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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1964-03-19, Page 9• THE NEED IS GREAT A meeting of hospital representatives has been called to convene at Huron - view shortly. These people will gather for discussions on care of chronic pa- tients within the county of Huron, when representatives from the Ontario Hos- pital Services Commission and the pro- vincial Department of Welfare will be present. Underlying reason for the meeting is • the history of chronic patient care. When the last wing was added to the Wingham Hospital in 1955 it was de- signated as a department to be devoted largely to the care of chronic patients: Then, a few years later, when hospital insurance coverage was brought in -and • the number of non -chronic or "active" patients began to increase, hospital authorities were urged by OHSC to move out as many chronic patients es possible to make room for the influx of "active" patients. The only place to take the chronic patients who were moved out of the Wingham Hospital was to the newly - opened county institution at Clinton. Though facilities at Clinton were excel- lent, the moves, in many cases, were tragic for the old people involved. Those who had sons and daughters and • grandchildren in this area had the com- fort of frequent visits from members of their families as long as they were in Wingham, but with an extra 25 miles to drive these visits often had to be limited to once a week. And a week can be an endless period of time when the only break in the monotony of a bed -fast ex- istence is a visit from a person's loved ones. Now, it seems, Huronview is over- crowded. No announcement has been made, but it seems likely that the chronic patients have become e burden which • authorities might be glad to shift back to the patients' own municipalities. The truth of the matter is that we badly need a third type of institution if our aged people are to be properly and humanely cared for. Huronview is es- sentially an institution for the care of those persons who have neither families nor funds for their own maintenance. In actual practice it is no longer filling that role. It is catering, in large degree, to persons who have adequate financial resources. Our local hospitals were built and enlarged at great cost, to care for sick people—those who need the attentions of doctors and nurses. Somewhere between these two cate- gories we have a growing class of older people who need bed care, but not neces- sarily the daily calls of a doctor. They are the people who can be cared for by trained nursing assistants under the supervision of a registered nurse. In fact, what we need is more nursing homes of a calibre high enough to pro- vide reliable and sympathetic service. Private nursing home operators are protesting that county homes are taking their patients and putting the nursing homes out of business because they pro- vide such care on a subsidized basis. This may be true, but on the other hand, private operators have failed to provide enough nursing homes to look after the needs of most districts. It is time that government moved to fill the gap—and we hope that is what the Clinton meet- ing is called to do. And in so many other facets of pub- lic administration, the confusion and delay arises because of the fact that two government departments are concerned in this question. Nursing homes fall under the administration of the Depart- ment of Public Welfare, as do the county homes such as Huronview, while hos- pitals like the one in Wingham are the concern of the Department of Health or its offspring, the Ontario Hospital Ser- vices Commission. It is obvious then that the exact na- ture of a person's illness ... the finely - drawn definition of whether or not an illness is "chronic" or "active" can make a world of difference in the channels through which care must be provided. Indeed there is room for confusion, but while it reigns our old people are being shuttled back and forth like the pieces on a chessboard. THEY HAVE MORE OBLIGATION In an era when governments are ex- ploring every means of raising revenues to meet the demands of a new age of development and a new trend toward state -supported social schemes of all kinds, we feel that they might well ex- amine in greater detail the use which is made of our university graduates. A few years ago we recall attending a dinner at the OAC at Guelph for the purpose of presenting an award from the Ontario Weekly Newspaper Association to an outstanding English student at the college. The basic purpose of the award was to stimulate interest on the part of outstanding English students in the pos- sibilities for advancement which lie in the field of journalism. We found, however, that practically every one of these students who showed any promise at all was hired, long be- fore graduation, to take a place with the large industrial firms of the province. This situation, which we believe exists in most branches of advanced education, gives rise to the thought that big industry is certainly reaping a tremendous benefit from our universities — institutions of higher learning which are supported by all taxpayers of the province. It is true, of course, that a wealthy industrial con- cern contributes large amounts of money through its taxes to education, but its practice of snapping up all the