HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1951-01-05, Page 7The annual carol service provided by the pupils of the Seaforth Public School in Northside
-United Church was an inspiring and colorful event as the youthful singers sang French, Bohemian,
Welsh, Mexican and English carols under the direction of Miss M. E. Turnbull. Shown above are
the youthful vocalists in their places in ,the church. Left to right, front row, Sharon Prike, Jimmy
mallows, Ellen Calder, Jack Hoff, Paul Besse, Joan Boyce, Craig Willis, Andrew Calder, Carl Berger,
Jean Nixon; second row, Davina Hubert, Anne Maplesden, Joan Charters, Barbara Pfumsteel, Karen
Nicholson, Betty Meugge, Marilyn Woodcock, Judy Crich, Lynda Savauge, Carol Dennis, Madelon
Townsend, Sharon'Doig, Judy Boshart; .third row, Margaret Reeves, Isobel Shannon, Marlene Miller,
Beverly Dunlop, Betty Andrews•, Agnes Carter, Nancy Giew, Lynda Dobson, Lynda Sims, Kathryn Bosh -
mit, Gordon Miller, Paul McMaster; fourth row, Sharon Hotham, Mary Ellen Gorwill, Bobby Reith,
John Scott; fifth row, Principal •D. N. Eastman; Billy Scott, reader, •Miss M. E. Turnbull, mus-
ic director; Mrs. J. A. Stewart, organist; sixth row, Marion Besse, Marjorie Pethick, M. Austin, B. Mc-
Fadden, Billy Roberton, Ronnie Mason, Ruth Crozier, Annette Townsend, Jimmy Scott, Larry Berger,
Ruth Pinder, Alice Nixon; seventh row, Elizabeth Habkirk, Alice Christie, Marilyn McPhee, Betty
Goudie, Carol Glew, Betty Simpson, Margaret Hemberger, Barbara Boshart, Bill Flannigan, James
+atson, Merle Cooper, Dorothy Fisher; eighth row, Douglas Scott, Neil Broadfoot, .Patsy Munroe,
Joyce Wilson; Bob McGonigle, Brian Cates, Margaret Broome, Ena Lillico, Lila Dalrymple, Barbara
Fraiser, Sheila McFadden, Marion Dick and Helen McGonigle.
i
4
SEASONED
TIMBER
DOROTHY CANFIELD,F A URES
CHAPTER I
Somebody was knocking at the
door of the Principal's' house. The
thumps passed; in waves from the
yell -seasoned) oak to the stones of
the walls and, to the quiet air in-
side the hall. The stones took the
sound in and gave none of it out,
patting it secretively away into the
silence where they kept the other
sounds, 'which had throblsed against
them for the :last hundred years.
The impressionable air passed the
knocks on up the stairs to the sec-
ond floor, add were borne, aloft
to the third storey where they
poured through the open door of a
large slant-ceilinged room in which
Mr. T. C. Hulme sat at his desk.
He was the Principal. The knocks
on the door two stories below were
for him, and he easily distinguish-
ed -them through the 'much louder
music throbbing from the room
under his study.
He laid) the magazines aside and
ran all the way down the two
flights of stairs, to the front door.
Yet there was no need for haste.
Everybody in Clifford knew that
old Lottie Anderson the only
hir-
ed help ever in the Principal's
house, did her work between break-,
fast and lunch ,and was never
there in the afternoon, that Mrs.
Henry,he Professor's aunt, y, r heard
nothing -except music -that the
Professor himself was the only one
who came when you knocked and
that he was usually in his study
on the third floor. Nobody thought
•
haven't got around to putting it on
the car yet."
The boy. stood silent for a mo-
ment and then said, "Professor, if
that thing's no good I want to take
it away and give you your money
back."
"Oh, no, Eli, that's not the trou-
ble at all. I've just been too
darned busy ever since I got back,
getting things, ready for school to
open. I've been sunk in work!
The accounts -the' budget! Why,
this veiy afterngon+ the Domestic
Science teacher telegraphed that
she's married and wont be com-
ing back to teach. You must know
there's a lot for me' to do -at this
time of year."
"Do you know what your mileage
is now?" inquired the boy search-
ingly. "Because if you dont, how
can you tell whether this'll give
you more?"
I get fifteen to the gallon," Mr.
Hulme affirmed roundly.
The grave young face •before
him relaxed. "Well, then I know
it'll save ye something," said Eli,
relieved and, without any formali-
ties- of leave-taking, went away.
