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The Wingham Advance-Times, 1965-02-11, Page 9•. • Elottit6hial Where Is Our $ense of Values? It would appear that we, in Wingham, get badly mixed up in our sense of what is most important for the community at times. During the post year or two we have unflinchingly supported our town coun- cil in its decision to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars for municipal im- provements, ranging all the way from major sewage projects to public parks. The taxpayers hardly even grumble when council decides to launch into a new ex- penditure. We who must pay the bills seem to be entirely convinced that this is a modern world and that we must spend in order to progress. Why, then, should successive councils by-pass the obvious responsibility of pro- viding protection for our school children at the main street intersection? Wingham has one of the most dan- gerous main corners in Western Ontario. At the Josephine - John - Diagonal corner even adult pedestrians find themselves in danger from wheeled traffic at times -- yet we expect our smallest school children to find their way safety across the main street four times every day — blindly hoping that car and truck drivers will see them in time to stop. At the February council meeting Chief Jim Miller recommended that guards be hired to provide protection for the child- ren at the main corner. His recommen- dation is, presumably, under study by the police committee. Let us hope it meets with more response than previous sug- gestions along the same lines. Many parents fail to realize that their youngsters have to take their own chances at that busy corner. From time to time they have seen one of our police officers on duty there and they assume that such is always the case. The truth of the matter is that the police find its physically impossible to patrol the intersection at the four times on every school day when the children are going to or coming from school. The varied responsibilities which fail upon our relatively small police force often require the presence of the officer on duty at some other place in town when the child- ren are Grossing the corner. Our coun- cillors should be the first persons in town to recognize the validity of this state- ment. For some reason we don't become ser- iously interested in public safety in this community. Almost ten years ago this newspaper carried a full page of pictures showing the danger areas along the river banks, at three of which drownings have already occurred. Partial protection was erected at one of these points . , . and not an earthly thing was done about any of the others, despite the fact that nothing more than a few feet of fencing would have been required for permanent pro- tection. Perhaps we may expect a little more foresight from the Conservation Authority when its improvement program is being carried out. We seem to have a head -in -the -sand attitude about public safety. At least where the lives of our children are con- cerned let us waken up to danger before one of our little ones lies dead. Almost every worthwhile town in Ontario em- ploys crossing guards to protect its school children. Why is it that our children are worth so much less than those in other communities? If you, as a mother or a father, think the way we do it's high time you did more than just think. Write a letter to this paper for a starter and sign your name. Better still, call up a member—or two or three members of the town council and tell them how you feel. If, by chance, you are not that inter- ested, just let the matter drift for another year. Maybe we'll have a serious acci- dent and that will stir things up. Should Allow for Weather The regulation of the Department of Education which calls for the payment of grants to public and secondary schools • on a per diem basis is basically a sound one and no doubt has eliminated a lot of time -wasting. Nevertheless, after a week of excessively stormy weather and dangerous road conditions, we believe that some allowance should be made when such conditions prevent a school • from holding classes through lack of at- tendance. Since the grant income of the school is dependent upon the number of days and half days in a month that the school is in operation, naturally principals make every effort to carry on with normal • • classes despite the weather. This urgency calls for some borderline decisions where the operation of school buses is concern- ed. Several days during the past week the big yellow machines were rolling into town in spite of weather conditions which were so bad that the Provincial Police had warned motorists off the roads. We do not quarrel with the justice of the pay -as -you -teach plan for grants under normal conditions, but we do be- lieve that with all the information which is available through the department of highways, the education people might allow grants on those days when the weather makes travelling too hazardous. This Is What Shirley Says A letter to the editor which appeared in The Advance -Times a week or so ago pointed out the gross ill -taste exhibited by Gordon Sinclair on "Front Page Chal- lenge" when he badgered the widow of a missionary killed by rebels in the Congo. A girl with a quick pen who writes a 4 column in The Delhi News -Record under the name "Shirley" has put it into clear English: "Gordon Sinclair shows to very poor advantage on television and radio, in my opinion. "Take last week's Front Page Choi - 4 lenge panel TV show for example. "The guest appearing was the widow of a missionary who had been killed in the Congo a few months back. She looked like somebody's loveable, kindly grand- mother. Anyone with a shed of compas- sion would have felt sympathetic to her in view of her recent