HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1969-01-16, Page 111.
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The height ofboredom :is, Supposed to
conversation about the :weather! At
most .:seasons of the year that may „be
true, but When, any single district gets, ea
,Much snow as. we have in the.P� ast two or
_ three weeks they Inhabitantsrarely talk
about anything, else. •
Berme of 'yots. people. who -have always
been ;faithful readers of the week -end
funky papers may recall the era in which
one of the cartoons carried frequent reef
erence to and pictures of the residents of
Lower'Slobovia. L.S. was' a land in which -
it never ,stopped snowing and . the Slo•
bcivians were usually'+ pictured making their
way from house to house with nothing
more thannoses and foreheads, above the
snow. •
The weather during the past two
weeks has been enough to give most ' of us
a true ,Lower Slobovian complex. Snow,
snow and still more snow has been the
daily pattern, with ',few blinding blizzards
thrown in. According to reports at the
week -end Wingham lies blanketed under
more than 100 inches of the white stuff,
consideraby in excess of the 80 -odd inches
we got in the entire winter of 1967-68.
if :you' happen to bp an outtof.town
reader you will have some difficulty pica
ttiring the sights along our streets, al'
though we are trying,tO''round u,, some
--pictures which will tell .the story more
forcefully than can mere words,. Inter-
sections of the streets in town are the
really dangerous spots because the banks
thrown up by the plows effectively pre -
any chane of seeing the approach
"bf a vehicle from a driver's right or left.
With the sad lesson of the collapsed
4.istowel arena In mind, many, of the
arenas ' in 'this area ' were, closed at the
weekend until the accumulated snow
could, be shoveled off. On many of these
buildings it 'was lying three feet deep and
its total weight must have been immense.'
There are few nice things which can
be said about a winter like this, but it
does -afford some gratification to mothers
and fathers who have seen the open dis-
belief in the eyes of their offspring when
stories " were told of the big winters of
1939-40 or 1946-47. Maybe these young
smart .alecks will credit their elders with
a certain amount of experience after they
have emerged from the snows of 1969.
New Tests fortheCommonweaIth
The meeting :of prime ministers from
all over the world in London, England,
last week is worthy of our attention and
interest, not merely .because a group of
national.. representatives° has gathered to
thrash out some of the world's problems.
The most interesting facet of the ' con-
ference is that it indicates that the old
British Empire, though no longer existing
under that name, still has a great influence
on world ' affair's. •
When we recall the bitterness with
which such lands as . India and Pakistan
fought to throw off the bonds of British
colonialism, it does seem strange that the
prime ministers ofthese lands 'and many
others are willing to travel to the land of
the British Raj for a conference. The truth•
is, of course, that there are still gre.a ene-
fita, a cruir, fromjp rn'bership in the club
_; filch spreac ;""the influence of Brftarn to
the four corners of the earth. '
British colonialismundoubtedly was an
irksome burden to thousands who were
forced, either physically on financially to
do the bidding of the white man in far
a*ay, places: But it should not be for
gotten that 'it was by means of this prof
cess of development that. such lands weak',
finally able to attain the freedom and self-
government which they Sc ardently sought.
It should also be remembered that Britain
* was quite ready, when the time for free-
dons' did arrive, to relinquish control.
The most unhappy lands on this earth
are those new nations in Africa,, where the
sweeping demand for freedom has result-
ed in the opportunity -for self-government
long before they are able to handle such a
responsibility. Colonialism at its worst
could hardly' have been as bad as the
horror of present-day Biafra.
- The Commonwealth Conference has
heard some bitter debates—chiefly those
which dealt with the action Britain. is be-
ingurged to take against rebellious Rhode-
sia. Some of the African states ' would
have Britain force` black majority rule on
the white Rhodesians. Britain, however,
refuses to turn its armed forces loose' on
that small nation. Naturally the blacks
believe
e e this refusal 'is Only to protect.
white people, but "w'believe that the re-
fusal would be just as firm if .al.l the vic-
tims were to be black.
The conference itself, and the freedom
for the black representatives to castigate
their former white -rulers, 'is proof that
there are better, though perhaps slower
ways to solve. differences than 'by picking
up a gun:
Disappointing Start
It was•_disheartening to note that. the
CN's new turbo trains had to be removed
from service after only a few weeks on
the Toronto. - Montreal run.. Continuing
failures inthe train's electrical systems -
forced them 'back to the sheds. for a
thorough overhauling.
