The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

i WHAT ARE Amra Lady Has Rare Letter Dale Kiag Rejoins Air Force The name of Sir John A is immortal in the annals of Canadian history Canadas first prime minister after Confederation in the year he held that highest of offices until From until the year of his death in he was again the first Canadian minister of state Any autograph letter written Our WriteUp Helped by Sir John would naturally be treasured by his possessor and Anna Smith Is the proud owner of one such letter It was sent to her uncle John A- who held a high position with the which he helped build The late Mr the donor of the park of which we wrote in our issue of April Through the kindness of Miss Smith we were able to inspect this historic autograph letter which bears the address Ottawa and is dated Janu ary The writing is clear bold and beautifully firm in character and is in an excel lent state of preservation The clarity and evenness of the hand writing gives no indication that Sir John was in his year when he wrote it Minister Of Interior Addressed to John A Esq Portage La Prairie Manitoba the letter was written in reply to a letter sent to the prime minister four days earlier which shows that Sir John did not delay replies to correspond ence After reference to matters on which Mr had written the Minister of the Interior Sir John concludes his reply as fol lows I shall bring these mat ters under the notice of the Min ister of the Interior without de lay I am dear sir yours truly John A Having regard to the fact that the prime ministers letter was written over years ago it is safe assumption that Miss Smith is the owner through her uncle of a unique manuscript which probably could not be matched outside of the archives of the House of Commons at Ottawa Dale King l After some years as a master St Andrews college Mr Dale King has returned to his old love the Royal Canadian Air Force He has accepted an as educational officer a position reserved for the larger training centres only Mr King spent six years in the and retired with the rank of Flight Lieut The ap pointment he has now accepted embraces chiefly personnel du ties will be his task to iron out staff difficulties where they exist and generally to apply his long experience in the air force and as a college master in the training of younger members in the training centre Preparatory to this Mr King will take administrative and other courses He will spend weeks in London Ontario and later will be moved to another centre Already appointed to his new Mr King has J been granted leave of absence from the air force in order that he may finish his school year We were interested in hearing from Mr King that the writeup we gave him in Aurora News Page on his retirement from the Aurora town council was used by him as a testimonial and that it was well received by the A OC He said we might mention this in our paper We were very happy to learn that what we written about Mr King had been of such ser vice in view of bur high regard for him as a member of the town council Mr King came to Aurora with his family 20 years ago this month when his father was transferred from Quebec as a manager for the bank of Mon treal to fill a similar position in Aurora His many friends will eel as we do in wishing him and his family all future good fortune New Municipal Assistant We did not see any of the applications for the advertised position of assistant to the town clerk These were dealt with privately in committee but we understand there were some 14 or applicants for the job four or five of them from Au rora The successful applicant was George son of a Toronto university professor and a native of the city We are not aware that Mr has had any experience in municipal business But we are aware that he is a pleasant and courteous man for we were told so by a lady vho paid a bill at the office on the first day that the new as sistant took his place at the counter of the municipal offices Manners the man we are told- Some men seem to have been born with good man ners others acquire them and some men have manners no bet ter than the hog at its swill Well leave them with the hog Will You Believe It our recent edi torial Mean Employers a man whose word we will accept as sured us that very few years ago he had a job in Aurora at which lie worked six nights weekly on hour shifts for a total wage of 22 He was en gaged as a married man with children As soon as he was able to bet ter himself he did so He got another position in Aurora at a reasonable wage on which he and his family could live above the line of semidestitution Our informant is still here in town nursing his memories of his first Aurora employer J Its Easter Lets forget these unpleasant things about mean employers for a little time This weekend is Eastertide and we hope youll