[Welland Tribune, 31 November 1947]
Forty years of service to God and the community are being celebrated by The Salvation Army in Welland. How could the Army celebrate without having the first of the series of meetings on the street corner? It was on the street corner, the Salvation Army was born. It was there, William Booth as a young man left the church because he saw the multitudes of the unchurched, uncared for. Godless crowds, to whom no one was ministering Saturday night true to tradition and conviction, the local salvationists, under the leadership of Major Frank Tilley, once again proclaimed the truths of the Gospel to the passing shoppers on the street.
The Saturday night indoor service was conducted by Lieutenant-Colonel Joseph Acton who is the divisional commander of a large section of Ontario, with headquarters in Hamilton. It was a meeting of praise and reminiscence. Several of the older Salvationists recalled other days, some days of success and victory, other days of disappointment and a struggle against poverty and persecution. Several young converts gave testimony to the fact of a new birth in their lives. Colonel Action spoke of the experiences of Christ in Gethsemane, of His willingness that his Father’s will be done, and urged the Salvationists to let His will be done in them.
Sunday morning bright and early, the Salvationists were at the Welland County General hospital to celebrate their anniversary in service to the suffering. Colonel Action conducted the “swearing” in of three young people and three adults as soldiers of the Salvation Army. For 40 years the message of the Salvation Army in Welland has been salvation through the cross of Christ.
Letters were read from citizens who have formerly been in command of the Welland Corps, and the Citadel band assisted with music. The Welland Corps, under the leadership of Major and Mrs. Frank Tilley has made considerable advances.
[Welland-Port Colborne Evening Tribune, 23 January 1947]
It is a credit to the Welland County General hospital that it has gained provisional approval in the listings of the American College of Surgeons for 1946. Each year the listings contain hospitals in the United States and Canada which have compiled satisfactorily with the fundamental requirements that assure the best care of the sick and injured.
Provisional approval indicates a hospital which is trying to meet the requirements of the college, but for acceptable reasons has not been able to do so in every regard.
The hospitals of both countries are reconsidered each year, and as wartime difficulties have disappeared the standards are higher. In 1946, 3,118 hospitals qualified-a decline of 63 from the year before.
Dr. Irvin Abell, president of the college’s board of regents, explained this as a “sinking into post-war lethargy”. He said the college expected hospitals to be “leaders in the post-war effort to improve every type of welfare service.”
The citizens of a community are held responsible for insisting upon good hospital service and for giving the support and encouragement need to provide it. The two problems now facing hospitals are inadequate nursing staffs and untrained administrators.
The College of Surgeons appeals to schools and community institutions to stimulate recruiting of student nurses. It suggests that the public can see that hospital administrators appointed are men who understand both the professional and business problems of a hospital.
Niagara peninsula hospitals did well in the ratings. Fully approved were the Niagara Peninsula Sanatorium and St. Catharines General hospital. The Niagara Falls hospital was provisionally approved.
The requirements for approval include the following fundamentals: modern physical plant, clearly defined organization, carefully selected governing board, competent, well-trained superintendent, adequate and efficient personnel, organized medical staff, adequate diagnostic and therapeutic facilities, accurate and complete medical reports for research, regular group conferences of the administrative and medical staffs, and a humanitarian spirit-“the primary consideration being the best care of the patient.”
[Welland Tribune March 13, 1947]
Congregation regrets departure of Rev. L.R. Ballantyne
Rev. L.R. Ballantyne, pastor of Central United church has accepted a call to Wesley United church, Brantford, and will be moving to his new charge at the end of June.
Mr. Ballantyne announced the call at a congregational meeting last night, stating that although he was happy in his present pastorate, yet he was disposed to accept the call. The congregation expressed regret at the prospect of his departure, but felt they would place no obstacle in his path.
At the same meeting the congregation extended a call to Rev. F.R Hendershot of Wesley United church, Brantford, to become the pastor here. This action has been ratified by the Official board and recommended to the congregation for their approval.
Mr. Ballantyne will have completed six years of ministry at Central United church when he leaves in June. He had previously served in Sutton West, Palmerston, Orillia and Paris.
A native of Atwood, Ont. He attended high school at Listowel, the Strtaford Normal School and graduated from Knox Theological College University of Toronto. He gave four years service in the First World War, serving in the artillery and later the Y.M.C.A. He was ordained a minister of the Presbyterian Church in 1923.
