HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1969-04-24, Page 14Palo 4 -- Windham Advance -Times, Thursday, April 41969
Outofthe Painful Past
The Grade XIII students in Ontario's
secondary schools are Working on a study
project which is particularly significant.
They are delving into ,the phenomenon of .
the Great Depression—the pre -War econo-
mic slump which paralyzed the civilized
world for more than eight dreary years.
Although none of us who lived through
and somehow survived those years of
stagnation, would want our own children
to suffer through a similar period of
hopelessness, we do believe that young
people should know something of the
consequences. Many of today's parents,
often belittled and berated by their child-
ren, were so shaped and influenced by
their experiences in the "dirty thirties"
that they have never been the same since.
The grinding poverty of the years from
1930 to' 1937 is something that today's
kids simply don't believe. Try telling your,.
youngsters, for instance, that your budget
for Cokes at age 17, when that beverage
vias 5c for a tall glass—was one per week,
and they will stare at you .in sheer un-
belief. At worst they think you are lying
and at best they 'believe you are so old
that your memory has begun to slip. They
cannot comprehend a society in which
even the barest essentials had to be fore-
sworn. ,
We recall that a few particularly re-
sourceful housewives could manage meat
for a family, of five on 6Qc a week. Mind
you, it took a lot of bread crumbs and
soda biscuits to stretch the ground beef
AWN
that far, but it could be done. Lots of
homes never saw butter from , one year's
end to the other. Clothing was mended
and hems were let down and garments
passed on from one son or daughter to the
next.
Despite the fact that the depression
created untold misery and hardship, it did
not produce a generation of weaklings or
cowards. This is the great. truth_ which
today's young people should learn.
Those hard years produced the soldiers
and sailors and airmen who had the neces-
sary fortitude to face and defeat the
enemies of civilization. Those gruelling
times also produced the. generation of
hard - fighting money - makers who have
built up the affluence on which our own
children can plan their purchases of up-
to-the-minute attire and new sports cars.
It was inevitable that some of those
who had to fight so hard for economic
survival should errcrge a bit too. greedy
but for the most part the depression in-
stilled nothing more than a gri.m deter-
mination to succeed in a world which had
proven to be pretty rough on those who
could not fend for themselves.
Parents are continually reminded that
they have failed to understand their child-
ren—a charge which is true in many in-
stances. However, it is even more im-
portant for young .people to understand
their parents—to see them in the light of
those influences and •experiences by which
they were molded.
Where Are All Those Students
During this past winter, when there
;was a sizeable walk -out of students at
the local high school, the core of com-
plaint about a longer school year was that
students would be kept at their books
`until all opportunities for summer em-
ployment would be gone. ..
The- government of the province has
also taken due notice of the need for sum-
mer employment of students. Several '
hundred thousand dollars .are being spent
on an. advertising compaign to stress the
merits of student employment to potential
erhployers.
Two weeks ago The Advance -Times of-
:fered free classified advertising to those
AstvcIents who want summer employment,
along with the suggestion that the early will get the .bestrY.worms-f--•from 'tb
*employment standpoint.. So far we have ,
fi"ad no advertisers.
Perhaps we don't think like today's
`students, but we believe that there is a
fair amount of work available for the.
young person who is willing to sweat a bit
a,nd do a' conscientious job. As one ex
ample, householders find it increasingly
difficult to get anyone who will look after
the extra jobs around lawns and flower -
beds. Although we wouldn't expect any
student to become a full -fled d house
painter, almost every . home h flower-
?.
. need
for smaller touch-up and,repair jobs -the
sort of thing an intelligent .lad could
handle quite efficiently.
There is, of course, a possibility that
the rates of . pay offered for this sort of ,,
work will not be quite on a par with those
charged by professionals, ,but that would
"\bel logical. "
We don't suggest that students are
lazy. Only that with imagination and in-
itiative they could pickup some welcome
extra dollars this summer. We still offer
free ads
Sure Makes You Think
This is the time of year when : the
average . Canadian does some . real soul
searching about .the . kind of governments
hesupports and the ' high cost of .all the
services he accepts from them. The moy
merit of • truth comes when he sits down to
make out 'the cheque for the • income tax
people. For many, of"course, the pain is
disguised by the fact that payment has
been made. in 52 easy installments as de
ductions at the source from his weekly
pay cheque.
