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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Times-Advocate, 1969-11-20, Page 4It is necessary, on occasions, to "give the devil his due" and the Huron County Board of Education falls into that category, Few compliments have been handed the board since its inception, and while most of the criticism was aimed at the system and not the members, there have been few plaudits handed its way. Last week's report that the board had slashed insurance premiums by 44 percent must be encouraging to those who have become bewildered at some of the salaries and costs associated with the new board. This saving is a step in the right direction and no doubt much of it results from the board's policy to call tenders for major expenditures. One disturbing aspect of the situation is the fact the board appears to have been charged 44 percent more for insurance last year than was necessary, although some of the saving this year may be the result of lower coverage on some types of buildings and a low loss rate. However, the situation does suggest that other boards and councils in the county should be looking at their insurance coverage. If the calling of tenders forces the insurance people to sharpen their pencils, municipal councils and other groups should explore this possibility in an attempt to bring about similar savings on their insurance coverage. THE ORIGINAL HURON1A MALE CHOIR—With the revival of the Huronia male choir in recent weeks, a picture of the original choir was brought to the T-A office. The first choir was organized in the early 1930's by conductor Roy Goulding and disbanded about ten years later due to enlistments in World War Two and gasoline rations. Back, left, Charles Godbolt, Clarence Down, Mervyn Cudrnore, Charles Salter, Charles Hoffman, Clayton Pfile and William J. Smith, deceased. Middle, Norman Brock, Kenneth Johns, Lawrence Wein, W. Roy Goulding, conductor, Walter Cutbush, William Lutman and William Quinn, Front, Harry Hoffman, Rufus Turnbull and Lloyd Wein. OUR POINT OF vi Fw Can others saw too? WADE IN$URANCE AGENCY D. T. (Terry) Wade Total Insurance Service Auto Fire — tjability — Glass Sickness and Accident Income Life — Pensions — Surety Bonds, etc. I would be happy to discuss your particular insurance needs. Call today or at renewal time. Put Some Gay New Wrappings on the 'Parcel' You Live With All Year Phone Creditor 234-6224 east•ifizaw000ff....0 REDECORATE For the Festive Season WITH Refute their own opinions Yes, madam, times change Times Established 1813 Advocate Established 1881 liritetztekrZimes-Abliocafe „..AN ..48.11/./N/WSNIS Amalgamated 1924 SERVING CANADA'S BEST FARMLAND C.W.N.A., 0,W.N.A., CLASS 4k and ABC Publishers: J. M. SOuthcoft, R. M. Southcott Editor— Bill Batten— Advertisin• 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 $6.04 Per Year; USA $8.00 tOMmis nit y newspapers 40,01A. 18,,t,44r BELL LINES by W.W. Haysom your telephone manager Everybody with a telephone has a special telephone address that is different from any other anywhere. It's the Area Code that makes your number unique. That's why it's so important to check the Area Code before calling Long Distance. If you use the wrong one you could end up talking to someone hundreds of thousands of miles away from the place you intended to call. If you should get a wrong number on a Long Distance call, dial "0" right away and tell the Operator what happened. She'll make sure you aren't charged for the call. And if you want to check a Long Distance number, just dial 1, then the Area Code — if it's different from your own — then 555-1212. Here's a little gem of trivia from south of the border. By the end of 1969, 3,000,000,000,000 (that's three trillion) telephone conversations will have been completed in the United States. The total is a tabulation of calls made since 1880 when Alexander Graham Bell first offered telephone service to the public. And speaking of Mr. Bell, I came across a statement he once made which I think some of you might find interesting. He said: "When one door closes another opens but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us." Finally a few Bell Canada facts. Last year we had 5,451,000 phones in service in our operating territory — Ontario, Quebec, Labrador and parts of the Northwest Territories. In the same year, our customers originated some 10 billion local calls and 243 million long Distance calls. Bell Canada is one of the nation's largest taxpayers and the largest taxpayer in most of the communities in which we operate. More than 86 percent of all our equipment and material is produced in Canada — by ourselves and by some 5,000 other Canadian suppliers. A couple of interesting points were brought out by speakers at the area's services of Remembrance last week, One was the suggestion by