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The Wingham Advance-Times, 1955-07-06, Page 1Subscription $3^00 per year, 7c per copy With which is amalgamated the Gorrie Vidette and Wroxeter News WINGHAM, ONTARIO, WEDNESDAY, JULY 6th, 1955 FUN AT THE DAM PASS BUILDING PERMITS why the men shouldn't—or WAS NATIVE 0-0-0 YOUR GOAT—One of the ALONG THE MAIN DRAG By The Pedestrian SHORTS AND MIDRIFFS—The heat wave of the past few days has started talk that various members of the Business Association are consid­ ering appearing at their business premises • in shorts, as a means of beating the heat. Personally we’ll be­ lieve it when we see it. However, if the ladies can get away with it there’s no reason is there? BRING codlest places in town is the egg grad­ ing room at the Holmdale Creamery. With a temperature of about 65 de­ grees it’s a pretty popular place these days, and Mr. and Mrs. Miller Davis find it a very handy spot for eating the family dinner on these hot days. Trouble is, at that temperature you’re apt to get a chill, 0-0-0 SORRY, OFFICER—When the new£ gets around to the truckers of Wes­ tern Ontario that they’re apt to meet up with Mayor McKinney when they exceed the speed limit through Wing­ ham, there should be a falling off of speeding in town. On two occasions now the Mayor has pulled speeders over to the side of the road and ad­ ministered a verbal reprimand, doubt if there’s any truth in rumor that the town is going to sent him with a motorcycle. 0-0-0 A favorite spot in the early summer for kids who like the water and know how to swim, Howson’s Dam presents a problem to the town council, because of the work which must be done to keep the dam in good repair. Above, some of the older boys who swim at the dam jump over the bridge into the swirling waters beneath—a practice frowned upon by adults, but popular with the youngsters.-—Staff photo. ^Wingham Ladies Win at Clinton FEDERATION PLANS We the pre- PLEASE CAN WE WASH?—The latest by-law of the town states that nc person shall use water supplied by the municipality by way of “hose or other contrivance attached to a water pipe” at any time except during the hours set aside for lawn sprinkling. If a tap could be described as a "con­ trivance attached to a water pipe,” it looks as if we’ll all have to go dirty, except between the hours of 6 and 9 in the morning and 6 and 9 in the evening. 0-0-0 ONE MORE MEETING—Wing­ ham’s Wolf Cubs, who thought they had attended their last meeting for the summer season, are asked to at­ tend one more at the United Church on Thursday, at 7 o’clock. Purpose is to discuss cub camp, scheduled for July 22, 23 and 24. 0-0-0 SAFER HERE—In contrast to the number of accidents reported over the holiday week-end elsewhere * in Can­ ada, the hospital here,didn't have, any cases between Friday and Tuesday. Must be a healthy climate. 0 - 0 - o WRONG DAY, NICE CATCH— While everybody else went out for bass on Friday, opening day of the bass season, Irving Reid tried his hand at speckled trout. Came back with three dandies, too. Largest was 14% inches and the others were only slightly smaller. FIRE DESTROYS BARN IN MORRIS TOWNSHIP Fi?e, thought to have been caused by a short in the electrical wiring, destroyed the frame barn on the farm of Howard Smith, 5th line of Morris, on Wednesday afternoon. Eight fat pigs, ten little pigs, 4 sows, 3 calves and 125 hens, as well as a quantity of grain were destroyed In the blaze which swept the forty foot barn in a matter of minutes. Mr. Smith was in the driving shed at the time the fire broke out. He had noticed that an electric motor had cut out several times, and coming out of the shed had seen the blaze In the upper part of the barn. He rushed into the barn in an attempt to save the livestock, but was only able to free eight pigs before the flames forced him away. Only two of the eight pigs were able to escape, and these had to be de­ stroyed later, because of injuries. Volunteer firemen from Wingham arrived on the scene shortly after the alarm was sounded, but found only the frame standing. The woodshed of the house, not far from the barn was badly blistered, and was only saved through the efforts of neighbors, who threw water on it before the fire department arrived. The loss, believed to be in the neighborhood of $8,000, was partly covered by insurance, Ii PICNIC IN SEAFORTH play for Clinton by Mrs. X Fifteen ladies from the Wingham Ladies 'Bowling Club journeyed to Clinton last Wednesday to the Irwin Trophy of the Ladies Bowling Club. A Wingham rink skipped A. R, DuVal with Mrs. Charles Lloyd, lead, and Mrs. E. Webster, vice, won the trophy with a