The Huron Expositor, 1981-09-02, Page 2When I was a little boy, I attended
church often.l didn't have a lot of choice in
the matter.
But , even if I had been given the
privilege of choosing whether or ,.
would go to church regularly. I probably
would have chosen to go. I may have taken
a couple of weeks off for a breather, but
I'm certain 1 would have been back.
I like the atmosphere in church - the
serenity and quiet, the music and the
praying. My friends and family were there
and every. Sunday morning, the , world
seemed to straighten itself out.
Sunday breakfastS after church were
great times. Brothers and sisters and
parents gathered around the kitchen table
for great feasts of bacon and toast, orange
juice and cereal. Rain or snow or sunshine,
those Sunday morning meals had a way of
lifting the spirits unlike any meals 1 have
eaten in the years since then.
' But there came a time when the magic
started to disappear and years passed
he-fOre I even caught a fleeting glimpse-of
it again.
With no prodding or encouragement
from anyone, my young mind started to fill
up with suspicions that what was being
preached from the pulpit and .what was
being practiced outside the church build-
ing were two almost totally different
things.
As I started to associate,, with MP&
people from other Christian demonina-
dons one big question formed on my
tongue but went unasked for al long, long
time.
Why couldn't all Christians see eye to
eye and worship together...in the same
church?
I vividly recall the day I told a friend of
mine that he w as going to go, to Hell after
he died betause he didn't go to the same..
chmieh that/ belonged to. But even as
said it. I didn't - and couldn't • believe that
it was true. •
And yet, my friend had been led to
believe that the same fate awaited me. I
wonder, now, if he really believed that
crap.
As years went by, I started seeing
families almost break up because a •
daughter or son wanted to,marry someone
from a different church. And sadly, I
watched some young people give up
potential marriage partners because the
two of them couldn't or wouldn't agree on
which church they would belong to after
the wedding.
I thought back then that this whole
question of which church was more
favoured by God was just a big bunch of
nonsense 'and I believe that even more
firmly today. Religion ought to bring
people together, not push them apart.and
any time it drives wedges between
approached the minister of a church in the
deep south, asking if he could become a
member of that congregation. The preach-
er knew he ,,could never allow the young
man in, but he wanted to sweeten his
answer a little. So he promised to take the
matter up With God when he talked to Him
that night and he advised the black map to
go home and do the same.
The next day, the minister informed the
young man thit Gods answer to his
request for membership in the churchhad
been."Nol" And then, out of curiosity. he
asked the black fellow whether God had
said anything to him about it.
The man smiled and answered, ."Yes
Reverend, Hedid. He said not to worry if I
couldn't get into your church.
"He told me He's been trying for years
to get into this church Himself, and He
'hasn't had any luck either."
The wedges between us
humans, it is something other than
One day at a- time religion and I'm sure God doesn't look too
kindly on any 'churches that perpetuate
hate and not love.
by Jim Hagarty In a fable that fits, a black man once
.01
1Z Main St.
Published at SEAFORTH. ONTARIO every 1Nednisday
McLean Bros. Publishers Ltd
iIt uron
Since 1860. Serving In inm.unity first
fxpositor
~ters on sale in 1881
In the years agone
SErTEMBER7,1956
Tuckersmith Council at a innOnii in -
-Seaforth. Town Hall Tuesday evening took
initial steps to provide water in Certain,"
Egrnondville areas when a decision to drill
well was taken. At the same time. approval
was given to have township engineer S.W.
Archibald prepare a plan and present a report
to provide for servicing Ito area with water.
Constable Gordon Ferris, who. has been in
charge of the .Seaforth O.P.P. detachment,
fOr the past five years has been posted to
Wiarton, it. was announced -this week.
Perfect weather featured the third annual
Beartfestivai is4Bonsai! on 4abour Day.. Ttre •
weather was, so - good: Oat many district
residents, who otherwise .would have. been-
preSentrtrtaire pigt in the fun 0041111 leave
• -..-eSeR,Pfler4tl...1.14.- .
sltPPOFUIlleMetutke4*ISPreParetiby
the .##00a11 1.90.eites, was 'served .tO-nearly,
peoP)e.'
