The Lucknow Sentinel, 1978-07-19, Page 4Page 4---Lacknow Sentinel, Wednesday, July 49, 1978
The Lucknow Sentinel
LUCKNOW, ONTARIO
"The Sepoy Town"
On the Huron -Bruce Boundary
Established 1873 - Published Wednesday '
Published by Signal -Star Publishing Ltd.
Robert G. Shrier - president and publishes
Sharon J. Dietz - editor
Anthony N. Johnstone advertising and
general manager
Subscription rate, $10 per year in advance
Senior Citizens rate, $8.00 per year in advance
U.S.A. and Foreign, $14 per year in advance
. Business and Editorial Office Telephone 528-2822
Mailing Address P.O. Box 400, Lucknow NOG 2H0
Second class mail registration number - 0847
Reflections
(On the o.ccasion of the unveiling of a memorial to the
Pioneers of the Grey Ox community, 1978)
The sun had bravely pierced' the clouds,
The hills around were lush and green,
Beneath the shrine, I saw a crowd
Who seemed to cherish what had been.
And some had journeyed many miles
-As though to heed a clarion call;
And reminisce, and spend a while
On ground familiar to us all.
But some were bent and misty -eyed,
For Age and Time had dimmed their view,
Within that never ceasing Tide
That bears along,' both me and you.
Twas great to join the brisk applause • S
Respondent to the eulogies,
And tributes paid, to those, whose cause
Had shaped and formed our destinies.
I. heard the pipes, in clear sweet notes,
Repeat the -.strains., that first emerged,
From Scotia's hills or vales remote,
A stirring march or mournful dirge.
And when I took a parting glance,
A longing look upon the spot,
My thoughts wer sa s : - ned, for by chance
How quickly, are the things forgot:
Peter S. McDougall,
Port Credit, Ontario.
c4cred 0/ T/lemoq,i
BY D. A. CAMPBELL
July scorched the sandy soil and there was nothing
left in the well except a muddy pool of water. The stone
sides were green with slime where mosquitoes hovered
in hordes. Water, that necessity of life which we took
for granted, had become the most important factor for
survival. Anxious eyes looked skywards for any small
dark cloud which might promise an end to the dronsht. --
We made endless journeys to a small trickle of water we
once called a creek, and stopped up the precious liquid
into buckets, to carry it five or six hundred yards to the
house. •
"The old well has just about had the biscuit," I told
Angus. "Do you think we should consider drilling for
water?"
He thought for a moment and I knew he resented my
interference - as a greenhorn, I was not supposed to
SHIVERS - Getting out of the water can be a bit chilly so
Connie Husk gets a warm hug from instructor Debra
Arnold.
LOOKING BACKWARDS
THROUGH THE SENTINEL FILES
75 YEARS AGO
In the last issue of the
Kincardine Reporter, there
appeared one .of the most
cowardly, low, mean and
contemptible attacks on the
Lucknow lacrosse players
that has ever disgraced the
columns of a Canadian news-
paper, laying the least claim
to respectability. The attack
is so low that it is beneath
contempt, and would not
even- be noticed by us, if it
were not for thefact that
some people, not knowing
the true facts of the case;
might be deceived by the
dirty rag. The Lucknow
lacrosse players are a gentle-
manly lot of young men, all
holding honourable positions
in our village and the
newspapers in every town in
which they have ever played,
with this one contemptible
exception; have spok',n • of
thein as clean, gentlemanly
players. The whole -article is ham and first and second in
a disgrace to the man who the special event went to
wrote it and the paper that Goderich and Wingham.
- published it, and unless it is Lucknow girls' softball
resented by the respectable team had their first game of
citizens of Kincardine, it will the season with an outside
be a long time in the future, team at Holyrood against
before the same paper will Kinlough during the Worn -
"have an opportunity of sland-
ering Lucknow citizens,
while visitors to the town of
Kincardine.
S0 YEARS AGO
Forty rinks entered the
Scotch Doubles lawn bowling
tournament at the Lucknow
green on Tuesday, July 10.
The finals were completed
between two and three
o'clock Wednesday morning
for it takes a good part of the
night to complete such -a
tournament. First, in the
trophy event, went to the
Goderich rink; first, in the
association, went to Wing- . a while.
en's Institute garden party.
Lucknow defeated Kinlough
12-10.
