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HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1976-01-08, Page 13It's no wonder the ordinary man has little faith in politicians anymore in light of recent events in Canada and 'especially the United. States: But the height of ridiculousness is, the recent display by the -Qntario Progressive Conservative government in closing down the Goderich Psychiatric Hospital, and the rumored closing of the Clinton and Exeter Public Hospitals strickly on the basis,there is no member sitting on the government 'side" of the house in Huron -Middlesex. It seems, or so rumor has it, that it :'would be much easier and simpler to close a hospital in a non-government riding,. than to face the tirades of a sitting government member. The Toronto Tories have showed complete lack of responsibility in closing down the Goderich Psychiatric Hospital for strickty political reasons, with no thought of the damage it will do, or even whether it makes any sense. Nearly 300 people will be walking the streets in March •as the result of the government's silly whim. "We'll dose down a hospital or two, just -4o show the p!lifics people of -Ontario .we're cutting our health budget," was probably,' the way the conversation went at a Tory cabinet meeting recently. No sensibte,.theught- Was given to the dozens `of other ways of cutting down Ontario's $3 billion health bctcfget. For instance, how about charging a mtniurn levy to every who sees doctor to a monthly maximum of say $10, thus eliminating all those who run to their nearest doctor with a sniffle or a hang nail? Or why not force more doctors to use the Home Care system for those who aren't critically sick, freeing up expensive hospital beds for those who really need them? For too long, the prevailing attitude in Ontario by both the= beneraVpublic and the health professions has been one of "the government will pay for it." Well, WE ARE the government, and we're sure paying for it. There are many other cost cutting procedures available too, many that could be implemented before it became necessary to close smaller hospitals which are an intregal part of the communities they serve. Vioieoce on 'te:Ievisi'ofl Violence on television often sparks the most . violent of debates . when discussed by ordinary viewers, claims the United Church. People, deRending. on their viewpoint, damn i -t, ignore it or insist it has .no long-term effect on our lives. However, recently, an eminent. Canaclian,man ,of letters, Dr. Nor.$hrop 'Frye 'of Toronto, has advanced the theory, which we suggest has some validity, that it is not the act of violence itself which is always wrong, but the enjoyment of watching -- and thereby participating in -• an act of violence. in fact, suggests Professor Frye, some of the acts of violence which were • portrayed through our television screen actually have had civilizing and positive effect on the public. An illustration of this would be the way in wihch the reporting of the real horror and evil • of the Vietnam war did so much to bring the average American to hate that war, instead of becoming complacent or inured to it. Violence is a real part of our society. We live in no paradise and to ignore it, ' or • anything else that is dehumanizing, is to live like the proverbial ostrich. Newsmen in all the media have a duty to report violence whenever it occurs and so do creative novelists, dramatists and television producers. The reporting itself becomes violent when it is slanted by headlines or overdone by dramatists so that people see violence as an acceptable option. Yet the prevalence of violence is part. of the unpleasant reality of life today and the only way that concerned people can fight it, whether it be in the streets or on the battlefield, is to know what it is and to take courage by facing that reality. The' enjoyment of violence for the sake of violence is a sick reaction but to demand that the acknowledgment of its existence be legislated from our television screens is to deny reality. It would also make it more difficult to strive for a more humane, more' peaceful and, eventually, less violent society. On the other hand, to 'inflict programs of violence upon children can have deep consequences on their lives, say some experts. Parents and concerned citizens could do more to end violence -for entertainment than any censor by expressing their disgust and horror at such television by refusing to watch it and by refusing to purchase . any of the products manufactured by its sponsors. That is the most effective form of censorship. . 