Officials of the church told the Tribune today that the invitation came first to Rev, Mr Ballantyne from Wesley United church, Brantford some weeks ago, and that when the Official Board was notified of the invitation it unanimously passed a resolution declining to accept Mr. Ballantyne’s transfer, but that following a request made by him after a conference with officials of Wesley Church it was finally decided to accept the transfer being done with keen regret.
Mr. Ballantyne during his six years with Centtral United church has been active in several fields community service. He has been a member of the Canal Area Ministeria Association and has been its president this year. He has been a valued member of Welland Rotary Club, and officials of the club state that he has been one of the most active and helpful chairman the club’s crippled childrens’ committee ever had. His war experience was with the 43rd Battery, Royal Canadian Artillery in World War 1, and he served in France, specifically at the Battle of Passchendaele in October, 1917 when he was wounded. He later served with the Y.M.C.A. in that war.
During his six years with the pastorate of Central United church Mr. Ballantyne has served as chairman of several committees of the Niagara Presbytery.
There has been a steady growth in membership of the congregation during Mr. Ballantyne’s pastorate, and he leaves the church stronger financially than when he arrived.
Mrs. Ballantyne is a vocalist of note in local musical circles, and has been heard often at musical events in the city and district. Mr and Mrs Ballantyne have two children, Anne, who is studying at the University of Toronto and Robert, a third year student at Welland High and Vocational School.
[Welland Tribune March 13 1947]
Car licence trick is worked by bandits who scoop up $2,500
Smithville, Ont. March 13- A bank robbery that almost misfired and which was partially fortified by the timely appearance of a Caistor centre farmer netted five armed bandits approximately $2,500 yesterday afternoon where they held up the Royal Bank here.
The five men, four of them wearing white handkerchiefs on their faces, the fifth wearing dark glasses, entered the bank a few moments before closing time. According to a witness they announced it was a holdup and “just swarmed over the counter. Front and back.”
Earl Wait, the farmer, parked his automobile across the street from the bank and, unaware of the holdup, attempted to enter the building. The bandit keeping watch saw him approach and as he(the farmer) was about to open the door, the man ordered him inside.
Wait realized what was taking place and dashed down the steps from the bank. He scraped his hand as he stumbled but kept running and shouting that the bank was being held up. The bandit on guard took deliberate aim and fired a shot in the direction of the fleeting ma. He missed.
At the sound of the shot, one of the man who was scooping up the money in the teller’s cage said: “let’s get the hell out of here.”
The men. a witness said, filed out of the bank almost leisurely. An accomplice, the sixth of the bandits, was at the wheel of a large automobile in front of the bank and the men scrambled into the vehicle and they drove away. As they did a Smithville woman took the licence number of the car.
Coincidently, three bank inspectors were visiting the building and they with three bank employes were forced to lie on the floor while the bandits gathered their loot. Jean Voll, ledger keeper, was the only woman employe in the bank and declared she was “pretty nervous” at the time.
The bandit car followed Main street and disappeared on No. 20 highway as police threw up a road blockade south of Stoney Creek.
Ingenious License Dodge
Kitchener, March 13-Ontario car thieves are obtaining proper license plates for their booty in an ingenious way which police are trying to circumvent, it was learned here today.
“In fact the man who thought out the scheme is a minor genius,” said a police officer who described the process.
Bandits who held up the Royal Bank at Smithville, Ont. Yesterday made their getaway with $2,500. were said today to have used a stolen car, with regularly-issued plates.
The method, to which police are now wise, entails first of all stealing a new car. Then a false bill of sale is made out, taken to the provincial license issuer who registers the car and turns over the plates.
Three cases of such false registration in February have come to light and two of the cars have been recovered. The third is currently in use by the Smithville quintet, Witnesses took down the number of their car and investigation showed the license to have been issued at New Hamburg to a “Frank Malone. R.R. No. 1, Elmira” was issued plates in Kitchener last Feb 11 but the car was recovered in Ottawa two weeks later.
A car recovered recently in Toronto had been similarly registered at Guelph by a “Mr Taylor of R.R. No. 1 Breslau.”
If the thieves stay clear of the law after registering their car the trick is difficult to detect under present regulations.