the Rev. Glen Wright that it is not always right to heed the call of one's country and take up arms to enter battles deemed necessary by a country's leaders. Draft-dodgers and deserters have become numerous in the United States and to many people, their actions are despicable. However, as Rev. Wright noted, the same people would not have thought it dispicable had many of Germany's young men not heeded the call to arms issued by Hitler. It was wrong, he suggested, for the men of Germany to follow Hitler, and by the same token we should perhaps be less critical of those who think it is wrong to fight in Vietnam. The war, of course, is extremely involved and can not be dismissed in Points to ponder such easy terms, but Rev. Wright's thoughts are worthy of consideration for those who are critical of the draft-dodgers and deserters. Both Rev. Wright and the Rev. Harold Snell noted in their addresses that Canadians must become more generous in their assistance towards the world's needy. As Christmas approaches, it is an ideal time to show our concern in concrete terms by sharing some of our wealth with them. There are a host of agencies prepared to make the best possible use of your donation. As the parcels start to pile under your tree and the smell of Christmas baking fills your house, give a thought to those who this day will starve to death. Many of them could be saved with a donation of only a small percentage of what you will spend on Christmas this year. SUNVINYL by SUNWORTHY • Ready Pasted for Easy Application Stain Resistant • Scrubbable • Dry Strippable for Easy Removal DO you know what the upcoming generation of Canadian men is going to marry? Rotten wives. And do you know why? Because of the mothers of these potential wives have spoiled them rotten. They have over-protected them, tried unsuccessfully to impose their own dubious taste on them, and refused to allow their daughters to learn anything practical, like sewing or cooking. This is not a blanket condemnation, but it certainly applies to many people I know. Nor must I blame it all on mothers. Many fathers aid and abet. I speak from experience. These middle-aged spoilers are driven by several motives. Most of them weregrowing up when things were tough all over, and they are ruthlessly determined that their kids are going to have all the "advantages" they couldn't have. Thus we have a plethora of lessons in music, ballet, figure-skating. We have the very latest fashions and fads, regardless of cost. We have cars for kids who would be dangerous on a tricycle. Another motive is fear. ny shielding their children from any and all unpleasantness, including work, they hope to keep them "straight" and out of the cluches of drugs, sex and hippiedom. More often they drive them into trying something out of sheer boredom with their diet of pablum. Another reason for the cocoon-like over-protection is love. You don't like to see someone you love in trouble, whether its emotional, financial or legal. And a final motive is plain laziness. Mothers say, "I'd rather do it myself than have to nag at her (or him)." So do fathers. Thus many of the things which middle-aged people consider virtues: punctuality, dilligence, courtesy, cleanliness go by the board. But when you have to tell an 18-year-old girl to wash her feet, there's something wrong. My neighbor, whose son is at college, was wakened early Saturday morning by a long-distance (collect, naturally) call from his son. His car had collapsed and he wanted to buy another one. Choking back his natural fury, father said he would think it over. Result? He and his wife drove about 300 miles to see the kid andget something settled. Example two. Our daughter is at college. My wife writes about three times a week, and her letters consist mostly of "Do this" and "Don't do that." The kid needed winter boots and a winter coat. This of course is very unusual in Canada, and demands urgent action. And, of course, at 18, she's much too young to buy them for herself. And of course she might be lonely in that big city, with no friends. So we drive through 450 miles of that fog and rain. Counting hotel bill, tips, gas, and a couple of dinners out, those boots and that coat cost about four times what .they should have. And then the brat says she isn't lonely at all. That's the only reason I went, and I told her so, However and despite, we had a pleasant weekend. Dining out, we sat beside a young couple. He was a Czech, not long out, very smooth, very handsome. She was a Newfoundlander, very friendly, very open. Then a Sikh (Indian, turban and beard) came in and sat nearby, looking desperately lonely. I asked him over. The chef, a young Czech who was a friend of the other one, joined us and said he'd like to take my daughter out. Kim spilled something on her mother's best blouse. We adjourned to our