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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1969-08-28, Page 9Seeking the Remedy The unusual traffic hazardwhich ex, fists at the Intersection of. Highways 4 end86, immediately south of Wingham, hes accounted for the loss of another life, the second within five days and the third in less than a year. i,t is, of course, mere- ly stating the obvious When we say that something has to be done-. -w The Ontario. Department of Highways is. well aware of this fact. In a letter to Mayor DeWitt Miller, J. E. Gleason, Region- al Traffic Engineer, states, It is obvious that additional control devices should now be considered." 1 the mayor, chief. of police, provincial police and five top-ranking Highway of- ficials went over the ground on Thursday morning, the .day following the accident which took the life of l6 -year-old Jane Ann Nethery. So far there appears to be no concrete agreement on the exact reasr ons for the tremendous incidence of ace cidents at the corner, nor on the devices which are most likely to halt the carnage; Since the opening of the by-pass about a year 'and a half ago the Department has, on four occasions, taken additional steps to warn motorists on Highway 86 of the hazard which exists. An overhead flasher was. installed; extra large direction markers were set up; "rumble strips" were set into the pavement, and the speed limit was reduced to 45 miles per hour. Obviously car drivers should be aware of the intersection, but it is equally ob- vious that for some reason the warnings are not effective. Nevertheless two men are now facing dangerous driving charges as a result of the latest fatal accidents. The Department is considering three further warning devices: (1) "bouncing ball" 'flashers as additions to the stop signs; (2) overhead signs 9n cantilever supports; (3) green, red. and orange traf- fic signals at the intersection. Decision as to which devices will be installed is expected within a few days. In the meantime, however, the inter- section is still in use and the hazard re- mains just .as fatal as it was last Wednes- day and the previous Friday. The question right now is whether or not someone else will die before a solution is found. MISS MERLE WILSON received first prize teapot at the Horticultural Society flower • for her arrangement of wildflowers in a show in the Public School on Saturday. ingbaln Atitionco Partnership Arrqngernent Many of the Wingham merchants are at present participating in a "back to school" sales promotion which will pro- vide some lucky scholar with a $2.00 weekly allowance throughout the 40 weeks of the coming school year. Perhaps it would be interesting for the public to know a little more about the background of such promotions. ' First of ° all, the basic idea is most certainly not to provide a sales "killing" for the merchant The last three promotions which have been carried out in Wingham have been or- iginated by The Advance -Times with the intention of doing something concrete about increasing the prosperity, not only of the • merchants arc! the newspaper, but of the community,as a whole. As •a 'person who spends a high pro- portion of your . annual. income in the Wingham stores, you may not be convin- ced that there is any connection between the economic success. of the merchants and the state of your own finances. How- ever, a lively and successful business community on the' main street of any Western Ontario town is one of .the surest indications of a thriving community in which all residents are prosperous: Just look around' our`own part of the province. There are many examples of this truth: Listowel, Exeter, St: Marys, Hanover -alai these communitiesare unusually pros- perous and attractive. Not only are . the merchants doing well, but employment rates are high and wages are, in most in- stances, quite definitely above the stand- ards which prevail in less active centres. A godd town is not necessarily the one with the best schools and hospital or with the most churches. A good town is the place where ALL citizens are keen to see their community prosper; where business- men and citi'zens are enthusiastic boosters for the place they have decided to call home. Transportation is fast- and pleasant nowadays. It makes a pleasant break to drive off to London or Kitchener for a half' day of shopping. 'But if that is. your general practice, don't do any complaining about the dead town in which you live. Just keep up the city shopping and watch your own town dry up and fall apart. This newspaper "has one single purpose in its existence—to work unceasingly for .the prosperity and improvement of Wing - ham and district — and there are times when it appears to' be a pretty thankless task. Most . certainly it . will be, in vain unless the people who live here feel the sarne way about their home town as we do.