The Huron Expositor, 1966-10-13, Page 2Since 1860, Serving the Community First
Published at SEAFORTH, ONTARIO, every Thursday mornin by MeLEAN BROS., Publishers Ltd,
ANDREW Y. MCLEAN, Editor
t O Member Canadian Weekly Newspapers Association
Ontario Weekly Newspapers Association
t • Audit Bureau of Circulation
ll‘ALJ11 Subscriptiob Rates:
o a Canada (in advance) $4.00 a Year
O Outside Canada (in advance) $5.50 a Year
t< L At` SINGLE COPIES ---' 10 CENTS EACH
Authorized as Second Class Mail, Post Office Department, Ottawa
SEAFORTH, ONTARIO, OCTOBER 13, 1966
The Weather Makes 4he
The rains on Tuesday were a remin-
der that in the final analysis.'nature
holds the whip hand.
The 1966 International had been
planned in meticulous detail by com-
mittees –that have spent long hours
during several years to ensure that
the match at Seaforth would be the
best yet in the long history of the
O.P.A. As is the case in all outdoor
events the weather, however, was rec-
ognized as a calculated risk.
When rain continued to fall through-
out the opening day of the big match
the extent of the risk was emphasized.
. It proved you can't win all the time.
Yet short of covering the hundred
acre tented city site with 'a.' .roof —
and nobody suggests this was practical
—there were no steps that could be
taken to offset the possibility of rain.
But the committees in their •prud-
ence had done much to ease the effects
should dampness occur. This planning
was reflected in the quantities of shav-
ings which were stock piled at various
points through out the grounds to les-
son the difficulties which puddles
might-create.The planning too was re -
fleeted in the dozens of tractors on
standby duty ready for calls from mot-
orists who might become trapped in
mud.
. There was provision too, for travel
by bus if the use of vehicles, in the
grounds became curtailed.
Footwear exhibitors sacrificed dis-
Difference
play stock on the demands of plowmen
and visitors alike caught without the
protection of mud and water resistent r,
boots.
Despite the inconvenience which the
rain caused and the necessity for last
minute program changes there was an
amazing spirt among the thousands
who thronged the grounds. They didn't
like getting wet; they Liked even less
the mud but they were at the plowing
match and they were determined to
make the best of it. They grumbled,
they compared notes and commisserat-
ed with each other as each new chal-
lenge. to dignity arose, but through it
all continued to give every. evidence of
enjoying themseP es.
The bad weather, of course, was a
•keen disappointment to match officials
who had counted on a successful open-
ing day as the prelude. to an event that
would set new records.
• Decision to extend the match anoth-
er day to include Saturday may well
result in the final days of the match
attracting record, attendances. It de-
pends on the weather.
There was. some .comment — net all
favorable. --•.. at the decision to open -
the match on Tuesday with closing on
Friday. Match-. officials explained at
the time the reason , was to provide
some flexibility in the event of bad
weather. While the rains on opening
day are regretted, at least"they indicate
how wise members 'of the O.P.A. and
local coni nittee were in scheduling the
match as they did.
CANADA'S CENTURY
A news background special on
the Centennial of Confederation
Canada's Oji The Move
On Land, Sea And Air.
(Eighteenth Of A Series)
By WALT McDAYTER
'Ttaasportatibn has always
been a king-size problem in
Canada, but this is hardly sur-
prising when one remembers
that Canada is a king-size coun-
try.,In fact, she is the second
largest in the world (the Soviet
Union is first), boasting a terri-
tory of 3,851,909 square miles!
When the fust settlers came
to Canada, apart from a few
mocassin-treaded forest trails,
there were "no avenues at all
into the interior. Early pioneers
built their homes along the
coasts and on the shores of the
St. Lawrence, and on rivers
draining into' it.
- But soon the fur traders set
out to barter with Indians in the
hinterland. They adopted the In-
dian birch -bark canoe, and as
trade grew more lucrative and
cargoes bigger, the canoe was
replaced by the battean. then
Durham. boat, and finally
15te,versatrle York boat.