It took' almost three hours
to play theball game between
Lucknow and Walkerton in
men's baseball. At almost
every move there was dis-
pute and gangling, most if a
good-natured brand. Some
say it .ran to 11 innings and
there appears no certainty
about the score, but the
victory was conceded to
Lucknow. The score of 16 to
12 suggests that the playing
was much4 below the usual
level. However, even the big
league teams play that way
and make big scores once in
•
25 YEARS AGA
A barn on the farm of John
and Fred McQuillin of West
Wawanosh was struck by
lightning early Monday
mc* ning and in a short time
was levelled to the ground. A
nearby shed was al"so burn-
ed. 25 sheep died in the blaze
including a valuable ram. A
female and a lamb are all
that survive of the McQuillin
flock of Suffolk and Leicester
sheep. Ten tons of old hay
and the straw off about 35
acres of crop added fuel to
the flames.
Mrs. Robert Ritchie of
Ashfield has made good'
recovery from severe burns
she suffered a few weeks ago
to her face and arms. She
had been frying bacon and
the grease took fire.
know anything about wells.
"Nope," he said decidely, "that 'ud cost a fortune -
at least three to four dollars a foot. Might drill a
hundred feet and still find nothing." He gave me an
authoritarian look emphasized by a jerk of the head.
"We 'ave ter know whats down there," he said,
pointing to the earth. "Before we dig a spadeful, we
jest 'ave ter know." As he limped away he said, "We
need a "witcher"!"
"What in the world is a "witcher"," I called after
him.
He stopped in his tracks, wheeled around and almost
spat at me. "A "witcher", Mistermart Ass, is a man
who can find water - an'- F m gonna git a "witcher", so I
am!"
It was final, and I was looking forward to meeting the
superior being who was to bless the Hungry Hundred
with an abundance of water.
The "witcher" turned out to be a little irishman
called O'Riley. He looked like somebody out of
Disneyland - almost a leprechaun. His speech was the
music of the "old sod", high pitched, excited and
accompanied with wild gestures.
"This here," O'Riley said, holding up a forked stick,
"was taken from `a wonderful tree in Donegal." He
waved it through the air in majestic fashion, like a
wizard performing a mystic rite. "It has the magic of
the little people in its fibre. I holds the stick like this
and I walks in a straight line. When it gets over water,
it turns and twists in the hands - a mighty powerful
force it is."
This guy is full of blarney, I told myself. What does
he expect now, applause? "You've got to be kidding;" I
said, in total disbelief.
O'Riley's face took on a hurt expression and Angus
gave me one of his "keep yer mouth shut" looks. Since
his demonstration had left me completely cold, the little
man gave all his attention to Angus. -
"Would you be havin' a little shot o' something as a
starter - a drop of petrol to fire the power?"
Angus nodded his head in the 'direction of the barn.
He glared at me without speaking but his eyes said,
"who needs you anyhow?" They walked away from me,
the little man still gesturing and talking excitedly and
Angus limping and skipping to keep up with him.
I could picture the scene inside the barn. Angus
producing a'bottle of whiskyfrom its hiding place, and
the crafty little "witcher" making a mental note of
where the treasure had been concealed. Angus was not
a regular, daytime boozer, but I guessed that O'Riley
would consume as 1much of the liquor as Angus's
generosity would allow.
It was about half an hour later, when Angus
harnessed the team to a squeaky mowing machine, and
set out to cut the poor looking hay on the south ten
•acres. O'Riley proceeded to perform his antics in the
general vicinity of the barn.
During my trips between the creek and the house
with a couple of battered buckets, I saw the little
Irishman walking back and forth with his hocus-pocus
stick. Whatever he was doing, he seemed to be happy
at his work, stepping lively and whistling through his
teeth.
As the afternoon wore on, however, I saw less and
less of O'Riley. I suspected that he was drawn more to
the hidden liquid in the barn than the precious water
below the earth! When he did appear from time to time,
he was no longer capable of walking in a straight line.
He zig-zagged an unsteady course across the bewitched
earth. Eventually, his mysterious powers and the
strength of his .legs deserted him completely, and he
slumped beneath an old chestnut tree.
After my final trip to the creek, I concerned myself
with the welfare of O'Riley - he was not in any pain! He
was sprawled on his back with his mouth wide open..
Lost in blissful sleep, he snorted and blew a noisy tune,
his loose dentures moving with the music like two rows
of yellow organ keys.
When Angus and the sweating team returned from
mowing, I was sitting on the verandah. Angus
stretched some life back into his painful joints and
limped over to me. His shirt was clinging to him like a
wet rag and his face was covered with dust.
"Where's O'Riley?" he snapped impatiently.
"He's lying underneath the chestnut tree," I
answered, trying not to laugh out loud.
"Did 'e find water?", he asked hopefully.
"No!", I said in a tone of derision, "but he seems to
have found lots of whisky!"
"What do yer mean - talk sense." Angus was hot,
tired and getting madder by the second.
"Go and look for yourself," I said, "your miracle
man is as drunk as a skunk!"
Gota beef?'
write a letter
*o the editor