The Huron Expositor, 1931-10-30, Page 1144
14,
1.....1.AUA,AL10.1Ad
-4411.01,41.41444/....44.4141
' •-aSe-eenty-seeond Year
-Whole Number ans
ff
. '
ColonelAnthony iftilEgniond and the Rebellkin of 1837
. In Huron County.
• i3y W. ifrentmi Kerr, M.A., :INdely. baked" had lieard the evidence
Written ,for .The Expositor ePlaimissioaers, green European ones,
concluded' the affair by granting
ona
Oxon.,,..ph..p„ Tor. a v'..iet against a the witnesses,"
ses
instead of following the more usual
and devious. course of non -suiting the
plaintiff and giving him time to bring
Prof. Kerr asks any person a new action against the person who
having in their possession unorthodox procedure, Mr. Michael
ner of the'Fisher 'Hotel, who was
bad served as witness. Seeing this
any letters or papers bear- Fishers of Goderich, Dutchman and
ing on tht;early history of
Huron County, to leave
Wir name at The Exposi-
ttir 01pee in order that he
'May compare the papers
with those already in his
possession.
also a witness, immediately exclaimed,
"Py Gott, I will taki\eati: never to
be a witness again for fear they
would tuck a verdict upon me!" The
supposed judicial incompetence of the
cominissioners was, of course, irrelev.
ant to the Goderich Harbour Bill but
a good brick for the Reform editor tb
throw at the Canada toenpany. Per-
haps it was to this .occasion that
Wiiliam Lyon Mackenzie referred in
the Constitution of June 7, 1837.
"Years ago we joined Colonel Van
Emend, Fisher and others in un-
cleaking- the villainies of that cruel
and unfeeling nest of mercenary ad-
venturers the Canada Company has
practised in the Huron Tract." In any
case the whole Reform Party joined
in the hue and cry against the Gode-
rich Harbour Bill; and ast they were
in the majority in the Legislature of
1834, they succeeded in throwing out
the Company's4 proposals. Colonel
Van Egmond had won one round from
the Company.
The commissioners of the Company
however, found a method of revenge
easy to hand; they allowed the mouth
of the river to continue silting up se
'that the principal vessel lay idle in
the harbour all summer of 1835, com-
merce by water ahnost ceased, the
price of flour rose to eight or nine
dollars a barrel, and the settlers suf-
fered -though probably • not the Col-
onel who grew his own wheat Eventu-
ally the conuaissioners discovered an
alternative to the toll in a wharfage
charge for the use of the landing
space, all of which was in control of
the Company. Such. a charge was
obviously within. their legal powers
and probably capable of yielding as
much revenue as the harbour toll. In
fact then, if not in theory, the Com-
pany came, off victorious. Opinion
among •the settlers seems to have
been divided. Later, Mr. Luard made
the defeat of the Harbour Bill a
matter bf accusation against Van Eg-
mond, which would lead us to 'infer
that some at least of the Colborne,
men had prepared to accept the toll
as a less evil than an indefinitely
silted harbour and were returning the
Colonel no thanks for his successful
lobbying. In anyecase.the matter was
closed and the Company >continued to
draw revenue kora the wharfage
charge.
The affair had brought the Colonel,
into coated with political straggles
in Upper Canada and in particular
into association • with the • Referm
Party. He had already acquired Lib-
eral opinions, probably during his
period of service with the French-
men of revolutionary and Napoleon-
ic times and was thus predisposed to-
ward sympathy with the Upper Can-
adian Reformers who appeared to hold
the same views as himself. Now,
stimulated by his antagonism to the
Company, he threw in his lot heart
and seri with the Reform Party in its
war on the Family Compact. From
1834 he was a Reformer, a partici-
pant in the provinee-wide political
contest of the time.
SEAFORTK
, •,
the silver ltrey donlieteSd
Knott, who, won seeond prize and
also the prize or beat .finiela Lave
erne Knott also took home a special
prize for ,being the youngest plow-
-Vatted Farmers of South Perth,to
the plowman scoring the highest
number of points in any class.
Special Winners.
A large number of special prizese
were donated. and the winners of.
these were as fellows: Best pleW.!
team, Frank .Hamilton,. Groinartia
best team and equipment, • R. J.
