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leading weekly for whitchurch markham pickering and oxbridge twps vol 56 no 32 our capital correspondent the tribune stouffville ont de2 21 1944 2300 copies eight pages written especially- stouflville tribune avilson for the by dean it is apparent along parliament hill that there is no room for any complacency in canadatoday and that predictions about the length of the war are not to be taken ser- iously when these pretend to indi cate the probable date of its close this being general impression gained by this veteran observers inquiries behing the scenes in this nations capital this should be kept- in mind by those numerous persons who demand relaxation of restrictions at this time this should be borne in mind by those numerous persons who interpreted certain actions as indicative of an early end particularly when can ada closed up the empire air training plan and made certain postwar preparations in other words the best- informed individ uals along parjiament hill hold that the probable date for the end of thfs war is known to no human being in this country or as prime minister mackenzie king said in his latest comment on such predic tions at the present time the fate of nations is being decided on the battlefields of europe how soon the decision will come god only knows this means that though this war is now in its sixth year and much more costly in lives and loss of properties than the last world war that ended when the armistice was signed in mar shall fochs railroad car in com- piegne forest on november 11 1918 after four years 14 weeks two days and six hours of fighting yet thereis nothing which permits any one to predict the probable date of the end of this present conflict with the return of the colourful and outspoken former premier of ontario hon mitchell hepburn to the leadership of the liberal party of this province and the election of hon camillien houde as mayor of the largest city in canada only three months after he had been re leased from internment of four years duration there is a flood of stories circulating in the nations capital about a political storm be ing in the making directly from these sources the return of hep burn is considered to be of more than passing interest various rea sons are heard already on parlia ment hill- why he came back into the leadership at this time when there is so much commotion and sniping within the ranks of the liberal party on the federal front particularly since it has aroused speculation in the nations capital that the return of the colourful hepburn may not be somehow re lated to the hint heard lately that some supporters of the king gov ernment in ottawa would welcome changes in the federal cabinet which would add new colourful leaders with no denying that hep- burn has always been a colourful character of great interest like wise whispers are heard along parliament hill that houdes elec tion as mayor of canadas metro polis is merely a stepping stone towards ottawa he had been eloct- ced mayor of montreal on four prev ious occasions and he had been the leader of the conservative party in quebec with his political star be ing now at a high point since his from internment so that he icanbe elected to almost any office in ra frenchcanadian comstitu- ency fone story claims that he will seek revenge by running in quebec against the present minis ter of justice hon louis stlau- rent in ithe next federal election another story states that houde will again contest sthenri constit- mency in montreal where he had been defeated in a previous elect ion in 1938 though it must be ad mitted that a cabinet minister dur ing ihat ejection campaign had done much in bringing about his defeat through a promise on the new canadian national railway station being completed in mon- treal observers charging that it took a new station to beat houde all in all the return to the politi cal arena of hepburn and houde in ontario and quebec is consider ed along parliament hill as the beginning of anew erain politics since both are colourful and out spoken characters of nrsfrank religious education no duty of the state says stouffville minister there has been a rumour circu lating thatcasesjof whisky import ed from overseas into this country arc subject not only to strict super vision by the federal authorities but that this whisky is reduced in alcoholic strength by authorities through the addition of waterjthis story has been flatly dented in ottawawhere it has been indicated that this- whisky from abroad is sent to liquor control boards or commissions of the various pro vincial governments and the only interest in same on the part of the federalauthorities is to sec that the proper duties or taxes are paid on the- shipments- from overseas there is in simple words no truth to the story of water being put in to this whisky to reduce its strength and of this being done by the federal authorities reproduction prohibited protesting against the teaching of the christian religion in the pub lic schools of ontario and against the action of the board of educat ion of stouffville agreeing to place the subject on the curriculum of the local school rev d macgregor dastor of the stouffville baptist church filed a letter with the board which was read at their meeting friday