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The Wingham Advance-Times, 1965-09-02, Page 25• • • " • • A Great Man Passes The death of Dr, Albert Schweitzer removes one of this earth's most famous figures, Musician, scientist, healer and humanitarian, he was one of those rare individuals who was brilliantly gifted, not only in his chosen profession but in other and entirely unrelated fields. Dr, Schweitzer's greatest promise lay in music. As a young man it was under, stood that he would become a widely, famed organist -- and indeed he might have done so had not the call to serve humanity drawn him from the cities of Europe to the heart of the African jungle. For more than 50 years he had work- ed among the natives of Gabon, bringing new hope and faith, particularly to the lepers who flocked to him for aid. it did seem tragic that in his later years the shining tradition of selfless service was marred by critics who claimed that his hospital facilities were unnecessarily crude and unhygienic. Whether these claims were valid we do not know, One thing, however, is certain --Albert Schweitzer set a shining guidelight for all who still believe in the basic worth of human beings despite the ruthlessness of modern civilization. His entire life proved the value of service and selflessness. Back to Business Though there were a good many tear- ful mothers on Tuesday, there is some- thing basically satisfactory about the end of summer holidays. It is not only that the youngsters are back to school, but business and home life seems to return into its normal patterns. Hours of com- ing and going become more regular and the strong impulse of community activity resumes its normal pace. During the summer vacation period there seems to be a tendency to let things slip, to put off for another clay the tasks which would at any other time be done by force of habit with no particular decis- ion required. Holidays are a great institution, and no doubt most of us work at our jobs more effectively after the change which holidays provide. No better proof of their value could be found than an eager- ness to get back to the normal tasks, re- freshed and invigorated. Select Committee at Work Last Wednesday the Ontario govern- ment's Select Committee on Conservation spent a day examining all aspects of the Maitland Valley Authority. The commit- tee, composed of members of all parties in the Legislature, is appointed to inquire into the activities of conservation authori- ties right across the province. Its purpose is not necessarily to find fault, but rather to study their operations in considerable depth and finally, in the concluding re- port, to suggest any avenues of improve- ment. Most conservation authorities have done yoeman service for this province. In fact they have accomplished an as- tonishing amount of valuable work since they were established. Assuming the gargantuan task of making up for a hun- dred years of neglect, the conservation authorities have laid the foundations, and in many places added the superstructure of properly planned reclamation areas. in a few isolated instances the auth- orities have aroused the anger of pro- perty holders by what were claimed as injustices where expropriation became necessary. It was natural, too, that some municipalities would be less than en- thusiastic when their assessments for conservation work had to be met. Employment of a select committee ap- pears a very fair way of estimating the values and faults of any such system. With representation from both sides of the Legislature the public can be assured that all aspects of any given problem will be thoroughly studied. Their report on the Maitland Authority should prove in- teresting since it is one of the most re- cently formed, as well as one of the larg- est in the province. No, Not Another Party it seems that our imaginative fellow - Canadians in Quebec are sponsoring yet another political party, to be called Le Bloc du Quebec. Supporters of the latest in federal representation state that they do not call for the separation of their province from the rest of Canada—mere- • ly a complete overhaul of the entire constitution. They propose to replace the prime minister with a president and a few other incidental changes. Now perhaps we are wrong, but we feel that the last thing Canada requires " is another political party. All we need do is recall the mess in which France carried on its national affairs for so many years because of the multiplicity of political • parties. How one government would fall and another, equally powerless, would take its place every few months. Canada has experienced far too much insecurity since our basic two-party sys- tem began to fragment a few years back. Now we have no less than five parties to be dealt with in the House of Commons and elections are beginning to take place with alarming frequency. We do not contend that the Liberal and Conservative parties have always pro- vided the perfect answers, but within a two-party system lie all the opportunities for improvement that we are likely to find in any larger number of groups. One Answer to the Problem Waterloo Lutheran University came up with one solution for the impasse which has been presented by low