The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

THE DAILY TIMES-GAZETTE Combining The Oshawa Times and Whitby Gazette and Chronicle OSHAWA WHITBY VOL. 7--NO. 129 OSHAWA-WHITBY, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 2, 1948 Price 4 Cents 4 EIGHTEEN PAGES BAN IR VEL TO NORTHERN WOODS May Buildin 81 New Residences Among 111 Permits Valued $521,195 Building permits issued by the City Engineer's Depart- ment during May reached a record-breaking value of $521,- 195 and indicating that a' ® Assumes Boom Proportions building boom, especially in dwellings, is under way in Oshawa. Permits for 81 houses were issued. & Three private housing schemes on ® _56NewHomes or Northway Court Area Work on the 56 houses in the Northway Court area, the plans for which were approved on Monday by the East Whitby township, has begun and the project being carried out by S. Jackson and Son, 624 King Street East, is well underway. The 10 homes which were ap- proved for construction by the council several months ago are nearing completion and excava- tions for the recently approved 46 are being dug at the rate of three or four a day Mr, Jackson reports. The project, estimated to be a $350,000 undertaking, is expected to be completed by December, and Mr. Jackson reports that buildings are being rapidly sold and alread 12 have heen purchased. = ~~... All the homes are to be of brick construction and each has been es- Highland Avenue, Lasalle and Cadillac Street South, sponsor- ed by private builders account for $297,000 of the permits for a total of 53 houses ranging in value from $6,000 to $7,500. May's building permits in them- selves total more than the combin- ed permits issued during the first four months of the year. The four months total was $360,968. Last April permit values totalled $94,540 and in May, 1947, they were $110,- 915. There were 111 permits issu- ed last month, Largest single permit issued was to John Sciuk of 175 Olive Avenue, for a $10,000 brick veneer store and apartment to be erected at 179 Olive Avenue. $145,500 Project The largest private housing scheme has been launched by N. Johaneson and Sons, Division Street, who took out permits for 23 houses on Highland Avenue for a total value of $145,500. The num- Pers of the houses on Highland Avenue, all of brick veneer, which they will Rui» Bid their values . 135, $6,000; 155, 151, $7,500; 147, $6,000; 143, 139, $6,000; 135, $7,500; 131, $6,000; $6,000; Street | $6,000; | ® * $30 MILLION L0SS IN B.C. FLOOD AREAS By ERWIN FRICKE Canadian Press Staff Writer Vancouver, June 3--(CP) -- The sorely-stricken Fraser Valley today was licking its $30,000,000 flood wounds, waiting for the worst-- which, in many sections, is yet to | come, | Six thousand more acres of once- | | fertile farmland late Tuesday be- | came a river floor for the Fraser as | a 15-foot silt-laden torrent breach- | ed an 80-foot hole in the dike at | Cannor, about 55 miles east of here near Chilliwack. | An &timated 1,000 residents were | evacuated from the area. An army | official said "at least 9,000 persons" | have been made homeless in the Fraser Valley alone. | | Flood experts advising the federal | government Tuesday night placed the flood loss in the valley between $25,000,000 and $30,000,000. The Columbia River has reape | a toll of havoc in B. C.'s East Koot- enay district. It is sweeping into the | smelter city of Trail and emergency | crews were frantically throwing up | dikes and retaining walls as the wa- | | ter seeped into the heart of the | business district | Responding to an urgent appeal, | the army here dispatched 89 officers {and men to the new danger area. | The crest is expected today. Fresh outbreaks were reported in Lillooet and. Lytton, about 120 miles north» east of here, The Thompson River was at the 58-foot mark at Lytton | and flood workers said the situation | Weary Firefighters Snatch a Brief Rest Period 7 With two major forest fires, one of 50,000 acres and the other of 30,000 acres, burning in the Mississagi region, | northwest of Bnd River, firefighters are being pressed to the limit of their endurance. Every available body | the largest and costliest in Ontario | of water is being used to feed fire hose and scores of pumps have been rushed in from other districts. Here | history, Mr. Mackey said. | | weary firefighters take a little time out to eat. These men have been on duty for the past eight days, d | time is the best part of their hectic days. Eating Hospital Aid Policy Nearly Doubles Grant To Oshawa General Increased revenue for the. Osh- | April of : this. year .approximately 10,000 HOMES SWEPT AWAY INUS. FLOODS closed today to all persons business, T. E. Mackey, chief of th the Ontario Lands Departmen Toronto. The ban on travel applies indefinitely. All Permit Areas Cut Off As Fires Hit 100,000 Acres By The Canadian Press The fire-ravaged forests of Northern Ontario wera except those on "essential" e forest protection division