadian, which he wasn't at . all, found himself in Toronto working with his hands in the home plant. When he had grimed himself suffic- iently he was given a job as an' On- tario traveller. That may have clip- ped any boulevardier but it brought out the Scot in him and taught him, Canadian. He was just •past 21 when war broke out and he was sent back to Paris to help his father carry on the French business. In 1915 France was short of farm implements. But in a warehouse on the outskirts of evacuated Arras, right by the front line, lay 293 Massey -Harris reapers, binders and the like. Young Jim Duncan, begin- ning to show initiative,. decided on a' coup. He put it up to the military auth- orities, was given a working party of British soldiers and—working at night for three weeks in a blackness lighted only by flares and the burst of -shells—he saved all the implem- ents. Legend says that he only sav- ed 292 and that when the late Sir Lyman received the report he wrote asking what' had happened the 293rd —since the records showed 293 stor- ed in the warehouse! Shortly he join i the British army, was posted as gunner to the heavy artillery; in two months was sent to school to become an officer; went to France at the end of 1916 as a Lieut- enant in the R.F.A., became a cap- tain and adjutant of his brigade; was mentioned in dispatches, ised usage. But he would be able to look back with pleasure on the sorry human wreckage to which they had been reduced by the righteously wratful seamen as a preliminary. Felicite was flown back to Ghost Island, a strange venue for a senti- mental re -union. To all intents and purposbs the Wade kidnapping case By Martin J. Roberts in the Toronto Star Weekly exceed one inch, such as "Wanted", "Lost, "Strayed", etc., inserted once' for 35c., each subsequent insertion i 15c. Rates for display advertising ..rade known on application. Communications intended for pub- lication must, as a guarantee of. good � faith, be accompanied by the name of the writer. proprietor G. E. HALL - - H. T. RANCE Notary Public, Conveyancer Financial, Real Estate and Fire In- surance Agent. Representing 14 'Fire insurance Companies. Division Court Office. Clinton Frank Fingland, B.A., LLB. Barrister, Solicitor, Notary Public Successor to W. Brydone, K.C. +Sloan 'Blocs — Clinton. Ont. H. G. MEIR Barrister -at -Law Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Ontario. Proctor in Admiralty. Notary Public and Commissioner. Offices in Bank of Montreal Building. Hours: 2.00 to 5.00 Tuesdays and Fridays. DD. II. 11IcINNES CHIROPRACTOR. Electra Therapist, Massage Oft ice: Huron Street. (Few Doors west of Royal Bank) Hours—Wed. and Sat. and appointment. FOOT CORRECTION by, manipulation Sun -Ray Treatment Phone 20'1 by "In the fog! "Sun was shining brilliantly. Glor- ious morning, with hundred per cent visibility." "No doubt the light was so bright that. it dazzled the pilot's eyes and when he'd finished rubbing them you were threequarters of the way to Ireland. Strange habits these flying chaps have. Or is it that they carry unreliable compasses?" Mosson/s left eyelid fluttered momentarily. "You're quick on the uptake," he murmured. Diplomatically the mac' escapade was being overlooked in high quart- ers. Luckily it had marked a turn- ing point in the fortunes of the case. Aboard the drifter the appearance of the seaplane caused the more con- sternation than the overtaking gun- boat. GEORGE ELLIOTT Ucensed Auctioneer for the County of Huron Correspondence promptly answered immediate arrangements can be made for Sales Date at The News -Record, ?"!intoe, or by calling phone 203. Charges Moderate and Satisfaction Guaranteed, Six mouths ago few people in Can- ada outside his firm—and, a select few in Ottawa—knew much of James Stuart Duncan, vice-president and. general manager of the Massey -Har- ris Co. As for Mr. Duncan, while he had without doubt an acute sense of the war, his absorbing interest was agricultural implements. Today, as volunteer deputy min- ister of the national defence depart- ment for air, he ranks as one of the absolutely key men in Canada's huge arms `program. He came to the job an• a pinch -hitter basis for three months, without pay, without ex- penses. He is now on his second three months ditto. In that time all Ottawa has become aware of his elec- tric thrust. More and more Canad- ians are learning of this J. S. Duncan whose name is becoming a synonym for getting big things done in a hurry. "Och • aye, 'tis a pleasant story- book ending." Although it was from the skipper's point of view there were a lot of loose ends to be tucked in before the case could be filed away in the arch- ives of the Police, the R.A.F. and the Admiralty—to say nothing of Somer- set House. Perhaps we Canadians have compo to expect our go-getters to