We certainly live in easy-going times,
There has been relatively little open corn-
-plaint as taxes have climbed higher year
by -year. This- year, however, there is a•
new discontent in the land—particularly
in ,Ontario, where fears are widespread
that county boards. of education, regional
government and other such innovations,
will become very expensive luxuries.
The taxpayer is suffering not only the
pain of a deeper bite, but also from a lack
of solid information on the real purpose
in exacting all the extra flesh from the
wound. -
Some of it seems to make little sense.
For example, the County of Huron made
its plans to take over the responsibility
for assessmeht procedures in all munici-
palities. • . An expensive building•was erect-
ed in Goderich, with not only enough
floor space to house the county assessor
and his staff—but with space left over
for future expansion. The Ontario gov-
ernment, through the Municipal Board had
to approve the necessary expenditure for
^the structure and apparently did so.
The county assessor took over on the
first of January, but within two months
the province announced that county as-
sessors will become a thing of the past.
The province will assume that responsi-
bility..
• The future of Huron's new building is
in some doubt, for the counties of Huron
and Perth will be grouped together as
one unit for assessment purposes. Head-
quarters for the combined counties will,
in all probability, be somewhere other than
at Goderich.
A. province -wide assessment schedule
makes good sense in .theory. It should be
moreequitable than the local assessment
plan, under which each. community and
jurisdiction was free to set its own stand-
ards. The inevitable variations from town
to town and township to township created
the need for equalization committees so
that county rates -could be fairly divided.
Under the provincial plan the intention
is to place a proper market value on:MI
properties as the basis for taxation. It
will no longer be possible to make lots
of improvements to the interior of a home
and leave the outside unimproved in order
to fool,. the assessor. Quite likely we will
see a sharp increase in the assessment
values and a considerable drop , in mill
rates.
Tlie real grit of the _matter, however,
will be the tax bill and don't hdld your
breath in expectation of a decrease in the
. actual dollars you will have to cough up.
TI ere seems to be a fixed formula
which dictates that the cost of any oper-
ation is increased in direct ratio to the
level of government by which' it is hand-
led. The cost of -"'assessing Huron County
properties, as one example, would have
increased by many thousands of dollars
with the move from local to county re-
sponsibility.
The economies which .are so frequently
promised by moving to a larger and more
efficient unit of operation are all too
often eaten up many times over by the
empire -building proclivities of those who
find themselves with new and broader
responsibilities and the opportunity to ex-
pand their, field of control. Parkinson's
law seems basic to government operations
•
'of all kinds in this 'country.
If any government, local, county, pro-
vincial or federal, has assumed in the past
ten years that the taxpayers are' fat and,
happy and thus will make no serious ob-
jection to freer use of their dollars, they
were right. If that ' assumption is con-
tinued for another 12 or 15 months they
will be dead wrong. The taxpayers are
starting to squirm and squeal'. The end
of the "soak -it -to -'em" era is in sight.
THE WINGHAM ADVANCE - TIMES
Published at Wingham, Ontario, by Wenger Bros. Limited
W. Barry Wenger, President • , Robert O. Wenger, Seetetary-Treasurer
Member Audit Bureau of Circulation
Member Canadian Weekly Newspapers Association
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SCENE STEALERS — Thesei three young
ladies, modelling outfits- made by their
mothers who took sewing at night classes,
were show stoppers at a fashion show held
last Thursday night in How.ick Central
School. From left are Janna Gowdy,
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Gowdy
of Gorrie; Leisa Garniss, daughter of Mr.
and Mrs. Murray Garniss of Wroxeter, and
Lindy Mulvey, daughter of Mr. and Mrs.
William Mulvey of Wroxeter:'
—Banner Photo.
News Items from Old Files
APRIL 1920
Mr. William Clendenning
left on Good Friday for Bler--
heim where he will reside with
his sister, Mrs. J. Forbes. We
are sorry to lose Mr. Clenden-
ning after his twenty five years'
residence in Wingham, but his
eyes are fast failing although
he has spared nothing in his en-
deavors to have°his eyesight're-.
stored. Mr. Clendenning has
leased his residence on Minnie
Street to Mr. John Johnston,.
harness maker. •
Mr. Frank J.. Hill has. eight.
