HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Times-Advocate, 1975-02-13, Page 4 (2)OUR POINT OF VIEW
Strictly urban decision
The lengthy report prepared on the
policing of Huron County by the Ontario
Police Commission will take considerable
time for municipal leaders to digest and
consider.
However, it is apparent that nothing
concrete will transpire. at the county level
as long as current practices exist whereby
rural communities pay little for policing.
Townships and village council
members are not going to move out of that
enviable position until they are forced to do
so, particularly when the report suggests
that the majority of people in Huron are
satisfied with the present policing.
The task force on policing
recommends that the direct cost of polic-
jng should be spread over all
municipalities rather than the present
system which bears only upon the towns,
but until the Ontario government makes a
decision on this recommendation, rural
areas are not going to volunteer any
assistance towards the cost of a county
force as some of the police officials in
Huron favor.
That leaves the decision primarily in
the hands of the five towns in the county.
While there are suggestions that better
communications are needed between the
five police forces, it must be pointed out
again that few people think wide scale.
changes or improvements are needed in
the policing of those five towns in general.
That suggests that economics may be
one of the determining factors in any con-
sideration for changes. The OPP estimate
that only Goderich and Wingham would
save money by having their policing turned
over to the OPP, while the costs in Exeter,
Clinton and Seaforth would be relatively
unchanged.
In fact, Exeter's would increase
somewhat.
However the matter of facilities does
become a point of discussion for Exeter
council. By having the OPP assume duties
in Exeter no further requirement for police
offices would be needed by the town itself.
•If there isn't room for the municipal
police in the post office, that may become
a major consideration.
Another major consideration is
whether council members consider the
time spent on police negotiations and
related matters worth the autonomy the
present setup gives them.
Under the efficient leadership provid-
ed by Chief Ted Day, the problems
associated with involvement of providing
policing have been few and far between,
which is a• welcome relief from ex-
periences in the community prior to his
arrival.
In some communities. council
members would quickly opt for the OPP,
but in Exeter the consideration appears to
hinge not so much on the type of policing.
but more on the accommodation aspect
and local autonomy. There are, however,
some who think policing should be taken
out of the hands of local administration,
and while the OPP is one alternative. an in-
dependent police commission is another
that must be considered.
Chief Day's questions about the costs
cited in the Commission report are also
worthy of. furtherstudy, because we note
that while Wingham's estimate for policing
by the OPP was set at $75,498. the report
explains that in March of last year when
the council asked for a , quote from the
OPP, they were advised it would be $120.-
484.10. That spread suggests that the pric-
ing is open to question as Chief Day has
stated.
Won't work without you
Toward the end of this year, the Post
Office will switch over to new super -
modern mail -handling equipment in its key
Toronto facilities. But, for all the millions
of dollars involved, Canadians may find
that the mail millennium has yet to dawn,
reports ,The Financial Post's Ottawa
Editor Clive Baxter.
"If things go on the way they are right
now," one federal Postal official says,"the
fi day wp w h�ye,probably, the third
be tal 11de 4tOrltl 'with only
Ja d rielgiuch perhaps a little better.
But by'the end of the first week we could be
no better than, say, Italy, where tourists
are being asked to carry mail across the
border into France or Switzerland to get it
moving. "
This is a shocking prediction by any
standards. But the hard fact is that
Canadians aren't taking the postal coding
business seriously enough. And if they
don't, the vastly expensive new service
won't work. What's more, neither will the
old manual service. either.
So far. this failure in smaller. points
like Ottawa. Winnipeg, Calgary and Van-
couver has been frustrating and disappoin-
ting - but not a disaster. The mail service
struggles through by hand -sorting. But
Toronto is the heart of the whole national
service. Every day. 25 percent of total
Sugar and spice
Canadian post is mailed in Toronto and 25
percent is delivered to points inside its
area.
With this volume. either the modern
system must work - or the collapse will be
fast and severe.
"We know that 23 percent of the post
handled won't be coded," Jerry Fultz,
director of the coding and mechanization.
explains. "A lot of that is mail going
abroad or it is of a size and shape that won't
work hrough the new system. So we have
made plans to handle physically some 23
percent of the total.
"But the use of the new codes is
spreading far too slowly. At the present
rate. by the end of this year it should cover
60 percent of our mail. But this means 40
percent won't be coded. We have built-in a
capability for handling 23 percent. What of
the rest? It will be chaos within a few days.