The Principal shut the door, but
did not at once go back up the
stairs. His memory crammed', as
it was always forced to be, with
the details of other people's, lives,
set gloomily before him Eli's
worthless, drunken, bee -hunting and
muskrat -trapping father, his dull-
witted, feeble mother, the fore-
doomed futility of,Eli's poor efforts
to educate the brains he did not
have.
The tall clock behind him struck
six. It was time to begin to get
Aunt Lavinia started to make her-
self
erself presentable enough to go out
to supper.
Aunt Lavinia was poring over the
music, her room silent for once,
quiescent around her in its usual
dust and disorder. Her head was,
bent so low over the tattered copy
of the Mass on her knee that a
straggling white lock brushed the
page. She was not at all ready to
go out.
"It's just Tim," he assured her.
Recognition and relief .flashed into
her fine, deeply sunken, dark eyes.
She relaxed, passing her hand over
her eyes. "Oh. Oh, yes. Tim.
Of course. Supper time? I'll •be
ready in a wink." She pronounced,
it "r-r-raydy" with a Scotch burr.
They made slow work of the
descent, getting both her feet on
each step before going down to
the next one, because of that right
knee that could now scarcely bend
at all.
They were now approaching
their dfestination, Miss Peck, he
saw, had changed' the sentence on
her bulletin board. This; board was
such a one as churches use to an-
nnounce the name of their minister
and the •hours of church. service.
She "Vit -on it alt sorts of odd
phrases. Today the movable alpha-
bet had been arranged to read,
"We count them happy who en-
dure. St. James, 5:11"
Mr. Hume held the door open
for his crumpled olds lady to go in.
Looking at her as she passed, he
thought somewhat wearily he
should have found a cleaner collar
for her.
There were not many at the
table, that evening. It' was a cir-
cle now, just large enough for the
four over whom ,Miss, Peck was
this week presiding - Professor
Hulme and his aunt, Mr. Sherwin
Dewey and the perennial Mrs.
Washburn. As Mr. Hulme and old
Mrs. Henry came in to the dining
room, Mrs. Washburn was pour-
ing the tea, and Miss Peck held
her broad silver serving knife sus-
pendedi above a well browned meat
pie. A heavenly aroma of savori-
ness filled the air. Mr. Hulme
hastily seated his aunt, sat dow'w
of going away if the door was not
opened at once.
When he reached the lower hall
and saw young Eli Kemp through
the leaded -glass panes at the side
of the door, he stopped short. Mr.
Hulme lifted the latch,opened the
door. "Hello, Eli, what can I do
for you?"
Eli transferred his attentive gaze
to the "Principal's; face and asked,
"Have you found out yet whether
that thing I sold you saves gas?"
Mr. Hulme cleared his throat,
leaned forward a little towards the
boy in the threadbare suit -he was
taller than Eli. who was not short
--and explained, softening his ra-
ther harsh voice to a propitiating
tone, "Well, to tell the truth, I
SEASONED
TIMBER
DOROTHY CANFIELD aF TURES
A small , town's struggle to keep an academy
going appears to be at an end with the bequest
of a million dollars -but there are strings tied to
this bequest . . . the principle of freedom is involved, and the
bequest, finally, is rejected.
"SEASONED TIMBER," is a delectable romance -not only
in the great love of Timothy Hulme for Susan Barney is the in-
terest centered, but in the true spirit of democracy itself -for in
this story is inacted a miniature replica of the struggle between
democracies and dictatorships, race hatred and intolerance. The
whole conflict clearly summarizes many of the
doubts and difficulties of these troublous times.
STARTING THIS WEEK IN
The Huron -Expositor
himself, and snatched his. napkin
out of its ring.
Mr. Dewey was the oldest of the
three Trustees, the only resident
one. Mr. Hulme drew out of his
pocket the letter of resignation
from the unexpectedly married Do-
mestic Science teacher, and while
Mr. Dewey glanced at it, he con-
fessed that he had not, as he sup-
posed he should, leaped to tele-
graph a teachers' agency to finds
some one to replace her.
Mas: Washburn remembered with
an exclamation that she had some
news, to tell, real news. Miss Peck
had- decided, which girl she would-
take in this winter to work for
her board -not, as usual, an Acad-
emy student, but one of the teach-
ers in the primary school. Susan
Barney, her name was. Mr. Hulme
would certainly remember her, she
had gone through the Normal
School at Burlington, and sines her
return had been teaohing up on,
Ohurchman's Road, that forlorn
District School where the Searles
Shelf children go.
