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The Exeter Times-Advocate, 1974-07-25, Page 4A wise decision The bluer sky By ELMORE BOOMER Counsellor for • phone: Information 23s_ 215o South r 2H3u5-r2o4n 74 For appointment There.appears little doubt in the minds of Dashwood residents thathooking into the Lake Huron water supply system is the best plan for the future needs of their communi- ty. That appears most sensible, although obviously a system of bigger and deeper wells may be cheaper in the initial stages. However, experience in recent years has shown that wells can give out or become contaminated and Dashwood residents have obvidusly noted the pitfalls and have chosen for the more secure, long- range plan that the Lake Huron supply will provide. Residents of Centralia and Crediton are going to be asked to consider the same Handle with care proposals next week, although their im- mediate needs may not be quite as severe as those in. Dashwood where a number of wells have either dried up or become con- taminated. Nevertheless, strong consideration must be given to the future as Reinhold Miller so aptly stated at Dashwood. The proposed rates may appear high in comparison to present private wells, but they're still comparatively cheap for such a valuable commodity. -If the water pipeline stretches to Dashwood or Centralia, Exeter PM may also have to look seriously at this alter- native to their present plans for a new well to the east of town, If we, you and I, have a cargo of problems, let us AO as this label suggests , . handle them with prayer, releasing them utterly and completely to God, secure in the knowledge that thew is no delay in His love which will speed to the very centre of our dif- ficulty. Questionable solution The fxorcipt? While there is no question that traffic tie-ups at the intersection of Highways 4 and 83 are bothersome to some motorists, Exeter council's decision to request traffic lights requires more consideration than given the matter last week. In the first place, the tie-ups occur mainly for a two-hour period on Sunday afternoons in the two summer months only. That's a time period of about 20 hours, which is a comparatively short duration to consider taking corrective action. Changing traffic patterns or habits is always a dangerous practice, primarily because motorists often drive through a "habit" process. The thousands of motorists accustomed + + On the subject of prayer I like Rita Snowden's prayer for Set- ting Out on a Holiday; "0 God, it is good to know my holiday has really come, I have been very tired lately. Some things I once did without a second thought have come to be rather a burden. Now I can catch up on my sleep. Now I won't need to rise at my usual hour. Now I shall enjoy a change of company, And I give thanks for all these things, Let me not forget those who still work about me, some of them tired too. Let me be considerate in accepting their services. Let me be cheerful and thoughtful for those on holiday with me. Quicken all my senses, that new beauties of sight and sound do not pass unnoticed. May every still lake mirror Your peace; every lapping wave speak Your message; every tiny wind minister refreshment; every star overhead in a velvet black sky spell out Your stead- fastness. So bless our going out and our coming in. Amen." A friend from England wrote recently telling us about standing on a station platform waiting for his train. Because the train was very late in coming he whiled away the time striding up and down the platform watching signals and reading signs and posters and so on. Walking right to the very end of the platform he noticed a pile of parcels and packages waiting to be loaded on to the train. Addressed to various places in the world, many of them were labelled 'Fragile' or 'This Side Up', Etc. He said one parcel especially attracted his attention. It was a big wooden box securely roped and fastened for its destination in Africa, The label on this box stated its contents clearly, 'BIBLES, HANDLE WITH PRAYER', "Think about the significance of that label in comparison with the usual one 'Handle With Care' so often seen on parcels," he said. 'Handle With Care' is a placard that many people hang around their necks. It implies anxiety, tension strain and the risk of becoming so self-involved or self centred in one's woes that no light can penetrate the gloom and shadows thrown up by problems. 'Handle With Prayer', however, has a much better and different ring to it. It promises relief and release from the dif- ficulty. Must assume responsibility - to having the right-of-way while proceeding along Highway 4 would have their habits changed, and experience has shown that disasters often occur during such tran- sitional periods. The intersection at present is not a high accident risk and changes must be weighed very carefully with this in mind. A bit of inconvenience for a few hours a year may be a cheaper price• to pay than attempting a change that could have serious consequences. Perhaps there are methods whereby the tie-ups could be reduced without in- stituting a change that may well create tie- ups for motorists proceeding in all four directions. Full speed ahead Similar to the weather, the parking problem in Exeter has been something peo- ple talk about, but no one has ever done anything about, However, that has changed, and the Ex- eter Board of Trade have finally presented a plan which would open up a considerable parking zone at the rear of businesses on the west side of Main St. between John and Ann Streets. Oddly enough, the plan appears to be comparatively simple