Vol. 9 STRATFORD, JULY 24, 1931 No. 8 Masons Proud of Honor Conferred onFrank Copus Stratford Masons are proud of the honor which has come to a local lodge through the election of Frank Copus to the office of Deputy Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Canada in On- tario, an honor which has never be- fore been bestowed upon a local lodge. Elevation to this important post is the highlight in a Masonic' career which has been marked by tireless service almost from the day that Mr. Copus became a member of Tecumseh Lodge, No. 144, Stratford. Since that time his activities have extended to every branch of the Order in the York and _ Scottish Rites. He occupied the various chairs in Tecumseh Lodge, and in 1907 was named Master of the lodge. Elected to the office of District Deputy Grand Master of Huron Dis- trict, he filled that position with distinction. As a Royal came First Chapter, of the Arch Mason, he be- Principal of Tecumseh of Stratford, and was one most capable Preceptors of St. Elmo Preceptory Knights Temp- lar He was honored with the Grand Superintendency of South Huron District Royal Arch Masons. Mocha Temple, London. numbers the Stratford man among its most prominent members. In the Scotch Rite, he is a member of London Lodge of Perfection and London Rose Croix Chapter and of Moore Consistary, Hamilton. For five terms, Mr. Copus has occcupied one of the coveted posi- tions on the Board of General Pur- poses. Last year he headed the poll in this election. He has an intimate knowledge of all the lodges in On- tario from his long associations with them as chairman of the Benevo- lence Committee of Grand Lodge. He has been chairman of the Com- mittee on Fraternal Dead and for some time has been an honorary inspector general in connection with the Supreme Council of the Scottish Rite. e SUDDEN PASSING OF FOR- MER STRATFORD WOMAN The sudden passing in Wellesley Hospital, Toronto, of Minnie Beston Weir, wife of A. Charles Hoffman, on Tuesday, July 21, removed one who was loved by all who knew her. Mrs. Hoffman had a very superior person- ality. Her vivacious manner and cheerfulness was noticed wherever she went. Mrs. Hoffman was an enthusias- tic church worker and a member of many philanthropic societies in Toron- to. There's left to mourn their loss-- a husband and two sons, Dr. Russell Hoffman and Glen Hoffman of Toron- to. Many Stratford people will remem- ber the late Mrs. Hoffman and regret her demise. Mrs. Hoffman is a sis- ter of Mr. Thos. Weir, Nile Street. i The Rise and Fall of Fools BRUCE BARTON (Copied from the Red Book Magazine) Our stock-on-hand of prophets too large. Charts and analyses darken the face of the sun. Predictions cover the earth as the waters cover the sea; econom- ists are as common as boll-weevils. Amid all this babel and confusion I hear one clear voice. My friend Will- iam Feather of Cleveland has invented a sure method of predicting the ebb and flow of prosperity. "Hereafter I shall pay no attention to car-loadings, bank-clearings, crops or commodity prices," he says. "I shall concentrate on just one indicat- or--the rise and fall of fools. "When I look about me and see young men, half my age, driving high- priced cars, leaving their offices at three o'clock in the afternoon, boast- ing that they made twenty-five thous- and dollars last year, and exchanging tips good for a thousand dollars over the week-end; when I see boys rolling in money, boys whom I wouldn't hire to wash the rollers in my printing plant--when that day comes around again, I shall rush to my bank and sell every share of stock I own. "Because," he continued, "God never is |intended that fools should make a bet- ter living than honest workers. When- ever a situation arises in which they do, I know that it is contraray to the fundamental laws of the universe and cannot last." When the market cracked in 1929, I happened to be in a small city in the Middle West. & business friend told me that at least a dozen young men in that town, college graduates of 1927 and '28, had never gone to work at all. Sitting in brokers' offices, they had "made" twenty-five or forty thousand dollars a year, and looked pitingly at people who were still old-fashioned en- ough to work. A few weeks previous, a man had come into my office to ask us to handle the advertising of an "invest- ment trust." I wouldnh't have trusted him with a nickel; yet he was propos- ing to invite the American people to turn over half a_ billion dollars of their savings to his care. Verily, fools were in their glory in 1929. As I write this, it appears