tt jvjrfrtt stn press sevontysovonlh year no 40 acton ontario thursday april 10th 1952 eight home print pages six cents county mill rate down 25 for 1952 x- te wa jvft firemen fought to extinguish the blaze that followed the explosion wednesday morning at the darby home on john st a crowd of people from the business section was attracted by the nearby explosion that resulted as jytrs darbycleaned curtains in naptha gas while a nearby gas stove was operating firemen quickly controlled the blaze but were unable to prevent ex- tonsive damage to the kitchen an overall view is shown here as seen from a nearby roof the smoke poured out of the kitchen of the double house but the blaze did not affect the adjoin ing kitchen of the duplex staff photo turkey discussion ends in com sta petitioners citizens county health officlnls and council ended in a deadlock when they met in spec in 1 session mondny evening to consider the petition of bower ave residents against the iulcffcdjiuisance of odor from the wolfe turkey farm innumerable street corner and hnll gather ings followed adjournment of the almost two hour discussion more than 20 attended the special meeting besides the councillors moyor rachlin explained the purpose of the meeting and nuked individual petitioners to state their case on the nuisance for the benefit of health officials the delegation was informed a representative of the department of municipal affairs had been invited to the meeting but was unable to attend j bruce explained that his wife had been sick for many months and could not have fresh air be cause of the odor 1 lost was a to be r p arnold as president o storey glove said he had had workers leave in the middle of the afternoon because the odor forcca closing of the windows making hot afternoons unbearable production he claimed- mrs smith claimed it very uncomfortable thing living beside and i dont think it is very healthy mrs blow pointed out that if only the turkeys im referring to no one else or nothing else we cant use our yard we cant use our verandah t gordon explained that on damp nights its almost unbear able and g lantz said the odor was n little inconvenient a alerter pointed out that he hi 1 just purchased his property and jf the wind blows my way i ret it i harris said with his asthma he needed fresh air and was often compelled to put his window- down m the summer weather be cause of the odor dr mather of the halton county health unit explained nuisances are a very definite thing under the public health act i have taken the trouble to go to the provincial department of health and they j have assured me our only respon sibility was sanitation in thus ene it ha- been the boat possible it is imptvoible to keep that many tur keys without odor the medical officer of health doesnt have the power to cltvse up the farm unless it l in in nous to health in my opinion it is not injurious to health mivor ii lehlm explained that council did not have the power to put mr- wolfe out of business it h elliott said were asking council to have this nuisance elim inated so we the people of bowii ave can have full use of oi property which we are entitled to mayor itachhn called for sug gestions i o how the nuisance could bovuminated- and reminded the delegation that council ha- the power to make restrictive leg islation but it hasnt the power to make it retroactive w wolfe in his presentation ex plained the business was establish ed in 1043 and reached its present capacity in 1w7 he suggested the petition had its origin in deliber ations of the opposition concerning mv request to purchase a portion ot a lane adjacent to my pmidence on bower ave therefore the innc ind turkey issue may be wrapped up in one package mr wolfe suggested withdrawal of opposition to closing of the ian and withdrawal of the provision for a turning urea if this wore done he would agree to reduce tbe poundage of his turkeys produced between july 15 and sept 7 by 33 per cent commencing this yeai and effect a further reduction of mother 10 per cent in the next five years these were based on i 1951 figures and excluded poults under 10 weeks old thus will be a costly suggestion for me and i will lack conveniences heretofore enjoyed it must be considered as a- very substantial concession tin my part in an effort to alleviate the alleged nuisance and to restore love and harmony to bower ave he conoluded mr elliott said it looks to mi a- it lies looking for a deal i had nothing to do with that lane i only want full use of my property if he can assure me that a cut of ao per cent in production will el iminate the odor i willbe satii fied but i want it settled considerable discussion develop ed on whether the lane and he urkey petition were one item but nothing was resolved clerk mcgeachie read a nuisance bliw the only one passed by the town dated 1k74 and signed by w h storey v a- reeve the bylaw dealt with honking horns and fir ing of guns generally and did not apply to the petition under consid- eration mavor itachhn pointed out thai the matter must cither be settled j b the petitioners and mr wolf j or through the courts its an i awkward position for council i were sympathetic to both partie- wheh mr wolfe got his permit he i i was not restricted i cant sec nny j ivlmrn why you cant get together w- most certainly havent the power v following considerable discussion li which no progress was mode on j the turkey issue combined at times with the lane issue mr elliott ani mr mercer left declaring they were no interested in the lane a- fur as the petition goes youll hear further mr elliott conclud ed the meeting adjourned when mayor rachlin again assured those present that there was nothing that could be done by council mrs s cripps circle president the annual business meeting of the baptist mission circle was held at the home of mrs cohen mrs reid was in charge of the meeting and mrs joan garner read the scripture mrs refd gave a tnlk on the cross and mrs marjorie lands- borough led in proyer the president mrs cripps call ed on the committees to give their annual report mrs lil wagner gave the report of the nominoting committee and the officers for the coming year are