The URL can be used to link to this page

The Exeter Times-Advocate, 1937-03-04, Page 7THE EXETER TIMES-ADVQCATE THURSDAY, MARCH 4th, 1937 LETTER BOX HUHOBS FROM THE REUNION The following- interesting accoiunt of the Exeter old Boys1 Reunion in 1935 written by Mrs. Winona French, of Wataskiwin, Alta., form erly Miss Winona Howard, of Ex eter, will le'oall many interesting events at that time and Will un doubtedly prove very interesting to our readers. If a town wishes to secure a new lease on. life, and to add fresh in terest to a somewhat dull and mon otonous existence, there is no better way than to stage an Old Boys' Re union. The Town, of Exeter, Ontario, had' just such an occasion in the sum mer of 1935. How did they go about it? Early in the, year, the citizens conceived the idea of a Re-union, and at once -set about the business of organization. A general conven or was appointed and a number of ■committees were chosen. There was the invitation Committee, the Publicity Committee, a Sports Com mittee and a Grounds Committee. There was a Band Committee and a Parade Committee. A Decoration Committee was selected, and also one to arrange for the accomodation of the guests. Each of these laid •its .own plans, which plans were fin ally submitted to the General Com mittee, composed of the Convenor of each Committee, and the Conven- of the whole. Then like a go.oa nousewife, 'albout to entertain important guests, Ex eter prepared for visitors. The whole town was scrubbed within an inch ,of its life, and after this orgy of cleaning, there follow ed o.ne of painting and refurnish ing. For years Exeter had prided itself upon its smart appearance, on this .occasion she excelled her self. Every neglected corner was, planted with flowers until not an •ugly spot could be found. The park was improved and to mark its ent rance two imposing stone gates Were built. Merchants vied with one another 'in bringing their stores up-to-date. ’In the business section on Main St., new pavement replaced the old. A new gravelled curbing was laid. Up- to-date light standards were instal led, with wires laid under grolund. ‘Unsightly telephone poles were re- lagated to the back lanes. Stone Pillars Erected ' T,o. give permanence to the occas ion, two stone pillars topped with 'lights were built at the entrance of the tolwn. These pillars have an historic significance, in that they mark the founding of the town over one hundred years ago. One pillar bears an inscription to the memory of the .first white settler, James Willis. M>r. Willis was a native oif Ireland and came to the district, where Exeter now stands, in 183:2. On his way, he 'passed through Don- don, then a primitive village, and leaving his wife there, pushed on to. take up land where the cairn erect ed to his memory now stands. He cleared a bit of land and Ibuilt a “■shanty.” In the spring, he walked to London with a shilling in his pocket, intending to buy a hoe. Finding that the hoe cost much more than a shilling, he returned without it, and with his axe, dug the holes around the -roots off the trees for his potato crop. That year he cleared five acres of heavy timber by hand. At the present time a granddaughter lives in Exet er on part of the land originally owned by James Willis. * The other pillar is a memorial to the first council. Isaac Carling was the first reeve. He came in 18i47 hnd Ibuilt a store and a tannery. William Sanders was the .first post master and settled in Exeter about the same time as James Willis. James Pickard arrived in 1842. He and Mr. Sanders came from Devon shire, England, and it is more than likely that they named Exeter, On tario, when it was incorporated as a Village in 1873. In 1833 Mr. Mc Connell biu'ilt a shanty on the Us- 'borne side near the riven Aux Sables. He was the contractor who 'chopped out the London road, a corduroy road—for the Canada Company. He put up a saw mill and a grist/mill on the river bank. That part or the village north olf the riven was known as Frahcestown. The name still persists. In 18.80 the London, Huron and Bruce Railway was laid. The land for the station buildings was donat ed to the railway by Mr, Isaac Car ling. On the day that the first train went through, all thei boys “miched” from school to witness the great event. Having delved into the history of the town, let us return to the te- •union. with the completion of the pil- lays, everything whs in readiness for “Old Boys.” Registration Day When Saturday, July 27th, came around, Exeter was gay wit’ll color ed lights and bunting. This was registration day. Visitors went to the library where they were given badges on which their names were, printed, Sb the library proved to be the place where many old friend ships were