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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1982-01-20, Page 4SIM 1 t' • Times -Advocate, January 20, 1982 • Ames Times Established 1873 Advocate Established 1881 Amalgamated 1924 Serving South Huron, North Middlesex & North Lambton Since 1873 Published by J.W. Eedy Publications Limited IORNE EERY Publisher 1IM BIC -KEIT Ad‘erthsin}; KLtn.tger Blll BAEEEN k ditor HARRY DEVRIES Composition Manager ROSS HAUGH. Assistant-.Fjiitor DICK JONGKIND Business Manager • Published Each Wednesday Morning at Exeter, Ontario Second Class Mali Registration Number 0386. Phone 235-1331 SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Canada $17.00 Per year: U.S.A. $55.00 O.C.N.A. CLASS 'A' and 'ABC' Watch city slickers Big isn't always better, but it can be cheaper as in- dicated by the fee structure for the Association' of Municipalities of Ontario which was founded last year through an amalgamation of several municipal associations. Exeter's membership fees for 1982 will be $.466.41, based on a per 'capita rate of 12.65/. However, the fee for cities with a population of over 450,000 is only 1.35/ per capita and 1.20c for over f-&. tittWIN rk8t®I %,),0 — 177. 625,000 population. Not only do small urban and rural municipalities 'pay 10 times as much as their city cousins, they also have to foot the bill for their delegates to travel.to the city for the conventions where they fill the coffers of city hotel owners, cabbies and even the odd liquor store. Get the chaff out of your eyes, boys, them city slickers is doin' it to ya! Impossible to comprehend It's almost impossible to comprehend the thinking ' behind the decision to pay $100,000 to a murderer in return for information on where he hid the bodies of his victims. However, that appears to be the situation for con- victed slayer Clifford Olson, who was responsible for killing 11 B.C. youths. For showing police the locations of the bodies of the victims he bludgeoned, stabbed or strangled to death, Olson was, promised a payment of $100,000. The response by most people ranges from a feeling of absurdity to total outrage. Convincing them of the properiety of such a, deal will be most difficult, although those involved in the decision must surely now have that, responsibility. A full investigation into the legal aspects should be conducted. If it was legally incorrect, then those responsible should answer to the law as anyone should who is found in contravention. of the law. If it was legally correct, then the law -makers must look at the situation and decide whether some changes are re- quired. There are also moral implications to be con- sidered, and while on the surface most people would suggest the morality of the situation is incorrect, it is an opinion that should be reserved until those respon- sible for the decision outline the reasons for the un- usual deal. • Meanwhile, it remains almost imposs`ble to com- prehend. The postal problems Living in a smaller community has many advan- tages. One which has been in focus lately is the co- operative spirit and effort of the local post office staff. While a few little,slips were brought to the public's attention during December, overall most St. Marys and area residents would agree that we get pretty good local postal service. Unfortunately, the samecannot be said by those ex- pecting decent mail service from farther afield. Here at the Journal -Argus, two large envelopes originating in Montreal and Oakville took an unbelievably long time to reach us. The one from Oakville was posted on December 22 and arrived January 7. Despite the holidays allotted to the postal employees, this represented ten full working days in which the parcel was in the mails. Such service is not acceptable. As a result, the company which sent us the mail did an investigation. Of the 330 envelopes mailed Dec. 22 to newspapers across the province, less than 30 arrived in time to have met the deadline for the Jan. 6 editions. Three hundred advertisements valued at about $100 each did not run. Our client has stated that as a result of this in- cident, it will now ship all advertising material by courier, despite the increased costs. We can accept the increase in postal rates with lit- tle difficulty, firmly believing that the users should bear the bulk of the cost of any service rather than have huge losses spread across the taxpayers in genergl. Unless.the post office improves its efficiency to reflect its increased charges, we can anticipate a drastically reduced use of its services by the people of Canada. St. Marys Journal -Argus Eight losers for every winner A "pyramid club" scam introduced into several areas of Western Ontario a few weeks ago has become so blantant that members recently attempted to advertise its virtues in a weekly newspaper. The Petrolia Advertiser -Topic reported in a headline story last week that the advertisement was submitted to it last Tuesday morning with a remit- tance of 13.00. It noted that a participant in the 12.200 Pyramid Club can "make money quick!" with "no 'risk!". Two Petrolia phone numbers were given so propsective members could call to join up. - Neither of the claims in the proposed advertisement is correct,. of course. Making