We could have the biggest white elephant in
the world."
Fultz knows what he is talking ab ut -
and why. As the man who has had reson-
sibility for the overall new postal service.
he hopes to shock the public into changing
its postal habits to fit the system - by lear-
ning and using the codes.
So far, this has only been desirable.
With the beginning of the Toronto opera-
tion. it becomes vital.
MAFIA to fight women's lib
This, apparently is Women's
Liberation Year, or something of
the sort. So be it.
Aren't you getting a little sick
of it all? 1 mean you, and I don't
care whether you're a man or a
woman or a hermaphrodite.
Don't worry chaps; I am not
afraid. I have a northern hideout,
an old atom bomb shelter, with
three women laid on; one to bathe
me, one to dress me, and one to
cook for me. So I'm going to say
exactly what I want to, and let the
chippies fall where they may.
First, I take a look at my own
family, to see which women need
liberating. Answer? Zero.
My wife needs liberating like I
need a kick in the groin. Ever
since I met her, she has been, not
removing her chains, but ap-
plying mine. I clank when I walk.
• She doesn't need to be
liberated. She needs to be tied up.
She has made it quite clear that
she is: smarter than I about
everything from making out the
income tax return to screwing in
alight bulb;better looking than I
(and all we have to do is look in a
mirror); more artistic than I
(she's always frigging with the
color thing on the television while
I bellow ' I don't care if it's all
purple, shut up and watch the
program'); and in better shape
than I. I always concede the last-
named without a fight. I in-
variably say. "Boy, I could never
scrub the kitchen in half an hour.
like you. Dear. It would probably
take me half the afternoon." And
I'm right. So there's no conflict of
interest there.
She also has a joint account. the
house is in her name. the car is in
her name. and if I dropped dead
tomorrow, she'd have so much
Times Established 1873 Advocate Established 1881 Amalgamated 1924
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Publisher - Robert Southcott
Editor - Bill Batten -- Advertising Manager
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Composition Manager David Worby
Phone 235-1331
Published Each Thursday Morning
at Exeter, Ontario
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Paid in Advance Circulation
March 31, 1974, 5,309
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" ...MIND YOU, TAMS SUST AN ESTIMATE"
Spring breaks not uniform
In case you haven't noticed,
school districts- throughout
Ontario are not uniform in their
choice of spring break this year.
Huron. for instance has chosen
the week starting March 17, while
many others have picked the
s=eek following.
There are some merits in
having different dates throughout
the province. In /he first place,
people hiking....out for winter
vacations will find that the
normal rush is not quite as bad
as it usually is when all schools
are closed the same week.
Accommodations should be
easier to find, and if there is a
lighter demand, prices won't be
pushed up quite as high.
However hockey teams who
normally compete in the vast
insurance she could give Jackie
Onassis a run for her money.
Liberation my armpit!
My daughter is in the same
boat, or category. She alternately
bullies and wheedles her fgthiesr,
and her husband. ..She,,
nothin' offa nobody. especc
male cops. She is in a career
course. and she is using+,' J`or'
kicking out of the way, every
male who stands in her path. t
With one exceptiorpShe is being,
used and pushed around by their
only male who could to it,her
year-old, walking son, Pokey.
And there is the only hope I see
for the future of the male.
Looking further afield. I
remember two dames who were
so liberated you wondered who .
was wearing the pants in the
family. in both cases.
One was my mother. She called
the shots in our family from the
time she put on her wedding ring.
She decided which of the kids
would be licked. and she did the
licking. She decided what speed
my dad should drive at. She
pulled us through the Depression" -"-
My dad was a sweet. gentle chap
like myself and always sat in the
rumble seat on each new family
enterprise.
My mother-in-law was the
same. With a combination of
tempers, tirades and tears. she
made my father-in-law walk on
eggs until he didn't feel com- s.
fortable unless he had an egg
underfoot.
Ditto with my sisters and
sisters-in-law. They bully and
needle and haggle their men
unmercifully. They continually
make them feel that they 1 the
women) had poor luck in the
draw. and make veiled and
usually imaginary references to
the great chances they had to
marry someone worthwhile who
turned out to be somebody
And this phenomenon is not
something new. something of the
20th century. Queen Boadicea. if
anyone remembers her. had a
great time smashing up Roman
legions until she died of an
overdose of. woad.
