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The Exeter Times-Advocate, 1972-02-24, Page 18fr 4 467 Maio St. Exeter Store-Wide DON'T MISS OUT ON THE BARGAINS FREE DRAW FOR 9')(12' CARPET DROP IN AND SEE OUR ENLARGED SHOWROOM Ends Feb. 29 The only matched set of bedding constructed in accordance with the specifications of the Posture Committee of the American Chiropractic Association to help maintain correct sleep posture. 'M> 4C7if Chiropractic with SPRINGWALC • • • • • 4ie• ete. • • itri.=22C7X.2 Available at fine furniture and department stores throughout the United scriirPS and Canada The Springwall Chiropractic was developed by a group of dedicated Chiroprac $9995 tors and is designed with patented springing action and side supports to give you the sleep posture support and comfort your body needs. It is probably twin or full the best mattress and boxspring ever made. Queen sore set, S269 95' King sire set, See9 95'1 , by iftik , Life on the bovndinq main seaman to BY SUSAN GREER "A life on the ocean waves, a home on the rolling sea ." accurately describes the life of and with little exception, has been there ever since. His father built and owned several "three-master" cargo Ralph Wasson, 18 Alexander St., Exeter. Re was only six months old when he boarded his first ship ships, including the largest u Lr11. to-sReahlosonner:',' .ever built; the J His mother always travelled ordinary' with her husband, se Mr. Wasson grew up on a farm with his grandmother in Perrieboro, Nova Scotia. But every summer would find him on the sea. 4. There are a few young men interested in becoming marine engineers and it is a good paying job. Under the new syllabus, a man has la have four years general science in college before he can apprentice. Then he must train for at least 36 months at sea, before he can write for any certificates. A marine engineer has to be extremely versatile and Mr. Wasson studies all the time in order to keep up with ad- vancements in his field. Beginning in July, he is taking a year off to go to Halifax to get his Chief's papers at the Marine Engineer's School in the Nova Scotia School of Technology. He is looking forward to the course and to a year of being with his family on shore. His family is moving with him, but they hope to return toExeter at the end of the year, because they like the town so well. To a "landlubber", a life on the ocean waves brings to mind endless tales of adventure and pictures of Robinson Crusoe. But as Mr. Wasson said, "What seems very exciting to others is very ordinary for me." accomplishments. For example, last year, he invented a system for "reseating" valves. Some of these valves weigh up to 150 pounds each,The process involves smoothing out all the pits and the surface breaks on the seats of the valves. At one time they had to be left at on-shore machine shops for as long as three or four weeks a very inconvenient and costly procedure, Now, with the "Wasson System" this can be done in four hours, right on the ship, According to the inventor, "It's nothing very great," but it called for considerable ingenuity and advanced engineering know-how. He said you couldn't patent the invention because you could never sell enough. But his work inspired articles in the "Ship- Shore News", a company magazine, and in the Toronto daily papers, so there was considerable prestige involved. Back to School Mr. Wasson hopes to work as long as he can because there is no official retirement age for marine engineers. For one thing, "they are as scarce as hen's teeth", He started his apprenticeship as a ship's engineer with his father when he was eight years old. At 13, he had his first ship- wreck and when he was 17, he went to sea for good. Now, at 51, he is Second Engineer on one of the biggest coal ships on the Great Lakes, the "Canadian Century". This ship is 730 feet long and weighs 30,000 tons, The main engine alone weighs 400 tons. The "Century" delivers coal from Pennsylvania and Ohio to Toronto, Nanticoke and to the big hydro plant at Courtright, near Sarnia, This is one of the main reasons Mr. Wasson, his wife and four of their eight children live in the "land-locked" town of Exeter, When they lived in Nova Scotia, he was able to get home only twice a year, Now, it is easy for Mrs. Wasson to pick him up at Courtright and he makes it home for a day or two every two or three months. CANADIAN CENTURY, the huge vessel that's Ralph Wassen's home engine and carries a crew of 34. and his place of work, too. The ship is 730 feet long, has a 400 ton Speaker at WI GB UCW has new officers prepared by No. III group a game was enjoyed with group singing. Saturday evening was cancelled due to inclement weather. It will take place Tuesday evening weather permitting. Mr. & Mrs. William Sturdevant were happy to be visited over the