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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1987-10-21, Page 4Page 4 Times -Advocate, October 21, 1987 Times Established 1873 Advocate Established 1881 Amalgamated 1924 imes Published Each Wednesday Morning at Exeter, Ontario, NOM 1S0 Second Class Mail Registration Number 0386. r Phone 519-235-1331 • �a J +►CNA LORNE EEDY Publisher JIM BECKETT Advertising Manager Bill BATTEN - Editor HARRY DEVRIES Composition Manager ROSS HAUGH Assistant Editor DICK JONGKIND Business Manager SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Canada: $25.00 Per year; U.S.A. $65.00 C.W.N.A., O.C.N.A. CLASS 'A' Local rabies clinic It's that time of year again when some pet owners decide to get their an- nual rabies shots for their pet. The .phrase "some pet owners" should become "all pet owners" as the rabies disease can and does kill. In most instances of the dreaded disease in this province it has been limited to animals, but humans certainly can become affected. -Pet owners are reminded that special low cost rabies vaccination clinics will be held Saturday, November 7 at most veterinary clinics in Huron County. In this immediate area, veterinarians at the Exeter Animal Hospital and the South Huron Veterinary Clinic in Zurich will have their needles ready for all dogs, cats and any other animal you may have. The clinics are sponsored by the Huron Health Unit in co-operation with county veterinarians. The cost per animal is only $7. That's a real bargain when you think of the consequences. Rabies has been a very serious pro- blem in Ontario for more than 30 years and the counties of -southern Ontario have had a greater number of rabies cases than any other counties in -the province and also the highest concentration of animal rabies in all of North America. During the past two years there was a- 165 percent increase in animal rabies from 2,124 in 1985 to 3;507 last year. In 1985 a near -record 2,150 persons were treated for rabies exposure and the next year that number had' jumped by an in- credible 196 percent to 4,212. Rabies incidents- have increased as has knowledge of the disease yet an average of only 40 percent of dogs and 15 percent of cats in Ontario are immuniz- ed against rabies. In recent years the number of rabid cats has exceeded the number of rabid dogs by about 50 percent and more than half of human exposures come from contact with dogs and cats. Dr. • Gary Baldson of the Exeter Animal Hospital has verified the above statistics saying, "At the last blitz we treated close to 300 animals and we thought we were busy, but that was only getting to the tip of the iceberg. There are umpteen numbers of dogs and cats w never see." ` If someone has been exposed to t e rabies virus which is transmitted thro the rabid animal's saliva by a bite or con- tact with a cut the cost for vaccine treat- ment is $400. That -makes the $6 per shot available November 7 throughout Huron a real bargain. Take your pets in now or as soon as possible for the necessary shots. Refloat tuna plant In these troubled times of labor disputes and controversy it is refreshing to note that at least in one case, manage- ment and union . seem united in their cause. In this instance, such effort ap- pears ready to refloat the scuttled Star- Kist tuna plant in New Brunswick. In a joint news release last week, the company and the union said the plant will reopen within a few weeks, as the workers have ratified a contract which will see them take a 10 percent cut in pay for the first five months of the agree- ment. The plant closed two years ago after it was learned that the federal fisheries minister at that time, John Fraser, had_okayed the sale of tuna his inspectors had found unfit for human consumption. - Faced with the alternative, some - might consider the union's concession as one of having no other choice. Never- theless, it is a wise decision and one not generally to comequickly from the labour front which more often than not opts for stubborn refusal to make any concessions in spite of being all too clear- ly confronted with the prospect of putting. the company - on which its members de- pend for their livelihood over the economic brink to closing. Star-Kist, too, is not to be overlook- ed for its sensible approach. Under the terms of the two-year agreement, the wage cut will apply only to the first five months, when the company . will be testing new equipment and procedures. Once production starts, the workers' wages will increase by 13 percent - a full three percent more than they were receiving when the plant was closed. Another three -percent increase is possi- ble during the final year, but depends on product quality for its enactment. The new contract which paved the way for the reopening was ratified by more than 80 percent of the workers. They and the negotiators who brought about the agreement are to be commended. Wingham ,.dvance Times t 's a common word Alzheimer's