top gradu- ates makes its tax payments look like very rewarding investments. Is there a possibility, we wonder, that big business, the beneficiary of our uni- versity system, should fall under a special assessment for the support of our uni- versities? THE FOLLY OF VIOLENCE At a time when there seems to be a glimmer of hope that mankind has out- lived the folly of mass warfare, the blind and stupid element of human nature which demands violence seems to rear itself upward in new surges of hatred. In Cyprus neighbors are shooting each other in the streets. They care not for the suffering of the aged or the terror of the young. They simply want to kill. And neighbours they are. They have lived together in their island for centuries, apparently without the will or effort to know each other as human beings. Two or three weeks ago an outburst of violence in New York schools left several teachers in hospital with serious injuries inflicted by their students—the young people they seek to provide with means to a better future. As close to us as Hanover a dance hall attendant was critically injured when he was at- tacked by five young men. Surely there is a more enlightened approach to these problems than an- swering violence with violence, but until that better way is found it seems very plain that the only deterrent is punish- ment so sharp that lawbreakers, whether of school age or of the older groups, will fear to loose their evil upon society. THE WINGHAM 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 Associ- ation; Member Canadian Community Newspapers Representatives Authorized by the Post Office Department as Second Class Mail and for payment of postage in cash Subscription Rate: One Year, $4.00; Six Months, $2.25, in advance U.S.A., $5.00 per year; Foreign rate, $5.00 per year Advertising Rates on application THE YOUNGEST SKATER on the ice dur- ing Saturday evening's ice carnival was little Susan Fraser, two-year-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Jim Fraser, of Wingham. With her from the left, dressed in their Busy Bee costumes, are: Karen Strong, Ansley Currie and Debbie Yeoman. —Advance -Times Photo. ijunAtitiance&gintit Wingham, Ontario, Thursday, March 19, 1964 SECOND SECTION SUGAR AND SPICE The Irish In Spring By BILL SMILEY Caught between the Seventeenth of Ireland and the Twenty-first of Spring, I was in a quandary about r a topic for this week's epistle. (A quandary is a cross be- tween a n Irish bog and the first day of spring i n Canada.) Bill Smiley Come to think of it, the two have a lot in common: the Irish and spring in this country. You never know what to expect. You ma3P be in for a bout of weeping, a hurri- cane of abuse, or a blast of hot air, from either. Perhaps it is this unpre- dictability that makes the company of the Irish and the coming of spring in Canada such a constant source of bewilderment, de- light and despair. I speak as an expert, My wife is half Irish and I've battled my way through a good few of those Eskimo's night- mares—first day of spring —in this land. I never know any more than the kids do, whether my wife is going to hit me or kiss me. And I never know whether the twenty- first of March is going to wrap me in a great voluptu- ous embrace or flay me with a wind that would freeze the brains of a brass monkey. There's a great deal of myth in the popular con- ception of those tricky twins, the Irish and spring in Canada. Irishmen are supposed to be bubbling over with the juices of life. They are understood to be warm- hearted, charming, gay and lively. They're expected to be sentimental and elo- quent, generous and devil- may-care. And many of them are. But don't blame me if the first Irishman you meet after reading this is a lugu- brious, long -faced, mourn- ful, money-grubbing, pleas- ure -shunning, nit - picking, self-pitying, people -hating type. Some of them are. Same with spring in Can- ada. It's supposed to be a day when the blood bur- bles, when t h e young mothers are all out with their new baby -carriages, when the sun smiles wildly over the scene, when the first tiny flowers poke their dainty heads up, and the streams gurgle with rap- ture, and the air smells and feels and tastes like cham- pagne. And sometimes it is. * * * But chances are, on the Twenty - first of Spring, you'll be racked by 'flu, you'll have a hole in your rubbers, your eaves - troughs will be pendulous with ice, your car won't start, the ice will stretch as far as eye can see on the bay, and a gale that would curdle the blood of a Lap- lander is howling out of the north. However, that's life. And this is my salute to t h e Irish, whom I have loved and hated, fought with and laughed at. And this is also my salute to spring, which I have loved and hated, coped with and cursed at. Perhaps we should let some more distinguished company have the last word on the Irish. Like George Moore, who said, "My one claim to originality among Irishmen is that I have never made a speech." Or Mark Twain: "Give an Irishman lager for a month and he's a dead man. An Irishman is lined with cop- per, and the beer corrodes it. But whiskey polishes the copper and is the saving of him." * * * However, I intend to have the last word on Canada's first day of spring, myself. Here it is. Canadian spring Ain't even a season. It's merely a Thing That's usually freezin'. REMINISCING MARCH 1914 