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(l THE LIBERAL} Richmond Hill, ’I'hurs., October 9, 1952 W. s. COOK. Editor With our Ontario winters apparently getting warmer and more uncertain every year in time we may find our natural ice rinks situated throughout the district dis- appearing. This shift in winter weather conditions could be handled by villages such as Unionville and Stoufi‘ville who have their own artificial ice rinks but it would work a hardshipon sports minded indivi- duals in suchrentres as Richmond Hill who are dependent on natural ice surfaces. Ice skating and hockey are among our Na- tional sports and both young and old en- joy participating in, . or watching them during the winter season. In a recent panel discussion the Tor- onto Park Commissioner stated his men can remember 15 to 20 years ago when na- tural ice rinks provided skating all winter long. Now the aveage in the city is about 30 days skating a year. In the Beaches district last year some rinks averaged 50 days whichwas extremely unusual. In the past few years winters have been so mild Toronto’s 200 rinks built for about 200,000 have averaged 15 to 20 days skat- ing with some going as low as 4 or 5 days through the 'Winter. In a swing to artificial rinks the city has built four at an average of $125,000 apiece _ and 18 natural rinks have been The old rail. fence, which for many years has been a familiar landmark throughout this part of the province, is gradually disappearing from the country- side. In n'iany communities it is practi- cally a thing of the past. These fences are a real reminder of the pioneer days. It is with genuine regret that their pass- ing is noted. f di'opped. . Those centres still depending on nat- ural ice rinks must face a future shortage The rail fence stood up well. Some of them still gave good service after they had been erected 60 to 70 years. although they needed some patching from time to time. The wire fences of today have their advantages, no doubt, but it is question- able whether they possess the durability of the old time rail fence. The rail fence was cow-proof, pig- proof and sheep-proof. It was impossible for any type of farm animal to crawl un- der it or through it, unless they were very small. .Many famers are troubled with cattle reaching their heads through wire fences for‘grain on the opposite side and breaking off posts and tearing down wire. That was impossible with a rail fence, as the space between the rails would not ad- mit a 'beast’s head. AMA lummmountabje Hill ,, . An Independent Weekly - Established 1878 WRW‘A'V'“ Subscription Rate $2.50 per year; to the United States $3.00; 5c Single Copy Member Audit Bureau of Circulations Member Canadian Weekly Newspapers Association J. E. SMITH. M.P-, Publisher "“n" 1mm“. ALVERNA SMITH, Associate Editor The rail fence was a real friend to the Telephone TUrner 4- 1261 “Authorized as second class mail, Post Office Department, Ottaw”a The Need For Artiiiciai ice Surfaces 3!le liberal OH Rail F of such surfaces. Failing anoth r shift in weather conditions the only aternative will be to consider the introduction of more artificial rinks or have more than one dis- trict make use of the same facilities. It might prove feasible for some civic minded group or organization such as our Service Clubs or Chamber of Commerce to sponsor the future addition to our Rich- mond Hill arena of an artificial ice surface. Such a group in conjunction with the Mun- icipal Council could lay the plans and or- ganize the details of such a. project. Natur- ally one couldn’t expect the Council to as- sume the overall responsibility for such an endeavour when the village is handling such important items as expansion, sewers, roads and education. The idea would first require a thor- ough investigation as to the actual pros and cons in the matter, what financial ar- rangements could be made, and then above all, what the response of our residents would be. The potential of Richmond Hill and closely adjacent areas could be anal- ysed in an attempt to determine the total source of revenue for such a venture. In this matter of research the experience of such places as Aurora, Unionville and Stoufi‘ville who already possess artificial ice should prove invaluable. Artificial ice could prove a real boon to an expanding Richmond Hill and dis- trict and mark a further step in the life of a progressive community. pioneer of Old Ontario and it was