HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Times-Advocate, 1974-06-27, Page 4SERVING 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
Phone 235.1331
Year end always moves me
Both teachers and students school friends, football and track
look forward eagerly to the end of and field, and could scarcely wait
the school year, for different to start the long hitch-hike home.
Each fall was a joy. Football
every day. A new girl, or the old
faithful one, to hold hands with on
crisp fall evenings. Some money
in the pocket, after the summer.
This euphoria lasted until about
the end of November. By the
middle of January, life and
school were deadly dull. The
money was pretty well gone. It
was too cold for outdoor
smooching, and in those days no
girl was allowed to have a boy
into her house, unless her mother
was sitting there looking
suspicious and her father sitting
there with a gun.
We couldn't afford ski equip-
ment. We were lucky if we could
scratch up the price of a hockey
game or a night's skating at the
rink.
We couldn't afford to smoke or
drink or party or tear around, so,
on the whole, we were a fairly
moral lot. Believe it or not, I was
president of a Young Man's Bible
Class for three years. My high
school principal was the leader,
and he forced me into it. I figured
I had to stay on the good side of
him, or I'd be in high school until
I was fifty.
There was only one thing I
really learned in those long
winters at school. With no money
to do anything else, my gang
reasons.
For the students, especially the
younger ones, it's like a rebirth to
get out into that beautiful June,
out of that hot classroom, away
from that cranky teacher. They
go belting out that door on the last
day like bees coming out of a
disturbed bees'-nest.
A few of the -more sensitive
ones, especially the' girls, will
trill, "See you next year," or
"Have a good summer, Mr.
Smiley." The boys leave in a
slap-dash, jostling mob, with
never a look behind.
And who can blame them? It's
been a long ten months. They
want to get out and do some real
living, to break the routines that
even in these permissive days,
make school a drag, and for
some, unfortunately, a simple
bore.
When I was in high school I took
off in May or early June for a job
on the lake boats, with a
tremendous sense of release. I
didn't, care whether they passed
me or failed me. After the first
summer, I knew it was going to
be four months of drudgery, at
coolies' wages, but I didn't care. I
was living, seeing new places and
new people, and delighting in it,
Yet, strangely, by September, I
had a great nostalgia for school,
tended to spend most of our time
in the pool room, despite constant
abjurations and threats from our
mothers.
There are quite a few thingsyou
can pick up in a poolroom:
psychology; a colorful
vocabulary; a smell of spittoons.
I got all of these, but I also
became a pretty darn good pool
player, and I've never regretted
it.
You have to become good when
you are "playing on your nerve".
This quaint old expression means
you haven't the money to pay the
proprietor for your table time, if
you lose. Winner plays free. So
you either won, or you sweet-
talked the boss of the poolroom
into adding what you owed to
your bill. This was about as easy
as President Nixon standing
before Congress, hand on heart,
saying, "I cannot tell a lie.!'
It usually meant expulsion
from the poolroom, which was
like being thrown out of the
garden of Eden.
Then there was the drowsing
through long, spring days,
waiting fOr school to end. I
remember a poor man called Dr.
Wheatly, saying to me one June
day, head wagging sadly, "Bill,
you will never pass physics or
chemistry, should you stay here
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Times Established 1873 Advocate. Established 1881
Amalgamated 1924
Coffee with Dimitry
By ELMORE BOOMER
Counsellor for
Information South Huron
For appointment
phone: 235-2715 or 235-2474
Forests important
The forests of Canada, covering nearly
101f the country's total area, are by far the
ost prominent feature of its landscape.
About half of this forest land contains
Merchantable wood - eight percent of the
World's total timber resource. As Canada's
leading export.commodity, forest products
are worth more than $3 billion annually,
and so play an important role in the lives of
all Canadians.
But the value of the cash crop is by no
means the only value of our forests; there
is, really no way of calculating their true
worth, since a large and important part of it
i intangible.
The forests provide the ecological
"buffer zone" essential for clean air and
water . . . they protect watersheds from
erosion, stabilize the flow of streams and
minimize flooding . . . they provide the
scenic background for much of our recrea-
Best birthday present
"Quick - before he stamps a price increase on it!"
Several times recently we have heard
brief comments from those who have
travelled on American highways about the
fact that there is much less traffic on the
roads in the States than there used to be.
