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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1978-07-27, Page 4Page 4 Times-Advocate, July 27, 1978 -------------------------------------------------- <**» f n I O IM .........................................................•...................J Subject to proof “Sincerity is always subject to proof.” John F. Kennedy said in the ad­ dress he gave at his inauguration as President of the U.S.A. Was Kennedy being just a little cynical about sincerity? Or was he be­ ing realistic, saying that we should be suspicious of declarations of sincerity and appearances of sincerity? He had learned, as we all learn, that sincerity is an ambiguous notion, that an image of sincerity is not a guarantee of honesty and integrity. Most of us have had the experience of being conned by slickers who exude sincerity like cheap after-shave lotion. The late Lord Thomson, the Cana­ dian who became a press lord in Bri­ tain, once said this, with a twinkle in his eye: “I’m frank, brutally frank. And when I’m not frank, I look frank.” What would you make of that? A man being sincere about his own occasional insincerity? As the popular saying has it, “Whether you mean it or not, be sincere!” Some expressions of sincerity are calculatingly deceptive. And sincerity also has other popular aberrations. There is the sincerity, the quite genuine sincerity, of the fanatic. There is the sometimes dangerous sincerity of the person who believes that he, along with those who think as he does, has a monopoly in some significant seg- jment of truth and wisdom: he may be intolerant, bigoted, hating those who disagree with him and sometimes cruel toward them, but you’ve got to give him credit for complete sincerity. Then there is the dangerous sincerity of the person who combines initiative-taking, self-confidence, and gross incompetence. If you have much to do with such a person you learn that sincerity can sometimes do more harm than malice. But many of us from time to time fall into that trap ourselves. We excuse our folly and ineptness by assur­ ing ourselves that we are sincere anyway. We sometimes assume that our sincerely good intentions allow us to be incompetent and foolish in their implementation. We must not, of course, fall into the easy cynicism which assumes that all appearances of sincerity are decep­ tive. But we do need to be aware that sincerity, no matter how genuine it may be is not in itself a guarantee of truth, never a substitute for knowledge, never an excuse for un­ necessary incompetence. Our sincerity is always subject to proof. — Contributed "Horace injured himself when, as an MP, he tried to keep'his ear to the ground while sitting on a fence. ” Make decision now Each year, a difference of opinion evolves when Exeter’s sidewalk sale days are planned. Some want the Main St. closed to vehicular traffic and others don’t. That debate in the past has in­ volved both downtown merchants and council and few events have been held without some problem arising out of the street closing question. This year, the street was left open because a suitable detour route could not be provided in view of reconstruc­ tion on William St. While there were thoughts of delaying the sale, the merchants decided against that course of action and proceeded as planned with traffic using the Main St. Indications from most merchants this week are that the two-day event was one of the most successful on record. Several who have fought strenuously to have the street closed each year are now hinting that it may be better to carry on as they did this year with only parking eliminated. It reduced the antics of youngsters on bicycles to a considerable extent and some report that motorists passing through town took the time to stop and shop when they saw what was taking place. In view of the fact some opinions now appear to be changing in regard to the street closing, the Downtown Business Improvement Area board should conduct an informal poll among members to determine the course of action for next year. It should be done now while memories are vivid and should involve the police and works department to determine their views. The theatre season is off and run­ ning, affording area residents an ex­ ceptionally good opportunity of enjoy­ ing some light summer entertainment. Staff members have attended most of the productions being offered at the Huron Country Playhouse and at Blyth, and the general consensus of opinion is that the performances are up to the usual standards of previous years. While none of the productions has resulted in people rolling in the aisles, there are enough good laughs to keep your mind off the hot, dry weather. The Huron Country Playhouse appears