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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1979-09-12, Page 4Big difference There's an old adage suggesting that what you don't know won't hurt you. There may be occasions when it appears to hold true, but there are many times when the opposite is the case. Take the case of the local Public Utilities Commission. For several years, local banks were providing an interest rate of about two percent per month on the minimum balance of the current account. However, realizing that loans were getting more expensive, manager Hugh Davis figured that perhaps the interest rate on bank balances should also be on the increase. As a result of his investigation and request, the PUC now receives an in- terest rate of about nine percent, not on the minimum monthly balance, but on the average monthly balance. That has resulted in an increase in interest rates of about 10 percent for the PUC and its customers. What is strange, is that it appears you have to specifically ask the banks to determine how good a deal they will provide you. Apparently, if you don't ask, you may not get the best deal at all, but rather just what they want to give you. While most of us may be on the borrowing side, if you happen to be on the other side of the coin (excuse the pun) it may well be worth while to shop around for the best deal possible. Certainly, the PUC manager is to be commended for his action. Whose responsibility? When an estimated two million Canadian school children climbed aboard their familiar school bus this morning, they represent two million un- solved problems. Who is responsible for them? Most parents seem to take the view that when their child or children board a school bus, parental responsibility ceases. But many school authorities feel their responsibility for school children does not begin until the children arrive on school premises under jurisdiction of the school staff. And there is obvious validity to both points of view, but until the ques- tion is resolved, the Canada Safety Council feels not enough care and atten- tion is being given children. mardirlaTMORS'AMMIN It is pointless, the Council says, to hold the school bus driver responsible. His job is to pilot the bus safely through traffic, often on bad roads in poor weather conditions. That is a full-time job. The driver is all too easily distracted by young people who have little idea of discipline. This responsibility gap should be a subject of thought and dis- cussion and resolution between parents and school authorities, It is the responsibility of both parents and teachers to teach children safe procedures while crossing a road, waiting for a bus, getting on or off the bus, and discipline while on the bus, and adults are urged to take a great deal of interest in children's school transporta- tion. By SYD FLETCHER St. Bernards and I have had a long-lasting relationship, These shaggy monsters with their big brown eyes have always had a special fascination for me from the time I was about five or six years old. We were visiting some friends and they asked me if I would like to see their little puppy. Of course I was quite eager. I was more than a little shocked when they opened the back door and showed the 'pup' to me. To my childish eyes he seemed like a huge brown and white bear standing there, It was a long time before I could be .persuaded to pet him, I learned theithough, that with a St. Bernard you should carry a towel handy to your face if drooling bothers you at all. Several years ago we were at another home and they also had a St. Bernard, much older and crosser. We warned the four year-old to stay clear of it. Half an hour later we heard a loud barking and a child crying. Expecting the worst we dashed to the door. The sobbing four year-old had a cut behind her ear but didn't know how it had been ad- ministered exactly. Looking at the size of that dog's mouth and the child's head I was extremely glad that the nature of the dog was not really vicious. Perhaps she had stepped on the dog's toe and it had jumped up quickly Barney was a half St. Bernard and half collie which my grandfather owned many years ago, Apparently he was extremely docile in nature, and wouldn't hurt the traditional flea. He was large, as big as his father, the St. Bernard and twice as homely. As he tended to wander he was tied to a fence post out in the yard, One day he got a little hungry, I guess, and gave one extra tug on that eight- foot post and pulled it right out of the ground. About the time that Barney got loose a salesman, portly by nature, red-faced and sweating in the summer heat, was just walking up to the front door, Around the corner came Barney dragging his post as if it was a decoration. Seeing the salesman as -a new playmate he rushed excitedly toward him, happily barking, You just wouldn't believe how fast that man could run and With such enthiiSiasfn. For some reason or the other he never came back, Rumour had it that he was still at a good trot, four farms east, and wasn't looking back, Perspectives Mainstream Canada L The Easy-Credit Syndrome 11111111111111111911994009194011991991990909101111941641199999901311491AMr'4*...), Times Established 1873. Advocate Established 1091 Amalgamated 1924 Page 4 Local Justice of the Peace Douglas Wedlake has come in for some praise from the Mitchell Advocate after recent- ly levying fines against two young drivers who squealed their car tires out- side a senior