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1 xthnm classified ads on back page vol 63 no 33 the tribune stouffville thursdaivdecember30 1951 ten pages independent phone pioneering by mr a d bruce no i ol series it u almost a certainty that the first telephone installation in york county outside o to ronto was in newmarket in october 1s79 s a rus sell sr co of newmarket leased from prof bel two instrument that were used on a private cir- cuit in may 1ss0 the writers parents took him to newmar ket and while in danforth roach cos store we saw a man speaking into a hole in a box that wa- attached to the wall we were looking at a telephone being used and the obliging clerk allowed my fa ther to speak to a man in dan forth roach cos store ir aurora this telephone line was not for public use but it was a long distance line probably the first in york county in 18s9 dr g a langstaff of thornhill made application markham township council for permission to erect a tele phone line aiong the public highway to buuonviile per mission was granted dr langstaff and his asso ciates had erected a line from thornhill to edgley on the 5th concession of vaughan before undertaking the extension to euttonville this was probably the first attempt at independ cnt telephone service on a com mercial basis in york county dr langstaff was the chief promoter of this telephone sys tem and gave his personal at tention to keeping the system in repair by the end of 1s91 there were fifteen telephones attached to the langstaff sys tem i within a few years dr lang staff migrated to the united states and when he had de parted there was no person vho was willing to undertake the duty of caretaker the sys tem fell into disrepair and fin ally became defunct the good people of the thornhill district had not become telephone con- icious in the 1953 report of the ontario municipal board felephone systems there are listed five independent tele phone systems in operation that were organized previous to 1900 namely manitoulin north shore telephone tele graph co 1s92 beatty tele phone system 1s95 sprague telephone co 1s96 the gillies telephone system 1s99 the tort hope telephone co 1s99 previous to 1900 the develop ment of telephone service in rural districts was almost nil rural dwellers were timid ab out undertaking so formidable an enterprise as the construc tion of a telephone system while the bell telephone peo ple were indifferent since their company was fully employed in developing service in cities and in connecting those cities by long distance circuits however a desire for tele phone service was growing in rural districts and here and there individuals began to take action in 1902 dr eastwood of claremont constructed a sys tem that was extended towards goodwood very soon dr dar ling of goodwood reciprocated by erecting a rival system while dr ralph brodie and his brother charles who was a veterinary surgeon and also lived in claremont erected still another telephone system out of claremont ln 1902 mr alpheus hoover of green river became the lea der in organizing a telephone association to serve the brou gham locust hill whitevale area tills association approach ed the cpr requesting permis sion to install one of their phones in the locust hill sta tion this request started a chain of causes and effects that was so important that it can be regarded as a miletone in ru ral telephone development mr hoover was informed by the cpr that hu request could hot be granted without the con- sent of trie belt telephone co because that company had the exclusive right to install tele phones in all cpu stations mr hoover and his associ ates would probably have ac cepted the situation as some thing that was beyond their power to remedy but mr w f mclean mp for east york and publisher of the toronto world became interested mr mclean was also an advocate of state ownership of public utilities on erery count the locust hill station telephone incident was pic for mr mc lean and he championed the cause of those who were en deavoring to establish tele phone service in rural areas he discussed the matter in his newspapjr from the platform and on the floor of parliament sir william mulock was it that time postmaster general and from him mr mclean or tauwi a sympathetic hearinir fclouih tie two me markham tp police rush loyrold girl to hospital after shooting accident ten year old betty walker daughter of mr and mrs hii- liard walker of box grove is reported to be in satisfactory condition in the toronto east genera hospital following a shooting accident on christ mas day seven year old jim mv waker pulled the trigger of his older brothers 22 calibre rifle and the bullet smashed through his sisters teeth and lodged in the roof of her mouth the injured girl was rushed by markham twp police consta ble don dukes to hospital at speeds up to 90 mph an em ergency operation was per formed to remove the bullet seventeen year old kenneth walker and a boy friend jim bejari had been using the gun for target practice he later brought the loaded gun into the house when the family- were preparing to sit down for their christmas dinner follow ing the shooting mrs walker tried desperately to summon a doctor but none were available a man