Loading...
The Wingham Advance-Times, 1954-03-03, Page 1* t 'Subscriptions $2,50 per year, 6c per copy ALONG THE MAIN DRAG By The Pedestrian MUST BE SPRING—Wintry weath­ er to the contrary, spring must be Just around the corner. At Monday flight's meeting of the town council the dates for daylight saving time Were set, in was raging April 25th. With which is amalgamated the Gorrie Vidette and Wroxeter News WINGHAM, ONTARIO, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 3rd, 1954 T * Youthful Actors Take to Grease Paint Telephone, Hydro Lines Damaged by Heavy Sleet— Services Are Disrupted spite of the fact a storm outside, D.S.T. starts on o - o - A LION—They say thatIN LIKE a March that comes in like a lion goes out like a lamb. No doubt'about how this one came in. 0-0-0 PASS THE TAR—Monday’s rain- Bodden snow brotight all sorts of pro­ blems to all sorts of people. Most noticeable, from the inside at least, Were the roofs that were leaking all Over town. 0-0-0 NUMBER PLEASE? — Mike Mc­ Phail happened to be talking to Kitchener on Monday, just as compli­ cations started to set in on the tele­ phone lines. One, minute he was talk­ ing to his party in Kitchener and the next’ minute he was listening to ' a CBC broadcast. -Seems the wires had got crossed somewhere along the way, tuning him line. ' in on a radio transmission 0-0-0 STRONG—Other hockey be having their troubles, GOING teams may but the Pee Wees are still going Strong. So far they’ve played six games, won four, tied one and lost one. Should be good bets for the Goderich Young Canada Week, com­ ing up soon. o-o-o PRETTY AWFUL—On Tuesday af­ ternoon people were getting a little tired of hearing other people say how pretty the trees are, all covered with Bleet. Hydro men were particularly unappreciative. 0-0-0 FOUNp—On one of the inside pages Is a story about the difficulties the Kinettes are experiencing in getting pleading man lofAtheir one-act, play. Lest people think we are" making leading statements about a leading man, we hasten to add that Jim Cur­ rie has been engaged to do the part. Since the first story was written, of course. 0-0-0 WANTED—TV aerial installers. Must be good on icy roofs. Si ' ifill J...■■lm The council chambers in the town hall presented a busy scene last week, when students from the High School donned grease paint for the annual High School concert.' Being ■ “made-up” for their parts in the school concert are Wendell Alton and Madeline McKinnon. Make-up' artists are Miss K. MacGregor and Miss Margaret Nimmo, members of the High School staff. —Staff Photo, Starting Next Month— Part-time Dog Catchers Seen Answer to Canine Problem ICE” Roads were blocked, wires down and communications snarled in the district on Monday and Tuesday, as one of the heaviest sleet storms in the memory of the community swept Western Ontario, leaving the country­ side in a sheath of ice. Coupled with the freezing rain and snow, the wat- ers of the Maitland rose to their high­ est level of the year, as flood waters from the north and east poured into the bottleneck at Lower Wingham, posing a threat to homes in that loc­ ality. Telephone Lines Cut Telephone communications to the south were cut, making it’ necessary to reroute calls to Toronto and Lon­ don through Walkerton and Owen Sound, while Bell Telephone crews worked feverishly to repair the num- Arrive in Germany Mrs. Dorothy Brooks, Jeanette and Harry arrived safely in Germany, where she joined her husband, Cpl. Jack Brooks, who is with the 22nd Field Ambulance Corps in occupied Germany. Mrs. Brooks is the daughter of Mr. aand Mrs. Harry Wells, Essex, and sister of Bill Wells, of Wingham. erous breaks caused by sleet deposits on the wires, and falling limbs. Rural telephone lines suffered heavily when many , poles, as well as wires snapped under the weight of the ice. In the Wingham district, Bell Tele­ phone representative Hugh Carmich­ ael reported no major breaks, al­ though lines were severed in the Blyth area, cutting communications with London and Stratford, Ivan Gardner sole operator in town was busy all day Monday and Tuesday trying to keep up with the damage. Although few poles were reported down, many minor breaks occurred. Mr. Carmichael reported that there are probably telephone gangs from Stratford in the area, repairing the damage. But he wouldn’t know, be­ cause the lines to Stratford are down. As late as Tuesday afternoon service between Wingham and the south had not yet been restored. Blyth, Brussels, Howick and Moles- worth rural telephone companies were reported to be badly hit. P. U. O. Men Busy Utilities Commission workmen were kept busy by the storm, in two places at once. On Monday, when the threat of a flood loomed, P. U. C. men were busy at the dam, where the plank was removed to allow the pent-up water to escape, The situation was complicated by the rush of water coming down