HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1977-08-11, Page 4PAGE 4--CLINTON NEWS -RECORD, THURSDAY', AUGV,VST II, 1971
The elusivepeaCe
We're supposed to be at peace.
With the horrors of the Vietnam war
fading into history, the armed
struggles of liberation movements in
Africa and the activities of Middle East
terrorists are the main threats to world
stability. The fact that these mini -wars
use fairly light and non -proliferating
weapons curtails somewhat their
potential for destruction.
• We do not minimize these Struggles,
nor do we say that anything less than
total peace is the proper goal of all
righfiLminded people. However, it
seems that although we are at peace,'.
• defenee;expenditures are at an all-time
high in mast of the world,
And. how .is there to be peace when
the armaments industry and the
military ,of most countries --.east and
west -- are 4engaged in a race that
defies all logic?
Canada has just purchased 130 new
fighter aircraft for the largest defence
expenditure in our history and it is only
the beginning. By 1981, it is estimated
our defence bill for equipment for our
a,rmed forces will be at a minimum $1.8
billion annually. Spending is now about
$450,000.,000.
In the United States, despite e
president committed to nuclear
disarmament, the Senate and Congress
still fear the old Communist bogey and,
presumably, the Russians build up
their missiles and bombers for similar
concerns about capitalism.
Surely disarmament is not a foolish
Utopian dream Surety we do not
require " 'the weapons` of world
destruction simply to handle terrorists
or jungle warfare.' •Surely to postpone
the day of wrath ,and carnage is a
laudable effort.
Where then are the attive` and
clamorous voices for peace? Where
are the people who • protested so
vigorously the war in Vietnam? Where
are the true peace parties, the parades
for disarmament?
The people who took to the streets to
stop war should now march for peace. -
from the United Church.
A world of change
Our society may be pulling away
from the longtime ideas of sen-
timentality and humanity and be
turning into a world more reminiscent
of a science fiction plot.
Along with,the future plans of robots,
underground cities and life on other
planets, this potential change was
intensified last week by a British
doctor who predicts that a -"death pill"
will be made available to the elderly by
the end of the. century.
The death pill, if it becomes a reality,
will definitely put our society into a
new way of life, or death. Science now
can stop people from living, stop them
from being born, stop them from dying.
and can actually control our life span.
Some may feel safe and confident
with this knowledge, that they may
never suffer and survival of the fittest
will be the mainstay of our lives, but
such ideas have always made great
plots for science fiction and it is
somewhat frightening to know that this
fiction may become a reality.
It is also supposedly fiction that a
Fountain of Youth exists somewhere in
the world but maybe this too will
become real. Growth and living seem
much more comforting than thoughts
that our lives can be controlled by
death and termination.
Sugar and Spice/By Bill Sm ley
I'm for quitting
My wife loathes and despises the idea of
my retiring some day. She is firmly con-
vinced that after a busy and useless life, I
would be completely at loose ends Should'I
retire, and would just wither away.
And every summer I do my level best to
convince her that her fears are unfounded,
that I have never been bored in my life, that
I am a master at the art of the trivial, and
that retirement would be a breeze, with not
enough hours in the day to accomplish all
the things I want to do, and avoid all the
things;I don't want to do.
Here's a typical summer day, and I leave
you to judge. I'm up every morning at the
crack of nine. This may seem a bit late, but
I stay upuntil 3 a.m. watching the late
movie, to make up for it. I can't do either of
these things in the other ten months of the
year, so I figure I'm entitled.
Carefully wash and shave - never go
downstairs with a grizzle of beard, one of
the first signs of deterioration. While I'm
lathering up, I skim a chapter of the novel
on top of the toilet tank. Not a second
wasted, you'll note.
Then it's downstairs, pop on the
teakettle, fetch the morning paper from
between the doors, open the refrigerator
door and think about breakfast, which I
prepare myself. This morning, I was torn
between bacon and eggs - fuddle the
cholesterol - and fresh strawberries: Set-
tled for the berries and ate about a quart of
them in cream and sugar,.with lashings of
tea, and hot toast dripping with butter and
peanut butter. '.
Judiciously read the morning paper
while I'm sludging down the grub. Again,
you see, not a moment or motion wasted.
