HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1978-10-19, Page 4Times-Advocate, October 19, 1978
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Wliat’s it worth?
Similar to the weather, fire
prevention is a topic on which many
people do considerable talking, but
often end up taking little action.
It is, of course, a situation unlike
the weather in that people have it
within their means to make changes.
Procrastination unfortunately often
leads to tragic events.
News items concerning the death
of three London residents last week in
dicated the homeowner had considered
buying smoke detectors on a plan in
volving the firm with which he worked.
It was obviously a good idea, but the
necessary action never came to frui
tion. Experts indicated that smoke
detectors probably would have resulted
in the three occupants being warned in
time to escape the tragic blaze.
Sad. you say? Yes. but even sadder
if you are among the homeowners who
will once again be prompted to take
precautions to save your family and
then do nothing about it
Smoke and fire detectors are
available to save lives, but our fire
departments remind us that they are
often of little avail if the family hasn’t
taken the added precaution of es
tablishing an escape route if a fire
breaks out. It too is relatively simple,
but often one that is included in the
“must do someday” list.
Stupid, isn’t it?
Capitalist problem
Capitalists around the world were
no doubt chuckling up their sleeves
with the announcement this week that
a Russian meat dealer had managed to
join the ranks of the millionaires.
The fact that he accomplished the
feat by doctoring receipts for 20 years
tends to blacken the effort to an extent,
but of course such antics are not un
common among those who strive after
wealth and don’t get too concerned that
all their dealings aren’t above board.
However, the comments of the
Moscow press may have some sobering
thoughts for those who think money is
the key to all happiness.
“His simple human heart couldn’t
endure the constant nervous tension of
his endless search for profit,” the
newspaper account said on the occa
sion of the meat dealer’s death.
“In the bright world of social
justice where we are living and work
ing, one can still meet degenerates,” it
continued. “But why in our society
should someone want to be a
millionaire because a man does not
need daily to eat for 10 people, wear
several suits at a time or ride in two
cars?”
It concluded by noting that the
money blackened the millionaire meat
dealer’s mind with greed.
Now how do you argue with that,
you rich capitalists?
“Osgood’s been on strike so often, he’s forgotten where he works. ”
BATT’N AROUND ....... with the editor
Some sobering thoughts for hosts
Action warranted
Hurray for Westminster College’s
director of residence. Others in similar
positions should consider imitating his
tough stand against students who get
their enjoyment from smashing walls
and breaking windows.
Rev. David Scott and Westminster
College have had their fill of van
dalism. To make their point, they've
barred 17 former students and three
who enrolled this fall from the campus
and threatened them with trespassing
charges if they return. An extremely
hard-line attitude? Not when you con
sider that Westminster College, a
residence affiliated with the University
of Western Ontario, paid out $10,000
last year as a result of acts of van
dalism which included dozens of broken
parking gates and carpets burned with
propane torches.
In fact, while Scott’s and the
college’s actions are worth applauding,
they could have gone even further by
prosecuting those who were actually
caught displaying their destructive
streak.
Westminster’s tough action should
at least Serve as a deterrent for ram
bunctious students who think nothing of
causing thousands of dollars worth of
damage to university property, all in
the name of good old fashioned college
hij inks. London Free Press
Think small
A Dumb Question?
By
SYDFLETCHER
Perspectives
This summer an eleven-
year old boy was killed. He
was driving a large tractor
which was pulling a culti
packer.‘At the end of the
field he came too close to a
hydro pole, broke it off, and
was knocked under the
implement by the upper part
of the pole.
Some people might throw
up their hands in disgust and
say that there is no excuse
for this sort of thing to
happen, Why on earth is a
child up there by himself
doing man’s job?
Yet there is another side to
the coin which although it
won’t make those grieving
parents feel any less sense of
loss is nevertheless an ac
cepted fact, in that farm
children are expected to
handle far more respon
sibility at an earlier age than
their city counterparts.
