Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1980-07-23, Page 4Few endeavours have stirred as much interest and public support as the courageous exploits of Terry Fox who is running across Canada on one leg and an artificial . limb. Fox lost his leg to cancer and is now half way to his goal of completing the 5,200 mile run and to raise money for cancer research. Everywhere he goes, Fox generates spontaneous donations from the thousands who see his pain- streaked face and get a personal insight into the demanding challenge he has set for himself. But it is also a challenge for others. It is a challenge to provide the necessary funding to beat the dread dis- ease which has robbed Fox of his leg and shortened millions of lives. It is a challenge to everyone to not allow adversity to undermine determination. Terry Fox has no doubts that he will accomplish his goals, but he can't do it alone, He needs you! Deserve apology Some vehicles shouldn't have any business on a farm. Please remember to do it our way ... it won't hurt. Pogo 4 TirriwAdyocatiii, july 23, 1980 SERVING CANADA'S BEST FARMLAND 0.W.N.A. CLASS 'A' clind ABC Published by J, W. tedy Publication, Limited LORNE EEDY, PUBLISHER Editor Bill Batten Assistant Editor Ross Haugh Advertising Manager — Jim Beckett Composition Manager -- Harry DeViles Business Manager — Crick Jongkind. Phone 235.1331 +CNA Published Each Wednesday Morning at Exeter, Ontario Second Class Mail Registration Number 0346 SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Canada $14.00 Per Year; USA $35.00 BL,E R:BBOr'A A',", AR L: 1980 Mainstreani Canada ,H • .. Credit card conundrum He needs you ,244 "Paddington's idea of a fair energy deal is a.barrel of Alberta oil - for a keg of Eastern beer" By W. Roger Worth The credit card conundrum continues to haunt Canada's small business community, particularly entrepreneurs .operating retail and hospital- ity establishments. In a recent vote on whether the use of credit cards should be restricted, 62% of Cana- dian Federation of Independ, ent Business members sup- ported such a move. Yet the small business sec- tor is divided on the issue, Almost 34% opposed reside- lions on the use of plastic Roger Worth is Director, Public Affairs, Canadian Federation of Independent Business., money, and 4% were in the "no opinion" category. While many independent entrepreneurs may believe, credit cards are used irrespon- sibly, making it too easy for people to live beyond their means, many small businesses are forced to accept the cards for competitive reasons. If Major retail chains and hotels accept the "plastic money", then, smaller retailers, !hoteliers, and restayrant owners feel they mast offer the same service. .ven so, independeng firms operate at a distinct elisadvan. (age, compared to their big, business competitors, The reason: smaller com- panies are forced to kick back • 5% - 6% of credit card-sales to hanks and other firms that 'promote schemes such as Visa and Master Charge. The big national chains, on the other hind, pay half that amount, or 2% - 3% of the sales dollar. So the person operating an independent business is caught between the proverbial "rock and a hard place." If credit cards are accepted, the independent entrepreneur must pay $5 - $6 on every $100 sale to the card promoter. But by not accepting credit cards, customers wanting that convenience may shop else- where. There's little wonder smal- ler firms across the country are concerned about the issue. that their elected officials would not stoop to anything so degrading as boosting their salaries behind closed doors. As responsible people charged with the education of young people, it would be unthinkable that they would - make a travesty of that responsibility through such inexcusable methods. It would almost be. heresay to have such wanton disregard for setting an exam- ple for the youngsters in the system, to say nothing of their own consciences. Obviously, the board members deserve an unqualified apology for hav- ing such aspersions cast against their integrity. Precautions are advised applying brakes. - Stay clear of ditches, embankments, holes, etc.... to avoid upset. - Stay off hills and slopes too steep for safe operation. - Set drawbar in lowest position when hitching to a heavy load. - Do riot dismount when tractor is in motion. - Disengage power take-off (PTO) before dismounting. - Lower all equipment before leaving tractor. - Keep safety shielding in place when using the power take-off (PTO). - On public roads observe .traffic regulations and identify equipment with the SMV emblem. boy confined in an antiseptic stainless steel capsule for 21 years, until he was considered fit to face the world. On the day he was to be released, the young man dropped dead of excitement. The point is that no one can expect to exist totally without risk, nor would any sane person want to. To live at all is to live a little dangerously; to live in the fullest sense of the word is to balance personal fulfillment against risk. There is always a chance that a plane might crash, but who would forego a vacation abroad because of that possibility? Some do retreat into a sterile limbo for the sake of illusory security, but most of us share Henry David Thoreau's dread of finding out when we come