HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1971-09-30, Page 4The first fire engine used at No. 31 Royal Air Force Radio School, Clinton, in 1941. It was
described by the crew as a pre-historic monster. It may be Wing Commander Cocks at the rear of
the engine.
Publithed every Thursday at
the heirt of Huron County
t Clinton, Ontario
Population 3,475
TEE ROME
OP RADAR
IN CANA I)A
THE CLINTON NEW ERA Amalgamated THE HURON NEWS-RECCiRD
Established 1865 1924 Established 1881
Clinton News-Record
A waiting game
exceptionally good musical
organization and its playing was
accorded the heartiest kind of
congratulations by the visitors to
the Fair."
75 YEARS AGO
The Huron News-Record
September 30, 1896
The Huron Central
Exhibition is in full swing as The
News-Record goes to press.
There will be a cricket match
here on Thursday and Friday
between two well-balanced local
teams picked by Terry and
McMurchie, the defeated to pay
for an oyster supper for both.
An effort which will
doubtless prove successful is
being made to organize an
up-to-date Orchestra. Some 10
or 12 local musicians have
consented to take part and it is
expected in a few days the
Organization will be complete,
An anniversary to remember
• ,,
4 Clinton News-Record, Thursday, September 30, 1971
Editorial cornmeal tt listory in pictures,_,,___,„ Letter to the .thaitor
Clinton is basking in the glory this
week of its second Ontario Baseball
Association championship of the year,
The victory of the Clinton Peewees
Saturday, added to the championship of
the Clinton Intermediates last week, gives
Clinton more champions in one year than
many towns see in a life time.
It's nice to have championships in a
town because it gives it good publicity all
around the country and gives all the
citizens a sense of pride and a feeling of
being a part in the glory, even if they
didn't even go near the park ,all summer
long. But it is good to remember that
championships don't just come because
the team got lucky. They come through
hard work.
The two OBA championship teams we
have this year, are the results of several
Hard work behind the glory
To the casual observer, the strangest
development of the provincial election
campaign so far has been the power of the
Progressive Conservative party machine to
mold public opinion.
Only half a year ago, many observers
were making dire predictions about the
future of the party in an election under
their new leader, William Davis. The party
leadership campaign had been bitter and
divisive. The man who had caught the
fancy of the general public, Allan
Lawrence, had been beaten and it wasn't
even so much that he had been beaten, as
how he had been beaten. He represented
the new wave the party was talking so
much about, but he was beaten by a
coalition of the old party powers that
included Davis, Darcy McKeough and
Charles MacNaughton,
So here was the man who had beaten
off the popular hero with tactics some
considered underhanded. Here was also
the man who had been responsible for the
county school board system and the lead
department that had generally been
involved in such huge tax increases that
education almost became a dirty word.
Here he was in the New Wave, looking like
a younger copy of John Rbbarts.
But with the dire predictions ringing in
their ears, the party iitiage makers went to
work. The first thing that had to be done
was to heal the rift in the party, so
Lawrence was given a supposedly
high-ranking cabinet post. Then they went
to work on the teddy-bear like looks of
Davis, gave him new clothes and a new
hair cut and christened him the with-it,
conservative swinger.
years of hard work by a small group of
local people .who gave their time and in
some cases their money too, to help
youngsters play ball, There have always
been such individuals in Clinton, going
back to the days of Doc Shaw who gave
of himself to help youngsters play ball,
and even before that, The dedication of
these persons has given Clinton the proud
tradition it has in baseball.
Remember these men behind the teams
when you think of the champions, and be
willing to lend them a helping hand when
they need one. And remember the work
of the service clubs who have helped make
these championships possible by operating
minor development sports programs
which have given youngsters a chance to
play the game.
point that they can live with comfort on
their 10 months work, with no longer any
worry about starvation. But group
bargaining has most helped the poor
teacher and done less for the really good
teacher.
Once a poor teacher gets into the
system, it is hard to get him out and
though he may only go through the
motions, he gets just as much pay as a
dedicated teacher with the same seniority.
We must soon find some way of
rewarding the good teacher and weeding
out the bad or the education system will
be in serious trouble. And as Miss Howse
suggests, who knows more about teachers
than the pupils. Here's hoping there are
some changes soon and that the students
are given a voice when the changes are
made.
Then came the "decisive" decisions,
shocking enough to create plenty of
headline material, but researched enough
to be sure they would be vote-getters.
Biggest and best was the Spadina
Expressway move which really caught
people by surprise, just what the party
wanted. Then came the separate school
question which he insisted shouldn't
become an election issue but left lying
around for more than a year before
making the obvious decision on the eve of
the announcement of an election.
