Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Times-Advocate, 1969-08-21, Page 4Consider others besides merchants Ever wonder what Huron County did to the federal government -- or more explicitly the department of national defence? Within the past three years the department has recommended the closing of both Canadian Forces Bases in this fair county and in so doing has lopped about $10,000,000 from the area economy and has terminated jobs for almost 1,000 civil servants. That has to be considered a disaster in our books, and there appears to be no question but what the federal government should feel obligated to make some amends. ' In the case of the closing of CFB Centralia, the federal authorities did very little in the way of filling the void, and fortunately the provincial government came to . the aid of this area and developed a highly successful educational and industrial complex. Federal authorities have already indicated they learned a few things from the mistakes involved in the closing down of Centralia and will attempt not to duplicate them at Clinton. They've already avoided one error in that the Clinton base will be phased out over a two-year period. Centralia was closed in about two months and the civilian employees were all dumped onto the labor market at once, making it difficult for many to get jobs before they were laid off. Those working at Clinton will have up to two years to find other employment and this should work to their advantage. 'IL defence department spokesman also indicated the department would not strip the base in the manner which was followed at Centralia. The procedures followed there were almost criminal. the two-year period also gives other parties interested in the Clinton property time to look at the facilities and make a decision, and at the same time the buildings will be occupied and will not deteriorate to the extent some did at Centralia. As stated, we think the federal government has an obligation to find ways of overcoming the economic loss through the closing of Clinton. We trust they will not have their thinking swayed too much by the merchants of Clinton, who apparently have little concern over the base closing. The merchants admit that only 20 percent of their business is related to personnel at the base, and we think they should have shown a bit more concern for the 300 civilian personnel at the base who depend upon the jobs for 100 percent of their livelihood. No doubt sonic of the merchants were thinking of the development of the former base at Centralia when they indicated little concern for their own base closing, They should note that Clinton does not have the buildings which would attract industry and finding a suitable tenant - or tenants for the Clinton site may be much more difficult. Put up or shut up A few weeks ago the mayor of Woodstock, James F. Hutchinson, was in hot water with Scotsmen the country over for objecting to one or a number of his residents practising their bagpipes in the evenings. Apparently as far as Mr. Hutchinson was concerned the sounds resulting from such jam sessions amounted to nothing more than a lot of noise. Being rather fond of the sound of the pipes, we were slightly irate at the mayor's actions at that time and still think he and his fellow bagpipe-haters were more than a little out of turn on that occasion. However last week Mayor Hutchinson was making a little noise on his o'wn. And what he was saying made a whole lot of sense. In a letter to the Canadian Institute on Pollution Control, Mr: Hutchinson said that every mayor and sewage-treatment engineer in Canada should have to drink the effluent from their treatment plants. If they were required to do' this, he said, "we would solve the pollution problem very quickly." In proof that he was not just talking, Mr. Hutchinson noted that when a new plant was opened in Woodstock last October, for the benefit of the press and television, and because the engineer who designed the plant assured him that he could do so, he drank a glass of effluent from the plant. Since he suffered no ill effects, he concluded that the city, which dumps the same effluent into the Thames River, is not contributing to pollution. How many other mayors and sewage-treatment engineers could make a `similar boast? And how many of them would have the guts to put Mr. Hutchinson's suggestion to the test? Last week at the premiers' conference there was some static about the need for conservation and the problem of pollution. Little was heard regarding any sort of concrete program. If each province would take Mayor Hutchinson's suggestion seriously, then we echo his comments, we would indeed solve the pollution problem very quickly. —LISTOWEL BANNER NOTICE TO: South Huron District High School Students • 1. All