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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1975-04-17, Page 27• it .� rl .rq.: V.. ;.i !714!'1^ f' ..1*r.1.•CV' V61 Crossrc:acIs *weekly lyour uwei Douuer4 Wiughaut Advance. Tines and Meant Forest Comte- derate & read by 33,E people In the "heartland of Midwestern Ontario". (Based on 3.5 readers is each of 9,500 homes.) Photos and Feature by Terry Thomson Although it was onApril Fool's day, the switch to the metric sys- tem was cettainly no joke. Polls show that the majority of Cana- dians were unprepared and when the temperature was given on Monday morning as two degrees Celsius, people had no idea what to expect when they stepped out- side their homes. Of all the changes the metric system will bring about perhaps - the most challenging one is that of the temperature switch from the Fahrenheit scale to Celsius. This change affects everyone, everyday. Just how have people in the Wingham, Listowel and Mount Forest area reacted to the change? If a small survey that was done is any indication at all, it would appear that Anders Cel- sius, the Swedish astronomer who invented the scale, has be- come the most unpopular historic figure for 1975. Celsius, who lived from 1701 to 1744, decided that the logical way to measure temperature was with a scale of 100 equal units or P degrees between the freezing and boiling points of water. This system was first called the centigrade scale. The freezing point which is 32 degrees in Fahrenheit becomes zero de- grees in Celsius while the boiling point in Fahrenheit is 212 degrees and in Celsius it is 100. "People are just ignoring the change," said David Neal, acting �► officer in charge at the Mount Forest Weather Station. "The radio stations are not helping the situation. Most of -them are giving the temperature in both Celsius and Fahrenheit. One station in Toronto is com- pletely ignoring the change and is giving the temperature only in Fahrenheit," he said.. Mr. Neal said these stations cannot be condemned for what they are doing because, as far as he knows, there was no actual law which ordered them to make the change. The weather station is giving the temperature to callers in both Celsius and Fahrenheit. It is given to the media only in Celsius as they have conversion charts m and can change it to Fahrenheit if they feel the need to. If a person calls in and asks for the Fahrenheit degrees, Mr. Neal will oblige him. "We will give it to them. However, we stress the fact that actually we are sup- posed to gide it only in Celsius." Mr. Neal views the whole experience as a re -learning pro- cess. "Any change is a pain in the neck but .it has to be done," he said. He feels that people will con- vert to the system depending on how -they go about it. "If they go about it like the government sug- gests, stop using Fahrenheit and start using bench marks, they . will learn the system by asso- ciating to it," he said. Mr. Neal explained the bench mark system by saying, "If people remember temperatures which they can relate to, for example, that 20 degrees Celsius is shirt -sleeve weather, they will soon catch on." "It's just like being a child all over again," said Mr. Neal. "We first had to learn Fahrenheit and we learned it by association." Radio and TV Stations The federal metric commission responsible for the conversion program states that public use is voluntary, but -the commission is encouraging all radio and tele- vision stations to give the temperature in Celsius. CJOY radio station in Guelph and CFTJ in Cambridge went ex- clusively to Celsius temp ature readings. CHYM and CIW in Kitchener will continue' to give eh temperatures in Fahrenheit as well as -Celsius for a while. CKKW and its FM station CFCA will only give the Celsius reading at the be- ginning of newscasts but will give the Fahrenheit equivalent in the weather report. This will con- tinue for two to three weeks. CKNX radio station in Win ham is only broadcasting the temperature in Celsius degrees. Asked why the station is not fol- lowing suit with many of the e ,, / r 4 ✓ rr''r Ar r''r id t r• 0 Published every wog,. i.n The Listowel Banner, The Wingham Advance -Times and The Mount Forest Confederate by Wenger Bros. 