hotel room for a couple of pleasant hours. The Newfy girl asked Kim if she'd like to share an apartment. I wouldn't be surprised if a Czech did, too. My wife worried about the smooth Czechs. The Sikh lost his melancholy. Don't think I've strayed from my theme. Our kid is spoiled rotten. She cooks like a one-armed paper-hanger and couldn't sew two burlap bags together. My deepest sympathy is extended to her future husband. "I hope I've succeeded in get- ting it through your thick skulls that my client is innocent:" The residents of Mitchell must have cringed when they watched the CBC show last week airing the problems associated with a youth drop-in centre in their comm unity. Peter Reilly of the CBC reporting team made considerable effort to point out that most of the people in Mitchell were afraid to talk to reporters and that there were many with the opinion that the community could solve its problem if the mass media would leave them alone. He obviously was attempting to make light of that particular point, but then made the mistake of asking former prime minister Lester Pearson for his thoughts on the matter. Mr. Pearson, having been raised in rural Ontario, bluntly stated that the people in Mitchell probably could solve the problem if in fact the mass media did not play the problem up, and out of proportion. Reilly quickly changed the subject. * * * We were disturbed during the CBC show to hear Rev. Orlo Miller liken the situation in Mitchell to that surrounding the Donnelly feud in Biddulph and Lucan, and Reilly's reference to the fact he had not seen a community in such a state since he visited Selma, Alabama, during the racial strife there. Such comparisons are obviously absurd and the residents of Mitchell have a right to be indignant. The CBC even went to pains to get a picture of a team of ,Horses plodding up the main thoroughfare to further put the community in a bad light. It may come as a surprise to the CBC reporters that horses still serve in some capacities in rural Ontario.However, the sight of them is less frequent than what they'll see on the streets of Toronto or Montreal where the police still find the trusty animals better in some situations than man-made vehicles. Perth was described as a county where the average income is low and so is the level of higher education. Mitchell was described as a town of conservative people, the kind of people who would vote for Goldwater or Regan if they had Canadian equivalents. The CBC reporters stuck the knife in and then gave it a good twist, not only for Mitchell and Perth county, but probably for all small rural towns and counties. In all this, people should remember that the reports were made by a team of reporters in Mitchell for only a short time. They expressed only personal opinions, and while the show was seen in homes across Canada, it must be remembered that the comments were those of only one or two men. It was not a news report. It was an editorial expression of Dear Sir: Just a short report on "my" first day in court, This turned out to be a stimulating experience, not gained at the expense of others, but through insight. I saw stern discipline meted out, and discipline with compassion where warranted. There were a few twinges within ine for a few who had been "caught" but caught I guess we all must be sooner or later if We persist in disobeying the laws designed to safeguard out corritnunity. The afternoon was not without hurnor, which served to relax muscles tensed by a full and interesting day, opinion from one or two men. Most of the comments were actually refuted by the reporters in later statements. Their suggestion that the average income was low was followed by the comment that Mitchell is a town of straight, wide streets, tidy bungalows, green lawns and lots of trees. That hardly sounds as though it's a community of paupers living under the sub-standard living conditions and slums associated with many cities, where presumably the average income is higher. The reporters suggested the level of education was also low. Mitchell, by the way, had nine Ontario scholars this year and similar to most rural communities, most of the graduating class are now off at schools of higher learning at the same ratio as their city cousins. To top it all off, the reporters made comments as to the type of citizens living in Mitchell. They even suggested how they would vote. We fail to understand how this information could be gleaned from people, whom the reporters readily admitted, would not talk to them. * * The reporters were grasping at straws to make a sensational story, and when it is closely reviewed, they did that with opinion only — and not fact. Newspapers have editorial columns where opinions are expressed. We try our best to keep our opinions contained in those columns and not have them spill over into the