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The Exeter Times-Advocate, 1954-01-21, Page 1Estimate Fire Damage At $20,000 ible material in a damp condition it can heat at the centre and fin­ ally break out in flame.” SAWDUST BREAKS INTO BLAZE — Fire at the 1 umbei’ mill started in this shavings shed. Picture shows blaze roaring above the building shortly before firemen doused it. This was one of the few times the fire got outside the buildings. Fire Chief Pill Chambers believes cause is spontaneous combustion. ■ —Jack Doerr, Exeter ESTIMATE FIRE DAMAGE AT $20,000 — The Sunday night fire at Huron Lumber Co. Ltd. caused around $20,000 damage, Manager A. J. Sweitzer estimated. Firemen fought for three hours to control the outburst. Picture shows front of building and billowing smoke in the alley way. Few spectators remained at the scene because of the intense cold. Firemen are drinking hot coffee behind the truck. Cleanup and repair of the building was started Mon­ day morning and Mr. Sweitzer hopes to have plant operating soon. —Jack Doerr, Exeter SMOKE, COLD HAMPER FIGHTERS — Thrcc-below weather and heavy clouds of smoke hampered firemen in their efforts to control the blaze. Left, Mill Manager .Jake Sweitzer assisted in organizing the battle against the fire. He’s shown here getting a hose from his plant ready to use. Helping him is F/O Grant Goodale. Smoke clouds ETie picture. Right, Fire Chief Bill Chambers comes out of a burning shed, water frozen to his coat. —Jack Doerr s.. Jj. 4 Eighty-Fifth Year A- EXETER, ONTARIO, THURSDAY MORNING, JANUARY 21, 1954 Price Per Copy 7jf Save Lumber Plant In Zero Cold, rCall Firemen's Job 'Outstanding _ ~ I . ~ ... _________Believe Sawdust Combustion Most Likely Cause Of Fire Fire Chief Bill Chambers believes spontaneous combustion is the most probable cause of the lumber mill fire. “Although most people believe combustion could not take place in such cold weather, it is quite possible,” he said. “No matter how cold it is, if there is any large heap of combust- Exeter Fire Department held damage to a minimum at the Huron Lumber Co. Ltd. when fire broke out Sunday. A. J. Sweitzer, manager of the mill, called the depart­ ment “the best volunteer unit any community could have”. “They did a marvellous job. Authorities consider a lumber Attempt Break-In While Fire Rages Strange as it may seem there have been two attempted break- ins and on one occasion two places were entered at a time when fires have broken out in town. The" latest attempt was made Sunday night to break into the J. H. Jones grocery store. A pane of glass was broken but there was a double lock on the door which foiled the would-.be rob­ bers. A few years ago a fire broke out in the Gospel Tabernacle and at the time‘the siren sounded an attempt was being made to break, into the post office. The door had been jimmied but the rob­bers were frightened away. 6 On another occasion when fire broke out in Mr. W. F. Abbott’s barn the store of McKnight & Walper and the office of Tile Times-Advocate had been entered and money stolen. They were heard to leave The Times-Advo­ cate iihinediately after the siren sounded. Want To Join SHDHS Area At the opening session .of Hur­ on County Council, Reeves Cousins and Clerk-Treasurer Erskine were named members of the Criminal Audit Board for the year. Depgty- Reeve Arthur 'Gibson, Howie?, The only other possible ex­ planation is foul play, the chief stated. Children or tramps might "have been in the shed and set it on fire with cigarettes. Or the thieves who broke into a down­ town store the same evening could have set the ' ’L „ ablaze to distract attention. These possibilties are highly improbable, the chief said, be­ cause it would take quite an in­ cendiary to fire the tightly-packed shavings. building yard one of the few places that can’t be saved out. The fact brigade saved they are an fighting crew.” Fire Chief Bill Chambers, too, was gratified by the work of his crew. “Every man cooperated wholeheartedly and they all did their jobs well,” he said. The chief termed the outfit one of