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OSHAWA ARENA GUT 1549 THE DAILY TIMES-GAZETTE Daily Average Circulation for August, 1953 YOL. 12--No. 215 gg Bag Reims Woe Vd . Combining The Oshawa Times and Whitby Gazette and Chronicle OSHAWA-WHITBY, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 1953 INFERNO SEEN FROM LAND, AIR Taken during the height of the firg, control when firemen arrived on the which destroyed the Oshawa Arena this | scene. Hundreds of Oshawa sports lovers morning, these pictures reflect the havoc | Watched with h wrought by the flames and the impossible La ae ue task confronting, the Oshawa Fire De- ture of the fire. partment. building to a smouldering pile of tortured for the first time. steel beams within an hour, was out of |page 5). THE OATIS STORY tragedy written on their frame and brick building Top right is an aerial pic- At lower left is the fire The fire, which reduced the |department's aerial truck which was used (Other pictures on --(Photos by Don Dutton) Czech Secret Police Begin Their Vicious Work On Oatis (EDITOR'S NOTE: This is one of a series of articles in which William N. Oatis, Associated Press Correspondent who spent more than 'fwo years in jail in Czechoslovakia, recounts his ex- my work as an Associated Press | correspondent in Czechoslovakia by virtue of successive extension of | my residence permit, despite the {fact that I had been deprived of {my official accreditation, or work- periences.) | ing permit, at the end of Septem- By WILLIAM N. OATIS j ber. (Copyright 1953 | I went to the office and was by The Associated Press) {taken before a strange man -- a One day in November of 1950 |very strange man. His eyes were a postcard summoned me to the [a cool, pale blue behind thick Prague office that issued residence | steel-rimmed glasses, 'and under permits to foreigners in Czechoslo- {them the flesh was folded into vakia. | pouches. His hair was washed-out There would be a talk, the card |blond. His face had the pallor of said, about my latest application {a dead fish. It was twisted into for such a permit. By special ar-|an exaggerated grin. i rangement, I had been carrying on| This, I 'thought with a little | chill inside, } policeman looks like -- something from some sunless cave. He motioned me to a chair, sat down again himself and beamed at me through several awkward seconds. Then a second man came in, laid aside coat and brief- / Weather Forecast Mostly sunny and rather warmer tomorrow. Low tonight, 50; high Wednesday, 72. SIXTEEN PAGES Spectacular Blaze Wreaks Half Million Dollar Damage Arena Sports History Lasted 23 Years | © "Gedrge' H. Campbell, Ls ibaa Bai al sports editor of The Times-Gazette, was present when the Arena opened in. 1930. Over the intervening years he has spent many hours perched high above the ice surface in the press box. This morning he was one of the first called when it was known that the building was ablaze. It fell to him to write his reminiscence- packed "obituary" of the building.--EDITOR By GEO. H. Sports Just about the same time that the little guy in the three-corner- ed pants ushered in the year 1930, radios and early-style "juke box- es' wkere featuring a current song, "And I'll Be There With You" -- and it seems the rest of it went something like "when my dreams come true." That was the theme song of the Oshawa Arena when it opened on January 9th, 1930, and ushered in- to the sports circles of Oshawa a new era in winter entertainment and sports glory. That night when Oshawa's beauti ful new arena was officially open- ed by Col. R. S. McLaughlin and the late Mayor T. B. Mitchell with the late Frank Hyde, them OHA President and his executive in at- tendance, Oshawa 'came of age" in Canada's national game. Two rinks in Toronto, others in Ottawa, Kingston, Stratford, Galt, Kitchen- er, Niagara Falls, London and Windsor about completed the list of artificial ice hockey rinks in the province and so Oshawa came of full adult stature in the Ontario che Association. BEST IN CANADA That night when Oshawa's beauti- 3,300 was on hand, not quite filling the 3,678 seating capacity. At that time, the ice surface was 85 by 194 -- largest ice area in Canada. Later the length was reduced a little and e: 'ra seats werc added to bring the seating capacity to is what a secret |; case and seated himself beside me as interpreter. THE FATAL LETTER "We must apologize