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HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1973-11-01, Page 54—CLINTON NEWS-RECORD, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 1973 Editorial comment The school bus safety problem We have to agree whole heirtedly with the private members Bill introduced into the Ontario Legislature last week by Huron MPP Jack Riddell. Mr. Riddell's bill is aimed at improving the safety of our school buses, which in this part of Ontario, is the major tran- sportation link for thousands of pupils, Mr. Riddell says that the children riding those buses are really involuntary passengers and the government should take special responsibility for their care. He says it is a most "precious cargo." We agree. Mr. Riddell's bill, which in light of the number of school bus accidents and resulting injuries in the past several weeks, is long overdue. The bill calls for more careful licen- cing of school bus drivers that would in- clude not only the present test, but also would include compulsory courses in defensive driving, highway safety and emergency first aid. The drivers licence would need to be renewed every year, requiring the driver to be retested before renewal would be granted. Another area of the bill looks at the safety of the school buses themselves. Mr. Riddell said they lack even the most elementary safety requirements that are standard on all new cars. There are no padded seats in school buses, just a rigid steel bar which is just the right height to mutilate the face and teeth of a child should the bus come to a quick halt or be involved in an accident. While seatbelts may not be functional in school buses as they are in cars, Mr. Riddell says that padded armrests could be provided to keep the child in the passenger area. Mr. Riddell also calls for Ontario school buses to conform to the Canadian Standards Association stan- dards in both design and safety. Judging by the quickness by which some buses turn over or fall apart when in a collision, this area needs little discussion. We, like Mr. Riddell, believe that the legislators have to face the respon- sibility of looking after our school children and there can be no sane reason why the Ontario government and the legislature would turn this bill down, It could be a matter of life or death. The 385 billion question Despite the gradual American with- drawal from Southeast Asia, the United States still has a defense budget of $85 billion. So much of the nation's wealth is still being spent on the military that even experts are questioning the wisdom of Washington's defense policies. The sum the United States expends on its defense budget is even higher than the entire publicly guaranteed debt of $80 billion which all the poor nations in the world owe the affluent countries of North America and Europe (as well as. Japan and the oil-rich Middle Eastern nations). The magnitude of the amount is virtually beyond one's capacity to comprehend. Nobody denies the United States the right to defend itself. Indeed, a great power must be strong to preserve its greatness. But now men in the Pentagon are-beginning to'say-that the sheer size ' - ,.1 of the US defense bill is such that it has become impossible to relate it to anything else in American society. What is more, vast amounts are being wasted on useless or defective weapons, and on cost overruns. Personnel costs for military and civilian US Defense Department, em- ployees now account for 56 percent of the military budget. Major failures have occurred in submarine-based nuclear missiles, in US air force fighter jets and in other weapons of war. The B1, which is meant to replace the dreaded B 52 as the front-line bomber of the 1980's, has run into new development delays in recent weeks, and cost overruns in this case alone total $80 million. The poor of the world are hungry, ill- clad and under-housed. And the wealthiest land on earth is squandering its riches on unnecessary weapons. (contributed) Hill objects to milk subsidies A witch liberally sweeps Quebec The Jack Scott Column - - - - - Milk tops and horse buns Sugar and Spice/By Bill Smiley The way it was for Billy the Kid From our early files . • • • • • • Member, Ontario Weekly monomer Association Member, Canadian Community Newspaper Association 'THE HOME Oi NAOMI iN CAE:ADA' THE CLINTON NEW ERA Established 1865 Amalgamated 1924 THE HURON NEWS-RECORD Established 1881 *CNA Clinton News-Record Published every Thursday at