Scott, Cromarty; best groomed and
harnessed team, GordcrnaSeott, .Crea?
*cdeied
marty; plowing done with
-4 •
CHAPTER VI
THE MAITLAND HARBOUR
AFFAIR
The site of Goderich had not long
been occupied before it was discover-
ed that the harbour formed by the
mouth of the Maitland possessed one
marked >disadvantage in that it fre-
quently became blocked with a bar of
silt from the action of the river and
• the northwest wind; a condition which
still persists and necessitates con-
stant dredging if the harbour is to be
kept open. This contingency the
Company had not foreseen and had
not taken into consideration in their,
financial estimates. But when their
commissioners at Goderich saw four
schooners swamped while trying- to
cross the bar in the summer of 1834,
they decided that they mutt. take
some action and cast about for ways
and means of raising additional rev-
enue for the purpose of removing the
bar. Finally they agreed that the
best method would be to charge a toll
on all vessels entering the harbour;
atlases the Company's charter gave
it no right to make suoh a charge,
they made application to the Legis-
lative Assembly in a petition entrust-
ed to Thomas William - Luard of
"Langford" in Colborne Twnship.
Mr. Luard appears to have taken the
petition to the Assembly and to have
endeavored to convince the -members
of the justice of the Company's re-
quest. Probably he expected a grant
•of the necessary permission as a mat-
, ter of course, subject only to limita-
tion of the charge imposed on'the ves-
sels.
But opposition 'arose at once. For
Colonel Van Egmond, alert to ethbar-
reed the Company and prevent an ex-
tension of its powers approached the
!Reform Party then dominant is the
Assembly with a view to defeating
the request; and he or his friends die -
covered a strong constitutional argu-
ment, that no toll could legally be
charged for entrance to a navigable
river. The Reform journal corres-
rdent and Advocate in its issue of
December 29, 1834, devoted an edi-
torial to the case, denounced the
!Company for its "avarice and capad-
ity," its supposed profit of $2,400,000.
out of the Hurop Tract, its character
ae a "justly detested monopoly" and
concluded in a strangely minor key
that improvement of the river was
not desirable at present. The editor
went on to- cite a .case in a court of
requests "not one hundred miles
from Goderich", where "the sapient
•
,..4a-r..,14.4441.14/.4-44.4411.4144142.443c41.4.14.4.4.141a4.4414,4441,2-4.
4 11"; .144,Thl;f1';i4
ill 4k fki
Ne4 A
indows.
The Best 'Winter'
Brierereete Sask., Oct. 15, 1931.
Rev. W. P. Lase, B.A., •Seaforth.
Prvtection- or the! Dear Mr. Lane: It has been a very
e pleasant experience to distribute the
tliet; as if we ever hear of a crop
failure it Your district when. we hieee
plenty, we will surely endeavor to
reciprocate Ws kindness. "
Thanking you again, 1 remain.
Sincerely yours,
S. Whitteker, M.L.A., •
Seca. United Church Board.
AAN.,•••••••••.•
;wonderful gifts, from yeur people tp
Home should
be or. the needy people in this blown -out,
I dried -out, hailed -out Part of Seskat-
'chewan. leans? were the expressions
of true gratitude to you and your
strong, •Cromarty; youngest plowman, 'People from the 260 families assisted
Laverne Knott, Carlingford; special Nk
McCormick Deering slew, Paul Arne- S., •
w.
SONS,by your kindness.• Brucefield, w..
N'
by Reeve A. M. Driverto the • CLIJEF imondville, MIcKillop and Seaforth will
Blanshard Trewnship boy Winning the 'not soon. be forgotten by the grateful
highest score, Harold Carter, R. R. 6, • • people of this copmaunity.
