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Clinton News-Record, 1973-05-17, Page 4Editorial. comment A plus for Vapastra There is little doubt that there must have been times when Vanastra Oevelopments .were very frustrated in their efforts and attempts to bring new industry to the former air base. There must, too, have been a great deal of satisfaction to the Vanastra developers when it was announced last week that a major industry, Glendale Mobile Homes of Strathroy, will take up residence in the former Other Ranks mess and begin immediately to renovate the building with the idea of setting up a mobile home and tent trailer production line. The new industry will mean at least 150 jobs for Clinton and area by next fall, and going by the enviable expan- sion record of. Glendale, there could be another 100 jobs next year. From very humble beginnings in Strathroy in 1959, the company has grown into a major Canadian manufac- turer, with 12 plants in Canada now and one in Australia. The company has en excellent reputation both for a high quality product and good employee relations. It is indeed a welcome addition to Huron County and especially to Vanastra. There is also little doubt that the 628,000 a week in wages that will be pouring into our local economy will have a telescoping effect on both consumer goods and real estate sales in and around Clinton, It will not only bring in new people Into Clinton, but it will also permit many to stay who otherwise would have to move elsewhere for employment. The Glendale acquisition also represents the first major step in putting the former base and Clinton back on solid ground again for the first time since the base was closed and the million dollar payroll left. It means too, that our local economy is becoming diversified enough that if any one industry closed or was forced into a slowdown, the district would not suf- fer like we did after the only major em- ployer. the Canadian Armed Forces, closed two years ago. The Glendale acquisition also proves that Vanastra Developments are living up to promises they made a year ago. We can only hope that their new found success continues and more good em- ployers are lured into Vanastra. "All this talk o a guaranteed annual income cast, only serve to destroy initiative!" See you at the cemetery The fast approaching Victoria Day Holiday weekend will unofficially kick- off the 1973 summer vacation period across Canada. It will also mark that three and a half month period when traf- fic fatalities are at their highest. Dominion Automobile Association is predicting that from this holiday weekend until the Labour Day weekend over 2,000 Canadians will die on our roadways. In this three and a half month period nearly half of all traffic fatalities for the year will occur. Mr. R.W. Trollope, President of Dominion Automobile Association states that the increased summer travel coupled with motorist insensitivity to their fellow motorist accounts for the continuing growth of the traffic death toll. Speaking with news media represen- tatives recently, Mr. Trollope stated, "the drinking driver and the inconsiderate driver, are the major cause of traffic ac- cidents. if people would just take a little time and think about the other guy, it would make a dramatic. change in the number of accidents". In their continuing safety program "Safe Driving - A Family Affair" the of- ficials of Dominion Automobile Association have stressed the need for an all out effort on the,,part. ot.each family member to contribute to highway safety. In these' fast apprOaching sum- mer months it will take a united effort by all to drastically change the picture of 2,000 traffic deaths that face us, This holiday weekend when you climb behind the wheel of your car, you are responsible for more lives than just your own, Safe Driving is a Family Affair. Old London haunts 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 Cireulation (ABC) second Class mail registrattoo number * 081/ ' 51))3SC iPTiON RATES: /in advance) tanacta, 0.00 per year; U.S.A., $9•.66 ' JAMES E, FITZGEOALD—Editor J. liOWARO Allf KEN - General Mana Published every Thursday at the heart of Huron County' Clinton, Ontario Population 3,4/5 THE HOME 017 RADAR IN CANAl3A er -CLINTON NEWS'RECORD, THUROAVy MAY 17, 1973 Dixie's way Lunching the other day with some printer friends from our composing room, the talk being mostly gloomy speculation on the inroads of automation to which they're singularly ex- posed, one of the older linotype operators suddenly remarked: "One thing is sure--there'll never be another Dixie Wear." The younger men, it turned out, had never heard of "Dixie". They knew little or nothing, in fact, of those long- gone days when the tramp prin- ter, like the travelling troubadours, the Scots comics, the reciters of Browning and Drummond, and the Swiss bell ringers crossed and re-crossed the land.