to die that we have never really lived. (Royal Bank Letter) ww= angry at being caught. The fellow with the light, angry because he had, not caught the big fish, took off with his lantern, leaving Dad and my uncle out in the mid- dle of the river in total blackness. with only a spear to feel ahead for the deep holes, the sturgeon desperately trying to get away. Two hours later they dragged it and themselves out onto the shore. It was so big that when they put it in a washtub at home, head -and tail both chopped off. and the body still stuck out on both sides of the tub. Some fishing trip! Some fish! Farm safety. It's all a chance Perspectives usually shallow in the summer, but one has to be careful of the deep holes. After a couple of hours of moderate success, "suckers" and a few small pike, another man joined them. He had a gas lantern which shed a powerful light out over the river. With it they were able to go much farther out into the middle areas. It was then that they heard it coming down the river, splashing mightily as it tried to get out of the rocky rapids into a deeper pool. It came nearer and nearer, close enought that Uncle Harley was able to spear it and pin it to the bottom but could not kill it. It was a monster sturgeon, 'a little There have been occasions in the past when it was found necessary to criticise the Hurpn County board of education for some of their decisions, but as so often happens, the time has come to defend- it in the face of some unusual allegations. A printed report last week hinted that board members had reversed a deci- sion made at an April budget meeting and increased their monthly stipends back up to $300. It Was even alleged that the decision had been made at a closed meeting of the board. Obviously. ratepayers in Huron know This week from July 25 to 31st is Farm Safety Week and the Canada Safety Council has focused the 1980 campaign on tractor safety. This con- cern is due to the fact that tractors are involved in many farm accidental fatalities. Manufacturers are designing safety features into tractor and farm equip- ment in general, but it is up to the operator to recognize unsafe conditions and the hazards involved in tractor operation. The following tips will be useful in preventing tractor accidents: - Only the operator should ride on the tractor. Keep children away. - Reduce speed before making a turn or If nothing were left to chance, life would hardly be worth living. In the past few years the public has been flooded via the media with warnings that everything from electric lighting to peanut butter can kill. If a person were to heed all the admonitions of scientists and environmentalists not to do this or that, the only recourse would be to stay in bed and eat health foods. Even at that, one would have to guard against a deadly temptation: the war- ning has been sounded that sleeping either too much or too little can shorten life. Amidst the cacophony of alarm, it may be helpful to consider a little modern parable told by crime writer John D. MacDonald. It concerns a Ger- man industrialist with a mania about the safety of his only son. He had the M.,,M,VAwarinairoMIEVE, firSYD FLEICItelt My father tells the story of the time he was fishing in the Grand River near Dunn- ville. in those days it was legal to use a light at night, but unfortunately he and his brother-in-law, my Uncle Harley. were not able to af- EOM a gas lantern so used a torch of pine knots dipped in oil, a somewhat smokey alternative. The Grand , River is wide there and Despite the terror and havoc they can create, there's something fascinating about a severe summer storm that does strange things to humans. While most people have a natural fear about what is happening around them, they are often transfixed with a sense of awe that tends to make them Oblivious to the real dangers. As an example. you could probably count on one hand the number of area residents who took some precautions when the winds and rain lashed the area in a frenzy last Tuesday. The in- tensity of the storm broke huge limbs and even uprooted a couple of trees as well as twisting TV aerials into pretzel forms. Meteorologists indicate that the storm was probably near tornado proportions, but fortunately was not one of the five that drops down close enough to earth to cause widespread destruction. Many of the conditions necessary to form a tornado were present. It was ex- tremely hot and humid during a fate summer afternoon. So what did most people do during the storm? Well. if you were similar to most of us here at the T-A, you watched the storm through the small, side win- dows until you decided it was exciting enough to head to the front office where you could get a better view through the huge plate glass windows. That's obviously a "no-no" during a storm as indicated by the fact that huge plate glass windows in three businesses in Exeter were blown in durirfg the blast. * * Safety precautions in the event of a There are times that are sent to try us. And whoever said that said a mouthful. Every time a child is born, first, se- cond, 12th or grandchild, we are tried with a combination of fear and joy. Every time an oldster dies, we are tried with regret, sorrow and nostalgia. When a daughter is married, we are tried with grief, happiness, and