•
Hargreaves, Beaehivoodi beat finish ter; bestcrown, W.J.Perry; Rev. George Forey on October ath
St. Marys; best crownaod, in sod, J. R.best 'I had a telephone message from
finish, Ivan Stewart. • that your car had been shipped here.
in sod, J. H. •Gargreaves; best crown
in stubble, William Harrison, Galt;
best finish) in stubble, Frank Hamil-
ton, Cromarty; best crown with trac-
tor, Gordon MeGatin, Walton, who
also wins the special pries for best and Secretary,' Clifford 'Dow, Sta the car when it arrived on October
a. I
finish with tractor; best land in sod
(sweepstakes ribbon), J. R. Har- ., ea, 8th. The car arrived a:bout noon and
I was unloaded before 6 p.m. The con-
grea,ves; best land in stubble (sweep,.
stakes ribbon), Frank Hamilton, Cro- YOUNG GIRL IS WINNER tents were in excellent condition.
IIT)TI 41• The method of 'distribution m -ay be
of interest to you. A vacant store
was used as the centre of operations.
As the different gifts were unloaded
they were arranged in their order -
fruit apples, potatoes, turnips, etc. A
The success of the untiring efforts of board and invited representatives
-the officers of the Mt. Pleasant.As-
sociation, which are: President, Carl 'from the R. M. and village councils.
The meeting was held on October 7th
Switzer; vice-president,' Thomas Scott,
and a committee appointed to unload
444 TV,
marty; best land vnth tractor (sweep- OF OR
stakes ribbon), Gordep 1VIeGa'vin, CONTEST'
Walton.
The complete results by Clasees are
a •
Class 1 -High cut (open to •all), Advertising Butter. member of the distributing comrait-
.
•
Runner Up May Get Job
Duncan • MacMillan, a, Alex.
McKercher, Wroxeter; William Den- Aileen Clark, aged 12, of Gorrie,
nis, Walton; George; Hunter, Exe- was' adjudged the acehampion public
ter; Bert Hemingway, Brussels ; school orator of Hun County at the
best cream, Alex. McKercher; best contest held at Clinton Mr Saturday
tee was placed in charge a each,de-
partrapit and our local M.L.A. was
clerk, As the, people entered the'
building I interviewed them regard -
Help.
Make
This
Frolic
the
Biggest
ever put
on in
Seaforth.
Mount.Pleasant Plowing Match
Rainy Weather Does Not
Deter Contestants in This
Annual Event.
The misetable rainy weather which
prevailed Tuesday had little effect on
the success of the seventh annual Mt.
Oleasant Plowing Match which took
-place on the farms of Frank Harburn
to,
Frolic
O.
Friday •
ct,30
class of, work.
' A successful horseshoe pitching
tournament took place on the grounds
and it was divided into two classes.
The competition drewrr
many teais of
-well . known tossers throughout the
district. In the first class, Boa and
Boa of Hensall, carried off high hon-
ors, with Fred Harburn and Wiley, of
Cromarty, second, and Petrie and
nd Bert Butler, Hibbert Township.
Petrie, of Stratford, third, Myers and
Plownn from miles around the Ms- P. Boa, of Hen 'II, won first place
triet came to participate in the annual in 'Class 2, with Henry Harburn and
'event, which drew 59 entries and sixiVenner, of tCrotnarty, second and An-
enties in ' the Home Farm Plowing ' derson Bros., of Herisall, third-. The
eetnpetition, altogether constituting a competition was directed by T. A.
I
record. The only effect made by the Wiseman.
relay weather was on the crowd, al- The youngest plowman on the
though officials considered the match ouns Was Laverne Kpott, of Car-
a decided success in every other re-
_ spect.
Some of the. plewmen competing
declared that the damp land was bet-
ter for bompetitivop 'plowing whilef
ethers seemed to be4of the opinion
that the land was too wet to do as
good work. The work was creditable
in every respect and the judge, Wil -
bum Doherty, of Toronto, Honorary
Association, spoke very highly of the, the near future as to the winner of
Parade
• Headed
by Band
from Queen's
Hotel
at 8 o'clock.
Let
Every
Boy and
Girl
Delight
the Lions
by being
in the
Parade.
misomi'l'imemo;amimumults
• • '11f3t1:P4^,
Ir . and Mrs. George A. Sills residents of Sea
have been married 50 years.
refsf 4. 44
• • • , •
On Saturday, Octobear 24th, 'MT. 'active as ever and every once
and Mrs. George A. Sills, two of Sea-twhileduring the season; he po:mes
forth's Oldest and most prominent I back into town sith,a trout 'or a bass
residents, celebrated the 50th anni- that strike envy in the hearts ' of
versary of their wedding day. , younger generilions, to prove it. Her
In celebration .of tifis golden event, still knows where they are, and what
a family reunion was held at their is of more material advantage, •
beautiful home on John Street and on 'knows how to land them. More power , • ,
to him.
