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HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1980-06-05, Page 4E 4 �'"* .rLIW'�1. ON NEWS"RECORD i < �, l S WD 'H.CIRSPAY, JUN 5 ,1980 Clinton News -Record Protect yourself �.. Could it ever happen in Clinton? Could a fire race through one of our older buildings in town and kill a familyof five without warning? Unfortunately, the answer is yes. Many of our older buildings, par- ticularly the -older homes converted into apartments, lack outside fire escapes and.smoke detectors just like the converted home in Oil Springs, that burned last week and killed a man, a woman, and three children. Although the building code requires such safety measures to be standard equipment in all new buildings, the law is not retroactive .to older buildings and that's, where the prolllem lies. No more convincing argument could be possibly be advanced than that tragic weekend fire realized for the installation of a smoke alarm not only in every apartment building, but every private home as well. It is quite possible that these five people would be alive today if their apartment had these inexpensive, simple, yet efficient safety devices. Many communities have already made smoke alarms a legal requirement in rented accomodations and it's clear that wide -spread legislation is required so that all residents will be protected, wherever they happen to live. by J.F. Need; bigger steps The Hurn- County -Board of Education members took one step towards reducing their budget recently by cutting their own stipends from $3,600 to $3,000 per year,but.it is obviously a very small step. Ironically, they may have become so intent on the question of their own honorariums that they failed to realize that the budget is quickly getting out of hand. A 15 percent in- crease for Huron residents at this time is almost a burden, given the fact a large percentage of county residents are already facing an economic crisis through the current squeeze on farmers. There is little school trustees can do to halt inflation or declining enrolment, cited as the two main causes for the drastic increase in the budget, but it is questionable if members have really come to grips with 'some of the action that must be taken in face of declining enrolment in particular. • One trustee charged that the. board had failed to do any long range planning or to take a look at school closings to reduce the budget. Unless they can challenge that statement, it is obvious that the members were quite correct in cutting back their own stipends because they haven't earned it. That same trustee hintedi that they had failed to look at some of these avenues because of political aspirations, this being an 'election year. There's Attie doubt that school closings would be unpopular, but perhaps no more so than this year's education budget. Sooner or later, someone is going to have to take the initiative to keep education costs in line with reality and hopefully the current board members don't think they can escape the inevitable by merely cutting -their own stipends. The hole in the dike is bigger than that! — from the Exeter Times - Advocate "Seems like only yesterday that I was shivering in. the snow wishing it were„summer so I •• could work on the yard in the warm sun.” writ letters OM fien Pear Editor: May I use your newspaper to . -contact a --nun bei' 0 .old.. rends; i&tho may be in your area? In , conjunction with the City of London's 125th Anniversary, there. will ' be a Mary Hastings' 10111110P, Piimni at the: Springbank Park on Saturday, July 19, Bring your lunch and your Voices for a sing -song! If you play . an in- strument, bring it too, and be part of the .enfrtainment... So, fill a car, or take a bus and meet your old friends, (including me: Limey -Liz). Contact Mrs. J. O. Blake, 413 Wonderland Road, London N6K 1L5 so we will know how many old friends t� 5 YEARS AGO June 5, 1970 One of the largest buildings at Vanastra the former Sergeants' Mess at thi Canadian Forces. Baserwhich has bee, vacant since the departure of the Ai Force has been sold to Cecil Lewis o Lucan who owns the Shillelagh Moto Hotel and the old Central Hotel. • Salary increase of 29.9 per cnet to Huror eleinentary teachers were ratified Mon day by the Huron County Board o Education. The Bayfield Arena was almost filled tt 'capacity on Friday evening when 50( friends of Ken and Elaine Brandon anc family gathered at a benefit dance fol them: The Brandon family had lost most o; their contents of their home in a recent fire. 10 'YEARS AGO June 4, 1970 The Sherlock -Manning piano factory, one of Clinton's oldest businesses, last week announced a major lay-off of workers. Approximately 30 workers of the company's 40 present employees will be without jobs beginning Friday. Joe Reid, office manager at the plant, blamed a slowdown in the sale of pianos for the lay-off. The plant now finds itself with nearly a year's production sitting in storerooms •or in various states of com- pletion. Eric Earl, the Bard of Bayfield, was named correspondent for rhe News - Record in the important Bayfield area. A former minister at Brucefield United Church and commissioner to the General Council of the United Church died May 31 in London. Rev. William John Maines B.A. of Goderich died at age 76 after a lengthy illness. 