English marks for Grade XIII students. Announcement • was made last week that W.L.U, would ac- cept Grade Xill English teachers' marks rather than those given by Department of e Education examiners. This university's action has very clear- ly demonstrated that the Department has done nothing, as yet, to answer the pro- tests of thousands of students and teach- ers right across the province who feel that Grade XIII English was not fairly marked. Poor Holiday Weather This must have been a disappointing summer for resort operators, not to men- tion campers and other hoildayers in search of sunshine and sparkling waters. From June on there have been very few really warm summer days; indeed a good proportion of the time it was distinctly wet or cold or both at once. The wet season, however, served to al- leviate some other worries to a certain degree. Forest fires in the north country were at a minimum and lake levels did rise, even if only slightly. Ontario's stake in the tourist and holi- day business is now so great that two or three poor seasons can mean a foss of un- told millions of dollars. Though there is nothing one can do about bad weather its significance must be realized when it affects our general economy so sharply. THE WINGHAM ADVANCE - TIMESS Published at Wingh.am, Ontario, by Wenger Bros. Limited W. Barry Wenger, President - Robert 0. Wenger, Secretary;'t'reasurer 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 ih cash Subscription trate: One Year, $4.00; Six Months, $2.25, in advance U.S.A., $5.00 per year; Foreign rate, $5.00 per year Advertising it.ate3 on application 28,:btall"47 ingbant ince Win ham Ox talio, Thursda • Sept. 9 1965 SECONI5 SECTION SUGAR AND SPICE by Bill Smiley On The Canoe Tirail DATI£I,INE: somewhere in This occurred to .me about 4 the vast hinterland. a.m, as I lay there staring starkly at the roof of the tent, my wife whimpering in the next cot. About every four minutes, a transport truck thundered past on the highway, sixty yards be- hind the tent. At one-hour inter- vals, a train hurtled clattering by, about 200 yards away. And every so often, a jet liner screamed past right overhead. I am sitting at a picnic table, hooking over a beautiful, small, blue lake, ringed with golden sand and white birches. Twenty feet from shore, a devoted cou- ple swims quietly among the lilypads. They are wild ducks. Farther out, a loon raises its ar- rogant head on its snake neck, then dives. When I look up, slim, swaying spruce lean together to circle blue "distance that makes the head swim. In their branches, four and 20 blackbirds talk over last night's party, On the left, our Indiana neighbors whistle for their setter, who is trying to catch a duck. On the right, our Illinois neighbors shriek exulta- tion over a string of 8 -inch perch. Behind me sits the tent, rath- er resembling a very sick cam- el. And inside the tent, wild- eyed, wan, and woe -begone af- ter two straight, sleepless nights under canvas, broods my wife. It's been a grand holiday trip so far, but something tells me we went at it backwards. After two days and nights cruising the inland seas, being wined and dined and waited on hand and foot, we were unceremoniously bundled ashore at the lakehead. We couldn't face it like that, cold, so we holed up in a hotel for a night. Next day, we were up at the crack of noon, and off on our camping trip. That is, af- ter lunch, and putting up our hair, and taking it down, and shopping for grub. We finally hit the road about 4:30 and belted off on our adventure. The scen- ery was superb: huge humps of rock, swathed in green; dark serpents of rivers, gliding far below; dizzying glimpses of Lake Superior, blue and splen- did and almost frightening in its immensity. Say, this camping was great, so far. Then came the dawn, at our first campsite. Or, to be literal, the dark. And us in the midst of it, trying to put up the tent. In- side out, as it turned out. The charcoal wouldn't burn. We couldn't find anything — the salt, the coffee, the breadknife the hot mustard. Nothing. We were sitting forlornly, side by side, on a cot, swatting mosqui- toes, eating burned sausages and blueberry muffins, and burning with envy of our neigh- bors, every one of them in a luxurious trailer. A plaque had informed us that we were camping right on an historic canoe route, used by early explorers and fur traders. It's still a popular route. And I lay there, sick with envy of those hard-bitten fur traders, on their canoe route. Not for them the stumbling over tent pegs. Not for them the charcoal that refuses to light. Not for them the never-ending, muddling search for the egg flipper or the toilet paper. And above all, not for them the endless recriminations. I can't quite imagine the follow- ing conversation taking place on the canoe route, on an August evening, say in 1742. "Hey, Pierre, w'ere de hell did you put de kleenex?" "Dat's all right for you, Jacques, but oo was de one o0 said we didn't need no French dressing, and'ere I 'ave de sal- ade ready, and no dressing?" "By gar, Jacques, for two beaver 'ides I never go wit' you again on a petite camping trip. All de time you boeuf, boeuf, boeuf!" No, it couldn't happen. Oh, well, that's progress. Guess I'll