Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1978-09-28, Page 4 (2)• Page 4 Times -Advocate, September 28, -1078 Nature abounds Coming from a land which offers easy, access to a rich variety of natural settings. -Canadians in particular tend to take the wonders of nature for granted. For example. the most common • tree of the Canadian Shield. the blatit spruce. is a marvel of endurance in the struggle for survival in the wilds. Everything around this unimposing tree seems to conspire towards its ex- tinction. Squirrels -clip off .its cones: - spruce grouse eat -the seeds it scatters: Matted caribou moss prevents' the seeds it does manage to spread: from penetrating the soil. High windroften __kkwit__up from its shalipw roots: yet it 1 grow on practically bare rock and oti tie fringes of the tundra.' If a black spruce can propagate Itself no other. way.- its -Ifs force- is transmitted ;through i4s lower branches. Whey an olds tree falls over. the'brapches send roots into the soil to become new trees in their own right. - As_ familiar an animal,,as a .por=. cupine is a .truly iplriguing phenomenon. The porcupine .is a typically tropical rodent from, South - America which has somehow managed to adapt itself to conditions as far north as the Arctic tree line. • - Perhaps its foreign origin is wf`ia' N _ makes it so formidable. A grown por- cupine carries up to 30,000 quills with which to repel its predators. The pain- ful shock of receiving a dose of these quills causes an animal that touches it to recoil. allowing the porcupine. time . to waddle safely away. Unl�ikely as it seems. t'he porcupine is a killer. The quills can spell slow death to toe most powerful timber wolf or the cleverest fox by dooming it to die • • of starvation becausi it is unable to eat, or by working thein way into its brain. • • It is said that only one Canadian animal can kill a .porcupine with im- punity, This is the big member of the weasel family called the fisher, which has developed the knack of flipping por- cupines over on their backs and at- tacking the unprotected underside. • Why -.-one creature alone should be _able to do this. no one knows — but such mysteries are part of the endless. fascination of•nature. It is impossible for -an intelligent person not to stand in awe of its mysterious logic, which goes - far beyond human ken. A flight of wild geese is a study in aerodynamics. The leader of the "V" formation breaks trail through .the air"- and ireand each bird "thereafter gains "lift" from the updraft created by the wing action of the one in front of it. Being the leader is not easy, and that is why '• you will see the birds change the lead „position periodically, as -AI by pre- arrangement. It all works:so smoothly that spectators rarely stop to ponder - what a remarka le system it is. Nature is fufof secrets to tantalize- the antalizethe inquiring' mind. Many creatures specialize in deception. The beautiful copper -coloured butterfly may be what is known "as a monarch but then again it may not. The caterpillars of the monarch feed on milkweed plants. As adults they contain a poison from the milkweed Which kills predators such as birds.•frogs and bats. Most predators have learned not to touch :a monarch. So nonpoisonous butterflies like theviceroy"mimic" its appearance :to ' frighten • their own predatorsaway. Buyers bewar2 Buying a used car will be tricky in several years. reports' Canadian Con: sumer in its August issue. The reason: metric odometers. Since September 1977. the federal government - has required. that - all odometers and trip recorders in new cars must be calibrated in metric un- its. Since the kilometre is only about 58 of a mile. the odometer on a late -model car will • reach the 100.000 turn -over point more quickly iat.62.137 miles)._ This means that -athree or four- year old ear with 80.000 miles on it I about 130.000 km I would onlvshow 30. - By SYD FLETCHER I've seen all types of ac- cidents in schools. They're bound to happen I guess. Children being 'what they are they lend to push themselves to' their limits with the result sometimes that somebody gets hurt If there's a tree to climb it gets climbed:.a stone to be thrown• gets whipped -just to see how far it'll go. Sthoolyards are no ex- ceptions. A teacher with first ,aid training is con- stantly busy with .the ban- dages and the ointment. Occasionally the accidents are more serious than the scraped arm. ranging from dislocated knees and elbows 000.km'orr the odometer. Depending on the cosmetic appearance of the car, it might be difficult to judge if it were a low -mileage find or a high -mileage car about to need a major engine overhaul. The simple solution would be the installation of six -digit , odometers. which would register to one million kilometres. Strangely enough. only' a few cars such as Mercedes-Benz. t • v •r NEWS