Regardless of the reasons for the fail-
ure, we may expect to see these new veh-
icles back in action • before too long, and
there is no doubt about the imaginative-
ness of . the people who decided to set up
this new mode oftravel for Canadians.
The passenger traffic between Ca-
nada's two largest cities becomes increas
ingly heavy with every passing year. There
is such an exchange of business between
the two centres that heavy travel schedules
are bound to swell. For several years .past
the airlines have carried a veryconsider-
able proportion of the ,.passenger load,'
much of which is made up of high-safgried
executives to whom loss of time. it much
more ,costly than ` the price of air fares.
However, air travel for a 400 -mile trip has
its drawbacks too, For example, the
businessman who must get from Toronto
to Montreal h)as. ,to leave downtown Tor-
onto at least an,hour before flight time.
He will be in the air about 50 minutes and
then `faces another hour to get from Dor-
val to the.centre of the city.
The alternative offered by the CN was
interesting. For example, a traveller who
happened to be staying in the Royal York
in Toronto and wanted to meet a client
in Montreal's' Queen Elizabeth could make
the round trip without putting on his
rubbers. ThroUgh the tunnel to Toronto's
Union Station, up the red carpet from
the ' main -lobby to his reserved ,seat' on
the turbo train. Then, four hours. of ,com-
plete comfort on a fast train and out of
Montreal's . central station and'. upstairs'
to the hotel.
That's an extreme case, of course, . and
most -passengers would certainly'ktake the
rubbers plus hat and .. coat for a little
gandering about Montreal in the evening. ,.
It is true nevertheless that Canadian
National was, for once gifted with .keen
_National
when it recognized the urgent
need for a fast and comfortable' ground
service between the two major cities. The _
trains will be well patronized When they
do get back into service, as are the pre-
sent Rapido trains on the same Arun.
.Another rail service which is proving
a boon to city workers `is the commuter
express. system Which carries 'out-of-town
folks to Pend from the metropolitan area
daily.
We whoi live in the "outback," 'where
rail service has been repeatedly curtailed
and neglected, cannot help wondering why
such foresight and imagination was never
applied to the problems which have beset
railways in our part of the world. Admit-
tedly payloads of both passengers or ex-
press have become increasingly light in
rural areas over the years, but a progres-
sive rail system should have been ahje
to put up a better fight to retain is
dwindling business.
THE WINGHAM ADVANCE • TIMES
Publialied at Winghem, :Ontario, by Wenger Bros. Limited
W. Barry Wenger, President . - Robert Q. Wenger, Secretary -Treasurer
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wa
Hope you got through the
trying •holiday season as well.
, Alt you rf I1 vial q
as we did,
have my sympathy. 1 tottered
shout fop ten days, a tot here
and a tot there, not quite des+
perately ill enough to stay I*
bed, and therefore getting little
syrnPathy.
K,im ;Spentthe festive sen '
going to bed. at 2 a.m. and
getting 1.41)et 2 P.M. 'Mostly.
because Of a new boy friend,.
who is out on bail. That's
right; he's out on bail.
My wife did her best to set.
fire to the house, one Sunday'
night when. I was at cbureb..
For years, I've been telling her',:
. to burn junk in the fire-pllice*
° ' P?sl er and . wrappings and bob': ;
es and such.
She finally caught, on, So ilio,
the evergreens with which she
annually decks the mantel,
when she threw into the fire *.
cardboard box about two feet
by four. '
She stood there, paralyzed,.
watching the joint go up in
flames. The only muscle work.
ing was her tongue. When that.`:
'steps working, she'll be ready;. -.-
for the cold, cold ground. She, -1
screamed: "Kimi. Kim!"
And Kim responded nobly t4;•
the crisis. Upstairs, she came'
down like a bomb, seized a'
basin of water from the knell -
en sink, and hurled—it with'
unerring aim all over the . fire,
her mother, the rug, and the
hi-fi. Did the trick, though.
Speaking of Kim and fires,
she had •a New Year's Eve par-
ty which caused more turmoil
than the Battle of the Boyne
did in Ireland.
It wasn't that she demanded'
a big spread or a hired orches-
tra or anything like that. She:
had only 'one request: that we-
get out before" the guests ar-
rived and stay out until they
were gone. .
