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3 vi- m ik- readjhe classified ads ssiffsf leading weeklyfor whitchurch markhaih pickering and uxbridge twps ess w o circulation 2ido copies vol54 no45 stouffville ont thursday march 16 1944 eight pages uxbridse merchants have purchased shaw store business and block i an important business change is announced this week the shaw store largest dry goods pre- mises in stouffville has been sold to mr and mrs harold spofford of uxbridge and will be operated under the firm name of spofford co it is rather singular that this old established business operated under this same name and carried on here from 1889 until around 1910 however there is no connection that we know of bet ween the founders of this corner store business and the new owners who will take over during the last week of april mis spofford member of the new firm is a daughter of the late j f brownscombe of uxbridge and is thoroughly versed in the dry goods business- mr spofford too is a business and a public spirited citi zen in the northern town the new owners will be welcomed by the people of stouffvilleand district the shaw block which the new firm also acquire was built in 1890 by messrs sangster sanders and williamson three well known com munity men of their day six months after its completion mr spofford took it over and the cor ner has always been irecognized as the centre for town trade the late w h shaw who succeeded mr spofford maintained the traditions of the store and held the right to be called the leading merchant after his untimely death mrs shaw and her sister miss waters carried on the business most of the time until they sold to the present purchasers except for a few years when w e carswell was here when the transfer of the business is made the last week of april the store will be closed for several days during alterations and improve ments to the building a grand opening will be duly announced and will be an occasion for the trad ing public to foregather as they did in years gone by mrswhshaw and miss waters will continue to reside in the re sidence at the rear of the block un til fall at least but after that their plans are not complete capt roy brown dies suddenly one whom we were pleased to call a stouffville farmer capt a roy brown famous airman of the last war died suddenly at his farm home at bethesda on thursday evening last although- in rather dog tax swells treasury by 200 believed to be the highest receipts for dog licenses ever collected in stouffville constable ira rusnell reports having collected this year a cool 200 this sum will be fur ther slightly increased as still more dogs are brought into the town it would appear that good times bring more dogs to the commun ity as people do not mind spending 2 or 4 as the case may be to have a dog companion or a playmate for their children whether as small as a sausage or as big as a pony the license fee is just the same or they may be gray with age or only a few weeks old pups there is no escape from the dog tax and the good showing indicates that the constable has been doing his duty in collecting the necess- plan distribution of ration book no 4 succumbs to long illness born at glasgow over 82 years ago john s latcham died on tues day of this week at the home of his daughter mrs george cain west hill his demise followed a long period of ill health mr latcham was an industrious man and was highly regarded in the district his father was a blacksmith and was born in england john latcham married annie plans for distribution of ration book no 4 are almost complete and local ration boards all over the country are preparing for the gigan tic task of seeing that 12000000 canadians get their books on time and in good order although the actual distribution dates will vary in the different municipalities the whole job wil be acomplished dur ing the week of march 2c to april 1 accordingly it is important that con sumers watch their local newspap ers for the announcement of the distribution dates in their locality as in earlier campaigns distribu tion is to be effected by means of centres opened strategically in dif ferent cities towns villages and townships the whereabouts of these centres will be advertised well in advance of the opening of the dis tribution campaign gnr station saved by firefighters brigade answers two calls in one day hutchinson and the coupld took up farming in his home district mrs latcham predeceased her husband by several years but there survives a family of three daughters and three sons namely miss eva lat cham nellie mrs geo cain and olive mrs burnham also cecil edgar and arthur latcham for some years prior to his death mr latcham lived in goodwood thieves steal sale from former coal ice tarrfarm south of town changes hands the nathan tarr farm at lot 31 concession 9 markham has been sold to an agincourt gardener who will take possession on april 10 the new owner has purchased most of the stock and implements this well known property ha recently been worked by mr tarrs son roy who is giving up owing to ill health the property con- tains 100 acres has a stream and pasture land with most of the place workable the barn is mod- ernly equipped with steel staun- chions and water bowls it has been in the tarr family for nearly 40 years and was known as the john ramer place delicate health capt brown was active all the time and his sudden death came as a tremendous shock only mrs brown was in the home with her husband when the sudden end came fifty years of age