WallOn left en 'Monday
" for 1,iondint..„ where she wilt attend business
college. -
Mr and Mrs, Thomas Ellis. of Guelph
Waited with Mr. and Mrs. Ephriam Haase
Andrew-Y. McLean, Publisher
Susan White, Editor
Member Canadian Community Newspaper Asso.ciation, Ontario Weekly
Newspaper Association and Audit Bureau of Circulation
Ip
Subscription rates:
Canada $16, a year (in advance)
petsts(acanaaa„,S33. aviar (in advance).
cpplas. ..4t) gent, each
Seeann piass mail registration twirl:Pet ORS'
SEAPORTli, 0N ,TAR,1,0; SEPTEMBER 2. 1981-
at is to be done?
The toll continues to mount.
Four Seaforth area ,teenagers were killed in traffic accidents this
weekend bringing the tetel number of young people who've died violent
deaths in the last year to 10. Most of them this summer. In the same
period five tee alters have been seriously injured.
If an epidertilb of polio or encephaliti s were striking down our kids, the
community would be up in arms, demanding that the authorities,
someone, anyone, do something.
But what we have is an epidemic of traffic deaths, some of them alcohol
related.
And thank heavens, we are seeing a wide outpouring_ of concern
from parents of teenagers, from police, medical and ambulance people,
from the community in general. A quick walk down Main St. Monday
morning found nearly everyone discussing the weekend's accidents with
shock and anguish. Seaforth is searching for solutions.
Parents are saying things like "I was always glad when my kids got to
be 19 or so. Then they seemed to develop some common sense." and.
"Sure my kid will straighten out eventually, if he lives that long."
Another common sentiment was "giving kids the car keys these days is
like giving them a licence to Commit suicide."
Kids, still reeling from the tragic deaths of classmates and friends; say
"but there's nothing to do BUT drive aound" and "it'll only _get worse
this winter when there's no arena to go
All of us, we think, are examining our consciences and searching for
some way to prevent future tragedies. Like the letter writer to the editor
of this week's Expositor (the letter is unsigned so we cannot print it) who
,-remembers when families went to social events together, when liquor
-Was-not an- -essential _part of every function, and wonders where our ,
values have gone.
There, is a definite feeling, among teenagers and adults alike that
something is out of control, that circumstances haVe gone too far when ,
every other weekend brings traffic deaths or injuries.
But it's too easy to say kids are running wild, parents don't set good
examples,-or the police have got to be tougher, although all of these may
be partly, true. •
Seaforth-and area has a host of reasonable people 'concerned, people
who are wracking their brains about how to avoid Such 'tragedies.
The car is one of the few places where teenagers can be 'alone ,
logether. And a lot of the recreation -activities in our mobile society'
involve driving_te this •beach, that party, another ball diamond. It's not
realistic to think we 'can completely separate our kids from cars.
It's probably not realistic to think we can separate them from booze,
either, since the adult norm these days ranges all the way from getting
"tanked up" and bragging‘about it to having a couple of shots to relax
after a rough day at work. r•
But perhaps what we can do is have a meeting: kids and parents, other
concerned adults and the authorities and talk about what is to be done. If
the whole community can rally around a meeting to'discuss the fate of our
arena, surely we can get together for a life and: death talk with our kids.
Will a local service club, some of the ministers in the area, the police,
or the schools sponsor such a meeting? It could be the first step on the
road to some solutions. At least it could identify some of the problems.
Or will the toll continue to mount?
Getting tough
The federal Department of Justice has served warning that it's now
seeking jail sentences for those convicted of income tax evasion.
We say good idea and it's about time.
That may not be a popular stand. Cheating on your income tax in some
circles is a game. Friends regale each other with taleS Of •how they •
underestimated income and padded expense accounts. We've heard
stories of professional people' who've bragged about cheating the
government out of enough funds to put a down payment on a 'cottage or
buy a boat. •
Cheating on your income tax is seen by those who don't look' too clearly
as a victimless crime. White collar crime is seen as a little tricky .but not
really harmful. We all hate to see that big cut,in the pay cheque going to
the government; we all resent paying out hard earned cash in income tax.
But every dollar that 'S-Pme-evader takes out of government coffers
must be replaced by honest taxpayers. They include the wage earners
who get their taxes deducted from each week's pay and have little chance
for write offs and expense deductions and none at all for fudging the
figures at bit.
The rest of us pay when our fellow citizens evade taxes. And letting the
offenders oft -lightly (fines rending from 2' to 200 per cent of the tax
involved have been common) breeds resentment among those Who pay
their share and promotes the idea that tax evasion isn't really a serious
crime.
