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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1989-01-18, Page 4Page 4 Times -Advocate, January 18, 1989 Times Established 1871 Advocate Established 1881 Amalgamated 19/4 CD/ BLUE RIBBON AWARD 1985 Published Each Wednesday Morning at Exeter, Ontario, NOM 1S0 Second Class Mail Registration Number 0386. Phone 519.235-1331 ROSS HAUGH Editor HARRY DEVRIES (±9A CCN. BM BECKETT Publisher & Adsertising Manager DON SMITH Composition Mmiger Business Manager SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Canada: $25.00 Per year; U.S.A. $65.00 Crossover at Victoria and Main This editorial is being written to correct an error which ap- peared on last week's front page regarding the installation of flash- ing overhead pedestrian crossover signs on Main street. Council has approved the purchase of the necessary equipment to be installed at the busy intersection of Main and Victor- ia streets and not at Wellington as the ar- ticle indicated. - Town officials didn't have much choice in this issue. While traffic lights would be the ideal solution to traffic congestion at this cor- ner, especially when hundreds of public school children use this location four times a day, traffic from the side streets doesn't appear to be high enough. The Ministry of Transportakion has a minimum number for traffic which crosses a main intersection before they will approve grants for traffic lights and a number of counts have failed to, hit the required figure. As one councillor said at the January 3 meeting of council, " If we can't get traf- fic lights, crossover lights are our only alternative before someone gets hurt." There are pedestrian crossing signs now at the Main and Victoria corner, but are not heeded by very many motorists. With the flashing lights to be up and in action in the near future, the possibility of someone being hit should be reduced. Hundreds of public school students use this intersection•four times a day. There has also been a suggestion that traffic lights at Main and Wellington which is one intersection farther to the north would slow down traffic for the busy Main and Victoria intersection. With traffic flowing slowly enough through town on a Friday night, it would probably add to the congestion by having traffic possibly stopping at two consecu- tive comers within seconds. Extreme caution will be needed from area drivers until they get accustomed to look for the flashing lights and know they are required by law to stop. , By Ross Haugh No favourites This newspaper has been criti- cized several times recently regarding our coverage of certain events which have led to charges being laid by local police. We published the news stories without mentioning the names of the people in- volved causing some readers to accuse us of showing favoritism. One person sent an ,unsigned letter asking "can money or position buy silence from our Exeter Po- lice as well as the local paper?" The answer is "no". Exeter police chie ' Larry Hardy will release the name of a person accused of a crime only after the person has been ar- raigned before a Justice of the Peace. In most cases this doesn't happen be- cause the accused is usually released with a promise to appear in court where the Our son may never visit us again, after his experience last week. The visit began auspiciously enough. Son, daughter-in-law Debbie (yes, her name is Debbie Reynolds) and three-year-old Jessica arrived about noon, bringing pipe tobacco for Don, and Estee Lauder perfume for inc. - Everything proccced normally, until our daughter-in-law sug- gested we pay a visit to the goats in the barn. That set off a chain of events that would have been more appropriate in an SCTV script than in thc serene home setting inhabited by the "Kippen klutz". (That's me.) Scene one. In the barn. Visi- tors stumble onto an unexpected sight. Two newborn kids arc ly- ing in one of the pens - cold, miserable, and alone. A discreet lifting of tails soon pinpoints the mother, a young goat who has never had kids before. Scene two. While i go for some old cloths to give the babies a rub -down, Don asks his son for assistance in removing some of thc floor covering so he can close off a pen and tum it into a maternity ward. names of most adults are available to the public. The Times -Advocate is one of the few weekly newspapers who invest time and effort to provide court coverage. We publish all the information we can get lo- cally and we also do our best to provide information of local interest regardless of where a trial may be held. In recent weeks we have been on the re- ceiving end of angry comments for not publishing and for publishing court ac- tivities. . We believe reporting what happens in our courts is an important duty for any newspaper. To ignore events where charges have been laid and where a trial has been held is cheating our readers of information they deserve. By Jim Beckett another day Scene two. Yuppie son, dressed in expensive leather coat, handknit touque and fa- ther's rubber boots, pitchfork in hand, muttering to himself "I didn't drive all thc way from Reynold's Rap by Yvonne Reynolds Mississauga to shovel $%*@Q¢!" (Translation: goat manure.) Scene three. Back in cosy farm kitchen. Mother (that's also me) stands between counter and open dooj of dishwasher. Takes purposeful step straight ahead. Scene four. Mother sprawled full length on kitchen floor, too winded to say anything. Spends next five minutes catching breath and experimenting to sec if knee still works. Scene five. Son in from barn, anticipating steak dinner. Notes that dishwasher door will no longer close. Gets father's Phil- lips screwdriver, lies down on kitchen floor in spot recently va- cated by mother, and proceeds to take said door apart. Stands up grasping twisted strips of metal, and heads for vise. Scene six: Son returns, puts door back together. Tests door. It closes, albeit reluctantly. Son opcns door. New downward slant now allows bottom dishrack to roll out like a highspeed trol- leycar. Son shrugs, explains he just fixes, doesn't rebuild. SccrI -seven. Father in from barn. Steaks broiling away mer- rily in convection oven. Mother