as follows pres ident mrs marg cripps vice- president mrs m landsborough secretary mrs nora dunk treas urer mrs jean garner visitor mrs helen mccutcheon sick box mrs lil wagner mrs helen bul- mer mrs marg cohen birthday box airs bca coulson social con venor mrs harriet he wig pian ist miss ethel franklin mission band leader mrs jean garner helpers mrs lil wagner mrs bea coulson plans were made for the easter thankoffenng when the speaker is to be miss mary harrow from pet erborough nnd the spring rally to be held in acton baptist church mrs jean garner closed the meeting with prayer religious editor of globe speaker vi have been- terriblycon cer nod about the condition of our church mrs jane scott religious editor of the globe ond moll told momebrs of the missionary organ izations of acton presbyterian un ited baptist ond anglican church es ond guests from fergus ebenez- er ond guelph tuesday afternoon in the united church sunday school room mrs scott said dhe feels the power of god is not functioning properly in many of our lives easter to her means selfexam ination the atonement of christ tenderness cxhnltatlon ond recon ciliation each one must faci god person ally she said and easter is the tme to do it mrs scott wns introduced by m cole of acton who attended bible college with her he referred ij her unusual portion of wise ond un derstanding heart ond the genius of her skilled hand the united church wms pres ident miss m zbennett presided and the theme easter gave us the bible was taken by miaa bennett mrs j tl macarthur and mrs thompson prayer was token by missm mainprise a duet by miss dorothy simmons and mrs h veldhuls and a quor- tet of four ladies from ebenezer mrs early mrs ellcsley mrs g robertson and mrs m- r- ander son were enjoyed mrs r arnold was accompanist mrs c l poole thanked mrs scott and mrs r arnold introduc ed o pfano solo by mrs m heller rev e a currey closed the meet ing with prayer as it was mrs scotts birthday a cake was presented to her by ms c w mason and she blew out the candles pouring tea were mrs peter smith and mrs a t brown mrs arnolds group wns in charge of the especially delicious refreshments bouquets of lilies daffodils and carnations decorated the sunday school room for this thankofferiig meeting knox girls meet easter is theme visitors attend meeting of guild the regular meeting of st al bans guild was held in the parish hall with members of other church es attending special speake- for the evening was rev wright of aldershot whose subject w the lack of young boys and girs ded icating themselves- to the work of the church a musical program followed with piano solus by mrs w ruddock a duet by peggy and francis oukt accompanied by their mother and a solo by yvonne brunnelle ac companied by mrs oakes the meeting closed with the benediction a delicious lunch was served by the committee cement section topples from mill street store front i happened rather early yester day morning and fortunately the pedestrians on mill street were not numerous when a large block of the cement coping front of mahers shoe store crashed ono the awning and was deflected to the roadway the section about a foot square had apparently been loosened by the frost and with the warmer weather became loosened from its position those who were near the store at the time were fndeed startled as the cement section came rollng onto the road and felt fortunate they were not closer when it dropped our broad land it is 4543 mile from st johns nfld to british columbias prince rupert the april meeting of the daugh ters of knox was held at the home of mrs ritchie an interlude of quiet music preceded the readina of the beautiful easter service by- ruth smith the worship service conducted by jacqueline watkins assisted by dons halliday betty wilds marilyn sigs worth and el izabeth jany was appropriate at tins easter season the theme be ing go ye into all the world and preach the gospel the lesson there are skeleton- in our closet a continuation of h- interesting study of british gui- mi vis given by mrs buchanai the business for the evening w i- centred upon the easter tea anci baking sale further plans were made for a mother and daughter bmiif t in may a dtlightful lunch brought ihe eveninp to a close placing fourth for all of canada is dr p beer holstein standing fourth in all canada for milk production last year was a holstein m the herd of dr paul beer rr 3 georgetown as a senior threeyearold on 2x milking huntshaven supreme pabst produced 202251 lbs of milk and 718 lbs of butterfat which placed her fourth in the 1051 honour list acton brownies serve tea to 100 background music supplied about 100 ladies enjoyed tea sandwiches and cookies in the scout hall saturday afternoon ser ved by two dozen members of the acton brownies nine young ladies all members of tho group played the pianj during the tea these were flla jany jill haydon mary jane force ruth landiborough ruth jones margaret armstrong pot coles rhona mceachern and faye mceachern in chorge of the tea were brown owl jeon harris and tawny owl audrey wilkinson assisted by may dyriw and lorain e mull in teacher engaged for acton high school to fill staff vacancy mr james s cuthbertson of cardinal ont has been engaged io nil the v acnney on the staff of acton high school caused by the resignation of mr heron mr cuthbertson will teach boys pt throughout the school and assume some of the other subjects ho is a graduate of queens university arangcmenis for his engagement were made at ri meeting of the management committee of the north halton high school district boa last week display convenors for crafts named group leaders for a display nnd falc of crafts to be held in the y in may were chosen at a meeting of the acton arts and crafts group in he y on thursday april 3 in charge of the meeting wai the president mrs george mason mrs h holmes reported on leather tooling soying that 14 took the course there were 12 enrolled in leather and seven in smocking an average of is attend the art classes the secretarys report wos given by mrs g mussel e nnd the treas urers by mrs c cooke supplies for a leather class in the y lead by mrs h holmes will