The normal response of a
father to such a stipulation is
to smack .his hand on the table
and roar. "O.K. No parents, no
pasty!" Which he ' did, about
eight 'times.
Finally, by some circuitous,;
route known only to families,
we arrived at a compromise of
sorts. There would be no--
drinking.
o-drinking. Undesirables would
be severely policed by Kim
and two of her Iargest .girl.
friends, and two - boys who
would be personally responsi-
I,
1//rte ele".,%/ i /, I<'f li ,,rl/
ble to me, by George., or else..
There would be no gate-
t crashers. See policing, above
(Gate-crashing is a norm at a
party in a small town, where
everybody In the teen world.
knows everybody else and if -
ter all, what do you say, Rad,
When somebody' arrives at the
door with a big, silly grin on
his big, silly face and asks,
"Can I come to your .party,
Kim?")
It was resolved that the food
would consist of potato chips
and pop. "How can you be so
square, Mom, kids don't eat at
parties?" Later, Kim gracious-
ly allowed her mother to make
about 480 sandwiches.
It was agreed, after a motion,
by me that went something
like, "If you think I'm going to
walk the streets in a blizzard
on New Year's Eve just be-
cause a stubborn brat like you
doesn't want her parents
around just because she's ltav-
ing a party for w gang of de-
generate teen-agers, then
you've got : another think corn-
ing, young lady!", that the party
would end at 1.30:
It's a long story, but, she
finally kicked us into the snow-
drifts at 9 li.m. It was too
early to go anywhere. We
drove around the block a few
times, my wife peering desper-
ately toward the house on each
circuit.
We dropped in 'on sick
friends, to -get 'warm, or sick,
and guess who ran straight to
the phone and called home.
The response was chilly: "Yes,
Mdther. No. Nobody's drunk.
Will you please stop bugging
me, there'ssomebody at the
door?"
The old lady called four
more times from as many dif •
ferent .places. Responses grew
even chillier. We arrived home
at 3. a.m., ready to face the
debacle: a wasteland of broken
dishes and trompled• grapes.
And sitting there with:. her
out -on -bail friend, listening to.
records, was the Cheshire cat
herself. The house was clean as
a . funeral parlor. 'They'd been
working like dogs for an hour.
No burns, no broken dishes.
no scratches on the grand
piano. Nothing. Including the
480 sandwiches, about 12
pounds of fruit, and all the
bread and nuts in the house.
r�r
1
'TO THE
4/.7••••••;,40 / .
Wingham, Ont.
• January 13, 1969
Dear Sir:
I am writing this letter with
regard to two matters that I
feel are of vital concern to
W ingharm • and .the surrounding
cdmriiunity.
The first conc the critic-
' al -shortage of doct`•`c and
dentists in this area.
First of all, let me ,• :• fi that
we are very fortunate o have
the calibre of doctors . that we
have in Wingham and our sur-
rounding towns. Also let us
• give thanks that they are ever
willing to work and make their
services available day and
night, but, let's face it, if
they don't get additional help
we may lose even the ones we
have.
This is where I think that
-the town of Wingham and the
ITOR
,../,. , / ,. //:,,f�• �/ •;!ice'
surrounding rural areas have a.
job to do. What we need is a
ivIedical Dental Clinic where
doctors and dentists could lo-
cate. ' Surely 'a facility of this
nature could•only attract ,addi-
tional professional people to
our town. I KNOW that many
would be interested in support-
ing a venture of this sort. Oth-
er towns smaller than Wingham,
have accomplished this, why
not Wingham?
The other question Lwould
like answered is, "What has
happened to the Senior Citizens
Apartment Building that was
supposed to be ready for
cupaecy in August of last year?
What is the reason for the de-
lay do this project? Most cer-
tainly it is needed. "
Citizens of Wingham and
area; what are your feelings on
these subjects? Let's band to-,
r
THE ROY BENNETT home on Patrick ,
Street nestles 'behind huge banks of snow.
The Bennett family is assured of privacy
1
for some. `weeks to come unless
good thaw. •
Advance -Times photo,
btanctff
Wingham, Ontario, Thursday, Jan. 16, 1969.