headed for a record year as far as attendance is concerned. Last week’s play featuring London weather gal Judy Savoy was sold out and the up­ coming production of Oklahoma appears headed in the same direction. Most of those audiences are repeat customers who have enjoyed their past visits to the barn on the B-Line and ob­ viously that in itself indicates the rewards they have been receiving through their patronage. If you’re among those who have yet to be initiated into the fun of summer stock theatre, you’re missing more than you may think. ★ * * No doubt most Canadians were reassured by statements made recent­ ly by Prime Minister Trudeau during his visit to West Germany. After being handed a 12-million-year-old fossilized fuel maple leaf, the PM commented: “twelve million years old, that’s how long Canada has lasted and will last”. Ironically, at the same time, a study report from the Joint Commission on Great Lakes pollution was advising Canadians that the world’s largest in­ land fresh-water system may be dying. .The doomsday report suggested that within 200 years, sizeable portions of the lakes could be little more than swamps due to the pollution being fed into them daily through industrial, farm and community sewage waste material. Although Canada and the U.S. have been working on pollution controls for several years, it appears that the ef­ forts have done little in some cases other than reduce the increase in the pollution content. It becomes rather obvious that more stringent controls will have to be en­ forced if the Prime Minister’s predic­ tion of another 12 million years for Canada’s life-span is to come true. * * * The Joint Commission has been giv­ ing us the same sad story about the condition of the lakes for several years. People lament how terrible it is and wonder why somebody doesn’t do something about it and then go on about their business of polluting the water even more. While big industries are among the leading culprits, practically everyone living in the Great Lakes basin is con­ tributing to the problem. Farmers pour chemical fertilizers into the soil which in time find their way down to the water table through drainage systems into the lakes. Towns and villages such as Exeter maintain sewage lagoons which each spring let loose the effluent during high run-ott so that the sewage can get away quickly to the lakes. There are indications that we can’t get away with it much longer. Nature has called a halt. Nature can no longer handle the amount of pollution people are pouring into the lakes and if there is no immediate move to desist, we will lose the most precious commodity on earth — fresh water. It’s a legacy our grandchildren can do without! * * * Coroner Stanislas Dery, who heard the evidence in the tragic case of the 12 boys and one adult who perished recently in the frigid waters of Lake Timiskaming, has branded the entire expedition as “an exaggerated and pointless challenge”. Selected to preside over the inquest because of his extensive experience in marine inquests, he suggested that if the accident had not taken place in the early stages of the trip it would have almost certainly occurred some time before its conclusion. Evidence indicated the 12 to 14-year- olds were not trained for the rigors of such a trip, nor had the expedition been suitably planned. The whole concept of the trip appeared to be an attempt to make men out of boys. It points out the com­ plete folly of the too frequent in­ terference by adults. When will people learn to let kids be kids? It could happen here At last count 145 tourists and towns-people were dead in a small Spanish seacoast town. Some 140 more are so seriously injured that they are expected to die. Why? All because a truck carrying liquid gaseous fuel ran railway cars spilled a toxic substance. If there are any special regulations which impose extraordinary safety measure on the carriers for such dangerous cargoes we haven’t heard of them. Are the drivers of these trucks Sugar and Spice Dispensed by Smiley Making plans fora trip No Time for Traditionalists Barney Danson, Ottawa’s Minister of Defence, is a bright guy who doesn’t have much patience for the died- in-the-wool traditionalists who want to run contempo­ rary Canada just as it opera­ ted at the turn of the century. That may explain why Dan- son has not become one of the most prominent spokes­ men for the federal cabinet. Danson being a clever guy, it’s a good idea to pay atten­ tion to his remarks. Such as his belief that Canada is the nation with the golden eco­ nomic future. We’ve got re­ sources galore, Danson has been arguing, at a time when the rest of the world is run­ ning out of the raw materials needed for manufacturing. Sooner or later, the