money quickly is reserved for only a few individuals. In addition to the high risk of losing your 12.200. is the fact that according to the criminal code, pyramid clubs and chain letters that solicit money are forms of fraud and those found guilty of engaging id the activity areliable for up to two years' imprisonment. According to a press release received by the T -A from the OPP last week recruits to the pyramid clubs are told that. although illegal, the maximum penalty if caught is a 128 fine. The logistics surrounding the pyramid clubs are mind-boggling, and despite the fact that most homes now have one of those small electronic calculators, those who get sucked -in to the scam don't stop to figure out the odds of getting paid off. The fraud was believed to have started in the Huntsville area last spring, where it can be assumed, seven guys got 1' 1 together with the idea and set it in mo- tion It is interesting to remember, that the seven had no investment of their myn. - They merely went out and recruited eight' members.•Some of ,the clubs that have sprung off the idea, have various fees. but basically run in thee denominations, one at 1500. one of 11,200 BATT'N AROUND with the editor and another at 12,200. No one has yet ex- plained tiow the odd figures were deriv- ed. Oddly enough. though, the most pop- ular game appears to be the one in which recruits are asked to come up with 12,- 200. After indicating their intention to join. members have two banking days in which to come up the funds. So. our original seven members went out and recruited eight people with 12,200 each and the "top -brain" was paid off with the 117,600 that resulted. At this point, the game is split into two pyramids. The person at the top of each group gets 117,600 when each group is augmented by another eight people, and again the game splits In half, or more correctly it doubles. The (SPP point out that after nine successive divisions there are 8,191 peo- ple involved, and for each of those on the bottom line to "go over the top" another 32 people have to be recruited, again each requiring another 32 people to join to get them paid off and that brings the total to a point. of course, where you're dealing in foreign currency because there aren't enough people in Canada to sustain it. - It's a game in which there are far more losers than winners, of course, as are all pyramid operations. However, word of that periodic winner attracts a few more hopefuls and the game continues until it reaches its saturation point and the majority of players have to stop and realize there is no conceivable hope of them getting their investment back. What is most deplorable about the game is the fact that it places a great deal of strain on friendships, because in most instances, the players have been "sold" on the game by a friend who was in turn brought into the pyramid by a friend. There are those who can afford to lose 12.200, but there are many others for whom that is a sizeable loss and can be a hardship. Some will suffer in silence, not wan- ting to make known their stupidity in get- ting dragged in to such a ridiculous gam- ble, while others may be inclined to get a bit upset with those to whom they .have given their hard-earned cash. If you're being tempted, why not get seven other friends and merely toss 200 each into a pot and then draw straws for it? The odds are a lot better! "I want to see you again when you've saved upl some more money." Savoring some salty seniors I was going to say, "There's ' nothing more boring than old people talking about the 'good old days' when they were young." Then I realized that I was out in left field, with nobody at bat, the picher chewing tobacco and spit- ting juice, the catcher fumbling around trying to adjust his athletic protec- tor. as they now call a metal jockstrap. There are many things more boring. Little children who want one more horsey ride when your spine feels fractured in eight places from the 10 previous jaunts. Teenagers babbbling endlessly about rock stars, boyfriends, girlfriends, and the money they need to keep up with their friends. "How come we only have a 21 inch TV? I'm 16; why can't I stay out till'3 a.m. if I want to? I'm the only girl in the class who doesn't have construction workers boots!" University students, perhaps the most boring creatures in our society. After the initial chirps of recognition: "Oh, Mr, Smiley, are you still teaching? How's it going?", as though you , should have quit the minute you levered them through high school. And then 40 minutes of straight. self-centered . description of their un- iversity courses or their jobs, their professors, their disenchantment with their courses, their unspoken admission that. they can't hack it, as you knew they couldn't in the first place. I manage to brush them off after about eight minutes with a cheery, "So long, Sam, great to hear you're doing so well, and best of luck. I have to go to an orgy for senior citizens that starts in four minutes, with the por- nographic movie." It's great to leave them there with their mouths hang- ing open. Next worse, in the bor- ing department, are young couples who have produced one or two in- fants. and talk as though Sugar and Spice Dispensed By Smiley