SECO141Q SECTION
ews.IternsfromOld
JANUARY 1920
Mr. F. H. Butcher of the
High School Staff, has acceptee
oa position on the Staff of the
Brockville High School and will
move his family to that town in
the near future. Miss Gertie
Cruikshanks, daughter of Mr.
and Mrs. William Cruikshanks,`
Turnberry, has been engaged to
succeed him on the Wingham
High 'School Staff. -
Mr. J.J. McMannus of Po-
wasson, who spent a few weeks
renewing ,acquaintences in this
• vicinity has'returned td his
home.
The following is the report .
of S.;S. No. 9, East Wawanosh
for the month of December.
e.
' The names are arranged in orof merit. '
Sr. IV --Wilfrid McVittie;
Mae Perdue, Jennie Anderson,
George Taylor x, Wilfrid Con-
gram x.
•Jr. IV --Jim Coultis.
Sr, III --Cecil Coultis; Lerne
Scott x,
Jr. III --Irene Taylor, Al-
beit Coultis. •
At Sr. . Ii --Alba Carter, Harold
Kerr,. Agatha Coultis, Joe Kerr,
'John Currie, Lawrence Taylor x.
Jr. II --Viola James', Marg-
aret McDougall, Agnes`Coultis,
Dan Arbucklex. - , •
First --Norman Coultis 'and
Dorothy Kerr (equal) , Mar y
Scott •x.
Sr. Primer- -Leonard James,
Elmer Arbuckle.
• Jr. Primer --Alberta Shiell.
gether and accomplish these
projects.
Thank you for this opportun-
ity to air my views, •
Yours truly,
A Concerned Citizen
S.S. Guest Editorial ----
Trudeau -- this name jokingly trans-
lated around Ottawa as "Waterhole,"
"troy'.' meaning hole, , "d'eau" meaning
of water. This man is no joking matter
for to him we entrust our unity, our pros-
perity, our. future.
Canada is on the brink of breaking• up..
The magic of Trudeau :can firmly weld,
this bilingual, ,.bicultural country- of ours
into a great federal state. Does it matter
if we call ourselves Canadian or "cana-
dien?" II n'Importe pas. We must, though,
be one, to maintain what we have and to
achieve what we want.
What does Canada want? We want to
develop our natural resources; we want
to develop our industrial resources; we
want to increase our prosperity and well-
being. But we do not want kir sacrifice
May It Be
By Sue. McDonald 12,13
our national birthright; we do not want ,to
attain the lofty heights of this economic
development and suffer later under the
burden of massive foreign intervention.
Economic nationalism Cannot provide the
answer; management and direction ' pro-
vided by an economist such as Trudeau
can.
Trudeau , knows' the problems and the
correct "solutions as only a well-educated
genius knows. Trudeau, professor, lawyer,
'economist •-- a combination tailored .to
solve our nation's problems—appeals to
the . young swinging, thinking Canada in
French and English. May it be that this
promising, 'vibrant leader can fulfil the
hopes of a hundred years and achieve
the task' of making Canada a happy, pros-
perous, bicultural, bilingual nation — an
example to, •the world.
JANUARY 1934
Miss Lorraine Haller under-
went an operation for appendi-
citis ten Wednesday of last week.
Neil McLean has received
the appointment as', foreman on
Road Construction with the De-
partment of North Development
and will leave on. Saturday for
Minden, •Haliburton Co. , south
of Algonquin Park.
Mrs., George Bouldon,Ed-
ward. Street, has received froth
Ernest Bloomfield, a beautiful
Chinese calendar from Shang
.hal, China. The picture on
the calendar portrays the beauty
of the Chinese girls and.is a
work of art. __ ..„,,
A qulet wedding ding was solem
'nized at the manse of the Pres-
byterian Church on January 9th,
When Annie.Olivre, daughter of
the late Mr. and Mrs, John
Walters, Wingham, was united
tri marriage.to James Ellwood
Nichol, son of James Nichol,,,
of Pasadena, California. -
'Mrs. ClairAdarrs is in To-
ronto attending the Annual
Meeting of the Hairdressers' ,
Association.
arrangement with the
Government the Council have
sent ten 'Wingham men to a
Government Camp at Burleigh
Falls, Ont, about 20 miles
north of Peterborough. Just
what work these Toren will be •
engaged in is not definitely
known but it is, e, ected it will
be building roads: The boys
left on the.noon C. P. R. train,
Tuesday The list of those who
went are: Harold Finlay, Cecil
Jacobs, Arthur Stokes, Harry '-
Baldwin, Albert Campbell,
Stanley Henderson, ,Fred Finlay,
Larry Campbell, Arnold Den-
nis, Clayton Dennis.