'Metre were many obstacles in
'the natural water routes . . .
rapids, long portages, and shal-
low waters ... and to overcome
these, canals had to be built.
The first was in 1779, between
Lake St. Louis and Lake St.
Francis. No Suez Canal this, it
.was just wide enough for a bat-
teau to squeeze through.
After Confederation, the Cana-
dian government launched a
concerted program to increase
and improve canals throughout
the new nation, to spur trade.
The famous Welland Canal near
Niagara, first built in 1824, was
just one of many widened and
deepened.
Canada's largest "canal" is
the. St. Lawrence Seaway, com-
pleted Apr. 1, 1959, linking Mon-
treal to the Great Lakes. It
brought deep-sea shipping to the
Lakes for the first time.
The first large ship to sail the
Great Lakes was. the Griffon,
built at Niagara in 1679 by
Cavelier de La Salle. Unfortu-
nately, she sank with a load of
fors on her maiden expedition.
It was in 1606 that the first
road was built in Canada. Di-
rected by Samuel de Champlain.
its surface was simply Iaid-out
logs. It stretched 10 miles, from
Port Royal to Digby Cape ... a
sad forerunner compared to the
Trans -Canada Highway, Com-
t
Ateemitihiliatidit betamle Canada's first steamboat,
w*tett of the St. Lawrence between Montreal find
Halifax -born Samuel Cunard
in 1840 launched the paddle
steamer Britannia on a trans-
atlantic voyage, and this was
the beginning of the world-
famous Cunard LIne-. ylr
pleted in 1962, which crosses
4,860 miles of Canadian terri-
tory. Today Canada has 450,000
miles of road and highway
serving the 6 million motor ve-
hicles in the nation.
The aviation age dawned in
Canada on Feb. 23, 1909, when
John McCurdy flew the Silver
Dart over Brass D'Or Lake,
N.S., and became the first man
to fly in Canada. The Silver
Dart was designed by Alexander
Graham Beit
Veteran World War I pilots in-
itiated many a commercial air-
line in Canada, pioneering the
routes •of the sophisticated jet
domestic airliners of today.
Trans -Canada Airlines (now Air
Canada) was founded as a gov-
ernment agency in 1937, and
Canadian Pacific Airlines was
established five years later.
.4.s'iiation played an invaluable
role in Canadian development,
especially in the far north. Bush
pilots such as "Punch" Dicluns.
"Doc" Oaks, and "Wop" hiay
have opened up vast areas of
the northland, where once only
men on snowshoes could ven-
ture. .
tcrsltt• ttilgram News Servko
�.
CLIP AND SAVE
"THRIL' TO THE SMOOTH SILENCE...THE OPEN ROAb STRETCHING AHEAD
In the Years Agone
From The Huron Expositor
Oct. 17, 1941
While driving along No, 8
Highway, west of town, Charles
Russell of Brussels, had the sur-
prise ' of his life when a doe
jumped a fence and apparently
blinded by the head lights ,of the
car, crashed into the radiator.
County Constable Helmer Snell
investigated, but the deer was
dead when he arrived.
Mr. and Mrs. Austin Dexter of
Constance, opened their home to
Hesselwood and Pte. Wes Hog-
garth of the Canadian Navy,
prior to, their departure for ov-
erseas service. They were pre-
sented with a signet ring, razor
and a watch.
A post -nuptial reception in
honor of Mr. and Mrs. Roy Con-
nell, newly weds of Tuckersmith,
was held in Cardno's Hall, when
there were 300 neighbors and
friends foresent. r1r. James Dihig
welcomed the guests and Mr. Ed-
win P. Chesney read an appro-
priate address after which they
were presented /with a studio
couch and ash tray by Lewis
McIver, Robert Patrick and Jas.
Doig, • r '
Mrs. Clare Reith and Mrs. Ken
Campbell were in Guelph -at-
tending the Young People's Con-
vention of the ,Presbyterian
Church.
Miss Alice Daly. president of
the CWL is attending the Dioce-
san Convention held in Windsor.