weekend by their daughter and son-in-law Mary and Ian Fraser, grandaughter Kim and infant grandson William Berton born February 2, 1971 in St. Joseph's Hospital London, The Erasers live in Forest, Ont. Exciting Life Mr. Wasson has had many adventures during his life on the sea. His firstshipwreck occurred on Seal Island, off Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. The fog was dense, but here was a mechanical break- down and the fog whistle wasn't blowing. All of a sudden, the boat was sitting on the rocks. "We just sat in the life raft and waited till the fog lifted," said Mr. Wasson. He said he thought his closest call came, however, when he was 19. Because of bad ventilation, carbon monoxide gas leaked into the room in which he was working. As a result, the boy beside him. died, and Mr. Wasson was un- conscious for 12 hours. He lost his memory and "had to teach himself to remember again." Mrs. P. Sandilands and Mrs. W. Schlegel attended the gift show in Toronto at the first of the week. Mr. & Mrs. Jack Allister spent the weekend in Hamilton. Mr. & Mrs. Paul Cause have returned home from a winter vacation in Las Vegas, California, New Orleans and Florida, The Bantams playoff game with Paisley scheduled on With the new equipment, however, this could not happen today. Mr, Wasson worked for the Hudson's Bay Company for ten years before taking his present job with Upper Lakes Shipping Ltd. During that time he seiledthe length of the MacKenzie River to its m outh a t the Arctic Ocean, On one occasion, he witnessed the move of the entire town of Aklavik to a new location - now called Inuvik - because they discovered it was built on ice. Life on ship Despite the fact that his ship is docked in Cleveland for the winter, a marineengtheer's job is never done. There are "masses of machinery" to keep repaired. Usually, Mr. Wasson works seven days, plus a shift as "watchkeeper". But if the equipment breaks down, he has to work until it is fixed, Sometimes this means a 24-hour shift, Because they work so closely for a long time, personality clashes can be a problem on the ship. But Mr, Wasson said they have been lucky on the "Cen- tury", "We have a very good chief engineer, who never loses his temper." Alcohol is sometimes another source of problems, he said, despite the fact that there is none allowed on board. When the men leave the ship, however, there are no such restrictions and they sometimes tend to overdo things. Generally, life on the "Canadian Century" is very informal. The officers and crew have separate dining rooms and there are two recreation rooms with televisions and other facilities. The officer's quarters are very comfortable, with wall to wall carpeting and a private bath. You can get any kind of food you want, said the engineer, and the cooks provide very well for the 34 men on board. Mr. Wassonhas a keen interest in electronics and he spends a lot of time working on it. "His room on ship looks more like a machine shop than a bedroom." said Mrs. Wasson. Set walking distances for student bus riders GRANDPA'S HOME: Karren Richard enjoys a visit with her grandfather, Second Engineer Ralph Wassen while he's home on an infrequent holiday from his job on a lake vessel, Mr. Wassen first went to sea when he was six months old on board his father's schooner. Fifty years later he's still plying the waves. Inventor Mr. Wasson has many other By MRS. CLARKE KENNEDY The general meeting of the UCW was held Tuesday evening in the Sunday School rooms of the church. Rev. Dobson conducted the worship period followed by the installation of the 1972 of- ficers. Those elected were: president, Mrs. R. Keyes; vice president, Mrs. J. Eagleson; secretary, Mrs. G. Kading; treasurer, Mrs. L. Wright. Chairmen of committees and portfolio secretaries were in- cluded in the installation. Mrs. Win. Blewett, past president, was presented with a life membership and pin, Mrs. Wm. Sturdevant doing the honors. Mrs. R. Keyes presided for the businessperiod Acong reg a tional supper was planned for in early April with a dinner speaker and a travelogue presented by one of our members. Two summer bake sales were also planned. While lunch was being where students are going beyond the county boundaries, but within the province and/or any ex- cursion where the students will 'be away from the school site for more than three hours, but not overnight. The board of education, through its education committee, must now approve trips where students are going beyond the boundaries of the province; where they will be away from the school site for more than six hours and for where the over- night billeting of students is in- volved. The policy statement does not apply to sports teams par- ticipating in regular-league or playoff games. It does, however, apply to the out-of-class study