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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1980-03-05, Page 4•Poclet4 Timit*,-Advocate,, Match. git 119$0. Times We, In 1$13 attUtollti4heci1881 Arnoleornoted 1V 24 While there appears to be little sub- stance to a suggestion by Grand Bend Reeve Bob Sharen that students from his community are being enticed to at- tend South Huron District High School rather than Forest, it does make for an interesting debate on the state of education. Sharen charges that students from the resort prefer SHDHS because the school offers a football program, while Forest does not. In addition, the local high school provides a drama course, also something which students are not offered at the Lambton school. Those two situations may prompt some students to lean towards coming to SHDHS, but Principal J.L. Wooden is probably more correct in suggesting that the choice is being made on the basis that Exeter is considered the "local town" for Grand Bend residents more than Forest. Grand Bend has always been con- sidered more a part of South Huron in many aspects and if it hadn't been for some strange liquor laws, the residents would possibly have been more in- terested in joining Huron than Lambton several years ago. Residents of Exeter have no dif- ficulty in understanding _why students would prefer to come here rather than Forest, and it is not merely a football team or drama course that makes it More enticing. However, as enrolment declines and teaching jobs wane, is,there a hint that schools may well reach out and attempt to entice students from neighbouring jurisdictions to keep classes and teaching jobs at the highest level possible? If the enticement is through foot- ball programs or drama courses, then it would not be particularly beneficial.. But if students started to make choices on the basis of the academic standards of one school over another, the com- petition could perhaps predicate a great step forward in education. Imagine the benefits to the system if a science or math teacher in one school had to convince prospective students or their parents, that he was a better teacher than someone in a com- peting system and that his job was in fact dependent upon delivering that promise. Reeve Sharen should see the benefits in that, and rather than being critical, should be pleased that students in his community' have an opportunity to make a choice. Competition is the spice of life and it certainly wouldn't hurt one bit to have more of it generated into the educational system. What's a cord? For some time now, the Depart- ment of Consumer and Corporate Af- fairs has received numerous com- plaints from consumers as to the quan- tity of wood in a dbrd, as used by firewood merchants. The problem is mostly due to the fact that, according to habit and region, people have come to interpret "a cord of wood" in different ways, In other words, there are two definitions for a cord of wood. The first concerns pulpwood and firewood cut into four-foot lengths (this is the only legal definition), and it measures 128 cubic feet (8x4x4 feet). The second concerns sawn firewood, is not legally recognized, and measures 32 cubic feet (8x4x1 feet). The problem is one of semantics: the law recognizes only one type of cord of wood, whereas common usage recognizes two types. With firewood becoming more and more popular as a fuel, everyone is reminded that there exists only one cord-measure legally recognized in Canada. This measure is described in the Weights and Measures Act as 128 cubic feet, and measuring 8x4x4 feet. Of course, it is permitted to sell frac- tions of a cord, for instance: 1/4 , 1/2, or 3/4 of cord. All merchants are further remind- ed that article 33 of the Weights and Measures Act requires that the buyer receive full measure for his money: "Every person who sells or offers for sale any commodity, by number unit or unit of measurement, is guilty of an offense if the quantity of the commodi- ty that he delivers or offers for sale is, subject to prescribed limits or error, less than the quantity (agreed upon)". If the consumer is not sure exactly of the method of measurement used by the dealer, he should talk with him before buying or ordering, and come to terms as to the exact measure to be employed. Most problems having to do with these matters arise not because of deliberate fraud, but rather because each party to the transaction has a different definition of what a cord of wood is. by SYD FLETCHER Farmers really have it good. Anybody reading the papers can tell you that. It's just a matter of simple arith- metic to see that with beef on the hoof at