HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1963-01-24, Page 9THE 'WINCI-AM ADVANCE TIMES
Published at Wingham, Ontario, by Wenger Bros. Limited
W. Barry Wenger, President Robert O. Wenger, Secretary -Treasurer
Member Audit Bureau of Circulation; Member Canadian Weekly Newspapers Assoei'
ation; 11 e/ober Canadian Community Newspapers. Representatives
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Advertising Bates on application
Merger Is Important Step
Last week's announcement that C.
Lloyd & Son of Wingham and R. Truax
Son & Co. Ltd. of Walkerton would amal-
gamate at the first of next month is im-
portant news for Western Ontario. The
new firm, its employees and the towns
in which the plants are located will all
benefit from this move.
Those who have little to do with the
conduct of business may fail to realize
the strain under which firms in our small-
er communities must operate. The com-
petition from the industrial giants is such
that hundreds of smaller concerns have
been driven to failure. There is no great
amount of human kindness in the op-
erations of the large concerns and the
money they have available for the pro-
motion of their products is often difficult
to match.
The merger of the Wingham and
Walkerton door companies, both of
which have well-established records in
the production of high quality products,
will go a long way to assure the continu-
ance of their business operations and the
steady employment of workmen in both
communities.
Knowing the principals in each of
these companies, we are very much of the
opinion that Lloyd -Truax will prosper
under the new arrangement.
Other Side of the Story
The meeting in Wingham recently be-
tween town council and railway officials
did not produce any extreme opposition
on the part of the local men to the rail-
way's announcement that passenger ser-
vice will be discontinued if its application
to the board of commissioners is ap-
proved.
In the last round of meetings on the
same subject a few years ago every muni-
cipality along the line was up in arms
and had all sorts of suggestions for im-
provement of service.
As we recall those gatherings the
railway officials were very patient in
their explanations of why they felt the
service had to be stopped. in fact they
even accepted and implemented some of
the suggestions. Typical in this case was
the use of a "dayliner" on the run; an-
other change at that time was the change
in schedule to run a train down from
the lake on Sunday afternoon for the
benefit of those who might want to re-
turn to the city after a week -end in West-
ern Ontario.
Course
Plans are being completed in Goderich
for a course which sounds most interest-
ing and should fill a great need. Com-
mencing January 26, classes will be held
once a week to train baby sitters. Lectures
over the eight-week period will include a
talk by Miss Vivian Adair, public health
nurse, on child care, and another on child
safety, particularly in regard to poisons
and other home hazards; Miss Clare Mc-
Gowan will speak on personality require-
ments; Dr. Kenneth Lambert, "Don't
Panic," which will deal with emergency
situations. It is expected that a member
of the fire department will take one of the
lectures and discuss fire hazards and their
elimination; a doctor from the Ontario
Hospital will lecture on child behaviour
and a former kindergarten teacher will
describe methods of keeping children oc-
cupied and happy.
in spite of the railway's effort to meet
the needs of this area, the general public
has'simply not made sufficient use of pas-
senger trains to merit their operation. Any
person who has seen the trains passing
through town is well aware that the cars
were running all but empty.
Though none of us are very happy to
see the service stopped, the time has come
to face facts. Not a single business man in
this town would consider operating his
store for years after the customers had
ceased to patronize it. And it should be
remembered that the railway is our busi-
ness. When it loses money we, as taxpay-
ers, must dip into our pockets to meet the
deficit.
To sum up: there isn't much point in
weeping over the loss of a service which it
is quite evident no one wants. The railway
still has an important function in the
handling of freight and express. Officials
of the company claim that these services
will be improved if the burden of un-
profitable passenger runs is eliminated.
for Sitters
Jointly sponsored by the Goderich
Recreation Committee, the Home and
School Association and the Catholic
Parent-Teacher Association, the classes
were conceived as a means of providing a
sound basis of training for baby sitters,
whether teen-agers or adults.
Certainly the idea is a good one. Some-
times we shudder at the risks parents
take when they leave their small children
with inexperienced sitters who would
have no control whatever if an emergency
arose. The Goderich course will culminate
in an examination and the successful
candidates will receive a card attesting to
their fitness for the sitter's task.
A similar course could well be under-
taken here if enough parents indicated
their interest. If you happen to approve,
drop a line to The Advance -Times and we
will promote its organization.
The Road to Welfare
(Vancouver Sun)
To what extent is Canada deliberately
creating a class of state -supported unem-
ployed and unemployables?
Examine the case of a 19 -year-old Van-
couver girl. She has been, as she calls it,
supporting herself for over two years. She
lives in a housekeeping room. She is
known es a good worker — when she
chooses to work.
At present she is on unemployment
insurance, for the third time in her brief
career.
Three times she worked until eligible
for unemployment insurance payments.
Then she began absenting herself from
work on plea of sickness, one day out of
three or two out of three, until discharg-
.ed.
She takes occasional jobs, but none
last long while she still has benefits avail-
able.
About half her so-called self-support-
ing life has been supported at public ex-
pense.
