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CANADA‘S OLDEST WORKER USES AXE DAILY AT 10( John Birch, of Nipissing Junce fon, Hale Hoarty and Humorous at the Ripe O:d Age of 107 Years, Smokes a LOot. as he has envered his 107ih year and | is reputed to be the oldest man in C2aâ€"| rada able to work. He has a fine sense| of humour and reporters who are sent| to interview him always have a lot of fun because he has so much fun with them. The latest to interview him was Claude Kewley who tells the story in a recerit issue of The Sudbury Star, as| follows :â€" ! Two or three years ago The Ad*'ancel noted the story of a man of 81 years | still ersaged in his daily cecupation inl this part of the North, working as at lumber camp employee. He had workâ€"| ed for scme 65 years and this seemed to be some record. It is beaten, howâ€"| ever, by John Birch, of Nipis:ing Juncâ€"| tion, rear North Bay, who still works| like a young lad when he feels like i}, i though hs has reached his 107th year.| In past years The Advance has had | references to Mr. John Birch, but, mention may aptly be made now a.gam,“ Although he is now reputedly in his 107th year and believed to be the oldest active worker in the Doaminion, John Birch still takes such an interest in his appearance that when interviewed he declined to be phosographed before he he had combed his beard. He has every reason to be proud cf his beard, nothwithstanding that some wesks ago, it almost went up in smoke when he inadvertently ignited it, inâ€" stead 0‘ his pipz. Despite his years, Mr. Birch still reâ€" tains the spirit that drove him to hew a home for himsel{ and family from the Nipissing bush at a time when Sudâ€" bury was just a dozen houses Or So. Although his son, Adam, with whom he resides, does his best to dissuade him, he can be seen almo>st any day wieldâ€" ing an axe, or stepping along wuth a couple of palls of water. His sight is not as good as it used to be but his only affiiction is a slight deafness in one ear, a legacy of an atâ€" tack of fiue which he suffered in 1922 This was the conly occasion on which he has nesded the ministrations ¢of a physician. His most vivid memories are those c» the Crimean war of which he is a vetâ€" eran. Two of his brothers lost their lives beside him. "How long do you expect to live?" he was asked. "Until they have a place for me down below," he replied, placing his hands on his sides and chuckling heartily at "What is the segret of your great age and vlba.lity?"wte was asked. "There is none,"/ Mr. Birch replied. And again he puffkd furiously on that wicked looking, ejil smelling pipe, a Can‘t do enough ‘Jf it. Wake up in the night and take afew drags‘ he answerâ€" "Of course yoa never take a drink?" "Take one if got anything with you," he replifd. "I can remember," the old chap / prozseeded, "when you could buy hiyfhwines for 25 cents a pail." arinker. Nejther fionist. "Have yor) got your old age pension cheqve yet?} he was asked. "No, and/if they don‘t hurry up, 1 may it," he said. "I can us> it, thobgh," he added, reflectively "You‘ll be getting pension cheques the next twenty ‘years," interjeced somecihe. And just ito chow that the axeâ€" swinz:inz was n> meaningless gesture, Mr. Brich prozseeded to split several slabs of hardwood. Then he grapsed <ene end of a crossâ€"cut saw, with the Treporter at the other end, and continuâ€" ed sawing until the said "enough." To prove that he could still go anther round, Mr. Birch then cut through a tenâ€"inch log with a buckâ€" saw, without stopping for breath. "Then, they‘ll come in handy in my old age," he replied, as he swung his axe. According to the Ccobalt garage man <cncerned, somewhere in the United is a man to whom $18 is small change. At leat, he never has made any effo» t> recover this amount, which he syverpahl at a Caobalt gas staâ€" tion a faw weeks azo. The proprietor says hs was; aroused in the night by a belated dAriver, who wanted four dollar‘s wo~‘t" of gas. He paid for it with two bills gad cne in silver. The vendor put the mâ€"ney in his pocket without lookâ€" ir:; at it then ani retuwoned to his inâ€" t~~rup~i ‘slumbers. In the morning, caish, h> d‘scovered it * hae hod one som>e siiver MOTORIST PAXLD $22.00 FOR $4.00 WORTH OF GAS mc‘ h# ‘~nf and sx3e $20 note Prom this shoauld not be gatherâ€" Mr. Birch is, cr was, a heavy H# is not and never was. is Ivy{ an out and out prohibiâ€" | sUDBURY NOW