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Ink Uonawea vate. PLE r-- CALMED NAD AWW at a vy TION OF BEAUTY AND HARMONY IN LINE AND DESIGN Influence of Environment: Growing Demand for - Co- ordination of Aesthetic and Utilitarian Prin. ciples--Gradual Transformation of Oshawa's Business and Residential Sections By C. C. STENHOUSE ' HERE is probably no greater Sain o pe gress and pros; n a community than is afforded by an increasing desire on the pert of those who compose it ve impression to something pry little more imposing and ified than is absolutely es. sential for the purpose re- Qired. The modern metaphor 'of "putting up a front" has more behind it than is express. od in the cartoon "Keeping Up with the Jones's." Four walls and a roof will { protection from the ele- ments quite as well as an elab- orate structure would do. There p something, however, innate human nature that causes a community which, after all, is only a collection of individuals endeavor to embellish "their property so that they can have a genuine pride in ap- Wee which can be shared all, It would be difficult in any com- munity to tell where such a feeling has its genesis, or to what pioneer ean go the credit of inaugurating an era in which the external appearance is almost as important as internal convenience, and niggardliness in either is frowned upon. Evolution of Modern City A sleeping village drowsing through ts days on a township concession ine suddenly wakes up to the fact that the world is passing its doors in ever-increasing numbers, The Fapie for the change is immaterial: t may be industrial growth at a dis- tant point or the opening of some cenic heauties nearby. Whatever it 8, the community begins to benefit; the country road becomes a through highway, and the village a stopping- oint between more important cen- res; the blacksmith shop becomes a filling station; the general store in- greases its stock and adds new de- partments. The paint brush is dip- ped in the can, and one can almost ee the drowsy village blossoming Ee an alert centre with visions of future growth. So in the. larger. cities the -back- water street which for many years has served only as a link between ore important thoroughfares, finds tself caught up in an era of pro- gress through the limitations of space, ne by one the down-at-heels build- gs, which have long served to ouse insignificant and shabby stores and more" or less indifferent offices and flats, are taken over, and the dingy street commgnees to bur- of ancient days still stand as mute reminders to ding th that man had fallen far behind. It seems impossible to think that sc many of those marvellous examples of eecl hit e, which tical ar today rouse feelings of admiration akin to awe, should have been re- garded so lightly by Cromwell's rude soldiery that many were ruthlessly destroyed and replaced with unat- tractive substitutes. Every age has its standards of beauty. at which appeals to an earlier generation does not always fall in with the views of the present. Meretricious adornment, however, can never supplant that greater beauty which depends upon harmeny of line and design to achieve its purpose. This is amply evidenced hy following the awar s of competent judging committees in architectural competi- tions. It is never the ornate and the bizarre which carry off the hon- ours, but always the simply harmon- ious building, which to the uninitiated appears almost plain in its lack of embellishment, yet which holds the eye when the more ornamental palls. Oshawa's Awakening Having then the desire for im- provement in common with that spirit oi progress which ever becomes ap- parent as a community advances in importance, how has it been shown in our own city? If the reader will accompany me for a space we will see how Oshawa has responded to that communal spirit which causes the individual or the firm, represent- ed by a Board of Directors or syndi- cate, to endeavor to build worthily of that centre in which he has cast his 0 t, There has never been a time in the history of mankind when there were greater opportunities for buildings to be superlative than today. The ad- vent of new building materials, sim- plifying operations which had seen no change for centuries past; modern methods, which transformed stupen- dous tasks+into the simple manipula- tions of levers; modern sanitation; modern heating: the use of insulat- ing materials--all tend to change the methods and habits of the past; but they also introduced the age of the specialist into the field of construc- tion. Modern building became so in- tricate and complex that few men could contain all the knowledge nec- essary for the erection of a building which had any pretentions to be ranked as important, In the residential field of construc tion it is hut a few short years since only the largest and most im- portant houses retained the services of an architect. The usual procedure was to take a walk ang see something that looked as though it might fill the bill and then call on one's fav- orite contractor to build another just like it. While this might be emin- C. C, STENHOUSE elements. The walls being consider ed as necessary for supporting the roof and affording some privacy, other than that