of t, made the announcement in to ail travel-permit areas and takes in the bulk of the northland, he said. It will be in effect people," said Mr. Mackey, "but the ; fact is that the forests are not safe to go into. This really is a move to protect people. "From now on, only people with | legitimate business--people engaged | in fire-suppression or in some other essential work--will be permitted to | enter the bush." | The announcement came as un- | checked flames, spread over areas | totalling almost 100,000 acres. i One of the three major blazes-- | lin the Mississagi district 55 miles | | northwest of Blind River--is one of | | It is expected to link within a | few days with a 40,000-acre fire in | the Chapleau-Blind River sector. | The fires now are separated by only 110 to 15 miles. The travel prohibition applies in | regulation areas where permits nor- mally are required by tourists, trappers and fishermen between | April 15 and Oect. 31. | Forestry officials took this dras- tic action, Mr, Mackey said, be- {cause the situation is "frankly very | bad." | _"All fires are spreading out in |all directions and if the weather | continues dry and hot, things are |going to be even worse." | Temperatures in the 80s and "This will be tough on a lot of ® City Treasurer HAROLD @&:. TRIPP, who has been appointed city treas- {urer by the City Council to succeed | the late Peter A. Blackburn. Mr. |'A'ripp, before = Mr. Blackburn's pecially designed by the Jackson company and many modern and unusual features have been incor- porated Mr. Jackson claims. The scheme is part of the govern- ment sponsored Intergrated Hous- 127, $6,000; 123, $6,000; 119, 164, $6,000; 160, $6,000; 156, 152, $6,000; 148, $6,000; 144, 140, $7,500; 136, $6,000; 132, 128, $7,500; 124, $6,000. Romanuk Bros. contractors $6,000; 13.38 per cent of. the total 'occupan- | | death, was assistant city treasurer. cy of 'the hospital was taken by In- | digents. During the average year | the hospital has about 3,000 indi- gent days, This means that the hospital may expect an increase of : | "is becoming more grim hourly." Lil- |awa General Hospital, through the $7,500; {locet was completely isolated, | medium of larger provincial grants $6,000; | Tye death toll in the 11-day B.C.|and an increase of 25 cents in the $6,000; | f100d still stands at four. Both the daily rate for indigent patients, will Canadian National and the Cana- result from the recently proclaim- of | companies |6d Hospitals Aid Act which be- 'By WILLIAM PHIPPS {light winds are forecast for today Portland, Ore., June 2 -- (AP) -- |as crews were called on to fight | The crisis in the mighty Columbia's | three new blazes totalling 3,100 | ' acres. | {most disastrous . flood came today | The Mississago blaze covers be- for diked lowlands along the 100 | tween 40,600 and 50,000 acres, most- ing forest fires in this district about 85 miles north of Ottawa but a dian Pacific Railway fourth blaze now is reported as ing Plan instituted for the estab- lishment of veterans in their own homes and is part of the mammoth building program. being carried out in the city. Gliddon Street took out permits for 19 houses totalling $81,500. The BUILDING BOOM (Continued on Page 3) sean Illegal Optical Combines Kept Eyeglass Prices Up In Canada, Report Shows By JOHN LEBLANC + Canadian Press Staff Writer Ottawa, June 2 (CP)--Several il- egal combines have been operating o inflate prices in the Canadian optical goods trade, Justice Minis- ter Ilsley was advised officially to- day at the end of an eight-year-old federal investigation. F. A. McGregor, commissioner un- der the Combines Investigation Act, named two United States optical companies, a Canadian subsidiary and a group of Canadian wholesal- ers as having combined "against the interest of the public." 'a Control of patent licences has been the device used to hoist prices "jn the optical trade, the Commis- sioner found, and his report marked the first Canadian instance in which a patent licensing system has peen cited as principal factor in an illegal trade restraint. Mr. Ilsley said no decision has been reached on the question of court action growing ot of the Commissioner's- finding. Officials said also that the ques- tion of prosecuting doubtless would be considered, too, by the Attorneys- General of the provinces -- all of which have been included in opera- tions of one or another of the com- bines. Conditions Shown The report showed such conditions as these: 1. The combine forced optome- trists and opticians to charge not less ¢han $15 for glasses costing 80. \ 2. A minimum retail price of $10 was set for glasses costing $4.20. 3. Lenses costing $1.65 a pair had to be sold for not less-than $5. 