tops in Western Ontario. Damage Under >>20,000 Firemen saved mo'st of main working plant and held damage to under $20,000 when the blaze broke out during the coldest night of the winter. The when fire breaks that the Exeter OUl’ outstanding fire- mill sh'ows the the Two Reeves In District Win Warden Honors • Reeves of two townships in this area were elected war­ dens of their respective counties this week. Fred R. Dobbs, reeve of Biddulph, won the wardenship of Middlesex county and John A. Stephen, planshard’s chief magistrate, heads Perth county' council. and Reeve John Morrissey, dE Olde Stephen, were named to the courit4\?53. ty road committee for ' three-r -Aya years. A request from. Tuckersmith Township asking that a portion of the township be withdrawn from the Clinton High School Area and be included in South Huron High School Area was sent to the executive committee. Appointed to a striking com­ mittee to bring in a list of stand­ ing committees were Reeves R. E. Pooley, of Exeter; William H. Morritt, Blyth; Harold Gowdy, Howick; Clifford Rowland, Grey; and Alvin Kerslake, Hensall. A recommendation from Sheriff Nelson Hill that all employees of the county jail be given an in­ crease of $100 was sent to the executive committee. A lettei’ from the University of Western Ontario, reporting velopments of the past year, sent to the executive. First Election For Warden Dobbs Fred Dobbs, reeve of Biddulph, won his first election on Tuesday and became warden of Middlesex county for 1954. Though he has been in muni­ cipal and county politics for the past 10 consecutive years, War­ den Dobbfe served by acclamation his three terms as councillor and seven terms as reeve of Biddulph. On the second ballot of a three- way contest at the annual caucus of councillors, warden, of West die of Newbury Village. Neil Olde of ~ ' ' ' clamation on Tuesday afternoon. His nomination by Reeves J. Wilson Brown, Fullarton Town­ ship, and Alex Anderson, South EasthofJe Township, was the only one received. Warden Stephen, following his election, spoke on the possibility of council hearing about con­ servation this year. Later council learned that the Mitchell Con­ servation Club will seek a hear­ ing at this session. The Thames Valley Conservation Authority has considered construction of a dam at Mitchell. temperature was three ’ degrees below zero. The blaze started in a long shaving shed behind the main building and shot into the plant through the shavings shute. The fire raced along the dust on the beams and the ceiling Battling smoke and which froze water to their gar­ ments, the fire fighters entered the building and killed the blaze before it got entrenched in the framework. The men poured tons of water into the building. Three main hoses streamed for three hours to keep the fire under control. .Shaving Shed Ablaze The shavings shed was ablaze when firemen reached the scene but the flames were quickly doused. Fire was deeply en­ trenched in the sawdust, /how­ ever, and the smoke............. heavily. From the top of an warehouse to the south, concentrated one hose the shed and the main plant. An- other hose was split into smaller lines, one playing on the sawdust shed, the othei’ on the inside of the main building. Heat and smoke were so in­ tense from -the inside of the plant that firemen couldn’t get in the south windows. In spite of the heat, Fred Simmons poured water through the window but bis work was hampered by boards and a bench in front of the open­ ing. Enter Building To get at the core of the blaze in the upper storey of the plant, Fire Chief Chambers led three men, Verne Heywood, Doug, Har­ ness and Weg Ryckman, into the north side with the third main hose. They entered through the ramp from the new office and storage structure, and water from that side. When action cooled the blaze, he was elected defeating Milton Brock Nissouri and N. E. Hur- Carodoc was warden in for threer'-Avarden Dobbs owns and works twA farms on Concession 4 of Biddulph, which his son, Fred, manages, and, assisted by his older sob, George, operates an automobile