No. &*F STRATFORD, ONT., FRIDAY, AUGUST 19, 1927 Vol. 5 Former Stratford Man 2 Shakes Us A Bit "There is something wrong." Such was the remark made to me by a local business man _ yesterday. "J don't like to knock my home town," he continued, "but Stratford certainly isn't what it should be. ~ What the matter is I can't say." There is a truth in his simple re- : marks that cannot be denied. Strat- - ford is really losing where it should be gaining as even a visitor can see. Many of our finest young men and citizens are leaving and factories are going to the larger cities. We know ~ not why. 2 - Business men are knocking the town. They say it has gone "dead" but are offering no remedies. es. Streets are admittedly not as busy & _as they should be. The air of pros- 4 perity that should pervade a city é like Stratford is not here. We're Not Knockers. Tam not knocking Stratford for the me sake of knocking. Far from it. Im simply making a few plain statements that have been glossed over in the press. My only desire is to crystalize the situation and see if something cannot be offered that might help. Stratford is a beautiful city. Take a map of Ontario and notice in an in- stant it advantageous location. The pluck of pioneers raised it from the swamp less than a century ago. Are we going to let it retrograde with the opportunities that are with us today? Basically we can see no reason that this city is not ranking with the first in the nation today, why its popula- tion is not jumping by thousands each year, why real estate values are not booming, workers are not excellently paid and prosperity is not knocking _» "everywhere. : Factories are leaving town and the men are following them. Wages are not high enough, people say. This leaves one remedy obvious. Stratford, through its city council or board of trade should go out and GET FACTORIES. There are hun- dreds of industries today looking for places of expansion. This city has 'everything to offer them. Surely an active campaign on the part of busi- a or _ ( | CHARLES H. WALKER : SPECIALIST IN VOICE PRODUCTION Teacher of Pianeforte, Organ and Theory STtuDIO--114 Water St., Stratford Pertinent Patter BY THE PHILISTINE Writing this weekly column of pat- ter, otherwise more or less wise com- ment on the doings of the week seems rather peculiar occupation this week, written as it is in a lawn swing with- in the sight and sound of the rolling waves of Lake Ontario. In fact in- stead of writing about the news of the week it might be more appropri- "ate to write a desertation on the urge that lives within man to leave his comfortable home in the city and live in the woods beside the water in about the same state of comfort that his great grandfather enjoyed. It is peculiar and like many other traits of the genus homo takes a lot of ex- ) plaining. It is perhaps part and par- cel of the same old urge for a change or something a bit different. past week has witnessed quite a number of picnics and family gather- ings and there are apparently several more to come yet. This has been a heavy season for picnics in Stratford parks but as has been remarked in this column. before it would seem that it would be worthwhile for the city or the retail merchants to do a bit of advertising to get even more pic- nics here from outside points, Peo- ple coming into the town means busi- ness in some degree at least as well as bringing the city to the attention of residents of the district. a * 1 Stratford folks got a thrill out of the visit of Har] Jellison, one of Jack | Elliot's airplane pilots and even if Any- | way it is a rather interesting exper | ience for a time and certainly does provide a change, evenif it would not | be very pleasant aS a thing. ca ue 1k In connection with that matter is the same old urge to hold picnics and permanent | | not it would seem that the picnic season | for Queen's Park is not yet over. The ness men and those interested in civic life could land this city its share. It is unfortunate, but it has been | said, and said frequently that local | capitalists do not want other firms here, for fear wages will rise. A town where such a remark is broad- cast needs to take stock and perk up to where it should be before the condition becomes chronic. Get fac- tories, bring. more men here, advertise | taxi _in a matter of about 30 minutes. they did not take a ride with him they were interested in seeing the big plane circling over the city. Stratford so far is off the main air- plane routes but the time is probably far distant when airplanes will be a more common sight. In fact it will not be very many years before there will be many privately owned planes in the city. The pioneer air- plane owner so far as Stratford is concerned is H. A. Oswald of the Brooks Steam Mo.ors, but so far he has not brought his plane to the city. * * bd "Smitty," one of the city's popular drivers, has branched out and has opened up a modern car laundry where the old buzz wagon can be all shined up and turned out looking like an old maid with her face lifted all This | is the first outfit of this kind to be the city, BOOST and in a short time | the city will be booming again. At | the present time there are many Am- | erican firms, with interest in Canada | newly awakened, planning to put branches here. Get after them. can be done. Sell Stratford to the others for what it is and everyone will be better off. In Stratford at present business is as good for some ways, maybe better. than it ever was. The average pros- péerity is lower though, a fact which no one will question.* Statistics that point the way the wind is blowing prove it undeniably. --A VISITOR. The Mirror will be pleased. at any time to open its columns to those who wish to put before the public their ideas of what is needed to give the old town the "pep" to which it is | entitled. It | ' that will long be put in operation in Stratford and ought to do well. * * * The visit-of the British bowlers was one of the high lights of the past. It was a happy affair and one remembered by those taking part and by the citizens in general. Visits such as these are gala events and serve to keep up a feeling of community interest with the old land. That Stratford bowlers were able to hold up their end with week. the visitors was a matter of pride to | the local club and speaks well for the quality of the game played here. The civic banquet was the occasion of con- siderable oratory in which the usual good wishes were exchanged and the visitors told how welcome they were and so on. All of which is of course more or less banana oil but at bot- tom sincere for Stratford is a loyal |-city and friendly to British institu | tions. It is ga pleasure to welcome -- } 1) JONES, auctioneer § | - \ visitors from the old sod and main- tain those personal contacts that are so large a portion of the strength of the British Empire. May there be more of them. * * * The finals of the softball league at- tracted great crowds this year and softball in Stratford seems to be gain- ing strength each year. When over 3,000 persons can be gathered at a ball game in this town it means that there is considerable interest in the outcome of the contest. The only un- fortunate part of it is that the de- velopment of softball has seen the de- cline of hardball. Players cannot play both games and do justice to poth and it appears as if it is hard- ball that must suffer since softball, -- a less expensive game, requiring but little equipment except a willingness to play. This is perhaps one of the great reasons for the. popularity of ~ softball] and it has good points as well as bad since it allows a great num- © ber of players to have considerable amusement at no very great expense, * * * When the Stratford Agricultural So- ciety puts out its annual statement of the prize list for the Fall Fair then it is quite evident that summer is © nearly over. This year the board is" promising a much improved list and _ a better fair than ever. A good mid- way has been secured and there is every hope that with good weather this year will see a most successful -- show. The fair has suffered some what in past years from bad weather and while the board has weathered -- the storm nicely there is a need for -- a prosperous show of two for the so- ciety t oget back on its feet and begin to pile up a little surplus. The Fall Fair is one of the biggest boosts there is for the city and a success: ful fair means a lot to the city. It should be a matter of pride to every citizen to support the fair and boost for improvements that would mean @ -- bigger show and consequently more -- visitors to the city. It is to be hoped that it soon will be possible to erect more buildings and complete the grounds so that there will be a chance for the society to get more revenue, ~*~ Auction Sale of Household Goods { on Saturday, August 20, at 2 p.m, { sharp at 180 Nile St., Stratford, | Terms--Cash. George Bartlett, owner. ee tte eae np A agreement - + ences aia