HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1973-12-13, Page 4Editorial Comment
A taxing situation
Clinton Council made a wise decision,
in our eyes, last Monday night when they
decided to collect the town's
taxes four times a year rather than the
present twice a year gathering.
Property taxes will now be divided into
four equal parts, or as near as possible
to that, and collected on four dates,
namely February 15, May 15, September
15, and November 15.
The first two collections, in February
and May, will likely be made before the
tax levy for that year is established and
hence, they will be based on the rate of
taxation for the previous year. The final
two payments will take up the dif-
ference, depending on whether the taxes
go up or down.
Previously, the twice a year collection
was beset with many ills. First, Clinton
was faced with the possibilities many
years of going up to six months with lit-
tle or no revenue coming in. To meet
their commitments, the Town was
required to borrow money from the
banks and paid interest On this money.
The cost of this Interim borrowing
varied from $1,000 to $6,000. Straight out
of the taxpayer's pocket.
Another disadvantage of the old
System was the dates on which the taxes
came due, June 30 and December 15.
The June date fell just before the sum-
mer holidays 'when many people were
gathering funds for their annual
vacation, The December date fell just in
the period when most families were
spending a great deal of money on
Christmas.
Clinton's necessary tax dollars will
flow in now at a more even rate that will
be to the advantage of most citizens, ex-
cept those who lag behind in their
payments, and they will have to pay one
per cent a month interest on unpaid
taxes.
Watching with caution
The new fire area which Clinton coun-
cil entered this week was passed by the
councillors with surprisingly little
discussion.
The bylaw enters Clinton into an
agreement with the two Townships of
Hullett, Stanley, Tuckersmith, and
Goderich. Clinton will supply the man-
power and sell its present equipment to
the fire area board, which will be made
up of three representatives from Clinton,
and one each from the four townships.
Although we can see little wrong with
the agreement and have heard little said
against it, it would be wise indeed if
Clinton council agreed in a years time to
re-examine the agreement. Maybe it will
be fine, maybe it won't,
As far as we can tell, every
municipality in the area will be paying
their fair share of the cost of operating
the department, but in a town where
volunteers are the backbone of that fire
protection, those firemen should be con-
sulted regularly.
We can see the possibility that the
four townships could outvote the three
Clinton members, even though the town
is supplying the most important
ingredient in fire protection, the firemen
themselves.
The fire area, however, shows that co-
operation between town and the town-
ships is increasingly becoming a fact of
life and may pave the way for more co-
operative ventures. One we can think of
is a district recreational board.
Old dogs can be smarter
Another myth has bit the dust — old
dogs can learn new tricks.
Jack W. Taylor, Pittsburgh executive
development expert says the only thing
holding oldsters back is -- "negative at-
titudes and failure to try".
Taylor blasts the notion that creativity
and the ability to acquire new skills
diminishes rapidly after middle age.
On the contrary: the capacity to think,
learn, and innovate continues to grow.
Even learning rates don't slip until long
past 40. And then the rate shrinks a
miniscule one-half of one percent a year
until it reaches the level it was at age
161
Tests show that the sc,..pe and range
of life exposure enables the older,
worker to more easily avoid fads and pit-
falls that entrap the young. The mature
person's rich background of experience
is especially useful in the field of
creative problem solving.
Contrast this with the short attention
span, preoccupation with status and ad-
vancement, proclivity for re-inventing
the wheel -- and grasshopper pursuits of
the young.
Proof? Jules Verne prodUced hii.more
imaginative stories at 70. Gebrge Ber-
nard Shaw won the Nobel Prize near 70.
Winston Churchill directed a war in his
seventies. Voltaire did his best
philosophical work between 60 and 84.
Konrad Adenauer was chancellor of
West Germany from 73 to 87. Jomo
Kenyatta, they say, "is past the dying
age" and so, for that matter, are Chair-
man Mao and Premier Chou En-Lai.
More than 64 percent of the world's
great achievements have been produced
by people over 60. (contributed)
Sugar and Spice/By Bill Smiley
Do they ever grow up?
The Jack Scott Column
1111 IR PEI IS
The grand illusion
Blame
From our early files . • 0 0 • • •
Mornixer, Ontario Weekly
N•000111Par Aresolation
NEW$41ECORP, .71,HVH$PAY, DECEMBER 13, 1.973
Perhaps someone who has
gone the whole course can tell
me when one's children stop
depending on their parents
when it comes to the clutch.
Is it in their forties, fifties,
sixties? Certainly it is not in
their twenties.
Recently, we received a note
from our son Hugh, to tell us he
was taking some holidays and
would be home for a few days'
visit.
I thought, "Good, He's saved
some money and won't arrive
broke, as usual." He had,
Some days later, in a
telephone conversation with
daughter Kim, we learned that
Hugh had dropped in to see
her, and had drifted off, mut-
tering something about going to
Chicago. That is a slightly
roundabout way of getting to
our place.