score of three wins plus nineteen. Mrs. Townsend’s rink, of Goderich was second and Mrs. Knott, of Clinton, was third. Mrs. Joe Kerr’s rink of Wingham, was fourth, with Mrs. E. Sturdy and Mrs. Andy Lunn. of be in C. of in of \A formei- Wingham boy, K, McKay, son of Mrs. J. H. McKay, town, figured in" a bank robbery Marmora last week. Mr. McKay, who is the manager the Toronto-Dominion bank there; was held up with six members of his staff and tied up by thugs who stole $5,400 in cash from the bank in a daring robbery last Wednesday morn­ ing. The robbers gained entrance to the bank by pretending they had come to inspect the heating system at 9 a.m., before the bank opened for business. Once inside they held Mr. McKay and his staff at the point of a gun, tied them, and locked them in a back room. The robbery received prominence in the press when it was learned that the robbers .had kidnapped a Peter­ borough man and held him prisoner for ten hours prior to the robbery, using his car in the get away. • Mr. McKay a brother of Mrs. George R. Scott, of town started his banking career in the Domion Bank in Wing­ ham. TO VALUE OF $10,000 ^Building permits to the value of $10,000 were passed at the council meeting oil Monday. John P. McKibbon was granted a permit for alterations to the front of two stores in the MacDonald Block on Josephine Street. Fred McGee was granted a per­ mit to erect a 1%-storey brick veneer residence on Maple Street, between Centre and Josephine Street. The women's committee of a the Huron County Federation of Agri­ culture, meeting in Clinton with the federation’s directors, discussed the work of the Victorian Order of Nurs­ es; It was decided that the cost establishing the order could not undertaken at the present time Huron. The directors made plans for the annual picnic to be held at the .Lions Park, Seaforth, July 15, at 2 p.m. A committee set up to make plans for the annual tiwpicnic for the agricultural organization dis­ play booth for use at fall fairs in the county will include besides the president and fieldman, vice-president Douglas McNeil, Goderich; vice-presi­ dent, Wnston Shapton, Exeter and past president, R. S. McKercher, R.R. 1, Dublin. Presidept is Wilfred Short­ reed and fieldman is Gordon Greig. A well-known arid respected resi­ dent of Wingham for the past eleven years, Robert R. Hqbden died sudden­ ly at his home on Friday, in his 58th year. He had been in ill health for almost a year. A manager of the Bank of Com­ merce here since his. arrival, Mr. Hob- den was born in'Minden. He was well known for his interest in sports and was a member of both the Wingham Lawn Bowling Club and the Wing­ ham Curling Club); He was also a member of the United Church, the Wingham Lions Club and the Beams- ville Masonic Order. A wide circle of friends will miss his activities in these organizations. Surviving besides his wife, the former Margaret McDonald, of Mont­ real, are three sons, James, of Tor­ onto; Jack, of Niagara Falls, and William, of Hamilton; two daughters, Jean, of Hamilton,and Marjorie, at home; two brothers,f.Rdy, of Paris and Thomas, of Brookville; and two sis­ ters, Reta (Mrs. H J. Overend) of Orillia, and Marjorie (Mrs. T. Gar­ rett), of Buffalo, Nj'Y. A private funeral-^ service was held at the Walker funeral home on Sun­ day evening, with Rev. D. J. MacRae officiating. Burial took place in Mount Osborne Cemetery, Beamsville. Noted Doctor Visits Here i‘\"A caller last week at the home of Leon Cantelon, Leopold St., was Dr. Samuel Oliver Rogers, who is well known to many veterans .of both wars. Dr. Rogers, who is a relative of Mr. Cantelon, was registrar of the Canadian hospital at Epsom, Eng­ land, in 1914-15. He returned to Canada and opened the first hospital, for Canadian veterans in this country. Later he served as internist in medi­ cine at Christie Street veterans’ hos­ pital, Toronto, until 1941, when he was sent to London as chief medical officer at Westminster Hospital. He continued there until his retirement in 1947. Dr. Rogers was accompanied by his brother, Thomas, of Lloydminster, Sask., and their wives. Another bro­ ther, Dr. Lawrence Morrison Rogers,-, of Edmonton, until recently has been Alberta provincial medical director of civil defence. Renewed discussion on traffic lights for Josephine Street highlighted, the council meeting on Monday night, when Councillor Jack Alexander, chairman of the street committee, announced that it would be possible to get a set of traffic lights for the corner of Josephine and John streets for the sum of $1,200. The announcement touched off another discussion of th© merits and demerits of traffic