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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 1981-10-28, Page 6Lockniow .Sentinel, Wednes Ja , . Aetober 28, 1981 ---Page 6• The "Thee Sepoy Town" Ertabllied .1873 SEL. SHARON J., RIETZ ANTHONY N. "JOHNSTONE, - Advertising and General 'Manager PAT LiVINGSTON • Office Manager MERLE. ELLIO7 r • Typesetter. JOAN HELM • Cpmpt siiiun Business and Editorial Office Telephone 52$-2822 ,Mailing Address P.Q. Box 400. L.ucknow•, NO<', 2H0 SNcond,Class Mail Registration Number -0847 Sabacrlptilon rite, S1450 per year In advance Senior Get en We. 512.00 per year In advance U.S.A., and Foreign, $2.100 per year In advance Sr. Ch. U.S.A, and Foreign., 521.00 pe.r year In advance b'.. E R'-88GN A.'.ARD 1981 Consider the implications Canadians should seriously consider how the politicians in power are doing . things in . our country. What gives Canada Transport minister Jean -Luc Pepin -the right to cut rail . service without holding Canadian Transport Commission hearings? Why does he have the rightto chop Canada's tuitional rail service and is allowed to make this decision withoutever facing the criticism of', the . members of parliament. (Pepin withheld his decision. until after parliament was recessed for the summer.) What gives the -provincial government in Ontario the right to build 'a hazardous waste site near Cayugawithout following the . necessary environmental hearing process that all other Ontario citizens are subject to? What gives the premier of this province the right to stand up in the legislature and announce he will use, $650 million of Ontario taxpayers' dollars to purchase an oil company. r Not only did the matter , not come to the members of the ' legislature for discussion before the Premier . proceeded, but the decision was made by .a very few people in the premier's cabinet. Indeed, most of the cabinet learned of the purchase only, minutes before it was announced in the legislature and the ` Conservative backbenchers sat with egg. on their face because they knew nothing about it until Premier William Davis announced it. Whether Canadians ; agree : or disagree with these controversial moves by politicians, almost everyone should question the way inwhich these decisions are made : and the way politicians are allowed to. proceed without being answerable to anyone, least of ' all the .people they represent. The question of Pepin's right to cancel rail routes being taken to the courts for a ruling on the legality of this decision. It will be interesting to see what the courts will have; to say about Pepin's unilateral decision. Perhaps governments should beheld more, responsible to the people they represent and all such decisions should be forced to come before the session of parliament or the legislature for discussion. Canadians should be wary of the way politicians act within the limits' of the law and perhaps the law should be changed. Police chases outdated the questionof whether or not police officers should ' initiate dangerous motorvehicle chases in an effort to apprehend fleeing lawbreakers is one which has troubled not only the public, but policemen themselves. At a recent national convention of police in the West a discussion of the problem ended noncommitallywith a recommendation that the decision should be left to individual police officers in their cruisers. That sort of answer was obviously not good enough. Despite the fact that most police officers maybe men and .►carmen ofexcellent judgment,there are still the hotbloods in almost all forces who can't resist the obvious adventure and heroics offered ' by a .90 -mile -an -hour contest of drivers. . • Most imr ortant consideration of all, however, is the threat of human life posed by the police chase. The young buck who may have been satisfied with a stupid 50 miles an hour in a 30 -mile zone, suddenly hits the floor boards in an effort to outrun the cop. The policeman, in turn, as he decides on hot pursuit, immediately desserts his avowed dedication to the cause of . public safety. Off go two vehicles, placing in dire jeopardy . not only the fleeing driver and any passengers he may have, but the policeman and any number of innocent third -party motorists. on . the road. Ontario's attorney -general, Reqy McMurtry, is about to take action on a solution to the problem -• one which should .. have been ,obvious from the outset. The policeman would. pursue only far enough to get the license number of the car ahead and then drop . 'the case. Apprehension of the runaway driver would not be any problem. after registration of thevehicle has been ascertained. And then, according to McMurtry 's formula, the driver would be subject to an automatic three-month suspension of his or her driver's license.. Sounds like common sense, particularly when it is known that five persons have been killed and 12 injured in Ontario since March .during police chases. • Wingham Advance -Times .one foot in thefurrow by bob trotter Better I should have stood .in bed. Oh,infinity possibility; the of. the irony, of fate'' The day dawned, beautiful, warm, fresh, . crisp. The back garden was cleared, ready to cultivate. The strong, autumn sun full on my back so I borrowryneighbour's roto -tiller. First, I take the power Mower er through the corn stalks to provide mulch. Allis ready for fall cultivation., I am happily being bucked around the garden by the tiller. My daughter. comes . riding down the lane on the buckskin mare. I loosen one hand from .the tiller and wave to her. The tiller -hits an embedded corn stalk and the loose handle hits me in the ribs- • Better I should have quit then. But ' no. I •,get diddled by the diabolical digit of destiny. Finagled by the fickle finger of fate. I get the machine under control. Twomore rowsdone. I notice a couple - of dogs hi the front. field. The five -month-old colt is upset. He is not weaned yet and hismother, the buckskin' mare, is beyond reach. She is loosely tied by the reins tothe rail- ing ailing on the stairwell at the backof the house. My daughter has forgotten something and is inside the house. PP rre�ltre. The colt is racingthrough the field as though a warble fly had broken through his hide, He is kicking and bucking, sliding to a stop, wheeling on his rear legs and streaking back across the field again with those two dogs snapping athis little switch. The rnaresow has her tail up and is lunging at her reins. Off comes one rein. Off comes one of the 'railings on the stairwell. Being the