[Welland Tribune March 12, 1947]
Expect new memorial hospital will benefit from gov’t policy
The announcement yesterday of Provincial Treasurer Frost of a new policy in grants to hospitals of the province both for maintenance and construction is being received with enthusiasm in Port Colborne in view of the plans already approved for a 50-bed memorial hospital to be constructed in Lakeview Park.
Capt. R. Scott Misener, chairman of the board of directors of the hospital fund, was out of town today and could not be reached for comment. But the announcement of the provincial treasurer made in his budget speech yesterday was being generally acclaimed in the town, especially by those who have been active in the raising of over $250,000 for the proposed Port Colborne Memorial hospital.
Hon. Mr. Frost’s announcement indicated that up to $1,000 per bed for both private and public ward beds was available for construction of hospitals in the smaller communities and rural areas which on the basis of the 50-bed plans for Port Colborne Memorial hospital might mean a grant when construction is started of up to $50,000.
Any grant which will be made under the new plans announced by Mr. Frost will aid the Port Colborne hospital.
Construction Costs Up
Capt. Misener, in accepting a check for $3,000 from the Port Colborne Lions club recently, stated that tenders received thus far for construction of Port Colborne’s memorial hospital indicated the cost of construction would be well in excess of the original estimates and that additional funds to the more than $250,000 already collected would be required.
The new grants for hospital also provide a new departure in payments for maintenance which will be based on the number of public ward beds. In the past the provincial grant has been for indigent patients and not on the basis of the number of beds.
[Welland Tribune February 8, 1947]
Truck, Car Sideswiped, Auto Hots Tree, But No One Suffers Injury
Three automobile-train accidents occurred in Port Colborne Thursday and all were blamed on the blinding snow. Considerable damage was done to cars and a truck involved, but no one was injured.
Thursday afternoon a truck owned by Corey Electric and driven by Earl Cuff was travelling on King street at the Maple Leaf crossing and the driver failed to see a T.H.&B train approaching. The train sideswiped the light truck doing damage estimated at between $200 and $300.
Clarence Beck, driving on Kent street, failed to see a C.N.R. train approaching at the spur crossing until too late to stop his car. He jumped from the car as it reached the crossing and the car travelled over the crossing and into a tree, but was missed by the train.
Edward Beauchamp, 67 Cross St., Port Colborne, was driving at the Welland street crossing about 9 o’clock Thursday night and failed in the snowstorm to notice a C.N.R. train approaching. Less than $50 damage was done to his car.
[Welland Tribune March 4, 1947]
A Pere Marquette freight train last night smashed into an Imperial Oil tank truck, stuck in the snow over a New York Central Railway crossing on Highway 3A between Chamber’s Corners and Beckett’s Bridge, shoving the truck into a ditch. It was the second of two traffic accidents in the Welland area attributed to yesterday’s snowstorm.
The truck driven by Don Crosby of R.R. 2 Welland, was returning from Dunnville when it got stuck in snow over the crossing, with front wheels jammed between the rails. When Crosby saw the train approaching he ran down the tracks in an attempt to flag it down. The freight slowed up but was unable to stop in time to avoid the truck. Badly damaged it was hurled into the ditch. The truck contained 200 gallons of gasoline, but there was no explosion. The accident occurred at 3.10 p.m.
The train, proceeding west, was in charge of Conductor C. Watson and Engineer L. Fyle. Provincial Constables Reg. Bass and Frank Bromfield investigated.
Earlier in the day, an auto driven by John Cameron, Toronto, struck three school children, walking on Highway 3A on their way home from school near Singer’s Corner. The three Henry Lamay 16, is under observation at the Welland County General hospital for a bump on the head. The other two children, whose names were unavailable were taken to their homes..
The driver told police who investigated that due to snow flurries visibility was poor and he did not see the children on the highway until he was too close to be able to avoid them.
NO FIRE OR EXPLOSION WHEN LOCOMOTIVE HITS OIL TRUCK
[Welland Tribune March 4, 1947]
A Pere Marquette freight train last night smashed into an Imperial Oil tank truck, stuck in the snow over a New York Central Railway crossing on Highway 3A between Chamber’s Corners and Beckett’s Bridge, shoving the truck into a ditch. It was the second of two traffic accidents in the Welland area attributed to yesterday’s snowstorm.
