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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1969-10-02, Page 2FROM MY WINDOW By Shirley Kellar urou xpositor Since 1.860, Serving the Community First Published at SEAFORTH, ONTARIO, every Thursday morning by McLEAN BROS., Publishers Ltd. ANDREW Y. McLEAN. Editor Member Canadian Weekly Newspaper Association Ontario Weekly Newspaper Arnociation and Audit N Bureau of Circulation 'eWteaPers Subscription Rates: Canada (in advance) $6.00 a Year Outside Canada (in advance) $8.00 a Year SINGLE COPIES — 15 CENTS EACH Second Class Mail Registration Number 0080 SEAFORTH, ONTARIO, OCTOBER 2, 1969 Improvement In the Post Office During the past year Canada's Post Office department has come in for some pretty severe criticism. While some of it, perhaps, was unde- served, many of the complaints were justified. In most cases the difficulty was a result of changed procedures which had been introduced in a deter- mined bid to bring post office prac- tises up to modern standards. In the changeover, too frequently post office people, at least in the larger centres seemed to have lost that desire for con- scientious service which for so many years had typified post office activities. But perhaps these troubles are' now becoming a thing of the past. While we continue to receive complaints about delivery of this newspaper, particular- ly to subscribers in the larger areas, in general there seems to be a leveling off of criticism, So much so that a num- ber of newspapers have commented on the irapioved service. Typical is a recent survey conducted ---15ythe7I'rcinto Star. The Star tested the postal service from coast to coast to find out if mail was getting to its destination as fast as it should. The post office not only pass- ed the test, it won an A+ for effort and at least one citation. Eight Star correspondents from Whitehorse and Vancouver in the west to St. John's, Nfld. and Nashwaaksis, N.B., in the east sent 99 pre-addressed envelopes, 31 of them to The Star's downtown offices and the rest to three Star editors (one who lived in Don Mills, another in the west end and a third in midtown Toronto). Because of a clerical error 21 of them carried an address that was 1,000 num- bers out and had an incorrect street name but all but two found the editor just the same. Letters were mailed out in three batches from correspondents in Cal- gary'," Winnipeg, St. John's, Regina, Nashwaalcsis, N.B., Whitehorse, Van- couver and New York City. Each cor- respondent sent a single letter to The Star offices when he received the in- structions for the project as well. And mail from faraway Whitehorse arrived as quickly as it did from any- where. Four letters mailed from the Yukon on Aug. 25 arrived Aug. 27. Mail to an address in downtown Tor- onto ter—id-s-Viiirrive.sooner-than- if—it is_ addressed to the suburbs. P.S. — Perhaps we have spoken too soon. We have just now on Wednesday morning received_ a letter which we have been assured was posted in Gode- rich late Monday afternoon — 36 hours to cover 2i miles. A Fun At The Fair Ponies Are Popular At Biussels • LI In the. Years Agone WE SELECT - - inch panes of glass. Seats were composed of a narrow plank on two sides, on which the larger pupils sat to study and when "The life, I found to be a writing, turn square' around to .happy' one. There were no a sloping board, which afforded jealousies, no gossiping, no a baek for Jibe seats when not scandals, no society classes — writing. -Ae few rough seats in everybody was kind and ,oblig- the centre of the ram, were ing to everybody. There were provided for the smaller child- no e spring and fall millinery ren. A, narrow, 'raised platform openings, nor, bargain counters with a small rough table, ans- to disturb the minds of the wered for the teacher. There women. The men dressed in was no, Map, nor picture, nor homespun cloth, made in home blackboard, and each pupil manufactured looms, and,, the brought whatever reading book- women seemed contented with the home afforded; some one Poke bonnet every half brought a testament, others a dozen years. The woods through dilapidated 'spelling book. A Aldborough and Dunwich, as few had copies of the old Eng- well as Elafrid, were full of lish reader, and one or two had game. Deer could be shot at a copy of 'Murray's Grammar. any time and wild turkeys were There were no steel pens, but trapped by the dozen. Partridges the teacher had to manufacture and quail and wild pigeons were pens from the wings of the do- the commonest articles of food mestic goose and write copies in obtainable without money and hoine-made writing books of all without any other price than a forms and sizes, made of all few shots and a little brevet and qualities of paper, procured woodcraft. Wild honey from the from a wayside store on the forest bee-tree and fish from Longwood's road. These were the Thames and its tributaries the facilities for obtaining the were to be found on all the elemente of an education in the log cabin- tables. There