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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 1986-02-19, Page 6Page 6—Lucknow Sentinel, Wednesday, February 19, 1986 "The Sepoy Town" PAID Thomas Thompson James Friel Pat Livingston Joan Helm Merle Elliott -Advertising Manager -Editor -General Manager -Compositor -Typesetter Subscription rates in advance: ;� 700o Outsiae Canada S60 00 $14aoo Outside Canada $58, 0 Senior Citizen Second class mailing reg. no. 0847 Advertising is accepted on the condition that in the event of a typographical error, the portion of the advertising space occupied by the erroneous item together with a reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged for, but the balance of the advertisement will be paid at the applicable rates. Committee for negotiating is overdue Lucknow reeve Herb Clark has taken a step in appointing a committee to investigate employee's salaries and how they feel about their jobsthat is long overdue. Clark asked his committee consisting of veteran councillor Eldon Mann and a new face on council, George Anderson, to look at salaries, benefits and holidays and compare them with municipal positions in neighboring municipalities and with positions within the village. Clark also directed the two to hold interviews with employees to get input on their feelings on their wages and the village's treatment of them. These are hardly new management techniques for negotiating with employees. kt a recent council meeting attended by works supervisor Gary Austin, he brought up the idea of ,some sort of benefit plan for employees. He said the village's raise for 1985 amounted to $5.11 a week after taxes and the cost of living took more money out of his pocket than the raise covered. Austin suggested a benefits plan as a suggestion to try to have village employees come out ahead of last year. He later said, though reluctant to discuss the issue, that he had brought up the benefits idea before and that while some investigation of plans had been conducted, little else had been done. Austin also said that there is not much negotiation involved in the employee's -wage raises. This council step is a wise decision) Modern business managers know the value of healthy and honest two way communication between staff and management. -vv ith this move, any feeling of questionable treatment - not only on the part of employees but also of council which may wonder about the value of tax dollars paid out - will have a venue to enable consideration. The residents of Lucknow are pleased that council can so consistently hold down taxes but most would not like to see that financial success unfairly made on the backs of others. Write a letter to the editor Flapjacks Donnie Slater looks after yet another batch of pancakes for the dozens of hungry people at the Pancake Supper at St. Peter's Anglican Church Hall Feb, 11. [James Friel photo] It was well past the appointed hour of eleven o'clock when the Reverend Duncan MacLeod began his Sunday service. He had hoped the delay would see many stragglers join his congregation, but he was sadly disappointed. It was very late in the fall and the minister suspected many of his flock had chosen to work on that day, trying to complete the numerous chores which had to be done before winter. By chance, MacLeod had chosen the ten commandments as the basis for his sermon, and since he would accept no excuse except illness for absenteeism, he placed particular emphasis on the state- ment: "The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God. In it, thou shalt not do any work!" After the service was over, many men tackled the minister about working on the Sabbath. "Do ye mean tae say we canna feed the animals or milk the coos on Sunday?" one exasperated farmer asked. "Och MacLeod, ye may be a good minister but ye're no a practical man. Ye must be gettin' a wee bit soft in the head!" Chippy Chishol;Ii heard these remarks and on any other occasion he would have 'liked nothing better than to join in the conversation and take a playful dig at the minister. But something more urgent was troubling him. Although he had no real reason for doing so, he cut across the fields to the general store. He found all the windows secure and the locks in place on the doors. There were however, some strange marks on the driveway - two parallel lines cutting deep into the sandy soil. At first. he thought the lines were made by an Indian's litter but it became obvious to the old carpenter that the marks were made by fresh cut logs. So newly cut in fact, they had not travelled far enough to wear down the ends. and hence the very deep marks in the earth. The tracks led to the double doors at the back of the store where bulk supplies were loaded and unloaded. He discovered the lock had been forced and then the hasp replaced in such a manner as to appear unopened. With his heart racing madly, he flung open the doors and went inside. The usually neatly binned and racked merchandise was strewn across the floor. Obviously. the thief (whoever he was) had taken the choicest goods and simply dropped what he did not think was worth taking. Chippy found another lock and key in the hardware section and after resecur- ing the doors, he ran off as fast as his old body would allow to alert the community. He collected several men, who saddled their horses and ignored their Sunday dinner. They followed the tracks made by the litter which led them t� the swampy ground. There, the narrow wheel marks of the caravan were plainly visible and some fresh horse manure told them their fugitive had not got too much of a head start. "It's that ugly wee gypsy what done it." Chippy shouted. "1 knowd 'e were up' tae nae good. Let's get after 'im lads!" Following the tracks of the litter had been easy, but the road was marked and rutted by hundreds of wheels which had passed along the way. Clearly, the gypsy would be difficult to track. Besides the sixth line north and south, he could take any one of the lines which had been constructed in the Caledon Hills, or the REDTREES by Don Campbell concession roads running east and west. Suddenly a fine coach and team of horses appeared on the road and advanced towards them. "Thank God frae small mercies, " shouted one of the men. "It's MacCrim- mon!" MacCrimmon was very tired and not a little sore after his long ride, so he did not ,, -lcome joining the chase. "By what ye tell me. the gypsy is a slimy fish." he said gravely. "No doubt he has made hundreds o' robberies in his time and will ken the best ways tae avoid capture. If ye ask my opinion. he'll hide during the day and travel by night. "What di ye suggest we do?" Chippy asked nervously. "We'll all gae hame and eat our dinners," MacCrimmon said with a crafty smile. "And tomorrow, wi' the plan 1 hae in mind. we'll set a trap frae the little rat who thinks he can outwit a Highlander!"