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The Citizen, 1998-10-14, Page 5The Short of it By Bonnie Gropp Protecting what's ours International Scene By Raymond Canon THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 14, 1998. PAGE 5. Arthur Black 6 For better or worse Marriage is a wonderful institution. But who wants to be in an institution? Mae West Marvelous Mae knew whereof she spoke. The ditzy Hollywood glam queen stood at the altar more times than Cal Ripken's stood at the plate. She didn't need a minister, she needed a turnstile. She just wasn't very good at the wedding game. And I am not tossing stones here, because truth to tell, neither am I. I've been married more than once, and my track record shows that I'm just not terribly talented at it. The institution, I mean. I have no trouble with commitment. The loVely lady I am with has been my partner for more than 20 years. We just don't have a piece of parchment to prove it, that's all. I don't know what it is about marriage — that long lonely aisle, the guy with the book at the end of it, which pocket the ring is in, my drunken in-laws ... whatever it is, I'm just not very good at being officially trussed up and hog-tied and delivered squealing to the altar to get my forehead stamped "married" — or whatever it is they do. The transformation of railways For most of the communities that read my column the concept of trains passing through is nothing more than a memory. All at one time had a railway which, in the distant past, provided infrequent passenger service and, more recently only freight service. All of that is now gone. If my memory serves me correctly, Watford and Essex are the only ones to have tracks on which trains actually run. When Kingsville was in the process of having the tracks through the town torn up, I wrote an article on the subject, pointing out that rail service in some communities had been saved only because American companies which specialize in short-haul rail lines, were willing to come in, buy up the line and provide service that was better than before. Railtex was the first to appear in southern Ontario, when it took over the line from Stratford to Goderich, with a spur line to Centralia. Not only did it provide better service but it also made a profit. The line is still running, with the salt mines at Goderich its biggest customer. Since I wrote that article, the purchase of Mind you, I'm a regular Pa Brady compared to some of the skittish colts that have hopscotched down the aisle, only to leapfrog out the nearest open window. Elizabeth Taylor. She's been married, what? Eight times? Eighteen times? She's put her brand on various sides of beef ranging from Saudi princes to monosyllabic truck drivers. And even Liz looks positively faithful compared to some celebrity knot-tiers. Take Katherine Hepburn. She swooned at the sight of a tycoon socialite named Ludlow Smith back in the 1950s. It was love at first sight. They sent out the invitations. Hired the caterers. Booked the church and the reception hall. Gazed into each others eyes and solemnly intoned, "Til death do us part". Two weeks later he- was sleeping on the davenport in the living room. At the end of three weeks they were divorced. And Dennis Hopper? The star of movies such as Easy Rider and Apocalypse Now once fell forelock over Guccis for a winsome thrush by the name of Michelle Phillips. It was a whirlwind romance — and a hurricane bust-up. The Hopper/Phillips nuptials lasted just under eight days. Buck Owens found a permanent horse stall in the Country Music Hall of Fame with his hit Okie From Muskogee. He also found a cute as a button fiddler by the name of Jana such railways has accelerated. Railtex, which is headquartered in San Antonia, TX, and which runs railroads in both Brazil and Kazakhstan, found another opportunity in Canada when it bought out the CN line running between Truro and Sydney, N.S. In their first year of operation they were able to increase shipments by no less than 20 per cent, an indication that companies will use the railway if it provides good service. But the biggest purchase to date of a Canadian railway by an American firm is the Hudson Bay line which ends in the port of Churchill in northern Manitoba. OmniTRAX, whose head office is in Denver, will operate the line north of The Pas and thus be responsible for the grain shipments to the port where the grain is loaded on vessels from Europe. It is actually quite a bit shorter to send grain that way but it is hampered by a short shipping season and a rail line that is badly in need of modernization. Perhaps OmniTRAX will be the one to do the job. It is somewhat ironic that the line that ran through Kingsville was American owned and was shortening its line in Canada at the same time as other rail companies were buying into Canadian lines. Certainly there are lots more where the Truro, Goderich or Hudson Bay lines came from. CN is busy getting rid of as many short lines as possible, with well over a dozen Grief along the way. You'd think they'd make beautiful music together, and they did — for 48 hours. That's how long it took them to discover that somebody was