. - No. 48 STRATFORD, ONT., FRIDAY, MAY 13, 1927 Vol. 4 HOME TALENT o SCORES A HIT Catchy Music, Pretty Girls Make "Oh! Oh! Kachoo" Pleasing 'Two and a half weeks conscientidus - endeavor rewarded the John MacDon- é ald Chapter of the Imperial Daugh- | ters of the Empire last night m their production of their three-act Musical Comedy "Oh! Oh! Kachoo!" at the new Y. W. C. A. auditorium. The success of the show gives cred- it to Stratford's home talent and will no doubt draw a packed house to- night. ~"Oh- Oh Kachoo," is frankly a musi- cal comedy without reason, but with 4 have recruited an imposing array of | local songsters, dancers, and actors. | _ The first two acts take place in Per- |. sia, giving the company an opportunis } _ ty to wear some lovely costumes and to stage any number of intriguing Or- : iental dances. : While honors of the evening were | _-well distributed, one cannot fail to | stregs the performance of Jack _ Bowra as the Persian rogue, Has- | San. Mr. Bowra had by far the long- est speaking part in the play and he _ went through his lines without a hitch as well as investing his role with a pleasing sauvity. In the unfolding of the plot the 'major roles were in decidedly cap- able hands. Chas, Newell showed dis- ag tinct ability as a character comedian a8 a harassed American archeologist, q _ and Miss Sally Sowerby concealed her identity behind a clever make-up in _ the role of a love-sick spinster. Her special sony number was one of the outstanding hits of the evening. Mrs. Olin Brown and C. C. Maynard made an admirable team and Georgina Cul- lis and Dr. H. K. Bruce were equally _ Pleasing as Lovers No. 2. Neil Mc- Ewen carried one of the most diffi- cult roles in the play with marked ability, but then, Neil always makes oe hit with his audiences. '"Doc" Earl _ Reis in the broad comedy role of Aleikum, the Sub.-Lieut. of the Cadi's guard got the most out of his part and 2 'with his burlesque army added much humor to the first act. Hveryone en- joyed little Ceci] Baker as Ali, the little street urchin, and' her song, "The Ogo Pogo." Other special numbers worthy of _ mention were the duet by Mrs. Olin _ Brown and Mr. C. C. Maynard, the quartette number "The Dancing Honeymoon" the solos sung by Miss Georgia Cullis and Miss Hilda Barrett and the Oriental Dance in the second act cleverly executed by Erie Todd. (Continued on page 4) Spee plenty of rhyme; and the sponsors | ertinent Patter BY THE PHILISTINE The plans for the Dominion Day celebration for Stratford are now tak- ing form and committees are being arranged to look after the affair. The City Council is being asked to fin- ance the project to the extent of $5,- 000. Since this is about a third of a mill on the taxes ratepayers will be- gin to wonder just "how come." The advisability of a celebration at alk is doubtful and the wisdom of spend- ing any such sum of the taxpayer's money for the purpose is more than doubtful. As this column stated be- fore it seems that a group of men anxious to have a celebration are put- ting it over without much reference to the ordinary individual who prob- ably isn't greatly interested and who would likely rather go out of town for a little outing that day anyway. The merchants are 'questioning the advisability of holding a two-day holi- day and there is no doubt that if the stores all close from Thursday -to Monday that there will be consider- able hardship. It would seem, how- ever, that butchers and grocers could meet this by being open a half day. Bakers and the dairies will continue to operate the same as any other day in any event. The whole ques- tion seems to be very much in the air as yet and needs some strengthening and explanation. Pa. MS The news of the retirement of C. A. Mayberry, veteran principal of the Collegiate Institute, which was an- nounced on Monday night, will be received with interest and with re- gret by not only Stratford citizens but many hundreds of prominent Canadians in al] parts of the country and in indeed of the world. -Mr. Mayberry is the dean of collegiate principals in Ontario at least and has set up a record for long and faith- ful service coupled with an amaz- ing success that will stand for many years. Many a famous Canadian of today has Mr, Mayberry to thank for some part of his greatness at least, for in the 40 years that Mr. May- berry has been here some 8,000 stu- dents have passed through his hands. When the Old Boys' Reunion was held here a few years ago and there was a reunion oi collegiate pupils, many of the men who had been pupils of Mr. Mayberry in-past years took the opportunity of paying tribute to him for help and encowragement given them in their student days. He may retire teeling that he has accomplish- ed much and has at all times faith- fully performed his duty toward the youth of Stratford. bie. Sean The question of the Brooks Steam Motors is still undecided and the fac- tion opposing Mr. Brooks is making an effort to upset the election of the directors held at the annual meeting here. Just what the outcome of the argument will be is still a question. In the meantime the preparations for moving the engineering staff to Buf- falo are going on and in fact the chief engineer is already spending much of his time over there. x ee The Stratford Concert Orchestra scored another hit in its Mendelssohn Festival, held in the Collegiate Audi- torium last Friday night. The or- chestra. under the leadership of H. A. Clark, was assisted by the Strat- ford Male Chorus, by Miss Margaret (Continued on page"4) -LET'S GO Everybody delighted last evening--Reels of pleasure, "Oh, Oh, Kachoo" Under auspices of John MacDonald Chapter Second performance in the Y.W.C.A. Auditorium TO-NIGHT omeree -- ~ooe aI ----J Musical Festival Proves Unprecedented Success Perth County's first musical fes- tival has now passed into history. It was in every sense of the word a suc- cessful affair since the number of en- tries, 290, was large, larger in fact than many longer established festi- vals enjoy and the quality of the musi¢ in the various classes such as to pro- voke the admiration of the judges. The Perth County Music Teachers' Federation, headed by Miss Cora B. Ahrens, is to be congratulated on the success of its effort and the central committee in charge, headed by W. B. Rothwell, and ably assisted by C. H. Walker,is entitled to much praise -- for the smooth way in which the pro- gram was run off. The other Stratford officers were; Miss Pearl M. Tucker, 188 William St., Miss Margaret G. Stevenson, Miss L. Whyte, Mr. W. Halliwell Bishop, Mr. T. A. Clark, Mr. Talman J. M. Gotby, Mr. F. S. Walker, Mr. Henry Easun. Everything ran without a hitch all through, something which is in itself no small feat. The two judges or adjudicators Vig- go Kihl and Dr. A. E. Ham, of To- ronto, both outstanding musicians, were highly impressed with the tal- ent displayed and said so. They had many kindly words for the candidates in the pianist classes, for the male -- quartettes and the brass instrument numbers, as well as phrased criti- cism of a helpful nature for all. They predict a great musical future for Stratford if the good work be carried on and suggest that with the knowl- edge gained in this festival next year -- an even better function can be ar ranged. The official accompanists were: Miss Cora B. Ahrens, Margaret G. Stevenson, W. H. Bishop, W.. B. Rothwell. "Doc" in his column, "Here and There," seems to think that cutting grass is real work, but James K._ Myers says if you own one of their | | | mowers its a pleasure. Guess we'd better buy one at his hardware store ~~ ag next time. Auction Sale of Household Goods Piano and Phonograph on Saturday, May 14, at 2 p.m. sharp at 121 William St. Stratford. Terms cash. Judge Owens, owner. Jones, Auctioneer