The Wingham Advance-Times, 1965-01-07, Page 2Page 2 - Wingham Advance -Times, Thursday, Jan, '1, 1965
We Can't Go It Alone
New Year's resolutions are no longer
very stylish, perhaps because most of us
have achieved a new independence of
thought and reaction. We are not as
concerned as we used to be about our
own bad habits and weaknesses. We
are less afraid of public opinion — more
inclined to say, "What I do is my own
business."
This may be very true in our own
personal affairs, but there appears to be
more than a slight possibility that we
are losing sight of where our own con-
cerns cease and where public interest
begins.
Let us take one case in point . . .
the growing disinterest in the responsi-
bility of the ordinary citizen to serve
his community in public office. It be-
comes increasingly difficult to find men
and women of common sense and reas-
onable experience who will devote even
12 or 15 evenings a year to fill the places
on town council, school boards and hos-
pital directorates.
There can be but one consequence of
this trend to refuse responsibility. Senior
governments will inevitably be forced to
encroach further and further upon the
fields which have been traditionally
municipal. Our society is so completely
intermeshed ... our institutions are so
highly subsidized by provincial and fed-
eral governments, that these bodies will
be forced to run our affairs if we refuse
to do so.
As native of smaller communities we
are very quick to express our distrust
of interference from higher authority. We
are firmly convinced that we know more
about our own problems and their so-
lution than do officials in Toronto or
Ottawa.
All of which may be quite true—but
if so we would be well advised to demon-
strate our willingness to provide that
superior form of direction.
Mystifying Objective
Meeting in Toronto last week the
Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Fed-
eration heard some interesting sugges-
tions. Some of them will meet with hearty
agreement from the general public, and
others the precise opposite.
A report of the gathering, released
by Earl M. Zurbrigg, of Listowel, public
relations officer for District No. 10, says
that teachers were told it was their re-
sponsibility to continue upgrading their
qualifications. Speakers stressed that
the former goals of salary and tenure of
office were now of lesser importance than
professional influence and teaching abil-
ity.
The report of the salary committee,
in fact, avoided specific objectives, in-
stead telling teachers that the way to
higher pay brackets was through im-
provement of qualifications. A key phrase
of the committee chairman was "quality
salaries for quality teachers."
This new stand on the .matter of high-
er salaries is not only well founded . . .
it has been repeated time after time ever
since the end of the war by interested
school board members and parents who
pay the taxes and thus the salaries of
teachers.
Another thought was injected into the
proceedings when Harry Dawson, past
president of the National Union of Teach-
ers of England and Wales said, "We
should deliberately set down for our-
selves the over-all and long-term aim of
achieving professional self-government."
Reports in several daily newspapers
interpret this message as a call to the
teaching profession to free itself of the
control of government. If that is indeed
the case, there is no doubt that taxpay-
ers generally, who have met the sky-
rocketing costs of education with rare
good nature will be more than a little
perturbed. They may even suggest that
if teachers are to control all decisions
in education, without the binding shackles
of government, they will also be expected
to issue their own pay cheques.
The teachers ask for a larger repre-
sentation on the departmental committees
which make changes in curricula and
standards, and this might be a very good
suggestion. No sensible person will deny
that our children should benefit from the
very best thinking and most productive
teaching experience. However, ultimate
control, not necessarily of the teachers,
but certainly of what they teach, must re-
main in the hands of those who pay them
to educate their children. These are the
same folks who supply the shops, the
books, the tools, the buildings, the gyn-
nasia, the buses, the heat, Tight, insur-
ance and real estate without which the
teachers would find it difficult to earn
their very rewarding salaries.
When education ceases to be a part-
nership between parents and teachers the
entire point of the system will have lost
its meaning.
A New Era in Sight
The announcement made recently by
President Johnson that the United States
will produce a 600 -passenger jet aircraft
with a cruising speed of about 2500 miles
an hour is a phophecy of things to come.