Apparently the reduced speed limits, the
shortage and high price of gasoline have
really,done something to American travell-
ing habits,
Whether or not our neighbours are
seriously or permanently altering their way
of living remains to be seen, but even in
Canada, where we have felt no sting from
the fuel shortage, there is some evidence
that a good many people are thinking in new
terms about what it takes to keep them hap-
py, Note, for example, how many people
have taken up gardening — some for the
first time and many after turning their gar-
dens into green grass a decade or so ago.
Seed companies have experienced un-
precedented sales this year, reportedly,
more than double those of last year. Some
of thelarger cities have opened community
gardens, where urban residents can rent a
small plot of land for the season and spend
their' leisure raising flowers and
vegetables.
In the Prospei•ous years since the war
many folks who had been previously forced
Not too many got away
tion, and shelter the wide variety of wildlife
that enriches our outdoor experience,
A healthy forest industry is essential to
Canada's economy. And unlike some of our
resources, wood is renewable, demands lit-
tle energy to process, and is biodegradable,
But we must always remain aware of the
need to balance the economic use of the
forest with concern for its preservation as a
place for enjoyment and relaxation.
The Association urges us to do more for
our forests which do so much for us. By
learning more about our forests and their
use, by encouraging their care and wise use,
and by supporting effective legislation aim-
ed at maintaining and improving them
while using them wisely, we can all play a
part.
All natural resources are important but
none plays a more dominant part in our af-
fairs than our forests. Their care is in the
best interest of all citizens.
by circumstances to live frugally, found
that their finances permitted what they
thought was a more enjoyable way of life,
The garden was no longer very important to
them economically and it took up a lot of
time that might otherwise be spent on long
weekend trips in the family car, However,
with rising prices and so much talk of food
shortages a lot of us have begun to recall
the matchless flavor of beans fresh off the
vine or corn picked just in time to plunge
into the pot. Something we had entirely
forgotten• was the serenity of a summer
evening spent puttering around the garden
or the flowerbeds instead of rushing off to a
drive-in theatre.
More home owners, too, are doing their
own repair work — painting, a bit of
carpentry, building a rustic fence. Perhaps
home is gradually returning to the status it
had lost while we were so busy elsewhere.
And, perhaps quite a few of us will live
longer if we return to the less hectic ways
of spending our free time. A good thing, too,
for we have always wondered what would
happen to the North American society when
the work week gets tapered down to three
days. We could well have committed hari-
kari with the weapon of, leisure times.
Wingham Advance-Times
Published Each Thursday Morning
at Exeter, Ontario
second Class Mail
Registration Number 0386
Paid in Advance Cireulation,
March 31', 1972, 5,037
Canada $9.00 Per Year; USA $11,60 •
'Ni.V.AVrAfg:
On most occasions when the
writer loads up the family to go
on a fishing trip, our expectation
is primarily one of merely
drowning worms.
Despite the enthusiasm and
optimism of our four boys, the
frying pan seldom gets a good
workout after one of these so-
called fishing trips. And, unlike
some people who go fishing, we
do get our lines wet and give' the
task at hand a battle, and not just
a bottle.
Last week, however, things
took a turn for the better as we
joined the throngs of fishermen
lining the pier at Grand Bend.
We've seen fish biting, but this
was ridiculous!
People who had two hooks on
their lines were pulling them in
two at a time and it wasn't long
before the Battens had mastered
the ways and were hooking perch
almost as fast as dad could get
the hooks baited.
Even mother managed v a
"first" by catching a perch and
then promptly started to show off
by landing the biggest of the
night, the fact of which she chose
to incessantly remind her male
companions.
In our two-hour stay, the group
managed to land 43 perch, and
would probably have stayed until
midnight if dad had failed to
realize the fact lie was the one
who was going to get stuck with
the task of cleaning the
delicacies.
As it was, we became very
generous with the neighborhood
cats whose noses led them to the
backyard where that messy task
was underway until the late
'evening hours. •
Our 43 perch were by no means
a record. A couple of gentleMen
were carting off their second bag
of fish when we arrived. They had
managed to land about 200 perch
and we didn't envy them the task
they faced in getting them ready
for the dinner table.
News of good fishing travels
quickly among fishermen and the
until you are a grandfather, So
I'm going to recommend you."
I've never forgotten this wise
remark, and have since, as a
teacher, always tempered justice
with mercy.
But I drift. School was then, is
now, and ever shall be, a place to
get out of, come June.
