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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1941-12-12, Page 3DECKER 12, 1941 Iortcoa - (Continued from -Page 2)• destroyed. One side wail remained, and up it at irregular intervals were ' the fireplaces which had once sup- plied a bit of heat to Lits rooms. Part of the floor of one upstairs room hung In the air, with a bed on it. Again there was that .feeling that this was just what I had expected. It remained while we drove down a long street, with half a dozen houses missing at more or less regular In- tervals. After that, my feelings began to change.1',Perhaps it was the ruined churches; Several of them had noth- ing left but blackened walls. On the main business street, many stores -were without windows; others were hollow shells.' It made me angry before long. This wanton damage seemed so senseless. Obviously, military targets had not been hit or they had been repaired so quickly that the effect was slight: It was the houses that had suffered most, and the churches. The train to Londoh' was crowded, but the six of us got a compartment to ourselves; On the wall was a de- tailed map of the 'railway line. I thought of the girl in the censor's office and my map. But I never saw another one on a British train. Most of the railway stations have had the names obliterated or the signs torn down .dn the 1hope that invaders might get lost. London in the Blackout The train was aibout half -way to London when blackout time arrived at about half -past six. The guard came in and pulled down heavy blinds over all the windows and doors. Even the door out into the corridor had a blind on it. It was the first hint that there is nothing half-hearted about the British blackout: It's black. Inside the 'railway car age, two dim lights kept the compartment in a state of semi -darkness. One was a white 'light, set high up in . deep funnel in the roof. The of,er light, more exposed, was blue a' i -did not give enough light to ma it possible to read a newspaper. Of all the first ' is more vivid than in London in the bl some doubt about had reached Paddi .not but everybody s,.emed to be get-, of 'Old London which had been de- trig out. One of tl editors openedstrcyed by the Great r Fire in 1666 and the door.. There wa• nit a thing to be rebuilt better than it had been. Now keen except three sc. ttered blue bulbs sit has been destroyed again. in a ceiling high o erhead. Moving East of St. Paul's Cathedral and shapes came past t e door and one north of Fleet Street, there is an ar- of them answered e question: "Is ea of, almost a square mile with heed - this Paddington?" with a short, "Yes, lY a building standing. Perhaps you sir," have seen that remarkable photograph Nobody who ha n't been there will •which shows the great dome of St. ever believe how . rk. London can be Paul's standing up above a mass of in the blackout at th time of the new smoke and flames, while in the fora - moon. Three blue b lbs really give ground the wails of ruined houses no light at all: th- ist intensify the are silhouetted against the fire. I had wondered sometimes if that - phot`)- graph was not faked. In a room of the Press Club in London, I saw the ori- ginal. -Walking through the ruins of the old City of London, it is still easy to picture that terrible night. Many of the walls which stood up PRODUCT OF CAJ1`ADIAN 11 • DS Twenty-five pounder field guns, requiring in their manufacture infinite skill and worknia hip, are onw being turned out in Targe numbers from a Canadian p nt. Photo shows barrels passing through one of the many operations, b tween the melting of the scrap iron and " the completion of the finished un, ready to fire. The entire process take's place under the one roof. trate cars. Taxi and bus drivers must find their way largely by instinct. The cab stopped under some -kind of roof. A. man with a tiny pocket flashlight helped us out and called for someone to take the bags. We passed one by one through a revolv- ing door and emerged suddenly into the bright light of a hotel lobby. There was something familiar about the plaice. The feeling persisted even after I .had been taken to my room and had looked into the bathroom with its Roman bath and Royal 'Doul- ton fixtures, reminders of past splen- dor. Then I remembered. I had seen this