The Huron Expositor, 1978-06-08, Page 2If you are interested' in reading, in
literature and in freedom'of thought,
attend . the meeting at CHSS in
Clinton Tuesday night • that wilt
discuss what is being taught in high
school English classes.
That's almost identical to the
paragraph that began a Ryon
Expositor editorial a ,year ago. Then
the board of education was meeting
under pressure from a few parents, to
-take. the works AO three world -
ai<cclaimed authors off high school
reading lists,
This week's meeting is beinglcalled
by parents but the issue' is the Same:,
ShOuld parents, should anybody,
apply pressure to have books ,that are
important in what they say about the
human condition banned from the
-schools where they can be taught and
discussed in a controlled thoughtful
manner?
As we said last year we,believe the
answer .is no. ,
That's not to say that par ents don't
have every right to understand ,and
help decide on What's being taught in
our schools, But these must be
informed decisibns.
We've seen no evidence that most
of the people who are objecting to .
Margaret Laurence!s .. The Diviners,
John Steinbeck's Of Mice ,and Men
and J.D. Salinger's Gather in the Rye
have read the books in " question.
Extraeacalculated to . make the books
appear obscene yes, but the booka in
,entirety no.
Equally "obscene" extracts could
be culled from many bobics, including
the Bible.
A tentative step towardS informed
discussion of what is being taught in
our schools, was takeh last year at' the
board meeting at which •pro and
anti-book forces talked..
We said then and we say again that
it's, time for parents who are really
concerned about what their children
are learning in school to meet with
the SDHS• sex education program.
We'd imagine that most of the large
number of parents who., participated'
would, call it a success. And it
endorsed a responsible 40( education
course for the high school-Students.
We're confident that 'the same sort
of compromise and understanding
could result if those who are actively
pushing fora book banning, as weld
those who are undecided but want
more Information on' what their kids
are taught., would get together with
the schools and setup just such an
adult English lit course.
Anyone who's really interested in
the books' content and not just in
stirring intblerance and pressuring
• elected officials should be willing to
I n. A 'good deal of the; self-
ri hteousness on both sides of the
issue could be• eliminated and
replaced with what we hope all of us
have at the eQre concern"
It
•
s' d istu rbi ng to seHuron Co'u nty
about our kids.
mentioned in the national media as
the home of book banning.
It's hard to believe the'-people of.
Huron who have organized this
;campaign against books would not be
equally concerned about some really
obscene issues.
Racism and child abuse are two
that spring immediately to mind.
to`
county would have a chance,.
to win self-respect ankhd- respect of
the world at large had a group of its
"concerned ,citizens" organized
against those two obscenities: We'd
suggest a 'good deal of the book
banning energy could still be directed
that way.
It's depressing that pptential,
leaders like •county council and the
municipalities who were so quick to
jump'on the book banning, bandwagon
weren't' socially aware enough to
make such a suggestion.
But meanwhile; at Tuesday night's
meeting and at 'future discussions of
the books let's listen to' each other.
• •-•
In the years agorae
Sealoieth .gOs permission for
fiV,In at some sheep and frightened. a Span of horses
belOnging tiY ,liihn Stafford causing them to run away.'
Artois. distance, they cathe in
contact , with a ;:ttinip which brought, them to a
stiva.d;til.h..>t being overtaken by Ahem driver it was
found that one of the horses,, a valuable anon al , had its
neck broken .and was dead.
Mr; E. B. Hollis celebratecreomic vocalist assisted by
•a number of • popular amateurs will give., an -
entertain:Mem in tire Temperance Hall in Winthrop..
On Priclo,i,"-ening. one of the Many accidents which
usually .take place at barn raisins. occurred on the
farm of ' E.' Devereaux in MCKillop by which Mr.
'John Fortone of Tuckersinith' 1 ad his hand dreadfully
•
mangled, At the same, time M John McFadden
and Brian .Cleary:- also came •nea .crushed to
death by timbers .falling off the btiikng.
Last week a furniture dealer of Seaforth while driving
through this own was astonished to find a respectable,
fire in hk, wagon box and his. coat-fail burning. It seems
That there was some Mose tow in his wagon arid- after
his cigar. a .coal had either.dropped there from
'or he•had &aimed a match on it, and the wind fanned it
' to a flame. , • •
JUNE 12, 1903
A i"ery .pleasant reuniOn Of the Walker- and .Keyes
handy and their eonncctiups took place on Wednesday
last at ..laMes McClymont's at Varna, and was largely
The roost eniovable time Was spent by all.