lights similar to those which have been going on in the council for the past couple of years. Mr. Alexander said that four-way lights on the corner would be feasible in spite of the added complication of Diagonal Road. He produced* a sketch of the intersection showing his idea of how the set-up would work, ------------------------------------------------ and added that it might be necces- Lady Golfers Enjoy Pot Luck Supper The ladies section of the Wingham Golf Club had a pot luck supper at the club house on Monday evening, June 27th. After a very delicious supper a friendly game of golf was enjoyed. On Thursday afternoon there were five tables of bridge. The winners were Mrs. W. J. Greer and Mrs. ,C. B. Armitage. A lovely lunch was served by the hostesses, Mrs, H. Carmichael, Mrs. G. Ross, Mrs. W. Heughan, Mrs. W. Hamilton and Mrs. R. Hobden. Town Council Re-Acquires Lot On Josephine Street South SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS Problem for Council-----................................................................ ,, —< e , >5 y Costly Repairs or New Bridge In Prospect at Howson's Dam a* Second Break=In at Crossett Motors « -*<A second break-in in two months at Crossett Motors was investigated, by Wingham police last week-end, when approximately $5 was stolen from the office. The safe had not been broken into, but it was apparent that the thieves had been working on it when they were frightened away. A filing cabinet was also broken into. Police are investigating the pos­ sibility that the two break-ins may have been committed by the same gang. Morris Pioneer Buried Letter In Wall for Future Reference An interesting sidelight on the his­ tory of Morris Township was report­ ed-in The Wingham Advance of Dec­ ember 12th, 1901, concerning a mes­ sage found in a bottle on a Morris farm. The story is as follows: “A few days ago workmen were en­ gaged tearing down and rebuilding the stone foundation under the barn oh the farm of W. M. Scott, lot 7, con. 9, Morris, when a bottle embedd­ ed in the wall was discovered. Tho bottle was found to contain a piece of paper, which was withdrawn from the bottle, and which proved to be of much interest, as it recalled the good old days gone by. On one side of the paper was written the following:' “Township of Morris, lot 7, con. 9. This is to show some facts to those who may come after John S. Laidlaw and Agnes. Laidlaw and their family— William, Jessie, Mary Scott, Agnes Jane Archibald, Jane Waldie and John Edward Blake Laidlaw, first occu­ pants of this lot of land, taken up the 25th day of September in the year 1851. Representatives of tho first seven inhabitants of Morris laid the foundation of this barn on the 22nd day of April, 1874, in the 44th year of John S. Laidlaw's life and the 40th year of Agnbs Laidlaw’s life, who were married by Rev. John Ross, of BrUcefield, on the 15th day of Marell, 1855, on the farm, lot 7, con. 10, posite this lot, then all bush. Agnes Waldie, the bride, came from Hawick, Roxburghshire, and John S. Laidlaw, the groom, from Kintail, Rossshire, both Lowland Scotch to the backbone. The builder of this wall is a cousin, Walter Scott, from Gelmscleugh, Sel­ kirkshire.” “On the opposite side of the paper is written the following: “There is a Reform government now of over 100 majority. Hon. Alex Mac­ kenzie is prime minister, Hon. J. A. Macdonald having been defeated for a Pacific scandal and other sins. There is a contemplated union of the Canada Presbyterian church and the Old Kirk. Rev. Archibald Mc­ Lean, minister of the Canadian Pres­ byterian church at Blyth, placed there November 6th, 1866, and is beloved of all men. W. T. Hays, registrar at Blyth; D. B. McKinnon, postmaster at Blyth; Patrick Kelly, miller and saw mills, at Blyth; Dr. Wm. Sloan, of Blyth, aspirant to parliament and worthy of the seat in place of Mr. Farrow, of Bluevale, in my' estima­ tion; Thomas Gibson, member at Tor­ onto in the local parliament. .The council of Morris is Patrick Kelly, reeve; Donald Scott, deputy reeve; John McCrea, John Miller and Wm. James Johnston, councillors.” op- Howson’s Dam, for many years feature of the Wingham landscape, may eventually be replaced by a stag­ nant trench of shallow water, if pre­ sent trends, continue. Or, as an alter­ native, the town may one day be faced with a costly repair job or the price of a new bridge. Back in 1922 when the dam was first built by the town, it provided part-time power for Howson’s mill, which was then in operation. In ad­ dition to this it supplied power for the old pump house, which still stands beside the dam, and which pumped water to the standpipe. In