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HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1976-02-05, Page 4hn ,eflt as it is, toted,.h !, been, t, on from some rh riOeneral public, , but " cul ' from provincial ould' Eike. to threw. most other .Into what they f lPoe county: conn, {for the most part, have waved ners of autonomy and have with ,all' their might against' change. moi. The Wingharn Advance -Times heartily agrees that reg or s..as they have Seem, most .of them thus w 'far established. need a much longer and more careful.look. However, there.are some facets of county administration which need, overhauling and it would behoove councillors to modernize their procedures • while there is still time. One of the most vulnerable 'customs is the way in—which wardens are elected -- not because the warden wields to rriuch influence, but rather brecause the post seems to be so highly sou ht after. Many y counties still elect et's save democracg While most Canadians find their Spending habits, lifestyles and future increasingly under restraint from the pressuresof inflation and spiralling cost -of -living no such restrictions are evident in our.. federal civil service, says the United Church. Indeed, with a present list of more than 250,000' Canada's bureaucracy has increased 44 percent since 1966 and 'between 1969 and 1975 the number ,earning 000 -a -year jumped'1,300 percent from 1,225 to 16,868. The' days of dedicated men and women have rapidly been replaced with people who now kllw that the best place to make a good living- is Ottawa. Unless the control of Canadia decision-making, ranging from ternal affairs to fisheries, is returned to the Parliament of Canada and the civil service curbed and returned to implementing, rather than forming O. ttradens /each. year° by an open W vote a show of hands which. makes it 'clear to every aspirant tor the office dust where: he gets support or op, Position. For this, reason the Oa. for backers may start two or three years before any give' reeve intends to run "dor the wardership* The .entire' exercise becomes a mutual' back,scratchiing effort; "I'll say this, Jim. You support fine when 1 lobby . for, the new wing on the county home and VW Can rCot.pitt on my vote for you u: in the Wardenship race next year." That sort of thing. Yoe will hardly ever get a county councillor- to admit it, but that's the way it works:. For yea's many counties took turns electing their .wardens by party af- filiation — a. t.iberat this year and a - Tory next. Other counties gave turn about to the urban municipaiities and the rural townships. Those- practices have been largely dropped as being unsuited to county politics. Now it's time for the secret ballot. *Idles, the entire democratic process will be endangered by an enormous, secretive and usually unaccountable bureaucracy which exists for its own service and not, that of the country. Something has snapped in the machinery of governor Members of,'Pariiarn but they also feel the face of .su combined wit civil serva governor aorta insi t and most t willadmit it erless to stop it in faceless numbers, a . nagging fear that the nay be right -- perhaps t is too complex for mere and only mandarins have the t to rule. is may be, but until • Canadians are prepared to abrogate democracy for buraaliflracy, then we suggest that Parliament spend some of its next sessions, both in committee and in the House of Commons, examining the role of its servants. , The role is still -to serve; and not to rule. 5u90ar and Spice By Bill Smiler Getting old Holy Ole Moly, I must be getting on! Just walked in the door. picked up the mail, and there was an invitation to a retirement party for Pete Hvidsten, publisher of the Pori Perry weekly newspaper. Say it isn't so, Pete! Per (Pete) Hvidsten is a friend of more, than a quarter of a century, but it seems only yesterday that he and I were the life of the party, waltzing the girls off their feet, watching the dawn came up as we sat in the bow of one of the old passenger steamers sailing up the St. Lawrence, while everybody else, including the very young, had gone to bed. This retirement gig is a trend that deeply alarms me. All my old buddies are putting themselves out tb pasture. They don't seem to spare a thought for me. I have to teach until I am eleventy-seven to get a pension. About a year ago, three old and close weekly newspaper friends phoned me from a convention in Toronto: Don McCuaig of Renfrew, Gene 'Macdonald of Alexandria, and Pete Hvidsten. It was about midnight and they weren't even flying yet. I sensed st metiiing wrong. I thought they needed Smiley there to get some yeast into the dough. They sounded tired. McCuaig is semi -retired, a newspaper baron of the Ottawa Valley. Gene must be either dead or in tough shape. asahe wasiz't - at the summer national weeklies' con- vention. which he never misses. And now Pete. Migawd, chaps, I'm just getting•warmed up in the teaching profession. I reckon I have another 20 years to go, leering at the latest skirt -length, telling and re -telling my four jokes. trying to sort out the difference between a dangling participle and a split infinitive. How dare you' "retire", when I have to go on working? Well, maybe I'know. at that. You've quit because you've worked like a dog for 30 -odd years in one of the toughest vocations in the world --- weekly editor. t bad II years of it. and if I'd continued, l'd probably be pushing up pansies right now, - We were in ft together when you worked 600 hours a week, when you had a big„ Mortgage to `pay o', when'staff was tough to get and, hard to keep, when the old press Was always breaking dOWn and you couldn't afford a new one, when you had to .sweat over a four- liar ed, when you were kicky to take home $60 or $80a week. 