famous hotel in moving pictures long, ago. Bomb Damage in London pressions, none The next morning I saw London hat of my arrival l -•for the first time. Our hosts from the ckout. There was hether the train gton station or British Council came around in an old car and drove us around the central part of the city, particularly that part darkness. And London was not only dark, but quiet as well. This didn't deem like a railway .station. Outside not a light allowed in the City. Somehow, ou.r hosts from the Bei- tish Council found us, and they knew what to do. In a few moments, they had a porter hunting for a taxicab. in that blackened area since the big • Where he went, I'll never know, but blitz last December have been torn he came back with two, and in the down by demolition squads. Where light of later experience that was -there are basements, .they have been something of an achievement. cemented and turned into .water re - Our taxi driver was old and his cab servoirs for fighting future fires. was aucieut. Four persons and theirThis was an area of office build-- �In gage seemed like too, much of a ings and publishing houses, with a load, but we entrusted ourselves to arun-eller of fine old churches and some him, hoping he knew what to do. of the most famous administrative' The only outdoor lights in London buildings. It was burned in a con- ic signals and the shelter centrated blitz one week -end before ;the Londoners had learned how to fight bhe incendiary bomb. -d don't think it could ever happen again. An incendiary bomb is small and light. A large bombing plane might carry a thousand. of them. They are showered down by hundreds and are just heavy are th signs. Eve covered, exce the traffic lights are. a tiny cross in the centre. The sh ter signs have only a dim "S" iihowin; on them, An Uuncanny ietness The feeling persisted to . t this could not possibly be the• wor d's largest city. Sometimes the taxi . Id stoop enough to go through a slate roof. It ;and a bus or 'some more taxis would is t-wo minutes or so before they burst go across the intersection. Each had •into' flame. Every second counts. The one dim headlight, •fitted with shut- incendiary bomb can be conquered :n the first two or three minutes. Atter that, it takes the fire brigade to do anything about it. Strangely enough,. the things that touch the heart of the observer in desolate areas like this are the small things. 'In ruined houses, it is dolls or other toys lying around; in form- er office buildings, it is battered type- writers piled up, a dozen or so to- .gether, or some other evidence -of the normal life that was once carried on there. Yet even in the midst of this deso- lation, I had the feeling that the Ger- man bombers had failed. They .had not even, tried to hit military targets. It is thought that they tried to wipe out the whole of London's fire fight- ing apparatus. They didn't succeed. The fire brigades were massed in that small area and more bombers came over, dropping high explosive bombs. Suddenly they stopped coming. It is said that a mist arose back over the Channel and it was feared they could not return safely. , Whether that was the reason or not, London's fire fight- ers escaped to fight another day. ,Seeing other parts of London later, I felt again and again that the Ger- man bonibers had failed. They de- stroyed thousands . of 'houses and stores and offices and dozens of churches. They did get many fac- tories along the,Thames. But they not only failed to frighten the British people: they also missed many of the most tempting targets. For instance, every bridge over the Thames is in operation. It is said not one has been hit though thousands 61 bombs have gone into the water in an attempt to cut traffic. There are tem- porary bridges which can he quickly finished if any bridge is destroyed. They have never been needed. I wandered through the dock area near Tower Bridge one day. The little houses in the East End have taken a bad punishment. In two places l saw vacant lots piled high - with bricks that must have come from hundreds of houses. But the docks were stilhin operation as usual with convoys going out the Thames. It was obvious that Tower Bridge itself had never been hit. The Tower of London has lost only- a corner of one small bastion. There hasn't been any bombing in