off-key. They filed for divorce two days after they walked down the aisle. I've had hangovers that lasted longer than that. Ah, but they are all of them Marital Rocks of Gibraltar compared with the greatest love' em and leave' em celebrity of all. In the early years of this century, Rudolph Valentino, the legendary Hollywood Silver Screen Lothario, passionately wooed and eventually won the heart of an actress by the name of Jean Acker. Valentino fans were devastated. What??? The great Valentino confined to just one woman? The horror! The waste! They needn't have worried. The marriage between Rudy and Jean lasted exactly 45 minutes before they were both once more flying solo and hitting the Singles Bars. Poor fools. There's no great trick to having a long and happy marriage. Henny Youngman figured it out years ago. "My wife and I make sure that we always take time to go out to restaurant two times a week," the comedian once explained. "A little candlelight ... dinner ... soft music ... dancing ..." "She goes Tuesdays, I go Fridays." currently up for sale. To carry the irony further, CN has also made a recent purchase of a large rail line in the United States which will see its holdings stretch all the way down to the Gulf of Mexico. Canadian Pacific, not to be outdone, is also active either tearing up lines of trying to sell them. It seems that the two Canadian companies have come to the conclusion that long haul is the only way to make money. This is certainly the opposite in Europe where any community of any size has a railway, with, for the most part, frequent passenger service. It should not go unmentioned that they, of course, are heavily subsidized. But so is VIA Rail for that matter. If the American companies can buy a Canadian line, improve service and still make a profit, all the more power to them. Perhaps the process could have been started earlier and some places, currently without a rail line, would still be able to benefit from efficient freight service. A Final Thought There is no more lovely, friendly and charming relationship, communion or company than a good marriage. —Martin Luther There are assuredly more heinous crimes, but few directly affect so many. A serial killer selects his victims by some demented criteria and a thief targets the wealthy. But the vandal's crime is typically against an entire community. It is an act, not just of outmost disrespect but of cowardice. The vandal does his damage, then runs. Though an arsonist is often first on the scene to witness the repercussions of his deed, the vandal seldom even sees reaction to his mischief. Last Wednesday morning, Blyth residents woke to find destruction of property on the Blyth Greenway Trail. It is not the fact that damage was restricted to some signs and a flower bed that matters. It is the fact that this disregard to the selfless dedication of countless volunteers who donated hours to create this area of pride, that is a slap in the face to the entire community. I've never been able to quite grasp the point. Anyone who considers destruction a way to get their kicks has some serious problems. If their actions are motivated by revenge, what's the point of delivering the message, when both its receiver and its sender may be obscure to everyone but the guilty party. If rebellion is the driving force, again, why bother if people don't know who the rebel is? Even as a kid, I didn't seem to see the joy in mischief. I recall one Halloween when I wickedly set out with a friend and some bars of soap to follow the rules and trick the non- treaters. With each place we hit I struggled more and more to discover exactly how this was fun. And the next day I was wracked by such guilt, consumed by such fear that I had unknowingly been spied and identified, that I had an overwhelming urge to go confess to all and sundry, and wash my victims' windows. And this, when considered in the great scheme was pretty insignificant, a childhood prank, easily, with little effort, undone at no cost. I did nettling threatening, nor lasting. As I noted earlier, vandalism hurts not just a specific target, but the entire community. Looking at defaced buildings, picking up the pieces of broken property are demoralizing to people who take pride in where they live. A rash of break-ins in Brussels has prompted businesspeople to look at the idea of a Watchdog Unit. The idea has also been proposed for Blyth. The unit would patrol through the evening and report suspicious behaviour to police. In Brussels the main focus was to if not catch than discourage any further robberies. However, the reciprocal effect of this is the fact that mischief makers and vandals will be deterred as well. Typically, destructive acts are done by locals. So, as they come to understand that people who likely know them, who could identify them to family and police, are out on watch, it certainly should take the enthusiasm out of their ardour for shenanigans. Vandalism regardless of the reason or target is really a crime against community and the people who care about it. Taking action such as through a watchdog unit, is the type of thing that makes a community a bettor place in which to live.