Halton Hills Newspapers

Flesherton Advance, 21 Jan 1948, p. 6

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Beys Abandon the South American Way â€" A group of Ridley College lads from Central and South America have been enjoying winter sports near Huntsville. At right, D. G. McLeod, resident master in Kidloy's lower scliool. instructs a few of his students in the tricky art of skiing. For many of the boys it was their first experience of a Canadian Avinter. Louis, a Fighter and a Gentleman After that fight on a recent Friday night, wlicn Joe's crown was saved by an eyelash, one of the reporter.-, asked Joe if he did not still think Walcott was "a third-rate fighter." "No," said Joe, "1 am." Speaking about his fight against the galloping Billy Conn, Joe cracked, dead pan as always; "lie cat run, but he can't hit." When the Associated Press flashed that Joe's wife was suing him for divorce in Chicago, he was hit harder than he ever was in the ring, pleading that such things were not to be joked about. "This is no joke, Joe," Eddie Edgar of the Press sports staff said. "I never heard of it," said Joe, "and I don't know anything about it. But, if you put anything in the paper, will you PLEASE say that whatever she says is right? I don't want to hurt her feelings." No lord of the manor could have said it wish such quiet and yet magnificent simplicity. When Tony Galento went with Joe to be weighed in at their fight Tony took a roundhouse swing at Joe's jaw. It is an old trick of the prize-ring roughnecks the idea being that an opponent may be unnerved. Joe dreamily moved his chin a fraction of an inch. "S'inatlcr, ' uni?" howled Tony. "Arc ynli afr.iid?" "I do my fighting in the ring," was Joe's quiet answer. Junco Is Scientific Name for Snowbird Just why the Snowbird should be called a Jinico nobody .<eems to know; but Junco is the scientific name and is more and more used as the common name. Even the ornitho- logists hesitate before they say that the I.atin word for seed is "jimciis;" the Snowbird cats quantities of weed seed, therefore Junco is a lo- gical name. Anyway, there is the Snowbird, or Junco, in dark gray full dress and white bosom, his tails neatly piped in white, say.s the New York Times. He is beautiful against a snowy background, and while one he- sitates to siifjgest that his esthetic sen.se dominates liis habits, he cer- tainly thrives in snow country. Some- times it seems that it takes a snow ;^C/rm to brin.i,' the .Snowbirds, for Ihey come whi'cling in flocks as a storm approaches. Oive them any en- couragement in the form of grain or crumbs, and they will remain, al- most as tame as the chikadees. TecliDically, they are of tlie same family as the sparrows. This is easy to believe when one sees and recog- nizes the yoimg Snowbirds, for they are dressed in juvenile plumage that looks, at a glance, like that of the adult song sparrow, streaked and speckled. .\nd the adults have a lit- tle song that rrmiiuls one of the more I lodimis of the sparrows, the trill a gnat deal like that of the chip- ping sjianow. Ne\er is it a loud song anil somelinies it is elaborated Into a Mift warble that has echoes of the song sparrow's beJt melody. It would be all very well to call the .Snowbird a Junco in lumincr. But ''n winter the name has no color •t a'l. no .mailer what its derivation, lii wi'ler it is a Snowbird, and that's all there it to il. Ten Minutes Late AAGE V. HOVMAND The e\fiiiii.L; was dark when at 11 o'clock Head Signalman Petersen ar- rived at the signal box for duty. "b'venirvg, Hansen; Any news?" Petersen took off his cap and coat. "They say Sivcrtsen 's out." So this was it; Sivertsen had been his mate but Petcr.scn had had to report him. Sivertsen bad been given a year in jail. He had threatened to get revenge. "Nothing else to report, Hansen?'' "Eight cars rom the brick works. There was no room in the freight siding. They're on line No. 2 wait- ing to be picked up by the early morning frei.nbl. That means ii through trains on line No. 2." Hansen had crone. Petersen was alone. Keep calm, he told himself. He lit his pipe and began to read the paper. The night express was due to pass at 11:27; at about 11:20 it would be signalled through from the junction. lie raisrd his head to yiaiuc at the clock and stared sidnvays into the mucalc of a revolver. He jell his scalf slir'iiik. Behind him came Sivcrts^h's ugly voice. "Put your hands behind you." Petersen could feel J)is hands be- ing tied to the back ^«fr ttie chair. Suddenly the phone rang. Sivert- sen liftei. the receiver. "K'ight . . . all clear!" he, said. The word was that lh<' nipht express was passing the junction. "I see you still have the bad ha- bit of parking cars on line No. 2," grinned Sivertsen. He switched the main line over to line No. 2 and lowered the signals. Petersen shouted in terror. Si- vertsen said; "What'll happen when the fast express hits those cars? And what'll happen to the man re- sponsible? Perhaps you'll try to con- vince the prosecution that you're not guilty? That I was there with a knife and cut you loose and ran off with the rope the moment it hap- pens?" Sivcrtsen lighted a cigarette. "I'm going down to see if the cars are properly braked. Then it'll work better." !'etcrsen was deathly pale. He \yas speechless. "What are you glaring