Sept. 16, 1992
25 Years Ago
Glory days of steam return to Pontiac: With steam engines chugging and chaff flying like snow, the threshing bee at Eric Campbell’s last Saturday resembled another era. A record crowd turned out for Eric’s annual celebration of Pontiac’s agricultural past.
A pair of old steam engines, some old threshing mills and 28 loads of the best grain that Eric Campbell has ever seen in 25 years kept things really hopping at his farm.
Hockey, hockey, hockey: There’s lots of talk about it with the revived Ottawa Senators just about ready to hit the ice for the first time since the 1930s.
Their rookies are finished sweating it out alone at the Hull camps and the pros are stepping out with them.
Here in Shawville, the registration for minor hockey was held over a couple of days last week and weekend. Its down a little says Elaine Richardson, but they hope to contact all players from last year to sign soon and fill up the roster again.
Sept. 21, 1967
50 Years Ago
Mayors request more police for Pontiac: At County Council last week the matter of police protection in Pontiac was discussed in detail and copies of a resolution were forwarded to Quebec requesting better service.
An increase in the number of police at the Campbell’s Bay detachment would suit the mayor of the municipalities of Pontiac well.
In discussing the need, it was pointed out that vandalism, theft and other crimes were increasing at an alarming rate with not enough police to investigate reported crimes in time to have any hope of solving them.
Injured by cow while protecting young grandson: Edwin Pirie, 66, of Maryland is in satisfactory condition in Pontiac Community Hospital after having been injured by a Holstein cow Sunday afternoon near his farm buildings.
Mr. Pirie who was putting a newly born calf and cow into a barn when his 6-year-old grandson, Charles Pirie followed by the farm dog, approached. The cow bolted at the dog but struck the boy knocking him to the ground and bruising him. The grandfather kicked the cow and helped the boy out of the way but she immediately turned on him knocking him down and tramping him about the chest, hand, face and head. Shouts for help brought his son George to his rescue who was successful in pulling his father from under the animal after hitting it with an axe to distract it.
Mr. Pirie was taken to Pontiac Community Hospital where he is under the care of Dr. Earl Potvin.
Sept. 24, 1942
75 Years Ago
Local News: There was record attendance at Shawville’s 86th fair with the cattle show the greatest in history. Despite war-time restrictions, the 80th annual exhibition of Pontiac Agricultural Society No. 1 functioned on Friday and Saturday last week with an all-time record in attendance. Except for a few hours during Saturday’s night show, fair and warm weather prevailed for the two-day program.
The cattle exhibit was again an outstanding feature of the fair and was even increased over last year when the first “black and white day” sponsored by the district Holstein Club became part of the fair. This time the increase was due to the interest or co-operation of the Shorthorn Association inaugurating a “shorthorn day” on Friday.
The whole show was composed of more than two hundred animals.
Revival of butchering day, when farm neighbours help each other prepare their meat supply, is expected this fall throughout the U.S. It will be cheaper, transportation and packing plants will be relieved of some of the record pig crop and since farm people won’t be going many places anyway, this will be another way for them to be good neighbours.
On the night of Sept. 7, 1940, planes from Goering’s Luftwaffe reported to number 700, bombed London in what Berlin described as the heaviest air raid in history, writes the New York Times. They killed 306 persons and wounded 1,200. It was one of those frantic blows which were to knock England out of the war and destroy the British Empire. Only a miracle of defense forced the Nazis to quit on the verge of victory.
Today, two years later, the sky above London is usually serene but night after night the dark sky over Germany is filled with hostile planes dropping loads of explosive which Goering’s fliers of 1940 never dreamed of.
Two shadows stretched across Hitler’s reich last week. One was the shadow of red army bombers striking from the Russian steppes 1,000 miles east of Berlin. The other was the now-familiar shadow of the R.A.F. reaching out from British airfields 600 miles or more to the west of the German capital.
Sept. 27, 1917
100 Years Ago
Local News: The water problem is becoming acute in some sections of the country that are not favoured with a large source of supply.
A number of wells and small creeks have gone dry from the continued absence of rain.
If the weather continues favourable, our exhibition which begins today is likely to be a successful event. Arrangements are being made to give a ploughing demonstration with a gasoline tractor in a field near the fair grounds. Something new and of particular interest to farmers.
Two more Clarendon boys who have been doing their bit overseas have returned home.
The first of these to arrive was George Carey, of Stark’s Corners, the other is Gerald Eades of Radford section, who although much under the age limit at which men are now being taken, has served ten or eleven months in the trenches and has been through some pretty hot stuff, including a couple of premature burials by shell explosion.
While his nerves are off colour a bit, Gerald, nevertheless, looks well and all his young friends are glad to see him home again without a scratch.
Sept. 29, 1892
125 Years Ago
Local news: Last Sunday was considered one of the hottest days of the year.
A gang of French Canadians arrived here for Gilmour and Co. on Wednesday evening. They were driven North to their destination on Thursday.
It is understood that Thursday, the 10th of November will be appointed a day of thanksgiving to Almighty God for the blessing of a bountiful harvest.
Nearly 100 people left the station here on Tuesday for the Ottawa Exhibition. It seems that the agent was only supplied with about seventy excursion tickets, consequently when these became exhausted, he had to fall back on the ordinary passenger tickets which were issued at the regular fare, or 35 cents in excess of the advertized rate.
Mr. Robert Splane lost a valuable cow on Sunday last and is supposed to have got poison and strange to say, was in the neighbourhood where Mr. William Wilson’s horse died some days previously.
On Thursday last, Messrs. R. Ritchie, William Clarke and Colon Campbell, superintendent of the Russell galena mine, Calumet Island, loaded a car-load of galena ore at Clarke’s Station, which is destined for Swansea, England. He expects from present indications to be able in a short time to be able to mine from 30 to 40 tons per day. Mr. Ritchie who, it may be said, takes a great interest in the development of our mineral resources and who is glad to obtain specimens from all parts of the county, thinks if the P.P.J.R. Co. could be persuaded or to run a branch into the village of Bryson, there could be considerable business worked up in the way of shipments of ore and stone from the Bryson quarries, which latter as may be seen from the fine appearance it presents in the county buildings, is of an exceptionally beautiful and superior quality.
Silos are all the rage. Andrew Grant and Robert Stewart both of Elmside, have just completed theirs.
There is a fine big bear prowling about Grant’s Flat. A.W. has decided how to put the trimmings on the hide to make a respectable robe for his cutter.