a roy brown was a native of carlton place he was an airman in the great war and was credited with shooting down baron vonrichthofen ger man ace he himself suffered 27 fractures a few years ago capt and mrs brown purchased the well known fred march farm on the 6th con cession of whitchurch and have steaduyimproyedsits -broad- acres-c- airequent visitorto the office of this paper capt browns inter est in the district was steadilv mounting and his interest in live stock was equally keen besides his wife two daughters in the rcaf wd and one son are the sole survivors of the family interment was made in aurora cemetery second uxbridge farmer dies in the harness thomas avilson stricken doing chores and expires suddenly following the death of george wilson in uxbridge township just a week previously when he dropped dead doing chores on the farm thomas wilson living two miles north of goodwood came in from the stables and said he felt ill his wife assisted him to lie down but he expired immediately death was due to a stroke the two men were not related although their surnames were the same and the manner of their death strangely similar they were also much the same age thomas wilson who died on avednesday last week resided for about 20 years on the farm two miles north of goodwood and was 70 years of age he had been do ing the chores all winter and went about his duties on the day of his death as usual when- he unex pectedly came in to the house say ing that he felt ill mrs wilson aid ed him to he down when he passed away without uttering a word deceased was a native born on- tarian and besides his wife is sur- k vived by four daughters mrs war ren beach- mrs michael oak pearl and erie both married and living in toronto the three sons are ebinor gervis and glen the funeral on- friday afternoon proceeded to goodwood cemetery for interment red cross drive over 3000 mark stouffville and district reached the splendid total of 3022 up to wed nesday noon in the red cross drive and only two or three lists of col lectors have completed their canvas its a rare thing to find anyone who does not give something said a canvasser at the office of t b rae who is receiving the returns the objective for stouffville and district is 3900 and if those who have not contributed maintain the good work the high goal set will be reached next week the tribune will begin to publish the names of the doners as further acknowledg ment that their gift has reached headquarters afternoonsale realizes 7500 stock and implements sold at the edward taylor estate sale in uxbridge township at garabaldi on tuesday for 5500 and a 50 acre pasture land with buildings brought an additional 1500 the sale was a grand success and mrs taylor is delighted the international trac tor steel tires brought 440 going to marshall connor sam bacon a neighbor bought the pasture land bred sows went for50 and suck ing pigs 650 auctioneer farmer wielded the baton believed to be the work of ama teur thieves from toronto the safe from s w hastings former coal office at the station was taken on sunday night or early monday morning and carried to a spot on the 7th concession of whitchurch where it was cracked open but yielded nothing the thieves also ransacked the office of the stouffville planing mill but they seemingly took nothing although a valuable tire and other amateurs lies in the fact that it cpuld have been seen with half an eye that the office was not in use yet they went to a great deal of trouble to load the unused safe weighing half a ton into the rear qf a car and taking it to the coun try for breaking up strangely enough they opened it in front of the hutchinson farm and only a sjlibrt distance from the hastings farm people in the hutchinson home heard the operation but did articles might have been had thel zytldtf crackwaf mon safe in the planing mill was also d morning crackea safe mon i ii i i constable rusnell constable ben i cayman and sergt sidbarraclough proof that the thieves were merelareinvestigating jehovah witnesses instruct local school children the local fire brigade answered two calls on monday within five hours and in both cases made re- cord runs to the scene of trouble the first alarm about 4 oclock sent the fire fighters to the home of mrtilman hoover albert street but the flames had been subdued and ititle damage was caused to the home however mrs hoover suffered severe burns and was re moved to the brierbush in the ambulance it appears she been burning some rubbish when her clothing caught fire she ran out doors and was first seen by mr ben talbot- employee at the gold fish supply plant the alarm was sent in from the office and mr tal bot rushed over and rendered first aid medical examination showed a severe burn on the elbow while mrs hoovers hair was completely singed hfer condition is said to be not serious from the terrifying or deal mr talbot saw mrs hoo ver rush from the house fighting the fire from her clothing the back of her sweater coat was in flames he said between eight and nine oclock in the evening a second alarm went in for a fire at the cnr station the blaze was in the freight shed and had gained such headway that howard haines employee at the machine tool works saw the flames through the factory window and hastily gave the alarm the brigade was on the spot in four minutes it took a few tons of water to subdue the fire which had it been given another ten minutes might have wiped out the whole station examination- leads to the belief that the fire started from the out side