agency in Exeter. Blanshard Reeve* Warden Of Perth John A. Stephen, reeve of Blanshard Township was elected warden of Perth County by ac- A. de- was Reeve Of Hullett Elected In Huron Alvin Kerslake, of Hensall, 19 53 warden of Huron County, was replaced on Tuesday by William J. Dale, reeve of Hullett Township, w.ho on the first bal­ lot, defeated his only opponent, Reeve Roy B. Cousins, Brussels. Warden Dale has been a meme bei* of county council for five years, a member of the road com­ mittee for three years and chair­ man for the past year. Usborne, Hay Appoint 1954 Officials Usborne township council authorized tender calls for a half-ton truck, culverts, construction of the Tuckey-May drain, gravel and warble fly spraying at its inaugural meeting last week. The culverts are for Lot Lot 30, Concessions 6 and 7. Members of the 1954 council-— Reeve cillors Hern, Smith office Strang. Rev. W. J. Moores, of Thames Road, led in devotions. The council authorized ment of County of Huron X in the amount of $12,000. Grants Of $25 Grants Of $25 each were to the Salvation Army and the Huron County Branch of the On­ tario Soil and Crop Improvement Association. Council directed the road superintendent to have a tele­ phone installed in the machinery building, The regular meeting day was set as the second Monday after­ noon in each month, with a special meeting to be held Mon­ day evening, February 1, Council discussed at some length the road appropriation by­ law for 11)54 but left final de­ cision until the special February 35, Concessions 2 and .3, and oily driveshafts along of the first storey, the Btlfling, billowing the sub-zero weather blasted this men entered from the south side and, with the to hoses, the fire was quickly extinguished. Fireman Bill Musser, Manager ■Sweitzer, his son, Ralph, and em­ ployee Albert Bowen stayed with the fire all night. There were still burning embers in the saw­ dust pile Tuesday afternoon, The fire is believed to be the first at the local mill in its long history. Some of the machinery building is over 100 yearsin the old. Partly Mill estimated the damage at around $20,000'. The buildings and equip­ ment were partly covered by in­ surance, he said. Most of the machinery in the —Please turn to Page 12 Insured manager A.J. Sweitzer billowed adjacent the meji between Sugar Beet Prices Rise The contract scale of prices for sugar beets for 1954 will be increased by 25$ per ton condi­ tional upon a total crop of 315,- 000’ tons over the whole territory. The announcement was made to­ day jointly by representatives of Ontario Sugar Beet Growers’ Marketing Board and the Canada and Dominion Sugar Company, Limited. While the 315,000-ton figure is somewhat above the total crop grown in 1953, it is considerably smaller than the crops for the foui’ years previous when the crops ranged from 331,000 tons up to 383,000. Board Requests $30,000 For Hensail Artificial Ice Herman Memorial Parks Board have asked the village council for $30,000 to install artificial ice. The official request will be dealt with by council at its first meet­ ing in January. Establishment of the cost fig­ ure for an ice plant in the arena marks another step towards the climax of a campaign to give the Hensail area artificial ice facil­ ities. Now council must determine Hopes Rise For Playoffs As Tribe Downs Zurich Exeter Mohawks moved into a tie for sixth spot and brightened their hopes for a playoff berth by defeating Zurich Flyers 7-4 on Wednesday night. The tribe spotted Zurich a 3-1 lead in the first period before they rolled to victory. John An­ derson paced the winners with a hat-trick night. Bob Hayter and Bill Yungblut put the Flyers ahead 2-0 in the first period before Fred Hewer counted Mohawks’ first tally. Joe Maisonville’s goal near the end of the stanza gave Zurich a 3-1 lead. Tie Game In Seoond Don Hesse widened the margin to 4-1 in the first minute of the second. Exeter began to turn the when Anderson of his three. He and Gerry Hill the count at the Mohawks' defencemen—Smith, McGillivray, Doak. Glenn and Coates, along with