— •• Is there,,,come ,to think of it, any vocation left in which the motivation is the appeal of n.:w horizons or, as someone once wrote of Pauline Johnson, "the love of any trail, old or new"? The tramp printer--the "tourist" as he was known to the trade--was familiar once in every shop, a compulsive roamer, happy slave to the wanderlust, footloose knight of the open road. Of all that vanished breed none was so colorful as the bright-eyed elf known as William Noland Wear. They called him Dixie because he was from Memphis. He, him- self, invariably introduced him- self proudly as "Dixie Wear-- from Everywhere." When I last saw him he was still travelling, still a push-over for the mocking bird. It is difficult now, in this age of strong territorial feelings, to define the restlessness that kept such men moving on, moving on. Dixie, himself, could never define it. Reminiscing once at a con- vention of the typographical union, he recalled a crucial time in his life. Be was in his 'teens. Even then his union card was frayed from much handling. He'd worked dozens of shops, putting his card on the board for a few days, then sloping on again, following the sun. Farmersville, Texas, was dif- ferent. The weekly paper there was run by an elderly couple. Dixie worked hard for them. He was not only typographer, but a one-man newspaper. The old folks liked him. They treated him as a son. It looked as if he'd found a home. He'd been there seven or eight months, he recalled, and Spring was coming, up outside the print shop door. "I was standin' there with the type in my hand," Dixie remembered, "and a gol-darned mockin' bird let out a tune closeby. I laid my type stick down right careful, put on my hat and coat and started walkin'. It was like I'd been hypnotized by that got-darned bird. The gypsy blood got in my feet again, I've never been back for my pay." In a way, I suppose, Dixie lived in suspension between his dreams of the future and his memories of the past and these were his only roots. He had a lot to look back on. I remember him talking the night away, recalling other famous tramp type-setters such as J. Bird Wright and Nathan Birdman, the wandering Jew, and a storied roamer known far and wide as Weary Willie Waterhouse of Walla Walla, Wash. I remember him reminiscing about the papers he'd worked for, papers with wonderful names like the Okolona Messenger, the Adam Station Rattlesnake, the Paducah Mor- ning News, the Arkansas Thomas Cat, the Waco Iconoclast. He'd made 22 round trips from Buffalo to the Golden Gate, following the gold trails into Nevada and to Cripple Creek, Colorado, setting type for the noble little flat-bed presses that were set up wherever men settled. He remembered James "Jack" O'Rear, a fearless man at a typewriter when fearless men were not a rarity, and he'd hiked through New- Mexico with Jack London,. set type with Irvin'S. Cobb in Paducah and Opie Read in Gallatin, Ten- nessee, in the days before the linotype. We were mostly young men that night, reporters and prin- ters, sitting in a circle about Dixie, I remember the rapt, ab- sorbed look on those faces, the look of young men hearing the mocking bird's call to faraway places. Then we all went home to our Wines, Dear Editor; I would like to thank you very much for the free meal we won In Yetir picture contest, We took the epporttinity to make it our 21st anniversary meal and with all our family, I am sure it would never have been possible without our winning it, For the benifit of those who would like to know what 'we had, it was; first, juice or soup of our choice; salad, just beautiful; sirloin steak with potato and vegetable; and en- ded with pie or ice cream of our choice, a very wonderful meal and Mr. Des Cassidy (owner of the Hotel) donated a bottle of white wine for Kay and I and it was surely appreciated. Thank you again, both the Clinton News-Record and the management of the Clinton Hotel for a wonderful evening for Kay and I and the whole family. Stan Falconer Dear Editor: I would like to enlist your co- operation in assisting us to carry out a research program on ruffed grouse, supported by the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources. If you could bring the following information to the attention of your readers, we would be most appreciative. As a part of a continuing research project on ruffed grouse at the University of Guelph, we are attempting to collect a sample of eggs from the wild. The eggs are required to produce grouse for use in the research project. Due to the great difficulty in locating nests, it is necessary to have the co-operation of as many people as possible. Any person locating a nest within 125 miles of Guelph is asked to mark the location, but not to disturb the nest. They should contact us by phoning collect to: Miss Pauline Corcoran (519) 824-4120, Ext. 2703 during business hours; or at other times, Dr, A.L.A. Mid- dleton (519) 822-3832, Mr. Don: Price (519) 824-2276, Mr. Allant Garbutt (519) 823-5534,, We will come to pick up th eggs as soon as possible an will pay the locator one done per egg for his trouble . The number of eggs collecte in any one area will not be su ficient to harm the. local grous population. All captive bird are, of course, given the bes possible care. Thank