ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO Saturday October 19, 1918
President Wilson’s stern reply
President Wilson has despatched his reply to the German Note asking for an armistice with a view to peace. He opens by stating that the ‘unqualified acceptance’ by Germany of the terms of his public addresses justifies a frank and direct statement of his decision with regard to the two German communications. The process of evacuation and the conditions of armistice, he declares, are matters which must be left to the Government of the United States and the Allied Governments. The president goes on to say that an armistice cannot be considered so long as the armed forces of Germany continue the inhumane and illegal practices in which they still persist.
Flicking through that 1968 Courier a review for a poetry anthology caught the eye. Spindrift – The poetry of a New Generation edited and published by a youthful Angus Martin was available, priced two shillings six pence from the Courier Office. It was the prolific author and editor of the Kintyre Magazine’s first publication. The reviewer wrote: ‘It is most heartening to find poetry – that delight in working with words, in fashioning them to produce the image of your thoughts, perceptions and observations - alive enough among our teenage friends to encourage a local editor to introduce yet another poetry magazine to a world which has seen many such ventures dying in a struggling infancy.’ Finding a good copy of Spindrift today is difficult and even the author’s copies were not mint. Mr Martin said: ‘I was able to find two copies of Spindrift, one partially nibbled by mice and the other with a written-on cover.’ At last Saturday’s Kirk Street Hall coffee morning there was a visitor from Blairgowrie. Many members of Highland Parish Church’s Youth Choir, from the late 1980s onwards, will remember Campbeltonian Abigail Ireland who said: ‘This hall holds many memories.’ Ms Ireland was born, at Craigard Maternity Hospital in 1973, after her parents, Ian and Jess Ireland, moved to the Wee Toon, when her dad became manager of Campbeltown Creamery. Ms Ireland, who has three children, was staying at Bellochantuy and said she has to return to her roots at least twice a year for the ‘fabulous beaches.’ She added: ‘In July I stayed at Peninver which I hope never changes.’