netminder Reg Turner, were outstanding. Exeter Mohawks can still make those playoffs. If the tribe defeats St. Marys, Hensall and Byron in their re­ maining games, the odd’s say the locals should make the Cyclone round. They could at least tie .for the sixth position. The three wins would give Mo­ hawks with a 9-9 won-lost record which, barring upsets, should al­ low them to overtake Hensall and possibly Lucan. Viow much of this amount will be iaised by debenture. Campaigns jty community organizations will ’aise the balance. Money-making schemes are al­ ready being planned groups in an effort to the financial burden on lage. The parks board met night to consolidate its after visiting five Western Ontario and getting es­ timates on the cost of equipment and installation. Visit Other Arenas Members visited Milverton, Palmerston, Harriston, Mount Forest and Mildmay to determine costs of installation and operating expenses in municipalities with a population similar to Hensall. They found all these arenas showing a good profit besides carrying a portion of the town's recreation costs. Officers of the newly-appointed board were elected at the same meeting. Harvey Keys is chair­ man; Eugene Forrester, secretary­ treasurer; and Lorne Hay, arena by the alleviate the vil- Tuesday findings arenas in liaison officer. Meanwhile, another faction is circulating a petition which re­ quests an official vote on whether the village should issue deben­ tures for the project. Ontario Firemen Change Couplings Standardization of hose coup­ lings in Exeter , was started on Wednesday by men of the On­ tario Fire .Marshall’s department. The job will be completed in four days. Over 100 adaptors are being fitted to the hydrants and all hose connectors must be changed. The project is sponsored by the province. Verne Pincombe and Coun- Harold Jeffery, Harold Earl Mitchell and Clayton subscribed to the oath of before Clerk H. H. G. J. pay­ taxes made meeting. Appointments Municipal officials appointed were: clerk-assessor, H. II. G. Strang; treasurer, N. G. Clarke; tax collector’* and school attend­ ance officer, William Johns; road superintendent, W< J. R o u 11 y; auditor, T. A. WiSenian; welfare administrator, N. G." Clarke; so­ licitor, W. G. Cochrane; livestock valuator, W. R. Brock; South Huron High School Board repre­ sentative, A. W. Morgan; in­ spector in charge of livestock pasturing by-law, W. J. Routly; weed inspector, N, G. Clarke. Fence viewers, William Lam­ port, Clarence Down, Gerald Paul, Nelson Coultis, Clarence Fletcher; pound keepers, Mau­ rice Coates, Robert Jeffery, Ed­ mund Alexander, Everette Skin­ ner, Heber Shute, John Bray, Thomas Yellow, Russell Fergu­ son, James Anderson, Hlson Lynn and Evetard Millet. Employees 'were confirmed as -—Please Turn to Page 12 The inaugural meeting of Hay Township Council was held in the Township Hall, Zurich, on January 11 at 11 a.m. with Clerk FI. W. Brokcnshirc administering the oath of office to Reeve-elect Earl Campbell, Deputy-Reeve V. L. Becker and Councillors Delbert Gaiser, L. W. Greb and L. FI. Rader. Rev. E. W. Heimrich was pre­ sent and addressed the council followed by prayer. Following the morning session 'the reeve invited the councillors and officials to be his guests at dinner at the Do­ minion Hotel. At the afternoon session a grant of $10 was made to the Huron County Crop Association; $40' to the Zurich Public Library; $20 to the Dashwood Public Lib­ rary atid tlie Women’s Institute was granted permission to re­ move the cupboards in the Town­ ship Hall and to install a modern built-in cupboard at the tute’s expense. The reeve and treasurer authorized to borrow up to 000 for current expenses the Bank of Montreal, Zurich, Appointments were made as follows: School attendance officer, Bruce J. Klopp; road superinten­ dent, James Masse; Au sable River Conservation Authority, William Ft. Haugh; caretaker of hall, Mrs. Fanny Bender; relief administrator, Earl Campbell; Insti- stock valuator, Bertram Klopp. Pound keepers, J. F. Ingram, Ghrnet Jacobe, Fergus Turnbull, Alvin Walper, Leonard