Tribune and Telegraph Again Issues Its New Year Souvenir
Postage Must be Sent When the Calendar is To Be Mailed
[The Welland Tribune and Telegraph, 2 December 1926]
Each December for half a century this paper has issued a calendar for its subscribers and patrons and in keeping with this old custom the calendar for 1927 has been prepared and is now ready. The new calendar represents a considerable departure from any that have heretofore been issued. Its picture is that of a beautiful garden and a beautiful maiden therein. It is of such beauty that you may be led to believe it is not native. But it is native. The garden is that of Col. Hugh A. Rose, and the young woman who stands barefoot by the lily pond is Miss Phillis Goodbarne of Fonthill. The picture is a reproduction of a photograph by that incomparable artist, Walter A. Dixon. Because of the picture it is and the associations it has, we predict that this calendar will prove more popular than any we have ever issued. It is free for the asking, but you had better ask soon if you would not be disappointed. A calendar will be sent by mail to any address on receipt of postage.
Calendars will positively not be given to children unless on a note from mother or father.
[The Welland Tribune and Telegraph, 15 June 1926]
The beauty and grandeur of Lookout Point Golf Course were unfolded to the members of Welland county council when they were the guests of Reeve “Art” Damude, the popular representative of Fonthill. Many of the councillors looked upon the famous course for the first time and were loud in the praises of one of Welland county’s unequalled beauty spots. Over the luncheon ex-Warden J.C. Sloat presided, the members and county officials enjoying the splendid repast to the full. In a few words Reeve Damude welcomed the guests, Warden Albert Nelson voicing the appreciation of all present to the genial host. The luncheon over, the guests travelled around the course, enjoying a brief spell from the strenuous session in real enjoyment.
Road and Bridge Committee Brings in Report
[The Welland Tribune and Telegraph, 15 June 1926]
County Council wound up its June Session Friday when, previous to the sitting of the Equalization Committee, several reports were presented. Among these was that of the Road and Bridge Committee as follows:
On June 5th, we your road and bridge committee with the Warden and County Clerk and Mr. Scott, an engineer, inspected the site of the proposed bridge across the Welland River at the town line between the Townships of Pelham and Thorold.
We found the river at this point to be 210 ft. wide with a depth of 14 ft. in the centre.
The approaches to this bridge would require a considerable amount of filling in. We were assured, however, by some of the residents near, that this would be done on the north side by them free of cost to the County.
The approaches on the south side will be a more difficult undertaking as at this place the highway is much higher than the old approach and the necessary earth is not easily available.
Should one of the canal bridges be purchased as was suggested by the delegation, we believe the Welland South bridge would be the proper one, if location is considered. We measured this bridge and found it to be 247 ft. in length and 16 ft. in width. This would be a longer bridge than necessary, but it could be purchased at a moderate price. The extra length would be immaterial owing to the construction of this bridge; it would be necessary to have an abutment in the centre as well as at each end.
We also interviewed H. and G. Horton as to the cost of moving this bridge and placing it on the new abutment. His estimate of the cost of this work was $8,000.00 if the bridge was delivered on the canal bank by the Department.
We asked Mr. Scott to give a preliminary estimate on the cost of necessary abutments, also number of yards of earth fill necessary for south side. His letter attached hereto will give this information.
Up to the present time we have been unable to get any information as to what the department might ask, for this bridge or when it is available.
The Standard Steel Construction Co. offer to construct us a bridge of three spans, 62, 70 and 80 ft. at a price of $14,000.00, or two 90 ft. spans at a price of $18,000.00. These bridges would be without floors. The cost of flooring said bridges being extra.
The report was adopted without dispute.
The Road and Bridge Committee also presented the following report.
On May 28th we met at the White Pigeon bridge. We found this bridge old, but still serviceable for ordinary traffic. We found that a few plank were needed, also we think the approaches should be covered with stone if available from the county. We arranged with Frank Heximer to have this work done.
We next visited the Black Creek town line bridge. We found this bridge in need of more extensive repairs. We agreed that two new courses of stringers should be placed on this bridge. Also a few new plank and two courses of three-inch plank, 24 inches wide, full length of bridge, traffic width, also the west approach filled in and widened on the north side. This work was left in charge of Wm. Miller. The railings along the approaches of this bridge are quite old and will need to be renewed in a year or two.
The Sauer bridge on the Humberstone road and Crowland town lines: We found this bridge a good concrete arch and in first class condition. We recommend that 1 inch stone should be placed on the approaches and over the top of this bridge. Also that the east approach on the north side be widened. Mr. Koebel was left in charge of this work.
O’Reilly’s bridge: We found this bridge needed several new plank, also some gravel on the approaches. We arranged with Mr. Cosby to do this work.
