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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Times-Advocate, 1972-01-27, Page 4Centralia 228.6716 JIM GAUNT ENTERPRISES Internal .conflicts Some internal conflicts showed' up at last week's meeting of the Huron. County board of education, giving rise to the question of just how the committee system is operating. -Committees are an important part of any body's operation as they are normally set up to have small groups investigate various facets of business and then present information and recommendations so that regular meetings of the entire group can be conducted more efficiently. However, the suggestion is made by two members of the Huron board that committees are in fact making decisions and rail-roading items through board meetings without providing information to all members. If that is the case, then the committee system is being badly misused by the board. Suggestion was wrong It's to be hoped that by now some members of council have had time to examine their thinking about enforcement of the snowmobile bylaw and realize how wrong they were in suggesting to members of the local club that the police would not be overly stringent in their enforcement. Council members are responsible for drawing up the laws, but there is obviously extreme danger in any suggestion that they have some control over enforcement. Certainly, the police use discretion in enforcing any laws. That's amply shown in statistics each week when the number of warnings handed out under the Highway Traffic Actusually exceeds the number of charges. But that decision rests with the policeman only, and he is left open to charges of discrimination and other abuses when council members undermine his authority with suggestions that bylaws will not be strictly enforced. If council members feel that the new bylaw should not be strictly enforced, they leave the impression that it is in some ways unfair and their lone alternative is to amend it so that in fact a policeman can enforce it stringently. Laws may be broken, but it is "crazy" as Councillor Bruce Shaw suggests, that council members should indicate that they can be broken. Obligation must be met We have a great deal of sympathy for the aldermen of the city of Stratford who failed after several tries, to get a seconder for a motion which would provide retroactive and current pensions for members of the city's police force. They were acutely aware of the fact that in approving the pension bylaw they would be substantially increasing their own and their constituents' taxes. There was, however, a somewhat unusual consideration involved in this case. The law required passage of the by-law and the city solicitor warned the councillors that they were open to jail sentences if they refused to obey the law in this regard. Because legislation prohibits the right of police forces to take strike action over wage and fringe benefit disputes, it becomes vitally important that the decisions of the tribunals which decide such matters be obeyed to the letter. We have contended for many years that labor disputes should all be settled in properly constituted labor courts, just the same as civil suits and criminal cases. Our society long since decided that judgment by one's equals, after the submission of all the pertinent evidence, is the best and fairest means of settling disputes. Since police force employees are bound to obey the "no strike" injunction, their employers are equally bound to abide by the decisions of the courts or boards which hear these cases. Very frequently one party to a civil suit emerges with the feeling that he has not received justice — but that cannot alter the basic requirements of a full hearing and a fair trial. Wingham Advance-Times Memories of Jalna books "I love this time of year when our lawn looks as good as the Tuttles'." It pays to borrow from your ei CREDIT UNION You save money with a CREDIT UNION LOAN The actual cost will never exceed the amount shown in this table when you borrow $ 100 $ 300 $ 500 $1,000 $1,500 $2,000 your average monthly payments will be 12 mos. 24 mos. 36 mos. $ 8.89 $ 4.71 $ 3.32 $26.66 $14.12 $ 9.96 $44.43 $23.54 $16.61 $47.07 $33.21 $70.61 $49.82 $66.43 When you borrow from a credit union: You pay no extra charges, only interest. The rate is Bever more than a penny a month for each dollar you still owe. You always know how much you owe and what your loan is costing you. Your credit union will gladly help you compare total costs and monthly payments. If you have trouble with the payments, your credit union will help you work out your problems. EXETER COMMUNITY CREDIT UNION LTD. 430 Main St, 235.0640 Les Vincent, Manager —• A A Winter Ton . . . without the Expense of Heading South FROM GENERAL ELECTRIC Sugg. Retail $1975 $21.95 -GO DISCOUNT ---":i"'"A,ww;PINSAVENTAMOW...E1MKKM.ZEMEMEMIMEORINSIORMANI Times Established 183 Advocate Established 1881 Amalgamated 1924 totefe`Mmes-ibuocafe SERVING CANADA'S BEST FARMLAND C.W.N.A., O.W,N.A., CLASS 'A' and ABC Editor — Bill Batten — Advertising Manager Assistant Editor -- Ross Haugh Women's Editor -- Gwyn Whilsmith Phone 235.1331 Published Each Thursday Morning at Exeter, Ontario Second Class Mail Registration Number 0386 Paid in Advance Circulation; September 30, 1970, 4,675 SUBSCRIPTION RATES; Canada $8.00 Pet Year; USA $10.00 t223M5ZOMMESAMM.Z1..;,,AUdZENNOLIANUMWEE.a.CMP-'" Accident points up danger A lot of people would give their eye-teeth for some free publicity in this column for whatever they're selling. In