Rhode Island Red Pullets,. which
started to .lay in. October, at
five and a half months. They
have kept up a record since.
January which is considerably
better: than the Ottawa laying
contest. During January, Feb-
ruary and March they laid 503
eggs or an average of better
than 5-1 eggs per day. .In the
first six days in April they laid
forty-one eggs, or'alinost sev-
en per day!' Mr. Hill will have
a few settings for sale, and we
would advise you to order how.
APRIL 1934
Mr. A. L. Posliff, . Principal •
of the Public School, was a
.delegate to Ontario Educational
Association .convention held last
week in Toronto. It was his
privilege to hear among many
outstanding addressesthat of -
"Education or Catastrophe" de-
livered by Rabbi Eisendrath,
which was in itself a master-
piece of eloquence and inspir-
ation. .
Rev. L. H. Currie, pastor
of the United Church, who has
been invited to Wellington
Street United Church, London,
announced to his 'congregation
on Sunday morning that he had
decided to accept this invita-
tion. ,On Wednesday of 1 as t
week a ° congregational meeting
was held at which a vote of ap-
preciation was extended to Mr.
Currie by the congregation and
it was with regret that the con-
gregation received his decision,
on Sunday. morning to leave
Wingham.
APRIL 1944
A very large congregation
attended the Easter service in
Wingham United Church on
Sunday, morning. The church
was decorated w i t h flowers.
Several names were added to
the church honor roll: L/Bdr.
Roy E. Bennett, Pte. William
'G. Burgman, Donald Campbell,
Harry Casemore, Wilfred Cas-
lick, Mary Cruickshank, P.O,
Colin Crozier, George Edgar,
LAC. R. A. Hickey, R. H. Mont-
gomery.
Pte. Harry Spry, who h as
'been attached to the Record
Office, Pacific Command, Van-
couver for some time has been
transferred to No. 2. Record
Office, Toronto.
The Easter meeting of the
High School Literary Society
was held on Thursday afternoon,
April fifth in the school audi-
torium. The students of grade
11 presented act 1 of Disraeli.
The following is the cast: Dis-
raeli, Milton Brown; Lady Bea-
consfield, Grace Golley; Duke
of Glastonburg, Ross Prodfer;
Duchess of Glastonburg,Mabelle
Dunkin; Clarissa, Jean Stewart;
Charles, Viscount Dufdrd, Don
Lloyd; Sir Michael Probert,
Jack Walker; Mrs. Travers,
Irene Currie.
Mr. Erland Ecklin has joined
the staff of CKNX. Mr. Ecklin
is a former foreign correspond-
ent of News Week Magazine
and a former CBS war commen-
tator in London, England.
Six tables took part in a
Howell movement at the Wing -
ham Bridge Club at their week-
ly meeting on. Thursday even-
ing. The result of the play:
tied 1st and 2nd, Mrs. R. S.
Hetherington and Bert Procter,
Mrs. George Ross and J. H.
Crawford; 3rd, Jack Mason and
W. H. French; 4th, Mrs . A.
R. DuVal and Gordon MacKay; •
tied for 5th and 6th, Mrs. J.
Brown and Mrs. J. H. Crawford,
Mrs., F. A. Parker and Art Wil-
son.
Under the auspices of the
Wingham Fish and Game Club
a truck load of speckled trout
Was deposited in the streams
of this district on Thursday last
week. The club is making a
determined effort to, restore the
good fishing that wasenjoyed in
years gone by.
APRIL 1955
Members of the Wingham
Community Players are search-
ing diligently for four red-head-
ed boys and a couple of adult
red heads for their forthcoming
production "Life With Father. "
The play concerns the trials
and tribulations of a family of
red heads, and unless real car-
rot -tops can be found, they'll
have to use the henna, rinse lib-
erally.
R. H. Lloyd was re-elected
president of the WinghamGolf
Club as thirty-two golfers met
at the annual meeting in the
town council' chambers Monday
night. It will be Mr. Lloyd's
fifth term of the club, first or-
ganized in 1949. J. J. Cruick-
shank was the charter president.
