Clinton News-Record, 1973-12-20, Page 4.we get
letters.
4—CLIINTON NRWS-RIPCORD, THURSDAY; DE.CHMaRR 29, 1973
Editorial Comment
The Hall lamp Christmas
The recent situation at the Hall Lamp
Company at Centralia when nearly 400
persons were suddenly thrown into the
streets without so Much as a good-bye
or a thank-you and no money deserves a
careful scrutiny by both the federal and
provincial governments,
Such quick and irresponsible treat-
ment of so many working persbns by a
company based In the United States
again raises the question of whether
Canada can continue to be run from the
U.S.
The fact that some joker in the States
suddenly decides to throw in the towel,
for whatever reason, leaves a bad taste
in our collective mouths. No Canadian
authorities were ever consulted and
none of the mangement or personnel of
the plant were asked if a way could be
found to keep the plant running.
Even though they still owed the
provincial government $150,000 of, a
$250,000 Ontario Development Cor-
poration loan, the company never at any
point, saw fit to consult with the govern-
Tent to find out if a solution could be
found.
There is still a chance, albeit a Small
one, that the plant could be reactivated
and run by Canadian people, but the
problem situation could and will happen
again, when a board of directors in some
far off U.S. city suddenly decides it is
expedient for theM to close down their
Canadian operation.
There will be a great 'deal of heart-
break and anxiety for the Hall em-
ployees this Christmas. Many of them
will not know the pleasure of Christmas
like most of us will. They will probably
never receive severance pay and there
will be no unemployment cheques until'
after Christmas.
The results of the lay-offs will filter
down through the community and will in-
directly touch everybody to some extent.
If we learn anything, it should, be to
very carefully consider foreign invest-
ment in Canada with a more cynical eye
in the future.
Old time Christmas in Canada
Christmas Cheer among the earliest
pioneers in Upper Canada (Ontario)
varied greatly, for what we think of as
Christmas fare was very scant. In the
earliest period before the War of 1812,
salt pork, potatoes and Indian corn were
the only supplies available. To obtain
flour, the settler's grain had to be carried
-- often on his back --to a distant mill for
grinding. Children were fed porridge
made from Indian corn, boiled
sometimes for a whole day to prodUce a
soft mush. Occasionally the settlers
were able to shoot partridge, pigeon or
game, but powder and shot were scarce,
and fish, while plentiful, took time to
catch. With little or no fencing, chickens
and livestock could not be kept because
,of the all-enclosing forest, into which
they' were likely to stray and be lost.
As for the quality of pioneer cooking,
Dr. William Dunlop, the "Backwood-
sman", who wrote one of the earliest ac-
counts of life in Canada, quotes the old
saw: "God sends meat and the devil
cooks". Not surprising, since without
cold storage facilities, butter, milk and
cheese soon became rancid.
As the years passed and conditions
improved, holiday fare became more
plentiful. Ann Langton, in her journal
(published as "A Gentlewoman in Upper
Canada") describes a Christmas party in
1838, just a year after the Rebellion. Ann
tells of "popping three plum puddings
into the pot" for a holiday dinner, which
included "soup, boiled pork (the national
dish), roast goose, chicken pie and
vegetables, with a second course of
plum pudding, apple tart and a trifle".
Winters were really cold in those
early days. The winter of 1833, the mer-
cury froze in the thermometer, which
touched 40 IpAlow,zere„pu,t travel ,on Up-
per Canada's primitive roads was better
when they Were... snow-packed: And
Christmas visiting was popular, the
snugly dressed guests arriving in sleighs
or even in wagon boxes mounted on run=
ners. `(contributed).
Sugar and Spice/By Bill Smiley
Ghosts of Christmas past
The Jack Scott Column mo 101
It's the style
From our early files /-4 • • • • 0
TIII3 CLINTON NEW EttA
Established 1865
Amalgamated
1924
THE HURON NEWS-8ECOIID
Established 1881
Mombor, Canadian
Community Ninvipaptit
Aasotlation
,01 1'1
4 t N r
*CNA a,7
tiliontbior, Onto*: WMtdy Novie•••• ANOoliNon
0.04'
OMA4
„„ 4 PEas
v tIrtrapits 40-
Clinton News-Record
Published *Very l'hursdiay
at Clinton, Ontario
Editor - James E. Fltkgerald
General
J. Howard Aitken
Second Class Mslli
registration 110. 0017
*.douig\ ft 0 114
zit
les*-,)13 i'l'y
NU B
OF HURON COUNTY
•
INt NOW
41F tA0Ait
iN CAOAOA"
t • ,
say that women would never go
to such extremes? Well, the
Wa-taita woman did and for
pretty much the same reason
that women have gone for every
new hair-style.
Westermarck made it pretty
clear, if it wasn't already, that
women do these things—con-
sciously or unconsciously—as a
method of attracting or holding
a mate.
