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The Exeter Times-Advocate, 1937-12-30, Page 34. THE EXETER TIMES-ADVOCATE THURSPAY, DECEMBER SO, 1»S7 r f r « I f: r s. $ V' % </ S’ Old Woodham Days Written for the fit. Mary# Journai- Argus by 3. J. EUiott of Exeter lAs much interest has been shown re the twin villages of woodham and Kirlfton and just how they compare with the earlier days of the 70’s .ancf 80’c, I plight say there is probably the same population, of about 150 to 200, (Space would1 not permit me to give a census as sonje request. How­ ever I can say the families were much larger than they are present, few families that could not boast of ten to fourteen. (Fox* the benefit of some enquirers I will endeavor to give a brief sum­ mary,. taking Woodham first and in­ cluding the foux’ corner farms on which the village is situated:—'On the Perth County side north-east corner, the farm of Aaron Sawyex1 on which was the L. O. L. building, the Primitive Methodist Church, the Temperance Hall which could be named Town Hall as practically all social, political or other meetings were conducted there. Also a Liter­ acy Society of no small importance which' met once a week to give any aspiring .politician a chance to display his elocutionary ability or those of a musical inclination, either vocal or'instrumental, were encouraged iby othex1 members, thus elinxinating stage fright .or nervousness. A society of this1 kind is a booxi to any com­ munity for y.oung ox1 old. will be difficult to keep stricty to Woodham and its industries without some digression in passing comment on some of its citizens. 'Fox’ instance upon reflectioxx I re­ call some of the executive of this Literary Society. Some time ago I noticed a fine cut of Mr. and Mrs. Chas. Camm of Woodham, celebrat­ ing theix1 golden wedding anniversary when I was reminded that Mrs. Camm as our 'Secretary-Treasurer and Librarian of the above Society. Of course she was just Miss Sawyer then since we see this is half a cen­ tury cr more back, There were just two industries, the shoe shop by Jno. Sykes and the famous Woodham abattoii’ conducted by the late Thos. Bugg and Jack .Stephens. Those and dwellings comprised the northeast corner. We might elaborate in a future article in this abattoir. I find it Bronchitis May Prove Dangerous Do Not Neglect The Cough Get Rid Of It At Once Dr. Wood’s Norway Pine Syrup Will Help Bring Relief A T. MILBURN C0„ LTB^ PRODUCT On the south-east corner the farm farming. His father-in-law. Mr, body and soul together. One coyres- WINCHELSEA SCHOOL REPOK-T owned by Stephen Haines on which Driffeld, having proceeded him from pondent wanted to know, the pre- was situated the Methodist church,1 the 10th line of Blanshard became ( vailing wage,—one dollar a day, no the balance of this corner was on1 the property: of Jonathan .Shier, on which Mr. Shier -conducted the only store thaxi in the village. Also he conducted a lumber yard, supplying shingles, lathes-, in fact everything pertaining to an up-to-date lumber yard as well as dealing in timothy seed. The School erected in known as S. S. No, 1-3, places of business—carriage and wa­ gon works by. Michael Ash, formerly of S®bringville; blacksmith by John . Stewart; carpenter known those days Billy” and who was frequently call­ ed on to supply at practice previous to l^th of July celebx’ation when no fifer was available. We can also give him credit for the many Mills in Woodham and vicinity. Yes there is a Billy Mills in Woodham yet, also of a musical turn of mind, a vocalist a tenor of no mean ability, whose services are much in demand at so­ cial and public entertainments. Yes, you guessed it, Billy is a grandson of “Whistling Billy." We now come to the of Jas. Swallow; the works of its kind in then Josephus O’Banyan, shoe-mak­ er and leather worker, a former slave who claimed acquaintance with Uncle Tom, of -Uncle Tom’s Cabin fame, by “Harriet Beechex- Stowe.” No family in the village was more highly respected than this colored family, fine Christian people who ■could be found in the family pew each Sunday at church and pray.ex1 meetings. -One son, George, a brick­ layer, remained with his xnothex* af- tex1 the passing of his father. Many claim John Sykes a& the first shoe­ maker in .the village. Mr. Sykes came to tlxe village after Mr. O’Ban­ yan passed on. He was fond of a joke. Some of the villagers said there must be some Irish in him as lie had an Irish name. “Mayfoe so,” he replied, “we are one of the smoky tribe.” Mrs. O’Banyan was con­ stantly in demand attending the ar­ rival of the stork in the village and community. The stork family must have been much larger those days as were the