HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1966-11-17, Page 9Anyone who has the least concern for
the welfare of coming generations must
have in his heart tremendous sympathy for
the teachers, upon whose shoulders rests
responsibility for the education of today's
young people. Developments have emerg-
ed so rapidly, in almost every field of
learning, that it is next to impossible to
keep abreast of the latest educational
trends,
However, Hugh Bremner, the guest
speaker at the commencement exercises in
the Lucknow District High School, pointed
out a few of the areas in which our pres-
ent educational system is falling far short
of its intended purpose. The one which
struck us most forcibly was his reference
to the sad lack of guidance in the subject
of civics.
One of our friends remarked only the
other day that Christianity and democracy
have one thing in common—the fact that
both have survived as vital forces in mo-
dern life, despite every practical reason
for their demise many centuries ago. We
will leave Christianity and the reasons for
its survival to another time, but our
friend's remarks about the survival of de-
mocracy are indeed pertinent to this pres-
ent thought.
Democracy has survived, despite the
fact that it is the world's most inefficient
form of government. It has been tried
out by countless civilizations, back as far
as the times of the ancient Greeks, and
invariably it has been superceded by other
and more efficient forms of government.
The right to vote also provides the right
to argue, to procrastinate, to heckle and to
filibuster. In short, we who have inherited
the right of self-government have also been
given the right to waste time, money and
human lives — always on the excuse that
personal freedom is at stake.
Mr. Bremner, in his address to the
Lucknow audience, questioned the role of
the modern school in the preparation of
young people for their later conduct as
citizens of a democratic nation—a society
which must demand that the average,
everyday person be able to intelligently
voice his opinion about representative
government. The speaker certainly raised
one of the most pertinent questions of our
times.
For the past ten or fifteen years we
For several weeks past this paper has
carried articles written by J. H. Currie as
he travelled from Wingham to the lands
of the older world, including the Holy
Land. We are sure that most of our read-
ers have followed his travels with the
same keen interest we did.
Perhaps the most of you, who have
never ventured too far from home, may
think that Mr. Currie was just plain lucky
that he had the time and the money to in-
dulge his interest in travel—that anyone
would do the same if he had the oppor-
tunity.
Believe us, this is not so. Regardless
of the state of your pocketbook, it takes
a true spirit of adventure and a good deal
of courage to set out on such an extensive
trip, particularly after one is "over the
hump" (at about age 40). Our own ex-
With Safe Driving Week looming only
a few days away, public attention is being
directed to the drastic need for some
means of impressing on drivers generally
the utter necessity of saving their own
skins and those of their helpless passen-
gers. Certainly the words of warning are
needed, for the total numbers of Cana-
dians who die on our highways each year
is appalling. If all the dead bodies were
to be gathered in one place at one time the
monstrosiy of the sacrifice to speed and
carelessness would shock every driver to
the depths.
Looking through the literature which
has been published by the Canadian High-
way Safety Council, however, we gave some
thought to the figures which support the
arguments of that body and found that we
are possibly not quite as bad as we have
been led to believe. One CHSC pamphlet
states that there were, in the year 1965,
72.9 deaths per 100,000 vehicles on the
road in this country. The same table, how-
ever, indicates that 20 years before, in the
year 1945 there were 103.9 deaths for
The coming of the season of snow and
frost makes it important for drivers to re-
member to keep their back windows clear.
Every winter hundreds of drivers can be
seen with encrusted back windows that
make a rear view impossible. New legis-
lation has now been passed that will make
this an offense, and lazy drivers who do
The Important Subject Is Not Available
have watched the sad parade of federal
governments seeking to hold the support
of the Canadian electorate by one silly
bribe after another, Handouts have been
followed by rosy promises, until one is in-
evitably reminded of the last days of the
Roman empire, when each succeeding emp-
eror tried to outdo the last one in the
lavishness of his public spectacles.
It is our opinion (and certainly this
thought should bring a flood of letters to
the editor) that no school teacher, at
whatever level, should ever be permitted
to express any sort of political partisan-
ship. Teachers should be solely dedicated
to fostering in their students the willing-
ness and ability to think about their coun-
try, its strengths and weaknesses, and to
formulate for themselves, upon a sound
basis of historical fact, active and con-
structive ideas about the role not only of
their various governments,• but also about
their own individual responsibility in civic
affairs.