If such an aircraft is developed in the
near future for military purposes its
counterpart will shortly be made avail-
able for commercial enterprise as well.
This monster aircraft will ring up the
curtain on a new phase of travel which
leaves us all but breathless. Melton to
London in two hours with a pay load'
which should bring the return fare down
to the $100 mark by today's standards.
Unquestionably the world is shrinking.
No wonder men are becoming interested
in travel to the planets around us. Soon
there will be very few fields to conquer
on our own.
Are We A Bit Snobbish?
Apparently the majority of town
council members agree with us on the
question of trailers used as residences
within the community. Local legislation
dating back several years called for ul-
timate refusal to permit such trailers in
the community. This was a short-sighted
by-law, in fact so short-sighted that it
was never enforced.
Last week a majority of the council
decided to permit the trailers to remain
but raised the monthly fee to $20.00.
That 'seems pretty rough too, since by
comparison a man would have to own a
pretty fancy home to merit $240.00 a
year in taxes.
Perhaps it is time to recognize that
those who choose to live in trailers are ,
not necessarily slum -dwellers. Present-
day circumstances make trailer homes a
necessity in some cases. Progressive
towns elsewhere, notably in the U.S., have
provided a proper place for trailers and
have made sure that local sewage and
water services are available to the own-
ers. In fact, trailer residents are re-
cognized as temporary tax -payers.
The most notable result of the pre-
vious prohibitive legislation was that
Bluevale benefited from the residence of
the trailer owners and Wingham did not.
THE WINGHAM ADVANCE - TIMES
Published at Wingham, Ontario, by Wenger Bros, Limited
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WINGHAM LACROSSE CLUB OF 1910—Back row: Harry
Willis, Harry Bartley, Weir Elliott, Walter VanWyck,
Warren Gurney, Bill McCoy, Charles MacLean,
Robert Currie; front: Mr. Bentley, Bob McKay, DeWitt
Holmes, Willis, with mascot, Allen Knechtel, Scottie
Forbes. The picture was taken in the park with the
MacLean home in the background. Mr. Willis had a
shoe store and was president of the club. Bob Currie
was manager and Mr, Bentley, vice-president, was with
the Bell Telephone Co. Scotty Forbes was coach. Pic-
ture loaned by Charles MacLean, of Sarnia, who says he
enjoys each week's paper very much although it is 50
years since he left Wingham.
.SUGAR
AND SPICE
by Bill Smiley
Winter Leaves Him Cold
This is the time of year when
the average honest citizen, how-
ever bravely he tries to conceal
it, is about as warm, lively and
full of vitality as the discarded
Christmas tree leaning drunken-
ly against the back steps, a few
morsels of tinsel fluttering from
its prematurely aged frame.
Prematurely aged. That'sthe
way I feel in January. Like a
woman of 35 who has had twelve
children in fifteen years. As
though I can't face it again.
By the middle of February, of
course, I'll be all cheered up,
and will be going around like all
the other idiots, blithely agree-
ing that "the days sure are
stretching out, aren't they?"
But right now I look upon life
with the wild enthusiasm of a
man-eating tiger confronting a
bowl of cornflakes.
First, and worst, part of the
January miseries is that hideous
struggle to get out of the sack.
Crawling out of the warm drow-
siness into the grey horror of
the day is as desperate a busi-
ness as any I know, There are
days when I'm sure I'll never
make it, were it not for the
voices demanding help with clo-
thing and breakfast, and the to-
tal silence from the other side of
the bed.
Finally, having survived the
first hour of the day, there's the
dash for the car, a feat that
ranks, • in my mind, with Iii'l-
lary's dash for the South Pole.
Big difference is that Sir Ed-
mund didn't leave his galoshes
at the office yesterday.