families of the villagers, ; While the doctor would foe at one end of the township Mrs. O’Banyan would be busy at the other. The son George* later moved to Lucan where he married and settled .down, leaving behind at .his death some •years ago a little family of boys and girls, which no doubt their grandad would call them smoky Irish'. We now cross ovex1 to Huron side, it requiring two counties to hold either of the aforementioned villag­ es. The south-west cornei1 was on the farnx of Jonathan Shier on which was the saw-mill operated by Abray’ and Edwards, now Mills and Wynn. About twenty rods west was a tile yard by Harry Boswell who later moved to Hepworth and took up ,__ ___ ____T__________________________The following is the report of the the first post-master of Heyworth,1 old age -pension and none on relief. Seuioi’ Room of Winchelsea School Ul Lil clover and 1878 was The 'Other Wm. Mills, as “Whistling pump works first steam the village; I I Many of the old-timers of the Gran- 1 ton district will x-ecall Mr, Driffeld. I J might add that later another tU6 yard was started by the late Joseph Pegler, jpst east of the Blanshard side on the property of the St. Johxt family. The old store conducted by Shier now got opposition on the Huron side when D, M. ’’Dave” Jermyn from the Granton district opened a store directly opposite. Dave later moved to Wiarton and became Sheriff of Bruce county, We now come to the pump works of Chas. Chappel. This was before Mr. Swallow. This woyk "was all done by hand, logs from twelve to sixteen feet bored by hand, a very strenuous task, Mr, Chappel was an uncle of Sydney Chappel of Blan­ shard. Then the cooperage by Thos. Elliott; harness and saddlery by Hy. Ka'hler, later succeeded by John Eedy; Samuel Ford’s blacksmith and carriage works, the pioneer blacksmith of the village; John Prowse, mason and the parsonage of the primitive Methodist church. The north-west corner was owned by Robt. Hetherington, later by Jno. Copeland, ton which was a small log house, which Mr. Copeland found in­ adequate for his family of ten to twelve. Tlxe result was the fine im­ posing structux^e now occupied by Mr. Bert Rundle was built. We now come to the grist mill op­ erated by Wm. Abray. This1 mil1 was of the old stone variety and was a very busy place. Money being scarce the farmer paid the miller ex­ acting toll for his pay, in. fact bart­ er and exchange was very much in evidence. I recall one mon handing over three eggs for a postage stamp, the post office being connected with the store and eggs 12 cents a dozen. (A big price at that, more often they were 8 to 10 cents. We next have the hotel or tavern as it was known also a very busy spot especially evenings. Billy Cos­ grove was the first one I remember, as this place changed' hands frequent­ ly. Billy later went to St. Marys ' and operated the British Hotel on the cornei1 of the market, directly oppos­ ite from where the Windsor now I stands, the Windsox1 not being built then. I might go go on to enumer- WOODHAM theThe December meeting of W, M< S. was held last Wednesday afternoon at the home of Mrs, John Camm with an attendance of 24, The president ,rea1J the Scripture lesson i and conducted,, the meeting. Mrs. Fred Doupe gave a Christmas story; Mrs. Whjefield Switzer and Mrs. F. McNaughton gave a vocal duet; Mrs. (Rev.) Laing explained that second chapter of the new Study Book and made it real interesting; Miss Ethel Wilson favored with a piano sole and Mrs. W, Switzer gave a splendid reading. At the business session several items were discussed and Mrs. Fred Doupe was named as a’ delegate to attend the Perth Presby- tterial which, will be held at Straford in the near future. Just at the close 'of the meeting a special feature was the cheerful message given by Mrs. W. Switzer in honor of one of oui1 oldest members in the person of Miss M. Bretihour whose eightieth birthday was celebated on Thursday, Decem­ ber 15th. A lovely birthday cake given by the society stood in the centre of the table which was dec­ orated with holly and red candles in silver holders, lunch was served -ous piece of this was done-by the committee. for the months of November1 and December. The pupils were examin­ ed in all subjects. Senior Room Ethel PooJey 88; Graham Billy June Jean LETTER BOX Grade IX- Bell 8C; Arthur Hern 78; Brock 77; Doris Elf ord 76; Coward 74; Roxie Doupe 73; Davis 71; Mildred Veal (6.4. Grade VIII'—(Irene -pooley 8(1*; Ei- leene Johns 78; |Laurie Stephen 77; Ethelene Johns 76; Emerson Pen- hale 70; Doreen Coultis 67. Grade VII—Myraline Murray 83; Leona Coward 7'9; Burdene Clarke 72; Isabelle Cooper 69; Nellie Sparling 54. Lila McCulloch, teacher LOW ROUND