SAID TO HAVE ! ABOUT 20000 POPULATION Accordinz t> Robent Grant, town treasurer and acting of Sudâ€" bury, the population of that town is now placed at about 20,000. The asâ€" soecssment returnms available last summer placed the town‘s p>pulation officially w 16,620, but there has been a heavy increase during the past six months and th> treazsurer pointed out that the assesor‘s reson,, ccmpletsd last Auâ€" gust, did no> include person} staying at boanding «or rooming houses;~many of whom changs Iroquently. The Sudbury treasurer also points out that Sudbury‘s population would undoubtedly jump several thwusand if there was ample housing accommodaâ€" tion. Hundreds of men employed in the Sudbury area have been forced to leave thsir wives and families at their former homes because of the lack of houses and the high rentals demanded fcor those available. In th‘s connection it is interesting to note that building permits for 1929 total $2,300,000.00. is greatly exaggerated by those who say thwt wolves arse on the increase, and deer are on the decrease, says The Toronto Star. HON WILLIAM FINLAYSON VYISITED ALGONQUIN PARK Ontario Government officials state the wolf situation in Algonquin Park Hon. Willlam Finlayson, minister of lands and forests, says it is true wolves are increasing but that this statement applies to all Northern On‘tario, Maniâ€" toba and elsewhere. Deer, he says, are now increasing in numbers in the park. Park rangzers are instructed and equipped to kill wolves, but they are nzst allowed t> poiscn ‘them. The deâ€" partment is taking no> special sweps toi meet the situation. i As for recognizing the wild husky. as a wolf for the purpose of paying® bâ€"unty, Mr. Finlayson says there are not enough o‘ them to make any difâ€". ference. He intimated that those giv-' inz publicity to stories about the being ruined had usually some grievâ€" ance against employess there or againss the governmens. § 1 Concerning the timber operations of J. R. Bojth Co. in Algonquin Park this winter, the minister, who recently visited the scene of operations, said the cutting is being done on acres that were leased before 1900. Some timber licenses as old as 75 years are still exâ€" tant in the park. EXPECT START IN SPRING oN TEMISKAMING HIGHWAY North Bay people are evidently cat-] isfied with their recent interview with Hon. Wm. Finlayson in regard to a road to be built from North Bay to Temisâ€" kaming, Que. They think that the Government will proceed with a survey and this will be followed by a start on construction in the spring. According | to one newspaper report of ithe inter-; view with the Minister o‘ Lands an.l] Forests, Hon. Mr. Finlayson said he was impressed with the proposal for the reason that it would provide a very de-i sirable circuit for tourists. The route would be by. way of the Ferguson highâ€" l way, circling Lake Temiskaming and | returning by way of Temiskaming, Que. This he believed, would bring. motor travellers over a route that could not be equalled for scenic beauty and fish and game districts In this beâ€" lief Hon. Mr. Finlayson is wrong; there is ancsther route that would excel ‘the 'propoced Temiskaminz one for both lscemc beauty and fish and game. That route is the longâ€"advocated belt line of roads, connecting up Timm‘ns ‘a.nd Sudbury and making a circuit for | tourists that could not be excelled on ‘\the continent. It would mean that tourists would pass through some of the world‘s greatest gold camps and silver ‘camp. through a rich agricultural country, a hotable forest reserve, a big | lumbering area, the home of one of the | large paper mills in the world, and through the centre of over 80 per cent. or the world‘s known supply of nickel. I‘n addition the belt line of roads *would mean the linking up of all <he ‘centres of the North Land and the ,Openmg up to the tourists of one of ir.he most beautiful stretches of virg‘n country on the continent. In passing it may be noted that Hon. Mr. Finkyson also told the deputation from North Bay that work laid out for next summer included extensive imâ€" provements to the highway between Callander and Huntsville He said i: is the intention of the government to have a highâ€"class road between North Bay and Toronto by the summer of 1931. â€" Next summer a start will be | Hamil:ton Spectator:â€"The weather! we are experiencing is the coldest for | | this time of year since 1891. Having proved it