4. Low-priced lenses were taken off the market under combine pres- sure, and the prices of others were Jacked up. While the Commissioner did not stimate the cost to the public, he bbserved that sale of optical goods to retailers by the 26 chief Canadi- an wholesalers' in 1946 had been worth $8,400,000 -- or 2'; times that of 1939: In the same year, the public had paid more than, $18,000,000 on eye- glasses and the services accompany- ing their purchase. Combine profits, apparently, 1ry in some portion of the difference between those figures. Commissioner McGregor's figures OPTICAL COMBINES (Continued on Page 2) Eye Doctors Get Rebates Gov't Hears Ottawa, June 2 -- (CP) -- Some Canadian doctors get kickbacks from dealers on their eyeglass pre- scriptions, F. A. McGregor, Com- | bines Investigation Act Commis- sioner, reported to Justice Minister Ilsley today, In 1946, these rebates ran to at least $500,000, Mr. McGregor said in his combines report on the Can- adian optical trade. However, he declared, the major- ity of doctors do not engage in the practice of accepting 'these re- bates--of perhaps $5 a customer from the firm making the glasses from their prescription. ~"The greatest amount of rebat- ing," he reported "was engaged in by wholesalers or by retail dis- pensing outlets operated by whole- salers, such as the retail outlets operated in several cities by Percy Hermant, Ltd. under the name of Optical Prescription Company. "Imperial Optical Company (Per- cy Hermant, Ltd.) and some of these affiliated houses made about 75 per cent of these payments and Consolidated Optical about 10° per cent. These two companies have branches throughout Canada, though by no means all their branches make rebates; they both make rebates through branches in most provifices." (In a footnote, the Commissioner said that since completion of the investigation, Consolidated had stated it had discontinued rebat ing in all branches.) i Mr. McGregor did not condemn outright the practice of rebating, EYE DOCTORS (Continued. on Page 2) THE WEATHER Clear very. warm weather is expected to continue through- out most of the province today and Thursday. Continuing clear and very warm today and Thursday. Winds light. Low tonight and high Thursday 61 and 84. ; ¢ | have announced the currenf, embar- | | 80 on rail traffic to and from Van- | couver will be continued until June | A | Flood experts, however, said in all probability Vancouver would be shut off from the rest of Canada for an- other three weeks. Veterans Minister Gregg announc- ed his department would help to re- establish veterans in flooded areas. Officials of wholesale companies, feed and seed supply houses and machine companies said they would not press Fraser Valley farmers and business men to settle their ac- counts. Meanwhile, the "Battle of the Fraser" continued relentlessly. The cresting river was lapping at the top of dikes at Pitt Meadows, 25 miles east. Dikers used timber, gravel and stones to reinforce the saturated sandbags continually giving way. A new threat, increasing hourly along the whole Fraser Valley still diked, was the danger that a gradual un- dermining of the dikes would make them topple before the surging wa- ters. | Demonstration | London, June 2 -- (AP) -- "What is a thunderbolt?" 10- year-old Roy Scott asked his mother Tuesday night. There was a blinding flash, soot cascaded down the chim- ney of the Scott's Cotman Gar- dens home in Londen, and tiles flew off the roof. "That," said Roy's mother, Local Students Pass Third Year S.P.S. Courses "The results of three Oshawa stu- dents enrolled in the third year in the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering were announced yes- terday. T. Parks, 297 Gibbons Street, obs tained honor sianding in the course in Mining and Geology. | . E. D. Shreve, son of Mr. and Mrs. | George F. Shreve, was successful in | his examinations in third year Elec- | trical Engineering: Mr, Shreve has lived all his life in Oshawa, and re- ceived his High School Education at 0.CVlI. W. N. (Bil) Shultz, Agnes Street, has also passed his examinations in third year Elgctrical Engineering. Mr. Shultz, son of Mr. and Mrs. A, G. Shultz, received his primary and secondary school education at Mary Street School and O.CV.I. He served three years in the Army, and while in England attended Khaki University, He is 23 years of age, He intends to study Engineering and Business after obtaining his degree in Electrical Engineering. came effective on April 1 of this year, In a letter to J. A. Morphy, chair- man of the Oshawa General Hos- | pital Board, Hon. Russell T. Kel- ley, Ontario Minister of stated: "The effect of this legislation is that your quarterly maintenance grant from the province for the re- maining three-quarters of the pres- ent calendar year will be 2.35 times the amount of the grant paid for the quarter ending March 31. "The municipal grant in the case of your hospital from April 1 will be at the rate of $2.50 per day for the care of. indigent patients." Will Double Amount of Grant William: Holland, business man- ager of the hospital, states that the provincial grant last year was $8.