The truck driven by Don Crosby of R.R. 2 Welland, was returning from Dunnville when it got stuck in snow over the crossing, with front wheels jammed between the rails. When Crosby saw the train approaching he ran down the tracks in an attempt to flag it down. The freight slowed up but was unable to stop in time to avoid the truck. Badly damaged it was hurled into the ditch. The truck contained 200 gallons of gasoline, but there was no explosion. The accident occurred at 3.10 p.m.
The train, proceeding west, was in charge of Conductor C. Watson and Engineer L. Fyle. Provincial Constables Reg. Bass and Frank Bromfield investigated.
Earlier in the day, an auto driven by John Cameron, Toronto, struck three school children, walking on Highway 3A on their way home from school near Singer’s Corner. The three Henry Lamay 16, is under observation at the Welland County General hospital for a bump on the head. The other two children, whose names were unavailable were taken to their homes..
The driver told police who investigated that due to snow flurries visibility was poor and he did not see the children on the highway until he was too close to be able to avoid them.
[Welland Tribune February 7, 1947]
At Stoney Creek, Ontario, on February 19, 1897, the first Women’s Institute in the world came into being in Squires’ Hall, with Mrs. E.D. Smith, the wife of E.D. Smith of Winona, now Senator Smith, being elected as the first president. On February 19, 1947, at Stoney Creek, the Mother Institute will hold its golden anniverary celebration and on that occasion, Mrs. G.D. Conant, daughter of the first President, Mrs. Smith, will be the guest speaker. Among the honoured guests on this occasion will be the charter members of the first Women’s Institute in the world along with officers of the Federated Women’s Institutes of Canada and of Ontario. Since their inception at Stoney Creek fifty years ago, Women’s Institutes have spread all over Canada and into many other countries, with an international organization known as the Associated Countrywomen of the world as the co-ordinating body binding them all together in service to the rural communities.
[Welland Tribune January 28, 1947]
Proprietors of the Majestic Grill East Main street, have purchased the building occupied by Loblaws Groceteria Limited, situated on the south side of East Main street. The former owner was Mrs. Blake Booth of Aqueduct street. Loblaws Groceteria Ltd. will later this year move to new quarters on East Main street.
The manager, Chris Dimitroff, would not reveal the purchase price but he told the Tribune that renovations and the work of re-fashioning the former groceteria into what he stated would be one of the most modern and up to date restaurants in this part of the Niagara peninsula would cost between $20,000 and $25,000. He was unable to state when the work would be completed because of the uncertain state of building operations. The new restaurant, he said, would seat approximately 100 persons at a time. And the upper floor will be devoted to catering to wedding and other parties and groups. It is the intention to maintain the present grill on the north side of the street.
The owners of the Majestic Grill are Chris Dimitroff, William Tallis and Harry Lombro, and it is expected that John Tallis also of Welland will become a fourth partner within the next few months.
The present owners purchased the goodwill of the present restaurant from G. Gettas in 1937, and the name of the establishment was then changed from “The Appolo Restaurant” to “Majestic Grill.”
[Welland Tribune January 6, 1947]
Hamilton, Jan. 6- Railway traffic was halted, power cut off and Station road in nearby Smithville blocked Saturday night when a T.H. and B. Railway freight train plowed into the rear of another near the village station.
Two men, Conductor Edward Barlow and Trainman A. LeRoy, both of Hamilton, leaped from the caboose of the first train seconds before the crash. No one was injured.
The collision wrecked four coal cars and the caboose of the first train and two coal cars of the second. The locomotive of the rear train was damaged. Immediately after the crash, the caboose of the leading train caught fire, but the blaze was extinguished by Smithville fire department before serious damage resulted.
Smithville Lights Out
In addition, one of the derailed cars knocked down a hydro line and plunged Smithville into darkness for the night. The community’s power supply had been restored only a few hours before after a 30-hour blackout caused by storm damage to the electric system.
Wreckage strewn along the tracks prevented service from being resumed until yesterday, and a C.P.R.-T.H. and B. Toronto-New York train, had to be rerouted via the Canadian National Railways to the suspension bridge at Niagara Falls station road, near the village depot, was also plugged by debris and was not opened for traffic until yesterday.
Railway officials could offer no explanation for the crash, but it was pointed out that both freights were extras and that recent storm damage had made communications difficult. Many wires in the area were not yet operating when the accident took place.
Both trains were bound for Hamilton. The first had just pulled onto main line from the Dunnville spur when it was struck. The other was en route from Welland to Hamilton.
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