at?" sneered Sivertsen. "Want _a smoke to steady your nerves a bit, FOR FASTER RELIEF NEVER NbriSr WlaCoU ihlsWbise! IQulckl Use Thata Spaclal DoulHa-Duty Noaa Dropa £> tSrLcil^a^3rM, ri is that it?" He thrust a cigarette into Petersen's mouth, lit it and was gone. Petersen puffed automatically at the cigarette. Shout for help? Use- less, there was no one near. I"our feet away from him was the signal lever. Move it and the express would be saved. But he could not move his hands. He knew that 200 yards away two green lights were signalling all clear. And 500 yards further on was another signal indicating there was no dan- ger. 11:.U! Sivertsen had received the junction's news of the expi-ess at 11:30. It would be here at !1:.V. Petersen tried to bend forward. The rope ti.nlitcned round bis wrists. Now with his cigarette he could nearly reach the rope across his knees. The cigarette was half finished. He puffed vigorously and the glow in- cre;ised. He pressed it again.st the rope with desperate energy, drawing deeply. He heard the faint cracking .sounds as the threads of the rope broke. lUit he heard another soimd too, farther away, the whistle of the express. With all his might be sthetched his knees and the rope broke. He could stand upright and in feverish haste be freed his hands. .-X glance out of the window showed him the lights of the approaching train. Dragging the chair with him he threw himself on the signal lever and changed it to red. But the en- gine was already passing under it and the engine driver noticed nothin.g. Like lightning he grablied another lever and charged the points to connect up the main line. rive seconds later the txfiress pass- ed safely by. A streak of tight from its uindows marked its course Ihrouyh the night. Petersen looked at the clock. 11:371 Ten minutes late! Then he collapsed on the chair.. THE ROYAL BANK OF CANADA ANNUAL MEETING Sydney G. Dobson, President, declares European recovery most important factor in Canada's economic life. "Should American Continent fail to provide what is necessary to save Europe, the effect on our economy would be serious." Intelligent participation in Marshall Plan will be of service to both Canada and the United States. James Muir, General Manager, reports marked increase in com- mercial loans . . . public deposits again increase . . . profits improve. Royal Bank depositors now total 1,750,000. Unique service to foreign traders provided through 71 branches in foreign countries. The vital importanec of Euro- pean recovery to the welfare of Canada, and the part Canada can play in restoring Ivuropc to ecoiio- mi- health, were stressed by Syd- ney G. Dobson- President of The Royal Bank of Canada, at the bank's annual meeting. "Should the American continent fail to provide what is necessary to save Europe," he said, "the effect on our economy would be serious. I mention this because it is not generally enough realized that Canada depends to the extent of 309^ of her national in- come upon export trade. In addition •' should be noted that Canada's ex- ports to the Western European countries in the last pre-war year composed 47% of her total exports, a fact which emphasizes the import- ance of European recovery to the maintenance' of Canada's econom- ic health.'' Mr. Dobson pointed out that Canada had already done niucli to help provide Europe with the ne- cessities of life. Canadian exports to Europe in 1946 had amounted to $932 millioi.. In the past few- years Canada had provided over $2 billion worth of aid to Europe in the form of loans, credits an.l gifts. "However, what has been done by Canada and other coun- tries, has not been enough," said Mr Dobson, "Plans are under way which it is hoped will, in the course of a few years, permanently restore European economic health." The Marshall Plan, "one of the happiest suggesti. ns ever made in international relations," and the Geneva trade agreements last No- vember were, he said, important steps to world recovery, .^n intel- ligent prog; mme for North .'\mcr- ican participation in the Marshall Plan would be of service to both Canada and the L'nitcd States. RECORD OF ACHIEVEMENT Canada, said Mr. Dobson, had been singuljirly blessed by Prov- idence. Notable progress had been made in both production and trade during recent years- and the stand- ards of living of the Canadian peo- ple had shown marked gains. "Can- ada's foreign trade," be said "reached a new high total in the first ten months of 1917, (.$4,4:!5,- 600,000). This was made up of all kinds of goods, raw and processed. "Seventy-five years a,:;o we ex- ported goods to the money value of $18 per capita: in 1946 we ex- ported goods worth $184 per capita, an increase of ten times. E.mploy meiit exceeded five million for the first time on record in .'\ugust last. Productivity, too, is liigli. Can- ada's national income increased from ,'';.i.