London lately. It is now five months since the last bombs have fallen on the capital. Only once while I was in Ltindon did an enemy plane ever come near the city. Froin the roof of a newspaper office, I ,watched the flashes of the anti-aircraft guns away ters so that it threw a circle of semi- darkness on the pavement. The win- dows of the buses were covered. They were just dim outlines as they pass- ed. The tiny red cross at the corner would disappear. and be replaced by a green one and the driver would start up again. Some of the editors, familiar with London, in the past, asked him que`stioris about the local- ities. Only once, at the corner of ,Hyde Park, did one of them guess correctly. I am told that London in normal times is noisy at night, though not so- bad as New York. In the blackout, it is quiet. There seem to be no pri- ICOBAC Pipe To -bar -co] FOR MILD, COOL, SMOKE eer env, Sales Books are the best Counter Cheek Books made in Canada. They cost no more than ordinary books and always give satisfaction. We are agents and will be pleased to quote you on any style or quantity required. See Your Horne printer first THE HURON'EXI'OSITO Seaforth a Ontario R., to the east. through. There was bombing going on all that time, but it was: around the coasts of Britain. I came through a bombing one night in Bournemouth, and will tell of it in a later story. But conditions have obviously chang- ed. The Germans no longer have superiority in the air. Defences are stronger. It doeen't seem likely that the British will be "blitzed" again as they were last winter—actual inva- sionseems impossible. The German never got CKNX - WINGHAM 920 Kcs. 326 Metres WEEKLY PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS Friday; Dec. 12-7.30 a.m., "Ever - ready Time"; '11, Hawaiian Strings: 4.30, Piano Ramblings; 8.15, Hender- son's Old -Timers. Saturday, Dec. 13-11 a.m., Satur- day Morning Frolic; 4 p.m., Shut-in Request Time; 7, Glen Mil, er Orch- estra; 8, CKNX Barn Dance. Sunday, Dec. 14-11 a.m., Service; 3.15 Guy Lombard tra; -1.15, ,CKNX Program G Monday, Dec. 15-10.10 a.n Kunz. piano; 5.15 p.m., Seer Scouts; 7, "Ogden's Hoedow Miss Eileen Bogie, piano. Tuesday, Dec. 16-9.15 a.m., Sweet- hearts; 3.45 p.m., Gene Autry, songs: 4, "At Home With the Ladies"; 9e- Memories ,Memories of Hawaii. Wednesday, Dec. 17-8.05 a.m., "Your Breakfast Club"; 12.45 p.m Circle Bell -Ranch; 7.30, The Lone Ranger; 9, Wilf Carter' • Thursday, Dec. 18-10 a.m., Mid - Morning News; 3.30 p.m., Church of the Air; 6.40, Telephone Tunes; 8.30, Ranch Boys. Church Orches- ssip. . Charlie t .Servi O'; 9.15 a Canada's War Effort THE tOMIN ON EN. SEVENTY FIRSST ANNUAL STATEMENT Earnings At • Satisfactory Level; Sound Liquid •i, - tion; Loans and Deposit Depositla Higher. The. anneal meeting of shareholders of The Dominion Bank was .held at the Head Office of the Bank in the City of Toronto on Wednesday, Dec. 10th, when the 71st annual statement covering operations for the twelve months ended October 31st last was presented. The more important features of this statement that- should be noted are, greitly increased deposits, an enlarg- ed portfolio, commercial loans show- ing a large advance, total assets at the highest figure ever published in the Bank's history with, earnings at satisfactory level. The net profits for the year were $939,322, after making provision fpr Dominion Government taxes of $44:1.- 004,' an increase of $78,800 over Do- minion and Provincial taxes that were paid in 1940. From the profits were provided $700,000 for Dividends, a contribution of $85,000 was made to the Officers' Pension Fund and $150,- 000 was written off Bank Premisses Account, leaving $4,322, which was added to Profit and Loss Account, now standing at $865,500. Cash assets have improved during the year by $4,933,989. The total re- ported is $3'3,889,378, which is 22.39% of public liabilities. Immediately avail- able assets have risen from $71,524,716 to $80,131,481-52.94% of public lia- bilities. Total deposits appear 'in the state- ment at $143,151,535, an increase dur- ing the year of $12,740,018. Non-in- terest bearing deposits are $48,710,- 903, an increase $7,635,064, whi deposits bearin interest ,$83,261,70 Show an increase of $2,639,387. Do- minion and. Provin 1 Government de- posits are $11,178,924, 'an increase of $2,465,567. t Commercial Loans and Discounts in Canada appear at $78,817,398, an im- provement during the year of $4,660,- 011. The Bank has never in its his- tory reported its commercial loans at so high a level. Call and Short Loans in Canada and elsewhere show little change from the figures reported a year ago. The Bank's investments during the ear have grown from $38,489,760 to $42,648,1.69. They consist to a large extent of Dominion, provincial and Municipal securities in a total of $39,- '87',4.46. The increase in the bank's portfolio is made, up largely of Do - _mien Government securities. Letters of Credit, Acceptance,, etc., are shown at $2,329,228, a dedi'ease during the year of $2;004,077. The total Assets of the Bank, which now exceed $168,000,000, are at the highest figure ever published in the Bank's seventy-one years of business. The bank's circulation at $4,189,539: shows a decrease of $571,545, provi- sion having beers made for the requir- ed statutory reduction of 10% in Jan- uary last. Bank Premises Account is shown in a total of $5,386,931.00, $150,000 having,een written off clue- ing the year. A Weekly Review of Development on the Home Front. 1. Ceiling on prices and wages from December 1st. Managerial' executive and other salaries stabilized at 'most recent rate established and payable on or before November 6th. All man- ufacturing processes performed on a custom or commission basis brought under price ceiling. Enforcement of price ceiling to be in hands of P. A. McGregor, commis - sinner of Combines and Investigation Act. 2. John Grierson appointed national film commissioner of National Film Board for a three-year term commenc- ing November 25th. 3..'l'wo west -coast shipyards in- structedto proceed with construction of 17 twin-screw corvettes. Approxi- mate expenditure: $25,000,000. Ves- sels part of a general shipbuilding ex- pansion for completion in 1943.which includes an additional Sts corvettes, 25 minesweepers and 16 trawlers. 4. Following many protests receiv- ed by Bacon Board regarding in- creased discounts on low grade hogs, particularly in Western Canada, Hon. J. G. Taggart, chairman of the Board announced that there has been•no cu;. in the price of A and• B1 grade hogs. 5: Cattle -feeding operations for all Canada for the 1941-42 feeding season to be on about same scale as 1940.41. Agriculture Department,announces. Two facts have contribted to the situ'ition: (a) feed situation; (b) strengthening of market for feeders early in shipping season which help- ed to raise price for feeders to f`rirly high levels. Gifts That Car Owners Will Appreciate You can delight every car owner you , know with a gift that will make for the smarter appearance or smoother riding of his car. Make this store your Auto Gift Headquarters. You will always find that we ca a complete supply of standard er- chandise at attractive prices. Christ- mas or no Christmas—we're Santa Clauses in offering you -variety. Gly PP Pg ggi Two small girls were having a tre- mendou argument. "My daddy's a mounted policeman like my daddy," said Peggy proudly. "Oh, but it is'" said the -first child. "If there's any trouble, he can get away quicker." Interpret Regulations. Governing Credit Interpretation of certain regulations of the Wartime Prices and Trade Board by a well known wholesale house will be of interest to many re= tellers: 1. A retailtr may sell under a ilud- get or instalment plan of selling but the initial. payment on each contract (each transaction must be a new con- tract and cannot be added to an ex- isting contract) must be not less than $10.00 or one-third of the value of the purchase, whichever is the larger, and the. following instalment payments must not be less than $5.00 each month or 1/1.2 of the unpaid balance, including a service charge, whichever is the larger. There must be a dif- ference between "cash" selling price and the instalment selling price which difference shall r.epresnt a rasonable carrying charge to cover the cost of the accommodation. "2. Goods sold on credit (to a charge account) are due for payment within the meaning of the order, not later than the last day of the mont.ii fol- lowing the month in which the goods were purchased and if not paid in full by the 10th day after the due dee the seller shall not charge any listed article to