practi- cally the only type of fence he knew any- thing about. As a rule, the first clear- ings of the earliest settlers were surroun- ded by a sort of fence made by piling up logs and brush accordingly as the land was cleared. This, however, was only a make- shift and was usually burned when the settlers had time to erect a permanent rail ence. The fences were built in a zig-zag fashion and were usually eight or ten rails high. The pioneers had some trou- ble with the top rails blowing off in a high wind and sometimes whole sections would blow down. In later years the idea was originated of staking the corners. This made the fence solid, as two stakes tied together with wire were used at every corner. Quite often men were hired to split the rails and build the fences. The men were paid according \to the amount they split, the rate generally being one cent a rail. In one instance a man was known to split rails and build 60 rods of fence for $8. The man for whom he was building it sup- plied the timber. This was indeed very cheap when compared with the high cost of fencing nowadays. CI'ICC fiaman‘ UDIT :UREAU ‘Incuumqfl: Mr. Editor In the light of recent happenings in Markham Township. I tell it in- cumbent upon myself to relate through your local paper the thoughts and reasons for some of our projected plans. Uppermost in most minds is the query. is the council as stupid as one of our members would have you believe? What do you think? Do you feel that we as a cm; oil are trying to bankrupt the m nicipality? Do you think that it is possible that we are always wrong? Surely some of our plans have,some semblance of common sense and reason. I am going to try briefly in plain words to tell you what all this ad- verse publicity is doing to Mark- ham Township and your pocket- book. Do you remember th epubâ€" licity in the local and Toronto pa- pers regarding the Highland Park- Thornlea school. That my friends is costing us unnecessary money. The debentures for this school were ready to be taken at par, and construction costs met as required. now the debentures rest in the loc- al bank until this created doubt about Markham Township finances is cleared up. But they are cost- ing you people 43/L% interest. I would like to tell you some of the details about our road depart- ment maintenance building. By the way this building is already provided for out of current reven- ue. This is a very necessary pro- ject. As you know our original building was burned down. Your road equipment is too valuable to keep under the sky, also if you ex- pect your road to be ploughed inj the winter the diesel engines must be kept at a reasonably warm tem- perature or they will not start. Last year's council received ten- ders for the erection of this build- ing. The estimates ranged from 38 to 62 thousand dollars. We felt that the cost was too high and so shelved the matter for the time being. This year, council know- ing that we must have a building, and on our engineer’s advice and tentative approval from the Dept. of Highways decided to erect the building on a cost plus basis. As you know we had to finally go to the Minister of Highways to undo the damage that one member cre- ated. To make a long story short, our building is now nearing com- pletion and I understand the cost will be several thousands of doll- ars lower than the lowest last year tender. Incidentally the building will be a credit to Markham Twp. Now about this much publicized‘ administration building, only one. member of council ever suggested that the cost would be a hundred thousand dollars. You will no doubt remember the article in the press. Subsequently we received six tenders for this building. We discarded the three top ones and awarded the contract to the highest of the lower three. The reason being, this man was highly recom- mended and his work beyond re- proach. The so-called shady way that the price was supposed to be adjusted was merely due to the fact that some of the elaborate it- ems in the architect’s plans we felt were not necessary. Your build- ing committee did not wish to ap- pear extravagant so we dispensed with a few items which might con- ceivably be considered luxurious. Because your fine new township garage is provided for in your 1952 taxes, twenty thousand dollars plus twenty thousand grant from the Department of Highways and be- cause our present township offices are, to use the expression of a member of the municipal board. “a