Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1973-05-03, Page 4Editorial comment When errors will be no more The printed Word suffers from a traditional enemy, the typographical error, What this means is that human beings, when setting type, make mistakes, Their eyes skip over lines, miss words, see the same thing twice, or press the wrong let- ter key. When the typesetter sits looking at printed material all day, the chances for error increase. The truly remarkable thing is that relatively few errors do get into print. In book and magazine publishing, plenty of time exists to make correc- tions. Even so, a few slip through, even in high quality publications. Newspapers operate against time deadlines, so the whole matter of setting type, proof reading it, and correcting it, is carried on under the pressure of such deadlines. Because of the way some new machines space type, a single word error sometimes needs an entire paragraph reset, Then, alas, when one error is cprrscted, another may occur. Despite the most rigorous effort to "control typos," as the trade refers to them, some get by everybody. The worst feature is that they occur in the most embarrassing places, in headlines, in people's names, or similar things. When necessary, we run correc- tions. The pain errors cause is at least as great among those who produce them, as it is among those who read them. Meanwhile, we labor to reduce them, and . dream of the day when we all become perfect and errors will be no more. (St. Marys Journal Argus) A nation of stealers? Statistics Canada estimates $1-million worth of goods are stolen every day from Canada's retailers by shoplifters and light-fingered employees. Stealing is on the increase. Last year 10,000 Torontonlans, for instance, were caught, twice as many as in 1967. We like to think we're a decent, hard- working, law-abiding nation. So why this mass thievery involving, according to one large department store chain, people across the country? Some steal to make ends meet. But many (one was a judge's wife) are well- to-do. Some employees like to give away the loot "to make them feel big", in the words of one study. Such widespread dishonesty should warn us about the direction of our society (Westerners visiting Red China, for instance,' report the Chinese to be scrupulously honest). Does this not suggest a society in- creasingly corrupted by materialism? A society of people losing its individual morality? Every Canadian must face this question. History repeats itself Back in the days of the French revolution when mobs of oppressed people in Paris cried for bread, Queen Marie Antoinette is reported to have said "Let them eat cake". History has a habit of repeating itself. Today it is provincial treasurer John White who imposes a 7 per cent tax on light and heat and then advises the poor and lower income people of the Province, on whom the tax falls, heaviest, to put on a swelltervarid 'turniout the lights during the bleak Ontario winters. The arrogance of Marie Antoinette contributed to her death by the guillotine in 1793. The equally arrogant provincial treasurer probably will be spared that fate. However, when the people of On- tario realize .just what this added tax means in terms of their costs, (Seaforth . people will have to pay out as much as $30,000 additional each year for heat and light) they will use other means of indicating their displeasure. Today we prefer to use the ballot in- stead of the guillotine when our leaders, by their disdainful attitude, indicate they have lost touch with the people. And at times, the ,ballot, while perhaps not as final, can be equally as effective as the voters in Huron and St. George's ridings recently proved. —Huron Expositor (The tax has since been repealed) Heavy taxation can start revolutions The sky girls we get letters 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 'SURSCRIPTION RATES: (in advance) 'Canaria, $8.00 per year; U.S.A., $9.50 JAMES E. FITZGERALD—Editor J. HOWARD AITKEN General Manager Published every Thursday at the heart Of Huron County' Clinton, Ontario Population 3,475 THE HOME OF RADAR IN CANADA 4—DAHOON NIEWIWOORD, THURSDAY, MAY 1, 1973 first-timer, accept the fact that this is the way airplanes are and were meant to be. Perhaps the classic example that comes to mind is the dit- ching of an airliner bound for Honolulu frona San Francisco. As a regular traveller of the airways I've an almost morbid curiosity about the morale of those passengers who knew, for five long hours, that they were going into the ocean. Nothing I read gave an answer except one single line which spoke of the stewardess jesting with the passengers. I could be wrong, but I've a feeling that was just as impor- tant as the captain's skill in the emergency landing, Certainly there's nothing that will prevent a man from going to pieces quite so effectively as a laughing girl in,.a crisis. , Anyway, I want the airlines to know that here's one client who has been treated with ten- der care, courtesy and solicitude well beyond the call of duty by a host of splendid young women, and if they go the sky won't seem the safe and happy place it once was. Wingham; Pte J. Gillespie, Seaforth; Pte C. Harvey, Exeter. 