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Times -Advocate, July 6, 1983
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
JIM BECKE'TT
Advertising Manager
BILL BATTEN
Editor
HARRY DEVRIES
Composition Manager
ROSS HAUGH
Assistant Editor
DICK JONGKIND
Business Manager
Published Each Wednesday Morning at Exeter, Ontario
- Second Class Mail Registration Number 0386.
Phone 235-1331
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Provincial police in Middlesex, Oxford and Elgin
counties hauled a total of 1,503 vehicles off to the side
of the road in a seven-day period recently to administer
roadside breathalizer tests.
Marty of those drivers may have been slightly miff-
ed at the inconvepience of the situation, but in reality
they should have been happy to oblige.
The result of the random tests was that 93 of those
1,503 drivers were taken off the road. Forty were subse-
quently charged with impaired driving and another 53
were given 12 -hour suspensions. .
The remaining 1,410 drivers were allowed to con-
tinue their travels and had the consolation of knowing
that the chances of meeting up with an impaired driver
were greatly diminished.
"You might say there were 93 accidents waiting
to happen and we got there before they occurred,"
commented one of the officers involved in the
crackdown which was implemented due to an inor-
dinate number of fatal and serious injury accidents in
the three -county area since the beginning of the year.
A total of 26 people were killed in 21 motor vehicle
accidents in the first six months of the year and 67 per-
cent of the deadly crashes were related to alcohol
abuse.
The crackdown will continue until there is an ap-
preciable reduction in the rate of alcohol related
BLUE
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1980
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BLUE
RIBBON
AWARD
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accidents.
For the 26 people who have died, the crackdown
has come too late to save them and the innocent vic-
tims, at least those who survived, must wonder why
the action wasn't taken.sooner to make the highways
a s fer place and as free as possible from those who
rk the lives of others by drinking before getting
ehind the steering wheels of their vehicles.
The fact is that most people who drink have at one
time or another driven on the gamble that they could
get to 'their intended destination safely and without
police detection. Once accomplished, the feat is tried
again and again.
Once they recognize that the odds are against them
escaping police detection, a large number will aban-
don the gamble.
In th" case in point, the 93 drivers who were caught
will probably think twice before repeating the offence.
Another real advantage is that the other 1,410 will
recognize the fact that they could bestopped again and
so they too will think twice before drinking and then
,driving.
In that regard, it may be fair to assume that the
crackdown prevented many more than 93 accidents oc-
curring and the police action should continue until such
time as all drinking drivers realize the odds against
detection are too great on which to gamble.
Divide and conquer
Divide and conquer could aptly describe the situa-
tion that appears to be developing in the agriculture
sector of Ontario.
At farm meetings, the most common subjects
discussed are Bill C653 regarding farm credit and the
provincial government's proposed 100 percent farm tax
rebate.
The latter is tearing apart the approximately
25,000 member Ontario Federation of Agriculture.
Grumblings have been heard from some corners
that when agriculture minister Dennis Timbrell and
deputy minister Duncan Allen came into office they
didn't like having to face this strong agriculture lob-
by group. It has been suggested the proposed farm tax
rebate is one tool being used to fracture the OFA.
•
Whether the intention was deliberate or not, while
the OFAs executive have accepted the proposal many
"grassroot" members have been adamantly opposed
to the idea.
The crunch I come in July as at the OFAs mon-
thly meeting i' or nto, the opinions of the members
will be hear . when individual counties indicate the
reaction to the 'farm tax rebate. In Huron a vote was
taken earlier this year when the majority of 800
farmers turned down the proposal. In Perth, the
general feeling is one of acceptance, but members are
being contacted for their opinions.
Whatever happens at the July meeting, farmers
should accept the final outcome and support the OFA
in its strong lobbying efforts.
"Divided we fall, united we stand."
Glad to let Syd relive youth
There's often a danger in indicating a
desire to return to "the good, old days"
and one of the most recent victims of
that is Grand Bend Public School prin-
cipal Syd Fletcher.
Syd, who writes a weekly column adja-
cent to this one, was remembering the
hard work of his youth in assisting on the
family farm in the annual haying opera-
tion ..nd he learned that something has
been lost from those days when the whole
family had a part in bringing in the year's
crop.
lie referred to the "pure slugging" in-
volved in taking the bales off the baler and
stacking them high on the wagon and then
stumbling through the barn loft piling the
bales as they dropped off the elevator. •
Having spent a recent weekend involv-
ed in just such an activity. I can assure
Syd it is not totally a lost art, and I have
the aches and pains to back up that
contention.