fact, I have a large case of mounted eye-teeth which I haven't bothered returing. For once. I'll make an ex- ception. In this case, it's a plug for a television series. I'm not much of a T.V. hound. Most of the content is aimed at the 12-year- old mentality; and this is an insult to a bright 12-year-old. Three BBC series, however, were well done enough to interest me. They were The Wives of Henry VIII, this year's Elizabeth R, and The Forsyte Saga. In each case we had superb en- tertainment, without the violence, off-colour jokes and utter inanity which characterize so many well-known and avidly followed shows.I might add that one reason they appealed to me was that they were not trying to be "significant", merely good drama. I remember saying to my wife, during the span of the Forsyte family, "Wouldn't the Jalna novels make a wonderful series?" She agreed, whereupon I put a nick in the doorpost. I do this every time she agrees with me. There are three nicks now, Of course, we've only had this house ten years. Now we have it, A Canadain series, produced by the CBC, which can turn out first-class stuff when the creative people manage to wiggle out from under the meaty, far-from-green thumbs of the administrators. The Jalna series. Mazo de la Roche, creator of the Jalna novels, will never be ranked with Shakespeare or Dickens. But she was an ex- cellent crafts-woman, with a shrewd knowledge of the reading public, able to blend romanticism and realism into a mixture that had a universal appeal. It was the same old story. Practically unknown in Canada, she submitted her novel Jalna to a U.S. contest and won the Atlantic Monthly prize of $10,000 (I believe), for best novel of the year. She had found a rich vein of gold, Like Ian Fleming, who wrote the James Bond nonsense, and that character who churns out the Carry On Doctor stuff, she mined her lode to the depths, extracting every last nugget, toward the end, Don't mistake me; she was a far better writer than the others mentioned. The novels deal with a large, extremely complex family, the Whiteoaks, living on a big farm near Lake Ontario, and it covers several generations. Our pioneer ancestors were about as much like the Whiteoaks as Pierre Trudeau is like me. And Jalna is about as real in rural 19th-century Canada as Camelot was in the barbaric dark ages. But this is part of the charm. They're escape novels, in the best sense of the word. Yet, the author creates characters who are not only attractive but memorable. And the love-hate relationships within the family are believable, because they are familiar. I predict a run on the Jalna novels, if the TV series is any good. Regardless, treat yourself. They are available in most public libraries. A little incident during the war proved to me that, despite their regionalism, the novels have an international appeal. It was about May 2nd 1945. The Russians had just "liberated" our prison camp. They were pretty drunk and disorderly, still celebrating May 1st, one of their big holidays, and they let us out for the evening. (Next day they locked us all up again,) But we had one glorious spring evening of freedom. I set off for No inquest will be held into the recent death of Allan Gill, who drowned when his car skidded over a bridge into the Pollock Creek near his home at Grand Bend. The cause of his death may not require such an inquest, but one fact does require some con- sideration and that is that there was no guard rail on the bridge. An inquest jury may well have deemed this one of the major contributing factor's in the youth's death and proposed recommendations that would have saved other lives. Winter driving in this area can be extremely treacherous at times, and when poor visibility combines with icy roads, most drivers reach their destinations only through a considerable amount of luck. On the same weekend that Allan Gill died, area ditches were dotted with abandoned cars whose drivers had succumbed to nature's wrath. Many, similar to Allan Gill, ended up going off roads with which they were very familiar, For some strangers, it was a matter of failing to know the curves and hills which they en- countered when visibility was practically nil, Because most people are driving at a very low speed when they end up in ditches during storms, there are few serious injuries. However, we imagine many of those who ended up in ditches must have given some thought to what would have happened to them had they been on a road where an unprotected bridge was located. It is, of course, only speculation that a guard rail would have prevented the youth's car from flipping into the water below, But the speed at which most prudent drivers travel on icy roads where such known dangers the little town near the camp with Nils Jorgenson, a huge Nor- wegian who spoke German. We watched the Russians still pouring into the town, a motley and colourful crew. I remember a huge Cossack-looking type, with vast moustaches, riding a stallion. Slung over one shoulder was a machine-pistol. Dangling from his saddle was a balalaika. On his other shoulder perched a tiny monkey. So help me. We drifted into town, watched the Yanks picking up German girls, or trying to. We saw a big house, set back among the trees. Went up and knocked, out of curiosity. A frightened old woman finally opened the door a crack. Nils spoke gently to her in German. She scuttled away, After a few moments, a stately, white-haired lady with great poise appeared, and imperiously demanded to know what we wanted. Nils said we were just