enjoy it the first holiday of the year We hope the weather will be warm the robins tuned up allegro con spiritot WHERE YOUR MONEY GOES Extracts From Town Accounts Moving Mar Snow Cost 400 In accordance with its policy of publishing major expenses as shown in council minutes Au rora News Page gives the fol lowing excerpts from the April accounts It will be noted that a further sum of has been paid out for snow removal Aurora Hydro Electric Com mission street lighting disposal plant and other items total Bell Tele phone Co Canadian National Railways flasher main tenance County of York indigent patients Motors 8208 Globe and Moil advertising for office assistant and Sons fire ex penses 207 Highland Oil Co old public school Mount Al- attendance of fire brigade at fire Osbornes clothing etc 17378 Stiver Bros fuel fire hall 10495 Wilson and Cousins Fire expense Wilson Hard- ware Police Depart ment 7180 Insurance A Underbill C Fry total 10903 Waterworks Aurora Hydro Commission 10357 Atlas Polar Co com pressor 100308 installation li2032 total A K Bennett insurance Davis fuel 5285 Streets accounts Ivan Daniels snow removal 50 Co Frank snow removal Relief v Flowers Make A Gift So Cheerful k HeartWarming For a lovely selection of spring blooms CALL PHONE PA V J G SINCLAIR Editor OFFICE DOAN HALL AURORA TELEPHONE PA 74573 PAGE ELEVEN EDMORIAIS The York County hospital is just as important to the citizens of Aurora as it is to citizens of other com munities which it serves When it was decided to appeal for funds for an extension of its services the obligations of Aurora were just as important as those of neighbor ing communities But the miserable of Reeve Cook in council that the fundraising campaign could not have his wholehearted support gave Aurora a had start and worse publicity Later Mr Harris very generously offered his time ami his services in the presentation of his pupils and choirs for a concert to assist the fundraising cam paign What happened in that connection was fully reported in our issue of last week and it made a dis gusting story That no preparation in the form of publicity of the event or sale of tickets for the same took place reflects severely on those responsible for such gross and almost unbelievable neglect If the offender or offenders had deliberately plan ned to sabotage the concert a more successful result could hardly have been attained Reeve Cooks out burst was bad enough the evidence of neglect which we published last week was much worse It can only be described as disgusting The name or names of the offender or offenders should be made public as a safeguard against further damage to the good name of the town of Aurora WHAT SORT OF INDUSTRY- m Councillor Bill Davidson made some excellent points at the last meeting of council He said he did not want to see the kind of industry come into town the employees of which would make Aurora a guest town By that he meant that an industry which employed workers mainly from out of town could not prove an asset to Aurora Mr Davidson wants an industry or industries that will employ chiefly male labor and will pay good wages He wants employees who will build homes in Aurora and thus by residence and revenue from taxes help to build up the community He challenged the argument put forward by the mayor that you cannot pick and choose industry A SENSIBLE PROPOSAL The chairman of the parks board Mr It Corner came to council with a statement which contained what the mayor a drastic proposal statement contained a recommendation that the arena board recreation commission and parks board should be amalgamated and act as one body Far from being drastic it is obvious that the proposal is quite sensible- Ty Over the past few years we ha ve repeatedly urged the amalgamation of the arena board and the recreation commission Boththese organizations are concerned ilhe in objectives So why should time and money be used tip by two organizations when one could get the necessary work- done mote quickly and more efficiently s The recreation commission is the body that receives provincial grants Obviously therefore tlie arena board am the parks board should be absorbed by it The pre sent setup is awiisfepfvtiinCandnNii NOTE THIS m m Two gentlemen representing bond houses to council to advise that probably better debenture rales could be realized by private arrangements than by pub lic tender Both were able exponents of their theories but council quite wisely to follow tra- practice and advertise for tenders A very illuminating remark was made by one of these gentlemen to the effect Auroras present de benture load represented a per capita debt of He agreed that Auroras financial stability was good but that debenture loads could get out of iiaiuJ The obser vation of the per capita is worth noting in view of the talk about buying another park HoQDVVipip