Traditionally farm
children have helped out,
with chores being a regular
part of the routine and every
member of the family pit
ching in at haytime, with
planting and harvesting
times. Without a willing
family many farmers would
under in a short time.
My wife can remember
driving a tractor when she
was so small that she had to
stand up to press the clutch
down. There was the time
when her mother was riding
the haywagon and my wife
turned too sharply (she had
been told to follow her dad
who was walking ahead and
did just that) dumping the
whole load and mother on the
ground. Fortunately it was a
soft landing.
Little boys at my country
school in kindergarten and
grade one can name every
implement and type of
tractor going. For that
matter so can the girls. They
follow their dads around like
pups and it takes a pretty
stern father to deny them a
chance to drive or help drive
the new tractor.
Too, the pressures of
modern farming, with
escalating costs and larger
acreages demand that the
farmer use far more
equipment, equipment much
larger than his parents ever
dreamed of. At the same
time he feels that he can’t
hire an extra person to help
so the family gets con
scripted.
One lady I know, very
gentle in her ways, still gets
out and drives a tractor with
those huge double wheels on
the back, even though she is
not so young anymore. She
told me of once going into a
small ditch and without
thinking put her foot on the
clutch, then let it slip off. The
whole front end jumped
about a foot off the ground.
That sort of think can shake
you up a little.
Part of the solution to the
problem lies in farm safety
awareness, something that
we in the schools are taking a
long hard look at. With the
aid of the OPP safety officer
we try to alert children to the
possible dangers on the
farm.
Another aspect is the at
titude of the farmer himself
who must set the example
for his family. If he is subject
to frequent accidents himself
because of carelessness or
forgets to put the safety
guard on a power take-off,
then he can’t really expect
his children to have any
respect for that sort of thing.
I think that as long as we
have family farms we will
have children working and
helping. As far as I’m
■concerned it’s a good
thing. Farm families tend to
be close-knit with the
children responsible and
caring.
On the other hand, I just
hope that this long bad
summer with its rash of
terrible accidents will serve
as a stern reminder of the
need for conscious
carefulness at all times, in
and around the farm.
An interesting decision was handed
down recently by Supreme Court sit
ting in Kitchener that no doubt will
cause a stir in area Legion halls, bars
and other drinking spots.
The case concerned the awarding of
damages totalling $387,000 to two
children who lost their parents and
were themselves injured in an accident
in 1975 which was caused by a drinking
driver.
The interesting aspect of the case
was the way in which the court divided
responsibility for the accident.
The driver, a 60-year-old man, was
found to be 85 percent responsible and
the Woodstock branch of the Royal
Canadian Legion, where the man had
been drinking, was found to be 15 per
cent responsible and as a result was
ordered to pay $58,000 into court as its
share of the settlement.
The jury found that the Legion allow
ed the driver to drink to access and was
negligent in not providing adequate
supervision of its patrons on the day of
the accident. In this particular case the
driver had at least twice the legal limit
of alcohol in his blood.
Some of the comment on the decision
has pointed out that it should go a long
way to awaken a sense of responsibility
on the part of establishments serving
booze to people.
That’s a foregone conclusion,
perhaps, but what should also be of
equal consideration is the fact that peo
ple who.host parties in their own homes
are subject to the same responsibility
under the laws of the province. It
would also include private .and public
dances, receptions, office parties, etc.
In short, if you’re in any way acting
as a host where booze is being served,
you have a responsibility to ensure that
none of your guests drink to excess and
then gets out behind the wheel of a
vehicle.
That’s a rather sobering thought, and
one that should be kept in mind as we
head into the holiday season not too far
ahead. ♦
* * * ,
During our recent trip to Germany,
we found that drinking drivers there
are given stiffer penalties than those in
this country.
Jail terms are not uncommon, es
pecially for repeat offenders, and per
manent driving suspensions can also be
expected by those who fail to learn
from their first mistake. The first
offence usually draws a six-month
suspension, double that of Ontario,
We found that the Canadian Armed
Forces personnel are well aware of the
dangers of hitting the road after having
one too many, and the various messes'
at Lahr have suitable safeguards.
