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the tribune stouffville ont thursday september 29 1949 the stouffville tribune established 1888 member of the canadian weekly newspaper association and ontario quebec newspapers association member of the audit bureau of circulations authorized as second class mail post office department ottawa issued every thursday at stouffville ontario in canada 200 in usa 250 a v nolan son publishers notes and comments blueberries for scots an aircraft load of blueberry plants from canada may give scotland a thriving new horticulture industry and provide a valuable use for what is at present almost value less peat land the plants will be fully grown and uprooted one day in nova scotia they will be planted in lanarkshire within 24 hours after an air crossing to prestwick by transplanting fully grown blueberry bushes it is hoped that from four to five years will be saved in developing the industry in scotland u k bulletin marriage on trial a present from new zealand will enable one of britains most picturesque ancient customs to be revived this autumn this is the dunmow flitch trial by which a side or flitch of bacon is awarded to the married couple who can swear before the townsfolk of little dunmow that they have not repented of marriage nor quarrelled for a year and a day since the beginning of the war the presentation of this award has not been possible owing to rationing restric tions but part of a prize pig from new zealand is being set aside especially for this purpose this autumn the custom is said to have originated in the reign of king henry iii election time not far off we are about to enter the month of october which reminds us that the annual municipal elections are not very far off it is not too soon for interested local bodies to begin thinking about when they will have to handle the towns affair for the next twelve months new blood on a council is often a needed thing although we have seen many a good man drop out in favour of a poorer representative yet a council can become stale and inactive when in office too long members who have the ability for leadership should look forward to becoming the chief magistrate and should not hesitate to make known their preparedness to be ready for advancement it is becoming increasingly difficult to interest capable men in public office especially in smaller municipalities and townships this is unfortunate and we do not look forward to better days when councillors measure the service they render by the number of dollars they receive for what they do let us hope that public service will have attached to it sufficient honor to attract the best citizens to service of this kind is a good excuse better than none we passed by the village school the other morning at just nine oclock every room was lighted because it was a dull morning and instead of being nine oclock actually it was only eight oclock at four oclock fast time we passed that way again and the lights were still necessary hence we asked ourselves who is kidding the public about saving electricity by adopting fast time our belief is that so far as saving electricity is concerned there is nothing to it any saving by industry closing earlier in the day during winter seasons is lost by the people burning more electri city in the early morning national newspaper week next week october 1st to october 8th will be known throughout canada as national newspaper week only in two countries in the world does there exist a smalltown journalism of any consequence and that is in the united states and canada just how much this means to the rural life of our country can never be estimated hence we cannot let newspaper week pass without saying a word about the free press in canada prof thos barnhart of minnesota university claims that smalltown newspapers flourish in this country be cause the setting is right we have developed hand in hand a democratic form of government a free press tradition widespread public education and a private enterprise system of business out of this combination have come other factors which enable canada to have more than 750 weekly newspapers as the backbone of canadian journalism these factors include the building of hundreds of small towns in the coun trys immense rural areas with the community newspaper playing its part in such a development the creation of a vast network of rural free delivery routes and the establishment of postal rates in keeping with a national policy of encouragement of dissemination of information a social environment in which citizens have a friendly interest in the everyday activities of friends and neighbors barnhart author of several books on weekly newspaper editorial and management problems believes that the small town newspaper currently is improving its historical posi tion as a community leader and as a business enterprise if the packers took nothing the financial post few industries escape a lot of unjust criticism when prices start to fluctuate but the unhappy meat packer who operates between producer and consumer gets adouble dose when meat prices are high a lot of consumers talk darkly about packers profits when the pendulum swings the other way the same sort of thing comes from some of the livestock producers an editorial in swifts news proves both parties wrong it points out if swift company remitted its entire earnings to consumers they would be able to buy 5 worth of meat for about 494 if the company remitted its entire earnings to the producers of livestock the farmers income would be increased but little on a 1000pound steer the producer would realize about 294 instead of 290 last year total earnings of swift amounted to almost 28 millions while this looks like a lot of profit what the public overlooks is the percentage of this to sales to make this profit an enormous amount of business had to be handled and the profit per dollar of sales was extremely small actually in the case of swifts sales amounted to 2361 millions and gave the company an average profit of one and two tenths of a cent on each dollar of produce sold for canada packers the profit margin last year was still smaller actually slightly less than nine tenths of a cent per dollar of sales according to the annual report as reviewed in the financial post last week only large and successful firms indeed can hope to operate on such narrow margins chewing tobacco the fact that less chewing tobacco was manufactured in the united states in 1948 than in any year this century suggests that this use of the weed is on the wane one would be hard put to say nice things about a custom that led to unsanitary conditions when the cuspidor was regular equipment in the home and the addict very often missed his target and tobacco encrusted lips or the dripping jowl can be very nauseating yel tobacco can be chewed with refinement if one takes only the occasional chew and is careful where he expectorates some have found it an idea producer sir robert borden was known to take a chew of tobacco when he was burning midnight oil studying matters of state in private one thing to be said for the tobacco chewer without fear of contradiction he never started a forest fire one thing we can add to sir roberts statement is that chewing tobacco appeals to most people as a dirty habit even at a threshing a good wad of gum is preferable just about freight cars standing on the platform at the cnr depot a few evenings ago while agent mowat just inside the window was ticking off some message our eyes fell on a string of freight cars just across the main track there were eight cars six box cars and two flat cars at once there flashed through our mind that freight rates had been boosted an other eight per cent and then another thought said that these cars cost a