70 Years Ago
November 24, 1948
–A Bath woman was found guilty of using three previously cancelled postage stamps to send mail. Magistrate J.P. Garvin sentenced her to pay a $10 fine for each stamp, plus $40 in court costs or spend 45 days in the County Gaol. The woman elected to serve the time. An RCMP handwriting expert gave evidence against the woman and her husband, who was also found guilty on one charge.
The woman testified she had sent a parcel to Germany, which was returned to her and marked undeliverable. She told the magistrate the postmaster’s wife told her she could re-use her stamps.
-Napanee’s Oddfellows and Rebekahs welcomed Ontario Grand Master W.E. Knox to their local lodge. In his address, Knox stressed the importance of members working incessantly in their respective lodges and discussed how the order was founded on the principles of the Bible. He received a standing ovation from the gathering of members from across the district.
-Buyers called Napanee’s two-day poultry fair the poorest they’d ever attended in town. It was estimated that about five tons of poultry was brought in for sale, while residents remembered past events where 100 tons were sold. Prices were also much higher than in 1947. The lowest price was 52 cents per pound, while chicken was being sold for as little as 30 cents a pound a year earlier.
40 Years Ago
November 22, 1978
-Napanee councillors sought legal clarification on a proposed land swap with Canadian National Railways involving two 16.62-acre parcels of land along the tracks. The CNR would trade its land south of the tracks for land in the industrial park. The CNR had a condition on the deal the land it was to receive be serviced immediately. Councillors wished to know the extent of servicing required before agreeing.
-A 6-year-old North Fredericksburgh girl died in a house fire in Adolphustown, 10 miles south of Napanee. The girl had been visiting her grandparents. Six other occupants were able to escape. Seven Napanee firefighters arrived at the scene 40 minutes after a neighbour reported the fire, but the house was already beyond saving. They stayed at the scene for five-and-a-half hours to prevent it from spreading to other structures in high winds.
-Four referenda were settled on ballots in area municipalities Nov. 13. South Fredericksburgh residents voted in favour of a town hall, but not a fire hall. Deseronto residents decided against flouridation of their water. Positive votes liquor sales in Denbigh Abinger and Ashby did not reach a 60-per-cent threshold, meaning the township would remain dry.