25 YEARS AGO June 9, 1955 Of interest to T\ owners, the California legislature has ruled that TV sets are "necessities" which may not be attached by creditors in bankruptcy actions other such "necessities" include pianos and refrigerators. Of course, we know not whether such a ruling may be applicable in our fair land. Next Wednesday evening will see the revival of the Clinton Lions Club"Street Frolic a popular event a few years ago. It will be held on Albert Street, in front of the town hall. The town of Clinton is to honor our RCAF Station Clinton on Air Force Day, June 11, by flying the RCAF Ensign from the flagstaff in Library Park. By eight o`clock tonight when the polls close the choice of the electorate for Thomas Pryde of Jim Scott will have been made. It is your right - but more thAff that-, it is your duty to vote. Do it now. 50 YEARS AGO June 5, 1930 Mr. H. Hill, who erected the cairn in St. Paul's Church grounds, has been awarded the contract of erecting one tothe memory of the late Col. Otter. Little Evelyn Bezzo, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. W. Bezzo wandered after her sister, Myrtle, when she left for Sunday School on Sunday and got lost. She was missing about three and a -half hours and was found a mile and a half the Ether side of the railroad bridge on the Bayfield road, asleep by the side of the road. The parents are grateful to all those who „helped to search for the child. Marriage misfortunes It's bewildering when you think of the number of things that can break up a marriage that began in heaven and ends up in the other place. Sexual or emotional in- compatibility, disparity of interests, rotten kids, desertion, booze, insanity, to name just a few_ of the serious ones. —1,Then you work your way down to the ,aspects that seem trivial on the surface, but can be just as rending over the grind as the big ones. ° Stuff like halitosis, dandruff, body odour, nose -picking, digging , wax from ears or jam from toes, and similar physical foibles. And then there are the basic dif- ferences in genes that shatter many a case of connubial bliss. Some people are yawning until the tears spurt at 9:20 p.m., and are wedded to other people who just begin to hit on all cylinders about the time the late movies begin. That's bad enough. But the former are the type who leap out of bed at six a.m., carolling: "Here hath been dawning another new day; think, wilt thou let it slip useless away?" And the latter have to be dragged out of bed at the crack of noon with a block and tacky. Not much chance for them. Then there are the poor devils who put on a pound just by reading a menu, and bitterly resent their mates; who can shovel in the chocolates, pastry, whipped cream and beer, and go around remarking blithely, and smugly, "I have to eat like 'a horse to stay even." Grounds for a hatchet' murder. Sorne people, mostly men, look forty when they are married, and still look forty when they are sixty. Others, mostly women, look sixteen when they are married, and sixty when they are forty. This can lead to a certain amount of savagery. And there is plain old body `tem- perature. Some like it hot; some like it cool. Thus we find running battles ti as bedroom windows are thrown wide or slammed down; as the thermostat is viciously wrenched up to 80, and the r moment the back is _ turned,- is triumphantly twisted back to 60. . Another of the fractious items in the constant domestic skirmishing is the question of who does the most work.'A man, let's say a barber, bleats that he's been on his feet all day, and they`re killing him. His erstwhile soul -mate retorts that she's been on her knees all day, and she'll kill him if he doesn't get out and mow the lawn. In the same vein, an executive will reel in from work, collapse in a chair after mixing a triple martini, and go into a recitation about the over- whelming stress he's under: a fight with the boss; a client lost; inefficient underlings. Ansi his "darling", "sugar", or "hon" of thirty years ago will come back like a tigress with her stress: the phone rang 13 times today; she had a fight with the plumbers; the new drapes don't match anything except puke; she had to take the new car to a garage because some turkey creased her, to the tune of $300, in a parking lot. Heck, I could go on for an hour, listing reasons that people first begin to get on each other's nerves, proceed to smoldering dislike, and end up in a glorious'tlaze of pure hatred. And I'm sure every one of you gentle readers could add to the list. I'll do a thirty -thousand word thesis on it someday. But for now I'd like to add just one item to. the list that is seldom mentioned by either sociology professors or Ann Landers. This cause f fractured marriage is too much