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HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1973-09-20, Page 4nisi* Go STKasoWT TAT WO 4,009 NILO* You (AMY miss )r. "I picked up the TV cheap—it's the extension cord that cost rite a fortune." we get letters The good and bad of England Alarnber, Canadian tommuntly Niwipapar Association idOnitor, Ontanb Waal* rdowtipapor Aisolsotatton TH E cuivroN NEW ERA Established 1865 A mnbetmated 1924 THE HURON NEWS-RtCORD Estoblished 1881 p.0 0,01AN COmm uk, Clinton News-Record Published every Thursday at Clinton, Ontario Editor Pittgeraid General Manager, Howard Aitken Second Clan Mall reglitration no. 0117 HUB or HURON COUNTY said, social acceptability overrides any factual information. The habit oqrt- tinues, despite the dangers. The battle lines are clearly drawn up, he says, make smoking an anti-social habit and smoking will nearly become extinct, And the start, Dr, Delarue says, must be made at the advertising level. Stop showing smoking as a pleasurable habit enjoyed by virile young men and beautiful romantic women and the first step will be taken. Advertising is the subtle but most important factor in the acceptability , of smoking: There is legislation now in Ottawa to ban all advertising but it has never made it to the House of Commons. To get it there can be accomplished by the voters letting their MPs know where they stand. The second most important factor is to have those in our communities who are respected to stop smoking and set an example. Many people and teenagers start smoking because they have seen a person they love or admire smoke and hence copy them. By setting exemplary action parents, teachers, etc. would be setting a good example that would mushroom throughout the community. It is very unfortunate indeed, that more people didn't hear Dr. Delarue on Tuesday night. A speaker of such merit, speaking on a subject of such urgency, deserves more than a handful of people. are given away with bubble gum to hook the tots and busts of hockey players are packed in toothpaste cartons to ensnare the hygenic! The '76 Olympics is going to cost millions and the controversy over it may divide Canada as separatism never could. Meanwhile, pinched school boards schedule only two periods of physical education a week, because their' can't af- ford a proper daily program, Municipal recreation facilities limp along with in- ferior equipment. What all this means IS the short end of the stick for youngsters and adults who would rather play than watch -- and fewer gold medals for Canadians in '76, because the big money goes professional -- never amateur. bottle of champagne upon engagement. He got zero an- swers. In frustration, he grin= ted 1,000 handbills and had his staff pass them out on the streets to likely-looking can- didates. Result, four phone calls, Two of them were not in- terested. The other two made Appointments for interviews, Neither turned up. Another aspect of England that has changed, sadly, is the increase in violence, I met two young fellows in a pub, They were both employed and making about $100 a week. Yet they boasted of being Borstal boys (reform school). The elder, who seemed seething with rage at the world in general, and ready to start a row with anybody, had also been in prison. They were working class, but hated everybody above them in the system. There have been racial riots involving whites, blacks and Indians. London bus stop signs were that "Owing to hooliganism and attacks on our staff' such and such buses will not run of a certain hour. This summer there was an outbreak of sheer viciousness and valodalism among some groups of football fans. Drunken fights at the games. Ripping up railway cars and kicking in compartment doors arid abusing passengers 'on the way home from the inatch. Motorcycle gangs terrorizing It sickens to hear of this sort of thing in dear old England, for years one of the safest and most peaceful countries in the world. But it's there, Professional sport is proving a madness plete, if you want a job. There are supposed to be half a million unemployed, but a businessman told me this represents only the unem- ployables, and those who don't want to work, Everywhere, newspapers, store windows, there are "Help Wanted" ads. Admittedly, a lot of the jobs are mobil, but not all, by any means, The Brits don't want the more lowly occupations. And that's why the blacks have moved in, mostly from the West Indies. They are the bus con- ductors, subway workers, waiters and unskilled labeurets. And whenever things tighten up a bit, there is resentment, and racial violence. But there is a great shortage, right now, of both skilled arid unskilled workers. The Post Of- fice is desperately understaffed. Postal workers are working overtime, and, some of them, bleats a newspaper, are falling asleep at their jobs. That has a familiar ring, somehow. In London, the bus service is away below par, because it is short 4,500 bus drivers. A