night in which he sets out his reasons in the follow ing words i wish hereby to register my protest against the placing on the curriculum of the public school the subject of religion i do so for a number of reasons the chief of which are that first these are public schools and secondly it is not the duty of the state to teach religion while i am most sincerely con vinced that the christian religion is the only true religion i am opposed to the teaching of even this religion in our public schools it need hardly be brought to the attention of a group of men such as you that the public school is just that it is not a protestant school nor yet necessarily a christian school it is a public school for the education of chil dren of all races and creeds it ought to be kept as such and there fore no religion should be taught to do otherwise is to break down the whole system of public schools as to the other matter the state and religion it is the deep convictionofmanythat the church and state should be absolutely separate while we ought to ren der unto caesar the things that are caesars and support as far as it is possible the powers that be we must protest the encroach ments upon the liberties we en joy this we do believing that it is not the right of the state to meddle in the matters of faith and con science our schools are state con trolled and the suggested course of religious studies constitutes an en deavour to enter into a realm into which the- state has no democratic right to go many are the instances in his tory which show the folly of a state controlled religion this is something to be shunned by all thinking men as a jewish rabbi speaking recently on this subject said the principle of separation of the church and state which is one of the bulwarks of our democ racy should at all times be strictly adhered to i have not dealt with other matters which naturally arise out of this subject there is the quest ion of the fitness of some teachers to teach this subject properly there is also the question of the acceptability of the published books as text books for a proper present ation of this great subject pernaps you are all aware that there has been much criticism of these books from many sources these however are matters out side of my present argument for no matter how well fitted a teacher may be nor yet how acceptable the text books there remains my orig inal contention the public school is a public school and further the state ought not to teach religion knowing that the final decision ion this matter rests with you gentlemen as the members of our elected school board i appeal to you in the interest ofall concerned that the subject of- religion be re moved from among the subjects taught in the stouffville schools local broadcast well received by radio audience ontario panorama radio program broadcast from the stanley theatre stouffville last friday night must have been listened to by thousands of people in canada and the united states and thereby ouintqwn received some appreciat ed advertising alan savage master of ceremonies and his globe trot ting partner gordon sinclair were both present in person and of course made a lot of new friends those who were heard on the air duringthe broadcast were mrs harold spofford miss mary bor- isuk and messrs hon chadwick george asten fred timbers- james brodie and a v nolan each tel ling something of his or her par ticular line of business or profess ion the sponsors of the program the willard chocolate co have the thanks of the people of stouffville for bringing their broadcast to our town which was sponsored localiy by the lions club mr and mrs schmidt of the stanley theatre generously donated half the even ing receipts from admissions to the club while the willard co pre sented the editor of the tribune with a s50 cheque asking him to designate it to some- charity it ringwood auction sells tractor 1120 auction sales have hot been so closely spaced the past few weeks as they were during the month of october when an auction was held every day excepting sundays dur ing the month the first auction in the immediate district this month was the george myland sale at ringwood on saturday which realized between 4500 and 5000 or a thousand dolars more than the owner estimated it would total the best cow of the sale sold for 161 and the tractor on rubber went for 1120 the crowd- was large consid ering the state of the roads and the farm lanes many of the latter be ing still impassable after the big storm mr and mrs myland are giving up the bniels farm and will move to toronto mr myland is a veteran of the last war and has a disability that makes hard work doubly hard for him during their sojourn in this district they have made many valuable friends who will be sorry to see them leave the local district poultry ceiling prices work against retailers at market horse show the feature was divided between the red cross and the war branch this of course is the first time in the history of the town that a broadcast of this nature was ever attempted here it entailed endless detail and arrangement the speak ers voice is gathered up in the transmitter on the stage relayed to the central office of the tele phone co and from here to the broadcasting station of cfrb in toronto which meant the the stouffville christmas mar ket