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fr etje j leading weekly for whitchurch markham pickering and uxbridge twps vol57no51 the tribune stouffville ont april is 1946 twelve pages department representative finds strong opposition to educational scheme s v speaking before a considerable gathering of ratepayers from mark ham and stouffville mr arthur duffin of the department of educa tion declaration that the high s hools in either of these municipal would not be closed without a specific request from these towns didnt quite satisfy the meeting mr dutiin was introduced by inspector mckillop and was ad dressing a meeting to ascertain the feeling of the community in respect to enlarged school areas as stated in this paper last week the speaker had at a previous meeting in mark- ham said that it was possible that both markham and stouffville schools would be closed in order to get the required areas in york county consequently there was considerable concern felt over such a drastic move and the strongest opposition was prepared against any such eventuality in opening his discussion mr duffin reviewed the school situa tion in the province and stated that the department held to the opinion that for the most advan tageous system high schools should have at least 200 students attend ing there are 1g5 high schools and 200 continuation schools in the province many of them with con siderably less than 200 students he stated that records showed that only three out of a hundred students ever continue on to uni editorial is decentralization no longer desired during the closing years of the war governments and people were saying that it would be much bet ter if larger communities could be decentralized of course they were thinking partly about the fact that larger centres make good bombing targets yet they also had in mind that people live better in smaller centres and may enjoy a higher standard of living on a smaller in come isnt it amazing then to find so soon after this line of thought is promulgated that the ontario dept of education is send ing out public school inspectors to sell the people a scheme of central ization of education over the pro vince a centralization that would destroy numerous high schools in smaller towns at the expense of larger towns in other words a scheme that would make he larger town bigger and the smaller town smaller when mr duffin was addresing the ratepayers monday night he was asked if he placed no value on the community life fostered by a high school and he admitted that there was great value but that it would naturally be lost in order to drive gets underway for 10000 for muchneeded memorial community hall versity and the courses suchas have the students attend a larger school then there arcse in the audience a high school teacher from torontowho declared that he would sooner send his children to a smal ler school like stouffvilles where the child could be a working part of every activity in the big centre he said 90 per cent of the children do not take this active participa tion in the life of the school the very smart become the leaders and the hundreds of others who might be leaders in smaller schools drifted into the background in storming the province in an effort to centralize secondary edu cation department officials com pletely ignore the fact that only part of the childs education is gain ed behind a desk shop work commercial and agri culture were not handled to any great extent in the smaller schools because of their small numbers making them impractical we consider that a high school district should have from five to ten thousand population and an assessment of at least 5000000 and a consultant committee has been set up in york county council to consider the best means of dividing the county into larger areas he said while he stated that the farmers surrounding such a municipality as stouffville have not had a great deal of say as to the running of the school on the other hand he admitted these same people owed considerable to stouffville for main taining their school at its present standard towns have had to build build ings in the past which they didnt really need where blisses could have been employed to transport the children to the large- centres the department is trying to get more equality in learning over the province lie said he slated that in russia any this fine residence situated in the business area on main street will shortly b w to a facelifting when the proprie tor mr l c rowbothm adds one or two store fronts after re moving the veranda across the front from the front wall to the street line is some 27 feet depth when completed the new business places will help to relieve the shortage that is so acute ilus fine red brick residence next door to the bank i f com merce was built about 00 years ago by a mr wismer later it was acquired by the dougher tys then fred wilson and fin ally by mr rowhotham it is in excellent state of repair retired thirty years john madill dead family and is the last of eleven children born to his parents deceased lived a careful life and the funeral service on mondav a very consistent old eentleman afternoon was taken by rev d and resident of stouftville for over davis interment was made in 30 years john madill died at his stouflville cemeterv home on mill street on saturday ho was in his slth year born in markham township john was a farmers son and after his marriage to