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1925 copies 6000 readers leading weekly for whitchurch markham pickering and oxbridge twps vol 33 xo 41 stouffville ont thursday february 18 1943 bight pages centuryold woollen mill was destroyed by fire landmark of markham town- xlii served coniinuuity needs one of the oldest business land marks in markham township was totally demolished by fire on satur day when flames consumed the 3- storey brick structure at almira used as a grist and woollen mills belonging to willis and harmon lehman fire broke out around 11 oclock in the morning and in side a couple of hours the big mill was a heap of ruins nothing was saved cause of lire was an explo sion in the oil burnine office stove mr harmon lehman was sitting in the office reading the newspaper when suddenly the stove shot out a flame that quickly ignited things for a few minutes he fought fran tically to stem the blaze then see ing he could not do it alone rushed to the house close by for his brother willis on their arrival the place was a raging inferno fortunately the wind was favorable to turn the flames from nearby buildings two fire reels from tlnionville re sponded within 20 minutes yet with ample supply of water could make no impression on the flames which consumed the tinderdry building like straw only the foundation walls are left standing estimated loss of the building and valuable machinery has been placed at 30000 some of the machines used in the woollen mills could not be replaced today at any money it was stated it is the most severe fire for markham township in the last ten years the loss is partially covered by insurance at the time of the outbreak there was no one in the building excepting mr lehman the mill is used at this time of year exclusively for grinding grist the woollen mills end was not operating and while the valuame knitting machines were all lost there was no wool consumed all this is kept at the house mr lehman explained and this is the offseason for a stock to be on hand anyway the mill was erected in 1344 by john bowman who also built a number of houses in almira with brick baked right in the district from this pioneer miller the busi ness place passed into the hands of alfred spofford while 63 years this coming april b lehman father of the present owners bought the con cern john bowman the original builder was the grandfather of mrs h b lehman so that in all the century it had never passed far from the lehman name the woollen plant was unique be ing the only one of its kind in the province in the neighborhood of 5000 pounds of wool were manu factured by the plant each year and was all purchased from local farm ers except the black wool which came from western ontario the wool was made up into an aver age of 200 pairs of socks and 2000 pounds of yarn each season the entire output was sold within a radius of 30 miles one of the machines lost was cap able of turning out one complete blanket every hour there were also two power knitters of which could be turned out five dozen pairs of socks a day four hands were usu ally employed during the busy season ix nova scotia a victim of flu john davis dead water shortage still serious problem sergt harry spuiifc rca is a son of 3ir and mrs j o spang oth line pickering hurry enlisted eight months ago and is at present attached to tho directorate of personnel selection district headquar ters halifax ns no action on twp school areas whitchurch township council de bated briefly on the township school areas plan now adopted by some 20 townships in ontario in cluding the township of york in this county councillor eugene baker said he hadnt much use for the scheme as he saw in it just a means of taking ajbout the last vestage of local con trol from the rural areas deputy reeve lome evans said he felt that way at one time but he thought now he- sees some merit in the scheme the idea is that a township school board would be el ected by the people to operate all the schools in the municipality it is claimed by the department that the cost is less than the present system of school sections jlr baker said the next step would be to close some of the schools and thereby create expensive transportation problems i think that is just what it would lead to added councillor l j harper council perused the circulars sent them hut dropped the discussion without recording any action on the minutes of the township books reeve leary read extracts from the booklet before the discussion ended it was stated that about eight schools banded together make well known farmer of the dis trict john a davis died on satur day at his late home lot 31 con s markham just south of town following an attack of the flu jack davis as he was so familiar ly known as had been in delicate health for a year or two and it is thought that when the flu struck he was not in good enough physical condition to withstand the ordeal of this now widespread disease mr davis was only in his 60th year and for many years farmed the wideman place just west of town until it was recently sold and he moved to the place where he died he is survived by his wife the former nellie harper and by three daughters ruth mrs gordon hoover jean mrs jack johnson and miss phyliss at home also by two sons bruce at home and gnr harry davis who had just entrained for the east coast satur day morning when he was called back home because of the unexpect ed death of his father there also survives two brothers ace davis in saskatchewan louis in toronto and one sister mrs such a step anthony hoover dickson hill thei late john a davis was born in uxbridge township son of the late albert davis a well known resi dent of only a few years ago the funeral on monday afternoon from the late home proceeded to stouffville cemetery for interment rev d macgregor conducted the service the severe weather of the past weekend aggravated a serious water condition in the town system that was showing some signs of improve ment on friday however the cold dip on sunday and monday induced dozens of householders to keep their taps open in the houses in order to prevent freezing water pipes and this dragged the water dawn to ano ther dangerous point in the town reservoirs on tuesday this week the situation was very little improved over a week ago and if the terrible