HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1980-04-30, Page 4Mainstream Canada
011eeoureek
4
Will that be cash or ..?
Hair dryer hazard
Portable electric hairdryers are.
about as common in most houses .these
days as carpet beaters were 75 years
ago.
Seaforth coroner Dr. Paul Brady
brought a warning from the Ontario
chief coroner's office to the Expositor
recently on the subject. There have
been several deaths in the province
caused by the careless use of these
electrical appliances in bathrooms.
The coroner cautions that the hair-
dryers should never be used in the
shower or the bathtub. They shouldn't
be left plugged in; In one case a
plugged-in dryer fell into a bathtub and
the occupant drowned in four inches of
water, Probably hair dryers shouldn't
be used in the bathroom at all.
With summer coming, Dr. Brady
says the warning could be extended to
cover the use of small electric TV's and
radios around the swimming pool. In
short, don't use them if they could get
wet or fall into the pool.
We take electricity, and handy little
everyday appliances like hair dryers
for granted. They are lethal around
water. That's a reminder many of us
need. Huron Expositor
Perspectives
walk-a-thon and you get all
kinds of volunteers. Ask a
senior child to help a smaller
one with something that may
involve a lot of work, and
only rarely do you get a
refusal, Usually they'll give
far more than they're asked
for.
Somewhere along the line,
in the process of growing up,
this readiness to give of
oneself is often lost, and
when it comes down to giving
money, even for value
received, it seems to hurt
some people more than
others.
When I was going to
Teacher's College in
Toronto, I had to drive about
twenty-five miles each way.
even though 1 waa driving a
beat-up Volkswagen and the
price of gas was a lot
cheaper than it is now, it Still
cost a lot to get there. I was
more then pleased to get a,
couple of riders to help pay
expenses.
The amount they paid
wasn't that high. The one
fellow paid it promptly at the
end of every week while the
other could not be depended
on, ever. I hated to ask for it
because he had the knack of
making me feel as if I were
imposing on him and that he
was actually doing me. a
favour by riding with me.
At the end of the school
year he still owed me a small
amount, and never ever did
pay it. That rankled. It was
the principle of the thing
rather than the actual.
amount.
The true irony of that
situation struck me as
amusing when I heard a
couple of weeks ago that he
had formed an investment
firm in Toronto and advises
people oti how to handle their
money. I could give hire a
little advice myself. Not that
he's asking.
Ne.4
SWING CANADA'S BM FARMLAND
C.W.N.A., O.W,N,A. CLASS. 'A' and ABC
Published by .1. VI.EedY Publications Limited
LORNE EEDY, PUBLISHER
Editor -- Bill Batten.
Assistant Editor Roes Haugh
Advertising Manager.— Jim Beckett
Composition MO/Inger ,— Harry DeVries
Rumness Manager — Dick. Jorigkind Published Each. Wednesday Morning
Phone 235-1331 At Exeter, Ontario
Second Class Moil Registration Number 0394
$UASQR(PTION RATEN:
Canada $14.00 Par Year; USA $35.00
rims* b.,101414e41 1873,
Enviable record
Tirpoi,Adviocpre, April. SQ, 1.98Q.
Advocate Sossli$bss ssti
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served its purpose in exemplary
fashion.
The men and women who unselfishly
took up the challenge to defend their
freedom and those of other nations
returned home to show that same
dedication and devotion in tangibleways
for the betterment of this community
and as their unfailing promise to their
comrades who paid the supreme
sacrifice.
Those who have been privileged to
view the vast scope of the Legion ac-
tivities have seen the members ac-
complish their objectives with the
sweat from their brows...and the tears
from their eyes,
No, that it is not melodramatic.
That's the way it has been for 50 years,
and hopefully the way it will continue'
as others pick up the challenge and take
their place in filling the thinning ranks.
We must never forget!
Amoirmated 1924
R18$0*
*NARD
1911
"The country's beset by so many problems, I hardly know which one to ignore first."
