HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1971-09-02, Page 4Face-to- ace en coin: ter
Farewell, old car
probably been driving for several
years without a license and have
finally been nailed. They are
pleasant lads, but while neither
is dumber than an ox, neither is
smarter.
Their procedure was typical.
They filled out the application
cards wrong, and had to do them
over again. When Mike was asked
by the officer where he lived, he
jerked his thumb at Peter and
said, "Two houses down from
him" while the officer rolled his
eyes,
,
wanted an address.
Then the pair tat down at the
long table to fill out the written
test. Ten minutes later they were
sitting, brows furrowed, with
about three out of 40 squares
ticked off. I tossed them a word
of encouragement, "It might be
easier if you could read and
write, eh?"
Unfazed, they just grinned,
Peter retorted, "Yeah, we
shouldn'ta gonna sleep in all
them there English classes". Fine
physical specimens both, they'll
probably make excellent but
dangerous drivers.
I'm not implying that the
driving tests are easy. They're
quite tough. When I got my
license, the job of testing
aspirants was a political sinecure,
The tester told me .to arrive at
his place of business at 6.00 p.m.
He locked up the store, told me
to drive him home, about eight
blocks, I gave him two bucks,
and that was it.
When my wife got hers, some
10 years later, it was the same
procedure. The police chief had
her pick him up at the office,
they drove around three or four
blocks and she took him home
to lunch. (At his place, not
ours.)
Today there's a whole battery
of physical tests, a written test
on the rules of the road, and the
actual driving test. A good many
people are flunked, and I'm all
for that. What I'd really like to
see is a compulsory test for
every driver about every two
years, and a good stiff one.
Could you pass, Jack, with
your colour-blindness? Could
you pass, lady, with your total
inability to parallel park? Could
you pass, Grandad, with your
arthritis? I think a great many of
us would be put out to pasture.
Anyway, Kim returned. I
expected to see her With a face
as long as a foot, She was
beaming. My heart sank.
There's going to be a fight
here every day until she gets
back to school,
THE CLINTON NEW ERA Amalgamated THE HURON NEWS-RECORD
Established 1865 1924 Established 1881
Clinton News-Record
A member of the Canadian Weekly Newspaper Association,
Ontario Weekly Newspaper Association and the Audit Bureau
of Circulation (ABC)
second class mail
registration number — 0817
SUBSCRIPTION 'RATES: in advance)
Canada, $6.00 per year; U.S.A., $7.50
KEITH W. Pt OULSTON — Editor
J. HOWARD AITKEN — General Manager
Published every Thursday at
the heart of Huron County
Clinton, Ontario
Population 3,475
THE HOME
OF RADAR
1N CANADA
Clinton town council's action to have
the fire inspector inspect trash around a
local industrial plant could have been
better applied for the benefit of the town
if it had included a campaign to clean up
unsightly business premises.
The danger of fire as much as the
ugliness prompted the action of the
council but there 'are many properties in
town which need a cleanup just about as
bad. The town may not have the money
for many of the projects council would
like to undertake to make Clinton a better
:iace to live and work, but cleaning up
the looks of the town would cost little.
"And looks are important. Every day
thousands of people drive through Clinton
on the two highways that pass through
the town. The impression they get is often
their total impression of the town. They
lon't know of our recreation facilities or
that we are improving the sewerage
Economists have been coming up with
a lot of reasons for inflation but one word
few mention is greed.
It looks this week as if we are in for
another big swing of greed from the milk
processors. The farmers just, got another
20-cent per hundred weight increase in
payment for their milk. Few
knowledgeable urban dwellers would
argue against such an increase for farmers,
Many would agree that it's about 15 or 20
years late.
But while the farmer gets an increase
of about one half cent per quart of milk,
the consumer is going to pay one to two
cents per quart more, and perhaps even
more than that by the time the processors
make up their minds.
It isn't likely the owner of your corner
grocery is going to even see any more of
this money. The big gainer is the
processor, huge companies like
Silverwoods or Sealtest.
These companies are being unfair to
Some chickens
Former Prime Minister John
Diefenbaker was in the headlines again
last week. After the government's decision
to throw out the Bomarc missiles during
its housecleaning of the armed forces,
dear John declared this vindicated him on
his refusal in 1961 and 1962 when he
refused to arm the missiles with nuclear
warheads.