Disease has become a common word on peo- ple's lips during the last four or five years. We' have come to realize that it, can take people even in their forties in its iron ' grip and gradually destroy their minds and bodies. I read of a well-known surgeon who was afflicted with it at the age of fifty-five. He diagnosed in himself as he found himself even forgetting the name of his wife of thirty years, quit the profession at which he has been -an expert, and within several years had to • be kept in a nursing home where he now no longer even recognizes his wife. My uncle has this illness and is slowly wasting away. No longer does he know m. ether who played golf with "►i just a few • short summers • is body has deteriorated to the point where he no longer is able to control its basic functions and essentially he has regressed to being a child in By the Way by Fletcher an adult body as the mind and brain gradually disintegrate. That picture, of course, is a horrifying one for all adults. We value our ability to think far more than any other capacity. Sight and learning can go but it is so important to be able to plan our daily lives and to remember things which have happened in the past. Even more terrible though is a little know disease - called `fugiosidosis'. (That is a reasonable approximation of the spelling). It affects small children in much the same way as Alzheirtler's. It isn't con- tagious and as iv as I know there are only about 150 cases known in the world. - The child gradually deteriorates mentally and physically. The ability to speak, to think, to walk; all disappear and eventually the child dies. The sad part of it is that the process takes as long as ten years or even more with no hope for the child to improve. - If you have healthy happy children, treasure • them. Somebody else w iuId pay all that they have to enjoy that blessing. Serving South Huron, North Middlesex & North Lambti n Since 1873 Published by J.W. Eedy Publications Limited A night at the symphony Wednesday night we had the pleasure of attending an Or- chestra London concert for the first time. Being basically a sports fan with nota lot of interest in music it was a/great experience and we will ost likely be going back aga • T ere are many similarities be een athletes and symphony or hestra musicians. When we arrived at our seats about 25 minutes early some 25 of the 70 -plus ` musicians were on stage and every minute or two they were joined by a couple more who began going through their pre -concert warmups quite similar to pre -game workouts in most sports. During the concert, all musi- cians probably put as much or more effort into their work as any' sports person would. - Their intensity was at a high level and this was clearly' ex- emplified by conductor Alexis Hauser. He went through his duties with continuous actions at a rapid clip and was certainly im- pressive. We have never seen a sports manager or coach work as hard. It was interesting to learn a day after the concert from our good friend Bev Brown who is the driv- ing force behind the Huron Homemakers that symphony or- chestra leaders live longer than persons in anyother occupation. If exercise of your cardio- vascular muscles leads to a longer life than we are sure Bev is right. Alexis Hauser, a native of Vien- na has been conductor and music director of Orchestra London since 1981 and has been credited with the dramaticdevelopment between the United States and of his group. British North America and lasted The Toronto Star recently described Orchestra London as "one of the most improved sym- phonic ensembles in the country." The next concerts in the Or- chestra London series- schedule will be Wednesday and Thursday, November 25 and 26 when a sym- by Ross Haugh phony _ series of traditional classics will be presented. Sharon Dale of Exeter is ad- ministrative assistant with Or- chestra London and we owe her our thanks for assisting in our attendance. * * * * * * . We have a favourite saying which we attribute to Kingfish on the old-time Amos 'n' Andy radio show which was popular when we -were growing up. "If it ain't one thing it's the same thing" was the favourite saying of Kingfish who was the leader of the Mystic Knights of the Sea Lodge. In that context the current con- troversy on free trade is quite similar to situations which ex-' isted twice before. The first in- stance of free trade which at that time was called reciprocity ac- tually ended the year before Con- federation in 1967. The first reciprocity deal was • from 1854 to 1866. At that time Canada was still a collection of British colonies. The agreement was ended by the United States government that was just victorious in theCivil War and was sure all European colonies in North American would become part of the American political union. Taking over the Russian colony became fact as the U.S. bought Alaska in March of 1867, but the hopes of the government of the United States didn't come true as Canada