Anyone who has been drinking at one
of the messes and has over-indulged,
can call a taxi and the cost is paid by
the attendant on duty at the bar.
The tab is shared through a general
levy on the mess membership.
The bar attendant can also suggest
that the member take a taxi, thereby
placing the total onus on the driver if
he decides to ignore the suggestion and
drive himself.
In addition, personnel who are out on
the town in Lahr, or even the surroun
ding villages, can call the “drunk
tank” which is a bus dispatched from
ZK
the base to pick up people who have
enough sense to realize they should not
be driving.
While it may be difficult for civilian
organizations, hotel owners or private
party hosts to organize things to that
extent, there’s little doubt that the
$58,000 paid by the Woodstock Legion
would cover the costs of a number of
taxi rides.
* * * *
Tom Yardley, a long time resident of
Yorkshire, recently revealed a streak
of prudery previously unnoticed by his
friends. As his 100th birthday ap
proached, he was asked if there was
anything special he wanted to do.
Tom said he had never seen a blue
movie, so arrangements were made to
treat him to one.
The next day a friend asked him how
he had liked it. “It was disgusting,” he
replied, “I walked out after three
hours.”
★ ft ★
And here’s just another reminder to
anyone considering running for an
elected position in the area municipal
councils or school boards.
You have only three days left in
which to file your nominations with the
respective clerks.
A few interesting situations appear
to be shaping up in some
municipalities, but the final story
won’t be told until nominations close on
Monday.
There’ll be a full report in next
week’s issue.
What’s going on here? Are
we in a recession - or is the
economy experiencing reason
able growth?
Now that maj seem like a
dumb question, a lot like stand
ing in the sunlight and asking
if it's raining. But the econo
mists don’t seem to know the
answer. So how can the rest of
us, lowly uninformed slobs
that we are, hope to have any
insight?
Let’s forget, for the mo
ment, about whether the eco-
nom> is in good shape or not.
More important is the disturb
ing fad that none of the so-
called experts seems to know
the answer with any amount
of certainly.
Up and down, around and
around, Business can be boom
ing one minute andrdisastrous
the next. We haven't experi
enced this kind of economic
instability in decades.
And the small business sec
tor is getting clobbered.
At the best of times, it isn't
easy to be a small business pro
prietor. Even brief recessions
can prove to be fatal. Unless
the firm has solid financial
backing, there is no cushion to
see it through the lean times.
When the small firm fails,
the owner doesn’t suffer alone.
Employees are thrown out of
work. The government loses
tax revenues. Suppliers are cut
off from a source of income.
And on and on.
The damage can be mini
mized, though. A business fail
ure is seldom a personal fail
ure. With every unsuccessful
business venture, the entre
preneur acquires knowledge
and skills. These skills are in
r
Times Established 1873 Advocate Established 1881
vocate
« UsWmm SMnr MOJ
imes
ISm, Nw* MM
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..........
Amalgamated 1924
Published Each Thursday Morning
at Exeter, Ontario
Second Class Mail
Registration Number 0386
g E 15
SUBSCRIPTION RATES! Canada $11.00 Per Year; USA $22.00
Pompous cliches and evasions
About this time of year, reporters for
community newspapers are sniffing
around the town hall, trying to drum up
a hot story about the coming municipal
elections..
It’s about as rewarding as looking for
diamonds in the Arctic. All they come
up with are pompous cliches, evasions
and half-truths.
Almost invariably, the Mayor, unless
he’s been caught with his hand in the
till, or been discovered in flagrante
delicto in a motel room with somebody
else’s wife, is going to run again.
“Yes, I believe I owe it to the people
of our fine town to carry out the many
progressive programs inaugurated
during my years in office. ’ ’
Translation: I like having my name
in the paper every week, and if those
jackasses of councillors would stop
arguing with me, we might be able to
screw enough money out of the govern
ment to start building that new com
munity centre, which will be called
after me.
Reeve Dimlylit: “What we need in
our fair town is leadership at the top,
something we haven’t been getting.
