HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 1979-04-04, Page 7During the first World War, the Murdochs owned a
farm next to the MacCrimmon place. The Murdoch
land had once known the meticulous care of, strong
pious men who lived in wholesome simplicity.
Whatever worldly goods they possessed, had been
wrestledfrom the soil .by the triumph of mind over
bodily fatigue - theirs to guard jealously against loss
or waste. This pattern of life might have continued but
for the unpredictable trend of genetics. Among the
•flock, a black fleece appeared - one which bore no
resemblance to any which had gone before. This was
Hamish Murdoch.
The widow of Douglas Murdoch had watched her
spineless child grow into a weak apology for a man
and cursed the day she had given him breath. He had
arrived late in her life, like a weed which takes root
before the harvest, to sap the last nutrients from the
field of promise and yield only the seeds of despair.
Jean Murdoch remembered the days when the
grain bins overflowed and the hay reached high into
the barn, so that the swallows had scarcely room to
fly. There was food aplenty in the cellar then - mounds
of potatoes and always salt pork in the barrel.
Sunday was the day that the Murdochsshowed the
community the evidence of success. Their horse and
buggy was the envy of Redtrees and Jean would smile
down on her neighbours asthey swept majestically
through the .gates of the churchyard. But that was
long ago, back before 1905, when her man succumbed
to pneumonia and her 15 -year-old lad became laird of
her husband's sweated soil.
Had the land yielded but a few silverdollars to pay
for the help of a hired hand, there might have been a
glimmer, of hope to shine in. the twilight -of Jean's
miserable existence. Bu•t with each' passing year, her
reason for living grew .dimmer. One by one the herd.
was being frittered away, to pay for the bare
necessities of life and liquid courage for her worthless
son.
One .July day in 1916, Hamish Murdoch sprawled
on the remnants of Last year's hayand 'shared a bottle
of whisky with two threadbare characters. They were
the hangoverPfrom yesterday's session at the Redtrees
Hotel migrant workers, recruited to help in the
hayfields,
It was a hot day "and through the open door, of the
mow, they saw the windrowed hay which beckoned
from the rolling land, Hamish was in no hurry to strain
his muscles to the task. He listened to one of his
threadbare guests, talking about the war.
'Can't see the end,of it. Not this year, not next year
not unless the States'elp us. We need more men an'
guns - big guns. The States can ,build big guns, so they
'can. They can build 'em in a hurry!''
• '`None o' their business'",- Hamish said In a
disgusted tone. It's Our war, so it is. The Yanks won't
'elp us - they're "isorationists'`.
Report from Queen's Park
The threadbare one was sorry to hear thatthe
neighbours south of the border were "isorationists".
It sounded like a nasty condition for any nation tobe
in! •
Threadbare number two had listened to the
.conversation with a feeling of remorse. Hehadn't
lifted a finger to help. his country,"whilst his younger
brother, little more than a bay, had volunteered to
fight at the outbreak. Tears came to his eyes. He took
a filthy piece of rag from his pocket and trumpeted
into it with a largebulbous nose before he spoke.
"Gonna be a long war an' mi little brother Billy
won't come back - I just knows 'e won't. 'taint no use
if we lose. All them young lads an' mi brother will be
kilt fer nuthin! He wrung his dirty hands in anguish
and moved his head slowly from side to side. "We
gotta win - we jest gotta. D'yer think we can lick
,em?"
Hamish had listened to -the man with a sympathy
known only to comrades of the bottle. He would lift
this guy out of his misery, so he would. This was no
time for talking about losing the war - this was a time
for courage;. so it was!
"Those German baskets? We'll lick 'em, so we wilt.
By the jeeze, we'll knock -Seven kinds o' shoot out of
Hamish assured him, before draining the bottle.
in one tilt. The residue tricll..frorn the corner of his
mouth and down across five days of dirt and bearded
growth. Hamish belched loudly and stuffed the empty
bottle into a nest of hay.
Threadbare number two found some consolation in
Harnish's confidence. He rose unsteadily to his feet
and walked to the open doorway, the parting soles of
hisboots sucking and blowing to his' tread. At the
doorway he fumbled with the buttons of his trousers
and stood with his back to them.
The bottle had been finished and Threadbare
number one felt obligated to start the hard labour of
bringing in the hay. Some long lost hand of
respectability nudged him into ,action.
"What d'yer say we git into 'er" , .he said, pointing
to the hayfields beyond, .
Colin rose slowly to his feet and stretched, himself.