rest of the world must come to us for our oil, water, trees and all those other natural won­ ders God gave us. Danson’s blatantly cheer­ ful remarks stand out in pes­ simistic Canada like Rene Levesque at a Liberal rally. Unfortunately, they’ve been largely ignored by the press and broadcasters. Danson • and all Canadians - deserves better. The 1970s have not been good ones for the Canadian economy. We’ve lost money and jobs to OPEC, the Ameri­ can sunbelt states and the non-oil Third World nations. But now the balance of pow­ er is ready to start swinging back. o OPEC, for instance, al­ ready worries about what happens when the oil is gone (in, perhaps, another 15 years). Saudi Arabia, for ex­ ample, is seriously consider­ ing floating icebergs from the Arctic to provide drinking water. How can the nation hope to attract manufactur­ ing when it lacks water for the production process? The sunbelt states already ration water in many regions; future expansion there is limited. And the Third World, cur­ rently booming because of rock-bottom wages and taxes, will be forced to raise both wages and taxes over the next few years; their workers will expect better compensation as the countries acquire more and more industry. Yes, Canada’s future is potentially bright. However, it isn’t enough to compla­ cently fall back on resources. New mineral deposits have a disconcerting tendency to pop up where they are least expected - and providing fierce competition for Cana­ dian suppliers. In our life­ times, the sea will undoubt­ edly become a fantastically rich source of resources — far richer than anything Canada can claim now. The real implication of Danson’s glowing predictions for our resource industries is subtle: our enormous re­ source wealth should be used to develop technologically innovative Canadian-owned industries as opposed to mass manufacturing — which can be carried out in any country. We would be naive to allow others to use our resources as a basis for their own indus­ trial expansion. Moreover, although resource exploita­ tion creates only a few jobs, the manufacturing that could spring from our wealth would create countless jobs. The future is ours — if we choose to take it. "Think small" is an editorial message from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business'?; amuck and exploded. Spain is a long way from here — but the very same thing could happen right on the main street of any Western Ontario town tomorrow. With every passing day two or three of these ready-made bombs pass directly through the centres of our com­ munities. In fact a fuel truck did start a fire in a town near Lake Erie a few years ago, and if we recall correctly some five or six business places were wiped out — and that with no explosion. Only last week there was a train derailment which necessitated the evacuation of many homes in- an American town because the overturned all mature men with especially long ex­ perience and unusual'safety records? Do the trucks have more than the usual safety devices or are they the same as the one in the doomed Spanish town which simply ran away while it was unattended? Perhaps our Ontario laws do re­ quire more than the usual safety precautions for carriers of dangerous loads, but if so it would be a relief to know what they are. When a big tanker carrying thousands of pounds of ex­ plosive fuel roars through town it doesn’t take much imagination to visualize what would happen if another vehicle ran a red light into its path. Wingham Advance-Times Dear Editor, I would like to bring your readers up to date on the Energy Conservation Centres serving Huron - Bruce County. Its been four months since the Energy Conservation Centres opened in Goderich and Lucknow. We have run workshops on solar energy, wood heating, and insulation. We’ve collected a good library of books on energy con­ servation and alternate energy sources. We’ve done presentations on energy topics to a variety of groups and schools. We’ve done mall displays and a variety of other programmes. We’ve tried to help with individual questions and we’ve distributed literature on a number of energy con­ servation topics. Our upcoming programmes include a wind energy seminar, in Goderich and Lucknow; a play called “The Wiser of Off”; displays at fairs and festivals; film nights and a tour of alter­ native energy homes and projects in Huron County. The Conservation Centre programme will be coming to an end in the first week of September and we are trying to determine which workshops and activities to repeat or new ones to un­ dertake before this ending. To date, we figure, we have had contact with around 5,000 people through our activities. We would appreciate hearing from readers regarding