Merner, Edwin Regier, 1 Harold Finley, Harry Clausius, Allan Crerar, William Watson. Fence viewers, Percy Camp­ bell, Lloyd Hendrich, Fred J. Heberbr. ($3.50 per meeting plus mileage.) Community Centre, and Arena Board, Reeve Earl Camp­ bell, Delbert Geiger, Ray Fisher, Lloyd O’Brien, Oscar Greb, Ford. Haberer, Arnold Merner. George Armstrong was appoint­ ed assessor at $000 plus $300 for cai’ allowance, postage extra, A by-law was passed setting the following rates of pay; one man, 70c per hour; man and team, $1 per hour; patrolmen, 75$ per hour; Snowplow helper, 80$; team and mower, $1.50'; selec­ tion of jurors, reeve and assessor, $6; clerk, $10; tractor on grader, $1.50; tractor on wagon, $1; school attendance officer# $2,50 per trip plus mileage; stock -—Please Turn to page 12 tide at 5.25 scored the first added another counted to even bell. M o li a w’k s scoring in the third. Barry Doak, Ray Richards and Anderson pot­ ted the winning tallies. Thirteen penalties were hand­ ed out but there were no fights. Benny Gignac received a 10- minute misconduct foi’ high- sticking. monopolized the #eonard Merner, I _ f5XGS£:'Mrs. W. Chambers Snowball Queen Mrs. Bill Chambers, of Main Street, was crowned Snowball Queen at the annual winter dance of the Exeter Legion Ladies Auxiliary. Last year’s queen, Mrs. Wes Ryckman, placed the white coro­ net on her successor’s head dur­ ing the ceremony and Mrs. Har­ vey Pfaff presented Mrs. Cham­ bers with a crystal plate on be­ half of the Auxiliary. Members elected their queen by secret ballet at a previous meeting, Mrs. Jack Quinlivan, Stephen township, won the cedar chest Which VvaS drawn for during the evening. About 150 couples dahced to the music of Lionel Thornton and his orchestra. Fire Loss $4,000 At Grand Bend Damage was estimated at $4,000 when fire destroyed the main part of a two-storey house owned by Mrs. Cyrus Green at Grand Bend Friday. The loss was partly covered by insurance. Firemen led by Chief Law­ rence Mason fought the fire for four hours and managed to save an adjoining back kitchen and the kitchen furniture. The fire started while a repair- 1 man was attempting to re-light , an oil furnace. He ran next door i to get a fire extinguisher but could not re-enter the house when he returned. He then sounded the fire alarm. Mrs. Green, an lived alone in the Find Stolen Car Near Centralia A stolen cai’ was picked Sunday evening neaj’ the Cen­ tralia Airport by Provincial Con­ stable Elmer Zimmerman. The following day word was received that a car had been stolen in London. It belonged to a salesman for children’s toys. The toys had been dumped from the cai’ into the snow beside the road and were turned up by the county snowplow and brought to Exeter at the time of the fire at the Huron Lumber Co. up Elect Turnbull Union Head Robert Turnbull, Carling St., was re-elected president of the union local at the Canadian Can- ners plant Thursday night. Bill Haley remains secretary-treasur­ er. Vice - president and recording secretary of the union will be elected at the next meeting. Named to the grievance com­ mittee were Mr. Turnbull, Bill Webster and Norman Passmore. On the bargaining committee are Mr. Haley, Lew Kirk and Jim Wilson. Bill Falls, of Toronto, district organizer, attended the meeting. The union is local 286 of the Amalgamated Meat Cutter and Butcher Work m e n of North America (A.F.L.) elderly widow, house. Sunday Evening Winter's Coldest Temperatures recorded during the past week at ROAF Station Centralia show that during Sun­ day night the temperature dropped to 3° below zero, which is the lowest recording of the winter. January January January January January January Mill.Mai. 15 .......... 21 32 16 ........... 24 31 17 .......... 5 12 18 ............ -3 25 10 ......25 34 20 ......34 41 BEND — Grand Bend fire-SAVE KITCHEN AT GRAND meit were able to save the kitchen of this home when it burned Friday. The blaze started when a repairman was attempting to re-light an oil furnace. Mrs. Cyrus Green, an elderly widow, lived alone in the house. Damage was estimated at $1,000*