can be done, the weath>rman | should now be reasonable. made at relocating and reâ€"building the gravel road from Huntsville north to Callander. The plans call for pracâ€" tically a new route between Powassan and callander which will shorien the road by four miles. When this work is completed, Mr. Finlayeon advised the delegation, the Toronis t> NortDb Bay route will be all that could be deâ€" roquently Unseen Heroes Rejoiced In Honour to Comrades â€"At the great gathering of V.C. the Prince‘s banquet, there surely an unseen host of comrades who reâ€" joiced in the glitter and glow of this festival of honour, writes corresponâ€" dent in the London Morning Post. Among them, but standing diffidently at the back, I could imagine Alan Mcâ€" Leod, V.C. He had come into hospital following what he called "a dog fight"â€" just an affair of eight German ‘planes against one British, but he and his obâ€" server, Lieutenant A. W. Hammond, M.C., had turned and plunged into battle with all the .joyousness of youth. Three hostile ‘planes went down in fiames; a tribute to the accurate shootâ€" ing of the observer. Wounded five times, and his observer six times, he found that a tracer bullet had set fire to his p'etrol tank. At once he climbed out of the cockpit and stood on the le"t lower ‘plane from which position he managed to control the machine, and caused ib to sideâ€"slip steeply so that the fiames were blown to one side. Lieutenant Hammond continued to fire till they crached in No Man‘s Land. Hore McLâ€"21, under machine gun fire, dragged his observer away from his blazing machine to safety. Again he was wounded, this time by a bomb. All went well with him till we hoped that danger was over, but it was not to be. A serious operation was petrâ€" formed, but it was too much. . He was only 18, and he seemed to drift dreamâ€" ily on towards the great Unknown. The will to live had gone. Surgery and medicine had, done their utmost, and had failed; he was slowly sliding down hill,, and was more diffiâ€" cult to rouse. His friend, I was desperate. for I realâ€" ized that the will to live had gone. In my trouble I confided in a startled girl of some 17 years. Her great serious eyes searched my face. "I will come," she said. On the morrow she stood at the foot of his bed; she, radiant in her beauty; he, splendid in his helplessness, and these two smiled at each other. â€"I saw the light creep back into his eyes, and left them feeling old and in the way. McLeod made a fair recovery. "Would she go to Canada?" It was yet early in the war, and who knew what might happen? "What is the V. C., what does it mean?" he asked. It was difficult to explain. ‘"You are going to the Palace toâ€"morrow, you must wear it, and I think you will then understand what it means better than from anything I can tell you." "Would s> go to Canada?" Who knows what might have happened; but after the armistice he returned home, and three months later he was dead in the great epidemic of influuenza and pneumonia. It was so. Or understand now Diffident and reserved, Alan McLeod would not obtrude his presence at the great dinner of heros, but would stand diffidently at the back and rejoice whole heartedly at the honour con=â€" ferred on his comrades. INTERESTING STORY ABOUT THE LADY AND THE TIGER ("‘London Day by Day‘" in the Daily Telegraph) An amusing incident occurred on the occasicn of a visit of Mr. Clemerceau to London in connection with a recepâ€" tion held at the British Embassy, to which the leading British and their ladies had been invited. When Mrs. Asquith was announced the wife of the late Liberal leader was seen to advance across the room straigh. upon M. Clemenceau, by whose side stood the Ambassador, the late M. Paul Cambon, with arms cutstretched and a fervid exclamation conveying the delisght she felt at meeting France‘s greatest statesman, whereâ€" upon, half gallantly, half humorously. "The Tiger," to the amazement of those present, including Mrs. Asquith herself, opened his arms, and embraced her in the truest Gallic fachicn. There was a pause, after which, turning to the beâ€" wildered Ambassador, a great stickler for etiquette, M. Clemenceau said with the most perfect composure. ‘"Your tun, Cambon." MINING A VITAL FACTOR IN PROGRESS OF CTVILIZATION Gibson‘s Fortnightly Review says:â€" | "General Jan Smuts in the course of the Rhodes Memorial Lectures at Oxâ€" ford recently emphasized the