'This is statute labour season and work is being done
Behind the scenes
By Keith Roulston
• JUNE 14, 1878 •
Mr. John Ward has traded his , trotting mare. to a
commercial traveller for a 'team of good driving horses, .
one of which is •."Clear •
•. :The masons have commenced work on the walls of .
"the new block being erected on Main Street by Messrs.
John Kidd and George Mitchell. • •
Mrs. Whitney has started a branch tin and stove
store in' Brucefield • . •
'The stone work of D. D, Wilson's 'store is • now
finished and the brick work has' now Commenced, It's
going to be 'a' 'large - building and will .be quite an. .
addition to this' part of town. • •
Mr. William_ Alien has leased #3 store. in 'Mrs.
VVhittiev:'s black a'nd intends. moving 'into shortly.
The planing. Mill and sash door factory. of', .1. H.
fireadfoot in this town is being worked to its ,utmost
• capacity, to 'fill -the orders that are coming in. -
-•• As -will he 'seen by the proceedings of the, County •
that"body at its last session passed a -resolution
granting SealOrth permission' to • establisb a • High
School. The. following gentlemen. Were appointed '
. Trustees: 'Messrs. Armitage, S„. G. Mcc a if gliky and
11-comas .,Kidd:' It now remains • with, the peOPle of ••
Sea forth tasay'.whether or not we are prepar ed to incur •
the expenditures which the 'establishment and the
maintenance of .the High School. here will entail.
An accident ora very serious nature occurred on the
14th coneessieri - of McKilloP:. While working' Stat or.- •
labont,--some horses that Were running ht: large, took
-teachers and adnitnistration and set
up study, groups. Who can read and
talk about the books they Object to the
same way a ,sdnior class would.
(
That was suggested ,last' year by
SONS principal •litruce Shaw.
No one took him up on it. .But the
same sort of parent involvement was
organized in Seaforth this winter. in
To the editor:
For the record,
on Sir John ,Willison
The article in May 25 Expositor bout Sir
Jehn Wttlison was most interestin he is
worth a story any time, irrespeetiv ') of his'
Huron nativity, There are., however, some
points in the narrative which.' as they relate to
facts, may be worth discussing,
When Willison walked to Varna in 1872 to = •
hear ' a political debate, he heard and
described the oratory of Thomas Greenway
'and Hon. E. B. Wood, of Brantford,. "Big
Thunder." M. C. Cameron is mentioned only.
incidentally.
Willison is described as - editor of "The
Globe and Mail." The Mail and Empire was
merged with the 'Globe in 1936, I believe,
some nine years after Willison',s death and
long after his departure from journalism.
"After Willison finished university" is the
beginning of another paragraph,. I can recall
no mention of his attending ariNniversity,
either in his Reminiscences 'or official
biographies. In view of his detailed account of
poorly-paid jobs through the years before he
attained senior rank, I should very much
doubt; that he even had the benefit of
secondary school. As one biographer states,
he enlarged his education by omniverous
reading,
"In 1902 he started Ms own newspaper, The
Meant() Daily NeWs."--I worked on Thd News
in 'Willisorea time, and that was its name, no
More. If altered,-It was in. much later years,
When I was in the army and:not paying much
attention. Of ecitirie, Most people ealled,it the
Toronto -News, for identification.
John S. Willison had no funds to start a
daily newspaper in Toronto. The News Kas
launched by J. W. Flavelle, of Simpson's. and
'other wailed men,
Colquhoim. author of Press. Politics and...
People, might well have been further ident-
ified. I Cannot do so offhand, but 'he was
-deputy minis-Ye{ of4 e-decation-,--hr---Premier
Ferguson's time. Evidently a privileged
c cter, he walked into a .Cibinet council
h‘me. (a London Free Press • reporter)
raining that I wanted to ask a question.
For reasons increasingly orSuasiv.e,
TiOn 'visited Southampton, and there
married Rachel Turner in 1885, when he
29.
One of their two sons was killed in World
War 1. In 1926, he married Marjory
MacMurchy, who had been his secretary, I
think, at The News. '`
J. S. Willison, when editor of The News,
spoke. to only three men in the news
department: the news editor', Queens Park
reporter and city hail reporter, and he called
them' by their surnames. In liter years I
worked fot the heads of newspapers much -
greater-than The News, who knew all the
hands by their fieSt "names, and accordingly
possessed their loyalty and affeetion. Willison
did not possess the "camaraderie of human
nature"' which he ascribed to Sir john
Macdonald,
Ontario.
