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dp 0lpifwui mimm vol 51 no6 stouffville ontario thursday may 11th 1939 eight pages cause of fatal fire presents a mystery tragedy was written into the history of uxbridge town ship on saturday when ruth dowswell 18yearold daughter of mr and mrs arthur dows well lost her life in an attempt to save the live stock in her fathers barn as the building was fast being consumed by flames ruth was a popular student of the stouffville high school and expected to com plete her course this year she passed away about seven hours after being rushed to the brierbush hospital in stouff ville her father also severely burned is recovering around four oclock in the afternoon ken stewart em ployed on the bacon farm adjoining dowswellssaw smoke rising from the straw stack in the dowswell barnyard and called to mrs dowswell who was nearby at the house rush ing out she alarmed her hus band who was also close at hand in la field not more than 60 rods away before mi dowswell reach- ed the barn his eldest daughter ruth had succeeded in turning loose six milch cows then the two of them attempted to free more of the terrified animals we were only 20 feet inside the door and i saw the flames closing off the passage mr dowswell told the- tribune i thought i could easily run through the amount of flame so fast it would not injure me he continued he told ruth to bend over and run for at as the flame seemed to be jess near the floor evidently the girl made the attempt and probably stumbled for slie fell inside the doorway but somehow rolled out where a frantic effort was made to snuff out the f lane from her clotliing despite the fact her flesh was actually cooked she sat up in the car and mrs norman wagg rushed her to the hospit al in stouffville here she jump ed out and walked into the building the flesh was dropp ing from her body in places she never lost consciousness and even five minutes before her heart gave out she told the nurse that she didnt feel too bad the barn a total loss was 30x50 and a driving shed also demolished was fifty feet long buildings were very close to the house not more than 50 feet away and only the splen did fight put up by the hundred or more farmers who came to the rescue saved the fine dwell ing they formed a bucket brigade and carried water from the pool nearby to drench the heated house stouffville chemical engine also played a part in saving the home besides several cattle 20 pigs hens the binder and mower hay and grain were burned total loss around 6000 with insur ance of only 2000 the six fine cows saved by the plucky ruth were being cared for by neighbors also the two teams of horses which were working in the field when the tragedy started fortunately most of the implements were outside in use as we conversed with the stricken father as he lay in his bed a neighbor came in to say he had brought over a bag of grain for the chickens thats the way it is everybody has been good said mr dowswell his arms were bandaged to the tips of his fingers and his face terribly reddened and swollen from the flame he was ordered to remain in bed but didnt take to the idea kindly the barn mr dowswell stat ed must have been built 80 years ago but it had a new roof since he took it over three years ago also the stabling has been re newed almost solid front favors standard time we have been handed the following petition for publica tion which was circulated along the main business section of stouffville onjy presenting a fairly solid opinion of mercan tile interests against daylight saving to the village council we the following merchants hereby subscribe our names as opposed to daylight saving be ing introduced in this town believing that it would not be in the best interests of the busi ness of the town and that we can serve the farmer better by remaining on standard time jm storey robt snowball r e curtis brathwaite hard ware dominion stores wes boadway price pugh o lehman n oboyle harvey schell w l rowbotham h a pollard ambrose stover a greenwood haroid forsyth h bannerman harry golden albert lehman h a goudie mrs wh shaw ae weldon aw wilkinson clayt baker ratcliff co i rose m c barker jos borinsky schmidt sid marriages rusnell farrier a quiet marriage was solem nized at the mennonite parson age on saturday evening may 6 when kenneth carl rusnell eldest son of mr and mrs ira rusnell was united in marriage with gladys fern farrier only daughter of mr and mrs her bert farrier of stouffville rev h shantz officiated only the very immediate family witness ed the ceremony with mr and mrs gordon burkholder sup porting the young couple a happy throng of young people gave them a big hand when they finally emerged from the cere mony after a short honeymoon the young couple are taking up their home in the west end of stouffville occupying part of the rusnell property on rupert avenue case dismissed against township before mr justice barlow in supreme court at osgoode hall the action