Yet there is a little sadness
among the older students, who
are graduating. They are finally
mature enough to realize these
were possibly the best years of
their lives. They sign each other's
yearbooks. Some weep. They
promise to keep in touch, but
knowing they probably will• not,
after the first year. They are
scattering.
Halcyon days are over. They
are stepping off, sometimes
fearfully, into a world of work
and responsibility and striving
\for success, and raising families
(which alone, in these times, is
enough to make one want to stay
in school forever).
I deplore sentimentality. But
sure enough, last class, last day
of school, I turned around and
there was a beautiful cake, in-
scribed, "Best Wishes, Mr.
Smiley, from 13B, '74." Even the
punctuation right. I was
touched."
And 'astonished, I expressed
my admiration and appreciation,
and said, "Wait 'till my wife sees
this." The response was, more of
less, "Your wife, our foot. Look in
the paper bag." Sure enough, it
Contained paper napkins and
plastic forks. There was a knife in
the cake box. So we had our cake
and ate it, communally, and
quietly listened to a funny record,
Then we left, happily, And sadly.
pier was a hive of • activity
throughout most of the week,
although our second attempt a
night later proved that there was
a limit to the number of fish
which could be caught.
Our assistant in the next office
tried his luck with his new-
fangled "Pocket Fisherman" the
same day and proved that the TV
advertising isn't entirely in-
correct as he was hauling them
ashore in grand style, In fact, he
managed to catch one of the
largest perch of the day, although
we suspect one of the kind-
hearted fishermen from one of
the tugs tossed it to him as they
arrived back from tending their
nets .
The fishing luck appears to
have waned slightly, we are told,
but it's still an enjoyable way to
pass an evening, especially when
the added benefits include a
storied Lake Huron sunset .
broken only by the dots of sailing
boats. •
+ + +
With the advent of the summer
season, we took off for our first
long weekend. After a stay with
the Pollen clan in Milton, we took
the long way home (we always do
with the better half reading the
map) and ended up in
Collingwood.
One of the highlights of that trip
was a tour up the Blue Mountains
and a morning of exploring the
Scenic Caves just a couple of
50 Years Ago
The Blanshard Mutual
Telephone system, a recently
organized company, having
secured a sufficient number of
subscribers has purchased the St.
Marys, Medina and Kirkton
Telephone Company, according
to an announcement made
recently. The purchase price was
$68,000.
Misses Lyla Ballantyne, Anne
Allison and Agnes Fenwick of
New York City, are spending
their vacations at their respec-
tive homes here.
The many friend's of Rev. H. J.
Armstake, of Summerland, B.C.
will be pleased to know that he
has been awarded first prize in
the contest on Christian
Stewar,dship, conducted by the
department of finance of the
Methodist Church.
Mrs. Gladys Balkwell of
Winnipeg is visiting at the home
of Mr. William Leavitt.
Mrs. Anderson and son, of Sault
Ste. Marie, are visiting with the
former's mother, Mrs.
Delbridge in town.
25 Years Ago
Wednesday evening Hon,
Leslie Frost, Premier of Ontario,
addressed a large gathering
seated in the bandstand of Exeter
Community Park in the interests
of Elgin McKinley, the
Progressive-Conservative mem-
ber for Huron-Perth,
Grading of the site for the new
$25,000 Community Centre at
Hensall is being done this week.
It Will provide a standard-size ice
surface for hockey and skating as
well as meeting rooms for Boy
Scouts, etc,
Roof on the newly added
grandstand and rest rooms will
be installed at Community Park
before the annual race meet here
July go.
Exeter garage operators met
Thursday evening and decided to
.close Wednesday afternoons. The
one open the previous Sunday will
also be open Wednesday af-
ternoon.
miles from the boat building
capital.
Fortunately, we could drive the
car to the top of the mountain,
because the short hike to the
cave entrance proved once again
that the editor is badly out of
shape.
The first cave is traversed by a
series of ladders leading down
some 85 feet. The descent was
made slightly, perilous by the fact
that ice abounds in the cave and
our slippery-soled shoes were not
intended for such activities.
Other caves and rock for-
mations have been given in-
teresting Indian legends, such as
Suicide Rock where an Indian
maiden plunged to her death
after warriors had tossed her
lover to the rocks below.
However, the real test came at
"Fatman's Misery", where the
guide leaflet explained that it was
necessary to crawl thrOugh a
crevice which had only ,14 inches
clearance.