On Tuesday June 1st we met the Lincoln county committee at DeCew Falls. We found this bridge in good condition but with an old wooden railing guarding the approaches on one side, while a substantial iron railing protected the other side. Melvin Honsberger, Jordan Station, agreed to have this work done.
The Red bridge: We found this concrete bridge with the approaches very much improved by the work done on them last year. No work was considered necessary at this bridge.
Robins’ bridge: We found this in good condition. The south approaches needed some filling in. Mr. Harlem Strong agreed to have this work done. The abutments of this bridge are concrete, built on piling capped with timber and planked over the top. The lower water levels are leaving the wood work exposed above the water level. If there is any way to remedy this we believe it should be done. In a few years the wood work will be decayed and the abutments ruined.
Cheese Factory bridge: This is an old wooden bridge but we believe serviceable for some time. No work was ordered done here.
Laidlaw bridge: We found the approaches and railing of this bridge in good condition but the bridge in need of cleaning and painting. Mr. Copeland agreed to get prices on this work and report to our committee if he considered the price a reasonable one.
Ceremony Performed by Chairman of School Board, After Whom Building is Named
LARGE GATHERING
City School Children Will be Entertained When Building is Formally Opened
[The Welland Tribune and Telegraph, 15 June 1926]
In the presence of a large and representative gathering the corner stone of the new Ross School in the North Ward was laid Monday afternoon. The honor of performing the ceremony fell to David Ross, chairman of the Public School Board, after whom the school is named, and the silver trowel with which he executed the deed was afterwards presented to him.
Owing to the inclement weather, the school children of the city did not attend the proceedings as planned but Mr. Ross explained that they would be the guests of the School Board when the school was formerly opened. The new building, erected at a cost of $100,000, will be a beautiful structure and a credit to the city.
Prayer was offered by Rev. J.D. Cunningham, D.D., after which addresses were given by Mr. Ross, H.M. McCuaig, former principal of the Welland High School, City Solicitor J.F. Gross, Mark Vaughn, M.P.P., Inspector John Flower and Rev. Father McCaffrey.
The customary steel tube was buried under the corner stone after it had been placed by Mr. Ross. It contained copies of the Tribune and Telegraph, Toronto papers, coins of the realm and an inscription giving the history of the new school, members of the Board and officials.
The silver trowel presented to Mr. Ross was engraved as follows: -“Presented to David Ross, Esq., on the occasion of his laying the cornerstone of the Ross school, Welland, Ont., June 14th, 1926.”
The address for the occasion was given by Louis Blake Duff. Mr. Duff said:
“We, citizens of Welland, are assembled here on the afternoon of June 14, 1926, to witness the laying of the cornerstone of the Ross Public School on North Main Street. These foundations beneath us and these iron girders above us, the bones of a new building, when the summer has ended, will be seen no more, for their nakedness will be clothed in bricks and tile, and with the beginning of the autumn term, hall doors will be thrown open and an army of children will enter their new educational home. The school is for the children of Welland; its cost is being paid by the people of Welland and for these reasons it is particularly appropriate, and indeed, gratifying to know that it has been designed by a Welland architect, Norman A. Kearns, and is being built by Welland contractors, W.J. Hickey and John H. Crow.
Neither architect nor builders, however, can give this ward an adequate, substantial and permanent building if the corner-stone is not well and truly laid, and it is to make assurance doubly sure that we are gathered this afternoon from the homes, the mills, and factories, the shops and offices of Welland to witness the craftsmanship of David Ross who has been chosen by the Public School Board to wield the silver trowel, to spread the mortar, and put the stone in its bed- a bed where we hope it may lie these many scores of years. Mr. Ross has many qualifications that fit him for the task that is his. He has been a member of Welland’s business fraternity longer than any other. I venture to say he can look over this audience and tell each one what day he first entered our city gates, for we all came after him. But years are not his only or even his chief credentials. It is rather this: Throughout the long period of his residence here, he has devoted himself without stint to the public welfare. There was never in that period a movement for the good of Welland that did not summon his heartiest cooperation and his unfailing energy. A dozen enterprises of which this is true might be cited, but his most enduring love has been for the public schools. His ‘prentice hand he tried there nearly two-score years ago, and he is still going strong, in the present year of grace being chairman of the Board, an honour he has borne in many preceding years. He has been a true friend of the schools, pupils and staff, and now he is to have his monument in this fine new school which has been named for him. No incident has better fitted the story of education in this city.