What bangles cut from the
chank shell are to the Veddah
women, the cross-your-heart
bra is to the North American.
The Shulis cutie with her
lipring is sister under the skin
to th'er' Moose''Jaw cutie with
"her .platforra,solem.,The pa ttern ,_-
"is 'rigid 'and'qbeyed. In BraZil ,
the ladies of the Mucuiii tribe
wear absolutely nothing but a
string around their middle with
a single twig hanging down
behind. This is their high
fashion, and a twig that's too
long or too short is just the
same as a dress that's too long
or too short. All through Brazil
you can hear the native Women
saying, "I do hope next year's
twigs are longer."
But, really, I can't get cross
with my wife. After all, she did
it for me I think.
When there are no kids
around, Christmas loses a lot of
its excitement. At least that's
the way it seems around our
house this year.
We've always had a family
Christmas, most often at the
farm of the grandparents.
Those were great old
traditional festivities.
We drove to the farm, left the
car at the highway and
staggered through the snow up
the lane to the house, loaded
with gifts. The kids, wrapped to
the noses, were fairly hysterical
by the time' we entered the big,
warm farm kitchen.
There we were assailed by
the enveloping scents of
roasting turkey and pine
needles, a wonderful com-
bination.
Then came the opening of
presents, with everybody
protesting, "Oh, you shouldn't
have.,." Except the kids. They
would rip off the wrappings,
scarcely glance at the contents
and start looking under the
tree for another package with
their name on it.
A lot of love and thought
went into the gifts, and
sometimes there were tears of
pleasure.
The women talked a blue
streak and caromed off each
other as they charged around
the kitchen. The ' men gat
around drooling. And the
children were the centre of at-
tention, funny and delightful,
and they loved it.
Then came the great orgy At
the table, with everyone from
the littlest to Grandad tucking
into the turkey and trimmings
until their eyes were bulging.
This was sort of the clitnax of
the holiday, and like every
climax, it had, its anti-climax:
great stacks of dithes to be
Washed; distended bellies;
exhausted Wt. In its way, it
was a pretty pagan celebration.
But by evening, everything
was cleared up, digestions
would begin operating again,
and there'd be carols and quiet
talk and a general feeling of
warmth and love and security.
This was the culmination of
several weeks of Christmas
pageants and Christmas parties
at the Legion Hall for the kids,
and writing cards to old
friends, and scrambling around
for gifts, and putting up the
thrice-blasted tree and preten-
ding there weren't going to be a
lot of presents this year.
They were good times, and I
miss them, but I don't know
whether I could stand the pace
any more. I was working about
twelve hours a day, and there
seemed to be a festivity or
something every night.
There were a couple of
Christmases that are funny in
retrospect, though at the time
there was a marked lack of
Christian spirit.
One was the time we bought
the television set for the grand-
parents. It was in the early
days of TV, and we all chipped
in to buy the set. None of us
could afford one for ourselves.
There was tremendous secrecy.
It was to be the surprise of the
century. My brother-in-law and
I dragged the great brute of a
box up the lane on a toboggan
and wrestled it into tl-in far-
mhouse. It Watt to be opened
under the tree.
Kim was about three, and
full 'of that wild excitement
that invests kids at Christmas.
We had barely deposited the
big box in the house when she
piped, "Hope you like the tee-
bee, Granny." Some secret,
Some surprise.
And there wag the Christmas
we held at our place. The gran,,
dparents and the aunts and
other assorted bodies were in-
vited. My wife had spent two
hours the night before scrub.
bins and waxing the kitchen
floor. I had spent three hours
preparing the turkey. We were
going to show them that we
could entertain in style.
All was in readiness. The Old
Battleaxe told me to take the
turk out of the oven. I did,
skidded on the wax, and
roasting pan, turkey and all
went flying through the air.
Wall-to-wall grease. Turkey
basted in floor-wax. It was one
of the less-memorable moments
in a happy marriage.
And I remember Christmases
a long time ago, in the
Depression, when a child's one.
and only present might be a
suit of long underwear, or a
handknit sweater. Depressing,
was the Depression,
Of recent ears, our kids
have come straggling in from
university, sometimes with a
friend, for Christmas, And
we've had music and good
food, and fun.
Last year we were alone. If I
remember correctly, we dined
on frozen meat pies. I had
bought the usual two trees. I
got the little one up. The big
spruce was leaned in a corner,
and I threw it out on Boxing
Day.
This year, we'll be alone
again. But things are going to
be different,
Son Hugh won't be home.
He's off in deepest'Quebec. But
he's already had his present.
Daughter Kim Won't be home,
because I don't particularly
want my grandchild born on a
bus,
So. We're thinking of closing
up the jabot and going to the
city, My wife can supervise the
layette. I can write cheques.