And a few days later there
was a collect call from
Houston, Texas. You guessed
it. Hugh, flat broke, Could we
wire him money for bus fare to
get home?
He was crafty enough to call
when I was at work, I would
probably have refused the
collect call, and regretted it
later. Or I'd have shouted, "No,
I will not send you the price of
one serving of Kentucky fried
chicken", and slammed up the
receiver.
But he sweet-talked his
mother for five minutes before
he popped the question. She
Was not only affronted but
taken aback and didn't think
quickly enough to tell him we
Were just off to Florida or the
west toast or anywhere.
She waffled a bit, and even,
tually said she'd see what his
bad said hut not to expect
anything, He sighed with relief
and told her where to send the
money.
I came home from work on a
Friday after a hard week: All I
wanted was to get my shoes off,
have a quiet drink before din-
ner, and read the latest goodies
about the energy crisis.
And all I got was a family
crisis, a scramble to the bank,
and a dash to get to the
telegraph office before it closed
for the weekend,
At first I stood my ground.
Not a penny. Let him starve in
Houston. At least he won't
freeze to death (he'd airily told
his mother it Was 90 degrees
down there.)
And she agreed with me. "He
doesn't deserve a cent. He was
told he was never to do that
again. Ungrateful young pup.
Why doesn't he hitchhike
home?"
"Well," I said, "some of
those southern states are pretty
tough on hitchhikers. Throw
them in jail for a month,"
I could just see her thinking
of her first-born slaving on a
Georgia chain-gang or
something of the sort. After a
heated half-hour, we agreed
that money isn't everything,
that you can't take it with you,
that he's the only son we have,
that it would be nice to see
him, and that I'd better hustle
if I wanted to get to the bank in
time.
It cost me about $116, coun-
ting the bus fare and grub to
get home, the cost of the collect
call, and the charge for sending
the money.
That's what I call sending
good money after good. Of
course, Hugh .wouldn't dream
of accepting a gift. It was stric-
tly a loan, According to his
figures, he now owes me
$380.00, without interest, and
will have the whole thing paid
off any time now. According to
my figures, he owes me $880,46,
at eight percent interest, and
he'll never pay if off.
This has been happening to
me for years. First, the kids go
to their mother, and soften her
up. Then she comes to me, and
softens me up. Then I go back
to the kids and practically
apologize for being so slow with
the loot.
Of course, I reason, Hugh's
only a kid. Practically a baby,
He won't be twenty-seven until
July. You can't expect him, at
that tender age, to know
enough to SAVE SOME
MONEY FOR BUS FARE
HOME!
But that other kid. She's a
different matter. She's almost a
mother. And she pulled a swifty
on us this week. Another collect
call, on Sunday. Nice to hear
her. Asked how big the tummy
,was, All very matey and mater-
eal.
Then came the punch line,
Don, her husband, was on the
way up from the city with their
cat, to put in out care. He had
to hitchhike because he
couldn't bring the cat on a bus.
Her mother nearly blew a cork.
The clanged cat isn't trained,
So we have two additions to
the household this week, Two
fat eats. One in the backyard,
yowling to get in, The other
watching TV, sleeping till
noon, and waiting to put the
bite on me for more bus fare
back to his job in Quebec,
I shoulda been a cranky old
bachelor,
It was like being caught in
the web of a dark conspiracy.
The great hill was no longer
there. No one in the town
would admit that it ever HAD
been there. In its place was a
gentle slope that any
reasonably fit man of 90 could
walk without damaging his
wind. The hill had been cun-
ningly removed, obviously, and
the whole town had been sworn
to secrecy.
I had itched to go back to the
town like a murderer itches to
,return to the scene of his crime.
It was there, more than 30
years ago, that I traded my pin-
stripe suit for something in
khaki and, like thousands of
other bewildered boobs, en-
tered the mawiOf an Army basic
training camp.
So, as my wife and I drove
that way, I reminisced inter-
minably about the days of my
life that, then, I'd wanted only
to forget.
I told her of the great hill
that led from the town to the
sprawling camp high on the
summit. The hill always faced
us at the end of a route march.
There was a particularly
bestial sergeant who would
command us to take the hill on
10 YEARS AGO
December 12, 1963
Duff Thompson was voted in
by the Clinton voters for the
last vacancy on the council. He
won in three of the four wards
losing by one vote in St.
George. He has been a resident
of Clinton since 1955, being
associated tith the C. H. Epps
Mfg. Ltd., and the Hearn
Wholesale Ltd.
Frank Huisser, son of Mrs.
