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Daily Journal-Record The Home Newspaper For Halton County Oakville, Ontario, Canada, Friday, September 1, 1967 By LUELLA BROUGHTON F or this Centennial Edition article we visited a Cen tury farm in the Palerm o area and were amply rewarded in the wealth of information received from Jam es H. Van Sickle, (known to his neighors as "J im " ), whose farm cam e into the Van Sickle nam e in 1867 but which has been in his connection since 1815. It has been proclaim ed a Century Farm by the province and a sign to this effect, a project of the 4-H Club, has been placed at the entrance. J im 's great-great-grandfather emigrated from Ger many to Canada. At that time Dundas Street was a m il itary road running from the back of the city hall in To ronto to the city hall in London. Grants were given to those who could swear allegiance to the crown but, as the new immigrant was a German, he could not be given a grant so he got another man, Jacob Fillman, to take up the grant and he did the necessary work agreed to be done on the land, lot 35. Con 1 N.D.S., 200 acres. GOT TITLE In 1915 Jim 's great grandfather retrieved the land from Fillman. His father received the north half of theland, the farm he now lives on at 3451 Tremaine, and his uncle, John Van Sickle's father, received the south half on Dundas Highway which John farms. Jim is living m ore or less retired on his farm . He has a fascinating hobby -- restoring old farm implements and.tools. We were greatly interested in his collection. At the time of our visit he was repairing a grain cradle with five fingers. He informed us a buckwheat cradle only has four fingers. A garden seeder, similar to that used by his great grandfather, a barley fork for gathering the grain and pitching it on to the wagon and a wooden field rake 42 inches wide with a split wood handle all look very primi tive. STILL USED A wooden fruit sprayer, which sprayed the farm or chard, is crude but effective. Horse-drawn plows were made up to fifty years ago in a foundry in Palerm o run by John Smith. An English style hand plow m ade at the blacksmith shop in Tansley about 75 years ago is in the farm driveshed. As a young boy, Jim rem em bers his father using oxen to plow. He has a handmade chain used in pull ing the plow and the ox bow which rested on the ani m als' necks. Am ong other Implements Is a pea harvester which was used by both him and his father. It is m ade of wrought iron and would bend when caught under roots. A set of wooden harrows was used by his father and grandfather. A sewing horse, used by his grandfather in making and mending harness, is a real collector's item. OLD SCALE A Stillyards scale which belonged to J im 's great grandfather Book, is unique. It is equipped with a hook , to hang on a rafter, weights up to 50 pounds one way and when turned over will weigh up to 240 pounds. Quarters of beef were weighed on it. An outdoor pellar and smokehouse with a brick chim ney was built by Mike Cullingham o f Palerm o in 1903. Jim recalls his parents smoking pork and drying salted beef in it. It harbors som e interesting articles, evidence o f a begone era. Am ong them are poles used for hop vines to run on end a tool to peel the poles. The hops were used in making yeast for bread and also in making beer. His grandm other' s old steam er for making suet pudding, her cast iron butter scales and a usable apple peeler are also in the smokehouse. On going into the large brick farm house, built in 1895, w e were shown the crown deed of the homestead written on sheepskin and dated 1807, the 48th year of King G eorge I l l 's reign, also letters of administration in an envelope dated 1854 with stamped postage. PRIVATE MUSEUM The large landing on the second floor o f the farm house is a small museum in Canadiana. The spinning wheel used by Jim 's great grandmother Book and her rocking chair are in good condition. Many treasured m e mentoes are in an antique chest of drawers and a china cabinet. A chain purse, used to ca rry gold coins when taxes had to be paid in gold, was owned by grandfather Van Sickle. His watch was m ade in Georgetown. A fam ily seal w a i used when envelope* were made o f paper and sealed. A Jubilee number o f the Globe, dated June 9, 189i', with pictures o f the Royal fam ily from 1837 to 1897, also contains articles and pictures of the provinces. A shop-made tin m oney box belonged to Jim 's great aunt, Ettie Book. A handmade Lutheran Catechism is dated 1766. The minutes of the Palerm o Sons of T em perance since the Order's founding in 1850 is interesting reading. The Van Sickles have stored m any articles which belonged to his aunt, Hallie Van Sickle, who is 94 and in a retirement home. Her 1890 bathing suit is m ade o f lustre and trimmed with braid. Dishes which cam e from New Jersey by oxcart to G rim sby are in the china cabinet. A glass