ITEM: Ford owners warned ovcr.gear risks Alcan was I tt:allt0 - t5T THE tiosfict corit'anrr "Other than that, how's your Ford?" AT i.'N AROUND ... e with the editor Bargains off beaten -track With. the devaluation of Canada's dollar. many visitors to Europe have- been avebeen returning home with tales of Woe about extremely high accommodation and meal costs. Bill, Smiley alluded to that sit tion in one of his recent columns. no ing that it cost sl u 'to 1 Ooper night i $in so e P g hotels and that provided acrommoda- tion not'entirely in keeping withiwhat the price -tag would suggest a weary traveller should receive. ' . That column. plus some other infor- mation received by the better half about lodging` costs in Germania. had her scurrying about arranging loans. knowing full well that the writer hadn't taken that amount of money with him• and. would prgbably be• sleeping on_ some park bench in 'Lahr.. . . or worse vet. being forced to seek lodging with 'some kind. young fraulrin___ - Ironically. the writer was living high on the hog. finding that accommoda- tion costs weren't even as high as the conservative estimate we had been given by officials who had helped arrange, our trip to visit Canadian Forces Europe. Prices for our rooms ranged from 812 to $15 -per night. and while that in itself is a bargain. the price tag -also in - Volvo. Peugeot. BMW:Saab__ and'duded a sumptuous breakfast. that in most cases could.- he considered •a Potshe offer six -digit odometers. brunch. The North American and the - However: we should advise would-be economy minded import manufac travellers that it is necessary to shop turers have simply fallen asleep at the around for such reasonable rates. and At may be necessary to head out into wheel.- Perspectives to the, student that lost her eye in a snowball mishap not 'too long ago. Despite all the precautions you take these things still happen. I remember very vividly the little girl who was in my -grade- 4 class a number of years ago. She was a quiet dark-haired child, af- fectionate in her ways. who worked hard but seemed to _ find. all of her work difficult to handle. Two years later I had left theschool but lily wife stayed there as a primary teacher. She came out to our car one day in a state of near shock -The afternoon recess bell had rung and. several children ran up to the fountain to get a drink, this girl among them. Her drink finished, she straightened up and, then crumpled to the ground. ' The closest teacher was only a few feet away and WIFFNINNWsetcv-mf .- eiir• t4,s r-=.-ars, ...-4,1rr;+ Tunes Ettabhshed 1877 Advorar• ENobl shed 1 881 jsAdyocate SERVING CANADA'S BEST FARMLAND. C.W.N.A., O.W.N. A. CLASS 'A' and ABC • Published by J. W. Eedy Publications Limited LORNE EERY, PUBLISHER ` Editor - Bill Batten Assistant Editor - Ross Hough Advertising Manager - Jim Beckett Composition Monger - Harry fl.Vries evilness Manager - Dick Jongkind Published Each Thursday Morning Phan* 235.1331 of Exeter, Ontario Second Class Mail RgNtro►iin Number 0316 help in the form of mouth-to- mouth rescue breathing was quickly given.. An ambulance was called but. took twenty minutes to get there because the school was fifteen miles out in the country. Artificial breathing was carried on for all of that time to the unconscious girl whose face was almost blue by now. Although I'm not sure of the technical reasons, she had suffered from an attack of rheumatic fever causing her heart to speed up to over two -hundred beats per minute just before she collapsed. At the hospital she was pronounced dead upon arrival. apparently having died right at that water fountain. Nothing whatso ever could have saved her. Even so. a pretty sad day for that. community, that school, for her parents who had no inkling whatsoever. Amalgamated 1924 +CNA SI,.BSCRIPTION RATES: Canada 51 1.00 Per Year; USA 522. the smaller towns because the hotels there are much cheaper than the plush accommodation provided in major European cities But it is certainly 'wort the effort. T e first thing t� which you must ome accustomed. is staring the throom down the hall with your fellow -travellers. However. the mor- ning lineup isn't held up by females powdering their noses. because most rooms are equipped with a sink and often a shower so your. external cleanliness can be completed in the privacy of your own facility. While the -rooms are generally stark in comparison with hotels to which we have become accustomed in this coun- try. they are always neat and tidy. "The one aspect that is difficult - to comprehend on first -entering• your r000n is the pile of bed clothes neatly piled in thecentre of the bed. Suffering from a mild dose of jet -lag. we fumbled through the pile Jookitig for the loose ends and soon determined there were none. The next step- was to figure out how one climbs into this - European sleeping bag. Fipallv.