The Exeter Times-Advocate, 1969-02-06, Page 4The great difference in payments
received by various persons for their
work was vividly pointed out in two
articles in last week's edition.
One news item explained that the
Huron County director of education is
to be paid $27,000 per year for his
duties. The second story indicated that a
10 cent an hour pay boost had brought
the hourly rate to $2.00 for regular
employees of the Stephen Township
road crew.
If you figure that out closely, it
means that the director of education is
getting a little more than the total that
would be received by FIVE men working
for Stephen Township.
The situation becomes more
exaggerated when it is noted that the
director of education is actually a public
servant and as such part of his salary is
paid by those five township employees.
In that particular example, the
difference in wages appears ridiculous.
However, taking a look from a
different view, the disparity vanishes,
The new director of education heads a
system in which some of his "staff"
members receive annual salaries around
the $17,000 to $18,000 mark.
It's only natural that the "boss"
should get paid more and so the $27,000
figure is not unrealistic perhaps.
Listing one other example, we note
that on the basis of a 48-hour week, the
Stephen Township roadmen will get a
boost of just under $250 per year. Just a
few days prior to them getting that hike,
county council approved a $1,500 a year
increase for one of their road staff,
engineer Jim Britnell.
If you figure that out, it means
Britnell received a raise equal to a total
of SIX Stephen Township road
employees.
Oddly enough, two members of
Stephen Township council were involved
in the decision which resulted in a pay
raise of over nine percent for a man
already making $16,000 per year and a
few days later helped make the decision
giving a raise of just over five percent to
men making less than $5,000.
While we use the foregoing people
as examples, we do not mean to unfairly
single them out. Many similar examples
could have been used to indicate that
wages received by various people—and
approved by various people—appear to
indicate a situation that borders on the
ridiculous.
Many factors enter the picture.
First there is supply and
demand . . . the responsibilities
assumed by those in various
positions . . . and the educational
background required for different jobs.
Nevertheless, it is one of the major
problems facing this capitalistic society.
The disparity breeds unrest, social
problems, welfare problems and many
other situations that demand a solution
be found.
It is a problem that we fear could
be extended by regionalism and is a
factor that should be carefully
considered by those promoting the move
to bigness.
It has already shown itself in
county administration and we could
offer one final example; that being that
the new business administrator for
Huron schools receives more than double
that received by any of the present high
school administrators, and we suspect
twice as much as many of the members
of the board which hired him.
It makes Mr. Trudeau's "just
society" appear a long way off.
The age of protest
It may be "the age of protest" but
in most cases it is "the age of the
protesters" which is the most appalling
feature of the whole unfortunate
business.
During the last week high school
students in many centres throughout
Ontario have been protesting an Ontario
government decree that classes for
secondary school students will continue
until June 13 — a matter of ten extra
days.
Young people are claiming "unfair
treatment" by Education Minister
William B. Davis who has been accused
of contributing to "student
unemployment" which the students say
is inevitable this summer due to the
longer school year. Summer work and
jobs for graduates, they fear will be
snapped up by others not tied to school
desks because of the new regulations.
Protests have taken the form of
absenteeism, marches, walk-outs, sit-ins
and placard parades. At one location
Education Minister Davis was even hung
in effigy in the school yard.
We are pleased to note that South
Huron District High School students are
not among those who have chosen to
protest the department of education
edict, and we sincerely hope this kind of
behaviour will not become popular with
the young people of Exeter and district.
It is generally agreed that many
protests are staged simply for the
adventure of rebelling against authority,.
Though the complaints may seem real
and justifiable, it is actually protest for
the sake of protest, a modern product of
adolescence.
With this fact in mind, it is difficult
to substantiate youthful arguments that
the legal voting age should be lowered to
18 years. The Ontario government, the
present object of the protesters' scorn,
may choose to reconsider a proposal to
change the laws regarding voting age.