75 YEARS AGO APRIL 29, 1898 Seeding will soon be a thing of the past, and farmers state that the ground was never in a better condition for working than this year; we hope they will be rewarded by an abun- dant crop for their labors. Clinton will spend about $1,000 for the 24th of May Celebration. Churchill and Ireland wish to contradict the rumor that they are working in co- operation with Tyndall Bros. to run Colclough off the road. According to the assessor's returns, Clinton is the second largest town in the County; with its central situation and advantages, there should be a large increase in its population, • and a united and continued ef- fort among the townspeople to "boom Clinton" would accom- plish much. Bayfield Notes: Men are busy at work making the harbour improvements. The fishermen have started out. The work of erecting W. Jowett's new house is progressing; it will add very much to the appearance of the place. People will put up with almost anything, as long as they are left in peace. They'll take an incredible amount of being pushed around withOut doing more than grumble. But there comes a point when all the frustrations, the cheatings, the bullying, merge under some catalyst and the great public heart boils over with rage and humiliation. When it does, heads roll. This is just a little advance notice to some of our various governments, so that any of their mandarins who want to take tb the hills on the day of reckoning can get their bags packed and pick out the par- ticular hills they want to take .to. In the French Revolution, the Bastille was the symbol of authority and repression. The people stormed it and took it. The American Revolution, or the War of Independence, as our friends to the south prefer, also began with a symbol — chests of tea. A large number of these were dumped into Boston harbour in a protest that has resulted in the peculiar way in which the people of Boston have spoken ever since. In both cases, the revolutions were produced by the same basic factor — excessive taxation. In the case of the French, the taxation produced extreme poverty and hunger. With the Yanks, it produced violent anger. In the one case, the result was the loss of a head for a great many people who had the same quantity of brains before the operation as they had after it. In the other, the result was the loss of a half-continent of incredible riches. .Both events in history brought their advantages, of course, Without the French ef- fort, whiCh spawned Napoleon, we wouldn't have had' the Napoleonic Wars ,and the Retreat from Moscow, and where would our history teachers be? Without the American Revolution, western culture would have been infinitely poorer. What other nation would have had the initiative and gumption to develop such monumental human achievements as Hollywood and the hamburger? You may think this excursion into history has no point. But the more discerning readers of this column know that Smiley is getting somewhere, in his own laborious way. And the most discerning readers are chuckling, "I'll bet he just made out his income tax." The latter are right, of course, And as I sat there, surrounded by papers, sick at heart when I relized what a puny amount a year of hard labour had produced. I had only one thought: "When is the great Canadian Revolution going to start?" Then came other thoughts. What symbol shall we attack? Do they need anyone to lead the attacks on the barricades? Which of the dastards will I personally gun down? I have news for those in power. I'm not kidding. If you don't get it with bullets, you'll get it with ballots. You can rub our faces in it only so long, and then the hand that robs the cradle, along with everything else that can be robbed, is going to be bitten. To the bone. Our national Liberal party, supreme in its power, arrogance and scorn, should have learned A lesson. It is still bleeding. In province after province, the people have had their say, and have tossed out the old guard. Ontario is one of the few that have survived. Here's a prediction. Check it later. I've never been wrong. Premier William Davis, the most unimpresive politician I've ever heard, and that ranks from deputy-reeves up, is in for a big fat fall, along with his party. Why? It's obvious, from the recent Ontario budget. The party has lost touch with reality. And that's death in politics. An example? The tax on energy sources. It's not going to hurt me. I can afford it. It's not going to hurt anybody except all those people who can already barely meet their fuel and electricity bills. Tax the luxuries. Whack it on cigarettes and liquor and fur coats and there'll be some grumbling. But stick a tax on light and heat, necessities in this climate, and you are accep- ting the political kiss of death. We shall not forget, at election time. It's the most stupid single tax that I have ever encoun- tered, and that is a big statement. It hits the little guy, the elderly, those on welfare, and everybody else who is scrimping to make ends meet. EPILOGUE: My wife asked me, as I paced .a hole in the rug, grinding my teeth: "What do we get for all this income tax we pay?" It was a typical woman's question, right on the nose. For the life of me, I couldn't give her an answer that made sense. "Well, there's the Armed For- ces," Protecting us against Iceland. "Uh, there