The Seaforth News, 1934-02-22, Page 2PAGE TWO,
HURON NEWS
Costs of Educations"— the secret-
ary of the Clinton Collegiate institute
iBoard opened a stew minute book:
with the inaugural meeting. last week,
the last meting, that of January, till-
ing up the o4a1 one. Che hist entry in
the ehl book dated Aug.20th, 11883.
The meribe'r: of tit.. hoard :1t that
time were: lame, Sowt, rl was
eliairna:rn: tl r,rc Po -ter, wh., wa.
secrct:uv; iDr. Shaw \V. N. .Liming,
H. I'ht t 'tee!, \\ I e k,eot :11111 1), A.
Forrcster,I`:, Shan is a -neuter of
the hoard ti :In pr ret time, al-
th u0't n !its not 'ern,
1 oalanuoas
mein r. he, Mr SC011 gild\lr, llan-
nin--, bei' 0 tli, only ones nu•riving of
the ',,,:u-.1 of that thy. The personnel
of the ..:1rd was char -tel slightly the
fdlh,yyin iter, 1"M, made up
as 100,, Jaime. lice,,,, chairman;
IM. 1'.::er, sea•rtary: 11. I'lam,tcel,
W. talc -.n. 0410 Cooper, l), A. For -
re -ter :tint ;J hn Ransford. Just by
war ol :„nirast as to the ro-t of edtt-
ca:ir-n syr might ennipare the expend-
itures of thirty-six pears ago with
those of today. 1 1.848 the whole
stain of receipt w a So333 and the
year finished Wittl :t hal::anee of $372.
In 10. the total ,ne ate amounted to
ti :4 `351 11, Pills Moluded 0 balance
front the previous )ear .f 82,408.32.
')'he Ind .ince left a: the turd of 1n33
was 141,505.62. Everything. bought or
hired e t -t t ute't ;1 r1' in 1413d than in
oxam. costs, r retak ng,
insurance ay.'.then, there are sinking
fund tet,en,es,
ete, One of the expen-
diturc• which does not seem to have
Mere e,ed i'lt salary of the secret-
ary. -\s far 'owl: a: the record,: go the
s, erettry scemca to get a salary of
Sion, list year ltw.ts cut to *ort). The
miat,t ice'. this official made lyes 1n not
hat into his .:dart ntereascd during the
bosun year, then 0 eat would. nett
harp 11 i ter') 50 mirth, 1 X1enaitures
were eu to quite an extent last year
and the '+Mutt at the end of the yeal't nden ell Star)
was much ,nt:t: cr around $1.f410 Bu•' :\lt isnotyet quiet on the Bayfield.
front.
Mrs. 'fern Bailey, lone woman
councillor, and John Pease, rejected
applicant for the position of village
constable, were 0 wash with the Star
this week and explained their posi-
tions with reference to the exciting
meeting of the village fathers and
mothers on Fobrtaary 5th.
Mr. Pease states that wbeu the
meeting opened up at 7,30 p. m, the
first business taken up was that of
opening the sealed tenders of himself
and Geo. Little for the position of vil-
lage constable.
There was silence for a moment
\•',ten Mrs, Bailey rose and nominat-
ed iohn Pease for the position. Mur-
doch Doss countered by nominating
Geo Little. This was seconded by
C,unciilor Huston,
Mr, Pease explants that the origin-
al story „as astray in that he could
not be discharge from a position
which he didnot hold,
An alter:a:ion then arose between
\luri.:0 0e >.1f -elected chairman
of t'ie , ut: .. an 1 Mr. John Cant-
er.,n. chairman of the school board
Mr. Cameron Was petitioning the
\\ tr a c. -,r rt heirt k ,,u l for the use of the old cattle
..- 1L :,c.tt'.ie store,' •,aa '1 behind the school as a play-
aa.1 : r the children. This has been
used before.
Mlr. Cameron became so nett oat
heated in his remarks when 'te was
r i e' out of order by the chairman.
THE SEAFORTH NEWS.