brought by ralph connor against the township of whitchurch exreeve newton rae and constable john wind sor was dismissed with costs to be paid by the plaintiff these are variously estimated at from 130 to 160 for the township if the defendants so decide they may have their costs tax ed by the taxing officer the case arose over the right of the township to remove campers from the beach in front of connors dance hall which connor claimed was pri vate property when rae was reeve instructions were said to have been given the constable to act in the matter of remov ing campers from the disputed aiea with the result that con nor instituted the case with the three parties named as defend ants a preliminary hearing or examination was held at os goode hall but the case never came to trial and the defend ants asked for dismissal which was granted i b lucas for the township f l button kc for mr rae will arrive tomorrow brake test made at local train crossing lost valuable mare a registered mare of the heavy type belonging to mr john crawford township clerk of whitchurch died in the harness on saturday afternoon the fine beast showed signs of being off her feed on friday but appeared to be in good con dition on saturday and worked as usual she died before a vet erinary could be called identical engineer and coaches figuring in the storry acci dent assembled for the purpose their majesties who will arrive at 930 tomorrow morning friday at quebec city are shown boarding the empress of australia at portsmouth just prior to sailing last saturday special trains for may 22nd mr c e watson informed the school board on monday evening that he has been advis ed by the cnr officials in tor onto that a special train would be provided for the children of stouffville and district going to toronto on may 22 to see the king and queen in fact there will be two trains one to arrive in the city at 12 noon standard time and the other fifteen minutes later leaving at 4 and 415 on return trip the first train will start from lindsay but will pick up no passengers after leaving blackwater the second train will start from uxbridge and four coaches carrying one hun dred passengers each will be reserved for stouffville each train will accommodate 1000 the information said and both sections will run direct to river- dale park where the reserva tions are made for the children the fare on the special train from stouffville is 75c for adults and 40c for children junior farmers tonight the monthly meeting of the stouffville junior farmers will be held in the municipal hall this thursday evening may 11 mr fh sangster will give an address on the cooperatives this will be interesting there will be other entertain ment and refreshments will be served remember the meeting will open sharp at 815 collide at unionwlle two cars collided at the unionville corner on sunday the one driven by robert john son of port perry failing to stop at the intersection ploughed into the side of a coach driven by w h kunucky of toronto the toronto car was quite bad ly damaged but no charge was laid double trio wins cup mr and mrs ken coulson toronto spent sunday at the mertens home the ladies double trio of baker hill won the silver cup at the aurora musical festival in a class of four entries bringing home the honors tuesday even ing clarion baker acted as accompanist personnel of the trio mrs oldham alma bak er mrs alex ratcliff mrs donald ratcliff and misses dora baker evelyn doughertv and ruth clark leaving profession resigns from staff korticulturalist news the canadian national rail ways are still investigating the almost fatal accident of six months ago when mr edgar storry of bloomington lost part of one arm when his car was struck by an incoming train last thursday the identical en gine and coaches which figured in the accident were assembled and with the same engineer and effort was made to stop the train over the piece of track which is travelled on the morn ing of the accident engineer peart has been on his run as usual since the morn ing his engine struck the storry car but the cars shortly became scattered far and wide and it was not until last week that they were again assembled at lindsay and made to reen act what they did on the morn ing storry was injured while the crew in charge of the train would not make any statement it was understood that the fine instruments attached would tell just how unable to gain admittance fast the train was travelling the stricken home hundreds how much breaking was done to the regale lily bulbs to be given as premiums to members of the horticultural society are on hand and if you wish any and the canvassers have not called on you just get in touch with president geo saunders or secretary m mertens at once guard of honor for ruth dowswell to of sympathetic people stood with bowed heads as the solemn funeral cortege for the late ruth dowswell passed between the long column of stouffville school students who formed a guard of honor