the lower branch and causing a bottleneck just below the juncture of the two branches. The flow of water here was heavy enough to back up water in the upper branch, causing complications below the dam. On Tuesday afternoon the water was reported to be receding slowly, and Emerson Shera, P.U.C. manager, said that the situation was under con­ trol, barring a sudden thaw or more rain. At the same time the flood waters were causing concern to hydro crews, trouble was developing on the power lines in town. Tree branches, heavily laden with sleet, were breaking off the trees, in some cases across power lines, keeping P.U.C. workers up all night repairing breaks in the wires. Around ten o’clock Tuesday night a limb from a tree severed a high ten­ sion line near the corner of Minnie Street and Patrick, cutting off the power in a large section of the town. Power was off for about an hour be­ fore the break was finally repaired. Later on that night a similar break occurred in a line near the hospital, throwing another section of town into darkness. By Tuesday afternoon sleet damage was becoming lighter, although even then the sleet had not entirely dis­ appeared. District Power Off Rural residents in the district felt the effect of Monday’s sleet storm when many of the rural hydro lines were severed. Damage was heaviest .south.and,..egst pf thp. tpwn oX Wing­ ham. On Tuesday hydro crews from Owen Sound and Alliston were work­ ing in the area, along with local crews, 'in an attempt to get power re­ stored to beleagured farmhouses. I. IW. Merrick, local manager of the Henry J. Rahlves, Toronto, inter­ nationally known marine figure, and a brother-in-law of town clerk W. A. Galbraith, of Wingham, died sudden­ ly in San Francisco on Saturday. Mr. Rahlves, who was 73, was for many years manager of the marine departments of Imperial Oil’ Ltd. and International Petroleum Co. Ltd., and after his retirement in 1945 was for two years president of the Crown- owned Park Steamship Co. Born in San Francisco, he began as a apprentice machinist and went to sea as a fireman. He turned to ship construction after obtaining his chief engineer’s papers at sea, work­ ing for several oil companies, and during the first war as a U.S. Ship­ ping Board inspector. He joined Imperial Oil Ltd. in 1920 as assistant manager of the marine department and became manager in 1933. One of his most interesting tasks came in 1929 when he was ap­ pointed a member of a special com­ mittee to select a pipeline route and Mediterranean terminal for Iraq Petroleum Co. The location and gen­ eral layout of the bulk oil terminals at .Haifa in Palestine and TJrippli v,in Sydria were proposed by him. At the outbreak of the second' World War Mr. Rahlves was in charge of Canada’s only ocean tanker fleet, as well as a fleet of 14 Can­ adian Lake vessels and many other ships in South American coastal ser­ vice. His department was also re- ALL IN READINESS FOR “I Final rehearsals have been complet­ ed for “Holiday on Ice”, the Wingham Figure Skating Club’s third annual carnival and Ross Smith, club pro­ fessional, reports everything in readi­ ness for the presentation of the finest skating entertainment, ever seen in Wingham. Beautiful costumes, enhanced by special lighting, add to the carnival atmosphere. Three quarters of the show features the Wingham skaters, who have made great strides in the last year, From the youngest tot to the most advanced skaters, all have a part in the carni­ val. Headlining the show as guest stars are members of the Stratford Skating Club and Miss Maureen Carthy, pro­ fessional of the Goderich club. Also coming from Toronto, is Mr. Muri . Burbidge, one of theAf;ip£St profession­ al comedians in Canada, whose hil­ arious antics are certain to prove pleasing to the audience. Three performances of the carnival will be given at the Wingham Arena, Friday and Saturday next, March 5th and 6th at 8 p.m., with a matinee at 2 p.m. on Saturday. Tickets are priced at 75c for adults and 25c for children for all performances and may be ob­ tained from club members and at the arena on the days of the perform­ ances. Pre-school children will be ad­ mitted free. New Beaver Manager Starts This WeekThe problem of dogs running at large came up again at the town council meeting on Monday night, when Police Chief T. W. Platt reminded council that the first of next month would see the beginning of the period during which dog owners were required to keep their pets “under control”, according to a by-law passed by council last year.- Chief Platt wanted to know if the police department is to enforce the by-law or not, and if they are to enforce it, what provisions should be1 made to provide facilities for a dogcatcher and a dog pound. He pointed out that according to law, dogs must be kept in pound for a period of 48 hours before action is taken to destroy them, and that dogcatcher must be enp __________________ ployed to catch them in the first tplace. Furthermore some sort of ve- ■ » nn - nn n hide ..will be nec.essary for picking them up, and provision made for feed­ ing them while Incarcerated. - Several* Complaints The chief asked if it were the wish of the council that he proceed to make such arrangements.’ He said that while he liked dogs himself, there had been several complaints of late con­ cerning numbers of dogs running to­ gether in the town, and various people had asked that action bp taken. He commented on the fact that there had been an outbreak qf rabies in the west, and that it was possible that the disease might crop up here. If it did, a lot of damage might be done by dogs running loose, before the situa­ tion could be controlled. Council discussed the pros and cons of dogcatching to some length, and decided that the by-law should be en­ forced. They instructed Chief Platt to make the necessary arrangements for a dog-pound, and decided that a $2 fine would be levied in each case yvhere a dog was picked up on the streets. Instead of hiring a dogcatcher, the council decided that the Chief and some of the men from the street de­ partment could periodically make a check of the town streets, pickin''’up whatever dogs were loose at the time. To Beautify Town A proposal was made by Councillor Norman Keating that the town’s 75th anniversary should be marked by a program for beautifying the town, was received favourably by council, and ways and means of doing this were discussed. Councillor Keating suggest- ' ed that flower pots be hung from the lamp posts similar to those which had become famous in Victoria, B. C. Mr. Keating was instructed by council to get a price on flower pots and brac­ kets before action is taken on the idea. Other suggestions were that the town should have some characteristic and distinguished feature for which it could become well known. One of the councillors suggested that some sort of a large sign with the' name “Wingham” should be placed promi­ nently at the approach to town. Others suggested that the “speed trap” signs might not improve the travellers’ opinion of Wingham, and inferred that a speed trap warning was not a particularly friendly way of welcoming the stranger to town. * Will Not Back Clinton A letter from the town clerk of the town of Clinton was read, asking that Wingham approve a resolution that Clinton be made the county town in­ stead Of Goderich. The letter pointed out -that since the courthouse in Goderich had burn­ ed down, it might be a good idea to build the new courthouse In Clinton, instead of re-building on the old spot in Goderich. The Clinton town council Please Turn to Page Seven The old twelve-pounder field piece which suddenly made its appearance in front of the Armouries, has been the subject of much speculation among the townspeople, as to how it got there and where it came from. Until last Wednesday, the gun had been rotting in a field behind the old ^armouries ''in Kincardine, a relic of the days when the armouries there was in use. Word had been received from Army HQ in London that the piece was to be recovered and brought to Wingham. A party under the charge of Sgt. Bill Grover went to Kincardine on Wednesday to get the gun. They found it behind the armouries, over­ grown with weeds and shrubs. With the aid of a good sharp axe, the party took two hours to chop out the brush around the gun, after which 200 feet of rope was attached to it, and the gun pulled out into the open. It was chained to the truck and towkd to the loading platform at the Kincardine railway station, where it was loaded on the back of a 3-ton truck, strapped down, and’ brought to Wingham. ! Upon arrival here it was unloaded Trail Rangers Plan Spring Paper Drive The Wingham Trail Rangers Group jnet at the United Church last Wed­ nesday. Opening ceremonies were held upstairs in the church followed by Scripture reading by Dave Cameron. Mr. MacRae told the story of an Olympic here, after which business was discussed. It was moved by Dave Cameron and seconded by George Domenech that the group have a paper drive in the spring. Following the business' volleyball and basketball games were played downstairs. . /...