HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1964-06-11, Page 9A Queer Way to Celebrate
The 20th anniversary of the landings
on the beaches of Normandy has been
marked in a dozen different ways through-
out the countries whose troops took part
in the invasion of Western Europe.
Without question the poorest taste of all
was exhibited by Field Marshal Mont-
gomery, who made use of the occasion to
take another backhand slap at General
• and former President Eisenhower.
The first of Monty's attacks on Gen-
eral Eisenhower's handling of the Nor-
mandy campaign was contained in a book
which the field marshal published in
1958. A few months later he was back
on the same subject in broadcast ad-
dresses.
It may be that his points are valid,
It is possible that General Eisenhower
made some mistakes in the handling of
the invasion operation. It is even pos-
sible that Field Marshal Montgomery
would have made a few blunders him-
self had he been entrusted with the
supreme command.
Each time Montgomery has opened
one of his attacks on Eisenhower the
latter has refused to make any comment
to reporters, His restraint and dignity
form a pleasant contrast to the sharp-
tongued comments of the man who was
one of his trusted deputies on D -Day.
What possible difference does it make
now? The campaign was fought and won
almost 20 years ago. General Eisen-
hower has reached the age when there
is no possibility of his ever being in
command of a military operation again
and should the need for such military
action arise in the future the very nature
of warfare will have altered so much
that whatever mistakes were made on
D -Day will provide very little guidance
for tomorrow's commanders,
Field Marshal Montgomery's waspish
remarks have tarnished two otherwise
admirable war records — his own and
General Eisenhower's. However, we be-
lieve the American leader emerges with
smaller stains.
Forget It for A While
• News at the week -end indicated a
strong possibility that the flag issue
would not be carried to its final con-
clusion in the near future. The sugges-
tion was that the debate in the House
might be started and then the entire
matter would be tabled for later dis-
• cussion. Frankly, we believe that's the
best thing that could happen.
Prime Minister Pearson spoke warmly
of a new Canadian flag as a means of
stimulating feelings of Canadian unity.
a
However, since his first choice of nation-
al emblem was disclosed, the mere men-
tion of a Canadian flag ,has served to
aggravate difference within the nation
and provide further excuses for bitter-
ness by nationalistic groups.
It would appear that the P.M. has
grossly misjudged the political implica-
tons of the entire question. Certainly,
if disunity is to be the consequence of
further discussion it would be as well to
drop the matter—as it has been dropped
a hundred times before.
Doing Excellent Job
Again our congratulations to Cornell
Construction and the Riverside Parks
O Board for the excellent job they are do-
ing at the park. The construction com-
pany has spared nothing to make sure
that the area which was torn up for
sewer installations is returned not only
to its former state, but apparently their
intention is to make it look better than
• before.
The Parks Board has wisely decided
r
to sod the section adjacent to the swim-
ming pool so that the young swimmers
will have clean and green surroundings
this season, rather than trying to keep
them off a seeded area all summer.
When the cleaning of the lower pond
is completed this fall we will be well on
the way to having the finest park system
of any community in Western Ontario,,
is Decency Dying Out?
Within recent months there have
been two widely -publicized incidents in
the United States which made all good
Canadians shudder and then ponder upon
the sad state of society south of the
border. Those were incidents in which
o dozens'of people stood by while innocent
victims were attacked by thugs. In one
of the cases a young woman was stabbed
forty times while her screams for help
went unanswered, even though apart-
ment dwellers nearby could hear and see
everything that transpired.
a It seems Canadians have little to be
complacent about. On Saturday a father
and mother and their son were beaten
to the pavement and then kicked un-
mercifully by a small gang of toughs while
a crowd of more than 40 persons looked
• on and did nothing to stop the attacks.
It happened in a Toronto shopping plaza.
By comparison those lynch mobs you
have seen on the TV Westerns are an
4
honest and open-hearted collection of
next-door neighbours. At least a lynch-
ing party could claim to have taken some
action, whether right or wrong, to give
expression to their convictions. That
crowd in the Toronto shopping centre can
claim nothing but rank cowardice,
The question is, what is happening to
people in this wonderful, modern world?