fruit dish has a huge spoon on the side. A cruet set holds the usual condiment containers. Miss Van Sickle is an artist and one of her lovely paintings adorns a wall in the dining room . Methods o f farming have changed mightily in a hun dred years. We are glad Jim and his wife Laura have had the foresight to treasure evidence for posterity re cording the change not only in farm ing but in gracious living. By E. LESLIE BOTT As was to be expected, a vast avalanche of literary effort swept down on the Canadian people in an effort to engulf the interest of the Centennial - minded public. Alas, most o f the writing which passed through the publishing ballyhoo has been m ediocre and banal -- no first - class work of Canadiana has appeared from the pens of the mem bers of the recognized coterie of Canad ian writers. To the moment, mid - year in the Centennial celebrations, Canada has best been portrayed both gra phically and in the literary sense in the presentation of " To everything there is a season" by native son, R olloff Beny, while the 14 prime ministers have best been treated and extolled by two new writers: Christopher Ondaatje and Robert Catherwood. TO EVERYTHING THERE IS A SEASON Photographed and designed by Koloff Beny; Edited by Milton Wilson; 324 pages (Longmans). As a Centennial year project this literary, photo graphically artistic publication is most certainly the finest visual salute to Canada's 100 - year achievement. In its quiet, subtle way it em braces and unites all areas and people in a thoroughly objective kaleidoscope of the entire Canadian scene. The unfortunate aspect of its publication lies in the m atter of cost, since $25.00 is far too great a sum to permit its entry into every home in the land where it certainly ought to be. I say this with great feeling be cause, I find, oh, so very few Canadians who have taken the trouble to, or have been able to, visit the country from end to end. The possession of this book could challenge those who m ay travel and compensate those who cannot. I have used the School library copy for this review. HUMBLE TRAVELLER An Englishman, I have, in m y long sojourn in Canada, travelled from coast to coast on several occasions and have dipped into the interior of m ost provinces and hav* m et people who make the areas their own. One is humbled as one travels from Prince Edward Island to British Columbia by the visual grandeur of the ever - changing scenery and by the gentle kindness and courtesy of the inhabitants of each province to the strang er from without. All this feeling is captured and expanded by the very clever and imaginative Roloff Beny who has travelled with a cam era and a superior-trained roving eye. SURE SUCCESS It was obvious that, from its conception, this vast book was headed for great success on two scores: one, the Canadian Government chose it as one of the books it is giving to heads o f state and governm ent leaders invited to Canada for Centennial celebrations in Ottawa; two, the patrons of the book are Mr. and Mrs. John D avid Eaton who, in their generosity have placed a cop y in the High Schools o f the Province. To add to this prestig ious beginning, publication has also been arranged for, both in Great Britain and in the United States. R oloff Beny is a superb craftsm an with the cam era and his photography depicts and reflects the constantly changing Canadian scene with shots in color and in black and white taken from e v e iy conceivable angle. His work is both descriptive and imaginative to an incredible de gree Beny has approached the assignment with all the m astery of the skilled artist and architect -- he has shown the infinite patience that permits him to wait for the effective slanting of sun and for the accurate accum ula tion bf cloud formation. LOVING CARE . As a study of light and shadow Beny has triumph ed with some breath-taking studies of such com m onplace phenomena as rock formation, wild flowers, the sea, and the open, barren areas of the far north. In all, there are 56 photographs in colour and 144 in black and white all treated with the utmost skill and loving care. While Beny's photographs relate the theme of the book there is a running narrative consisting o f samples of 26 Canadian poets and excerpts from the journals o f early explorers. In all but a few, these are pertinent to the idea the artist wished to portray. The title of the book, taken from E cclesiastes, chapt e r three, is a happy choice since he has revealed Canada and Canadian growth in all its varying m oods -- in all seasons. THE PRIME MINISTERS OF CANADA -- 1867-1967: By Christopher Ondaatje and Robert Catherwood; 169 pages (Canyon Press). The Centennial theme certainly stimulated the two writers of this richly com prehensive text introducing, in chronological order, the 14 prim e ministers Canada has had during its first 100 years. Of all the books that have been written