vital imâ€" portance of mining in the extension of civilization in South Africa. Withoutl the development of mines, said Smuts, civilization in South Africa would lanâ€" guish and possibly disappear in this case as t had done some two thousand years ago, as evidenced by the ancient mines and ruined forts which dot the mining districts. Missionaries and. medical men, pointed out the general, can do little for the natives until the elements of civilization are introduced by the white cultivator, miner and manufacturer, and in this respect, minâ€" ing takes the lead. + _ ‘"The part mining has played in Canâ€" ada in pushing back the frontiers is too well known to require elaboration. Until Cobalt‘s silver attracted settlers, ‘Northern Ontario was pretty sparsely populated. As a matter of historical 20 on NB e C ns N fact, the T. N. O. construction which found Cobalt, was designed as a colonist |road by the government with a view to . encouraging the settlement of those |regions which now boast many proSsâ€" ,perous centres of civiization. How sucâ€" | cessful the T. N. O. would have been without the mines in the purpose for which it was intended is a subject for interesting conjecture." so. On his return, he said, "I THE PORCUPINE ADVANCE, TIMMINS, ONTARIO at OFFICER AT THE SAULT ‘ wWOUNDED BY BURGLAKR Constable John Rowsell, of the Sault Ste. Marie force is in the hospital makâ€" ing fairly god recovery after having two buillets removed from his left lung and one from his elbow. He was shot one morning last week when he surâ€" prised a burglar in an attempt to break into a poolroom in the city. The burgâ€" lar fired six shots at him, but only three of the shots hit the constable. The burglar had an upâ€"toâ€"date gun but the officer was handicapped by the fact + «< 3 Thhat g STORES WILL BE CLOSED THURSDAY MORNING, DEC. 26, Until 1 P.M. @ mwa@wwwwmmwmwwwmmwwmmwwmwma 37e 48¢ b5b¢ 65¢ 87c BLUE GOOSE ORANGES Japanese Oranges $1.50 per box _ PER DOZEN at Wishing You A that his revolver was of antiquated type. The burglar escaped and now wide search is being made to apprehend the fellow. The constables in Sault Ste. Marie are now to get upâ€"toâ€"date weapons and also there are more police to be put on for the protection of the city. Few towns or cities keep an adeâ€" quate police force until something hapâ€" pens. Constable Rowsell is expected to recover, and is said to have good chances to do so, but there is always the chance of misadventure when a man suffers lung wounds like this ofiâ€" cer did. ery Merry Xmas Picnic Hams, per lb............ Legs of Lamb, per Ib. ....... Geese, per IbD. ........:............ Fresh Pork Hams, per lb.. No. 1 Quality at PER POUND Julius H. Bammes, chairman of the Board of Commerce of the United States in a letter to President Hoover recently, points out that the cure for uncertain or poor business is adverâ€" tising. He places the case very neatly as follows, and his letter is well worth the consideration of all business men "We are dealing with that strange force, mob psychology. Already a treâ€" mendous whispering campaign is unâ€" der way. People are telling each other ADVERTISING ISs THE REPLY TO PRESENT SITCTATION Cake Candies Pkg. 10c Assorted Spices "M/" ®Qc Almond Icing :: 29¢ Mustard 2â€"0z. Tin 15c Knox Gelatineâ€" . Pkg. 23c Olives Clubhouse {%%; 33¢ KEENS‘ 23¢ P 33¢ THOMPSON Seedless 2 iss 27. Seeded 0 FANCY MALAGA Clusters id FANCY RECLEANED Currants â€" 1b. LemonOrange 1b. 2 5¢ Citron Ib. 3Dbc¢ Cut Mixed Ib. 28c : DRIED FRUITS stories of the aftermath of the slumpâ€" losses, suicides, unemployment, like the atrocities of the late war. "It is peculiarly and emphatically an advertising situation. It was a state of mind that pushed stocks up beyond reasonable levels It was_a state or mind that pulled them do@n. And it will be a state of mind if the country goes steadily on unmoved by the comâ€" paratively small and isolated happenâ€" ings on the stock exchange. And states of mind are the product of adâ€" vertising as well as, or even more than, of newspaper publicity." We have on display Spy .. Â¥pples, Fancy Apples, Cranberries, Hothouse Tomatoes, Mushrooms, Parsley, Spinach, Endive, Brussel Sprouts, Head Lettuce, Celery, Fancy Grapes Thursday, Dec. 26th, 1929 We have a large assortâ€" nent of pure candies, Jelly Beans, Rock Candies, etc., At 19c 286 25c Chocolate Nibs 1b. 39(5 ASST. CHOCOLATE BARS TODHUNTER‘S 3 for 140