She is by no means typical of the bulk
of Canadians who through no fault of
their own are unemployed and drawing
benefits. But she is typical of what ap-
pears to be a growing class of Canadians
who regard public assistance as a right,
not a privilege.
With this experience in her formative
years, where will she end? As a perma-
nent welfare case?
it is not unemployment insurance
alone which gives rise to examples like
this. Canadians are building a massive
welfare state. in the last year for which
complete figures are available, 1958-59,
welfare and income maintenance expendi-
tures by federal, provincial and municipal
governments in British Columbia alone
were $253 million. This does not include
theoretically self -paid unemployment in-
surance or public and private charities
such as the Community Chests.
In undertakings of this magnitude
some minor chiselling is unavoidable. But
the Case of the young woman we cite can
be parallelled so often it is impossible not
to wonder if chiselling is being made too
easy altogether—if we are not encourag-
ing it.
The monetary loss is serious enough.
But it could be far less serious than the
damage we are doing to those who en-
courage to chisel.
NEW FIRE TANKER—Morris Township recently purch-
ased a used tank truck to supplement existing fire pro-
tection equipment. The water tanker is housed at the
Brussels fire hall, but is available for use by brigades
from Wingham and Blyth, which serve the township.
Shown with the outfit are Councillor Bill Elston, Brus-
sels fire chief Gordon Stephenson and Councillor Jim
Mair. The 1,200 gallon tanker was purchased for about
$1,000 and negotiations are going on at the moment
with other neighboring townships for its use in case of
emergency.—Advance-Times Photo.
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SUGAR
-and
S?:CE
alognin By BiiI Smiley
Do you loathe winter with all the intensity of your
soul? Do you consider that it is fit only for Eskimos and
abominable snowmen? Does your spirit shrink into a cold
little gray lump somewhere in the vicinity of your liver,
when it snows ae.ain? Does your heart grow hard with
hatred when the mercury drops?
Do you shriek, lady, at your *
little ones, when they come I grate into the sun.
in, plastered with snow, just * * *
seven minutes after you have I But, I'm sorry, old bud -
spent half an hour bundling
them up to go out, and they
whimper, "Mum, I hafta wee-
wee"?
Do you take the name of
the Lord in vain, sir, every
time you go out in the morn-
ing and discover that the holy
old, jumpin' jeezly snow-
plow has dumped the daily
10 -ton donation into your
driveway?
Do you wonder, when you
receive your oil bill, if they
have got -your bill mixed up
with that of the Chateau Lau-
rier? Do you develop a deep,
seething hostility toward old
friends who announce they
are off for a holiday in the
south?
* * *
Do your bones ache, your
joints creak, your eyes water
these days? Do you resent
getting up in what seems to
be the middle of the night,
to go to work?
If the answer to all
these questions is a scream-
ing, homicidal "YES," you
may relax, friend a n d
neighbor. You are neither
neurotic nor odd, perverse
nor peculiar. There's not a
thing wrong with you. You
are a typical, normal, aver-
age, and honest Canadian.
You have not only my sym-
pathy, but my understanding.
I used to be one of you. I've
been through the lot. For 40,
odd years I was a plodder
through slush, a huncher of
shoulders against blizzards, a
snarling payer of fuel bilis, a
blasphemous scraper of ice
off windshields with my
fingernails because my blast-
ed scraper was missing.
Oh, yes, I was one of you
miserable wretches: a bent•
backed slave chopping ice off
the steps, a terrified knock-
er -down of big icicles, a puff.
ing purveyor of garbage
cans through snowdrifts, a
furious shoveller of drive-
ways, a barking seal when
that frosty morning air first
hit the tattered lungs, an en-
vious despiser of the birds
with enough money to mi•
dies; I've left you. That's all
behind. I'm on the other side
now. I got sick of being a
rabbit, and decided to run
with the hounds, As a result,
a whole new life has opened
for me.
Now, I dance blithely to
the window at first light to
see whether anything fell
during the night. I clap my
hands and cry "Goody!"
when I see that big fresh pile
of white stuff in the drive-
way. I grumble when the
temperature rises. I complain
bitterly when nothing white
falls from heaven in two
days. I grouch about the
winter being so short. I sin-
cerely pity those who have
fled •to the tropics.
What's happened? I've
been skiing. Yes sir, they
got the old man out on the
skinny sticks last Saturday,
and he made it down the
little kids' hill twice with-
out falling. That was on the
I4th and 21st runs.
Oh, they laughed when I
sat down the minute I stood
up on the things. But they
weren't laughing an hour
later, when I whizzed down
the slope, yelling "Scheisst"
or whatever it is skiers yell,
bowling over five -year-olds
tike five -pins, and taking
those eight and 10 -inch jumps
as though I'd been born with-
in yodelling range of the Mat-
terhorn.
* * *
It started out as a mere
effort to find out why I
bought about a half interest
in a sports shop, at Christ-
mas, for the kids. I started
out wearing my golf pants
over my deer hunting under-
wear, and my old fishing
jacket over m y curling
sweater.