• ' Why are you interrupting my bath, Andy might be asking with that questioning, look. This appealing baby is ,of black and white parentage -His white ancestors were Ital- ian, Scottish and Irish so, he is almost a United Nations himself. Andy is eight months old, healthy and sturdy with big dark eyes, scant light brown hair and pale complexion. He is very active and already quite strong. He is alert, responsive and good-natured He chatters cheerily with a few recognizable words. Hedikes attention .from children .or can be quite content playing -with toys in ' which he takes an increasing interest. He needs loving parents who will value his heritage. To inquire about adopting Andy please write to Today's Child, Department,of Social and Family Services, Parliament Buildings, Toronto 182. For other information about adoption ask your local Children's Aid Society. Wingham, Ontarib, Thursday, August 28, 1969 SECOND S,ECTIO$` News Items from Old Files AUGUST 1920 Miss Verna McLaughlin has been engaged on the Exeter high school staff at a salary of $1, 300. While drawing in grain at J. A. McLean's farm on Tues- New Hope for Industry. The announcement last week that the Fry & Blackhall plant has been purchased by Electrohome Limited of Kitchener was certainly good news. It has been painful, to say the least, to watch the decline' of an industry which had, over the years, en- hanced the reputation of the . town of Windham. . The 'name "Fry & 'Blackhall" on high grade furniture was known all over Can- ada as a guarantee of excellence. it was in the same category as "Rolls Royce" on a car. The reputation of the product re- flected highly not only on the management of the former company but on the quality of workmanship applied to their tasks by a fine group of I,ocal craftsmen. Fortun- ately ortunately a good many of those craftsmen still live in this community . and it is to be hoped that their skills will once again be needed. Electrohome is a firm with a solidly - established history of success in the var- ious industries which it has acquired over the years since the war. Best known, per- haps, for its line of electronic equipment such as televisions and radios, the firm also operates the furniture company which makes the well-known line of Deilcraft products, leaders in 'their field. Although' no definite announcement has been .made about the size of the op- eration here, it is logical to expect that the Fry & Blackhall plant will once again become a busy spot and that there. will be jobs for those who need them. .s See You at the River This coming Sunday will ,see the 1969 version of a show which has proved to be extremely popular in years past. It Will be the occasion of the Wingham Sports- nien's annual. Water Show. Invariably this event draws an excellent crowd to watch the Water ski-ing and other aquatic sports. «► Each year the setting becomes more beautiful. Through the continuing efforts of the parks •board, the waterway itself has been enlarged and the surrounding The kids are pathetic. It's been a . rough summer for a lot of people, including yours truly. There's nothing like getting home, exhausted, after a trip and finding a) that your wife has lost the house key and you have to- brpak through a cellar window, and b) that an oak limb 40 feet Iong and ten inches thick has fallen across your hydro lines during a storm. • However, these are minor things. I got into the house with no more than a scraped knee anda bad temper, and a good neighbor had climbed up and sawed the limb in two, allowing • half of it to crash down on. my fence. But this is a mere' bagatelle compared 'to what others have gone through. Teachers ,are supposed to recharge their bat- teries during the summer vaca- tion, andhitschool in Septem- ber tanned, fit and bursting with idealism. We'll be lucky to open this fall, the way our staff is fold- ing up. A hernia and a heart attack, a totat collapse from exhaustion, various slipped discs and other ailments have decimated the ranks. All I have is a touch of heartburn, and I attribute that to a couple of days of Bloody Marys for :breakfast, served by friends we were visiting. It's been a bad' summer for a lot of parents. First, two kids I park area has become more attractive. In fact, we consider the whole park area to be the finest available in any of the small- er communities of Western Ontario. You havea cordial invitation to watch the fun on Sunday afternoon.' You are not even asked, for an admission fee but you can aid the Sportsmen, with a do- nation when the hat is passed around — which we assume it will be. met on a visit to the old home town, told me nonchalantly that they'd flunked their first year at College. Their parents weren't quite so nonchalant. Apoplectic is the word. >�ame Clay I met an ol8... riend who was at his cottage. They'd left one son at home, working. The night before, my friend •had received a call from the police in, his home town. They had raided a big teen-age party. At his place. A friend of my daughter, a pretty, blonde 17 -year-old, had a stroke and her 'right side is paralyzed. No need to ask how her family feels. A 'distraught mother told me three weeks ago that her 14 - year -old daughter had 'disap- peared, run off with another kid. She phoned, collect, this week from Vancouver. Alive, but who knows what she's been doing? The lady is a good mother, in every way. Has two daughters, one a fine, steady girl, the other a young rip. Why? And