One of the most important require-
ments of our educational, system is a clear-
cut course of instructionoin the subject of
practical civics—how our representatives
are elected, what the party system has
meant to the nation, both good and bad;
a comprehensive outline of our judiciary
system; and above all, a thorough course
of instruction in the background of our
educational system so that these young
people may give thought to its improve-
ment.
The importance of this neglected phase
of education is so evident that it shakes
our confidence in those who have been
given charge of the training of our child-
ren. We accept with sad resignation the
deaths of tens of thousands of our best
and brightest young men in the battles of
two world wars—all to the end that de-
mocracy shall not perish from the earth,
yet we fail to provide their children with
the basic knowledge of how and why that
same democracy is worthwhile,
Is it any wonder that we question how
long this beloved system of self-govern-
ment will survive? The German people
gave away their freedom in five short years
when a really inspired challenger arose to
talk them out of their birthright.
periences abroad, limited though they have
been, have demonstrated the need for a
self-reliant spirit and a quick mind if one
is to travel in foreign countries, and par-
ticularly when alone. The language bar-
rier, the mere matter of an unsympathetic
customs inspector who refuses to acknow-
ledge of the existence of the English
language or even a French train conduct-
or who never heard the words "dining
car" can spell all the difference between a
love of travel and a keen desire to be right
back home with the cat and a warm fire.
Mr. Currie has not only found his way
to an interesting variety of lands and
places, he has very evidently enjoyed every
minute of his adventure. We have read
his articles with keen enjoyment and even
keener envy.
every 100,000 vehicles. Again we find
that in 1965 there were 8.99 deaths in
highway accidents for every 100 million
passenger miles, but in 1945 the compari-
son was 15.10 deaths for every 100 mil-
lion passenger miles.
We have picked out these facts, not to
suggest that no further improvements
should be made, but rather to point out
that the average Canadian driver is not,
in actual fact, becoming more careless, but
rather that he has improved his perform-
ance figures by a worthwhile percentage
in 20 years.
There is no denying that the total of
suffering and carnage must be reduced.
As long as any highway accidents occur
we must strive for their elimination. But
if the figures we have selected from the
pamphlet are correct, it must be assumed
that a very high percentage of Canadian
drivers are using a good measure of the
caution and common sense so urgently
recommended by the Highway Safety
Council.
not keep their glass clear can expect
summonses.
To underline the importance of good
all-around visibility, the Ontario Safety
League quotes figures from the Metropoli-
tan Toronto Police Traffic Accident Bureau.
In 1965, out of a total of 29,943 accidents,
7,224 were attributed to "view obstruc-
tions."
Salute to the Adventurer
For Better or Worse
Rear View Must Be Clear
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 Association,
Authorized by the Post Office Department as Second Class Mail and
for payment of postage in cash.
Subscription Rate;
1 year, $5.00; 6 months, $2.75 in advance; U.S,A„ $7.00 per yr,; Foreign rate, $7.00 per yr.
Advertising Rates on application.•
THE COULTES FARM, Lot 39, Con. 11, East Wawanosh,
taken about 1910. Left to right: George Coultes, Mrs.
Robert Coultes, James Coultes who now lives in E. Wa-
wanosh, Robert Coultes, Albert Coultes now of White-
church and Mrs. George Coultes.—Photo loaned by John
A. Currie.
bbaucogintto
Wingham, Ontario, Thursday, Nov. 17, 1966 SECOND SECTION
REMINISCING
NOVEMBER 1917
Word has been received at
Wingham that Corporal Harry
Browne was admitted to CO1-
chester Military Hospital on
November 6th, suffering from
gunshot wound in the arm. Mrs.
tirOwne and little children re-
side in Wingham.
Miss Edna James of the Wing-
ham High School has been suc-
cessful in securing the first Car-
ter Scholarship in Huron Coun-
ty. The value is $1.00.
Word has been received that
Corporal John T. Mitchell was
admitted to 1st Southern Gen-
eral Hospital at Birmingham,
suffering from severe gunshot
wound in the thigh. Corp.Mit-
chell is the youngest son of
License Inspector J. J. and Mrs.