He walked towards the .other side of the mow . and
extracted another dark bottle from its. hiding place.
Sure, we'll git to 'er, so we will. We'll jest kill this
one, an' then we'll git to. 'er, by the jeeze!"
Threadbare number two returned from obeying the
demands of nature and sucked and blew 'his way back
to his place in the hay. "We gotta win," he said as he
held out his hand for the bottle. "We jest gotta!"
Within the old Murdoch homestead, Jean Murdoch
pulled back the tattered drapes and peered from time
to. time through•the windows. There was no movement
on the meadows, only a stillness - not even an echo of
the lost Murdoch pride.
To be continued.
Bill looks at grievance arbitration
BY MURRAY GAUNT
Thegovernment has introduced a bill
proposing a major overhaul of grievance
arbitration, which would eliminate delays
and re'd'uce costs. This 'issue of costly
delays in arbitration procedures has been a
centre of controversy for a long time.
Each year, tens of thousands of griev-
ances are filed in Ontario on behalf of
union members, among which are some
1,000 arbitration cases. Unions have com-
plained about long delays in the disposition
of arbitration cases, the cost of taking a
case to arbitration; and the problems of
workers who have been discharged and
have to wait up to a year or more for an
i arbitrator's decision.
The Minister of Labour, introducing the
bill, maintained that its adoption would
give . this Province one of the finest
grievance arbitration systems in North
Ameria..It would cut delays by setting
time limits, giving the Minister power to
appoint single arbitrators ..and establish
fees for them. The Ontario Federation of
Labour has complained that the grievance.
arbitration system has been a failure; and
that the inequities of high cost, delay and
harsh penalties have brought the system
into disrepute among the people it is
supposed to serve.
Almost five million dollars is being taken
away from the Province's largest children's
treatmentcentres, and training schools to
finance programs aimed at keeping young
sters out of such last resort institutions.
The government will save .about 3.4
million dollars by reducing the number of
residential beds and other . services at
children's.. mental health centreswhich
have annual: operating budgets of about
one million dollars or more. Fifteen of the
province's 76 centres will be affected.
More than one million dollars is expected
to . come from cutbacks and possible
closings of some provincial training schools
to be announced next month.
At a closed meeting with representatives
of children's service agencies and associa-
tions, the Minister of Community and
Social Services said the five million dollars,
plus a further 10.4 million dollars from his
Ministry has been earmarked for a . major
shift toward preventive programs in
1979-80. Before the meeting he said in an
interview that the reallocation of spending
is part of.a_change in priorities by his
children's services division "to moveaway
from a reactive role (reacting and providing
treatment after the damage is done) and
into a prevention role" According to a
Ministry official, the new emphasis will be
on ' `fro)it end services", which'concentrate
on early intervention and prevention of
behavioural problems.
New measures to be financed include
programs in the following areas: child
Turn to page 13 •
Tr. .j
CAN CANCER
BE BEATEN
YOU
BET YOUR
LIFE
IT CAN.
fricP
TIP TO MOTORISTS
Don't drink and drive -
even just one for the road
may mean the end of the
road for you.
fAcknow' Sentinel, Wednesday, April 4, 1979 -=Page 7
FREE ANTI- RABIES
VACCINATION
CLINICS
FOR DOGS AND CA TS
FREE Anti -Rabies clinicsconducted by the
Canada Department of Agriculture, Health of
Animals Branch, in co-operation with the
Biuce Co. Health Unit and municipal
governments are being held at the following
locations in this area.
BERVIE - ODDFELLOWS HALL
April 12 9:30 a.m. -12 noon
RIPLEY - TOWNSHIP HALL
Wed. April 18 9:30 a.m. -12 noon
HOLYROOD - TOWNSHIP HALL
Wed. April 18 9:30 a.m. -12 noon
LUCKNOW - Basement -of Town Hall
Wed. April 18 1:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.
TEESWATER - CULROSS TWP. GARAGE
Thurs.. April 19 1:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.
NOTE: Immunity is not permanent. Dogs and cats
should be revaccinated at least annually and can safely
be revaccinated in as little as 30 days.
Dogs should be on a leash and cats properly restrained.
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Volume and early payment discounts
available
Forage Seed Mixtures Also Available
Bruce Raynard
R. R. 1 Lucknow Phone 528-6144 •
Vernon Hodgins
R. R. 4 Kincardine Phone 395-2271
/.
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2 - 1977 DODGE, vans
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