HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1963-08-29, Page 4Editorials
Young Eyes Are Watching!
ONE O OUR local 'businessmen.
dropped in the other day to report a
driver for a local trucking firm had ar,
rived at his place of b4SITIeSs. "visibly
shaken" from:. a narrow escape he had
had on the main. street.
It seems that a driver of an auto
had, without signalling, stopped stialen-
ly 11.. front of the large truck to allow
a pedestrian to cross the street. Unable
to stop his .trucic as easily as the car
driver had stopped his vehicle, the truck ,.
driver was forced to swing Out around
the car and barely got back into his
lane in time to avoid a collision with an
oncoming car.
The truck driver may be slightly
chastised for following the car too close-
ly and not giving himself the needed
room to control his vehicle under the
circumstances,. or the auto driver could
be blamed for stopping so quickly with-
out giving ample signal of his intentions.
However, in many such circum-
stances it is actually the pedestrian who
created the dangerous situation and this.
type of poor practice is quite visible
throughout Clinton daily.
In the above case, the pedestrian
.probably stepped out quickly between
two cars, and while he may have had
no intention of walking out in front of
the car, the auto driver certainly had
no sure way of knowing this and to
avoid any chance of a tragedy, slamMed
on . his brakes to stop his car and to
ascertain exactly what the pedestrian
was going to do.
Many other motorists have also had
anxious moments as some pedestrians
appear to. have the feeling that the
crosswalks painted on the roadway at
two or three locations along the main
street gives them the right of way and
motorists are supposed to stop for them.
This is certainly not the case in
Clinton and the lines on the street are
only there. to encourage people to walk
across these spots rather than stepping
Out .frorn'.betweeri• parked cars. . They
give the, pedestrians any privilege and
that people are using these- sections of
the road to cross the street and caution
should be used when approaching.
However, we point out again that
these marked crosswalks in no way
give the pedestrains any • privilege and
drivers are under no obligation to stop
.for them,.unleSs a. police officer is direct-
ing traffic and,indicates the right of way
to pedestrians.
It is unfortunate perhaps that there
aren't more stop lights along the street
so pedestrians could cross in safety, and
we certainly aren't going to he so hyPO-
pritical as to suggest that all pedestrians
walk to the main intersection, although
this would undoubtedly be the safest
manner and is certainly recommended
for all children, whose energies are such
that the little extra walk will never
harm them:
But at the same time, we would
urge pedestrians to use more common
sense and courtesy in crossing the street
to avoid any mishaps. Certainly there
are enough crosswalks on the main,
street that it is not a hardship to urge
that they be used rather than the dang-
erous prabtice of stepping out between
parked cars.
And, pedestrians should be wise
enough to stay back. off the travelled
portions of . the road until they are
certain they can cross the street in
safety without having to depend on the
motorists slowing down or stopping for
them.
Certainly, one of the worst practices
that we spot are the people who wait
only until the one line of traffic is
clear and then wait in the centre of the
road until the other line is cleared of
traffic.
We have even seen some parents
walk across the streets in such a man-
ner with children in tow, obviously en-
couraging their offspring to do the
same.
They should realize that children
(and even some adults) quite frequently
panic while standing between two lines
of moving traffic and many lives have
been lost as a result.
While many of our adult readers
may feel they don't have to take our
advice as to how to cross streets, per-
haps they should realize that young
eyes are watching them and children do
trust adults to show them the proper
safety practices. Which is perhaps quite
unfortunate.
And, too, due to the fact that most
pedestrians are themselves car drivers,
we would urge them to follow the prac-
lice they would want other pecieStrians
to follow if they were driving along
the main street.
None of us are so busy that we
can't follow more safe procedures in
crossing the street, and while accident
reports do make good news stories, they
aren't'-really the type of stories we like
to report. Especially YOUR accident
report or the one YOU caused.