'Int it bad its rewards, riigh(. Tore Was ittt Sheer physical satisfaction of seeing t copy.run 'off and folded, , smellingof otlly hot in your hands, like a baked loaf. '`mere was another typebf reward — knowing you had stuck to your principles, and written a strong and un- popular editorial, letting the chips fall where they might. There was the deep pleasure of seeing, after months of writing and urging, 'the reluctant town fathers adopt a policy that was right and good, instead of merely expedient. Some people would prefer to be remembered by a plaque or a statue. A good, old-time weekly editor would die happy, if they named a new sewage system or old folks' home, for which he had campaigned, after him. There aren't many of the old breed left, come to think of it. George Cadogan, Mac McConnell, Art Carr, the Derksens of Saskatchewan. The- type of editor who could set a stick of type, fix a machine, run a linotype in a pinch. carry the papers to the post office. if necessary. pound• out an editorial: There is a new breed abroad in the land. Many of them are graduates of a school of journalism. This type wants every news story to be a feature article. They all want to be columnists, not reporters. There's another type, among the young. They refuse to believe that a weekly editor should be poor but proud. They work on the cost of a column -inch rather than records of peoples' lives. They won't die broke. They believe in holidays and fringe benefits and all those livings we never heard of and couldn't afford. Maybe it's all for the best. We were suckers. We literally believed that an editor's first allegiance' was the betterment of the entire community. not himself. Weekly newspapers. today, are better - looking, fatter, richer. They are put together with scissors andpaste, printed at a central location on a big, offset press which doesn't break down, folded and bundled with'dispatch. The only thing that hasn't improved is the pustai delivery. But a great deal of that personal in- volvement is gone. The editor is not as close to his reader as he once was, When I was in the game. I. was always introduced to strangers as: "'This is.our editor." Not the editor of our paper. but our editor. Pete Ivi sten. `green pastures; Keep your nose out of it, and let the young guys make a mess orthe We had a good session at the oars of thb galley. And any time you Want a game of atthritic «golf, you know where to come. As a practically barely almost middle-aged school teacher, 1 Oink f can handle a "retired" editor any time. fine. Iliinister's ad ke,. on conserving energy by turning the TV off in toe• rniikl'e of his speech." Mostly fiction I sat on a bench in the late autumn splendor in a certain park and heard a young man frantically calling his dog. "Felix! Felix! Here Felix !" he called. There was a sound of desperation in his voice..Felix did not come. • + + + Therearemen who go through their lives without ever realty knowing the meaning of comradeship. Melvin James, as we'll call him, is such a man. His shyness denies him the bright world of friendship -and love. His very presence among jovial spirits depresses them. Melvin lives by himself. Within the four wails of his room somehow he is never quite as alone as he is in the crowd, the -enigma only the lonely man knows. Men who cross his path find him, too negative for lasting kinship. Women feel nervous in his company. His innocent introspectiveness stands between them and understanding. A woman likes to catalogue man. Melvin denies them the evidence of his emotions and intellect. The dog carne into Melvin Bali Wactlfdent He had -been walking home from his work to his room: The dog was bouncing about in the window of a pet shop. He was a young wire-haired terrier, filled with springsand mischief and the joy of lining and the need for someone to call "master". In almost everything he was the exact opposite of the serious young man who paused that day and, in a rare. moment of recklessness, made a decision. Melvin James bought a dog. Companionship grew between the two. The hunger for a loyal friend that lay unanswered in Melvin reacted to this eager little dog. At night Felix slept at the foot of Melvin's bed. On Sundays they went for long walks in the park. The terrier frisked at his heels. It made a change in Melvin_ There was a new courage in his outlook. It gave hinta feeling of inner satisfaction to call "Heel!" and have the little dog flash back to him from his busy exploration, quivering and looking up pt his master. A dog can be a fine thing for a man's ego. Perhaps a man does the same for a dog's ego. In