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 1934
Outstanding
Quality
707
Fresh from
N L ae Gardens
!light they go to bed, the small ones 'at time to slip ,out and attend to several
""' ! 8 p.m., and rise, in winter, not later small 'chores that were waiting. The
than six o'clock. In summer nolbody way they stood, the way they spoke
can sleep after five, with all the noise to their 43 -year-old father, was old -
of twenty'one people getting ready
for the day's work,
"How about family, tights?" I ask-
ed anxiou's'ly, surveying this great
•oontful of children and thinking of
the riot my two entail sons can and
do ntalce,
The Masse rattily 4'1'1 looked puz
zled. Thcy did riot know what family
li hrs inc.
As the interviewed; the sublime
odor of bread baking told of an oven
fu11 of fat sound loaves, and Marie,
1116, kept getting up •quietly and go-
ing to the stove to tend it.
"You bake every clay?" I inquired.
"Oh, some days," confessed Mrs.
ietaoae, "when I know ,I won't have
aux
qpportunity the following day I
bake a double lot. I did not bake yes-
terday, for example. Instead I tnatle
those dresses for the twins."
.Antoinette and Juliette stood forth
in all the glory of beautifully made
little dresses of material bought in
Zurich. Just it couple of dresses tossed
off in a few spare hours while Marie
minded four-month Peter and Yvonne'
watched over baby Priscillc, toddling
happily around the floor with a small
baking powder tin for a toy.
They have a car. A twenty-one pas-
senger sedan. Of course the tn'oct it
will .hold is eleven.
"I vou'ld not have the car," said
James Masse, 'except to go to church.
It is three and a half miles up to
church, and where there are two
masses on a Sunday we can all go.
Il3ut usually there is only on'e. So ele-
ven of us get in."
The •older boys do not drive the car
et all What motoring they want they
can get on the tractor, When we ar-
rived at the lfasse farm the two sen-
ior sons at home, Anthony and .Rich-
ard, were just home on the tractor
from sawing woad with it for a neigh-
bor,
"If they want to go out for the ev-,
ening, they drive one of the buggies," I
said the father. "But you cart see it i
would take a lot of buggies to take i
ns to church, That is why we have
the car."
'Are you chaps going ,to the city
sooner or later?" I asked. The cities
are—London, ?7 miles away, and De-
troit, down the Lake Huron shore, a
hundred miles.
"Not likely," said Richard, "I
would like to see a pro hockey game.
But as for the city, I don't care for
it. Von take a city job: now here, on
the farm, we work, we are happy, we
can go to bed when we like, if we are
not feeling up to n uch, we can lay
off. Can you do that in the city?"
There was no argument there.
Oar leading questions about life
and its ,plans and meanings fell with a
dull thud when we talked to Anthony
and Richard, because like an implac-
able "rock is implanted in the minds
and hearts of these grown Wren an
old-fashioned faith 0 something, the
Family, the land, the church's teach -
Ingo in this French Settlement along
the Huron shore, Anthony and Rich-
ard came uneasily from the great barn
where they had been doing an engine
job on the tractor. Even while the
chatted in the farm hoose, they had
phut, they renewed their marriage vietred stated that he mainly wanted of relief. ,Brit not so the Masse fani-
ow• of flit). years ago, and 01igh' to have the matter settled and for -
\lass was sung by Rev. Father Pa- gotten, Ile had voted for Ross' as
,tuette, :lite choir rendered beautiful- chairman and for Mrs, Bailey as sec -
:y La Hacttc's Mass for the occasion, ( retary but afterward, discovered that
Mr. and Mrs. Morrison were star- a police village of leas than 500 popu-
ricd in 'feeslvater to 1884 by Rev, Fa -1 kation has to right to a secretary, He.
titer Corcoran. They Settled first on admitted that Mrs. Bailey's story was
the farm then owned by 11re. lohn-1 pretty nearly right except that a lot
sou, the next farm east of tehere they Was loft out.
ntnv reside. Living there two years Chairman Ross over the phone stat -
they moved to \\'awanosdt, residing, ed that there was a great deal to say
there till they moved to the 6th of about the matter. lie thought that
T trnher•y in 1'A311J. 'Po them were) Mrs Haile • was encouraged by
i 1, I � being _
horn eight children, font daughters someone else to snake trouble. \\`hen
and four sorts, The eldest girl, .Marg- he arrived at the meeting on the night
ares, died fifteen years ago; (liae) of February 5th, there was a crowd
Mrs. John 11ac1 illan, 1 :1(n,w; of people present where ususally there
(Anne) Mrs, 1. P. Lyons, Chicago; I Otis practically no one, .