no apparent consid- eration for appearance was in evi- dence, Compare the stark typical factory building of the past with the won- ders wrought by the industrial speci- alist of the day. Compare the in- dustrial sections of most of our great cities with the industrial buildings erected within recent years in Osh- awa and our citizens may well be thankful for the care expended in the erection of our modern factories. One can point to them with pride in their appearance as well as in what they represent, Enterprise in Apartment Houses Take again Oshawa's recent in. vestments in apartment buildings, The apartment building--meaning thereby a building erected especially to house several families under the one roof, without any other function such as housing stores or other busi- ness properties--is not hy any means a new thing, although its modern de- velopment throughout Canada and the United States practically creates a new situation in housing provision. The thrifty Scotch were among the first to discover the economy of erect- ing great blocks of tenement houses, or "closes" as they are known there. The poorer parts of the great cities of Europe and America were filled with buildings of this kind, but they were usually occupied only by those who could not afford to live else- where. It is only within compar- atively recent years that apartment houses have heen planned on a more luxurious scale Oshawa is coming well to the front with purely apartment dwellings-- buildings replete with all the conveni- ences that take the drudgery out of home upkeep. What influence the leisure afforded hy this method of living will have on future generations is outside the scope of this article, The fact remains that the apartment building is here to stay, and it is be- coming increasingly evident that more up. Then, too, to obtain large win- dow spaces, cast iron columns and wooden beams were the only materi- als available, so that the contrast be- tween the old and the mew became more and more pronounced. As Oshawa progressed, it became increasingly evident that the main streets were not keeping pace in the shopping district with other parts of the town. To the credit of the pro- gressive merchants they soon began making changes which brightened up the aspect of the entire street. One building after another put in new store fronts, upper portions of build- ing facades which had become dingy with time were given a new appear- ance by an overcoat of plaster; where new buildings were being erected they were made bright and attractive by the use of modern ma- terials, discarding the overelaborate ornamentation which from our pre- sent viewpoint is so detrimental to the appearance. ay of Environment Training in what is seemly is so much a part of our present system of education that the results of the future are bound to be beneficial to any community, Our children are housed in trim, sightly schools, well lighted and tastefully decorated, so that the subconscious influence of good surroundings is constantly at work on the rising generation. It is safe to prophesy that the future embellishment of our buildings will be well taken care of by those who are growing up into positions of re- sponsibility, With the hap-hazard methods of the past abolished, and with a citi- zenry alive to aesthetic values, Osh» awa may look forward with confi- dence to retaining a leading place among the progressive cities of a land destined to become a giant among the nations, Rapid Progress ardware Stores Cleve Fox Applies Modern Sales Methods to Great Advantage One of the outstanding records of retail business progress in Osh- awa in reecnt years is associated with the two hardware stores own- ed and operated hy Cleve Fox, who began business in this city in 1921, starting what has proved to be the beginning of a local hardware chain store system in the premises at 20 Simcoe street south, The husiness now consists of that store, a larger huilding at 15 Simcoe street north, under the title of Do- minion Hardware Stores, and two large warehouses for reserve stock. manent employees, with Mr, George Reid as manager of the south estore, and Mr. D, McGregor managing the other. Sales volume has grown tremen- dously under application of the most modern sales methods to - OSHAWA PUBLIC LIBRARY, NOW UNDERGOING EXTENSIVE " REMODELLING, - t in all the glory of modern ling. with a desirable class tenants in ever-increasing num- bers, until the once frowsy street is busy and bustling thoroughfare in fs own right, flanked with imposing ings. The gleam of plate glass brass, handsome fa- , dignified and beautiful entries, the shabbiness of the past. t is pot that age alone renders a an eyesore--no-one who has y of the wonderful monu- ts of the past could think that-- therein lies the difference be- the standards of the genera- ms: that which to our forebears i the last word in build- to us frequently appears sia ES over-embellished oddity angely out place among its of Beauty be an interesting study, which would be out of place an article as this, to investi- 11111 HI Ld causes of the rise She possible, Eon the rise again ic appreciation of beauty and y in line and design. Ruskin has delved deeply into the matter. Perhaps no one has had