dora topham the couple took up farming spending most of their active time on the 10th concession until they retired in town he is survived by his wife but no dickson mill correspondent says mr gambles brother has return ed by plane to england following an interesting visit in america dur- his stay he made flights to various points including montreal south america and xew york as late james h ratcliff publicspirited citizen husiness man here over 50- later the firm moved down into tin years reeve for several main business section where it has terms he was regarded as father of our domestic whitchurch sets pay rate for teams whitchurch township council granted s100 to the work of the federation of agriculture last sal- child no matter what his financial i unlay in response to an appeal circumstances can go all the way from grade i through university in conclusion mr duffin said that the department considered four op tional courses of action in the mat ter and these were to establish three large schools at richmond hill aurora and newmarket to establish just two schools at rich mond hill made by mr dalton rumney of markham who spoke to the council in future a donation may be made to this farm group by adding it to the general tax rate when present legislation is completed clerk crawford stated when pass ing the accounts at this april meel- ind newmarket to esjing that there were no ratepayers o lt either i relief the first time in some stoutlville or markham or continue years wthboui schools at markham and norman ohovle stouffville stouffyille butcher when the meeting was thrown open for discussion john rae war den of ontario county was called on to state the case for his munici pality and said that while the mat ter had never been discussed in ontario county council he was certain that portions of pickering and uxbridge townships would like to enter into school areas at stouff ville and markham if these schools t ie paid for the tree are to continue -i- fred timbers whitchurch coun- lh0 deh of hgnwa township was granted permission to lay a water pipe across the road way on the 9th to service a pro posed new slaughter house the hkpc requested permis sion to cut a large elm tree at lot 5 and 0 con i which interfere with the new transmission line being constructed from ieaside to barrio sum of 10 agreed on as the sum water system- the death of las h ratcliff in his soth year at his home in town on thursday afternoon came as a shock to the community since he had been down town and about his duties in the store only a week prior to his death caused by a severe heari attack flic funeral on saturday after noon was one of the largest in town for some time service was conducted in the baptist church by hi- nastor rev d maegregbr who took for his scripture reading the 90th psalm and from revelation 22 mem oi me netiiesda stouffville refraining from mere eulogy on telephone co and as president the port oi the deceased his pastor dbruce stated to the tribune sal- sought rather to bring comfort and urday morning he was one of the strength from these portions of i old guard who for 28 years held gods word two especially favou- office without a break mr bruce rue hymns of the late mr ralelhts said mr ratcliff staked his own wndt tw f wit others to carry a ound do i lift up my longing company through financial dfllieul- ws whtcombe l e clays further he slade oflered afrairs wi carried on for so many years and is today one of the largest grocery stores in york county after mov ing down town his brother john was associated with him until recently when mr glen ratcliff took over the management james ratcliff was a public spirited man served seven years as reeve and along with the late dr walter sangster was instrumental in securing the present tine domes tic water supply the town enjoys mr ratcliffs determination in the face of bitter opposition at the time brought the matter to a vote in 1897 when the bylaw carried by a mere handful he was active in the develop ment of the rethesda slouff the campaign opens this week in the drive to raise 10000 from the i residents of stouffville and district i lie invested in a community hall i be built in stouffville and for j ivhieh 6000 will be voted on in addition to the freewill offering to make a grand sum of 16000 tor the proposed building the hall will be erected on a site owned by the village now and will lie vested in the corporation the auditorium will lie available foi concerts entertainments just as the old ratcliff hall was used- it will lie equipped with stage and dressing rooms the basement rooms will be avail able at all limes for veterans of the district and may be tented for serving meals it will be fitted with kitchen facilities it should be understood that the ownership of the hall will be held by the corporation under the com munity hall act but basement ac commodation for the veterans will be available to them at all times under the act a trustee committee of seven is appointed to administer the conduct of the hall if surround ing municipalities contribute to the hall then they will have member ship on the committee otherwise the trustees will all be named from stouffville and are subject to re appointment through the municipal councils from year to year the auditorium will be available for concerts entertainments etc just as the former ratcliff hall was used there will be a basement with kitchen facilities plumbing