the wholesale price that you see in the papers that one steer can bring in over a thousand dollars. Multiply that by a herd of a hundred beasts and you've got...whew! A lot of money in anybody's language, tieing a meat-lover myself I guess it was a little like grabbing a hot poker when I picked up a little package of hamburger in a supermarket and saw it was over $2,e0. I was almost tempted to put it back when I paused and got thinking a little bit about prices of that same size of package 14 or 15 years ago. About 13 of 'that 2 dollars I know blame well that salaries in most cases have increased by a lot more than three times over that same period, yet it always seems to be the farmer who 'gets blamed when the price of food goes up, even though all his costs have risen sky-high too. Try buying a new tractor for under $20,000 or a combine for under $59,000. You'd get laughed out of the dealer's office, Canadians have the gall to complain about rising food costs when they pay less than 23 percent of their pay- chece R on food, yet in many parts of the world it is as high as 90 percent. Perhaps one Aternative is for us to stop spending so much on pre-prepared, pre-frozen fast foods that cost twice as much as food we prepare for ourselves, Too, we tend to use the grocery store as a variety of stores now, buying everything from motor oil to Medicine along with our food yet wondering why the total bill rises so fast. Perhaps it'll take a year- long strike on the part of farmers to show us how much we depend on them. When the food got really scarce, then .we wouldn't quibble a bit about the cost of it. We'd gladly pay the price just to 'keep our bellies full. ..v..magzwiam Perspectives Mainstream Canada Let's Train Our Own People StIVINP,CANADA's BEST ,FARM.I.ANO CLASS 'A' and MK PubliOwd in! J. W. Pidy Publication' limited LORNE BOY, PiJatt$KR Editor Batten. Assistant Editor— Ross. Haugh. Advertising Manager ---,Am Beckett cemeesitien. Manager Harry DeVries Business Manager-- Dick lengkind Pubtish.ed. Each Wednesday Morning hone 23S-1331. at Exeter, Ontario Second class Mail. Registration Humber 0316 SUBSCRIPTION RATES:. Canada $14,00 Per Year; USA $30.00 41110fOrkW7-'77.:=2,43tUM=111===.111aWalaMitiMIRSAVOK Competition good eDorleraTc.st SO,AQ "Of course I believe in solar power — every winter we head for Hawaii and store up solar energy on the beach." Testing one's mettle squandered about sixty dollars, just so that I can get my rotten old car out of my skinny old driveway so that I can drive to work and remain unhealthy by not walking. ' Multiply that by 100 customers, and the snow removal man is hurting badly, Almost as badly as I hurt when I have to pay him forty bucks a month. Let him hurt. Ski resort operators are crying the . blues, and, in Ontario, had the colossal effrontery to ask the province for a sub- sidy, from the taxpayer, to make up for their lost revenues. Let them sweat, in that beautiful winter sunshine. They'll make it all up next year, and more by jacking up their prices. Carried to its logical conclusion, this sort of thing would have you and me subsidizing commercial fishermen, farmers, merchants Who haven't sold many fur coats, and people who don't want to take an outside job because it's too cold. Most of which we do anyway. I have no objection to sharing the wealth with a guy who is out of a job, and genuinely wants to work, but I grow cold with fury when I am helping to support, via pogle, a fisherman who has made a killing in his short season, a sailor who is knocking off more than u . p I:l ly1► se.dt*SpilloY •••• Everything becomes frayed While there have been few causes for complaint regarding the winter weather to date this year, there are always those who seem to go out of their way to test their mettle against the elements. The writer tested his last week dur- ing a one-night camping exhibition into the wild and frozen barrens of Hay swamp and found out that it was noticeably lacking. I came out of the experience with a deep respect for the intelligence of bears and other furry creatures which search out a warm den in the fall and keep their noses buried under their legpits until the warm, spr- ing breezes arouse them. Winter camping is not an experience that one can readily endorse through glowing testimonials, unless of course, your thing happens to be frost-bitten fingers, head colds, weepy noses and smoke-filled eyeballs. I happened to have been an innocent, gullible pawn in the entire exercise; The first mistake was in accepting' without question the words of our Il- lustrious camp director who enticed me into the outing with my three youngest sons with