Are we so self-satisfied, so devoted to our
own comforts and securities that we can
no longer respond to the most elementary
laws of decency?
There seems to be only one solution
—a totally hard and unmerciful attitude
by the courts where this type of gang-
sterism is concerned. If the general pub-
lic in its craven shell, will do nothing
to prevent such outbreaks, it will remain
with law enforcement authorities to im-
pose such stiff penalties that even the
toughest young hoodlum will pause to
count the cost.
Don't Be Fooled
The words "Made in Canada" in a box
may apply only to the container—not the
• contents, warns The Financial Post. This
is the latest gimmick practised on a
gullible public, according to the Better
• Business Bureau of Metropolitan Toronto
inc. The deception artists go even
further — the BBB kas seen boxes with
these words in bold print, "Made in
Canada by Canadian Workmen." The av-
erage buyer infers that the contents are
Canadian -made, whereas complaints to
the Bureau indicate very often, that the
box contains imported items. "The dis-
tributors of such items may have a per-
fectly good reason for packaging import-
ed goods in this way," the Bureau says,
"hut the buying public is left in a con-
fused and sometimes outraged state of
mind."
THE WINGHAM ADVANCE - TIMES
Published at Wingham, Ontario, by Wenger Bros. Limited
W. Barry Wenger, President - Robert 0, 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
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Advertising Rates on application
REMJNISCING
JUNE 1914
In the Opera house on .Sun-
day, June 7th, The Salvation
Array will be holding the nuvin-
orial services for the oftit:crs
and soldiers who lost their lives
on the "Empress of Inland",
A meeting of the aut:sts
and others was held in tilt,
Council Chamber on Tue,day
evening last, The Chairman
Mr, L. Kennedy, introduced
the speaker for the everting,
Dr. Doolittle, of Toronto. The
speaker gave a short history of
the good roads moveniuit start-
ed by Mr. Pattello, of Wood-
stock some 30 years ago for the
benefit of bicyclists.
Not many people are privi-
leged to spend fifty ytars of
happy wedded life, bur such
has been the privilege of our
esteemed residents; Mr, and
Mrs. Peter Fisher, On May
24th, the home of our worthy
Postmaster was the scene of
this happy event, when only the
immediate members of the fa-
mily were present. Mr. Fish-
er is one of Wingham's oldest
residents.
JUNE 1928
The marriage too«. place
Saturday afternoon at 2.30
o'clock at St. John's Anglican
Church, West Toronto, of Nora
Claire, youngest daughter of
Mr. and Mrs. Lauchlin Ken-
nedy of Toronto, formerly of
Wingham, to Thomas Henry,
son of Mrs. George Noble of
Toronto, and the late George
Noble.
Gordon Deyell, son of Ro-
bert Deyell, of Turnherry, near
the town, had the cords of his
right arm, near the wrist sev-
ered, and sustained other in-
juries, in a motor accident Fri-
day even4ng. Driving an open
car, he reached out to turn
down the top part of the wind-
shield, when the car swerved
into a telephone post beneath
the C. N. R. bridge.
Drs. Irwin and Howson at-
tended the Dental Convention
in Toronto this week.
Miss Arlene Stanley of Dub-
lin, Ireland, is visiting at the
home of Dr, and Mrs. Parker.
Mr. and Mrs. Herson Irwin
and Mrs. Stewart McBurney mo-
tored to Toronto and spent the
week -end with Mrs. W. S.
King.
Miss Helen Wilson, chief
dietician of the Consumers Gas
Co. , Toronto and lecturer over
C.K. C. L. , is visiting with her
mother, Mrs. J. Wilson.
Congratulations are extend-
ed to A. W. Irwin on passing
his fifth year and final exam-
ination at Dental College, and
to Marvin L. Craig on passing
his third year exams.