Lady Macbeth was no
shrinking. unliberated violet. She
was more of a shrieking.liberated
violent.
Queen Elizabeth 1 diddled her
would-be lovers for years and ran
a growing empire with a velvet
glove in an iron fist.
Madame de Pompadour
literally ran the French empire in
the days of the 15th Louis. and she
wasn't even married
Nobody is weeping over Jackie
what -ever. who bounced from a
U.S. president to a Greek
billionaire. Nor are many tears
shed over the way poor little.
helpless Liz Taylor has been
mistreated by five or six or seven
husbands.
Of course. all these women had
charm, and drive. or both. and
weren't too much concerned
about the cost of hamburg. That's
k
•
— Pleace turn to Page 8
number of tournaments around
the province as a wind-up to the
season are finding some
problems.
Many of the local teams can't
get their usual tournaments
because the dates don't coincide
with the holiday period in Huron.
Other tournaments have been
cancelled because not enough
teams are available in the same
week.
The areas where the final week
in March will be spring break'
appear to have chosen wisely this
year. The week happens to in-
clude Good Friday. So they've
decided to take the Friday prior
to the holiday to make up for that
situation and have ended up with
an 11 -day holiday period.
In Huron the kids will be get-
ting only one full week, will
return to school for four days,
and then get the Good Friday
break.
People who normally schedule
one of the holiday weeks tomatch
the one given their youngsters at
spring p{egk, wilt agree that the
}tuna settp, this year" is .not,: as
good as the one being chosen in
many other school districts.
+ + +
Isn' it--awiazing to consider the
types of w_arminds displayed
by some i)eo'
As an exxer�ti , consider the
guy who placcdpli.ne calls to two
area industries last week and
advised that a bomb had been
placed in their plants.
It turned out to be a hoax, as
most people would expect.
However, it is the type of
situation that can not be
dismissed and appropriate action
is required to safeguard those
who work in the plants. After all,
there was a slight chance that
some other mind was warped
enough to place a bomb there.
As a result of the bomb scare,
about 600 people had to be
evacuated from the industries.
They couldn't return to work and
about 2.400 man hours were lost
as a result.
•At an average wage of $4.00 per
hour, that works out to a cost of
almost $10,000 for someone's
hoax. Add to that the lost profits
and the other expenses involved
in such a situation and it becomes
almost inconceivable that anyone
could consider such a stunt.
It's unfortunate that more
young people weren't able to
attend last week's sportsmen's
banquet to hear the stirrring
address on the power of positive
thinking given by Wilfrid Laurier
University football coach, Tuffy
Knight.
He explained that if a person
wanted something badly enough,
was prepared to work for it, and
had the conviction it could be
done ... then the chances were
excellent that he would succeed.
That's the attitude Tuffy at-
tempts to build up in his players
and his success rate on the field
indicates it turns out positively.
Sure, his teams get beaten on
occasions. But they're not
referred to as losses. Tuffy refers
to them only as "temporary
setbacks."
Jack Donohue. coach of
Canada's male and female
basketball teams had a similar
message. "If you think you can,
or if you think you can't ... you
probltbly will," he explained. •
-By thew/1y; dack'Uold us that he
expects our teams to earn medals
in the 1976 Olympics. Don't be too
surprised if that happens. Jack
--has already brought the
basketball teams from
"nowhere" to a ranking of eighth
in the world and most people
predicted he would never do that
when he set that as his first goal
on being named coach of the
squads.
Is there power in positive
thinking? You have to believe it
when you listen to fellows such as
Knight and Donohue and look at
their records.
Try it some time! You may be
more than pleased with the
results.
+ + +
One of the other interesting
aspects of the dinner was the fact
that several of the celebrities
were"local" residents who have
done well in their particular
sporting endeavour.
There was Ken Doig from
Seaforth, Earl Ross from Ailsa
Craig and Al Rimmer from
Exeter. What is it they say about
prophets in their own land? Well,
it was encouraging to see that the
Exeter Lions recognize these
area residents for what they are -
leaders in their own fields.
OLD 'TIMES'
SO Years Ago
The annual meeting of the
Loyal Orange Lodge was held in
Exeter on Tuesday. The election
of officers resulted as follows:
Master - Rev. A. A. Trumper,
D.M.-A. Hodgins. Chap. Rev.
Gowan. Recording Sec. H. H.
Hanley , Financial sec. H. Powe,
Treasurer G. Davis. Director of
Cer. Mr. Castle, lecturers Mr.