Other officers named at the
.meeting are: Honorary presi-
dent, Herbert Campbell; vice
Huron - Perth
Sitp orate School
board meets
president, Dr. Walton McKib-
bon; treasurer, Frank Madill;
secretary, John Cruickshank,
and club captain, W i l f r e d
French. The following com-
mittee chairmen were also •
chosen:. greens, Herbert Camp
bell,' finance, J. Harley Craw-
ford; membership, Omar Hasel-
grove; and property, Dr. George
Howson.
Ronnie Baker, of town, had
the honor of being the first one
in the Maitland River. this year,
when he opened the swimming
season at the Howson's D a m
during the warm weather on
Monday. Asked how the water .
was, Ronnie replied "Not bad"—
somewhat dubiously, we thought
Less than three .weeks ago Wing^
ham suffered one of the worst.
blizzards of the season, and the
occasional patch of snow is still
*in evidence, although it dis-
appearing rapidly.
Six and a -half tables were in
play at the regular meeting of
the bridge club on Thursday
evening. Results were as fol-
lows: North and South, Mrs.
R. S. Hetherington, D. Crump
ton; Mrs. D. B. Porter, Miss
Yvonne McPherson; Mrs. .G.
Godkin, O. Haselgrove. East
and West: Mrs. J. H. Craw-
ford, R. S. Hetherington; Mrs.
W. H. French, H. Sherbondy;
Mrs. D. C. Nasmith, W. H.
French.
Sunday's warm temperatures,
in the mid -seventies, were the
second warmest on record, ac7.
cording to the weather office.
Highest Easter temperature wa§ '
. in 1941,, when the mercury hit, >
82. in 1940, the year before,
the thermometer was at 20 de-
grees with a nainirnum temper-
ature of four above zero and .
Easter, which in that year fell
on March 24th. Sunday was on-
ly the third time in 40 years
that the temperature had been
in the 70's for Easter.
Irish stew today,. 'or . clam
chowder, or whatever your fa=
vorite mucky dish is. It will
contain fish and ' eggs, metal
and glass.
A recent column pn personal
beets brought a `'hair - raiser
from. W.Hie of, West
Gravenhurst.
Quote: °Question- 4or what
formai education teaches have
done and are doing, should iiia'
tory indict the as murder-
ers, manslaughterer suicides
and conspirators thereto? I
must vote 'yeti,' because after
years of research I have not
been able to find others on
whom to place the responiibili-
ty for the hell on earth which
will be Our Canada in a very
few years now — death and
destruction everywhere."
It may have been my attack
on the beer can that sparked
this. But he goes on to say that
scarcely any teachers know
that ours is a metal civiliza-
tion, that we have nearly ex-
hausted the most necessary of
• these metals and that theye-
fore our form of civilization is
ending.
Mr. House would never make
a public relations man for ei-
ther the teaching vocation or
the metals industry, ° but he
sure comes to,the'point.
The same column in which I
attacked disposable bottles,
brought a letter from — guess
who — the public relations.
firm, for the Glass Container
Council.' Enclosed was a broc-
hure called "No -Deposit Bot-
tles — A Study."
The the
of The Sttidy
says the facts have shown that,
properly handled, the no -de-
posit bottle is not a danger to
children or livestock, not `a sig-
nificant source of litter, not a
cause of forest fires, not a
problem .in handling solid
waste.
How did' we get onto forest
fires? '
It ends on a smug note: "The
no-depositbottle is wanted by
the public as a• form of conven-
ience packaging." Well; I'm
one of the public, and I don't
want it. Also, "convenience,"
used to be a noun when • I went
to school.
The Huron -Perth Separate
School Board, meeting at St.
James' Separate School, Sea -
forth, last week reported that
the superintendent; John Vintar,'
will meet with the school prin-
cipals on April 24.
The board approved a mo-
tion to contact the Perth County
engineer in regard to the° erec-
tion of school signs at St. Pat-
rick's School in Dublin.
A kindergarten class in the
Clinton Separate School is to be,
deferred for at lelst one year.
A discussion arose on the use
of the strap in schools, 'There
is no regulation to prevent prin-
cipals of area separate schools
from using the strap. The dis-
cussion arose when it was , indi-
cated'that principals felt the
use of the strap was forbidden
by department regulations.