- 800, but this amount was recently adjusted to bring the amount up to $13,400. He said further that the provincial grant received during the first quarter of this year was $3,400. Based on this figure the total grant from the province this year will be approximataely $27,000, or about double the amount that was previ- ously promised. Dealing with the care of indigent patients, Mr. Holland said that in Health, | about $800 per year due to the 25 | cent increase per day. It was pointed out that the hos- pital incurs a considerable loss {each year in caring for indigent | patients which contributes to the hospital's operating loss. The in- crease in rate will serve to reduce this. Result of New Policy Commenting on the increases, T. K. Creighton, K.C., a member of the hospital board, said: "This increased grant comes as a direct result of the government's announced policy some months ago |of very much increased assistance | to hospitals which this year will amount, in the maintenance ac- count alone, to over $5,500,000. This is many times any previous grants made in earlier years by this or any other government. "When the capital grants for new construction are added it means an entirely new plan of assistance for hospitalization in the province. This is a step toward adequate hospitalization capable of carrying the demand which eventually will come with the extension of hospital plans and before long an adequate plan of government-sponsoréd hos- pital insurance." : Holy Land War Continues, Debate Truce As Fra ions By ROBERT HEWE Cairo, June 2 provide for a unified Palestine no chance of success. The detailed reply was an ac- ceptance of the four-week armistice asked by the U.N. but it left the time of the cease-fire to be decided. While the Arabs and Jews de- bated the scope of the truce both accepted Tuesday, gunplay contin- ued in the Holy Land. Whether Israel's statement of "assumptions" regarding the four-week armistice and the Arab reply would bring an effective armistice could not be said. The Trans-Jordan Arab Legion repulsed Jewish attacks on three gates of the old Walled City of Jerusalem before 3 a.m. Palestine time which Israel had set for a cease-fire. Military headquarters at Tel Aviv asserted that Egyptian armed forces broke that cease-fire twice in actions below Tel Aviv. The Arab Legion which captured old Walled Jerusalem last week said 600 Jews attacked the Zion, Jaffa and New Gates of the Old City be- tween 1 and 3 a.m. Arab marksmen repulsed the attacks and estimated they killed 20 Jews. The Legion Commander said a Jewish plane was heard . but that it stayed out of range of anti-aircraft guns. Artillery, mortar and automatic weapons sounded through Jerusalem after sunrise. The Arab Legion Commander said he was considering going ahead with a previous plan to shell the Jewish Agency build- ing in modern Jerusalem. Al Assas, a newspaper supporting the Egyptian government, said Egyptian artillery' was throwing 25- pound shells this morning at Reho- vot, 12 miles southeast of Tel Aviv. Jewish army headquarters also re- ported the Egyptian attack. An unofficial report reaching Am- man, Trans-Jordan, said Jewish armored cars with mortars pene- trated eight miles into that Arab country early today and killed eight of a garrison of 15 policemen at Ghores Safi. The site is near the southern end of the Dead Sea. The report said surviving police still were resisting the attack at mid- morning, Tel Aviv military headquarters reported Egyptian troops, artillery and planes hit two places this morning. Negba was attacked and Hulda bombed, the announcement said. The latter is near the southern boundary claimed by Israel, the former some seven miles south. Both Arabs and Jews agreed Tuesday to a four-week United Nations truce in the Holy Land. The Jews also said they ordered their forces to. cease fire at 3 a.m. Tel Aviv time, today. The Arabs did not announce any cease-fire order but the Israeli For- eign Minister, Moshe Shertok, told a Tel Aviv press conference that the HOLY LAND (Continued on Page 2) miles from Portland to the Pacific Ocean. The river's crest collided with a high tide surging in from the sea. Water boiled toward the top of earthworks protecting towns, vil- lages and fertile farms. In spots the | difference preventing inundation | and destruction was only a matter | of a few inches. | The crush of water seaward meant | the worst was over up-river where | the toll is 20 known dead, an un-| known number unaccounted for in | the Vanport, Ore. - disaster, 50,000 "homeless and damage in millions of dollars. Tue flood crest has passed the major cities--Portland, Oregon's metropolis; and Vancouver and Longview on the Washington side of the state-separating river. An estimated 10,000 homes were swept away. The entire city of Van- port was destroyed. The fight now is against disease, to search for the dead, to bring families back together again, to | feed and clothe those who lost| everything, to supply temporary housing. Impetus to