is nothe people's college of those pion- ing so pleasant as to uncover eer days The teacher was then the tablets of memory of the unhampered in his methods, solemn grandeur of the forest, and did individual teaching to the beauty' of the "deep tangled a large extent, thus leading the wildwood", the songs of the boy and girl along the line of birds and the beauty of the for- nitural ability and were made est flowers, and to note what thinkers, which is the sum- brain and brawn and character mum botuan of all teaching. that the itruggles, the hopes, Many of the pupils under these the labors and joys of such a pioneer educational facilities life will produce." small windows on each aide, became useful citizens, some composed of four seven by nine becoming physicians, others lawyers, some preachers, others merchants and successful farm- ers. "Hold it!" 'erneete, ff..H1111- itlt 1101111111fftntn...-. ................. "1, wish we had more of that kind of spirit in our congregation!" of his jaw bones is badly frac- tured and his head terribly cut up, There was a good crowd at the Agricultural Grounds to witness the races and other sports in. connection with the Fall Show. The merchants were favored -this-seaso autifsil_wea- ther for the (melting days of the fair, when the town was "full of neighbors and strangers. The •fine -displays of millinery and other goods made by Messrs. Hoffman, and company, McFael and Pickard, were the admiration of all who saw them, Mr. McFaues May-Pole window excited much admiration. The new bowling green in connection with the skating and curling rink, was, formally open- ed and the first bowl was 'Cast by James tedlifichael and the second by John Mein It's emotional blackmail, and they know it. The only real sol- ution, I suppose, as with real • blackmailers, is 'to call their bluff. But again, it's a wrench- ing decision when you love the child and when you realize what will probably happen. 'However, fellow - PORK-ers, thirinbs up. We know there is a golden day coming, when our RK's will have matured and Mel- lowed. Arid they will come' and pick us up in their big car, when we are feeble and rheu- matic, and take us for a drive, and stop before this big hand- -some building. And they'll say, "Sorry, Mum and Dad, that I was such a worry to you."• Theye it is. Gateway Haven. See you on visiting days, if we can get a babysitter." Recognizing A The Exeter Time-Advocate feels that • at the recent opening of the Parkhill dam one important group of people was omitted from the list of those receiving credit — the taxpayers! Says the Times-Advocate editorially in a recent issue:— :. Those politicians who forgot to pat themselves on the back about their own contribution were not forgotten by their associates, and one •speaker ,even went so fir" as mentioning that the dam should have been named after one area parliamentarian and • a nearby creek From the Old Files Living in this day and age, few of us have any recollection of how our forefathers obtain- ed their education, or "school- ing" as it was often called. From the Expositor of Sept- ember 6, 1907, we have a fine picture of the old log school house as it was in the early days of our country, around ,the 1840's. .While the locale men- tioned is not in this district, the descriptiop applies equally as" conditions were about the same. Many older residents can tell of log schools that once ex- isted, in their neighbourhoods. "It was my good fortune to become a teacher in the Cana- dian bush more than sixty years ago. I say my good fortune be- cause of the happiness I exper- ienced by 'some year's of bush life and by reason of the small rewards of the calling I have been saved from the terrible fear of dying rich, which so tor- ments Arfdrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller. "At that time, parts of Essex, Kent and Middlesex were virgin forest lands, on which the woodsmares axe had never been heard, and .where settlers were few and far between. Right in the bush, in a small log building, in the township of Eldrid for two or' three years, was tailed, to teach the young bush idea how to shoot. Roads were few•and the pupils had to make their way from the little patches of clearing on which stood their log hut hornet, through blazed pathways to the log school. This was a- building Of rough unhervvit logs, with two From The Huron Expositor Oct. 6th, 1944 The fine brick residence,, property of Wing Commander John D. Colquhoun of Dart- mouth, N.S., now occupied by Wm. G. Wright, 'OD Wilson' St, --has- beenesoldeto_lere and ..e/es. Harvey -Mason. S. P. Geddes, son of Mx. and Mrs. Ernest Geddes, was com- missioned as Lieutenant in; the RCA in England. The Hyde Tractor Co. of Hen- n% has purchased 'the proper- ty on Wellington and Brock Streets and intend building a large tractor service and repair shop, W. V. Jefferson of Tucker- smith was painfully injured in aft accident while assisting at Doig's Saw Mill. He was moving a' log with a cant hock when the hook slipped and be fell