news columns. The CBC should follow the same practice. Their documentaries of this nature should be clearly identified as being the personal opinion of one or two men, and should not be misconstructed as news reporting. The people of Mitchell and 50 YEARS AGO The citizens of Exeter and Usborne have done honor to themselves in going "over the top" in the Victory Loan campaign, winning the Prince of Wales flag which floated on the Town Hall Saturday. Mr. Alvin Moir, after being in the West for the past three months, returned from Crystal City, Man., on Friday last. The shooting season closed on Saturday night last. Rabbits and squirrels were none too plentiful this year. The great golden jubilee celebration of the Granton Methodist Church was held this week. The fowl supper held on Tuesday evening was a grand success. Mr. George Sanders has been on the sick list for a few days, but is now recovering. 25 YEARS AGO Mr,and Mrs. George Finkbeiner celebrated their goldenwedding,anniversary at the home of their daughter and son-in-law Mr. & Mrs. William Schwartz. Mary Easton has accepted a position on the staff of the post Shapton was elected oprfe fi sciea E dent of Stephen Township Federation of Agriculture at the annual meeting held in Crediton, Mr. Ed Westcott suffered a broken neck in a fall while working in the barn. The basement of the James St. Church was filled Monday evening when the Young People frorii Welton presented their three-act farce "One in a Million," 15 YEARS AGO Chief of Pace Reg Taylor is training a safety patrol of public school pupils who will be on duty, beginning Monday at Perth, and to a smaller extent the people of all rural communities, were done a great disservice by the CEO. To add salt to the wounds, the people of Mitchell will be asked to contribute a sizeable amount of their tax dollars to keep the CEO on the air to provide further commentaries of this nature. Somehow, that doesn't seem right! * * Another group of telephone subscribers are now enjoying the convenience of the dial system with the changeover this weekend of the Granton exchange of the Blanshard Municipal Telephone System. They will also learn that the modern method has some drawbacks over the service they received from their local operators. We had occasion this week to place a call to Brussels and the added benefits one gets from a local operator were brought to mind. The telephone operator in the Brussels office informed the long distance operator that the gentleman to whom we had been placing the call was not at home. However, she knew that he was attending a meeting in the village and if we were to dial the number at the meeting place we would probably reach him. This was no sooner said than done and our business was concluded in a few moments, without the necessity of having to call back. There were those who were happy to see the disappearance of the telephone operators, because in many communities they were just too well informed of some of the topics being discussed by the parties on the lines. However, they provided service that no computer can match. Gidley and Victoria Street crossings. Andrew Bierling, president of the Exeter Branch of the Canadian legion burned the mortgage of the branch's modern Memorial Hall at a ceremony on Thursday night. Ratepayers in Grand Bend will vote Monday to establish a Public Utilities Commission to manage electric and water services for the village. Anson McKinely, RR 1, Zurich, and George Reid, of Varna were re-elected president and secretary of the Stanley Township Federation of Agriculture Tuesday night. Loss was estimated at over $1,000 when the large barn of Lloyd Durr, RR 8, Parkhill burned to the ground Friday night. 10 YEARS AGO Mrs. Melvin Gaiser, Shipka, was crowned sweetheart of Beta Sigma Phi sorority Friday night during the local chapter's annual ball in Exeter Legion Hall, ' Arsenic poisoning, which killed one cattle beast this spring, was not present in two samples of creek water taken in September, the Ontario Water Resources Commission indicated to Council Monday night. James Street United Church celebrated RS 97th anniversary on Sunday with Rev. Clayton H. Seale, associate secretary of the missionary arid maintenance department, Toronto, as the speaker. The fire department was called at 5:45 a.m. Monday to check an overheated oil furnace at the home of Robert Marriage, Mill Street. No damage was reported. Exeter firemen are sponsoring the March for Muscular Dystrophy Fund-raising campaign in this area. 160 Patterns of Sunworthy Vinyl Coated Washable Wallcoverings In Stock at all Times From 89c to $1.25 0 Main St. Exeter SELECT THEM FOR ANY ROOM IN YOUR HOME ANY AREA WHERE YOU WANT BRIGHTNESS and INDIVIDUALITY $4.95 Per Single Roll We Also Have A Good Selection of Sunworthy Vinyl Wallcoverings at $3.99 Per Roll GOULD & JORY \