HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1975-08-21, Page 15zzles to please people
prove popular parttime
By Chris Zdeb
William James Argent is a 69-
r -old who io les to play games. A
n his age playing games! Some
'people snort, but these individuals
are the most likely. to fail in their
attempts to solve one of Mr.
Argent's puzzles. or brain twisters.
The native of Clinton, who now
resides in Toronto, was back for
Centennial staying with his sister
Mrs. Mary Epps. Now with all those
people in town, how did the News -
Record manage to spot Mr. Argent?
it wasn't very .difficult really, you
lust had to look for a group of kids
working feverishly to put a pyramid
of blocks together or trying to
separate a series of interlinked
chains and sure enough. right in the
middle of it would be James Argent.
"When I come across someone
interested in trying one of the
puzzles, I start off showing him that
it can be done by doing it myself. As
an incentive, I tell him that if he can
solve it in a minute's time or less, he
can keep it."
"One' in every one hundred- people
stoves the puzzle," he said, but for
the most part, they try and try fo
figure out the secret of the game
only to walk awayin frustration."
Mr. Agent admits to being as
human as the next person because
generally speaking, he can't solve a
new puzzle he comes across on his
first try—and so it has been since he
first carne across the key puzzle,
which he claims dates back to 1923.
"I was living on Princess Street in
Clinton at the time and was walking
by the house of old Mr. Alexander
who was in his 90`s.
"He was sitting . out an his
veranda. and when he saw me
walking by he yelled, 'Come here
son and see if you can separate these
two metal wire shapes.'
"I couldn't do it but he showed me
how it was done and then gave it to
me."
Mr. Argent now, has between eight
and 10 puzzle games which he has
picked up in magic and novelty
stores, and a few he has dreamed up
himself like the Airport Puzzle.
"It works on the principle of
Chinese Checkers and you have to
end up with one of the holes empty."
He said he gets a kick out of
watching people trying to solve his
games andds that they have also ,
helped him in the field of teaching.
A retired lunibr high school
teacher who is still called upon for
supply teaching, Mr. Argent said the
puzzles give kids, who finished their
assigned work early, something to
do.
"A kid will come up to me and say,
"I'm finished my protect sir, what
can I do now?' and if I've got nothing
else up my sleeve but my arm, I give
him one of the puzzles to work on.
"When he finds he can't solve it,
he'll ask if I'm a magician, but most
so-called magic is lust a knowledge
Of science."
While teaching science, Mr.
Aargent also acted as his own agent'
selling . teaching materials. "The
publications, were designed to
East meets West in Ba
challenge the exceptional childr�...
and were doing quite well several
years ago. Now, teaching stresses a •
"do your own thing" philosophy.
There's no standardization, so there
is no interest in Catalogues showing
the .latest in teaching aids," he said.
The father of two has since
resigned himself to producing
horticultural booklets.
"I've produced booklets for nine
horticultural «societies counting ,
those in Owen Sound and North
York," he said.
Mr. Argent also has his hand into
gardening but his first love is his
puzzles.
"Try this Gee-Haw-Wimblediti or
Yip Stick," he says with a twinkle in
his eye. "You lust rub thispen along. fs
the _teeth cut into this stick with a
propeller attached to its end and tell
it which way you want it to rotate.
"Or how about this truth cube.
You` hold this string vertically and a
wooden cube moves along it. You
ask it, a question and if the cube
stays at the top of the string, the
answer is no; if it falls to the bott
of the string, the answer is a define
yes; and If it stops in the centre o
-the string, the :anter is maybe.
'.And what about the Golfer's
Dilemma,' he challenges.
You try them all and if you're
average you fain to- solve any of
them. By this time you feel that you.......,
have the 1.Q. of a pea brain but when
you see the next guy struggling for
the same solutions, you find you're
not the only one - thank goodness.