-we.tired of the whole exer- cise. -and merely, spread it nut and crawled under. - - "That's exactl4 whait you're sup- ' posed to do." advised our veteran travelling companion on hearing our problem the following morning. The -- pile. of course. Was a feather tick.. ap- parently a -household item -in German_ — Another -unpleasant experience in Germany, is getting locked out of -your hotel.- We hadn't noticed, any curfew hours when we;l- "to "hit the town" and so were ra chagrined to con- template a nigh ti"ser the stars when we couldn't get I .:.' in,. • - Fortunately." hiblem was rec- tified when we were advised that our. room key was also the key to the -front door. One of the advantages of staving in small towns. is that you are in general.' living with the natives. as opposed to the large city hotels where one finds the place brimming with English speaking travellers. With the .benefit of having some in- terpreters in our group, we spent many enjoyable evenings chatting with the local residents it was. for instance. a memorable experience chatting for almost three hours one gight with Hugo and Sep. a couple of bridge inspectors. They too were overwhelmed with the evening. and there were hugs and good wishes all around when we departed. SugarandSpice p d by Smiley • Tou-ring can be exhausting Absolutely my last column about trips to Europe, cross my heart and spit. dust a few final impressions and some,tips to those who haven't done it before. Travel to Europe. that is. Holland is flat and flower -filled: flowers everywhere. We visited a local cheese factory and 1 was suckered into buying a real cheese knife with a Delft _ handle. and a two -pound cheese- which my wife maligned bitterly every time she had to restore the peace. Went up into a working windmill. of which there are only a few left. An '-- awes me 'experience. with the great stones grinding and the vast sails whirling; like something out of the middle ages. Saw the biggest flower market in the world. where the Tots of flowers are wheeled in. prices flash on a computerized hoard. and buyers. sitting in a sort M amphitheatre. make their bids'by pressing a button which identifies them. Holland -was also a sort of memory trip for me. Went within a fewiniles of Gorinchein. when i was shot down, and passed the city M Utrecht, where i spent several days and made the Great Escape (seven minutes duration Same in Germany. We spent a night• at Frankfurt, where 1 had 'passed three . days and nights way back ttl'en, in solitary, at an .interrogation centre. waiting rather anxiously for the whips and the thumbscrews. When i was finally brought in for questioning. there weren't any,: but there were subtle threats: "You know ve haf vays of _ making ythtitalk_:.They-shook-mea bit by.phowing me a huge loose-leaf folder with• the nIJTtiber>3 of most Air Force squadrons, including' my own, con- taining a pretty good list of the per- sonnel. • Don't worry; i didn't -talk. 1 Didn't know anything except how to get a Typhoon off the ground and on again. Innsbruck in Austria worth visiting. Up. up through the Tyrolear Alps.then down• doin through them. everyone a bit tense on the curves, to the beautiful old city nestled like a jewel in a valley. mountains all around. Olympic .ski jump just up there. Take -in an evening of local entertainment, yodelling. dancing. singing. Robust good fun. There were about eighteen different nationalities in the audience the night we there. • Don't let your wife loose with a credit card in Florence. where gold •and leather are beautifully worked and just half the'price of hack home. - Venice stinks. Or so they tell me. With my bashed -up peak i didn't notice a thing_ The waterways are controlled by the gondoliers mafia. There are so many tourists in St. Mark's square that even the famous pigeons have barely room to forage. - . lime is remarkable. a bit frightening if you get off the beaten track and the English-speaking guide. After you've seen the Pantheon, St. Peter's. the Colosseum and the Vatioan City, relax. it would take two months to do the city justice. A good bel for some of that relaxation is travel by express train ' from Rome to Genoa, where Chris Columbus was born. Train is fast, and you get great looks at :the Mediterranean all the way up. -Bybus along the famous -Cote d'•Azut to tiny Monaco, rigidly !tied by a benevolent dictators Prince Rainier. Took a took at the royal palhoe. Not too impressed. Rather annoyed -.that -. Princess (;race didn't pop out to say hello, but she was probably sulking • The most orerwhelming aspect' of - he situation was the fact they delayed heir morning •departure until we had arrived for breakfast •so they could once again extend their joy_ at the fun night we had.enjoed. • We ran into a 'similar situation at a small ht►tel where .we-hadsiopped for dinner on our first day in Germany.. and at that point we were without the benefit of our ; interpreters.. although we•found a smattering of French help- ful because we were close to the French border. The hotel owner attemptedto explain his menu. and when we asked for a -description of thehouse sPecialsvhich t<ts`ti�s otxi ioush -extolling. he excused --himself and headed for the -kitchen • Minutes later ,he clime back. with a -heaping plate and six spoons.