Loading...
Clinton News-Record, 1974-12-12, Page 4Harder Memboo, Canadian Community Newspaper Association Alorntsw, entwle Weakly sow asseekaten PILE CLINTON NEW ERA Esioblished 1865 A molgomu led 1924 THE HURON NEWS-RECORD Established 1881 Published every Thursday at Clinton, Ontario Editor - James E. Fitzgerald General Manager, J. Howard Aitken Second Class Mall ritillzaori no. 01111 SUBSCRIPTION MAUS: CANADA 1110.00 ' U.S.A. 1111.110 SINGLE COPY leo ; HUB OP HURON COUNTY .e .tm pool OF RADA* IN eA1.A6A'` Editorial Comment A Canadian disgrace PAGE 4-,,CloINTON NEWS RECORD, THURSPAY,.DECEMBER 12, 1974 we get letters The recently released highway fatality repoil for 1973 by the ministry of tran- sportation and communications would suggest that accidents in Ontario are beginning to level Off. One might even conclude from the reported number of vehicles on the roads and the estimated miles travelled in this province last year that highway fatalities are on the decline. But the Ontario Safety League says it finds little statistical comfort in a declining mileage death rate when the toll of dead and injured human beings is high. Some 6,000 people lose their lives annually in Canada on our roads and highways. Almost one-third of this car- , nage takes place in Ontario. In recent months, ,government representatives have voiced various proposals that would assist in reducing what has become a national disgrace: the highway death toll. Commenting on Health Minister Marc Lalonde's vow to try reducing fatal car accidents in Canada, the Hamilton "Spectator" said in a November 4 editorial that it "sounded too familiar to be convincing." . Federal ministers spoke of road and automobile design and driver education more than five years ago and the slaughter continues unabated." "If Mr. Lalonde is made of the same stuff as the others who populate the cabinets in Ottawa and the provinces", the "Spectator" continues, "Canadians can expect some millions of tax dollars tossed into another inane slogan cam- paign, much highsounding blather about • automobile design, and the usual pom- pous drivel about not drinking and driving - all of it futile." in its November editorial, "Bus and Truck" magazine agrees. In referring to the Canada Safety Council's Safe Driving Week (Dec. 1 - 7) campaign, which is supported by the Ontario Safety League, all levels of government and many other organizations, editor Paul Ingram notes that such campaigns work only to a small degree. For this special week in 1973, "there were 76 traffic fatalities, which is little more than half that of an average week", Mr. Ingram points out. "Drive like you'd like everyone else to drive", is the theme for this year's SDW campaign. "Bus and Truck" states that, unfortunately, such campaigns "don't work for very long and by the time next year's SDW rolls around most drivers will have forgotten the message of this one." "Despite the efforts of others, and the exemplary record established in the U.S. during the past 11 months, some jurisdictions in this country refuse to recognize the phenomenon that has oc- curred south of the border, since the reduction of the speed limit to 44 mph. Instead, they prefer to find excuses for its existence (a 24 percent reduction in accident fatalities), by crediting the reduction to fewer cars on the road and (apparently) fewer miles travelled by everyone," "But. „ if exhorting drivers to con- serve fuel, coupled with a reduced speed limit, takes some cars off the road and reduces the mileage travelled by others, and reduces fatalities by some 24 percent - well, what's wrong with that... And if public opinion is one of the goVer- -nment's concerns, it looks as if a little courage is needed at the legislative level in this province." "Just think about it - a 24 percent reduction in fatalities and one of our jurisdictions doesn't want to try and follow the example. Surely it can't be because they don't want cars taken off the road, or because they don't want to conserve energy, or because they don't want to save lives. Then it must be because Ontario is running scared 'on this issue." The "Spectator", in its editorial, suggests that "the all-too-obvious danger incompetent drivers present to law-abiding motorists and pedestrians isn't serious enough, in official eyes, to warrant effective protection." 'Governments already have the power to cut the traffic slaughter but they don't use it. They could give police enough personnel to enforce traffic laws and they could permanently cancel the licen- ces of repeated offenders." "They could make traffic violation penalties fit the crime; the fool who drives recklessly in a heavy vehicle is just as dangerous as a maniac with a machine gun, yet our laws regard wild driving as mildly naughty. Most traffic of- fences are rated as 'minor'." The Ontario Safety League would take the "Spectator a step further. Driving is a privilege - not a right! And the ability to obtain a driver's licence should reflect 'that. The "Spectator" concludes:. "If gover- nments began removing bad drivers from the roads across Canada, the num- bers could run into hundreds of thousands - most of them eligible to vote. Dangerous drivers collectively pack far more political weight than the dead who, after all, don't vote at