Am told, in very certain terms, that the
strawberries were for making jam.. Shrug
it off, asking rather pointedly who picked
the ruddy things, and suggesting that if I
make my own breakfast, the chips, and the
berries, must fall where they may.
By 11 a.m., I am reconvinced ,that
politicians are windbags, that Canada is
• going to hell in a wheelchair, that I don't
really care on this fine morning, and that
it's time for some action.
So it's outside, into the backyard, pulsing
with life, vitality and strawberries. Me, not
the backyard. It is pulsing with life
starlings, long grass; shaggy hedge - but no
berries.
Mutterings and recriminations about
those strawberries I stole, from the nether
regions of the kitchen, where the jars are
being boiled for jam. For which we are
short one quart of berries.
So it's a quick look at the hedge, auick,
firm decision that it would be crazy to clip
it in the heat of the day, and off to the farm
near town to pick another quart of those
lousy strawberries. In the heat of the day.
But it's great•picking berries. Down on
your knees is the only way to pick. It's
earthy. There's nothing malignant
or irritiating about strawberries.+ They're
just there, fat, luscious; waiting to be
raped.
In the next row, there's an old German
lady, at least a grandmother, chirping
,. away happily, knees in the soil, hands busy,
mouth smeared with juice. You decide
she's a lot more, sympatico than your wife,
who's a great picker, but not of berries.
You also -discover that you forgot to put
on long pants, that shorts are not the ideal
wear in the berry patch, and that your
knees are turning into. two large boils.
Then it's home with the berries, and
there's the morning gone. A crafty beer and
lunch, then a serious discussio with the
chatelaine about when , you ar going to
clean up the basement. You compromise by
assuring that it wilLbe the very first day
it's too cold and wet to play golf, secretly
hoping it will be a long, hot summer.
And then it's off for a game of golf, or a
swim, or both, or a fish with an old buddy,
or a ride in somebody's new boat.
And suddenly, it's time for a cool drink
under the oaks perusing the evening paper
and waiting for the' cook to call out that
dinner is ready. And before you know it,
it's TV time, or off to the movies, and late,
late to bed warm in the knowledge that it's
been a pretty full day, and that you have
contributed absolutely nothing to the fate of
' mankind or your own domestic problems.
Oh, there are lots of variations. Don't
think it's as dull as it sounds. Sometimes
you go to the bank and josh the girls, all of
whom seem to be former students, now
married and either pregnant or mothers.
Sometimes you write a letter or spend as
much as an hour thinking about the book
you didn't quite manage to get written last
summer, but will this year for sure.,
Sometimes people drop in, ostensibly to
visit old friends, but in reality to tell you all
the horrible things that are happening to
them, no more interested in you than they
are in the strawberry festival at Hayfork
Centre.
Yes, it's rather azood life. Not exciting,
perhaps, but I think my wife's concern
about my retirement is a little premature.1
think. I could hack this._ life for perhaps,
another three or four hundred years.
.�c
Member, Ontario Weekly
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Odds 'n' ends,- by Elaine Townshend
The thrill of it all
I will never understand the "thrill" of
tracking down a proud buck and felling
him with a shot from a high-powered
rifle.
Nor will I comprehend the reasoning
behind the use of steel traps that pin an
animal until he bleeds to death or gnaws
off his imprisoned paw.
I realize that, at one time, people had
to hunt• and to fish foir foods. and for
many of them, selling pelts was a way of
life. But now these occupations have
become"sport" and man's weapons
have become sophisticated and
powerful.
Hunters argue they are helping to
control the reproduction of the wildlife.
But nature always managed to balance
the population of its creatures. Then
man came along, hunting, trapping,
fishing and pushing some species to near
extinction. I wonder whether .-Nature's
inhabitants will be able to survive in
spite of man's interference.
In the early days, wolves were
dreadedenemies of man. They killed not
only his domestic animals but .also the
game on which he depended.
Occasionally they even killed and ate
humans.
The use of the rifle in the frontiers of
the American West helped to change the
wolves from dangerous, bold animals
into cautious ones. They no longer attack
humans for they have learned to fear
man with his far -killing gun, his wicked
steel traps and his poisoned' bait. Only a
man -fearing wolf can survive today.