pushes start button on microwave to cook vegetables. Kitchen is plunges into darkness. Father headsfor basement to reset cir- cuit breaker. Scene eight. Everyone relaxes around the dinner table. Time for apple pie and coffee. Mother picks up carafe, aims at first cup. Everyone leaps back as hot brown stream hits table. Top was not put on properly. Order finally restored. Father leans back and says,."Son, this is just an ordinary day in life with your mother." Curtain. Serving South Huron, North Middlesex & North Lambton Since 1873 Published by J.W. Eedy Publications Limited Interesting look back We recently received a copy of the Times Advocate of July 17, 1930 from local barber Gerry Smith and found some interesting items. First of all , our current pub- lisher and advertising manager Jim Beckett would be pleased to know about 80 percent of the front page was taken up by ad- vertising. Two of the ads were political. Preparing for a federal election, a rally for Liberal candidate Thom- as McMillan was called for the Opera House and leader of the Conservative party the Honoura- ble R.B. Bennett was going to speak at Victoria Park. The other large advertisements o,n the front page of the eight - page paper were for general mer- chants Jones and May along with Traquair and Lindenfield in the hardware business. The Jones and May special that week was men's suits at $10 each. Harvey and Harvey Gro- cers were advertising corn flakes at three boxes for 24 ccnts, pure cane granulated sugar at 10 pounds for 51 cents, Mac's cookies at 15 cents a dozen and a fly swatter sold for nine cents. The big news in the town was whether the PUC would extend #0, From the ; editor's disk by El Ross Haugh the water system for residential use at cost of about $20,000. At that time the PUC's water works system was for fire protection and commercial purposes only. The only sports story appeared on thc front page and reported Exeter defeating Hcnsall 7-1 in a playoff baseball game. Players were identified only by last names and most are familiar to this writer. On the Exctcr team were Medd, Berry, Creech, Dundas, Fahner, Q Fletcher, Ficht and the Ticman brothers. We believe they were Mervyn and Eugene. Hcnsall players were Brintnell, Rennie, Gascho, Scruton, Nicol, Kerslake, Joynt, Passmore and the Horton brothers. The four doctors practicing in town at that time were Weekes, Dunlop, Fletcher and Browning and Dr. Harvey Cowen was list- ed as a dental surgeon in Dash- wood three days a week and the other three days in Zurich. We remember making our first trip to thc dentist to Dr. Cowen's office in the Hartleib Block in Dashwood about 54 years ago. Included in the Dashwood, Kirkton and Crediton news col- umns were requests from Cana- dian Canners in Exeter for " 25 or 30 women to leave town for one month's work at the canning factory starting in August". in the markets report, wheat was selling at 90 cents a bushel, creamery butter was 33 ccnts a pound and large eggs were going at 22 cents per dpzen. One-wav to Rio It happens every year. in mid January winter closes in on me. I ---g Aired of the cold, tired of the snow, tired of the short daylight hours. And I get the itch to travel where it is warm, bright, and ex- pensive. "Just think of it', I said to Eliz- abeth the other day, "right now - while we're shivering in our par- kas - people are watcrskiing in Acapulco, strolling along the straw market in Nassau, and put- ting on their suntan lotion in Rio de Janeiro." "You can put•on your skis and f your suntan lotion right outside our front door," said Elizabeth. "It's not the same as going south, " I said, "I need a break from winter. I need to get away." "Why don't we go on a little ski trip?" Elizabeth loves down- hill skiing. The kids say they want to learn it. I like skiing, too, but not the hilly kind. The idea of racing down a ski slope gives me no thrill at all. On the contrary, it gives me the willies. I prefer to follow a fairly level trail, get a good workout, and re- lax after the exercise with a cup of hot chocolate or a glass of mulled wine. "I want to go south, " I said. "Why don't we compromise? We'll go to thc Calabogic Peaks," Elizabeth suggested, "They're south of here. You can do some cross-country, and i'II rent some downhill equipment for the kids?" I was going to protest that Ca- labogic was not far enough south, that 20 km south was no compromise, whcn I had 2,000 km in mind, that i didn't like cross-country skiing alone, and that I really wanted to go to Fort 1.auderdalc. But the kids were already ex- cited. I didn't want to be a PETER'S POINT • by Pctcx Hesscl spoil -sport, and I went along. i did what Elizabeth had suggest- ed. I went on a cross-country trail and left Elizabeth with the kids. After I had done my duty, I went into the lodge to get a hot chocolate and a donut. i expect- ed that Elizabeth and the kids would meet me there when it got dark. To my surprise, i found them waiting for me in the lodge. "What happened"? I asked, "Let's not talk about it," Eliza- beth fumed, "let's just get to the car and drive home. I've had it." I got the story in bits and piec- es over the next few hours. Eliz- abeth had spent a small fortune outfitting everybody with rental skis and boots. On the way to the learning arca, Alexander had made fun of Stephanie. in turn she had poked Alexlandcr with a pole. in spite of Elizabeth's -warning, Alexander had speared Stephanie, bringing her to her knees. It appears that Elizabeth had lost not only hcr cool, but also hcr balance. The only one to escape completely intact was Duncan, who had bravely plod- ded along, never opening his mouth, just shaking his head at the feuding going on around him. Yes, if I hadn't been so nega- tive about the whole thing, maybe the kids would have be- haved better.If I would have been around, at least to encour- age everybody, or to keep them in line, or just to be there, every- one would now be happily going ' up and down, up and down, smiling and having fun. But be- cause of me, our trip south had turned into an unmitigated disas- ter. I'm going to call John at the lo- cal travel agency to book a flight to Rio de Janeiro. yes, John, for one. John, one way.