'We all have beefs-with our government from time-to time. There's an
element of "getting back" or. "keeping money that'll .only be spent
wastefully anyway" in the impulse to cheat- the tax department.
We can get involved in the political process in an attempt to make
changes or stop Waste. Cheating on income tax hurts the rest of us.
Besides, it is against the law.
The Feds are right to back that law with jail terms.
SEPTEMBER 2, 18BI
The Red Mill in this town is now in full
operation and gristing, fleeting and chopping
will be attended to promptly.
H. Deagon of the Seaforth .Restaurant is
now receiving fresh oysters both in cans and
in bulk direct front the sea shore and will
continue keeping them for his .customers
throughout the season. „
Alexander Ross of Dublin has sold his
blacksmith shop and stock to Bracer Bros.
They ;re sturdy and industrious boys,endkVill
no doubt make the# park in our ambitious
• village, antiouriovialfrieird. Sardy, wilibave
more time now to „citef .001 drinks: for.- the
patrons of the. Railway, notFi: •
Bernard Thompson of Hensall has lately
purchased the Messrs, POO* Bros„ :cider
Mlll and,.adjoiniog land situated on, Queen
Streetler Which1Wpaidthe sum.:0f$4130„ Mt.
Thompson ba**readY commenced grinning,
and having had. considerable experience' in
the art of squeezing, he will no doubt give
good satisfaction to those ,requiring their
apples ..converted into the sweet juice.
Isaac Bolton, a young man residing.on the
• It is Mr. Joly's belief even the most
edu cated person is becoming more and more
functionally ignor ant in terms of what he
must know to make the intelligent-decisions
needed to run a democracy. He feels the
amount we human beings are able to learn
increases by arithmeticalyro_gression (addi-
tion ) while information increases by geomet-
- ric progression (multiplication). In other
words, information increases-far faster than
we can absorb it. In o ur everyday lives we
may cope-with -this information onslaught by
specializing, learning our own small field
whether it be medicine or agriculture or
culinary arts, and, only learning enough to
survive the rest of the world. When it comes
to runnieg a darMeracy we must know more
than we can pbssibly know to make the right
decisions in the voting booth.
Joly uses as 'an example the Olympic
facilities seandalin Quebec. The commission
studing .the mess produced a 1000-page
report backed up by 87 cases of documents.
Who can possibly have the time to wade
through all that material, and yet people are
making their selection at the polls based on
their opinions about who was wrong about
what.•
Given our inability to keep up with the tidal
I don't know about you but for me it was
some bummer of a summer.
Oh, the weather was great, and 1 hope you
and yours had a super holiday. But nothing
else was much nationally and personal-
ly.
Now, I'm not going to say one word about
the postal strike. Ill started to write about it,
the paper I'm writing on would go up in
flames. I'll just talie a positive attitude and
observe that because of the strike, I didn't
have to write a column for six weeks. A nice
holiday for me, and probably a welcome relief
for those who feel forced to read my
meanderings every week.
Nor will I fly into a- rage. because our
members of parliament, just before Sneaking
off for a long holiday in the middle of about 18
crises. voted themselves a whacking great
increase in salary, pensions and all the
gravy thataccompaniesthem. It's a tough job
and they deserve every 40 or 50 thousand
dollars that go with it.
Again, I don't feel incensed that the-Prime
Minister should go off to Africa for a holiday
Expositor. He popped into the newsroom
the other day to chat about it. At the time of
The incident he lived at lot 22. concession 2
of Tuckersmith Township.
Russell's father Thomas was in a group of
men doing road work in Londesborough's
bust' in Tuckersmith when the cat ap-
peared. "It was a very thin lynx." says Mr.
Coleman. "and it *as walking a rail fence
by
Seaforth's Russell Coleman hadn't seen a
Canada lynx in this area before, and hasn't
seen one singe. But he definitely saw on in
June 1906. Andhe's still got a claw to prove
it.
He was 10 years old when-it happened.
Mr. Coleman's remembrance was trig-
gered by a snippet of history in a recent
Years Agone column in a he Huron
Years Agone stirs memory
eighth concession of McKillop has been
distinguishing'himself in the cradling line
lately, by cuttinton the tarm ofMr. Blake,
9th .concession on the afternoon of the 26th
inst., over two acres and three-quarters of
heavy oats in the space of four hours.