Margaret Huisser, Seaforth,
and the late Fred Huisser,
received his B.A. degree at the
recent fall convocation at
McMaster University, He atten-
ded school in Seaforth and
Clinton and in 1950 graduated
from Stratford Teaching
College. He taught at Clinton
Public School for eight years
before moving to Whitby.
Mr. and Mrs. Wilmer Howatt
celebrated their 40th wedding
anniversary on Saturday. Many
friends and neighbours braved
the stormy weather to bring
good wishes for many more
happy anniversaries, They were
honoured at a family dinner at
the home of their daughter, Mr,
and Mrs, Mac Hodgert,
Eirkton, during the week.
David Sangster, a local con-
tractor and a member of the
Hensall Volunteer Fire Brigade
for the past few years, was
named fire chief Monday night.
Mr. Sangster replaced Bryan
Kyle, who retired recently after
holding the position for over
tort years.
25 YEARS AGO
[Wernher 16, 1948
Mrs. William Jackson
celebrated her 90th birthday
last week. She is enjoying ex-
cellent health and takes an ac-
tive interest in her home and
what's going on in the corn-
mueity.
Huron County is to have a
the double—several times
sealed in the claustrophobia of
a gas mask, Everest? An-
napurna? They were nothing
compared to The Hill.
And now the car was gliding
up that hill—in high geed—
and I felt my wife's quizzical
gaze on me. Nothing, in fact,
was as I expected it to be.
When we drove in through the
rows of huts, most of them em-
pty and gaunt with the weeds
growing thickly around them, I
tried in vain to capture the
memory of the teeming, shuf-
fling lines of men, moving,
grumbling, to stores for their
issue of clothing; or to the mess
hall with their knife, fork,
spoon and the square little
mess tins in their. harids; or to
"'the degrading inspeetipn of the
Medical Officer; or through the
huts in the cold light of dawn
to the parade square.
But now the camp was deser-
ted, basking like a ghost town
in the cold December sun and
the winter birds were singing as
they never sang in those days.
"Why," my wife said, "it's
quite a pleasant spot here on
the hill." And I knew I could
never get across to her what it
was really like,
A -corporal of one of the units
museum of its own. The
Property Committee of Council
viewed the museum owned by
J, H. Neill at. Gorrie. The
museum will have six hundred
pieces and Mr. Neill is to act as
caretaker, Mr. Neill feels that it
will be the best pioneer
museum in Can'ada.
Yesterday, the area around
Clinton received a total of six
inches of snow during a very
sudden storm. Not only snow
but rain which fell after the
snow created a serious traffic
hazard. The storm also visited
the rest of Ontario,
The Huron Fish and Game
Club has appointed seven new
deputy game wardens for the
area between Goderich and
Seaforth with the full authority
of constables and with the right
to lift fishing rods, guns, cars,
or traps. The game laws are
going to bp strictly enforced,
with the full backing of the 100-
odd membership of the Huron
Fish and Game. They are plan-
ning to stock fish by the
thousands in this area in,
cluding speckled and brown
trout and some bass.
60 YEARS AGO
December 13, 1923
Misses Snell and sons,
Hullett breeders, did very well
indeed, at the several winter
fairs just past. At the Royal
Winter Fair, Toronto they
carried off ten prizes in all. At
the Chicago fair they took two
championships, four firsts, four
seconds and five thirds. They
have also made several sheep
at the fairs.
Mr. and Mts. Herbert castle
last. Friday celebrated their
twenty-fifth wedding enniver,
eery. The evening was spent
through many enjoyable games,
music and a delicious supper.
Mr, and Mrs. Castle were
recipients of some handsome
pieces of silverware.
now based there flagged us
down and I felt that quick
resentment of authority of
bygone days.
"Looking for someone?" he
asked.
I explained, somewhat
truculently, my mission.
He grinned in a friendly way.
A corporal grinned! Was
nothing to be the same?
"Why, sure, look around," he
said. "I went through basic
here myself. I guess you never
forget it."
There was a bond between us
that, in those distant days
when I hated all corporals, I'd
never have believed possible.
Peace, I thought, it's wonder-
fu 1.
Beyond, in ,the open field, I
could see the remains of the ob-
stacle course and the broken
dummies we once used for
bayonet practice—"Lunge!
Withdraw!"—and they seemed
as incongruous as a faded
newsreel.
The car went unerringly to
Hut No, 29, that home away
from home for 60 of us,
delicately chaperoned by a
sergeant who woke us in his
fashion by banging a length of
pipe along the rows of double-
tiered iron bunks and shouting,
W. N. Manning of London,
formerly of this town, and one
of the heads that control the
Doherty Piano Co., was elected
President of the Canadian
Piano and Organ Manufac-
turers' Association at its an-
nual convention at Montreal
last week.