Brenner and Mr. Rathwell.
Mr. and Mrs. Alex Hackney of
Farquhar celebrated their 65th
anniversary.
Doctors Jas. and ban Bell, well
known in the Hensall district
recently left New York for a
cruise through the Panama Canal
from where they will go to South
America and the West Indies.
2S Years Ago
Exeter Kinsmen's first
president signed the application
;,for a charter at a supper meeting
Thursday night when the election
of officers took place.
A carnival to officially open
Woddham's Community Rink
Was held Friday evening.
The -Canadian Legion has
started to excavate for the
basement of its new building to be
erected at the rear of the Lyric
• Theatre.
15 Years Ago
Twelve -year-old Shirley
Sauder, Exeter won the Times -
Advocate spelling bee Tuesday
night. Her classmate. Elsie
Gosar, was runner-up.
SHDHS graduate Bill Pollen
took part in debates in defence
last week between Rochester
Institute of Technology and the
University of Western Ontario.
The proposed $60,000 storm
drain on Pryde Boulevard won't
be tackled for several years at
least, town council indicated
Friday night.
Mrs. R. S. Hennessey has
returned home from Nova Scotia
after visiting her daughter.
18 Years Ago -
Mrs. Kate Meidinger,a resident
of Queensway Nursing Home,
Hensall marked her 94th birthday
on Valentine day.
Mrs. Robert Fletcher was
named Beta Sigma Phi Sorority
Sweetheart at the annual dance.
Mrs. Fletcher is president of the
sorority.
• Baked goods were scattered
over a wide area near the Huron.
Street CNR crossing Thursday
when a snowplow train smashed
into a bread truck owned and
driven by George Joseph Pratt,
Exeter. Pratt escaped uninjured.
Sig9419 Vateird
94,9K 706 4ocer
Herbie's story
This is the story of Herbie, a
smiling happy Bermudian who
worked at the hotel where we
holidayed recently. He's the kind
of guy who makes you feel good
just to look at him, his eyes lit up,
a lopsided grin and a quick quip
for any situation. But after
listening to him we found that
Herbie hadn't always been
this lovable. In fact, it had been
quite the opposite.
He says he had always been a
loner, hated and mistrusted
everyone from his earliest
memory. When he.wentfto school
he was in constant hot water so he
attended as rarely as possible. As
he puts it, "I passed through
school, in the front door and out
the back." At the age of 13 he
walked out of the classroom
forever; the same day he left
home turning his back on his
mother and older brother.
It wasn't difficult for him to
pick up work and he says, "I felt
like a big man. I was free to do
whatever I wanted." _He- found
out soon that one of the things he
wanted to do was drink. By the
time he was 16 he had set himself
up in a classy apartment and was
drinking heavily. "Two things I
liked to do in those days," he
recalls, "work hard and drink
harder." '
Shortly, he ,was drinking
harder than he was working and
taking his hostility out on
everybody. "I'd fight anybody,
didn't matter how big they
were." Booze blackouts became
frequent and more and more
often he ended up either in jail or
in the hospital. He awoke from
one blackout to find he was
married (She had the papers to
prove it ... Whooppee!) "It,
didn't last long," he says with a
wry grin, "I drank up all her
perfume ... and anything else I
could get my hands on."
Occasionally he would meet
his mother on the street. "Her-
bie," she pleaded with him.
"your problem is too big for you.
Why don't you ask and trust God
to help you."
"I had never trusted anybody
in my whole life," says Herbie,
"and I wasn't about to trust
somebody I didn't know or
believe in."
Eventually his mother moved
to New York, and Herbie kept
going lower and lower until,
unable to keep a job, he was
forced to scrounge in the streets.
One day, with no money to buy
liquor, he took a container of anti-
freeze from a service station and
began to drink it.
Of course he ended up critically
sick in the hospital where he had
been treated many times before.
After two weeks the doctor told
him bluntly. "Herbie, you're
hopeless, there's nothing more I
can do for you. Please don't
waste my time anymore."
However, a little later he came
back to tell Herbie he could be
released if he would go and stay
with a couple who ran a home for
alcoholics who were trying to
make it back. To get out of the
hospital, Herbie agreed and
stayed at the home for awhile
because there was no place else
logo. But his thirst for liquor was
becoming greater and more
desperate with each passing day.