bait- wards, fracturing several ribs. The social evening of North- side United Church congrega-, tion proved to be a very plea- sant time for fun and felloyv- ship for all, present. Rev. H. V. Workman presided and an in- formal musical prograta was led by Miss Mabel Turnbull. In- teresting contests were in charge of Miss R. Fennell. Dur- ing the evening Dr. F. Harburn was presented with a handsome wrist watch. Mr. Elton Goudie read an address and A. L. Pore eous made the presentation. Basil Purcell, an enthusiastic 'amateur gardiner, has growing in his garden at his home on Market ' St, a most unusual species of cabbage. From one' stem and encircled by the , out- side leaves, there were six cab- bage heads growing on the front side and three additional heads behind, all-perfectly formed and Oeiv.ieg• A Students' Council has been elected at the high school with Donald Stephenson as presi- dent, Helen Smith vice-president, Lenore Habkirk, secretary, 'Don Stewart, treasurer and Ernie Clarke, reporter. • I . • From The Huron Expositor Oct. 3rd, 1019 W. P. Thompson of the 3rd concession of Tuokersmith, had the misfortune to lose a very valuable Thuilam cow, it hav- ing choked to death on an ap- ple. S. A. Camochan, of Tucker- smith, who recently disposed of the homeskeed farm to George /Sherbert, sold his 50 acre farm to-E. J. Box of Seaforth. The price paid was $2,300. Mr. A. A. Taylor and family, left .for Chatham where he will enter upon his new duties as principal of the Queen Mary . School, Foster F. Fowler is the new principal. While crossing the GPM tracks on his farm at Silver Creek, with a ,tractor and plow, J. R. Archibald had an exciting ex- perience. He reached the track about the time the morning freight train was pulling out from the station. The plow be- came wedged against the rail and it was impossible to move ' either way. He went up the track to flag the train but the crew were unaware until the engine struck the outfit. Both machines were somewhat dam- aged. A few months ago Mrs. Chas. Brodie took up Boy Scout work with her Sunday School class in First Presbyterian Church. The' work has 'grown until at epresent-thereear eenm_. rolled with Wm. Laing and Chas. Stogdill as instructors. The fair held at' No. 4 McKie. lop, was a success in every way. Such a show of livestock and vegetables is seldom met with. All afternoon crowds thronged through the school and into the tent From The Huron Expositor Oct. 5th, 1894 Fred Youngblut threshed for James Cartwright of Mullett, 571/2 bushels of oats in one PORK IS ON fHE MOVE The flood of applications for PORK (Parents Of Rotten' Kids), which, was launched last week in this column., has not yet be- gun' to •give local postmen the blind stagers, but it• will. It will. In the meantime, I've receiv- ee a letter from an Ontario wo- man, commenting on a .previous column entitled, "The Kids Ale Pathetic." She certainly- quali- fies for PORK and is hereby accepted as a full-fledged mem- ber of this fledgling organiza- tion, with all the disadvantages and lack of privileges appertain- ing thereto. She write's: "e myself must admit to being parent of a 16-yeir-old daughter now living at such a commune as you des- tribe, right in downtown Toron- to, and I amp helpless by law to interfere. "Such is our society today that we have been forced to accept not only common-law living amongst adults (Ed note: not against that), but also now with children of such an early age. I myself have left no stone unturned in an effort to-help resolve the situation, by writing or contacting every avail- able society from social work- ers to the Hon. John Yatemko, With the' final realization that in Ontario' a 'child is free front parental guidance and authori- ty at 16, "This same law, however, contradicts itself by not allow- ing them to marry until 18 without a patent's consent and signature . . . In B.C. the age limit for a child to break away from parental authority is 18." In short, Ontario laws are driv- ing young people to, as we us- ed to put it, living in sin. She goes on: "Recently in an interview with a large daily newspaper, a professor of ap- plied psychology made the fol- lowing statement: 'The mother in the home today is an ana- chronism. The role of the housewife used to have dignity hour. The feeding was done by John Weymouth and Robert Crawford. Wm. le McLaren of Cromarty has purchased from the well known pig breeder H. J. Davis of Woodstock, a very fine impro- ved Yorkshire boar. ---Wne, Beadle. of eeadbuge has his new brick residence nearly completed. Lowry and Wilson are the contractors. The building formerly occu- pied as a Grange Hall has been sold to 'Mr. Hawthorne, whose property joins it. He is making considerable improvements. Thos. Lapslie is getting 'the timber and lumber for his new Isere. Joseph Webster of Mullett, was driving a load of wood and when near Woodman's bridge,' the front tier fell forward, car- rying Mr. Webster with it. -One and respect. There is no need any more for a honie manager' His remarks are more than