renewed. Hung on its walls was a wonderful display of ■ old photographs, which afforded much amusement and pleasure. There is nothing like an old photo graph to' stir up memories. The Old Boys spent hours pouring over i this collection, coming back again and again. There were enlarged •photographs, school pictures, and groups of various kinds, each bear ing its name and date, There was a photograph of the first white •ft oman, the first doctor in the town ihe first council, and the first ‘church. There was also, a splendid collection of old relics, and a num ber of old buildings reproduced in miniature. ■Saturday evening saw the unveil ing .of the memorial pillars, at the entrance to the town—a ceremony long! to be remembered. On Sunday, 'the pulpits of the various churches were occupied by Old Boys and the 'choirs were filled with Old Boys and Girls. Sunday was decoratioln day at the beautiful little cemetery. Hundreds of people came to lay flowers on the. graves of their dead. Grand Parade On Monday afternoon there was a grand parade two. miles lo'ng. In it were business floats, comic floats and decorated cars. There were 'Ford cars dating from the noisy runabout of 1904 to the stream lin ed Fo'rd VS of today. Old fashion ed bicycles and all sorts of queer looking vehicles1 found their way intp the parade. Music from three bands enlivened the occasion. Last Ibut not least, came a load; of cali- thu'mpians without which no> Exeter parade would be complete. These comedy artists delighted the hearts of young and old alike. The par ade marched to the agricultural ©round where the judging took place and the prizes were awarded. In the evening a civic reception was held in James Street United church, when the visitors were giv en the keys to the town. On this occasion. Chief Justice Martin, of Regina and ,Hon. J. G. Gardiner, of Ottawa, both products of Ejxeter1, replied to the reeve’s address of welcome. A street carnival -got into full swing and continued into, the wee sma’ .hours. Every night the carni val was repeated. No one thought of such a prosaic thing as sleep. No one wanted to leave the bright lights and: the merry crowd, the mid way and the street dance. It was so heart-warming to have someone clasp you by the hand, call you by your first name and say “It is years and years since I saw you last. Do you remember' the time . . . .?” Honor* Former Teacher ■On Tuesday, the school bell rang at nine o’clock and hundreds of old ■boys and girls wended their way to the old schoo'i to be present at a very interesting session. On this occasion they came to do honor to a much-beloved, teacher, Miss Vosper who had taught the .Entrance Class even unto the third generation. Miss Vosper opened the school with a scripture reading and prayer as had been her custom. 'She tested the- class with her favorite brand of mental arithmetic, and was pleased to note that the foundation she had laid in former years remained firm and sure. There was laughter that was close to tears; there .was a surrepti- tous passing of notes under desks; there was sly munching ..of cookies from sundry dinner pails; and pre- vaddng all there was as ever the kindly spirit of understanding be tween teacher and pupils. A tri bute to. her place, in their hearts was paid Iby a former pupil in a splendiid address. As a memento of tie occasion an album containing hundreds of greeting cards was pre sented and a tooled leather purse containing a substantial cheque. It was a Red Letter day. for everyone privileged to be present. On Tuesday afternoon, a band tattoo, in which five bands took part, was put on. At night, besides the street dance there was the add ed attraction of fire works. Wednesday was the day of the races. This final day of the .Re union drew the largest crowd and the most money. At the farewell dance that nigfht the crowd paraded in old-fashioned costumes. Everyone voted the Re-Union to be an unqualified success1. All agreed that it had been well worth while. So- efficiently had the commit tees done their work, and so. har- monously had they worked together that the entire program from be ginning to end ran without a “hitch.” And they were not in debt! To finance the project, a numlber of citizens .had guaranteed $10.00 each to which amo’unt the council added a grant of $300. So ably was the affair managed that the committee was in a position to hand back most of the money to the guarantors The proceeds amounted to1 $6,000, with expenses totalling $5,000. There were from 5,000 to. 8,000 visitors in the town every day, and yet there Was no rowdyism. The twelve special policemen did not find their duties too arduous. $0 eildeth another chapter in the history of a small Ontario town. Exeterite® will have