Clinton, Ontario Editor - James E. Fitzgerald General Manager, J. Howard Aitken Second Class Moil registration no. MT flUg OF PON COUNtY DIAN COIN "Clamping a ceiling on farm income is not a just way to sub- sidize consumers," says Gordon Hill, President, Ontario Federation of Agriculture. Hill was reacting to the federal government's nickel-a- quart subsidy on table milk that freezes the farm price of milk for a year. Due to the subsidy, con- sumers will pay one cent less for a quart of milk than they did earlier this month. The subsidy will also cancel the three-cent-a-quart increase that In a nostalgic mood today, I've been thinking that, with the onslaught of the Speed Age, many of our fine old Canadian traditions have fallen by the wayside, died on the vine, or simply lain down and curled up their toes. One of the first to go, of course, was the blacksmith. It hurts me to face the truth: that most people today under thirty have never known the sensory joys of a blacksmith's shop. At this time of year, small boys used to squeeze through the ramshackle door, and edge as close as they could to the fire, freezing their bums and roasting their cheeks. There was a fine acrid stench of horse manure and scorched hooves. There was the leaping flame as the bellows blew. There was the ringing clang as the smith beat out the white- hot metal between hammer and anvil, and the satisfying hiss when the hot metal was plunged into the cold water. At a certain age, most male kids would have settled hap- pily for the life of a blacksmith, a free soul who spent his days doing the most fascinating work in the world. The decline of the smithy, of course, was brought about by the gradual phasing out of another tradition — the horse. drawn vehicle. I wonder how many kids of this generation have ever spent a winter Saturday "catching bobs", This was our term for jumping on the backs of far- mers' sleighs, All day long the farmers had been set for Oct. 1. "On the farm, this move creates great concern. What happens next Oct. 1 if produc- tion costs remain the same, and the government ends the sub- sidy? Does this mean that far- mers must take a price reduc- tion or will there be a sudden price increase to consumers? "Farmers cannot live with this uncertainty. No farmer can build a herd and run a dairy farm relying on such short-term policies. The risk is too great. This move by the government came and went to and from town. And all day long we hopped on behind a load of grain, left that for a load of supplies going the other way, picked up a sleigh piled with logs for the return trip, and shivered with delighted fear as the farmers shouted at us, and even sometimes flourished their whips in our direction. As we grew a little older, about 12, we graduated to cat- ching on the wing a cutter. This was more daring and more dangerous because they could really fly, the runner was much smaller, and the farmer could turn around and belt you one on the ear. Most of them, of course, were pretty decent. I know now that they were more worried about us getting hurt in a fall than they were about the extra weight their horses had to pull. Then there were the but- chers' cutters. These consisted of a sort of box with runners beneath, and a step at the back for the driver to stand on. The horses were not plugs, but real road-runners that went like a bat out of hell, They were every bit as exciting as a Roman chariot, and the drivers were the envy of every boy, in fur caps, reins in one hand, whip in the other, as they tore through the town like furies. And I wonder how many boys have played hockey all day on a frozen river, when a hard shot the goalie missed might slide for a quarter of a mile. We never had to worry about ice-time, or changing lines, We could play until we points out the real need for a long-term dairy policy. Farmers need a five-year dairy policy, that can be revised annually." Hill also added that dairy farmers and their marketing boards, in the past, have tried to make price increases, modest ones, to avoid sudden jolts to consumers. "If the subsidy is dropped next fall and the milk price does jump by a nickel, what will happen to consump- tion? There is reason for both farmers and consumers to be concerned." were pooped, then sit by the bonfire until rested, and have another go. And there were always twenty or thirty playing at once, so everybody got a whack at the puck. Some great stick-handlers came out of that era. Think of the depths to which we have