<)72 million in 1938 to $9,- 464 million in 1946. When trans- lated into dollars of the same value we find the increase to be 97 per cent, equal to an tuldition of $379 per i)ersoii per year. "I find that (in dollars of the same value) the personal income of Canadians has increased from $3^)1 per capita in 19.1S to $<)03 in 1946, The total personal expend- iture on consumer goods and serv- ices amounted to $3,714 million in 1938 ami $5,9J6 million in 1946, an increase of 60 per cent compared with our population increase of 10 per cent. This increase in the sum spent on personal consimiption goods suggests a significant rise in :' standard of living." RECIPE FOR PROSPERITY These figures, Mr. Dobson said, were gratifying and encouraging, but tun dangers had to be faced to maintain present prosperity. One danger was the possibility of economic collapse in Europe. The other was inflation. "Price rises," he said, "make it more necessary than ever for us to measure our real advance in dollars of constant value. The rest of the rise in money value is for the most part the empty air of iiillation. V\ Ik ti money incomes arc exces.sive re- lative to the available supply of goods, as they are now, the bigical way to reduce the pressure on prices is to increase the supply of goods. We have the physical equip- ment to do this, but the human factor is needed; a competent workman scekiitg to get out of hii machine the whole production of which it is capable. I believe that what I said a year ago still holds true. There arc still too many people who make high wages and plentiful Irtsuri? the greatest aims of their lives; still too many who believe that less production and more pay per worker is a solid base for prosperity. This is, of course, a fallacy. An honest day's work for an honest day's pay is Slit! a good recipe for pros, perity, perhaps the only formula that will insure lower prices, a higher standard of living, and last ing good t' ;s for rfll. "Part of our current juipuf, of coi;.>e. is devoted to enlargement and replacement of plant and equipment. Necessary replace- ments of plant must be made, and at times expan.sion is essential: but a strenuous effort i lust be made to limit non-economic expansion of construction. Much construction is going forward now at costs so high that only continuous prosp- erity at prcse- levels can make it pav. CONSERVATION NEEDSD "Canada's present prosperity, which is .spread so widely in our nation, is based upon the develop- ment of Canada's natural resources. "Agriculture, because it supplies the basic need of men for food, is of highest importance. "This source of livelihood for farmers and of revenue for the Ceuntry is worth preserving. It is becoming rccoyriizeil that the fertility of our ...oil is not everlast- ing. Fortunatel; Canada has an opportunity to applv measures of conscr\ation rather than of recla- mati< M. We must .;ot wait for 'dust l/owls' to form, or for prairie farms to be buried in sand. "The same need for conserva- tion is found in our forest resour- c . More than 27 per cent of the value of our exports stems from our forests. "Better protection and improved cutting practices have contributed in recent yeais toward preservation of our forest wealth, but there is still a verv heavy annual loss from fire and insects which should be substantially reduced. Forest con- •vati. .. is a 'must'. "There can be no better example of newly created wealth than that of our mining industry. Forty years ago the total dollar value of our mine production in a year was $42 million ; in ten years it had become $108 million ; in the peak year 1 '41, it had reached $.595 mil- lion. The mines have added to Cana la's wealth some $12 billion since mining statistics were first kept. "Not much is heard in Canada about our fisheries, although they give employment to 8.\0<)0 persons in the primary and processing branches, and the iuvc.-,ttnent in them amounts to $75 million. "Develof .nent of hydro electric power in tlie last forty years has been rising sharply and consistent- ly. Our present installations, pro- ducing 10!4 million horsepower, place us second only to the United J"' tes. in development of water wer, ;.i '. as yet only 20 per cent of our potential power has liecn developed. FREEDOM OF ENTERPRISE "It is tidy right to say at this point that the greatest advances in well-being for their people have been made in countries like our own where freedom of enterprise has been allied to natural resour- ces. The restrictive trade practices of so-culled 'plaiincd' economies deprive the world of that freedom of (leveKipment, and expansion of business, and free intercluuige of goods which alone can bring decent living conditions on a wide scale. "It is significant that in all the world the only countries to which Europe can turn for effective help arc these two democracies of America, free-enterprise coiiii tries. It is obvious!, not we who are unstable, but the totiiliiarian coun- tries. It is not we who are depress- ed, but the totab'tarian countries. It is not we who are short of produc- tion of the things people need to live, but the totalitarian countries. "It would, however, be very wrong to be complacent. Progress depends upon our keeping our freedom, and bow much freedom business shall keep, and how long it will last, depend upon our ability to recognize, understand and meet our obligations to the nation as a whole. It should be our ob- jective to show that free enterprise is the only economic system in the history of the world flexible enough to change in keeping with the needs of its people. .\t the same time it is the only economic system in the history of the world that has ever brought about great stability, and advancement of the standard of living of the people living under it." GENERAL MANAGER'S ADDRESS In presenting the bank's 78th .'