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HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1974-10-17, Page 4'ANA Mumbor, CinUdtn Community NronilMitio M000latiOn fileivobet, Ontario W SSOY Models** AoiI.N Commu THE CLINTON NEW ERA Established 180 Amalgamated 1924 THE HURON NEWS-RECORD Established MEd Clinton News-Record Published every Thursday at Clint" Ontario Editor - James E. flitsgertild General Manager, J. Howard Aitken SOOond Class Mall registration he. 01117 1 i,1 i'tl ISISICRIPTION NOSS: CANADA $10,00 U.S.A. WAS !Willa COPY .216 NUS OP HUPON tOUNtY PAGE 4-,CLIIsITQN NEWS RECORD, THURSDAY, OCTOSFR 17, 1974 Editorial Comment Re birth of Small Towns That part of Canada that lies outside the metropolitan and large city areas has had increasing problems as people have tended to move to more populous areas says the Huron, Expositor. ' This in turn creates problems of providing services to those who remain and makes it difficult tp carry on viable business enterpriseS. The vacant stores on too many main streets in small towns across Canada attest to this fact. A report of the Canadian Council on Rural Development which now has been issued comes at a helpful time,.. The council, an advisory body to Regional Expansion Minister Don Jamieson has urged a stronger commitment to rural development but with better manpower policies, The federal government and other agencies should move to discover what the ral needs are locally and what in- dustries would provide local residents with 'the most benefits, the report said. Rathein introducing mass produc- tion companies and techniques, small- scale industry should be located in rural regions. And manpower retraining plans should take into account the educational level in rural regions. The council called for new training programs for rural residents, an institute to develop management and other Coofhthog Goals Two important projections, according to the United Church, have come from two most reputable institutions in recent weeks. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) says that within a decade the poorer countries will We an increase of about $18 billion in their annual food import bill. The in- •,crease in the demand for grain in these nations will be more than 900 million tons by 1985. The Brookings Institution came up with a very. different forecast. Brookings, a very prestigious American organization, predicted in a study that • U.S. military spending would-:reach-$142, ' " billion a year by 1'980 if it continues `'`'"rising at the Present* rate. The United States is not alone in splurging on the military. Most other large powers are equally guilty. The studies may seem unrelated. Things at last seem to be looking up for Canadian writers, after generations of neglect by 'their own countrymen. With a few notable exceptions, it used to be that to be a writer in Canada was almost on a. par with being an Untouchable in India. If you were not openly scorned, you were quietly ignored, which was worse. The big publishers, most of them British or American, with an affiliate in Canada, shied away from Canadian writers as though they had the plague,' at the same time fostering in- significant American and British writers. One of the exceptions 'was Stephen Leacock, who made a lot of money and became a well- known character in this country, after his first book had been accepted by' a British publisher. Typically, Leacock was ignored, if not despised, by the people of Orillia, Ont., when he was alive. He had a summer home there. Many Orillians detested him because he poked wicked fun at some of their leading citizens in his Mariposa tales. Not so today, Some sharp people finally realized that Leacock was commercially viable as a tourist attraction. Nowadays you'd think Leacock had walked down from a mountain with stone tablets, into ()Finite It is the in-thing to belong to the Leacock Society, There is a Leacock Museum, with a MI- time curator. There is a Leacock annual award for humour, a Leacock medal, a Leacock weekend culminating in a huge dinner at which the saint is paid proper homage. I'll bet the old guy is doubled up in his grave, laughing. It was all so Canadian, in its approach to writing, that it would be funny, if it weren't a lit- tle sad. .Canadians are builders. They'll spend billions on railroads and transcontinental high- ways and canals and dohs. But when it comes to culture, the approach is always a two-bit one. A few dedicated souls formed the Leacock Society. They had no money. But every year, they'd persuade a few people to act as judges, and these idiots would'pick out the" funniest book published in Canada that year, know. I was one of those idiots for about four years, which gave me some insight into Canadian humour. Most of the books submitted were about as funny as a broken leg. Let's say you are Eric Nicol of Vancouver (a very funny writer, by the way). This would be about 15 years-ago. You are ,informed by Wire that you have won the Leacock. Award for Humour and are asked to attend the Leacock Dinner" receive the Leacock Medal (worth about 60 WAS in a pawnshoP), and Make a witty speech which will take you limit§ to write. The dinner