you for your co operation. Yours sincerely, A.L.A. Middleto Associate Professo What would you like to see if you were going to England this summer? The changing of the Guards? The Tower of Lon- don? Shakespeare's home town? Wordsworth's lake coun- try? Winchester Cathedral? This is not yet a 'burning question around our house, but I've been giving it some thought, Somehow, tramping around with a clump of tourists while some guide spiels off a bored monologue doesn't ap- peal to me. I spent many a leave in Lon- don during the war, and never did get around to seeing anything historical, beyond a few ancient pubs, And when I think of the south of England, and the north of England, and Scotland, all that comes to mind is piles of picturesque pubs. I did spend an afternoon in the cathedral at Chester. But that was because I was with a girl, and it was cool and private in there. And the pubs weren't open yet. I spent a month within a stone's throw of ancient Kenilworth Castle, and didn't get near it, The castle was in the opposite direction to an an- cient and venerable thatch- roofed pub, out in the country. Another two months was spent near Shrewsbury, one of the very old county towns, no doubt crawling with history. All t can remember ate two pubs, the Red Lion and the Old Post Office. When we didn't go there, we nipped across the nearby Welsh border to the lit- tle town of Oswestry, where there was a pub with a roaring Open fire end a constant game of Tip-It, an old game that is as psychological as poker. One of the few historical sites I did visit was in the old market town of Dumfries, in Scotland. The site was — you guessed it — a pub where the bard Robbie Burns spent most of his evenings when he lived near there. I felt pretty cultural about that. When in London, do as the Londoners do, was my motto. And you don't find them stan- ding around gawking at the guards or limping on weary ar- ches through the Tower, You find them in the pubs. Sound like one long, alcoholic orgy? I hasten to assure you that it wasn't. It was a matter of choice, not a boozer's delight. You could hang around the officers' mess. This was a bleak, draughty place with a few ancient magazines. The only source of heat was a fireplace with about three bits of coal sputtering in it, three or four fat senior officers with whiskies in hand. Or you could get on your bike, with a few kindred souls, and huddle off through the rain to the pub. There you found warmth, both physical and social, Girls Navy, Land Army, Ward. Local colour. Games — darts or shove-ha'- penny. And if you hit the right night and knew the barmaid, there might even be sparn sand- wiches. 'rho ale was incidental. Well, which of the two would you have chosen, it you were a young man? No question, Right? However, that brings me to tay present predicament. I can't very well take my wife all the way to England and expect her to be wildly enthusiastic over nothing but an extended pub crawl. Somehow I can't see her being ecstatic about bicycling through the rain to get in North Wales. It has room for twelve customers and we used to get about thirty in there. She might enjoy the Cheshire Cheese, on Fleet St. Or the Wagon Shed, at Holley, the Nag's Head, behind St. George's Hospital on Kittygut St., or the Star and Garter, St. John's Wood. But one interesting pub becomes much like another af- ter a while, unless you just want to get in out of the rain, or unless you have memories. What it comes down to is this. If a man's going back to his old haunts, he should leave his wife at home. Otherwise, he'll hear something like, "What in the world do you see in this place? The 'GGlden Lion' my foot. It looks more like a brindled dog. When are we having lunch at Claridges?" So, I guess the only choice is to leave her at home, I'll miss her but I won't be lonely, I'm going to call a couple of old buddies, Jock Ryan and Bill . Proctor, who have sentimental memories of the same pubs. Take them along. Woops. Ryan has six kids. Might be a bit awkward for him. And, oh yeah, Proctor took his wife to England a few years ago, introduced her to some of his old girl friends, with disastrous results. He's forbidden ever to go again. Oh, well, I guess me and the Old Lady can sit and feed the pigeons in Trafalgar Square, Or go to Bournemouth and watch the old women whizzing around in their electric carts. 10 YEARS AGO May 16, 1963 Following a bitter attack against himself and councillor Allan Elliott by councillor George Rumball, councillor George Wonch relinquished his post of chairman of the town's industrial committee, Monday. Clinton's dump has been locked until further notice and council are presently con- sidering some way by which the premises will be supervised before it will be again opened for public use. Mayor Miller noted that dumps were creating problems for municipal coun- cils across the country. When ladies sit down to a banquet, they usually have to have some of their members look after the kitchen, but all the members of Ontario Street UCW were able to sit down and relax at their meeting, Wed- nesday, as the men donned aprons and manned the cook stoves. Appearing in a front page picture are Ross Merrill, Ken Gaunt, Ross Trewartha, Brock Olde, Mrs. Carman MePherson, Mrs, Mervyn Batkin, Miss Olive Johnston and Mrs. Robert Hunter. 