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Haileyburian-Cobalt Pos ESTABLISHED 1904 \ @ 55 -- No. 19 Ve Haileybury, Ont., July 16, 1959 5c" €ORw. Haileybury Council Says No Splits on Fire Truck Vote Haileybury Council split on a fire protection issue at the meeting held last Tuesday evening, and a wordy session ended with Council- lor J. J. Whelan charging Mayor . Art Cooke with being "'out of or- der' in his handling of the vote, and yowing that he would request the Department of Municipal Af- fairs to order another vote taken. It- all started when Fire Mar- shall Joe Gratton appeared at the meeting urging Council to discard its obsolete fire fighting equipment, and replace it with a modern truck. Marshall "Gratton said, 'You should get rid of the ancient and non-functioning Ruggles, move your 1946 Chevrolet first line truck into standby position, purchasing a modern, up-to-date truck to re- place it." Mayor Cooke asked Fire Mar- shall Gratton, '"'Are there any municipalities equal in size of Haileybury which are only served by one fire truck?" The Fire Marshall _ replied, "There are, but they are all being urged to look to their fire protec- tion facilities as you are, then again there are some that do not need more than one fire truck, each town must be assessed ac- cording to its individual needs and layout of the town." "Another thing which must be kept in mind,' continued the Mar- shall, '"'is that your present first line fire truck is thirteen years old and it is illegal under the fire de- partment statute to sell a truck which is more than 15 years old." "T have been informed that there is a by-law in Haileybury which states that all fires in the business section must be answered by both fire vehicles," the said. '"'This means the old Ruggles truck, equipped with only two wheel mechanical brakes must proceed down the Main Street hill. To tell you the unabashed truth," admit- ted the Marshall, '"'I would not set foot on that 'mechanic's -- night- mare' on level ground."' Mayor Cooke referred to the Mu- tual Aid Agreement which agrees that if any one of tthe Tri-Towns should find a, fire raging out of control, the other two towns would assist it with their equipment. The Fire Marshall said that Mu- tual Aid agreements were intro- duced by the government, but un- der different circumstances than exist in the Tri-Town area. "As far as the government is concerned the Tri-Town Mutual Aid Agree- ment does not exist," he claimed, "or is it recognized by the govern- ment: For example," he continued, "It would be foolish for Cobalt to answer a fire outside the town limits when they only~ have one truck and would risk a fire at home."' He said, "Gentlemen, I do not pretend to question your intel- ligence, so no more should have to be said than that the truck is 37 years old. Mayor Cooke asked, "Why then, can New Liskeard, with twice our population, retain only two trucks, one of which is nearly as old as the 1922 Ruggles?" : The Fire Marshall replied that both of New Liskeard's trucks are ass "'A" pumpers and work ef- Pi siently despite their age."' - Councillor Chas. Camsall stated, "When we first bought the last truck there was supposed to be money put aside each year to buy a new truck when the time came to|replace the Ruggles." Frank Haskett, Haileybury's Clerk Treasurer replied that the money for replacement equipment had been raised in taxes, and a book entry made, but that it has been used for other fire fighting equipment. has. Camsell asked the Mar- shall, Joe Gratton to state bluntly \ if a new truck for Haileybury is a necessity. Pea br replied Mr. Gratton, "but whether you buy a new truck or not, please take that Ruggles off the road."' Mayor Cooke said that he re- fused to spend $18,000 or $20,000 of the tax payers' money for a truck not needed. "There is no law about it going to a fire under its own power," he claimed, '"'and we can just as well tow it, if we need extra pumping power."' Said Fire Marshall Gratton, '""No law but the law of common sense.' Mayor Cooke called for a vote on the issue. iste Three of the five councillors pre- sent, J. Whelan, Chas Camsall and J. O'Grady, cast their vote affirm- atively for the purchase of the new truck. The two remaining Council- lors and the Mayor then cast their vote against the proposal, tieing the vote and throwing out the is- sue. Councillor J. J. Whelan at this point strongly censured the May- or's action, saying '"'The Mayor is out of order, he must step down from the chair before the vote on any issue is taken. As long as the Mayor retains the chair his obli- gation is to direct the vote, not in- tervene. I call for a reading of the statutes on this issue, and I intend to bring this matter to the atten- tion of Ontario Municipal author- ities and have the vote cast prop- erly." 3 : Clerk Treasurer F. Haskett stat- ed that this issue is a common- place one with the Council-- that he had read the statutes on this procedure on several previous oc- casions, but there was never any unity in the interpretation of the statute."' Clayton Dunn appeared before council representing the Miseri- cordia Hospital, requesting town aid in improving the hospital grounds. 