of the building at the nonh end and eat its way into the freight shed where a quantity of wood was plied a spark from an engine may have caused the trouble markham juniors are eliminated taking a 64 decision over mark- ham juniors in their second game of their home and home series on- monday night kingston vies swept had the series 1710 n goals by moore and fowler for kingston late in the third period gave the boys from the limestone city the victory and advanced them into the oila junior b semi final series markham led into the first half of the second period and although kingston a little later- forged ahead the home boys came right back and tied the score 44 at 1105 in the final round fowler turned the hat trick for kingston getting three gbalswhile gibson accounted for two for mark- ham kingston now meets bariie colts an exhibition game is likely to be played between markhamand rich- mond hill to at least partially settle the argument as to whether the hill had the stuff to have right- fully continued in the playoffs gravel hill project to start soon representatives of the jehovah witnesses made a visit to the pub lic schoolin town on monday and the matter was brought to the at tention of the board of education monday evening it served to open up the whole issue of religious in struction in the school but since the issue is rather complicated no action was reached vicechairman a g thompson presided and piloted the board through a long list of business and the hour was late when the religi ous instruction issue came up there is a strange statute which provides that clergymen may visit the school butit does not permit their entrance there any old time and it is for the board of education to lay down certain rules for such visitors to follow some ministers do not even approve of religious instruction in the schools at all it is being urged on the members of the board of education that they require local clergy to get together thought v i j and cooperate their work along some systematic form of instruc tion instead of the present hap hazard method employed as it is any minister may drop in and give a talk never knowing what the previous visitor spoke on if sunday schools had no planned pro gram of instruction their influence would not be as far reaching as it is now unless the board take immedi ate action to lay down some ruling on this issue it will fast become intolerable the idea that the board of edu cation cannot control this matter is not the right attitude to take we believe they have all the power they need to deal with the situa tion stouffville has a prepondrance of religious denominations and now that the jehovah witnesses is added lo the numbers claiming the right to instruct the children at the school it is avmatter for serious rjji bylaw passed in whitchurch adopt ing summer assessment no questions were asked when clerk john crawford told the whit church township council that the county tax rate would be increased this year by one half mill on the local assessment as a result of the increase of some 80000 in county council expenditure buried from home where born 82 years ago i one of markham townships old est farmers robert bruce died at the brierbush hospital on sunday- morning march 12 he was 82 years of age last june and was born in the very house- from which his remains were taken to their last resting place von- wednesday afternoon following- thefuneral- service conducted bylreva jorr wstor0f the aged man was born in the room where his funeral bier was pre- pared y robert was the eldest son born to robert bruceand janet dickson his mothers people having founded the dickson hill mills in 1885 robert married frances case and- continued to work the home acres as he had done l2 since boyhood while his brother ajexd focussed riannt-u- fe ilis atten oh the mill always deputy reeve lome evans m- an active industry on the bruce acres mr braces wife died in sept 1943 and two of their daughters and one son also predeceased mr bruce namely mrs herberthood mrs david nil and- wm bruce surviving is one son r a bruce operating the homestead farm also- there survives ten grandchildren participated in rescue at sea ordinance telegraphist harold good is visiting his parents at the brierbush enjoying a 28 day fur lough harold is with the crew of the corvette hepatica which gained the headlines recently when it- re scued a helpless tanker crippled by a terrific storm off the east coast harold participated in the heroic rescue of the crew from aboard the crippled ship engagement the engagement is announced of phyllis m bethena davis young- est slaughter of mrs davis and the late john a davis to trp ross m rolls of camp borden eldest son of mr and mrs a rolls scar- boro bluffs the marriage to take place in stouffville april 1st competing in big tournament three rinks of local curlers skip ped by messrs harry brillinger wm armstrong and m e watts are in toronto this week competing in the royal canadians bonspeil the brillinger and watts rinks were ousted on monday after stiff competition with sask and ontario rinks while the armstrong aggre gation won both their games and continued today y v disastrous fire sweeps the altona grist mill one of the most disastrous fires much of the materials especially to occur in the local district broke the machinery unobtainable today the mill was wired for delco lighting some years ago and this was turned into hydro later hydro inspector passed the delco wiring as satisfactory for hydro but whe ther the fire started from