cold prevails the system may be forced to close people off over nicht wh their installation is not good enough to keep frost out without wasting water to do it if you have to run a tap allow the minimum to get away just enough to prevent seizing up and no more it is in the interest of every householder to be very careful in al lowing taps to run at nights because if things get any worse they will be stopped from doing this by having the water cut off at the street so the cooperation of these people is earn estly desired in order to prevent snow removal costing whitchurch 75 a day out of hospital 38 below sunday coldest in years glasgow home is destroyed by fire thirtyeight below zero according to the registration on more than one thermometer at 430 am monday but the worst of it was the terrific wind that accompanied the subzero drop monday morning business was fairly paralyzed and garage men were besieged on every hand their relief trucks were even frozen up too in some places the only town plumber had about twenty calls booked and all wanted their pipes thawed at once many other people the large white frame house on the freeman slack farm just north of altona on the second of ux bridge was totally destroyed by fire in broad daylight on saturday and only a few items of furniture were saved from the flames exact cause of the fire is unknown but it is be lieved to have started around the kitchen pipes although there was not a big fire in the stove no one was in the place when the fire broke out i mr and mrs stanley slack who occupy the farm had started for stouffville with the team but due i to slippery roads they decided on i reaching altona to send the cream i cans with someone else from there i to town and after making some purchases started for their home again they saw smoke gushing from i i the house as they reached the hill undertook to thaw their own pipes i t u overlooking the residence from the realizing that to get the plumber was next to- impossible farmers coming to town since the record drop tell of freezeups in their barns where they had never known water to freeze before and they all blamed it on the high wind that ac companied the 30 to 40 below atmos phere it put another strain on the town water system which was almost drained the week before and had not time to accumulate a reserve supply it remained cold right up to tuesday night and hopes are now for milder i roadway on arrival at the house the place was filled with smoke joe forsyth neighbor was the first to arrive- then george alsop and a few more came but despite their frantic efforts little could be saved the splendid work of these neighbors did rescue a buffet chesterfield sewing machine bedroom suite and a few other pieces but furniture runningnearly 1000 was destroy ed the fire seemed to v fiercest around the kitchen indicating that this was theplace it startea a cable to his parents mr and mrs floyd fairies received this week from their son leland in england states that he was atjle to leave the hospital on february 10th after nearly five months convales cing from an accident when he came down in a plane making a forced landing this was good news but it was a bit disconcerting to learn that leland had just received his first bit of canadian mail since the first of october his chrstmas par cels and a calble from home failed to reach him muttoneating dogs made a das tardly attack on a flock of sixteen fine sheep on the farm of lance case 2nd concession whitchurch and besides killing two animals outright seriously injured every animal in the enclosure which the dogs entered to make the attack the cruelty is only comparable to the action of the nazis that over ran russian villages j a clarke estimated the flock worth 320 he rushed the wounded to market and the council ordered compensation of 116 to make up the loss between the normal price and the selling price for wounded sheep plus the two killed it is the largest sheep claim brought before whitchurch council in a year reeve george leary presided over the february meeting on saturday and council was told that snow removal is costing the ratepayers 75 per day road supt widdifield declared that in some places a big plow or the maintainer and plow could only make two and a half miles in a day and then only by the aid of fifteen or sixteen shovel lers j reports came in from other municipalities where the whole machinery had broken down then the councillors said their position might be worse it means increas ed taxation unless the situation suddenly lets up said reeve leary in answer to councillor eugene baker mr leary said he didnt think the saving by reason of a low er county rate would anything like equal the cost of these big snow storms road accounts were ordered paid running over 1900 f council advanced the pay of road foremen from 35c to 40c per hour i these men were pressing for more money said councillor ed logan the foremen have to run their cars all over the country hauling shovels and things around the foreinenput in around 3600 road hours last year according to figures submitted by clerk john crawford and which were requested to be submitted at this time so that councillors might estimate fairly uxbridge appoints township officers uxbridge township council has j applied for a subsidy on an estimat ed expenditure of 9000 for road work in 1943 the appropriation having been set at the february meeting held on saturday at good wood with reeve johnston pre siding the treasurer reported the re ceipt of the provincial treasurers cheque for 369637 being the 50 per cent subsidy for 192 the entire council and the road t superintendent were appointed a committee to attend the ontario good roads association meeting in toronto february 2425 i road accounts were approved for and year the resolution to advance passed without a dissenting vote it was stated that markham paid the laborers 30c per hour same as whitchurch and that it would elevenyrold girl buried at peachs the funeral was held on tuesday afternoon from the peachs church of elizabeth jean betty morris only daughter of mr and mrs warren morris of peachs 7th con cession of markham betty al though only in her 12th year had suffered from dlabetis for more than a year the last few- months her condition seemed to have improved but thursday she suffered