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Water Boils Body Temperature Room Temperatu re Water Freezes • Celsius °C Fahrenheit THE FIRST STEP in Canada's metric system has been taken. Tempera- tures are now issued in Celsius degrees. The conversion thermometer above shows that 21 degrees is a pleasant day for outdoors and that 40 degrees is a hot day. Further weather conversion has been planned. On September 1 rain and snowfall will be given in millimeters and centimeters; on April 1, 1976 wind speed and barometric pressure go metric and on January 1, 1977 avia- tion visibility will be given in meters. and kilometers. other stations and giving both temperature scales, Rick Rath - burn, an employee in the news room, said CKNX is merely obey- ing the order which was received from the Canadian and American Broadcasting Association (CAB) and the metric commission which had both stated that as of mid- night, March 31, temperature would be expressed in Celsius. Mr. Rathburn said that stations which are doing otherwise are simply disobeying their orders and he presumed that eventually they will have to change. About a year ago some stations started to broadcast the tempera- ture in both ,and they were ordered not to. "We were told by the CAB to make the change solid and cold so people would get used to it and start changing their reference points," said Mr. Rath - burn. Ile said that stations which are brunt,..,,., 7,.,! -,re hindering people more than helping. "Peo ple have to learn to change their reference points and they simply can't do this if everything is given to them in both. They will con- tinue to think Fahrenheit," he said. Another spokesman for the sta- tion said that surprisingly they have had no callers asking for the temperature to be converted into Fahrenheit. They received only one crank call from an elderly listener who demanded that they go back to broadcasting the temperature the old way. 'el guess people have learned to accept it," he said. Will Be Affected Many businesses which depend on the temperature a great deal have not given the switch a sec- ond thought. For example, oil companies who deliver furnace oil to people). homes in the area will be great y affected: They use the daily temperature reading they receive from the Mount Forest weather station to deter- mine how much oil will be burned in the homes of their customers and when their tanks should be refilled. John Brown, an Imperial Esso agent in Mount Forest, said he has not changed to the Celsius scale yet. "I guess we'll have no alterna- tive," he said. "The weather sta- tion said they would be giving us the temperature in Celsius. I'm not really sure if they meant it or not, I haven't called them yet," he said. Mr. Brown- admitted that he had not really thought about the switch until now but he figures he would have to start seriously thinking about it very soon. Will!the thermostats going into new homes have to be in .!Celsius degrees? Mr. Claytoneipel from the Harriston Co-operative services hadn't really given it much thought either. "We have a weather computer which works on a B.T.U. (British Thermal Units) rating so we haven't changed it to Celsius," he said. Mr. Heipel- said they will likely have to- later ' but he noted that they haven't even made a weather computer for the Celsius scale yet. Anyone planning a trip to the Southern United States will not have to worry for a while about converting the Celsius tempera- ture reading in Canada to the Fahrenheit reading in the United States, or vice versa. It appears that a few of the travel agencies have not yet regarded the prob- lem with which they may be faced. Bob Fettes of Fettes Tours and Travel ill Mount Forest, had not consideredthe problem. "I guess we are," he said. "I never really thought about it before." He laughed and added that he was going to get himself a chart and convert the temperature like the weathermen do. Mr. Fettes felt that very few People were prepared for `the switch. "They know that zero de- grees Celsius is freezinv and from there on, most people. are lost. Forty degrees Celsius means nothing to them." , Switch Premature How well prepared for the change were the public figures in the area? "I would think that the change to the metric system is altogether too premature," said Listowel Mayor David Hay. "It „should have been tied in more Wtth the United States." - ayor Hay pointed out that Canada and the United States are very close when it comes to tele- vision, radio programs and manufactured items. "I have no ' knowledge of the United States going metric. I am sure there is nothing definite. Whether it be one or two years before they change, I think Canada should have waited. We'll be getting things from Canada in one mea- surement and from the United States in another," he said. Mr. Hay is personally not pre- pared for the change, and he doesn't think anybody else is either. "This is indicated by the way the Celsius -Fahrenheit ther- mometerS have sold like hot cakes. It shows that people want to compare and gradually work their way into