must pay for township trees judge rules a communication presented at the last regular meeting of uxbridge township council from aws greer informed council that judge pritchard found the municipality entirely right in demanding payment from j w walker of the ttri con for certain trees cut by the hydro road allowances adjacent to his properly and which mr walker had re moved to his own farm and later cut into lumber it was the decision of the court that walker must pay the township 100 and court expenses wedding stewart schklke the marriage is announced of gordon s stewart son of l3te win a and mrs w a stewart cainsvillet to mary jane schelke daughter of the late fred h and mrs schelke gormley by rev harold frid toronto on dec 23rd 1954 to opposite political camps the appointment of a special select committee on telephone systems was sponsored by the government this committee collected an immense amount of information among other things that the gtr as well as the cpr had an agreement with the bel telephone co giving to that company the ex clusive right to install tele phones in gtr stations the government took action carrying through legislation ovorrlding the above-mentien- ed exclusive clauses and plac ing the installation of tele phones in railway stations un der the jurisdiction of the do minion railway board now the board of transportation this legislation was of the high est importance the activity of the government created an at mosphere of expectancy the opinion grew that the govern ment contemplated l operating long- distance telephone busi ness leaving to municipalities or to private enterpise local telephone service suddenly like a bolt from the blue the announcement was made that sir william mu- lock had resigned and had been appointed chief justice of on tario at the time of sir wins resignation it was rumored among his constituents that he had resigned because the gov ernment would not go as far as he desired in telephone leg islation this rumor may have been groundless yet his resig nation had come with startling uddenness the rebuff that the cpr had given to independent telephone promoters at locust hi the agitation conducted by mr mc- parlia- reeve geo todd seeks wardenship of ontario county reeve geo todd of picker ing township for three years reeve and one year deputy- reeve has indicated that he will seek the wardenship of ontario county next year in 1949 william westney reeve of pickering was named war- sen at the closing session of ontario county council it appeared that three reeves wquld be in the field for the 101st wardenship reeve harry peel of port perry also stated that he would be in the running he has also represented his municipality for three years on county coun cil the last reeve from port perry to be named warden was meri letcher 17 years ago from away back in rama township t h e farthermost township in the county reeve wilfred hart has indicated he will try to bring the warden- ship to his municipality the last warden to come from rama was named 74 years ago in 1ss0 the 1955 warden who will preside when ontario county observes its centennial next year will be elected by the members of the county council in the afternoon of january is a gold watch has been pre sented to the retiring warden of ontario county on the occasion of the closing session of the ontario county council reeve rae m ferguson of the town of uxbridge the oldest sitting member of the council presented warden garnet wil son of canningtoh with a watch a- a token of esteem from his fellow members of council in making the presentation er degmnm jtere comes another brand new year may it prove richly rewarding to you and yours in good health happiness and the fulfillment of your most dearly cherished desires the management staff of the stouffville tribune as the session drew to a close at noon reeve ferguson said that the watch was being pre sented as a token of apprecia tion for the leadership and the fair and efficient manner in which he had occupied the wardens chair his past year during his term in office said reeve ferguson warden wil son had accomplished much in cluding the beginning of the extension of fairview lodge shoppers note stouffville retail mer chants announce that their places of business will lie closed this friday night to allow staffs and manage ment to enjoy new years kve the merchants commit tee of tin chamber of com merce also announce that a special meeting for all storekeepers will lie held next tuesday afternoon ian 1th at 2i0 to discuss store hours for 195 consumption of hydro climbing tremendously consumption of hydro power by stouffville consumers has more than tripled during the last ten years at that time the monthly account with the ontario system for power used was three -to- four- hundred horsepower today that con sumption has passed the fifteen hundred horsepower mark likewise a bill of eight to nine hundred dollars a month has risen in november to nearly 4500 and for december will no doubt cost hie local utility commission 5000 considerable hydro work is being done at the present time between here and the city and a major shutdown in service is expected to be announced in next weeks issue of this news paper markham rural main tenance men