The lovely home of Mr. and
Mrs. -William Forrest near Hen-
sall was the scene of a delight-
ful event when the Wohelo class
of the United Church. with Miss
M. Ellis, their teacher, held a
social evening. The committee -in
charge was Miss Gladys Luker
and Mrs. Maude Hedden. •
While fixing a fence on his
farm, 40 rods from the Kippen
road, Mr. John Tremeer came
across a patch of wild strawber-
ries. some of which were in blos-
som and others were bearing
ripe and partly ripe berries.
* *. * .
From The' Huron Expositor
Oct. -20, 1916
As Mr. Fred Stna,llcombe and
son and daughter, Hensall, were
returning from a trip to Toron-
to, accompanied By B. F. Busch
and his son and a daughter of
Dr. Hardie, the car swerved off
the road, running into the ditch
and; turned over a couple of
times,,
Rev:"Mr. Knight ,is busily en-
gaged making improvements' to
the parsonage and also assist-
ing and superintending the er-
ection of a fine large cement
church shed in the. neighboring
charge , of Chiselhurst.
Mr. W. C. T. Monson, who has
been manager- of the Canadian
Bank of Commerce here for the
past nine years, was notified•
of his promotion and transfer to
Bloor and Lippincott branch of
the bank. His successor is James
G... Mullen of Greenwood, B.C.,
who is a son-in-law df the late
L. L. McFaul.
Mr. Robert McKinley of the
Huron Road, McKillop, has pur-
chased Mr.. Andrew Scott's resi-
dence on Goderich St., and in-
tends retiring from, the farm.
A large number of the people,
of Kippen and vicinity attended
induction services when the
Rev. Dr. Aiken vas inducted in-
to the pastorate of St, Andrew's
Church.
A surprise party met at the
home of Mr. James Morrison in
McKi]lop, to bid farewell to
John Wood, prior to his depar-
ture with the 161st Battalion
and presented him with a sig-
net ring and a handsome pipe
as a token of esteem and re-
membrance.
While the weather for the
.annual field day in connection
with the Collegiate Institute
was wet and cold, the weather-
man didn't spoil the event as
the affair was run off in the.
skating rink. The boy's senior
medal' was won by Stanley Hays.
the boy's junior by Frank
Coates. and the girl's medal by
Margaret Reeves.
* .*
From The Huron Expositor
Oct.. 16, ,L891
Mr. John Crozie -has rented
the fifty -acre farm s.pf ,Mr.
- Sugar and Spice
— By Bill . Smiley —
IT'S TIME TO BE OUTDOORS
This is a time of year when
there should be 24 hours of day-
light, when a man should be
able to keep going 24 hours a
day, and every man should be
on a month's vacation. •
Think of that fishing. Bass,
muskies, pike and rainbow
trout, just 'lying around there
drooling. wishing somebody
would toss them a lure. With
the water so cold; their flesh
makes chicken 'taste like dess-
icated rubber.
In the bogs the ducks chuckle
and in the bush the partridge
chortle. Whether it's a bitter
morning crouched in a blind, or
a stealthy stroll down a sun -fill
tered wooded road, everything
beckons the hunter.
ings to exchange inanities. Or
we trudge of to some ridiculous
job in order to put food in our
mouths and oil in the tank. Just
because 4t's fall and all these
asinine activities are back with
us.
It's not only unintelligent. It's
unfair, unpatriotic, unscrupu-
lous, unreligious and unbeliev-
able.
For years I have longed for a
holiday in the fall. And for
years I have been denied it be-
cause of the incredibly insane
social structure in this country,
which decrees that you have
holidays in the summer, or, if
you can afford it, an equivalent
hot -holiday, in winter, down
south.
Who wants holidays in the
summer? With long evenings
And there's the golf course. A and.: weekends, we can fish,
crisp day, the turf like velvet,' swim, boat to our heart's con-
tent. And with the up -coming
four-day work -week, there'll be
even more time.
But we're stuck with' an ar-
chaic system that seems to be
tied to the school year. On La-
bor Day, we all go back to the
plough and spend the most glo-
rious weeks of the year at mun-
dane, monotonous chores.