Paid For Full-Time Job
MUCH HAS been written in the
past few weeks in regard to the gigantic
pay increase of $8,000 the members of
Canada's Parliament recently voted for
themselves in an almost unanimous bal-
lot.
While is was one of the first
"issues" on which the elected officials
have been able to agree so wholeheart-
edly for some time, their unanimity has
not been shared to such a great degree
by many of their constituents.
Some have argued that while the
members have been urging others to
hold the line in various segments of our
economy, an 80 percent pay hike for
themselves is nothing short of hypo-
crisy, and many have been critical of
the MPs for allowing themselves $6,000
of their pay as a tax-free stipend, while
all their constituents are blessed with
only a basic $1,000 in the same cate-
gory.
On the other side of the ledger,
editorials have pointed out that running
the business of the country is becoming
bigger business every day and the
complexities of government require
more and more of an MP's time and has
reached the point where it is a fil.11-time
task.
'Certainly there can be a justifica-
tion for a pay rise in view of the exorbi-
tant amounts of money members have
to spend in election campaigns—which
are quite frequent—and to cover the
expenses of maintaining two hotnes and
to balance the number of times they are
"hit up" for donations to every cause in
their ridings.
The debate will probably continue
for some time to come and for those of
us who have never been members of
parliament, it will be an impossibility
to assess a member's value objectively
without knowing the amount of time
and money that he must spend to look
after our affairs properly.
There is little we can do but accept
their decision for a pay hike as having
been made honestly in view of the pay
scale of their fellow Canadians and the
work they have to do.
However, by adding another expen-
diture of close to $3,000,000 to the bud-
get and placing themselves in a cate-
gory as one of Canada's highest income
groups, there are certain stipulations
we can place oh our members.
First and foremost perhaps is that
they consider their position as a mem-
ber as a strict full-time job, giving it
the amount of time and consideration
that they apparently feel it warrants
in view of their pay scale.
The amount of absenteeism during
sessions should take a sharp drop unless
members are engaged in more import-
ant government business or of that of
their constituents. It should also bring
an end to the practice followed by many
members—that of taking a long week-
end by leaving for home on Friday be-
fore the sessions have finished — and
certainly when the people of Canada
are paying close to $60 a day for their
members, there can be no justification
for them to spend many hours at their
own private businesses.
There are probably many other
demands we could mention, but perhaps
it is best summed up by noting that a
man earning $18,000 a year should
realize that he is being paid for a full-
time job and the people of Canada have
a right to expect that members give the
business of their constituents full-time
consideration.
Always Use Care, Courtesy
And Common Setis
Clinton News-Record
Amalgamated
924 THE 'CLINTON NEWS-RECORD
Publithed every ThUrOday at the ESC 1881
Heart of HUrini COunty
Clinton, Ontario Population 3;369
•
A. L. COLCIUHOLIN, Publisher
•
WILLIAM BATTEN, Editor
Stipnid -COnidbutionit In art the
tpiniont Of tfin riritira only, and do not necessarily
Of MS nivnipaini0.
Aithottetit it totcifil chit nadir hit otticil Cierkilinent, Ottawa, and for "payment of &Magi in cash
tthISCItiOTION Wet
adiValte.ii and Great irimln: $4.06
United Stites anti Foreign: =5.'90; Slott& Ciptiii Taui Cents
THE CLINTON NEW ERA
Est. 1865
`1I D w-
L 144%
O •
tr
Paige 4—Clinton News-Record---,Thurs., Aug 29 1963 .Booklet .Depicts Area History
Clinton, Ontario,
August 26, 1963.
To the Editor:
On behalf of the Clinton
Concert Band, Majorettes, Col-
our Party and Branch 140, Roy-
al Canadian Legion, we wish
to convey our thanks to the
following people who co-oper-
ated wonderfully to help make
the "Cavalcade of Bands '63"
a success and one of the top
musical shows of Ontario.