044 I ira=tea: 'm worried about 'Melvin --- his snow -blower came back without him." The Jack Scott Colurnn in Trouble u, --there I nee -d -your advice. My wife and I are having one.of our rare feuds. It is a case of trouble in paradise. This time I flatly refuse to admit that I ata --in the wrong. I will put it all clown here quietly and calmly and wonderingly :in the hope that you will rush to my rescue,.with yOurcounsel. ' Well, then, We have just had our first week in "Four Winds," the mountain cabin we rented for the ski season. While everything else has .worked out wonderfully, our marital relations have come under well nigh unbearable strain. Trouble is that my wife is an impeccable and, indeed, relentless housewife; From the first moment in residence I knew that a crisis lay ahead. It arrived on the third day. I knew it was inevitable because. you see, a considerable part of my youth was spent in precisely such cabins. Cleanliness and apple-pie order were not only unthinkable. as I recall it, but impossible,' indeed, a basic appeal of the life was its casualness, its absence of regimen, its messy informality. During our first three days I kept bleating this in- formation to my wife. "Don't try to beat it," as I recall, were my exact words on more than one "occasion. They went unheeded. She tried to beat it. Any of you who have -ever spent time in a mountain cabin will know how hopeless it is to be tidy with yourselves and all those visitors in a single room that serves as kitchen, parlor. dining room and dormitory. There's an endless tracking back and forth from skiing, not to mention the traffic in packing in wood and the snow that is the source of our water supply. There are 18,000 garments to be dried. There are . puddles from wet boots. The stove casts a patina of fine ash whenever a lid is lifted to feed it new fuel. The clutter accumulates in a truly astonishing manner. just as I'd fondly remembered it from Velars ago. Yet my wife persisted, nobly and uncomplaining. to tryto keep ahead of it. a performance which had my nerve ends • rawly exposed. She even went to the trouble of preparing regular meats while 1 protested in vain that alt that was required was tv`N open a can. 1 lived for years in mountain cabins on a diet consisting entirety of Hedlund's Meat Balls and, to tell you the truth, I pined for thein. It was the mention of this, I believe, that really began the strain. Over the casserole that .had taken her so long to prepare. I noted the first disfiguring, narrowing of the eyes which, as every husband knows, presages Trouble. The very next day I made my fatal move. My wife was down on her knees, washing away the' result of my removal of the ashes, when 1 took her gently by the arm, propelled her with -genuine solicitude to the nearest bunk and pressed her. in a most kindly way. upon, the sleeping bag. I gave her a novel, opened at the first page, and made my historic announcement: "From now on, you are a pampered guest here. I witl..do everything, the cleaning up and the cooking, and I will do it as I did it so long ago." . As I got down the•can of meat balls I'd brought along for just this purpose 1 was thinking to myself. "Really. Jack, you are the perfect husband. a real paragon." These self-congratulatory thoughts were interrupted by a distant thunder. It was my wife. refusing to he Quee>for a Day. Before you knew it the were at it. as the saying goes, hammer and tongs. The issue still remains to be settled. She is hurt t am aggrieved. The skiing is terrible" And so I ask you; gentle reader. how.is this impasse to be solved? Isn't it obvious that my wife is entirely at fault'' 1 eagerly await your verdict. From our early files.. 10YEARS AGO January 13, 19$6 Need an ambulance? Call 524- 8576. Raiph Hawes has two cars available, and four men on call to staff them. His home base is Goderich and be will come as soon as possible - just don't ex- pect miracles. There are two ambulances in Seaford). no doubt as ailable to people in the Clinton area. Sugar and Spice/BY Bill Smiley Harkey madness We are well into another season of what passes these days for that once -thrilling Canadian sport of hockey. • Far more interesting than being a spectator at games will be watching from the sidelines some renewed and deter- mined attempts to decrease the potential mayhem in the former sport" As any intelligent eight-year-old knows. hockey is no longer a sport. it is an en- tertainment. superior to professional wrestling in this department only because it is faster, bloodier. and most of the par ticipants, though not all. are not fat and middle-aged. Some are fat and ,young. Some are also middteaged, Some are old enough to be grandfathers. And 80 per cent of the so-called athletes in this new form of Grand Guignol vaudeville are grossly over- paid. A few 'discerning