Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1964-10-01, Page 9r • 4 w M • An Age of Investment Perhaps you were as startled as we were to read in The Advance. -Times last week that the Wingham District High School is only 75 short of capacity en- rolment. When plans for the vocational wing were made about two years ago it was expected that some of the extra rooms might be unoccupied for a few years until the school population in- creased. If the opening of the school semester a year from now sees the same increase in enrolment as there was this year, the school will he over capacity from the first day—and new plans will have to be drawn for further expansion. New school rooms cost money . . . not the amounts we have been accustom- ed to thinking about in the course of ordinary municipal expend'tures, but gobs more than that. A million dollars is often a starting figure where second- ary schools are concerned. If schools were our only public con- cern the matter would not be too serious, but they are not. Of equal importance are the hospital facilities. Parks and other public improvements must be paid for as well. Though these tremendous expendi- tures may make us shudder, we all know they must be met. We have talked for years about the sparse population in our country—about how badly we were in need of more citizens, more industries and more business. Like it or not, that's what we are in process of getting right now. The simple fact is that a larger population brings not only benefits, but the need for accelerated expenditures as well, Much of what we spend on public facilities is for the use or training of the younger generation. We are attempting to provide them with a form of educa- tion which will enable them to face problems about which we can form only a vague outline. The new roads and parks and hospitals will also be theirs to use. For this reason there is no need to begrudge any of the treasure we are providing. It is chiefly for the welfare of our own children—the people who will hold our destiny in their hands a few years hence, Trade Fair Would Be Missed It seems that the Kinsmen Club is seriously considering the need to dis- pense with the annual trade fair. Though we can sympathize with their reasons, it is to be hoped that the fair can be • continued. As we have repeated each year since the fair started, we have always believed that it was an excellent promotion for the community generally. It provided an attraction which brought a lot of visitors into town from nearby com- munities, and it gave an opportunity for these visitors to see something of the calibre of businesses which we have in 4. Wingham. The problem in connection with the fair does not arise from any lack of zeal on the part of the Kinsmen. They have always poured a tremendous amount of energy and enthusiasm into preparations for the event. A trade fair takes a great deal of organizing and hard work and there has been no stint of effort. The Kinsmen say lack of enthusiasm and co-operation on the part of local businesses are the chief reasons for the drop in exhibits. There is no way of forcing businesses to co-operate, but we do believe that they are missing an ex- cellent opportunity if they fail to do so. Spellings are Outdated Glancing over the letters to the editor in one of our daily newspapers recently we were amused to read an epistle from some person who must be the old original die-hard. His temper had been aroused by spellings of English words in the papers, one example of which was the word "color," spelled without the tra- ditional "u" in the final syllable. He termed the shorter form a rank Amer- icanization and deplored our weakness in bowing to any custom which originated south of the border. This quaint old custom of throwing in all the extra letters you can find, whether they add anything to sense or sound is perpetuated, too, in our schools. To us it seems silly in the extreme. Why should we not spell color, odor, valor and all the rest in a simple form? We are expecting our children to cram ever more scientific facts into their heads and we aren't allowing them any more years in public school to absorb all the extra learning. Why not simplify Eng- lish spelling as much as we possibly can? Spellings in our language have long been a nightmare to persons of every other tongue. There is little in the way of a basic system that can be applied. As a result we have a generation of scholars leaving our schools, a high percentage of whom are horrible spellers. The Americans have made dozens of perfectly sensible simplifications in spell- ing. They see no purpose whatever in carrying the letter "u" in words where it is not sounded in speech. Similarly they no longer demand that the word "practice" be spelled with a "c" when it is a noun and with an "s" when a verb. In hundreds of other instances American spellings have altered the or- iginal English to a more practical and sensible usage. These people who always respond with righteous anger to any change in traditional forms make us laugh. We wonder how so many of them can even make sense out of the writings of Chau- cer? He wrote in English—the English of his day in its purest form. Or how about John Wyclif, one of the fathers of the Reformation. It was just 600 years ago that he wrote these words: "The bigynnynge of the gospel of Jhesu Christ, the sone of God. As it is writun in Ysaie, the phophete, Lo! 1 send myn angel bifore thi face, that schal make thi weye redy before thee. The voyce of oon cryinge in desert. Make ye redy the weye of