disgrace", your building commit- tee felt that a debenture issue in the amount of fifty thousand doll- ars payable over th eyears 1953 to 1957 inclusive, would most cer- tainly be approved by the afore- mentioned municipal board. So it will be. Council felt that the bal- ance of the cost of a completed building could be paid for after the sale of the present township building. Whereas our township can afford twenty thousand in one year for a garage isn’t it reasonable to sup- pose that the same township could afford ten thousand dollars per an- num for five years plus interest for a very necessary township office building. If this proposed bulldâ€" Wright-Law The ancestors of our local Wright family were among the earliest to emigrate from England to the British colonies and among the first to come to Canada at the outbreak of the American Revolu- tion. Abraham Wright was born in New Haven. Vermont, in 1786 and came as a child with his parents to Augustus, Ontario. There Amos was born in 1809. In 1815, the family came to Richmond Hill. They farmed on Yonge St. and lat- er moved to Church St. Amos Wright entered public life in 1850 when he was elected the first reeve of Markham Township. In 1851 he was elected to the Can- adian Parliament. representing the riding of East York. He held this post for sixteen years. Later he represented the riding of West York for four years. He was the only Member of Parliament to be elected from Richmond Hill until the election of our present mem- ber. J. E. Smith. For some time Amos Wright op- erated a saw mill on the site of the present waterworks building. hence the names of Wright and Mill Sts. which led directly to it. In 1875 he moved to Port Ar- thur where he was appointed Dom- inion Auditor with the Department of Finance at Ottawa. He also re- ceived the appointment of Indian Agent, Auditor of Public expendi- ture and License Commissioner. Before he left Richmond Hill he served as president of the Mechan- ics’ Institute and Agricultural So- ciety. His home in Richmond Hill is the present home of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Dunlop. North Church Re: Markham TWp ”Dear Mister Editor” EARLY SETTLERS 7weedsmuir History ARTICLE NO. 7 ing is not provided. again I quote Mr. Rowland of the municipal board “it will cost the taxpayers of this municpality more than the price of the building due to inef- ficiency in inadequate quarters." Thereupon the building committee opposed by only one member of the five man council decided to beat the weather and to excavate a foundation for our new building. Because of an engineered tempor- ary stoppage. we shall probably be faced with higher winter construc- tion costs. In view of the forego- ing. as a member of the building committee I feel that I have done nothing of which I need to be ash- amed. And with utmost confidence I am glad to meet my fellow rate- payers. Deputy-Reeve P.S.: I have discussed this mat- ter with the most neutral member of our council, Mr. Lennie, and can say that he is in full accord with all the facts I have mentioned in this letter. Dear Mr. Editor I would like to commend Mr. Robert Rae of Unionville for his attempt via a letter to your publi- cation under date of September 25, to arouse public interest con- cerning Markham Township's de- benture debt. Any endeavour which aims to- wards caution in handling of pub- lic funds is a good one. In this particular case the endeavour is leading many citizens to take a keen interest in local affairs. If there is any truth in the old say- ing â€" “people get the kind of gov- ernment which they deserve”, then surely the taxpayers of Markham Township are heading for better times. But Mr. Rae's letter has created the impression in some quarters that Markham township is stagger- ing into a quagmire of debt. Con- sequently some members of Coun- cil (all of whom are taxpayers) have become concerned lest the ratepayers do not become acquain- ted with all the facts pertaining to our public debt occasioned by the expansion of our school facilities. Mr. Alfred James the deputy-reeve has appealed to me to elucidate â€" to present the picture as I see it. Towards this end I would apprec- iate some space for comment upon this very complicated subject. At the outset I would venture the opinion that the potential lia- bility to be assumed by the tax- payers is not in accordance with Mr. Rae's figures. If Markham village, Stoufiville, and Whit- church remain solvent, and if the provincial department of education does not refuse to provide antici- pated grants, the actual burdens to be assumed by the taxpayers are in fact only a fraction of these amounts. In support of this assertion I submit the following figures â€" Re: $425,000 Stoufiville High School Estimated, gov's grant ...... 