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Times -Advocate, August 31, 1983
Times Established 1873
Advocate Established 1881
Amalgamated 1924
Serving South Huron, North Middlesex
& North Lambton Since 1873
Published by J.W. Eedy Publications Limited
LORNE EEDY
Publisher
JIM BECKETT
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 215-1331
SUBSCRIPTION RATES:
Canada $21.00 Per year; U.S.A. $56.00
C.W.N.A., O.C.N.A. CLASS 'A' and 'ABC'
Noticeable absentee
People who reach marriage or longevity
milestones are usually showered with best wishes from
friends and neighbors, while at the same time many
of those occasions are marked by greetings from pro-
vincial and federal leaders. There's even a message
from the Queen for those who hit some anniversaries
or birthdays of note.
One noticeable absentee in the list of con-
gratulatory messages from official sources is that of
the local municipality.
To our knowledge, no area municipality has a
policy whereby greetings are extended to the
celebrants on an official basis. Perhaps they've steered
clear of the practice because they are less "political"
than the provincial and federal elected representatives
who instituted the messages initially for some hope of
vote -getting. It is now a practices that is less tainted
from that stand -point.
Perhaps municipalities should take their place in
extending congratulations to residents who reach
significant milestones. One recent.celebrant noted her
disappointment over the situation, so we pass the
message along for the consideration of area council
members.
Just think of how many pot -holes, stray dogs and
property tax increases some one has endured during
the long climb to the age of 90 or 100. Perhaps it is worth
some small token of congratulations!
Do as we say
A couple of months ago Finance Minister Marc
Lalonde was extremely critical of employers in the
Nova Scotia construction industry after they signed a
contract which gave the province's pipefitters a
12 -percent annual inctease over a four-year period. In
light of the government's famed six -and -five restraint
program, Lalonde threatened to withhold federal
grants from any province which allowed such high
settlements.
Ian Sinclair, chairman of Canadian Pacific Enter-
prises, this county's biggest corporation, was ap-
pointed to head the government's restraint program
committee, a body set up to help enforce the six -and -
five formula. He appeared on television several times
to discuss the vital need for restraint and the danger
that improving economic conditions might rekindle the
fires of uncontrolled inflation.
It would appear that Mr. Sinclair is something less
than sincere in his public stance. A few weeks ago one
of CPE's subsidiaries, CIP Incorporated, allowed its
forestry workers an increase of 23.2 percent over two
years. Defending the settlement, Sinclair said that CIP
management tried to get the union to accept lower
wage increases but "it was impossible to break the
well-established pattern."
In other words, "Do as I say, not as 1 do."
Pay to be frightened
There has to be something strange about people
who will pay good money to be frightened. Sounds
crazy but it's a living fact.
Just listen to the advertising for some of the cur-
rent movies and TV programs. "Death Ship - A Holi-
day in Hell". "The last sound you hear will be your own
screams of terror", and so on. Week after week these
grisly offerings in the name of entertainment are thrust
upon our consciousness - and more importantly, into
the awareness of impressionable children.
You need not suppose that the film makers are
misjudging the public's appetite for horror. The invest-
ment in such films is stupendous, so it is obvious the
public is paying handsomely to be scared stiff. The
money taken in at the nation's box offices is all the pro-
of they need.
There is obviously something in human nature
which is fascinated by suffering and death. Otherwise
the shoot -from -the -hip cowboy epics would not have
survived in all their violent vividness for 50 to 60 years.
Books written about the Donnelly murders at Lucan
more than 100 years ago have been appearing with
regularity for several decades and the number of peo-
ple visiting the cemetery to gaze at the Donnelly tomb-
stone made it necessary to remove and hide that
marker.
Perhaps this fascination with terror and violent
death applies only to fiction. Would the same numbers
of spectators be equally thrilled by films which would
truthfully depict guerrilla soldiers massacring inno-
cent Indian women and children in Central America?
Would they get a kick out of films shot in the death
camps at Belsen and Dachau?
Wingham Times -Advocate
Short time to savor the effort
Dont look now, but the summer of '83
is about to come to an end!
Area students will he returning to the
various halls of learning and numerous
groups will be hack into their fall ac-
tivities after the summer hiatus
However, judging from the busy
schedule that many area residents have
undertaken during the summer, it may be
that fall will signal a bit of a rest.
The weather has been unusually kind
for holidayers and outdoor activities, with
farming one of the few exceptions to that
situation.
Now that the Zurich Bean Festival has
been written into the history books for
another year, all the area communities
have staged their summer celebrations
and there is little doubt that the list of
those has been extended considerably this
year.
in fact, my cohorts note that there was
only one weekend during the past nine on
which there Wasn't some special activity
staged somewhere in the area. No doubt
someone will move to fill that void before
the summer season returns again.