about our leaders, and they are legion, nope has given the pleasure that em erged from a first reading. It w as impossible to put the book down, for here is a continuing chronicle o f the m en who rose to high o ffice then passed it on to others. SHORT BOOK The chief m erit of the book lies in its brevity. It can be read in a short time and as a beguiling narrative which places men and events in their suitable times. The gap between the tenure o f Sr. John A. M acdon ald and that of the first Liberal Prim e Minister is related in an absorbing style -- so little has been told heretofore of Mackenzie, Abbott, Thompson, Bowell and Tupper as each succeeded the other and strove to keep the Tory intact and in power. The period is brilliantly, if succinct ly evoked, while the respective prim e ministers are sharp ly and understandably delineated. As a school librarian, it is m y firm conviction that this book should be in every school library across the land. It is the best, the most readable ready reference I have encountered. WHEN THE SONG IS ENDED . . . WILL THE MELODY LINGER ON? Canada '67 By PATRICK NICHOLSON Parliam ent Hill, the staid old lady of Ottawa, doffed her prim long black dress and her haughty lorgnettes, and cam e tripping along to her 100th birthday bash in a mini-skirt. Some who m anaged to get close to her in the throng sw ear that she had even painted " Tw iggies" under her eyes. M aybe, but anyhow the old girl has shown that there is nothing like a lavish slice of 100th birthday cake to rejuvenate the spirit. She was never quite like this before, and it is unlikely that she will ever get over this long sum m er madness and sag back into her dull dignity. Of course when presidents and potentates princesses and prem iers com e to pay court to an old iady -- es pecially when for 100 years they have K ssed by on the other side of the road as they go to visit iiex * m ore promin ent neighbor -- it is not surprising .fcat she has had a rush of blush to the cheek. She won' t admit that these disinguised visitors weire attracted to Canada by Expo rather than by her birthday party; anyhow they nearly all called upon her first -- all, that is, except that pretent ious old boulevardier from Gay Paree, who rudely snub bed her invitation after she had already put the roast in the oven for him. PM HAS A BALL Thirty-five countries have already sent their head of state or his representative to visit Ottawa, and another twenty-six nations will be represented by VIPs here before the birthday party is over, Prim e Minister P ear son says. He takes part in w elcom ing them all and for him it's a ball. " I 'm having a wonderful sum m er," he says. " I 've never had so much to do in a sum mer in m y life. I 'm getting a great deal of interest and pleasure out of meeting these distinguished visitors, and our talks to gether are a kind of crash course in international relaion s." The routine is much the sam e for all visitors. They arrive on Parliam ent Hill at 4.30 in the afternoon for their official w elcom ing cerem ony -- and it's surprising how many of them com e on a Sunday when the crowds are their largest. Bands play their national anthem, honor guards stand at attention to be inspected, there's a polite little speech o f w elcom e, and guns fire salutes which defeafen the assem bled officials and diplomats and tourists, and terrify the poor pigeons roosting in their Senate niches. Prim e Minister and Mrs. Pearson entertain these dig nitaries at a lunch for 72 guests at the Country Club, and Governor General Michener gives a state banquet in their honor at Government House. Then the visitors are whisked off to Expo, and to tour a selected province. SOME EAT BURGERS The m ore numerous unofficial visitors, who are not red - carpeted but just as w elcom e, find less form a] but probably m ore enjoyable pleasures in Ottawa, even if their stay here is punctuated by a ham burger at the Honey Dew restaurant rather than by Gaspe salmon at Government House. At 10 each morning, unless rain com pels a cancellation, Parliam ent Hill starts its day with its m ost popular spectacle, the half - hour cerem ony of " changing the guard," with soldiers and bands. Ii the noontime lunch hour and again in the after noon and evening there's free entertainment on the lawns and stages of Parliam ent Hill. This m ay be trick m otor-cycling by the Arm y, o r an enactment from our history in full period costume; o r it m ay be provided by a choir or a marching band from som e school; or it m ay be a concert on the carillon o f bells in the P eace Tower. There' s much com ing and going all the time, per haps a V IP cavalcade with m otor-cycle escort of Mounties, or m aybe a private visit, like the tourists who arrived in a chuck-wagon o f the flotilla of schoolboys who toted their canoes up The Hill and parked them on the steps of the Parliam ent Building, or the parade