go in and give the old lady another tranquillizer, strike camp (it takes only three hours to "strike camp"), and get roll- ing for the next episode of un- adulterated horror. THE AiR FORCE Memorial at Green Island near Ottawa, site for Battle of Britain ceremonies. Battle of Britain Was RCAF's Baptism of Fire A quarter century ago Britain survived her darkest hours by hurling back the German Luft- waffe in the Battle of Britain, fighting in the skies of England from June through October, 1940, and causing Winston Churchill to utter his immortal words; "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few". Numbered among the "few" were Canadians who served as aircrew and groundcrew in fighter, bomber and coastal'com- mands. Most of these Canad- ians had crossed the Atlantic in pre-war days to enrol in the RAF. There were, however,two fighter squadrons identified as Canadian. One was No. 242 (Canadian) Squadron, compos- ed of Canadian fighter pilots of the RAF; the other was No. 1 (Fighter) Squadron of the RCAF (later changed to No. 401) which had arrived in Britain on the eve of battle. Among them, Canadians scored some 120 victories in aerial combat, with about 100 more enemy aircraft counted as probably destroyed or damag- ed. These victories were not without cost; 47 Canadian air- men gave their lives in the Bat- tle of Britain. The battle was not fought solely in the air; the ground - crews were engaged in it as well "It's O.K. Son, Everybody Does It" When Johnny was six years lected $27. "It's O.K. Kid" she said, "Everybody.does it." When he was 15, he was made guard on the high school football team. His coach show- ed him how to block and at the same time grab the opposing end by the shirt so the official couldn't see it, "It's O.K., Kid," the coach said, "Every- body does it," When he was 16, he tookhis first summer job at the big mar- ket. His assignment was to put the over -ripe tomatoes in the bottom of the boxes and the good ones on top where they would show. "It's O.K., Kid," the manager said. "Everybody does it." When he was 18, Johnny and old, he was with his father when they were caught speeding. His father handed the officer a five - dollar bill with his driver's li- cense. 'It's O.K. , Son," his father said as they drove off. "Everybody does it." When he was eight, he was permitted at a family council, presided over by Uncle George, on the surest means to shave off the income tax return. "It's O.K., Kid," his uncle said, "Everybody does it." When he was nine, hismoth- et took him to his first theatre ptoduction. The box office man couldn't fired any seats un- til his mother discovered artex- tra two dollars in her purse."It's O.K., Son, " she said. "Every- body does it." When he was 12, he broke his glasses on the way to school. His Aunt Francine persuaded the insurance company that they had been stolen and they col-, a neighbor applied for a college scholarship. Johnny was a marginal student. His neighbor was in the upper three percent of his class, but he couldn't play right guard. Johnny got the assignment. "It's they told him. "Everybody does it," When he was 19, he was ap- proached by an upper classman who offered the test answers for three dollars. "It's O.K., Kid;' he said. "Everybody does it." Johnny was caught and sent home in disgrace. "clow could you do this to your mother and me?" his father said. "You never learned anything like this at home." His aunt and uncle also were shocked. If there's one thing the adult world can't stand, it's a kid who cheats... --The Chicago Sun-Titnes. Two women met who hadn't seen one another for years. "Really, " said one, "I would hardly have known you. You look so much older." "Well," said the outer, "I wouldn't have recognized you either, except for your hat and your dress!" as the pilots. After each sortie the aircraft had to be immedi- ately re -armed, re -fuelled, the equipment checked and tested, and the machines gen- erally made ready to take off on the next "scramble". Dam- age to engine, airframe and equipment had to be repaired in desperate haste to keep the maximum number of aircraft in the air to meet the German onslaught. The mechanics kept them flying only by round-the-clock maintenance, snatching sleep in flight shacks and bunkers be- side the aircraft. The finest tribute to the efficiency of these "erks", performing under extremely trying conditions, was found in the daily reports of aircraft serviceability, Of the several hundred Can- adians who fought in the Bat- tle of Britain in the air and on the ground, only five are known to be still serving in the RCAF, such bas been the passage of time. Two served then in RCAF formations, the other three with the RAF. They are Air Vice -Marshal Edwin Michael Reyno, 48, of Halifax; Group Capt. Beverly Evans Christmas, 45, of St. Hilaire, Que.; Group Capt. John Randall Daniel Graham, 45, now of Ottawa; F/Lt Alex- ander George Williamson Mil- ler, 44, of Corunna, Ont., and F/Lt Alan Lawrence Martin, 45, of Winnipeg. An alarmed motorist pulled his car to a quick stop when he saw a young man standing be- side an overturned small sports car. "Anybody hurt in the acci- dent?" he asked, "No accident," said the young man calmly. "I'm just changing a tire."