The Seaforth News, 1942-09-03, Page 2PAGE TWO
TEE SWORTB NEWS
tate H, E, Johns; Usborne—
The funeral of the Iate Henry Ed-
ward
dward Joins; an esteemed resilient of
Usborne township, was held. at Eke-
ter recently; Mr. Johns ,soffered . a
severe illness and had not been !yell
since, FIe passed • away ht Vietoria
Hospital: London, Born December
lith, 1336, in Usborne on the farm on
whieh be lived, he was a. son of the
late Silas Johns and Salah Miners,
being in his 57th year. In Marob,
1316, Mr. Johns was united in mar-
riage to Miss Margaret Vera Ed-
wards. of Saskatoon, the marriage
taking place at Listowel Besides his
sorrowing tido he is survived by
two daughters, Mrs, Delmar Skinner,
of Usborne. and Miss Hazel, of Can-
ada Packers, Exeter: alho one sister
and two brothers, Mrs, Pybus. of
Exeter; William, of Usborne and
Alden, of Saskatoon. One sister Cora
died 22 year, ago, The funeral on
Monday of last week. was conducted
by Rev, SVm, Mair. The bearers were
Messrs. Harry Ford. Lloyd Johns,
Franklin Skinner, Jackson Woods,
Everett Skinner and Charles Steph-
ens. The flower bearers were Gilbert,
Allan and Garnet Joints, Garnet Min-
ers and Nelson Conitis. Relatives and
friends attended the funeral from
London, Mitchell, Atwood, Ailsa
Craig, Ingersoll. Wipghant and Sea -
forth.
Ride Bikes From
Toronto to Wingham—
TraveI by bicycle is the slogan of
Mr. and Mrs. David •C uthbertson,
their son. George. and daughter
Louise. all of Toronto. The problem
of transportation holds no fear for
this fancily who are great cyclists.
They left Toronto at 4.30 in the
morning and arrived in Winghant the
same day at 10.30 in the evening. All
four made the trip without mishap.
The only unpleasant part las the
gravel road front Harriston to Whig -
haul, and, rhe drenching rain which
failed to dampen their spirits. Mr.
and Mrs.'. Cuthbertson and family
were guests at the borne of Mr. and
Mrs. Harry Calvert at Wingham.
The fire started in the stack and
spread to the barn In an instant after
the fire was noticed. The separator
and tractor were saved.
Arrives Overseas—,
Mr. and Mrs. J. D, Lediet have re-
ceived word that their son Preston
has arrived its Britain, Preston and
itis brother William were in the
sante unit bttt Bill has not as yet
gone overseas.
Inquest Held For
Dredge Accident
Inquiring into the death of Ken-
neth J. R. Thornton, 24, of the Lead-
bury Line, McKillop Township, who
met his death by electrocution on
August 21, a coroner's jury, empanel-
led under Coroner Dr. J. G. Grieve,
of Stratford, on Friday night return-
ed the following verdict:
"We the jury, empanell to inquire
into the death of Kenneth Thornton.
find that the deceased man came to
his death in the office of Dr, A, Sin-
clair on August 21, 1942, as the result
of an secident at the faun of Frank
Famme. lot 21, concession 3, Ellice,
Death was due to electrocution
when a dredging machine, on which
he was working. came in contact
with Hydro wires overhead. The time
was approximately 3 p.ni., August
21, 1942."
The first witness called by Crown
Attorney R'. E. Goodwin, K.C., at the
hearing in the Stratford police comet,
was Dr, A. Siuclaif, who testified
that both legs of the victim, were
burned from the hips to the soles of
the feet, and he believed !stat death
was due to the shock of electrocu-
tion,
3, W. 'Rogers, Stratford, identified
photographs he had taken of the
scene of the faulty, including the
dredging machine and the overhead
wires.
Provincial Constable C. N. Ander-
son, Stratford, who investigated the
acicdent, described the circumstances
of the death, as he had learned then
after he arrived on the scene.
He was watching the dredging
machine operating from the road,
said William Stephan, of Sebring-
vine, and he saw Kenneth Thornton
standing to one side of . the dredge
with a chain in his hand. The bucket
of the dredge was directly beneath
the Hydro wires. As he watched, the
witness the witness testified, he saw
the handle of the dipper on the.kend
of the boom come in contact with the
Hydro wires and hien he heard n
crackling noise followed by a blue
flame. The next thing he noticed was
Kenneth Thornton lying on the
ground, and he immediately notified
the other workmen and went over to
the victim and helped to carry him
to the side of the road. He was still
living at that time.