C. P. Smith, manager of
the Canadian Bank of Com-
merce, left on Monday to join
The Art Craft Guild party leav-
ing Quebec on the Empress of
France and will spend a month
in Europe.
What might have proved a
fatal accident happened the
other night south of Wroxeter,
when a motor car driven by
Percy Copeland, was struck by
a fast-moving car, and send-
ing his car into the ditch. Mrs.
Copeland sustained a broken
collar bone, while Mr. Cope-
land was stunned.
JUNE 1939
When a portion of the road
skirting water at the Goderich
harbor suddenly caved in under-
neath Adair's Transport, two
Wingham men, Timothy Cor-
bett and Kenneth Mowbray, had
a narrow escape from drowning
last week. The truck came to
rest on its side in a 10 -foot hole
only a foot from the retaining
wall, dumping 10 tons of oats,
which had just been loaded at
the elevator, into the harbor,
22 feet deep. Dorbett and
Mowbray were able to scram-
ble out of the cab uninjured.
JUNE 1949
A pleasant evening was spent
at the home of Mrs. Doug Fry
on Thursday, when a number of
the girls on the staff and wives
of CKNX personnel, gathered
to honour Mrs. John Langridgc
who recently carate from Eng-
land as a bride.
John Armitage, son of Mr,
KIDS BY THE HUNDREDS flocked to the cars were a special attraction to the small
midway during the Trade Fair. The small fry.—A-T Photo.
`4\
bain AbtianctiZinte
Wingham, Ontario, Thursday,
June 11, 1964 SECOND SECTION
SUGAR AND SPICE
The Image Has Changed
By BILL SMILEY
As the school year draws
towards its close, I can't help
looking back on the past
10 months,
my first
hitch as
head of the
English de-
partment in
our factory,
with a
mingling of
a m azement
and amuse-
ment.
Bill Smiley
I am amazed that I have
not gone down for the
third time in a sea of paper.
There were times when I
rose to the surface only
long enough to gulp a
breath of ink, before being
swept under by another
wave of essays, or book
report forms, or memos.
My amusement stems
from another source—the
old-fashioned image of the
English teacher. There
just ain't no such thing as
a modern image of same.
For many years the
image of the English
teacher was fairly con-
crete.
It was that of a wispy,
gentle spinster of either
sex, wholly dedicated to
and Mrs, C. B. Armitage, has
been successful in passing his
first Predental year at Toronto
University.
Milton Brown, son of Mr.
and Mrs. M. Brown of town,
was successful in passing his
third year general arts course
at Toronto University.
Jim Hunter, known to count-
less of thousands of Ontario
radio listeners as "Your Talking
Reporter" died in a Toronto hos-
pital on Monday. The veteran
newscaster had been ill for
some time and occasionally wa-
not able to give his regular
broadcast over CFRB, the Tor-
onto station he has been con-
nected with since 1932.
On Thursday of last week
Mr. Chas. Hopper purchased
the general store business of Mr.
Jack Wilson, Belgrave. Mr.
Hopper takes possession onJune
15th
Norman Anderson, son of
Rev. and Mrs. J. F. Anderson,
Sarnia, and formerly of Wing -
ham, has been successful in
securing his second year inderl-
tistry at the Toronto University.
Mr. and Mrs. G. N. Under-
wood, announce the engage-
ment of their daughter, Mar-
garet Jean, to John Wallace
MacDonald, son of rir. and Mrs
W. W. MacDonald, of Toronto.
The marriage will take place
Friday, July 1st, at 12 o'clock
noon in the United Church,
Wingham,
the written word. The only
person in town who actu-
ally read poetry. Some
kind of a nut who actually
believed Shakespeare was
thrilling theatre.
* * *
When I hold up that
image beside the gallery
of characters who taught
English in my department
this year, I chortle. There
isn't even the most remote
resemblance.
Let's see, now. There's
Jack, a vast young man of
great good nature and
courtly manner, who is a
dead ringer for Henry VIII
on one of the latter's good
days. He's a beer drinker,
a collector of antiques and
a former advertising sales-
man.