Chartered accountant told me that it's almost impossible to hire girls who can operate business machines. In desperation, he cajoled a for- rner employee, a good operator, into coining back fora Month. She Was seven months pregnant. Slight catch, She lasted one hoar. Couldn't get close enough to the machine to punch the keys. A publisher in London adver- tised extensively for a secretary. He offered about $85 a week, a month's vacation and It is obvious that the battle to halt the ever increasing problems caused by smoking is an uphill fight all the way. Judging by the response at the "Smoke Brake '73" meeting in Clinton last Tuesday night, health officials are locking horns with one of the toughest problems ever to face our society. Only 20 persons showed up to hear the famous chest diseases expert Dr, Norman Delarue of Toronto and the tur- nout would indicate that few people in the Clinton area are interested in quit- ting the smoking habit. But the lack of people at the meeting didn't bother the doctor as much as would be expected. He said at the start that it was difficult to get people en- thused about quitting the habit. Why? People by now are nearly all familiar with the side effects of con- tinuing smoking. Nearly 300,000 people a year die because of the effects of the smoke. In fact, in some sectors of the population, the smoking habit seems to be on the increase. The reasons given by Dr. Delarue are simple, The smoking habit is a socially acceptable habit and until it starts to be looked upon as disgraceful, people will continue to smoke in increasing num- bers. Dr. Delarue admitted freely that the educational aspect of the anti-smoking campaign had failed. Why? Because, he The world is being taken over by professional sport. Remember gentler days of hockey on the radio and baseball, a game Dad and junior played over at the park? Football and basket- ball were something rich kids pursued on college campuses. But now -- WOW -- sport as big business is blared to the top of the news on radio, breathlessly fro It-paged in newspapers, and is endlessly played and replayed on television. Church, fraternal groups, concerts and Home and SchoOl meetings have to fit their activities around "the game". Ministers don't dare hold Sunday evening services or anything else during prime hockey evenings during the week. Hockey players are paid millions to jump leagues. Baseball cards "Well, how did you find England after all those years?" This the favourite question for people asking about our jaunt. I have a stock of stock answers. "No trouble at all. We just went where the pilot took us," That sometimes shuts them up. Another retort. "Just kept going until we heard a lot of Limeys chirping." I save that one for the Britons out here who haven't lost their accent. Well, I found it greatly changed and much the same. Despite the levelling off economically, the old class system is still there, and causes even more animosity than it used to. That is, the poor are better off,. and the rich ate taxed iniquitiously, so there's less of a gap financially. But you are still labeled by your accent, your occupation, and your background. There is still woeful inef- ficiency in a multitude of things and amazing proficiency in others._ The standard -of living has risen a good deal, but so have costs. The papers are headlined with rising food costs and their real estate took an upward surge a few years ago. A house there costs about the same as a similar one here. Food is a little cheaper than ours. Drinks a little cheaper and a little weaker, Transport is a bit cheaper and twice as good as outs. That's because of the short distances, the heavy population, and the high cost, for the working man, of owning a car. Through trains rocket along at speeds up to a Hun- dred Employment? Almost com- A hero dies For well over 20 years I lived with the idea that Robinson Crusoe was having a wonderful time on his island, and wished I was there. Mention that magic name and I could see him in his outlandish coat of goatskins, Poll, his parrot, upon his shoulder, patrolling the white coral beach of his own green isle, picking grapes and bananas from the trees for his lunch, master of himself and his private paradise. You can imagine my bitter disillusionment, then, when a friend of mine-aged 12--loaned me his copy of the immortal yarn the other day and I looked at Robinson Crusoe with the pouchy, jaundiced eyes of On adult. A little bit of romance curled up, went "Wheep Wheep" and died. I've a hunch that if Daniel Defoe's classic had come out this year the critics, to a man, would have found poor Crusoe a mass of neuroses with schizophrenic tendencies, a guilt complex, bent ego and, altogether, ready for the psychiatric couch. A wonderful time? Oh, no. Robinson had 28 long years of self-pity upon his "horrid 10 YEARS AGO Sept. 26, 1963 The Honourable C.S. MacNaughton won his third straight election battle by a wide margin. It was his second in a