(Catharine) 31rs. Cletus Rettinger. The chairman of the School Board
\\'ins*tam; \loysius, Grand Valley: Atarted to speak and could not
Angus, John and Eraet, at home. be controlled. The chairman asked
31re, Morrison i still in good health, the two constables, Pease and the new
and doing her own work, despite the appointee, Little, to make the Aced -
Fact that she suffered a stroke some iug gentleman maintain order but
five year. ago. lir. Morrison, although they would not do it for hint.
in failing health for the past year, is Ole utauaged to get through most
still quite active, of the business in spite of the inter-
ruptions and was reading motions
when he came to one by Mrs. Bailey
BAYFIELD MATTERS nominating herself as secretary. He
announced that he would not read
it 'letter ,,, '0 drawing interest a.
even two an 1 a half per cent than Pay-
ing it at seven or eight.—Clinton
:Ness -Record.
Late Thomas McGillicuddy.— Tho-
mas Xlciiiliicnddy died in Toronto
ia:t week 1,410V\ a brief illness.
I'•.+rtt i, Ire'attd, ire tante to Halifax
with his parents as an Infant. His
father etas in the imperial army and
the family later roved to Kingston.
atvi .,n t'lt f.ttacr'- discharge. settled
111 tiu:'p'.t, 1•h ones learned the print-
ing trade, and with his brother. the
late Dan, 11,Gi11=cuddy, was editor of
the l 111: to Post and t tteriih Stg-
ra:.
1.1tor 1.1the was engaged in the de-
•tir:: em of .agriculture at Toronto
a, .a c k, a'd for some time has been
'ting retired. He w is one+• the beat
ke..0 lecturers and church speakers
in r r::•nto. The funeral was held. on
1':,:.". , 1i afternoon from his Lie re -
i icier, Bartlett avenu:, Toronto.
11 n t. 1-... •I'ororto, and Rev. leo.
G. McGillicuddy of Beacheille, are
sorts and lire G. Holmes of Lind-
say. is it daughter.
A Narrow Escape for Truckers.—
\kr. .\ 1 ;Ind n kid-
w.it t i hal n narrow- escape
r ver, Ned. turned the truck
, Cu-.,
•1tJ le 11 to avoid the 'e'ar, 'rite
::el bumper the truck wrapped a
..r ' t large e the ra i s:o and 1 De:lin,ng. to he silenced. c Constable
suging bglag driven back andthe • I'e e was a.' e' to speak to h n and
1't The o '•:spans es a,ed1 7tave hito t y the rung of the
01t:tont eri: s injury.. Eight of set- chair. - .
Mrs. Bailey decided: it seems. to
become secretary of the Council. and
nominated herself accordingly .t. the
e
llts,tion. In this case she was 0ec-
ied -0e Sam ilust.m. She passed
'ter motion form over t+ the chair-
man asking hint to read it to the meet-
ing. This he refused to do so she
read it herself. She then appealed to
tine interested audience to back her
t:? 0 her action, This, Mrs. Bailey
,3Y5, they did with enthusiasm 0o
she proceeded to read the minutes as
secretary.
Chairman Ross, however, w•as no:
t:cepting the riding of spectators and
entande,l that she surrender the
Boiler Repaired.— The large steamI
minutes to him, This was met with a
let refusal so ire proceeded- to at -
'erupt t' wrest the• papers from her
Y:,-•0•7. :\ brisk' 'eene then ensued, of
cchairman chasing,
:he doughty
• ,' y around the room, accotn-
!s11e'1 1,y shout: of encouragement
'r,,in her sap"evrters, She managed to
'cc , the ,1ocn:nt':te and the chairman
t. r s sly incensed, left the meeting
Mr,. Bailey to bring,to a close as
bet sloe might. So she. went through
'he three stages of councillor, secret-
try tela chairman all in one evening:
\steed what ,he trouble was all
n'p tt basically, the fighting lady ex-
ola,ned briefly that there was a cligue
in charge- o, things in •Bayfield and
'hey had been running things to suit
•-hentselves for a long time. She in -
...ends to see to it that their reign ends
right noiv.