togetherness. When a married couple spend too much time together, they not only begin looking alike; but talking alike, thinking alike and all the other alikes. As a result, they become two - headed calfs, Siamese twins, freak vegetables with two carrots growing from one seed. Repeating the same old things, bickering about the same trivial things, chewing their cabbage dispensed by bill smiley twice, they lose their individuality, and become both boring and bored. They are nearing the end when they start calling each other "Mother" and "Dad," and can spend half -_.an hour patiently disagreeing over a� third- rate TV show. This was no great vision on the road to Damascus. It came to me when my wife went off for a few days in the city and I was alone, all, all, alone, on a sea of beautiful privacy. Nobody saying, "Lights out, dear, you have to .work tombrrow," at midnight just when I'm getting into the guts of a novel. I know I have to work tomorrow. Two nights she was away, I read until six a.m. Nobody telling me what a day she'd had, when I'd had ,a worse one. And vice versa. She thought I'd eaten the cooked ham she left me. 1 fed it to the squirrels and ate a lasagna that almost killed me. Dill pickles, ice cream, coffee a spoon would stand in. Unmade bed, unwashed dishes, cigarettes with no filters. Bloody Mary's for breakfast. When she came home, .of course, everything was spic 'n span. But she loved me so much she almost ' strangled me. It was mutual. Try it. It cost me about four hun- dred. Worth every cent. About once a year, I do the same: take off to a convention or into the woods. She doesn't miss me, loves the solitude, and I'm delighted to be home. Separate holidays might make that domestic cage of yours bearable. No pun intended. odds 'n' ends Procrastinators We pledge never to perform an action today that may be postponed until tomorrow. . We sohemnly pledge that all decisions not made within the con- fines of our association shall be dutifully deliberated and in- congruously argued before being tabled for further discussion. We vow never to let a doubtless thought clear our otherwise befuddled minds. We pledge to' bring to our association a furrowed brow. a bitten lip and a perplexed grin. Roll call at each meeting will be answered with 'the most important decision I haven't made in lily life.' We shall never let the right hand know what the left hand is doing. For ev,ery situation, we vow to bring Mr.' and Mrs. Jas. Walker of Tucker - smith and Mrs._ George Watt of Clinton visited friends in Flint, Michigan last week. They were on the train that ran into an open switch near Flint, when the fireman and engineer were gilled. None of the passengers were injured. • When they were giving Ontario a divorce law they might at least have seen to it that• it was an up-to-date one. It seems this one is framed upon some old English law which has been long out of date and puts a barrier ,in the way of women applying for divorce. Can it be possible that this was what was aimed by the framers? Tourist Camp and Picnic Grounds "Conadale'.' on the Maitland, 114 miles north of^ Holmesville. Wm. D. Connell, proprietor, Clinton. 75 YEARS AGO June 8, 1905 Mr. George Rice received from Mr. A. Hooper•last Saturday night, a cheque for $1,072 that being the outcome of a little saving in the Manufacturer's Life Co., for the period of 10 years. Messrs. Stevenson and Nediger took over the electric light works on Thursday last and will in future operate it as the Clinton Electric Light Co. It has been under their management for some time and we believe the high state of efficiency 'to which they brought it will be main- tained. Dame Rumor reports that wedding bells are to ring on the Babylon ere long: In spring when sunshine renders seeing painful, smoke .glass should be used. We have the assortment at A.J. Grigg, jeweler and optician. • 100 YEARS AGO June.10, 188i Mr. John McMillan, reeve of Hullett recently erected .one of the largest and most complete barns to be found in the county. This week Mr. John Shipley is raising the frame of another fine one, on a splendid stone basement for battle which will be over 60 square feet. Mrs. Jas, Fair has also raised the frame of a large barn, with stock stables beneath. Messrs. John and George Dale are each erecting large and splendid barns,with stone basement. It will be seen by advertisment that Mr. Spooner offers a reward of $10 to any person giving such information as will lead to the • conviction of trespassers. Mr. Spooner has been suffering serious loss and annoyance by boys making his barns and slaughter house a resort on Sabbaths and other days and abstracting therefrom eggs, poultry &c., to which he is no longer going to submit, we would therefore advise boys to keep clear of his premises and cease their petty stealing. On Saturday morning, a train went west on the GTR, carrying 3•$0 men and two women,• who were on. their way to engage in railwayconstruction in the Thunder Bay region. A few flakes of snow fell on Monday. Mr. P. Robb has purchased a