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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1982-06-23, Page 4•- ri+l-{ry .• } koasraglNYt♦111M Tt ss-Advocote. June 23.1982 Times Established 1873 Advocate Established 1881 - Amalgamated 1924 dvocate. Serving South Huron, North Middlesex & North Lambton Since 1873 Published by J.W. Eedy Publications Limited LORNE EEDY Publisher IIM BECKETT Adserti.ing Manager What price freedom? That's a question that has been asked through the ages, but on every occasion men and women have responded to the question with the supreme sacrifice... their lives. Once again, the free world has given clear indica- tion that is is prepared to pay that price to demonstrate that aggression does not pay. When Argentina invaded the Falklands, Britain transported its army a third of the way around the world to do battle at a cost of over 300 lives, hundreds of wounded, numerous lost ships and planes and a bill •S. •.L �.. v+r-^,-• •� it 0•••••••19 .1, viveartattpli BILE BATTEN ROSS HAUGH Editor Assistant Editor HARRY DEV RIES DICK- IONGKIND Composition Manager , Business Manager Published Each Wednesday Morning at Exeter, Ontario Second Class Mail Registration Number 83116. Phone 235-1331 SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Canada $20.00 Par year: U.S.A. $55.00 C.W.N.A., CLASS 'A' and `ABC' Price is paid again that will reach a staggering two billion On the basis of a tiny island and 1,80b people, the cost appears too expensive. But the battle was not merely for an island or 1,800 people, it was for a principle. Any failure to respond to the Argentineaggression could have prompted any dictator to attempt similar invasions of defenceless people without fear or conse- quences. That cost is obviously too high to pay. Unfortunately, it seems that the lesson is never totally learned, and the price of freedom must be paid periodically. Encouraging leadership Finally! There's some indication that one group of school officials in this area has started to take a hard look at some -of its expenditures. Ratepayers will welcome the decision last week by the Huron -Perth Catholic Separate School board to dispense with this year's annual staff dinner, at a sav- ing that is expected to be between $2,000 and $3,000. The social event was held annually each fall for trustees, teachers and their spouses, and consisted of a dinner and dance. The decision indicates that, unlike their counter- parts on the Huron board of education, SS trustees realize that even small cuts in a large budget add up over the course of the year and that restraint in these difficult economic times is imperative. Certainly, social events at the public's expense should be called into question at any time, but more so now when common sense, dictates that frills and perks be eliminated from all budgets. The trustees should be commended for their deci- sion and hopefully the leadership shown will spark other public bodies to follow the example and look closely at every avenue for reducing their expenditure on all but absolute necessities. l Values in disarray Our children's values are in disarray, writes Tim Bentley in the June cover story of The United Church Observer: Signs of the disarray include "frightening statistics on teenage suicides, pregnancies, VD, violence, van- dalism; theft, dropouts, drugs and booze." Who is to blame for the problem? Bentley points to parents whose television addictions teach their off- spring to value passivity, and to schools teaching com- petition and the need for economic success. The there's "the powerful, invasive force of the playground, the stores, the movies and TV, the sometimes subtle, sometimes shouted blandishments of buy -buy -buy, sex -for -sale, hit-and-run, and make - it -big, Bentley says. . He also examines the church's role in shaping young people's attitudes. The widespread perception that the church has abdicted its responsibility to teach proper values comes "partly, perhaps, because the church has had Less to say about personal morality. Partly because United Church Sunday schools... have declines ,intupeflcally since the growth p rind in the 605. Some church people are trying to take action. The church's resource person for children, Yvonne Stewart, wants to see youngsters treated justly rather than simply told to be concerned about justice for others. Stewart says children "shov down into the basement" willdraw conclusions t how important they are, and she wants to see adults listening to and acting on children's concerns. But, in the long run, according to Bentley, it's the parents who have to answer for their children's values or the lack of them. Some Christian parents have realized this and are trying to find a workable set of values between preaching at'children and saying there are no rights or wrongs. - One parent said her children know she makes mistakes, too. "That takes a lot of the pressure off us trying to be perfect. We're all together on the road. That's the real excitement for people of faith." You've escaped With the advent of computers, there's no difficulty these days in getting statistics on any subject one cares to check. The value of some statistics may. be questionable, but they're available for anyone who wants to know. For instance, you can find statistics on the most