row over Usborne's Harry Strang. I4e had A 4,761 majority over Mr. Strang. Seaforth, Hay, Hullet and Tuekersinith were clearly in favour of McNaughton while MeKillop was the closest of the 106 polls taken. McNaughton won by a score of 280 to 269. Deanna Dale, RR I Clinton, a member of the Seaforth Dairy Club won the A.Y. McLean trophy for showmanship. She was followed by Ken Papple, RR 5 Seaforth, and Wilma bale, HR 1 Clinton. In other 4- 1-1 competitions Joanne !folk- loan, RR 3 Goderich, won the junior holstein competition, followed by Doug Alton, Lucknow, and Linda Riley, Londesboro. In the senior division, it was Robert Vodden, RR 1 Clinton, the top finisher, then Iris Mar- shall, Kirkton, and Eldo Hildebrand, Auburn. The top showman was Ken Papple, RR 5 Seaforth, who earned the Toronto-Dominion bank trophy followed by Torn Miley. Top showman in the beef division was Barbara Watkins, Lon- desboro, 25 YEARS AGO Sept. 25, 1947 Dr. Morley Coiquhoun visited Clinton after a nineteen year absence, A party was held in his honor. with Mr. and Mrs. MeMutray acting as hosts. Among the guests was Mr. and Mrs. Corless, 'Mts. Fitzsimons And Mrs. Kennedy who are his island", as he called it, tor- tured himself mentally about his shortcomings, brooded and moralized, and seemed to be forever wringing his hands. In his own words he often had "a head full of vapours." Any adult who retains from boyhood an evergreen memory of "the life and strange, sur- prising adventures" of Mr. C. would be well-advised to leave it that way. For one thing, Robinson, being a worrier, had no ap- petite whatever for his life. Un- til the very end he regrets that he ever left home and a comfor- table, middle-class existence which he judged to be the best state in the world. He thinks of- ten of the ideal way of life in which a man might go "silently and smoothly through the world and comfortably out of it." A hell of a way for a man on a desert island to look at things, if I may say so. Almost nothing happens to , Crusoe that he doesn't sit right down to fret about it and, more, to confide in his reader. Even in the midst of fighting two hungrey cannibals, he pauses long enough to say, apologetically, "There was no time for reflections now." To which this reader muttered to aunts and uncles. Since he was last in Clinton, Dr. Colquhoun has graduated in medicine and surgery and has a large practice in Glendale, California. Burt and Orville Stanley, Dungannon, have recently pur- chased the Fitzsitnon's meat market. Both have con- siderable experience in the meat and packing business. O.J. Stanley has been assistant meat manager of Loblaws, Windsor and manager of Parent's Supermarket, Windsor for five years. Mr. and Mrs. William Jones were given a pleasant surprise on their 35th wedding anniver- sary. Bartliff Bros. arid staff gathered in the form of a sur- prise party at the Jones' home and in the course of the evening presented them with 'a hand- some table lamp. A very happy evening was brought to a close when the visitors served refreshments. George Underwood has received a scholarship from the Huron County Federation of Agriculture. They give one to a student from Huron County eh- tering the Ontario Agricultural College of Guelph. For the past four years, George has taken farm leave so he is entering the college with lots of practical ex- perience. 50 YEARS AGO Sir,t. 27, 1923 A large reptile was seen crossing the ioatelhae 'north of town. The snake was nine feet in length and of large girth. It was carrying a rabbit in its month when seen so must have been of very large size, It is supposed to have escaped from the circus, Mr. Sydney Thompson has taken a position in Clinton himself, "Good. Get on with the scrap." I wonder now how I ever got through the book as a boy and, having got through it, how I ever fastened on the idea that Robinson was a happy, heroic soul, I suppose it was just that I wanted him to be that way. Or maybe I wisely skipped those tedious paragraphs in which he establishes himself as a homely old philosopher and a bit of a boob, to boot. Hardly a chapter goes by that Crusoe isn't seen at his worst, crying "0 miserable creature, whither am I going?" or having "flutterings of my heart" or "reproaching myself with my past CruSiie had if tough all' right,, but he seemed. to like" it 'that 'way. The moralizing, itself, was merely a luxury. Having money on his island, for example, Crusoe called it "nasty, sorry, useless stuff" and reflected en- dlessly on the vice of covetousness. Much later, back in civilization and with some $25,000 in his kicks, old Robin- son used his dough with all the hardheadedness of a St. James Street tycoon. In all the 28 years and close to 300 pages of reflections, with the C.N.R, as baggageman. He is taking Mr, Holloway's place. Mr. Thomp- son was a former Stanley Township boy. Mr. Wm. Slitter, a member of Rev. E. Parker's Bible Class in London, England, arrived in Canada and is expected to take up farming