SEPTEMBER 7,1900
James Cowan of McKillop, near Seaforth
was awarded- third prize for his two year old
Gull caltin the Thoroughbred Shorthorn class
sr the Tortinto Industrial Fair this week.
other dabs. Miss 'duff o WOO street,
showed us branch she had cut from a
res,#berrYlill sh Whet garden, on.friday.lasr.
It was,iatien with herriea, 'all of a' good size,
and mast ofthera ripe.
Gifford of. Seaforth has disposed of
his residence of GoderiCit 4;01, East to J.
Younef Hibbert whointenea coming to town
to reside. The price paid is $1.0,
The ' Wage payroll ' at the Bell Engine
Works, Seaforth amounts to an average of
about $29,000 a year.
James Weir has purchased the old
Methodist personage residence near the
skating rink from James Dick for $1,500.
SEPTEMBER 4, 1931
Angus McRae is laid up with an injured
knee, the result of an accident in a recent
football game.
Waltomans who have visited out of town
recently include: Mr, and Mrs. William
Humphries and fonilT with friends in
Stratford. J. W$tt with relatives in
%kb; ,ithe Boler with' friends in
Recheatet.,,-N.Y.; lune Bigger with f(tends in
Sontbarnpron • - •
Miss Mctlougalt and Helen SteWer1 of
Egmondfille were hi Torontothis week,
Mrs-- McLeod -atrial hrOthetl tkitr. Leitch of
Detroit. spent a W.(141 fe 0 Wi6-10avid
and his slater of EgMonchrille,
J.D. Howatt. who recently sold his farm ip
Tuckersmith to Wilfrid Coleman has pur-
chased a home in Auburn.
by Keith Roulston -
wave of information from many fields as
diverse as nuclear arms build-up, national
energy policies, acid rain or consititutional
precedents, all we can do is put our faith in
"experts". But when the experts disagree we
can only hope to escape by watching Three's
Company.
Mr. Joly says the destiny of the 'ignorant is
to be manipulated and says we are being
manipulated by governments, industry and
corporations , of every kind. , Given the -
complexity of our world we are' likely to turn
to those who offer simple solutions. We .have.
gone through most of a decade where the
"experts" on economics have not been able
to agree on just whatshould be done to set the
economy back on .a healthy course. People are
-ripe then for a simple solution. That solution
has been proposed in the U.S. by President
Ronald Reagan who couples it with a return to
simpler days', days. people remember being
able to cope better. Sofas package of tax cuts
and government cutbacks has won wide
praise down' there, and to a certain extent up
here in Canada as well. "At least he's doing
something" is an oft-heard response, even
, from many who would not normally support a
politician like Reagan.
This kind of desperation is nothing new in
Britain, of course, where , the British have
spent the last two decades being ping-ponged
from the simplistic , solutions of the socialists
of the Labour Party on the left. to the
Conservatives on the-right.
In feudal days the lords had complete
power over their subjects, both through
physical force and an educational standpoint.
The lords--1*.ren't too smart or educated
themselves, but still had advantages over
their peasants. They could play with the lives
of their people like puppets On a string
because the world was too big for the
peasants to understatid.
Coniplicated things were made easy first
through superstition and later religion. There
canbe little disagreement the powerful of the
times used religion to help them stay in
power. Your reward is in heaven, the
peasants were told by their priests. While the
rewards for the-lords, and often the clergy,
were in this world earned on the hicks of the
peasants.
' So today we see greater. and greater
numbers of people seeking solace from our
complicated• world hi simplistic religions.
where everything is in black and white, where
you follow a leader without . question,, No
matter if he even tells you to kill yourself as in
the Jonestown massacre.
In olden days whenever things got touchy
in his duchy the lord might find'a convenient
way to get his people united behind him. So
today we have Mr. Reagan provoking an
incidipt with some little country halfway
around the world so he can show off the power
of his country and give people a taste of
victory after a decade of defeat. Closer to ,
home we have Nova Scotia Premier John
Buchanan; in power only three years and with
a large majority, saddling up to f ight another
election battle against those dastardly feds
who would steal everything 'of value in his
province if the opposition parties ever got into
power.
If' it wasn't war or religion keeping
peasants' minds off their. troubles it was
bread and circuses, Be prepared then for
another round 'of escapism in movies,
television and books for the next few years. If
we can't find solution to our problems we had
best forget them. There will be plenty of
people ready to help us.
All of which, of course, doesn't help
democracy. What happens when simple
solutions won't work? Why we turn to
someone else with more simple solutions of
coui se. We could go on like this forever.
when my father ,saw him." The workers
found the feathers where it had picked a hen
up, which they later found buried. Mr.