Dollar Day was a success. Tuesday of this week clearly demonstrated what can be ac- complished by a little united effort on the part of the busin- ess men of the town. The Dol lar Day venture was a success in every particular and St. Patrick's Day, 1914, will long be rcmem`lered by the people of Wingham and for many miles around the town. The Association's prize of $5 for the largest load of people brought into Wingham was awarded to Albert Foxton, of Culross, who brought in a load of thirty-one people. Jas. Forster, of West Wawanosh won Dr. A. J. Irwin's $5 prize for the best team of heavy draught horses. Thos. Gilmore, of Turnberry won Geo. Spotton's $5 prize for the best single driving horse. A. M. Scu11y's $5 prize for team of horses suitable for a creamery wagon, went to Thos. Weir, of Turn - berry. W. G. Patterson's $15 gold filled watch to the party spending the largest amount of money with Wingham merch- ants was won by J, D. Ander- son of East Wawanosh. The Western Foundry Co.'s prize of $5 to the most recently mar- ried couple went to Mr. and Mrs. Jas. McGee, of Morris. The $5 prize to the party com- ing the longest distance was won by David Giddins, lot 10, con. 1, Flowick, 15 miles from Wingham. Walker and Clegg's MARCH 1949 $12 upholstered chair to the oldest lady went to Mrs. Vanal- stine, who was horn in Prince Edward County on June 4th, 1821, being in her ;t:3rd year. The $5 armchair to the oldest man was awarded to Adam Reid. who was horn in Ireland on May the 2:3rd, 1127, being in his 87th year. One Moment, Please 13y Rev. G, C. Mitchell Bluevale, Ontario HELPFUL LIVING Luke 10;33 -- But a Samari- tan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. This event took place in Ju- dea. The distance from Jerusa- lem to Jericho is less than fifty miles. There were many ban- dits in those days so it was dangerous to travel alone and unarmed. This man was a Jew, perhaps a merchant, who had considerable money in cash on his person. He was attacked, robbed, and beaten uncon- scious. A priest and a Levite had just passed on the other side of the road. They represented the church as religious leaders. We expect the church tobeinterest- ed in people who are in obvious distress. The other side of the road is a well travelled path. Many of us use it. We can't an- swer every appeal but this one was imperative. Neither the priest nor the Levite had a don- key but they could have stopped and given the man some assist- ance, if only a drink of water. Surely there was some police station or patrol to which they could report. But it was easier to look the other direction and avoid responsibility. The Samaritan wasa foreign- er, Jews and Samaritans did not mix, either in business or social life. Nobody would expect a Samaritan to help a Jew. But this man was a true gentleman. He was able to rise above nationalism and petty squables to express a generosity far be- yond the average. He put the man on his donkey, walked himself, took him to a hotel, paid his lodging and left money with the landlord to take care of him. This Samaritan was one of God's noblemen. There are some living still. Albert Schweitzer is in Africa. Per- haps none of use qualify but we can humbly desire to be worthy. North Huron, provided the wel- come variation. lie is a large man, is George, with voice to match. And he told the story of the late by-election with sidelights that kept the Conser- vative benches rocking with laughter. MARCH 1939 Mr. Don Nasmith has pur- chased the lots between Mrs. Piper's and Mr. Homuth's on Patrick St. We understand he intends to build a house there this summer. Dr. A. J. Fox and Mrs. Fox attended a two-day convention of the Associated Chiropractors of Ontario at the Royal York Hotel, Toronto, over the week- end. Dr. Bruce and Mrs. Fox, of Guelph, were also in attend- ance at this convention. Betty Rae secured the only goal of the game at the Arena Tuesday night when the Wing - ham Girls' hockey team defeat- ed Brussels 1-0. Her sister, El- la, Mrs. W. W. Gurney, got an' assist as she made the pass on the scoring play. MARCH 1928 Like a breath from the past, a good old-fashioned political speech crept into the debate last night. It was reminiscent of the days when the old parties' were led by partisans like ;klac- Donatd and Laurier, and the leaders did not spend their titne writing perfumed notes to each other. It was as refreshing as the breeze that precedes a sum- mer shower. It woke the sleep- ers and made even the states- men in the front benches sit up and take notice. George Spot - ten, the newly -elected of Mr. M. V. Smith, teacher of Agriculture in the Wingham High School has resigned to ac- cept a position on the staff of the Ontario Agricultural Col- lege, Guelph. ile is to he 1i1 charge of research ori in Agriculture. Mr. John A. Jack- son has accepted the position on the Wingham high School staff, to he head of the Department of Agriculture and in charge of the boks' athletics and health education. The Canadian 01 dev of For- esters are now holding their meetings in the change hall, and at theft last meeting .'catl- dldates were recet'ed. Mr. ('eo. herr 11aS heed appointee Field lklan. At a recent meeting of the Board of Managers tlf St. Paul's Anglican Church it was toted unaulttl;Iuslk that a iLi1111ntaud Electric organ he 1tlSta1k 1 1n the church subject to approval of the Synod.