and inexpensive and makes one wonder why those who have touted the idea previously never took the oneself but also those around who share concern for you. + + + One of the ladies who called rgarding senior citizens pointed out that several of them require assistance for small chores from time to time and she wondered if there were any young peoPle in the community who would be willing to provide the required assistance. In Goderich, for instance, a group of young people obtained an Opportunity for Youth grant to enable them to assist seniors by cutting lawns, undertaking minor repairs, helping out in the home with housecleaning, etc. etc. The tasks are not strenuous and require only that young people have some free time to help make life a little easier for those who find it difficult to keep up with the daily chores. In Exeter, a young working woman has been trying to get someone to assist in the care of needed action to implement it. The land required for the parking area is primarily owned by the merchants who will benefit most from the proposal, so there should be few problems encountered in proceeding. The Board of Trade is wise in .suggesting that the program be curtailed to one test area in the initial stages, because its success would quickly spur similar ac- tion in other areas where parking is also available, Council and the Board of Trade should move full-speed ahead with the project. Before Going... her incapacitated mother. 'The task involves looking after the lady while her daughter works evenings. Remuneration would be paid for the work and if any young person is interested, we would be happy to furnish the name of the person to contact. While it istoo late fOr receiving OFY grants for projects of this nature this year, it is something that should be considered next year, Meanwhile if there are young people in the community without summer employment or who have extra time on their hands and could help senior citizens, this newspaper would he more than pleased to inform seniors of the names and telephone num- bers that could be contacted to enlist such aid. Many senior citizens are quite prepared to pay for the assistance, and as has been explained to us, often over-pay because they are so thankful to have someone undertake chores which they can not perform, By the same token, seniors wishing to have work performed should make their wishes known to friends or relatives who often know of people who would be only too happy to assist if they knew of the need. There is certainly no stigma attached to asking for assistance because there are many, many people in the community who are wanting to help but just don't know where their aid is required. Again it's a simple matter of communications! The circumstances surroun- ding the death of an elderly Exeter man recently have prompted several citizens to express concern to the writer. The man in question lived alone and it is believed he may have been dead for up to three days before his body was discovered. Naturally, the question that immediately arises is: why didn't someone find him earlier? The initial reaction is to question why friends, relatives or nieghbours had failed to realize that the elderly gentleman had not been seen for those three days. He was a comparatively active gentleman and was nor- mally out of the house daily. However, when one stops to analyse the situation, it is not too difficult to realize that anyone could be "missing" from the community for three days without anyone becoming alarmed, particularly during the spring and, summer months. Unless a person has a specific duty to look after someone, it is only natural to assume that all is well. People who are as in- dependent as this gentleman was, come and go on their own accord and it is certainly not unusual that their absence is not realized for several days. He's got a real good thing However the situation points up the dire need for more com- munication being established for those elderly citizens who live by themselves and lead independent lives. The solution is comparatively simple, although we suggest the onus should be placed on the senior citizens to take the steps required to protecttheir own well- being and safety. They should take steps to set up communication with people of their choosing. A telephone call, a drawn blind or some other simple daily task can beestablished as a signal that all is well. If the senior citizen plans to be away for a day, the contact person should be so advised. Obviously such a system does not create any hardship for any of the parties involved and prevents the type of heart-wrenching guilt many felt in the case mentioned. However, we do emphasize once again that the onus for taking the required steps should remain with the senior citizen, although it may take some urging from friends, neighbors or relatives to spur them into action. While their independent ways are to be commended, they should not reach the point where sickness, injury or even death should go unnoticed for several days, After all, even being in- dependent does carry certain responsibilities - not only for What Did You Forget 50 Years Ago The Central Hotel, which was purchased some time ago by Mr. Chester Lee of Paisely, from W. T. Acheson passed to the hands of his new proprietor. The face of the town clock has been painted white and the figures on the dial have been painted black.This week electric lights have been installed and the clock is plainly visible at night. It makes a very decided im- provement. After an illness of many months duration the death of Mrs. Clara Anderson, one of Centralia's most highly