Coleman's father kept watch on the scrawny
cat while Robert Carnochan. Russell's
brother-in-law, went for a gun which put an
end to the thicken thieving.
The incident was enough to make your
hair stand on end, recalls Mr. Coleman.
while , the country is being engulfed in
r unemployment, inflation, "separatism, and
science-fiction interest rates. He probably
enjoyed listening to some gentle Swahili after
months of putting up with the bellowing and
ranting of the various opposition parties.
I'm surf; he came home rested, refreshed,
,and just as determined as ever to talk about
North-South relationships rather than East-
West ones.
Perhaps I should be furious about the way
in which Canadians completely ignore the
energy crisis. I'm not.
Must admit I was a bit 'perplexed when I
was forced to take to the highways one day
and •saw literally thousands of cars belting
along, just over the speed limit, rushing from
one hot place to another.
Andwhen I trundle down to the dock, I look
Sugar and spice
,By Bill Smiley
at all those big cruisers, nuzzled cheek to
cheek, and can't help wondering that their
owners are going to de wtih thenyabout five
years from now, when they can't even heat
their ownhomes. ' •
Visitingfriends at a cottage on a big lake up
north, I saw dozens of teenagers whizzing
around in motor bests, going absolutely
nowhere, just joy-riding.
Hoviever, all this hedonism doesn't bother
me deeply., There's a certain feeling that
permeates our society, even though it's
seldOim expressed by those indulging in it. •
It's quite a bit like the decline of the Roman
Empire. People are Saying, unconsciously,
"To hell with' it. Can't cope With inflation so
might as well go deeper into debt. The buck is
worth 40 cents. Thevandals sire coming. Let's
live it up before it's Rio late."
It was a feeling that a great many people
had during World War II. No use worrying
about tomorrow because there might not be
one. It's a sort of Fatalism that is fatal to the
human spirit, which demands constant
'striving, enduring and suffering in order to
make things better. Those latter attributes
'are going out of style fairly rapidly.
Historians tell us we study history so that
we won't make the mistakes man made in the
past. Well, the Roman Empire listed about a
thousand years. Things are quicker these
days. Ou r society looks as though it would
last about a hundred.
However; "Wotihehell, Archy, %_,Ifotthe-
hell," as Mehitabel the cat used to say to
Archie the cockroach in the Don Marquis
poems. I'm no qid.Romin senator brooding
over the detlinb of morality, law, order,
justice, ready to quietly enter his bath and slit
his wrists when he could standit no longer.
But 1 did come close to slitting my wrists a
couple of times this summer.
Went to a Saturday wedding on a beautiful
July day. It was outdoors. Me and the old lady '
dressed to kill. Bride's parents.old friends.
Bride a former student. Many of her guests
other former Students. Delighted to see and
talk with them. Excellent reception after-
wards. Dined like Roman senator' and his
consort, Music. Bride and friends afterwards
discoed, the girls like Botticelli creations.
Superb.
Awoke Sunday morning to scream of
horror. Wife had gone to basement to do ape
of her twice-daily laundries. Thought theiv
must be a rattlesnake. Tottered down. SeUrer
had backed up. Cellar full of water and stuff.
Sublime to ridiculous. Spent all day 5tinday
swabbing up. in dirty shorts, sweaty T-shirt.
Mopped-up-Di pails of grunge and threw
them in jungle. out back. '(Should be some
great growth there next spring.)
Couldn't flush toilets. Plumbers didn't
work Mondays. Had to use potty. No relief
until Tuesday noon. T'was then I took a long
look at wrists, but knew my razor blade was
too dull.
Hid a bad foot,' arthritis. Could play only
nine holes of golf, in Some pain, but game.
Fourth time out, made such a bad golf swing,
tore muscles in left elbow. End of golf for
summer. This time looked at hatchet. Who
needs'a bum foot find au-elbow that feels like
a branding iron when f swing? They make
artificial ones these days, don't they?
Went to specialist for foot. He took 10
minutes, charge me $47 and didn't even take
the foot off. Gave me a prescription for an
arch support! Hadn't bothered telling me he
had his 'own price scale. And so it went.
We're all having trouble keeping up
Richard icily, an author from Quebec, d expounds a theoryphillingly believable in his Be hin the scenes
new-book Our Democ racy of the Educated
Ignorant.
Smiley had a bummer of a summer
Lynx claw around since 1906