Joseitor
e
ince 1860, Serving the Community First
C
Published at SEAFORTH, ONTARIO, every Thursday morning by IvIeLEAN uttoS. PUBLISHERS
ANDREW Y. McLEAN, Publisher
SUSAN WHITE. Editor
Member Canadian Community Newspaper Association
Ontario Weekly Newsp per Association
and Audit Bureau Circulation
Subscription Rates:
Canada (in adeance) 512.00 a Year
•
Outside Canada (in advance) $20.00 a Year
SINGLE COPIES — 25 CENTS EACH
Second Class Mail Registration Number 0696
Telephone 527;0240
SEAFORTH, ONTARIO, JUNE 8, 1978
The book business
' „AS W.,9 said last year in an editorial
that hashed the' issue out in' detail
(copies 'available on request). "Above
all, let's remember that standards of
right and wrong ,and concern for
Other people, taught at home, provide
a vital foundation so that our kids can
weigh and judge what they learn in
school for themselves.
• On my better days I think the world really
has progressed in the last century.
I don't mean that we've progressed in terms
of material things such , as our easy;
gadget-filled way of life of the' 1970's but in
human,.man-to-man terms. Despite such
idiocies as hate letters against immigrants or
the booing of a partly-French version of our
national anthem at a ball game in Toronto
recently, I think we've really improved. Our
country may be'Jess churchy than it was in,
Victorian times, but I think' in general it's
more Christian in the terms of practicing the
principals of Christ such as brotherly love and
understanding.4People aren't so sure they're
privy to the 'only truth today as our
narrow-minded ancestors were and it makes
us more ready to,understand the problems of
others. •
Progress, however, seems to be a case of
two steps• forward and one 'back, even at the
best of times.
1 _happened to be involved in a project
recently that was tguely a community-type,
work-sharing event. A century ago that kind,,of
thing wouldn't be very unique because it
happened all the time:
This particular event was planned and
organized from the beginning by volunteers.
The leaders spent a good deal of their time
-Laying the ground-work. When the day of the
event arrived, however, it became a
community event with everybody.pitchhig in :
People worked like dogs. Some were so
tired at the end bf the day they could hardly
limp home to go to bed. The event was a
success, though hardly a huge financial event.
If you totalled up the number of man hours
expended and multiplied by the usual rate of
pay the tame people.would have received at
their regular jobs, probably everyone would
have been better financially just to make a
donation.
Financially perhaps, but not really. Because
no matter how hard people worked, I never
hard a really serious complaint all day. There
was a lot of good-natured grumbling but when
it was all over everyone was ready to admit
they'd had a great time. It wasn't just the
money involve c1.1 it was that they had done-
something together and done it well. That
kind of feeling is worth more than money.
That kind of feeling is what built this
country and part of the problem today is that
we've tom it. People don't want to get
involved today. If Something needs to be
done, well pay for it out of taxes and hire
somebody to do the job.. We've abandoned
everything to the prbfessionals. Parents were
once involved heavily in .the, running of every
school and it was a true community school.
Today a handful of amateurs is supposed to
run the sehooj system made up'of hundreds of
Professionals. What Chance do they have of
really making it a community thing? We're
doing our best to isolate our hospitals from the
community.
es. used to be close-knit places
liunnliutyn - cton .
Communities
where people rdally" "lived" together. Today
the community is a place Of convenience
wheie we take but don't -give back. We. take
the good things the comtnunity ha's for
• granted but please don't expect us to
-contribute something back except our taxes,
and not too many of those please. There is
little loyalty left in the community. People are
as apt to shop iri London as they are on main
street. Btisinessmen are as agt to follow the
economic trade winds and reloCate their
factories or shops in more prosperous towns
asthey are to work toward really building u p
their communities.
'Whose fault is it? Everyone's I suspect. I
don't know how it got started, this modern
trend, but it was probably because some
people got tired of pitching in to help in barn
raisingsandcommunity bees of that' kind and
started-, to give, money instead. Then file
demand.came to have the government provide
and today government has become anentity in
itself always grasping out for more and more
control,
Thankfully there are still some, community
organizations left.-Our churches are one of the
few aspects that haven't been taken over by
the bureaucracy yet. People tend to become
More personally, involved in " them when
something needs to be done, than they do in
most other community institutions. The
women's institutes and the fair Wards and
other such organizations still keep the
principal of community participation alive.
People often look at members of these
groups and watch them working their heads,
off to raise a few dollars' here or provide a
• service there and wonder why they would ever
work so hard idr so little? But .those who
wonder are those who can only see things in
monetary terms. There is something gained
by these workers that'is far more valuable: the
feeling of working with 'others to do something
really ,good for your community. Your tax
dollars can never buy that for your town.
beingimproved 'but thossthat have to drive over them,
on Many. of the roads under the impression that they are
a high:.oc ho.oi
can testify that thi°.; is a dilbsion -in so far as present
results are concerned, .