students will assemble in gymnasium 1 & 2 at 10:00 on Tues., Sept. 2. Buses will therefore follow the regular routes but will run one hour later than usual on Sept, 2. J.L. WOODEN, Principal Phone 262-5388 INSURANQE R.R. 1 Hensall 0 • WtV • olnv.M00:441mtvip LARRY R. JOHNSON Lumbermens Mutual representing Toronto 1 Casualty Company BELL LINES by W.W. Haysom your telephone manager a 00 • Many stores and businesses in Quebec and Ontario have a special 5-digit telephone number that lets you call them from out-of-town without Long Distance charge to you. It's called Zenith service and it's a handy thing to know about — especially during the summer months when so many of us are visiting away from our home base. If a company has Zenith service in a particular place you'll find their special Zenith number in their local ad or listed in the local telephone directory — just as though the company had a store or office right there in town. All you do is call the Long Distance Operator and give her the Zenith number; she'll connect you directly to the distant company. The company with the Zenith service will be billed for your call. It's like reversing the charges on a Long Distance call but it saves you the bother of making arrangements with the Operator. If you want to conduct some business with a firm that isn't located here in Exeter, Centralia or Crediton, check the London - Goderich telephone directory. You may find the company has Zenith service here in your town. If you're writing to us about your telephone service would you be sure to include your telephone number with your correspondence. Also, if for some reason you are un- able to include your payment card and account with your payment, would you jot your telephone number down on your cheque or money order? This will help ensure that your payment is reflected accurately in the proper. records. Often times we have difficulty establishing the identity of a customer who has mailed an item about his service to us. With the telephone number marked on the correspond- ence this problem is eliminated. • * Did you know that the requires about $6 million worth most of this is furnished by more, by the year 2000 — only will reach $20 million. Canadian telephone industry of plastic materials and that Canadian sources? Further- 31 years away — this figure ..t•••,‘ ' ' stt ciasg community newspapers Timis Established 1873 Advocate Established 1881 ereferZimes-Abtsocitfe Amalgamated 1924 SERVING CANADA'S BEST FARMLAND C.W.N.A., O.W.N.A., CLASS 'A' and ABC Publishers: J. M. Southcott, R. M. Southcott Editor — Bill Batten — Advertising Manager Phone 235-1331 Published Each Thursday Morning at Exeter, Ontario Second Class Mail Registration Number 0386 Paid in Advance Circulation, September 30, 1968, 4,520 SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Canada $6.00 Per Year; USA $8.00 11001111116114k. 0001111A PI * irari t. T-A photo. GOING IN BOTH DIRECTIONS AT ONCE — Most paved roads in the district seem to be the target lately of hot rodders trying to show the speed of their cars in more than one direction. In the above picture are shown skid marks of a vehicle that screamed to a stop and reversed its direction quite quickly. Those unexpected neighbors Where the action is! Writing a weekly column is something like being pregnant. You can't stop just because you're not in the mood. The typesetters are waiting, the editors are waiting, and the mailman waits for no man. I've written them in hotel rooms, on trains and on New Year's morning. I've written them with the raging 'flu, the galloping bursitis, and a head that felt more like a foot. And that explains why I'm tapping this out on Grandad's dining-room table on a beautiful hot summer afternoon, when any sane person who was on his holidays would be at the beach, or lying under a tree. Why didn't I do it yesterday? Because yesterday was a beautiful hot summer day and I fell asleep on a raft out in the lake, and my silly wife on shore was afraid I'd fall off and drown and she sent some nit out to wake me, and I was so mad at her presumption (she knows I could swim that lake with both hands tied behind me) that I wasn't in the mood for anything but a good domestic hassle. After a month of' relatives and friends and casuals dropping in, we were looking forward to a week of quiet living and "getting away from people' at Grandad's. It's an idyllic setting. A stone farmhouse, overlooking a beautiful bay. Lots of trees around and the nearest neighbor a quarter-mile down the road. Trouble is, it's in our old stamping-ground. Even though we slip in under cover of darkness, somebody spots us, and the tom-toms start drumming, "The Smileys are here." Then it's, "When are you going to drop out to the lake?" and "Come on up to the cottage