Not for us the gold and blue
of autumn days a't our myriad
lakes, the wild fire of sumach
on the hills, the honk of wild
geese flying, the wood fire's
warmth on a cool evening.
Now, after Labor Day, we don
sober garb and pious mien,
'crawl back into our huts and be-
gin once again the pretence that
life is real and earnest
It''s just as well they're not
planning to make me Minister
of Education. If they did, -
there'd be a month's holiday in
June, school through July and
August (until one 'p.m. every
day) and sfil Week's 'holiday be -
and all the tourists and women
out of the way at last. Nothing
to distract. Fat bottoms in Ber-
muda shorts are replaced by
plump black squirrels intent on
filling the larder with acorns.
And everywhere there's sky
as blue as a virgin's veins, blue -
black water welcoming, butter=
golden sun and blazing bush to
delight the eye and uplift the
soul.
Every orange ;blooded Cana-
dian, from the most venerable
of bird -watchers to the Grade
Four tyke who must make a leaf
collection, yearns to be out in
the most • wonderful country in
the, world in the most wonderful
tie of the year, in the most
wonderful life that any of us
will ever have. -
And what are we ail doing?
We're behaving like typical
Canadians. We ' recognize the
beauty, the allure of autumn,
but we do nothing about'it.
If we're youngsters; we go to
stupid school. If we're oldsters, ginning Labol Day.
we rake the ruddy leaves. Or we ' Don't worry. tt will never
worry about the silly storm- happen in this country. It's
dotes. Or we go to idiotic meet, much too sensible.
George Barrow's on the 13th of
McKillop.
A horse belonging to Mr.
Thos. Hill of Hullett gravel
road, dropped dead on one of
the streets of Clinton. '
Mr. Sydney Dolmage of the
5th concession of McKillop had
the misfortune to lose a horse
the other day. He was on his
way home from Seaforth, driv-
ing his team, when one of the
horses stumbled breaking it's
-leg by, the fall and had to be
shot.
Threshing is the order of the,
day at Hillsg ern. Messrs. Jar-
rott and Hart have two mach-
ines running.
Mr. John Hagan of Stanley
has purchased a farm near
Grand Bend.
Mr. Thos. Stephens and a
'young man who drives the ho-
tel bus, were returning from
the country with a load of wood
the load began to roll off both
the front and the back of the
wagon. Mr. Stephens who was
seated behind, fell off and
escaped danger. The young.
man fell off the wagon•onto the
heels , of the horses. Every
time 'the horses kicked they
struck, but fortunately he was
too close, to the animals to' re-
ceive much injury. Mr. Robert
Wilson was coming from his
stables, noticing the situation,
ran in front of the team and
was able to stop them.
The annual meeting of the
Women's Christian Temperance
Union was held.,
The annual harvest Thanks-
giving service, which was held
in St. Thomas' Anglican Church
was a grand. success. The ladies
decorated tastefully in fruits,
grain and vegetables:
•
'Pitch in, Charlie: I eat
kind of informally 'whey
' the wife's away)"
Y'b
d "
Recall Old school Pays
(Continued from 'age 1)
us, The ivied walls..of sacred
memory have hallowed associa-
tions for each individual.
"Remorseless Time—
Fierce spirit of the glass and
scythe- what power
Can stay him in his silent course
or melt
His iron heart to pity? Qn, still
on,
He presses and forever."
While giving some thought to
what' I might say on this mem-
orale occasion, I recalled those
opening lines by Elizabeth Ak-
ers Allen taken from the Third
Reader authorized for use in
the Public Schools of Ontario
by the Minister of Education
and issued in 1,885: •
"Backward, turn backward, 0
time in your flight;
Make me a child again, just for
to -night."