the system," he said. Mayor - Hay said that. manu- facturers of these Fahrenheit; Centigrade thermometers have not backed up their stock because he thinks they are afraid of the backlash due to the United States not converting. "This is a very costly way of doing it," he said. "Twenty mil- lion people cannot expect to sway the 143 million people on the North American continent. Mr. Hay is the owner of the Hay Coal and Lumber Company in Listowel and his company has been dealing in the metric measuring system for quite some time. - "I don't see anweal problem in converting to the metric measur- ing system when it comes to manufacturing, as many of the Companies are partly into it now," he said. "When we have orders from England and other parts of Europe we are mostly dealing in kilos." Mr. Hay noted that one of the worst problems he has run across when dealing -with a country that is metric when yours isn't, is found when ordering machinery. "Many of the gears and other parts are in metric measure- ments so we have to stock up," he said. Mount Forest Mayor Jack Johnson agrees with Mayor Hay when he says that the switch is premature. "I don't really know why we're changing. I guess be- cause we're switching over to the metric system," he said. Mr. Johnson feels that because the statesre so close to Canada in every4 respect, it will be very confusing. "We are tied to them with weather reports and com- mercially. If they are not chang- ing we should be working to- gether," he said. Mr. Johnson has not bought a Cel thermometer Celsius yet buthe intends to. He sees no major adjustments in store for the Mount Forest area industries or residents. Just "minor annoy- ances". Young people will adapt quickly, according to him, but he feels that older people will have a harder time. Mayor Jack Reavie of Wing - ham was not available to give his opinion. Apathetic or Confused The general public is one of two things. They are either entirely apathetic towards the change and figure they will adjust in time or they are totally confused. "Like any new thing it is diffi- cult to get used to," said Barry Simpson of Leopold St. in Wingham. Mr. Simpson admitted that he never really knows the tempera- ture outside unless the radio tells him or he asks his wife. Mrs. Simpson is evidently determined to beat the new system. She has made' a chart with general temperatures on it and converted Them to Fahrenheit. "This is so she knows whether or not -it is coat weather for the kids," said her husband. The Simpsons have not bought a Celsius thermometer and do not intend to buy one immediately. Mr. Simpson sees no real prob- lem ahead for young people 'in schopl. He sees it as being much harder for the older people who are used to doing things the old way. Mrs. Lorne Sanderson of York Lane in Wingham thinks that if people catch on to the system they might even like it. "If only I could understand it," she said. • - Mrs. Sanderson has not pur- chased a thermometer yet but she fully intends to. "If I bought a thermometer I think I could work it out. I don't think it is really :going to be too hard," she said. "I "I don't find it too hard," said Wayne Irvine of Scott Street in Wingham. Although he doesn't fully un- derstand the whole system, Mr. Irvine feels he is doing fairly well when it comes to converting the Celsius into Fahrenheit degrees. He doesn't think that older people in the community will be the only ones with a problem. He can fore= see a problem with the younger ones as well. "Well, I don't like it because we are old and it's hard to get used to. We are both over 70 andi think it will be much easier for the young people." Mrs. Alvin McLellan of Eliza- beth Street in Listowel had noth- ing good to say about the change to Celsius. She has not bought a Celsius thermometer er ometer and •does not intend to. Recently she cut a conversion chart out of her local newspaper and she will use that. "No, it's nothing to us," she said. "It's no good to us." Mrs. M. G. Cleland of. Clayton St., Listowel, doesn't really find the Celsius reading too confusing at all. "I don't pay too much at- tention. I know that when it is zero degrees Celsius it is 32 de- grees Fahrenheit and I take it from there," she said. Mrs. Cleland hasn't purchased a thermometer yet but she figures that she will through time. "I don't think older people will really have any idea of the conversion.