Ou r in a ion is that the socalled meeting of town which decided ttiaV have an four representatives They Mr Mr Kitely and Mr Councillor was present as chairman of sports and publi city committee and bis position was therefore neutral Thus on the authority of the above quartet council agreed to an Old Home Week and committed the town to a preliminary expenditure of No of council had the curiosity to ask how many representa tives were present at the decisive meeting When the reported that merchants opposed the event this year the Banner implied that be had hood winked council llflft anybody hoodwinked council this time Where will the 200 go Someone who reads this may have the answer The Banner says the is for preliminary Preliminary work Now you know THURSDAY T FIFTEENTH DAY OF APRIL NINETEEN HUNDRED AND COUNCIL SIDELIGHTS The Mayor Uplifted His Gavel And Lowered It With A Bang There was a certain raspy atmosphere pervading the last meeting of council It was created by the deputy- reeves challenge to the mayors gavel While Mr ray tried to talk the symbolic instrument hung over the counciltable like the Sword of Dam ocles You cannot argue with a gavel is the symbol of head of the table authority If it is held in the air it is bound to come down It would have been much better if the deputy- reeve had taken heed of its ominous suspension and quit the scene before it fell like a thun der-clap- It is much more diplo matic to retire than to be ejected But later in the evening when his intervention was in order and the gavel had lost its power to quell him DeputyReeve D J Murray made a good showing Sundry Kerns We have heard a number of old citizens say that it would prove a flop like previous events of a similar character But some quite new citizens are hollering their heads off for an Aurora Old Home Week Meanwhile theyve gotten a stake in to the value of 200 of town money Further enquiries on the sub ject should be directed to the sponsors of the motion Coun cillors Corbett and Davis HELP IF NEEDED Aurora News Page Reader Sends 50 For Donations Arising from an article which appeared sonie weeks ago in Aurora News Page a generoushearted donor has sent two Cheques to tlie editor in amounts of each to be handed respectively to the Aurora Salvation Corps and to the Aurora Boy Scouts if as the donor stipu lates these worthy causes are still not taken care of And so did Councillor Bill Davidson who gets better and better the longer he stays We have previously described Mr Davidson as a tough nut and his title was never in doubt at the April meeting Old Home Week Believe it or not Old Home Week again came up for review when it was given a place in the schedule Meanwhile in the face of some opposition the sum of was voted for it no doubt for preliminary ex penses Opposing DeputyReeve Murray said there had been plenty of laughs already over Old Home Week without hav ing to pay for more On what the money will be spent nobody knows at this date To vote taxpayers money for undefined purposes does not seem to be sound business Whether the Banner will get anything out of the 200 is a question we cannot answer It may possibly get a little picking out of it The baby will have to be plugged a bottle of pub licity i- Perhaps Councillors and Davis had something in mind on how the money would be spent If so they did not ex plain Another question that was not answered is whether the town wants an Old Home Application was made to coun cil and the same was granted to hold the annual Horse Show in the town park on June Agreed to hire an assistant for the town clerk at 40 weekly Councillor Davis chairman of the streets committee had the unpleasant admission of the en gineers to record that the side walks were in terrible shape There was a little opposition to a motion that the town pay Mr- Fisher 300 per annum for the upkeep of a parking lot adjacent to his new store The motion was made by Reeve Cook chairman of the property com mittee and carried DeputyReeve Murray opposed the arranged to be held on Aprs between coun cil the board of trade and the agricultural society He said council should make up its own mind on the question of the pro posed hew park near the high school arid stand by its decision X- Yes indeed it was a raspy meeting And when it was over a small crowd of disappointed petitioners still remained To say they were hopping mad Is to put it mildly We hear the petitioners are taking legal ad vice on what if any may be taken to stop the chicken The Salvation Army Corps has most gratefully accepted the donation for its cause and a suit able acknowledgement has been made With reference to the proffered gift to the local Boy Scouts we are awaiting confirmation that it is needed and will be accepted this course being regarded as necessary in view of a recent letter from Scoutmaster Collins in answer to