HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1971-02-11, Page 4FRIS fiCE
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I guess every man — and
maybe even a few women, too —
dreams of finding a paradise on
earth. The image of a coral atoll
or a fern-rimmed lagoon or a
bamboo beach shack somewhere
in Polynesia may lie, curled,
behind the facade of even the
most contented of us.
It lies behind mine, anyhow,
and when I came across a
description of a place like
Minicoy I suddenly feel the full
weight of my leg irons.
The government information
service of India, for reasons
known only to them, have sent
me a full description of the
place, which is a tiny islet
situated about 230 miles off the
Malabar coast, crescent-like in
shape, barely three square miles
in size and just the Jim-dandiest
spot in the world for a
three-toed sloth like your Uncle
Jack.
Quite apart from its perfect
climate, Minicoy has just about
everything to make a fellow start
thinking about packing his
Gladstone.
There's no worry about
money, for one thing. The
4,000-odd residents have an
easy-going system of barter
based on the charitable idea of
helping out the neighbor who
has less. The idea of property or
keeping up with the Jones'
doesn't exist.
It's probably the only place of
its size in the world that's never
had to have a policeman.
But, best of all, the island is
pretty well run by women. When
you marry in Minicoy you
assume your wife's name and
she's not only the titular head of
the family, but takes charge of
the civic affairs as well. The
women meet at club houses
known as "varangis," where no
male is allowed to set foot, and
settle any problems that may
face the community.
This means that the men have
nothing at all to do, except pick
a few coconuts (the island's sole
industry) and offer a few
well-chosen words of
encouragement to the brave
little girls which, I'm sure, I
could do very, very well.
As a matter of fact, I've been
confronted this week with a real,
not imaginary, opportunity for
the kind of escape that most of
us dream about and I'm having
the deVil of a job making up my
mind about it.
One of the travel agencies has
asked me to sign on as a sort of
guide for a party of not less than
15 men and women on an aerial
tour of South America with
stop-ovens at Mexico City, Lima,
Montevideo, Buenos Aires, Rio
de Janeiro, Trinidad and other
romantic spots.
My first impulse was,
naturally, to leap at the
opportunity before the man
came to his senses, but on
second thought I'm wondering if
the magic carpet wouldn't be a
mite over-crowded with so many
bodies aboard.
The tourist is a man of many
sides. He may be the type who
adores the study of statues and
conducted tours through public
buildings or he may be the type
who doesn't. He may go at the
full gallop, determined to see
everything there is to see, or he
may prefer to simply sit and
watch the people go by, which is
the mode of you-know-who.
Any attempt to accommodate
every taste, I fear, could be just
a little wearing for a man with
my sort of metabolism.
Still, it might be possible to
promote this particular tour as a
safari for slobs and the idea of
winging southward with 15 or
more congenial bums certainly
appeals to me.
I have proposed to the agency
that the potential trippers be
warned Ahat their guide is a man
whose ambition burifs on a' very
low flame and that they must
undertake to amuse themselves
if they have in mind any
mountain-climbing, visits to
zoos, grottos or picturesque
ruins or, indeed, anything
requiring vitality.
South America's charm to me
is its beautifully slow pace with
its siesta and its philosophy of
"manana," or putting off until
tomorrow nearly everything, and
it will be my earnest endeavor, if
I'm to accept the job, to
encourage my charges to accept
this tempo.
This, unhappily, isn't exactly
,what the agency had in mind
and I may just have to chuck the
whole thing and sail away to
Minicoy. I would do it right
away, but it's time for my
afternoon nap.
Letters
The editor,
In the interest of history the
Yearbook Club of Central Huron
Secondary School intends to
reveal the past of this
high school, all 105 years of it.
From the time when the
educational institution in
Clinton was 'only the second
floor of a building on
Rattenbury Street East, to now
when the question "Why are you
late?" is puffingly answered—"I
hit red lights all the way."
History is history when
written in words. History is life
when expounded graphically ih
pictures.
This is where we need your
assistance. We have no file of
school photographs—like none as
in zero. Your help would be
greatly appreciated if you could
lend us for copying photos of
teams, classes, teachers, addition
openings and • other various
activities of interest, We want to
compare now and then—how
short the hair—how long the
dresses or vice-versa, Please
generally identify the pictures
before you send them in—the
year—the event and if you can't
remember who the guy is with
the mickey mouse sweater and
the curly hair—that's okay—we
wouldn't want to embarrass
anybody.
Just address your photographs
to Central Huron Secondary
School, Clinton, ATTENTION:
YEARBOOK and include a
return address so we can send
them back to you promptly
after copying.