lounge which will be needed for serving dinners and the lounge will be available at all times to the veterans to memorialize the vete rans plaques will be hung with the names of those who served inscrib ed thereon stouftville and district as all know suffers from lack of hall ac commodation you owe something to the boys who did a grand job for us in war days can we not com bine our obligations and find a place for the lads as well as a place for community meetings the campaign got away to a nice start this week with a dozen citizens pledging sums of 8200 and 8100 the veterans themselves giving 8500 and the lions club is expected to contribute at least 500 by every body lending a sympahelie ear land purse can we hope lo reach the objective do your best and the undertaking will be a success f l button icc is campaign manager or chairman of the com mittee id wlll fly iltom ireland rev gibson brown local pastor oi tile ringwood bloomingum cir cuit who is visiting his native ire land will be back in canada at easter and will occupy his own pulpits on sunday april 28 mr uiown expects to leave bel fast by aeroplane faster monday night to reach xew york next day april 23 a 810001 auction the oscar cox estate sale west of inionville last week drew a large crowd prentice prentice auc tioneers reported it was a very large auction running to 10000 the threshing machine realized 81300 going to joe percy of arma- jale the tine holstein herd sold iveu cows reaching 8190 uy had to rev ii ci continued i will always remember who had been close friends his loyalhy prayers i he pah oearers bo lone hjs mr will johnson mr rus- aside for the t h clfclermina mr ihomas rae mrl anj vjsj wm he concluded robt snowball headslawn bowlers the reorganization of the stouff ville mens lawn bowling club re sulted in the following being elect ed president robt snowball vice- president robert johnson sec- treas t b rae membership com mittee w r sanders bert lickor- isn ross ratcliff grounds commit tee j b sanders bert lickorish games committee f l button and t b rae- ladies also reorganize ihe ladies bowling club held their annual meeting at the home ol mrs george storey on friday evening april 5th after reports from the committees the election of officers took place resulting as follows president mrs william birkelt 1st vicepros mrs lud hoover 2nd vicepres mrs george storey secretary mrs gordon lemon 1 reasurer mrs fred cros- sin con friday night games mrs ihos jennings mrs lud hoover membership com mrs thos rae mrs geo lee mrs carl boadway games com mrs rae and mrs storey pze com miss g todd and mrs i kett at the conclusion of the meeting mrs gordon lemon was presented with a very beauti ful table lamp the first local tour nament on may 21th mrs ls ward gets unexpected news mrs charlie ward was suddenly called home to georgetown last week where her father edward hill passed away unexpoctly he v iiokticliriral meeting are you interested in addin charm and beauty to your homejevnptovee o thfp r an town are you willing to give some sj rjjlli plov paper of your lime and talent to a pro- georgetown for 30 years gram of beautification do you wish if nacl re been off work for to see and encourage a revival of weeks but appeared to have the stouffville horticultural society covered on the day of his death which did so much for town and he was resting on the ehpstmfiii community back in the clays before the war if so you will plan now to attend a meeting in the united church basement on monday even ing april 29th at 8 oclock when speakers prominent in the pro vincial horticultural society will be here to help us remember it depends on you further announce ment next week iiok were sell johnson approved ciuor stated that his township ho rol n could be divided up to fit into areas tlk sllm of woooo for 19k for either stouffville or schools on xrs 10 brown botheda com- yonge st plained about the condition of the the ontario government should- ditches on the 5th which she nt place the onus of setting the alleged caused drainage to her lane school area boundaries on the town- and asked that council repair the ship councils reeve chas hooper damage no action was taken of markham township contended teams will be paid for at the mutiny life and this aspect should tos s1 u was a road le taken into consideration stated accounts passed for payment totall- rceve nolan of stouffville ed 285160 your department has just sane- 1 tioned a 516000 heating plant to service a large school here and students from that township still now you suggest that it be scrapp- come to our school and if so who ed he continued who would pav would pav for them asked mr of the debentures jcattanach the district board would take the richmond hill area would over all assets and liabilities mr have to pav for them said mr duffin replied i duffin and they get their money from the department has been good stouffville ratepayers who would in helping us develop our school also be asked to help build a much and now they want us to scrap it larger school at aurora tiie reeve contended dr h b free of the commented local board there is no larger the social life is greater in the percentage of students continue on smaller centres than in he large to university in the larger schools and the student has a much betterjthah in the small he said chance for the desired personal- this is a marginal school which s contacts in a mailer scfoo said could be