BENSON JOHNSTON, Publisher -- ee app sana remnants ROMY ssn UN Pie ai pL tc Ne Mn yh VE AIRC 6 oe ere sac AN bhi HE STRATFORD MIRROR Published Weekly by the Stratford Mirror Press, 123 Ontario St. DAVID RAE, Manager Vol. 24 Circulation 4,200 STRATFORD, AUGUST 9, 1946. No. 32 Should Guard Beauty Spots (By Q. E. D.) We citizens of Stratford lay claim to being very proud of our City. And our pride is fully justified too. All . one needs to do is take a stroll along the Avon to fully realize that. How- ever, we must not be content to look hastily at the river, heave a great sigh of pleasure, and say, aren't we lucky to have such beauti- ful scenery'. On the contrary, we should take a good close look, and ask ourselves if there's anything that can be improved, and what we can do, as individuals, to bring about improvements. - Taking pride in civic beauty, over- looking flaws or being content to let the other fellow do it, is the best way we know to let a community such as our disintegrate. _ One of the first steps towards the maintenance of civic beauty rests in the hands of the parents of Stratford. As the parent of a small brood, we are only too well aware of the havoc that these carefree little creatures can wreak in an otherwise peaceful bit of scenery. So, we suggest that, | as the first step toward maintaining : the natural beauty of our city, Mr. and Mrs. Stratford have a few heart to heart chats with John and Mary, pointing out that stones which have been placed along the river's bank add much more to the scenery when left where they are. Somehow or other they loose their natural charm when they are tossed into the water and disappear below the _ surface. Then too, a collection of orange peels, banana skins and allied trash doesn't tend to improve the natural setting. As we well know, they have both a 'disconcerting appearance and an equally unwelcome odour. Remember too that all the blame cannot be laid at the door of our younger citizens. That is unless our youngsters are taking much strong- er nourishment than is customary in people of tender age. We admit that it's lots of un to toss stones at bob- bing bottles. However, try and fight the temptation because when you _ throw the bottle in, nine chances out -- of ten you won't hit it. 3 So let's rally around and extend all our efforts to keeping our city -- ¢lean. Then, when we talk about the beauty of Stratford, we can speak a with justifiable pride. -- ' Oh! To Be A Radio Announcer Work in a radio station is no doubt always fascinating and ab- sorbing, but it must have seemed specially attractive to announcers Tommy Church and John Beal the other day. The talkative pair from CJCS had interviewed a local lady on the popular '"What's Your Opin- ion" program, asking her what she considered the best way to use rasp- berries. Shhe replied, "In pies", and proved her contention by later sending two delicious raspberry pies _ to the boys at the local studio. Need- less to say, they are thoroughly con- _ vinced that the lady knew her stuff. he AS 1 SEE IT "My, , BY ELMORE PHILPOTT - C.C.F. IN SASKATCHEWAN IF YOU GO TO SASKATCHEWAN EXPECTING TO FIND the beginnings of a new millenium, you may be disappointed. If you were one of those tens of thousands, in various countries, who read in journals of vast circulation of the community project near Landis you will be deflated when you get there. The CCF government of Saskatchewan has done a good work- manlike job in the couple of years it has been in office. Its political stock is far higher today than when it was elected. In an early election the CCF would literally sweep the boards. But if you stay away from the capital, Regina, and go way out into the farm country then you will find some deep and significant undercurrents of opinion. ' * ALMOST WITHOUT EXCEPTION RANK AND FILE CCF. supporters whom I met expressed considerable concern about the Saskatchewan party. They readily admit that the record of the government, to date, is good. They readily admit that the most fervent socialist government in the world could not have gone much further or faster than their own government has done--given the mandate it actually had from the people--and the constitutional limitations. But they note that most of the things which the govern- ment has done are such as could have been and would have been done by any really alert liberal government -- that socialization of power, for instance, was actually achieved by a Conservative govern- - ment in Ontario some forty years before a CCF government got a chance to do it in Saskatchewan. * ae * I RECORD THESE OPINIONS FOR WHAT THEY ARE worth. The list of Saskatchewan achievements of the CCF to date is impressive. The financial administration has been remarkably astute. The treasurer, an ex-school teacher, Mr. Fines, has done a job which . has left the big boys down around St. James Street, Montreal, say- ing: 'Where can we get hold of a few bright young men like that?" All that needs to be said about Fines is that he has found the 'money for the very considerable program of his government, and has some nice big fat nest eggs laid away for future use. He was the only one of the ten finance ministers in Canada to anticipate the restoration of our dollar to parity with the American -- and act accordingly. v4 " . THE MAIN CHANGES IN THE LIVES OF THE PEOPLE OF Saskatchewan affect, so far, only a small section of the people. But (Continued on page 5) ee eres ce eee per es wipers oe Dr Locke shoe comfort Women who wear our Dr. M. W. Locke Shoes are their best advertisement ... ' and we're not surprised! Until you've worn these famous shoes, designed by the great Dr. M. W. Locke, you've no idea how comfortable or how firmlysupportedyour . foot can be. See the new - fall Dr. Locke Shoes to- day--let our expert Dr. Locke fitters select the last that's best for you, <a == 20th Anniversary Sound Pictures This week the motion picture in- dustry is celebrating the anniver- sary of "talking pictures", which were introduced by Warner Bros. just twenty years ago. Although "talkies" caught on immediately, they did not appear in Stratford until the Fall of 1929, when the old Majestic theatre, now the Avon, was: wired for sound. The talking motion picture as it is known today dates from the Aug- ust 6, 1926 special Vitaphone pre- miere at the old Warner theatre in New York in which recorded music and speech were synchronized with motion pictures. ieee d The Vitaphone premiere was high- ly successful, both from the box of- fice and the artistic standpoint. Prior to this showing, Warner Bros.,. like other motion picture companies, had been engaged in the production of silent pictures. It was a demon stration in 1925 of a talking picture' device perfected by The Western Electric Company and The Bell Tel-- ephone Laboratories which decided the Warners to venture their entire resources in the development of this: new medium, until then generally' regarded with great scepticism. The original sound system in Stratford was known as the Melo-. Tone, installed in 1929. This was re- placed in 1930 by a DeForest sound system which, like the Melo-Tone, was of the sound-on-disec type. One year later this too was scraped and. the new Northern Electric system installed at a cost of $25,000. This used the sound-on-film technique which has been developed into the perfect sound reproduction we know today. THERE ARE STILL OPEN SPACES IN CANADA Opponents of a policy of expanded immigration for Canada make much of the fact that, even in years when immigrants were coming in plenti- fully, there was also an outflow of Canadian emigrants to the United States. From this fact they argue that there is little, if any, net in- crease in population brought about by an immigration policy. The argument is more plausible than convincing. Immigrants and emigrants alike are seeking to better their economic condition. The im- migrants we received in the old days were largely of a class who were willing and able to do heavy manual work, while the emigrants we lost to the United States were largely of the professional, office-worker or skilled-mechanic classes. There is no relation between the arrival of a Hungarian ditch-digger | in Quebec and the departure of a Canadian stenographer across the border at Windsor. What is sure is that, if enough immigrants come in, the country, with more people to share the tax load, more customers for local stores and industries, may become prosperous enough to induce Sieben emigrants to stay in Can- ada. Those who think Canada is so crowded that a Canadian must leave the country for every immigrant that comes in have been doing too much driving in city traffic. They should get out into our open spaces.