In six weeks, or so. the second cut is
coming off the field and in the interest of
allowing Syd to return to the gratifying
feeling of the exhaustion which sets in
after the last Toad is put in the loft (it hits
me shortly after the first hale) I'm going
to allow him to take my place.
No excuses now. Syd, it's your oppor-
tunity to regain that "something" that has',
been lost from the days of your youth.
• • • • •
Syd's, column probably brought back
memories (not so fond for those who have
realistic memories) of the haying chores
for many of our readers.
While balers that throw the bales onto
wagons now take much of the work out of
the task, our forefathers weren't very..Or
behind in designing methods to reduce the
human labor.
•
One of the annual pleasures of summer
at Winchelsea washeadingover to Uncle
Wib's nearby farm to watch the haying
operation. While many a load had been
built by men pitching the hay onto the
BATT'N
AROUND
with the editor
wagons by hand, that method -gave way
to the use of those giant hay -loaders which
moved along the windrows and picked up
the hay and carried it up its Tong expanse
to be dropped onto the wagon with some
steering assistance from a man on the
load.
Rope slings were placed on the wagons'
and the load was divided into sections,
each section having its own sling.
The wagon was then taken into the barn
loft and each sling in turn was hooked on-
to a pulley system. A horse was then hook-
ed onto the system and slowly walked
down the gangway until the sling loaded
with hay reached the top of the barn.
A mechanism then carried it across the
loft and it was swung into its desired spot
and tripped to fall to its intended location.
One of the most exciting aspects for the
youthful viewers was in watching Uncle
Wib take the wagon out of the barn loft.
The horses, of course. had been unhitch-
ed -and the wagon pushed to the edge.of
the gangway and started to roll down the
incline.
Unclg Iib was hanging onto the the
tongue and steering as the wagon picked
•
up speed in its descent and his short legs
had all they could do to keep up until he
reached that point where he quickly turn-
ed the tongue and sent the wagon freely
on its way to end up in a vacant spot amid
the trees, fences, parked vehicles and
Aunt Lulu's flower bed.'
It was a sixth sense that never failed
him, although it aka), constituted the
excitement of a thrill show for those of us
who spent the sheltered days of our youth
in Winchelsea.
Well, actually there were other exciting
things that went on in Winchelsea, but
that's a story best left untold...or at least
delayed until fall kindles memories of leaf
houses.
• • • • *
One aspect of haying that remains con-
sistent through the years is the
dependence on weather conditions, and
this year's harvest for many was a
welcome respite from the tribulations of
last season when frequent rains turned
the chore into a headache.
This year's long dry spell was welcom-
ed by those who had hay to get in, but they
were certainly operating at cross-
purposes with other farmers who wanted
rain for grain, beans and corn crops that
were suffering from lack of moisture.
There are those who would like to con-
trol the weather, but they probably
haven't taken time to consider the
ramifications of such a task. No matter
what they produced, it wotildn't suit
everydne, and the chance of even attain-
ing the wish of the majority would pro-
bably be difficult.
Can you imagine sitting on a commit-
tee responsible for establishing the
weather for any given area on any given
day? No thanks!
c
"She's out helping Lalonde stimulate the•economy with her charge card."
Belong or get out
I am a very divided
character. That used to be
called mixed-up. This
week, I had planned to
come out flatly and make
a lot of new enemies and
new friends by taking a
stand on the Cruise
missile and, maybe a little
shot at abortion.
But my Cruise thing got
all mixed up' with the
Fourth St. Fusiliers
fightingtown hall, and I
madene remark at a din-
ner party which began
such an abortion fight bet-
ween two old friends, that
I got scared and retreated
into my carapace to write
about something we all
agree on: the weather.
The weather is lousy.
You can write that at
almost any time of the
year in Canada and make
friends. It's too hot or too
cold. There's too much
rain or not enough. There
was no fall and now
there's no spring.
O.K. That • dispenses
with the weather.
Now, I was going to say
that we should test the
Cruise missiles in Canada,
which the U.S. is going to
ask us to do, despite all the
mealy-mouthed evasions
of our P.M. and our
Foreign affairs man,
MacEachin, perhaps the
only man in the govern-
ment who can out -mealy
the P.M.
My argument was to go
something like this. After
all, we are a member of
NATO to which we pro-
vide planes that crash,
tanks that you couldn't sell
to Afghanistan, rusty, ob-
solete ships, and as little of
ournational budget as
possible.
But if you belong to a
military alliance, you
belong or get out. You
can't be a little bit preg-
nant. So let's give the
�1.