an offer of the free use of the Scouts hall at New- I market for fundraising purposes by the Aurora Boy Scouts It will be recalled by readers that when a delegate for the Au rora Boy Scouts appeared before the Aurora town council to ask for a grant of 25 it was re jected oh a majority vote Mr Robert Martin Newmarket on behalf of his committee then of fered the Aurora Boy Scouts free use of their hall for fund- raising purposes in reply to that of the Aurora Scoutmas ter indicated that there need be financial difficulties Clarification Needed Having regard to the Scout masters declaration it might ap pear that the needs of the Boy Scouts have already been taken care of In that event the proffered gift of will he returned to its willing donor In the event that the financial needs of the Aurora Boy Scouts have not fully been taken care of the editor of Au rora News Page will most gladly remit the 25 cheque he holds awaiting clarification Salvation Army Cure The cheques concerned were received from a member of the family of the founder of the paper which flourished in rora for many years and expired with the death of its owner Last issues were in circulation around the year The We would be very pleased Mr Sinclair if you would give the enclosed to your Salvation Army Corps as we were greatly horrified at the niggardliness of your present powers lie and explawgf we might say that Sal vation Army was started or in Aurora during time we Aurora sees all and hears all a powerful factor in Aurora we cart assure you that even ill its Infancy the Salvation would hot have asked for far meagre sum and gone The writer then goes to related a story of a Aurora man who was employed by they Atirora and was an ex cellent printer except when he laid down top freely at our local bars he saw the corner meetings 1- Army and be came -one- of the finest workmen that ever worked for the Aurora Boreal is Tht efficiency pleasant companionship and good living for the rest of his life not a mere for his rehabilita tion as a very worthy citizen but in real value it could not be measured Hence we say that for him alone and there must have been hundreds and hund reds since those early days of the the eighteen hundreds that have made Aurora what it is is just an incident of m m jJ Pi I V Aurora a weekly news- J PETITIONERS CASE CHICKEMPLANT PETITION This Is A Council Meeting From the point of view of an observer sitting at the press table case of the opponents of the chicken plant was badly pre sented The young man who spoke first and whose name didnt get to ipse himself in the of his woidSt Industry Claims Should Not Override Residents Rights The case fur the petitioners against the incut of a chickenprocessing plant on Cousins Drive can bo stated in terms of equal logic and equity The opposition to plant is based essentially on equity its basis is therefore one of fair human relationships lie talked too long Further more he expressed himself such an apologetic manner that we were uncertain for some time whether he was for or against the plant At one he appealed to his for an assurance that he was say ing what ihey wanted to say We were informed he was a advo cate- Sparks shot lip the mayors Reeve Murray was trying to say thai the Banner report which stated that all of council were favor of the plant was a mis- representation thai up oh tiitf the the same hitt ing the table with his gavel ftlunpciistedthpwevcr in trying to get his explanation over to the With what looked like blood in his mayor brought his gavel down on the table for a third time ami with a resounding blow that could have Hilled a husky hog stone dead Theres no getting away from It when the mayor gets mad be really makes the kettle boil With a flushed face the deputy- reeve subsided into his seat but was at it again at the unfinish ed business stage He left no one in doubt of his contention that he had pulled an other boner which Is no unusual occurrence Only recently Mr Don Glass was requesting a Banner correction Man Of Council Councillor Bill Davidson Is last Incoming the stronfi man council lie pulled no punches as he started out to say that council too often passed motions in hurry That he said had happened with the chicken per which should now be with drawn In Ihe course of his re marks he made a number of telling points Sure enough said Mr David son want industries But should be Industries thai would benefit the town The costly water compressor we have just put hi will be running for Cousins The chicken plant will drain our water supply Continuing his arguments in support the petition Council lor Davidson charged that the chicken plant would employ to percent workers cant asset the town lie said adding that the preponderance women work ers will make Aurora a guest want industries which will the employment of men who will build homes in