Student Teachers
at Public School
But. the key words in that
blurb are ."properly handled".
4L10 they; meat} ithe_facts, of the:
bottles. Facts, pi'operly Ban-
died, can be a snow; job.
Student teachers from Strat-
ford Teachers' College at the
Wingham Public School this
week are Miss Mary Lu Miller
of Owen Sound and Paul Brown
of Goderich teaching Grade VI
for Mrs. Thornton; .Miss Brenda
Langille of Londesboro and Miss
Cheryl Haskins of Gorrie teach-
ing Grade VII and VIII for ° Mr.
Ross; Miss Ann Burnside of Ower
Sound and Miss Janice Pointon
of Owen Sound teaching Grade
VIII for Mrs. Walsh; Miss Grace
Cullen of Clinton and Miss
Sharon Slater of Walkerton
teaching drade I for Mrs. Rob-
ertson; Miss Mary Showers of
Hanover and Miss Donna Al-
paugh of Chesley teaching
Grade V for Mrs. Coultes; Miss
Joyce Musty of Listowel a n d
Miss Agnes Schellenbeger of
St. Marys teaching Grade II for
Mrs. Mundell.
There is only one thing for
a man to do who is married to
a woman who enjoys spending
money, and that Is to, enioy
earning it.
However, mdstn't get built
`up on ' the bottle. I pro nised,>
some ' fish inthis stew, Read
the fish story the other day,
Wt's too good to 'be true, but
Will pass it, along.
Focal couple was vacationing
in California. They were invit
ed to a wine and fish dinner.
Hostess had .a huge fish, sal- c
mon, or s9nnething, cooked, gar,
nished and put on the table.
She went in from the patio for
a last-minute ; check Ott there
was the family cat up to its
eyebrows in fish.
She squealed for her hus-
band. He came and like a sensi-
ble chap, said, "Turn it over;
they'll .never notice." There
was only about a pound miss-
ing, from the one side. They
did, the guests were .called in,
and unanimously called it. the
best fish they'd ever eaten.
Host, pleased at his ingenui-
ty strolled outside and saw
the cat lying dead. His
thoughts can only be conjec-
tured. But three . hours later,
after all the guests had been to
hospital and had their sto-
machs pumped out, he and his
wife . got home, just a little
harassed. A neighbor woman
came to the door.
"I didn't want to . disturb you
while you had guests, and I'm
terribly sorry, but 1 ran over
your cat and killed it." End of
story.
Which reminds me of Gracie
Fields And the eggs. This is
true. I was there. Miss Fields,
Lancashire lass with great
voice and comic sense, was on
her fourth -last farewell . tour.
She took the old steamer Ha-
monic, on which 1 worked,
down'the lakes from Duluth to
Detroit.
In for breakfast two hours
late, she ordered eggs. The
chef was sore, but fried them.
She sent• them back, because
they were sunny side up. The
chef lifted an Oriehtal eyebrow
then his spatula, flipped Dem
over on the plate, • and . sent
them back in, sunny side down.
Gracie being a woman, peek-
ed, and the poor devil of a
waiter, working his way
through college, took the full
force of a Lancashire tirade.,
while the wily old chef..in the
g,91 ey,b 1pAeci..,'•, se t� n'
casing 1 of a Ca tohees§"damn
about Gracie Field`s;
TODAY'S CHILD
BY HELEN ALLEN
This is Children's Aid Week, a good time to think
about all the children in Ontario who have no mothers
and fathers to .love them. These children need to be
adopted so they will have parents and permanent homes.
The lonely ones include boys and girls in a wide age
range from tiny infants to 16. but the great majority are
little boys under two. One of them is Glen, six months
old, an appealing baby with lovely brown eyes, scanty
light brown hair and fair sensitive akin. You can't see
the dimple in his chin for the rattle. but it's there. Glen
is a happy, relaxed little fellow, sturdily built and in
good health, though he may be allergic to eggs. He
sleeps and eats well. He loves attention and is not a
bit shy. He needs to lie adopted to he will have the
loving, secure home moat children take for granted. To
inquire about adopting Glen. please write to Today's
Child, Department of Social and Family Services, par-
liament Buildings, Toronto 5. i%'or other information
about adoption ask your local Children's Aid Society.