While a couple of members of
the family took the easy
"around" course, Steve and Brett
cajoled the old man into making
an attempt at the "through"
trail.
Watching our 50-pound com-
panions squeeze their way
through, we had second thoughts
about the attempt, but with
shouts of "chicken" echoing in
our ears, we started the arduous
— Please turn to Page 5
15 Years Ago
By capturing the prize for the,
highest aggregate marks in
grade 12, SHDHS Queen Jane
Horton of Hensall completed a
"grand slam" in the field, She
has won the honour in each of the
four years it has been awarded.
During the ladies night
program of Exeter Kinsmen
Thursday, past presidents Ralph
Genttner and Irvine Armstrong
received their ninth year at-
tendance pins. Their wives, both
past presidents of the Kinette
club, received seventh year pins.
All four are charter members of
their respective clubs.
The promotion of F 0 John A.
Cann of Exeter to the rank of
Flight Lieutenant has been an-
nounced by the RCAF. Since 1956
he has been serving with the
directorate of Public Relations at
Air Force Headquarters, Ottawa.
Next week Huron County
Health Unit will officially
complete 10 years of public
service. The unit now has a staff
of 15.
10 Years Ago
Winds which hit a peak
somewhere between 80 add 90
m.p.h. lashed through the area
Tuesday and left a trail of flat-
tened barns, trees, TV aerials
and ripped roofs and shingles off
numerous barns, sheds and
A houses,
Don "Boom Boom" Gravett,
Exeter's recreational director for
the past four years, has handed in
his resignation to the RAP
committee.
The old Exeter Opera House,
once a favorite spot for the
holding of plays, concerts and
dances, has been sold by
McKerlie Automotive 'to Fred
Darling, owner of the local IGA
store,
Mr. and Mrs, Henry Adkins,
RR 2 Hensall, celebrated their
45th wedding anniversary,
Saturday night when all the
members of their family
gathered at the Dominion Hotel,
Zurich for a dinner in their honor.
Sometimes we forget the birth-
days of those closest to us. We
may feel a twinge of guilt when
we realize the date has slipped by
but it never occurs to us that the
support of that good friend won't
continue even though we didn't
show appreciation for their birth
even in some small way.
Still, we would have felt better
if we had . . one should never
take one's friends or relatives for
granted!
Monday, Canada holds her
107th birthday and most of us
would likely forget it, too, if we
weren't getting a holiday to
commemorate the occasion.
Like good friends, it's easy to
take one's country for granted.
Oh, we may have a vague
awareness that we live in a great
land, and most of us wouldn't
want to reside any place else on
earth. But do we ever take
enough time to appreciate her
beauty, her wealth, her vitality
and the freedoms she allows us?
Of course, there is a danger in
viewing the assets of our land of
becoming smug and self-centred.
We murmer for God's blessings
and ask Him to keep Canada in
His care while at the same time
we show little concern or interest
in the less fortunate countries
(which are also part of His
creation).
Perhaps we're rather like the
Englishman who many years ago
offered this prayer: 'Lord, Thou
knowest mine estate is in Mid-
dlesex county (England) and that
I have lately purchased an estate
in the county of Essex. I beseech
Thee to preserve these two
counties of Middlesex and Essex
from fire and earthquake, and as
I have a mortgage in Hert-
fordshire, I beg of Thee likewise
to have an eye of compassion on
that county; for the rest of the
counties, Thou mayest deal with
them as Thou art pleased.'
Two years ago I celebrated
Canada's birthday with some
other Canadians in the ancient
city of Jerusalem. When one of
our group happened to mention to
someone in the restaurant where
we were having our lunch that it
was our nation's birthday the
other diners insisted we stand
and sing our national anthem. j
guess none of us ever sang it
more proudly or with more
feeling, for there was not a dry
eye among us when we sat down,
as we compared our free and
magnificent country with all its
privileges, to the turbulent, and
in some areas, poverty-stricken
lands of the mid-east.
It's right that as we celebrate
Monday we give thanks for our
good crops, our vast variety of
food, our more than adequate
housing, the opportunities af-
forded to us, and all the luxuries
we take so much for granted. At
the same time it's also right for
us to remember and pray for
countries whose many peoples
are living in conditions we can't
even imagine.
One of the best birthday
presents we could give our
country would be to find more
and better ways of sharing the,
of what we have with
those who have so little so that
people around the world would
toast us as we celebrate our
birthday by saying, "God bless
Canada . . . a great and com-
passionate nation."
evident in my results. I surmise
though:that the later at night it is,
the fewer the cars there are, and
thus, the more jay-walkers. Of
course, the later at night it is, the
less people there are, and thus
the supply of people for jay-
walking is cut down."