Thank you public.
Cheryl Tyndall
Editor-in-chief.
Some 11'(l vel Holes
The editor,
75 YEARS AGO
The Huron News-Record
February 12, 1806
Miss Hattie Donagh, of
Goderich, one of the first
violinists of the "Harmony
Orchestra" has been prevailed
upon to start a class here and has
succeeded In forniing quite a
large one.
Joseph Allanson is completing
his 27 annual ice harvest and the
quality during all those years has
not surpassed this year's in
gathering. It is taken from the
river limestone bed and has been
frozen since the first of January.
The thickness will average 1822
Indies and is dear.
The skating races oil the
Clinton ice rink last Thursday
evening were a success. The
Town Band was present and
rendered excellent service. The
five mile race, open, was won by
Mayor, of Goderich. In the
three-mile race Ed Cook
captured first place and Peter
Matheson second. The boys'
race, one mile, was awarded to
W. Stephenson and James
Doherty respectively..
55 YEARS AGO
The Clinton New Era
February 10, 1516
Missionaries Safe: Mrs. A. D.
Beaton has received word from
Dr. Endicott that all the
missionaries were safe in China
up to February 2. Much anxiety
was felt owing to the revolution
in China.
The Canada Furniture
Company, Wingham, has made a
shipment of 48 desks for the
members of parliament in
Ottawa. They will make a
second shipment as soon as
possible.
A chapter of supteMe tragedy
has been added to Canadian
history. The Parliament
Buildings at Ottawa, one of the
greatest gothic structures in the
world, and the supreme triumph
of the architect's skill is now a
mass of crumbling ruins, Fire
originating from a cause
unknown broke out at 8:50 on
Thursday evening and with
incredible swiftness Spread
through the structure causing
death to two women and five
men and doing damage to the
extent of several million dollars.
40 YEARS AGO
The Clinton News-Record
February 12, 1931
Mr. T. W. Morgan started out
on Saturday morning for
London, taking Messrs. Mach,
Hardy and McNeil, to attend the
funeral of the late president of
the Clinton Knitting Company,
H. S. Harper, who died in
Kingston, Jamaica, the week
previously; but owing to the
storm they thought it Wise to
turn back by the time they
reached Brucefield.
25 YEARS AGO
The Clinton News-Record
February 11,1946
Bill German, nine, caught a
live bee in the kitchen of his
home yesterday and brought it
to the News-Record office where
it was still alive and kicking at
lime of 'writing.
15 YEARS AGO
The Clinton News-Record
February 9, 1956
Authorization was given to
the Clinton Cemetery Board
through its chairman, Councillor
George Beattie, to proceed with
plans already made and build a
vault or chapel, measuring 20 by
30 feet of cement foundation
and cement block at the
cemetery.
Clinton Ministerial
Association recently honoured
one of their members at a dinner
held in the Hotel Clinton. Rev.
R. M. P. Bulteel, who has served
for nearly 40 years itt the
Anglican Church in the Diocese
of Huron, has retired. Mr. and
Mrs. Butted plan a short
holiday, previous to moving to
the West Coast where they will
make their home at Ladysmith.
Dr. and Mrs. Paul Yates,
formerly of Clinton, and now
medical missionaries in Nigeria
were honoured recently when
they were presented to the
Queen during her visit to
Kaduna.
10 YEARS AGO
The Clinton News-FtEcord
February 9, 1961
Ben Rathwell of 13ayfield had
a lucky escape at 5 a.m. on
Friday when the waterfront in
his cookstove exploded blowing
the front of the stove into bits
over the kitchen. One piece of
iron was driven right through the
door of the nearby refrigerator.
He was standing at the other end
of the range and Was not hit in
the explosion,
On behalf of the Huron
County Board of Education, its
Executive, and the Staff of
Hullett Central School, I wish to
publicly thank all parents for
their understanding. Also thanks
to the villagers of Londesboro
for billetting the children, the
snowmobile operators for
providing transportation, Mr.
Gordon Radford and his bus
drivers for their co-operation
and all the individuals who so
kindly offered their services
during "the school's longest
day."
Mr. Ron McKay
Principal
The editor,
As parents of 'Children' who
-were bliletted in Londesboro
during the recent storm we
would like to pay tribute to the
Many kind people of the village
who opened their homes and
took our children in. Despite
power failures they did their
utmost to keep everyone warm
and fed.
We know many of these
people are retired and are not
accustomed to having half a
dozen youngsters constantly
underfoot. It must have been
nerve wracking.