citizens' apartment building in the early hours of the mor- ning. Wedlake decided to fine the two men one dollar for each foot of skid mark left on the street by the tires. That 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 Published Each Wednesday Morning Phone 235-1331 at Exeter, Ontario Second Class Mail Registration Number 0386 SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Canada $11.00 Pat Year; USA $30.00 -01=VM-41V1"0474TV=ZTAT4',:;"..v." +CNA Times-Advocate, September 12, 1979 Heavy foot penalty dvocate resulted in a fine of $87 for one and $117 for the other. While lauding the JP for the penalties, which were above the normal for noise making, the Mitchell paper suggested that perhaps $5 a foot would be even more appropiate. Of course, that will have to be broken down into meters or some such, to keep pace with the new metric system. BATTRArip4140:: It wasn't dull when I cut the linoleum Why close the doors? By W. Roger Worth Many Canadians appear to be robbing Peter to pay Paul, borrowing ever larger amounts of money to support their life- styles and the standards of liv- ing to which they have become accustomed, Month after month, it seems, short-term borrowing by con- sumers sets a new record. That includes the phenomenal growth in charge card outlays, as well as such items as term lending (cars, boats, furniture) by Canada's chartered banks, trust companies, finance com- panies and credit unions. Even 18 0/o interest rates on charge cards and 1407o - 16010 Roger Worth is Director, Public Affairs, Canadian Federation of Independent Business. rates on term loans haven't slowed the process. The credit granting institu- tions, of course, are elated that consumer credit is rising, al- though they are a little con- cerned about increasing bad- debt losses. Yet short-term lending is a very profitable business indeed. And with a glut on money in their coffers, the financial in- stitutions are bending over backward to oblige those seek- ing credit. While most Canadians treat the easy availability of credit with respect, high pressure ad- vertising (will that be cash or Chargex ... or Visa) can create problems, The number of borrowers who get in over their heads is rapidly rising. In July, for example, 1,252 Canadians went bankrupt, up 13.9 076 from 1,099 the previous year. In the January - July period this year, a whopping 13,473 individuals and firms went bankrupt. This is only the tip of the credit problem iceberg. Thou- sands of other people have been forced to resort to credit counselling agencies and simi- lar organizations. Many others stave off their difficulties by arranging a new "consolida- tion" loan. Still, even though credit problems are growing and collection agency business is booming, it's also important to note that Canadians are among the largest per-capita savers in the world. Evidence, perhaps, that people are more responsible than the gloomy bankruptcy figures indicate. In recent weeks, several members of Exeter council have lamented the fact that local citizens are not taking their responsibilities serious enough in the matter of assisting the police in law en- forcement work. The suggeition is that local citizens can help to a considerable extent by reporting anything suspicious to the police or taking down license numbers of any cars they see breaking traffic rules. In view of their concern that people take whatever steps necessary to keep the town as law abiding as possible, know they will appreciate the suggestion from this writer that they set their own house in order. Ironically, the most flagrant examples of withholding public information from the public in the past couple of years has stemmed from council's deliberations over police offices. 'There's little doubt that they have broken procedural laws, but what is most annoying is the fact they have chosen to go behind closed doors to make some very improtant decisions affecting local taxpayers. Readers may recall the situation when a previous council chose' to meet without notifying the press or the public to decide on moving out of the town hall and into the Main St. office which was gutted by fire early this July. At the time, this newspaper suggested they had met in secret, and that brought forth some strong denunciation from some members and Reeve Si Simmons in particular. * * * This week, Mayor Derry Boyle probabloy set parliamentary rules back a few decades by his handling of the dis- cussion which preceded council's deci- sion to purchase the Barry Reid proper- ty adjacent to the local post office for Man, it's good to get back work after a long, hot, wet, cold, dry summer. A good many teachers, with a long summer holiday, do something exciting, interesting, or at least constructive. Some go on exotic trips to faraway places, and return to bore you with their experiences for the next ten months. Others go to the Stratford Festival, or take a course in potting pottery, or go on a long boat trip in their own boat, or have an affair, or make fifty gallons of peach wine, or grow a beard. Still others build a patio, or tear down a barn, or take a summer course to im- prove their qualifications, or prepare their courses for the fall term, Or something equally dull, Every year, it's the same thing with me. I make great plans for the summer, around the middle of June, Write a book, go to the Yukon or New- foundland, revisit boyhood haunts, have an affair, grow a beard and long hair, catch a hundred bass, shoot a par