the Lord, make ye His pathic rihtful. Jhon was in desert baptisynge, and prechinge the baptym of penaunce, into remiscioun of synnes. And aIle men of Jesusalem wenten out to him, an al the cuntree of Judee; and weren baptisid of him in the flood of Jordan, knowlechinge her synnes." Those words were not written by a semi -literate. They were penned by a man who was universally acknowledged to be a leader in philosophy and letters. Somewhere along the line there must have been Englishmen who recognized the need for uniformity and simplifica- tion in their language. Certainly the Americans are not responsible for the al- terations which have been made since Wyclif's day. Resistance to change is commendable in some fields. The field of theology is a case in point, where changes not based on the very soundest of knowledge must be discouraged. But the century in which we live is making the need for change more apparent than it ever was before. Even the Church of Rome is in the throes of change because new modes of living demand new concepts of faith. English is a beautiful language. Be- ing the product of many tongues it has the flexibility of each—but it is confusing in the extreme. If it can be simplified without loss of meaning or modernized within the framework of its beauty, then there is no sensible reason why the changes should not be made. 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 'CJ.S.A.--$5.00 per year; Foreign rate $5.00 per year Advertising Rates on application c.not,/ Wingham, Ontario, Thursday, Oct. 1, 1864 SECOND SECTION THIS WEEK & NEXT Tories Try For Fifth By RAY ARGYLE To win Britain's Oct. 15 general election, Conservative prime minister Sir Alec Doug- las -Home will have to convince voters that the nation's ruling Establishment is neither scan- dal -ridden nor decadent, Sir Alec moved into No. 10 Downing at the height of a wave of criticism directed against Britain's ruling circles following the Profumo sex scandal. It appeared then to many Briton's that t h e nation's Britons that the nation's loosely organized but powerful clique known as The Establish- ment, was becoming shot through with dissolution, im- morality and decadence. It was the handling of the scandal involving war secretary John Profumo and his play -for - pay girls, linked with possible loss of state secrets to Russia, that brought prime minister Macmillan's forced resignation. When Sir Alec, an austere Scot who epitomizes Britain's Establishment and all it stands for, took office many Labor Party tacticians wrote him off as a sitting duck for the anti - upper class hostility then sweeping the island. Sir Alec promptly delayed a general election until the max- imum five-year term was up, and set about building Con- servative party fences. He has done a remarkable job. Six months ago, the Conserv- ative party was being written off as a calf being led to slaughter by the dynamic new Labor party chief, Harold Wil son. Today, the ignomy of the slammed door against Britain's bid to go into the European Common Market is forgotten. The Profumo scandal is history. Britons are caught up in the greatest prosperity they have ever known, and the election contest has become a nip -and - tuck affair. Because of the Labor Party's success in introducing sweeping welfare state measures which the Conservatives once resisted but now strongly support, there is now little real difference be- tween the parties' policies. Both are committed to a mixed so- ciety. The Labor Party has made itself the Commonwealth cham- pion, proclaiming that while Britain should look outward to Europe its destiny still lies with the Commonwealth, This is significant for Canada, and for Canadian farmers especially, The Labor Party, most of its chief aims long since won, is going easy on further national- ization, promising to socialize only the steel industry and public water supplies. Labor is even hedging on its promise to abolish Britain's nuclear deterrent, no doubt due in part to the possibility— however slim—of Barry Gold- water winning the U.S. presi- dency in November. Despite Conservative accep- tance of Labor's welfare state policies, Prime Minister Doug- las -Home is campaigning on an anti -socialist platform. "Ours is planning by consent, theirs is planning by compulsion," he is telling voters up and down the island. A victory in the Oct. 15 vot- ing would give Britain's Con- servatives an unprecedented fifth successive term, a n d could send the Labor Party in- to political oblivion. Waiting in the wings is en- ergetic Liberal party leader Jo Grimond who knows he can't win but thinks he might be able to emerge from the elections with the balance of power. It will take a turn -over of about 80 seats to dislodge the Conservatives. The Gallup poll still gives the Labor Party an` edge although other polls have put the Con- servatives a fraction ahead. But the Conservatives have a poor record in by-elections and the Liberals have even strengthened their standing by nosing out Labor and Tory candidates in close contests. If the election is as close as it looks now, Britain could find itself looking on a Mother of Parliaments as divided as Can- ada's House of Commons. REMINISCING September 1914 Miss Margaret Holmes has opened dressmaking rooms in the Holmes block, next to Mrs. Linklater's grocery store. Mr. Robert Vent, of Blyth, has a gang of men at present engaged removing the old bridge over the power plant race in Lower Wingham. We understand Mr. Vent has the contract of building a new ce- ment bridge at that point. Mr. H. B. Elliott