Branch 140 Royal Canadian
Legion, • Clinton, for seeing a
production of this nature go
thru; . Mr. John Wise, band
president, for the excellent job
of lighting for the shows and
Mr. James Graham and the
PUC without whose assistance
this could not be realized; Mr.
Grant Rath and his fire de-
partment for spraying the gr-
ounds;
Mr. Bud Hayter who capably
handled the MC chores on a
last minute notice; Chief H. R.
Thompson and the Police De-
partment staff; Boyes Trans-
port who also gave assistance
on a short notice; Clinton
News-Record and staff for ex-
cellent coverage and co-opera-
tion; Mr. Martin Boundy, a
man of great musical stature;
CKNX-TV;
Mr. Morgan Agnew and his
public works people for valu-
able machinery and assistance
and last but not least, Group
Captain K. R. Greenaway, CO
of RCAF Station Clinton, for
wonderful co-operation in sup-
plying men and P.A. system,
bleacher seating facilities' and
the RCAF Station Band taking
part in the program; and Mr.
40 Years Ago
Thursday, August 30, 1923
The following names of Clin-
ton students appear in the list
of thoSe who were successful
in the summer course in agri-
culture: Arnold Glazier, Misses
Agnes E. Glen, Jean 0. Lind-
say, Lilias M. Powell, Abigail
M. Stewart, Jessie A. Stoth-
ers,
Snowflakes are said to have
been visible at Ilderton on
Saturday and light frosts are
reported from Zurich,
Eighty - eight percent of all
the automobiles in the world
are in the United States and
Canada.
Clinton market prices were
as follows: wheat ,90c; oats 40c;
barley 50q; eggs 25c to 30c;
bUtter 30e to 32c; and live' hogs
$10.
Gate receipts of the playoff
game between Goderich and
Lttcan ball teams amounted to
$400 in Clinton, Monday.
25 Years Ago
Thursday, September 1, 1938
Clarence Swan a n d James
Nickle of the creamery staff
have received transfers. Clar-
ence has gone to Wingham and
James to Exeter, G. N. Evans
another Clinton man, is the
Percy Brown and his ways and
means committee of the Legion.
There are more people who
also helped tremendously and
although not mentioned above,
to you all, we say thanks. A
special thanks also to Group
Captain Ma.thieson who gave
valuable assistance before leav-
ing his post for his ,new position
and to Cpl. Lusier and his as-
sistants who handled the intri-
cate PA system.
Perhaps it was noticed that
only, three flags were, carried
by our colour party. The reas-
on for this was there were
members away and two, main
flags must be carried. The'
selection of the third flag—
the French flag— was because
of, and in honour of, our drum
major Bob Huard, who per-
formed his last parade with
any band.
Apologies go to the Lions
Club of Clinton for not carry-
ing their flag which they gave
the band last year. The reason
for this was because of having
to choose a third flag for the
occassion and because the crest
head is in need of repair. Also
because of the stiff breeze, it
was considered too heavy to
carry by the girl carrier at
this time.
We assure the Lions that
their flag will be carried at
Guelph on September 2 and at
Waterloo on September 7 when
the Clinton Band visits these
centres.
We hope all enjoyed the
"Cavalcade of Bands '63" and
we would appreciate your com-
ments.
Yours truly,
G. A. Wonch
manager of the Exeter plant.
Effective today, car and com-
mercial vehicle licenses may be
obtained at half price.
Ian McLeod, agricultural
repreSentative for the last nine
Years was notified last week
of his transfer to Northumber-
land County. His successor here
will be James Shearer.
Lightning in. the Auburn area
last week knocked Gordon Fin-
nigan to the ground while he
was leading a horse to the barn
and another `bolt presumably
started a fire that destroyed
the home 'of Mr, and Mrs. D,
Dalrymple.
Miss E. Jamieson, who has.
taught at SS No. 6 Tucker-
smith for a number of years,
is leaving to take a position in
Clinton Public School,
1.5 Years Ago
Thursday, September 2, 1948
William Fraser Swan, Clin-
ton, suffered a broken hip and
severe shock when his truck
went into the ditch on highway
8 between here and 8eaforth.