soda fountain and will engage in the "fiz" business this summer. by Blaine townshend forth at least three equally appealing alternatives. We solemnly pledge to bring in - solidarity to our brother and sister procrastinators everywhere. These are only a few suggestions for the constitution of a procrastinators' club, that may or may not be formed in Huron and -or Perth 'Counties and - or stut^rounding counties this year or _Meetings could be held weekly, monthly, bi-weekly, or whenever anyone feels like having one. Times, dates and locations of meetings could be decided sometime. An annual bash could be held to which no one would have to go. Speakers, films, slide presentation and debates on the art of procrastinating could be featured entertainment. Interested persons could call, write or visit the president or secretary, if a president or secretary is ever found. - Fees could be paid to the treasurer; when and if a treasurer is named. Maybe an incongruous thought would be the only fee necessary, since Procrastinators' Unlimited would be a strictly non-profit, voluntary organization. A newsletter could be circulated to members containing helpful, true -life stories, such as: "I saved myself an expensive trip,. because by the time I decided where to go, my holidays were over." "I saved myself $40 because two dresses fit and by the time I decided which one I'wanted the saleslady had sold them both." "Ten excuses to use while you're deciding whether or not to tell the truth." "I never gossip bedause by the time I decide whether to repeat the story, it's old news." I've heard a procrastinators' club operates successfully somewhere in the U.S. I'm sure it could be as popular in small-town Western Ontario as it is in any large centre. Or maybe not. Sincerely, Grace Hussey Lack of law De ar E ditor, This past weekend' Clinton and `Goderich played hosts to some 2,000 Shriners. I find the special privileges given to the Shriners a kick in the teeth to the local population of this -area. Clinton Police have said time and time again that drinking in public areas and cars . among our young. people was a serious problem. When we went to Clinton on Saturday af- ternoon, I was shocked to see many of the Shriners openly breaking the law by drinking alcoholic beverages on the streets of Clinton. It seemed as though the police had turned ,their backs on'this. ' I saw a Shriner walk into the Brewer's Retail store with a glass of beer in his hand and it was ignored, yet if I was to do the same thing, I can guarantee you that I would be refused service, car have to deal with, the police. . - I would like to know what gives these people the right to come to our town and break the laws that the young people have been charged for time and time again. It seems that to make the Shriners happy while in this area, they are allowed by the law officers of the area to break all the laws I have been charged for. I was, led to believe by the police in earlier years that there are no special privileges among the wealthy and powerful. The .conduct of the Shriners and by the Clinton Police department disgusted me, and shows the total lack of law and justice shown toward the more privileged people -in this area. I suggest that if such an event is held again that the police use the same laws and guide lines used among the citizens. of this area are also applied to the Shriners. We were not privileged by their parade, but, instead the Shriners were privileged by the total lack of law enforcement toward them. Upsettingly yours. Donald Vanderhaar RR 2, Bayfield Invitation • Dear Editor: On behalf of the Wingham Towne Players, we would like to extend an open invitation to the citizens of your town and surrounding area to .attend our " upcoming production "LOOK WHO'S LAUGHING", a three act comedy. The dates of the production are Thurs., June 19th, Friday, June 20th, and Saturday, June 21st, at 8:30 in the Wingham Town Hall Auditorium (upstairs). �.�.,j. Advance tickets are available at the Waxworks BouticLue and Triangle Discount in Wingharn. Come. and enjoy a night of entertainment for the whole family. Yours very truly, Miss Sandra Lee, President, Wingham Towne Players. McCall heads Board of Ed. The Ministry of Education recently approved the appointment of a new superintendent of education (program) for Huron County by the Huron County Board of Education. The. board hired Robert J. McCall on May 12 to replace the retiring superintendent of education J.W. Coulter. The ministry approved the appointment on June 2. McCall, 43, is currently the curriculum consultant for grades Kindergarten" to 13 to the Wellington County Board of Education. He will start his new job sometime in August and will receive a salary of $41,000 yearly, $2,000 less than a secondary school principal. In addition to experience in board work, McCall has spent a great deal of time in teaching. He taught at both elementary and secondary levels and has developed math programs for remedial students, as well as enrich- ment programs for gifted attidentt. P.