Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Seaforth News, 1943-07-22, Page 6THE SEAFORTH NEW$ THURSDAY, JUI-y 22, '1943 Weekly Editor Looks "a"' On an fly to the building a t better world," At Ottawa Mr, Graydon, ProgreSsive-OonserYat- ive ". our armed forces, we Owe By 'Tim Grebublat them debt of gratitude difficult to Night of July 9th. While Brooke IMY , resolve to, pity them that ClaXton, parliamentary assistant ad.debt, no matter how much it may be." dressed a sparse and somuombulent House on External Affairs, I 'had the "Anon" — Britain's feeling somehow that momentous things were in the making. The Prime Minister and Defence Minister Balaton, only two cabinet ministers present were close in huddle in ad - Mining front benches. The P. M. look- ed grave and pre•occupied. He was making a pencilled draft. Correcting, leaning over to cheek with Mr, Ral- ston, pencilling Some more, At 8 o'clock next morning I heard his radio announcement to the nation that Canadians were fighting on the beach heads of Sicily. He may have been drafting that important speech as I watched, even while all of Can- ada was unaware of history -making events taking shape thousands of miles away. Surely they knew. What a secret to carry? No stove league raised more fuss than sugar for canning. Housewives were definitely annoyed at the arbit- rary allotment after counting cans in the basement. The Opposition start- ed a warm but informative debate in the House on this matter and Finance Minister Insley said knowledge of available sttpplies was not known at the time. It was estimated 30 to 40 per cent of the population did their own canning. Lo and behold, actually 84% applied, Now, in Germany and the USA., a flat allocation is made to each ration book holder, whether for caning or not, Canadians (liked for 200 million lbs.; only half that amount available. Certainly there will be a different approach to the problem next year. Most productive of argument speech in the House for some time— that of Justice Minister St. Laurent on the resolution for deferment of re- distribution during the war. There -was a distinct tenseness in the House. Party leaders and supporters approved, but nine Quebec members voted against putting the motion. Who'd ever thought it! Research experts of the Department of Agricul- ture,' although mum on the subject yet, are working on the production of rubber, resins and a superior kapok from species of the ltivily milk weed. A group have returhed here from the U.S.A., where they conferred with experts on progress made there along the same line. It appears it's getting into the post -experimental stage be- cause I hear they are even working on harvesting methods and machin- ery to make the once -pest get to work for the war -effort Members tell us the present long - drawn out session, which started in. January, will probably wind up by the end of this month. "Tl -General 1942" income tax form was a national headache. C. Fraser Elliott, commissioner for income tax, told a newsman here, at the height of the mob scene, he had high hopes for simplified income tax legislation in 1944 and with it a form that doesn't take a hopped -up chartered accountant to solve. Probably more CWAAC's, etc., in Ottawa than any other single place. My observation here is that Canada can be proud of them. From what I've seen in the nation's capital their bearing, conduct and deportment on the whole is excellent. Come prepared, Probably tradition, but lady visitors to the House of Commons galleries without a hat have to spread e. kerchief over their heads before entering• the august presence. Men, of course, uncover. The Prices Board has granted an increase of 2-3 of a cent a dozen on clothes prins, Doesn't seem much, but what does it mean to Canadian housewives? Curious I checked, found they use annually around one million 320 thousand gross or over 190 mill- ion pins to hang out the wash. 1941 census figures show that 82,5 per cent of the population of Canada was born in this country, as against '77.9 in 1931. Of the 11,506,655 total about 8.7% were from British coun- tries, mainly the British Isles; Euro- pean, 3.7%; United States, 2.7%; Asia born only 0,4%. Movement of coarse grains to east- ern provinces for feeding will dmible 1942 figures, and probably reach 100 million bushels. Government pays cost of freight from Ft. William east, thus