the various programmes we have run — Have they been useful? What have we done that was right? What have we done that could be improved? And most importantly, what programmes would your readers like to see run before the project ends? Sincerely Tony Me Quail Project Co-ordinator ¥** Gentlemen As a means of obtaining funds in order to continue our services to Huron County, the Town and Country Homemakers will be collecting Kraft labels in all grocery stores in this area. We have been in contact with Kraft Foods Limited and for each Kraft label we obtain, they will pay towards our cause, a sum of money. The labels we are collecting are all the Kraft salad dressing labels and the Kraft Miracle Whip labels also.’ Boxes will be present at all the grocery stores in Huron County for the convenience of all. In this way, we are able to ensure that as little inconvenience as possible is placed upon our supporters. Later this year, we also intend to organize rummage sales in Clinton, Wingham and Exeter; therefore, if anyone has any donations for our sale, please call the Wingham office at 357-3222 or myself at 482-7609. Through these efforts, the Town and County Homemakers will remain in existence next year and we wish to state now, that all of the funds obtained through your assistance will be greatly appreciated. For this reason, we sincerely hope the people of Huron County will not only support our organization, but assist us in our cause also. Yours truly Mrs. P.C. Gonie-Tak Development Officer When you are going on a trip, your first hope is that you will get there in one piece, preferably the fairly large piece in which you began the trip. Not a lot of little ones. Your second hope is that you will not be hijacked. Or, at least if you are, that the hijackers will insist on landing on the island of Bali, where the terrified hostages will be comforted by nubile, young bra-less, topless ladies, waving fans and things around to keep them (the hostages) cool. Another vague hope is that the air­ plane gets off the ground. It didn’t help our frame of mind when one didn’t recently at Toronto airport, and in­ stead wound up in a ravine. Then, of course, it is to be hoped that once the thing gets into the air, it returns to terra firma. This is fairly important, they tell me. Next, it’s rather essential that you have a place to lay your jet-lagged head when you get there. Marriages are made in Heaven, it says somewhere. Divorces are made when the room clerk says, “Sorry, sir. Your reservation definitely states August 15th, and this is July 15th. We haven’t a thing for the next two weeks.” This ex­ perience is far, far worse than being left at the alter. It’s basic that you should leave behind instructions for the disposal of your property, in case you are kid­ napped in the red light district of Ham­ burg, or, in the case of wives, decide to run off with the one-eyed Afghanistan pilot you met in the discotheque in Rome. We’ve drawn up a list for just that purpose. Kim gets the grand piano. Hugh gets the lawnmower and the color TV (they have some great programs in' the jungles of Paraguay). Kim gets the lawn sprinkler for The Boys to run through, their favorite sport. My sisters get the old beds we outfumbled themjforjwhen my mother’s estate was being divided. My wife’s sister gets the huge linen tablecloth with the wine-stains that won’t come out. And so on. Another thing you should look after before you commence a trip is to get well rested. Maybe that’s why I’m tak­ ing off this afternoon in a bus with a lot of hooligans to drive, round-trip, 200 miles $and watch a double-header baseball game featuring the worst major league team in the world, Toron­ to, and arriving hom’e at 2 a.m. Four hours on the bus. Four hours in the grandstand. After a day’s work. “You’re crazy”, my wife said, une­ quivocally. She’s right. It’s extremely important, when you are packing, not to leave out anything vital to your well-being. Make a check­ list: laxative pills, tranquilizers, stuff for athlete’s foot, piles ointment, dan­ druff killer, a travel iron to press out the furrows on your forehead. And so on. Naturally, you need six dictionaries: Canadian-cockney; English-French French-German: Schweitzer-Deutsch; Toronto-Italian; Joual-French. And so on. Let’s see. Oh, yes, you need money. When the Europeans came to Canada first, they brought lots of colored beads, and received in return for them prime furs, good as gold. ‘When Canadians visit Europe, they take choking great rolls of banknotes, and receive in return for them — you guess­ ed it — colored beads. Seems fair enough. Let’s have another look at that list. Uh. Yup. Electric toothbrush. Extra dentures in case of breakage. Hair dye. Three quarts of underarm