'field
as part of Lions exchange
By Chris Zdeb
Stepping into Bayfield must have been
like stepping into' an uncrowded -very
uncrowded, for Oku Kaneko, a 16 -year-old
girl who calls Osaka home, a Japanese city
of eight million people. -
Over the last six weeks Kaneko, (`in
Japan the family name preceeds a per-
son's given name), has been the guest of
Jack and Joan Merner as part of the Lions
International Youth Exchange Program:
Armed with an ever-present Japanese -
English Dctionary. Kaneko consented to
an interview with the News -Record.
And for soineotie who really had no idea
of what Canada would hold in store. the
Japanese teenager has come to some
startling observations of Canadians based
on the ple of Bayfield.
In s mfnary, Canadians are friendly;
have much trust in their fellow men that
they don't bother to lock up their homes
when they go out during the day; and on
the negative side are terribly wasteful of
their water.
"Canadians change their bathtub water
with each person who takes a bath," she
said, while , in Japan the water is not
changed until everyone in the house has
bathed in it.
She also noticed that people here don't
bother to fake their shoes off when they
enter their homes.
"In Japan no one ever walks outside in
their barefeet but that is -the only way they
will enter their homes..'
With regards to women's apparel,
Kaneko said she found the Japanese
women to be more gracious and modest in
their dress.
You rarely see a Japanese woman's
thigh -shorts are unheard of and most wear
midi length skirts.
The Japanese way of life seems to
conflict with the life-style of the Western
world, but Kaneko did point out that there
were similarities.
Her house is made of cement but the
majority of homes are built of woad.
Although the dwellings have no basements
they do have upper floors and three
bedrooms are more of a rule than an ex-
ception.
in the way of food, Kanako's hostess,
Joan Merner said she found her guest
preferred vegetables especially potatoes.
and showed very little appetite for meat.
"It could have something to do with the
fact that a pound of beef in Japan sells for
$1$-$14 a pound and that she doesn't eat it
very often," Mrs. Merner said.
She also found that Kanako's intake was
very small and that she exercised alter her
mea"Come to think of it, I've never seen a
picture of a fat Oriental."
One thug outstandingly different bet-
ween Canadians and the Japanese is the
stress that is Aced on learning.
"Kanako told us that she goes to school
six days a week with Sunday off," Mrs.
Merner said. Her school day begins at R in
• the morning and continues until four in the
afternoon at which time the students
concentrate on extracurricular activities,
until 7.
Mrs. Merner continued that Kaneko had
' said that she stayed up until 2 a.m. each
night working on her studies.
One would wonder how she could find
time for socializing. but Kaneko said that
she does have a boyfriend, Whether he
becomes the fellow she will eventually
marry or not. Kanako is decided that her
honeymoon destination will be Niagara
Faits, tale of the sights she visited during
her stay in Canada.
But as thrilled as she was with her ex-
prrence at the Falls, Kaneko showed a
definite dislike for life in ,the great out-
doors.
Sleeping out in a tent with the bugs biting
at you is no picnic in her opinion.
bn, , the other hand, one of the things
Canadian ' youth would find most
distressing in Japan is to learn that the
legal . age for drinking. smoking and even
driving is 19.
As Kaneko returns home, many people
must be puzzled by the idea of how anyone
could live in a city teeming with eight
million people, especially if they live in a
village of 500.
As the saying goes however, one man`s
culture is another man's hardship.
"Are you going to pass next year?" Maybe is the answer ac- Matcolm's (left) question, Kelly Colquhoun and Brenda Butler
cording to the truth cube as William Argent solves Kim (right) look on. (News -Record photo)
•
•
...��v�.,.'�i..'�YY+Y"YA..4.+r.+"N...."hr../I''M4rw"�v...."M►.r"M./7phs+�1.'�Mw1NrY.+.'�►.r'MM41441M.
One of Japan's fairer blossoms, Oltu Kaneko, came to Bayfield
on a Lions International Youth Exchange Program, Although
she said she enjoyed the Village where everyone she met
greeted her with a hello, Kaneko added she was looking for-
ward to returning home. Running along the side e • he picture
is the way Kanek;o's name is written in Japan( •e. (News -
Record photo)
1