We'll stay in a hotel, where
somebody, else had to grapple
with the tree,
And, if things turn out just
right, we might get the finest
Christmas present we'Ve ever
received. A bouncing baby
grandchild.
My wife has readied herself
for the Christmas festivities
with a new hair-do created (if I
have this right) by Victor
Sassoon, of London, a man
who, I suspect, has an inor-
dinate love for poodles.
I think she looks perfectly
swell, you understand, but a
younger or more newly-married
man might be unable to resist
the temptation for some sort of
little joke. There's a carton of
dog biscuits in the cupboard,
for example, and one must ad-
mit to a certain compulsion to
play the obvious prank. But the
years have brought me wisdom.
I "am a coward, but a wise
coward. Besides, it is wonderful
for her morale and women need
all the morale they can muster
at this time of year.
What does concern me is the
reminder that, like all women,
my wife is a jellyfish in the tide
of fashion. It frightens me just
a little, as it must have
frightened men since the begin-
ning of time. I can still recall
the look of horror in the eyes of
my own dear father when
Mama came home under that
Eugenie hat (this will be before
your time), and doubtless the
10 YEARS AGO
December 19, 1963
Mr. and Mrs. John G. Woon,
R.R. 1 Clinton celebrated their
50th wedding anniversary on
December 13. Friends and
neighbours who met in Sum-
merhill Hall held a euchre
party. During the party, the
couple were surprised when
they saw their wedding taking
place again Donald McLean
portrayed the blushing bride
and the groom was Jack Van
Egmond. Mrs. Neville Forbes
performed the ceremony which
was rudely interrupted by a
jilted suitor, Mrs. Elmer Trick,
but the' groom managed to
escape her wrath and the
proceedings were allowed to be
completed.
J.H. Neill, curator of Huron
County Pioneer Museum, has
received a very special honour
in the award of a certificate of
commendation from the
AmericatrAssoeiation for State
and Local History. He was
presented with the first
honorary membership awar-
ded by the Ontario Historical
Society.
Mr. and Mrs. Wilmer Howatt
celebrated their 40th wedding
anniversary on Saturday,
December 14 with open house.
A goodly number of their
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 borne of their daughter, Mr.
and Mts. Mac Hodgert,
Xirkton, during the week.
Snow, which started over a
week ago and has shown little
sign of letting up, has built up
to a depth of three feet and
snow shoveller* have been
fighting a continual losing bat-
tle, The area was hit hardest on
Friday, when winds gusted up
male Ubangi has the same
feeling when the female Ubangi
returns to the hut with her new
lip.
My wife would laugh at this,
and a nasty laugh at that, but I
know how this particular hair-
cut began, I see Mr. Sassoon
turning to his assistant whose
name will be Philippe or Henri
or Gaston since no hair-stylist
has ever gone by the name of
Joe or Pete. He is chuckling to
beat the band.
"Just finished working out
this new idea, Philippe," he
says. He falls down laughing.
"It's the craziest one yet!
There's not a woman alive
'who'll look like anything but a
terrified Hottentot. It'll do
wonders for business. Get busy
on the usual promotion, old
chap.'
So is a style born and some
weeks later my wife and
millions of other outwardly
sane women go obediently
through the motions, just as if
they'd been wound up with a
magic key by the style dictators.
The cause for alarm here is
that there's simply no limit to
what women will do if they
think it's "being done." Some
to 50 miles per hour and
blocked all arteries during the
afternoon.
Mr. and Mrs. Leroy Poth,
Hayfield, visited their son and
wife, Mr, and Mrs. Ronald
Path, Toronto, over Wednesday
night. On their return on Thur-
sday they called' on his mother.
in Galt, her mother and sister
in Elmira, and friends in Kit-
chener. They did not run into
the storm until nearing
Listowel.
.25 YEARS AGO
December 23, 1948
Mr. and Mrs. Joseph J. Scott
celebrated their 50th wedding
anniversary at their home near
Seaforth on Thursday, Decem-
ber 21. They are grandchildren
of two of the first settlers in the
Huron Tract - Robert Scott and
Samuel Carnochan. They were
married in Tuckersmith Town-
ship and for 45 years they far-
med the Scott home place
living in the old stone house
that is as sturdy today as when
it was built eighty years ago.
According to R,G, Bennett,
Clinton, agricultural represen-
tative for Huron County there
is A good demand for young
pigs and sows, This might be a
good year to sell them as,
although winter feed conditions
should be quite satisfactory
they could end up a bit scarce
because of the necessity of
earlier feeding due to dry
weather,
Arthur Aiken, University of
Western Ontario, London, is a
Christmastide visitor with his
parents, Mr, and Mrs. W.M.