70% Stouffville share of the balance .................... 35.94% Whitchurch share of bal. .41.32% Markham Twp share . . .. 22.74% The above figures are based on present equalized assessment. Re: $525,000 Markham High School Estimated gov‘t grant ...... 70% Markham Village's share of the balance' ........ 27.973% Markham Township's share of th ebalance 72.027% Re: $193,000 Thornlea School Estimated gov’t grant ...... 60% Vaughan’s share of balance 42% Markham Twp.’s share of the balance .............. 58% Based on present equalized as- aessment. A very important consideration should be taken into account in an analysis of this kind â€" the provis- ion of more adequate facilities for our children’s education. When all of the above factors are considered, it is to be hoped that the kind hearts and gentle people of Markham township will not be unduly alarmed about supporting the liabilities imposed by the march of progress â€" and the as- sets‘ represented by greatly im- proved facilities. William. the second son of Ab- raham Wright. lived all his life in the district. He first owned what is known as the Mackie farm, east of the C.N.R. tracks. Later he moved to the site of St. Basil's No- vitiate. Only two of his descen- dants remained in the district; Miss Louisa Wright, a famous eqâ€" uestrienne and Mr. O. L. Wright, who passed away a few years ago. Closely associated with the Wrights was the family of Abra- ham Law, for it was one of his daughters who married Amos Wright, the father of Miss Louisa Wright and Mr. Osmond Wright. Abraham Law was born in Penn- sylvania near Philadephia on Oc- tober 13, 1806. At the age of 18. he moved with his parents to Can- ada and settled near Stoufiville. In 1826 he came to Richmond Hill which at that time contained 18 houses and purchased the family homestead, Richmond Villa. on the north-west corner of Richmond and Yonge Sts. The house, built in 1832. stood until early in 1952 when it was demolished. When the walls were torn down they were ifound to be of mud brick nearly Ieighteen inches thick. For a number of years he was in business as a general merchant and was one of the fifteen mem- bers of the first Methodist Church. He donated the land on which the present . United Church stands when the old church was destroyed by fire in 1879. For many years he served as a Justice of the Peace and in 1873 became the first reeve of Richmond Hill. He married Elizabeth Klinck and had thirteen children. two of whom resided in the village. (Mrs. P. Law-Gram and Mrs. Amos Wright Law-Gram and Mrs. Amos Wright Mi who lived in the old homestead.) ley Re: Markham Twp. Debenture Debt Arthur Lennie. Markham Twp. Councillor A. James “THE BOILING POT" There is a well-known story in the life of Dr. Samuel Johnson which tells of a meeting between the philosopher and John Wesley. They had heard much of each other and the meeting was not unpleas- ant. Both were men of culture and sincerity but Wesley's amaz- ing activity rather antagonized Johnson. He wrote: “I like a man who will put his legs under the table." gmumnmnmmmunun1mmmunImuummumunumnuuuuu-F a g TODAY’S QUOTATION g Some years ago a short life of Wesley was published in England with the title: “Knight of the Burn- ing Heart" and the author. Dr. Leslie Church, paid tribute to Wes- ley as one of the most energetic men of all time. In these days of good roads and fast automobiles we are apt to for get the achievement of men on gxi-“M““lll\lll\1l\lll\l\l\l\\1llll\\\\“mmll“|\\l\l\\ll\\\“l\\“\\\m\m\“i horseback who lived when roads were almost impassable. Yet this remarkable little man John Wes- l'ey, frequently travelled eight thousand miles a year over very bad roads. when accommodation for travelers was often wretched. John Wesley was born at Epworth in England, in June, 1703, the son of an Episcopal clergyman, at a time when carelssness and indiff- erence had beset even the church. The spiritual life of the nation was at a very low ebb. He began to preach with great earnestness in 1726 and continued until his death in 1791. He was an early riser. Late in life he could say, “I have risen at four