the announcement that he had "everything we need". That comment has now been entered into the list of the greatest ex- aggerations of all time. My guard dropped when he said he was on his way to get fuel for his tent heater, and with visions of a cosy night in a warm, glowing tent in mind, I agreed to join the foray. The first part of the trip was without incident and was actually pleasant. It was in a warm automobile and the dis- tance to our intended camp site quickly diminished. In fact, we could see the bush road as we finally pulled over to park in front of the "road not plowed" sign that indicated the end of our vehicular travel and the beginning of a trek into the wilderness. Two toboggans were soon loaded with our supplies and we were off ... for about 10 feet when the boxes and plastic garbage bags holding our supplies started to tip off as the toboggans slithered along the paths made by some foolhardy four-wheel drive owners, Our nine-year-old had a brilliant Usually, it is a dreary time of year. February freezings followed by March madness. As a rule, at this time of year, everything is frayed: your rubber boots, your patience with politicians, the body of your car, and your own body. But this year, thanks to God or Pierre Trudeau, who are sometimes in- distinguishable, Canadians can face it with more verve than usual. We have had a winter with a maximum of sunshine and a minimum of snow. This combination has lowered the suicide rate, the oil bill, and the horren- dous amounts you pay for snow removal. Municipal councils who normally spend a quarter of their works' depart- ment budget on shovelling mountains of snow into people's driveways, are ex- uberant. Now they'll have enough money to go out and tear up some old roads, cut down some trees, cover a piece of green with asphalt. But, as always in this country, one man's meat is another man's porridge. This year, in early February, I received a bill from the guy who plows my driveway. It Was for ten dollars. Usually, by this time, I have $20,000 a year for ten months work, or a heavy machinery man Who gathers in the gold in the summer, then puts his feet by the fire and draws enough un- employment insurance to pay for his board, bingo and beer. However, let us be urbane. It's been a grand winter, partly due to my subtle challenging of Mother Nature, the old strumpet, about our weather. I wrote a late September column about the joys of sunny October. Thirty days of rain. I wrote a late October column about the deadly dullness of November in Canada. Twenty-four days of sunshine. I didn't dare fool around again until early January. sunny and mild, when L wrote a column predicting a vicious, freezing winter that would last into August, Result? More sun in Jan. and early Feb. than for forty years. This is known as reverse psychology, avidly practised by bridge and poker players. But I am not heartless. I do feel sorry for the model who can't ski but has spent three hundred dollars on an apres-ski outfit, and there ain't no snow. skilled 'workers are rising at st• phenomenal eruelvei.$, datfit shortages.: become Meanwhile, more than SVO billion will he spent on major' energy related :projects in Mel country in the 1980s. As a • result, the experts estimate Canada will need at least other 40,000 . workers..trained tntiireeltly: oogovrn nenslnlanid41 generally taken a wait-and-see attitude towardugrad0mnpowe training and apprenticeship policies and programs. In a. recent survey taken the 55,000-member Canadian Federation of Independent . Business, for example, 17%. of those interviewed • shortages of qualified labor as their most important problem., 'A crash' program to Canadians to fill the high-pay- jobs that are .now going begging is urgently needed. Otherwise, the pressurel6 port even more skilled trad4 people from other countries - while untrained Canadiane- main unemployed will .be; come unbearable. the soybean title and also the late oat championship. 