are the salaries and offices and staff of parliament." Producing more taxes. "And, uh, you know, welfare and uh, icebreakers and uh, royal commissions and uh, well, stuff like that." Aux barricades, mes cainarades! As if the news everywhere wasn't bad enough already, now comes the report that airlines are gradually cutting down on the number of stewar- desses and replacing them with men. I get this second-hand, though reliably, from a friend who has just returned from Tokyo and chanced to sit alongside an airline official. Seems that it's becoming in- creasingly difficult to find young women who want a career in the wild blue yonder and that even when they're in good supply the turnover is tremendous. Stewardesses being the golden girls they are they're forever being whisked away to the nearest altar. gentlemen,, . these, problems must:he .overcome bv, some better method than sim ply replacing them with men. Otherwise I doubt very much if the airplane is here to stay. The stewardess is, of course, a unique product of the air age and possibly as close as humanity has come to producing the perfect female. This would be worth studying 10 YEARS AGO MAY 2, 1963 Perplexed over council's lack of interest in attracting in- dustry to Clinton, Antoine "Red" Garon has announced he will attempt to form a Chamber of Commerce, which he hopes will work toward bringing industry to Clinton. In an effort to stimulate the construction of more all-electric residential and commercial structures, Clinton PUC ap- proved an incentive program at their meeting, Tuesday. Under the plan approved, they will give a discount of 10 percent for the first six months billings to all homes and commercial developments using all-electric heat. While playing cribbage on Tuesday afternoon, Donald McLean, town, was given a cribbage player's dream — perfect hand. 15 YEARS AGO MAY 1, 1958 A 40—hour work week was OK'd on Tuesday night for the entire staff of the Clinton Public Utilities Commission. The new leader of the On- tario Liberal party, John J. Wintermeyer will be speaking in the Community Centre, Zurich, on Friday, May 2. He will be appearing on behalf of Dr. Alex Addison, Liberal can- didate in the forthcoming by- election. To honor Premier Leslie Frost during his visit to Huron next week, the Progressive Con- servative Association in the riding is organizing one of the biggest receptions in the area's history. Charles MaoNaughton, PC candidate in the May 12 by- election says the reception will be strictly informal and it's open to everyone. Mayor W. J. Miller and Clerk John Livermore were in Stratford on Tuesday attending the hearings for the Ontario Fuel Board with regard to the proposed new gas pipeline which will reach from Stratford to Goderich. 25 YEARS AGO APRIL 29, 1948 Frank Fingland, K.C., prominent barrister and well- known throughout the county, was unanimously nominated Liberal candidate for Huron riding in the approaching Provincial election. Seven others were nominated but all withdrew, leaving Mr. Fingland the unanimous choice of the convention. Clinton Electric Shop has im- proved their corner at Albert 'and Princess streets very con- siderably by building a gravel parking space on the north side of the store, thus covering up an eyesore caused by spring flooding. Londesboro reported that last week's wind and hail storm did considerable .damage at the farm of Thomas Rober- ton on the 13th of Hullett, The roof was taken off the west side of his barn and part of his house; and several windows were broken in the house. 40 YEARS AGO MAY 4, 1933 A. H. Wilford, sales and ad- vertising organizer, addressed a meeting in the council chamber on Friday evening, offering some excellent hints for promoting the welfare of the town. "The town is what you make it," he declared. "Clinton is you and you are Clinton". He recommended a live Board of Trade. Such an organization, taking in all businessmen, Manufacturers, farmers, all engaged in any industry, is a great assistance in building up a town. Col. H, B. Combe also spoke briefly, giving it as his opinion that co-operation was the means by which a town could expect to prosper. ankles as well. Finally, she is something of an adventuress or she wouldn't have considered this unlikely livelihood in the first place. But none of these admirable qualities fully explains the role the stewardess has played in the acceptance of air travel which is, simply, to make it 'ap- pear logical. Almost everybody is nervous of flying arid that includes those who profess not to be. Flying is for the birds. It is un- natural for man and so he's either uneasy or petrified, depending on the range of his imagination. The stewardess calms these fears from the moment she welcomes you aboard, so briskly yet so charmingly. Your Stibecinscimis respdrise that well, shucks, everything is blind to be 'smooth Sailing or else why would this pretty girl be going along voluntarily? You see this particularly in moments of turbulence when passengers instinctively look to the stewardess and, seeing her so matter-of-fact, so bright of smile, perhaps lightly joking about the bumps with some Rev. Dr. Hogg of Strathroy, a former pastor of Wesley-Willis church, the other day sent up a little blue spruce tree for plan- ting in the church grounds. It has already been placed and as it grows will serve as a memorial of the union of the congregations, and of Dr. Hogg's pastorate of 15 years. 