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f iss irstswdj-v- ft pw wednesday may 3 1967 jpp itier fp ii j v osprinoe sir ernest vicvuiian where horses were once shod opa top u- iwjt grata 7 and s m patae school la i bjr oathynlajw this awry is aboui die his tory of the vucksmith shop that stadia oh the corner of 24 highway and the seventh 9- coneesslfflrofemmas irtells about its owners the dates it was erected and changed hands some of the different things of which the trade con sisted it was the last operat ing blacksmith business in er amosa the last mf a vanishing trade by carolyn law tinder the spreading chestnut tree the village smithy stands the blacksmith shop that stands on the corner of 24 highway and the seventh con cession of eramosa once be longed to my great grandfath er tt still stands today the original buildings were built in 1874 by william ab bott who purchased the half acre from james talbot the buildings consist of a black smith shop house and barn mr abbott operated it as a blacksmith shop for 10 years until he sold it to henry moon in 1884 mr moon did not keep it long selling it again in 1885 to alfred howse stm operattaf as a black smith shop mr howse sold it to benjamin hosking in 1893 mr hosking came from dev onshire england to montreal where he worked as a black smith building wagons for a large firm he married a girl from montreal and thev came to the cverton area here he purchased the blacksmith shop which he operated for six years he planted a cedar hedge in front of the proper ty in 1895 and it stood until 1958 when the highway had it removed in 1899 mr hosking sold it to josiah s bruce and retired to a farm near guelph mr bruce only kept it until 1901 when irwine tovell bought it mr tovell was a farmer and rented the building to my great grandfather william smith who purchased it from mr tovell in 1901 wtham sntwf ndjant jccutcheoh were mar ried on christmas day- dec- still standing historic blacksmith at comer or woncaaatovi 24 highway ember 25 1900 he was a blacksmith and worked for john murdoch at marden for a year before coming to ever- ton corner they had four children sadie mrs fred baptie guelph percy deceas ed pearl mrs alvin miller brampton and vera mrs earl van norman acton all were bom at everton corner and attended ss no 7 school eramosa under the direction of the late mrs brough nee janet mitchell in the earlv nineteen hun dreds it was a flourishing blacksmith and woodwork shop with horses tied outside as early as six oclock in the morning but three years after mr smith bought it disaster struck on may 24 1906 the blacksmith shop was burned to the ground the fire was believed to have been started by boys playing with firecra ckers it was immediately re built and work went on again in its usual manner the general store that sat on the opposite corner was purchased by mr smith from joe stewart in 1910 moved ac ross the road and attached to thetclrtrf the blacksmith shop where is was used as a dance hall for about hve years sere ernest mcmillan play ed the fiddle and later went on to renown fame as a music- ian with the toronto symph ony orchestra where he was bestowed the honor of sir ernest mcmillan the buodaag waa tfcen used as the woodworking part of the blacksmith shop here they sanded varnished paint ed and repaired buggies and surreys made wagons wheel barrows wheels axe and ham mer handles and repaired all kinds of farm tools jn 1917 at the early age of 13 his son percy joined him and shod his first horse percv re mained with his father learn ing the blacksmith trade until 1926 when he went to toronto to take up auto mechanics how i wish i could have been born 20 years sooner so i could have sat in one of those buggies or surreys pre tending to be some fine lady in long skirts and hoops with a frilly bonnet or parasol driv ing a matched team or a dark spirited pony or maybe i could have ped dled that old grindstone the one they sharpened the axes and tools on it worked very much like a bicycle only you do not go anywhere on this you just turn a large wheel ot stone that sat in front of you before cars they had to pour a pail of water over it to keep it wet but later mv great grandfather had half a rubber tire for a trough which was placed under the wheel of stone and filled with water now the stone would be al ways wet whenever he wanted i would like to have seen the forge li with its bright co and have seen that red hot horseshoe as it was pulled by long tongs from the fire all glowing what a sizzling hiss ing noise it must have made as it was plunged deep in the barrel of cold water or hear the anvil ring when the smi thy hit the shoe to shape it to fit the horse for horses like people do not all wear the same size of shoes how the sparks flew as steel hit steel under the hammers blow just to smell the odor of the hot horseshoe placed against the horses hoof would have likely sent me outdoors for some fresh air watching the nails driven in on just the right angles as to penetrate the hoof and come out the side where the sharp nails were snipped off and filed smooth i have been assured this was painless i will have to agree i guess as mr smith never suffered any serious injuries at the feet of the fourlegged friends even when holding a foot be tween his two knees i alsp missed all the horse shoe pitching tournaments that went