dangerous time of the day to drive (based on accident figures ). the most susceptible time of the month for suicides or family disputes. etc.. etc. However, those of us in the news business know that.the mostcritical time for natural and man-made disasters is in the time frame between the paper getting on the press and when it is actually delivered into readers" hands. • While we've never computed the number of major catastrophes that have hit the area during that critical period. ex- perience has shown that it is an extreme- ly high incidence. Last week's twister that hit west of town was a prime example. About the same time that the newspaper was rolling off the presses in London, a member of our staff was out taking pictures of the storm's path of destruction. Of course, it was too late to include those pictures in that week's paper. but many of those who saw the photographer on the beat were possibly surprised to see that no mention of the storm was includ- ed in the paper when they opened it up the following morning. It was not an isolated incident. Through the years it seems, many of the major stories which occur in the area are in that tLioe frame, regardless of whether it is the Tuesday night or when it was Wednesday 1 critical time night when the T -A was a day later in .publishing. Some of the major fires. highway colli- sions, natural disasters and even impor- tant area political decisions have occur- red in that period. leaving us one week behind in getting the news onto our pages. Naturally. we'd prefer. that those ma- jor catastrophes bypass the area entire- ly. but if they do have to happen. a small measure of consideration for our deadlines would be appreciated. However, there is some consolation for area residents. If nothing catastrophic has happened to you between 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday and when you open your paper Wednesday morning. you've passed unscathed through that critical period and chances are you can rest easy until the same time the following week. Speaking of computers. they've been programmed now so that form letters sent out to the masses can be made to ap- pear of a more personal nature. Rather than being addressed merely to householder" they now carry your name and even in various locations throughout the letter, the receiver's name can be in- cluded to convey the impression that so- meone has actually sat down and compos- ed a letter to you personally. Once in a while. though. the computer gets caught up in an error. such as the one included in a form letter sent to the Melrose Drive Church of Christ in Dallas. It ended with this exhortation: "Accept the challenge, Mr. Christ: don't waste your life in a dead-end. low•:paying job". At a time when many fairs are struggl- ing to maintain their existence. the Hen- sall Spring Fair is showing some renew- ed vigor and interest and is certainly go- ing steadfastly against the tide of decline. The new women's division helped spark some added interest this year. while the sheep show continued its phenominal growth in only its second year and, of course. the always popular calf club was just that. boosted to a ,degree by an in- teresting competition among some "senior' members who again tried their hand at finishing and showing a calf after a respite from the showring. The sheep show must' be one of the largest in Ontario and the number of ex- hibits is well beyond that which could be seen at last year's Royal Winter Fair or the Western Fair. After a period of barely holding its own, the Hensall fair is booming. no doubt bas- ed on the hard-working executive members and their supporters. Not to be out -done. the Exeter fall fair is well underway as far as preparation is concerned. and again it appears to be bucking the trend being experienced by some fairs where interest is waning. t p Ever lost your cool? I don't know where you were on the 24th of May weekend, but I know where I was. I. -was in a towering rage. Remember what a rot- ten weekend it was - cold and rainy, right through? Well, I could have taken. that. I had plenty of papers to mark: • No, it wasn't . the weather that put me in a towering rage. Have you ever lost your car keys? Well I have. Have you ever lost your cool? Well I have. Have you ever thought your wife was an idiot child, trying to drive you clean wild? And as the old song goes on... and the ' ump-dump-da-da- dump and the ump-dump- da-da-dump and so. on. (from the Thirties, called Have You Ever Seen a Dream Walking)? has it. Oh, we're not complete- ly stupid. We have two sets of car keys for the car. At least we had. So there was no real. pro- blem. Except that when we looked for the second set. they were nowhere to be found. And -my wife was the last one to use the car. And I have witnesses to prove, it. So who lost the keys. eh? At first there was no panic. They were around somewhere. After all, two sets of car keys . can't vanish into thin air. Mere- ly a matter of looking around a bit, checking her purses and other normal places she might have left them. On the drizzly. cold Sun- day. we sat' around for a while, she in her dressing gown and I in a huff.. waiting for her to remember where she had put the keys. for safekeeping. That woman has this in- furiating habit of tidying - up. 