carried on and will not a cattnach of the markham want to close and i think by the looks of things therell be a school p here for quite a long time mr duffin stated as the discusion drew to a close i dont believe the minister would sanction a bylaw sending all lames ii itatclill louis slack mr harry pugh and mr clifford hisey a silent tribute in gorgeous floral display was representative of rela- tives friends church christie st moore school board aie you still prepared to pay our r- if we decide to build a new asked chas twijs of the irkham board we are replied mr duffin- all we want to k thats il mr todds if markham township went into an area with richmond hill could pitil baptlt union offce whole- e firms and from loca organiza- m ng these beautiful floral tri- ich banked the bier at the lion sive president of the lawn bowling club several terms ho thoroughly enjoyed the game and was a keen howler right up to last summer perhaps mr ratcliffs platform powers were inherent since he was the son of a minister the late fred erick itatcliff while his grandfather was the late rev john genie james ratcliff was born at wing- ham and was educated at peterboro being a son of a preacher of he baptist faith and following the dictates of his own conscience he was always a staunch supporter of his church a member of the local baptist church for over fifty years his place will not be easily filled using the words of his pastor he was always there next to his minister he was perhaps closer to the work than any other member it was largely through his insist ence that the present edifice was built to replace the old church that stood farther east on main street 25 years ago twice married mr ratcliff is sur vived by his second wife clara lymburner his first wife hears from family in poland nig on the chesterfield and his wife and a daughter were engaged washing the dishes a son was sitting by the father and with out any notice he was gone surviv ing besides his wife are two sons and four daughters the late mr hill was a presbyterian and a highly respected citizen of the dis trict where he spent all his life farm properties sold mrs forfar has just sold 50 acres of land at lot 22 con 8 whitchurch to a city buyer at the same time the forfars have bought lot 20 on the 9th of whitchurch from mr driven out of poland during thejalf yakely another real estate transaction in the same township is recorded where the chas philips piacc at lot lo con 8 has been sold to george focklor the late emma hamilton died april 2s 192s his family all born to hi- i first marriage and who survive are three daughters miss frances rat- in recognition of the pacing of a man who had served his munici pality in a courageous ard useful of markham township to richmond raanncr for so many years hill without the consent of mark- james ratcliff located in -stouit- ham village even if county council i vilte luck in is90 when je opjned tossed it he concluded ithe pantry a w end grocery s whtcn nankes tne oier at tne i iky home was a memorial basket gj brantford m race ratcliff i corpration of stouffville ront mrs c 1 adams war and forced to march 200 miles was the fate of the family brothers and sisters of mr fred feigel of victoria square his grandparents caught in the area also were started on this terrible walk night and day too but as the old gentleman was 92 and his wife 80 they could not stand up under the strain and both died on the march mr feigel has just received information from his relatives the first since the beginn ing of the war and until this recent letter he had no idea of their fate his brothers and sisters describe the march under the germans as a terrible gruelling all they had for christmas dinner was potato peclings and said that when they were eating these peelings on the day they wondered what brother fred was eating in canada these unfortunate people lost all their stock their home and were really hit hard there were ten in the family but three brothers and mr feigels grandparents died fred feigels wife was he former louise colby of sandy hook just north of uxbridge town and mem- lxr of a well known family there 25 years ago marioni of ixmdon two sons ted of toronto and glenn who is pro prietor of the ratcliff grocery in stouffville also surviving is a brother john of stouffville in his ssth year ard a sier mrs george masth v br ford o interruption in iivoro a notice printed in this issue an nounces a hydro shutoff mils thurs day and again on sunday arrange ments hve since been changed and there will be no interrupt r to the service as previous fanned ten assessment appeals sustained only ten appeals all for very small assessments were made against the 1910 assessment in the rownship of whitchurch court of revision held on saturday when it was revealed that practical ly all appeals were made by cottage owners at musselmans in each case the assessment had been in creased 850 on cottages with assess ments of around 300 to 100 all valuations made by the assessor fred cummings were sustained the total roll was increased by 822000 due to new construction general small increases and the roll was confirmed and court ad journed some of the protests came from cottagers paying as low as 500 for years and which had gone up to 800 and sfj00 councillors styled the complain- as ridiculous- reeve l p evans conducted the appeal court and members were ed iogan li harper ivan mc laughlin and fred tim