with Mr. Turner of Clinton. Bayfield fair was a success with royal weather and fine exhibits, There were large crowds and were very en- thusiastic over the many exhibits, Each class had numerous entrants which were of excellent quality. The day Was completed by an excellent concert put 'on by the Zurich Dramatic Company. Over forty young men are meeting in Clinton two evenings a week for military training under the supervision of Ivlajor Sloan and Lieuts. Curren and Morgan. Drilling commences tonight and rifle practise is to start soon. 75 YEARS AGO Sept: 30, 1898 Alfred Moore is certainly the oldest citizen in Clinton. He has been in residence here since 1854 and has seen it grow from little more than a blaze on a tree to a prosperous and hustling town of considerable importance. Bell Telephone has put in a new electric clock to time con- versations. The clock is very ac- curate and you can't beat it. Col. Hoare also has a new in- strument for his evening enter- tainment. It is called an Automatic Regina and is something after the character of a music box. It is a recent American invention and should provide an excellent style of musit. Dear Editor: What a wonderful way t send the "paper". It is so roue nicer for opening and readin after the tight package rolling, Thanks for promp mailing, we enjoy the pape very much, Pb like a visit fro a very dear friend. I am the third generation t4 take the paper and my son als reads it when he conies. Thanks again. Yours truly Mabel E. Wallace Tecumseh, Michigan Dear Editor: Eighteen months ago, th Government announced th siting of a new internationa airport at Pickering, °uteri This was to be the second two international airport around toronto, and the thir international Airport within radius of 300 miles betwee Toronto and Montreal, Sin that time, People or Planes h led a mounting opposition this project. Our objections are based the fact that there is not proven need for another inte national airport either now irt'the predictable future. Th estimated cost (ranging fro 600 million (Governmen figure) to 2 billion represents colossal expenditure by th Federal Government. This i being made at a time whe there are higher priorities fo such a sum of money. Thes priorities include publi housing, the correction o regional disparities and th stimulation of decentralization from the Metro Toronto area. But the Federal Goverhmen has plunged headlong into th airport planning. They hay hoped that opposition to the airport will die as arable far- mland turns to weed with the departure of farmers who have been expropriated and bought out. The airport and associated complex will occupy some 43,000 acres of classrl farmland which produces a major portion of fOod supplies needed to niaintain'a stable cost, of living in this area. The Government has been forced to announce, because o the opposition to the land grab, a Hearing of Inquiry. The terms of reference of the hearing are weak, and it is doubtful that real information will be forthcoming unless citizens across Canada take u the cause, There is no need for a second international airport a Toronto, There is need fo correction of regional disparities, provision of jobs i areas outside Toronto (there i minimal unemployment at Pickering) and decentralization of major industries from Metr Toronto. If the Government proceed with this airport, rich Metr will get richer - and the poo will get poorer. Yours very truly, C.M.Godfrey, Chairman People or Planes. Op In torts • • n order that News--Record readers might express their opinions on env topic of public interest, Letters To The Editor are always Welcome for publication. But the writers of such letters, as well as ail readers, are reminded that the, opinions expressed in letters published are not necetsarily the opinions held by The News—Record, 4--0114141TON NEWS-RECORD, TfIVASPAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 1973 Editorial comment Smoke Brake has good ideas Crusoe never did change his ideas much and was still as far away from being well-adjusted when he left as when he was tossed up on those shores. As a boy I relished the meeting with Friday and those chapters are still the most moving in the grand old book. But now I find that Crusoe couldn't resist playing the missionary. Friday, himself, was clearly twice the man that Robinson was, an altogether charming guy, but Crusoe had hardly en- countered him before he was forcing him into a pair of linen drawers to cover his nakedness, teaching Friday to call him "master" and "converting hitt." ,Friday hatha pretty• good '1, god name of Benamuckee, but '• Crusoe wasn't happy until he'd thoroughly bewildered the poor native with 40-odd pages of theology. Mind you, it's a very great book and Defoe was the cleverest of reporters, as you can plainly see when he oc- casionally steps down from his home-made pulpit, But Robin- son Crusoe, I regret to say, is no longer the man I knew and loved and I am a little sad about it.