of curricular subjects; the out-of-class study of interest topics; trips given as a reward for knowledge or per- formance within the school; performances (by school bands etc.) before the public or another school body and trips supervised by staff personnel requiring their absence from regular school duties. excursions and out-of-school trips and activities which are of value in supplementing the., classroom learning experience and contributing to the success Of civic projects, the board feels that it must have assurances that reasonable and prudent steps are taken to safeguard the physical and educational welfare of participating students — par- ticularly in those instances which require prolonged absence from the school. "To this end, the board feels that its supervising staff, in- cluding principals, should be responsible to the board and parents for the removal of students from the confines of the school and that the board itself should be involved in any decision to keep students away from their homes overnight." The statement also included guidelines for the approval of student field trips and ex- cursions. School principals must now approve any trip within Huron County and/or where the ex- cursion will take students away from the school site for more than three hours. A superintendent, to be delegated by the director of education, must give prior written approval now for any trip A policy statement regarding more control of student field trips and other excusions was ap- proved Monday night by the Huron County board of education, The action was taken little more than a month after an Ontario Supreme Court judge found the board partly to blame for the deaths of two South Huron District High School students in May, 1970. Geraldine Moddejonge and Janet Guenther, both 14-year-old Grade 9 students at the Exeter school, drowned during a 21 2 -day school campout at an Ausable River Conservation Authority area east of the Parkhill Dam May 14, 1970. Mr. Justice L. T. Pennell ruled Jan. 11 that both the board and John Terrance McCauley, co- ordinator of the school's outdoor education program, were partly to blame for the deaths. He awarded the girls' fathers $2,800 each in damages. The policy statement was presented to the board by director of education D. J. Cochrane of Goderich. It had been prepared by the board's education committee and read in part. "Although it (the board) en- courages and sanctions student THE 'WASSEN SYSTEM': Chief engineer Jerry Stemmler (left) of the "Canadian Century" points out some pretty deep pits in the vale seating to Second engineer Ralph Wassen who invented the new system of reseating the massive valves of the 730 foot vessel while the ship is still out in the water. Previous to Mr. Wassen's invention the huge vessels had to come to shore to have the job done. Torn: What's the difference between a hill and a pill? Carl: One is hard to get up, and the other's hard to get down! W.I. The Women's Institute held their February meeting in the United Church due to the town hall being renovated. The theme was 'Health' and guest speaker was Mrs. Elizabeth Cardno of Seaforth, Nurse Administrator of the Home Care Health Unit for Huron. The motto, "In what area of medicine would you like to see more research done" was ably presented by Mrs. A. Hamilton. Roll call was answered by 'What you consider the greatest advance in medicine in the last twenty five years,' Mrs. Ed Gill president presided over the business period. It was decided to purchase spoons and forks for the kitchen in the town hall. A fashion show was planned for March 15 to be held in the United Church. Tickets for the event can be purchased from Mrs. L. Admas Mrs. J Allister and Mrs. Don Hendrick. The meeting closed with lunch served by the hostess committee, By MRS. STAN PRESZCATOR Mr. & Mrs. Charles Glanville and Mr. & Mrs. Gerald Schenk returned home last Thursday evening after holidaying in Florida for three weeks. Leonard Weineis a patient in South Huron Hospital, Exeter, Tammy Preszcator spent Sunday with Mr, & Mrs. Ed Preszcator of R1 Crediton. Barbara Preszcator spent the weekend with Joan Klemke of Centralia. 4-H The 4-H Daisy Dreamers met in the United Church Monday evening. The girls decided on a cover for their record books. They also received model folders to be used for a fashion show at Achievement Day. The roll call was answered by telling "why you choose your pattern and material." Mrs. Plumb demonstrated a flat felled seam and stay stitching seams and also how to make gathers with material Home assignment was sewing their garments and to make a flat felled seam. Personals Mr. & Mrs. Ed Gill visited last weekend with their daughter, Elaine, and family in North Bay. Mrs. Orville Hayter is a patient in South Huron Hospital, Exeter. Give to Easier Seals.