You may remember, although you'd
probably just as soon forget, those days of
the Pearson-Diefenbaker feud, when the
squabble over the nuclear warheads split
the country and the Conservatives and led
to the downfall of Diefenbaker.
Dief said last week that he realized in
1962 that the weapons were out of date
and thus refused to arm them with the
warheads which they had been designed
to take. According to his figuring this
makes him about 10 years ahead of the
present government. But it makes him
about five years behind military experts
Well, it looks iS though any
more travelling I do before
summer bids us farewell will be
on foot. Kim passed her driving
test today.
It was a pretty tense morning
for both of us. She was afraid
she might fail her test. I was
afraid she might pass it.
gust to complicate matters,
she turned up for her test at
9.30 a.m., only to discover that
she was slated for 3.30 p.m. She
claims it was their mistake, but
knowing my daughter I have a
good idea who made the error.
However, the chaps giving the
tests managed to work her in at
10 a.m., when someone else
failed to show up. So that meant
I had time for only about ten
cigarettes as I waited, pretending
to read the morning paper.
But it gave me a chance to
look at the people preparing for
their tests, Quite a cross-section.
They ranged from a skinny
16-year-old boy who wanted a
driver's license for his
motor-cycle, to an old chap with
a hearing aid and almost blind in
leis left eye. Both passed, but
hope I never meet either on the
highway.
Then a couple of former
staal::ra
of mine walked in.
the type who have
system. They are either impressed by
what a clean, prosperous place it is or
depressed by piles of junk,
Council should have one of its
committees look around town, inspecting
those properties that do damage to the
overall image of Clinton. The property
owners should then be sent a notice that
their property has been found wanting
and that they are expected to remedy the
situation.
This should be coupled with a general
clean-up campaign, perhaps every spring,
when all residents are er4couraged to
participate in making their town more
beautiful.
We've spent a lot of money making the
main street attractive in the past couple of
years. But what good does it do if there
are ugly trash heaps on private property?
It's time to get started this fall to clean
up.
the farmer by using his increase as an
excuse for a big boost in the price of the
product. Or sure, they mention increased
production costs too, but the ordinary
city-dweller is going to say, "there go
those darn farmers again".
Of course production costs have risen,
but that was the excuse the processors
used for a two cent raise only last spring
when the farmer got his first half-cent
increase. The truth is that the bosses of
the dairies saw a chance to skim off a
little more creamy profit and grabbed it.
In this they are not much different than
other businesses, or indeed the labour
unions, who are perhaps even greedier
these days than big business.
Inflation will be a way of life as long as
people continue to think of themselves
and not give a damn about their
neighboui-, their country or the world.
Governments can never control the
economy with greedy individuals out for
'everything they can get.
who told him when he bought them they
were about as much good as a popgun on
a tank range.
Dief claimed though, that missiles were
the coming thing. That was in 1958 when
he scrapped the Canadian aircraft industry
and the jobs of 10,000 aircraft workers
when he cancelled the ultra-modern,
Canadian designed Arrow interceptor. He
said missiles had made it obsolete.
As a result, the U.S. got one of the best
trades of its history. it got the cream of
those 10,000 men for its space program
which was struggling to get off the ground
and sold us some obsolete missiles and a
couple of hundred Starfighter jets to take
the place of the Arrow.
Many people maintain Mr. Diefenbaker
is a great man, but he must be a super
genius if he can figure out that scrapping
the Bomarcs vindicates his defence
policies of the late 50's and early 60's.
Sunset years
It's been a pleasant
experience this week reading the
reflections of the late Dorothy
Canfield Fisher on the subject of
old age. The dear lady, it seems,
had responded to the request of
.a weekly editor in Vermont,
where the Fishers lived, and her
thoughts on the so-called
"sunset years", collected in
pamphlet form, have made a
small, enduring classic.
Mrs. Fisher's theme was that
there are permanent elements in
life which are not at all tarnished
by the passage of too many of
those milestones called birthdays
and these — music, reading fine
books, thinking and reflecting,
among others — are enjoyments
undimmed by the passing of
time.
It is true, she writes, that
many physical difficulties beset
older people, hut there are
compensations as well.
"Young folks, too, have the
responsibilities of their years
heavy on them — earning a
living, the care of little children
— such unending care, often
filled with terrible anxiety!" she
wrote. "Can you remember the
black apprehension we all lived
through when our little children
were sick? We could never
10 YEARS AGO
Thursday, August 31, 1961
Six little pigs, now five weeks
old, are living in the lap 'of
luxury at the farm of Malcom
Davidson. Mr. Davidson brought
them home Sunday, from
Guelph. Though they would be
interesting to see, rules are! No
visitors!