they, buy at Pt Wm. prices, In a spirit of humility but resolu- tion, I thought, political leaders in the House referred to Dominion Day, 1943, as they -were in eession. cant excerpts: Prime Minister King, "By our strength in war, and by our Favorite Author Government- documents have not been noted as exciting and pleasur- able reading — even, in the land of Shakesspeare and Edgar Wallace. But America's Book -of -the -Month Club has offered to its 600,000 .members, as its June selection, a British Govern- ment report -- Combined Operations — The Official Story of the Com- mandos, published in the United States at 52.00. Its English edition is probably an all-time record for a first printing, with 750,000 copies, This is by no means the first best- seller published by the British Gov. ernment since the war began. On a March morning in 1941 there appear- ed on the newsstands and in book- shops all over the 'United Kingdom a small book entitled The Battle of Britain. The whole of the first edition was snapped. up wit,hin a week. To- day it is in its forty-second edition. It has been printed in twenty-four lan- guages. There is a Braille edition, and Doubleday Doran has brought out an American edition for twenty- five cents. Total sales to date in the 'United Kingdom are nearly five mill- ion copies, and about a minion more in other countries. This spectacular best-seller, too, was a British Government document, written with the usual official anon- ymity. Here, hoWever, was a book which told a story close to the. per- sonal experience of everyone in Great Britain -- and told it brilliantly, Here, tor once, was a Government document written by someone who really knew how to 'write. This first Government best-seller was conceived one day dn the British Air Ministry official communiques on the R.A,F.'s operations. Thumbing through the file of communiques cov- ering the days Of the Battle f Brit- tain of 1940 was an official who hap- pened to possess a sure and experi- enced eye for a thrilling story, He was Hilary St. George Saunders, who has collaborated in thirty-seven thrillers. "Did anyone ever think of writing a book from these communiques?" Saunders asked one of his•superiors. "No," was the reply. "Why don't you start now?" Saunders took this as an order and set to work. Within six weeks he had completed The Battle of Britain, All he has ever -received for this, and .for his subsequent of- ficial books, was his modest official salary. Encouraged by the rst wholly un- expected success, official accounts of Britain's other war operations have followed. In Bomber Command (Doubleday Doran, $1.00), Saunders did for the R.A.F.'s Bomber Command what he had clone for Fighter Command in The Battle of Britain. Sales to date in the 'United Kingdom have been 1.333,000. The recent Bomber Com- mand Continues (half a million cop-. les sold), brings the story of theR.A.F. offensive on Germany up to the great thousand -bomber raid on Cologne. The War Office entered this rich literary market with a series of re- ports on the various campaigns fought by the British Army. The Battle of panders (750,000 conies)! The Campaign in Greece and Crete (100,000 copies); The Defense of Coals (250,000 copies); They Sought Out Rommel, an account of General Auchinleck's first campaign in Libya (50,000 copies). These volumes, devi- ating from normal practice, bore the by-lines of such writers as Ian Hay, Eric Linklater, David Garnet and Sean Fi el ding.' But anonymity was observed with Degruction of an Army (330,000 copies), the story_of. Wavell'S defeat of Graziani; and with The Abyssinian Campaign (250,000 copies); also the new Battle of Egypt (1,500,000 copies) that covers the desert campaign from the Battle of El Alamein to the cap- ture of Tripoli. This has now been published in the United States by British Information Services, at 1.5e. It contains ninety illustrations, most of them "stills" from the film "Desert Victory," The Admiralty has issued three of- ficial books. The first, Ark Royal (500,000 copies), tells the story of the famous aircraft carrier gunk so many times by the torpedoes of Nazi prop- aganda, The otheit are His Majesty's Minesweepers (just published) and East of Malta, West of Suez, an ex- citing account of the Royal Navy's operations in the Eastern Mediterran- ean, up to the Battle of Matapan. This one has sold 700,000 copies