- so each, member of the group Could -have a sant, - ple. • Due to. his warm hospitality. "one of Our group bestowed on him a Canadian flag, lapel pin. Well. that initiated a chain -reaction that was almost un- believable. Ile immediately pulled out his bottle_ of favorite cognac-andinsistedwe each have a drink • on him. That prompted further exchanges of mementos. in- cluding a.Canadian dollar bill from one of our group: The hotel keeper was overjoyed cob- visouly not realizing how worthless it was' and each of us had to sign it and it was immediately pinned up in a promi- nent spot above the -bar. He advised that' if we ever returned. we must visit him and he guaranteed that the dollar bihlwould still be there. We really didn't need the cognac to have a warm feeling when we -left' over her daughter's marriage -to that old French guy. when momma wanted Prince Charles of Britian for her. Nice was nice. though men in party all woke up with stiff necks from craning to see topless bathers of the international-sel. Very. very expensif. Off to Switzerland:throughGrenoble in Fiance. another Olympics site. Through the French Alps (not quite so scary ) to Geneva and the calm. peace. cleanliness and beauty that Charac- terize that country. 'Twasn:I- always so. Saw the huge statues of Calvin, John Knox andZwingli, protestant early birds.• who got their k:feks from • burning Catholics at the stgke. Then to Berne, tha'capital. whose symbol is the bear;' a fine, ancient city. And.so to Lucerne. a small; lovely lakeside resort city, where you once again have to put a leash on your'wife, because it's famous -for gold, silver, and watches. title hest in the world. It's up early for a long, long ride to Paris. it's all that is claimed for it. We 4aw it from four vantage points: by bus on the way through; blazing with light at night on our way home from a party; by bus and on foot next- morning; and from a cruise on the Seine' in the af- terfioon. And barely touched the highlights. !could live there fora year, and still' has ve-things la- Kee- - This is beginning to sound like a dull trapelogue. Its main ,purpose is to_- suggpst that when you do Europe by coach, whatever the length of your trip, you are really on the move. If you want relaxing holiday. slay home. or reht a cottage. If you want the>"xperience of a • • Thjksmaii Geneva Non -Conventional Geneva, by all accounts; is a magnificent city, blessed with a breath -taking natural setting and outstanding arch- itecture (not to mention some of the world's priciest . hoteldt Most Canadians would dearly love To vacation in Geneva. But most Cana- dians can't afford the trip. Goternment -officials, of course, are not most Cana- ' dians. And -they most assur- edly can afford the trip. Wit- ness the Canadian contingent which has been residing in the Swiss wonderland for the better part of 1978, keeping their hands in the interna- tional trade negotiations commonly known as GATT. We don't really mind (al- right, we mink - but just a Utile bit) the idea of our hard- working government folks living it .up in exotic locales at public expense. What irks us more is the futility of their venture. GATTis designed to plunder the lesser tradingna- tions like Canada rather than establishing a world-wide equality in trade terms. The GATT negotiations • are a form of economic black- mail The big Wee trading nations - the lJi ited States, Jap 1h and West Germany - gang up to impose a univer- sal set of tariffs op the lesser nations. The lesser nations are not allowed to enter into side deals concerning exports and imports. - - Suppose, for instance, Ca- - nada found that there was an advantage in shipping our, leather to Taiwan, using Tai- wanese Manufacturers to turn our leather into shoes,' and_reimporting the shoes at very low tariff rates. Acrgord• ing to GATT regulations. Ca- nada would be required to allow shoes from all other countries into Canada at the same low tariff rate --. even though those countries might - not he usingCanadian leath- er or helping the Canadian economy. This sort of all -for -one philoso,hy works reasonably well for the powerful coun- tries (GATT assures that their products can get into all the countries which are members of GATT), better for large, sophisticated high-technolo- gy corporations (which pro- duce unique goods that are unavailable from other coup. tries) and alright for. some. developing nations with