There's Mac, a former
golf pro. He's also an ex -
bus driver, ex -house paint-
er, ex -airman. He's an in-
veterate punster w h o
writes some pretty funny
stuff. As witness our pro-
duction this year of his
master -piece, "Julius Seize
'er", in which the principal
character was Dr. Bladder
from Gaul.
* * *
There's Jeanette, five-
foot -nothing, 98 pounds of
doe -eyed French-Canadian,
who spent the first six
months trying to convince
the other teachers she was
not one of the students,
who can pin a six-foot 200 -
pound lout into paralyzed,
petrified panic with one
flash of those eyes.
There's Geoff, the young
Englishman who came here
after a year of teaching in
a good English grammar
school. He planned to
spend a year in Canada,
as a lark, He was horrified
at the free -and -easy atti-
tude of our teen-agers. He
was appalled at our mater-
ialism and love of comfort.
Now he has a car on the
never-never plan, and is
beefing about his salary.
In short, he's become a
typical Canadian.
We also have a gal who
graduated in music, a form-
er ambulance driver, an
ex -chartered accountant, a
dream -s ha t t e r e d social
worker, and a lady who got
sick of housekeeping.
* * *
Not only do these birds
not fit the old image of the
English teacher; they don't
fit the new one, either.
There's not a beard in the
bunch, an esthete in the
ensemble, a pansy in the
patch.
And not one, thank good-
ness, is "dedicated" to the
teaching of English. None
shivers in ecstasy over a
sonnet, bursts into tears
over the beauty of an ode.
But I daresay my polyglot,
hardworking crew has
taught the kids more about
English and about life than
many an old gal whose idea
of heaven was to make a
journey to England and
stand in reverence before
the graves of the poets.
BOX 390
Belgrave, Ont.,
June 8th, 1964
To the Editor,
Advance- Times,
Wingham, Ont.
Dear Sir:
If the topic of the Canadian
Ensign is still open for discuss-
ion, I would like to add a
word. It seems to me that ma-
ny Anglo-Saxon Canadians are
very unwise in their complac-
ency in the face of this dire
threat to the flag of Canada.
The prime minister is ad-
vocating a new flag solely as
a sop to Quebec, whose people,
during the two great wars of
this century, were more of a
hindrance than a help because
of their active opposition to
Canada's war effort. What
have they done for Canada in
either peace or war to deserve
so high a reward, and to be
permitted to exact so much
sacrifice from the rest of us?
However, the point I wish
to stress here is that, even if
they should gain so great a via, -
tory over other Canadians, as
.to banish our Ensign and re-
place it with Mr. Pearson's an-
aemic flag, this would not suf-
fice them. Indeed, they will
never cease their clamor until
every vestige of British symbols
and British Institutions are era-
dicated from Canada.
Let us consider how much
we have to lose. Britain is the
mother of parliaments and the
main source of all freedom
throughout the world. She was
the: first colonial power to set
free all slaves in her territories.
Quebec had neither political
nor religious freedom until
granted her by Britain after the
Battle of the Palins of Abraham
of 1759.
Since that battle the two
war -cries of Quebec have hecn,
(a) the revenge of the cradle,
and (h) All Canada is ours. Un-
less those Canadians who do
value our British heritage of
freedom make a determined
stand to stop this erosion by
Quebec, our servile politicians
will barter it away bit by bit
in return tor political support
from Quebec. Now is the time
to speak out, and declare that
they shall not deprive us (stout
flag which is the svmhol of our
proud connection w ith Britain
from whence came all our no-
ble institutions, and all that is
hest in out national 11fe. Other
lands may have contributed
something in Music and art,
hut none had a systen. oi eie-
rnocra'v to equal t;r.tain's nor
any writer to equal Shake:pearc.
The Canadian fnsign is (Ta
nada's flag. Let us keep it
flying.
Yours truly,
Stella Netht•ry