In civic affairs Mr. Sills hes' held
many offices in the gift of the people
and could have had the others' if, he
would have accepted then. At wee,-
ent he is a member of the Seaforth
Collegiate Institute Board. • ,
Mrs. Sillsewhe ie a daughter of the
late William Armstrong, was born.* • •
Waterloo in 1959, moving to the 7th
tinuous resident for 65 years. For ,concession of Tuckersneith when quite
over 60 years he has been connected ,young. She received her early ed*
with the hardware business and is the dation at Sproat's school house. The
head of the widely known herdware nolovid to Seaforth in the late
firm of G. A. 'Sills & Sons. seventies where she was married on
All his life Mr. Sills hes been a October 24, 1881, Mxs.' Sills is° an
keen sportsman and a fair ope. He ideal home woman though always find -
was a member of the old Star base- ing time for church land charitale$
ball team, a team that was known work. She also takes a keen interest
throughout Ontario in the earay days
and was also a member of the Sea -
forth Fire Brigade when their hose
reel running team established an In -
Sunday a dinner took place at the
home of their son, Frank Sills, when,
a most happy time was •spent by the
family and their guests.
iefir. Sills is a descendant of a Unit-
ed. Empire Loyalist family and was
born in Brumfield in 1955. When 12
years of age he came to *Seaforth,
where With the ,exception of' a year
spent in Winnipeg, he has been a con -
Don't
Forget -
the Dance
in
Cardno's
Hall.
•
in lawn bowling and despite her age
wee:this year not the least proficient
amen theama,ny lady howler -s.
Th 'hefire a family of four, Frank
ternational record at Sarnia in• the in , hardware business, Seaforth;
early eighties, that has never been Clmrles, po'stmaster, Seaforth; Joseph
equalled, and en which occasion Mr. in•Miruneapolis, Minn., and a daughter,
Sills established an International re- Mrs. A. J. Reynolds, Toronto.eThere •
cord for running and coupling a hose are eleven gea,ndehildren.
that is still a challenge to amateur The citizens of Seaforth and the
fire Aghteni , community will.join The Expositor in
Now:I-axing passed his 75th yeaf,Tatentliiii-irearty congratiilafiens to
his sporting activities are mostly con -1 Mr. and Mrs. Sills on the occasion of
fined to forest and stream, but he still 'their golden Wedding and in the wish ,
knows the front from the back of his that'they may be spared to the thane
waders and can carry a fishing polee their family and to each other for
•
unaided. In fact he is as young and 1 many years yet to come.
finish, Duncan MiaeMillan. eafternoon.
' Class 2 -'Tin sod (open to alp -J. This little girl captivated her
>R. Hlargreaves, Beachwood; Rusell
Scott, 'Cromarty; N. S. McLeod,
Galt; R. G. Brown, Galt; illiam
Collins, Mitchell; William Hodge,
Stience Hill; best crown and best
finish, R. 1. Hargreaves.
President of the Ontario Plevamens
lingfotd. The boy is 14 years of age,
but produced some fine results; win-
ning first place in the class in stub-
ble plowing, for boys 16 years and
under, residents of Hibbert, Bien -
hard, Fullerton or Usborne Town-
ships. • Laverne also won the prize
in this class for the best crown. An-
other young plowman was Harold
man on the grounds.
Announcement will be made in
Class 3, --In sod (open to those who
have never won a first prize except
in Classes- 5, 6 and 7) --,Austin Nairn,
Munro; James •Hoggarth, Cromarty;
William Mitchell, Listowel; Clifford
Cox, Wanstead; Fraser Dewar, Wel-
lesley; Martin Linton, Mitchell; best
crown, Austin Nairn; best finish, Jas.
Hoggarth. ,
MUSICAL CONCERT BY
The Seaforth Public School
under the direction of Mr. A. W. Anderton
in ,
CARDNO'S HALL, SEAFORTH
• on
THURSDAY and FRIDAY; NOVEMBER 12 and 13
Admission, 35c4 ResIrved Seats, 45c.