Sugar
and Spice
Dispensed By Smiley
retold a snippet ftlom a
novel I'd read, in which a
hunter shoots a pregnant
antelope, tears out the
fetus, and eats it raw,
claiming, "It's the hest
part of the meat."
Next thing I knew I was
Yanks something we have
lots of - wide, open spaces
- and let them test their lit-
tle monsters.
Then the local town
engineer came up with a
plan to rebuild my street,
and I swung right around.
His plan included cutting
down a dozen magnificent
maples (the press report
said "removing several.
old trees"; would you say
a dozen was several?, and
removing a sidewalk
where many children
play.)
The hell with it, I said.
Let the Yanks use their
own wide open spaces to
test missiles; and let the
town engineer cut down all
the trees around his own
lot.
I was equally prepared
to leap fearlessly into the
abortion fray; abortion is
necessary, but not
necessarily abortion. We
had some people in for a
roast beef dinner the other
night, and 1 casually
sitting between two ladies,
making like a tennis spec-
tator as the abortion ball
flew back and forth bet-
ween them until the only
thing I could offer was
some rare roast beef.
So. I'll have to push
those topics off for a bit
until I am not emotionally
involved.
Anyway, it's nicer to
deal with peuple than
ideas. The people may be
a little crazy, but when
you mix people and ideas,
you have insanity.
Many people have
answered my request to
"drop a line." David and
Ivy Enns of Dalemead,
Alta., are fed up to the
ears with what they call
Bureaucratic B.S.
They've been fighting
Revenue Canada for three
years over tax refunds.
"Yes, we have found it is
vary hard to find any
honest men. We have been
trying to find our nine
honest people; unfor-
tunately we- have not
succeeded."
Jean Groom reads me in
the Dutton Advance. She
and her sisters apparent-
ly had a crush on former
editor Herb Campbell.
when they were kids.
"Back to your last column
- "A Dispirited Corpse" -
which really hit the nail on
the head...Jack (her hus-
band) goes up the wall
when the forces are men-
tioned on T.V. or in the
papers. i'he sight of
Trudeau is enough to raise
his blood pressure to the
limit...We can understand
why your brother has left
Canada in disgust over the
mess the forces are in."
Mrs. Groom's letter is
warm and friendly and so
nice that I would blush to
repeat some of what she
says.
Incidentally, that col-
umn brought more mail
and phone calls, and
angry, but not at me, than
any for a long time.
And another pleasant
letter • from Myrtle
Holmen of Wayne, Alta.,
concerning my column
"To Bee or Not to Bee" in
which I suggested,
somewhat tongue in
cheek, that humans could
learn a lot from the bees
and the ants. "Your daily
pattern of the human race
sounds so glum and
uninteresting. A person's
life and attitude make a
difference in whatever
they are doing." I agree. I
was just trying to wake
people up a bit who insist
on living in self-made
cells.
Lunch still in place
My sailing experience
has been somewhat
limited. Once I helped lift
up •a tarp to propel our
canoe across an Algonquin
Park lake when the wind
was in the right direction,
and another time I found I
could steer a pretty mean
course with the paddle
boats at Storybook
Gardens, but I'm afraid
I'm not really qualified to
sail the Bluenose yet.
Therefore I was a little
nervous when 1 got. the
chance to sail on one of the
yachts at Grand Bend.
After all, I got seasick
ridingon the "Octopus" at
the
Forest Fair. What
would happen when we
started bouncing up and
down over the bounding
main? Amidstthe scorn of
my fellow teachers who
the boat was heeled over
nicely 1 found that 1 was
thoroughly enjoying
Perspectives
had alsi been invited on
the expedition I opted for
a `gravol pill' fifteen
minutes before we left.
Amazing though. Even
though the wind was up to
about 10 knots (how's that
for natural language) and
By Syd Fletcher
« ..s
myself. There was a
tremendous sensation of
speed even though the
speed gauge only
registered between 6 and
7 knots (about 8 miles an
• hour for you landlubbers).
Though the water was a
bit choppy aI couldn't
believe how solid the boat
felt. The skipper said that
there was over two tons of
lead in the keel so that
even if the boat was
knocked down by a wild
blast of wind that it would
• always right itself. Very
reassuring. An hour out
from shore and one of my
fellow novices whispered,
"Got any more of those
pills?"
• Great stuff, -that
'gravol'. Everybody made
it back to shore, lunch still
firmly in place. Would you
believe, still in place?
And as for sailing, I've
become a believer. A fan-
tasic sport !