any event. Felix and Melvin ,were important to each other. For the first time, they felt the rdward of belonging to someone. On.this-November day in the park they had been together some six months. Their loyalty to each other had never been questioned. When Melvin realized that the dog was not returning to his heel, as was `his custom, he turned and saw, some distance away. that Felix had found a bond with a small. brown spaniel. Melvin called the command that Felix had always answered, Felix ran obediently toward him. Then he hesitateeHe looked back. He returned to the spaniel. - Melvin's commands became sharp and angry. "Felix! Felix! Here Felix!" he cried. His voice had suddenly become high and desperate. The strollers along the walk turned tolook'at hint queerly. "Heel! Heel, Felix," Melvin shouted. But the little dog no longer heard. him. Together the terrier andthe spaniel romped and pranced along the walk in a delirium of courtship. It was the next day that Melvin took the dog back to the pet store. He looked tentatively at a parrot, but all the parrot could say was "Goodbye' and not very well at that +++ . I was sitting there making up this tittle story when I saw that the young man's shouting had at last been answered. The terrier came back to him, full of guilt. He cowered at the young man's feet and the young man hit him a savage blow -with the leash he carried in his hand. From our early files • • • • • • 10 YEARS AGO February 10, 1956 Dimes, dollars and cheques added up to 51.004.98 when the Mothers March of Dimes project totalled all recipts this year. This is well over the objective of $850. Contributing were. Bayfield, $101.70; Varna. S23.55; Brucefield. $43; Londesboro 526.15; Adastral Park. RCAF Station. 5127.29; church and - service club cheques. 573.25; Town of Clinton. 5601.04. Robert Henry, Blyth. was re- elected chairman of the Huron County Wheat Producers Association. ° at the annual meeting of that body in the agricultural office here last Wednesday. Other officers in- clude secretary -treasurer. J. Carl Hemingway. Brussels, and county committeemen, Russell Bolton, RR 1. Seaforth: Robert Welsh. RR 2 Bayfield; Philip Durand, RR 2 Zurich: John Davidson, Seaforth and Gordon Raiz. RR 3 Dashwood. There were 544 ballots dist on the bean,vote'n Huron County by 11, a.m. ,Wednesday and voting continued yesterday and' today until 5 p.m. There are between 1.700 and 1.800 growers in Huron. Douglas H. Mills. agricultural representative for the county. acted as registrarat the agricultural office here while the voting was carried out. News of the outcome of the vote here is expected tonight. The count will Begin when polls close at five. A strong Fish and Game Club Bantam team coached ,by Clarence Neilans out -classed Jerry Wszola's younger and less experienced St. Sebastion. Banfaitrris from Dearborn, Michigan. Saturday afternoon during Minor Hockey Day at 'Clinton Lions Arena. The Hugh Hawkins trophy was retained by Clinton on Saturday evening when the Clinton Lions Midgets shaded the Veteran of Foreign Wars - spxttisored Dearborn Midget team by a 5.4 score. The Dearborn team was in the game alll the way and the fans on hand . were treated to a fast exciting brand of hockey. 2S YEARS AGO February 5,195.1 About 6►dam two.wceltiokl baby chicks were saved Tuesday of last week when fire broke out in a three-storey barn on the farm owned by James M. Scott, a mile west of Seaforth. Clinton Town Council still is at grips with the problem of ap- pointing a new Chief of Police to replace Leo Kelly, who quit January 31. Council met most of yesterday afternoon in com- mittee -of -the -whole in the Town ria II Committee Room in- terviewing three' of the .I4 ap- plicants for the position. In the meantime, Thomas Twyford, local carpenter, has been sworn in as constable and is Acting Chief until the appointment of a permanent Chief of Police. Acting Chief Twyford is doing the night trick of duty. and Constable James Thompson. the day trick. Twelve teachers on the staff of Clinton District Collegiate Institute were granted an in- crease of 5400 each per annum. at the February meeting of the Board in the school Tuesday evening. The increases are retroactive January 1. 1951. Minimum salary is now 52.400 and maximum for specialists is 54.800 per year. The Board also granted an increase in-salariof 5304 per annum to the school's caretaker, Lawrence Denomme. John Adam .Sutter. well-known Local , hardware man' for four 'decades and partner in the firm of Sutter Perdue. was signally honoured at the 46th annual convention of the Ontario Retail Hardware Association in the Royal York Hotel. Toronto this week. when he was the recipient of the "Presto Award" for 'distinguished service to hard- ware retelling during 1950, 4n - eluding a suitably engraved geld ,watch as well 'as a nicely framed citation. 