sunk. The smithy, with its light and shadows, its' reds and blacks, its earthy smells, its sense of life, has been replaced by the garage, a sterile thing with its cement floor, its reek of gas and oil, and its unspoken assurance that this-is-gonna-cost-you- plenty-buddy. The cutter, swift and light as a bird, no longer skims the snow. It has been replaced by a stinking, snarling, skidding beast that only modern man could abide — the snowmobile. No more meat-cutters, careening around the corners on one runner, delivering in any weather. Now, we plod like zombies through the super- market, to moronic piped-in music, and pick up the odourless, antiseptic, cellophaned packages the great gods Dominion, Loblaw or Safeway have assigned to us, and carry them humbly' to our cars, three blocks away. Our kids have to get up at five a,m. to play hockey, and if they're not real "killers", get about four minutes ice-time. Ah, those were the days, And I haven't even begun on the most vital of all winter equipment — the puck con- gistifig of a frozen horse-bun. Nothing makes a man feel the bite of his age quite so much as reminiscing about his boyhood to a youthful audience and getting a coldly polite hearing. I should know better by now. I should just shut up, knowing that you can't carry youngsters back to where they've never been. Two or three mornings a week, you see, I act as chauf- feur for some of the neigh- borhood children,' boys and girls between the ages of nine and 13. I'm not usually con- scious enough in the morning to pay much attention to their talk, much less go in for any reminiscing, but the other mor- ning it irritated me to hear them discussing the gloomy af- ternoon in prospect. These kids aren't the way we were, you know. Everything's organized for the - baseball, football, basketball, even bad- minton. There are all sorts of clubs and community groups and organizations that weren't even- dreamed about when we were young. And this, it 10 YEARS AGO November 14, 1963 Patricia Pegg, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. D.M. Pegg, Clin- ton has been named the winner of one of the two Huron County scholarships for students at the University of Western Ontario. She is registered in fourth year English Language and Lit- erature. The other winner is Mark Dale Bender, Hensall, who has held this scholarship for the past two years. Mrs. Eva Welbanks, Lon- desboro, won the portable television set in the draw staged this week by the Wholesale Furniture and Ap- pliance Store, Albert Street, Clinton. The draw marked the end of the special anniversary sale conducted by the proprietor, Fred Marto. Mrs. W.E. Ruthven, Port Hope, was a weekend visitor of Mr. and Mrs. Don Symons and assisted at the Eastern Star in- stallation ceremony on Thur- sday evening. Miss Emma Griffin, Welland, and Miss Jean Miller, Niagara Falls, visited the home of Mr, and Mrs. Neville Forbes during the weekend. Mr. and Mrs. George Cull, teachers at CHSS, who have been occupying one of the Jowett cottages for the past two months have now moved into their apartment in Clinton. Mr. and Mrs. Adam Flowers returned last week from a trip through Algonquin Park, and in Brent, called on Mrs, Adam Boyd, sister of Mrs. John Howard, a native of Bayfield. Mr. Flowers was on the search to buy some old time buggies for his horses. Words have a habit of coming back to haunt people on occasions as Principal D. John Cochrane has found out. In the 1961 edition of the Student year book he says that he did not envision anymore building for at least five years. He lear- ned to avert such predictions by the time he spoke at the opening of the wing that was erected two years after bis other statement. 25 YEARS AGO November 11, 1948 Jack Sutter was in Stratford Monday evening when he was elected vic-president of a new organization, Stratford and seemed, was an afternoon when nothing had been scheduled for their amusement. Why, you poor boobs, I thought.... "What's the matter with you kids you can't organize a little fun for yourselves?" I said, trying to keep the early mor- ning petulance from my voice. "Why, when I was your age we never worried about how to put in an afternoon," "Really, Mr. Scott?" said a voice from the back seat. Oh, oh, I thought. It's that polite tone, I ought to stop now, "Yes, really," I . said with more sharpeness than I inten- ded. "Why, we used to play Andy-Andy-Aye-Over 'and Peggy and Conkers and Chase. Chase is what you play with alleys: you know, one