Mitchell of Wingham. He en-
listed with the 128th at Moose
Jaw and ranked as Lieut. but in
order to get to the trenches he
reduced to a private.
The new addition to the
Wingham General Hospital is
now almost completed.
NOVEMBER 1931
Mr. Chester Lee of Goder-
ich, an experienced hotel man-
ager, has purchased the build-
ing formerly occupied by the
Family Theatre, and intends
remodelling it at once. Luck-
now has been without a hotel
since the Cain House was burn-
ed over a year and a half ago.
On Tuesday, November 3rd,
the Sacred Heart Church, Tees-
water, was the scene of a very
pretty wedding when Catherine
Grace, daughter of Mr. and
Mrs. John O'Malley, became
the bride of Mr. John Dales,
eldest son of Mr. and Mrs. Pet-
er Dales of Cargill.
Dr. M. I. Craig has recent-
ly received the appointment as
dentist on the "Empress of Brit-
ain" for its world cruise, leav-
ing New York on December 3.
Mr. Herbert Wright who has
been employed with Mr. Thos.
Burke for the past year or more,
has gone to London for a week's
vacation. On his return he in-
tends working for Mr. Henry
rohnston, on the fifth line of
Morris.
NOVEMBER 1941
Q. M. S. Earl Grey, Sgt. Neil
Williamson, Sgt. Fred Howson,
of the 99th Battery R.C.A. (A.
F.) were all home on Sunday.
They are attending a small
arms course at Long Branch.
Harry Posliff is now station-
ed at Brandon, Manitoba, No.
2, Manning Depot. He arrived
there on Wednesday. Harry re-
cently joined the RCAF and will
shortly begin training as a mem-
ber of an aircrew.
On Sunday at the United
Church among the babies that
were christened was Sandra
Winnifred, daughter of Mr. and
Mrs. George Taylor. This lit-
tle tot wore a gown that is ov-
er 100 years old and has been
used as a christening gown for
four generations.
Miss Alberta MacLean, Reg,
N., left on Saturday for Mont-
real where she has accepted a
position on the staff of the Roy-
al Victoria Hospital.
Deer season in Bruce ended
on Tuesday and for the time it
was on, hunters swarmed about,
Some of the successful ones
here were, Neil Carr, Omar
Haselgrove, Lloyd Peterson,
Frank Caskinette, Joe Clark,
Jack McCormick, Bill Currie.
NOVEMBER 1952
Ross Smith left Toronto on
Thursday morning by air for
Vancouver, where he will visit
with relatives.
Second place winners in
their rugby schedule with Sea-
forth, the Wingham District
High School Mustangs are as
follows: Bob Cathers, Ivan Mc-
Kague, George Porter, Roger
West, Bill Laidlaw, Keith Lan-
caster, Jack Hilbert, Don Dick-
inson, Jim Lockridge, BillFos-
ter, Jim Gaynt, Don Biggs, Ken
Grewar, Dave Donahue, Bob
Young, Neil Stainton, Bud Lott,
captain, Bev Brooks, Dick Fir-
by, John Freudeman, John
Crawford. Jerry Higgnel is
coach, R. Ritter is assistant
coach and Bob Gammage is
manager.
Mr. and Mts. Fred David-
son left on November 14th to
attend the National Water Well
convention, which is being
held November 18th to 22nd,
at the Buena Vista Hotel in Bol-
oxi, Mississippi. Mr. David-
son is one of the directors of
the Ontario Water Well Associ-
ation.
A quiet wedding was held at
the home of Mr. and Mrs. Ken-
neth Gorrit, when their
eldest daughter, Edith Marilyn,
became the bride of John An-
drew Blythe, of Wingham, son
of Mr. and Mrs, Russell Blythe
of Owen Sound.
"Lord,
help me"
Ancient Romans used to
throw Christians to the lions.
Modern Canadians throw lions
to the Christians. As lions are
somewhat scarce in this coun-
try, they often have to resort to
lambs. This is known as Lay-
Tian's Sunday.
Last Sunday I was the sacri-
ficial lamb. I preached a ser-
mon. You think those early
Christians had a tough time
with the lions?
Layman's Sunday is a special
day. Usually, I look forward to
it. It's a chance to get into the
choir, with the other laymen,
and belt out the hymns, serene
in the knowledge that most of
the others, too, are off-key.