So, just six short months after he was
considered a liability to the party, William
Davis is now the focal point of all the
entire advertising program the party is
undertaking for the campaign.
One is a little awe-struck by the
campaign machinery of the Conservatives
which seems right now to be in the act of
doing what it has done so often before —
return the Tories to power for another
term. How many times now, the party
organizers have headed to the electorate
when discontent in the province was high
over the performance of the government,
yet before the campaign was over, had the
electorate faithfully back in its place,
electing another Conservative government,
The leaders of the party are
interchangeable, the party machine is the
important part.
How long will the honeymoon go on?
Will Ontario have a Conservative
government forever? It begins to took that
way..
By the way, has anyone heard of Allan
Lawrence lately?
A long-out-of-print collection
of naturalist essays by Hubert
Evans, a pioneering ecologist I've
admired all my life for his
writings of the outdoors, was my
favorite birthday gift of this
year.
The dear girl who'd found it
by chance in a rummage sale had
expected I'd be pleased. She
could hardly have anticipated
that it would cast me into
reveries of mingled guilt and
delight.
Hubert was a great friend of
my father. They shared the rich
rewards of having an affinity
with nature and often went on
trips together.
I remembering going with
them once to put fish eggs in a
stream when Mr. Evans was
connected in some way with the
Fisheries Department. I have
never lost the memory of the
clean gravel under the swift
water and the roe being placed
under the gravel. It was perhaps
my first awareness of the
mystery of life's beginning.
But I was remembering, too,
one of the very few times that
10 YEARS AGO
September 28, 1961
This year Clinton District
Collegiate Institute required two
new cheerleaders to bring the
number to six. Nineteen girls
tried out for these positions and
for several days the gym echoed
to the roar of their training
under last year's four remaining
girls. Last Tuesday Mrs, Hannon
did the judging.
Price of a haircut in Clinton is
going up to $1.00 effective
Friday, September 29. For some
time hair has been cut in town
for 85 cents, when men in other
parts Of the County had to pay
the whole dollar.
A course of instruction in
first aid to the injured Will begin
le Clinton Town Hall on
Wednesday, October 4,
conducted by Clare Magee,
Dinsley Terrace, local instructor
of St. John's Ambulance. This is
for men and women, and
starting time is 8 p.m.
15 YEARS AGO
September 27, 1956
The fairgrounds at Bayfield
Were a hive of activity yesterday
and throughout the evening as
the inside exhibits were put in
place, judged and made ready
for public inspection today. The
directors of the agricultural
society have indeed gone to a lot
of trouble to Make this year's
fair a real success.
At a special meeting of the
Kinsmen Club of Clinton held in
Hotel Clinton 'on Monday night
it was decided to sell the
property known as Kin Park.
Postmaster Counter has
announced that commencing
Monday, October 1, the times
for collection will be 4s 30 daily
except for a 2p.m. collection on
Saturdays,
25 YEARS AGO
October 3,1946
The next Meeting (of the
Clinton braneh of the Red Cross
Sudety) will be held the first
Monday in Novetriber for the
express purpose of deciding
whether to carry on the Clinton
branch. Feeling of the church
groups, on whom the burden
falls, is to be consulted.
Mr. and Mrs. Dick Atkey had
attended the 27th Annual
Meeting of the Canadian Weekly
Newspapers Association in
Halifax and Mr, Atkey, at that
time editor of the Clinton
News-Record, wrote an account
of their trip.
The Lions Club were to
sponsor a CFRB Radio
Broadcast from Clinton Town
Hall featuring "Ontario
Panorama" with Gordon Sinclair
arid Alan Savage.
40 YEARS AGO
October 1, 1931
Mr. W. W. Burgess, Mitchell,
who conducted a branch
photography business here for a
few years, is reopening his
studio, in the old stand which
has been newly decorated, on
Monday next. His daughter, Miss
Irene Burgess, who has had a
long experience with her father,
will be in charge. The studio will
be open every week day,
The Ladies' Aid of the
Evangelical church, Dashwood,
came up Saturday afternoon to
pay a friendly visit to the Huron
County Home. Their pastor, the
Rev. Mr. Sauce, accompanied
them and a most pleasing
musical program was given, Mr.
Satire giving a short address.
55 YEARS AGO
The Clinton New Era
September 28, 1916
Commissioner Richards of
the Salvation Army staff in
Canada will be here to hold a
special meeting on Tuesday,
October 17th.
Caeada's War Loan went With
a great sweep, showing the
implicit faith felt in the integrity
Of the Empire.
'The first appearance of Sir
Wilfred Laurier Ontario in
nearly two years will mark the
annual meeting of the Liberal
Club Federation which will be
held at London, Ont. oil
October 11.
to that book there's going to be
the devil to pay."