be tough two-fisted guys -with spitfire tongues. At first sight, Mr. Duncan seems too good-looking to be true, too softly spoken, too charming, with a profile and manner that might have been. made for Hollywood. It is only when you learn on all sides of the part he has played in the recent drive to lift the Joint Air Training Plan literally up by the rudder— of the part he is playing generally in other aspects of defence and supply—that here is no dilettante but a doer of deeds. Mr. Duncan is 47. He is one of the younger generations of tycoons who have come to fill the gaps left by the Flavelles and Bradshaws. He is a Canadian by adoption and a business connection with Canadians made farm implements which goes back to his Paris birth and boyhood. He is a Scot by race and instinct; his roots are Highland. But his im- agination is French -quickened, his ex- perience has been basically European, his view is worldwide. Perhaps no man in Canada has more right to be called a cosmopolitan. Scranton and his gang had broken so many laws and introduced so many novel legal complications that the trial inevitably became a matter of major public interest. An odd side - issue arose from the arrest of Philip Rolham, alias Brown, to whom Scranton had relied up to then on Broome had presented £25,000 of Sir making terms with the basis of Timothy's Wade's money in exchange Felicite Delbos's safety as the decid- ing fector. Whether he would really have harmed the girl was always open to transaction. "It was worth it," he doubt. Certainly it would not have argued. "My secretary acted exactly as I would have wished." "It doesn't alter the fact that he were bloodcurdling. was an active member of the gang," Captain Marley's clenching fists the assistant commissioner pointed users., no good for the man if op- + out. "We caught him trying to leave portunity arose to get at him, but the the country with ill-gotten gains.' firearms continued. to dissuade any «payment for information reeeiv- active intervention. ed., ATTACK FROM WITHIN "No, Sir Tiniothy, it won't do." "I refuse to assist the prosecution From the time it became apparent in regard to the money. It is all that the Irish coast was barred Scran- very well for you to tell me I have ton had been the only one who prefer- a public duty, but I am not forgett- red to go on at all costs. He believ- ing that it has been well spent so er that the gunboat dare not shell far as I am concerned." the drifter in case of hurting his "Naturally it will be returned af- prisoner, though they would not, of ter formalities." course, know the position so far as "Certainly not. Would you have the crew was concerned. me go back on my future son-in- Thorwell and Vincent wanted to law's pledged word?" throw up the sponge as soon as it became necessary to change course. BERENICE AGAIN TILE McKILLOP MUTUAL Fire Insurance Company Head Office, Seaforth, Ont. Officers: President, Thomas Moylan, Sea - forth; Vice President, William Knox, Londesboro; Secretary -Treasurer, M. A. Reid, Seaforth. Directors, Alex. so can we, he raved. He was glaring Broadfoot, Seaforth; James Sholdice, like a madman, intoxicated by ex - Walton; James Connolly, Goderieh; citement. W. R. Archibald, Seaforth; Chris. Commonsense should have told him Leonhardt, Dublin; Alex. McEwing, that the Vera and Emily was not Bi-"`th; Frank McGregor, Clinton. equipped for a long voyage. And the Liss of Agents: E. A. Yeo, R.R. 1, fishery protection vessel was only Goderieh, Phone 603r31, Clinton;i the forerunner of others that would Jamas Watt, Blyth; John E. Pepper,inevitably close round. for information as to the kidnappers' lair. Wade was anxious to confirm the been with the consent of his confed- erates, But the threats he uttered With the gunboat heading them away Captain Caythers would, but it was from the Irish coast, the increasing no use. A compromise was effected restlessness of the coerced crew, and by Rolham turning King's Evidence. realization of the hopelessness of After serving a comparatively light aimless wandering the end seemed sentence he would be able to retire inevitable. in affluence. The Chief cursed them as fools and "Most reprehensible," Caythers cowards. "If a similar ship to this complained. "Now that we've round - one sailed half -way round the world, ed up the fellows everybody puts difficulties in my way." "Well, you don't get cases like this every day." "No, thank goodness. Only pleasing little tasks like finding out who shot an unidentified man at Wellingham Major Mosson slid unobstrusively into the room. "Where?" he de- manded. "Wellingham." "I used to stay with some people just outside the town. Know' it like a book." "Nothing. doing. We haven't been called in yet and if we are there will be no representative of our Legal Department given leave