'Hospital authorities are landscaping their grounds north of the hospital as far as Rorke Street," he said, 'and wish to fill in the ravine on their property. Enough soil for the project has been secured from the excavations at the separate school but the ra- vine is a natural waterway in the spring time and drainage must be provided." Councillors approved of the scheme and voted unanimously to grant the hospital $540.00 for drainage materials plus any addi- tional labour which might be re- quired so that they might proceed as quickly as possible with their project. A few years ago council passed a motion to grant the Misericordia Hospital $3000.00 as a donation from the people of Haileybury for the addition of a'new chronic wing for the hospital, The new wing was to be financed by grants from towns throughout the north, and some of the municipalities subscribed in cash. Authorities last year found that T.B. admittance had dropped so low in the: north that they were able to close off one of the floors used for the treatment of T.B. pa- tients, this floor they intend to re- novate for the use of chronic pa- tients instead of adding the new chronic wing. "Since the original scheme of adding a new wing was not car- ried out the hospital felt that they could not use the money which was pledged without first consult- ing the donors," explained Mr. Dunn. Baie "Under the new set up the hos- pital will have 55 beds instead of of the original 50 for chronic pa- tients," he said, "'but there is a lot of renovating, and purchasing of new equipment to be done be- fore it will be properly equipped for this function. We hope that you will stay with your original obliga- tion of $3,000.00 it is a worthy cause and I hope that you will give it every consideration. I feel,' said Mr. Dunn, "'that I must approach the council of Haileybury before any other northern council, we must have the approval of our home town people before we can go afield. : Council agreed that they would stand by their original agreement. Mr. E. McDonough requested that the council re-zone streets in the extreme north end of Hailey- bury, in order that he may pro- ceed with construction. There are no streets there as present, but the area has been already zoned for streets. Council Takes a Look At Cost of Policing Haileybury town council has come to the 'point of no return' on the question of policing in the town. A letter was received by the town fathers last Friday contain- ing an ultimatum from the Ontario Police Commission requesting im- mediate action to determine whe- ther or not they would retain the provincial police members as town police. Councillors have been con- sidering the institution of their own force in the town for some years since the cost of Provincal Police started mounting. In the letter W. H. Clark, On- tario Police Commissioner, stated effective this coming year the sal- ary schedule for policing has been raised to $5,500.00 for a Corporal and $4,800.00 for a constable. This increase in the salary schedule will cost the town of Haileybury an ad- dition $2,400.00 more than the pre- vious year." Facing the age-old question of "to be or not to be" councillors sat down to assess the problem with a careful eye to the budget, determined to evaluate the amount of protection the town needs, and its ability to pay. Dr. W. C. Arnold, Chairman of the finance committee asked "What is the possible limit, how far are we prepared to go to pro- vide policing in town?" Mayor Cooke answered "The limit is already passed. $4,800 is too much to ask this town to pay for a policeman. The town of Co- balt is already involved in this problem and it would be interest- ing to wait and hear their deci- sion." : Councillor J. Whelan believed that the councillors in Cobalt have had the responsibility of the poli- cing issue removed from |Itheir jurisdiction by a petition handed in by the townspeople and said that Council there has decided to hold a plebicite on the issue." Mayor Art Cooke said, '"'The only time to hold a plebicite on any is- sue is at election time, but that is_not practical. The police depart- ment has to know now and the earliest the election can be held is in December. I think the best solution to the problem is to ask for a one month delay and to in- vestigate the situation further. (Continued on Page three) Halifax to Vancouver Tests Legs and Shoes The Tri-Town played host to an unexpected guest Tuesday when Guy Macchia, an ambitious young man who is touring Canada coast to coast via 'shanks mare', passed through the town pulling his little red wagon, loaded with all his provisions. Guy's ambitious scheme is to in- troduce the waters of the Atlantic to the waters of the Pacific. On May the first he set fourth from the Port of Halifax armed with the essentials for his journey plus an added luxury, a bottle of Halifax Harbour water, Since then he has been trudging the highways and low ways of Canada enroute to his ultimate destination the. Pacific Ocean into which he will pour his precious cargo in the presence of the Mayor of Vancouver, as an act of friendship 'between Eastern and Western Canada. The energetic adventurer who walks at a pace that would astound the average pedestrian first came to Canada from Vienna in 1955. Guy, a graduate from the Nautical College of Venice was a Captain on a freighter on the Adriatic and Mediterranean Sea, before moving to Toronto where he worked as a shipping clerk for-two years. Dis- satified with the dull routine life in Toronto, Guy set forth to con- quer his own Everest, The North American Continent, "Everyone should do something unusual in his life,' he tells. "To give life a meaning and develop character. I am making this trek across the country so I will have something to look bagk on with pride twenty years from now." Each day he covers between 35 and 44 miles and walks at an av- erage pace of five miles per hour. This speed has been cut down to four miles per hour as a result of purchasing a wagon to carry the food supplies that he will have to take with him on his trip through Northern Ontario because of the great distances between roadside lunch bars. d Guy sleeps outside at night ex- cept when it is raining, then if he cannot find himself suitable shel- ter, he covers the next day's quota" of walking. . Truckers up and down the line, tell stories of how they have offer- ed Guy rides when they see him striding along the side of the road during heavy rain storms, but they have- always been politely turned down showing his incorruptable nature in search of victory. Clark Shoes of Toronto are sponsoring the trip and are supply- ing him with shoes. So far he has worn out one air of shoes between Halifax and Teronto. He figures the second pair will last till he arrives at. Winnipeg where he will get another pair to finish the trip to Vancouver. . A part time writer for an Italian newspaper Guy intends to publish a book entitled "From Atlantic to Pacific' when he reaches the West Coast.