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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 1979-12-12, Page 7Lucknow Sentinel, Wednesday, December 12, 1979—Page 7 I never met. Mary MacLeod and yet it -seems I have known her.,all my life.. From the bold, child -like handwiting of her,cliarieswhich I reproduced in story form and ,chronological sequence, I often saw her beautiful face smiting back at me from the pages. It was a face which could never speak to me, but I clearly read the message which had been locked for so many years within her .heart. Perhaps Mary was net exactly the personality which my vivid imagination painted upon the canvas of memory, but the picture .of she gave to me through her writings will ever run in colour or fade with time, Only those parts of Mary's life which were applicable to Redtrees and Angus have been detailed in my stories. Indeed, an entire volume could have been compiled about the adventures of •Mary MacLeod. It would be pertinent however, to reveal that Mary, her baby and her Swede husband eventually found roots upon the broad prairies of Western Canada. Here, prosperity and the devotion of Carl Neilson, helped to ease the heartaches of her younger years. Every detail I read in Mary's diaries, were transcribed in typewritten form at the request of my old friend Angus. When I finally finished, there were more than. 500 pages of double spaced text.. I shopped around for a suitable binder in which to •place my two -fingered typewritten work. Eventually 1 found what I needed - an expensive leather cover. Still I wasn't satisfied. Withgreat pains, I reproduced a red maple leaf on the front. How else could I depict Redtrees in meaningful simplicity? Underneath this embletn in gold leaf lettering, I affixed the name Mary MacLeod. Only then did I feel satisfied that I had properly completed my task. I placed the entire work in a large brown envelope and delivered it to Angus. My old friend was sitting in the parlour) upon a well worn chesterfield. He was reading a back issue of the Family Herald through a pair of wire rimmed spectacles, perched on the end of his nose. I think he was annoyed at my intrusion. He pretended not to see me, so I coughed loudly. Angus whipped the spectacles off his nose and glared at me. "Well, what do yer want now?" It was my moment to be proud, to present him with my countless hours of work and perhaps receive some appreciation. I wanted so much to please him. "It's all finished Angus, and I've put it in a really nice binder. I hope you like it." He took the envelope from me and placed it unopened beside him onthe chesterfield. As if to dismiss me abruptly, .he placed his spectacles back on his nose, picked up the Family Herald again, and began to read. All in one moment 1 felt snubbed, embarrassed and totally unappreciated. I left the room and told my wife, 1 wouldn't speak to him again until he spoke to me. Then, I'll blast him! -- For almost two weeks I saw little of Angus. He locked himself in his room when he was not working at. the chores. I could only conclude that my, writing had offended him, Perhaps I had interpreted Mary's story in a way which he had not anticipated. I was dying to tackle him on the subject., but my pride and professional dignity was at stake, so I just bided, my time. Not paying income BY JACK HAGARTY, FARM MANAGEMENT SPECIALIST Many farm families are now discussing their income Heritage... *from page 6 preservation, and --perhaps the most exciting project of all – the establishment of the world's first live-in park in Vancouver's west end. Now we're trying to get the income tax act changed. It is hard to believe that it's cheaper, under our tax sys- tem, to' tear down a building and put up a new one than it is to save it. Heritage Canada doesn't believe we can afford that kind of tax structure. We're also doing our best to make Heritage Day a holiday; if we succeed, I doubt if anyone will again be confused as to what we are and what we do. .0ne Monday night I was fightin.g to meet the deadline of the "Grunt and• Thunder". I had to babysit the kids whilst my wife attended a Women's -Institute meeting, so 1 worked at the copy on the kitchen table, 1 was editing some atrocious "who visited who" copy - Mrs. A. of the Second Coricession visited Mrs. B. of the Fourth, last Sunday - all big time news 7 absolutely trash but I had to admit it sold newspapers. Monday was always a heavy day for me and my task was like the title of one of Shakespeare's plays "Much ado about Nothing". Suddenly there was a knock on the door and the grey bead of Angus appeared. "Can I talk ter yer fer a minute?" I paused in the middle of a piece of copy which I was cutting to ribbons and threw my pencil down. "Sure," I said not too convincingly. "Come on in." Angus iimped towards the table and placed a bottle of whisky on the paper -littered surface. He sat down on oneof the old kitchen chairs, unscrewed the bottle cap and placed the bottle in front of me. were" ,he said, all nice and buddy like, "ave a drink". 