visiting, told her we were P.O.W.'s, a Norwegian and a Canadian. She turned to me, and in silted but grammatical English, asked eagerly "You know ze Vhiteoaks of Jalna?" I confessed that I didn't know them personally, but we had a lively conversation about Rennie, the old uncles, Finch, and the other characters, followed by a cup of ersatz coffee. Just a little incident, but one I'll never forget. All this free publicity should gratify the CBC. But, I warn them that if the series is rotten, I shall sear them, scorch them, fry them, and boil them in their own oil. lurk would suggest that a guard rail would save most people. The tragedy should prompt municipal officials throughout the area to take a look at their small bridges and culverts to determine if the water depth of the streams below require guard rails to prevent similar oc- currences. + + + Another consideration in such accidents is whether it could have been prevented had the car been equipped with studded snow tires, Studs, of course, have been banned in Ontario this year, much to the consternation of many drivers who have watched roads turn into skating rinks with freezing rain and packed snow. Statistics indicate that cars equipped with studded tires were involved in fewer winter ac- ciaents and where they were involved, the damage was less than in cases where cars were not equipped with such tires. In banning the studs, the government argued that damage to roads wasexcessive, and while this may be, we wonder how it compares to the damage to cars and the injuries to motorists now that their vehicles are not equipped with studs. + + + We're not certain when Exeter's new street lights at the intersection of Main and Sanders will be completed, Workmen have been at the site on various occasions, but apparently there is still a hold up in obtaining some of the required parts. When they are installed, an article in a recent bulletin by the 50 YEARS AGO The Boy Scouts of Exeter Troop No. 1 held a banquet in Caven Presbyterian Church last week when the main item on the program was the presentation of a life-saving medal to Scout Bob Gambrill. Scout master Tom Pryde was the toast-master. This area has beeh visited by a severe cold snap during the past few days. Ice harvest has been going full swing for over a week. Mr. Wm. Leavitt entertained the hockey boys to an oyster supper one evening last week. The Exeter Sport Club held their first skating party at the Dome Rink last Friday evening after which they returned to Messrs. Harvey & Harvey's restaurant where a dainty lunch was served. 25 YEARS AGO Preston Dearing Was elected president of Exeter Agricultural Society at the annual meeting. Teen Town was inaugurated by the teen-agers of Exeter at a meeting held in the Exeter arena Friday evening. Dr. & Mrs. g. S. Steiner and Dr. & Mrs. W. B. Coxon, Zurich, attended the conference of the Ontario Veterinary Association in Ottawa this week, Rufus Restle has disposed of his farm at Rurondale to Bruce Cann, Atcouncil meeting, the elerk was instructed to draft -a by-law to govern garbage collection in Exeter. Canada Safety Council suggests we should not assume that youngsters will automatically know how to cross safely with the lights. The bulletin states that some young children have difficulty in learning to cross a road at the correct phase of traffic lights and tend to follow others blindly without making individual judgement when in a group. This is something that school officials and the local police should keep in mind and perhaps some lessons will be required to ensure that children know how to cross with the lights, + + + One Toronto store has sold 60 ocelots, 50 margays, five ptimas and a small pride of lions often, according to the Financial Post, the purchaser is buying burglarproofing. Cheetahs are reported as being the best combination of friendly pet and awesome deterrent. But they cost around $5,000. A cheaper and even more colorful "burglar alarm" that's increasing in popularity is the peacock. These birds are being imported — after special training in South America — to roam small Canadian estates where they'll screech their heads off at a twig-snap. However, a test conducted by a Canadian family on the various theftproofing devices available concluded the best choice was the old standbys: good locks and a watchful dog. Now that get's us around to the point. The editor has one pup left from his litter, available to anyone at no charge, 15 YEARS AGO Reports given at the congregational meeting of James Street United Church showed the congregation to be in healthy condition. Membership had risen to 1,039 and the total of all missionary contributions was over $8,000. Tuckey Beverages, Exeter, increased the price of its soft drinks from seven to eight cents a bottle. Mrs. Robert Luxton, leader of Exeter Girl Guides, and Margaret Sanders, patrol leader, have been selected to attend the world Guide Camp at Doe Lake this summer, Mrs. James Kopp (nee Etta Brintnell) and children left Toronto by plane Tuesday to join her husband, Cpl. James Kopp, R.C.A.F. at Whitehorse, Yukon. 10 YEARS AGO William Hyde, this area's Champion fiddler for over half a century, died at the home of his Son, Harvey Hyde, Hensall. He was 98. Jim Scott, 31, emerged Safely Friday morning from one of the worst wrecks seen here for several years, Infectious hepatitis is on the increase here but it's difficult to assess the danger, according to Dr. It. M. Aldis, Huron MOH. Mr, & Mrs. George Lawson celebrated their golden wedding anniversary, January 24.