Thomas Moore, the great
Irish lyric poet, expressed • my
thoughts most succinctly:::
"Oft, in the stilly night,
Ere Slumber's chain has bound
me,
Fond Memory brings the light
Of other days around me;
The smiles, the tears,
Of boyhood's years,
The words of love then spoken;
The eyes that shone,
Now dimmed and gone,
The cheerful hearts now brok-
en;
Thus, in the stilly night,
Ere Slumber's chain has bound
me,
Sad Memory bring the light
Of other days around me.
portant ;focal point in the neigh-
hourhogd. here the n nnicipal
council met regularly. Here
nomination meetings yvcre held
and elections presided over by
. William and Alex Sinclair. Prov-
incial and Federal election ral-
lies convened here. Farmers' .In- *•
stitute played an important role
within its walls.• As a communi-
ty centre it was the scene of
much dancing to the sweet
strains of violin music supplied
by Sam Horton, Jinfl y .Cowan,
Abe and Hank Forsyth, Pat and
M. D. Chesney with Bell Forsyth r
and Jennie Pearson Chesney
providing the accompaniment
on the organ. For square danc-
ing the services of Billy Work-
man and Dilly McDonald were
indispensable even when the
latter had to stand on a chair
to see over the heads of the
sets adjacent to the platform,
At concerts . such soloists as
Jack Beattie, Will McLeod,
Johnny Scott and Danny Fred
MacGregor proved most popu-
lar. Wee -Jock MacDonald with
his bag -pipes to accompany the
Scottish dances performedt with
such grace by Miss Cora Dodds
always merited a fall house.
Do you remember the `}ong
piles of stove wood which
stretched from the Red School
to the Red Tavern? Can you re-
call the weekly trips made by
my father and I gathering eggs
from the farmers' wives on a •
commission basis for the D. D.
Wilson egg emporium? At the
store, butter and eggs were tak-
en in trade for the commodities
required in the home or on
the farm.
In the early, years of this cen-
tury the old Red School was
purchased by the late IsaaC
Moore who had it moved by
Roily Kennedy and George
Strong about three quarters of
a mile westward to serve as an
implement house and which
. continues to function as such.
Coming to th.¢s point in hand,
I would like to share with you
my recollections of three great
characters associated with my
early education and who pro-
foundly influenced my career
—a teacher, an inspector, a
clergyman. _
Every school has a personal-
ity of its own. It may have the
sunny, disposition of a Walter
Scott or the wintry bleakness of
a John Knox. Whatever its at-
titudes tos-life may be — its
hopes and fears, its intellectual
discontent and its play of emo-
tion — it is discreet and parti-
cular; there is no other such
school in the whole world.
There are lazy schools, com-
placent, schools and strenuous
schools; plan schools and fancy
schools; fussy schools, happy
schools, and vain schools. There
is no knowing how a school will
turn out. From a brawling in-
fancy it may go through a lusty
adolesence and finally emerge
as a scholar and a gentleman,
On the other hand, it may re-
mind • one of the rake's progress;
where . much heart -burning
might have been saved had the
School' Board dropped it when
it was very young.
The queer thing is that vis-
ible possessions — stately malls,
elaborate heating and ventila-
ting systems, expensive equip-
ment, . and . spacious , playing
fields — have little or nothing
to do with a school's character,
"Stone walls do not a prison
make" nor a, school. Many a beg-
garly soul is arrayed in purple
and fine linen; many a rare
spirit is clothed in rags. The
early schools' on. the concession
lines, with their emphasis on
survival of the fittest . in mental
capacity and even physical fit-
ness, were institutions that con-
tributed greatly to the rugged
pioneer heritage of this coun-
try. One such school among sev- ,
eral outstanding early schools
in Huron County was S. S. No.
9, distant by a league and a v
half from the cultural ameni-
ties of social life in• Seaforth,
Brucefield, Hensall, and Staffa.
Even the decor was Spartan in
its ' function simplicity. All
grades were taught in the one
room. The classes were always
heard standing. There were few
adornments. Large windows on
either side admitted ample
light although modern pedago+
gues tell us the light should
enter from the left hand side
only to fall over the left shoul-
der of the pupil. A hot air fur-
nace provided • comfortable'
ing conditions. Coal -oil lamps
with their circular reflectors
adorned the window frames but
I never recall them being used
even during the dull days of
winter. Ventilating duets in the
ceiling controlled by a length
since they drew off the heat in
winter and the open windows M
made their use obsolete in the
warmth of spring and fall.