1 have found through bitter experience that booze does not mix with printer's ink, so I decided to call it quits for the night. "O.K."; I said. "I guess I've had a belly full for today; anyhow." I fetched a couple of tumblers from the cupboard and swept a clear space amongst .the papers. Angus slopped some whisky into the glasses. "I've been readin'• yer writin" he said, after an embarrassing silence. "Read it all, so I 'ave." I took a sWig at the whisky. It was powerful stuff and it caught my throat. "Is that right?" 1 croaked. "cuse me a minute, I've got to put some water in this." When I came back to the table, Angus eyed me for a moment before he spoke. 'I -never seed writin' like that - didn't figure yer could do it. It's great so it is - better than them there books they sells in the drug store." • , "If I'm so smart - why am I so poor? No., it's not me who did that - it's all Mary's work; not mine." "Yare; but you figured it out and fixed all the writins into a story." Angus sipped his whisky, all the time looking atme to see if I was pleased with his rough appreciation of my work. "Well, as long as you like it - I guess that's all that matters!'' Angus swizzled the glass between his fingers and waslost in deep thought. "That book Means more ter me than I can tell yer and yer know somethin'? •If 1 didn't got a friend like you, I wouldn't 'ave it, would 1?" He drained the glass in one gulp, got to his feet and limped to the door. He paused with his hand on the door knob. Promise me yer'll ,never print one word othat - least not whilst'I'm alive. 1 nodded. "An' promise me that when I'm gone, yer will print it -just the way it were." I went over to my old friend and grasped his k;narled hand. "You bet your life I will." tax a delusion tax situation. It'll be discus- sed around the breakfast table. "What are we going to do about nicotine taxes?" It's a question Many farm child- ren hear repeated annually. "Should we buy a new tractor before year end? Should we purchase some fertilizer or feed?" Young people receive a regular 4' of such discussion along With their. oatmeal porridge. I recently talked to some young farm people and I was surprised at their comments. They talked about buying farm land at $2,000 per acre. And in the next breath said "of course we don't expect to make much profit for a few years and certainly there won't be any income tax problem." That worries me. It's almost as though -- not paying income tax was1 a criteria for success. I'm afraid thee young people don't completely understand what dad meant. Chances are his farm land was already paid off. He may have received some capital from family. He may have, paid off the capital from profit (after income tax) made on the far. Or he and his family worked off the farm. Now, as an established farmer he probably does pay a fair amount of income tax. The only way to pay off capital is to first declare the money as income and pay the tax. in dad's time land may have been $100 per acre. The capital gain since was not paid off -- it just grew. And at some time there will be income tax on one-half of the gain since December 31. 1971. The banks and lending agencies have already paid income tax on the money they lend out. Anyone who pays off the principal (capit- al) must first 'put their income through the tax screen. Some people say "there is no way young people can start farming today." That's not true; because many young farmers are doing it. They often get help from home, they start small, they rent land, machinery -- even livestock. A positive attitude can overcome many obstac- les. But, it alone won't pay off $2,000 an acre on land that's worth $700 for agricul- tural purp\oses. Hot WANT ADS thaw sales out limisommimmemommini 0111.1111111111.111111111 Johnston Bros. [Bothwell Ltd.) Phone Wardsville 693-4383 Komoka 471-3059 Dungannon 529-7947 Phone Washed Materials—Crushed Stone * • Cement Gravel ' • Crushed Gravel—Road Contractors a LJ GC ikkiLLAIlifrfr eatrzercermp‘ I*TYPEWRITERS *CALCULATORS tr4 *PHOTO COPIERS ; *CASHREGISTERS *OFFICE FURNITURE ; *FILING CABINETS ; *STATIONERY trifeZneggritMgMatCYAIMMUTIZMEP.CEZCWISIsm Lasting Christmas Presents Repairs made fo most office machines in our own 'service department. Huron Business Machines ALBERT ST. CLINTON PHONE 482-7338 • 410 .1, BEAR FACTS We want you to receive your Lucknow Sentinel 52 weeks of the year Please . check your mailing label lf your locknow • Sentinel Libel r Dec. 65432109 lour subscription is due •