sports writers. and .a good many former fans of the game. are sick at heart over what has happened to what was once. -the ' fastest and most thrilling game on earth. The great majority of the so-called fans. however, along with most sports writers. and nearly alit of management. deride any attempt to restore' the skills and thrills of what used to be the most &kiilfu and thrill ful sport of them all -- professional ,hockey. • Perhaps that Is because the current erop of fans consists of yahoos looking for blood, the sports writers are sycophants looking f an angle, and the owners are stupid. as -they haye always be+fin, looking only for a bttek. Many rate. Ontario has a ne Attor y= 1.4 General. -Roy McMurtry. a former athlete of some ability, and he is determined to stamp out the viciousness that has turned pro hockey into a Roman circus. He had the appalling audacity to declare publicity that assault and battery on the ice would he treated the same as it is on the streets, with a criminal charge. He took the unparalleled step of putting cops in the arenas!.and laying charges .against the goons who try to decapitate"an opponent st ith a stick. or emerge from a spearing duel with the 'enemy's guts wrapped around the point of their sticks. McMurtryis making political hay out of it. hut I. and a host of others. don't care. and say: ''Go to 11. boy. ' As expected. his edicts have been greeted ce ith hoots of scorn by the yahoos. the sycophants and the manipulators. ()r as Variety. the showbiz magazine. might put its in one of its succinct tY�iczattl ltitrs "HOCK JOCKS MOCK SOCKS." Tran- slated. that would mean th€tlioekey'people make fun of any attempt to stop the fighting and violence in the game. ' Solidly behind MCM•tifiry. however. is a majority of the peoplere't`notely interested in the game: the better sports writers. who have seat it go steadily downhill: kids who want to play hockey for fun, without being terrorized: parents of kids who play. hockey: real fans of the game, who have seen -their favorite sport turned into 'a carnage of clowns. Surely even the robber barons of hockey. the owners, with, their 10th century men- tality, can see the handwriting on the waril large and clear. The ga,ltaai' is gOing down The Clinton Fair moved ahead. into its 112th year on Tuesday night when directors elected John T. Van Egmond. president. ,ucceeding Frank Falconer. Mr. VanEgmond takes office while the fair rests securely with $403.88 in the bank. Jim Taylor. Exeter. was named 1966 chairman Monday night by the Advisory Vocational i ommittee of Central Huron Secondary School. William the drain. • Let me give some frinstances. When I was a youth, our town had a Junior A team. Ttiey played it fast and tough and clean. The referees jumped on slashing. spearing. hoarding. kneeing. Fights were infregnent- In a town of 4:000.lthere were -1.500 at every game. A hundred cars would accompany the fans to play-off games 50 miles away. Today. I live in a town of 11.000. which boasts a pretty' fair Junior 13 team. The crowds at games run around two or three hundred" Hockey Night In Canada used to bind this whole nation together. from radio days well into television- Its -ratings have dropped disitstrously- What's happened A lot of things. First. the quality has gone down and the price has, • gone up` That's a no -no in any business. Sixty per cent of the pros today couldn't • have made a Fair -to -middling senior amateur team 15 years ago. Arena owners, egged on by greedy players 'and those parasites. their agents. have hoisted the cost of tickets to, the potrnt where ticket scalpers are committing suicide But -most inmportant of ail. the sheer s icrt,usness of today's game, with its Nazi storm trooper techniques.. its open support of ''int 'ten idol ion". its appalling message far young players that violence heats skill and sijei d.• has made a great segment. of read fans, turn their back ti on it in disgust. When the players are all millionaires. and the arenas are half empty. Maybe the morons Who control the sport will get the message- - ' Hearn. Ctinton.•is vice-chairman. At the opening of Monday night's first , general meeting of Clinton town council, Mayor Don Symons read his inaugural ad- dress. The mayor stressed nine projects that he would like to see accomplished in the coming year. They are. 11 continuation of reconstruction of Highway 4. 