of " Vint a g e " old automobiles. PEACE TOWER TOUR Between whiles, visitors form patient long lines wait ing to m ake the popular tour of the Parliam ent Building, which ends on the high note o f the elevator ride to the gallery surrounding the top of the P eace Tower, and that's where the cam eras really click as photo-buffs get wonderful shots o f Ottawa' s panorama. Finally, after dark visitors can enjoy the " Sound and Light" spectacular, outlining the history of the de velopment o f our capital district over 3V& centuries of exploration and settlement by the white man. " Off the Hill, visitors like to see the R oyal Mint and the museums, perhaps the RCM P m usical ride or the m ilitary tattoo ,the foreign E m bassies and the other sights o f Ottawa, while m any drive to the lovely Gatineau Park fo r a picnic and a free swim in one of the pretty lakes. That's the routine, but it' s the m ood o f this once staid old lady which is the surprise. F or Parliam ent Hill really has turned on a birthday m ood of its own. The innumerable fluttering of c e n t e n n i a l flags o f m any colours give it a brash air; the wooden stages and platforms painted in bright colors add giety to the lush green lawns; and the martial m usic lifts up the sourest spirit. AIRY EAT · INS But its the happy throngs of people who m ake it so gay, lightly clad children skipping along beside P a and Ma in their colorful tourist clothes; young couples staging an alfresco eat-in as they picnic beneath the trees; and the scarlet - coated Mounties talking it up with the kids and good-naturedly posing fo r snapshots beside the Cen tennial Fountain. This m ood has spread beyond the tourists: that bare headed man walking across the grass, for instance, wear ing scandals and an open neck sport shirt looks like a young professor from some USA college, doesn' t he? But Dad, you 'd be surprised to learn that is Canada's Minister o f Justice, the Honorable Pierre Elliott Trudeau, the gasoline millionaire from Montreal. And that plumpish smiling lady in the brightly color ed but not quite m ini-dress? Why, that's " T w iggy" LaMarsh, the Cabinet Minister from Niagara Falls, who is really Canada's Centennial Hostess and Party-planner. Laughs? They com e a barrel an hour. But the ques tion which galls as much as it amuses is the com m onest of them all: " And, please, which of these buildings is President Johnson's h om e?" Ghost Of Oakville Past Comes Back To flaunt Us By L. S. MANNELL F or over a week, I have procastinated over what I should write for the Centennial issue. Something about the past, or perhaps the future? What hap pens today we know about, so w hy bother with it? It is now 3 a.m. on the morn ing o f August 23rd 1967 and I have a deadline of noon to get something off the type writer. I have tom up several sheets and am ready to pack it up when the door bell rings. " Who on earth is wandering around at this hour of the m orning," say I, and carefully opening the door, at first I think that someone is playing a huge joke. Standing on m y doorstep is an elderly gentle man dressed in formal attire as seen only in our old m aga zines and museums. NOT CRAZY Before I can say " What is this all about," he speaks to m e and asks: " Mr. Marmell?" , to which I reply: " Y es." D o not be alarm ed," he says;' " I am not a mirage, nor ar* you going orazy." " I am here to assist you with your article, and m ay be able to help you and the people o f Oakville to regain that great heritage m y generation left to you and them a hundred years ago. " M y name is unimportant; what I stand for is the import ant thing. I represent the town o f Oakville is it existed 100 years ago. M ay I com e in ?" Slightly shocked, I replied, " Certainly" . And now I wish to relate one o f the m ost inter esting ^conversations I have ever had. OLDSTERS' PLANS In clear, precise English the gentleman said " I would like to outline to you, so that you can put it down on paper for everyone to see, exactly what we, the citizens of Oakville, foresaw for you 100 years ago today." " We had already laid out a townsite on a grid basis, tying in the main streets to the sur vey of John Graves S im coe,. who planned the entire south end o f the province in a big grid of one-and-a-quarter-mile sections of ten farm s to the section. "Although most of his sur vey was only on maps and very few roads opened up, we tied our street pattern into it. Lakeshore Road, or C olbom e Street, as we called it, was the southern m ost east-west street, running a true 39 degrees west; and the Eighth Line, Glouces ter and Allan ran into the grid on a basis of 45 degrees north. SEVENTH LINE "T he Seventh Line was desig nated north of the town as a true north-south road until it hit the second east-west artery (then the Lower M id db R oad). Then it changed to follow the creek to the harbor, both for utility and scenery. " The fall of