Our hats go off to Rev. Stan
MacDonald and the Mason
family who took so many under
their care arid the men who
supplied and set up temporary
heat units.
We will probably never hear
of all the Acts of unselfishness
and kindness which took place
but On behalf of all of the other
parents we thank One and all
from the bottom of our hearts,
Keith and:Phyllis Tyndall,
Published every Thursday at
the heart of Huron county
Clinton, Ontario
Population 3,475
OP RADAR
/AT CA NADA
THE HOME
Amalgamated THE HURON NEWS-RECORD
1924 Established 1881 4,-.41 • .unnton News-Record
A member of the Canadian Weekly Newspaper Association,
Ontario Weekly Newspaper Association and the Audit I3ureau
of Circulation (A)3C)
The CLINTON NEW ERA
Established 1865
The opposition in the House of
Commons has been trying to make a lot
of political hay of late out of the serious
unemployment problem that faces the
Country
Mr. Stanfield has toured the country
eating in soup kitchens and blasting the
Liberals for the callous disregard of the
little man. The government meanwhile has
been quoting the figures to prove that the
situation is gradually improving,
Three small graphs published in Time
magazine recently tell a very interesting
story about the unemployment situation.
One shows that unemployment in Canada
rose to almost ,even per cent just before
Christmas before peaking and dropping
off. Unemployment in the U.S. had been
considerably lower during the same period
in 1970 but did not peak and by the end
of the year had climbed nearly to the
same level as in Canada on a percentage
basis.
As the opposition has, said often,
percentages don't mean much to the
unemployed but the other two graphs
showed that the unemployed have a little
better lot in Canada than in the U.S. Far
instance, the government's fight against
inflation, which has been blamed' for
much of the unemployment by critics, has
been successful in holding the line on the
cost of living in Canada. In the U.S.,
where the government was not so rigid,
inflation is still a major problem so the
growing number of unemployed there also
have to face higher prices.
The third graph in the magazine
showed the percentage increases in wages
during the 1970 year. It showed that
Canadian workers had gained nearly twice
as high salary increases as workers in the
U.S.
Good move
The Clinton town council should be
praised for their action to call together
the surrounding townships -for a
discussion of problems common to them
all.
This is the way government should be;
not the regional government proposed by
the provincial government, but
community government involving those
municipalities that have common
boundaries and common concerns.
Through co-operation they can provide
a better quality of living for their
residents. Through co-operation they can
One way or the
When the government last week
commuted the sentence for a convicted
murderer of a police officer in Windsor
from death to life in prisonment they did
the law of Canada a great disservice.
Since the law was ammended to make
only murder of a police officer or prison
official a capital offence the government
had commuted every sentence of capital
punishment.
After the kidnappings and murder in
Quebec last fall it seemed as if English
Canada was willing to be reasonable for a
change in helping French-Canadians to
gain their rights in Canada. it appeared for
a while as if this country might become
stronger for the ordeal.
But what must the people whose
mother tongue is French be thinking now
after the stupid, bull-headed outbursts by
Members of the opposition in the past
couple of weeks over the hiring of 250
French-speaking employees to balance the
second class mail
registration number — 081/
SU13SCRIPTI0N RATES.: (in advance)
Ca4atia, $6,00 per year; 1-/„S,A. $7.50
KEITH W. 11OULSTCIN -- Editor
HOWARI) AITKEN General Manager
The labour movement in Canada would
like us to believe that unemployment is all
the 'fault of the government's
anti-inflation drive, but they must accept
some of the blame themselves. For more
than a year we had been warned on
advertisements in the media that there
were two ways to beat inflation, by
cutting back on demands or by layoffs
and unemployment. The government
asked organized labour's help to fight
inflation many times by curbing high
wage demands. Labour preferred to think
the government was trying to put one
over on them when they warned that
unemployment could result if they didn't
co-operate. They made breaking
government wage guidelines their big aim
in all contract negotiations at a time when
business had agreed to at least partially
help government fight the problem.
Now they are reaping the result of their
arrogance. With business holding the line
on price ranges and facing higher labour
costs they were forced 'to lay men off.
For those unemployed it doesn't much
matter whether they are one of three per
cent or one of seven per cent but to the
country as a whole these figures are
important. And while no government can
be praised at a time when unemployment
is so high, the fact remains that the
present government beat inflation at a
time when other governments were losing
the battle. The government now says it
has taken steps that will increase
employment but that these steps will take
a while to take effect. In the light of
record, the government deserves a chance
to fight the problem in its own way.
find out how others deal with similar
problems. And through co-operation they
may be able to achieve things they could
not do alone, and more economically.