- - They'll just know when it's warm and' when it's cold," she said. If ybu don't understand the Celsius scale, then there is no sense buying a thermometer, ac- cording to Mrs. Allen. Hermis of Wellington Street in Mount Forest. "I don't think very much of it. It should have been left the way it was," said Mrs. Hermis. Like so many other people, Mrs. Fred Harcourt of Miller Street in. Mount Forest .paid little attention to the media's efforts to inform people hefore the final change came into being. "I've been laiy, I admit. While the radio and television have been giving the temperature in Fahrenheit and Celsius, I didn't pay any attention. Now I have to do arithmetic to figure it all out," she said. Mrs. Harcourt thinks -she will manage all right but she feels that younger people have a much better chance as they are being brought up with it. W. R. Reynolds of Birmingham Street in Mount Forest is an older member of the community and the switch to the metric system doesn't bother him. "It's one of those things. It's modernizations, I . guess. It doesn't make much dif- ference to me," he said. Mr. Reynolds feels that a world-wide system of measure- ment is a good thing. He pointed out that it doesn't' go into full swing until 1980 so he felt that people had lots of time to adjust to it. He has two young grand- children who will be brought up with this system. "In a year or two they'll never 'know another system existed," he said. "I'm finding it hard but I guess it will be OK," said Mrs. George Woods of Normanby Street in Mount Forest. She hasn't pur- chased a Celsius thermometer but•she thinks that she will some time in the future. Her daughter is in grade six and bas iiot been taught the Ce scale Celsiusyet t Mrs. Woods feels she Will be and. that the other young children who are taught the •metric system hi the schools will have no problem. Increase :In Sales Just how many people hi these areas are converting to the new system and trying to learn it can be estimated somewhat by ale number of Celsius thermometers being sold in the local stores. - Stainton's Hardware and Dougherty Pro Hardware in Wingham have both noted an in- crease in the sale of plain Celsius thermometers and Fahrenheit- Celsius thermometers. : Stainton's have not had any ,1 plain Celsius thermometers in stock and they have had no real demand for them. This past week has found Dougherty's ' com- pletely sold out of both, models. "It seems as though people are adapting," said a clerk at Dough- erty's. Listowel Hardware stores have. seen a gradual increase in the sales. of both models. The Cana- dian Tire store does not stogy the plain Celsius thermometers and they have had only a few requests - for them. Zilliax Hardware re- ported that most of their sales came well before the April 1 " deadline. Mary Lou Weiser, an employee at MabDonald's Home Hardware in Mount Forest said that out of 30 Fahrenheit -Celsius 'thermo- meters, only five were left. There were more of the plain Celsius left than the Fahrenheit -Celsius: Perhaps we cap conclude that more people are trying to com- pare," she said. Crest Hardware hasn't been able to get .any Celsius thermo- meters. "The Taylor Company has just been so swamped with orders," says Monty Barnard. However, he noticed that the sale of the or- dinary Fahrenheit Fahrenheit While many area residents complain about having to ,convert to the Celsius system,' some people are upset because they can't. Meteorologists at Water- , -loo -Wellington Airport's federal weather station ¶ill not be able to get their specrilly calibrated thermometers in for another six months. In the meantime they must take hourly readings of dry and wet bulb temperatures and convert them into Celsius, using charts. If Anders Celsius could have known the controversy that his temperature scale would create over two centuries after he de- veloped it, chances are he would have given up on his idea. • EUROPEAN ARCHITECTURAL HERffAGE YEAR Apr11975 1 . 1111i =MUM I THIS YEAR HAS BEEN designated as European Architectural Heritage Year, and the British Post Office will issue five stamps in recognition of the event on April 23. The series will include two stamps at the basic first class letter rate, which will be issued in se -tenant pairs within the sheet. Two of the subjects to be depicted on this issue will be Charlotte Square in Edinburgh, Scotland, and The Rows in Chester, England, which have been chosen as two of the four conservation pilot projects for European Architectural Heritage Year. The other buildings to be featured on the stamps are the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, which celebrates its tercentenary in 1975; St. George's Chapel, Windsor, the quincentenary of which will be marked by a special service at"St. George's Chapel on April 23; and the new National Theatre in London. They have been designed by Peter Gould, FSIA, a designer and lithographer.