Aiken,
SO YEARS AGO
GOOmbOt 20, 1923
The Yreernan farm on the
2nd concesk3ion Hullett Town-
ship whibli has been managed
of you older men will remem-
ber the cloche hat. Or look,
right this moment, at the
tyranny of style in women's
shoes which look as if they had
been designed for deep-sea
divers.
I have been wondering what
might happen if any of these
setters of style were to fall by
chance on a copy of Edward
Westermarck's History of
Human Marriage, published in
1891. In this tome, under the
heading "Means of Attraction"
there are dozens and dozens of
potential fashions.
Supposing, by way of exam-
ple, that the jewelry trade
discovers that matrons-,of ,the
Santa! race wore two anklets,
12 bracelets and four necklaces,
amounting to 34 pounds of bell
metal. The formula would go
into operation. The fashion'
magazines would come out
with those pictureS of under-
nourished models in the "new
Santa! jewelry." The stampede
would be on.
Or what if somebody decides
that the new fashion should be
after the style of the East
African Wa-taita, who wears
her ear-lobes pulled down
almost to the shoulder? You
by Miss Jennie Freeman for the
past few years, has been sold to
Mr. James Rands, who recently
disposed of his farm near Con-
stance, and who will get
possession February 1.
There is a new club started
in the centre of town. The club
is to be called the Lion
Tamer's. Since there is to be no
electric lights, the club will
operate in the day only with
checkers being the order of the
day.
Miss Gladys McLean of
Stratford Normal School, and
Mr. R.C. McLean of Wingham
spent the holidays with their
parents, Mr. and Mrs. J.B.
McLean.
When Mrs. Richard Walton
left Clinton last summer to
visit in England she took with
her many Maple Leaves and on
Armistice Day had a wreath
made and placed it at the
Cenotaph in London, England
in memory of all Clinton boys
who never returned from the
war.
75 YEARS AGO
December 22, 1898
Alexander Watt, of Hullett,
has bought from the executors'
of the Wm. Murphy estate, the
fifteen acres of land on the nor-
thern limit of the town at
present in the occupancy of
Mrs. Murphy.. The property is
well situated with a comfor-
table new framehouse. He takes
possession about the first of
February.
Mr. David Kennedy has
finally decided to retire from
municipal life and consequently
will not be a candidate on
January 2. He has devoted
much time to the work of the
council, particularly as a mem-
ber of the street committee. He
has been a member of the coun-
cif for eleven years, two years
as councillor three as deputy-
reeve and five years as reeve.
Fault
Dear Editor:
According to recent "lette
to the editor" some of yo
readers in the Toronto area a
having problems with pa
delivery,
The delay must be in the ci
post offices for our copy of th
News-Record has been arrivin
the Saturday mornin
following publication. Ou
paper comes in the Toronto t
Washago run and is routed v
Toronto.
There have been 'times whe
it was as late as Tuesday bu
has improved recently,
Having helped to mail out
the News-Record on more that
one occasion, may I ensurt
your readers that the papers gc
to the Clinton Post Office or
Wednesday night and leave tht
Clinton Post Office no later
than Thursday,
The fact that a paper is
second class mall certainly ha
some effect on time of deliver
— especially in large citie'
where "work to rule" prevails
I hope this will explain tha
your staff is not at fault.
Yours sincerel
Margaret Rud.
CFB Borden, Ont
(Editors note: Marg is the for-
mer circulation manager of the
News-Record).,
Meaning
Dear Editor:
Isn't this a wonderful time of
the year? Christmas time seems
to give everyone the spirit of
giving and happiness.
It's nice to give presents and
have a wonderful time together
around Christmas dinner, butl
may we direct your attention to
the real gift and meaning o
Christmas, the gift of God, the
son Jesus Christ. The only gif
that gives true happiness.
Think about it, "Pray for it
ask for. it. *
And you will 'receive" if `Yot
ask with a true heart. (John 3
16-18)
For the Evangelisti
Committe
of the Christie
Reformed Churcl
Bert Haverkam
RR 1, Clinto
Peace
Dear Editor:
December 12 finds us deep
the season of "peace on earth,
goodwill toward men" and
reminds me of another Decem
ber 12.
The executive committee o
the Federal Council of Chur
ches met in Atlantic City o
December 12, 1918, and passe
a resolution endorsin
President Wilson's plan for
League of Nations, and adopte
a Declaration from which
now quote in part.
"The war crisis of the wort
has passed, but a world crisis
upon us...."Are we going t
lapse back," asked Lloy
George, "into the old nations
rivalries, animosities and corn
petitive armaments, or are w
to imitate the reign on earth
the Prince of Peace?"
"The time has come t
organize the world for trut
and right, justice an
humanity. To this end, a
Christians we urge th
establishment of a League
Free Nations at the comin
Peace Conference. Such
League is not a mere politica
expedient; it is rather th
political expression of th
continued oh ppie., wowasitrwwwwwwwwwee,