Co-operation in the past has led to
better fire protection for the rural areas,
just one example of what can,be done.
It is hoped that when representatives of
Goderich Township, Hullett and
Tuckersmith meet with Clinton council
next week they will find it a very
profitable meeting and will decide to meet
again, perhaps three or four times a year.
other
This newspaper has been and will
continue to be a strong supporter of the
discontinuance of capital punishment but
the government is wrong in having the law
say one thing and do another. Either they
should continue capital punishment for
those convicted of murdering policemen
or it should change the law. We have
enough ridiculous laws on the books
already without adding one more.
French-English ratio in the civil service,
Mr. Stanfield and the leaders of the
New Democrats should be ashamed of
their petty bickering over a tiny move to
help tie this country together. They are
Simply playing politics, giving Opposition
for opposition's sake.
In a few thoughtless minutes they have
done More to promote misunderstanding
in the country than can be compensated
by years of hard work. Let's hope we still
have a few years left to counteract the
effect of their stupidity..
Letters
to the
Editor
THANK YOU
On behalf of the pupils and
staff of Holmesville School, and
the Huron County Board of
Education, I wish to express a
hearty thank you to those who
helped in any way to make our
being "storm stayed" at
Holmesville School during the
recent snow storm the
memorable event that we can
look back on as one where
pupils, teachers and parents were
brought just a little closer
together.
A special thank you goes out
to those parents who supplied us
with "home-cooked" food to
add variety to our menu of
sandwiches, hot dogs, pork and
beans, apples and ,oranges, and
milk. Those who helped in
transporting our food supplies to
the school from the local village
store, from Clinton and from
Goderich also deserve a pat on
the back for at no time did we
suffer any shortage of food.
Included in this group was a
club of seven ski-dooists from
Goderich, who not only brought
out food but also other supplies
among which were blankets
from the Bedford Hotel and the
Alexandra Marine and General
Hospital, as well as medical aid
for those few who showed signs
of being a little under the
weather. I would like to thank
the Carnation Plant at
Holmesville for supplying us free
of charge all the milk that we
could drink during our ordeal.
The three gentlemen who
spelled off the teachers the
second night of our stay also
deserve thanks and a top
recommendation as baby-sitters.
The blankets received from the
people in the village were very
much appreciated and our
thanks goes out to you for
sharing them.
I could go on endlessly in
expressing thanks to individual
and groups but wish to sum up
by moving one big vote o
thanks to all who helped in any
way to make us feel that we at
Holmesville School were amon
the more fortunate ones in this
rather unexpected experience.
The understanding expressed by
the parents and the trust place
in us throughout this adventur
have been greatly appreciated i
all ways.
John Siertsema
Principal,
Holmesville Schbol
The editor,
At a meeting of the Huro
County Board of Education het
on February 8, 1971, it wa
unanimously decided that th
chairman should write to th
weekly newspapers in th
County to convey our feelings of
the manner in which our staff
reacted to the crisis with whicl
they were suddenly confronted
on January 26, 1971.
January 26 began much like
any other winter Tuesday
morning in Huron County. The
weather was cooling off and a
few snow flurries streaked the
air. Nothing to cause alarm or
startle people who are used to
living in the snow belt area of
Southwestern Ontario. However,
it was soon to change its average
appearance to one that will be
remembered In the years to
come as the storm of '71. With
scarcely any warning, en
increasing wind velocity mixed
with furiously falling snow made
visibility nil.Traffie either slowly
or suddenly came to a halt.
Mother Nature had taken
control and man seemed pretty
feeble in the grip.
Life was going on normally in
most of the schools of Huron
County that morning. There had
been no problem getting pupils
there On time with the many
buses used for transporting
students each day. The roads
were in exceptionally good
condition considering the tiro
of year. It was "a good winter to
date" the old timers said. Maybe
it had just been the calm before
the storm. Before buses could be
remobilized and students
prepared for home everyone
knew It was futile to try to send
busloads of students out in the
blinding snow. Maybe it would
slacken a little in the afternoon.
Classes continued as usual. As
noon Came and Went everyon
realized it was no average storm.
The storm of '71 was on and
before it was over people would
know each other a lot better.
That old "one big happy family"
feeling of the one-room school
would return but this time th
"family size" would
multiplied many times in th
centralized schools of th
County.
The reason for chi
introduction is to try and sho
the futility of returning pupi
home under such rapidi
changing weather conditions,
Please turn to Page
4 Clinton News-Record, Thursday, February. 11, 1971
.Editorial common
Unemployment the other side
For the sake of opposition