59 YEARS AGO Febrru4ty ti. 02$ Messrs. ON. !only, lel,. L'dilter, and A. Cantclon attended the annual meeting of ,Sour Perth Orangemen at Mltcheli on Tuesday and extended to them an invi*at.inn to celebrate the 17111 to Clinton. Mr. N.W. Trewartha left yesterday morning for Tomato, tot attends meeth g dt the Agilleelttai i + Cent1ttetc', before opening of Parliament -on Wednesday. E.S. Livermore, a student at Osgoode Hall., willbe taking charge of three services at a United Church charge near Welland next Sunday. Considerable humour is being created around town by the formation of a new company. formed in Clinton, for the breeding of a cross between ;he crow and the woodpecker. which bird might be expected to be a good • grubber after the corn borer. Officers are: president. A.J. Grigg, naturalist: vice- president. A.J. Holloway. capitalist; secretary. E. Munro. barber; treasurer. A.J. Morrish, merchant; directors. W, Gunn M.D.. physician: and B.J Gib- bings. mechanic. Markets were: wheat 51.35; oats, 40c to 45c: buckwheat, 65c to 70c; barley. 60c to 65c. butter 36c to 37c. eggs. 25c to 35c: live hogs. 513. 75 YEARS AGO February 8,1961 Geo. Pickett has the palmSfor drawing the largest load which was ever weighed on the town scales. Ile was teaming coal for Fair Bros.. and on last Friday the scales were sut:prited. He had in one toad 5 tons. 450 lbs. Thomas Britton. Victoria Street, has an ever -ready fire starter (patent applied for) on sale which is perfectly safe and quick. It cotnposes a bunch of kindling specially prepared tq, which is attached a starter and a fire can instantly be started. They are sold at cents per bunch. which will last a week. There are not many residents of town who remember that we had at one time a furniture factory here. and those who have any of the furniture manufac- tured are fewer. But about forty- five years ago a factory was located on the spot now occupied by the cattle yards at the station and for a time a successful business was conducted. but it afterwards collapsed. James Keane has in his house some of the furniture manufactured there Miss Grace Dyke has again come first in her exam at Goderich Collegiate Institute. She took eighty-two percent with honours The London Free Press remarks that a new disea,se named "kruspedanais-tur neurosis" has made its ap- pearance among women. It is a sort 01 paralysis of the arm. which starts at the base of the thumb and extends gradually upwards. It is caused by the habit of the women holding up their skirts while on the streets. researched by Michele Flowers) Dear Editor: • I am gritting in regi this. new law out on 5 Well the first tiring I a to say is that it is the c: idea the govelrltnent e came out with. I am .'tatting, this for whole, communityo what..;,. person suppose to when tr 'car is going up in flames,, they are in shock. that IS. last • thing a person wool think to. do. Aso when acar°i: in a real serious accidentth.ey havent got a chance like'they did before. But as far 'as seatbelts go I can guarante we will not use theta as we,, think we had a better ORA* before. We will pay no fine either if they want to put us in jail chats fine as it will cost the goverment still so they are not winning right. All the goverment is money hungry they want to take ever dollar they can oqt of a hard'" working citizen and we dont think thats right do you think it is? We would like a piece in the Clinton pepper..I am sorry f cant sigh my name but that remains??? We are'concern: Yours truly. Anonymous? Papers Dear Editor, Enclosed, please find a cheque for $12.50 torenew my subscription for 1976. Thanks for sending the. papers that piled up during the mail strike. Best wishes for a prosperous Ne'1v Year. Mabel E. Wallace, Tecumseh, Michigan. P.S, That was a lovely write up about Lucy and a good picture in the January paper. I have known Lucy since she was a little girl Support Dear Editor: Most people think about UNICEF at Hallowe'en, when youngsters are out "Trick or Treating", and during the Christmas season when our Greeting Cards are available. Which 'is perfectly natural, since UNICEF is most visible then. And yet, as I'm sure you are well aware, •UNICEF (The United Nations Children's Fund)' neverstops working, all year round. For the needs of starving and destitute children in the developing countries know no season. In this country, UNICEF Canada also needs support throughout the year. We need volunteers to help carry out our educational and fund-, raising progyams. And, of course, we Weed and accept donations at any time. Your own support of UNICEF in the past is. and always has 'been, ap- preciated. As a small token of our thanks for helping create a greater public awarenessof UNICEF throughout the year. please find enclosed, a copy of our 1976 Calendar. With best wishes for a successful and happy New Year. I am Yours sincerely, (Mrs.) Pat Mortimer, Director, Information & Education. a a Give Heart Fund. Give Heart Fund cp vionniaiihrokmpomulasink Newspaper Ass•tiatiee The Owen News -Record is published each Thursday at Ct4ntan oiitarit Canada • tt hat registered as second dm fluid bar ibe post dike under the permit number N27 the News.ftectrd incocp.rtated in 11124 the Huron Nrw}tt'eciord. Founded in MI, and the Meanh'eeT feta. foo ndedleill id. Total circutatnitrin2.7511. • Editor • James E. Fitzgerald rates AdVertisitao director s Gary" 1.. Heist t* 1.1. General rOsnater - J.lieward Aitken Naw t stat • Sow Ctark 0e +1 j f. Subscriptlen Netts: Canada - $11 per year U.S.A. • 9i2.S# Sight cull►y - .25e