many pleas ant memories .for years to come. A LETTER FROM JAPAN The following interesting letter was received from Japan by Mrs. B< W. F. Beavers and was written by Mrs. (Rev.) Brice, formerly Miss Alma Dempsey, of Exeter. It will he read with interest by her many friends, 6 Hisaija, Oho, 8 Chome Nagoya, Jan. 19, 1937 My Dear Roxie: Thank you so< much for your nice Christmas letter, It is good of you to write. I am looking forward to the time when I can be your guest again. We haven’t forgotten your hospitality. In 1940 we hope to be in ‘Canada once more. Well, another Christmas has gone and another New Year with all its possibilities is facing us—I should say, rather, that we are well into it. We had a very nice family Christ mas with Taka and her husband with us. Oui* other missionary fam ily, the Newmans, who live in the downstairs part of this old mission house, shared our festivities. We had our dinner at 1 o’clock and about 4 o'clock we had tea because we had to attend the Christmas concert in the church at 6. After our parts were over (Mrs. Newman played the piano flor her- husband’s Bible class Christmas chorus and I did the same for my Bible class of girls.). We came home and had supper. It was after nine then and we were all hungry. The concert or entertainment in the church did not finish until eleven, but we could not stay to the end. These entertainments are very much en- jloyed but much too long. I’m sure next year they will make an effort to have a shorter and better pro gram. However, the Christmas story is p'ut across in many differ ent ways and reaches thousands of people, who .otherwise would never know anything about the Babe of Bethlehem. We get so many pre sents at Christmas time it is a ‘bit embarrassing but jolly. It is the Japanese custom so there is nothing to be done about it. Rciuiiojn of Victoria Classmates In the New Years holidays Mrs. Newman had three guests, class mates at Victoria. Ruth McLeod, who is now in Japan studying the language, for a year. She will go to South Formosie with the English Pres. Mission 'in the fall. Ruth Holmes, whoi came out to teach music at the Canadian Academy for three years and is now with her father and mother in Fukui and will go home to Canada with them in July when tlrey go on their fur lough and' Mildred Matheson, who came out last fall .in the W. M. S. and is at the language school in Tokyo. So there were six graduat es all together' for uNew Years. We certainly had a 'great time. (I’m not nine myself but I enjoyed the fun). Appreciates Exeter Paper Lulu sends me the Exeter paper and in that way I don’t get alto gether out of touch with the old town and its busy, changing life. So many new names—yet I am glad to see so many of the old names. I enjoy the Times, I like the editor ials. They make me chuckle. There is something very whole some and independent in the tone of them, or should I say original? We are evidently going to have another church paper. We receiv ed a copy of the Christian Advance from Napanee last week. There is great need fol* something better but I would like to see everybody stand behind the new editor of the New Outlook. He is one of our boys and grew up in Japan, although he wasn’t born here. His father and mother are valued members of' our mission and Gerald is a fine chap. I believe he will give new life to our church paper. We don’t want division or competition Ibut co-oper ation. Our church and church of ficials need our help and our pray ers-. The fight is on and everybody ought to be on the job. Christians, awake is a fitting slogan fop this generation and just as much needed as it was when the old hymn was written. Stirring and HcartdBreakinig Times We live in stirring times, heart breaking times. How our hearts ached over our. ex-King—the pity Of it. Then for a few days we had <o'ur hearts pierced by the news of thie abduction, of Chiang Kai Sheik)— the Generalissimo of China. For days we didn’t know whether he was dead oil not. When-he returned to Nanking we rejoiced with millions all over the .world. The radio broadcasts told of the prayers of Christians of all nations all through the .time of stress. Can yomi realize what that means? Just picture Japanese praying for Chinese, Kore an's praying for Chinese, all the Bast praying for China and. her leaders. Madame Cheang is a won derful woman and a great Christian. Spain, horrible to thlink ajbout, brother fighting brother for what? All the nations arming, all afraid, What a terrible thing fear is? What am I doing about it? How far am I responsible for the world’s chaos? I think each one should ask this’ question, because each one has a responsibility. The trouble is We won’t face up to it. I’m afraid you’ll think I’m a bit