HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Seaforth News, 1943-08-12, Page 6THL $W , iiORTH NEWS
THU HOMY, AUGUST 12, 104a
The Trains That
Never Return
Down in the, protruding corner of.
Brittany where the new corn in the
fields imitates the sea waves, there is
a stretch of twenty mil'oS of railway
which is tending to become a major
German headache,
It serves both Brest and Lorient.
Along it trundle some of those hea-
vy twelve -wheeled, foureylindered
locomotives—among the biggest on
the continent—which you used to
see on the Paris -Lyons line on the
way to the Mediterranean. In, those
days they were hauling anything up
to and including the somewhat as-
tringent wines of Algeria, Now there
is no wine and thanks to the R.A.F.
practically no Lorient. But the
trains still run, and must while any
of the French Atlantic submarine
pens whieh they serve remain in ac-
tion.
;And it's on this line among others
that RAP fighter squadrons have
been sharpening up the practice of
the science and art of train -busting,
so successfully that to one Mosquito
squadron alone goes a tally of forty-
three locomotives hit and stopped
since January, The same squadron
has blown up ten power stations.
9They snake lovely blue flashes when
you plug the transformer and con-
MCNaughtons Were p'
with when. e axe slip -
Early
pea end out his foot. He lay on the
ith an accide
Early Settlers boughs in the forest until evening
when his companions returned. Cut -
By M, V. W, in the Landon Urea ting the boot they applied salt park
Press to the wound, sewed lip the. boot with
strips of basswood bark and all Pro -
Outstanding in the military lists, of seeded on their way the following
Canada are the names of several day
descendants of those heroic Scottish ,
folk, who, a century or more ago, left In earlier years, saw mills and grist
the fields of heather and sailed out mills dotted the countryside.North
Tarn -
into the Atlantic, bound for the of Varna was the mill of John Turn-
North American shore.' In their own er; south of Varna was' the Scobie
land, many had met with difficulties affil. Prior to the erection of mills,
and only by thrift and industry had however, men'of the northern court -
they succeeded in keeping the home ties hauled their grain down the long
together. highway to London. Later, when the.
To Western Ontario came several Bayfield road was cut through long
bands of Scotsmen. Among the more lines of teams and wagons Could be
widely known settlements were seen at the Bayfield wharf, the grain'
those of Oxford, Elgin, West Middle- having been taken In scows to the
sex, Perth and Huron, Ever interest- boats on the lake,
ed in religion and education, the Bricks were made near Bayfield,
Scottish pioneers brought, to the for- near Zurich and near Seaforth. D, H.
gists of Upper Canada, their Bibles, Ritchie hauled limestone from the
their Psalters, and many other vain -
able books,
In the sixteenth century, John
Knox, in his great religious cam-
paign, discovered that there were
nobles who could neither read nor
write. As a result, he established
boys' schools in connection with the
Presbyterian Church, thus giving the
Scottish people free education at an
early date.
Turning to the history of the Scot -
tact breakers, but locomotives are
tisk settlement of Stanley Township,
more fun," says the squadron navi- Hnron County, one discovers that the
gator, who once bit and stopped four name McNaughton stands out prom -
trains in thirteen minutes of ten inently. Other McNaughtons, relat-
miles of line, then had the pleasure ives of the Huron pioneers, had prey-
of hearing that his squadron leader iously settled in the Bethel vicinity,
had afterwards blown up the break- i
Proof Line, London Township, All
down engine coming out to haul I were members of the McNaughton
them in. clan of Stirlingshire, Scotland. An -
How clo you attack a locomotive? other branch of the McNaughton
Pilots are naturally silent about their family had crossed over to Ireland,
individual methods, but there is no where they were long associated
harm in saying the most successful with the military life.
"prang" is very rarely carried out Through the kindness of John Me -
head -on. Naughton, Elmwood avenue, London
Primarily the aim., is to blow up I South, a former reeve of Stanley
the boiler, secondarily to give the ; Township and county commissioner
engine an all-over wrecking dose of Huron, several interesting items
which, if it does not produce a total , connected with the Scottish settle -
casualty, will chew up rough parts, ment were secured. In referring to
from the firebox to the valve gear, ' the McNaughtons of Canada, the Lon -
to give the repair shops work for doner told of his nephew, William
weeks or months. I McNaughton of Saskatchewan, des -
There is another advantage about
attacking from the side it gives
French engine -driver a split second
in which to see the attacked coming
and fall out on the off -side, leaving
a stopped engine as a sitting target.