TRIP RAIL FARES Junior Room in alphabetical order. V.I—Grace Brock, Shirley Coultis, A sumptuous l'Oc. including a gener- cake. The serving hostess and her Leave for China in Dr. North ex- for the the February and Mrs. Wallace Crawford, London, are leaving late in January for San 'Francisco and pect to sail on February 19th •Chengtu, West China, where former will resume his duties as head of the department of hygiene and. public Wealth at the West 'China Union University. “We will go via Hong Kong and Indo 'China.” ‘Dr. Crawford said in speaking to The Free Press recently of his plans, tinguished Londoner would have ‘“We are dis- wife Normally, the and his via Shanghai, get hack; our Crawford said, returned eager to atf the many others that got their I work needs us,” Dr. start in that old Woodham tavern stating that the scope of activity at University start in that old Woodham tavern stating that the West iChina Union has, since the.attack from Japan, been greatly enlarged by the influx of students from eastern areas of the country. Whole faculties have oen transplanted from the wax’ zone to Ch.emg.tu, hundreds of miles west c-f Nanking. “We are in process of enlarging our equipment,” Dr. Crawford said. ,Dr. and Mrs. Crawford have spent the past year and a half in London on furlough. In October Dr. Craw­ ford was a speaker in James Street Church, Exeter. “in more ways than one.” For in­ stance Jack St. John who also moved to St. Marys and conducted the Ox­ ford House a few doors east of where the Journal Office now stands, no1" known ,as the Norris block. Then our old friend the late Jack Cathcart who also ran the Woodham Hotel. iHe also laer removed to St. Marys and succeeded Billy Cosgrove at the Bri­ tish. Billy having opened a grocery and boot and shoe store. Having described this village to we know it in the 70’s and 80’s, it can readily be seen how they kept Names Grade Cornish, Herdman, Shirley Murray, Harvey •Sparling. Grade V-—John Batten, Lois Co­ ward, Annie Elford. Grade III—Patricia Johns, George Kellett, Mildred Miller, Marion Murch, Murray 'Stephen. Grade II—Kathryn Batten, John Cornish, Murray Coward, Gordon Ford, Eunice Penhale, Wilma Veal, Grade I—Gladys Batten, John Hern, Wanda Stephen. M. McGugan, teacher WOMAN BICYCLES AROUND AUSTRALIA Dennis Carman round is The first woman to cycle Australia (about 10,000) miles, Mrs, C. J. McDonald, of Sydney, who, with, her husband, also bicycle, has just completed the nel. Mr. McDonald, who. is a very 'proud husband, says: “Three women have tried to cycle round Australia, .but she is only one to do it.” He re­ vealed that his wife weighed only 91 pounds. The couple left Sydney in Septem­ ber of last yeax' through Melbourne, Adelaide, Kalgoorlie, Broome, Dar­ win, Townville, Camoowall and Bris­ bane. The repaix1 bill fox* the whole trip was one penny—■fox* two spokes bought in Perth. Near Camoowall, in the Queens­ land bush, Mrs. McDonald was bit­ ten by a venomous snake. Hex1 .hus­ band cauterized the wound with a heated brooch-pin—the only “surg­ ical” instrument available. Between Port Holland and Broome (West Australia) they were without food in the bush fox’ two days. Aftei’ leav­ ing Broome they lost theix1 way, and ti^avelled 7'5 miles in. a circle before regaining the road, ten miles from a point where they had been given the wrong direction. Follow summer to its all-year home. Thrill to golf under blue skies, relax on -warm sands. For a winter vacation or a longer stay, there is never a dull moment. And living costs are very moderate. Choose your own route. Fares apply direct or via the Canadian Rockies, Vancouver and Vic­ toria to San Francisco in one or both directions. FULL INFORMATION AS TO ROUND TRIP • STANDARD FARE • TOURIST FARE • COACH FARE On Application Io any Agent T-S23 CANADIAN NATIONAL OLD AND NEW The old year dies, And at its passing Memory cries— “Do not forget, here at the way, Do not forget too soon the daysi—< Swift hours that flew— Nor all the hopes and dreams We shared with you”. The new year lives, And, echoed by the bells, This Message gives.