in Great Britain. Though anonymous, its author happens to be "Bartimeus," the popular writer of hooks about the Navy. • The Ministry of Home Seeurity's Understanding and co -Operation in Front Line, recently published in America (MacMillan, 31.50), is the moving record of the part played bY Britain's ' civilians andcivil dote/15e services in the blitz of 1940-41, illust- rated with nearly two hundred re - workable photographs, In England, the first edition of 343,000 was SOK out on publication day. To date Brit- ish sales are nearly two million. Latest of the Air Ministry's works is Coastal Command (Maernillan, 31.50), Hilary Saunders' lost job be- fore 'he left the Air Ministry to be - conte Recorder on Lord Louis Mount- baten's staff at Combined Operations Command,' It has Sold over a million oopies in England. The author of an• official book starts work with every reievant docu- ment before him. His finished copy is submitted to security officers for censoring, • In Combined Operations, written by Hilary Saunders, one of, the most gal- lant incidents in the raid on St. Nag- aire was omitted because it could not be confirmed first hand. One British Commando officer who had been tak- en prieoner, stod near the It 1V1 S Campbelltown, after she had rammed the gates of Forme Ecluse. A large group of very high -ranting German officers were hesitant about going on board. They feared that the block ship was loaded with explosives and might blow up. The British officer realized the advantage of blowing 'up this particular group of Nazi officers. So, to convince them that it Was quite safe, he offered to show them around the ship himself, 'While they were aboard this huge time -bomb went oc. All were killed. None who have reported the incident actually saw it happen, although many heard it from eye -witnesses. This is not good enough for the authors of these official reports. Hilary St. George Saunders is now visiting the United States. Evelyn Waugh (himself a Commando officer) describes him in the May isue of the "Book -of -the -Month Club News" as follows: "There is something a little monkish' about. him . on closer inspection, however, the monk is re- placed by the man in a continental cafe . . . who for the most part was content tocontent to sit alone and watch people go by. And one learns that Saunders spent seventeen years in that Cafe de la Paix, the secretar- iat of the League Nations at 'Geneva. "There is a third impression --- a man of books. You kno wat once that he knotts where to find them on the shelf . . . So one learns that he spent yesterday's peace as Assistant Librarian of the House of Commons. "But . . . I should never have put him down as a subaltern.- in. the Welsh Ghards, . . . but it was with that regiment in the last war he won the Military Cross at Bavay ." CONSTANCE A very lovely outdoor wedding took place at the home of Mr, and Mrs. Austin Dexter on Saturday, July 3rd, at high noon when their second daughter, Ellen Viola,' was united in marriage to Gunner John Stewart Sanderson of Saint John, N.B., youngest son of Mr. Albert Sanderson of Blyth and the late Mrs. Sanderson. The officiating' minister was Rev. A. E, A. Menzies Of the United Church, Londesboro, The ceremony took place under an arch of ever - 'greens beautifully decorated WW1 orange blossoms, pink and white streamers and white bells, banked with many flowers. Leading to the arch was a path marked off with ce- dars and streamers. The bride, who was given in marriage by her father, looked charming in an aqua blue triple sheer gown with gathered bod- ice falling into a long full skirt with trapunto embroidered neckline and long full sleeves, The floor length silk embroidered veil with finely ruched head dress which was held from a halo of orange blossoms. The bride's bouquet comprised Rapture roses and maidenhair fern. Her only ornament was a string of pearls, the gift of the groom. Miss Ethel Dexter of Kitchener, sister of the bride, was bridesmaid and was attired in a pink triple sheer gown made with a sweet- heart neckline inset with lace and dress was a pink halo finely shirred, surmounting a shoulder length veil, She carried a bouquet of pink cam/ tions and snapdragons. Little .Toyce consin, a the bri4 was the winsome little flower girl and wore a long yellow taffeta dress and carried a silver basket of snapdragons, Mi', Lloyd Stewart of