Normally, I pray fairly
fluently, asking for all sorts of
ridiculous things, like a kid
writing a letter to Santa Claus.
Last Sunday, before I mounted
to the pulpit, which is 84-feet
high, all that would come out,
over and over, was, "Lord, help
me!"
What is a layman, anyway?
The clerical definition is: "One
not in holy orders." The world-
ly definition is, "One who is
not an expert." I was fully
qualified. A clear case of the
blind leading those with 20-20
vision.
Let's have a look at the typi-
cal layman. Usually, he's an or-
dinary soul, a bit baffled by the
trials of the twentieth century:
kids, wife, job and society.
The kids are expected to
bloom like roses,, but they inev-
itably have thorns. The wife is
supposed to be a gentle, for-
bearing creature, a good mom
and a faithful help-mate. Too
often, she is an old harpy.
The job is supposed to he a
October 13, 1966,
Hawick, Scotland.
Arrived here at 8.45 a.m.
Went downtown and had break-
fast then took off exploring.
Many large factories mostly en-
gaged in manufacture of wool-
lens. This accounts for the
many sheep to be seen in this
area of Scotland,
There is a large school. Part
of it is a modern one-storey
building of stone and cement.
All old buildings are of stone.
Took off through the park,
across the river Teviot to the
museum at the far end of the
park. In the museum, an in-
teresting collection of archaeo-
logical finds besides old tomb-
stone inscriptions, weapons and
uniforms. Mounted scrolls con-
taining names of Fallen Sold-
iers of both wars, arranged by
regiment. There was one Pri-
vate A, Currie, a Canadian.
Large collection of mounted
birds and bird's eggs from four
continents. Pictures of the
prominent men of the districts,
Champion Rugby Teams, Pro.,
vosts for each year. They have
begun to gather up the things of
vocation, of which the layman
is proud because of his particu-
lar skills. Too often it is
fraught with terrible tensions.
Society is supposed to be a
well-oiled machine which en-
ables him to live with grace,
ease and dignity. Too often, he
finds the only way he can stand
the machine is to keep himself
well-oiled,
Upper class, or Grade Three
laymen, are the types who are
treasurers, elders, fund-raisers,
that sort of thing. They don't
have to be religious. They
merely have to raise the loot,
pay the bills, pare the expenses,
and fire the preacher when he
becomes intolerable. They rath-
er enjoy it.
Down one in the hierarchy is
the Grade Two layman. He's
the earnest soul who gets
stuck with the Scout Group or
the Bible Class or chaperoning
the Young People's Dance. He's
usually reasonably religious.
But definitely not an executive
type, or he'd be Grade Three.
Farther down is the holy
Grade One layman. He looks on
the church as a slightly shabby
service club, but is willing to
drive some kids to a youth con-
ference, or tell his wife to
make scalloped potatoes for the
laymen's supper, or serve ice-
cream at the Sunday School
picnic. Apt to be a keen curler
or golfer, but always cheerful.
His philosophy is, "I'll leave the
church alone if they'll leave me
alone."
And at the :bottom of the
more recent date that are now
obsolete and would otherwise be
lost. All in all a very interest-
ing morning.
By the time I had gotten
back to the business section the
rain came on. Had a cup of
coffee, and went shopping. Pur-
chased some souvenirs for Aunt
Jemima's family. Have to
wait until 6 p.m. for train back
to Edinburgh. The return fare
fifteen shillings, nine pence
about $2.25. Started down the
street towards my lodging. Met
a friendly Jock who shook hands
with me, and said something in
his Scottish English, which I
took to be "Will you give me a
cup of tea", I told him I had
just had one. Couple of blocks
further on, it came to me he
had tried to say, "Kin I buy
you a cup of Tay?"
Found the lady at the guest
house had a metal jug about 12"
long, 6" wide and 4" deep in
my bed. It holds heat much
longer than a hot water bottle,
made of rubber. Have changed
my mind about going back to
Glasgow, May go to London in-
stead.
October 19, 1966,
London, England.
Arrived at King's Cross Sta-
tion on Saturday. Taxi brought
me to Hotel Cecil in Belgrave
Road. Not too wonderful ac-
commodation for twice the
money I paid in Scotland.How-
ever, there is hot water. Will
be here for several days. Went
down to B.O. A.C. today and
booked passage on the 27th of
October.