Yes, I will probably be a candidate
again for municipal office, but I do not
yet know in what capacity.”
Translation: If that turkey, the
Mayor, has a heart attack, I’ll go after
his job. He gets the chain of office, the
cocktail parties, the headlines, I want
them,
Deputy-Reeve Dumly: “There
seems to be a strong ground-swell,
among the voters, for new blood at the
top, a vibrant leadership that would
make Pokeville the thriving communi
ty it could be. But I have not decided
yet. Let the people speak,"
Translation: If the Mayor makes a
terrible boo-boo, and the Reeve suc
cumbs to cirrhosis of the liver, which
he’s working hard at, I’ll go for the top,
if I can find two guys to nominate and
second me.
Councillor Doaks: “Yes. Well, as the
voters of Ward Four well know, I have
been their ardent representative
whenever their best interests were at
heart, and I know they are behind me
100 per cent.”
Translation: I voted against every im-
rovement in town, unless it was in
Ward Four, and I squeaked in the last
time by four votes.
Councillor Blank: “Well, I just don’t
know whether I’ll run again. The posi
tion takes a terrible toll of your time
and energy. I’d like to spend more time
with my family. But you do feel a sense
of responsibility to keep Pokeville
progressing.”
Translation: Jeez, I only missed
three committee meetings last month.
Holy, Moses, if I’m turfed out, I’ll miss'
that $800 a year, and I’ll have to stay
home with Gladys and those rotten kids
every night. Please, Lord, don’t let Joe
Glutz run against me. He’d' wipe me
out.
Councillor Klutz: “I honestly haven’t
decided yet. I have served the good
people of Ward Two for twenty-eight
years, unstintingly, regardless of race,
creed or color, and I believe, with all
due modesty, that I have served them
well. Look at the new sewage line on
11th st. Remember the maples I hadcut
down to accommodate a fine new ser
vice on. 8th St. And don’t forget the
modernization I brought to Ward Two:
a barber shop, two pizza parlors, and a
chicken palace. I stand on my record.”
Translation: Some of those dang
communists are still sore at me for
cutting down those 25 maple trees.
Some of them others is mad because
they get pop cans and pizza plates all
over their front lawns. If anybody runs
against me, I’m dead. Otherwise, I’ll
be back on the band-wagon.
But we must avoid being qynical,
mustn’t we? Those municipal
politicians are more to be pitied than
scorned. If they fail to be elected, it’s a
serious blow to the ego. If they
succeed, they are stuck with two years
of mind-numbing meetings, and the
constant obloquy of the public they
serve.
Unlike their brethren in provincial
and federal politics, they cannot put a
certain distance between themselves
and their masters, such as a secretary.
They are apt to be pilloried in the local
paper, belligerently confronted in a
coffee shop, or phoned at two in the
morning to settle a drunken argument.
Such is the lot of the municipal politi
cian. *
Nor can we blame them too much for
being shifty when asked whether or not
they are going to stand for election.
They have learned that shifty
footwork, that sparring for advantage,
that gouging and butting in the
clinches, from their provincial and
federal counterparts.
And they have, of course, that great
master of the ringing phrase, the dou
ble talk, the double think, the swift
change of course, Pierre Elliott
Himself: the man who was going to
wrestle inflation to the ground; who
abhorred price and wage controls, then
clasped them to his bosom; who
steered through the end of capital
punishment, and now might, just
might, hpld a referendum on it, provid
ed enough people vote for him in the
next election which might, just might,
be held next spring. Or next summer.
Or next fall.
No, we can’t blame our local
politicians for issuing evasive or
cowardly statements to the press.
They’ve been too well trained from the
top.
valuable in future business ven
tures - if the entrepreneur can
be convinced to move into an
other business investment.
The trick, then, is to ensure
that the entrepreneur will have
adequate incentive to start an
other business if the original
firm fails. And, since studies
have shown that about 6O°o of
the investment capital comes
from the entrepreneur person
ally, another 3O°o originates
within the proprietor’s family
and close friends and only
about 100’o comes from out
side sources, the most valuable
step would obviously be to bol
ster the incentive structure that
invites entrepreneurs, their
families and friends to lav out
their own funds.