Most of us, nevertheless, retain the
traditional dread.of wolves.
Many creatures are feared and per-
secuted wrongfully by humans. For
example, some people consider all
snakes to be ugly and dangerous; then
.seem to think all of them contain the
venom of a rattler and the only good
snake is a dead one. ° '
They tend to forget that the few
species found in settled regions are
harmless and even helpful ' to man
because they eat rats and mice. Even
the common garter snake found in our
gardens • is sometimes attacked with• a
hoe or an axe or whatever weapon can be
used. ,
Other victims of prejudice are hawks.,
Because some of them destroy poultry,
the whole tribe is condemned. Yet
studies of the stomach content of the
birds show that mice is their main food.
.Thus they help farmers by keeping these
rodents in check.
Some hawks prey on small birds. We
hate to see a robin, that has been
drinking from our bird bath, captured by
a "bird hawk."
Some people shoot the hunter for
committing such a crime, because they
apparently feel it is wrong for one bird to
kill another. They don't understand that
predation is the rule of the wild. That is
how Nature balances its population.
To us,' it may seem cruel. But does it
not make more sense for one wild
creature to hunt another for survival
than for a man to kill an animal just for
the fun of it.
From our early files .
10 YEARS AGO
August 10,1967
Town Clerk John 'Livermore
advises Clinton and area.
residents to save their pennies
and nickels because parking ,
meters for the town have arrived
- all 174 of them.
Installation of the mechanical
money makers is expected to
begin next week. Work will in-
clude cementing pipe standards
at proper intervals along the
main streets and mounting the
metered heads on them. Clerk
Livermore is hopeful Clinton's
parking meters will be ready to
swallow the . shoppers' loose
change by early September.
Farmers in the extreme
south -end of Huron County were
singled out last week fo'r another
icy blast from the 'weatherman
who has been pelting the area
with everything from high winds
to pounding hail stones.
Latest damage to the vicinity
'south of Highstay 83 in Stephen
and Usborne Townships was hail
last :Wednesday which in some
places stripped fields of almost
all crops which had "survives
previous rain, wind and hail.
Some farmers who are hardest
hit have crop insurance which
covers damage from weather
such as they have experienced.
Other farmers do not have the
coverage, and some officials are
hopeful that recent events will
convince Huron; County
agriculturalists of the wisdom of
crop insurance.
It was the .desire to go into
business for himself that
,.prompted Bill Fleming, the 37 -
year old' owner of Clinton's newst
industry, to leave his position
with Canada Packers Limited
and build a modern feed mill on
Irwin Street.
"From a mill standpoint, it is
• specialized feed manufacturing
plant making pellets or crumplle
for bulk . delivery," says Mr.
Fleming of his plant which
opened about three weeks ago.
25 YEARS AGO
August 14, 052
Well it's come. A vigilante
committee h,,as been organized to
patrol the north • beach in the
Jowett cottage a'r'ea. And the
members will stand for no more
beer parties.
InCensed by a rowdy party on
Sunday which lasted until '4 am.
Monday, August 4 and another
the following Wednesday which
had all the ear -marks of an all-
night affair, a poste of indignant
cottagers, men and women,
headed by the local constable,
went down to the scene to put a
stop to the "cat-a-wawling"
which was disturbing their
slumbers. (It was supposed to be
singing, but evidently the con-
tents of a goodly number of cases
of beer had affected the would-be
singers' vocal chords so that on
the summer night the sounds
were anything but harmonious.)
Sure and it pays to advertise,
begorra. Last Tuesday afternoon
Alvin Betties, Bayfield, came
into the Clinton News -Record
office to report the loss of a wheel
and rim from the Chevrolet one
ton truck he drives.,.. Somewhere
between Holmesville and Clinton,
via the Cut Line and Queen's
Highway 8, the lost items had
bounced off the truck...(Those of
us who know Highway •8 can
easily understand how that
happened)...
Now not' only did Mr. Betties
tell us of ,,his loss, but he put a
small classified ad in last week's
paper...A gentleman from
Winthrop, who by the way
cousin of Mr. Betties, travelled
that way and found the wheel and
rim...He planned to leave them at
Holmesville store, but it was
after six, and there was no one
about...So he took the wheel and
rim home to Winthrop with him...