be purchased by the club convenors for the display sal and tea are leather carving mrs h holmes leather tooling mrs h price art miss rita mcnabb rug hooking mrs c cooke smockipg mrs charles heller decorations miss alice mecallum mrs w beatty tea mrs charles wood advertising mrs d dills naptha gasoline explosion in kitchen causes severe damage amipthnkhsohneexploslorrwed necday severely burned the foce ond shoulders of mrs root darby covered people in n halfblock area with soot nnd started n fire in the dnrby kitchen that resulted in dnmage estimated up to 2000 mis dnrby was cleaning curtains in the kitchen of her john st home nnd using nnpthn gasoline a gns stove combined with nnpthn gas fumes in the same room caused the thunderous explosion thnt attracted people from the business section and several blocks around firemen answered the call promptly but were unable to save from nlmost complete damage tha wnshing mnchlne frigidnire and gns stove as well ns other kitchen ap pliances fire damage was confined to tha kitchen but thcexplonion blow out n kitchen window and one on th front of the house the loss wa covered by insurance the damage did not affect the adjoining kitchen of the double house mrs darby explained that she usually cleaned outside with the gasoline but because it was cool she had just pulled it inside the kitchen door books flag given more gifts needed acton gnragemens association has purchased two sets of world books as their gift to the new ad dition to acton public school and members of the duke of devonshire chapter at their last meetng agreed to present a flag and stan dard gifts from other sources are also expected by the gifts committee whieh is supervising donations to avoid duplication the legion hit already informed the committee that two portraits of the queen ani the duke of edinburgh will be thew contribution any acton public school old hoys or old girls who would be in terested in helping have been ask ed by the committee to send any contributions of money to the ac ton public school spent a 1 gift fund c o the bank of montreal acton it is believed these may b ujcd to purchase a piano for the luditnrium the piano n much needed item has not been covered in any other commitments so far county mill rate lower on ass increase without comment members of halton county council sot a rate of five mills on the equalized assessment to raise sufficient funfls to opera to the county and to care for county roads this year this la a 25 mill de crease on nn increoscd county assessment over last years levy which was 75 mills council approved of the report mnde by the finance committee headed by reeve e r lauder oakville estimated expenditures are 21558100 while revenue is expected to be 3041124 leaving 17016970 to be raised for general purposes or 323 mills the expenditure on couat roods is estimated at 0h 10212 or a 177 mill rate included in tho esti mates is nn expenditure of 5102100 to operate the county health unit this figure is based ona per capita basis of 120 of a population of 43260 however half of the total expenditure is paid for by government grant t the finance committees report al so approved of increasing salaries f the clerk to 2500 per year the treasurer to 2550 n yenr and that of the warden to 000 a year a number of grants were made in cluding canadian national instit ute for the blind 35000 salvation army 70000 halton music fest ival 10000 hospital for sick children 25000 membership r the ontario municipal association 2500 and membership in the ontario association of homes for the aged and infirm 1000 a request for a grant by the ac ton planning board was turned down reeve lauder explained there were several such organizat ions in the county and to set a precedent would probably lead to these grants getting outofhand warden j m wickson and reeve s a fay milton were appointed county councils representatives to the board of the childrens aid society it seemed to be a case of do you want to celebrate or do you not when deputy- reeve fred walker nelson asked councils committee to consider a centennial program to meet with the halton agricult ural board of directors to mike plans for a centennial celebration in the county halton agricultural society commonly known as mil ton fair will celebrate their cen tennial this year council spent some time discuss ing the matter when reeve j nor- i council could make provision rish announced he would have to i continued on pan five retire as chairman of the county committee he felt he lived too far away from the centre of the county to satisfoctorily do the job warden wickson announced reeve george leslie would then act as chairman however no dec ision was reached as some members felt that with the official opening of the new home for the aged along with current business it might be too much for officials to handle fn one year reeve h d allen burlington felt the couniy should be pennywise to conserve money especially when ratepayer were burdened with additlona taxes hla year following announcement that tho first meeting of halton county council was held on july 12 1853 council approved deputyreeve bob shannons resolution to hoid the halon county council cen tennial in 1053 sponsored by reeve e r laud er and reeve r j hargrave ac ton council aproved the establish ment of a five man board of directors tor the home for the aged the five named include warden wickson former warden k y dick and reeves r j har grave e r lauder nnd s a fay sheriff w j robertson was present to advise cojincil of the necessity of providing accommod ation for women jurors he said women would be included in the xt panel to be chosen and hoped for a blackened and buftned kitchen resulted when naptha gas exploded at the home of j darby wednesday morning teverely burning mrs darby as she cleaned curtains in naptha gas while the gas stove nearby was operating the sudden blast smashed the kitchen window and one at the front of the house as well as throwing soot on people within a half block damage was confmedto the kitchen but a washing machine refrigerator and gas stove were almost com pletely destroyed in the fire that followed the e xplosion staff photo