In Clifford; during the last cen-
tury, • as in many Vermont towns
with old seminaries and academies,
a tangled web of inconsistent rela-
tions had grown up between the
privately endowed' independent ibec-
ondary school and the tax-support-
ed
ax'•supported primary schools which were
part of the state system. By the
Articles' of • Incorporation of the
Academy, its three Trustees were
elected by the voters of the town.
Yet the town officials had no auth-
ority over them once they were
elected. The Academy was run on
the interest from its small endow-
ment and its tuition fees; yet by
a state law the town was' obliged
to pay a large part (but not all)
of the°tuition fees; and by tradi-
tion was bound to appropriate
money at town meetings for the
upkeep of the roofs, walls, and
foundation of the Academy, but not
for repairs on the inside of the
building.
The result, in fact, of this) per-
fectly natural division in authority
was, of course, that Mr. Hulme, as
far as the primary school went,
was obliged to do what he could
with teachers he had not chosen
and knew nothing about. This girl
would probably be no worse as a
SOLUTION. TO
sOXWOItD PUZZLE
ACROSS DOWN
1. While 1. Whimsy
4. Drive 2. Imban
7. Eph 3. Erect
8. (Radii 4. Disc
10. Imbue 5. IOU
11. Sputum 6. Emu,
15. Ism 7. Exists
16. Church 9. Dau
19. Senate 12. Phenol
22. Emend 13. Tweak
23. Styx 14. Madam
25. Roman 17. Heroic
26. Piano 18. Romps
27. Oakum 20. Expose
30. Pro 21. Amaze
31. Itself " 24. Tapir
34. Sketch 28. Afghan
37. God 29. Under
38. Green 32. Thesis
40. Earth 33. Earns
41. Isle's 35. Knight
42. Acre 36. Tulsa
45. Swing 38. Gusts
46. Insane 39: Exile
49. Hoarse 43. Cartes,
52. Rue 44. Event
53. Siesta 47. Ndgro
56. Giant 48. Avail
57. Tutor 50. Oats
58. Eat 51. Rat
59. Ramis 54. I.rk
60. Ogles 55. Sum
teacher of reading than any other:
His lack of enthusiasm over Mrs:
Washburn's news came from hie
dislike of 'having teachers work for
their board. Local tradition, he
knew, saw nothing amiss in it. But
he did: He told people he diger.
proved because housework took
time and energy needed by teach-
ers in their classrooms. The truth
was that he had for various rea-
sons rather a sore sense of the
dignity of his, profession and, dad
not like to see members, of its wait-
ing on tables and washing dishes.
"Why does she work for her
board?" he asked. "The salary's
-hot bad. Why 'should she?" -
"Orphan. Smart younger sister
to educate," she explained..
He took thought, and selecting
from among the accents under his
control the one of pleasant compli-
ment, said to Miss Peck as he rose
from the table, "My -nightly prayer
is that God will have a good kit-
chen range waiting for you in
heaven," and to his aunt, "Well,
ti
it true ,*heti
Se4ence tea .._.,
Rut &onf
ter. he . a
sac
ASP- yeasina iUa*' rt
echool oui;n bio d hadi a 'p ficin '
thfe, smmtner .apd •..her(,doctor
woti'itinf let : her. worst *41,T e
cluz'os were big "My
Lena.- Jobniry
the ebair factory iw Ashley "•`' + r
Mr. Hulme .said yed that yea. -thatWas 'Oa
"iViy sister's out iaere in the;car r
Ida interlocutor now said dubious•
ly, as; if apologizing for being:.push=.
ing.
"Ah . - . " aaid'''Nir. Hulmeea; *Ore
alertly. "Just wait a Imgmezit, A}u}t
Lavinia." Aa he walked 'towtards
the car he set •hisam-indar gorouslyy
to the prosaic work of using ?his
professional eaperfeniee to red* per
sonality through the camouflage Of
looks.
I•t was easy readdug, There was
no oamouiiage. Stoutish, forty;:
plain, . tailored, eyeglassed, •self:
respecting - successful experience.
had written its not to -be -imitated.
symbols all over her. Seeing; the
Principal approach, she got out of
the car without hurry, and com-
posedly introduced herself by name
to him, with the manner of one
speaking to an. equal. By the time
he had shaken, ,her hand, he was
ready to lead her into the Domes-
tic Science room, give her an ap-
ron to tie around her comfortable
middle, and begin to expand his
ideas. about the importance of
teaching Clifford girls how to make
better use of the raw materials to
be found around: them. She look-
ed as if the idea would not be as
surprising to her as to some of
the teachers he had, trained.