of absence to turn detective." "Who solved -the Wade case?" The assistant commissioner's hand absently strayed towards a heavy volume of Stone's Justices Manual. "I wish I knew," he said. "The judge will want to know, the jury will want to know and so will the newspapers." Mosson sighed with relief. "For a moment I thought you were going to throw that book at me," he re- marked. "For, a moment 1 had that very sound intention," Caythers. admitted, "on mature consideration I have de- cided to hand it over so you can take Brumfield, R. R. No. 1: R. F. Mc er- cher, Dublin, R. R. No. 1; J. F. Preuter, Brodhagen; R. G. Jarmuth, Bornholm, R. R. No. 1. Any money to be paid may be paid .to the Royal Bank, Clinton; Bank of commerce, jeaforth, or at Calvin Cvtt's Grocery, Goderich. Parties desiring to effect insure ,ante or transact other business will be promptly attended to on applica- lon to any -of the above officers ad dressed to their respective post offi- :r:ea. Losses inspected by the director who livers nearest the scene. t+ ,CANADIAN ;� ATION> 1 w AILWAYS L— TIME TABLE 'trains will arrive at and depart from Clinton' as follows: Buffalo and Gaderick Div. Going East, depart 6.43 a.m Going East, depart 8.00 p.m. Going West, depart 1.1.45 a.m. Going West, depart 9.50 p.m. London, Huron & Bruce Going North, ar 11.21, lye. 11.47 a.m. Going South ar. 2.50, leave ' 8.08 p.m, Out of the blue came the seaplane. Scranton leaped from the radio cabin, pistol is, hand. Later he admitted dreading being machine gunned, or even bombed. At such a moment there was no time for cool thinking. It was unnerving to see that great machine hurtling clown like a falcon. after her prey. Capt. Marley had waited such a glorious opportunity. His attack was launched at a moment least expected. The gangsters were foolishly wasting. ammunition, and were too much oc- cupied to protect their rear. Pandemonium reigned as the crew went joyously into action, snaton1ng' at whatever weapons come handiest, content with bare knuckles so long as these could thud against enemy flesh. There was, no necessity for the gunboat to intervene. Marley and his men were quite capable of doing their own, mopping. up. "Man;' it was grand," the captain A precise thinker, who has read much and well, he speaks flawless English. -But when he does a prob- lem in figures, which is often, he does it in French, the language in which he was educated. When, however, at home he speaks with his wife, a lady of Spain, it is in the tongue of Cer- vantes. In German too he is fluent and he can toss Italian well enough to talk back to a black shirt. He's A Cosmopolitan Let me first set out his facts of life. His father, born, in Australia, returned to Banff, Scotland, as a young man where his own father be- fore him had run a foundry making farm implements. His mother was also A Scot. Ilis father went to Paris, became general manager of an American farm implement firm, set up in busi- ness for himself, in time introduced Massey -Harris machines there, about From friends I learned a couple of incidents of his war service which throw a light on the stuff inside the elegant Mr. Duncan. In the March, 1918, retreat of the 5th Army he survived some of the deadliest fight- ing of the war. At Messines ridge, which his bat- tery had to fire with open sights on the oncoming Germans, he "observ- ed" from a pillbox door, holding a dead body on his knees as cover against shrapnel! At this same Messines young Dun- can was awakened from a tired sleep by the sudden German onslaught. In his pyjamas, plus a sweater which was all he had time to don, he hopped on his horse to go into action, In his pyjamas and sweater he stayed on that horse and commanded his guns during four days of ceaseless fight- ing and movement. At no time has Mr. Duncan picked his spots. it back to your department where you'll probably need it in the busy days to come," t * * * * All adventures come to an end sometime or other. Six months later Sir Timothy Wade had grown tired of discussing it, although he was prepared to wager that his health had benefited by it. "Thrills, my boy," he told Brooms, "and a touch of hardship are worth bottles of doctor's medicine." "Bill has something more import- ant to talk about," Felicite said shyly. "Yes sir, I—I—" "Out with it, Broome. Not an in- crease in salary, surely?" "Not exactly, sir," "Then you want to marry my niece. For two pins I'd refuse my consent. What would you do?" "Marry without it." "Of course you would, or I'd want to know the reason why. What beats me is that there should be all this delay. After the way you young people acted when you got together after the rescue I quite expected this to have been settled weeks ago." He leaned back • in his chair, regard- ing them with contented approval. There was only