55 YEARS AGO MAY 2, 1918 New anti-hoarding rules con- cerning sugar and flour are in force. No person living within two miles of a licensed dealer may have more than an or- dinary supply for 15 days. R.G. Gibbs, Miss Levine Gibbs, and their mother, Mrs. Thomas Gibbs, Londesboro, spent a week with the latter's son, Frank Gibbs, Clinton, before leaving for Briercrest, Sask., where they intend to locate. Mrs. Carr, Brucefield, visited her daughter, Mrs. Garnet Cor- nish, for a few days this week. Mrs. Carr is one of those who finds time to do her bit for the soldiers, having just completed her four hundredth pair of socks. Huron soldiers arriving in Halifax and expected home shortly: Pte Frank Andrews, Clinton; Major N. T. Sinclair, Dear Editor: Have I got news for you!! Printable news I think. It con- gems the great danger to the lives of all of us from a cause hitherto unsuspected, At the worst, 10,000,000 Canadians could die prematurely, commencing almost any time now. At the best, the ten million could die from presently ordinary causes if the necessary actions are taken now. I do not make an outcry unless I know how to remedy the trouble, so my 40 years of research have given me a blueprint, No, this is not a bid for political office. , From the early days of this century, all of us have been taught to treat the metals with a sort of contempt, as vulgar, as something necessary for in- dustry, but not as really vital to fife itself. The metals, of course, contributed greatly to the in- crease of world population. As people crowded into certain areas, no one seemed to notice the rise in the importance of metals to life itself; in our day, the metals are as much necessities of life as are food and water. How simple it seems when drawn to our attention! Even in a small town like Gravenhurst we would starve to death if there were not machines made of metals to bring food to us and to pump water for us. In a congested area such as Toronto, the same problems but magnified one thousand times. Think of the horror - no food, no water, no sewage disposal, epidemics of disease sweeping the area. You are right; those horrors would not happen so long as we had large reserves of metals to draw from. But from the latest information it would appear that the western nations might have only six or seven years of supply of key metals ahead of them!! A crisis, no less. Surely, in half that time factories would be closing, machines and trucks could not be repaired. Still looks like a manageable problem, doesn't it? If only those millions of people had somewhere to go and were repared to, abandon the `contested " But another factor says "No, you will not get that oppor- tunity". Our economic machine is designed to move only in the one direction, at variable speeds, but it has no reverse lever, Our economy cannot taper off as, say, the Roman Empire did. To operate at all it must retain public confidence, so the operators of the machine will be ruthless, will lie to us, will hide the facts from us. The end, therefore, will appear to the millions to be sudden, with no time to adjust or to make other arrangements. At this point there is no choice - the congested area must be aban- doned forwith. A few will get away in cars, but the great majority will have to go on foot, hunting for food and water and killing, if necessary, to get them, since self- preservation is the first law of life. There will be no law and order in that time period, because soldiers and police will be busy saving their families. All are headed north, because conditions will be worse to the south. Probably not more than 25 percent from the congested areas could save their lives IF WE ALLOW IT TO HAPPEN. If our children are to live we must not export any more. metals. Our national defence needs the same action. I suggest it is not too soon for Lands and Forests to start many plantations of woods suitable for bows and arrows. Horse herds could be greatly increased; for, like it or not, the survivors from the collapse of our metals civilization will live as farmers in the style of our pioneer forefathers (for a con- firmation of this see page 484 of Vol. 2 of "A Science Policy for continued on page 5 even if you hadn't any place to go. She is, indeed, four distinct women in one handsome package. She is, first of all, a kind of airborne housewife, charged with the care, the feeding and the comfort of her family of passengers. She does this with an efficiency and spirit that very often makes an aluminum tube, five miles or more in the sky, seem a home away from home. She is, secondly, a hostess with the responsibility of put- ting at ease a collection of assorted people who, in most cases, would very much rather be someplace else, preferably on the ground. Thirdly, she is, in a sense a performer for "all eyes are ''on' "(her seeking reassurance-and, in 'Ina; her mariner and 'ap- Pearance are judged in much the same way as a director casts a new show. It is the only job in the world in which the applicant must know the workings of a rubber, self-inflating life raft, the correct temperature for a baby's bottle and have trim