Many'contributin'g factors
stand up
One of the problems with the annual
report by the Auditor-General is the
fact it is followed, as surely as night
follows day. by another report citing
the same types of government waste
and inefficiency. But the biggest
problem may be that taxpayers have
refused to dig in their heels and shout in
unequivocal terms that they've had
enough of the nonsense,
California experienced a tax revolt
recently and it is becoming apparent
that nothing short of similar action in
this nation will result in an end to the
type of stupidity which surfaces each
year,
It's your money that's being wasted
and the time has come for Canadians to
stand up and be counted and let their
MP's know they want some immediate
changes. If it means that a few
bureaucratic heads have to fall, so be
it!
Few would argue with the suggestion
that nothing good comes from war.
- However, there has been one excep-
tion and the good that comes from that
evil is nowhere more evident than in
Exeter. This week, the R.E. Pooley.
Branch of the Royal Canadian Legion
marks its 50th anniversary, a time to
"reflect on the achievements of half a
century and also on the days ahead.
Readers who took the time to read
the comprehensive history written by
Doug Wedlake for the special publica-
tion last week will have a better un-
derstanding of what the Legion has
meant to its own members and to no
lesser an extent, the community as a
whole.
Despite some rather shaky moments
in its early history, the branch has
flourished to take its place as one of the
most energetic and enthusiastic service
groups in the area and the history
relates quite conclusively that it has
Time to
Auditor-General J.J. MacDonnell has
come forth with his annual list of
government blunders, civil service in-
efficiencies and the myriad of other
dubious practices perpetrated in Ot-
tawa which result in a vast waste of
taxpayers' money.
It's a nightmare story that unfolds at
the same time that most people in the
nation are sitting down at their income
tax returns and see how many of their
hard-earned dollars are being siphoned
off by Ottawa.
In his latest report, MacDonnell in-
dicates that the very people in Ottawa
who will be double-checking those in-
come tax returns are working at about
60 percent efficiency. They are part of
the federal public servant corps who
apparently either don't have enough to
do to keep them busy or don't have the
incentive.
By SYD FLETCHER
If there's anything or
anybody I dislike, it's a tight
wad. It's a characteristic
you don't often See in
children, at least in my
experience. Not that you
won't get an instant fight
over whose piece of cake or
chocolate bar is larger, but
on the whole children are
really generous.
If somebody forgets their
lunch bucket and you make
an appeal to the class, the
child will be swamped with
far more than he can eat
raster than you can blink an
eye. Put out a request for
children to donate their time
and energy to' a hospital
Members of Exeter council keep go-
ing around in circles on the continuing
debate over providing assistance for
the periodic requests received from
municipalities which have experienced
disasters,
While council as a whole has remain-
ed steadfast in sticking to the policy of
rnot providing any assistance, a new
twist was added last week when it was
agreed to send letters of sympathy to
She two municipalities which had re-
quested, cash donations for their dis-
aster funds.
The writer tends to agree with those
who suggested such a letter was worse
than doing nothing. In anymass circula-
tion oi an appeal, the do-nothings are
generally dismissed without any
thought because the organizers don't
usually check back to see who has come
forward with assistance and who has
not.
However, sending a letter of sym-
pathy which arrives along with the
cheques, tends to draw attention to the
fact that someone has not seen fit to
assist, and that is always difficult for
the victims to comprehend in their
troubled times.
But that too skirts the main issue of
whether council should establish a
different policy regarding assistance
for disaster funds. At the same time, of
course, any discussion on that topic has
to include the fact that the policy also
cover requests from a myriad of
charitable organizations which annual-
ly ask for municipal funds and whose
cause is as supportive as most of the-
disaster situations.
* *
In fact, it can be argued that con-
tributions to such charitable
organizations as the Cancer Society,
Red Cross; Salvation Army, Children's
Hospitals, etc. is of a higher priority in
Spring actually sprang this year, in-
stead of limping in with a bad cold, its
customary wont, in these climes.
Usually, in this country, we don't
really have a spring. We leap from the
lingering April, rather similar to an
English winter, into a hot spell in May
that leaves us dizzy, stunned, stupefied.
And before we know it, we're into a
humid June, complete with mosquitoes
and things, including young ladies,
busting out all over.
This year, afterone last wild blizzard
near the end of March, Spring decided
to live up to her name. A sunny winter,
a mild March, and suddenly, one looks
out, and there is no snow on the picnic
table.