15 YEARS AGO May 15, 1958 Charles MacNaughton, Exeter, won the seat in the Legislature of Ontario, representing Huron Riding, in the strongly contested by- election held on Monday and recorded a majority of 1,164 (unofficial) votes, Dr. J.A. Ad* dison, Clinton, the Liberal can• didate, received 5,783 votes against the winning total of 6,94/, New six-foot fluorescent tubes for street lighting in town have arrived ready for in- stallation. Miss Hilda Smith, superin- tendent of Clinton Public Hospital 'and Mrs. C.M. Shearing, president of the hospital auxiliary, received guests at the hospital on Sun- day and they were shown through the building and the newly renovated wing by Mrs. J.A. Addison and Mrs. Douglas Ball, Two Clinton guests will be featured on "M'Lady", C.KNX- TV, on Monday, May 19. Mrs. Carman McPherson , will be making a "terry cloth shampoo mitt" during her sewing demonstration, and Cliff Epps will be talking about gar- dening. The Clinton Public Hospital Board has gratefully accepted a bequest of $5,000 from the estate. of the late Miss Rosanna Tebbutt, a life long resident of the town. 25 YEARS AGO May 13, 1948 Clinton Public School Board, at its May meeting Thursday evening instructed the Property Committee to estimate the cost of building a one-storey, two- roomed structure near the present building, to house the overflow which the board has had considerable difficulty in looking after. Principal George H. Jefferson reported an April enrolment of 316 and an average attendance of 93.5 per- cent. Frank Pingland, Jr., was home from Victoria College, University of Toronto, over a long weekend studying for the last of his final examinations in First Year Law-If all goes well, Frank will be sailing the "briny deep" this summer because he is a member of the University of Toronto Naval Planned as part of the training is a cruise to Bermuda is one of His Majesty's Canadian Ships. Mr. and Mrs. Norman Fitz, Simmons, who have spent some time in Baltimore, Md., have returned to town and will remain here for the present. 40 YEARS AGO May 18, 1933 The reqfleganitational meeting of the Board of Trade named the, following officers; Hon-president, Mayor N.W. Trewartha; president, Col H.B. Combe; vice-president E. Pater, son; secretary-treasurer, H.B. Manning; members of executive, H.P. Plumsteel, G.E. Hall, W.S.R. Holmes, Miss W. O'Neil, H,C. Cox, J. Leiper, A. Archibald, W.McEwen, the lat- ter four from surrounding townships. 55 YEARS AGO May 16, 1918 A curious bit of art has been on exhibition in Dunsford's window during the past week, the curious thing about it being the fact that it is a .picture puz- zle, It was sent home by Private Fred Simon, in some thousands of pieces packed in a box and was put together by the family and sent up to Dun- sford's for framing. A look at the puzzle will convince anyone that it must have taken a good bit of patience to fit it all per- fectly together, Mr. Copeland, Varna, who has run a stage from Hayfield to Seaforth via 13rucefield for several years, has given up the job and intends moving to the District of Parry Sound where he owns a timber farm. Mr. Copeland will be greatly missed on the road as he was very obliging and reliable. A ,big nine-reel feature, "The Crisis," Winston Churchill's great story of the American Civil War, will be shown at the Princess Theatre on Friday and Saturday. Admission 10c, 15c and 25c. Opera chairs 30c. Reserve seat plan at W.D. Fair and Co, 75 YEARS AGO May 15, 1898 Will Coats has now over one thousand tulips in bloom; Rat- tenbury St. Methodist Church has a fine bed of tulips on its grounds, but during last week no less than 50 flowers were stolen. Wheat, having gone up in price, it is only natural that flour and bread should advance also; it is consoling, therefore, to those with a family to look after, to know that there is a compensating advantage in milk, eggs, and meat remaining at a low price. A few very fine cattle were shipped from this station on Saturday; Jas. Cornish had 13 head which averaged, over 1450 each: one pair of them weighed 3250. Kepple Disney delivere several fine ones also, whic averaged 1443, and one pair this lot went 3340. The expenses of M.Y McLean, the Liberal candidat in South Huron, during the, lat election, are given as $304, Harry Fitzsimmons and Bo Hillen are said to have been Goderich on Sunday, and a they came home were singing: Beneath the spreading bran ches Of the green oak tree A happy, pleasant time had we In the sweetest company. Op tll IOU 8 • In order that News—Record readers might express their opinions on any topic of public interest, Letters To The Editor are always welcome for publication, But the writers of such letters, as well as all readers, are reminded that the opinions expressed in letters published are not necessarily the opinions held by The News-Record,