esteemed and respected citizens occurred at the home of her daughter at St. Thomas. Mrs. Anderson was one of the pioneers of this community, coming from England 12 years ago and living the rest of her life in Centralia. come, I should have bought a gravel pit. I have previously related how that 1,000 shares of Eldridge has shrunk to 25 shares of Peel-Elder, so I won't bore you. But I did learn one of the inevitable, or so it seems to me, laws of stocks. Every time a company gets bigger, I have fewer stocks. Eldridge expanded, became known as Elder, with a lot of new capital and great prospects in the offing. I was told that for my 1,000 shares of that cheap little old. Eldridge, I would get120 shares of this tremendous new Elder. There was no money in gold mining, apparently so Elder became Peel-Elder and got heavily into real estate. Assets increased, profits rose, and Smiley wound up with something like 12t2 shares of Peel-Edler. There was one halcyon period when Peel-Elder went up to more than $20 a share, I was temped to sell, I could have come out only about $100 in the hole, after twenty years. Not bad, that. But I hung in there. Then, about a year ago, Peel- Elder with a flamboyant burst of something or other, informed me that, as a loyal shareholder, I could have two shares for every one I had. I don't remember the details. I think you had to be a white Anglican with some teeth missing, a bad back, and no more« the bicyclist so that these pastimes are expected, and are attractive to more people than is the case in Canada. , The emphasis of the schools is one of involvement of every student in general fitness rather than a selection of the best athletes for team sports. Com- petitive sports is not the ob- jective,: .:Ls: ,7; Carry-over sports are n, Swedish emphasis which should be adopted here. Ohe of the main problems in the matter of physical fitness arises for us in years just after school. The op- portunity for team sports grows less and individual sports in- terests have not been awakened. Besides cross-country skiing, swimming, hiking, tennis, bicycling, and skating the Swedes have added orienteering. This latter is similar to car-rallying, only instead of using a car, you navigate using a map but on foot. The emphasis on these are social. Instead of leaving your family to go to hockey practice parents and children go out together. Even communities practise this solidarity of interest in sport. Facilities are not lacking. Clubs are available for those interested in social, sporting activities. Labour unions, corporate companies and local government offices sponsor sports clubs. The use by our government of the contrast between the Swedes and ourselves to motivate us to more active living seems most fitting. Lloyd Percival feels that Canadians will find real incentive to a program of physical fitness when they realize that "you achieve and enjoy more in life when you are in good physical condition." Optimism should be the order of the day; for with a program of balanced activity the human body can • be renewed. The process of going to seed can be arrested and reversed. One kind of energy crisis which can be averted by a proper use of present resources is before us. Bluer skies are promising. It has been found that the "average 60-year old Swede is as fit as the 30-year old average Canadian." It is a fact that in 1969 Sweden spent $400 million dollars in a crash program to provide sports facilities while Canada has spent only 60 to 70 million dollars in the last 10 years. It is a fact that in 1970 in Sweden that two milliOn young people belong to 400,000 sports clubs while in Canada any clubs that exist are geared to highly competitive sports. It has been said by Lloyd Percival "that everything we do is improved by being fit. Work is less stressful, marriage is more pleasurable, the sky bluer, and food tastier." These above mentioned matters are bona fide reasons for the Federal government's in- terest in physical fitness, for the government program, Par- ticipation and for the new slogan adopted comparing Swedish and Canadian levels of fitness. Reasons for higher levels of fitness among' Swedes are numerous. And for our en- couragement they should be reviewed. Comparison of parental at- titudes between Canadians and Swedes is startling. Parents and teachers in the latter country know the value of physical fitness and the danger of passive responses to life. There is an encouragement to activity rather than a toleration or contentment with T.V.-watching sort of life. Driving children to the arena to play hockey is one of the anomalies of our life. Bad weather is not weathered nor treated as a challenge but is an excuse to use the car. Swedish parents share the vicissitudes of the outdoors with their children. The societal expectations among Swedes are weighted in favour of fitness. It is not a Swedish answer to life to say, "I get my exercise lifting a gin and tonic", There are more facilities for walking and more protection for Pat Marshall, daughter of Kirkton dairy farmer, Ross Marshall. Pat will represent the county in a province-wide dairy queen competition at the CNE this fall. Confronted with a report that arsenic had been found in drainage water from the town, council Monday night requested the Huron County Health Unit to determine the source of the poisoning which has already killed one cattle beast. General Coach Works, Hensall has introduced a new model in it's economy line. The new home its a 33-foot 10-foot wide, two bedroom model with a suggested retail price of $3,995. Town council agreed upon a compromise Monday night