arni- ies of workers willing to ac- cept pennies an hour (since these nations have a massive cost advantage that allows. them to compete no matter what the GATT regulations stipulate). But, for the lesser nations like 'Canada, GATT steals jobs from Canadians. The world's philosophy about trade agreements artist change, John Bulloch told an intematU nal small business cgnyention -in Spain this month. Bulloch. President of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, argued that countries must start ne- -gotiatilig international trade ,treaties in one-on-one discus- sions. Group talks, Bulloch stressed, wilk-alwayslenelt • the most powerful trading nations at the expense of the less powerful -traders. GATT is an international cot�fidence game. Unfortun- ately; we have no realistic al- ternative to participating in a new GATT agreement at this time. But let's recognize GATT for the fraud that it is, realizing that neither Canada nor any of the other nations signing the agreement will be able to live up to the condi- tions. Meanwhile, let's bring some of our negotiators' home from Geneva; we can't afford the hotel bilk., Think sr -add 19 an er( �[neat - {I} message from the Car (1,4r. - j -Fe.jerat+on of Independen! (�_ B�s�ness 'town memory lane, 55 YearsAgo The Ford travelling caravan with power farming machinery visited Exeter on Monday and held a 'demonstration on the farm of Mr. -Russell Fledden. In the evening. moving pictures were given in . front of the Ford garage. Mr. William Andrew had the. misfortune to have both bones of the light arm fractured - near the wrist when the engine he ' was cranking backfired. .One of the plate glass windows in Jones and. May, was broken on Sunday by a passing automobile. • The post office site South of the Bank of/ Cornmerce, which is being fitted up for a playground was levelled up and seeded to grass last week. • The floral exhibits and the cooking surpassed all former years at the Kirkton Fair this year. 30 Years Ago The official opening.' of William H. Sweilzer's riew bowling alleys was held Wednesday evening.' A reception was held on Friday evening • in Caven Church for their recently married minister, Rev. I). it. Sinclair and his bride. An urgent appeal -to the hydro users of Exeter for(he conservation M hydro power is being. made. " • Grand Bend.Wi decided to buy -and donate a piano as the Institute's contribution to the new town hall. - Red Cross packing day will he held in the Canadian Legion rooms October 8. Keith M. McLean, editor M the Huron Expositor, died suddenly Wednesday of last week. . 20 Years_Ago " Eight Exeter ,Liens Club members with a total of 104 : years. perfect attendance • were honored at the meeting Thursday night. Dr. H. H. Cowen, a past president, has the longest record. 19 years -- Rev. Alex Rapson con- cluded his pastorate on the Main St.-. Crediton and Shipka charge on Sunday. Sparked by the en- thusiastic support of Exeter Legion a town committee was organized Tuesday night tonivestigate construction of a swimming pool for the community. William Abbott. Victoria St., reports he has been enjoying strawberries from his garden for several weeks 15 Years Ago - Exefer's population has increased 117• or almost four percent, over the past year, assessor E. 11. Garscadden reported to .council this week. • ' Grand Bend PUC'is being assisted by the Exeter.Uural Hydro gang, in the task -of ,moving hydro poles on High- way 21 to make room for the wider pavement which is being laid next spring. . Chi •elhurst CCW was host, to •he second• regional -eeting of the . Iluron • Presbyterial United Church Women Monday at Hensall l'nited Church. Three k:xeter youths, Neil Hamilton. Allan Thompson and Mark Hinton have been declared champions of the SllI)HS track and field -meet at the school Friday. - The CGiT group M Caves PreshyterianChurch held its mother and daughter banquet recently . with president Nancy Strang as chairman. lifetime, take a coach tour. Don't listen to well-meaning friends. You don't need six rolls of toilet paper. you don't need clothes hangers (we took half a dozen and lugged them allover the tontine ,, ; ,•�;,.,;, . Choose clothing with care: something for coldg for hot, something for wet. something for smart. You don't.. even the women. needa new outfit every day. take a perma- ' nent press stuff. Arrange. your tour through a reliable travel agency. it . doesn't cost any more and i'nutd save you manvTah alT cfie. s We. didn't have a single hitch, including fourteen hdtels, five boat trips. two buses. one Iragn, one hovercraft and two •IimQusines.._ So: Just arrange that second mortgage on your house. and • away you go, -foreign dictionaries in hand. Don't if • you collapse in Cologne and have to -be shipped hack in a box. There'd -probably bean air strike. and you can raise a real stink, even after death'. - - •