m merits and avoids the build up of large puddles or ponds in vacant areas or along roadways. In 1980 alone $70,000 was spent on just one section of this storm drain system. Souris is also a well-lit town. The traveller approaching from the west at night is presented with an illuminated panorama of neatly patterned lines of lights marking the grid of streets in the town. Street lighting, of course, is a discouragement to un¬ lawful acts and crimes of violence. The people of Souris are generally well-behaved, but to make sure their persons and property will remain secure the town is ef¬ ficiently policed as well adequately lit. There is a nine- man Royal Canadian Mounted Police area detachment in the town which provides daily 24 hour coverage. One officer is always on town duty, and Souris covers his cost under the terms of a signed agreement with the force. At one time, disorderly people were accommodated over night in the Souris lock-up; now they are taken to the jail in the county town, Georgetown , 30 miles (50 km) dis¬ tant. A weekly court session is held in the Souris Town Hall, however, administered by the provincial Depart¬ ment of Justice. Fines for infractions of the law which oc¬ cur within the boundaries of the town are, as we have seen, a useful source of town revenue. Most of them result from charges for speeding. A clerk of the court maintains his office at convenient times in the Town Hall, where he serves as a Justice of the Peace and collects the fines. The canine population of the town is also controlled by regular patrols, once or twice a week, by the Humane Society, which collects stray dogs and houses them at its shelter at Hazelbrook near Charlottetown . The Society is also on call 24 hours a day for emergency service. Souris , like many other small communities in Prince Edward Island , is sports minded, and the town is well supplied with recreational facilities and programs. Park was opened in 1978 with help from the town, and provides residents and visitors alike with a safe, clean, and supervised beach. It is located within the town limits on the western entrance to Souris . The 's Arena, on the eastern side of the town, is owned by the municipality and administered by an Arena Association for the benefit of the people of Souris and its surrounding communities. Its debt amortization and maintenance costs are met from charges made for the use of the rink. The town has also constructed a tennis court, and installed playground equipment, on the grounds of the Souris Consolidated School. The town also employs a recreational co-ordinator to help plan and carry out recreational programs in these and other facilities. Other services include a community library, housed in the Town Hall, and the new 's Health Centre next door to the Souris Hospital. The building of the Centre was made possible, in part, by several direct municipal grants, and loans obtained under the prime fct rate borrowing status of the town of . All these services and programs lay a heavy respon¬ sibility on the Town Council in respect to both decision¬ making and administration. Much of the work is carried out through representatives responsible for such mat¬ ters as water and sewage, streets and highways, and dog control, and standing committees which include an Emergency Measures Organization, a Housing Board, a Planning Board, a Recreation Committee, and an In¬ dustrial Commission. The town has several employees who carry on the day-to-day business administration and the physical maintenance of municipal services. They in¬ clude an administrative clerk, two maintenance men, and the already mentioned recreation co-ordinator. But the most powerful and influential leaders in the community in respect to government services and benefits are probably the two members who sit for 1st Kings, the constituency in which Souris is situated, in the provincial Legislative Assembly, and the member of Parliament for Cardigan , the federal riding which covers . This is because of the im¬ portant role funding from the two senior levels of govern¬ ment plays in providing a full range of municipal services to a small community which otherwise would not be able to afford them all. In recent years the town of has been particularly well served in this respect by its representatives, who have been members not only of the parliaments in Charlottetown and Ottawa, but have oc¬ cupied seats in both the provincial and federal cabinets. The late Daniel J. MacDonald , for example, represented Souris and held the agriculture portfolio in the provincial government; he then went on to become the federal minister of veterans affairs in the Dominion government. Mayors of The first mayor of Souris was J.J. Hughes , who served a one year term. Over the next 69 years 26 men served the town as chief magistrate: R.C. MacLean , J.W. Bren- nan, J.B. Matthews , J.E. MacDonald , H.H. Acorn , William Hughes , C.A. Cox , AT. MacDonald, J.P. MacPhee, M.S. Acorn, P.E. Holland, Dr. A.H. Smallwood , Paul Gallant , L.W. Roper , C.E. LaVie , J. Arthur Peters , B.L. Stewart , Joseph Campbell , Wendall R. Birt , R.A. Leard , Andrew Meurant , John J. McCormack , George MacEachem , C.A. MacPhee , Keith MacKenzie , and James J. Hughes , grandson of the first Mayor. C.C. Carleton held the office of town clerk for 22 years. His successors were H.G. Matthew , J.E. Moynagh , J.H. Brennan , M.J. McQuaid , Mrs. Fee Roach, and Mrs. Mildred Ehler . In 1980 the town council consisted of Keith MacKenzie , Paul Alyre Galland, Peter McQuaid , James Miles , David MacDonald , and Gary Dingwell . 15