when it decided to raise the speed limit on No, 83 highway. Members approved 40 and 30 m.p.h. tones inside the town, rather than 50 and 40 areas suggested by a traffic analyst. Last week, faithful readers, if there are any left, followed the enthralling, if not appalling, account of my meteoric career in the financial world. I had suggested that I felt I was being caught in the middle of a great financial squeeze when someone offered to buy my Peel- Elder stock at $13 a share. I smelled something peculiar and promised I'd try to get to the bottom of it. I haven't, but I hate to partwith those twenty-five shares of Peel- Elder. I've had them as long as I've had my wife. They are all that's left of my second and final savage attack on the stock market. My first was rather deflating as I mentioned last week. But the second time around, I didn't take any chances. It was only when a trusted stock-broker told me Eldridge Mines was going to be the hottest thing on the market, that I carefully bought 1,000 shares. They cost me $330, The broker was a former prisoner-of-war, so could be trusted implicitly. The stock held firm, went up about five cents a share in a week, and this time there ac- tuallywasa producing gold mine. I reckoned I was in Biscuit City, as we say in these parts. What nobody told me was that there was more money in gravel than there was in gold, in those days, and for many years to or less than two children, neither of them self-supporting. Something like that. Anyway I qualified. That's how I wound up with 25 shares of Peel-Elder, And now along comes an impressive brochure from an outfit called Hambro Canada Limited with an offer to buy at $13 a share. In February and March I could have sold for about $14. Hambro is a Canadian affiliate of Hambros Ltd., a London, England, based international merchant banker, with a good many' fingers in a good many pies. Hambro Canada Ltd. already owns almost 50 percent of Peel- Elder but wants to buy the rest. Most of the directors and of- ficers of Peel-Elder are also directors or officers of Hambro Canada Limited. Are you confused? Me too. It's pretty obviously a takeover of an established Canadian cor- poration by a British-based corporation, with somebody probably about to make a pot of bullion in the process. And here's something else that puzzles me. After thirty-odd years of watching Peel-Elder grow from a sickly little gold mine into a husky corporation, and watching my share of the cake diminish from a small wedge to a crumb I suddenly get two whacking great dividend Times Established 1873 ...I7ASSS:AQ'S 'Ts:spays • „:„. • 1881 Arnaliamated 1924 Advocate Established 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 Phone 235-1331 Published each Thursday Morning at E)teter, Ontario Second Class Mail Registration Number b314 Paid in Advance Circulation, March 31, 1972, 5,037 SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Canoda S9.00 Per Year; USA WM rZaWiegagaggga11.--414W, .wANEggigieln 10 Years Ago Council Monday night agreed to ask B. M. Ross engineer, to provide tentative figures for the best and most feasible way of extending sanitary sewers into the industrial area east of High- way 4 and south of 83, Aided by the fine weather of the past few .days, workmen are making rapid progress on Exeter's new swimming pool. Opening date has been predicted for the first of August, Petd'and Jeffrey Culbert Lucan weredressedappropriately in cat costumes for their rendition of the "Pussy Cat Song" at, the Kirkton Garden Party, Wed- nesday. The Garden Party marked its 20th anniversary with fine weather and over '4,000 in attendance, There were 17 en- tries in the Juvenile Programme. The ToWnShips of Stanley and Tuck erSmith Will employ a "shuttle system" in September to give many of their elementary School students the advantages of a graded education. 25 YearS Ago A record breaking crowd of between three and four hundred witnessed a thrill-packed racing meet at the Community Park Wednesday afternoon. Two thousand small-mouthed bass were placed in the AUsable River just above the Exeter Dain recently at the request of the Exeter Gun and Conservation Club. All the schools in the area have bee'n visited by members of the Exeter Lions Club who have taped all bicycles with safety illuminating tape. Teachers Gordon Kock, Morley Sanders, Eugene Howey, and Cecil Wilson have been Marking departmental papers in Toronto for the last month, "15 Years Ago Grand Bend toasts TV Celebrity Joyce Hahn today. The petite star of "Cross Canada Hit Parade" will be guest of honour in mammoth parade and variety show on the beach this afternoon. Huron county picked a "natural" for a dairy princess Tuesday night, She's attractive cheques from Peel-Elder. One for $2.94, the other for $1.50. Wouldn't you be wary when you'd not received a dividend for three decades and suddenly got two in one mail? The offer to buy me out, from Hambro Canada Ltd. , states rather sternly that the offer will expire July 23rd. If I accept the offer, I will receive $325. The Stock cost me $330 thirty years ago. And Trudeau would probably want a capital gains tax if I sold. Well, there we are. I started out in a quandry and I've ended in a quagmire. I wish I'd put that original $380 into a couple of beach lots which would now be worth $20,000. I wish I'd gone into pig farming, I wish I could win a sweepstake, However, that's the way it goes with us chaps who play the market, We accept the fact that we're compulsive gamblers, and take our losses with a stiff lower lip. But I won't sell that stock, Let them fight it out, the corporate bums.