Se THE aTrorD MIRROR PUBLISHED WEEKLY BY THE FLETCHER JOHNSTON PRESS, STRATFORD, ONT. Vol. 22 STRATFORD, DEC. |, 1944 No. 23 Editor Of The Mirror Fletcher Johnston Laid To Rest Today Editor and publisher of The Strat- ford Mirror, and proprietor of the Fletcher Johnston Press of this city, Fletcher Joseph Johnston died in the Stratford General Hospital on Tues- day evening. A resident of 168 Nile st., the late Mr. Johnson was 71 years of age. Funeral services were held this af- ternoon from the Greenwood-Gilbart Funeral Home and interment was made in Avondale Cemetery. The ser- vices were conducted by Rev. J. W. Magwood of Parkview United Church. The large attendance and the many floral tributes bespoke the high esteem in which the departed editor was held. The pallbearers were J. J. Crosier, N. F. Babb, A.' H. Zurbrigg, Bruce McKen, E. J. Smith, Thos. E. Henry. Though in failing health for more than a year Mr. Johnston had been seriously ill only a little more than a week and news of his death came as a shock to members of his family and a wide circle of friends. Born in County Tyrone, Ireland, son of the late William Johnston and the former Isabella Thompson, Mr. Johnston came to Canada with his parents when he was 2 child and lo- cated in Stratford, where he had since resided. 5 As a youth he entered the printing trade, being engaged by W. 5. Ding- man, then publisher of The Stratford Herald. Some years before the turn of the century he went into the shoe bus- iness, first with the late George Dob- son, brother of Mrs. Charles Dingman, 195 Cambria st., and later on his own account. But the love of the printing trade, his first love, proved too strong and about 25 years ago he formed the Fletcher Johnston Press and introduc- ed The Straftord. Mirror, a weekly news and advertising medium, located on Ontario st. In his earlier years Mr. Johnston held a lofty place in entertainment circles as a vocalist and, reader and his services were in constant de- mand at gatherings in city and dis- trict. For years he was a prominent (Continued on page 8) Incredible as it may seem to the die- hard Christmas shoppers who. still maintain that they can cram all their buying into Christmas eve, the yule- tide shopping rush is already in full swing in Stratford stores. Although the calendar shows that Christmas is still a full month away, store clerks and managers reported to- day that the urge to solve the gift problem struck many Straftord citiz- ens at least six weeks ago, when they were completing shopping for over- seas parcels. Since that time the demand for civilian gifts has been mounting day by day and week by week. Because Christmas buying start- ed so early this year--earlier, the manager of a ladies' wear store said, than he had ever seen it before--some store employees say hopefully that they think there will be no real Christ- mas rush this year. Others say cynically, however, that there will always be some people who will leave their shopping to the last moment--then rush frantically from store to store in search of gifts which by then are unobtainable. Plentifully Stocked : Stores are plentifully stocked now with potential gifts. But the mer- chants warned that there is going to be a scarcity before Christmas. They urged their customers, therefore, to take to heart their slogan, "Shop early and avoid disappointment." China, jewelry, ladies' wear drug stores, which all do a and large Christmas gift business, all report- ed today that "people are shopping very much earlier than usual." From representatives of each of these busi- nesses Were the following comments. Jewelry store: "People are shop- Stratford Stores Busy Many Early Shoppers [ping earlier because they are afraid of a_ shortage of goods. We have a lgood stock now, but the supply is not plentiful. Customers seem_ to have plenty of money; the problem will be to supply the goods." Ladies' wear: "The people are shop- \ping earlier than in any other year I ican remember, because they realize \that merchandise is scarce and is go- jing to be scarcer by Christmas. I have inoticed, too, that bett@r lines than usual are in demand. They are step- ping up the prices of their gifts." Drug store: "The Christmas rush has definitely started. People are ask- ing for good lines, and we have a grand stock. Cosmetics are not so hard to get as ladies' wear, for in- stance, so we expect to be able to carry a good stock right through to Christmas." China store: "With us, the Christ- mas trade started six weeks ago, and every day more people come in to pick out gifts." The unusually early awareness of Christmas has also been noticed by hotels, where inquiries regarding the yuletide meal have already been received. Becaues of the labor prob- lem, one hotel manager stated, he had not served Christmas dinner for two years, and did not expect to do so this year. Another stated that their policy had not been decided yet, depending on the labor situation. "Now we know that the earth is round," said the schoolmaster. "Tell me, Thomas, would it be possible to walk around the earth?" "No, sir," replied Thomas. "And why not?" "'Cause," was the unexpected reply, "JT twisted my ankle playing football." Soifhey Say [ WE FISHED FOR WORDS _... but was unable to find en- ough superlatives to describe the way he felt about BOYD'S! We Often Wished we had a list of words our cus- tomers use when telling us of the shoe comfort we have given them. Best of all they don't only ex- press this fact to us but to their friends. We can't tell you in this space how much this is appreciated. AND YOU PAY NO MORE! 99 ONTARIO 8T. PHONE 1183 MA4xOR J. WALDO MONTEITH who was returned by acclama- tion for another term as chief ma- gistrate. 97 Contribute Blood At Stratford Clinic: There were 97 donors present at the Tuesday Red Cross blood donor clinic | held at the Masonic Temple. This was regarded by officials as a good clinic although since there is to be just one a week now larger clinics should be expected, they explained. Donors may come any Tuesday with or without an appointment as long as _ pre- vious donors have allowed nine weeks to elapse between donations and new women donors have first seen their doctors. The age limit for donating blood at the Stratford clinic is from 18 to 60 years. Milo Logan, 177 Queen st., one of the most consistent donors at the clinic reached the 12th donation mark at the Tuesday clinic. His was the high- est donation at the clinic. There were two gold buttons for tenth donations, 12 silver buttons for sixth donations and 11 bronze buttons for third donations awarded. Twenty- one new donors made their first visit Tuesday. Winners of the William Smith, and Henry Weiss, gold buttons were 223 Wellington st.; 130 Avondale ave. ; The large group of first donors were: Donald Thompson, 40 Nelson st.; Charles Scott, 46 Grange st.; Will- jam Dahms, R.R. 5, Stratford; Kather- ine Laverty, 468 Huron st.; Mrs. G. Bossence, 286 Railway ave.; Mrs. Wil- fred Levy, 111 Milton st.; Mrs. Edward Bohnert, 280 Douro st.; Mrs. William Morehead, 13 Ross st.; Mrs. John Merrylees, 14 West Gore st.; Mrs. H.- BE. MacPherson, 119 Mornington st.; Mrs. J. D. Coghill, 901 Birmingham st.; Mrs.. Mary Dougias, 49 Kent Lane; Rita Murphy, R.R. 5, Stratford; R. Le McGregor, 87 Avondale ave;. Mrs. J, 2: Brueckner, 6 Centre st.; Mrs. Ss McDougall, 141 Birmingham st.; D. Brennan, 142 Douro st.; Mrs. Gladys Warnett, .22 Verona Park; Robert Breen, 303 Huron st.; Gordon Ball, 27 Louise st.; and David Ellis, 45 Bay st. Judge--"Do you challenge any of the iu Ag Defendant--"Well, I think I can lick that little guy on the end."