fair attracted a steady crowd in town all day tuesday instead of just a morning crowd as used to be the case when only a poultry show was on the horse exhibition after dinner brought in a new lot of people to those who were seen here in the morning at no time how ever was the attendance as great as we have seen it some years ceiling prices worked against the retail merchant farmers were anxious to sell privately to obtain the retail ceiling which if paid by the store keeper left him no profit on the transaction prices for poultry were firm all day geese running 34c turkeys 47c ducks 34c and chickens for good quality birds 30c a pound the amount of poultry has often been exceeded on christmas market yet it was difficult to estimate the ton nage brought in since so much of it was sold on the street and car ried off by private parties the smaller crowd might be ex plained by the fact that markets were on the same day at port perry uxbridge pefferlaw and newmarket a farmer from the north brought in a turkey on tuesday tipping- the scales at 30 pounds that one would take an oven larger than most housewives could boast of having in their kitchen the horse show of course was the main attraction since there was tieup of a long distance line during the half no competition in the poultry class hour program this year some really excellent friends tell us that the reception i horses were in the ring and fairly was perfect in town and country and that every voice was so dis- tinctit was even better than being in personal contact big snow storm will cost local taxpayers a half mill si next saturday mrs joe mcmullen will be 87 years of age on sunday dec 24th and still enjoys life in her own quiet way mrs mcmullen livfcs in her own home and does much of her housework few people if any can look back on the history of stouffville with more personal con tact than mrs mcmullen who has been a resident of the east end since the- days before the railway passed through- our town a lonc weekend the coming weekend will be a long holiday for those who have been putting in long extra hours during the christmas season at the close of business in town for instance stores wiir not reopen until wednesday morning thus ob serving boxingday the day after christmas asaibublic holiday- jun- fortunately the newspaper cannot take such a long holiday and will reopen tuesday morning the paper will be issued on thursday instead of wednesday next week the retiring reeve a e weldon and the outgoing councillor walter brillinger may be said to be riding out of office on the wings of the big snow storm since these two men took on the job of directing the removal of hundreds of tons of snow from off the main thor oughfare in the business area and they really did a striking job fifteen men eight teams and two trucks presented an imposing sight as they attacked the huge piles of snow and melted them away with greater effect than a spring rain business men especially were de lighted to be rid of the big obstacle to business and farmers coming to town were pleased nothing was left to be desired and when a start was made to clear away ten foot deep piles of snow in front of gar ages outside the congested business areas there was some slight pro test that too much was being done at the expense of the general tax payer however the pair have the thanks of many for getting on with the job and leaving the street ready for the christmas market on tuesday we hear that good wages- were paid 2 an hour for trucks 100 an hour for teams and 50c an hour for shovellers the total cost will have a sober ing effect on what the new council can pay if they are called upon again this winter to face a similar situation for it- is said the work will run between 300 and 400 or better than half a mill on the tax rate fortunately there is a good surplus to meet the present pay ment three oh a teams the oha has just announced the local hockey group to be made up of markham richmond hill and port credit due to the small group it is likely that a triple schedule will be set up big vegetable shipment every day of the week just now r e brown son are shipping a car load of vegetables from stouff- villewhichare mostly fpr ontario consumption and for a dehydrat ion plant the browns are buying far- south of markham village north to uxbridge and when the big storm raged lastweekthe ship pers were able to make up their car each day from farm supplies on highways not blocked v 71year01dfarmer passes in sleep about his farm home east of stouffville all day friday apparent ly in his normal condition of health william f st john that same evening was seized with a weak spell and had to be aided to bed during the night or early sat urday morning he passed away in a deep sleep without giving the slightest sign that death was upon him he was 71 years old during fridayevenlng when he became quite ill probably from a heart condition his wife aided him upstairs however after being in bed some time and quite ill he re covered and then fell into a deep sleep and appeared to be resting well but he never came out of that sleep his sudden ending recalls the fact that his- father the late christopher st john died very suddenly too while aiding with the killing of some pigs william f st john was born in the township of brock near vic toria corners