Joseph Thornton, R. R. 2, Walton,
father of the victim, said he was
handling hte levers and pedals oper-
ating the dredge, and had a lever in
each hand. The telephone wires, be-
neath the Hydro wires, had beer*
propped up with a pole and cross -bar'
In order to allow the, boom and
btteket of the dredge to operate free-
ly. Chains from. both the'back wheels
of tb.e 'dredge had been fastened to
the traek to prevent the machine
from ;neviltg while it was in opera-
tion,. When it came time to move the
dredge his on loosened the chain.
-front the track and the went ahead
of the machine to loosest the cables,
and the witness did not see his son
again until he saw lilut lying on the
ground. He did not see the flash nor
the dipper of the dredge touch the
Hydro wires. When he pieked up his
son he was still living because he
felt his heart and his pulse and
found both of them beating.
Edward Regele, R,R, 2. Walton, a
brother-in-law of the victim, testified
that his job was to loosen the chain
front the track and the cable on the
side of the machine opposite Ken-
neth Thornton. He had assisted lit
raising the telephone wires, beneath
tate Hydro wires, so that the boom of
the dredge could swing freely; He
had unhooked the chain from the
track and released the cable when he
was startled by a ball of fire. He did
not see Kenneth Thornton until he
was being car'r'ied to the roadside,
because the van of the dredge ob-
structed the view,
D. B, Ireland, Stratford, rural
Hydro engineer, said he had gone
to the scene of the fatality the even-
ing of the day of the accident with
Provincial Constable Anderson. He
told Crown Attorney Goodwin that
three different sets of wires were
carried ou the Hydro poles at the
scene of the fatality. The top set
carried 26,000 volts. the middle set
carried 4.000 volts for use in rural
sections, while the lower set were
the private telephone ' wires of the
Hydro -Electric Power Commission.
The top set of wires were out of
service when the cacident occurred.
but the lower circuit was in service,
and when grounded 'carried 2,300
volts. He explained that when the
handle of the dredge dipper came in
Operating New Pump—
The Clinton Public Utilities reports
that the new pump, recently install-
ed, was put in operation on August
25th. The new pump produces five
hundred gallons per minute. The
capacity of the old pump is 175 gall-
ons per minute. Now that both are 3n
operation, Clinton will be well sup-
plied with good water. It requires a
seventy-five horsepower motor built
in Oakland, Cal„ to drive the new
pump. The pump is a "Winthroaf"
from Alhambra, Cal, The total
weight of pump and motor amounts
to twelve tons. The total cost for
drilling well and installing pump will
amount to approximately $13,000.
Clinton was in need of an extra
pump, to insure adequate water sup-
ply at all times, but the crisis did not
arrive until the R.A.F. built their
Radio School near Clinton and re-
quired a regular supply of water.
The work on the new installation
was begun a year ago.
Killed In Dieppe Fight—
The following article refers to Cpl.
Percy East, who was killed in the
raid on Dieppe. a grandson of the
late Edward East of Hullett Town-
ship. The young hero's father is
Percy East of Stratford. an inspector
of engines on the Canadian National
Railways. Mrs. 5, West of Clinton is
a cousin of the deceased. A hero of
Dieppe, Corporal Clarence Percy
East. son of Mr. and Mrs. E. P. East,
36 MoNab street, paid the supreme
sacrifice overseas while serving with
the Essex Scottish Regiment of
Windsor. Word that he died from
gunshot wounds was received by his
parents. His wife, the former Miss
Verna Morenz, of Bornholm, received
a cablegram from the Canadian Casu-
alties officer, Corporal East did not
go overseas with the main battalion
of the Essex Scottish Regiment but
proceeded to Britain last fall. In the
interim he had been serving on the
instructoral staff at' the battalion's
training base at Camp Borden and
for a time engaged in regimental pro-
vost and recruiting duties. Born in
Stratford on December 11, 1915. Cor-
poral East was in his 2Sth year. He
had received his education in Shake-
speare public school and at the Strat-
ford collegiate,
Season's Crop and
Barn Burned—
A fire completely destroyed the
barn and the season's crop of hay and
grain at the farm of Gordon Wray en
the 6th concession of Turnbet'ty, A
few pigs and some chickens were in
the barn. The drive shed was de-
stroyed, but there were no imple-
ments in it, The only piece of machin-
ery that was destroyed was the pres-
sure pump which was close to the
barn, Threshing operations were in
progress when the fire started. The
separator was in the barn and the
tractor near a stack outside the barn,.