Some pilots say, if there are no flak
cars on the train, they like to give
the driver a warning "poop" with
the guns as they come in.
The Mosquito has been a success-
fuI train -buster because its immense
speed makes it difficult for the train
gunners to range on it as it comes
in at zero feet, and being highly
maneuverable the pilot is able to
bank out of the way of the explod-
ing boiler as he crosses the railway
line at the end of the attack. Then,
if necessary, he makes a tight turn
and comes in again.
One crew, deserting trains once in
favor of power stations, found they
were able to make four attacks in
this way in six minutes.
Applauding crowds sometimes live
the train -busters difficulties. The pi-
lots say they WILL stand on rail-
way embankments and cheer. Said
one of them: "I once had to make Journeying over the plank road to
two feint attacks in the hope of I London, the McNaughtons inquired
making the crowd move. Then I gave as to the location of the Scottish
up and flew around until the driver
pulled the train clear." It is ineid-
entally because of this consideration
for the lives of French citizens that
only goods trains are ever attacked.
Another main difficulty in this
specialized form of attack is navig-
ating. At low levels it resolves itself
into pure and simple map -reading.
Ranging over the countryside from
one railway line to another, looking
for the distant smoke puff that
makes a new objective, is like en-
gaging in a four hundred miles per
hour steeplechase.
cendaut of Huron pioneers, visiting
with Gen. McNaughton, Canadian
commander overseas, who was born
at Moosomin, Sask., where his father,
Robert D. McNaughton, was associat-
ed with the fur trading business,
"Frequently they visited back and
forth," John McNaughton stated.
"And they claimed some relation-
ship." As Gen. McNaughton's great-
grandfather assisted James Watt in
designing and operating his famous
steam engine, it is evident that the
McNaughtons were long interested in
engineering research work.
About 1532, grandfather, grand-
mother , daughter, and five sons
(John, Sr., father of John Mc-
Naughton, Malcolm, William, Peter,
and Daniel) embarked for Canada.
During the 16 -week voyage in the
sailing Vessel, smallpox broke out.
Grandfather McNaughton acted as
nurse for his family and all recov-
ered from the disease. On the boat
trip from Quebec to Hamilton, grand-
father became ill with ship fever. At
Hamilton, he passed away, burial be-
ing made in the cemetery there.
settlement at Bethel,.London Town-
ship, where their cousins, Big Mal-
colm McNaughton, Mrs. Carmichael,
Mrs. Fraser, and Mrs. Robson resid-
ed. There they received a truly Scot-
tish welcome, the Ontario relatives
being delighted to meet friends from
the Old Land and to hear the news
from the old home and of events in
Stirling, Scotland, Grandmother Mc-
Naughton and two of the younger
children were invited to remain with
the London Township McNaughtons,
while the men proceeded on their
way to the homestead, located 2%
miles west of the present site of
Best Heat Absorber Brueefield, Huron County.
Best Milk Cooler When the clearing was made and
a shanty erected on what was later
The speed at which milk can be known as the McNaughton line of
cooled depends upon the rate at Stanley Township, the children, aged
which the heat contained in the milk 11 and 13, set out on foot at day -
can be passed on to something else ; break for their northern home, ar-
which will absorb heat. Some mater- riving in the evening, Never did an-
ials absorb heat Much more rapidly other meal taste "quite as good" as
than others. Water, for„ example, will that first supper at the McNaughton
cool milk 20 times faster than air. homestead in Huron County.
Air absorbs heat very slowly. Cense- Outlining events associated with
quently if a can of war milk is plat- , the early history of the Bannockburn,
ed in a refrigerated room where the Varna, krucefield and Bayfield die -
air is at freezing point, it will be tracts, Mr, McNaughton explained
about 12 hours before the tempera that his uncle, D. H. Ritchie, a form-
titre of the milk has fallen to 50 de- er county clerk of Huron, was a civil
grees Fahrenheit. This explains why engineer who had been appointed
attempts to cool 'milk in winter by i land surveyor of different townships,
setting the cans in a snow -bank or including Stanley and Bobanquet,
exposing them to outdoor tempera- The old surveyor's chains, which he
tore often leads to trouble, Iused, is a prized possession at the
Because mills must give its heat to I home of Mr. McNaughton's brother,
surrounding water, the larger the Huron County.