to me that they are now pretty well deflated. It must be about time to begin to buy stocks. "Sense and Nonsense" - The only redeeming feature of the continual rainfall of the past week is that many persons who have never heard of St. Swithin have read all about that pious and eccentric gentle- man, es e@ 6 Some person evidently didn't believe all the stories about the danger of too much moisture so he clipped off a fire hydrant at the corner of Ontario and King Streets, the resulting flood put- ting the weather man to shame. * * & Genuine regret was expressed in this city upon receipt of news from Chicago that Rev. S. M. Hauch has passed away in the American city. Rev. Hauch received his early educa- tion in the schools of Huron and Perth Counties and much of his early work was in this district. In Strat- ford, he was pastor of Centennial Church, the pulpit of which is now occupied by his brother, Rev. J. P. Hauch. * Stratford's airport provides an ex- cellent landing field, according to two Detroit boys who spent an aerial holiday in this city last week. An air stocking is badly needed there how- * * ever. Fliers using the port have to take a chance on guessing the direct- ion of the wind when about to make a landing. Visiting fliers have also suggested that the name of the city be painted in large letters on the roof of one of the buildings in the city, with an arrow pointing the way to the airport. * * Garfield Chiswell and Charlie Ches- terfield returned from Georgian Bay last week with concrete evidence of their skill as anglers. They also dis- played evidence of lapse of memory in taking along their safety razors. * * * Fire Chief A. S. Kappele will attend the Dominion Fire Chiefs' Convention which will be held at Shawinigan Falls, Quebec, from August 4 to Aug- ust 7. * * Stratford and St. Marys Rotarians, accompanied by their Rotaryanns, spent an enjoyable afternon on the shores of Lake Huron at Kitchigami Camp last week. - * * son who takes his soap and towel to An undesirable character is a per- Canadian Legion Held -- Decoration Services Avondale Cemetery, Stratford's ~ beautiful city of the dead, witnessed an impressive scene on Sunday after- noon whe nthe Stratford branch of the Canadian Legion held its annual Decoration Day services. Approxim- ately one hundred veterans, members of the Kitchener, Galt, Preston, Ayr and Stratford posts of the Canadian Legion, walked in the parade which was formed at Loghrin Memorial Home at two o'clock with the Perth Regimental Band leading. The parade was in charge of Col. T. Delamere and. Sergt.-Maj. W. Plume. As a tribute to those boys from Stratford and district who did not return from overseas, George Bradley, president of the Legion here, placed a wreath on the war memorial when the procession reached the corner of Erie and Ontario Streets. From the memorial, the procession continued to the soldiers' plot in the cemetery. Rev. F. G. Lightbourn, rector of St. James' Anglican Church and himself _ a veteran of the Great War, had charge of the service at the cemetery. The band opened the service with "Nearer My God to Thee," after which Rev. Lightbourn read the Scrip- ture lesson. The names of thirty-two former comrades who had served in the Great War and passed away after returning to Canada, were read by the secretary of the Legion, P. K. Ingle. As each name was read, Char- les Clark placed a small silk flag on the grave. The former comrades whose graves were decorated were: John More, V. S. Wenzel, J. O'Brien, W. J. Scott, Alec. Mater, W. Wrigley, C. H. Trevor, Jos. Gallipian, F. W. Boadhead, J. W. JoJhnston, J. Drain, T. Fagg, G. C. Gardner, Ray MccTav- ish, Robert Hatch, Jos. Chapman, Wil- bert Crawford, J. Green, W. H. Hig- gins, W. Rodwell, W. J. Pinniger, J. Turcott, Sam. Huckle, F. W. Burford, Percy Rice, P. Hamilton, W. H. Smith, A. O'Hagen, Geo. Smart, J. Regan, D. Vallentine and C. D. De-- looze. the local bathing beach and proceeds -- to have his weekly bath, ~ * * * What's the matter with all the hu- man fish in Stratford? Entries for the marathon swim in the Avon on July 25 have been slow in coming in, and there is danger of the meet be- ing cancelled unless the boys speed up their entries. La Rome wasn't built in a day, neither was the addition to ford post office. 4 * + * and Strat- -- " * "Kill the Ump" reads heading in newspaper. How A. B. Manson must have shivered when he read that after the exhibition of alleged umpiring which he gave at the picnic of the -- Public Utilities Commission at Bay- field. 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