this week sold his house and two lots on Frances street and two lots on Catherine street to Mr. T, R. Bennett, of Grey. Mr. Ben- nett has taken over the local agency for the Massey -Harris Co. and will move his family to town in a few weeks. SEPTEMBER 1928 Dr. and Mrs. Parker are taking a week's motor trip to Ottawa and other points east. Mr. Oliver Stokes, Mr. and Mrs. Rueben Stokes and daugh- ters, Myrtle and Elma, spent Sunday with Mr. and Mrs. Wes- ley Haines, Holyrood. Mr. Alvin Smith is sporting a new Ford Coupe. Mr. and Mrs. Raymond El- liott and daughter, Lois, spent Sunday at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Will McKinney. September 1939 A meeting of the Huron Dis- trict Boy Scout Association was held on Clinton last week. At- tending from Wingham were Dist. Commissioner J. R. Spit- tal and Scouters Benson Hamil- ton, Carl Deans, Roy Dark and Donald Adams. Mr. Charles Carter has pur- chased the home of the late Daniel Geddes, situated on Minnie Street. Mr. Larry Benninger has purchased the Kehoe property on Patrick St. Mr. Jas. E. McGill, B. A. , son of Mr. and Mrs. Jas. A. McGill, of East Wawanosh, has been awarded the Fellowship in Analytical Chemistry at Queens University, Kingston. '�iIIII:IIUJIIIIIIIIIIIII11111HI11!;i!!';'IIII;C!1111111i�!IlI'IIIIIiiII;!!IC�IIIli!!11111111!llUllllllllllllllil{I➢Illllil!Illlllll,iglu!!Ill!!!1!I!'IP'�"��'�'''!ilt�'!!!ills'"�'°"':'!!I!"I:i"I"�1!!' SUGAR and SPICE i;;; :ul101ll By Bili Smiley Phooey to you Mrs. F. J. Glau- bitz, president of the Ontario Federation of Home and School Associations. Mrs. Glaubitz was widely quoted recently as "expressing concern that some persons are attracted to the teaching pro- fession because of high salaries rather than a genuine interest in teaching." The lady is reported to have said that persons in the past have been drawn to teaching be- cause of a sincere interest in human beings, but the higher salaries of recent years have brought an increasing number who consider it "just another job." Dear Mrs. GIaubitz, you're all wet! Where are all these people who are flocking into teaching for the big salaries? Every spring, principals do ev- erything but turn over stones to see what they can find under them, in the search for teachers. Where are these big salaries, Mrs. Glaubitz? Now, I'm not go- ing to get personal, and ask how much Mr. Glaubitz is making these days. But if there is a Mr. Glaubitz, I'll bet he's making a whale of a lot more than this teacher. Teachers' salaries are reason- able after years of shabby gen- tility, But they're a long way from being opulent. They make less money than engineers, den- tists or bone -benders. They're not even within sight of doctors and lawyers. They're about one jump ahead of the preachers, a- bout on a par with the skilled craftsmen, Anybody who has a wild idea about getting into the high - salaried profession of teaching should immediately take a tran- quillizer, followed by a short September 1949 Miss Meta McLaughlin has entered the Ontario Sick Chil- dren's Hospital, Toronto, as nurse -in -training. Fire of undetermined origin completely gutted the interior of a general store owned by Gordon Taylor, Auburn. Dis- covered about 7 a.m. Sunday when smoke was noticed com- ing through the floor boards. Mr. and Mrs. Taylor and their 13 -year-old daughter, Marion, were forced to flee in night att tire from the upstairs. A coc- ker spaniel " Blondie" lost its life by suffocation. course in hotel management, hair -dressing, or something in which he can make real money. The story continued: "Mrs. Glaubitz emphasized that the as- sociation does not oppose high salaries for teachers because 'the whole future of the country rests in their hands'." Well, bully for Mrs. Glaubitz and the association. But isn't that taking a very dim view of the church, the government, and the parents of all those who will make up the future? It's a bit much to saddle the teachers with, isn't it? Frankly, if the whole future of the coun- try rests in my hands, I'm going to put my hands in my pockets and stroll quietly away. Mrs. G., in the same story, suggested that greater care be taken in choosing candidates for teaching training, using such means as aptitude tests to weed out unsuitable persons. Now, I realize that teachers have not the pristine purity of medical or law societies, where there is never a bad apple in the barrel, but I'm afraid aptitude tests are not the answer. Here's the type of test Mrs. Glaubitz might approve, with the answers that would be given by one of the best teachers I know, a mature experienced man whose students worship him, whose colleagues respect him, and whose results are ex- cellent. Q, Do you have a sincere in- terest in human beings? A. Well, not really. I like dogs, though. Q. Do you smoke? A. Sure. Q. Do you indulge in alcohol? A. Just beer, except on the weekends. Q. Do you enjoy helping people? A. Hell, no. I only do it because I have to. Q. Are you interested in a higher salary? A. Are you kid- ding? Q. What cultural interests do you have, aside from your pro- fession? A. Watching football on TV. Q. What sort of home life do you have. A. Well, the kids drive me crazy and I fight a lot with my wife. About aver- age, I guess, And so it would go, the apti- tude test. This chap should be hurled out of the profession, by rights. He's not dedicated or anything. He's just a cracking good teacher. '1'R CBC WILL GIVE PRECEDENCE TO WORLT GERIES BASEBALL DURING THE QUEENS VISIT'... "LAST 0 THE NINTH, TWO OUT. BAS S LOADED. HOLD EVEItYTHINGI"