are also presently engaged in making ready for important phase changes in the stouffville system and some interruptions are anticipated within the next few months new poles are being erected several new transformers and complete new lines will be strung from church st east child crash victim buried tuesday at claremont debraann beelby died in twocar crash near mart- ham in whichher parents and aunt were injured the community of claremont paid its tinal respects to little debra beelby 15monthold daughter of mr and mrs don ald beelby killed on friday evening christmas eve fol lowing a twocar collision on no 7 highway east of locust hill although her parents had recently moved to a new home in toronto debra remained in claremont and was living with her grandparents mr and mrs robsrt beelby the funeral ser vice was held at their home on tuesday afternoon conducted by rev h lackey of the clare mont- united church burial was made in the claremont union cemetery the pallbear ers were misses sandraann hill sandra davis betty red- shaw and joyce norton mr and mrs donald beelby phyllis beelby and the driver of the other auto mr bernard coughlin i hope- st toronto were rushed by ambulance to the toronto general hospital mr beelbv was released on sunday mrs beelby and phyl lis are expected home later this vveek mr and mrs donald beelby were driving from toronto to claremont where they planned to spend christmas day with his parents according to pro vincial police the westbound coughlin car misjudged a curve in the highway and smashed headon into the beelby vehi cle debra was thrown through the windshield from the force of the impact mr ken beelby a cousin and mr willis turner both from green river were two of the first to reach the accident scene they aided in freeing the injured from their cars the home of mr glenn levett was turned into a tem porary emergency first aid sta tion ambulances from picker ing agiiicourt and markham later rushed the injured to hos pital mr and mrs walter hall of orillia and mr and mrs ray warburton and children of to ronto spent christmas with their parents mr and mrs ira burkholder claremont farmer is top corn grower lean the debates m ment the proceedings of the select committee on telephone as the 75 bushel mark they had ontario county corn grow ers have chalked up some- impressive yields in their first contest held this past year the top yield of 132 estimated bus hels per acre was grown by mr bob lewi- claremont rr3 seven of the twenty growers enrolled in the club had yields of over 103 bushels while the average for the whole was ss bushels per acre at the club banquet held in the school house altona the winners were presented with their award- mr norman lehman chair man of the ontario county corn club was in the chair in his remarks mr lehman point ed out that the name of the club would have to be changed are a follow s name address 1st bob i ewts claremont rr3 2nd- paul wellman clare mont rr3 3rd- larry doble uxbridge rr3 1th- ralph veitch uxbridge rrl 5th- systems had impressed the public and in rurai districts- had fanned the smoldering de- ire for telephone service like a conflagration the rural areas were swept by a wave of tele phone development independ ent telephone associations joint stock companies munici pal systems came into being on every hand a new era had arrived in rural canada social and eco nomic life experienced a revo lution this great transforma tion and it was great was wrought by men who were novices in telephony these men explored they ventured they made serious mistakes they pad fo iaejr mistake belonged izd forced aseai set had been surpassed by most of the club members in the absence of mr h i fair agricultural representa tive mr john gill assistant agricultural representative announced the prize winners and csiljd on the various don er- to present their prizes the head table guests were introduced by mr norman hogp uxbridge rr2 the ajs doners were warmly thanked for their support dur ing the year by larry doble uxbridge rr3 a sitn on the importance of fertilizers was shown by mr win welrj agriculture repic- sentatlve from omemee the results of the ontario courtx 75 busre co- club joe nighswander clare mont rr3 6th mel johnson claremont rr3 7th norman hogg uxbridge rr2 sth frank beilby clare mont rr3 th norman lehman clare mont rr2 10th bert lewis stouffville rr3 11th lloyd wideman stouff ville rr3 12th walter carter clare- mont rr3 tic allan meyers claremont rr3 1 1th james tompkins ux bridge rrl loth orval fretz claremont rr3 igth kdgar pollard uxbridge it rl j7th m s ferguson rr3 18th murray dunkcld clare mont rr2 19th aimer rennie black- water rri 20th jack morgan claremont rr1 bid farewell to claremont station agent all varetes were i 4 7 and ith were jx-ruio- mr wm drew retiring claremont cpr station agent was honored recently at a community presentation mr and mrs bewwere present ed with a door lamp a ches terfield chair a clothes sam per and hath towels mr drew has ir station agent at clareirort for the piit nine years they w to peterboro at the this month pictured former roadxier x 1 move linton right bidding fare- end of wei to mr drew some of hove is the beautiful gifts may us r levi seen in the foreground