those days is was a paying pro­ position. The mill paid an annual rent for the use of the dam and in addit­ ion the town got the use of the water to run the pump house. Whatever the maintenance costs were on the dam, the town paid them and was presum­ ably happy to do so. But a couple of new hydro-powered pump houses were built and in the flood of 1948 the old one was put out of commission, leaving the mill as the only use of water power from the dam. In 1950 the mill burned down and was never re-built, which meant that the dam as a useful project had ceased to exist. Little Maintenance Work Since that time very little mainten­ ance work has been done on the dam. (Continued on page ten.) ANNOUNCED AT WHDS ^Marianne McKibbon, daughter of Dr. and Mrs. W. A. McKibbon -,of town, was named as the recipient of the Lions Scholarship at the Wing­ ham District High School last week. Miss McKibbon received an average mark of 95.4 in her grade 9 work, and will be awarded the scholarship at the .commencement exercises next fall. Her mark was also the highest in the school. -\Barry McQuillin, son of Mr. and Mrs. Fred McQuillin, R.R. 1, Lucknow, won top honors in grade 10, with a mark of 86.8. John Hoover, son of Mr. and Mrs. Norman Hoover, R.R. 3, Brussels, was awarded honors in grade 11 with a high average mark of 90.1. *The Dr. A J. Irwin Scholarship was awarded to three students in grade 13, Sally Slosser, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Leander Slosser, Wingham with 89.3; Joan Wightman, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Leslie Wightman, Blyth, formerly R.R. 5, Wingham with 80.7 and Ivan McQuillin, brother of Barry the grade ten winner, with 78.7. Joan Thomas^ daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Harold Thomas, of Brussels, was the grade 12 commercial winner with 85.8 per cent. ENGAGEMENT Mr. and Mrs. Thomas H. Abraham of Wroxeter, Ont., announce the engagement of their daughter, Mary Elizabeth to Lieut. James Lewis Creech, R.C.N., son of Mr. and Mrs. A. L. Creech of Vancouver, B.C. Wedding to take place in St. Georges Church, Cornwallis, N.S., in August. F6* A lot on Josephine Street, which had been the subject of some contention in the town council for* the past couple of years, was taken back by the town and its former owner re­ imbursed by the sum of $500 for out- of-pocket expenses in connection with the lot during his years of ownership, at the regular council meeting on Monday. About three years ago Hartley Smith, former Wingham dairyman, purchased the lot on Josephine Street south of Victoria from the town for $300. At the time of the purchase the agreement was that the lot should be built upon within one year from the date of purchase. The deed to the lot remained in the hands of the town council and the agreement was that ■if the owner should forfeit the lot, through not fulfilling his part of the agreement, the lot might be taken back by the town upon payment of half the purchase price, namely $150. (Continued on Page Ten) GORRIE PASTOR TAKES AMALGAMATED CHARGE Rev. W. J. V. Buchanan B.A., B.D., of Gorrie, began his ministry last Sunday, July 3rd, on the newly-amal­ gamated charge of Gorrie-Wroxeter United Church, with church service in Gorrie at 10 a.m. and in Wroxeter at 11.15 a.m. The Sunday School meets in the morning at 10 a.m. in Wroxeter and 11 a.m. in Gorrie. Church services on July 10th and 17th will be conducted by Rev. W. J. Watt B.A., B.D., of Whitechurch. There will be no ser­ vices on the last two Sundays in July. Anyone on this charge needing the services of a minister during the month of July will call on Rev. J. W. Hird, Fordwich. BIBLE SCHOOL AT BAPTIST CHURCH Boys and Girls are invited to attend the Daily Vacation Bible School at Wingham Baptist Church. Begin­ ning at 9.30 each morning Mr. and Mrs. Black of the Christian Service Centres of Canada lead in the study of Bible stories, handcraft, outdoor games, contests, choruses, and other thrilling features. These meetings will continue Mon.