electric wires can only be guessed at the origin is a mystery no one was in the mill after 630 the evening before the fire mr howsam purchased the place 17 years ago from mr h mcintosh and has enjoyed an excellent busi ness he remodelled the building in 1030 the altona miluwas erected a hundred years ago or more and was known as the reesor mill serving stouffville fire brigade was sum- a large area of country in the pion out 630 on friday morning and de molished the entire building and contents of the altona grist mill owned and operated by mr earl howsam the huge frame struc ture was built a hundred years ago first intimation mr howsam had that the place was on fire came from a neighbor david crosier who saw smoke ushering from the build ing and promptly summoned mr howsam fwhen i rushed from the house to the mill and opened the door- the whole place seemed to go up in an explosion mr howsam told the tribune mbned but the building was doom days at one tlme it was ed from the start and all that could entirely by water power which be done was to stand by and protect m0 recently became an auxiliarv formed the meeting on saturday at vandorf that an ontario land sur veyor is being engaged to survey the gravel hill district on the east townline three miles north of btouffville and when his report is received it will then be in order to advertise for tenders to remove the great gravel deposits there mr evans was reporting on a meeting held in toronto at the time of the good roads convention when the two councils uxbridge and whitchurch or their repre sentatives met to consider removing the big hill and recovering the gra vel for use by the two municipali ties when the survey is made the two councils will convene in joint ses sion to arrange for tenders the government subsidy on the work will be received as on any other township road project the bylaw setting forth the new time for taking the township assess ment was passed and f cummings again named assessor therein he will be required to begin his assess ment on april 1st and return the roll on oct 1st this assessment shall be the basis on which the tax es are to be collected the following year it will enable the tax bills to be issued earlier and if council so decides to permit a discount for early payment the clerk was instructed to place an order for 5000 feet of snow fence and 400 posts fencing is 8c per foot and posts 6 feet are 42c each reeve lcary said it was the policy to add to the stock of fenc ing each year failing to receive his resignation a resolution waspassed cancelling the employment onrobert windsor as township constable the township only- has one hos pital case which is a new low while relief for elderly people costs was 13566 r w andrews auditor present ed his report of the audit for 1943 showing the township in a healthy also one brother mratd bruce- and one sister miss janet bruce the funeral to melville cemetery was attended by many friends wednesday afternoon interment was made at melville cemetery fanpers consent is sought tor a special tax v onefifth of mill wanted for tho federation of agriculture jiiiil2a- adjacent buildings in addition to the total loss of the mill the place contained valu able elevators grinders and other machinery in addition threecar loads of grain were burned large quantities of oil cake bran- and otherjeeds there was nothing-re- scurtfrdm the building and the ios3lwilibe severe buildings and contents were estimated to be worth frofajj15000 to- 20000 with i i financial condition and free from protect more recently became an auxiliary any debenture debt a lengthy power like the burning of troy the de molition of this old landmark at altona is to be greatly regretted aside from its historic interest the wiping out of the mill willbe keen ly felt by the farmers who had theirgrist ground there mills arc becoming- increasingly scarce and may continue this way forcing more and more farmers to install small choppers of their own a public meeting will- shortly be called in whitchurch- township to lay plans for canvassing the farm ers to secure v their- consent to be taxed onefifth of a mill on the local assessment and the proceeds there from to be used outright by the federation of agriculture the scheme wasunfolded by de- puty reeve lp evans at the whit- church council meeting on satur- day it is proposed ho organize through the school sections by first calling together the trustees it will be necessaryto secure the signature of the individual farmer before the municipal council can- assess the farm land of that in- dividual for the onefifth mill a farmer who refuses togive his con- sent cannofbe taxed r it is estimated that the onefifth of a mill taxation on a 10000 assessment will cost the farmer about 1 and as it has long been contended that they must- have a strong organization to- fight the battle of the farmers before our- governmentsthis is the means to raise a strong financial setup such as it is- contended- labor groups possess- mission to moscow uvhlchwas rt discussion on clergy reserves was entered into all of which indicated the difficulty of distributing oithe funds to the schools on anything like equitable basis since the sum that mightbe derived by any one section is small the whole thing was viewed as a headache l reeve geo leary presided over to appear at the stanley has been the meeting members present be- cancelled owing- to unfavorable ing deputy reeve evans and counj comment the theatre manager an cillors harper and logan nounces v j x c f- u v a