Apr. 21, 1993

25 Years Ago

Farmers feed on facts and figures at Mountainview Turf open house: To the farmer, management of information is becoming more important every day.
This point was driven home in a variety of ways to about 100 farmers at an open house held on April 15 at Mountainview Turf farm between Quyon and Luskville.
The array of equipment parked in front of the big shed at Mountainview indicated the scale of operation in which they are involved. They keep six field tractors and two tractor trailer trucks busy producing the delivering sod for use on lawns and golf courses.
Fire Department presents plaque: The Shawville Clarendon Fire Department awarded the John F. Hodgins memorial plaque to four firefighters at their annual Firemen’s Ball at the Lions Hall. Presenting the award was Assistant Chief Bill Black and Chief Neil Sharpe who awarded recipients Wayne Bohart, Lt. Robert Trudeau, First Captain Bill Atkinson, and Lee Laframboise.

Apr. 25,1968

50 Years Ago

How to raise a thousand dollars: It turned out to be the best fundraising event ever staged in Shawville when the girls, 37 strong, all made it to Renfrew and returned to the United Church lawn in Shawville within twelve hours.
Having been escorted into Renfrew by police cars, they were officially welcomed by Mayor Haramis of Renfrew who served them supper and gave each girl a small gift from the town. On their return to Shawville Mayor Orla Young greeted them and congratulated them.
High school play was a huge success: Months of preparation paid off in excellent results Friday night as the Shawville High School Drama Club played to a standing-room-only crowd at the high school auditorium. The farce, “Here Comes Charlie” had them laughing right up into the balcony and standees around the back of the hall never even got tired, so well paced was the evening’s entertainment.
Linda Wickens in the title role as “Charlie” brought a professional style to her part as the hillbilly gal who transforms into the perfect young lady to pick off the hero, played admirably by Bill MacLachlan.
Joyce Young was a great Aunt Fanny, Dorothy Horner was a convincing matron, Mrs. Smythe-Kersey and Lynn Hodgins and James E. Witt were very good as Vivian and Mortimer Smythe-Kersey.
Mrs. McCord was director for the production and Phyllis Yemen was stage manager. Mr. John Beattie built the sets which were painted by the cast who also made their own costumes. Mrs. McCord was assisted in the direction of the play by Mrs. Robina Richardson and Mrs. Martin Walker, the former Miss Elizabeth Dickson.

Apr. 29, 1943

75 Years Ago

Local News: Inquest held into the death of William McDonald, whose body was found in the stable of the Clarendon Hotel on Sunday morning, April 18th was conducted at Hynes’ Hall following an autopsy performed by Dr. J.M. Roussel of Montreal, assistant medical legal expert for Quebec.
Dr. L. Renaud of Campbell’s Bay, County Coroner, presided with J. Oscar Laflamme, K.C. Crown Attorney, questioning the witnesses.
Dr. Roussel said that he found no fracture of the skull but a severe hemorrhage of the brain resulting from a blow. The cut at the back of the head was consistent with a fall against a sharp object. He also found bruises about the face and knees and expressed the opinion that McDonald may h have fallen several times. Evidence was to the effect that the victim was intoxicated.
Erskine Hodgins, proprietor of the hotel said he saw McDonald in an intoxicated condition in the tavern Saturday night. He saw him again sitting on the front door step of the hotel Sunday at 1:30 a.m. McDonald was alone at the time.
Dr. S. E. McDowell testified that he had found McDonald lying face down in a pool of blood in a horse stall. His clothing had not been disturbed and there was no evidence of a struggle.
Lieut. Danis of the provincial police told the jury that he was satisfied that there had been no foul play.
Bombings alone cannot bring war to a successful conclusion. That the most difficult period of the war is still in the indefinite future and that victory may not be won until 1944-45 or perhaps later, probably stem from the increasing effectiveness of the Nazi U-boat campaign. If the Allies cannot deliver men and supplies to the fighting fronts they cannot win the war.

Apr. 25, 1918

100 Years Ago

Local News: On the 17th, a fire started in the roof of an old blacksmith shop in the village of Otter Lake and although help was on hand, there was a strong north wind and the building was old, it consumed very fast. The fire then caught in the large block of buildings owned by Mr. Jos. Roy of Warren, occupied by Mr. R. Dagenais as a temperance hotel and in which as kept the post office.
Such was the strength of the wind that although a crowd soon got there, all their efforts to stem the fire was of no use as there were no ladders handy.
The whole mass, together with the storehouse, sheds and stables, were soon all in flames.
As there were a good many men present, the rest of the houses at that end of the village were saved. It was a pitiful sight to see the contents of the houses lying scattered in the fields and women and children crying about their lost homes.
The sufferers were accommodated by different neighbours.
Thirty-four per cent of those killed on Canadian railways for the year ending Dec. 1917 were trespassers.
Motorists are cautioned against exceeding the speed limit when driving through Shawville and be particularly careful to slow down at the street crossings.
This is the only way of avoiding accidents and keeping out of trouble.
Twenty-one short-term prisoners at Dorchester Penitentiary have volunteered and been accepted to serve in the war on condition of receiving pardons at its termination.

Apr. 27, 1893

125 Years Ago

Local news: The snow which fell on Friday in Bristol Mines was a very unwelcome sight to farmers as quite a few had started ploughing.
Ball is the popular game in Upper Thorne now.
There was a very high wind the other night. One particular dog of this neighbourhood was lifted by the wind and left on the roof of a shed where he remained till noon the next day when a neighbour kindly assisted the owner in releasing him from his rather uncomfortable position.
There is quite a demand for carpenters in Shawville this spring owing to the amount of building that is going on.
The wind was a terror for several days, growing worse on Thursday and then came an accompaniment of rain and sleet, followed by snow. Gentle spring has, indeed, been scandalously outraged this season.
Several buildings suffered damage by the high wind of Thursday night, among others, a 60 foot shed of Mr. Alex Elliott Sr. was unroofed.
J.R. Booth has beaten the C.P.R. in the suit for the possession of the “Haggarty Pass”, a defile in the mountains of the Opeongo, said to be the only available pass for railway construction within a radius of many miles.
A wonderful hen is owned by a man in Waterloo. It is as expert as a cat in catching rats.
It teases them a while and then releases them. The owner of this remarkable fowl has observed that no rat ever comes the second time with n reach of its claws.
A sad accident occurred on Rocher Fondue Lake last Friday.
A man started to cross the lake on the ice from the Ross side of the lake and came half way across when he found the ice all gone from the other side.
He turned back but did not proceed very far till he went through the ice. He struggled for a quite a while but could not get out and at last he sank to rise no more.
He was seen by Mr. David Fleury but the latter was unable to render him any assistance.
Strange to say, no one knows who he is. They have sent word all around the country but no one seems to be missing. Parties are grappling for the body but up to now have not found it.