a little off-beat" I quite agree with you, dear lady, and with most of the oth- er things you go on to say. I tried four days of "batching it" recently. The only place there's no need foeu home manager is in a pigpen, My wife came home a day early and caught me cold. I had put my dinner on and just shut my eyes •for a moment while the fish was cooking. She opened the door and found the house full of smoke, the kitchen, full of dirty dishes, and an armchair full of me. I can't smell, of course, not even fish burning. And it was nervous strain of leaking out for myself and the cat for four days that had made me flake out like that. Lady, you have my deepest sympathy concerning your daughter and• the laws which create such an impasse. And the kids'-know 'the law. They have us right over a barrel. It's easy enough to say, "If they want to go, let 'em go. Kick 'em out." This is the favorite advice of non-PORK-ers. It's not so easy to do with a basically; good, naive kid who is almost totally unequipped to cope with a world that is not exactly. Eden. I've been teaching the play Hamlet this fall. Perhaps you remember the part Where Oph- elia's old, man warns her that she is to have nothing further to do with Prince Hamlet. She was about 16 and this took place in the Thirteenth Century. She obeyed him' reluctantly, but without hesitation. I asked my students what a girl of today would/ de If her father told her such a thing. They got it second crack. The first student said she'd say, "Drop dead". The second said she'd say„ "If I can't go out with Hamlet, I'll run away." And she would, - What In the world Is wrong with the parents of this present teenage generation? What makes the kids so rebellious that they will risk everything just to show their moms and dads they will live their own lives despite all they have been taught. I don't blame the kids for their wayout behaviour. I nev- er have. It seems to me that if mother and father cannot sell the good life through their own examples, it is not the child's fault if he wanders off the ac- cepted trail. And now the problems are getting worse. It used to be that kids felt they were over- stepping parental authority just by buying a bottle of wine and enjoying a little petting ses- sion. Nowadays kids aren't real- ly with it unless they have tread the narrow line 'between sobrie- ty and intoxication or experi- mented with the excitement of free love, the freer the better. When you really analyze it all, I suppose the kids must delve more deeply into the out- er elements of sin and destruc- tion because mom and dad are proving they arenl shocked anymore by the innocent little flirtations up in the hay mow or in' the back seat of the fam- ily car. In fact, it might well be that mom ,and dad consider a typical evening out will include a friendly swap of partners, too "much 'booze 'and too many per- sonal passes. 'What must the children do to out-class them and raise a bit of a stink? Well how about glue sniffing and pot putfieg for openers? You're laughing. Don't. Kids just like yours are wading right into dangerous situations which They are, teW immature-Wheedle and too oud to discuss, After ail, thee ere sed teen the informed generation. If pure and simple lust does- n't impress anyone any more, maybe a hashish trip will. Let's try it and see if mom and dad really care. Here's where the plot thick- ens. Mom and dad, in their zeal to be modern parents, try to ignore the fact that a trouble- some situation exists. They take the scientific approach' and speak to the youngster about the harmless ,enjoyment to be found in deues. Or they belt the kid in the mouth and show about as much love and con- cern as a lion stalking his prey, What ever happened to the good old levelling sessions when mother and daughter would sit down and just' talk . until they actually--knew each other? Why don't fathers and sons go fishing together any more, using that time of com- panionship -to, liecuse some mat- ters which are •bothering both of them? Sometimes I think I know my next door neighbor better than I know my own children. Why? Because I talk more to her than to them, that's why. And therein lies the answer to the dilemma over the gener- ation gap, as far as I'm concern- ed. I'm convinced that if, I get to know my kids, if we get on the same basis as good friends who trust each other, I'll have done more to promote good Mother-kids 'relations than if I raised their allowance to $10 a week or whacked, them silly' ev- ery hour on the hour. Sugar and Spice by Bill Smiley the 4 Contribution should 'have carried the ,name of anoth- er. Much of the praise was deserved. Some of the area politicians did in fact Work very hard on getting approval for 'the often stalled project and obviously they should be commended. However, somewhere on the agenda pit would. have been encouraging to have just one more spdaker. Someone desig- nated to stand up among the speakers and applaud the taxpayers for having supplied the money to the governinents in the first place."