was born on Jury 1 of the same year. The next time the free trade issue came to a boiling point was in 1911 and Sir Robert Borden and the opposition Conservatives were dead -set against it. Talks in those days were started by U.S. president Howard Taft who proposed the two coun- tries establish mutual free lists for the decrease of all tariffs against each other's main farm prdducts including grains, fish, fruits, livestock and lumber. The proposals seemed to be popular with Canadian farmers, but when Sir Wilfrid Laurier tried to introduce them into Parlia- ment, the same type of opposition broke loose as we are experienc- ing now. -The majority Liberal governe- ment was wiped out in the September 21, 1911 election main- ly because of the reciprocity issue. Maybe our present federal government should read their Canadian history books before they get too exicted about their apparent very early free trade policy win. Solve parking column When Elizabeth says that I could lose my car in our own driveway, she is exaggerating. I've never done that. But until very recently I was having problems in parking lots. Not so much at the local mall. It is small enough for me to retrieve the car fairly quickly, even though it usually ends up on the wrong side. The lot at the big regional mall wasn't that bad either. For years I've parked in the same spot there. If my spot was occupied, I'd circle for a while until it became vacant. The time and gas I wasted before shopping I made up for when I'came out loaded with parcels. Yes, I can find my spot in that parking lot backwards and blindfolded. In less familiar places, though, the situation was often ridiculous and downright embarrassing. I picked up an overseas visitot'at the airport one day. Now this guy had never set foot on North American soil before. After we had walked around with his lug- gage for about fifteen minutes, he led me to my car after I describ- ed it to him. And once in the winter I almost froze to death at another airport *because I wasn't dressed for a blizzard; and -my car search had taken longer than usual. . My very special hell was hav- • ing to go into a really big parking lot with umpteen levels, stair- ways, elevators and ramps. It ' didn't matter where I parked. If I left the car in the blue area of level B, it ended up in the orange area of level D. If I distinctly remembered Lot 1, street level I'd find it after a half-hour search in Lot 2, second basement. Once I walked around the entire Eaton's Centre complex in Toronto hoping to find the en- trance I had used to drive in. I finally waited until after mid- night, when only about 100 cars PETER'S POINT • were left. Using an intricate system involving pebbles and breadcrumbs, I found my buggy in a most unlikely spot. I think my car is too average, just a medium-sized, ordinary North American four -cylinder, beige with dirty overtones..Every second car in every parking lot in the country fits that description. I have considered trading it in for a fire -engine red Porsche or a 1927 Packard, but I don't like ostentation. And don't tell me to read the licence plate numbers. I -am one of the world's foremost authorities on licence plates. 1 study them,'memorize them and make up words for the three= letter combinations. I've seen them all. But I can never find mine. Last week I got lost (again) at theSears lot. I am convinced that I entered the store at the men's wear department, because I noticed how chintzy the sports • jackets looked. Naturally I head- ed out the same way after spen- ding my money. But they had hid- den the ugly jackets and replac- ed them with handsome Harris tweeds. And they had moved the entire men's wear department to the opposite side of the building, leading me to the wrong parking area. Those of you who have seen me driving through town lately know that I have solved my problem. With unusual ingenuity I have constructed a contraption on the roof of my car that will save me many hours of frustration. I did not apply for a patent, and if you experience similar difficulties in parking lots, you may contact me for free advice. On a light -weight aluminum frame - painted day -glow pink - is mounted the secret weapon that I can activate with a little elec- tronic device. As soon as I step in- to a parking lot after yet another shopping spree, I reach for the holster attached to my belt, whip out a remote control and press button L. Instantly a 1000 -Watt search beam begins to circle on my car roof. If I still don't see my car (in bright, daylight or when it is obstructed by buildings), I press button W which releases a blood- curdling sound half -way between the whining of an approaching ar- tillery shell and the howl of a crazed coyote. If this spectacle of light and sound should ever fail to guide me to my car, there is always button X. Sorry, I cannot divulge public- ly what happens when I press the ultimate button - .Just let me say: I hope I'll never have to use it. t. 4 A