there were two sons the other brother wesley living at aurora when a lad of about 15 years william came with his par ents to the present locality where he spent the remainder of his dass the parents retired from the farm east of town and purchased the stately home of john bray immed iately east of the christian church where they spent the remainder- of their lives the property is now the harry paisley place william united in marriage with annieferrier of green river who survives him together with an only son howard on the home farm and an only daughter velma mrs- robert rawson markham village mr stjohn was a man of very quiet temperament md was highly regarded in the community the funeral took place on mon day afternoon from the late home for burial at stouffville cemetery the service was in charge of rev d davis imiss effie ipugh of edmonton altayhaslbeenspending aweek in town visiting miss b clark also her brother mr fred pugh at clare- mont and other friends puzzled the judges who were messrs walter scott of sutton and w hewson of malton the show was held in the centre block on main street which was cleared of cars for the occasion andwhich was a very satisfactory place for holding such a winter event the prize winners were heavy draught team heber down brooklin leachcroft farms gormley light draught teams neil shantz platsville vincent baker stouffville thpaisley stouffville bruce beach siloam pcrcherons or belgium lloyd turner stouffville jack woods aurora leachcroft farms gormley bruce beach siloam- amateur class vincent baker harry paisley bruce beach william morris 4horsc team heber down brooklin leachcroft farms gormley best mnrc or gelding in show heber down neil shantz h down neil shantz skating and curling both the skating and curling rinks opened for the winter season on wednesday evening of this week the open time is well up to other years and a little earlier than some occasions for both skating and curling farmer found in unconscious condition working among the swine on his farm a few days ago william pat- tenden fell unconscious in the pen where he was found by members of the family he suffered a heart at tack but is now reported to be re covering the pattenden farm is on the vandorf sideroad near the 6th con cession of whitchurch mr patten den was fortunate to be rescued before any harm came to him from the animals lived 83 years on 6th of whitchurch one of whitchurch townships oldest residents mary ann murphy passed peacefully away at the his toric old farm home on the 6th con cession on sunday morning she would have reached her 88th birth day this january but despite her great age miss murphy was very active she took seriously ill three weeks ago and the end came as a relief born on the very farm where she died her long sojourn constitutes quite a record on one place miss murphy was a devoted ro man catholic and survived by her sister mrs canning her death is the second in the family within a few months since on oct 12th a brother pat murphy died the funeral from the old home once the site of the indian village and fort proceeded to st johns rc church newmarket for morn ing mass on tuesday and burial was made in st johns cemetery there a nephew of the deceased rev jas d murphy was the officiating priest while rev d j canning was the deacon and rev w f muckle subdeacon on the sanc tuary was father boland father mcginn and father duffy pall bearers were all nephews being h coleman hugh- joe arnold am brose and trainor canning overseas a pte j a johnston a recent cable has been receiv ed by his wife formerly doris footc announcing safe arrival in great britain bert is a son of mr and mrs r m johnston of the cnr stouffville mrs johnston and daughter carol anne are making their home for the duration with her par ents mr and v j r foote 9th concession pte johnston enlisted in may of this year with a canadianinfantry unit and trained at simcoe and camp ipjerwash visitors from saskatchewan mr and mrs george hughes of watson sask arrived in town this week and are staying at the home of mr nathan forsyth this is their first visitto the old home town in eight years twp nominations on friday in the surrounding townships nomination day will be observed this friday afternoon to choose candidates for the offices of reeve and councillors in stouff ville the early nomination is in force and the matter was settled some weeks ago however in markham whit church uxbridge and pickering townships this coming friday is nomination day when the retiring councilswill have a chance to give an account of theuvdeeds- and the ratepayers- will likewise v have- a chance to nominate the old coun cillors or new ones for office in 1945 in cases where elections are de manded the poll will be held on new years day however accla mationseems to be in the offing in most places and in noneof the municipalities mentioned isthere a noticeable demand for a contest of course a storm may come out of a clear sky so anything may happen in all but pickering township the old- councils are prepared to re main in office if- the electors are agreeable but in pickering reeve wm reesor announces his retire ment will the office be filled with out a contest there may be full agreement on a new reeve butthe- vacancythis may cause in council could lead to an election v tiitjhisiaujxityi