an at tack which brought on a diabetic coma she was rushed to the sick childrens hospital toronto where she passed away early sunday morning besides her griefstricken par ents tho little girl is survived by a younger brother billy the loss has hit the peachs district severely and recalls the fact that this is the fifth death within a mile of peachs to occur within the last year the funeral service was taken by rev a j orr whose consoling message taken from the text the lord glveth and the lord taketh away conveyed some hope and comfort that is so helpful at a time like this pall bearers were henry and harold nobbs jack warrlner brncc hisey gordon lewis don miller tnvmosrdesira in whitchurch one or perhaps two daughter thelma mrs gordon taylor recently married had a larg quantity of goods stored in the up per part of the house and this too old fellow areas would cover the township i trusts hlm n more mr leary said the council had man weather the power to set up such areas by a payment totalling 58242 general accounts amounting to 4862 circulars were distributed setting out the township school areas in ontario and advantages claimed for not be advisable to jump their pay 1 over other places foremens ad vance is to become effective april 1 irelief for january totalled 125 for wood and groceries the system and which will be print ed in detail in a future issue of the i tribune a bylaw was passed making the cadets at home- invitations have been issued for an at home to be held at the school on friday evening to commemor- following appointments pound ate flrs anniversary of the local keepers clarence gall oscar tin dall w h fiss bert may george coppins walter davis ernest morgason bruce beach samuel bacon george hosie isaac cather wood george hill live stock valu ators nathan linton john kydd jos jones e w evans albert hockley henry slack ernest morg- majority vote of council and the a rinr of local curlers comprised w a complete loss i s d beach joseph cooper consent of the minister of educa- of h w sanders samuel arm- the fine old house was once the hosie wilfred simpson ed tion strong thomas birkett and walter stapleton residence but that was i redshaw among the benefits to be derived brilllnger has been competing this a good many years ago the farm je viewerst w dowswell according to advocates of the k t annual on birio bon- was acquired b y mr and mrs free cecil latcham wf st john edw scheme are a more equal school- l slack now living retired in b privilege for each child and more speil ln to but have had little equitable costs j success is the big tourney this year opportunities for better place- ei rinks out of the 100 that ment of teachers better opportun- started monday remained unbeaten itles for school music teacher nurse on wednediy morning manual training science and agri culture the possibility of closing a school with low enrolment until such times as the reopening of the school may be warranted is cited as another improvement under a township school area goodwood and was their home unj wlc e smalley isaac til the son stanley took over the oatherwood frank hardy j a loss is partly covered by insurance h wm hackney berton squadron in addition to the social opportunities afforded by this gathering the officials have been alble to secure fit lieut j gellner dfc a native of czechoslovakia to talk to the guests he is taking a special course at oshawa and will then return to active service leola food shoppe has been engaged to do the catering and the event will provide a fine opportunity for many to inspect the fine school buildings it is hoped that all invitations will be accepted so that a good atten- dance may be recorded bxgagements mr and mrs douglas booth stouffville ontario announce the engagement of their daughter margaret noreen to clifford elmer wagg son of mr and mrs cecil i wagg stouffville red cross parcels bringing grateful overseas response tindall chris manley henry slack j m carmody- unionville cains twogoal lead in qha semifinal almira mill destroyed by fire almira woollen mill the oldest establishment of its kind in ontario which was totally destroyed by are on saturday after noon ixws is estimated at 30000 dear mr button as a prospective candidate for your stouffville red cross society may i assume the responsibility of writing this thank you note some day soon neil and i hope to return home and thank you one and all for your many kindnesses in person rather than this cumbersome medi um of letters in the interim your gifts add much to help us establish a home life during our temporary sojourn in england during the past week we have stolen a few days to gether which have been the nearest substitute to the future we await so sorry you are not able to drop ln this new years afternoon and share a cup of tea perhaps next year this wish may become a reality with our friends and neighbors of stouffville partaking of our hospit ality in return yours sincerely mrs nell mary smith tho padres office dear friends the christmas parcel yon so kindly sent one of our men could son there being none in the second continued on page 5 period scoring two whirlwind goals ln the last six minutes of play on mon day night unionville chalked up a win and a twogoal lead to carry against markham in their second game of the oha junior semi finals to be played at markham this friday night this was the first game of the- twogame series goals to count on the round the game was cleanly contested and although markham piled up a two goal lead in the first and early minutes of the second period unionville led by sunderland and moffat came strong toward the end of the mid session to score three times in less than three minutes with the count 43 unionville settled into a close checking defen sive game but markham were not to be denied and at 603 of the fin al period the green and white tallied the evener at 1456 unlon- vlllelook the lead again sunder land and moffat combining on a closein tally while with just 40 seconds to go they clicked again hamilton being the marksman there were only five penalties handed out by referee pat patter- srd pickering president third resident ever chosen from pickering township to be president of markham agricultural society in its 87 years of existence is john scott of clarcmont who now head the society