One hurls one's clumsy rubber boots
into one's closet. One disrobes from the
massive, blanket-like contraption in
which one has hidden one's frozen
bones for the past five months. One
skims one's hat into the top corner of
the closet. And one comes down with
one's annual sprirg cold, snuffling and
sniffling toward summer, that apogee
of the Cali. issi psyche.
Deep it the Canadian psyche lurks
the suspicion that possibly, just
possibly, this year the winter will never
end, and that we shall go through a
summer of frozen branches etched
against a gray sky, frozen ground under
foot, no flowers, no foliage, no hot
summer sun to peel the skin.
At least that's the way I feel, and I'm
an average (my wife would say or-
dinary) Canadian in every way,
Perhaps that's the reason Canadians
go winging off to hot places all winter,
at phenomenal costs. When it comes to
getting away to the sun, we have no
equals an earth, except perhaps the
S cand inavi a
I kno coups, who, if they were hav-
ing you for dinner, would argue about
many cases because the need which
these groups meet can not be covered
by insurance.
The insurance questions, of course, is
one of the main problems associated
with disaster relief assistance.
During one discussion on this topic, a
story was related about one situation
that unfolded in the wake of the tornado
which devastated the Woodstock area.
Two neighboring property owners had
their homes virtually destroyed and both
were subsequently replaced. One
owner managed to replace his home
through a settlement with the in-
surance firm and the other, who did not
have adequate insurance, was
therefore given a bigger' slice of the
funds which had been donated to the
tornado victims.
In essence, one home-owner was
rewarded for not having adequate in-
surance.
Insurance, of course, does not
generally cover the total loss in any dis-
aster, whether it be for a single family
or an entire community and it is for
that reason that the assistance of other
people is required to soften the blow
felt by the victims.
It should never, however, be con-
sidered in any way as a substitute for
insurance and therein lies one of the
grave dangers for any municipality to
have a standing policy to make a
specific contribution to any and all re-
quests that they receive.
To be fair, each must be judged on its
merits, and that is obviously very dif-
ficult for those who may be far remov-
ed from the scene and not
knowledgeable of the circumstances or
the need,
It appears to be a matter that can be
better administered at the provincial
or federal level and by their support for
a resolution calling for the senior
whether to give you the hamburg
barbecue or the tuna casserole, the
cheap plonk or the expensive wine with
a body. Yet they'll bloW a couple of
thousand dollars for a week in the sun,
living and letching and drinking and
browning for seven days, and returning
to the gray, grim landscape they left.
It's insane.
But then there's something insane
about all Canadians, when they feel
they are escaping once again, the icy
talons of Winter. They go cookoo,
Just the other day, I saw an old lady,
wrapped to the ears so that she could
scarcely move, out raking leaves,
simply because the sun was shining,
and the calendar, though not the
temperature, told her it was spring,
She should have been in by the fire.
Before the snow has even begun to
melt, our department stores have pack-
ed away their winter stuff and are
flaunting bikinis that would make a
stripper blush.
Boats are hauled out before the ice on
the bay has begun to melt. Ardent
curlers stash their brooms and dig out
the golf clubs, though they would sink
to the hocks on the fairways.
Trout fishermen, who have been
chained to the arduous ice-fishing for
perch during the past few months, get a
wild gleam in their eyes, go out and buy
a small fortune's worth of new tackle,
and rush like lemmings to the choice
spots on Opening Day, elbowing and
struggling with thousands of their ilk to
get a line in the water.
Kids go goofy. They like winter, but
spring drives them right around the
bend. Puddles to splash in. Mud to tum-
ble into. Exploring to be done into all
those secret corners that the snow had
kept hidden.
Housewives go hairy. Their well-kept
homes, dusted and vacuumed and
governments to establish reserve funds
for that purpose. Exeter council
members should stick by their current
policy until they see how that resolu-
tion is received.
The present policy of the senior
levels of government in offering a $2
for $1 or a $3 for $1 payout on the
amount received from other sources is
a type of blackmail that has in fact
fostered the dilemma with which Ex-
eter council and their counterparts
across the province are facing. If tax-
payers' money is available it should be
provided without the need for the same
taxpayers being asked to contribute at
a lower level on other than a personal,
voluntary basis.