It is quite in the order of things that such a service to education should come from a Scot. If there is any land on earth where learning is held in absolute reverence, it is in Scotland. If you had pointed out a millionaire in Duntochety, nobody would have turned his head, but James Soutar would have run up a hill to see the back of a scholar disappearing in the distance. One man, James Knox, is responsible for this fact about Scotland. It was he who in his capacity as a political and social reformer laid down the principle-that if a nation is to succeed, it must be educated. It was he who nearly four centuries ago devised a system of education in which every parish should have its school and every boy should attend that school. He took the ladder of education and put its I west round at the doorsill of the shepherd’s cottage and the highest at the door of the university. And the fruits ye know: Every Scot today, the round world over, knows where the balance lies, how much it is and to whom it belongs.
Advantage may properly be taken of this occasion to express appreciation of the faithful and unselfish work of the School Board in the years that are past. A score of years ago, Welland was no more than a village with but one school. Today, we have four very fine buildings and by September the number will be five, and David Ross has had his share in building each one of them. The school population has increased six times over, and where eight teachers were ample for our needs, now we find forty-five not enough. To keep abreast of these ever-growing demands has been no light task, but it has been well accomplished and the city of today and tomorrow owes much to the men who have so efficiently planned and so honestly carried those plans for the educational structure.
The capacity of the Board has been nowhere better reflected, I think, than in the quality and character of the staff of our public schools. Hon. Richard Harcourt once said that a good school master was worth more to his community than the largest in industry. That is true enough and because it is true we have the worth of many industries at the teachers’ desk in our public schools. The staff is composed of men and women of highest ideals and with a deep love of their mission. Their worth cannot well be computed in terms of industries.
Our public school, as we know it, would not recognize its ancestor in the Upper Canada of a century ago. The log school with its blazing fire, the rude desks reaching almost from wall to wall, and benches, without backs, so high that little feet never touched the floor; every day a school day except Sunday, and the long hours running from morning until night; the teacher, often as not, an incapacitated soldier with just enough knowledge of the three R’s to let him through the gauntlet of a not very exacting Board.
A few dollars and willing hands built a school then and now the cost, as in this case, runs to one hundred thousand dollars. Science settles the whole scheme of seating, heating, ventilation, lighting. Money, planning and care have made the road to learning if not royal at least royal as maybe, and yet one wonders if the lad and lass who step down at the school gates from a modern motor car have not lost something that the boys and girls gained in walking four miles through the snow to the log school. It is at any rate true that the log school and its successor, the little red school house, produced a fine type of sturdy, self-reliant men and women, strong enough to build a country.
But we are not here to rake embers from the ashes of the past, but rather to dedicate this school to the youth of Welland, whose faces are set toward tomorrow.
May they pass out from it, year by year, in steady streams, noble companies of little men and women of such noble education that they will make a better Canada than they found.”
David Ross, Chairman of the Public School Board, had as his guests at the Rotary Club luncheon, Monday noon, members of the Board, Inspectors Flower, Marshall and McNiece, Hon. R. Harcourt, J.F. Gross and D.D. Gross, city solicitors. Following the luncheon, Mr. Harcourt gave a most eloquent and most interesting address on education in which he paid high tribute to great work that has been done by the primary and secondary schools of Welland.
[The Welland Tribune and Telegraph, 10 June 1926]
One of the most important and interesting functions ever to take place in Welland is that scheduled for Monday afternoon at 2 o’clock, when the corner stone for the new Ross school in the North Ward will be laid.
The Minister of Education, Hon. G. Howard Ferguson, has been asked to officiate, and others expected to be present are Inspector Marshall of Niagara Falls, School Inspector James McNiece, Hon. Richard Harcourt, former Minister of Education, G.H. Pettit, M.P., Mark Vaughn, M.P.P., Mayor E.J. Anderson and other civic officials.
The School Board met Tuesday evening when final plans were made for this important ceremony. The Board will be the guests of the Rotary Club at its noon luncheon on Monday, and immediately following this the corner stone will be laid.
The school children of the city will attend, those on the east side of the canal assembling at Central School at 1.30 and marching to the new Ross school in a body.
[The Welland Tribune and Telegraph, 15 June 1926]
At the morning service at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church on Sunday, Rev. J.D. Cunningham, D.D. announced that he was shortly to sever his connection with the congregation. Dr. Cunningham, at the meeting of the General Assembly in Montreal last week, was appointed to the chair of New Testament Literature and Exegesis at Knox College, Toronto, and will resign his ministry of the local church to accept that position. He will ask to be released from his charge here at the July meeting of the Presbytery. It is expected that Dr. Cunningham will assume his new position at the end of September.
Dr. Cunningham has been a successful and much loved minister, and the announcement of his intended departure is received with very sincere regret. The church has thrived under his ministry and his twenty years have been marked by an unbroken harmony and accord. He carries with him to his new post the good wishes not only of his congregation but of Welland, and that he will succeed there as he has succeeded here is not to be doubted, for his natural gifts added to his sound scholarship, make him well fitted for the chair that has been given him, and which he filled so well during the last year as a temporary appointee.
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