for a few days," and "How about dropping around for a drink and a barbecue?" It's grand to be wanted. And all the old friends are so kind and hospitable that it's difficult to say no. So we don't. But it is definitely not conducive to the quiet, meditative life. It's murder on the physique, because old friends want to sit up and talk all night. And so do we. Daytimes are bad, too. When I go into town for some milk, it takes me three hours to get home. I have to say hello to Skin the barber, and Skinny the editor, and all the merchants I used to sell ads to and little old ladies who remember our children and ask embarrassing questions about what they're doing now, and then I bump into Don and Mac who are up at their cottages from the States. Desperately seeking refuge, I drop into the pub for a quiet, The summer season is slowly fading, but the last couple of weeks will provide plenty of excitement and fun for all area residents. The busy activities gets weekend with Festival, one ,popular feeds Ontario. Increased crowds come to our neighboring community each year and we trust this year will be no different. Wednesday night, the Lucan District Lions are planning a Biddulph Frolic at the Lions park in Lucan and the program appears to provide something for all ages. The action then swings to Exeter for a complete weekend starting off with Fun Day on Friday and then followed by the Saturday and Sunday performances at the local rodeo. Both these events have been top attractions in their own right for the past couple of years, and with them being held to coincide with each other this year, it may take most of us a week or two to get rested up. At any rate, area residents will be in the right place for the next couple of weeks, because this is where the action is. We've embarked on another of our personal anti-smoking campaigns, making this about the 10th time in the past three years we've set about to kick the habit. The campaigns have met with varying success, ranging from four months back in 1967 to about four hours on most of the other attempts. Most smokers indicate their main problem arises when they get into a party or with a group of smokers. All the good intentions soon fizzle when those about you are doing what you are actually longing to do. In other words, kicking the habit and getting over the need for the drug is more difficult when cold beer. Within ten minutes I'm talking deer-hunting with Teemy the well-driller and Murdoch the farmer and Don the car dealer and George the millionaire. It's rude to rush off with my milk when these hard-working chaps insist on one more round for old times sake. Just to add to the pastoral peace of our week, we brought Pip the kitten, and Grandad is in temporary charge of Screwy Louie, a spirited young poodle. However, it wasn't all bad. Perhaps the highlight for me was a trip "around the mail" with Grandad, who has been delivering rural mail for 40 years, since the days of the Model T in summer and the sleigh in winter. Ever drive a route with a rural mail carrier? It's an experience somewhat like your first ride on a big roller-coaster. He belts around those gravel back roads at a hell of a clip, knows every rib and vein in them, and takes corners and hills with the dash of a hell-driver. Each mail box is a personal challenge. He heads straight for the ditch and you cringe. Misses the ditch by two inches and winds up right beside the box, so that the mail can be popped in without leaving the car. Add to this the fact that Grandad has one arm, and that I'm a coward in a car, and you get the message, Must do it again some time. In about ten years, After this peaceful week, we've determined to rent a trailer and go off into the bush somewhere, with no telephones, no friends, and just squat there, licking our wounds. With our luck, the people in the next trailer will be our next-door neighbors, back home, others don't have the same goal. However, our latest attempt has been aided to an extent by the fact many of those with whom we associate are also trying to kick the habit. At a party attended by 15 last weekend, we were a bit surprised to note that four had given up the habit within the 4past few weeks. One other had given up cigarettes a year or so ago and turned to a pipe, and while experts indicate this is not as dangerous as cigarettes, we imagine this is only because half their time is spent in striking up matches. Of the remainder of the group, we note that six never did take up the smoking habit, leaving a total of only four who presently smoke. With that type of moral support it may just be that we can pull off a successful campaign this time. But then again, we know better than to count on such things. We're not too certain what stage county planning is at the • present