To give $50 from Exeter taxpayers so
the Ontario government will give
another $100 or $150 from the same tax-
payers is ludicrodi. Why can't they just
give the $150 or increase it to $200-
without all the hassle and the necessity
for a decision from those without am-
ple knowledge of the need of the vic-
tims involved?
Municipal governments work
basically from funds received from the
assessed value of property and that in
no way has any bearing on taxpayer's
ability to financially assist someone
else in that person's time of need. In
fact, there are many people paying
property tax who can not afford to be
generous toward others because they
are having trouble enough keeping
their own heads above water,
Many of them are also paying in-
surance to cover themselves for any
disastrous eventuality and should not
have to help those who fail to take the
same precautions as is the case with
many property disaster victims.
polished to within an inch of their lives
all winter, are suddenly, as the
suspicious spring sun peers in, "shab-
by, filthy, disgusting," and they launch
into an orgy of cleaning and decorating
that drives their men simultaneously
up the wall and into debt.
Old people behave oddly, With a sort
of glint in their eye, they realize that
they've litked the old graveyard one
more time and go out and get terrible
cricks in their backs planting flowers
and gardens.
And young people! Well, we all know
what happens to them when Canada oc-
casionally enjoys a real, legitimate
Spring. They stand on street corners,
after school, bunting each other like
young calves.
They strip to beach-wear on days-
that Would freeze the brains of a brass
monkey. They fall wildly in love with
someone they hadn't even seen all
winter, except as a sniffling, snuffling
stripling across the aisle in Grade 10
English.
They go wild with the sheer delirium
of being young in springtime. The boys
drive fast and recklessly. The girls
have strange fancies and dream of sex
and summer secrets.
What do aging school teachers do in
the spring? They're just as nutty as the
rest. They look with aching longing to
their long summer, wishing their lives
away.
They try to retain their dignity, while
they feel like kicking up their heels,
running off with a Grade 11 girl, or boy,
shooting golf in the seventies, Catching
a whopping rainbow trout. And
dreading retirement.
It's a gratidtnadneas that Seizes this
nation, come Spring. Long may it con-
tinue,
- In Canada, for example, the
bank-backed Visa and. Master
Charge promoters charge
businesses olo to 0 07o for the
service. Naturally,. smaller
firms pay the highest percent-
ages.
In addition, the financial
institutions receive 210/o in-
terest On accounts that aren't
paid within 30 days.
Smaller Canadian busi-
nesses forced to pay card pro-
moters $6 on a $100 purchase
are in a bind. They feel obliged
to offer the same convenience
as larger retailers, even if they
have to pay the money out of
their own pockets.
Little noticed inn the de-
bate over the use of plastics is
the fact that cash customers
are subsidizing the army of
credit card users.
When a customer pays
cash, there is,no kickback to
Visa or Master Charge. When
a card is processed, the busi-
ness loses 2 076 6W0 on the
transaction. So overall prices
must be higher to maintain
profitability. •
Perhaps it is time Canadians
took a second look at the so-
called "cashless society." It
may be as highly overrated as
the Edsel when it first hit the
market.
celebrate its fiftieth birthday
at a golden jubilee dinner
May 15.
Peter Fraser , who
graduates this year from the
University of Western
Ontario will go to the
University of Wisconsin as a
teaching assistant in the
department of physics this
fall.
Miss Laurene Zurbrigg
has accepted a position on
the staff of the VON of
Hamilton for the summer
months.
The Exeter Lions club
voted $50 to the Manitoba
Flood Relief Fund.
20 Years Ago
Dr. H. James Bell, 91,
native of Hensall and
benefactor of South Huron
Hospital, died in that
hospital on May 6.
Miss Alice Claypole,
superintendent of South
Huron Hospital, was elected
to the executive of District
No. 2 Regional Hospital
Council at its recent annual
meeting.
Exeter has been
designated as a planning
area by Hon. W.M. Mickle,
Q.C., minister of planning
and development it was
announced this week.
Mrs. Fred Revington,
Lucan, will join the staff of
Exeter Public School in ,
September. She was engaged
by the board to fill the
vacancy left by the
resignation of Mrs. Ronald
Heimrichlast December.