is absolutely fro, but you Pay your, own way froth and back to kVaticouver, Today of course, it's different, The dinner ,price has gone up- from $2,56 to WO and the techniques for rural businessmen, in- creased efforts by co-operatives in far- ming and other rural industry and gover- nment land-use guides. Migration of people to cities is expen, sive for Canadian society, the council said adding a fact that is apparent to anyone living in rural Ontario and that is that existing homes and businesses in the country are abandoned in the coun- try and demands are created for new services in cities, Rural people moving into cities generally get lower-paying jobs and pay less taxes than urban residents, the report said. If these economic costs are measured the trend toward concen- trating development in urban areas might be slowed. The report emphasizing that programs should be established to equip people with the broader skills required to run small businesses in rural areas. Hopefully the report will provide an in- centive for governments at all levels to recognize and provide the en- couragement which small town Canada must have if it is to carry on. For too long too much of the tax money of rural Canada has gone to provide educated young boys and girls who answer the big city demands for trained personnel 'because there were no opportunities for them at home. And yet. these two forecasts do highlight for a puzzled -world the strangely conflicting goals being pur- sued by the rich and the mighty nations. They have the affluence to produce all the food their people can eat, and they feel obliged to appease their military commanders, who abays want more and better weapons — just in case there is a war. But the wealthy should try to see the global goal more clearly, Today we need tractors instead of tanks, ships that carry grain instead of shells for guns, Perhaps the rich still can afford guns as well as butter. The poor surety can't. The ever-growing military .budgets in too many nations mean' there will be less funds for irrigation and agriculture, fertilizer and transport. The world already is the home of too many hungry people, and richer nations therefore should not squander their valuable resources on arms. drinks from 45 cents to whatever. I believe that at long last, some brewer has actually put up $1,000 to go with the Medal. Big deal, So much for that. I digress. During the long, painful aridity of the '20s, 30s and '40s, the names of. Canadian writers were not exactly household words. A few writers toiled on in the Canadian desert. Morley Callaghan, a fine writer with an inter.. national reputation, plugged away. When he produced a new novel, it would be avidly snat- ched up by as many as six or seven hundred of • his fellow countrymen, To make a living, he had to do hack work in journalism, radio, and later TV. Ironically, Callaghan, at about the age of 70, was given two whopping great cash prizes by a brewer and a bank for his contribution to Canadian literature. He was also awarded a Canada Medal or something like that, which he refused, in disgust. And good for him. Then,, after the war came, not a spate; but at least a surge, of new writers, bold writers: Hugh Garner, Mordechai Richter, Pierre Berton, Farley Mowat. They knew they were good, and they demanded recognition. And money. And they got it, though it was like* prying diamonds out of a rock. After them came another rash of writers: Alden Nowlan, Al Purdy, Robert Kroetch, Margaret' Atwood. A few courageous indepen- dent piiblishers gave them a voice. They sell. Now the younger ones are coming on, pell-mell. After years in a cultural desert, oases are springing up everywhere. This entire diatribe was triggered by an an- nouncement sent out to English department heads from an outfit called Platform for the Arts, It will send "poets, novelists, journalists and playwrights" right into out classrooms to read and discuss their works with the students. Good show. At only $30 each. Yet they can pay these people $75 a day and expenses, owing to govern. trient grants. One paragraph in the letter fascinates the, "Please indicate whether you would like a poet, prose writer, or playwright to visit your school. Choose one, two or all three eeparate tours," Okay, chaps. Send us a poet, And I don't want Ethel Kartoffele of Hayfork Centre, Send a hen- daoirie guy with a smashing beard. And one blonde playwright with a large bosom. That'll keep the students of both sexes happy. As for a journalist, send along any old one, I'll handle him or ' her.. In this field, you can scarcely distinguish between the sexes, anyway. Say, At a second look, that whole tout looks pretty good. at $75 per diem and expenses. I'm a journalist, of sorts, if you want to stretch tt point or three. Maybe quit leeching amt joie the heir. Sugar and Spice/By Bill Smiley' At last things are looking up The good weather . of last week allowed farmers to -com- plete the harvesting of white beans and the filling of silos. Grain corn moisture becoming sufficiently low to allow harvesting, and the storing of high.moisture corn in silos for feeding purposes has increased considerably. Mr. and Mrs. Harold Livingstone, Londesboro, left for London on Sunday where they will spend the next two months or more with their daughter and her family. Mrs. Pearl Shaddick, a telephone operator in Hensail for 29 years, will retire on Nov. 15 when the changeover to dial phones takes place. She started her career at Clinton under the late manager, Mrs. Clara Rum- ball and Chief Operator Miss Lily Kennedy. Mr. and Mrs. Gordon Lep- pington and their two daughters from Scarboro visited Thanksgiving Day with their aunt and uncle, Mr. and Mrs, Tom Leppington. Sunday was a lucky day for RR No 5 Clinton farmer Leen Rehorst. Three of his cows gave birth to four heifers, Farmers Say such a batting average is extremely rare, and a very for- tunate event for the farmer. 