the land made the town a natural for eventual sewers, and we foresaw that the Red iHll would some day be the storage area for water to supply the town. " W ien the railw ay cam # through we insisted that it stay to the north o f the town, as we wanted to keep an ^ fa c t o r ies or storage yards f t there. We acquired all the rights to ·the harbor, the lakefront and the river so that they might be kept for future generations. " The main street (Colbom e) we laid out as an 80-foot-wida road to handle all business traf fic, with lanes behind all the stores for deliveries(We knew nothing abou the auto mobile in those days.) VILLAGE SQLARE " We laid out the Village Square close to the harbor on Navy Street, and deeded it in perpertuity to the citizens as a future market and village m eet ing - place. We catered to busi ness, worked up a huge trade and lumbering business, built a grist m ill on the river. " We laid the town out with spacious lots close to the lake where the businessmen could live close to the harbor and the main street. Further out, we laid out sm aller lots and planned for expansion far many years. " We foresaw the com ing o f the electric oar before the end of the century and laid out a right o f way both east and west 'of the town. "W e held village meetings In which nearly all the citi zens participated. Each villag er was required to serve his community in one w ay o r an other, and we got the best men to act as trustees and later form a council. " Everything that was done was done for the benefit of the community. We planted trees along every street in town in the hope that about now it would be the m ost beautiful town in Canada, if not tha world. " We set up a proper taxing system that provided a services system that p r o v i d e d ser vices on a basis of usage. We hired the b e s t teachers we could get to teach our young. We built good schools, we dug wells, we brought in doctors and professional people when needed, and the village grew and prospered for m any years. WHAT PROGRESS? " Today I have com e back from the past to ask you and your generation what use you made of the heritage w e left you. Have you properly devel oped the harbor; built a thriv ing business section along Col bom e Street from Brock to Gloucester; maintained the vil lage square; kept up the parks and replanted the trees as they died out? Or what have you don e?" I hung m y head In shame. How could I tell this gentle man from the past that w » had given away his village square to a local club; cut down 90 per cent of the trees he had planted; built the busi ness section all over H ell' s half a cre and not where it was planned; let subdividers build over the Radial right-of-way and now have found that we have no east-west artery un less we tear up the beautiful Lakeshore Road? ALL RUINED At tfiis point he must have read m y mind, for he said: " D o not feel badly. I have been around your town. I know what has happened. I know o f the public apathy. I know that un der the disguise of progress you have desecrated everything my generation considered holy. " You have put a status sym bol on the autom obile and let it ruin your countryside. You have worshipped the bulldozer as the sign of progress while it tore the guts out o f your com m unity. You have wrecked everything old and beautiful and replaced it with the new and shoddy; and all the while you have added millions of dol lars to the fast buck artists and taken the same millions from the honest citizens in tax es to replace the loss. You have replaced D em o cra cy with Bureaucracy. You have lost touch with the people. You have gone money-mad and have created a generation whose main sym bol is t h e mighty fo lia r and whose battle c ry is `Me first and to Hell with the other gu y.' NOTHING l e f t " I know that you have allow ed the waterfront to be sold off, the harbor and creek to be polluted beyond use and then given it to private interests or leased it out and not held it for the citizens. Other than G eorge' s Square you hav* nothing beautiful left in town. " The trees that are left a r« hacked to pieces to allow the unsightly wires that blot out tha skyline to provide you with power to run your stoves, re frigerators, dishwashers and every other gadget for which you owe your next five years' pay. " Yes, you have all the good things in life, but do you hav* the friendships, the meetings, the plays and all those things that brought our generation t o gether and moulded a town to be proud of? "Y e s, you have progressed beyond anything w e thought possible, and all you have had to give for it is your souls." With this remark, the gentle man rose and said: " Thanks for listening to m e and allow ing m e to unburden m y bitter n e ss ;" and before I could re ply that it was I that should b e forever grateful, he sim ply walked out through the front door and vanished in front of m y eyes. j