the bank manager. When we're applying for a job, we are tried with sheer terror, a mind that functions like a rusty pump, and sweaty armpits. On the eve of an operation, we are tried with a sudden realization that We've let our communication with God slip rather badly in the last five years, and a simultaneous realization that sur- geons Pire not God, and one little slip means you've lost your spleen instead of your left ovary. Wives and husbands are sent to try us. The former with what Mary said to Edith before Gwen butted in. The latter with why they double -bogied the 17th hole. Politicians try us. And try us, and try us, and try us. And we always wind up with a gaggle of geese nobody in his right mind would vote for. Preachers try us. either by remin- ding us we have sinned and there is no health in us. or going off into a tedious half-hour dialogue with God, who must be as bored as the congregation, Waitresses try us. They don't wipe the table. They bring the two-eggs- over-lightly tough, enough to sole your boots, and the medium-rare steak so raw no self respecting wolf would eat it. Or so well done you could use it as charcoal on the barbecue. Old friends try us, sometimes thoroughly. After 15 minutes of eager tornado vary depending on where the individual is when it• strikes, -but the fact remains that it is foolish not to take those precautions. Professor R.W. Packer of the University of Western Ontario geography department sent out some safety procedures in a recent bulletin advising of the fact that southwestern Ontario gets its fair share of high inten- sity summer storms. We pass along his comments for your consideration: Concrete and steel structures tend to withstand tornado forces very well. Avoid windows. The best refuge is a bathroom, corridor or any other closed area. Brick houses can cave in, The safest, 'spot is under a stairwell in the base- ment. Frame houses tend to explode other than cave in. Since most tor- nados approdch from the west, the, eastern corners of the basement are the safest areas. Trailers, of course, are extremely .dangerous. Inhabitants should get out immediately and wait in the nearest concrete washroom or any depression in the grdund. Outside and in the open, again, any ditch or depression in the ground sur- face is advised, but make sure it is not near any trees if possible. If you're out in a car, Professor Packer suggests you lock westward and try to sight the tornado. Since they travel in irregular paths at about 35-40 miles an hour, a car is likely to win the race to a safe spot. As an added word of caution, don't be too anxious to get out and clean up the debris if a storm does cut a swath conversation during which they tell you how successful they are at Acme Screw and Gear, they ask: "And how's Jack?" Since you've never had a brother called Jack, John, Johann, Ian, Sean or Jan, and your two sisters are Mabel and Myrtle. this can be quite try- ing. Best answer is: "Fine. How's Archie'?" You then find yourself talking about two people neither of you ever knew. Some of my craftier readers will long since have realized that this is merely an inordinately lengthy introduction to a personal experience that is trying. In other words, a long spiel to a pain in the arm. Right on. crafty readers. The most trying time for the head of the English department is the end of June..Alone on your bowed shoulders and greying head is the chore of deciding what 1,500 sen- sitive teenagers are going to read next fall. Actually, they're about as sen- sitive as an old rubber boot, but their parents think they are.' Here's the situation. You have 20,000 books. One third of them are falling apart. Another one-fifth is so scribbled with obscenities by those sensitive youngsters that you couldn't peddle them at a burlesque show. Your budget for new books is the same as it was eight years ago. Books have doubled and trebled in cost, Well, no problem there: You simply sprinkle some gasoline around the book storage center and drop a match, hoping you don't burn the whole shoe factory. But there Is a problem. The books aren't in- sured. Of course. you get great support from your English teachers. Their tastes range-from Dickens, who turns the kids off like a tie in summer, to the Texas Chain Saw Murders, which would probably turn them right on. After these suggestions they - the English teachers - go off to sail their boats or stride the golf course. And lurking in the wings, of course, are the self-appointed censors, most of whom have never read a book from, cover to cover in their lives. They know less about sex and profanity than the veriest Grade Sixers. Hovering behind the censors is the great body of administrators, educators and politicians, huddled in terror that their sponsorship of a book might cost them a job, a vote, or a cen- sure from some other nit who has ascended to the height of his/her com- petence. Ah, what the heck, It happens every year. I'm too old to go back to The Mill On the Floss, the most boring book I've ever read. 