A. H. Wilford, formerly of
Blyth, is supplying most of On-
tario with western fowl, He has
found that raising turkeys goes
along nicely with wheat. If it is
a poor year for wheat it will be
a good year for turkeys and
vice-versa. Turkeys do not do
well in wet weather which
causes good wheat seasons,
75 years ago
December 1898
Mr. Helps of West
Wawanosh delivered a bullock
to Mr. S. H. Smith on Tuesday
which tipped the scale beam at
2,210 pounds and netted the
owner close to ninety dollars, It
was a big fellow but Mr. Help
said with A little more feeding
ITHE CLINTON NEW ERA
Es/Ablishoil 1855
"Hit de deck, soldiers!"
"Soldiers" was his deepest
form of derision.
The hut was locked, but
looking in I could see where I
had hung my gear, second win-
dow from the end. I had
promised myself the luxury of
wallowing in joy at the sight of
the place—joy that it was
forever behind me, Instead I
felt a wave of emotion.
I found myself thinking of
those friends who had shared
that grim time of transition, of
Eric and Jim and Jack, and the
Christmas Eve when the leave
was cancelled at the last
minute and we sat around the
stove with frost on the windows
and singing "White Christ-
mas," which had just come out
that year. I thought of the day
when we left for our various
units, feeling suddenly as if the
worst were behind us and mar-
ching down the hill to the troop
train, singing "Roll Out The
Barrel."
So much of it was illusion,
like the hill that hadn't been
after all, and when we drove
away I found myself waving
with extravagant camaraderie
to the corporal who, poor
fellow, had to stay.
he could have increased the
weight to 2,500 pounds, As it
was owing to the bad roads, the
bullock had to be drawn in on a
sleigh.
The Rattenbury Snow Shoe
Club took its first tramp the
other day and found the depth
of the snow just to their liking.
Among those who went along
were Joe Rattenbury, Norman
Fair, Phil Crews, Marks, and
Lewis. The latter trip posed as
green 'uns, though it has been
said they are old-times of the
Petrolia, Peterborough, and
Montreal clubs, respectively.
However, green-horns or
veterans they gave Joe and
Norman both fast walkers, a
hot tramp.
Owing to the severe snow
storms, business has been at a
standstill. Snow fell about thir-
teen inches on the level in one
night and has beaten the record
for a number of years. People
have been storm-stayed many
different places along the line.
A piAN COMM
Dear Editor:
Recently you have received
complaints from this area con-
cerning the late delivery of the
News-Record.
Having had my subscription
for quite a few years, I feel the
blame should be placed where
It belongs and that is on the
postal system and the people in
it. This is probably due to thy,
large volume of third and
fourth class mail.
I personally do not like to see
someone blamed for something
that is not their fault.
Yours truly,
D. Cornish,
Toronto.
. . 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.
Good driver?
So you think you're a good
driver? Most of us believe we
are! We are also quick to agree
that there should be stricter en-
forcement of traffic laws and
regulations. by the police. We
are in favour of compulsory
Driver Education and most of
us would recommend tougher
Driver Licensing
Examinations, That's because
we know WE are good drivers
— it is just that we see so many
OTHERS who are lacking.
The Ontario Safety League
recently received the results of
a survey conducted by Young
Drivers Of Canada. Research
teams in Scarborough and
Sault Ste. Marie found that the
majority of drivers questioned
agreed with the above recom-
mendations. At the same time,
the teams observed the driving
habits of close to 10,000 drivers
and came up with some in-
teresting statistics.
In Scarborough, 73 percent of
the drivers observed did not en-
ter the correct traffic lane when
completing a LEFT HAND
turn, while 50 percent failed to
enter the correct lane when
making a RIGHT HAND turn,
42 percent of all drivers failed
to come to a full stop at a red
light before turning right; 35
percent failed to yield to
pedestrians in crosswalks at
traffic light intersections; 33
percent failed to signal their in-
tentions to turn; another 32
percent (39 percent in Sault
Ste. Marie), did not stop behind
the pedestrian crosswalk for a
red traffic light,
Six common driving
situations. We could pat our-
selves on the back at the
thought that 61 percent of the
drivers observed passed with
flying colours. But what about
those three thousand, six hun-
dred and forty-three drivers
who committed the observed
violations. Before pointing a
finger, suggests the Ontario
Safety League, why not
examine our own driving
habits.
Peephole
Don't be a peephole driver,
says the Ontario Safety League.
Motorists need maximum
visibility at all times in winter
conditions as even a light
snowfall reduces perception
considerably. Keep your win,
doves clean...front, rear and
sides.
ANA
Member, tonidlan
Community Newspaper
Aorocialkin
Published every Thursday
at demon, Ontario
Editor - James E. Fitzgerald
11.44
*/' General Manager,
"73
.,14, Howard Altkett
**/ SOCOnd Claett Mail
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