round in golf. And this summer, as so often I ac- complished absolutely zilch, I barely got my weekly column written. I travelled no more than 120 miles from home. I re-visited nothing except the town library, The only affair I've had was with a big cedar chair in my back yard. I'm clean-shaven and short- haired, I caught one nine-inch bass. I did shoot a par in golf. On one hole. I'll have to admit what my wife suggested every second day all summer, "You're a lazy bum. Well, we're not all perfect. I did get quite a few meals. Peanut butter sandwich and banana for breakfast. Fresh made sandwiches from the Oasis for lunch. Chicken pies, fish and chips, turkey dinner, Salsbury steak and gravy, all of them frozen, for dinner, Sometimes, when my menus began to the new police headquarters. The topic was listed on the meeting agenda, but was side-stepped and never broached until the meeting was adjourn- ed. Members were then asked to stay for a committee-of-the-whole session to dis- cuss the matter. Decisions of course, can not be made by a committee-of-the-whole. The com- mittee can only report back to council and council then have to make any motions that arise. However, having adjourned the original meeting, it would then become necessary to call a special meeting, although I'm not certain that was the course of action followed and at this point it doesn't matter a great deal, although by not adhering to the proper procedural rules, any decisions made could be overturned and that could prove embarrassing indeed if someone wanted to undertake that challenge. * * * The main point is, that council again made decisions without the public being permitted to sit in on those deliberations and hear the varying view points ex- pressed by individual members. That takes on greater significance when it was indicated by the Mayor that he ended up breaking a 4-4 tie by casting the deciding ballot in favor of the site purchase. What the ratepayers don't know, is why four members of council felt the site purchase was best for the town and why another four didn't. By meeting behind closed doors, each member becomes saddled with the final decision, regardless of his own opinion. Had the public been allowed to hear the discussion and the press reported on the varying opinions, ratepayers may have been better able to decide for themselves which arguments appeared most logical. repeat themselves, I'd send out for Chinese food. One night, carried away by some wild primitive instinct, I actually cooked up fresh potatoes, green beans, and a chunk of '2.98 sirloin, But made the mistake of making steak gravy. It came out looking like the inner side of a diaper, and nobody could eat the steak. One other memorable meal was a stew I made. The usual stuff — onions, carrots, meat, a couple of spuds. It tasted a little flat, so I hit the spice cup- board and chucked a few shots of everything but mustard, then squirted in about half a bottle of Worcestershire sauce. That steak had body and a je ne sais quoi that my old lady tried to figure out for days. Aside from the cooking, there wasn't much to do., For various and sundry reasons, too miscellanebus to list, we weren't able to do any of the things we'd planned. Maybe that's why we wound up with a phone bill nudging the '200 mark. Per month, A sick brother, the colonel, in hospital in Montreal, flown out from James Bay after a collapse. The breakdown of a deal to rent a camper and go visiting. Worrying, and trying to help, as my daughter prepared to head for the other side of James Bay to teach Indian kids music. Five years ago, that girl could hardly write a cheque. Now here she was, arranging all the details of a major move, with two small boys: travel tickets, baggage shipment, getting a piano crated, trying to dispose of a car that won't start, and coping with a hun- dred other problems. Jolly good for her, And getting through yet another wed- ding, this time a niece frotn Edmonton, with my old lady running in circles over gift, clothes, and all the other garbage connected with weddings. One of the more ironical aspects of the situation is the fact that Si Simmons, who took the editor to task so strongly over the decision about the police mov- ing from the town hall, was the one who perhaps could have suffered the most by the public not knowing his position on the latest move. Si argued strenuously for a town- owned site behind the library that would have resulted in a saving of well over '45,000 for local taxpayers. While his position had been reported earlier, ratepayers have no way of know- ing whether he had any new arguments to back his suggested site or why other members felt that the '45,000 extra should be spent when in fact the two locations are only a matter of a few feet apart. It's a debate that ratepayers should have been allowed to hear, particularly in view of the difference in tax dollars, * * * One of the reasons cited by the Mayor for closing the debate to the public was the fact the land owner didn't want the sale price offer mentioned in the newspaper if council didn't accept that offer. That is a natural request and one this newspaper would have had no difficulty in granting, realizing that ,the purchase price may have been changed . for someone else had it not been accepted by the town. It was not a matter that required ex- clusion of the public and press from the total discussion. The general asking price of the property was already public information or could have