'A Tale of Two Cities is liable to stir up the Pequistes in Quebec. Uncle Tom's Cabin will in- furiate the black militants, We'll hang in there with Huckleberry Finn, a homosexual 'novel about a black man-a white redneck; Who Has Seen The Wind, a filthy novel about the sex life of pigeons; Henry IV, Part One, about an old drunk and a young liver- tine; Hamlet. a play about an in- cestuous hippie; Lord Of The Flies, a novel about kids murdering each other; True Grit, with 17 violent deaths; The Great Gatsby, concerning a weird bootlegger; Dracula, which the kids love; and The Pearl, in which a guy kills four people and his baby has its head shot off, Then there are: Of Mice and Men, in which a chap shoots his buddy, a moron. in the back of the head, and Julius Caesar, in which the lead character is stabbed 16 times by his buddies. set by SmIlt y All sent to try us • through your neighborhood. Wait until the experts clear fallen power lines or remove branches that may be balan- cing precariously overhead, Often. people escape any serious in- jury during a storm but then end of kill- ing themselves by getting' hit over the head by a tree branch or being elec- trocuted by alive wire. If you do happen to lose all your worldly posessions in a storm, you may be able to recoup your losses by'follow- ing the example of „the chap who placed the following advertisement in a well- read publication: "I am a very wealthy man. I would like to help you. Send me $1.00 and I'll tell you how I make my . money."_ One man. eager to scale the ladder to success, sent along the cash. A few days later he received this reply: "Thanks for the dollar ... that's how I make my money". If that fails, you may want to cash in by inventing some new gadget. The best bet was originated by a chap who advertised a guaranteed method of kill- ing. flies., He offered the gadget at the low price of only $2.00 and in short order had customers sending along their cheques. In return he sent them two small blocks of scrap wood along with the simple instructions. Catch a fly and place it on one of the blocks. Take the second block and press it firmly against the other one holding the fly. It kills them every time! 55 Years Ago The fire alarm sounded Tuesday when it was learned that the CNR depot was on fire and soon there was a mad rush for the scene. When firemen arrived the roof was smoldering in several places and a bucket brigade was at,work. The stork left a wonderful treasure at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Alphenus Holtz-. mann of Crediton, on Monday. It was a pair of lovely twin boys. On Thursday last a quartette of bowlers from Hens'all motored to Lucknow to participate in the annual tournament held in that town. Our all star .rink composed of A. Whiteside, skip, W. Goodwin, W.A. MpLaren, and 111,R, Rennie captured the Joynt challenge trophy. Miss Nola Feist and Miss Helen . Mclsaac and also Elgin Woodall of Crediton left this week to attend Westervelt school in London. 30 Years Ago The British Empire hails its new princess - a 6 pound daughter to Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh. The newly formed Grand Bend Lions netted $900 in its first money-raising venture Sunday night. A cocker spaniel pup was won by Walter Chomik of London who took $50 instead of the pup. Gerard Vendenbussche, a new Canadian from Belgium, has turned useless swam- pland into a gardener's paradise at Grand Bend. He was able to buy 250 acres of land, that was considered useless from the government for $12 an acre, and has grown vegetables -for market. The nation wide railway strike caught Hensall grain elevators right at the peak of the threshing season. All mills will be forced to close before the end of the week. Chief John Norry and Mrs. Norry will celebrate their golden wedding anniversary next week. Rev. H,J,Snell will be one of the 36 ministers and laymen from the London conference to attend the 14th general conference of the United Church of Toronto September 12 to 21. 20 Years Ago F/L W.E. Balkwill, Exeter leaves his position on the construction engineering staff at RCAF TrainingCommand Head- quarters at - Winnipeg to become construction engineering officer at Camp Borden: Hundreds of district residents paid their last respects to R. Hon. Arthur Meigheri, twice Prime Minister of Canada, who was buried in St. Marys Cemetery, this week. Miss Helen Wes tcott assisted by Mrs. Harold Broderick, hosted a dinner party at the Dominion Rotel, Zurich in honor of Mrs.- Robert Dennis, of Hollywood California, who is visiting relatives and friends in the district. Hensall village council set the mill rate levy at 64 mills and the commercial levy at 69. Material for Exeter Curling Club's new building to be erected east of Riverview Heights began arriving this week. 15 Years Ago Kenneth Kerr, formerly of Elmira and Trenton, Ontario has been appointed editor of The Exeter-Times Advocate effective August 9. This is the last edition of The Times-Advocate to be printed in Exeter for least for the time being, Although all the type setting will continue to be done in our own shop, the paper will be printed on the new offset press set up in London. Miss Mary Van Camp was in Owen Sound and entered two of her paintings in the Jury competition at the Tom Thompson Art Museum. The show concludes August 7. Hal Hooke, former field officer for the Ausable River Conservation Authority has been appointed secretary of the select committee named recently by Premier Roberts to consider all aspects of Authorities throughout Ontario.