everywhere you see them on the highways, dirty, bearded, long-haired. Hitch- hiking from nowhere • to no- where. Some of them cluster in "communes" in, the big cities. A commune is usually a fall- ing -down house in a slum area. It has a kitchen of sorts, a toilet that' works occasionally, and the rest of the floor space. is covered by mattresses and sleeping -bags. Theoretically, everyone con- tributes for food, rent and chores. In reality, there are usually two or . three working and the rest lust drift in and out like alley .cats. This, prod- uces personality clashes and hasslesand a very unhealthy psychological atmosphere. Add ' drugs to this boar's nest and you have some pretty sick young people. They claim they're opting out of ,a sick society. Work is a dirty word. They are meditat- ing, seeking, a higher spiritual life. There's a• lot of talk about -vibrations and Buddha and pure love for everyone. All this in a pig -pen? The young people are rather pathetic, but I grieve more for their parents, who simply don't know how to cope with a way of thinking and living so alien to their own. They are loving, frustrated and helpless. And I save a little pity for myself. Got a letter from my daughter, from Montreal, tell- ing me .cheerfully that she had one cent. 'Wired her some mon- ey yesterday. Got a collect call this morning, saying she couldn't cash it because she had no proof of identity. Phoned the Montreal telegraph office, told them it was OK to cash it. No . can do. Confirma- tion, had to come from our local wire office. Called them, got off a wire and presumably she cashed , in, as she hasn't called back yet. So, the original bite, plus two wireS, plus two long-dis- tance calls to Montreal. Should all kids, at birth, be placed out on a lonely hillside for the shepherds to adopt? We might be flooded with shepherd's pie, but it would certainly make life a lot simpler. S.S. Guest Editorial 't. a Better Temper on Campus? Watch for increased student pressure for reforms on Canadian university cam- „ puses this fall, fan Rodger reports in The Financial Post. The out -look is for another round of protest demonstrations and more or Tess disruptive sit-ins, even though the radical student movement now appears to be in disarray, However, no destructive incidents like last February's computer riot at Sir George Williams. University in Montreal are either expected, or wanted, Disaster = 1.134? Friday, June 13 by students and officials alike. More crises can be expected, simply because there are many aspects of universities that remain anachronistic in the eyes" of a growing numberof students and so many adminis- trators. On several campuses — particu- larly in the Maritimes, Quebec and On- tario — boards of governors are still a senior businessman's preserve. Students have very little say in the makeup of their courses. By Ruby Haskins 12A THE WINGHAM ADVANCE - TIMES Published at Wingham, Ontario, by Wenger Bros. Limited W. Barry Wenger, President - Robert O. Wenger, Secretary -Treasurer Member Audit Bureau of Circulation Member Canadian Weekly Newspapers Association Subscription Rate: 1 yr. $6.00; 6 months $3.25, in advance; USA $7.00 per yr.; Foreign rate $'7.06 per yr. Advertising Rates on application Second Class Mail Registration No. -0821 Return Postage Guaranteed June creeps on and in her murky depths lurks the monster, common enemy to all whose marks have notquite reached that pinnacle of success — the elusive 60. It is the Exam, a cold, calculated'leaflet that threatens our well-being. Perhaps .our term marks are all right, but somehow we know that, as we enter that room, a vertiable torture -chamber with its indivi- dual stalls .waiting for us, the unsuspect- ing sheep, we may never leave the satre. Panic strikes in the form of the 9 o'clock bell and we find our allotted slots and await the unknown. A whole year's ,work has spun before our eyes during ithe last few days. It now has become a blank, an uncapturable void, as we scan the the question sheet. In desperation at the end of our two hours, we fold our papers, count the pages, and with our signatures sign away a year. The preceding illustrates why in some cases I feel exam's are of no use. Many students panic and their minds become a total blank. Even when they have studied somethirtg, they become caught 'up in the pressure of the moment, and any effort to remember it is useless. If more emphasis were placed on term work, then students would be encouraged to work from day to day, and wouldn't wait until a few days befo'r`e the exam to cram in a year's work. It is basic human nature to put something off as long as you can and three exams a year are only tempting some very human students to cram. The solution is simply periodical term tests to keep us on our toes, so that at the end of the year, for once we'll really know something. day, Mr. Hugh Sinnamon met with a painful accident, which .will lay him aside for a time. The hayfork ropebroke and the pulley struck him, severley spraining his leg. Mrs. Newans of Belmore and Master Norman, paid a flying visit to London last week. Johnston Conn, Jamieson Pettapiece, Willie Miller, Mac Inglis, James