It was late, and the neglected
work on Mr. Hulme's desk cried
aloud. He called his: mind to him,
fll? ted on its everyday harness, and
cracked • his whip. Throwing its cal-
loused shoulders, into the collar, it
tugged away at what there was to
do, beginning with the familiar,
short and uncomplicated, statement
of resources -125 .students' at $90
tuition, $11,250; income from the
$60,000 endowment which used to
be steadily $3,000 now shrunk •to
$2.30 and still shrinking -total
income $13,550. The more or less
fixed salaries were set down,
tentatively -Principal, $2,100, Dry-
den, who taught Manual Training
and Agriculture, $1,600. The new
teacher for Physics and Chemistry,
$1,000 Bowen, just out of Yale,
evidently a clever ambitious fel-
low, would never stay on for that
after he had acquired a year or so
of the professional experience with-
out which he could not get a posi-
tion
osition in a more prosperous school.
Mr. Hulme's pencil hung in the alt•.
an instant ase _he. -considered Bovd
en,. There was something about'
him -an aura, that was -perhaps it
was no more than the normal to -
be -expected cocksureness of the re-
cent college graduate, outfitted
with the latest thing in ideas. The
uplifted pencil dropped to the paper
again, and ran agilely ahead into
the smaller salaries -French and
Latin, $900; Domestic Science -ac -
ot44.
**OS
Ade, in, T`
bran; bee
eaforth"
PHONE, 56 r 2 :; BAYI
Authorized Surge Sery sae-'
The Voice Of
Tem pe
From England) domes, the report;
that it is no longer ,;considered'
polite to drink and getdirti$kaThis
has come about• ;because,af:'•ithe de-'•„
crease in the alcoholic eontent ;of
beer and the increase in the. cost
of hard liquor. 'It is not a matter,..
of narrow Puritanism, 'but of" dee- ;..'
envy and common sense ,that :the
influence of liquor is 'degrading.
When will .good) taste impose its
ban. on people whose eptzversation
and conduct reveal the blight of
dmin'king? It is not polite :to be
maudlin . or noisy with.. daitik•
(Adv.)
THE McKILLOP
MUTUAL :,,FIRE
INSURANCE
HEAD OFFICE-SEAFORTH, Ont.
OFFICERS:
s:
President - E. J. Trewartha, Clinton
Vice -Pres. - J. L. Malone, 'Seaforth
Manager and Sec.-Treas. - M. A.
Reid, Sorth.
DIREC•TQRJ3:
E. J. Trewartha, Clinton; J. L.
Malone, Seatorth S. W. Wit
pnaro, a OS.th• Chris... a tt •
13arnholSn, Robert Ass b•
forth; John H. McEwing, Blythoa;f
Frank McGregor, :Clinton; Wm. S.
Alexander, Walton Harvey Fuller,
Goderich.
AGENTS:.
J. E. Pepper, Brueefleld; R. F.
Mcllercher, Dublin; George A.
Watt, Blyth; J. F. Prueter, Brod
hagen; Selwyn Baker, Brussels.
wow
Ote In the World
EVERYONE SHOULD HELP
AS A CIVIC DUTY
COMMUNITY GROWTH
AND LOCAL NEWSPAPER
THE BEST INVESTMENT
THERE IS
cJ
"Too many readers accept their newspapers as a
matter of course," writes W. Babson, well-known
business and financial adviser. •
"Newspapers are, however, as important to their com-
munities as are municipal conveniences and other
services. Probably no single item would be missed
more from our lives than our local newspaper."
"A newspaper is the greatest buy in the world.
"Alt newspapers, regardless of size, are highly educa-
tional. Unlike other great institutions of le>irning,
however, they are not endowed and must •Se self-
supporting. Naturally, what keeps a paper going is
its advertising revenue. Everyone should help on this
as a civic duty.
"Newspapers are vastly more important to retailers,
manufactujers, and the community itself than merely
increasing sales. All kinds of civic and social organ-
izations rely upon free notices of their activities.
"We all have more of a stake in the business of ad-
vertising than we realize. Our papers not only give
us the community news but the growth of our com-
munities depend upon the prosperity of our local nears -
papers.
"Successful manufacturersare carrying on a most
sensible campaign of paid publicity with no chance of
now getting their money bait through immediate
increased sales.
"I hope more local firms will take advantage of the
opportunities to advertise which are offered today.
Yes, I am optimistic for advertising for those who Will
stick to it 'rain or shine. Sensible continuous after -
tieing is the best investment there is."
PHONE 41
r:
14