The Brussels Post, 1974-05-08, Page 4VG
THIS WEEK
from Ottawa
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887.6265 WALTON, ONTARIO 527.0245
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PHONE 887-6829 —
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Hogs Shipped Mondays and Wednesdays
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Phones: Office 887.6100
Residence 8874164
Belgrave Co-op
For Feed & Fertilizer — Petroleum Pro-
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BRUSSELS
887-6453
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357-2711
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F of A accuses fertilizer compa ni A history of Brussels
(Continued from last week)
(By Yonne McCutcheon and
• David Brister)
The biggest loss was yet to
come. Phillip Ament retired at the
end of the second decade. His two
elder sons, Bill and Scott took
over the business. In 1920, ads
wanting flax pullers by the Ament
brothers appeared. This strongly
'suggests that the two Ament boys
took over the flax mill that had
gone out of business a few years
earlier and was. close to their own
operations.
Two years later, they
established a partnership with a
Mr. White from Wroxeter. At the
same time, they obtained the old
J.T.Woods woollen mill building
and started the business of
making children's wagons,
. sleighs and wheelbarrows. It is
reported that Phillip Ament put
$20,000 into this new endeavour
and that he gave each of the boys
$10,000. However, this business
had increasing problems. They
had to invest in new machinery to
.uake these toys and within two
years the enterprise had failed
through lack of sales.
The problems they faced are
outlined in a letter which
appeared in the Brussels Post,
May, 1924. This letter was
written by the mayor as a result of
an interview with White of the
White Ament Company. A
'rumour had been started that the
Ament and White Company was
possibly going to be moved to
•Wingham for the following
reasons:
1. Local wood supplies had
diminished. They wanted to move
to a town with both a C.P. and a
C.N.terminal.
2. There were not enough homes
for employees.
3. They could not get enough
skilled help.
4. They wanted to move, so that
all of their operations would be
under one roof.
White denied that the company
had plans to move but he did
admit that the company did face
these problems.
Within the year, the mill
closed. Thus, twenty-five to thirty
more people lost their jobs..
In 1925, ads reappeared under
the name P. Ament, selling wood.
At this lime, Phillip Ament
approached the council, asking
that they lower the taxes as his
mill. not in operation. They
made the mistake of refusing, so
instead of having. someone move
in and take over the mill, Phillip
Ament was forced to sell his
machinery, piece by piece. His
estimated worth at that time was
$100.000.
So, the council, through their
lack of foresight lost the two
major industries in town.
About the same time, The
Electric' Light Company was
replaced by Ontario Hydro. The
carriage factories were fading out
with the advent of the
automobile, as were the
blacksmith shops and livery
stables .
There are still businesses in
many of these old locations. After
Cober's Carriage Works was
burned out, Billy' Harris built a
cheese factory on the site. This
passed through the hands of
Finley Saminis„ and the $tewarts
to R.a.Cousins., His .'creamery
was. in operation until 1973, when
it was bought out by a large
company and. closed down.
Sometime after the' Thuell
brothers closed their mill, Charles
Oarniss bought it. Topnotch, as it
stands today, was built by
Cameron Adams and is Brussels'
only surviving mill.
This same trend can be seen
earlier in the century.. Brussels
had One'of the finest salt blocks in
the province. Sometime aft er
1905, it Aas swallowed 'up by the
Windsor Salt Company. This cost
twenty-five men their jobs.
An article written in the
Hamilton Spectator, in April
1960, provides some information
on Brussels. in recent years. At
this time, there was a population
of 846. Of these, 139 were 70 and
over, 96 were between 60 and 69,
and :327 were between 20 and 55
years of age. Of 370 homes,
almost 95% were Owner
occlupied.
• Since 1960, Brussels has'
changed little. The population
now stands at 911. Many of these
are old age pensioners: ,
There is no one major reason
why the booming Brussels of the
1870's evolved into the quiet
residential village of the 1970's,
but certain factors throughout its
history are accountable. Fires,
especially the fire of 1905, a lack
of foresight on the part of the
council, and the swallowing up of
small industries by larger ones
appear to be the most obvious
causes. Change has proven to be
an enemy instead of an ally, for in
the last 90 years, it has wiped out
the old inclust ries and brought
nothing to replace them.