20 Years Ago George E,Rether, towns has been appointed manager of the snack bar and catering concession at RCAF 'Station, Clinton. His appointment will take effect later this month. Thieves were foiled in their attempt Wednesday to rob an Ottawa bank, managed by a native of Exeter, Marvin Howey. Exeter Public School board learned Friday night that it may be necessary to establish two kindergarten classes in September.. Laird, Joynt, native of Hensall, has been elected to the board of directors of the Canadian Kodak Co. He has served as treasurer of the firm for some years. . Patients of South Huron' Hospital are being em, tertained by the two portable TV sets donated by the Exeter Kinsmen last week at their tenth anniversary banquet. ts Years Ago Former mayor R.E. Pooley was named chairman Monday of Exeter's cene tennial committee at thd group's initial meeting to prepare for the project of beautifying Riverview Park for Canada's 100th birthday. The SHDHS board con- tinued to move ahead with plans for a complete vocational addition for a total of 1,200 students with only ° minor consideration remaining before the ar- chitect will be asked to draw up sketches. Included in the proposed addition, which will add a total of 540 pupil places are auto, carpentry, electrical and electronics, machine and drafting shops, as well as boys' and girls' occupations., three new commercial rooms, two science rooms, nine stan- dard classrooms and a smaller gym. Mrs, Grace McEwan, RR 1, Hensall received a cer- tificate of appreciation of service from the RCAF Centralia commanding officer, Gr.G.F,Ockendan. Mrs. McEwan started work at Centralia in 1953 and retired last month. 4 I do feel sorry for the boy next door, Wilson, who shovels my walk and takes me for about forty bucks every winter. He's had a lean year. But the grass will probably grow with the abandon of marijuana next summer, and he'll make up for it by cutting my lawn six times a week. There is one area in which I am heartless. It, doesn't bother me one whit, whatever a whit is, that the snow- mobilers have been cruising most of the winter on grass and pavement. Long may their tracks rot. Another great plus about the sunny, low-snow winter is the lack of envy And depression. Every time I climb out of bed in the pitch dark, clobber into my heavy clothes and boots, lumber out through a bliz- zard to the garage. and can't get the car started, I com- mence cursing rich people, who have gone south for the winter, I mutter things like, "I hope all your pipes burst," or "I hope your roof falls in, under the weight of the snow." This is un-Christian, and this winter I've been able to choke back such curses, merely hoping that the weather in the south was unseasonally chilly. Or very wet, And that depression. Normally, about the middle of February, I am as low as a caterpillar's crawl. Dark, cold, snow, wind, freezing rain, rotten snuffling kids, crabby wife, and the furnace gulping like an incredible hulk. This year it's been like taking an upper, instead of a downer. The ice crashes off my roof with earthquakian rumbles, but the sun is dOing it, not some bird at twenty dollars an hour. You can go down into your basement without wearing a parka, You can go up to the attic without a winter survival kit. All in all, a jolly fine winter. idea. He would sit on the toboggan dad was pulling and hang onto the supplies. With another 60 pound struggling at my arms, the distance to the camp site soon appeared to be quadrupled in length. The advance party returned to the' huge water hole over which we were about to portage and reported finding an ideal sheltered area for our tent. It was ideal, at least for midgets, Struggl- ing through the underbrush while pull- ing a toboggan was another thing. The tree branches whipped across my nose and the wild raspberries pulled at my legs and made their mark. • Buoyed by a delicious, half-frozen •bologna sandwich, I was soon recuperated enough to tackle the chore of erecting the tent. In no time at all, (give or take'an hour) ,it was standing "Chet, On its chosen site, swaying only sAghtly from side to side in the mild bieeze that drifted through the pines. Rule number one of winter camping unfortunately didn't come to mind until after the tent was erected and all the supplies unpacked. That rule, of course, is that one should pick a camp site close to a source of firewood; it be- ing easier to pull a toboggan to a snow- buried dead tree than to carry a snow- buried dead tree to a camp site. As the sweat poured from our brows as we chopped and dragged wood, the first invigorating tinges of winter cam- ping were. visible. However, when we sat down to enjoy the fruits of our labor, the sweat started to cool down drastically and was replaced with cold fingers, toes and butts. It •was such a feeling that no doubt spurred the phrase ... cold and clammy. However, after a warm feed of weiners and beans, it was time to hit the pit in our warm comfortable tent. In the time it takes to get one arm out of a coat, there was the realization that our tent was not warm and comfor- table. In fact, it was frigid, a point that was evidenced as the steamy afts of our breath floated overhead. But overhead was not the greatest problem. Have you ever slept on an ice- pack? That was what was underneath the thread-bare sleeping