ordeal. "But not Gordon Sinclair! The only person he thought of as he watched like a cat, a mouse, was Gordon Sinclair. As he got ready for the pounce he could see in his mind's eye the end of the contest * whereby she would lie a whimpering fool and he, Gordon Sinclair, the Great would emerge a strong, glorified victor. "He, the non -believer in God, lashed • a • out with a barrage of boorish questions: Do you believe in God? Do you believe He is the only God? Do you believe there is an Allah? But you said there was only one God? Who is this God you're talk- ing about anyway? "The more he attacked, the more she calmly turned the other cheek. The more composed she remained as she looked with the serenity of her belief on a tor- mented soul, the more agitated he be- came. Finally, after getting himself thoroughly riled up, he pretended he had come to the end of his patience with this impossible woman and threw up his hands in mock exasperation. "What made him even smaller was the fact that Quebec's Premier Lesage was the next guest. He referred with rever- ence to his Maker also. Did Gordon Sinclair jump on this strong contender? "Not in his weakened condition, any- way." The old snow shovel has fallen into the same category as the wife. You may not like it—but you can't do without it. THE WINGHAM ADVANCE - TIMES Published at Wingham, Ontario, by Wenger Bros. Limited W. Barry Wenget, President - Robert O. Wenger, Secretary -Treasurer Member Audit Bureau of Circulation; Member Canadian Weekly Newspapets Associ- ation; Member Canadian Community Newspapers Representatives Authorized by the Post Office Department as Second Class Main and for payment of postage in cash Subscription Rate: One 3l ear, $4.00; Six Monthg, $2.25, in adVatrce U.S.A., $5.00 per year; F`oteign rate, $5.00 per year .Advertising RateS on application not4iin't ingbaln U134 lv Wingham, Ontarlo, Thursday, February 11, 1966 REMINISCING FEBRUARY 1915 Mr. Henry Hayles, himself soldier through the Egyptian campaign has three sons gone to the front to fight our battles for civil liberty, His eldest son Henry of the 2nd Battallion, Sussex Regiment has been wounded. A second son, Wil- liarn, went with the 1st Cana- dian Contingent and has since been made Corporal. A third son, Richard G. and his son-in- law William Bun left yesterday for London to join the third Contingent, The spirit ofpatrio- tism throbs strongly in the hearts of Mr. Hayles and his sons. FEBRUARY 1929 On Sunday evening, Rev. Dr. Petrie devoted a short time to the changing conditions in St. Andrew's church and congrega- tion during the 35 years he has been its pastor. This is a long span in the allotted life of any man, and is unique in the his- tory of pastorates, which do not average much more than four years. During his student days at Knox College he spent one summer on a Mission Field in Nissouri, and on his graduation accepted a call from the cong- regation where he labored from 1888 to 1890. Going to Geneva Church, Chesley, he had four years successful work, coming to St. Andrew's, Wingham, in the spring of 1894. FEBRUARY 1940 As a part of their training some of the Normal school stu- dents observed in the public school here on Monday and for the balance of the week will teach. Dorothy Golley is in Mr. Kidd's room, Miss M.Bry- ans, of Brussels, in Mr. Wheel- er's room, Margaret Coulter in Miss MacDonald's room, Verne Walker in Miss Jphns' room and Arlene Galbraith, of Wroxeter, in Miss Joynt's room. SUGAR AND SPICE by Bill Smiley Bad? Ifs Even Verse! • There's no better indoor sport than versifying. And there's no better versifyer around these days than George Bain. Find out for yourself. Read this book, "I've Been Around... And Around and Around and Around and .. , ". Bain is a newspaper man with a lively eye for the ridiculous, and he has been around. Wash- ington, Ottawa and London come under his guns, and he sel- FEBRUARY 1951 Neil Stainton entertained the Lions with two piano selec- tions; the first a piano theme from a concerto by Tchaikov- sky and the second a sprightly number, "The Avalanche" playing was appreciated and heartily applauded. After wel- coming the guests, Lion Presi- dent Charlie Roberts presented the speaker of the evening, Lion District Governor Gordon Har- greaves. D. Wesley Vittie, son of Mr. and Mrs. Gordon Vittie of Wain - fleet, formerly of Gorrie, and grandson of Mr. David Cathers of Wingham, who has been working in Hamilton since fini- shing school there, leaves this week for Esquimalt, B.C. , from where he will sail about Feb. 26th, on H. M. C. S."Ontario" on an extended training cruise to Hawaii, New Zealand, Aus- tralia. He is the Chief Petty Officer of R. C. S. C. C. " Lion" Sea Cadet Corps in Hamilton, and was chosen as one of two sea cadets from Ontario, six in all from Canada to make this trip with the Royal Cana- dian Navy. dom misses when he lines up his rhymes and fires a parody of anything from a folk song to a Gilbert and Sullivan snatch. He's also a wicked man with a pun. To wit: a chapter entitled "How To Get Down From A Duck, Eider You Know Or You Don't." In this chapter, he's talking about an eider -down vest presented to a high dignitary. Bain continues, "No doubt, somewhere in the frozen North, there is now a proud eider duck strutting around with his little bald chest stuck out, envy of ev- ery duck for miles around." And he adds a verse, Said a chap to the proud donor duck, "To what do you credit your luck?" Said the duck, "Goodness knows, But one must, I suppose, Assume that I showed lots of pluck." Just a sample from a rattling good book, a combination of rue- ful humor and satire with an edge to it. This business of writing verses is fascinating to some people. Me, for one. Every so often I get the urge, and burst into rhyme that has the