-Fri., until the 15th of July. Come and bring a friend. F6b NOTICE Saturday matinees at the Lyceum Theatre will be discontinued until further notice. F6b NOTICE Isabel’s Beauty Shoppe will be open for business as usual Monday, July 11. ' F6b They Can Fine You Now for Sprinkling During the Day Wingham residents have been re­ ligiously turning their lawn sprink­ lers on at 6 o’clock in the evening and off again at 9 o’clock, blissfully unaware that there has been no by­ law covering the hours which lawns and gardens may be sprinkled, it was revealed in council on Monday night. And, according to Mayor McKinney, nothing could be done to prosecute a person who LVished to leave his sprinkler on all day. Up until Monday night that was the case, at least. At Monday night’s meeting council took steps to rectify the situation by passing By-Law 1282, 1955, which officially made it a crime to use a sprinkler on your lawn or garden at times other than those laid down by the Wingham Public Utilities Commission, that is from 6 until 9 o’clock in the morning and from 6 until 9 o’clock in the evening. The new legislation will put teeth in a warning to water consumers which has been running as an adver­ tisement in the Advance-Times for the past month regarding hours for sprinkling lawns and gardens. Under the new by-law “to assure the inhabitants of the municipality a continuous and abundant supply of water,” no person shall use water supplied by the municipality by way of hose or “other contrivance at­ tached to a water pipe” at any time except between the above hours. The by-law provides a fine of not more than $20, or imprisonment of not more than one month for persons found guilty of a contravention of the by-law. sary to enforce a no left turn, regulation for cars coming out of and going into Diagonal road, Both Mr. Alexander and Police Chief Bert Platt seemed to think that a traffic- light on the corner of John Street was more important than one at the corner of Victoria. The $1,200 cost should include all materials for the lights, but would not include installation, Mr. Alexander said. This would be done by men of the Public Utilities Commission, Deter Joy Riders The effect of traffic lights on the five corners was discussed. Police Chief Platt pointed out that it would deter joy riders from driving up and down the main street, and that it would also slow down through traffic on Josephine Street. He felt that it would to some extent take the load of heavy week-end traffic off the Victoria Street intersection. Council decided to approach the Provincial Government again regard­ ing a provincial grant to help defray expenses on traffic lights, and to in­ quire if it would be possible to place a centre drop light at "the corner, rather than the conventional four- corner lights. Earlier in the meeting Mayor Mc­ Kinney brought up the subject of transport trucks speeding through town. He related how he himself had stopped one of these trucks which was going through town at an exces­ sive speed, and suggested that per­ haps the appointment of a small group of citizens to assist the police and report on speeding might help to curb speeders. Police Chief Bert Platt' pointed out that Wingham is getting to the stage where it may need another police­ man for traffic duty. He said that it would be possible to rent a speed trap at a cost of $25 per day, but that fines collected would hardly pay for the apparatus because they are paid to the county and only a small' percentage of the money taken in. comes back to the town. Set Armistice Day Holiday A letter from the Wingham Busi­ ness Association was read, reporting the results of a poll of the merchants on the question of a public holiday on Armistice Day. Of 66 merchants polled, 60 of them were in favor of the holiday and 6 opposed. The letter suggested that this information was for the use of the council as it saw fit. Council decided that the poll was a fair indication of the wishes of the businessmen and voted unanimously to declare a public holiday on No­ vember 11th. Asked if this holiday is to be of a permanent nature, councillors indicated that it applied only this year and would have to be renewed by each succeeding council. Want Bridge Repaired A communication from the Can­ adian National Railways was read, asking that the town authorize repairs to the railing on the CNR bridge across the Maitland. The railway has an agreement with the town, where­ by the town pays the cost of main­ tenance on the railing and in return is allowed right-of-way across the bridge. Mr. Alexander was of the opinion that the right-of-way is not used very much nowadays, and might not merit the cost of repairs to the rail­ ing, but the Mayor thought the town should not relinquish Its rights in the matter, and suggested that repairs be approved. It was decided to find out frOm sectionmen now at work in the vicinity what the repairs would cost and to authorize them, if the work is not too expensive. Town Clerk W. A. Galbraith show­ ed council a tax bill from the County of Huron, setting the town’s taxes at $24,199.93 for the year, being 11 mills on an equalized assessment for the town of $12,199,994. He also pointed out that the assessment for next year has been raised to $2,235,124.