all." The Ontario Safety League believes the time for talking and study commit- tees is over. The public should demand action! Being alone makes you realize, for one thing, how much you are conditioned by society and how much value, true or false, that you place on getting along with other people. On the debit side, it brings out the Neanderthal man in me. I retrogress almost immediately I eat beans cold from the can. I keep a supply of wood precisely calculated to last just as long as I am going to need heat and no more. My housekeeping consists Two day hermit I'm not much of a one for doing things alone. Seems to me that almost everything in life, the good and the bad, is more fun or easier to bear if it's shared. Still, I think there are times when being alone may be a kind of therapy. Once or twice a year, as I've been doing this week, I get away by myself for a couple of days and give all my grouches and frustrations and worries, such as they are a good airing. It is a form of escape, I guess. Certainly to be beyond the mail man and the telephone and the newspapers and The Flying Nun and the bill collectors and the rest is at least temporarily tranquilizing. About the only way I can be reached at this woodsy her- mitage is by a personal visit, but since they're rare I can count on being by myself. This escape, of course, can also mean a period of reflection and provides a perspective so that you may look down from a great height,. as it were, at what suddenly- seem to be some rather thin troubles. Like those aerial maps that reduce mountains to ant-hills, things seem very much dif- ferent from the reaches of solitude. NOW TM) 15 WHAT I CALL SOUND FEDERIAL-PRoViNC1AL CoVERATIoN—YoM GoT THE GALosliES AND t' Got THE UMMELLA The Jack Scott Column - EN - From our early files ...• • • • entirely of doing up the zipper of my sleeping bag. This I suppose, is a form of revolt against the fundamental conformity of communal living and probably explains why recluses are not only eccentrics, but almost always downright unsanitary. On the credit side, I find a sort of heightened response to the things in nature that ordinarily go unnoticed. Though I am a sloth at home I'm up with the dawn when there's no need of it, prowling the back roads or hiking back into the valley. To observe wild life and vegetation without the confirmation or response of a comrade somehow makes them seem a personal discovery and more to be cherished. Thoreau said, "The perception of beauty is a moral test," but Thoreau was a man who elected to walk alone and, without distractions, the beauty of nature is inescapable, perceptive or not. There is, too, the transient luxury of being responsible only to yourself. In our day-to-day living, as you realize only when you draw back from it, we're like marionettes worked by the strings of the conventions and duties of the group. At least half our actions _ and more than half our words are involuntary. When a man awakens in the morning his day stretches before him like a narrow bridge. I suppose that accounts for the pleasurable feeling of awakening in solitude and saying to yourself, "I can do anything I want to do today, anything." The fact that there's practically nothing that needs doing only adds to the joy of it. • 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 MN be published unless It can be verified by phone. Dear Editor, Every year, my job in Canada becomes a little bit. harder, in spite of - or perhaps because of - our vast technological achievements. Yeti see, each year, I receive a larger number of heart- breaking letters from young folk who say they could manage without Christmas presents if only I could send Daddy back. My research shows that Daddy • was in a fatal traffic accident, and it is very hard for a little one to understand how it is Daddy can go off to work, fishing, shopping etc. right as rain, but never come back. Through the pages of your paper, may I ask for the help of all the drivers in your coverage area? We have just come through Safe Driving Week in Canada, and everybody has seen a barrage of safety messages. Please remember them, not only through the hustle and bustle of this holiday season, but all through 1975. Then, I will be better able to concentrate on finding the kind of gifts that make up the more routine requests from our children. Let's have no more sad, desperate faces at Christ- mas time. Wishing you and yours a very merry and safe Christmas! Ho Ho Ho, Santa Claus Falls causing serious injury and often death, don't happen just at the plant, they also or- cur in the home. Falls can lie prevented. St. John Ambulance knows how.,„po not ,polish,your floors so highly that they become slippery and hazardous. Wipe up spills immediately. Keep stairways clear of clutter. Fasten loose floor boards and tiles. Wear shoes or slippers; It's election time again About this time of year, every year, all sorts of queer things come creeping out of the woodwork and the underbrush and proceed to create a storm in a saucer. I'm referring to municipal elections. It begins back in October, when the local paper starts writing trenchant editorials urging people to offer themselves for public office. This is somewhat like urging people to offer themselves as volunteer guinea pigs