■■•■■■■■■ BIBLE SUNDAY , The British Foreign Bible Society J at the CNR station and towed through commemorates its Third Jubilee this Sunday. Rev. H. J. Newby, yill speak at both services, 11 and 7, in Wing­ ham Baptist Church. Come and hear the thrilling story of 150 years of Bible distribution in many lands. f3b WORLD DAY OF PRAYER World Day of Prayer service be held in the Anglican Church on the afternoon of March the 5th at B p.m., also in the evening at 8 p.m. for Evening Auxiliaries and others who find it a more convenient time than in the afternoon. will 17,-2b WOMEN’S INSTITUTE AUCTION SALE The Women’s institute are holding an auction sale on Wednesday, March 10th, in the Council Chamber, jng, miscellaneous articles for and tea served from 3 to 5. Bak- sale, F3b the streets to its present resting place. The gun is a 12-pounder field artil­ lery piece of ‘1917 vintage, according to the date inscribed on the breech. It has wooden spoke wheels similar to’ those used in field pieces during the first world war, and dial sights, like those used on the modern 25- pounders, as well as open sights. Army authorities are trying to piece together the history of the gun so that a full history of it will be avail­ able, but first world war veterans are inclined to think that the gun was used during the first war as an anti-tank weapon. Some veterans seem to remember > a similar gun which was used very close to the front line trenches, against enemy tanks, and the open sights on the weapon would seem to bear this out. It is planned to build a cement mount for the gun this spring, after Which it will be painted. Wingham Armouries has been one of the few in the area without a memento of this type on their front lawn. inBob Rowsell, of Weston, arrived town last week to take over the man­ agership of the Wingham branch of the Beaver Lumber Company. Mr. Rowsell replaces Bill King, who served as manager here for the past four months. Mr. King left Sunday for Woodstock, where he position of manager in Lumber yard there. Mr. Rowsell was for a half on the staff of the company’s yard in Weston, and has been con­ nected with the company since 1948. He is a native of Renfrew, Ontario, and lived in the Maritimes before moving to Westdn. He married in April. Mrs. King and Bobby ing in Wingham until commodation is found Woodstock. Although only a resident here for a short time, Mr. King is well known in town as a member of the Kinsmen Club, the Canadian Leg­ ion and the Curling Club. will fill the the Beaver year and a plans to be will be stay- suitable ac­ tor them in WDHS Annual School Concert Plays to Capacity Audiences Wingham Man Hurt In Car Accident Near Stratford . | W. Merrick, local manager of thesponsible for operating 12 ocean E> p. c said Tuesday that m tankers built by the Canadian gov- . . t j j 1ernment I bieaks might still be unreported, due In 1947 he was appointed one of!to failure of telephone iines and snow- the first three commissioners of the j clogged roads. Canadian Maritime Commission, re­ signing in 1948. FINAL EUCHRE PARTY The Bluevale Women’s Institute will hold their final Progressive Euchre party for this season, Friday, March 5th, Bluevale Community Hall, at 8.30 o’clock. Admission 25c, Ladies sandwiches. Charles E. Jones, of Wingham, was seriously injured in an accident in­ volving five people near Seebach's Hill, 10 miles west of Stratford, on Thursday. Taken to Stratford Hospital in ser­ ious condition were Reeve and Mrs. J. Wilson Brown, Motherwell; Mr. and Mrs. Fred Ratz, R R 3, Mitchell and Mrs. Jones. All suffered multiple fractures and .shock. The Browns and Mr. and Mrs. Ratz were en route to the Perth County Hog Producers’ Association annual meeting in Stratford. Mr. Brown, who is serving his fourth term as reeve, was driving. Mr. Jones was driving the other car. The Brown car is reported to have been passing a truck when the acci­ dent occurred. Both cars were wreck­ ed. The windshields were broken and the motors were driven back almost into the front seats. Dr. K. W. McLandress, of Mitchell, saw the accident and gave aid. Pro­ vincial Constable Douglas Orr investi­ gated. number William bring F3b HOSPITAL AUXILIARY MEET ON FRIDAY "• The Ladies Auxiliary to Wingham General Hospital, will hold their mon­ thly meeting in the Council Chamber, on Friday afternoon, March 5th., at two o’clock, F3b Bridge Club There were 6% tables present at the Wingham Bridge Club on Thursday night. The results are as follows. North and South—1st. H. Sherbondy and V. Dittmer; 2nd., MrS. H. C. Mac- Lean and Mrs. J. H. Crawford; 3rd., A. R. DuVal and Mrs. G. Godkin. East and West—1st., J. A. Wilson and O.’ Haselgrove; 2nd., Miss M. Johnston and W. H. French; 3rd., Mrs. R. R. Hobden and Mrs. W. H. French. ENGAGEMENT Mr. and Mrs. James Doig, * Wrox­ eter, Ontario, announce the engage­ ment of their only daughter, Evelyn Ellen, to Bradley Bruce Galbraith, son of Mr. Anson Galbraith and the late Elizabeth Galbraith, Gorrie, Ont>. The marriage to take place in the Wroxeter United Churchy Saturday, April 3rd., at 2.30 p.lh. F3b The first performance of the annual high school concert was presented on Wednesday night, February 24, before a large gathering of parents, pupils, and other interested persons. Due to the large crowds which have attended on the two performance nights in other years, it was decided this year, for the sake of those turned away at previous concerts, to have three con­ secutive performances on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday nights. Wednesday's presentation was well received by the audience. To open the evening, the audience was favoured by two selections by the school bugle band, under the direction of Mr. J. Jackson. Both were much ehjoyed. Musicians starring in this were as follows: Drums: Connell, Douglas Leach, Gordon Ross. Bugles: Mary Lou Dunlop, Donald Edgar, John Grewar, Catherine Keat­ ing, Barbara Merrick, Francis New­ man, Joan Thomas and Lois Walker. On the completion of these selec­ tions, the president of the Literary Society, Roger West, addressed the audience on behalf of the pupils and staff. In his speech, he extended a welcome to the audience and spoke briefly on the new high school, soon to be constructed. (One of his major topics was the cafeteria to be includ­ ed in the new building, and its in­ tended service to rural pupils who must bring cold lunch to school.) Next on the program was a piano solo, “Sonatina” by F. Kuhlau, played by Margaret Perrie. She responded graciously to an encore. Miss Perrie favoured her audience on Thursday evening with “Gavotte in B” by Han­ del, and Tchaikowsky’s “Song of the Lark”, and on Friday evening with “Sonatina” by M. Clementi, A display of girls gymnastics was then put on under the direction of Mrs. Williams, on the subject Of “The Old Woman in the Shoe and Her Children,” accompanied by Elaine (Continued on page nine.) » Most of the trouble with hydro lines He was a member. of the district was caused by falling of the executive committee of the J limbs rather than broken poles, he Shipping Federation of Canada, the said. The majority of the poles in the Royal Canadian Institute, and National Marine Institute of United Kingdom. Mr. Rahlves was a shriner and a member of the Granite, Marine and Montreal clubs. He leaves his wife, the former Alba Galbraith, of Wing­ ham. thp » « - - . - - • —t area have been kept in good repair, I and very few of them were damaged • in the storm. Want Flower Pots on Main St. Lamp Posts To Decorate Town play ONE-ACT FESTIVAL DATES SET FOR APRIL 1, 2, Plans for the local one-act festival are going ahead. Tentative dates for the performances are Thurs­ day and Friday evenings, April 1st. and 2nd. Plays to be performed are "Mrs. O’Leary’s Cow” by the Catholic youth Organization, “Sunday Costs Five Pesos” by the Kinettes, and “The Bishop’s Candlesticks,” by the Pres­ byterian Young People. Directors are, respectively, Margaret Brophy, Lillian Overend, Vin Dittmer. Marie Mills of the Kinettes is in charge of the ticket sales; a represen­ tative of the Presbyterian Young People is in charge of advertising; and Desmond Brophy of the CYO is house manager, responsible for co-ordinating, rehearsals at the town hall. Each group will have its own back stage crew in charge of scenery, costumes, make-up, etc. The Wingham Lions Club has don­ ated a trophy for annual competition. This trophy will be given this year to the group judged best by visiting ad­ judicator. idea was something remember pots from him to be Snowy Owl Killed By Car in Howick A large snowy owl flew intoA large snowy owl flew into the roadway in front Of George Brown’s cat and was killed on the Howick and Turnberry boundary on Wednes­ day evening. This species of the owl family is seldom seen in this district. It had a wing -spread of 52 inches. The southern migration of birds is usually contributed to city of food in the north, these scar- The town of Wingham will have flower-filled flowerpots hanging from the lamp posts of the main street. If Councillor Norman Keating has his way. And if the price is right, he may. It all began when Councillor Keat­ ing broached the subject of beautify­ ing the town for the coming 75th anniversary. He told council that decorating store windows and putting up colored lights was all right as a way of brightening up the town for the occasion, but he would like to see something permanent done to beautify Wingham. His that the town should have outstanding for visitors to Wingham by. And flower the lamp posts seemed to just the sort of thing that people would remember, long after they had. left Wingham far behind and return­ ed to their homes. Actually the idea is not exactly new. Victoria B.C. has flowerpots hanging from its lampposts—and gets a lot of publicity from same. In fact hanging flower pots has got to be a trade mark with Victoria, like the Eiffel Tower in Paris, or London Bridge in London. Councillor Keat­ ing figures that Wingham could well take a leaf from Victoria’s book, es­ pecially since he knows of no other Ontario town which <has tried the idea so far. Council seemed to like the scheme well enough, and quickly got down to cases by asking the cost. Coun­ cillor Keating said he hadn't much idea of the price on such things, but would get an estimate before next council meeting. Indications were that the council would go for the idea—If the price is I right.