on while the men waited for their horses to be shod but all the trouble was not over for mr smith in june 1925 a cyclone swept through the back yard tearing all the shingles from the roof of the house removing the front porch and damaging the back woodshed the barn was a complete loss mr smith then purchased the lower half acre of proper ty joining his from dave mc millan for 75 with the help of neighbors and friends even the local minister bernard kock the house was repaired and the barn rebuilt that summer however the barn now occupied a spot on the land just obtained from mr mcmillan when his son percy return ed from toronto in the spring of 1928 he used the wood working shop to repair cars here he built two small racing cars which he used for his own pleasure he had a booth built in front of the black smith shop and gas pumps were installed the booth was built bv two local carpenters wilbur mccutcheon and clar ence petty under the direction of george mack despite all these new ar rangements the blacksmithing business went on the same after nine years percy built a new garage across the road the booth was sold to lome and orville duffield on the next concession who used it as a brooder house all return ed to normal on the black smith side of the road here mr smith carried on his bus iness as a smithy until shortly before bis death in april 1953 he was the last practising smith in eramosa township the property was in the smith name for 60 years be ing purchased in 1903 and sold in 1963 to its presentday own ers mr and mrs john hamil ton i passed last eve beside the blacksmiths door and heard the anvil ring the vespers chime and looking in i saw upon the floor old hammers worn with beat ing years of time how many anvils have you had said i i to wear and batter all these hamm so just onetie answered then with twinkling eye the anvil wears the hammers out you know and so i thought the anvil of gods word for ages skeptics blows have beat upon but though the noise of fall ing blows was heard the anvil is unharmed the hammers gone by john clifford teachers from indian school at home and school meeting by mrs frank taylor rockwood the program convener mrs joy law intro duced the guests for the even ing at the rockwood home and school meeting held in the town hall the couple mr and mrs stcinman of new hamburg had spent a period of time working as members of a gos pel mission among the indi of poplar hill in northwestern ontario mrs steinman gave a most interesting review of their work as teachers in the 58 pupil boarding school ac ademic courses were given and mr steinman specialized in teaching the boys carpentering and mechanics the girls had special classes in sewing cook ing and many phases of home economics many beautiful and informative slides were shown bv mr steinman mrs s drijber thanked the couple for a fine educational and enjoyable evening centennial essay winners in grades 5 and 6 and art and craft winners from grades i to 4 received their centennial medallions the president mrs elwood tosh called on mrs f taylor to make the presentations to the essay win ners mrs taylor had made the final judging of the essays a e her congratulat ions to each competitor aw ards went to sherrie guild stephen jones gordon tosh marie ellen saunders charles mcrae and don suttennam mrs tosh presented the arts and crafts awards to susan millson lindsey jones trudy smith philip drijber kim an derson ian pasmore robert wood and ann wickham the rettn closed with the home and school prayer a variety of bead work done by hand by the indian women was on display and for sale to help these women develop their art it was all beauti fully done and most interest ing a lovely hinch was serv ed by the social committee during the social time follow ing cherry is the undisputed leader among flavors for med icinal preparations at least 22 per cent of the nations annual perfume sales occur in december do it yourself doesnt work in insurance either why run the risk of do it your self insurance our expert help makes it easier safer and leas ex pensive call us today be safer save money see your safeco expert dennys insurance agency 17 mm st w acton s0t50 residences bill 6532645 harold 8532565 532 albert the fuel king maltby says a lot of people think w a recession iff they cant afford a now car each year to tens their new boatt its getting near vacation time w0kypu60 call maltby fuas mmn st aoorwooo 8564983 wear costumes at centennial euchre pupils sell baking for expo funds by mrs d c robertson a gala night was held fri day at the school when the womens institute sponsored a centennial euchre to close the present season a number of ladies were in centennial dress and a few gentlemen also came attired in appropriate dress including some handsome beards thirty tables of euchre were plaved prizes being awarded for ladles first mrs s mat thews second mrs roy young mens first mr bert price second mrs n white plainp a white card following lunch lucky draws were made for prizes donated b local businesses- box of chocolates howard switzer bag of fertilizer mrs barnsta ple ererinarv medicine mrs f mcculcheon roast of beef mr harold reed car wax mrs till shampoo and set t d mccutcheon grocery vou cher waller binnie the senior school pupils had a bake table in conjunction uilh the cuchreand a good sum was realized to be used