There's nothing I enjoy more,
in the summer, than reading
about the simple pleasures of
oldtime winters. Sleighbells, the
crunching of snow underfoot, the
snapping of trees in the frost,
the smiling midwinter sun on
the snow, jolly gatherings of
congenial souls about an open
fireplace.
Fellow who writes those sto-
ries never lived where I have
found myself stuck these past
few winters.
The sleighbells are more like-
ly to be fire sirens as some poor
devil sets the pipes on fire,
trying to stay alive. The crunch-
ing underfoot is more likely to
be your toes breaking off by the
numbers, from the right. The
snapping is more likely to be the
roof of the back porch caving in
under the snow. No self-respect-
ing fairy would be caught dead
under the January sun, which
smiles at you with all the genial-
ity of a coldfried egg. The gath-
erings are more likely to be me-
lancholy huddles of taxpayers
exchanging cold remedies and
talking about their furnaces.
Winter is fine, up until New
Year's. After that, you can give
it to the Russians. In fact, if
they ever invade us, they should
do it in January! Half the popu-
lation is in Florida. The other
half is down with the 'flu.
I wouldn't even give this coun-
try back to the Indians, in mid-
winter. In the first place, they
wouldn't take it. In the second,
we've handed them enough bum
deals in the past.
It's enough to curdle your
blood when you hear people
duck into the coffee shop, faces
gray with cold, noses running
and wheezing: "Isn't that a
grand winter's day," as they
blow on their claw-like fingers,
before wiping the steam from
their specs.
Seems to me that we all suffer
from an advanced case of self-
deception. Just because our an-
cestors couldn't imagine any-
thing worse than their Irish
shanties, Italian slums or Polish
villages and came to Canada,
we think we're automatically
rugged and physically fitted to
endure the climate which fast-
ens on us everywhere but in the
South.
This country, in January, is fit
for jackrabbits, alcoholics, and
people under the age of twelve.
The sooner we realize it, and de-
mand from the government re-
turn tickets to Florida, good for
three months, the better.
Box 390
Dear Sir:
May I through you and your
paper express to those who live
in the area that is served by
you, the sincere thanks of the
residents of Huronview.
To those who visit regularly,
the door is always open for you
to see your relatives; to those
groups who bring in a part of
the other community that we
may keep in touch with the out-
side
utside world; to those who come
to visit friends, we say thank
you.
Our thanks to the Women's
Institutes who throughout the
year put on the monthly birth-
day parties, and to the ladies
of the RCAF station for their
regular visits.
To all the families who sent
flowers to help brighten the
Home we say thank you as they
were much appreciated.
To the Sergeant's Mess and
the Ladies' Auxiliary of RCAF
Station, Clinton, for their gift:
the Seaforth Lions for their an-
nual visit, and all the church
Reminiscing
JANUARY 1915
Sir Adam Beck will be in
Wingham on Friday next, Jan-
uary 22nd, to purchase army
horses. He will be on the job
to inspect same at eight in the
morning.
A week or so ago, monu-
ments in front of R. Johnston' s
Marble Works were upset from
their bases by some vandals.
Mr. Johnston has offered a
handsome reward for the cap-
ture of the perpetrator of such
vandalism. Provincial Officer
Phippen has been entailed on
the case and it is to be hoped
that the guilty ones will re-
ceive fitting punishment.
Bracelet Watches from $3 to
$50 at Patterson's Jewelery
Store.
The Press of Ingersoll are
loud in their praises of Prin-
cipal
rin-
cipal J. C. Smith , of their Col-
legiate Institute . The attend-
ance this time last year was
118 and now is 1'73. There is
also a class of 27 in Agricul-
ture.
Mrs. William Hetherington,
Wilkie, Sask., is visiting her
niece, Mrs. A. Coutts.
JANUARY 1929
Neil McLean left on Monday
for London Military School, to
take a six -weeks' course and
qualify for his Lieutenancy.
Miss Bertha McGee is spend-
ing a fortnight in London with
her sister, Mrs. E.C. Williams.