that charge account so long as it remains unpaid. And if it re- mains unpaid it shall be subject to the provsions of , the order dealing with instalment selling as mentioned above, including e service charge, ex- cept that the instalment agreement shall date from the overdue date and any sum ee sums paid on account of the original cash purchase Price shall be applied to the down payment thereon as required under instalment selling. Of course the account can STEERING WHEEL COVERS that the lady of the house 50c - will appreciate I SPINNERS Steering wheel control steer twice as fast with half the effort 75c to $1.35 FLASHLIGHTS NationallyFrom known makes in . to various sizes. 95c $1 LO �T �D ii .1 I. I.. GAS TANK LOCKING CAPS Make an ideal gift. With gaso- line sale restricted, this device protects you from theft $1.50 Ili TIRE CHAINS Winter is here and with it comes snow -bound and icy roads. Tire. Chains are a necessity $sUo for any motorist; from 1 111 SLIP COVERS Will be appreciated by any motorist. A variety of styles and colors. 00 From. OO O • SEAFORTII: F. DALY, 444 lag be restored to good standing by pay ment in full at any time after the due date. Example: Listed goods bought in October would be due for payment on the 30th of November and overdue fur - payment on the 10th of December, af- ter which date and until 'paid for or re -financed, no further credit can be given. Note: These are the terms and dates upon which the order be- comes effective. There .is nothing in the order to prevent shorter terms being quoted if desired. 3. A retailer may still sell on his Blanket Club or Lay -Away Plan pro- vided full payment is received before goods purchased leave his possession or he may accept payment on a lay- a.wfty basis until the required down payment under the instalment plan of selling has been made, when deliv- ery of the goods can be made provid- ed an instalment' agreement is then entered into in accordance with para- graph No. 1, except that the pa.yment.s accumulated on the Lay -Away Plan may be regarded as the down pay- ment. •• nature, this order I .'ssary for retailers to he prepared to enter into some form of instalment contract in connection with charge accounts which may have become overdue unless he is prepar- ed to insist on and enforce immediate payment. 5. Remember that the purpose of the Government order is to discourage instalment selling as ordinarily prac- tised and the logical conclusion from this is that they are asking the re- tail trade not to attempt to increase credit business. a=ti1V LI :tiia ,.^ux.:aua¢IJUYek&ce4+�iu THE DOMINION BANK Condensed Statement as at 31st October, 1941 ASSETS Cash on Hand and -in Banks, including Bank of Canada $ 33,889,378 Deposit With Minister of Finance 219,170 421648,170 3,3'74,763. Government and Other Securities Call Loans " Commercial Loans and Discounts Bank Premises Liabilities of Customers under Letters of Credit, Acceptances and Sundry,Other Assets • LIABILITIES $ 80,131,481 80,614,532 5,386,931 2,596,731 $168,729,675 Deposits,.. $143,11,535 Deposits by Other Banks._ ._ 3,2 4,991 Notes in Circulation 4,189,539 Letters of Credit, Acceptances and Sundry Other Liabilities 3,258,099 Capital, Reserve and Undivided Profits The General Manager, The Dominion Bank, Toronto, Ontario.; $153,864,164 14,865,511 $168,729,675 We report that we have examined the above condensed Balance Sheet as at October 31, 1941, and competed it with the books at Head Office and with the certified returns from the Branches. We have examined. the cash, and the securities representing the Bank's investments, held at Head Office and certain of the larger Branches as at October 31, 1941, and in addition we examined the cash and die securities held as certain of the important Branches during the year. We have obtained all the informa- tion and explanaslt°&ns that we have required, and in our opinion the transactions of the Bank which have come under our notice have been within the powers of the Banka In our opinion the Balance Sheet discloses the true condition of the Bank and is as shown by the books of the Bank: Toronto, Ontario. ` November 18, 1941. A. B. Sl•IIIPItEltD, F.C.A. of Peat, Marwick, Mitchell & Co. W. D. GLENDINNING, F.C.A., of G'leodinning, Gray & Roberts, :.5 wLiY�cW4iu'�:&�i.'•,NiiP«:rt w:a�eua x�ul:'wu lIL hM_kiUl:,