About that 'generation gap'
GILLETTE SUPER STAINLESS REG..75
Heating Pad IDA ELECTRIC
S have Lotion HAI KARATE AFTER REG. 1.75
Egg Cream Shampoo U1132Ng R E G .99
Tame Cream Rinse REG. 1.19
Vita -Diet MULTIPLE VITAMINS REG. 2.69
Blades
PLEATED Accordion Pleats
SKIRTS Excluded 69 ' TROUSERS 49 c
FEBRUARY
SALE
ENDS SAT., FEB. 15
REG, 4.95 $3.99
$1.44
834
884
$2.39
594
1.29 914
1.44 974
Eno fruit Salts
Contac C Capsules
Exeter 235-1070
W ILSON'S
JEW ELLERY
AND GIFTS
MAIN ST, EXETER
EN ICAR
WATCHES
Beautiful Time Pieces
SOLD THE WORLD OVER
Pleasing You Pleases Us
.M.Mv4NRE:
HUNTLEY'S DRUGS
Our Exeter Depot
Opening Specials
FOR ALL OUR CUSTOMERS
Continue Until Feb. 8
UNPLEATED One or Two Kick #3 9 •r SLACKS 49r4 LADIES'
SKIRTS Pleats Accepted
IF YOU WISH
FREE
Pickup and Delivery Phone
JIM HENNESSEY
235-0360
I-or Fast, Courteous Service
. . . Or Visit Our Store Next to the Library
COIN LAUNDRY OPEN EVERY DAY
From 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. for Your Convenience
Waldron's Grand Bend
CLEANERS and LAUNDERERS
Class
community
nere3paptr3
Published Each Thursday Morning
at Exeter, Ontario
Authorized as Second Class Mail,
Post Office Dep't, Ottawa,
and for Payment of Postage in Cath
Paid in Advance Circulation,
September 30, 1968, 4,520
SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Canada $5.00 Per Year; USA $7.00
frA
What's a man worth?
It's the thought that counts
eadt as ceptatelzoote iteukiat
This week, I showed my
students a film about the
much-vaunted "Generation
Gap," and then had them write
an essay on it. The gap, not the
film.
Coincidentally, on that very
day I received two letters that
gave me new thoughts about the
"gap".
One was from my old high
school math teacher. I don't
mean that he was old. It was just
a long time ago.
It was a pleasant shock to
hear from him. The pleasure
came from his report that he was
alive and well and curling and
skiing. The shock was the
realization "that the gentleman
we called "Old Flem" is only
about 22 years older than I am.
Strangely (as things so often
happen in this world), I was
talking about him in school that
very day. The kids and I were
talking about corporal
punishment, strapping, slapping,
the whole business,
I told them about how Miss
NNVZ,vree.540- '5att
Times Established 1873
Liza McCullough used to break
pointers over my head regularly,
and Miss Mary Walker used to
strap me and my young brother
and a kid called Gee-Gee Relyea
three times a week, whether we
needed it or not. And we liked
them. And how Mr. Cosgrove,
our science teacher, a man of
gigantic proportions and the
patience of a saint, used to
sweep two of us off our stools
with one cuff. And we never
held it against him. An how my
old math teacher, at a point
when even the angels would be
tried, used to give us a punch,
with two knuckles, just below
the ribs. And we liked and
respected him, when we got our
breath back.
Those people got a rotten
deal, financially and socially,
from the community. But at
least they could clobber a kid,
and that's worth a lot of money.
If you even shake your finger at
some rotten little hoodlum
nowadays, he either turns out to
be a barrack-room lawyer, or
else he's too big to clip on the
ear, because he could eat you
alive, and would.
My other letter, the same
day, was a chatty, friendly one
from one of my last year's
students, now at university,
enclosing a parody of
Hemingway she thought I'd
enjoy. How's that? Three
generations, and no discernible
gap. Maybe it's because none of
us are teenagers any more. "Old
Flem" would like "Young Ruth,
and I'd enjoy talking to both of
them.
Well, to go back to the
beginning, some of the essays
assigned were revealing. One
blames the gap on age. Another
says it's been there since
Shakespeare, which is true.
Others say it's been blown out
of all proportion by the news
media, seeking for conflict and
the sensational.
Another says: "It is just the
intense fear children have
mobilized in their parents. And
agel'OX
Friday was the better half's
birthday, and similar to the
practice of most area males, we
had spent considerable time
trying to think up some
appropriate gift to suitably mark
the occasion.
Finally, we stumbled upon
the idea of providing her with
one of her favorite delicacies —
fish.
Of course, just to .drive down
to the nearest store to purchase
some fish would hardly be
appropriate. Anyone could do
that!
