IF CANADA should fight and lose a war against Soviet Russia within the next 10 years, the leading aspirant to the job of Canada’s first dictator will be a small, bland, blue-eyed man who likes dogs, children, carnations and the poetry of Shelley.By RALPH ALLEN
ON MAY 19, 1845, the guns of Greenwich boomed in farewell and two ships dropped down the Thames on a voyage that was to take them into the unknown island masses and ice fields of Canada's Arctic in search of the Northwest Passage. Striding his scrubbed deck, gallantly waving to the crowds, was a bald aristocratic hero, Sir John Franklin, imperious sea dog who had fought with Nelson at Copenhagen and Trafalgar, veteran explorer who twice before had led overland exploration treks into the Canadian Arctic.By FRED BODSWORTH
OUR STRIKER ripped another page from his tablet, crumpled it, and fired it through the cuddy port to join the fleet of spoiled-paper balls that bobbed against the swordfisherman's hull. "You're making a line gale out of a breeze," the skipper told him.By ARTHUR MAYSE
IF AND WHEN Canada goes to war we shall have all-out conscription immediately. The Government is committed to that already. Whether any such decision is on record, even in the secret. minutes of the Cabinet, is very doubtful. The question has been discussed from time to time, but cabinets don't usually take formal decisions so far in advance of action.By BLAIR FRASER
ARTHUR J. REAUME, a boyish, brash but not un bloodied politician of 44, has been mayor of Windsor, Ont., continuously for 10 years and two-and-a-half months excepting eight days last January when he was temporarily evicted in as cockeyed and bitter a political battle as ever beset a Canadian community.By GERALD ANGLIN
A FATHER of rive children started up a grocery business in Toronto’s east end in 1947. That first year he lost $850. In 1948 he figured he made a profit of $4,000. After claiming exemptions for his wife and five children he paid $370 tax. The next year he counted his profit at $5,000, on which he owed $377.By CHARLES NEVILLE
SO YOU'VE just become a father? Congratulations! A boy? Nice going! I'll bet you can hardly wait to start guiding him past the pitfalls of childhood. You're probably peering into his basinette right now, watching for maladjustments as if you were looking for spots.
THAT'S WHAT the Winnipeg Free Press thought of Regina's prospects in 1882. Obviously, it was a bad guess, but the mistake is understandable. The fact that the Free Press was so wrong is a tribute to the zeal and energy of Regina's early settlers, because most of what the editorial writer said was true.By GEORGE HILLYARD ROBERTSON
ACROSS Canada the Health League's 10,000 placards in streetcars and buses proclaim: "Protect your children against smallpox, diphtheria and whooping cough!" Many who read the notices are surprised to see whooping cough getting a mention in the same breath as smallpox and diphtheria.By JUNE CALLWOOD
THE Queen Mary is rolling her way home through an illtempered slate-grey sea and a drizzling mist that lingers like a tedious guest. Many passengers find themselves mysteriously fatigued today and intend to remain in their cabins. Others are sitting in their deck chairs gazing earnestly at a book but never seem to turn the page.By Beverley Baxter
The story you want is part of the Maclean’s Archives. To access it, log in here or sign up for your free 30-day trial.
Experience anything and everything Maclean's has ever published — over 3,500 issues and 150,000 articles, images and advertisements — since 1905. Browse on your own, or explore our curated collections and timely recommendations.WATCH THIS VIDEO for highlights of everything the Maclean's Archives has to offer.