preachy. I didn’t mean to be. To day is Monday and wash day and the sky is as gray and cold as a sky can 'be. Clouds low hanging and sullen. Sncw is in the air. I wish it would come and cover uP some of th© bareness. We have only one fall of snow and it lasted but a few hours. All through Janu ary we have had weather of spring. Nights and morning are cold tho' > and then we appreciate our fires. Unfortunately Taka and her hus band were both laid up for several days after thieir Christmas holiday. New Year’s custom in Japan de mands the sending of greeting cards to all friends and calls as well dur- the first three days of the New Year. The latter custom however, is falling off for which there is gratitude. Hjcwever it is a velry busy time and to be laid up was not very pleasant for them. The time flies on swiit wings. It is impossible for me to. realize that Main St. church' should have a 42nd anniversary. I shall fry to attend in 1940, We will likely go home next time by Russia to England but one never knows what will have happened duging the next three or four years, or months, or weeks. We are now ’getting snow. It is a nasty drizzle that I look .out at from my window. I am alone. My husband went to Tokyo' on Satur day, I expect him home tonight. He is always busy. In this city of 1,000,000 we have about 1400 Christians of all denominations. We have one Methodist church with which we are connected. Denomin- ationalism is a bad thing in the home land but on the mission field I need a stronger word. There is a strong movement toward union here in Japan now and may it grew and succeed. Write again soon. Kindest re gards. Lovingly Alma Aged Pioneer of Michigan Dies Mrs. V. Cockwill, of Crediton, re ceived word recently of the death of her brother-in-law Mr. Thomas Vile, Sr., a resident of Michigan since 1869, and known throughout that community as “The Grand Old Man ofi Garfield..” Mr. Vile had been ill about nine weeks and died at the age of 91 years. Mr. Vile was born in London, England, and came to Usiborne township at the age of five years, in 1869 moving to Garfield Michigan- where he cleared the land and built his home with the courage and energy in the face of hardships that is character istic of those who pioneer. On No vember 1st, 1872 he was married to Charlotte Meakins in Newaygo and to this union eight children were bom. Mrs. Vile passed away in 1907. Deceased is survived by one daughter Emma; four sons, William, Richard, Thomas, Jr. and Fred all of -Garfield; seven grand children and t‘wo great grandchild ren. Mrs. V. Cockwell, of Credit on and Mrs. W. H. Welsh, of Lon- dan, Mrs. Fred Pinyon, of Millett, Alta., and Mrs. Josh. Meakins, of, Neepawa, Man., are sister-in-laws. There are also a large number ot nieces and ne.phews- in this district of the deceased. 1 4 1 THE TOLL BROTHERS Right ’round the world these two University of Toronto, boys thumbed their way)—one full year—twenty- j seven countries-—30,000 miles—and. their transportation bill was just $75.00 each! Their* remarkable travelogue, telling the story of the trip in pictures, will be given in. CALVARY EVANGELICAL Church Dashwood at 8 p.m. Adults 2’5c, Children 15c. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 10th How You May Get Rid of Those Painful Boils RURDOCK Bitters When boils start to break out it is aa evidence the blood is clogged up with hn- purities and requires to be thoroughly purified by a good blood medicine. We believe there is no better blood cleansing medicine than Burdock Blood Bitters. It helps to remove the foul matter from the blood, and once the blood is purified the boils disappear and your misery at an end. Try it! uv the I! 2—PERFECTED HYDRAULIC BRAKES 1—UNISTEEL TURRET TOP BODIES BY FISHER THE ONLY LOWEST-PRICED CAR WITH ALL FOUR! CHEVROLET’S new Unisteel Turret Top Bodies by Fisher are built like a bridge-span . . . solid steel body construction upon a solid steel frame work. They feature the famous, protecting, one- piece Turret Top. They are silent bodies. They have Safety plate glass all around. And Chevrolet safety goes farther than that, to give you perfected Hydraulic Brakes — *Knee-Action with Shockproof Steering — and a more powerful Valve-in-Head Engine for lightning acceleration. See, drive, and compare for yourself, today I 3—SAFETY GLASS IN EVERY WINDOW *On Master De Luxe Models. (2-Pass, Business Coupe) AND UP ry Lj • / MASTER DeLUXE MODELS FROM $819 4 f Delivered at factory, Oshawa, Onfu. Govern- , “ ment taxes,. license and freight additional. (Prices subject to change without notice.) / 4-KNEE-ACTION GLIDING RIDE* C-S7B SNELL BROS. & CO., EXETER THERE’ Associate John Passmore & Soil, Hensail, Oiit. Dealers IC. Fritz & Solti, Zurich; John Sprowl, Lucan