I knew what this meant. It
meant the woodshed. And this is
no idle figure of speech. We
really did have a woodshed
where my father's occasional
justice was executed with a
clothes brush. He was a very
old-fashioned man, which I
think now is the best kind.
I sneaked upstairs, got the
wreckage of Hubert Evans'
book, crept • outside and hid it
under the garage.
Never before or since have I
lived with such a feeling of guilt.
It was like a hard ball in my
stomach, a cloud over my head,
chains on my ankles. I lay in bed
each night staring into the
darkness, trying to forget what
I'd done.
I have a memory of treating
my father with either lavish
affection or distant coolness. My
remorse registered in love and
resentment.
I would say to myself, "Mr.
Evans' book is very important to
him. I've done something
terrible." Or I would say, "Ah,
The Kiltie Band was well
received at London Fair. The
London Advertiser said, "The
Clinton Kiltie Band, 22 strong
under the I eadership of
Bandmaster Mutch, was the
musical feature of the Western
Fair, Thursday, Since the
declaration of the war the Band
has lost 22 members to the
overseas bands of the 33rd and
161st (Huron County)
Battalions, It is still an
September is bass weather,
and last Saturday I had one of
the most interesting bass-fishing
jaunts I've ever enjoyed.
My old Russian billiards
partner, Captain Dalt Hudson,
called about noon and asked me
if I'd like to go out for a little
fish.
The situation was a little
tricky, as it was my wedding
anniversary and I thought maybe
I should stick around. But the
Old Battleaxe and I had had a
big fight the night before, and
she had told me not to come
sucking around with a bunch of
roses or anything else to mark
the occasion, or she'd throw
them in my face.
Even so, I had the decency to
tell her that Cap wanted me to
go fishing. "Go ahead!" she
snarled, and burst into tears.
Many a man would have been
unwrung, but I steeled my heart,
tip-toed around gathering my
gear, and prepared to make a
dash for the back door.
She was weeping silently
now, trying to make me feel like
a heel. She failed. I hadn't been
fishing all summer.
"And don't bother 'corning
back!" she fired at me as I snuck
out. Picked up the skipper who
had a basket full of worms, and
dawn to the dock.
He has a fine boat. Cabin,
inboard motor that runs like a
Cadillac, and seaworthy as the
Most frightened old Maid could
Wish.
It was a beautiful, sunny
The editor,
I read recently an editorial
comment in the Clinton
News-Record that the author of
that particular article had yet to
bear about an election campaign
committee that went around
after an election and took down
its posters.
For your information, and
that of other interested persons,
it has been the policy of the
New Democratic Party to
recover its signs immediately
after the election, ever since its
founding convention. In fact,
the NDP Election Manual points
out "sign recovery must be
planned before election day and
completed within two days of
the election. Sign removal
The Editor:
I wish you had taken a
moment, before writing your
editorial "Stop The Political
Garbage", to ask me about the
sign policy my campaign
committee has adopted for the
current political campaign in
Huron.
Our sign team has been
instructed NOT to put signs on
lawns, NOT to nail them on
what's a little old book? Why
does he make a little old book so
important?"
I thought that if I lived with
my guilt long enough it would
go away. It didn't.
Finally, on the night that I
knew it was never going to go
away, I got up out of bed and
went down to the living room
where my father was reading. I
remember a feeling of great
relief going down the stairs,
knowing that, whatever
happened, I was going to be
coming back up them in
freedom.
I told him the story, humbly
and contritely, perhaps even
enjoying the relief of confession,
It was no surprise at all when he
took me out to the woodshed. It
wasn't much of a spanking, a
sort of token to clear us both so
that we could start over again.
It was years later that I
learned that he had known all
along it was me and that he'd sat
there night after night waiting
for the moment when I'd come
down the stairs of my free will.
September day, and I was in
good hands, those of a retired
captain who had sailed fresh
water and salt for about 50
years.
We had a pleasant run up the
bay about ten miles, and arrived.
"See that little reef," he said.
"We'll anchor about 150 yards
sou-sou-west," I slung in the
anchor, doubting, as I always do
when I go out with someone
who knows the "spots", that
there would be a bass within five
miles.
We had a quarter bet on
who'd catch the first fish, Dalt
was telling me how to tie my
line and fiddling around filling
and lighting his pipe. I tossed my
bait overside and whack°, before
he'd got the pipe lit, I had a
dandy, about 21/2 pounds.
It was one of those days you
remember. We sat in the sun and
bartered lies about the days
when we sailed the lakes. His lies
were much More picturesque
than mine. He told of strikes and
storms and colourful characters,
told about scrubbing 'out
lavatories.
Finally, we had our limit and
it was time to go. The Captain
tutted the key to start the
engine. Total silence. Dead
battery.