He visited on the weekend with
friends in Kinburn, who sub-
scribe to the Clinton News-
Record...He read the
classifieds...found the adlet...and
returned the wheel and rim to
Mr, Betties...Within five days the
Lost and Found Ad accomplished
what several dollars would have
done if Mr. Betties had to replace_
the lost objects...
50 YEARS AGO
August 11, 1927
The 48th Highlanders' Band of
Toronto, which went to Goderich
on Friday to take part in the
Centennial Celebration, motored
up from the city and had dinner
at the Rattenbury, House. They
treated the citizens to a nice little
concert in front of the hotel after
dinner, those who ' were about
enjoying it . very much. But,
unfortunately, a number of us
were away partaking of our
noonday meal and misted the
musical feast.
Some curious, potatoes were
dug in Mrs. John McPhee's
garden the other day. Nice -sized
little 'new potatoes had been
putting out sprouts, some•of these
sprouts having other little
potatoes at the end, which in turn
were putting out new sprouts.
Looked as if they intended having
a continous crop. The original
Potato was still young, the skin
being soft enough to scrape off.
`Twould be great if one could
develop a potato that would not
need planting every year, but
would just grow a continous crop
of tubers.
While driving up from London
the other,day Mr. W.J. Plumsteel
and family saw a fine, large red
deer on the road between Exeter
and Hensall. The animal came
out of a field at one side of the
,road, taking the fence with the
greastest of ease, trotted along
the road a short distance, and
then jumped the fence on the
other side. This was not so good a
fence, a deep ditch being on this
side, and the deer missed its
footing and fell, rolling over a
tin -ie or two. But it jumped to its
'feet again and trotted off towards
a wood. -
75 YEARS AGO
August 8, 1902 •
A young lady of town met with
an unusual and painful accident
one day last week. While curling
her hair she happened to turn her
eyes upward and at' the same
time the hot curling iron slipped
from her hand, falling directly on
one of her eye balls, which was so
badly burned that she had to have
a doctor dress the wound. Very
fortunately her eyesight was not
affected. •
'It-- .is,, not everybody who is•
blessed with a_ good memory, but
some people have an exceptional
faculty in this respect. One of
these is Mr. E. Wise, the well-
known market gardener of town.
In the ordinary course of his
business he finds it necessary to
'book a good many items, but he
transacts all his business around
town first, carrying no book and
making no .entries of any kind
until he completes all his
deliveries, when he sits down at
home, and simply from memory
enters up all the transactions of
the day. This is a pretty good
thing to be able to do and to do it
correctly, especially for a man in
his 80th year.
The Bayfield correspondent of
the News -Record of last week
announced the death 'of Thomas
Biggart. We are glad to say that
in this instance Mr. Biggart'has
the pleasure of reading his own
obituary notice. He came to town
for the purpose of undergoing an
operation for cancer of the
stomach, but the doctors con-
cluded that the operation could
not be safely performed. 1t rs
doubtful if he can recover,
though he is still able to be
around.
What YQU.
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Firearms
Dear Editor:
We have just introduced
new legislation in Parliament .
to amend'the Criminal Cgde.
Because many Canadians ar0p
particularly concerned about
the subject of fire,arms
control', we would like to
explain briefly how the, new•
bill would affect the
ownership and use of guns.
We believe ' that most
owners of firearms in •
Canada are serioup,
responsible "people ' 'who
handle their guns with `car
In the talks that we have h
with representatives of g
clubs and Wildlife
organizations, we have found
that they agree with most
Canadians who feel 'strongly
that effective ways must be
found to combat the growing
trend towards firearms
misuse by irresponsible,
often troubled people.
To deal with the problem of,
firearms misuse, we are
proposing firearms control'
policies and legislation
designed to do .three things:
to keep guns out of the hands
of people who might be
dangerous users; to reduce
the criminal misuse of
firearms; and to encourage
responsible gun ownership
and use.
At present, anyone, event►
those with a history of
viction for crimes of. viole
or records of treatment for
mental instability involving
violence, can buy firearms as
easily and as quickly as one
can buy a pair of socks. In oor
view, this is an undesirab e,
often dangerous situation. It
has led to serious incidents in
the past where innocent* •
people have been senselessly
injured or killed.