time, but it is becoming apparent that several serious situations are arising within the area. Ribbon growth is extending by leaps and bounds in the nearby communities of Hensall and Lucan, and the situation has 50 YEARS AGO The service in Caven Church on Sabbath morning last was conducted by Mr. Hy. Strang, Mr. F.W. Gladman assisting. Mr. Strang preached an excellent sermon that was greatly appreciated by the congregation. Corp. Milton Pfaff was home from London Convalescent Hospital over the week-end. Mr. John Quirk, a former conductor on this branch of the G.T.R. called on friends in town on Thursday night. Mr. Quirk is now 87 years of age and moves, around with remarkable agility and is more sprightly than many a man thirty years his junior. Mr. George Snell landed a beautiful pike from the river west of here on Wednesday of last week, that was three feet long and weighed nine pounds. We did not see the fish but George vouches for the authenticity of both measurement and weight, so we are obliged to accept it as not being an exaggerated fish story. Pte. Fred McPherson, who enlisted in the West, has returned from overseas and is visiting his parents, Exeter North. 25 YEARS AGO When a barn in the heart of the business section of Exeter took fire about noon Monday, Aug. 14, Exeter's new fire-fighting equipment had its first real test and proved very effective. Messrs. Frank Creech and Harry Parsons, of the Times-Advocate staff spent a couple of days fishing at Silver Lake last week. Nancy Boyle, little daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Boyle while playing with a dog Friday of last week, was knocked down and bitten in the head, leaving a nasty scalp wound. Mr. J. L. Hendry, who has been appointed manager of the Bank of Montreal here, has arrived in Exeter to take over his new duties. He succeeds Mr. W. Floyd, who has been transferred to St, Thomas, existed to the east and south of Exeter for some time. Homes are being erected in rapid order south of Lucan and Hensall and those who envisage this area being built up all the way to London may not be too many years from seeing that prediction realized. The problems with this growth along our Highways is rather obvious. First of all, highway traffic will become dangerous in this built-up area if motorists are permitted to drive at normal highway speeds. We can imagine the furor one would encounter if it was suggested that the speed limit on Highway 4 be reduced to 30 m.p.h., but that's exactly what could happen if the highway resembles any other small village along the way. Providing services to the expanding areas will also be costly and most difficult in comparison to the cost involved in providing services to a compact area formed in normal town blocks. Planners have been pointing out the problems of ribbon growth for many years now, and the lack of action by municipal councils — especially in the rural areas — indicates one reason why --Please turn to Page 5 15 YEARS AGO Ted Sanders, George Wade, Gordon Snell, Frankie Boyle, Peter McFalls, Donald Cann, Gerald McBride, Brian Hall, and Robert Schroeder are attending Goderich Summer School United Church camp this week. Contract for a new Sunday School building for James Street United Church, Exeter, was let this week for $45,000 church officials have announced. The contract includes construction of a 75 feet by 40 feet wide addition and renovation of part of the main church. Miss Linda Heywood, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Calvin Heywood of London, England, who have been visiting here this summer was crowned queen of the Nature and Pet Week show at the Exeter Kinsmen Playground on Friday by her playmates. Howard Shaw and Robert Young of Centralia, Beverly Sturgis and Eric Ostland of Exeter, all S.H.D.H.S. students, graduated from the army cadet course at Ipperwash this summer. 10 YEARS AGO Mrs. John Fletcher, Albert St., who will lie 94 years of age on Friday has begun to celebrate early. On Sunday, accompanied by her son, Ray Fletcher and granddaughter, Mrs. Don Hooper, Don and Sons Grant and Bill, and Mrs. F. Cornish, she visited her brother, Mr. Ed Francis in Croswell, Mich. Four children who were presented with Bibles for outstanding assistance at the vacation school at Exeter Pentecostal Church are Lorraine Bradley, John Richards, Larry Stire and David Parker. Charlie Wong who has been at the Exeter Grill for the past five years, left Tuesday to become a partner with his brother in the operation of the Aero Grill, Kingston, It's expected that close to 500 children will be participating in the Lake Huron 'Zone Recreation Council's first annual "Mayday" that Will take place in the Exeter Park, Wednesday, August 26. schedule of underway this the Zurich Bean of the most to be found in