2) promotion of a new arena 31 off- street parking 41 an active participation in promoting Huron County Del elopment 5) con- tinuation of our uniform street lighting , 6) ' a centennial, celebration for 1967 71 an ex- tensive study into proper plan- ning and toning 8) replacing of sidewalks and installation of new sidewalks in certain sections 9) industrial development and expansion. Employment in Goderich and throughout most of Huron County generally remained good during the month of December. following a trend set earlier in the year. Figures re -teased by C.M Jut'ras, manager of the National Employment Service at Goderich reveal that at the end • of December 1965 there were 389 applicants registered for em ployinent :against 494 at the end of thee period in 1964 25 YEARS AG© January 11. 1951 A oeteran .it the gob- A F Cudmnre was re-elected chair- man of ("Tinton Public Hoard at the inaugural meeting held in the school Thursday evening last Entering his 32nd year on either the Hoard of- Education or the Public School Hoard. Mr Cudmnre is commencing his ninth'year as chairman. WO A A hockey teams %caring the colours of Clinton 1"tuns Club captured the double header in the new Goderich Memorial Arena. from the Goderich Lions teams. Tuesday e4 ening The Midgets squeezed through with a 4.3 o tetory. while the Bantams. under Stewart Taylor's guidance won 5-1 Dr 1 H Shaw. Calinton's �e'teran practitioner, calls at tendon to the fart Hiat a new course fur assistant nur'es is heginning at once at Clanton Public Hospital with girls from 18 to 35 years of age eligible The course lasts one year with a certificate -awarded at the end of the cnurue. with the prio ilege of remaining on•the staff rife Huron County Health Unit presented a food Handlers (continued on page A ) Pear Editor, In my tetter' to you of last' week concerning cable TV I referred to Huron Cabje TV' rather -than Bluewater Cable TV and wish ,to 'correct this error, This `error does pot alter the importance of any subscriber who is not satisfied with the present poor reception on` local Cable TV to write a letter to the Cunsutner Alert Committee in care of Box 16 Clinton News Record, 'Clin- ton, Ontario. In this letter you should also object to the ;18 a year raise being asked for by Bluewater Cable per customer. If you are not satisfied with the present reception why pay more for it. These letters must be received no later than January 12 as they must be presented at the C. R .T.C. hearing in Toronto on January 13. A small donation in your letter to 'the Com-. mittee would be appreciated to defray expenses. James Durnin Goderich Relinquish Dear !r'ditor: My sister.' Mrs. J P. Griffin. has received your notification that her sub- scription to the News -Record is shortly to expire. We have 'always enjoyed t paper and looked forward to ceiving ,it each week. Howe r, there comes a time when onehas to relinquish some - thin and we have done just that ince we have come to this se or citizens' residence. Therefore. we have • cided to discontinue the Ws - Record, at least for t present. We congratulate you on the _ fine editorials. and certainly the coverage of the Cen- tennial events was most in- teresting. Thank you for the prompt service in the past. Good wishes for the future. Yours very truly. (Miss) Katie M. Govier for Mrs. J.P. Griffin. Toronto. Birds Dear Editor: We thought some people might be interested in the outcome of our first monthly census of the wild hird population. Thefollowing is a break- down of species and number reported for the month of December. - 1975: Es ening Grosbeaks. 31. Cardinal,. 16: Brown Headed Cowbirds, 37 : English Starlings. 1�7 0: English Sparrows. 253 Goldfinches 8: Black Capped Chica-dees. 30. White Breasted Nuthatches. 10: and Blue Jays. 20. Six Hairy Woodpeckers were reported. 12 Downy Woodpeckers, one Great Horned Owl: one Cooper' s Hawk: one Red Tailed Hawk: one Boreal Chicadtt-- 1,..I)ark Eyed Juncos. one Field Sparrow: eight Tree Spa oevs and one laid Breasted Nuthatch. We would sincerely like to thanks the following con - tribladors: Mrs" Evelyn Olde, Mrs" Erma Hartley. Mrs. Mildred McAdam: Mrs. Florence Pullen. and Mr A. Matheson. We hope to hear from them again and possibly others. at the end of January. Grace awl Sam Castle. Clinton lfrentwr. thttat)e Nrrklr Nems seer •umoelat hilt The Clintezn sews -tie rd tri pubiibed eat Thursday at Clinton t;ntattn. Canada It is registered ale sasnnd crass Mail by the }arm nacre larder the permit nor ober 0807 TT<' ",grim -fate d iasnrprcrated on 1921 the ltu: nn \eu .Iletnret rounded 13 data and tt;e• (`tint to New Erafounded in Qiif:1 Total etreutattan.ia-2,7511 %fr 121CWi. t *nights* t`Eanntert1tt lettsipry1, user Isnot t�.•paa. , rribsiti,* rate. statNit►tr «iii nitwit. tt. AO hit *lite t"artt %i t 1!ffrctite 00. 1. 19"5, Editor • James E. Fitzzgeratst 0 Advertising directit4r • Gary L. Hoist General Manager • J. Howard Aitken -News staff • glees Clark Subscription Rates: Ganadi - $11 per year U.S.A. - S12.Sa Singlet copy • .2Sc