'She.puts idyingup.'She.puts things away so carefully that they don't turn up for five years. Last time it happened, it was the key to my safety deposit box with all those , gold bars and diamonds in it. We searched the house Car sitting there, chuckl- ing. Searched underneath, with flashlight. Felt behind the seats. Raked the dirt floor. Felt under the seats. No dice. No keys. By this time I was fum- ing a bit, just a little smoke coming out my Sugar and Spice Dispensed -By Smiley from stem to gudgeon. It finally cost me $25.00 to have the old lock drilled out, a new one put in, and a set of keys made. Naturally, the old one turned up later - in an empty cookie jar. But this was a little dif- ferent. There was nothing much but some old papers in my deposit box, and they could have sat there for years. But this was a car and only fairly new car'we'd ever had. At first I thought she'd dropped- the keys on her way in. Checked that. The neighbours must have thought I'd finally gone right around the bend, see- ing me out there prowling 'around the lawn. nose to the ground like an ant- eater pulling up shrubs and weeds. peering under stones. Suddenly I thought, "Somebody's found them. and stolen the car' " (Our garage, a collector's item of leaning wood and dirt floor, is about 50 feet from the house, and you can't tell at a glance whether the car is there or not). Rushed to the garage. ears, but enough for friend wife to see. She scuttled upstairs and began ?sear- ching drawers, jacket pockets, jewel boxes, even shoes, knowing her own propensity for finding a safe place: I sat down, read a book, and steamed away like a freshly -dunked lobster. "Let her search. Do her good. Damned idiot thing to do. Why can't a woman be more like a man?" By the Sunday evening, there was panic: Last time I'd lost my car keys, about 20 years ago, I'd had to have the locks drilled' out and newones installed. Cost me about $20. With in- flation, I reckoned this one would cost me over $100. I'd sit there, pretending to read, but my mind pro- bing the hiding places in the house, which were myriad. She'd sit there, trying to retrace the subterranean thinking that made her put them in a "safe" place. Then one of us would jump up. She might run to the attic, or I to the base- ment. All we ended up with, on every excursion, was bumped shins. scrat- ched wrists and further frustration. Monday, the tension was almost unbearable, as we darted about the house, up and downstairs, like an old silent movie comedy, when we were struck by another possible inspiration and checked out the grandboys' toys in theold crib, br the box with her sewing patterns in it. I know I searched the same places eight times each, and so did she. Holiday. Garage closed. No help there. But it was not all in vain. A number of things turned up, in- cluding a missing gold ear -ring and the new keys to my safety deposit box, which had gone missing a few days _before. By dinner hour, we weren't speaking; but still popping up, now wearily, to try one more place. We have a big house, which contains about 40 huge items under which a set of keys could have been kick- ed by accident. They were. all moved, slipped discs popping as we heaved out stove, fridge, chesterfield, etc. On the Tuesday morn- ing, I dolefully called a colleague for a ride to work, then called the garage, to get the bad news: car towed away, locks drilled out, new locks, new keys. I could see the bill soaring. They told me to give them the last six numbers of the car's ID number, and they could cut keys. "How long will it take?" "Have them to you in about an hour." They did, it cost peanuts, and our marriage is still viable. But it was mighty shaky there for a couple of days. And the keys haven't turn- ed up. Poltergeists' No concept of wars These are • restless times. At present there are 3 full scale wars going on - one in the Falkland islands with Britain and Argentina, another in the middle East between Israel and the PLO with a Syrian army caught in between. and still another one not far from there bet- ween Iran and Iraq. We Canadians forget constantly how well-off we are. No war has been fought on Canadian soil for almost 170 years. We're not used to seeing our friends and neighbours being shot down in told blood, or see- ing bodies being shovelled up with a bulldozer and dumped helter-skelter in- to mass graves tan ex - tremendous destruction that a few well-placed tank shells could dointhe Perspectives By Syd Fletcher perience which a' teacher recently saw when she was caught in a revolution in South America. t Most of us. other than veterans of the two World Wars and the Korean War have no concept of the ''i middle of our towns, the effect of 50 -ton tanks rumbling through our streets at night. the devastation that a single missilesuchas is being us- ed by British jets in the Falklands could have as it crashed into one of our local arenas as it was packed for a hockey game. Sound far-fetched? Not really. In Ireland such things are common occur- rences where children are brought up to hate other religions, where babies are raised hearing cons- tant curses of other creeds. Something that we might consider. Many of the weapons that are be- ing used to kill people in other parts of the world, are being built right here in Canada Perhaps that 'generosity\might be used against us some day.