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3s 1942;
contact with the lower set of power
wires every metal part of the dredge
and track would be alive with 2,300
volts. When the boom later contact-
ed the telephone wires an arc was
formed between the Hydro wires and
telephone wires, causing a short air -
mitt and blowing a fuse farther along
the Hydro circuit, which out the
service.
Apparently the victim was stand-
ing on wet ground, as was shown by
previous evidence, and when asked
wjtat might have happened he had
been standing on dry ground, Mr.
Ireland replied that the shock of the
current passing through the victint's
body might not have been severe
211011511 to have caused death.
. The coroner's jury was composed
of E. A. Meldorf, foreman; Edwin
Schellenberger, Milton Hoffman. Wil-
liam Ney and Clarence Otto, all of
Sebringville,
Many race horses .are eccentric,
says an authority. Yes, but you have
to lose your bet to find out which
one is that way.
WOUNDED COMMANDOS
Now Rescued In a New Kind of
Stretcher
A new kind of stretcher for wound',
ed Commandos which can be carried
by one man is now being turned out
in' London.
It is made of leather, webbing and
cane and it straps on to a man's
back. Ou it' a Comando can carry a
wounded comrade and still leave his
hands free for a rifle dr a Sten gun.
Another novelty from this work-
shop is a petrol tank. Hung on the
wings of a place these tanks can be
jettisoned in an emergency. .
The workers here can also turn
webbing into Army anklets at the
rate of 20,000 a week and they are
making scabbards for the machete
knife used for cutting a path through
jungle undergrowth.
A. quieter effort in one corner of
the workshop is the manufacture of
a few baseball gloves for the Canad-
ian troops now in Britain.
The adult mosquito can travel 15
miles, says an authority. But the
Send us the names of your visitors ones who bother us never do.
THERE ARE ONLY A FEW PEOPLE WHO WILL BE INTERESTED IN THIS ADVERTISEMENT
DON'T
BE A
EL
TET'S be brutally frank. The man or woman who buys a
Victory Bond or Certificate to save face, then sells it—
except in case of dire necessity—is a welsher.
True, there is no law which says you cannot sell your
Victory Bonds or Certificates. It is not a legal obligation
that you keep them for the duration. But there is a moral
promise to make a loan to your Country for the War period.
To evade that undertaking through sale, at this time of
great need, is to welsh it is the denial of an obligation
which you admitted and accepted by your act of purchase.
Your Country does not ask you to deny yourself those
necessary things which make for decent living, that you may
buy Victory Bonds and Certificates. But the voice of Public
Opinion does say that those persons who now insist on the
unnecessary luxuries of life are not themselves decent.
Of course—you have no immediate cause for worry. No
one will ask you to cross the beach and climb the cliffs of
Dieppe. You are not in a slit trench with Stuka Dive -Bombers
showering death about you. The blazing sun of Africa—
the wind -driven sands—will never cut and blister your skin
until every exposed part o£ your body becomes a festering
sore. No—you will never feel the vibrant crash of a torpedo
—the tilt of a ship's deck under your feet as it slides to
Davey Jones. No one is asking you to leave your favorite
chair tonight and fly over Germany. None of these things
is asked of you.
All you are asked to do is to lend to your Country—
Canada—lend at interest all the money you can possibly
spare to provide the tools for those men who are fighting your
fight. You are not expected to deprive yourself to the extent
that you must live below the level of ordinary decency.
But if you think you are doing your part by buying Victory
Bonds only to sell them—then, you had better take yourself
into a dark room and ask yourself some soul-searching
questions. Ask yourself what you are doing to protect your
loved ones, your Country, and your way of life.
If you do this we know what the answer will be. We
know because the men and women of Canada are inherently
decent people. They value the good opinion and respect
of friends and neighbors. But most important is the fact
that we Canadians value our own self-respect. We ask
charity from none—we assume our obligation to work and
lend. So there can only be one answer—you will hold your
Victory Bonds and Certificates for the duration except in
cases of extreme necessity.
NATIONAL WAR FINANCE COMMITTEE
.12-F42