,. .
Judging from the disappointing crowds
at the recent sand castle building com-
petition at Grand Bend, several of our
readers were not in attendance and pro-
bably have some misconceptions as to the
work involved in creating the works of art
that resulted.
I must admit to being in that category
before,attending the competition,
althougpictures from the first event a
year earlier had provided ample indica-
tion that some measure of planning and
work was involved.
That turned out to he an under-
statement.
The teams actually spend about the
}
first hour of the competition in shovelling
the sand into huge piles and carrying an
almost endless number of buckets of
water from the lake to turn the grains of
sand into a manageable compound for
their artistic efforts
In fact, the team headed by architect
4,0g�' �';Y Fi r x�
BATT'N
AROUND
with the editor
John Brock spent over two hours in Satur-
day's competition building a huge pile of
sand and their area was impressive from
the sheer number of tools they had on
hand. What they did with a cross -cut saw
was not witnessed, but it was there ready
for use.
The large shovels and buckets finally
gave way to more intricate carving equip-
ment and sprayers as the works of art
started to take shape and required some
considerable expertise. A dropor two too
many washed away the sandwhile one
or two too few resulted in the sculpture be-
ing too dry and crumbling.
it only took a few minutes after the
edging to recognize that sand is certain-
ly in the category of a renewable resource
when it comes to castle building. The
creations were quickly crumbling into
non-descript piles of sand and by now the
beach will have consumed them totally.
While the material rewards from their
efforts will remain, the sand artists cer-
tainly have a very brief fling with the
satisfaction and elation that come from
looking on their creations
Although it hardly falls into the
category of a summer celebration, the an-
nual (Tops Update session held at Cen-
tralia College is one of the -events which
some farmers mark religiously on their
calendars. 1 nfortunately. it would appear
that many do not and thereby deny
themselves an opportunity to see the
results of the Various trials conducted in
an effort to improve their cropping
practices.
WedneAday's event was of interest as
well from the aspect of the sharp con-
trasts in the equipment displays. At one
end of the trial plots was a display by
several area equipment dealers and in-
cluded in it were some of the massive
tractors and harvesting equipment with
which we in this area are quite familiar.
At the other end, the College staff
displayed the machinery used in planting
and harvesting the plots, as well as some
of the equipment by which the various
chemicals are applied.
A resident of Lilliput would have felt
right at home adrnidst the miniature farm
atmosphere that prevails on a test farm.
The benefits of the research work are
certainly not miniature, of course, as they
set the stage for the advancement of new
varieties, chemicals, and cropping
procedures.
The success of the work undertaken. of
course, is in communicating the results to
farmers so they can act upon the results
of the experiments.
That so few avail themselves of the op-
portunity to see the results first hand and
talk to the experts is a bit difficult to
understand at a time when farmers are
said to be in such troubled conditions and
needing all the help they can get to im-
prove their financial position.
rifle nT N Kill—
"My
" My biggest fear is of being rescued!"
Light, but with weight
It's still too Banged hot
and dry to get steamed up
about anything, it you can
figure out that mangled
metaphor, so I'm gc. .g to
give you something light,
yet not without weight.
This came to me via
Jack Ryan, who clipped it -
from someone who had
reprinted it from the
newsletter of the English
equivalent of the
Workmen's Compensation
Board. Therefore, it's at
least fourth hand, but I'm
sure it will tickle the
risibilities of any person
who has ever had to deal
with the civil service,
whether it be Revenue
Canada, the County Weed
Commission, or the
Sewage Committee of the
Town Council.
It's a bricklayer's
report for compensation
for an accident. It might
be entitled Poor Planning.
Here it goes:
"Dear Sir: I am writing
in response to your re-
quest for additional infor-
mation in Block 3 of the
accident reporting form. I
put "Poor Planning" as
the cause of my accident.
You said in your letter
that I should explain more
fully and I trust that the
following details will be
sufficient.
"I am a bricklayer by
trade. On the day of the
accident, I was working
alone on the roof of a new
six -storey building. When
I completed my work, I
discovered that I had
about 500 pounds of brick
left over. Rather than
carry them down by hand,
I decided to lower them in
a barrel by using a pulley.
which, fortunately, was
attached to the side of the
building at the sixth floor.
"Securing the rope at
ground level, I went up to
the roof, swung the barrel
out and loaded the bricks
Sugar
and Spice
Dispensed By Smiley
into it. Then I went back to
the ground and untied it
slightly to insure the slow
descent of the 500 pounds
of bricks. You will note in
Block 11 or the accident
form that my weight is 135
pounds.