The Canadian Federation
of Independent Business re
gards establishment of a more
attractive small business invest
ment climate as one of Cana
da’s more pressing issues. With
that in mind, the Federation
has recommended two major
federal tax amendments: a
lOO^o tax write-off for busi
ness investment losses in small
firms and exemption from
capital gains taxes on shares
of Canadian-controlled firms
held for at least five years. The
first measure would reduce the
personal risk; the second would
increase potential profits.
Canada can’t afford the
destruction of small firms
caused by economic instabil
ity. Some measures to create
stability are overdue.
"Think small" is an editorial
message from the Canadian
Federation of Independent
Business ■
--------------------------------------------~
memory lone,
55 Years Ago
Mr. and Mrs. Walter
Connor motored up from
Windsor on Monday in the
new Connor automobile, the
first all-Canadian auto.
Messrs. Connor Bros., who
moved from Exeter to
Windsor, have built a four
cylinder air cooled motor on
the same principle as their
air cooled gasoline engine.
The car has no radiator and
does not require water for
cooling purposes. Mr.
Connor expects they will be
on the market next week.
Mr. C. Kestle who drives
the British-American oil
tank for H T. Rowe, met
with an accident on Wed
nesday morning when one of
the oil taps became damaged
and about 150 gallons of coal
oil leaked out.
Mr. ,A. J. Perritt of town
has secured a good position
with the Green Swifte Co., of
London and assumed his
duties Tuesday.
30 Years Ago
Bill O’Brien was elected
president of the student
council with Anita Datars,
vice-president and Fances
Taylor secretary.
Mr. Aljoe Sanders is
remodeling the front of his
grocery store.
Workmen' arrived on the
seven acre site south of the
present school to start a new
$560,000 high school building.
Rev. Harold Swann of
Trinidad was guest speaker
at the Sunday School an
niversary of Centralia
United Church.
Exeter’s Main St. is
receiving a face lifting. The
coating is being applied this
week.
20 Years Ago
Directors of Alcantuc Ltd
and their families celebrated
the harvesting of the first
crop of 10,000 turkeys last
week with a banquet in one
section of the large poultry
barn west of Exeter. The
main dish? Turkey, o f
course.
Wider, longer, lower cars
wjth more glass, improved
engines, push-button con
trols and many other new
features attracted a crowd of
200 people to Exeter Kin
smen’s auto show at the local
arena Friday night.
C. H. MacKenzie, 50, of
Orangeville, a municipal
police officer with 20 years
experience, has been ap
pointed Exeter’s new chief.
15 Years Ago
Hallowe’en pranks began
as usual several days in
advance of the actual event. .
In Crediton a goat was tied to
an overturned “two-holer”
behind the garage of Joseph
Bullock. Kathy and Julie
Schenk, who live next door,
found the goat.
Seventeen area youths
burst out of the town hall
Tuesday with shouts of relief
and laughter after they had
been acquitted of criminal
charges resulting from the
September 15* gang war in
Hensall.
Pat Makins and Malcolm
Hiltz were the grade 10
winners at the SHDHS public
speaking contest recently.
Grade 9 winners were
Dorothy Farwell and Dennis
Hazleton.
Mrs. Charles Corey,
Exeter was winner of the
door-prize at the Exeter
Lions Club frolic. She won —
what else? — a door!
HE INSERTED TUBE IN
MARE'S NECK ARTERY
BLOOD ROSE
9 FEET'
history's first
MEASUREMENT OF
BLOOD PRESSURE
FOR MORE INFORMATION
ABOUT HIGH BLOOD
PRESSURE, ASH YOUR
HEART FOUNDATION
IN 18th CENTURY .
REV. STEPHEN HALES
SOUGHT TO LEARN
"WITH WHAT FORCE
THE HEART
MUST PROPEL
THE BLOOD"
BlOOK