JANUARY 1944
Miss Louise Coultes returned .
to Stratford Normal School on
Sunday after teaching for a
week at the Stone' School in
Morris.
Congratulations to'Miss•Lois
Elliott; daughter of Mr. and
Mrs. Raymond Elliott; who has
been successful in passing her
Nurse Registration examination
in the Province of Ontario.
The membership in -the .La-
dies' Auxiliary to the Wingham
Legion is, growing very quickly.
The membership now numbers
76 and four anew members were
initiated at the meeting held
`last week. -
Mr. and Mrs. George H. Or -
vis, Wingham, wish to announce
the engagement of their daugh-
ter,, Velma May, ,to 4/Cpl. An-
drew S. Scott, son of Mrs. and
the, late Alex Scott, Blyth.
The marriage to take place this
month:
Sgt. Major Wilfred'Seddon
and Jim Newell got a big sur- "
prise when they tackled an elm
tree to augment their fuel sup.:
ply. They thought they would
have 0 or 7 cords apiece for
their, labours, but now that the
tree is felled, cut and rneasur-
/ed, they find that it produced
23 cords of 134inch wood,
Miss Caroline Wellwood, re-
tired Chinese missionary, re-
turned to her home church Sun-
day morning and gave an ad -
Fi
dress. The congregation in: rec-
ognition of her 35 years.�service:
as a missionary in China .pre-
sented lier with a gift of, Money,;'
The .presentation was made by
Mrs. William Field.
JANUARY 1955
Several people in town, got
quite a shock on Monday night.,
when, inquiring where,the fire
was, they were told it was at
the high school. ' Vidor* of
$600,000 worth of•charred'em-
bers must have flashed through.
several minds as Citizens rushed
to the scene of the ,fire. For
tunately for the high
sGhtso ,�
high
if not for the„ owner,- it'%tn.,.,,,
out .to be a .car on fine in' front
of the, new building. " •
• Scott Reid was appointed .
chairman 'for a term of two a .
yeapr, at the annual meeting of
the Public School Board, held
at the -public school on Monday
night. He succeeds- retiring '
chairman Harold Wild, 'Who has
l held the post for die past two
years.' The following commit-
tees were named.:.at the meet-
ing: Property committee, Alton
Adams, chairman, Roy Bennett,
Harold Wild, Dave Murray;' fi-
nance committee, 'Herb Fuller,
chairman,- Alton Adams, Dr.
M. -MacLennan, Robert Carbert
Chief T. W. Platt was re-ap-
pdinted attendance officer, and
Stewart Beattie, public school
principal, was re -appointed to
the public library board for a
term of three years. Mrs. Roy
Morgan. was re -appointed sec-
retary -treasurer.
A by-law regulating ".unus-
ual noises and noises calculated
to disturb inhabitantswithin the
limits of the municipality of -
the corporation of the town of
Wingham" was passed at the in-
augural meeting of the town
council last week. Aimed at
loudspeakers and public, address
systems which have caused
some annoyance to townspeo-
ple in the past, the by-law
--stipulates that persons shall not
use or operate electrical or
mechanical loudspeakers, eith-
• er stationery or mobile, with-
out written permission from the
Chief of Police, showing mode,
places and times at which the'
loudspeaker is to be used. The
by-law also stipulates that the
' Chief of Police may at any
time cancel or withdraw per-
mission to operate such a de-
.vice
e-vice after permission has been
granted.
Mrs. Winifred Lott, Wing -
ham, suffered concussion when
she fell on some ice. She was •
admitted to the hospital where
- her condition was described as
satisfactory. On the same day,
James Douglas, 13-year'=old
son of Mr. and Mrs. Robert•
Douglas, R. R. 2, Wingham,
received an injured left ' ankle
while playing. He was releas-
ed after the ankle „was strapped
at the hospital.
"Do you think I could lead
a good Christian life here in
the'city on '$20 a week?" the
young man asked' a minister 00
striving in New Orleans. "My •
boy, that's all, you .could do,
replied the minister.