quick thinker that .1 am, I decide.I had better do something, fast. I slip the tiller into neutral and go rac- ing across the lawn just in time to save :the:. entire back verandah from ruin as the mare is stillll, struggling to free herself and get to her colt. The dogs, having created enough havoc,signalto each other the way dogs do, and trot happily down the road, grinning to each other with their tongues hanging out and their tails waving goodbye. I get the horse calm just as my daughter comes out the back ...door. The mare, still fidgety, decides to drop a two-day load of manure on the outdoor rug at the back steps. "Dad!" shouted my daughter. "What's with that tiller?" Situation now allfouled up: SNAFU, as they used to say in the • I navy. Or FUBAR. fouled up beyond all recognition. • I should have observed the safety rules and not left that lousy machine running when I went to rescue the back verandah. Somehow,it slipped into gear or I had not t it fuliy Into neutral. utral The tiller had taken -off on its own, through a 'flowerbed,'into an n, through the electric fence and was tearing up the lawn. When I got to it, after racing back across the lawn, I foolishly grabbeda handle. But I grabbed the metal part of the -handle which was touching the electric fence., Oh, the infinity of possibility. I should have stayed in bed. I finally extricated the machine from the fence, gave it back to my neighbour, walked carefully home, fixed the. mutilated verandah, went :into the. house, poured a long, tall cool one\and watched the ball game: So much for the fall chores around our house.. So much forfresh air and soaking up the last of the warm sun and fresh air: To make matters worse, the Expos lost. Some days aren't worth getting up for. by don campbeil In the village of Richmond Hill there were many fine houses; 'the homesof merchants and entrepreneurs who had found fortune' in Upper Canada. Just off the main street, however, there was a dwelling which seemed out of place in the midst ,of such prosperity. It was little morethan the remains of a. hastily built shanty, which had. been the temporary shelter of one .of the' 'first pioneers to intrude into the virgin ;bush. - - -Having been constructed ' ffmin green lumber, the framework . was warped and ,the rough siding black- ened, and cracked by exposure to the extreme climatic conditions. At first glance, it may have appeared to. be abandoned, but smoke from 'the rickety chimney revealed that it was indeed still occupied. Few people visited the shanty. Children ontheir way home from the one roomed schoolhouse, crossed over the street rather than pass by the door. They whispered to each other and . pointed to theplace in self induced fear, pretending that whoever dwelt therein was either a' witch or some other terrifying person. If they ever saw the occupant emerge from the door, or her face peering at them through the grimy windows, they took Off down the street in a hurry, rather than be confronted by the old crone "Maria" It was only natural of course, that in the days when children found their own ways of creating excitement and adventure, the unsavoury reputation of Maria was exaggerated, . as indeed, the means by which she dived. Certainly the smallgarden and the few chickens which she tended, could not have sustained her. Maria's occupa- tion was beyond the comprehension of the infant mind. The craft . she practiced was a very ordinaary and. mortal calling. Maria was the poor people's midwife! Except for her •visits to the homes where "'blessed 'events" were expect- ed, Maria lived the life of a , recluse. Shehad been in the district as long as anyone could remember and . it was said that she was once the wife of an Irish immigrant called Murphy. Whe- ther he .died, or left for more attractive surroundings, nobody 1 could recall. She lived , alone with her secret thoughts, constantly anticipating the painful and sometimes frightened re- quest of a woman to "go and get Maria!" It was early in June that Neil MacCrimmon decided he would make preparations for the ' coming . of his child. As much as , he aright • have wished for the attendance of . Dr. Cameron on that momentous occasion, he realized his wishes were impos- sible. Toronto was. -many hours distant, and Neil could not expect the doctor to neglect his practice and wait at Slake's Folly for the arrival of the first Canadian' MacCrimmon. So it was, one evening, when the emerging grain showed green against the black earth and the crickets maintained. their incessant symphony, that Neil made his': way on foot to the village of Richmond Hill. He did not understand thedistasteful look upon the face of theman who gave him directions to Maria's "cabin''. it was only when he stood before the place that he realized the reason. Neil knocked.upon the door. Even at that moment, he had the urge to change his mind and seek a midwife elsewhere. But\ there was nobody with the necessary skills . within • easy reach of his home. The woman who opened the, door only added to his fears. She was dressed in shabby, dirty clothes, with a frayed shawl upon her head and shoulders: A strong odour of tobacco emanated from the dark interior, of the shanty and there.was a telltale streak of brown juice on the cornerof the woman's mouth. "My name is MacCrimmon," Neil said. "Would ye be t the woman who sees to a body having a bairn?" Maria paused in her reply, her eyes .avoiding his glance as if embarrassed by the direct confrontation: "Is it your woman?" Maria asked And Neil nodded. "Is she having the pains?" "She is nae ready the noo," Neil told her. "In a few days I think. 1 hae tae make sure that somebody will be ready to take care 0' herr" "If you have the money," Maria said, "I will see that she is taken care of. But you must pay me now. 1 don't work for charity." Maria'sface twisted into a forced grin. "A belly cannot be filled with charity. It . will cost you a golden sovereign!" Maria watched ' as Neil fished into the belt around his -waist and produced the coin. "I'll gi'ye t\he money," Neil said apprehensively. "1 dinna ken if ye are a good midwife or no. But this I tell ya. Ye had better be ready when I come. tae get ye!" The old woman cackled.in his face. "A good midwife? Well, well mi' boyo, 'twill not be the first time I pulled a squawkin' brat into the world, and I'll be thinkin' it . won't be the last!" the fie', tra ed spt the cot 1 the Crt pla sit( 1 of ' Bla too Inn cel; dot wit'. 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