deodorant. Toilet paper, 12 rolls. Adhesive tape for blistered heels. Seven-iron to practise golf swings while waiting for audience with Pope. Booze. Hey, where’s the booze? Heard a guy had to pay $45 for a quart of rye when the Old-Timers played hockey in Holland last winter. Wait a minute, now. Have to call the cops and listen to their amused snorts when I ask them to keep an eye on the house while we’re away. Leave the house key under the eleventh stone on the patio. We’ll never find it when we get home. Cut off the newspapers — sure sign you are not home when there are forty-two of them on the porch. Put out some ant traps to make sure they haven’t demolished entire house while we’re away. And so on. You know something? My wife may be crazy, as I suggested here recently, but she’s not dumb. She never wanted to go on this trip in the first place. All she wanted to do was have a normal summer: swimming; playing golf; picking berries; enjoying the grand­ boys; nagging me about the weeds. Well, by George, we’re going anyway, and she can lump it. As long as she doesn’t lump me.‘You’re nobody unless you’ve been to Europe. That is, of course unless you’ve been to Newfie. Then you’re O.K. My greatest consolation is a line from a letter my son wrote on my bir.thday, “Tribulations, frustrations, rotten kids and neurotic spouse. All these things shall pass away.” Thanks, Hugh, I needed that. Times Established 1873 Advocate Established 1881 I imes - Advocate *<*>**11 *•** Hwws, Nwdfc MMAmh K * NadA SERVING CANADA'S BEST FARMLAND C.W.N.A., O.W.N.A. CLASS 'A' and ABC Published by J. W. Eedy Publications Limited LORNE EEDY, PUBLISHER Editor — Bill Batten Assistant Editor — Ross Haugh Advertising Manager — Jim Beckett Composition Manager — Harry DeVries Business Manager — Dick Jongkind ____Phone 235-1331 (*CNA SUBSC Published Each Thursday Morning at Exeter, Ontario Second Class Mail Registration Number 0386 Paid in Advance Circulation September 30, 1975 5,409 SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Canada $11.00 Per Year; USA $22.00 <aownmemory fane 55 Years Ago Mr. Wes Dearing organized a picnic for the Trivitt Memorial choir and assisted by Messrs. Isaac Dunsford, Wm, Taylor and Jas. Stanlake, motored the choir to Goderich. After spending several hours there, the choir went to Bayfield where supper was served. The evening was spent at Grand Bend. The Boy Scouts held their annual service in Caven Presbyterian Church on Sunday morning last. There was a splendid congregation present. Rev. Telford, of Blyth, Scoutmaster of the Blyth troup, occupied the pulpit and preached a very inspiring sermon. On the platform with him was Scoutmaster T. Pryde. The Boy Scouts, along with the male members of the choir occupied the choir loft and sang a very suitable anthem. A quartette was sung by Tom Pryde, John Pryde, Kenneth Stanbury and Roy Batten. A number of Boy Scouts left Wednesday for “Ban­ nockburn Farm”, the home of Rev. Jas. Foote, near Varna. 30 Years Ago Over 400 invitations have been mailed for Winchelsea Old Boys and Girls Reunion to be held August 2. L.V. Hogarth and Jack Weber leave Saturday to attend a school of poultry diseases at Dr.Salisbury’s offices at Charles City, Iowa. A large water tank,brought from Port Albert airport is being installed at Zurich. Its capacity is 65,000 gallons. Work on the new runways at Centralia RCAF Station is progressing rapidly. The landing strips are being doubled in length to give one mile runways. Newton Llarke, Woodham, was winner in the field crop competition in barley. 20 Years Ago Hensall children are taken to Turnbull’s Grove every Wednesday afternoon as part of the summer playground program sponsored by the Hensall Recreation Council. Two district youths were fined $50 and costs for throwing beer bottles from a car Saturday evening. Sale of the old Hensall Public School to Fred Haist, London, has lowered village taxes this year by almost two mills. 15 Years Ago Over 300 former pupils of Whalen public school an­ swered the call of the bell Monday for a reunion which marks the closing of the building for educational purposes - but not for community gatherings. The school has been purchased by a local group to serve as a public hall. About 3,000 bales of hay, 400 bushels of newly- harvested barley, and a number of implements were destroyed when the barn of Arnold Westlake, R.R. 1, Cromarty was struck by lightning and burned to the ground. Formation of a centennial committee to make plans for the celebration of Canada’s 100th birthday in 1967 was proposed Tuesday by Mayor W.E. Simmons. Construction of the $200,000 hockey and skating rink at RCAF Station Cen­ tralia is proceeding on schedule. Completion is set for the end of September.