The refreshing rains of the past few dayshave had an
amazing influence' for good on the 'grousing crops in
;Varna. •
-• The 'contract for repairing, Turner's Church roof in
_Ttickersmith was completed last week. •
• Miss has engaged with Mr. C.
Stoneman in his Jewellry and Fancy. Goods Store and
in the 'Telephone Office. •
T. Riley who had, the roislartune while shoeing a
horse to have several -ribs broken. He . is able to. be
around again.
The, barn of Charles Gormley of Hibbert was struck
by 'lightning on , Sunday afternoon 'and completely
destroyed.
Mr. F. G. Borrett - of McLannitn,"- A lgorn a, 'arrived
here on Saturday last. • When Mr. Borrett returns he
intends taking with him one of Tuckersmith's, fairest
daughters in the person of Miss Alice Coats,
Mrs: .J. L. Smith has sold her store on Main Street
adjoining the.H ardware•store. of Messrs. Chesney and
Smiley to Mr. Talbot of Exe er who.intetids coming here•
to start business. • •
During the thUnderstorm 'of Simday afternoon, ,
lightning stuck , the spire 'of the, gmondville Church
doing considerable damage to .it and to the roof, but not,
injuring the building in any other way.
• , The-,beautiful showers of Saturday evening 'and
Sunday afternoon, just came in the nick of time and have
deine Much to ^stimulate., vegetation ,and-improve the
clot), • ,
-The 3,3rd regiment of volunteers left on TUesday for
London, to put •in . their annual Seaforth
. Company is under the leadership of Captain Wilson.
Some of. the farmers, • wives in ,,Tuekersinith-
. complained bitterly, that t heir hen roosts at'e,
,seriously. depleted by chicken thieves,
The' :Scaforth Milling Company have let a contract to
Mr. Stephen Lamb to supply then(with 150,900 feet of
lumber to be used in 'the rebuilding of their elevator.
Mr. William Keeler has had a cement foundation put
under his home and has raised it another Storey,..
The first lacrosse game of the series wasyed on
the recreation grounds between the Clinton jrs. and the
•
.Mr, Charles Aberhart is having ice cream parlours
placed at the back of his store.
L. McDonald and Company of Walton had finished
sawing this years .cut of logs and now will turn their
attention to the manufacturing of Barrel heading.
•
JUNE 12,1953 •
'Mamas R. Cliff, son of -Mr. A. F. • Cluff who for
several years has been manager of the, Toronto
Dominion Bank, Attigalcan,- has been appointed to the
inspection staff with headquarters in Toronto. Mr. Cluff
has been playing the leading,rolel in Municipal and
other activities.
Rev. Harry Rodney told 130 members and their wives
at the Annual Ladies Night Banquet -of the
Presbyterian's -Men's Club on Tuesday evening. As a
feature of -Ladies Night corsages we're presented to all
'
An AMerican cheque dated May 18 Flint, Michigan,
and signed by Arthur J. -Thiebaulcl was found on the
lawn or Le ss -Beucrmann, McKillop, after the terrific
windstorm, a few weeks ago. It was thought that it -was
blown across the lake. A second bank note dated in
Flint, Michigan, 'was found this week by ,Edward
MeladyMelady in St. Coln mban in a pasture field. It may have
cone the same wa • ,
A bolt of lightning accompanied by a crash of thunder
caused a. chain of damage at the peak of Monday
night's wild storm. Most serious was fire which
destroyed the Main Street Drug Store of J. . Keatings.
Lighting struck the hydro lines on the corn r of Railway
and South Main Street blacking out a circuit covering
nearly half the town. About the same titn'e, lightning
was believed to have struck at-the rear of Keatings
Drug Store, travelled into the building and instigated
fire, Bill- Wilbee, garage operator, saw the smoke and
started ringing the, townhall bell, Fire Chief John Scott
said it took about ten minutes to find any flames.
'Damage to the drug store and stock was later 'setat
100 (7c loss.
A large congregation was present Sunday morning to
witness the dedication of three new windows in Carmel
Church Sanctuary in Hensall. Windows are leaded
glass' featuring biblical .emblems in the centre with
vencilator base:
Mr. Clarence Reid has sold his residence to Sid
McArthur who takes possession in a month.
.Miss' Mavis Oliver.,having completed her 3-year
training period at Stratford General Hospital,
graduated on Wednesday with,,a class of 23.
McKillop Evangelical Church has been redecorated
and a new roof put on.
We have progressed
Junior Beavers..