• "I'n the first person who ever
•stood tip to them." she said. "They
have. got away with. a :lot but they
won't from now nn."
Councillor ••Huston ' when
0:10:t t..s uvere thrown out on the
a; ground and SOIlleWilat Stunneki.
They were dr,t... i.'.tet 1 nearby barn
and later taken by another creek to
Stratford.
Former Exeter Resident Passes.—.\n-
ciretr Lake, : ntittea: in the insur-
ance sines_ \\,... ;peg for
nt;try
years. ?tied in \•earser, B. C. He
was 80 year? of age and !Ltd boon in
tae accident insurance b4'i1i0,, In
Winiiii,eg for 50 -years before moving
•o \•an:.,aver, on itis retirement five
years ago. The late Mr. Lake was a
resident of Exeter in -the early days.
h.tiler of J:. Boniface R. C. Church
10 L:tri:h had to be taken out and
taken to the :ity for repairs, and the
na "'tans , the parish ex 'erienced
'111, -.t,,. CI; church for nor -
:e Lt., ta-o Sundays. _\ rather
man—al t ..::•t: .stirred, as . when
1 ': tire is . ,,. e.1 out and no heat re-
tl:urt.! for t. : day,, the water in the
-.ea•n
hyiler is let back into a re-.
try, r we::: to prevent freezing in the
;p. 'iie• On this particular time the
v that:ets this. water hack into the
te!! had some ice formed -i" it. which
,,:d 't allow 11 to close properly, and
when the furnace was heated tip this
ice :.cawed out and let the water back
into the well, and with a big fire on
it did considerable damage to the
b.iler, Ptl ich Herald.
. Celebrate Golden Wedding at Wing
ham - .\ very unusual event took
lace when Mfi•. and Mrs. John Mor-
rison celebrated in a quiet way their
(;olden Wedding Anniversary. On
Monday. February lath, at nine a.m.,
in the. Sacred Heart Church, Wing -
inter -
that one hecause it was illegal to ap-
point a secretary in a police - tillage
of leas than 500 population, lire.
'Bliley •refused to accept his ruling
and made a jump for the .motion
paper. A scuffle ensued in which he
struggled to guard the official docu-
mcnts of the municipality, but Mrs..
Bailey, encouraged by the onlookers, -
fought hard and with the help of
Constable Pease, who seized and held
the chairman, site was able to get
some of them,
.She then read the nomination her-
self and put the question, •Councillor
Huston voting for her. He, tried again
t, get the papers back but could not
capture thein AO left the Meeting in
_disgust.
lie further explained that Mfrs.
Bailey still has some documents and
orders in spite of the fact that he
:ante to Goderich and got the firm of
Hay and Hays to write to Mrs. Bail-
ey stating that she could not ant as
ily. They regard those blank spaces
in their remarkable score street with
regret. dlecause they love their chil-
dren, they are proud of their extra-
ordinary family, full of 'health . and
happiness And in their kindly and
serene Catholic faith they are grate-
ful to 'God for having blessed them
with such bounty,
"How do you like having so great a
family?" I asked liars, Masse, who
held her newest infant in her arms,
while her sixth child, Marie, a strong,
big girt of lib years, tended the oven
tilled with browning bread,
"It is not a question of liking," ,said
Mrs. Masse, "l ant thankful to be
strong enough to give life to all these
little ones,"
'And there, in the farmhouse living
and dining roost, which seemed to
inc like a schoolroom at recess, fill-
ed with more than a dozen tittle chil-
dren. leaning' on the tables with chins
cupped in .hands, and gtdetly .regard-
iug the curiosity, of two newspaper-
men in their ]tomes with notebooks.
and cameras, I was halted in m3' mind
by .0 most curious sense of staving
met ail this before. And after a mo-
ment I remembered: only a couple kof
nights precious I had seen the mo-
tion picture, "Little Women," and the
old-ft'sltioned, long departed, tender
atmosphere of home that pervaded
that intensely- sentimental .drama was
here, in the hone of James lfasse, a
living fact.