The truck was demolished.
Dudley E. Holmes, KC, God-
erieh, has been sworn in as
Huron's magistrate and IL
Glenn Hays, Seaforth, has been
appointed Crown Attorney,
Clinton Colts won the Hur-
Some of the descriptions--
backed up by drawings — of
„some of the. area monicipalities
are as follows:
"At Kippen, settled about
1848, there remains intact a
blacksmith's shop, very rare to-
day. The well proportioned
hotel in Kippen, almost cer-
tainly built for the Canada
Comariy, is typical of the old
coaching inns, which were later
Stopovers for drummers and
salesmen."
"Brucefield, named after
Major Bruce, son-in-law of Lord
Elgin, is a crossroads village—
important to early settlers.
There is a memorial here to
the early settlers and the
gravestones of one Scot born
before the '45 and aged 102.
The 'house next to the post of-
fice is Victorian Gothic at its
best. The brackets and cast
iron decoration are good and
the general design well done.
Note also the colonial store
and house." '
One of the featured coloured
drawings in the booklet shows
the log house at Varna, de-
scribed as "the true symbol of
early , settlement".
"Varna," the author notes,
"Settled in 1854 and named for
a Crimean War victory, is a
lovely quiet village at the centre
of an area full of historical
Material. There is an early log
house; in the village also note
the "saltbox" • and one of the
better colonial homes complete,
a good example of design and
next door is a small memorial
group",
, "Bayfield is one of the most
attractive villages in the area.
The townsite was first purch-
ased by Baron de Tuyle, who
never came to Canada to see
the town he created. Settle-
ment began about 1830 a n d
there are many early houses in
this area with fine views of
Lake Huron,"
"Moving on to Clinton, along
Highway 8, one may find the
Ransford House on the south
side of the road about two
miles east of the town. Hidden
By'the time this appears in
print, I hope to be lolling ar-
rogantly beside the saltwater
swimming pool at the Manoir
Richelieu, one of Canada's
most lush hideaways for worn-
out millionaires and' tired-out
on-Perth baseball title, losing
only three of their 20 games.
Members of the team are:
Bartliff, White, McEwan, Neil-
ans, Schoenhals, Woodcock,
Miller, Cook, Colquhoun, Drap-
er, Stock, Craig.
Edward,Wise, 23, RR 3, Cl-
inton, was named winner of the
1948 Studebaker, valued at
$2,300, drawn in connection
With the Goderich Kinsmen
carnival.
When acetylene fumes be-
came ignited and burst into
flames at his welding shop,
Charles Nelson was badly burn-
ed about the face, head and
arms. Bill Chowen, who was
watching, also suffered nasty
burns about the head, face and
arms.
Carol, the small daughter of
Mr. and Mrs. James H owe,
Bayfield, had a narrow escape
on Friday morning when she
swallowed sleeping pills. She
was treated in Clinton Public
Hospital.
110 Years Ago
Thursday, August 27, 1953
Clinton Lions juveniles oust,
ed Elora and now meet Har-
riston in the WC1AA
Meinbers of the.teani are: .Toliti
(Continued on Page 10)
in trees, it cannot be Seen from
the road. Inside the house one
plainly sees the elegant taste,
translated into native ,Canad,
WO. wood, of its first gentleman
owner and his lady,"
"Loolc, at the great 4x8 hand-
hewn beams, the cherry wall
panelling, the patterned cherry
and maple floor, and, above the
fireplaces, the coats of arms
beautifully carved in oal.c and
cherry, How graciously crino-
line could pass through .those
wide doorways, or a minuet be
danced on the spacious ground.
floor, or the once Italian gar-
den sloping down to the river
be admired from those win-
dows".