—s “May joy be yours, and health, nor good luck cease. And for ydur heritage glad months of peace, So fears depart— As faith illumes your mind, And love your heart.” parting happy FORD JjOTElS $ CMoaqj RATESV *2-50^ SingunoHnmer' LOCATED ► EASY MORERN FIREPROOF ► HOTELS Bindloss, November 30, 1937 Exeter Times-Advocate; Dear Mr. Editor: This is the month to. remember my renewal for the .good old Exeter paper. It is almost 25 years I have taken it and I feel now it hard to get along without Ever cai1 of tended a real country coming here that we have had a garden failure. We had many crop failures but never a garden, so all those good things 'to that car was much appreciated by everyone who •got something from the car. We have 85 families in our community and 20 in a small town west of US* Cavendish. There was plenty for all, Mr. Cihudleigh, our depot agent, said to me “You ought to have seen that car of vegetables from your old home; you would be proud to call ■Crediton your old home.” He said he never saw such a sight; said he went to the car four times while it was being unloaded to the Hall. Af- ter it was arranged in the Hall it was a real picture. Those were the pictures that made us all feel we had someone who cared for us who needed the good things, for it did look for a while as thought we were not going to be among the number­ ed in the West. We seem to be hit the hardest right in and around Bindloss. Since we igot our car I notice that there has Several cars of stuff shipped out ’of Alberta into Saskatchewan. They need too. It is very hard to get stock in here. Baled straw and hay $14 a ton. This used to be alright, but of fail to get the moisture. Everyone I have met who received from the Crediton car is well pleased. (I know I am.) Words cannot express the many thanks I convey to all in their hearty co-operation for it was a real God-send and everything ar­ rived in good shape and did it look good, and tasted better. Rev. J. W. Bell, our United min­ ister from Empress, came to get a few chicken for their fowl supper in Empress. He read me a letter from Rev. D. Gladman, in Crediton, saying there was a car being shipped to Bindloss. That made my heart feel good to know it was coming. Mr. Bell said the name Crediton was familiar to him as he used to preach in Crediton, Eng., in wax’ time and in Exeter, Eng., too, and the distance between pflaces were the same in England as in .Ontario. We have nice weather here at sent. The ground is white snow. Wishing you success many thanks. Very sincerely, of youx* many subscribers. Mrs. V. J. Meade would be it. Creditem have in­ sure was since we got our food stuff, etc., I to write you. It God send to this part of the It is the first time since it there feed fox1 is $8.50 country late we pre- with and one. SIXTEEN PRIZES TO BE GIVEN AWAY to subscribers of the Times-Advocate FIRST PRIZE $5.00 These prizes will be given to subscribers of the TIMES-ADVOCATE who pay their subscrip­ tions before February 19. Coupons will be issued for each years’ subscription. On February 19 a draw will be made and the bolder of the first coupon drawn will receive a prize of $5.00. The next five will receive $2.00 each and the following ten will receive $1.00 Oiily^me prize to a subscriber. 9 « Subscription $2.00 a year 3 Years for $5.00 if paid in advance.RENEW NOW!We club with all papers and magazines. III 117 potatoes was sent Bindloss. December 8, 1937' Mr. Harry .Fahner & Family, Crediton, Ontario Deai’ Mr. manner,— . We received a hag of with your note in it that in a car from Centralia to The potatoes were lovely and please accept oui1 sincere thanks for tlieirf and convey same to any others that contributed. The .car was packed right to the roof with potatoes, carrots, turnips, beets, parsnips, squash, pumpkins, citrons cucumbers, beans, onions, apples, canned fruits, jams, jellies, pickles, honey, syrup and clothing. (And everything was so nice and ar­ rived in the best the only car ever It was so good neighbors to send houi’ of need, predated. We had no crop this year and only feed last year. Our gardens either blew out oi1 dried up. We had about four bushel of .potatoes and these we carried watei’ to keep them alive. Wishing you and yours the best of health and prosperity, I am Sincerely Harry Tucker and Fanxily Bindloss, Alta. of condition. It is shipped here. of you. and youx1 these to us in our Everything was ap- Miss Prouty Injured When Cars Collide Miss Phyllis Prouty 17 of iR. R. 1, Hay Township, suffered a wound on the head when a cai’ coming be­ hind hit the car in which she was riding, knocking out the glass di the rear window while on No. 4 .high­ way north of ArVa. Miss Prouty was removed ta a physician’s office and was able to proceed to hex1 home. None of the otliei* occupants of the two cars Was injured and there was only small damage to tlio machines. Miss Prouty was riding in a car. driven by Clayton Prouty, also of Hay Township, which slowed down on the icy pavement when he saw a car ahead being pulled from the ditch where it had skidded. A car driven by Fred (Stanley, R.R. 2 Den- field was following and on the ice skidded into- the back of Mr. prouty’a machine, police state. The accident was investigated by Traffic officer B. c. Moore, of Lon- don.No charges were laid.