volume of water and the lower its John McNaughton, Sr., father of
temperature, the quicker the milk Mr. McNaughton of London South,
will be cooled, and the cooling will , was a monism' of the Ritchie survey.,
be still more rapid when the water is ing group for some time. On arriving
kept in motion. in the vicinity of Grand Bend he met'
•
stream, near the little hnanlot,' burn•.
ed It, and utilized it 10 plastering Itis
home. Others came later tor supplies,
of lime,
The Scottish settlers of the Bruce -
field and Bayfield areas realized a
handsome own from the sale of the
rock' elm and hickory trees, Buyers,
1nolnding Wilson from Hehsall, visit-
ed the district to select suitable tim-
ber for ship masts. aGngs , of men
were sent in to hew and haul away
the logs, which were later shipped to
eastern ports, Huron county was riot-
ed far and wife for its excellent rook
elm forests. .
Household Fly
Disease Carrier
Because it is one of the most active
agents in the spread of disease and
one of the greatest enemies of public
health, the common house fly should
not be tolerated hi alis 110100' di' rte
surroundings, or in slio.ps offering
human food and fruit for sale. It
breeds 10 filth, and passes directly
from this filth to Human .food, carry-
ing bacteria and particles of deceni.,
posing organic matter on its hairy
body and legs and on its sticky feet
and mouth, It may light on the face
of a sleeping child, and this common
fly is notorious for the part it plays
in spreading infantile diarrhoea, ty-
phoid, tuberculosis, cholera, dysent,
ery, and other diseases. It is strongly
suspected of being a carrier of the
virus causing infantile paralysis, and
already the Case has been almost
proved by the finding of the virus in
a mixed collection of 'files taken in
districts where infantile paralysis
had occurred.
The common house fly is one of the.
most serious corrupters of food, In
the hone, control of flies is comparie-
tively easy. They can be destroyed,
and effective covering 01 the temper-
at•y . garbage Will prevent the f11es
from finding a breeding place.
The most effective meshed of eon-
trot consists in eliminating or reduc-
ing their breeding places outside by
the proper treatment and disposal of
such materials as manure and. garb-
age. One neglected manure heap or
garbage dump is often' sufficient to
infect the whole neighborhood, and
therefore in the control of dies it is
necessary to enlist the active co-
operation of the whole community.
Practical information on this subject
will 'be found in Bulletin No. 037
"Control of Some Common Species of
Household` Insects," which may be
obtained free by writing to Dominion
Department of Agriculture, Ottawa.
"Eyes right!" thundered the
Negro Lieutenant.
"You's Wrong!" carne from the
back ranks of the black troops.
Flight Record Made in Canada's Trans -Atlantic :Service
ATrans-Canada Air Lines crew es-
tablished a new non-stop record
from Montreal to Britain, flying a big
transport plane in the Canadian Gov-
ernment's new wartime trans-Atlan-
tic service for the carriage of mail to
and from the Dominion's overseas
forces. From the take -off m Montreal
to the landing in Britain the elapsed
time was 12 hours and 26 minutes,
25 minutes faster than the previous
best time. Trans -Canada crews will
be regularly engaged in the new ser-
vice and the plane carried a second
T.C.A. crew to Britain in addition
to three official passengers and mail.
Above: crew members and passengers.
Left to right -H. Thomae; Captain
M. B. Barclay; A. J. Blackwood; Cap-
tain A. Rankin; C. S. Hewett;
W. Idouston, Superintendent of a De
1inviland Aircraft Plant; J. R. K.
Slain, Inspector of Airways, Depart-
ment of Transport; C. S. Ritchie,
l.zecutive Secretary, Department of
1 eternal Affairs, High Commission-
, ,'s Office, London, England; G. Net-
, sten; Captain R. M. Smith; Captain
l:anald F. George, Operations Man-
: ger of T.C.A. and Pilot of the record-
tse.,,lryng trip; and Squadron Leader
J. R. Gilmore. The members of the
crews hail from points in the Domin-
ion from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
Their home towns include Vancouver.
B.C., Lethbridge,_Alta., Melville,
Sask.,Winnipeg, Man.,Stratford,Ont.,
Montreal, Que., and Sackville, N.B.
Below: Lieut. E. R. Kightley, of the
Canadian Army Postal Corps, (cen-
tre) supervising the loading of mail
previous to the take -off. The plane
carried+2,600 pounds of mail for the
men and women of Canada's forces
overseas. r
Counter
Check Books
•
We Ire Sellinq 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
SE/WORTH, ONTARIO,