So, out of proper respect for
the occasion, we decided we
would once again battle the
elements and take off on our
annual fishing trip to Lake
Simcoe to return with an ample
supply of white fish.
Readers who recall our report
of last year's outing will realize
full well that it would take
something along the line of the
wife's birthday to get yours
truly back there again.
So again, we tumbled out of
bed to get ready for our 3:45
a.m. departure with •companions
Bob Fletcher, Ray Cottle and
Graham Arthur.
While arising at this hour
leaves one's mentality open to
question, the weather prompted
even greater ammunition for
some friends.
As you will recall, it had
rained hard Wednesday and
Thursday and most of this area
resembled a giant lake. We were
told by more than one person
that planning a trip out on an
ice-covered lake was complete
madness.
We had some thoughts along
that line ourself, but we had
been assured by Vic Webb that
Lake Simcoe was still covered
with a safe coating of ice,
although it was a little sloppy on
top.
Our arrival indicated this was
a slight understatement. From
the shore, all we could see was
water, although Vic again
assured us that there was in fact
ice under it.
Due to past experiences, our
cohorts decided against going
onto the ice in the two-ton
Bombadier, and so we loaded up
our gear and started the voyage
on Ski-doo.
We had travelled only a few
feet when it was realized full
well that a Sea-doo would have
been much more appropriate.
Water on top of the ice
measured anywhere from two to
of course, fear of the unknown
is the most powerful fear in
man."
The same one says: "Fear has
advanced to prejudice, and
prejudice is a deadly emotion to
deal with. Deadly because it is
composed of blind hate between
strangers. And hate is a
policeman's face as he confronts
a barefoot girl, or a principal's
face as he confronts a
long-haired boy."
And on: "Then there are the
adults who, posing as shocked
and indignant, eat up such
propaganda as "Wild in the
Streets," search newspapers for
teenage orgies on LSD, thrust
mimeographed sheets of
drug-addiction symptoms, and
systematically punch out words
such as "job," "college,"
"goals," "money," and
"future."
This essay ends with the
suggestion that, while this gap is
not as serious as racial or
religious prejudice, it is closing
people's minds. Adults fear a
revolution, but the young
people, "to my knowledge have
not even thought of such a
thing. However, getting stronger
and stronger every clay, is the
young people's urge just to be
left alone. This tendency could
be just as disunifying as a
revolution."
Glad to hear from you, "Old
Fleur," and you, "Young Ruth,"
And all I can say is "PhooeY to
you, Kim Smiley," Whose
opinions, fragmented, appear in the quotation marks ybove,
six inches, and it appeared only
a matter of time before we
would become bogged down
under these conditions.
Graham and Ray managed to
tip their machine over on a
rough knoll of ice, but
fortunately, they were lucky
enough to pick a spot where the
water was not very deep and
they escaped with only a bit of a
splashing.
Even at that, they weren't
any wetter than Bob and yours
truly, as the "wake" got a little
rough at times.
Despite fears to the contrary,
we finally arrived at our
destination at a cluster of fishing
huts at 8:00 a.m. and
commenced our eight-hour
fishing stint.
Things started off with a
bang, as Bob landed two white
fish and yours truly hauled in
whopper (our description only)
in just over an hour.
From that point on, things
changed for the worst. In the
next seven hours we managed
about three bites and no fish,
and needless to say, those
became very long hours as we sat
there staring at that crazy stick,
waiting for it to take a slight dip
to signal that a fish was
attempting to make off with the
bait some hundred feet below.
We tried everything to
encourage the fish to feed under
our hut. Bob even tried his
combination of corn and
spaghetti, which a fishing
directory had indicated was a
sure-fire cure to entice fish.
However, this failed too,
although we suspect that the
pipe filter he dropped into the
hole was probably the factor
which kept fish away from our
hut.
Graham and Ray managed
seven before we started the trip
back through the water to shore.
50 YEARS AGO
Mr. Wilbur Martin has
purchased a building lot on the
corner of Albert and John
Streets from C. B. Snell and
expects to build a residence
thereon.
Sunday evening a memorial
service was conducted in Caven
Presbyterian Church in honor of
Pte John D. Laing, son of Mr.
and Mrs. Thomas Laing, Exeter,
whose death in Belgium was
reported recently.
• The Tom Marks Opera Co.
played to a fair crowd in the
Opera House last Wednesday
evening:
Sunday was Candlemas Day.