the tremendous task came from President Truman, He ordered federal agencies into full- speed rehabilitation of the stricken region. The Red Cross and Salvation Ar- my reported gains in providing housing, shelter, food and clothing. Health authorities believed they had their problems under control. Typhoid immunization teams tour- ed all shelter areas. Planes have sprayed flooded areas with DDT. Portland's housing authority has | asked for war surplus buildings, | tents and trailers for the emergen- | cy housing. The wheels are turning | toward rebuilding low-cost housing | projects. The United States Navy is ready to break out surplus vessels from its "moth-ball" fleet at Astoria, Ore" for use in the emergency (ous- ing. Two decommissioned hospital ships can be moved to Portland from the port at the rivers mouth and there are idle ocean tankers available to supply power for river towns. Truman has also asked the army and interior departments to reap- praise their long-range planning for Columbia River development. 28 LISTED DROWNED Norfolk, Va. June 2 -- (AP) -- The United States Navy announced Tuesday night that 28 sailors and | marines were believed lost in the swamping of a launch in Hampton Roads. Eighteen navy personnel and 10 marines, the Navy said, were un- accounted for. $50,000 FIRE | Toronto, June 2 -- (CP)--Dam- age of $50,000 was estimated when fire swept 'through the wool pro- cessing plant of the Union Felt Produce Co., in Toronto's west-end. The blaze was believed to have been caused from a spark from a mach- ine, |ly valuable red and white pine. If it joins the Blind River fire, rag- ing in standing timber, the front will extend over a narrow area of 40 miles. Mr. Mackey said the fires prob- ably would not join to form a solid front. Instead narrow tongues would extend out from each. "No- man's land" between the two is completely obscured by smoke, making observation and fire-fight- ing almost impossible. The 12-day-old Helen Lake fire raged out of control over 7,000 acres of cut-over timber. A 1200-acre fire, five miles west of Long Lac, is being fought by 150 men on both sides of the Long Lac- Port Arthur highway. It is destroy- ing cut-over pulpwood slash, At Martinette Lake, 40 miles north-east of Schreiber, 150 men | are battling a 1,000-acre blaze in pulpwood slash. The third new outbreak is in Godfrey Township, six miles west of Timmins. It covers 900 acres and | is being tackled by 150 men. Mr, Mackey blamed human care- lessness for all the fires. "Our investigators are out, but it is too early yet to make a state- ment," he said, "We know light- ning was not responsible." Maniwaki, Que., June 2-- (CP) | Firefighters have quelled three rag- | spreading rapidly and a fifth has started 100 miles north of here. Out of control is a blaze at Tud- hope Lake, some 47 miles north- west of Maniwaki. Size of the new blaze at Wagoose Lake has not been determined. A band of firefighters were sent to the area but no report has been returned. UAW and GM Start Talks On Thursday Windsor, June 2--(CP) -- The United Automobile Workers (C.I1.O.) and General Motors of Canada Limited, will begin negotiations at Oshawa, tomorrow on the automo- bile industry's "third round" posts war wage increase, itAvas announs= ced here today. George Burt, Canadian, U.A.W, representatives from the Windsor and Oshawa plants will press for a "substantial" raise. The union will ask what effect the 11-cent boost geared to the cost-of-living winilch was the G.M.- U.AW. settlement in the United States will have here. * LATE NEWS BRIEFS x INCLUDE GERMANS IN E.R.P. Washington, June 2 (AP)--The United States ana the leading countries of Western Europe today announc- ed provisional agreement o n plans for the future de- velopment of Western Germany. It is reported to include full participation in the Eu ropean Recovery Program. The State Department made a brief announcement. STRIKE TIES BER LIN TRANSPORT Berlin, June 2 (AP)--About 20,000 Berlin transport workers began a 24-hour strike today for higher wages and more food. Nearly 4,000,000 passengers who normal- ly use streetcars, subways home, walk to work or take was not affected. AMBASSADOR or buses daily had to stay the elevated railway, which S RECALLED London, June 2 (AP)--A spokesman for the official Yugoslav News Agency, Tanyug, said today the Belgrade "government has recailed its Ambassadors from London and Ankara. The Yugoslav A Leontig, now is in Be mbassador to Britain, Dr. L. rade. The Tanyug spokesman | could not clarify aly whether the two Ambas- sadors have been recalled for routine consultations or withdrawn by the government. ARABS ASK TRUCE COMMISSION Lake Success, June 2 (AP)--The Arab countries qualified their acceptance of a four-weeks Palestine armistice with a demand today that the United Nations establish a special commission to supervise terms of the The hour of cease-fire was left up to the Security Coun- cil, which meets this aftern i oon.