One day, another man who
worked with alcoholics came to
see him and asked him if he
would go with him to a Faith at
Work conference in Penn-
sylvania. He offered to buy
Herbie's plane ticket and
whatever clothing he needed.
Seeing a chance to get out of the
home and perhaps an opportunity
to see his mother in New York,
Herbie agreed.
"I'd no sooner got my seat belt
fastened," says Herbie, "when
the pretty stewardess bent over
me and asked sweetly, 'Would
you care for anything from the
bar, Sir?' " With his inners
almost bleeding for the stuff, but
remembering that the gentleman
who was paying his way was
sitting next to him, Herbie
somehow managed to grit his
teeth and decline the enticing •1
offer. jj
He snw his mother briefly in
New York and once again she
advised him to trust God with his
problems. "I had another good
laugh about that!"
On the bus to Pennsylvania
from New York all he saw were
the giant billboards declaring the
merits of this or that brand of
alcohol. "I've never been more
miserable," he remembers, "I '
was sure I'd die if I didn't get a
drink."
As they drew up to a resort hotel
where the Faith at Work con-
ference was being held, he
noticed a liquor store about
halfway down the block.
Somehow he managed to get
through the first day, but that
night, unable to sleep, and with
nothing on his mind but the
unquenchable need for a drink, he
decided he could take it no longer
and would head for the liquor
store as soon as it opened the next
day.
As dawn broke. he got up,
dressed and went out for a walk
until the store opened. Going
down to the lonely beach he
kicked his way along, angrily
impatient. Something bright
turned up in the sand. He bent
down and picked up an American
Penny. The words printed on the
coin leapt out at him, "In God We
Trust."
His mother's words carne •)
rushing back to him. "Suddenly, I
was down on my knees writhing
in pain, crying, "Oh God, please
help ME.
"I can't explain what hap-
pened. all I know is that
something beautiful washed over
me and took with it all the pain
and the thirst whicb has never
returned to this day." (That was
in 1969.) His eyes mist over when
he tells you. "I believe it was the
answer to my mother's prayers."
Well, whatever it was, Herbie's
a new man.Now,instead of hating
people, he loves them. Wherever
he goes he spreads fun and
laughter and faith.
"Every day is exciting," he
says, "I never know what God
has in store for me!"
Our response to now
By ELMORE BOOMER
Counsellor for
Information South Huron
For appointment
phone: 235-2715 or 228-6291
Soap operas!
What do soapoperas do to and
for their viewers? If they can be
used in therapy with their wat-
chers, as was reported last week
in this column, they must have
some effect.
In 1971 it was estimated that
35 to 40 million women between
the ages of eighteen and forty
made up the international
audience for such offerings in
North Atherica.
Some have suggested that the
soap operas as an example of
human myth reflects the
"collective unconscious." Here is
an open vision of the hidden
dynamics of humankind.
Others add the thought that
these dramas bring hidden im-
pulses in to the open so that they
can be examined at arms length.
Individuals are perged of some of
dark tendencies as they watch
them being played out before
them.
Jan Ehrenwald a
psychoanalyst from New York
"has emphasized the importance
of myths for man. "Myths have
been described as the collecfive
daydreams of mankind.
We know today that if a subject
is prevented from daydreaming
for any length of time he may.
develop certain psychotic
manifestations." In many ways
the soap operas act as myths in
our society.
As we continue to polish our
own images throughout our lives,
myths and dramas and soap
operas etc. prompt much
necessary working and
reworking of conflicts and in-
terests, in such a shaping of
ourselves. Art and drama are
catalysts in our constant search
for self-identity.
One of the themes of the soap
operas is the dependent position
of women versus men. Women
are lonely, victimized and
fearful. If they are fortunate
some man will save them from
their predicaments.
This has even been the case in
folk tales and stories. The soap
operas are carrying on the
tradition of Cinderella, Sleeping
Beauty and Snow White.
One study of radio soap operas
in 1948 concluded that they were
instrumental in keeping the
woman in her subordinate role, in
economic dependence on her
husband.
The salvation of the family as
we have known it, depends on
such a limitation on women,
according to the authors, and
thus they were glad for the soap
operas.
Good and bad are not mixed in
characters in soap operas. A
person is very good or very bad.
The subtlties of inner conflicts
are made into external dangers.
The inner conflicts are replaced
by anxieties regarding these
dangers.
Thus the general air of
depression and lack of joy is
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.)