I wish I had a movie of the
various expressions of the
Captain's face. There couldn't be
a sound track with it, though,
because he was blistering the
paint right Off the deck.
should begin the moment the
polls close."
We have already designated
those people in our campaign
who are to undertake this job
and I cap assure you, and the
people of Huron Riding, that the
job will be done within the 48
hour period following the
closing of the polls.
Sincerely,
Shirley M. Weary,
Huron NDP Organizer.
ED. Note: Good for you. But
remember, we'll be watching, so
you'd better make sure that
committee is as active as the
committee that has been putting
up the signs.
trees, and NOT to erect them on
utility posts.
We will be using stakes to
place our signs along the road
allowances in accordance with
the policy established by the
former Department of
Highways, now part of my new
Department of Transportation
and Communications.
In addition, my sign team has
agreed to remove the posters as
soon as possible after the voting
date, October 21.
I think most people will agree
that this sign policy is a
responsible way of making
voters aware of the important
democratic exercise on October
21. It imposes to a minimum
degree on our good Huron
environment.
And I want to reaffirm my
concern about the pressures and
connotations, however subtle,
that may be associated with the
proliferate use of lawn signs for
election purposes. As I have
stated, the experience in other
areas suggests that lawn signs can
infringe on our traditional right
of the secret ballot and can
constitute an invasion of
privacy. I firmly believe we
should avoid these dangers.
Finally, I invite you to
contact me at any time if you
have any questions about the
activities or programs of our
Progressive Conservative party or
my personal campaign in Huron.
Yours sincerely,
Charles MacNaughton,
Huron PC Candidate.
ED. NOTE: Sorry Mr.
MacNaughton. Before we wrote
the editorial we spoke to your
assistant, Mr. Don Southcott,
who said the policy change did
not affect roadside signs. Sorry
if we were misinformed. We'll
leave the decision up to the
electorate if they think stakes
are better than hydro poles.
We were only about 500
yards offshore, so we started to
paddle. It was like paddling the
Queen Mary. Two feet ahead
and the wind would push us
three feet back.
We were lucky, We could
have sat there all night,
anchored, because the place was
rife with reefs. But there was
one boat in sight, fishing just
offshore. The only sign of
human life in that vast bay,
The skipper made a
megaphone out of a chart and
hollered at them. They waved.
We beckoned them, They waved
back, friendly as you could
want.
The rest of the story is
anti-climatic. They finally
realized we were in trouble. The
chap in the other boat went to
his cottage for a booster battery.
It didn't boost. He towed us,
ignominiously, to his dock, a
14-foot skiff towing a 30-foot
queen. Cap muttered all the way
in. The shame was almost
unbearable.
We got home about 10 p.m.
and I thought my wife would be
out of her mind with worry,
She Wasn't. She was just out,
visiting friends. I tracked her
down and c=raftily brought a big
plastic bag with 12 bass in it,
offered all they wanted to the
housewife, and site cleaned the
whole lot.
It was a grand day, but the
moral is: never go fishing with
an expert.
Behind the biting humour of the
valedictory address by Becky Howse at
the Commencement at Central Huron
Secondary School on Friday night, there
was more than a little truth.
Miss Howse made board members, the
school administration and her former
teachers a little uncomfortable to say the
least with the address, and they would
probably rather forget it, but they would
be better riot to — rather to look at what
she said and see if there was any truth in
it.
We don't know enough about internal
affairs at CHSS to comment on the bulk
of the speech, but when she came to the
part of pay according to merit for
teachers she seemed to make sense. Group
bargaining for teachers has helped them
bring their salary schedules up to the
second -class mail
registrMion number — 1111117
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KEITH W. ROULSTON — Editor
4. HOWARD AITKEN General Manager
Truth behind the humour
The strange world of elections
A member of the Canadian Weekly Newspaper Association,
Ontario Weekly Newspaper Association arid the Audit Bureau
of Cireulation (ABC)
my father had punished me and
certainly the only time that I
had ever felt I had it, and more,
coming to me.
Once, when Hubert had a
new book published, he gave an
autographed copy to my father.
I believe the book was about the
miracle of the spawning salmon,
but I can't be sure. I do
remember that it's cover was a
dark green cloth with gold
lettering and that it was
beautifully illustrated.
It may have been that I was
just naturally retarded or, as I
like to think, that I thought a
book was no more permanent
than a magazine. In any event, I
cut out the pictures from Mr,
Evans' book and bore them
proudly to school. Yes, it must
have been a book about salmon,
'5 1 remember clearly the pictures
of the silver-sided fish seen in
green water,
A night or two later, my
father was hunting through the
book shelves. "I can't find
Hubert's book." he told my
mother. "If anything's happened