Contacted Mr. Childs, and
we are to meet for lunch today.
Yesterday I took the London
Transport tour of city, five
shillings. I had seen quite a bit
of it before. Saw a name on
the hotel register. A lad from
Kitchener, Ontario. Haven't
met him. The other day at the
bus depot a man spoke to me,
He wanted to know where
came from. When I told him
Wingham, he told me he knew
R, E. McKinney. He was from
Toronto.•
I went to see St, Paul's Ca-
thedral. Restoration is still go-
ing on there, as it is in many
parts of London, Went to Marl-
borough Mews. Mrs, Childs
Going, Going
-- All Gone
There was a story forty or so
years ago about the very rich
Westerner who was confronted
with overlapping federal, pro-
vincial and municipal income
taxes. He called the tax col-
lectors to his office and said to
them, " Gentlemen, there is
my income in total for the last
calendar year. I cannot pay'
you all in full from the income
for that year, but I can invite
you, and do invite you, to split
this money among yourselves."
As a result of the situation,
the tax collectors awoke to the
fact that you cannot have so
much overlapping of collec-
tions that the person taxed is
without income.
The situation is about to be
repeated. The federal taxes,
the provincial taxes, deductions.
for unemployment insurance,
contributions to old age pen-
sions, etc., etc., and the
municipal taxes are such that
some workers and some receiv-
ers of income will soon have
nothing left.
There are people who worry
about the destruction of Parlia-
ment. Possibly of greater im-
portance would be the destruc-
tion of government. --The
Printed Word.
"Ethics," the man told his
son, "is vital to everyday liv-
ing. For example, today an
old friend paid me back a loan
with a new hundred-dollar bill.
As he was leaving I discovered
he'd given me two bills stuck
together. Immediately a ques-
tion of ethics arose: Should I
tell your mother?"
had a nice dinner, and after-
wards Sam and I went for a
walk. Toured the Parliament
Buildings and House of Lords.
Inspected 10 Downing Street.
Walked along the embankment
and crossed the Westminster
Bridge. Went through the Lol-
lards prison and the Lothian Li-
brary. In the latter there were
10,000 old leather bound books,
almost priceless. Went by West-
minster Abbey and the Church
of St. Margarets.
We had high tea when we re-
turned. Saris showed me his
medals from all the different
Kings he had attended, Belgium,
Iraq, Iran, Austria, President
of Portugal. He like the King
of Belgium.
October 24, 1966,
London, England.
Went for a walk again to
Hyde Park. This time I went
by the other side, and walked
around the Serpentine, It is
quite a lake, A few sailing and
row boats, Weather is chilly,
Returned on the subway and
went one station too far, walk-
ed back, Hate still some time
left. This will be the last of
my notes.
SUGAR
.AND SPICE
by Bill Smiley
heap, striving with all his
might to remain there, and out
of sight, is the Grade 0 layman.
He takes up the collection,
bumblingly, twice a year. He
falls behind with his financial„
pledge. He crosses the street
and looks in a hardware store
window every time he sees the
minister approaching. And he
is too stupid, or too cowardly,
to laugh heartily and shout,
"Don't he ridiculous!", when
the latter has asked him to
preach the sermon on Layman's
Sunday.
As a Grade 0, my admiration
of the chaps on the higher
echelons is unbounded. But the
guy I really envy is the layman
of 2,000-odd years ago.
What a snap he had. He
turned up at the service with
his offering, a loaf of bread or
a couple of onions, worshipped,
then went home and counted
his sheep, his daughters and his
blessings. No golf, no summer
cottage, no ski hills, no televi-
sion. Nothing to do for the rest
of the day but meditate upon
what a good layman he was.
It's a little tougher today,
But we're tougher people. Any-
one who can stand up to televi-
sion commercials, the price of
beef, and the threat of instant
annihilation can cope with any-
thing.
Well, we can do the chores,
anyway. Let the rector handle
the alkies and the infirm and
the broken homes and the men-
tally ill. After all, that's what
he's paid for. And in some
cases, he makes more than a
truck driver.
Travel Notes from J. H. Currie