one stipulation. The bride must wear a bouquet of Odonto- glossum Berenice Farlane, the orchid which first gave news of Sir Tim- othy's kidnapping. Which made a pleasant touch in the newspaper accounts of the wed- ding, although,' to be sure, there was. plenty of picturesque descriptive matter supplied by the presence of Major Mosson, several uncomfort- able Scottish seamen who could hard- ly be left out of the picture, and Captain Caythers, in the background, as usual but hardly tobe mistaken for other than a guiding genius. (THE END) 1 :4N`\T.W�ote 6 DIFFERENT MODELS. including models with built-in kitchen heater. for coal or wood. ri ? n §ASY TERMS. ELEMENTS Have 5 differ• ent heats—each one designed for a certain cooking task. BIG OVEN Has two Even -Heat elements. slmpii-Mucic switch for oven has three speeds: bake, broil and pre -heat. MODEL B-60 Look at These•Other Important Advantages Cabinet all -porcelain inside and out; High-speed broiler; Cook -Master automatic oven control; Warming drawer; Heavy oven insulation; Thrifto-Matic switches for auto- matic cooking; Automatic Time -Signal; and many others! Sutter & Perdue, Clinton MADE BY THE WORLD'S LARGEST MAKERS OF ELECTRIC REFRIGERATORS of a friend, he is "burning himself I er business men to make it easy and up for his country in an hour of dire • fluent for the air officers charged with the training of pilots, air observ- ers and air gunners by. the thousand and a host of aircraftmen. Then he set out to simplify, to get action. He pays glowing tribute to the quality of the officers he found in the air service. He was delighted to discover that many of them were technical crackerjacks — but in the R•C.A.F. of pre-war days these ca- pable officers had not had the op- portunity of gaining' experience of big business. And this was big busi- ness. In order to short-cut, simplify, de- velop an organization in which tliere would be no waste moves, he brought in four men, two from the Bell Tele- phone Co., an efficiency expert and H. G. Norman, senior partner of Price, Waterhouse & Co., to go over the new set-up in detail and smooth out the snags. need." Working daily from 8 o'clock to midnight as often as not, or later, he is giving all he las to the Joint Air Training Plan whereby Great Britain hopes to receive a mounting supply of crack -Canadian pilots, air gunners and air observers to help whip Hitler. Mr. Duncan knew nothing of the duty ahead of hint when hi April he left, with Mrs. Duncan, on a busi- ness trip to California. But be had scarcely arrived at Stockton, Cal., be- fore the late Norman Rogers, then minister of national defence, called him by telephone, and asked him to become deputy minister for air with the specific task in mind of shaping the destinies of the gigantic British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. Mr. Rogers said that the request came directly from Mr: King, that it was backed by the desire of min- isters Ralston, Howe and himself that he should serve—for the dura- tion of the war. The war over, he slipped back to a business life. He went to his firm's London office—he was then 24—and became its continental traveller front Spain to the Near East, from Scan- dinavia to North Africa. Next he was posted to Paris as assistant man- ager (to his father) of the French branch. His father died,and at 27 he became manager, of the very large French business which included Bel- gium and North Africa. Two years later, at 27, he became general sales manager for all Europe, He built two factories, one in Germany, the other in France. Then, at 36, he be- came general manager of manufac- ture and sales for Europe, He had SUIT ' travelled far and fast. The next move took him back to the new world. The depression was on; his firm was meeting trouble in the Argentine; itt 1932 he was sent there as general manager to reor- ganize the business. It is no secret that he i•e`volutionized it and made it pay well. Keeping Public Informed From the start he was acutely con- scious that the Canadian public had The call put Mr. Duncan on a spot. not been adequately informed and He had a deep duty to his firm, fac- held erroneous views of the J.A.T.P., ing as it did war problems in'whioh its basis, program and objective. The his own wide experience up through plan involved an expenditure of $600, - its ranks had immense value. He felt 000,000, of which Canada was to put • he could not leave it. But Mr. Rog- up $350,000,000. ers would not take "no"; he asked That's money in a big way, Mr. hien to think it over. Mr. Duncan Duncan reasoned, and the public has thought it over and he talked it over a right to know what it all means, with his wife. Here was a war call "Very little in this world is usefully that, whatever the cost, he could not fail to face. That night he flew