The bear would have no
difficulty in seeing his shadow as
the sun shone brightly all day,
According to the old saying we
are due for six weeks more
winter.
25 YEARS AGO
Eighty cords or four carloads
of wood arrived in Exeter
Monday and the demand was so
great that only part of the orders
received could be filled. The
wood was ordered from
Northern Ontario by the
municipal council.
The Exeter bowlers held their
annual meeting in the office of
B. M. Francis Monday evening.
G. W. Layton was elected
president,
An honor call bearing the
names of nineteen men and one
young lady who have enlisted in
the armed forces was unveiled
Sunday evening in the
Dashwood Evangelical Church.
The 70th anniversary, of the
establishment of Exeter's first
bank is being observed this week
by the local branch of the Bank
of Montreal.
Graham kindly donated one
of his to our grand total of one,
so we arrived home to present
the wife with a birthday present
of two lovely whitefish.
We had naturally hoped for
more, but after all, it's really the
thought — and not the gift —
that counts.
Our readers may be interested
to know that Vie Webb, who is
an authority on Lake Simcoe
reported that the weather
conditions actually made the ice
safer than what they would be
on a very cold day.
The ice becomes spongy on
warm days, but will not crack as
easily as it does on those days
when the mercury slips well
down the thermometer.
The thickness of ice varied
from a foot up to 20 inches in
spots and was quite safe,
although we wouldn't suggest
that anyone think that ice in this
area would be in the same
condition under similar weather.
About half a mile from shore,
there is the pressure break,
which allows the ice to expand
or contract, according to the
weather.
Last year, we recall there was
a gap in the ice, but this year it
was well covered over.
Vic reported that during the
past week, the ice had expanded
some 15 feet as the temperature
rose and the ice in the middle of
the lake had shoved its way
under the shore ice at the
pressure break.
Graham and Ray reported
that on one of the previous
occasions, the cold weather had
made the ice contract to such a
point that it was necessary to
walk over five-foot planks to get
across the pressure break, due to
the wide gap.
15 YEARS AGO
The first event of its kind in
Exeter, a social evening arranged
by the recreational council
assisted by the Pride of Huron
Rebekah Lodge for citizens 65
years of age or over was
attended by 60 Tuesday night.
Elmer D. Bell Q.C. was among
the officers of the 21st Royal
Canadian Artillery Field
Regiment who received
Coronation medals recently.
Alexia Lostell and Michael
Farrow were winners in the
public speaking contest
sponsored by Exeter Lions Club
at SHDHS Friday.
William Elsie of Grand Bend,
known to thousands of
holidayers as a merry-go-round
and restaurant operator suffered
a heart attack and died shortly
afterwards.
10 YEARS AGO
Huron's new MPP, C. S.
MacNaughton, Exeter, took his
seat in the Ontario Legislature
Wednesday afternoon being
introduced to the Speaker and
the members by Premier Frost.
Reeve Valentine Becker, I-lay
Township, was appointed to One
of Huron County Council's
heaviest posts for the coming
year at the January session at
Goderich. He is chairman of the
County Home committee which
proposes a $1,100,000 addition
to the Home this year.
Steps toward the first
expansion of Riverview Park in a
haif•century were taken by
Exeter Council Monday night
when it agreed to purchase two
and three-quarter acres west of
the present park.
Moving colored pictures of
Florida and the Canadian West
were shown by Mr. and Mrs,
Garnet Passmore, Sarnia, on the
occasion of the fifth birthday of
the Senior Citizens Club
Tuesday evening.
want
a home?
get a
mortgage
loan!
A high value first mortgage loan
on a residential or improved farm property
will cost you less than you think— and
you can arrange for convenient
payments to write it off.
If the property is a good risk
(and our experienced mortgage people Will
be glad to advise you), don't let money
stand in your way.
Just 'phone Victoria and Grey.
VG
14C7VRIA and GREY
TRUST COMPANY SINCE 18e9
SERVING CANADA'S BEST FARMLAND
C.W.N.A., O.W.N.A., CLASS 'A' and ABC
Publishers: J. M. Southcoft, R. M. Southcott
Editor — Bill Batten—Advertising Manager
Phone 235.1331
•
Advocate Established 1881 Amalgamated 1924