Londesboro, friend of the groom, was groomsman. Miss Lillian Adams, aunt of the bride, was the pianist, playing music appropri- ate to the occasion, Rev. IVirs. Men- zies sang "0 Happy Wedding Day." during the signing of the register. The groom's gift to the bridesmaid was a glamor pirt, to the pianist a necklace, to the flower girl a ring with a turquoise stone, to the soloist a. cup and saucer, and the best man a gold tie pin set. Receiving with the bride's mother was Mrs. Dickson of Seaforth, aunt Of the groom. Each wore a navy Swiss embroidered sheer dress and corsages of white carna- tions, After the ceremony the wedd- ing dinner was served to about sixty tables Which were adorned with s ver baskets r9se5 and the rooms 'were prettily decorated With pink and white streamers and white bells. The bride's table was centred with. the ;wedding' cake. The waitresses re4 weconsins and girl friends qf the ltrido Mra. Wm, jewitt, Misses Mar- garet anti Kathleen Youngb10, 11/111, Clifford Adams, Miss Amy Toll, Mrs. Fred Youngblut, Miss Ruby IVIorri- son, Miss Irene Carthy, Miss Marion Lawson, Miss Edith Britton. The convener was Miss Elizabeth Mains, who was assisted by Mrs. P, Connol- ly, A toast was proposed to the bride and groom by Rev. Mr. Menzies to which the groom responded. The bride's travelling costume was a navy'jey crepe two-piece suit with White trimmings and wore matching accessories. The young couple left amid showers of confetti and beat wishes on a trip to Muskoka and other northern points. Friends at- tended the wedding from Toronto, London, Fergus, Seaforth, Blyth, having long full sleeves. Her head- guests at beautifully decorated Hespeler and Kitchener. OLD AND NEW IN STATION FASHIONS afildateade. ACI1 is a choice example of an up -to- ll.' the -minute structure of its period. At the top is seen the new Canadian National Railways Central Station in Montreal now in service after being inaugurated by the Minister of Trans- port. Below is a view of old Bonaven- ture Station taken in 1888 when it was opened for business. The photograph was taken by William Notman, whose pictures of Montreal old and new form part of the historical record of the Metropolis. The upper photograph was taken from the Dorchester Street Bridge which is 30 feet above the level of the passenger concourse, the building being at the edge of a plaza approximately 225 feet in width. The motor cars are parked on the bridge. The lower photo- graph taken 55 years ago is dated by the horse-drawn vehicles and when closely examined the old negative shows that some of those standing at the sta- tion edge were v'hat the old time re; porters termed "smart equippages." The original structure was up to date when opened for service to the travel- ling public. It was illuminated at night by open arc lamps which spluttered and cast unusual shadows but were highly regarded as evidence of progress. In 1916 a serious fire gutted the interior and when the structure was rebuilt the three towers were not replaced. In its present form the station served count- less thousands of travellers who found it a convenient friendly place. Old Bonaventure welcomed numer- ous distinguished travellers including Royalty. It will remain in service for suburban trains and part of the struc- ture will be remodelled to serve men and women of the active forces travel- ling in and out of,Montreal by special trains. The Central Station now in use is the last word in railway passenger struc- tures, being equipped with every con- vdnience to assist the traveller. The public concourse through which travel- lers pass to and from the train track levels, is of such size that it would contain the entire floor space of Bona - venture with 10,000 square feet to spare. The Central Passenger station is the focal point of an important terminal development which will greatly im- prove Canadian National facilities in and around Montreal. These improve- ments are of service in Canada's war effort because they allow of quick and direct movement of passenger and freight trains moving troops and sup- plies essential to that war effort. unter Check Book • We Tire Selling Quality Books Books are Well Made, Carbon is Clean and Copies Readily. All styles, Carbon Leaf and Black Back. Prices as Low 'as You Can Get Anywhere: Get our Quotation on Your Next Order. The Seaforth News • SEAFORTH, ONTARIO, •• •