By the end of the day, 1
was ready to sell my golf
clubs, try to get a refund
from the curling club, and
attempt to trade in my
waders and my shotgun, if
1 could only have one of
t hose brilliant sweaters,
and a pair of those bull -
e
REMINISCING
JANUARY 1913
Mr. J. 13. Ferguson, former-
ly Town Clerk of Wingham, is
now postmaster at Kerrisdale,
B. C., having entered on his
duties January 1st this year,
Mr. F. McConnell reports
the sale of one of Dr. Kennedy's
lots on Catharine Street to W.
J. Dodd, who intends to erect
a residence thereon this spring.
Mr. and Mrs. Wightman
from the West are visiting fri-
ends in town, Mrs. Wightman
was formerly Mrs. Smith, and
a former resident of Wingham.
A further appointment in
connection with the Grand
Trunk transportation depart-
ment has been announced. Mr.
L. Harold, formerly station
• agent in Wingham, has been
appointed Superintendent of
transportation of the eastern
lines, with headquarters at
Montreal.
Mr. and Mrs. F. J. Hill
were out for a drive on Tues-
day with their spirited ponies,
and on turning an icy corner
the cutter slid around quickly
and overturned. Mr. and Mrs,
Hill were thrown out, and the
former is now confined to his
room, with a severely sprained
ankle.
0--0--0
JANUARY 1926
Another of the pioneers of
this vicinity passed to her re-
ward on Sunday in the person
of Sarah Ann Parr, widow of
the late James Deyell. She
was in her 81st year.
Mrs. Bishop, wife of the
newly appointed manager of
the Dominion Bank has arrived
in town. We welcome Mr.
and Mrs. Bishop as residents of
Wingham.
Messrs. Murray, Walker,
Hardy and Atwood, the Craw-
ford Garage rink of Curlers are
taking in the llarriston bon -
spiel and were successful in de-
feating a rink of curlers skipped
by Nash of Gorrie.
Mr, W. X. Wright of Battle -
creek, spent a few days with
his old school chum, Mr. W.
F. VanStone. They were boys
in Brussels together, but have
not seen each other for about
thirty years,
0--0--0
JANUARY 1938
A very large congregation
fighters' pants, like the
other skiers, and sit around
in the chalet, drinking cof-
fee, with the best of them.
No more grumbling about
winter. No more hatred of
snow. No more longing for
spring. You should try it. We
skiers are hooked, but happy.
In fact, T liked my first time
out so well that I can scarce-
ly wait for next winter (or
maybe the one after) to try
it again.
was present on Sunday evening
at St. Paul's Anglican Church
to hear Rev. E. L, Roberts,
the rector, who leaves Wednes-
day this week for Owen Sound,
deliver his farewell address.
Representatives of the County
Council, the Town Council and
manymembers of other con-
gregations were present.
Miss Lenora Higgins left this
week to enter Victoria Hospital
at London as a nurse -in -train -
ing. Her many friends wish her
every success.
Harold Cantelon has shown
that he possesses considerable
ingenuity. He found it diffi-
cult to ride his bicycle with so
much snow, so he equipped it
with a runner in place of the
front wheel. This did not work
so well as the runner would
slide side -ways. He overcame
this difficulty by placing a
piece of iron sheeting under the
runner which grips the snow and
prevents the sliding. He now
zips along to his heart's con-
tent.
Seventy -two-year-old Thom-
as H, Allen, Catherine Street,
has a profitable hobby. He
manufactures rustic furniture.
At present he has several useful
pieces all ready for use at his
home. Tuesday morning we
saw one of his chairs and it was
quite attractive. It was painted
in red and green with much of
the wood left in the natural.
The seat is elm and the legs of
hardwood braced effectively
with twisted cedar.
0--0-0
JANUARY 1948
The winners of the January
21st Jitney at the local Curling
Club were; First, J. Heal, L.
MacDougal, W. Hamilton,
Rev. W. A. Beecroft, skip; se-
cond, D. Campbell, H. Grove
Art Wilson, H. Crawford skip.
Mr. Robert S. Hill, who has
been with The Advance -Times
Staff for the past year has ac-
cepted a position with The
Pembroke Standard Observer
and commenced duties there on
Monday.
While playing hockey Satur-
day evening, Tom Lockridge
was crashed into the boards, .
breaking his left arm in two
places, just above the wrist and
below the elbow. It will be in
a cast for four weeks.
Mr. Cameron MacDonald of
Pleasant Lake, Manitoba, call-
ed on his aunt, Mrs, P. D.
King and other relatives over
the week -end.
CANADA'S FIGHTING POET
Charles Mair, writer, horn
at Lanark, Ontario in 1840 and
educated at Queen's University,
Kingston, helped to quell the
Riel rebellions and also was an
organizer of the "Canada First"
party. Mair's work, "Dream-
land and Other Poems" is still
remembered, as is his drama
" Tecumseh." He died in 1906,