Paterson, James Falconer, Herbert Laidlaw and Ben Naylor, Whitechurch, went West last week. Charles Kitchen has disposed of his farm in Howick to Chad- wick Henning and has purchased Frank Wright's farm in Turn - berry Township... In the recent report of the Entrance examinations Russel Rae and Ian Milligan secured honour standings. Mrs. W. M. Robinson and Miss Sophia, Wroxeter, left on Monday for the' West followed by the best wishes 4A -their -many friends. Miss Sophia, has secur- ed, a situation in a post office there while Mrs. Robinson will make her home with her son, Arthur, at Humbolt, Saskatche- wan. AUGUST 1934 Mr. W. E. Hammond was appointed caretaker of the Pub- lic School by the Board ata meeting Monday evening. We have on display in our window a tomato' that is truly a freak. Four tomatoes are grown together in a circle off two stems so formed that there is a hole in the centre. Thi s peculiar specimen was grown in Mr. J. 'D. Lediet's garden and was picked by his son, Albert. Mr. W. Stanley Hall,newly. appointed High School Princi- .pal, his wife and four-year-old son, Jimmy, arrived in town on Thursday from Niagara -on -the - Lake, and are living on John Street, in the house vacated by Mr. Brackenberry, the former' principal. We extend to Mr. Hall, his wife and son, a most hearty welcome. In a twilight of mixed rinks held by the Hanover Club on Monday evening Mr. anc'IMrs, Art Wilson and Mrs. C. B. Arm- itage and Jack Mason, won third prize. During.the last few weeks. the Post Office has been redecorat- ed. It now looks very classy with -its coat of. green paint and red tower, The work was done by Elmer Wilkinson. Monday afternoon Mr. Floyd Pratt one of Teeswater's young athletes, dove into the mill pond clothes and all, to rescue Miss Reta Stepan, 15 years of age, who had lost her nerve and was in great danger of drowning. the water at this paint being about eight feet deep. 'After some difficulty the young lady was safe on terra -firma once more, and iio doubt has the best of good wishes for her rescuer. Mr. Pratt had the pleasure of walking home several blocks in his wet clothes to warrant a' change to comfort. Mrs. Wesley Brand le ha i the misfortune to fracture het ankle last Saturday afternoon while she and her daughter, Gertrude, were driving the car into the garage. The car door was open and was shut forcibly on Mrs. Brandle's ankle causing the fracture. AUGUST 1944 A former Wingham news- paperman won .top award for - his paper at the . Weekly News- paper Association Convention which was held at Winnipeg last week. Charles Barber , brother of Miss Minnie Barber of town, wonthe award•ffo,, the. "best all round 'newspaper award". His paper is the Clii1- liwack Progress. Mr. Barber started his career in newspaper, work in the Advance officehere,. ' At the annual picnic for service men and women at Windsor Lake, Newfoundland, LAW, Mary Bafrd of town, 'won the peanut butter race. Out- door games featured the 'after.. noon's frolics. Three former students of Wingham High School were sue-, cessful in the summer course at-'nx the Normal School, London. They are Iviitdred it,itzpattriick M:* two, Dorothy Wade. ,c►f .Be grave, and Ada Dow'of East • • Wawanosh. They allhave • been engaged to teach this ' fall.. After teaching for a year and attending another summer course. they will receive teacher's cer- tificates. Mr. and Mrs. Fred Ohm, Victoria Street, • received word on Wednesday afternoon last week that their 20 -year old son Private Clarence Albert Ohm, had been wounded in action in France, August 10, in the right shoulder. It is hoped by all that word ' will soon be received ' of his complete recovery. The Salvation •Army are hav- ing,special services over this week -end. These services will be conducted by L. R. S. Gover, of Toronto, pianist and soloist. There will bea meeting on Fri- day night and thrde services on Sunday. He will also fake part in the service on the street Sat- urday evening. A cordial in- vitation to all is extended to attend these services. AUGUST 1955 Residents. of Hillcrest were alarmed the other day when a truck pulled up and several • characters jumped out, armed with'ifish nets, ladders and.•long poles. There was no cause for alarm, however. It was just the Stainton boys looking for a couple of their Dad's prize pig- eons on the loose. One of the birds is still missing, and Perc Stainton would appreciate re- ceiving reports on same. Two students of \Vingham District High Scheel were award- ed scholarships, by the Univer- sity of Western Ontario, it was announced yesterday. A Schol- arship of $500 ($300 for the first year, and „00 for the second year) for the highest standing in six specific papers was award- ed to Kenneth Holmes, son of Mr, and Mrs. Bert Holmes of Turnbcrry. A school scholar- ship of $200 for one year, for • the highest standing in the high school , was awarded to \Vil - liaiti Laidlaw, son of Mr. and Mrs. Robert E. Laidlaw, Tum - berry, by reversion from Ken- neth Holmes. Scout Robert Apps, of Keri - ora, who has been attending the Jamboree at Niagara -on - 'the -Lake, is visiting this week with Mr. and Mrs. T. A. Cur- rie and other relatives in town.