back to Toronto. He placed the problem before his fellow directors. They felt that he could not leave the company perman- ently, with things as they were in Europe, but that he should serve his country, too. They offered to Id him go to Ottawa for three months to organize the ,new air min- istry and aid the Joint Air Training Plan. Called To Ottawa It is also no secret that abotit that time Massey -Harris at 'tome was in the doldr'uins. In March, 1935, shortly before his 41st birthday, Mr. Duncan was brought to Toronto as general sales manager for Canada. The gen- eral manager was ill and in August, 1935, he- was made assistant general manager, and in December, 1935, he was made general manager. In the next year or so he was named a di- rector and vice-prmnidgnt of this great company which, it is once again no secret, he had lifted back to life. That was J. S. Duncan until April of this year. He built an ultra- modern home in the Bayview district of Tornto where he surrounded him- self with beautiful things, for he is by way of being an exquisite. He has a fine taste in books, in painting, in cut glass. He loves intelligent conversation. He is devoted to his wife and his two small daughters. Ho was absorbed in the big busi- ness which has been his life. He had no interests outside. He was no socialite, though he had many friends. He took no part in politics. He did not throw his weight around, Suffic- ient to him were his job, his family, his home and his intellectualpursuits) That is the man 0£tawa called to national service. Today, in the words In Ottawa, Mr, Royers took him to meet Messrs. King, Ralston and Howe. The prime minister heard his statement, expressed full understand- inf of his business duties and accept- ed his offer to do an organizing job for three months. Thus Mr. Duncan became acting deputy minister in the new depart- ment of which Hon. C. G. Power lat- er became the minister. The three months passed all too soon in a period of ]Hectic work which included the new phase of things which began when the Germans launched their drive at the Low Countries and France on May 10th. At the end of them, in July, Mr. Duncan agreed to stay for anoth- er three months. In October, when they end—who knows? It is a safe bet that this dynamic man will find it hard to let go the giant air scheme which he has gal- vanized into smooth and pulsing life. What did he do in Ottawa? What has he done? Hosv could a farm implement man, however good, come into a' miltary air service and make things move? When he went to Ottawa, he moved at once- to the Jackson building on Bank St., which is air force head- quarters. With him there was going to be no remote control. When. he had measured -the needs of the task, he preceded to bring other civilians into this air department. This Joint Air Training Plan, he'll tell you, has a military aim but it has to be organized and run on business lines. Therefore, he brought in oth- kept secret," he argued, and he set out to overcome the harm done in the public mind by the hush-hush policy of the past. He first got the approval and con- sent of the prime minister to setting up a public relations office in the department. Then he called in John Martin, puclicity director for Massey - Harris. Together they decided what was needed to inform the public. As a result Joseph W. G. Clark, a brother of Gregory Clark, a distin- guished R.A.F. veteran and an ex- perienced advertising and public re- lations counsel, was picked to take charge of the task of airing the air plan and air force, and Norman Smith, a fine newspaperman, son of the editor of the Ottawa Journal, and others of ability were appointed to the staff. Their job was not to propagand but to make available to Canadian and United States newspapers the reser., voir of action and human interest up to then kept carefully concealed. They were to aid and abet working newspapermen,'motiott picture men, and radio "nen rather than face them with a blank wall of official reticence such as in the past they had only too frequently met with. They were also to publicize the feats of Canadian pilots in the last war, to inspire pride .and a spirit of emulation in today's Canadian youth. Soon the public began to know that the scheme, far from failing or fumb- ling as ignorant critics accused some months ago, was ahead of schedule. Lately they have been learning that the original schedule of three years has been pepped up beyond all hopes. Hardly had Mr. Duncan got things going when the blitzkrieg began in May. As a natural sequel, with every plane of every kind needed over there, Great Britain' sent word that she would. have to suspend contributions for two months. In other words, the training planes which were to be her main contribution of 3180,000,000, (Continued on page 3) -, ,