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_~~=S* The Mirror's Reflection HE MIRROR is Always an Attraction" No. 43 STRATFORD, ONT., FRIDAY, APRIL 11, 1924 Vol. 1 Retail Merchants Officers . _ Entertain The M embers | Give Banquet to Merchants of 'Stratford and District--Hear --Instructiye Addresses. A Complimentary banquet was ten- dered the Retail Merchants by the officers of the Association in the Chamber of Commerce Rooms, Wed- nesday evening. A number were al- so in attendance from the surround- 'ing district. The representative of the Domin- 'ion Board, Geo. S. Haughan and the secretary of the Ontario Board, W. C Miller, addressed the meeting.. Gordon Rankin, who is the president of the Association occupied the chair for the greater part of the program. He thanked those present for their presence, and impressed the mer- chants in a well worded address with the importance of the organization. "Tt is," said Mr. Rankin, "the largest it Canada and represents more money and pay more in taxes than any other body in the province. Geo, S. Haughan said, it is with considerable pleasure that he visit- ed Stratford. His impression was deepened by the character of this audience. The calibre of the busi- Ness men is told by the civic pride "that is evidenced by them.. He re- Gognized that he had before him @ representative of nearly every line Of business, which makes it much harder to say something worth while. He could not talk in terms of the re- failer as to the different lines that they represented. There are Funda- Mental Principles that underlie all Merchandizing, His message should 'te this, "What is the purpose? What 1s the object of the Retail Mer- _thants' Association? | What is the idea Of banquets and offices? The Sbiect of the Retail Merchants of 'Mada is the preservation of the in- dependence and integrity of the inde- Mently owned and operated © store. The €volution of modern merchan- if threatens the very exis- the independently owned @ of aber and Electrician I pt Attention to all orders e 1191 45 Argyle St. store. The collosal store is taking the life out of the independent merchant and while the Retail Merchants' Associa- tion is in existence, we are going to stem that tide. It is only within ten years that re- tailers have recognized the need of such organization. It has taken 75 per cent. of the of- ficers of this organization to sell the to the government. The mental attitude of the govern- an idea ment to the Retail Merchants was he thing that we are trvinge to change. Kivery time they experiment in the field of economy it is made in the field of the retail business. Magazines and othér tell us there are too many retailers. The doings of the association are but the offspring of your policy. There is legislation made by the government for practical busi- ness men which it knows absolutely nothing about. It costs the Retail Merchants' Association about $10,000 to change the mental attitude of the government. The Sales Tax was founded on the (Continued on page 4) publications Crickets Out Again. The evolution of the Crickets is always interesting. Whenever we hear them we think of good luck, and just as naturally we think of a good time when we hear ofa Crick- et Club entertainment. Tuesday, April 15, the Club are having a Dance. 'This is their first event this spring, but it is to be held in the " Winter" Garden so that if the weather is warm it won't make so much difference. Medals To Historical Society. It was announced at the Chamber of Commerce Juncheon Monday by Mayor Brown that it was the wish of the late Mr. A. B. Maguire as well asthe family that his medals be donated to the Historical Society of Stratford. Mr. Maguire has a large number of medals, which give evidence of the heroism and fidelity of the late donor of these medals when in the field of action. The Mirror will take the liberty of saying that "' The citizens will deem this as no small honor to be the re- cipient of these medals. } | j | ! CITY COUNCIL MEET B. OF E. COMMITTEE Some of the Opponents to Vo- cational School Absent--An- other Meeting to Follow. A lively meeting of the committee from the Board of Education, com- posed of Chairman Dr. Bothwell, H. H. Dempsey, Principal C. A. May- berry, B.A. L.L.D., J. H. Smith, and the City Council met Monday ev- ening to discuss the school question. were interested in The aldermen 'the suggestion made by someone that to merge the the Manual Vocational be feasible Science it might Domestic Training School School. This would reduce the esti- mates by about $10,000, and suggestion that seemed to meet with the approval of all concerned. The idea in fact, gave the alder- men as much apparent pleasure as a sick baby gives its mother when tak- ing its first nourishment. The matter, however, the chairman said, would have to come before the and with the was a Board, Inspector Smith said that he thought this work could be taken care of by the Vocational School and that more attention should be given to sewing than domestic science, Dr. Bothwell, the chairman of the Board, said that the Board of Educa- tion was just as anxious to keep down the mill rate as the council, but to keep abreast of the times a Vocation- al School was a necessity, and better facilities would be given those at- tending the evening classes. In reply to Ald. Buller's question as to how many board members were actually opposed to the new Tech- nical School, Dr, Bothwell said there were only four, and that one of them, he understood, had said that he would now rather see the new school than the addition to the Collegiate. The fact was also brought out that there would have to be a new heat- ing system installed in the Collegiate with the new addition, as the present one would not be sufficient to heat the building with the additionai rooms. Principal Mayberry emphasized the fact that nothing less than a 9- room addition would take care of the present need. The cost of building the addition would have to be taken care of en- tirely by the city. C..N.R. EMPLOYE FATALLY INJURED Vernon Meihm Passed Away From Effects Of A Fall. While working on a scaffold, painting the roof of the boiler shop in the Canadian National shops yes- terday afternoon about 5 o'clock, Vernon Meihm, an employe of the company, fell and sustained injuries: which resulted in his death at the General Hospital at six o'clock this morning, The late Mr. Meihm was: engaged in painting the inside of the roof, and was in the act of moy- ing the scaffold when he lost his balance on the girder on which he was Standing and fell backwards a distance of 65 feet, striking on a boiler. He leaves to mourn his loss a wife and one child ten months old besides his father and mother and one sister, Mrs. Crisp, Cale- donia St. The unfortunate man was a fayorite among his fellow work- ers and the sympathy of the whole community is extended the family. -- Death of Mrs. Annie McLennan There passed away at her late re- sidence, 154 Nile street, a good cit- izen in the person of Mrs. Annie McLennan, at the age of 78 years, having died Thursday morning. Mrs. McLennan was. a lady who acquired a splendid education and kept posted on nearly every thing of interest in the community, and bere her share of life's vissicitudes with Christian fortitude. She was the widow of Mr. Christopher Mc- Lennan, who was one of the best known members of the Masonic Order in this district. Mrs. Mc- Lennan was a faithful member of St. James Church and a life mem- ber of the Missionary Society. The sympathy of their many friends is expressed for those who are left to mourn her loss. They are, two daughters, Bertha and Lucy at home and a brother in Lawrence, Mass. The funeral. will take place Satur- day afternoon at 2.45 from her late residence on Nile street. We regret having had to leave out the report of the address of Inspector Harvey Maguire, but it will appear in fext week's Mirror. Jas. Pequegnat & Son OPTICAL DEPARTMENT In charge of C.R. Nimmo, D. Opt. Phone 584 Registered Optometrist