lot of money standing around as so many of them must do waiting to be loaded or unloaded we began to figure just what the cost of that string of eight cars meant to the railway when they were first turned out at the construction house in a recent issue of a small folder we read that a box car cost the company 5700 or the price of a modest home most common of freight equipment is the box car built to carry anything from canned soup to lumber a flat car costs to build 4750 thus the string of nine cars indicated an investment of close to 50000 there is an enormous in vestment in rolling stock in the two canadian railways when we stop to think of just what stands on a small siding in a place like stouffville the cnr operates 67998 box cars showing an in vestment of 387558600 for this type of car alone next common to the box car of course is the previously mentioned flat car it looks like an open platform on wheels it is made to carry items whose bulk and size do not permit loading in a box car there is farm machinery structural steel and in war days army tanks etc owning 5077 the cnr sheets show the company has an investment here of another 24115750 not often seen in stouffville yet frequently here is the refrigerator car used for shipping vegetables of a perish able nature ross brown used many of these cars in past years for shipping vegetables the cost of a refrigerator car we are told is 16200 outwardly this car looks like any other box car but it is more than that it is specially lined and is equipped with a charcoal heater and ice compartments the ice to keep the produce cool in the summer and the coal stove to keep out the frost in winter weather invested in this type of car the company reports 62386200 of course there are other styles of freight cars such as the tank car for carrying oil and the hopper car for moving coal and perhaps still other style cars are built in smaller numbers that we are not informed on we believe specially constructed cars are biiilt for transporting horses this comment is not a direct support of railway in creases for moving freight but when we saw that string of cars the other day these thoughts turned up about the matter and it does make one more sympathetic to the com pany which serves our needs in so many ways the old home town u ammomm by stanley currency shakeup a big puzzle ottawa sept 20 a puzzled frown creased the brow of the canadian manonthestreet last week he took a long look at the colos sal currency shakeup and won dered whether he was receiving a kindly pat on the head or a swift kick in the pocketbook cuts both ways more than likely the 10 per cent devaluation of the canadian dollar announced last week is a little of both in any case it all depends on which way you look at it for one thing if mr average canadian takes a look across the border he can see the approach of higher prices for usmade goods he wont like that on the other hand he can take a look across the atlantic to the united kingdom stuff coming from there should be cheaper even at that its not cheaper to the extent it would have been if canada hadnt devalued her dollar that would have meant she could take advantage of the full 30 per cent slash in the value of the pound announced sunday but enough of these percentages the question is which prices are going up and which are going down the balance appears on the side of increased prices mainly be cause canada buys more from the united states than she does from the united kingdom take gasoline oil and coal for instance a lot of those products come to canada from the united states before devaluation 1 worth of coal in us dollars cost 1 in canadian money now it will cost 310 cars fruit higher thats the same with juicy citrus fruits that come from california and florida its the same for those highpriced automobiles the ones that are made wholly in the united states thats not the end of the unhappylooking list but it serves to show that a lot of things are going to cost more something about 10 per cent more now to look at this whole affair from a different side the point of view of people such as cattle breeders and gold mine owners in fact anybody who sells canadian goods to the united states the cattle man who received 35 in american money for a steer he sold in the united states last week now will get that same 35 but it will be worth 3850 in can adian money turning back to the uk market theres consolation in the fact that englishmade cars ought to be slightly cheaper this probably all brings to mind the question of what cur rency devaluation will do to the cost of living on that score finance minister abbott that man who started all this says he doesnt know abbott is cautious 1 think its too early for anyone to hazard a guess on what the effects will be on the cost of living he told a press conference he had a cautious reply on another question will imports from the united states still have to be cut now that the dollar has been devalued mi abbott would go no further than to say it certainly wont increase the need for reduction of us imports mackenzie king relaxes as new parliament opens ottawa sept 1g it was a nice relaxful day for rt hon w l mackenzie king for the first time in two decades he had no respon sibilities in the opening of parlia ment freed from the cares of state he was seated in a barbers chair in a downtown hotel yesterday when discovered by a reporter mr king was getting the works from paul red tasse his favor ite barber and he was looking genial ive been thinking over the past years he said and what a difference it is this morning to feel a free man i know what the others are going through today and have been for the last few weeks with the session approach ing however the 7yearold former prime minister was in no mood to miss the opening as a privy councillor he was entitled to a seat on the floor of the senate during the ceremonies and was happy to attend payment by province to markhom twp increased by 700 agreement by the provincial gov ernment to pay a larger amount to markham township on account of the old jail farm at langstaff now used as a mental hospital will result in an increase of about 700 in the form of axes for the municipality for some years the ontario gov ernment has paid a lump sum of 1350 to the township in lieu of taxes receipt of a letter by the town ship from provincial officials indic ates the provinces willingness to pay taxes on the basis of a 55000 as sessment in place of the 1350 formerly received annually the town ship will get 200635 tiie township has also received one mill subsidy as in other years for which other municipalities are still waiting never before have farm implement prices been so sow in comparison with prices of other supplies the farmer buys on the average supplies which farmers must buy to carry on their business have gone up 701 in price since 1941 in the same period masseyharris prices for canadianmade farm implements have gone up only 439 not much more than half the average rise masseyharris has held down its prices in the face of a 926 increase in cost of raw materials and an increase of 87 in the average hourly wage rate to its employees demand has been keen in all parts of the world and masseyharris factories have been working at top capacity high volume has spread the overhead costs over more machines and enabled the company to absorb part of the increased cost of material and labor ooibjn 9rou of stohipw lad masseyharris slight injury to uxworkkd orchards horticulturists from the domin ion experimental station harrow ont have found that peach orchards worked several times in late summer and fall after inter cropping are more subject to winter injury than those that have not been touched at all a coupe has no backseat driver- and sometimes not even a front