to see whether or not the guillotine is working. But any weekly editor worth his salt will be able to demand the paradox of "new blood" and "solid experience" on the town council or whatever. These editorials have almost no effect whatever, except to fan tlie tiny ember in the oc- casional guy or gal who has a secret ambition to be called "Councillor" or "Alderperson," or even "Your Worship," and to be on the "inside;' helping "shape the future of our community." The the papers in a creditable effort to drum up some interest, begin to interview the incum- bent members of town council, public utilities commission, board of education, and dog catcher, to find out who is going to stand again for office. This probing also has meagre results, at first. Most of those asked reply that they haven't yet made up their minds, or that it's time for someone else to take on their exhausting Work load, or that they have found the work very rewarding, but Behind this smokescreen of generalities, the potential candidate, in many cases, really means, "I'll see how the wind blows"; or, "Yeah, I'll stand again, if . I'm assured a seat by ac- clamation"; or "Wait till I see how tough my op- position is." This is not so in all cases, to be fair. Some small-town politicians have a rare combination of honesty and pugnacity, love a fight, and come out swinging at the bell. These are often elected by acclamation, because they scare off potentially excellent candidates who don't want to become involved in a verbal donnybrook. But behind all the smoke of municipal elec- tions, there is, in most cases, very little fire, Oc- casionally, there is a stand-up slugging match in which personalities, mud, and other such items are slung about with reckless abandon, while the public looks on with glee. As a rule, however, the people elected are chosen for public office not because they are honest, fearless crusaders for the taxpayer, but because they are not quite as bad as the alter• natives who are running for the joh, Many a man, or woman, has been elected because nobody else wanted the dirty job. And many a strong and capable candidate has been defeated for these very qualities. He has trod on too many toes in an effort to get some action. More and more women are running for various municipal offices, which is a very good thing in- deed. Women can be quite ruthless when it comes to getting things done, and are much less apt to sit around and bicker or gossip, when on a committee, than are men. Then there is a certain loathsome type who wants to be elected so that he or she can go to meetings. They usually have a rotten home life. They love meetings. They adore points of order, addenda, gnd amendments to the motion. They make a brave show of voting against all motions except their own, which are usually so silly, they are almost never passed. Then there are the strong, silent types, They are often elected because their strength and silence are regarded as depth and wisdom, when they are really just stupidity. These pepple say, at meetings, "Well, I'm not sure as I understand all the ins-and-outs of this here thing, but I'll go along with, the majority." Even some young people - 18 and 19 year olds - are getting into the act. I'm not too happy about this. From what I've seen of this age group, including my own kids, I don't par- ticularly want them to have anything to do with spending my money. And of course there are a few people, very few, who are interested in a supplement to their in- come. It's surprising how much a town councillor drags down in these inflationary times. That's why I got into the business. Oh, yes, I was on town council for two years. Unopposed. Acclamation. With two mortgages and two kids, that $75 a year pay as councillor looked mighty good, Each year, I had a moment of terror when the committees were being struck. I was in a panic in case they put me on the Public Works Commit- tee. I didn't know a pot-hole from a catch-basin, After two years, I resigned owing to a conflict of interest, I was interested in being a good coun- cillor, My wife was interested in having me home at least one evening a week. As in most of our conflicts, she won. In closing, I salute all the people I haven't mentioned in this column: the dedicated, hard- working, self-sacrificing people who were elected to office and have to put. Up for the next year with the whining and grumbling of the rest of us. Hang in there, We need von. 10 YEARS AGO Dec. 10, 1964 Clinton's new mayor, Donald E. Symons, collected more than 70 percent of the votes cast for the position of mayor, defeating W.J. Miller. There are four other new faces: Mr. Arm- strong, Gordon Lawson, John McFarlane and Cameron Proc- tor all on the council. Mr. and Mrs. Clayton Hodgins of Holmesville have been elected to the chief positions of their respective Orange Lodge associations in Clinton. Mr. Hodgins was elec- ted Worshipful Master of the Loyal Orange Lodge 710 in elections held at th4 Lodge last month. Mrs. Hodgins was in- stalled as Worthy Mistress of the Clinton Ladies Orange Benevolent Association at a meeting in Clinton Tuesday night. Two new members were initiated into the Clinton Kin- smen Club at the organization regular meeting, Tuesday, December 1. The new members are Dave Kelley and Cam Ad- dison, Mr. Addison is a teacher. Mr. Kelley is assistant accoun- tant at the Clinton Branch of the Bank of Montreal. Charles M. Haply, son of Mr. and Mrs, H. M. Haply of Stanley Twp,, recently received his Ph.D. degree from the University of Toronto where he is a lecturer in philosophy, political science and related subjects, The bewhiskered red-nosed symbol of the Christmas season visited Clinton Saturday on his annual rounds of all towns, villages, cities and hamlets around the country, Santa Claus, feature of the Clinton Retail Merchants Committee- sponsored Santa-Claus parade, was paraded through town on a wagon driven by Aubrey Toll of Blyth. 