ami increase revenue through taxes We dont want moneys earned going out of Other DeputyRccvo Murray said he agreed with Councillor Davidson He said Mr Cousins had other properties which he could use for a chicken plant Stating that he favored the petition he said such a plant will consume water and depreciate property that he would have agreed to the plant if it had been proposed for the cast side of the track While the reeve said he quest- what petitionee were ask ing for one of them tried to tell him at which moment the mayor banged the table with his gavel saying This Is a council meeting not a social affair He closed the petitioners mouth as though he had lanced his tongue Three Silent Men Silence Is Golden says the old adage In that ease Council lors Davis and get ho gold For they spoke not one word during the chicken de bate but voted to retain the per mit to build They were the three silent men of the process ing Interlude It has been stated so far with out denial that there arc other properties belonging to the same ownership where the plant could locate without inconvenience arid which would evince regard for the elementary rights of resi dents oh Cousins Drive and ad jacent areas who wish to enjoy reasonable amenities which believe a plant would destroy There is a feeling that with out prejudice to legal action that may be sought to obtain such rights the owner of the land on which the proposed plant to be located might have regard for the feelings of residents who oppose the locating of the plant and voluntarily withdraw his Is If the owner of the land were to take such regard of the oppos ing feelings of the petitioners he would have as his first reward a spontaneous recognition of public fit other words good public relations would replace the present strong clement of hostility Industry At Any Price Some of the arguments ad- in support of the chicken- processing ore obviously fallacious One of these is that you cannot pick and choose where industry is concerned In other words you must take the first offer that comes along if the area has been designed as one for industrial purposes If such an argument were ac ceptable it could mean that greater injury could be done to the economy of a town than if a particular industry were re jected To establish an undesir able industry in a residential area might have the immediate result of depreciating property to such an extent that taxation revenue would be lost to the town- a first principle of sound planning that Industry should not conflict with the rights of citizens In this particular in stance a substantial number of petitioners assert that their pro perties and reasonable amenities will suffer loss The first consideration of an executive body such as a town council is to hold a just balance between the claims of Industry the rights of taxpayers In the Instance under review It Is apparent that the Aurora town council has not maintained that reasonable balance between in dustry and residents This is shown by the force of the appeal against the installation of a chicken- processing plant on the Cousins Drive site If Plan Went If the present plan went through it would inevitably create a degree of resentment and hostility in the area affected that would in turn destroy the good public relations that should characterise every good in unity The present case is one where a large number of residents are united in their opposition to a proposed industry that they sin cerely believe will prove deroga tory to their investments in pro perty many of whom have built homes on assurances that when a similar proposed industry was withdrawn in the area concern ed it represented a decision of finality AURORA News The many friends of Mr and Mrs J Catherine St will be glad to hear that is making a satis factory recovery from her re cent operation at York County hospital At the regular meeting of the of the Aurora United church hold on Thursday after noon April a series of colored slides was shown They were taken by Mrs and Mr and Mrs King on their recent trip to Texas and Mexico Dur ing intervals Mr Rod Smith played two solos Mr and Mrs J and family will be going to land again during the summer school ol ays J A j Congratulations to Mr and Mm Keith on the Wrth of a daughter Janet Elizabeth which happy event took place Sunday April v Dr To- visited her brother St last week- end Mr- and Mrs Doug Knowles to Ottawa last to visit their daughter and son- inlaw Mr and Mrs Davidson and baby granddaughter A Wellknown former resident of Aurora Mrs Harry Good man has been in town visiting friends Mr and Mis Martin Toronto spent Sunday with Councillor and Mrs Clarence Davis Mrs Wright and Mrs McDonald attended the annual meeting of Toronto and King ston WMS nodical at last week The St Andrews met on Wednesday afternoon at the home of Mrs K K Smith St A Ll