Reserved Seats on sale at AberhartIS Drug Store en and after
Saturday, November 7th,
CURTAIN RISES 8.00
"Vilig,t44
1
Class 4 -In stubble (open to „ern -
William •Harrison, talt; James Ney,
Cromarty; Clayton Harris, Mitchell;
Glen McFadden, Aillbaeke John Wil-
lis; 'Wingham; Walter Moods, Wing -
ham; best crown, Wm. -Harrison, who
also *on the prize for best finish,.
'Class 5-4In stubble (open to those
who have never won first -prize in
any but boys' classes), Frank >Ham-
ilton, Cromarty; Alex. Harrison, Galt;
Norman Chaffe, Mitchell; Charles
Harrison, Galt; Wilbert 1VIcFadden,
lVfillbank; Edward Wills, of Thorn -
dale; best crown, Frank Illamilton,
who also won the prize for best finish.
Class 6-1n stubble (open to boys
16 years and under, residents- of Hib-
bert, Fullerton, Blanshard and Us -
borne Townships), Laverne Knott,
Carlingford; Harold Carter, R. IL 6,
St. Marys; Gordon Scott, Cromarty;
Frank Young, Cromarty; best crown,
Laverne Knott and best finish, Harold
Carter.
'Class 7 ---,Tractor plow, in sod, un-
der 12 inches - Gordon McGa'vin,
Walton; Paul Armstrong, St. Marys;
Walter McKenzie, Mitchell; Orval
Wessman, Mitchell; best crown, Gor-
don .MeGavin, Walton, who also won
the 'prize for best finish.
(Class .8--11'ractor PLOW, in sod, 12
audience of five hundred. Her sub-
ject was "The Value of Birds to
Mari."' •
Donald Harris, of Goderich town,
ship, Was second. He spoke on "But.
ter." He will be recommended to the
National Dairy Council by W. G.
Medd, M.P.P., for advertising. He
coulS, arouse enthusiasm with his
subject in an audience anywhere in
the Dominion, Mr. Medd stated.
Billy Farrish, of Colborne town-
ship, was third. ,
The champion • speller of Huron
County is Willie Brown, of Zurich. He
spelled down eight others in an old-
time spelling. match. '
The contests were held by the De-
partment. of Agriculture in the audi-
torium a the Clinton Collegiate Insti-
tute.
-8
toes, 2 bags; apples, 46 pounds; Cale; to the people who donated these gifts
bage, 3 heads; beets .and carrots, 1 and especially to the Itely who sent
bushel; citrons, pumpkins and canned the tomato and fruit sauce in a seal -
fruit. - ,er. Tell her to write me, if you can.
The people here are very grateful, Again tharuking you all, and know -
to the Eastern friends for what they ' ing you will be rewarded some day, I
are doing for us for some people are am. ,
really in need. We have had three' Very gratefully,
dry years and this year has -been the
worst. First came the sand stornus,
which cut off the crop and in the vi-
cinity of Briercrest, where I live,
there came a very had hail storm,
which smashed the garden, also the
windows of our house. You all know
this is a wheat -growing country, i,nd
in 1928 we had a bumper crop; felds
looked a golden' rich and a perscal
ing their requirements and the clerk
made a note of them in a counter-
check book in duplicate. The list was
passed pn to the man in charge of
each department, and when complet-
ed, the goods were delivered to the
proper persons thropgh the rear
entrance. This system proved very
satisfactory.
You cannot imagine what your gifts
• mean to the disappointed people of
this province. After the spring seed-
ing the terrible *hit( and dust storms
came and blighted their hopes. The
seed was blown out and the ditches
filled with dest; covering the fences.
After reseeding there . was no mois-
ture and the wind' again destroyed
any prospect of a crop. Then came
a terrific hail etom destroying all
gardens and trees. On the Sunday
following the hail storm I preached to
my congregation' at Blue Hill and
found it very trying. The hail had
smashed every window in the church
and marked the building. Yet, the
people'came to worship.
The kindness of your people has
lifted the thoughts of our people from
their trials and sent cheer to many
little ones.