they'd swum the Atlantic, or climbed Mount Everest. "Let me tell you what Timmy (or Kimmy) said the other day. He was sawing wood in the nursery school, and his saw slipped, and he pointed at his saw, and he said. "Don't you dare do that', and the teacher told me, and she said it was the most hilarious thing she'd ever seen. and blah blah. blah, and..." Boring, B -o -r -i -n -g. We can all top that type of story. My daughter, age 7, Grade 2, just getting over the Santa Claus bit, came home one day and told. my wife she knew what a certain familiar four-letter word that she's seen scrawled on the sidewalk meant. My wife is naive, even now, 20 years later. At that time, rather absentmindedly,. with Dr. Spock lurking in the background. she en- quired. "And what does it mean. dear?" The response was. "When men and ladies lie down on top of each other and go to the bathroom." That was the end of any birds and bees instruc- tion. Next in a descending line of boring con- verstionalists are middle- aged grandparents. The women, young enough to still elicit a whistle on a dark night; the men old enough to suck in their paunches when a bikini walks by, they- act as though they had invented grandchildren. They whine exchanged whimpers about the baby- sitting they have to, do They brag that. their grandchildren are the worst little devils in the world. Boring. And finally, we get to the elderly. Certainly some of them are boring, but they are the ones who have been bores all their lives. But the others, the salty ones, even though slowed by the body's increasing fraility, .retain their saltiness, and even. im- prove on it, because they don't give a damn anymore. They can say what they like and do what they like. And they do. I've met or talked to three men in their late 80's recently. My father- in-law. 89,-seemed.rather frail when we arrived for' a visit, at 3 p.m. At 11 that night we were still arguing religion and politics, at top form. I've told you about old Campbell, the 85-er who dowses wells and is set to go to Paraguay. Talked to my great-uncle, riddled with arthritis, and his voice and welcome were as warm and crackling as a fireplace freshly lit. This whole column was inspired by a clipping my sister sent me about 88 year old Lawrence Con- sitt of Perth, Ontario. Lawrence was present when the last man was hanged in Perth. His com- ment: "It was strange". The man ,was turned to the crowd and smiled just before his death. He had murdered his wife. Today he'd be given a man -slaughter and six years. Lawrence started play- ing piano 70 years ago, at dances, at the silent pic- tures theatre. He got five dollars a night for a dance. The talkies knock- ed him out ofa job in1930. But he kept on playing ragtime and jazz wherever there was an opening. I listened to him im- provise for the silent movies. I danced to his piano at country dances, with his nieces and great- nieces. He always had a Crock. Took the pledge in 1925. It lasted 13 months. Got sick on a ship to France in 1918. and was too late to be killed. He never married: "But I drank a lot of whiskey." He's in one of those Sunset Havens now, but when they ask him when he'll be back from a day in Perth, he says, "It depends' on who I meet." That's boring? Hang on Lawrence. You gave great pleasure to many people. I hope I can stay as salty as you. American mood is changing We were visiting. some American fieno's in Michigan and I was struck by the change . in their attitude since the last time I had seen them. No longer was there the same confidence, the boisterous' optimism that 1 had been used to from them. It seemed to me that the mood. of Americans in general has changed tremendously in the last fifteen or sixteen years. At that time they seem- ed to feel that the world was 'their oyster', that with good old fashioned Yankee spirit and drive, that any problems could be solved. that there was sure to he the keys to a new car in every man's pocket. that things would 41ways be all right. Then came the real slum in the economy and people in Detroit became cut back and job after job disappears. In the city of Detroit unemployment is higher • Perspectives quickly aware that their secure position in the automotive industry was no longer so secure. It seems now that people who drive foreign cars to work are told quite plain- ly that they are being dis- loyal, a real sign of the times. Hours are being By Syd Fletcher now that it was in the Depression years. There is a subdued, bitter feel- ing in that city that somewhere, somehow, the common worker has been let down. One of the men we were visiting commented, "If people want to work, they are going to have to move to some part of the coun- try. like Texas, where there are jobs. It. is probably a true enough statement but nevertheless a bitter pill to swallow for people who have lived for many years in an area and have put deep roots down there, a hard fact for people to face who have believed -'that the northern in- dustrial U.S. was the place of the future. I hope, for the sake of the millions of people who depend so much -on the car industry, in the U.S. and in Canada, that there is yet a good future in that particular business, and all the other service in- dustries related to automobiles.