Mrs. N. K. McLeod of God-
erich, spent the week -end at
the home of Mr. and Mrs. Sam
Burk.
Mr. Leslie Pellington has
returned to his home in Winni-
peg in order to resume his
duties at the beginning of the
New Year after visiting his
grandmother, Mrs. M. E. Cope-
land, Shuter street, and other
friends in this vicinity.
Miss Elizabeth (Betty) Mc-
Kague, daughter of Mrs. Mc-
Kague and the late A.D. Mc-
Kague of Wingham, was mar-
ried on Saturday, January 5 to
Mr. W. Quay Kilbourn, only
son of Mr. and Mrs. F.1-1. Kil-
bourn, of Owen Sound. The
ceremony was solemnized by
the Rev. Dr. Munro of Old St.
Andrew's, with aptly a few
friends and immediate mem-
bers of the families present.
The happy couple left imme-
diately, by..auto, for New York
and Florida, where they will
spend the winter.
organizations and groups that
visited the home or sent gifts
at Christmas may we say thanks
Our residents were certainly
not forgotten and the wish they
send to each one is that 1965
may be good to you.
On behalf of
liuronview Residents,
Harvey C. Johnston,
Superintendent.
JANUARY 1940
On Monday, Mr. and Mrs.
Harry Hopper celebrated their
45th wedding anniversary quiet-
ly at their home on Diagonal
Road. They were married on
New Year's Day, 1895, at the
home of her parents, Mr. and
Mrs. Richard Stonehouse, Bel -
grave. Their attendants were
Miss Ellen Stonehouse, the
bride's sister, now Mrs. Thomas
Wilkinson, of Exeter, and Mr.
Joseph Miller, of Belgrave.
Dr. W. A. McKibbon who
has been a Lieutenant in the
99th Wingham Field Battery,
has been transferred to the Roy-
al Canadian Army Medical
Corps. If the Doctor does duty
with the C. A.S.F. it will be
in the medical service. 4'
Early Monday evening, about
one hundred feet of the roof of •
H. T. Thomson's barn, on Vic-
toria Street, collapsed. During
Sunday and Monday's storm the
snow piled up on the roof. The
weight was too much for a por-
tion of the roof and it fell in.
A very pleasant evening was
spent in the Institute Hall,
Whitechurch, on Wednesday
evening last week when friends
and neighbours gathered in hon-
or of Nathaniel Thompson, a •
member of the Royal Canadian
Artillery, C. A. S. F. Following
games and dancing Gunner
Thompson was presented with a
beautiful gold wrist watch, by
Messrs. Norman Welwood and
Malcolm McNeil.
On Saturday the fire brigade
had two calls during the after-
noon. No damage of any ex-
tent was done at either call.
The first was to Cyril Everick's '
and the second at Ab. Rintoul's
on Edward St. Both were chim-
ney fires.
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JANUARY 1951
The first New Year baby to
arrive in Wingham Hospital
was the infant daughter of Mr.
and Mrs. Joseph King, R. R.2,
Teeswater, born at 11.45 p.m.
January lst. Mrs. King is the
former Ruth Harris of Wingham.
An impressive and unusual
ceremony took place in Wing -
ham Masonic Lodge Tuesday
evening when the incoming
Master, A. B. Adams was in-
stalled in office by his father,
Very Worshipful Brother W.J.
Adams, a Past Master and also
an officer of Grand Lodge. He
was assisted by Worshipful Bro-
thcr J.J. Trail of University
Lodge, Toronto, father-in-law
of the new Master.
An accident took place a e
mile and a quarter east of Bel -
more, on Friday evening, when
a car driven by Mr. Ivan Has-
kins collided with the sleigh of
Mr, Le Roy Bender. The
horses bolted throwing Mr, Ben-
der off. Dr. R. B. Paltrier of
Wroxeter was called to the
scene and removed Mr. Bender
to the Wingham Hospital.
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