We would like to express our
sincere thanks to Mr. and Mrs,
Walter Williamson, Mr. Louis.
Frayne, Mr. and, Mrs. Lorne
Nichol, Mr. Edward. Pollard and
Mr. and Mrs. Roy Kennedy with
whose help this article was made
possible. We would appreciate
any further information regarding
the history of Brussels. Anyone
with further information is asked
to contact the BruSsels Post or
Miss McCutcheon.' -
Miss • McCutcheon and Mr.
Brister are being married in May,
and are taking 'a trip to England
for several weeks after their
wedding.(Editor's No'e)
Now
highest ever...
Member Canada Deposit
Insurance Corporation
TRUST COMPANY SINCE 1609
Manager
Ontario
Angry farmers at the regular
meeting of the Huron Federation
of Agriculture accused fertilizer
companies of exporting huge
loads • of nitrogen fertilizer,
desperately neded here, to the
United States because prices
there are up to, $150 per ton
higher.' Even more individuals
come in for severe criticism for
doing the same thing, by trucking
their oversupplies across the
border. As a first step it was
decided to phone Ag. Minister •
Whelan and. Ag. Minister Stewart
as, well as all Huron MP's
MPP's to ask for help,
farmers, found that co*
orders can't be met by th e (1
who.have their confirmed t
cancelled as well. If the fat
doesn't have • the kit needed,.the yield will be do31,
harvest time, with subseo
increases in prices to
consumer. The m ec
demanded immediate action
government and consideri
support was expressed
eventual picketlines at the eidii
the U.S.A.
PM Visits Ontario Cities
Prime Minister Trudeau spent
two and a half days meeting
people in five Ontario centres.
The Prime Minister attended a
public reception in Hamilton; he
visited at , the Bloorview
Children's Hospital and attended
a luncheon at a Rotary Club in
Toronto; he participated in a
question and answer session with
high ,school students in
Woodsto,ck; and in Sarnia, he met
with a Scout group and attended a
Liberal Party reception.
In Sudbury last week-end, Mr.
rrudeau spoke to 1,500 delegates
ad observers attending the
nnual Meeting of the Ontario
iberal Party.
Anti-Profiteering Bill
A bill to control profiteering
was introdi 2ed in the House of
Commons by Consumer and
::'orporate Affair's Minister Herb
(iray. The bill would give the
Cabinet powers to freeze prices,
order rollbacks and force
companies to pay back
'`unjustified" profits.
Mr. Gray said the bill is a
fulfillment of the Prime
Minister's promise that the
Government "will not allow
corporate profiteers and gougers
to pile up unearned windfall
profits at the expense of the
people of Canada."
Indian Lieut.-Gov.
Prime Minister Trudeatt
announced that Ralph
Steinhauer, farmer and Indian
leader, has been named
Lieutenant-Governor of Alberta
the first Indian ever appointed
lieutenant,governor in Canada.
• More Money to Farmers
Cash income to farmers
increased by 52% in the first two
months ofthis year as compared
with the same wind last year - to
4 — THE BRUSSELS POST, MAY i974
washers&dryes
at
OLDFIELD'S
HARDWARE
887-68S1 — BRUSSELS
$1,446 million from $954 million.
Since he became federal
Minister of Agriculture 18 months
ago, Eugene Whelan has
expressed the need for increased
income for farmers, particularly
to spur them to increase food
production.
Liberals Win in P.F.I.
Premier Alex Campbell's
Liberal Government was returned
power in Prince Edward
Island's provincial election last ,
week: The Liberals won 26 ridings
while the Progressive
:'onservative Party won six.
Unemployment Down
The Unemployment rate in
Canada, seasonally adjusted,
:Iropped to 5,4% in March from
5.5% recorded in February;
reported Statistics Canada.
See the new
line of
Business Directory
DONALD M. LAURIE
INSURANCE AGENCY
Auto — Commercial — Farm — Residential
BOX 129, BRUSSELS, — PH. 887.9221
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