\muial Report, Mr. James X.uir, Gc-neral .Manager, reported that the bank's total assets now itood at #2,093,641,218.61 and that liquid assets conMituted 74% of the bank't liabilities to tl e public. •One feature of this year's bal- ance sheet is the marked increase in commercial loans in Canada" s; id Mr .Muir. "This item is $126,- 138.687.47 larger than a year ago, reflecting an experience common to all banks. I'lic reason for it is the very, high level of business activity, the expansion of produc- tion facilities, the increased volume of goods on hand, and, of course, the influence of higher prices. It takes more dollars than it did a year ago t. conuuel a compar- able amount of bu.siuess. --^9 a consequence, the amount of com- mercial borrowings represents a substantial sum, and I think I may say in passing that 1 do not view a rapid and large increase in bank loans with equanimity. ••'i he number r f personal loans made during the year continues large. 1 hese arc principally in the $i()0 and under category, where, in fact, the number of new loans tt tailed one liundred and titty-live thousand. When one considers the high volume of these personal loan. Iron) banks, plus the substan- tial business of personal loan and allied companies, all at a time when there is full employment and high wages, the thought occurs that per- haps a living beyond-onc's-mcans policy IS abr i<l. If so. it is un healthy." Mr. Muir pointed out that there had been an increase of $33,654.- 989. in the bank's public deposits and that tcfl deposits stood at $1,934,185,849. He reported that the number of depositors continued to expand and now totalled over one and tliree quarter inillioii. PROFITS "Il will have been satisfactory for you to learn that the profits were $l,818,i:J2.96 l.iglier than in the preceding year." he said. "The amount required for government taxes was $2,850,000, after deduc- tion of which there rem;iincd $5,- 874.519.48 from the year's oper.a- tions. Dividends required a dis- bursement of $2,975,000 and dep- reciation on bank premises ;;mount- ed to $892,687.01. After providing for all the forcgoii.g charges, there is a residue of $2,006,832.47 in Profit and Loss .-Vccouiit. leaving a carryforward of .$3,474,246.55." 71 BRANCHES ABROAD The nportant role played by' the branches of The Royal Bank of Can-da in foreign countries in providing facilities for foreign traders was stressed by Mr. Muir. "Over a long period of years our activity in foreign countries lias been an outstanding feature of our service X.j Canadian business. We have expanded in keeping with the progress of the foreign conn- trv and the development of Can ada's external trade. Tlio result is that The Royal Bank of Can- ada is very much integrated with the- commercial life of many na- tions and has become for their business men :• real and attractive •symbol of Canada. "Last year I made reference to the unique position we occupy re- garding our branches abroad and I believe it bears repeating, because it is our belief that there is no adequate substitute for direct rep resentation by our own trained or- ganization, experienced in Cana- ian ways and fully informed by close liaison of the needs and of- ferings of Canadian businessmen. "Apart from world-wide rela- tions with banking houses, we have seventy-one branches cmtside of Canada. There is a constant flow of information regarding market and general conditions from these branches to a central department at our Head Office in Montreal, and similar iiifornKition reaches Us from correspondents throu.ghout the world v.'liere we do not operate branches of our own. This, you will appreciate, enables us to fur- nish a highly efficient, unmatched and valuable service to exporting and iiuporliim elimts." TRIBUTE TO STAFF A warm tiibnte to the staff for their splendid co-operation and ser- vice, and devotion to the welfare of the Inisiiiess in which they were engaged was voiced by Mr. Muir: "I have reason to hope that our personnel know of the liigh re.gard in which they are held," he said. "I have nev'r come across in all my years of contact with other business institutions, a staff more cariK t, more devoted to the wel- fare of the business with which they were associated, or more con- scious of their important place in the eeoiiomy of the nation. .-V good banker must be part accountant, financier, diplomat, lawyer and economist, and above all he must be .. human being with the ability to understand his fellow men. I am proud to say that the staff of this bank, with all these necessary qualities, has also the spirit of teamwork which is so essential to h:ippy relations, and which counts So much in the fine results of the year's activity. "The staff of the bank numbers in excess of 10,400â€" more than half of whom are women. They have done a splendid job througliout the year. Wv are grateful to them and conimeiul them higblv to vou.'' A llltlo Vlck.s Va-tro-nol In each nos- tril rallavaa head cold distress fast! And tf used at first wnrninr sniffle or sneeze, 'Vu-tro-nol actually helps to pravant niimy eold.s frciui di'vi-loping. Try Iti Follow clireellon.s In packaye. VICKSVA-nO-NOL I -^ •< 1; A. 4. >

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