25 YEARS AGO Oct 27, 1949 Continued mild weather is proving a great asset to livestock producers. Milk production is being maintained and feeder cattle will go into the barns in good shape because of the adequate pasture. Huron County's team stood ninth in the contest at the Plowing Match near Brantford, Tweety.ene county tenths com- peted. Harold Walsh, Wingham has bought the general store of As I may possibly have observed before, I married the perfect woman, but you must understand that even the most priceless gem is, not without its flaw, My wife is A Planner.. I have this recurring dream in which I win the million-dollar prize in the Quebec Lottery. I rush home, carrying the whole thing in small, beautiful bills. "Come!" I cry, "Leave everything! We're sailing immediately for Tahiti on the 90 foot sloop I have just purchased!" Then I hear my wife saying, "Oh, I can't go for days and days, I have to arrange for someone to water the lawn and I have to cancel my dentist appointment and write a note for the Milkman and terminate our subscription to the paper and ..," This is more than just a bad dream. If we're ever given five minutes notice that some foreign power is going to drop a hydrogen bomb on us, my wife will start dusting so that the place will be tidy when we leave. I came home from the office once some years ago, fed up with my job and with the sodden predictability of my days and I said, "Drop everything! You and I are going to 'France for a bicycle tour.'" (I had just been reading about it, idealized to the point Of idio& iti a travel "Wdndetfull triYWife said,t"NoW let's sit dbivn and' plan',it." So, God knows how many years later, we're still discussing what make of bike to buy. Now in many ways this is a good thing. I am the type who is prone to obey any impulse, Spontaneity to me is the dressing on the salad of life. So I've been lucky, I suppose, to have someone around to cool me down, If I had married a woman of similar bent I would have (a) 'goneg broke on a Chinchilla ranch; (b) died of bronchitis on the damp house-boat that once seemed to me the ideal place to Voice of Reason 10 YEARS AGO Oct. 22, 1964 From our early files • • • • • • • The Jack Scott Column •• 111111 UM Charles Hopper, Belgrave, and will take possession early in November. Mrs. Ivan Hoggart and son Morris, Summerhill, have arrived in Scotland where they will visit the former's parents Mr. and Mrs. Forbes for a feW months. Bill McGuire, Goderich Township has sold the Galpin farm to Mr. Mote of the Hayfield Road. Mr. and Mrs. Walter Westlake were surprised on •Sacurday night when their daughter, Mrs. Merton Merner entertained immediate relatives in honour of their thirtieth wedding anniversary. John Mcliveen is spending a well-earned rest at the home of his sister, Mrs. William Williams, Clinton, after retiring from the C.N. Railway, Clinton's new asphalt pavement is just about com- pleted and it has made quite a change in the appearance of the old town, Miss Mabel Rathwell has sold 'her house on Princess St. East, occupied by P.A. Plaskett, to Samuel -Jordan, father of Morley Jordan, local grocer. Clifford Holland had the misfortune to lose the tip of his second finger while,working on the farm of P. Lobb. T. White presented the produce booth of the bazaar for the hospital with a cabbage weighing 16 pounds. Mr. and Mrs. Harry Charlesworth and daughter, Miss Ellen, have returned from Menomonie, Wisconsin, Mr, and Mrs. Walter Malt are visiting their daughter, Mrs.. IvIetwan, Kincardine, This is the last issue that Will he published of the New Era, W.H. Kerr and Son, who pur. vivisect the paper ill years ago from Robert Holmes, now of 50 YEARS AGO Oct. 30, 1924 While the L.H. and B. train was coming down from Blyth on Wednesday afternoon of last week, it struck a cow with little damage done because of a con- venient cattle guard, Toronto, have sold the paper to the Clinton News-Record, of which G.E. Hall is the proprietor. Mr. Hall plans to combine the two papers, so that in the future only one will be published in Clinton. H,B. Kerr is having his house at the corner of William and Victoria Streets sided. Miss Kathleen Livermore has returned to her duties as a nurse-in.training in Wingham Hospital after spending her vacation at the home of her parents, Mr. and Mrs. James Livermore, Miss Rena Rickett has been relieving at the Post Office in Seaforth for a few days. 1 • a: theory, shared by,most „men-, Ahaemery,..little , , in• ir£e, is.; much fun when you're braced for Anticipation takes the edge off every new experience. Myself, I've been on the French roads so much in my imagination - all downhill, all sunny - that now it hardly seems worthwhile going. Some day, of course, it's going to ricochet on me. I'm going to get another of my pyrotechnic brain explosions. want to float on a raft to Peru or something. And she'll put on her hat and we'll go and the geraniums will die and the milk will pile up on the hack porch and I'll never live it down, live; (c) bought a glider with no place to fly it; (d) entered an attractive deal with a fellow dreamer to breed garter snakes for the making of hand-bags - and so on down the alphabet.. Hundreds - nay, thousands - of times my wife's level voice has drawn me back from the abyss of following a whim and I bless her for it. You know what happened to the Chinchilla market. Yet I've 'been wondering if this isn't perhaps a failing of women generally. They've 'such a passion for tidyness, haven't they? When they're going to have a baby, fdr instance. What do they worry about? The pain? The chances of something going wrong? The sex of the child? Oh, no, They worry about packing a becoming nightgown for the delivery. Or this business of getting a last-minute invitation to some big party and not being able to go because she "hasn't a thing to wear." It's so common that it's a standard joke in the funny papers. There's no point" in arguing about it. That's the way they are. Without the proper front, without planning for it, nine out of 10 women either don't go or - worse - they go Miserably. 75 YEARS AGO Oct. 26, 1899 Farmers around Belgrave are busy with their. root crop just now, which is reported as being very 'good. Apple packing and threshing is now nearly wound up for the season. These two industries have given lucrative em- ployment to a large number of men and boys. Some of the farmers are com- plaining about their apples. It seems that since the apple market has taken a drop some of the apple-buyers will not pack the apples at the price agreed on. This does not seem fair since the buyers will not give the farmers any more if ap- ples go up. Mr. and Mrs. P.R. Hodgens returned Tuesday from their western visit. They visited many cities and points of in- terest while away but Mr. Hodgens appears to be more impressed by the opportunities which Winnipeg affords than any other city. "II S IT AN C Y" Dear Editor: In your issue of September fifth you published a "reprint" of a cartoon from the Edmon- ton JOURNAL depicting 'hesitancy' insofar as the Mediterranean 'situation was concerned on the part of the UN. In the United Nations Organization we have another instance of international plan- ning on a world scale, but by a' number of participants larger than ever before. However, the question persists, Is such overall world planning by men proving successful or offering any hope of success? The United Nations Organization investigates and publishes data on the deadly pollution of air, sea and land. Also, on the spread of death- dealing diseases and epidemics; on famines and droughts. It finds itself, however, unable to cope with the worsening situation. It takes note of the Regional Treaty Organizations of Communist and anti- Communist political block out- side the UN, but it cannot in- terfere with these international, groups. So human confidence in the 'UN weakens, and political leaders continue to depend on their regional alliances and upon strong military stockpiles as the best deterrents to a nuclear war. Promises of politicians to lay a foundation for a "generation of peace" sound hollow. People are imperilled not only by international com- plications. They are afflicted by domestic problems and trouble, turmoil and anarchy, and the hardness of living in their own countries. What is the trouble? Why is it that with all the feverish and intensive planning and talking of preventive measures, the world situation does not better itself? Where does the fault lie? What is the error in all this human planning? What has been left out of consideration? itect::Aie °rite Ould like to know. In all the aforementioned cases of national and inter- national planning, even thougt many of the planners profess religion, there is an overlooking of the Creator of the heavens and the earth and the sea, an ignoring of His counsel, as con- tained in His Word, the Bible. A United Nations Organization with, its Security Council and its Disarmament Conference is not God's way for unification of all mankind in a warless and secure earth. (Matthew 6:9,10) Sincerely yours C.F. Barney Clinton, Ontari 'Stopping is controlled by Inci tion. When a vehicle is travelling over an uneven sue face, tines spend part of th time off that, surface, thu lessening the amount of frictio and thereby increasing th stopping distance considerabl in some instances, states th Ontario Safety League. Ninve-fleeerd 'seders ere en couraged to norms% Mel opinions In Niters to the however, out* opinions do SOCOSSAIrlif reprosont t opinions at the News4Isoord. Pseudonym nay be used letter writers, but no letter Le published unless It can *MOW by phone. Uneven surfaces