"Needless to say, I was
jerked off my feet so sud-
denly that i forgot to let go
of the rope. Due to my sur-
pl;ise, I proceeded at a
rather rapid rate up the
side of the building.
"In the vicinity of the
third floor, I met the
hazard, which was now
proceeding in a downward
direction at an equally im-
pressive rate of speed.
This explairs the frac-
tured shoulder.
"Slowed only slightly. I
continued my rapid as-
cent, not stopping until the
two fingers of my right
hand were knuckled deep
into the pulley which I
mentioned in paragraph 2
of this correspondence.
"Fortunately, by this
time, i had regained my
presence (1f mind and was
able to hold tightly to the
rope, in spite ofthe ex-
cruciating pain 1 was now
beginning to experience.
"At approximately the
same time, however, the
barrel of bricks hit the
ground - and the bottom
fell out of the barrel. Now,
devoid of the weight of the
bricks, the barrel weighed
approximately 50 pounds.
"I refer you again to my
weight in block 11. As you
might imagine, I began a
rapid descent down the
side of the building.
"In the vicinity of the
third floor, I met the bar-
rel coming up. This ac-
counts for the two frac-
tured ankles, broken tooth
and severe laceration of
my legs and lower body.
"Here my luck began to
change slightly. The en-
counter seemed to slow
me enough to lessen my
injuries when i fell into the
pile of bricks and, for-
tunately, only three
vertebrae were cracked.
"I am sorry to report,
however, that as I lay
there on the pile of bricks
in pain, unable to move,
and watching the empty
barrel six stories above
me, 1 again lost my mind
and let go of the rope.
"Sincerely XYZ."
i know that Workmen's
Compensation Boards get
stories like this, and even
more fanciful, but they're
a hardnosed fot, and I
hope this bricklayer got
full compensation, and
was out moonlighting on a
construction job two
weeks later, purely for his
imagination.
We have a pretty good
social assistance system
in Canada, one of the best
in the world, even though
I'm one of the "Middle-
class" who get stuck for
most of it.
There aren't too many
people really hungry in
this country. There are
very few people who can't
get medical attention
when they need it. We talk
about a "poverty level" in
this country that would be
riches to most of the peo-
ple in the so-called Third
World.
I was talking to my son
the other night, swatting
mosquitoes in the back
yard. He's lived in a dic-
tatorship. i've fought
against one.
We talked about the best
place in the world to live.
We don't always, even
often, agree. -
But w decided,
unanimously, that
Canada, despite its
vagaries of politics,
economy, and weather,
was just about the fist
choice in the world to be
born, recreate, find a de-
cent living, raise a family,
and die. Without someone
breathing down your neck
every minute.
i think I'll stick around,
as long as The Lord lets
me. Where else can you
feel morally superior to a
vast nation next door to
you?
Let's put up a fight
' About a month ago i was
talking to an uncle of mine
who lives in Acton (they
call it Halton Hills now)
and mentioned to him that
they were catching a lot of
salmon now in Lake
Huron. He said, "Yeah but
you can't eat them can
you? All that pollution and
stuff?"
"Come on now," i
replied. "You've been liv-
ing down near Lake On-
tario for too long." i
remember how as a lad'
that Lake Ontario, in par-
ticular the Burlington
Beach, had always been
polluted, largely from the
heavy industry of
Hamilton, but Lake
Huron? Why it was as
pure as you could wish.
We'd never had any pro-
blems swimming at 1pper-
wash, the Pinery or Grand
Bend. Now down at Corun-
na in the St. Clair River
you could understand it
with the Chemical Valley
right there, but up along
the west bank of Lake
really wonder what is be-
ing done. A whole ministry
is set up by the Ontario
government (and the
federal ), to monitor this
Perspectives
By Syd Fletcher
Huron. Never! 1 as much
as laughed in his face.
Famous last words, eh?
Since 1 talked to him the
beaches along that strand
were all closed down for
awhile.
What irks me is that so
much attention is sup-
posedly being paid to the
environment and yet you
sort of thing and then all at
once, bang! the beaches
are closed down. No
previous warning and then
when it is announced there
are some pretty weak ex-
planations given out.
You know I could accept
this business about faecal
bacteria (from sewage) at
one point but no longer.
Every small town around
now has its own sewage
system. Precious little can
be seeping into the lake.
No, i can't buy that
explanation.
. The culprits in this case
have to be the big com-
panies who open the pipes
at night into the rivers and
lakes the same way they
turn up the waste fires at
night blowing the junk
straight up into the sky
when nobody can see it.
It's time we put a few
teeth into our monitoring
systems. Let's catch these
characters in the act and
prosecute them to the
limit. Make them pay the
bill for cleaning up their
trash.
Let's put up a fight
before we lose everything
that is good about our
natural environment!