guy tries to hit the other guy's alley and then he tries to hit the other guy's...." Why, oh why, don't I just shut up in the mornings, I was thinking. "So what's Conkers?" a voice asked, heavy with boredom. "You play 'it with horse chestnuts. You put a chestnut District Hardware Association, comprised of hardware men from Woodstock to Goderich. It is hunting time once more and most of our citizens have left so they can get in some fine hunting before the season closes. Ellwood Epps and two companions from London are moose hunting. George Little, George Campbell, John Sturdy and William Palmer are deer hunting. Mr. and Mrs. Ross Scott and Mr. and Mrs. Bill Scott were in Hamilton over the weekend, Mrs. W.M. Aiken spent a few days last week visiting relatives in Allenford, Mr. and Mrs. B.J. Gibbings left today to spend a few days in Stratford with their son and daughter-in-law. - Miss Gloria Westlake was at her home in Bayfield from Thursday till Monday. Harry Baker and daughter Gwen, London, spent the weekend with the former's parents. On their return they were accompanied by Mrs. F.W. Baker who will visit her son and daughter for two weeks. Don Scott, who is attending Osgoode Hall Law School, Toronto accompanied by Geof- frey Pearson who is a student of Trinity College, Toronto and son of Minister of External Af- fairs L.B. Pearson. were the guests of Mr. and Mrs. James R. Scott over the weekend, 50 YEARS AGO November 15, 1923 Lorne Hutchinson, son of Mr. and Mrs. F.D. Hutchinson of Seaforth is one of two Huron County boys who are engaged in helping Dr. Banting in the diabetic research work. He is the secretary and virtually manages the administration of the trust. The other is Dr. Foster Copp, son of Mr, and Mrs. Joseph Copp of Clinton, who graduated this year in medicine. He is demonstrating and lecturing on insulin. Misses Mabel and Mildred Thomas of London, spent the weekend at the home of Mr. and Mrs. H. Collins of Brucefield. The students of C.C,L 'have organized an orchestra and are now holding rehearsals, They are to make their first public on a string and then take turns socking the other fellow's chest- nut. You won't believe this, but I had a chestnut that lasted a whole month. It got to be hard like iron." "You hit each other's chest- nuts, eh, Mr. Scott?" I heard a voice and then a muffled titter. "For a whole afternoon?" Oh, this Russell character. I was thinking. A born comedian. He'll be in jail before he's 21. "That's right, Russell," I said innocently. "It was really good fun in an unsophisticated way." That'll hold him, I thought. I'd got myself thinking about those wonderful games we used to play and, almost without 'thinking, I said, "I was the best in my school at Milk Tops. I once had eight thousand and forty milk tops." Oh, you blab- bermouth, I chastized myself. "Milk tops, Mr. Scott?" "I suppose you kids never play Milk Tops," I came back scornfully. "Well, you slam down the milk top--you know;, the cap off the top of a quart of appearance at the C.C.I. com- mencement exercises, Miss Shirley and Mr. Jack Bawden were at home over the weekend for Thanksgiving. Mr. Bawden is attending Hamilton Normal but decided he wanted to return to Seaforth for awhile. Mr. McMurray will remain in Clinton instead of removing to London, He was to move to London to work as district agent for the Harvester Co. The company feels, however, that Clinton is the more central place and that it would be easier for him to reach all the areas, Mrs, A. Cantelon, who recen- tly purchased the J.K. Wise residence, is moving in from Goderich township this week. Mr. Fred Elliott was down from Owen Sound over the weekend, We had some snow last week but on Saturday Mr. A. Morris went out into his garden and picked ripe raspberries. Mrs. James Livermore of town and Mrs. Fred Leonard of Goderich township motored to Toronto last week to visit their sons, who are students at Var- sity. 75 YEARS AGO November 11, 1898 Mr. Gledhill, who has been residing in town for several months, is going back to Ben- miller to reside. This is due to the illness of his father, Thos. milk--and once your milk top ends up touching another you take the whole bunch." "Milk cartons don't have tops any more, Mr. Scott," said Russell, a fact I'd totally forgotten. "But even if they did why would you want them?" "The older tops were the best," I said, trying to ignore the points he's scored. "I used to have one milk top that was just so tired and so limp that it would