"What heroic struggle lay in
the attempt to bring this ele-
gant life into such a vast forest
wilderness. Alterations and ad-
ditions have been made and
antique collections often ob-
scure the view, but present
owner Mrs. Willis welcomes
those who wish to see."
"Clinton, settled in 1831,
contains many fine red brick
houses with Georgian manner-
isms. There is a fondness for
fretted verge boards in the new
Gothic manner.. The early com-
mercial block is intact."
"Look out for the house cal-
led "Tintern" with excellent
Palladian windows and colonial
This Tuesday the schools
throughout the district will be
open again and children and
young people will begin anoth-
er school term. For many little
folk, it will be their first year
away from mother, when they
start to kindergarten. I have
always felt that it is a pity
that there is not kindergarten
training available for all the
children; apparently it is not
given 'too much thought by
rural school boards.'
This period in a child's de-
velopment is a most important
time and it was in 1837 that
Friedrich Froebel founded the
first kindergarten in Blanken-
burg, Germany. This school
was planned to meet the edu-
cational needs of children be-
tween the ages of four and six
years, through the medium .of
play.
Froebel was at this time a
teacher of varied experience
whose training had included
study at the University of Jena.
and Pestalozzi's school at
Yverdun. Here he gained a
knowledge of the principle of
evolution ,and from it had
drawn the conclusion that edu-
cation is the guidance of child-
den's development from stage
to stage, and that the chief
agency in that development is
their natural play activity.
He concluded that the early
weekly newspaper editors.
Both will be gathered there
this week, the former trying
to regain their lost health, the
latter trying to ruin theirs, at
their annual convention.
At the moment of writing,
it's merely a hcipe. Between
here and there lies a nightmare
of car, rail and boat travel,
with a wife and two children.
I have no doubt whatever
that the journey will be an un-
forgettable horror composed of
car trouble, missed trains, sea
sickness, forgotten brassieres,
mislaid baggage checks, furious
wife, and lost children. This
is the way we always travel, 'l'
As usual at our place the
kids and I have taken the
preparations for attending this
convention with admirable
cairn, while my wife has been
sewing and ironing and swear-
ing softly since the first of
July. I swear she'd need three
years advance notice should we
ever decide to go to Europe
for a month.
What really baffles her is
the unpredictability of the good
old Canadian weather. Late
August can be reeking hot, cold
and clammy, or brisk and
breezy. Figure three changes
of clothes a day for three pos-
sible climates, for foUr people,
for seven days, and you have
the measure of her misery,
This week, while she stews
at home, getting ready, I'm
at a slightly different type of
convention. It's a gathering of
schoolteachers, Oh, there are
similarities. You wear a name
badge at each, You eat meals
at each. There are receptions
at each. Each has a key Word;
"dedication" at this one and
"grass-roots" at the newspaper
One, There are interminable
Uplifting speeches at each.
But what a difference in the
years are of great importance,
and that the work of these
should receive careful atten-
tion.
A year before he opened his
school in Blankenburg, Froebel
experimented with children in
an orphanage in Burgdorf,
Switzerland and devised a prog-
ressive series of play materials
from which the child might
gain certain definite ideas, and
by means of which he might
give expression to others.
His work was so successful
that a year later he announced
the opening of "A school for
the psychological training of
little children by means of
play and occupations." To this
the name 'Kindergarten' mean-
ing "a garden of children," was
given in 1840.
The original school continued
in operation until 1844 and then
merged with the school at
Liebenstein, and later at Mar-
ienthal. Here his work contin-
ued till his death in 1852.
The movement for this type
of education continued to gain
favour and during the 25 years
after Froebel's death, kinder-
gartens had been established in
the leading cities of Germany,
Great Britain, Holland, Bel-
gium, Switzerland, Austria,
Hungary, Canada, Japan and
the United States,
details! At our first evening in
the Manoir, I shall lead down
to cocktails my beautiful wife,
enhanced by a smashing hairdo
and new gown. We shall sip
languidly and exchange bons
mots with old friends, while a
white-gloved waiter passes the
hors d'oevres.