We propose to correct this
through legislation which
provides that anyone aged 16
or over who wishes to acquire
a firearm, whether through
purchase, gift or any oiler
method, must first obtain a
Firearms Acquisition Cer-
tificate. The certificate would, y
be issued by a firearms of-
ficer(usually a police officer)
once a check -has been made
.to verify that the applicant
has no recent record or
criminal violence, firearm i
misuse or treatment for a
mental disorder involving
violence. Provision would be -
made to allow provinces to
authorize hunting licence
gun club .membership cards,
or competency certificates to
substitute as Firearms
Acquisition Certificates
•under certain circumstances.
The new legislation would
also allow provinces to ac-
tivate a provision requiring
proof of competency, in
firearms handling as a
condition for issuing in
F.A.C. • -
The ' Government
recognizes that many gun
owners teach their children to
handle firearms responsibly
at an early age. Therefore,
the bill provides that persons
under 16 may use firearm -s
without a permit if they are in
the presence and under the
supervision of someone, syr
as a parent, who m�
lawfully use the guns. Per-
sons under 16 may not pur-
chase firearms, but if they
are between the ages of 12
and 16 they may receive and
use rifles and shotguns if they
first obtain a permit. The
permit is free, but an ap-
plication for it must include
the written consent of parents
or guardians. It may also
have condition& of super-
vision attached to it.
Those,persons under 16 who
must hurt or trap for fciod to
contribute to their 'support
and that of their families may
use a long gun without
supervision if they first ob-
tain•a permit.
A problem about which we
are becoming most ' con-
cerned is the accident
misuse of firearm
especially where children are
involved. Too frequently
incidents occur where
youngsters pick up
carelessly -stored weapons
and injure or kill themselves,
mflna-
bersplay. ates To or deal ami
y mt.ewith th'is
situation ' it is proposed to
make the careless use and
storage of firearms an of-»
fence. In addition, we intend
to work with provinces,
police, and gun owners to
promote responsible firearms
ownership across Canada.
To actively discourage the
use of firearms by criminals,
it is proposed to introduce
stiff new minimum man -
continued on page 7
100 YEARS AGO
August 16, 1877
Something not often witnessed
}'ere, at least, and consequently,
the more noticeable, was,seen on'
one of our principal streets on'
Tuesday, being the removal of a
lot of household goods on a
barrow, by 'a woman. The person
was respectably dressed, and the
•
loads she bravely trundled along,
would have tried the strength of
some men, being almost enough
for a light waggon.
Work was commenced in
Goderich on Wednesday, on the
long -projected salt mines. They
are to be called the Manhattan
Salt Mines, and are owned by
H.Y. Attrill, of Goderich. The
first shaft will have a delivering
capacity of twelve hundred tons
per 'day, when sufficiently
developed, being 161/7 ft. wide.
On Sunday evening last, a
threshing machine was driven
along a certain concession of
Hullett, by a thresher who had
either forgotten the day, or else
had little respect for it. The
rattling of the carrier rather'
disturbed the customary quiet of
the evening.
Amateur Painters -There are
several of these artists about
town, as evidenced by the signs
one occasionally sees that at once
pronounce their author original if
not successful painters. Among
some of the inscriptions that may
be found are these, punctuated
and painted, as follows: -
T.O.L.E.T. House. AND. Lot. for.
sail far Rent apply to. Some of
these signs are beautifully
flourished, but their general get
up would not cause any one to
suppose that we had educational
institutions in our midst.
If you want to flee all the local
news in a paper, hand in a
memorandum of any''occurrence
that comes under your ob-
servation. Reporters cannot be
expected to kntow anything about
anything they don't know
anything about.
Peas 10 feet, 4 inches long,
were this year grox►►n on the farm
of Mr. Shannon, McKillop.
On Tuesday an aged and infirm
man and woman, the former
blind, went about town soliciting
charity, in which they appeared
to be very successful, ad late in
the afternoon they were noticed
counting over their proceeds, the
woman having a large quantity of
coppers and small silver' in her
apron, which after counting over,
Ole transferred to the man.
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