readers of this column wincing, or run- ning to the bathroom, gagging. Don't worry, not this week. But just by sheer coincidence, I have come across some old verses (not mine) that consoli- date my opinion that the English language is about the most ilio. gical in the world. The following effort is dedicated to English teachers and the poor, baffled devils of foreigners who are trying to learn the crazy stuff. The wind was rough And cold and ',lough; SECOND SECTION She kept her hands within her enough, It chilled her through, iXer nose grew blough And still; the squall the faster (lough. And yet, although There was no snough, The weather was a cruel fough. It made her cough (Pray do not scough); She coughed until her head biough ough, What's that? You want more? I think you're out of your mind, but there's that old folk saying, particularly applicable these winter days: It's not the cough Wot carries you off, It's the coffin They carry you off in. Several of the very few clean limericks in the world also re- veal the oddity of the English tongue, For instance. At fifty-five minutes past eight, The kids at a feverish reight Are seen rushing toward school, And you'll find, as a rhool, I t 's because they're afraid they'll be 'eight. Aw, come on, You don't REALLY want another! Well, I just happen to have: A streetcar conductor once said To a car full of people, "My haid Has such a bad ache That I fear it will braehe, Oh, I wish I were home and in bald." There you are. A brand new party game. Think of the fun you'll have on these long winter evenings with things like, A man on a picnic said, "Please Don't be cross if perchance I should snease; I've observed from my youth That the horrible trouth Is it's caused by the scent of the trease. Got the idea. Let's try making one up. It'11 be lousy, but .. . A sailor, attempting to ski, Ran his head right into a tri. Although almost dead, He angrily sead, "It ain't near as soft as the si." There. That ought to give you a few sleepless nights. EDITORIAL FROM EXETER TIMES -ADVOCATE Need more decisive decision One of the biggest weaknesses of county administration is the fact that repre- sentatives all too often base their decisions on regional favoritism rather than merit. This was evident to some extent in Huron's wardenship race this year when Stephen Reeve Glenn Webb received the sup- port from his friends in bhe south and Cliff Dunbar carried the northern votes. With the exception of one man in each case, this is how the voting went, with Webb gaining his majority through stronger support from those in the central region. Warden Webb returned this support to the central representatives when he backed a motion later in the session to erect a new 75 -bed wing at Huronview, rather than sup- porting a move to have separate units built elsewhere in the county. The latter Move was supported by rep- resentatives in the north and south, but lost out by one vote. The reasoning used by Warden Webb is practically impossible to understand. He represents folk in the area farthest away from Huronview, and those who would bene- fit most if separate homes were built in the south and the north. He obviously let his ratepayers down badly. _ Stephen Deputy Reeve Jim Hayter also helped defeat the move, but was more or less stuck with such a decision because he was chairman of the committee which recom- mended building at Clinton. But here again that recommendation did not appear to be to the benefit of the majority of Huron resi- dents. Three other representatives from the south also voted against moving from Clinton, and they ineluded Norman Jones, Hensall; Milton Gesell, Zurich; Delbert Geiger, Hay Township. If their decision was based on the fact their ratepayers are close enough to Huron - view to create no hardships, they should have at least considered the merit of those areas where this is not the case. They, along with others who voted to build at Clinton, may argue that it is more economical. But figures showed it would only cost Huron County $44,000 more to build at another location, and this appears to be a small figure in relation to the humanitarian and convenience benefits that would be gained. This is especially true ,when it is con- sidered that those who have been supporting Huronview may want to use such facilities some day and would probably be quite will- ing to pay a bit more to have it closer to their home community. Deputy clerk -treasurer Rill Haniy may have been quite correct in his statement that "if you build a home in Goderich, Seaforth or Wingharn, possibly there may be more ap- plications than at present, including some persons who might not consider moving to, Clinton". But if county councillors made their decision to stick in Clinton to keep those from outlying areas from swelling the admittance list, their idiotic thinking was a slap in the face to those who deserve admittance as much as those near Clinton. 'Phis unreasonable attitude was evident in another point raised by a representative who suggested the name should be changed back to "House of Refuge" to keep people out. Surely he was joking! This newspaper, along with others at Wingham, Seaforth, Clinton and Goderitah, published editorials supporting the move to have smaller homes built in other areas, bas- ing arguments primarily on a humanitarian issue. This newspaper still backs such a move and suggests the 20-19 vote by county council is not of sufficient majority to decide on such an important matter without further study. Residents of Huron County should let their thoughts be known. And these thoughts should be based primarily on merit. Warden Webb may look forward to residence in Huronview, but we'd prefer to be closer to home and there are a great num- ber of others with the same opinion. Aren't there?