bag to which the writer had been relegated with his nine-year-old. Yes, the sleeping bag e count was five. `Tiei-liOdies numbered six! Oh well, better to be cozy, I think, Wrong again, Our nine-year-old is a gymnast when overcome by sleep. Legs and arms flail, The only reason I don't notice is the cold, bone-chilling feeling that is slowly numbing my back where it meets the ice-cold floor. After a couple of hours, a switch in bed mates is engineered. Steve and B.J. snuggle in together and father is left alone to enjoy a comfortable sleep. That lasts about 10 minutes. Steve doesn't appreciate his new bed mate either and further arrangements have to be undertaken. :With the Cold from the floor now well settled...into; the bone marrop;.I dedide to pull on a snowmobile suit, and again settle down for a comfortable sleep. That lasts almost an hour, before the little body beside me awakes with some shuddering. It is cold. I pull it on top of me and soon the quivering abates, but starts in the big body below as the extra weight pushes it farther into the ice pack. Brett now wakes and hits upon a solu- tion for our cold end of the tent. He suggests we bring one of the candles from the other end "because we need some heat down here too". That does it! The writer wraps up the body on top of him into two sleeping bags and heads outside, where sur- prisingly enough, it appears Warmer despite the fact the raging fire has lost its glow to a mild attack from some freezing rain. However, it being Boy Scout week, the writer pulls on all the knowledge amassed from his years of training un- der Lord Baden-Powell and gets the last dying ember to rekindle a flame. Soon the night air is vibrant with color- . ful flames. The body is warm. It is ex- actly 4:00 a.m. and I spend the next three hours wondering how you find wood in a distant field over 200 yards away in the pitch-black night in Hay Swamp. It helps keep a fellow awake! It also helps to reinforce a feeling that winter camping is something one should only read about. You just did, and if you're smart, that will be your only experience! ' Bp Roger 'Worth ' A heavy equipment com- pany recently advertised in, it. prestigious national. business Publication seeking a general manager. The starting salary: S.$0,000 per year, At the same time,, another firm advertiseCin the same publication seeking a diesel mechanic., The starling salary: $50,000 per year, Roger Worth is Director, Public Affairs, Canadian Federation of Independent Business. Admittedly, the diesel me- chanic would be located in a remote area of northern British Columbia. But it's intriguing that at least one tradesman in Canada is earning as much money as a general manager of a firm with sales of $15 mil- 'lion. ' The point, of course, is that there is an acute shortage of skilled trades people in the country and the situation is going to get a lot worse before it gets better. In addition, salaries paid to 55 Years Ago Councillor James Ballantyne of Usborne, met with a serious accident. He was endeavoring to start a steam engine, but owing to the cold had some difficulty. In some manner he became entangled in the machinery and both bones of the right arm were fractured. His wrist was badly lacerated, exposing. the tendons and he lost part of the index finger. The Advocate Printing Company, which has been doing business for 30 years closed with the month of February having been taken over by the Times-Advocate. What might have been a serious fire was averted by prompt discovery Saturday evening in Main Street Methodist Church. A quantity of wood placed near the furnace took fire and was noticed by two girls who notified the pastor, Rev. M, Clysdale who arrived in time to extinguish the flames before much damage was done. Thomas Nelson had ' a narrow escape from asphyxiation at his garage. Several residents of Exeter reported an earth tremor. Pictures were moved on' some walls and other were startled by the rattling of dishes. Mr. and Mrs. A.E. Andrews have returned to the West after visiting Mrs. Andrew's father. The curfew bell was rung Monday at 9p.m. for the first time since passing the bylaw. 30 Years Ago May Schroeder was crowned queen for 1950 at the Exeter High School At Home by last year's queen Janet Kestle. Mr. and Mrs. John Passmore received four medals from the Ministry of National Defence for ser- vices rendered during the war by their son F.O, Gerald Passmore who gave his life. At the Huron County Seed Fair the wheat cham- pionships, both spring and fall went to Harry Strang of Usborne Township, while R.D, Etherington also of Usborne, was the early oats champion, Harry Strang won