towards travelling expenses to expo mrs stuart mckinnon chair man of erin cancer society mrs jessie moon funeral m dumbs rockwood the rockwood community extends its sym pathy to mr and mrs e b jolliffe and family in the death of mrs jolliffes mother mrs jessie moore having made her home in rockwood for several years the late mrs moore was a native of dundas where she and her late hus band charles moore operated the dundas newspaper mrs moore was a graduate of the toronto university and an ar dent sports fan funeral service and inter ment will be in dundas was a guest of the guelph stu dent nurses on an allday bus tour when thev visited the bron institute for mentally retarded children and the can cer hospital in london mrs m jacksons recent vis itors included mrs nellie bell mrs murra millson and fam ily mr rov hindlev all of guelph mrs etta barden eden mills mr and mrs os wald meadows rockwood mr and mrs alvin fisher erin mr and mrs george cruick shank miss gertrude wide variety at 4h banquet rockvvoid mrs harrx bon ner and the members of the 4h centenplus two group were hostess o their mothers and friends recently mrs bunner who is a leader of the group opened her home to the over 30 guests who en- jued a six first course and six dessert banquet the food pre pared bv the 4h girls was from the popular world wide menus studied in their course world ef food n canada everyone enjoved the delic ious food in such a wide var- ely watson mr and mrs lionel watson of hillsburgh mrs william wragg is now convalescing at her home fol lowing surgery in a toronto hospital mrs h saers of acton and garnet bruce of toronto visit ed at the home of mr and mrs ward bruce on sunday mrs gordon aitken was able to return to her teaching du ties at erin school on mondays- following several weeks ab sence due to strained back and hip muscles mrs gordon snyder has been a patient in guelph hos pital this past week guests at the home of d g and mrs robertson during the weekend included miss b axe- ford rn gait mrs colleen leis rn guelph mr and mrs reg carter stratford mrs c heimler mrs d ro bertson miss m mclvor of guelph and mr and mrs george young and marilyn of acton mrs h pankratz was hos tess for the meeting of the ladies aid the president mrs r mcewan presided and also had the devotional more than one form of thief mrs b clarke read the min utes and correspondence items of business were dis cussed among them being the cooking school by ontario hvdro to be held shortly mrs g jackson and mrs b fisher assisted the hostess tn serving refreshments grace mitchell honored at shower rockwood miss grace mit chell wasguest of honor at a miscellaneous shower held by her friends in the ss no 8 community centre recently a most enjoyable evening follow ed with grace receiving many beautiful guts she replied to their best wishes thanking ev- ervone and extending an invita tion to their future home lunch was served to the group by sharon smith jean ba ne and joan ramsden heavy piece an abstract statue of stain less steel weighing 46 tons is one of the heaviest single it ems trucked to the expo 67 site designed by the american sculptor alexander calderthe stabile called toan took 18 months to build in a factory at tours france would you like to change your life know joy and happiness obtain strength and courage write box 132 acton l mothers day may 14 is for the money you havent got to spend on her is for the other things in life is for the times she had to walk is for the happi ness you could bring m 0 t h eis for the empty space in the garage ris for the rush shes always in put them all together and you have the finest person in the world mother keep her fit- buy her a car no money down if credit approved f lous sedca 8564235 mumst ooj district shopping guide richs service repairs tires towing no 7 hwy 2h miles east of acton renee ac dick vcekmmp 8532940 speyside qeneral store ricks snack bar main st rockwood specializing in take out orders seahest milk and ice cream tobacco cigarettes sundries robertsons marketeria ospringe general merchants 8332872 in business 42 years open mon to sat 830 am 10 pm sunday afternoon general merchandise supteat gas and oh 7mm3 speyalde oat root hardware ltd 8569551 mam st rockwood ravm nifowtlo faints oiftwara saunders bakery ltd main st rocfcwooal bread cakes pastries wedding cakes a specialty the home of the double high loaf kingwell barber shop open daily 9 aa to n fridays until f pjb closed thursday afternoon where trtn and pnoa lawrence klngwell prop kturs ormiral store at speytide not only car ries a complete range of grocery and sundry items out motorists can fill up their vehicle with a tank of supertest gasoline while the wife shops mr and mrs henry kelly will be pleased to look after your needs when you drop in henry is seen checking in a sale meadows k9 service mam st rockwood te gofnor m hot ipogjs ra and fred meadows silvercreek general store dick a myrtle pedverse carrying a full line of cooked meats ofti cieinua open daily 8 ajn to 10 pjn tuesday closed no 7 hwy east of acton 8773139 strattopedurnjis ltd ken dick 8564461 rjl 1 g oka nov 29 hwy jennings general store hafcanvftw t543ss on guelph road serving bjl caaoren on your way to mohawk ssvtsri pettvs garage repairs gas oat pull repalra toy support these district businesses spfyside halton k i i- f brucedale acton a hwrsarkm