15 Years Ago
Don Gratton, a former
Grand Bend resident, has
returned to Exeter to
establish a dental practice.
Dr, Gratton opened his
practice Monday in the same
building as Dr. H.H. Cowen
at 346 Main St, Each dentist
will maintain a separate
practice, although they will
share some of the facilities.
Although they have
received approval from a
majority of the eight sup-
porting municipalities the
SHDRS board Tuesday night
indicated they would wait
until approval had been
received from one of the
remaining three before
proceeding with instructions
for the architect to com-
mence detailed working
drawings.
and home making), Junior
Farmers' and general
agricultural news. This page
could include up coming
events, meeting reports arid
a farm columnist (e.g. Bob
Trotter's One Foot in the
Furrow).
If a page is designated
more articles may be sent in.
The' farm-based subscribers
would be interested in all the
farm news that The Times
Advocate could supply.
Your consideration of this
matter would be greatly
appreciated.
Yours truly
Patti Down
+CNA
••,S.S,S,SS•SS•ss4S,'S1/4,.:Sss,s's,s.
Spring has finally sprung
• eTtlwiroq
55 Years Ago
Early Wednesday mor-
ning, Mr. Thomas Kestle of
Sharon discovered that his
road driver had disappeared
together with harness, cart
and overcoat. He and his
brother started out to locate
his property and after an
exciting chase, with the
assistance of Detective
Westcott of Exeter, found
their man five miles below
Clandeboye in the act of
trading off the horse. He was
brought before Magistrate
Gregory and committed to
Goderich for trial. He was
sentenced to three years
in Kingston Penitentiary.
From a letter sent to W.A.
Westcott by Richard
Reynolds, a Member of the
Canadian Mounted Rifles,
written at mid-ocean while
on his way to South Africa,
we quote, "We are now 14
days out, and I wear a thin
suit and the heat is
something awful. We expedt
to cross the equator
tomorrow and the boys
expect to scorch. We had not
been out many days when all
the boys were sea sick. We
are having a bad time with
our horses. We have thrown
17 overboard and we expect
to throw a lot more as we are
no more than half way there.
We have 400 horses, 600 men,
and six 12-pound guns,
besides 5,000 tons of hay
together with her cargo.
"We have not had a bit of
bread today and some of the
boys Made a kick. Some
people think we have a fine
time, but it is no picnic, I
assure you.
30 Years Ago
John P. Metras, Coach of
the UWO's champion
Mustangs was on hand to see
Exeter Maroons, Junior B
winners of the Ontario
Basketball Association title,
feted at a Kinsmen banquet
Thursday night.
A new executive for Huron
County Tuberculosis
Association was set up
Friday evening. Frank
Fingland was named
Chairman, succeeding Rev.
W.A. Beecroft and Elmer
Bell succeeds 11.1s1, Creech as
Exeter representative.
The Huron Old Boys'
Association of Toronto, will
Dear Mr. Batten:
Congratulations, your
paper has dome up with a
terrific feature. The Farmer
of the Week brings to the
public% attention an im-
portant aspect of our
Community. Farm hews has
been hardly available in The
Times-Advocate. The
column printed froth the
Clinton OMAF Office IS an
essential link, too, for' many
area farmers. Heep up that
good work.
A suggestion to further
develop the "farm news"
area is a full page devoted
for 4-It (both agricultural
By W. Roger Won*
The burgeoning use of
credit cards seems to have
reached n crescendo, which is
Probably a good thing,
As a result of consumer
Credit restrictions in the U.S.,
mans smaller businesses have
already stopped accepting
plastic money and bigger re-
Milers and hospitality related
businesses are joining the trend.
With high interest rates,
it's only a matter of time until
the same thing happens. in
Canada.
Roger Worth is Director,
Public Affairs,
Canadian Federation of
Independent Business.
A couple of examples of
belt tightening in the U.S. In
Florida, many major restau-
rants have outlawed the use
of cards and some franchised
service station operators have
even stopped accepting the
plastics issued by their multi-
national parents.
The reason for the change
in policy, particularly among
smaller businesses: firms ac-
cepting credit cards pay a per-
centage of each transaction to
the institution that issues the
card.
•