stretching from the entrance to the home for several hundred feet to the waiting hearse the pall bearers wlio bore the remains of the popular 18yearold daughter of mr and mrs arthur dowswell were dean wagg willis tay lor kenneth bacon leslie mitchell kenneth stewart and ralph cooper the funeral was held on monday afternoon from w m bb gffljki f im jiisg 1 ft rath dowswell seven hundred miles by aeroplane a service that should be of great interest to the people of stouffville and surrounding community is to be held in the united church on wednesday evening may 17 rev denzil g ridout frgs former editor of the record and missionary review of the unit ed church is to give an illu strated lecture on pictures tak en while he was on a seven hundred mile trip by aeroplane aver newfoundland and labra- a silver collection will be tak en at the ciose of the service miss ethel i hoggba teacher on the continuation school staff tendered her resig nation to the school board on monday evening with the ex planation that she is leaving the pi miss hogg came to stouffville two years ago and has been a popular teacher since that time highly esteemed by all the stu dents and regarded by the board as a teacher of high merit her resignation was received with regret so the resolution read it was decided to hold a special meeting next monday evening for the purpose of dis cussing salaries for next year and dealing with the vacancy on the staff it was stated that the school is carrying an overdraft in the special building account of about 3000 which is offset by monies owing by the depart ment and due april 1st dr freel presided members present mcmullen mcleod turner and nolan rev samuel and mrs goudie of vineland are in town for a few days this week the late home on the 2nd con cession of uxbridge to good wood cemetery for interment it was in charge of l e oneils funeral parlors in the background of this solemn scene stood the stark walls of the iburned barn where ruth lost her life attempting to save her fathers cattle from the burning structure on satur day afternoon it was still smouldering and added grief and forlorneness to the whole of what was transpiring flowers from ruths sdhool chums and she was friends with all the students from the neighbors and relatives banked the bier and were conveyed in a special carriage the service was in charge of rev j w holmes of goodwood united assisted by rev l e atkin son and rev robert young of stouffville the father of the dead girl was unable to leave his bed for the funeral because of his own burns which were received at the same time his daughter was fatally stricken but he heard the service from his bedroom listened to the words of com fort and the short sermon from the lips of ruths pastor in goodwood as the long line of cars moved on to the cemetery the whole village turned out to join them and to witness the last rites at the graveside besides the parents there survives one sister erma aged stop in a given space two trials were made last week in one the train stopped before it reached the crossing and in the other it stopped about the place it came to a halt on the day of the accident so far as this paper could learn there is no charge or court action instituted which may indicate that a peaceable settlement is being sought and in ihis the railway is cooperat ing in gathering evidence while greatly handicapped through the loss of one limb mr storry is able to assist with the work around his farm to some extent although like the bird with a broken pinion he will never be quite the same forty year resident passes the death of john mckinnon on friday came as a real sur prise to the many who knew him while not in very good health for a year or two his death was not expected he passed away peacefully at his home on montreal street in his 82nd year the funeral on sunday after noon took place to stouffville cemetery conducted by rev e morton the brethren of the orange lodge also took part and paraded to the cemetery the pall bearers were messrs george dowswell a s collins price pugh sandy jones edw walls and j walker born on the 10th of markham on the present wideman farm just below stouffville john mckinnon lived practically all his life in the neighborhood forty years ago he bought pro perty in the east end and de veloped a market garden and here he lived until his death he married lucinda davis and besides the widow there sur vives one son william and one daughter mrs w taylor tor onto an only brother is robt mckinnon of stouffville there are three sisters mrs william crossen stouffville mrs geo knowles newmarket and mrs james knowles aurora mr mckinnon was a staunch conservative and member of the orange order he served a couple of terms on the village council thirteenyearold lenore baker of toronto won the gold medal for piano solo under fourteen years at the york county musical festival being held at aurora this week 16 two brothers george 12 and lenore is a pupil of mr t v roy 8 eagleson