Then, wooed by dozens of
handsome, young public rela-
tions men who want us to sit
at their table, we shall pro-
ceed in stately style to the
Lobster Thermidor and the
Baked Alaska.
* * *
Things weren't quite like
that at my first meal at the
teachers' gathering. My dinner
companion was pleasant, but
not exactly exciting and by no
stretch of the imagination
beautiful. He didn't even get
a new hair-do for the conven-
tion. He was my rootn-mate,
director of the technical wing
in a high school.
None of this decadent din-
ing at seven. Dinner was at
five-thirty. We washed our
hands and went down to Wein-
ers and beans, followed by a
palatable, but not quite exotic,
dessert of canned cherries,
At the Manoir, great pub-
lic institutions like finance
companies will vie with one
another to provide pre-dinner
receptions a it d post-dinner
convivialities for the editors.
At this convention, the only
reception was a coffee-and-
cookies affair at 9:30 p.m„ and
the guests paid for the grub, ,, * *
At the Manoir, each even-
ing Will Ditclnee its small par,
ties, followed by dancing and
ofitertainineitt the handsome
casino, At thiS one, &ening
eigertalittrieht betisiStS Of e,
walk arotind the grounds, tot,
lowed by 5, efilifilo Of hundred
(Contirmed tin Page id)
Local House In Booklet
One of the featured drawings in the "Paths
of History in Perth and Huron" is this one of "Tin-
tern", described as having excellent Palladian win-
dows and colonial doorway. The house is presently
occupied by Mrs. L. M. McKinnon, 189 Huron
Street. The booklet has been published by British
Mortgage & Trust Company and is available at
their offices.
4,41,0#4.0.41,
Says Thanks For Support Of Band,
Explains Reason For French Banner
"Paths of History in Perth
and Huron" has been produced
in story and picture form,
drawn and recorded by John
Martin, A.R.C.A„ and
"arranged and written by An-
thony L. Kearsiey, B.A.,
F.R,1Vfet.S,
I In both pictures and story,
the book illustrates , the fact
that early buildings were of
high architectural standards as
their builders used the exemp-
lary drawings and styles of
Batty Langley. Iris system of
Gothic orders is followed in
many Perth-Huron buildings.
The booklet is the story of'
an era which is quickly passing.
Even since Mr. Martin drew
the pictures, one of the build-
ings has been torn down.
From Our Early Files ...
doorway. . 'There is. no doubt .of
its "Plansbuolc". prigiP,"
'"North along Highway 4 on
the 411,is farm. at :Surnynerhill,
still stands An Anglican Chur-
ch of 1855, now used as a barn,'
Purchased by Mr. Ellis years.
ago there is yet beauty, cles,,
plte the ruin, in its narrow
styled windows which still con-
tain fragments of •coloured
glass, and in the apse window
still intact. Mr, EMn possesses
the Bible and some pew rneric,
ers."
"Lonclesborough, settled 1846
named after Lord Londes-
borough has a home providing
a good example of rusticated
clap boards resembling stone, •
The windows are quoined and
the dormer is Gothic. Note,
worthy also are the church
tower and the Georgian Pores,
tens' Hall with its fanlight."
"Cutting over to Blyth one
can see the delightful Presby,
terian Church and an interest-
ing sign over the telephone
office."
"At Auburn stands St.
Mark's Anglican Church in
Carpeneter's Gothic with mid-
Victorian quaintness. Note also
the Public Library."
Copies of this interesting
booklet may be obtained from
any office of the British Mort-
gage and Trust Company.
Adine Writes
- - - of many things
SUGAR and SPICE
(By W. B. T. SMILEY)
The architecture of Pioneer
buildings and trips through
Perth and. Huron are the sub-
ject of an historical booklet
published recently by British.
Mortgage & Trust Company,