for the |! pictures," said the first man, in Czech. I looked up at the walls and saw a sunny landscape and a bright military portrait of J. V . OATIS STORY . (Continued on Page 2) CAMPBELL Editor over the 8,800 mark and in the glamor days of the Oshawa Gen- erals, crowds of over 5,000 have watched crucial games in the Osh- awa Arena. On January 9th, 1930, Toronto National Sea Fleas defeated Osh- awa Seniors 6-3. The Sea Fleas, Allan Cup champions had Kenny Holmeshaw and Stuffy Mueller as their goalies and other players in- cluded "Weiner" Lough, now in Belleville; Mike Underwood, Ed- die Convey, Fred Collins, Kane, etc., while Oshawa's line-up show- ed Eddie Leveque, Bill Coulter, Carl Houck, Doc Rowden, Don Black, Bill Conlin, Ty Little, George Jackson, "'Curly" Lane and T. Elliott. The late Lou E. Marsh, of To- ronto Star and Canadian sports- writing fame, refereed the game here that night, along with H. C. Lecky. We remember talking to Lou Marsh and getting his own version of the night he was chas- ed out of Bradleys' rink, some years before. First man to skate around the new Oshawa Arena, wielding a hockey stick and handling a puck, was the late George Hezzelwood, then a prime factor in the Oshawa Hockey Club and in the pre-event organization that led up to the building of a new arena for Osh- awa. ARENA (Continued on Page 5) [3 Fire of undetermined origin this morning reduced the Osh- awa Arena, for years one of the city's principal sports centres, to a 'smouldering mass of ruins. While the damage cannot as yet be accurately estimated it is believed it will run in the neighborhood of $500,000. Lost in the fire was all the equipment of the Oshawa | Generals of the Junior "A" OHA league; all the equipment of the Smith Truckers, Senior OHA team; a good deal of the equipment of the Oshawa Minor Hockey Association as well as the sound equipment, lounge furnishin gs and carnival costuming owned by the Oshawa Skating Club. eee ------el) 5 Children Die In Flames SYDNEY MINES N.S. (CP)-- Five children were burned to death at Alderpoint six miles west of here early today when fire de- stroyed their home. Ranging in age from six months to 13 years they were chil- dren of miner Oliver Reshore and his wife. The parents and two other children escaped. The dead: Mary Reshore, 13, Georgette, 6, Alden ,5, Frederick, 2 and a six-month-old infant whose name was not available. The family lived in a two-apart- ment tenement. Occupants of the other apartment Mr. and Mrs. Ivan Deveaux and their three chil- dren escaped. The fire broke out about 8 a. m. in the Reshore portion of the house where the family was in bed. UNION AT ATOMIC PLANT OTTAWA (CP)--The Association of Atomic Energy Technicians and Draftsmen (AFL) has been certi- fied as bargaining agent for 213 employees of the Chalk River atomic plant, the labor department announced Monday. The union is the eighth certified as b: gaining agent for employees of Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. The em- ployees are technicians in the laboratories, plant and drawing offices. ) } The fire was discovered in the north-east wing of the building, near the boiler room, shortly before 7 a.m. and within half an hour the roof had fallen in, some of the walls had fallen, and the once gay sports centre, which had echoed to the cheers of residents of Oshawa and district for over 20 years, was a grisly mass of twisted steel beams and blazing timbers. FIREMEN DRIVEN OUT ' When the Oshawa Fire Department arrived they ran a line of hose through the lobby and along the alleyway under the stands on the east side of the building. Such was the progress made by the flames by that time that they were driven out. Shortly afterward the fire broke through the roof and there was nothing they could do to stem the destruction of the building. Deputy Chief Ray Hobbs moved every available piece of fire fighting equipment from the headquarters and Cedar Dale halls to the fire, together with many of the off-duty firemen. ERIAL EQUIPMENT USED The city's new aerial truck was brought into service for the first time and played water on the roof of the building, but without .avail due to the large amount of air space in the building. The aerial equipment was used to dampen down the roof of the City Pure Ice Company where the ice-making equipment for the Arena was housed. Fortunately there ARENA TURNED ' (Continued on Page 5)