more to do with the gradual devel- of artistic appreciation mani- since his dissertations were It seemed impossible in years that the glory 'that was should ever cease pi capti- wate by sheer beauty of work- anship, and yet suined masterpieces "a Y ently satisfactory so far as internal economy went, it did not tend to variety in external appearance, and the prevailing favorite of any build- ing season appearcd on street after street in monotonous procession; so that the criticism was justly levelled that while our residential sections were always well tended, one house on one lot being almost the invari- able rule, there was a sameness about the houses which required an accur- ate knowledge of one's locality. With- out such knowledge it would be dif- ficult to tell what street one was walking on. . This condition, however, no longer obtains. Diversity of treatment of the exteriors and individual prefer- ences in the interiors is becomin, more and more the rule of the small house, while the larger and more costly residences that are being erect- ed would do credit to any city. Every advantage is being taken of modern developments, and comweniences un- dreamt of in the past are common- places in Oshawa"s modern homes. ides in I i i In the industrial field, an even greater improvement is evident, keep- ing pace with and even leading the way in factory construction through- out the larger cities. It is not so long ago that when a new factory was contemplated no ap- parent thought was given to anything but the provision of a certain amount of floor space, which had to have a roof over it for protection from the and more thought is being given to making the comfort and convenience of the tenants the first consideration, The extraction of the last cent of revenue is no longer of primary im- portance. There is sound business judgment behind this, as it makes for more permanent tenants and the assurance that revenues will be forth- coming when the housing situation eases off to normal and tenants are able to pick and choose. Transforming Business Section Lastly, and by no means least, is the building up of the business sec- tion of the city. Time was when building materials were cheap and land values not ex- cessive. Then comparatively large structures were put up on the man streets with little regard either for convenience of arrangement or sight- liness in the eye of the beholder. Be- fore the almost universal use of steel and hollow building tile for larger premises, as we have it today, solid brick or stone was the only perman- ent building method. This meant that all supporting walls had to be mas- sive, and frequently little attention was paid to what went underground to support the building. Concrete foundations were a rarity when field stone could be had for the drawing away. The only too frequent result was subsidence in some portion. Spht arches and sagging floors made for a greater appearance of uusight- lingss than was warranted by the length of time the buildings had been hardware business, and Mr, Fox states that he is prepared to estab- lish another branch just as soon as conditions warrant. The two stores serve a large out- lying trade with motor trucks which, on occasion, cover a large part of Ontario County. Besides general hardware, the firm handles stoves, household furnishings and other special lines. Mr. Fox is a director of an On- tario association of hardware mer- chants who beenfit by mass buying which amounts, practically, to their operating a communal whole- sale division. This alliance has no financial interest in the stores which its, buying system serves; rather the stores control it through a central executive, Mr. Fox, still a young man. be- gan business in Lindsay in 1912, in the firm of Boxall and Matthie, Limited, of which company he is still a member. The first of his two Oshawa stores was purchased from Chas. Lander in 1921, and the second one was purchased from J. V. Hill and formally inaugurated under Mr. Fox's ownership ip 1926. It is only those who do mot know how to work that do not love it. To those who do it is better than play-- it is religion.--J. H. Patterson. ; The sales force numbers 14 pers | + get tn vei 3 > Ro; This new Head Office of The Canadian Bank ef Commerce to be erected at Toronto, "We seek the good of the country" 6 E DO not oppose anyone, all we seek is the good of the country. Our policy, is to benefit our respective localities by employing our own and the floating capital under our control, in support of the trade and industry, of the place." rr The founders of The Canadian Bank of Com- merce made this statement, knowing that Can ada needed a bank which would employ the savings of the people so as to benefit the indir vidual striving to produce more from the land, the forest and the mine--cross-roads settlements looking forward to happier living conditions, *- Continuing the .policy, of its founders, this Bank now serves every branch of Canadian com- merce, in all sections of the country, Our ser- vices are available for every, worthy, enterprise, THE CANADIAN BANK OF COMMERCE Capital Paid up - - - - $20,000,000 Reserve Fund - - - - - $20,000,000 Total Resources Exceed $500,000,000 » W. D. ELLIOT, Manager Oshawa Branch