A familiar scene at the
collegiate already, is a packed
parking lot at the south end
area. Principals and office staff
have been at work for more than
two weeks preparing time tables
for the various courses, typing
instructions for students,
recording stock supplies, etc.
The Clinton band collected
$85 on the tag day last
Saturday. All members,
majorettes and the public who
helped make the tag day a
success are thanked by the
bandmaster,
25 YEARS AGO
Thursday, September 5, 1946
Readers are advised not to
forget to secure their new ration
books next week,
Announcements as to places and
dates of issues will follow later.
Clad in his underwear,
Thomas Ress, Hamilton, walked
into the farm home of Harry
Faber, Hensall, late Thursday
night, to tell a story of meeting
two men at a Kitchener beverage
room, and then of waking up
near Faber's farm with a "sore
head."
Provincial police are
investigating.
Clinton's Labor Day
Celebrations proved to be an
endure that now. And we don't
need to. Our children or our
grand-children are now
responsible for their children.
"We are anxious, too, about
the frightening international
situation," Mrs. Fisher went on.
"Yes, but with less acute
emotion brought by the
slowed-down reactions of old
age. Just haven't the physical
keenness with which to feel (not
as we used to) the dismal
international situation.
"We have conferred on us in
age a great inner gift which
youth, by definition, cannot
have — patience and the larger
perspective which comes with a
long endurance of day upon day
and year upon year. We really do
feel that the human race, while
undoubtedly gifted for
self-destruction, also has shown
in its long, long history an
equally strong gift for survival,
or we wouldn't be here, still on
the globe."
Reading Mrs. Fisher's
thoughts my mind kept going
back to the large number of
older men and women I came to
know so well when, for several
years, we lived in the country.
That inner gift, that adjustment
outstanding success, although
inclement weather interfered to
some extent with the band
tattoo held in Community Park.
40 YEARS AGO
Thursday, September 3, 1931
The schools open on Tuesday
morning. The Public School staff
is the same and the Collegiate
with the exception of the
science teacher, Mr. Cooper
taking the place of Mr. Coombs,
At a special meeting of the
town council yesterday evening
it was decided to ask for a
couple a Provincial auditors to
go over the town's books since
the first of the year. This will
leave everything clear for a new
clerk and treasurer.
Miss Hazel Churchill, Clinton,
a graduate of the School of
Commerce, has taken a position
with the Canada Products
Company, Toronto; Miss Annie
Atkinson, Goderich, also goes to
Toronto.
55 YEARS AGO
Thursday, August 31, 1916
The advent of cooler weather
is a reminder that the season for
"duck" wearing like the season
for duck hunting is closed. In
about another fort-night straw
hats will also be out of bounds.
Friday afternoon while a big
Overland was going out Seaforth
way, a little past Stapleton, in
turning out to pass a rig, got
over too far and over the car
went, The occupants were
thrown out of the car and were
unhurt. Only an axle was bent.
The car was soon righted after J.
H Paxman, C.D. (car doctor)
arrived at the scene.
Owing to Monday being
Labour Day the regular Town
to a philosophy that not merely
accepts, but finds rewards in
those sunset years is, it seems to
me, one of life's marvels. To see
this in the flesh, so to speak, to
see the happiness and sense of
purpose that denies the weight
of the years, is strangely
reassuring for any of us of
middle age.
And I wonder if the real
secret of it isn't simply the
acceptance of age as a situation.
So many old people fight the
years or, worse, become bitterly
resigned to them that, unlike
Mrs. Fisher, they never realize
the fullness of age as a reward.
That comes about, I suppose,
because few people anticipate it.
There is no training or
preparation for it. Many men,
particularly, are thrust overnight
from an active and involved
existence into one that seems
barren and are lost. In Mrs.
Fisher's words, they've not
acquired the appetite for the
permanent elements and without
them the later years may be
empty.
Those of my old friends who
have found contentment in a
simple routine are alike in one
respect: they are turning age and
Council meeting will be held on
Tuesday evening.