Mrs. Masse bakes tread every day.
Usually six or nine loaves. She does
a family washing twice a week. She
churns once a week, 25 pounds of
butter. •
A .100 -pound bag of flour is bought
each Saturday.
Of the herd of 11 cows owned by
the Masses, six are reserved to pro-
tide milk and cream for the fancily.
They have. at the moment, i18 pigs,
They kill a 200 -pound pig every two
weeks entirely for home use. As you
can see, 018 pigs on hand is not
enough,
"But," saidJamesMasse, "more are
expected 1"
They have twelve horses and a
tractor to work the 380 acres of rent-
ed farm which is required to support
the family of 211 souls.
Maurice, the oldest son, and Flor-
ence. the oldest girl, 22 and 21 years
of age, were both married last No-
ve:nher. They 'live within shouting
distance of the modest frame farm-
house, on the fiat level fields along
Lake Heron, which la the headquar-
ters of this numerous family,
"You own ne land?" I asked.
-How can I afford land asked
it t:es Masse. "My children have
tante al t ,a igSt it has kept 1110 on
.e run to provide food and clothing
for them. I find it better t, rent land.
I started
with nothing.Now t net c I
am with nineteen children, all blessed
with health. I would rather have stns
and daughters than land."
They do alt their shopping in Zur-
ich. and the boot and shoe trade of
Zurich is kept busy. Dr. Archie llc-
Kinuon of Zurich has officiated at all
but one of the births in the Masse
family. They do not have the doctor
secretary under the law, She was ad-
vised to return tttent as site had oh-
:crned tient by ,force,
Mr. Ross explained further that
Ceenciltt tr Bailey is heddittg up the
business of the rfiiatte as she has ord-
er forms for the payment of accounts
which are overdue,
The Chairman has had a lot of ex-
perience in the municipal field. He
states that the chairman of a police
tillage is, correctly speaking, all in-
specting, ting, trustee. 'whose duty it is tr
act as secretary and who may he paid
a salary or eompensation of $10.00 per
year.
Asked when tite next meeting was
likely to be he stated that he did not
know, and would not know- until the
papers had been returned by Mrs.
Bailey,
in the meantime the village of Bay
field has not had sn much excitement
in a long. long time. The Population
s keyed up awaiting the next m.occ,
\\'ha will stake it is not known b';t
'very'one will be at the next meeting.
o sec the outcome. I for much else. Three years ago they
Outsiders, too. state that none of had the scarlet fever.
he council have told the whole story But nobody_ suffered," said Mrs.
tf the last meeting but enough has
'teen given to indicate that it was a"
.Hoch entking event in the history ,v
-he community.
FAMILY OF 21.
(The foliowinv, are excerpts from,
in article in the Toronto Sia
\F'eekly,)t
Two cradles and two hi;oa chair=
are an essential part of the hoose fur-
nishirgs of the ':o:ne . Tante. Mass,.
"1 a farm two utile. south it St. Jos
phwhich is on the -Lake Her,,"
pore, a short run down from God
erich,
In the family of Jantes and Mabel
Charette :Meese. who Ire 43 and 4'
cars of age, here are nineteen ta,1•
'.ea, alt alive, from 22 years of age 1.
4 months.
They are as follows: Maurice, 22:
Florence, 20 Anthony. 20; Richard
19; Teres 17; "Marie, 4161 Yvonne;
15; Alphonse '13; Joan, if2; Cecile.
:10; Louis, 9; ;Ivan, 8; Antoinette and
Juliette, 7 Archie, 6; Leo, 5; Mich-
ael, 3; ,Pristine, 2, and Peter, 4
months.
In reading the above table,: dear
reader, there are three or four spots
where you involuntarily heaved a sigh
Masse. "In fact, we moved into this
'resent farm -house during the scarlet
ever. 'Four of them had it. \\'e car-
-fed them nn a mattress into the
sleigh and brought them here. They
fashioned. They stood ,straight, like
men. They spoke politely. Like sons,
A strange, arresting thing, the bear -
mg of these two young nten, I had
got, used, In recent years, to a certain.