Within this shelter, a man.
laboured
an.laboured for some.three decades.
Judged by externals, this man
rounded shoulders, some gen-
teel folk doubtless would kava
dubbed Thomas Gibson Shilling -
law a plebeian, a bourgeois;
but measured by the infinite
and tender breadth of his spir-
it, he was a Christian .gentle-
man, a 'great teacher; • Many a
farmer's daughters and sons
love his kindly humanity. and
bore that precious possession
through life. Many a struggling
youth knew the strength of his
character. A man of virtue and
courage, rich in wisdom with a
sense of dedication and cense-
and, above all, a self-sacrificing
humanitarian. We pause to-
day to honour the memory of
one "who departing has left his
footprints on the sands of time,"
(Continued on Page +D
When I stemember all °
The friends so lined .together,
I've seen around me fall,
Like leaves in wintry weather,
I feel like one
Who treads alone,
Some ba(rquet hall deserted,
Whose lights are fled,
Whose garlands dead,
And all but he departed;
Thus, in the stilly night
Ere Slumber's chain has bound
me,
Sad Memory bring the light
Of other days -around me."
And now, I , would like to
share with you certain remin-
iscences of my childhood spent
in and around the Red Tavern
operated - by my father after
Grandpa Kyle ,moved to Dixie.
I could dwell at' length on some
of the many characters ' who
dropped in 'from time to time
but their names would be recal-
led by, few in attendance here
to-day.,However, I have prepared
a list of some 125 which I shall
make available at the conclu-
sion of this afternoon's pro-
gramme. The Red Tavern was
strategically located half -way
between Staffa and Seaforth on
one side and between Hensall
and Seaforth on the other.
Drivers of horses in those days
took good care of their animals
which had to be rested and
watered regularly on a trip of
some eleven miles. Do any re-
member the' wooden pump
stamped with the trademark of
Fred Welsh, Seaforth? A large
,wooden wash -tub served as a
trough. While the ladies shopped
in the grocery department ad-
joining the hotel, the .male folk
refreshed themselves over the
counter with lemon sour, cream
soda, ginger beer, sarsaparilla,
draught beer and something
stronger spiked with tansy bit-
ters made on the premises from
a strongly -scented perennial
herb which grew- in profusion
about forty rods"' West of the
Tavern in the vicinity of a
gnarled Balm of Gilead tree be-
side the dusty road. The bright
yellow flowers were steeped in
boiling water and the brew
carefully strained. A drop or
two were sufficient to work
wonders. Good five -cent cigars,
plug tobacco for pipe smoking
and plugs of the Queen's Navy
for chewing were part of the
trade.
The Red School stood directly
across from the Red Tavern at
the Northwest 'corner of the
present school grounds and was
used until the present brick
building was completed in
1891. Some of the teachers
names I recall from listening
in on adult conversations were
Richard Hicks, Henry Horton,
a Miss Jarvis who afterwards
married Henry ' Horton,, Miss
Jane McTavish and Dan John-
son who Iater donned clerical
garb and for a while served the
Varna circuit. I remember call-
ing on him after his , retirement
when he lived in Lucan. Fol-
lowing the erection of this
building, the Red School of
frame construction was pyo
chased by my grandfather and
moved across the road to s
spot immediately East of the
Red Tavern directly across from
the present site of- S. S. No. 9.
I well aemember the large
cloakroom with its ' rows of
quaint hooks for the use of
boys and girls who walked as
far as two and - one -halt miles
twice daily in all kinds of weath-
er. There were no ploughed
roads in winter, no heated buses
to carry exuberant youngesters.
The school was heated by a
large box stove whose long row
of pipes was suspended from the
ceiling by strands of stove wire.
I only recall windows on one
side of the classroom. A plat -
fain ran across the front of the
room. Isere the teacher reigned
in majestic splendour at less
than five hundred dollars a
year free from superannuation
deductions, income tax deduc-
tions, hospital insurance pre-
miums, Canada Pension Plan
deductions and Federation dues.
This Red School became an im-
e
1
•