"Oh yes, I found out something
else, The traffic on - Dundas is
consistently heavy throughout
the day. You know, I thought the
traffic would peak, but this
doesn't seem to be dramatically
so. People seem to want to go
down Dundas and only go down
Queens when the waiting is too
long. Queens Avenue traffic
increases and diminishes, but not
Dundas. I guess Queens takes the
over-flow," he concluded.
"I suppose you could
generalize these results to other
situations," he mused. "Cer-
tainly, I don't want to stop here.
You know it's really exciting to
do this kind of research. It's
what's needed for so many
problems. Social problems and
many others." To his excitement
we can warm and with his
assertions we can agree.,
Answers to so many problems
will yield themselves only under
such controlled scrutiny.
"Oh say, by the way, how do we
stop jay-walking?" 'we ask. "I
don't know," he replied. "We
can't restrict traffic?" he
questions. "Anyway the fewer
the cars, the more jay-walkers."
But maybe the answer is there.
Legalize the pedestrian traffic
and ban the cars.
"Oh . . . . Another cup of coffee.
anyone?"
The Editor,
The Exeter Times-Advocate,
Exeter, Ontario
Dear Sir:
I am writing with regard to the
accident reported in The Times-
Advocate last week which took
the life of an 20-year old Exeter
man, Bruce Vincent,
I cannot help but question the
wisdom of giving an inex-
perienced youth (it was his
second day at that work) the job
of watching to see that the dump
truck boxeS did not touch the
hydro wires carrying 4,800 volts.
Since there was such obvious
danger it would seem to me that
an experienced person, who could
accurately judge distance (a
very difficult thing for some
people to do), would have been
assigned to this extremely im-
portant job.
I am alarmed that no mention
was made in your report that an
inquest Was being called to look
into the circumstances that
caused the death of this young
man. Surely there must be some
questions to be asked and an-
swered about this tragedy?
Sincerely,
Gwyn VVhilstriith
Let's keep it simple
SUBSCRIPTION RATES!
"You seem to need that cof-
fee," I said. His face was red and
he was acting as if he had had a
recent brush with' the February,
London outdoors.
"Yes, I do so need the coffee. It ,
is cold out there. The trouble is I/
have to go right away again," He
shifted his clip board in a
preparatory way.
I didn't need to ask about the
charts I saw and the columns. "I
am doing research on jay-
walking. It's part of my course in
geography up at Western. I spent
a year or so learning concepts
and methods and now I am
practicing some of them."
"How interesting! I'd like to
hear more. Maybe another
time." His clip board was shifting
peremptorily.
And that was my introduction
to Dimitry Koudaunis, Later we
met in the same coffee shop and
talked some more.
"My hypothesis was simply
this — There is a positive
correlation between the number
of cars and the number of jay-
walkers. That means that the
more cars there are passing
through the intersection the more
jay-walkers there will be."
He described his experimental
methods. "I am taking four in-
tersections — Dundas and
Wellington, Dundas and Rich-
mond, Queens and Richmond,
and Queens and Wellington —
and am counting the cars passing
through each intersection when
the light is green and also the
number of jay-walkers using the
intersection at the same time. I
am using two time periods, as
well."
"And I found out something!
The more cars the less jay-
walkers! The relationship bet-
ween these numbers is negative
not positive,"
"Actually, there are a number
of determinants regarding jay-
walking." And he listed them.
"The nearer the intersection is to
the C.B.D. the more jay-walkers
there are."
"Now wait a minute," I said.
"C.B.D.! What's that?" "That is
the 'central business district',"
he replied. And without breaking
his forward pace, he continued,
"The C,B.D. attracts people and
provides jay-walkers."
"The Second thing is that the
More lanes of auto traffic the' less
jay-walkers there are. Dundas
has two lanes and more jay-
walkers. Richmond has four
lanes and fewer jay-walkers,"
Just at this point he explained
about the herd instinct in
humans. "If one starts across,
others follow. And the fewer the
lanes of traffic, the more likely it
is that such a thing would
n
hap-
"And, of course, I found out my
hypothesis was wrong, The more
cars passing through the in-
tersection, the less people walk
against the light,"
guess there is a time factor
as well, though this was not
7
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