,slinking grace, a sort of sve'ltness or
limpness, in y''ou-ug sten. I' had for-
gotten about fhis thtog that Anthony
anti Richard Masse were disp'laying.
"How did you French -.Canadians
conte here?" I asked,
"We have been here almost' a hun-
dred years,' explained James Masse,
"This is called the French .Settle-
ment, Lt is six utiles long, on the
'Huron shore. In 18116 the Canadian
government opened up what they 'call
ed the Huron tract, and a settlement
of us c'aute from Quebec. I'1 was my
great-grandfather who carte here. It
was a great time of hardship, by the
accounts -they have left. Of great suf-
fering. Boats brought them to Hata-
i'lton, and they walked through the
,bush from Hamilton to Lake ;Huron,
They had only what they could carry.
.Mostly they were extremely poor,
and to add a little horror to ale thing,
the goverennent, so busy •with an over-
flow of immigrants in answer to their
call for settler's, 'forgot about them,
down here on the shore, One winter
our fathers and mothers ate roots and
wild vegetables. For the first couple
of years they lived on wild game and
in poor little shacks: But here we
are,'
'Here they are, for truth, twenty-one
of them, J<an?es lMasse's fancily had
eleven, and .Mabel Charette Masse's
fatni•ly had fourteen children. "We are
accustomed to large families," said
they, James Masse was left an orphan
at eleven, and lie• has been working
ever since.
The name Masse is pronounced in
the French .Settlement as Boss. They
are descendants of Pierre Masse, who
carne from France and was married in
Quebec City in the year d)344 (Charles
the First was reigning in England Jor
with nary a thought of losing his cur-(
ly head!) Pierre Masse was married
in the little city of ,Quebec to Marie
'Pine! de la Chenaie, And Mrs. Masse
comes down front the •line of Etienne
Charette, born in Poictiers, France,
and married in the city of Quebec in
41670 to Catherine Bisset their little
son became Sier de Lauzon; otte of the
seigneurs of that new world that was
old Quebec,
"\Vho owns the lance you rent?" I
asked James Masse.
"An English syndicate," he replied,
"Some sort of land holding company
in England."
'Little did Pierre -Masse or the Sieur
de Lauzon ever dream, as they stood
before the altar in old 'Quebec, t
once on a day their children, centuries
later, would be renting land from an
English syndicate, and rearing famil-
ies of nineteen souls on the shores of
the then unknown, unexplored inland
sea of Huronia, where the very land
they nota work was sanctified by the
feet of Jean de Breboeuf,, the Jesuit,
who trod the trail iron the Georgian
Bay to the French community at De-
troit, across the acres James Masse
tills,
They sneak French in the Masse
were none the worse."
And they look it. Seven of them
:arae trooping home from school,
.chile we were there to join the circle
If interested youngsters around the
living room.
"If 0 is a picture you wanted," said
Mr. Mase, "you should have come/
here its the summer when we are
hoeing the beans. It would snake n
fine picture to see the whole lot of its
in a field hoeing beans!"
'From the toddlers up, they all help,
joyfully. The big girls help with the
babies, They- "mind" the house. They.
prepare the meals, tt'atch the baking, 1
"The little 'boys go for the cows,"
said James Masse, "pile the turnip,,
fetch and carry. As we have no radio
or any other entertainment :here
might even be a little jealousy over.
who shall, do the chores. There are
not really enough chores to go
around, so chores are a prize,"
Only two of the the nineteen Have
ever seen a movie. There is ro electrie
tight in the Masse home. By iatnp{
WHEN
you suddenly realize it's
her birthday a .. and you
can't tell her you forgot it
and you're Hes apart
• Get to a t'p4r�3i'4: "dl�.1)C fL
ty r w y.7
LongiI%fi`rWWi:511d Ycliffqwill
make both you happy.
Por forgetful h tttbandn, and anybody else,
the telephone to always ready. A Long
Distance call now is as simple and easy as
talking across the street. Look in the front
of your directory and see how low the rates
are -100 miles or so for as little as 30 cents.