o'- clock every morning. and, taking the year round, I don’t lie awake a quarter of an h'our a month." He preached for the first time in the open air at Bristol in 1739. There was a good deal of opposi- tion an dhostility; but althuogh he found his first attempt “strange and disagreeable,”h elt it his duty to preach and he continued open-air preaching for nearly fifty years. He often preached five times a day and frequently to very large gatherings. Once at Kensington Common he preached to over twen- ty thousand people and to an even greater number in Cornwall. There were no loud speakers in those days. A companion of his tells that Wesley rode continuously through England and Wales. For many years he had a strong black horse. and only under unusual circum- stances did he ever hire a horse. Even those who did not agree with much of his teaching admitted that he did much to change the charac- ter of England. Although a small man physically â€" he never weigh- ed more than 102 pounds â€"â€" he had a strong personality and extraor- dinary physical endurance. It is estimated that he traveled on horseback not less than 225.00!) miles and delivered over 50,000 sermons. It is questionable whe- ther that record has ever been equalled. Apart altogether from his relig- ious view no one could help ad- miring the energy of this remark- able man. One of the signs of ad- vancing years is to enjoy the com- pany of those who as Johnson said. are willing to put their legs under the table. There is a homely old proverb: “It is better that the pot should boil over than that it should not boil at all.” The plain truth is that Christian- ity’s chief hindrance is that we are all too complacent and easy-going. Church rolls were never so large. Actually the' percentage of our population who are church mem- bers today is more than double what it was a century ago, but with many. church affiliation is nominâ€" al; almost meaningless. Festus though the Apostle Paul was beside himself because he was so enthusiastic and concerning Jesus the self-atisfied Pharisees said: “He hath a devil." They were suspicious of enthusiasm. It has been my privilege to speak literally hundreds of times at clubs. lodges and other organizations and when I see the members full of enthusiasm. calling each other by their Christian names and saying: “He's a jolly good fellow," I covet that fervour for the church and don't see why we can’t have it. Too many of us are likely to die of self- control. We are afraid of enthus- iasm. Sunday Afternoon Mr. & Mrs. F. Schmidt Celebrated Golden Wedding Anniversary On the evening of September 24, at the home of Mrs Frank Schmidt, Steeles Ave., Markham Township, Mr. and Mrs. Wilford G. Brown celebrated their Golden Wedding Anniversary. Mrs. Brown is the former E. Letitia Valliere of Mark- ham. The couple were married by Mr. G. W. Stevenson in Mark- ham. September 24. 1902. but have since lived in Toronto. Mr. Brown was a member of the Toronto Pol- ice Department for some 35 years. Mr. and Mrs. Brown have one son, W. Donald, who with more than sixty guests were present to congratulate the happy couple. Many gifts and floral tributes were received including a bouquet of 50 golden roses presented by the fam- ily of the bride of 50 years. Rose- mount Chapter, O.E.S., of which the couple are members, also sent flowers. Presiding at the tea table which was centred with a wedding cake made by Mrs. W. Brown, were Mrs. Jos. Bales of Lansing and Mrs. Nelson Street of Richmond Hill. Musical entertainment was provid- ed by two nephews. Kenneth and William Starling. Visitors from a distance included: Mr. and Mrs. Ted Brown. Uxbridge: Mr. Arthur Whitmore. his daughter Ella and Miss Luella McCleary, all of Edge- Our quotation today is by Dr. Frank Boreham: “It is almost better to become criminal than to become cyn- ical." By Dr. Archer Wallace Telephone TUrner 4-1212 h CENTURY-FOX pronnll Wednesday & Thursday â€"â€" October 15 & 16 oLfii'ébAN gA P_°éfi ARSHALL Thomas Gomez . Pfi‘fié‘as “HERBERT. Friday & Saturday â€" October 10 & 11 mm JAMES EDWARDS - mu 5m - 1mm HUDSON m JULIA ADAMS ARTHUR KENNEDY ° PEGGY DOW Monday & Tuesday â€" October 13 & 14 [1.2 all the Sunday, Oct. 12, after Midnite Only Matinee Monday 2 pm. Adult Entertainment ‘ . {fluxâ€"Shining The ’ my A7 9 ' ‘ dfigfilsou DAL, BARTON PIMP] GEORGE JESSEL 1mm“, ' LLOYD BACON BRIGHT VICTORY Fromjhe momenl they meet you'll know _...that love will have its greatest hour!