stick as if it were glued," I could almost feel that old, dirty, frayed, beloved milk top. "You keep throwing down milk tops and the winner gets all the milk tops, Mr. Scott?" I heard Russell enquire and, again, there were the muffled titters. "Gee, that sounds just as good as a game of Conkers.!" More titters. "That's right, Russell," I said, all too aware that he'd beaten me. I drove on to the school and let them out and drove slowly home, playing game after game in , my imagination and taking all of Russell's chestnut's and milk tops. Gledhill, who has been in poor health, and is unable to give his business the attention which it should have. The rain and general fine weather have-caused very rapid growth of the fall wheat, and in many places is from sixteen to twenty inches long. Winters in the Farmer's Advocate recom- mends turning cattle on it, in preference to sheep, as the lat- ter are said to injure it more than anything else. Mr. John Bell moved in his family from Londesboro on Monday. Mr. and Mrs. Harry Baker of Goderich Township are now residents as is Mrs. Thompson of Hullett. Mr. Robert Elliott, of Mit- chell and Elliott went north Tuesday night to superintend their final shipment of one thousand barrels of apples from Lucknow and other points. This will make a total shipment of 22,000 barrels this season,,, half of which have been expected and the rest are in cold storage. Mr. Wilfred Fowler who has been studying with Dr. Gibb of Seaforth during the holidays, has returned to Toronto to resume work at the Veterinary College, Mrs. Counter who has spent some weeks at the British Ex- change enjoying the town of Goderich returned to her home in Stratford last week. we get Letters Grateful Dear Editor: With your permission, I would like to use your iewspaper to try to express our thanks to Pastor Strain for giving us a fresh start via Operation Transplant. For the first time since coming to Canada, our lives now have purpose, We have a decent house to live in, my husband has a good job which he enjoys and most important of all, we have friends wh9 really care. Unless you have been through a period of life without any friends at all you can'never really know how precious even one friend can be. Now thanks to Pastor Dwight Strain, „we have a marvellous opportunity to make something of our lives and we shall be forever grateful to him for giving us this fan- tastic chance. I would like to mention that the people I have met in Clin- ton are really friendly and welcoming to strangers such as ourselves and I don't think there can be a livelier town with so many activities as Clin- ton in all of Canada. My family and I now attend the first Baptist Church of Clinton regularly, not because it was Pastor Strain who brought us here, but because it is the first church I have ever attended where the true Gospel is preached by a minister who, by every word and act, actually practices what he preaches; and that is a very rare occurrenc this day and age. Thank you for letting me us your newspaper to air m views. Yours truly Eileen J, Moore (Mrs. Vanastra News-Record readers are en- couraged to express their opinions in letters to the editor, however, such opinions do not necessarily represent the opinions of the News-Record. Pseudonyms may be used by letter writers, but no letter will be . published unless it can be verified by phone. The Empty Pew By Rev. W. Jene Miller One of the most embitterin and frustrating things abou being a law-enforcement office is the technicality that frees criminal who is obviousl guilty. Good policemen, detective and prosecuting attorneys hav had months -- and even years - of hard work thrown away b some judge who freed criminal because a tin procedure was missed i gathering the evidence. Th question at law is no longer "i the culprit guilty?", but. "Ho did you know?" Officers of the law hav resigned in disgust because th only protection at law seems t be on the side of the thief, o murderer or dope peddler. And now President Nixo joins those who are more con cerned with technicality tha justice. The unleashing of in- vestigative forces against "leaks of information" is nothing short of the very thin good law men have complained so bitterly about. The question is no longer "Who is guilty malfeasance?", but "Wh dared to love his country enough to expose the scandal?" For, it must be somewher entered in the record, that eve if it were a crime to expos( criminals, someone must lov the nation enough to reveal th