25 YEARS AGO Dec. 15, 1949 First skating in Clinton Lions Arena this season took place Friday evening last, but skating and a hockey practise were popular last evening. Making ice has been made much easier through the rolling in of a solid mud floor during the fall. In the midst of an early win- ter there was the inevitable "big thaw" over the weekend when the mercury went as high as 58 degrees on Monday and the snow practically all disap- peared. However, colder weather has again set in and there is every possibility of a white Christmas. Much poultry has been marketed this past week for the Christmas market and buyers state that it is in excellent con- dition and in a high state of finish. The new concrete span over the Bayfield River on King's Highway 21 was formally opened Thursday afternoon last in a short ceremony at the bridge's centre, Hon. George Doucett, Ontario Minister of Highways, members of the Legislature for Huron and reeves of Stanley and Goderich Townships (which are joined by the bridge) took part in the ceremony. Mr. and Mrs. Edgar Trewar- tha, Holmesville had their granddaughter, Ethel Miner Fordwich, as a guest during the Boxing Day, Tuesday Decem- bWeerk2. 27 will be marked as a public holiday in Clinton., 50 YEARS AGO Dec. 18, 1924 George C, Middleton has received first class honours in his first year Pharmacy examinations. R,G, Smith has been making ice regularly at the Clinton Arena and hopes to open business on Friday evening, The Kitty Band will be in at- tendance. Dr. Foster Copp has been travelling through Mexico lec- turing on insulin and holding clinics and has now returned to LaJolla, Calif., for the opening of the new Metabolic Clinic of Scripp's Memorial Hospital with which he has been associated. Mr. T. Corliss is considering himself a very lucky man. He has featured in two motor ac- cidents withing the last week, neither one being his fault, but in neither case was he injured. The high winds on Sunday blew down the smoke stack at the Clinton Knitting Co. This stack standing 40 feet high, has been partially replaced, but the factory now is taking its Christ- mas vacation. Mrs. T.J. Watt left yesterday for Brandon, Man., where she will spend some months with her sister, Mrs. S. Booth. The Commencement exer- cises in connection with the Clinton Collegiate were held in the town hall on Thursday and Friday evenings last, the whole town and a good part of the surrounding district turning out to witness them. Mr. Leonard Weir has sold his farm just off the Base Line to George Colclough who will take possession shortly. 75 YEARS AGO Dec. 14, 1899 Two families have moved into Clinton recently. Mr. Hayes from Seaforth has rented the house on Station Street next to Mr. R. McLeod's and Mr. McConnell from Blyth, who has rented the Brownlee place on Victoria Street. During the wind storm of Tuesday, the smoke stack at the elevator was blown down and smashed to smithereens. The snow on Friday night last, being in that soft con- dition favorable to the manufacture of snowballs, the opportunity was seized by a number of our citizens, young and old, for indulging in the pastime of snowballing. On account of the very strong wind on last Tuesday, the Prin- cipal of Varna School received word to dismiss the school as the plaster is not in the safest condition and no risk is to be run as the school is getting somewhat old and shaky. Bayfield streets are now in total darkness except on such nights as Luna sees fit to pity the poor way-faring public, Jowett Bros. having stopped the lights pending a decision of the council to take more lights which it, is hardly likely to do. Mr. Geo Ferguson has retur- ned home from Manitoba. Geo. looks well. We think the coun- try must have agreed with him. 100 YEARS AGO Dec. 17, 1874 The Royal Hotel in this town, lately owned and conduc- ted by Mr. T. Potts, has been sold to Mr. C. Cole, of this place who entered in possessions on Wednesday and will in future conduct the same. Mr. Hale started for London yesterday morning on business connected with the L,H. and B.R.R., having been telegraphed for by the Board there, which evidences an in- tention to put the road under contract recently. Mr.'Alex Innis of Stanley has sold his three entire colts - one imported and two Canadian bred - to Mr. John Avery, o4She London Road, Stanley. The trustees of No. 6 Hullet, finding that the increase of at- tendance .at school necessitated the erection of a more com- modious school house, have given a contract to Cooper and McKenzie, of Clinton to erect a school house of the most modern style. ar and Spice/By Bill Smiley