been secured, we assume, by any citizen calling the realtor who had the listing. Wanted to see Kim and gran dboys off for the north. Did you ever try to get a hotel room in Toronto during the C.N.E.? Travel agent called twelve hotels, and the only thing she could come up was a deluxe double, whatever that is, at '76.00 a night. A little rich for the blood, what? A one-night stand we could hack, but we wanted it for four. What would you do? I won't tell. So, all in all, the summer was a big, fat bore. Not any help was me with a fat, arthritic foot when my wife was fit, and she with some kind of horrible sore back when my foot was fit, It didn't help that the lawnmower went on the blink, and I flatly refused to take it back to the robber who charged me '55.00 to get it going last time. "Let the dam' grass grow, That way the neighbours won't be able to see that I haven't painted the falling-down back porch." ' Oh, it wasn't a total loss. I had a serious chat with my contractor neighbour about building a back deck to the house to replace the tumbled heap of stones onto which the French windows presently permit access. We may get it done next year, Neighbour's too busy, I called a guy twice to come and do some brick-work, He'd be there for sure. Haven't seen him yet. Water tank in cellar began to leak. '200 for a new one, Sat by the hour, looking at cedar summer furniture, stripped to a grey- white by five years of weather, and studied just how it would look when sanded and stained and varnished, It's too late now to get it done this year. Read three hundred books, Watched three hundredthird-run movies, Almost blind from reading. Piles from bad beer. Man, am I glad to be back to workl 20 Years Ago The murder trial of 14- year-old Steven Truscott, RCAF Station Clinton, is well into its second week and may continue for a third, an observer at Goderich said Wednesday. Mrs. Oscar Tuckey en- tertained at a trousseau tea last Wednesday evening in honour of her daughter, Barbara, whose marriage took place Saturday. At the first meeting for the season for South Huron Junior Institute last Wed- nesday evening, Mrs. Harry Dougall gave a demon- stration on the cutting, care and arrangement of flowers, 15 Years Ago Bonnie Foster, 17, was crowned Queen of the Centennial Saturday night at the Zurich Agricultural Society's Centennial dance. Susan Oesch and Linda Gascho, Zurich were chosen as princesses, Tenders will be opened today on a spacious new plant for Dashwood Planing Mills Ltd. to be located on Highway 4 five miles south of Exeter. The plant will be over 40,000 square feet. Carole Davis and Bill Park of Lucan received $250 Dominion Provincial bur- saries. Carole has enrolled in London Teacher's College and Bill will enter UWO. He hopes to become a high school teacher. Louise H. Robertson has been named supervisor of public health nursing for Huron County Health Unit. CANADA COLUMN By John Fisher of the Council for Canadian Unity Conseil pour l'uniteennadienne Cape Race Newfound- land is not the most easter- ly part of Canada, despite what the song writers claim. The distinction of being the closest land to Europe belongs to Cape Spear, a few miles south of St. John's. Cape Spear is now a national historic park in- cluding the old lighthouse which has been warning mariners for one hundred and forty years. Due to fierce storms and icing conditions, the home and light are kept in the same structure. The present lightkeeper is Gerry Cantwell who is the sixth generation of the Cantwell family to keep the light, They have the right in perpetuity to pass it on to the next generation. This `right' is a famous docu- drivers! watch Dull 110115 St IN Accomplished absolutely zilch 55 Years Ago Dr. Moir, Hensall, is erecting a new and modern house on the farm near Rodgerville, London Road. Mr. P. Mclsaac has moved- the telephone central into Mr. G. Kellerman's building, formerly occupied by the Bank of Commerce. The fowl suppers are on and are being well patronized. One of the large brick silos at the Exeter Canning Fac- tory collapsed Wednesday morning, The teachers of this area, numbering 135, were in Convention at Goderich on October 9 and 10. 30 Years Ago The yellow corn pack, canned for the first time at the local canning factory, was exceptionally good, branch manager E.J. Green stated Monday. The yellow sweet corn replaced white corn which has been grown for many years for export. Mr. and Mrs. John Smith of Crediton celebrated the 61st anniversary of their marriage Tuesday. After two years of preliminary work the campaign to provide a new hospital to be known as South Huron Hospital has ripened and a drive was launched to raise $200,000. E.D. Bell has been named chairman of the South Huron Hospital Association; secretary is W.G. Cochrane and treasurer R.N.Creech. ment in St. John's and signed every time a Royal visitor comes to our oldest city. In July 1845, New- foundlanders were having a celebration to which they invited Prince Henry of the Netherlands. The Prince's warship Rijn was lost in fog outside St. John's, It was feared the Rijn might crash on the rocks. A harbour pilot James Cantwell went out in his rowboat into the turbulent ocean. He found the Rijn and brought her through the narrow ent- rance, The Prince was so grateful he asked the gov- ernor to name James Cant- well lighthouse keeper at Cape Spear in perpetuity." John Fisher, Executive Vice President of the Council for Canadian Unity was Canada's Centennial S •