75 YEARS AGO
Wednesday, September 2, 1896
Several pieces of beautiful
Irish green ribbon can be had for
the asking. The owners are
disgusted with the colour and
will give them away to anybody
who wants them. Apply Clinton
Bowling Club. Ask for Irish
Contingent.
The Sunday car question was
threshed out again by Council,
Friday afternoon, The general
feeling of the Council was that
they should not commit
themselves to the submission of
the by-law until a satisfactory
agreement is arrived at with the
Street Railway Company, and
resolutions were passed to that
effect.
It is generally acknowledged
that a stone crossing should take
the place of a wooden one on
Albert Street North.
The
Empty Pew
Jen e Miller
The Agony and th !!:cstacy,
No. 2: The Joy of Thy
Salvation.e Joy of Tht Salvation.
"How come you helped me?"
he asked. "What's in it for you?"
And another person said, "After
hearing all the dirt and problems
in people's lives, it looks like
you would just hate the whole
human race." '
The real rewards of the
ministry are in the "fringe
benefits". The first great gift to
a minister is the secret denied to
many people of wealth and of
poverty: that the real meaning
of living is not in existing or
owning. To live continually up
against the great Mystery which
impinges on all human beings is'
to know what our fathers in the
faith sang about in the "Land
beyond the river", where the
real purpose of humanness is
described as Heaven. To escape
the lure of false gods, and to
keep one's soul from the Devil's
promises (power, prosperity and
popularity) is the great freedom
promised in the Gospel. The
very real alternatives to
obedience to God are slavery to
one's unconscious conditioning,
limitation to humanistic
cultures, obedience to endless
anxiety and death of the soul.
The second blessing of the
ministry is a sense of beautiful
and unqualified community with
those who hear and answer
"Yes" to God. Laymen and
fellow-ministers, who share the
enthusiastic urgency of God's
pilgrim people, which makes
them a part of no one place or
time, and thus a part of every
place and time, fulfill the Word:
"The Kingdom of God is within
you".
To the second question above
I said, "Nothing makes a person
love people more than knowing
the agonies and struggles and
pressures they bear. To really see
the burdens people carry, and to
realize what it takes for them to
function at all, is to admire and
love them".
The third benediction upon
the life of a minister is spoken
without words by those who are
helped. No pastor can "save" a
person's life, any more than he is
to blame for it's loss. His hope is
to point humanity to a Master
whose spirit can make men •
whole and empower them to
love an Eternal Kingdom, now.
To know that homes have been
healed, lives have been
consecrated, hearts have been
gladdened and souls have been
set free to appropriate all it
means to "be", is a guerdon
worthy of all the
misunderstanding and hostility a
pastor faces.
Really, our alternatives are
only to commit crucifixion or
let suicide happen.
4 Clinton News-Record, Thursday, September 2, 1971
Editorial comment
Clean up the mess
retirement to some advantage.
They go at life positively and
not negatively which, with
patience and perspective, may be
the whole answer.
Indeed, one of the happiest
men I know of any age is one of
these pensioners, aged 84, who
looks upon his sunset years as a
chance to do a great variety of
things that weren't possible in
his wage-earning years.
He has the small vegetable
garden that there'd never been
time for when his hours were
crowded. He's become a master
fly-fisherman. He has been
systematically reading all the
books he'd wanted to read when
there just wasn't time. He has
been acquiring steadily a wisdom
and outlook that have been
possible only because of the
wider horizons of his advanced
years.
Just to be with him is an
escape from the anxieties and
perplexities that afflict those of
us who are too close to life to
really understand it.
This is the lesson that such
mature people as Mrs. Fisher can
bring to us all, the reminder that
the sunset years may be the
golden years as well.
Greed is the name .of the game
Letter to the Editor
THE EDITOR:
You might want to use this in
next week's paper, but I would
prefer that my name not be
signed. Eddie Elliott was one of
my "favorite peonlo "
AN ODE TO EDDIE
"How much am I bid?" said the auctioneer—
And the sale was off with a bang.
For many years, in rain and shine,
His auctions gave Saturdays a tang.
And when too noisy the crowd got
(Exclaiming loudly about what they'd bought)
He would tell a joke with his Irish grin
(Generally about some form of sin.)
"Somebody help me off this chair"
We heard him often say
`Cause his poor war-torn legs
Were wont to give away.
Always honest and always fair,
Though his favorite drink wasn't tea,
Now Eddie Elliott's gone to his rest
And greatly missed he'll be.
— A Friend