As orou will receive other -letters
from the various organizations and
from some of the families assisted,
you will have some idea of the extent,
of help rendered 'by you to this com-
munity.
We would like to also communicate
with some of the families and indi-
viduals who were so kind in contribut-
ing to the needs of our people.
-Please express our thanks to • as
many as, possible and assure them of
our sincere appreciation.
Wishing you all abundant blessing,
I ran,
Yours sincerely,
Geoige B. 'Cree.
Mrs. Gordon Gray.
Briercrest, Sask., Oct. 19, 1931.
Dear Mr. Lane: We "surely were
glad to get the relief. We got three
turnips and three citrons, a grape -
basket full of beets, a grapebasket
full of carrots, 10 pounds of white •
bens, a bag of potatoes, jar of fruit,
jar of beet pickles, 1 bag of apples.
could see as many as five threshing We sure thank you heartily for your
machines working at one time, and kindness as these are, the ordseseg-
this year there hasn't been a thresh-letables and fruit we will have. We r
ing machine at work within a radius planted our garden five times, ' but
they were all blown out and dried,
out, so not even weeds grew in our
garden this year. You could not im-
agine how bad it is unless you had
been here to see it for yourself.
maiden name was Sara J. Gibbs. I There are six in our family. We
Came out here about 16 years ago. I haven't had a crop for three years.
am sure we all appreciate the kind- One and all of the family thank`you
nese of you people and thank you for what you have done for us. May
Lremain, yours sincerely, God bless you. ?
Mrs. Bernard Shortland. Mrs. E. E. Bolton.
•
Briercrest, Sask., Oct. 15, 1931. Briercrest, Sask., Oct. 14, 1931.
Rev. W. P. Lane, Seaforth, Ont. • Bev. W. P. Lane, Seaforthspnta
Dear Sir: Accept our hearty Dear 'Sit: We, as a family, wish'
thanks for your beautiful, kind, to express our hearty idea sineere
thoughtfulness. It was certainly a thanks for the fruit add vegetables
Christian act and we appreciate it to. which we shared from the car that
the fullest. It helps to bar one an-
other's -burdens, truly indeed.
1 .am originally from dear old On-
tario myself and the fruit and veget-
ables taste doubly sweet if that were
possible. Kindly express. our thanks
REV. W. P. LANE RE-
CEIVES MORE LETTERS
FROM WEST
People of, Briercrest Ap-
preciate Car of Produce
Sent Them.
of four miles. There was some CP%
pies come from Clinton. I used to
live about six miles from there in the
village of Londesboro, so it seems
very milch like home to Me. My
Briercrest, October 17, 1931.
Rev. W. P. Lane, 'Seaforth, Ont.
'Dear Sir: The splendid car of
goods beaded at Seaforbh was dis-
tributed in this vicinity recently, and
I wish the cohgregations to know that
it 'brought more happiness 'to more
people than anything I' ever witness-
ed.
The distribution was made to 260
families without a sing)ehitch, Vad
not a word of ill -feeling has heel re-
ported. •
Your and year .bretlitgi !'
ers
are indeed fortunate* fiiitig patitinit
inches and over (open tall), W. J. e to such plondid•con-
-
Perry; 13ruasels;• Ivan Stewart,
Kirk- ted to telpietego
greqatiot of warmhearted people.
ton; J. W. Hodge, Sete/ice Hill; T. Thew geneeesity'will net seen be, for -
Allen, Kiekton; R. B. Williams, EZ L''' citotten by those in distress in thio clis-
,
„trfe , 144 4
f
,
was sent to our toWn.
We think the idea was the product
of a eery beneficient and Christian
spirit. That is the note we hear
sounded everywhere. Our town And
Coutinued on page five •
Formmoy
•Briercrest, Sask., Oct 14, 1931.
Rev. W. P. Lane, Seaforth, Ont.
Dear Sir: Please thank the people
that sent the fruit and vegetables to
Briercrest, Sask. We received pota-
SPiEWART BROS.
WILL BE CLOSED
ALL DAY TUESDAY
To re -arrange store and mark down prices
on entire stock for their big
Z5th Annitiersatu Salt
Starting Wednesday, Nov. 4th, 9 a.m.
. 1"'?
r
• a
1
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•