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beauty contest for town gardens the acton free press wednesday september 6 1967 an early view of acton tannery starts i unb forest mrs socordsarah augusta- as she was known and mrs charlie symon vied tor honors in their garden mrs secords garden was on the corner of mill and main on the land now occupied by th leishman block carrolls and the odds and ends shop it was then devoted to flowers shrubs and fruit trees mrs symons garden was where tal bots hardware and the home of mr and mrs john kentaer are now located mrs secord had the faculty of gathering from far and near rare plants and flowers her garden was a riot of bloom but she paid little attention to order or method in her plantings mrs symon on the other hand was precise in the arrangement and formation of her flower garden her flowers and shrubs conse quently showed to much better advantage then again mrs symons gar den was surrounded by a low picket fence and all who passed were welcome to loolr anil enjoy secords garden was surrounded by a high tight board fence it is true that fred her son sawed peekholes through this fence so that people passing might enjoy the flowers and shrubs red coats march to repel fenians bells hall which is now acton woodcraft was the armoury tor company 6 of ralton battalion when it was organized in 1866 the year of the fenian raids the red coated soldiers marched off to the adjoining commons after the evenings drill to deposit their old snyder enfields and equipment whenthe troops were issued with a green uniform the old red ones were kept by the soldiers one such youth gave ms to an attractive girl in the village and when she appeared in it refashioned as a shawl it created a new style for the maidens of the village and red coats were at a premium the fiw pross was able to secure old 9aache4 patfj at the holland shop the beauty of the place mrs one of these old coats made in holland blankets 1qo off and pottery u urr for holland shop patrons only special draw for 10 in merchandise hiidatseptu4s a little more than 113 years ago when this entire section cd country was an almost unbroken foresla small tannery was built by abraham nelles on the site on the 14th december 1872 the entire building was again burned down destroying nearly everything except such stock as happened to be in the vats at the now oedailed by one of thelarg- time the insurance of 17004 st establishments for manufac turing leather in ontario the business was carried on by mr nelles in a small way 4 for a number of years and be was suc ceeded by edward and henry smith who increased the capa- city of the tannery andcarriedon a successful and profitable busl- ntss the concern was purchas ed about 1852 by coleman and mdntyre of dundas who built a urge stone addition to the old building and confined their oper ations exclusively to the manu facture of sole leather from spanish hides they carried it on successfully for about four years part of the time under the management of mr j b burns during their ownership the build ing was burned down and re built it afterwards became the property asmcglashenandatch- esonwho axnued the business several years then sold it to sessions toby and co after lying idle a considerable length of time the entire property was purchased by mr g l beard- more in june 1865 and placed in a thorough state ol repair and fully equipped with the most mo dern machinery for two years it was under the management ol mr atcheson and thenar za hall had full charge of the oper ations here for a time covered only a smau portion of 1000 cords timber in years kegs this concern was of consider able importance the stave and shingle business was carried on several years by messrs ed ward and john moore who sold out to mr coates in november 1875 the latter introduced a machine for making turned head ing and also removed bis coop new praa0aadjalatbs the factory one thousand cons of elm umber were annually manufactured into staves and heading and a large quantity of pine and cedar into shingles the factory contained a good deal of expensive machinery driven by a 12 horse power sfeam engine and employed eight hands the operation ofthe several machines was very interesting in the cooperage six hands were usually employed to turn out about 2000 barrels annually the loss nevertheless unenter prising proprietors at once set to work to have it rebuilt this time in stone specifications recorded in the issue ofthe acton free press on february 8 1877 are recorded here they consume nearly 2000 cords of hemlock barkeachyear for which they pay about 10000 the manufacture of sole leather does not require a very large number of skilled workmen still the wages paid at this establish ment amounts to about 400 a month the capital invested is about 60000 the main build ing is of stone two stories 147 feet long by 60 wide with leech house 70 x 30 there are about 100 vats the machinery com prises the mostmodernimprove- ments nearly 1000 having been expended last spring in introduc ing leeches coolers new bark mill a centrifugal pump for pum ping liquor and other improve ments the municipal taxes on aw property average abbut 250 a year know it all the archbishop has preached a splendid sermon on the beaut ies and joys of married life two old bridgets waddled slowly out at the close of the service ah twas a fine service bis rlv- rince was after tellln us in deed it was an i wish i knew as little about it as he does old jajtictted baif at the family store cen specials this week oniy a x ladies lambswool long sleeve pullovers green white blue pink black and biege reg 598 444 mens heavy plaid shirts red green blue 2- reg 398 boys corduroy pants s52- sizes 8 16 in grey blue black brown sidewalk sale special thursday sept 7th from 9 arti to 9 pnu slipon booties 144 ladies sizes 59 for casual comfort in reg black brown red biege blue 249 pat and bill invite you to drop in and see their many other old fashioned days specials and ford still is your best buy join the mustang generation thompson motors ford acton ltd 15 main st north acton piiorv fisl70 e