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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1969-09-25, Page 4Soul searching Members of Goderich- Town Council . are going to have to do a tit 4of soul searching before the next election " and decide what their reasons are for being on town council. At the meeting last Thursday evening-, Coun. Reg Jewell suggested Deputy Reeve Walter Sheardown was working for members of his family when he voted to have the trailers at Harbour Park moved out and then objected to another trailer court being set up in town (see story page one). - The deputy reeve suggested there were other trailer courts available and the town should not be in business.but.leave it up to private citizens to run the courts, even if they are on the edge of town.. It seems the deputy reeve has some relatives on the edge of town who will be opening a 100 -unit trailer park next year. But this doesn't mean the deputy reeve is necessarily "working for some of his relatives," as the councillor put it. The councillor also pointed out the ' deputy 'reeve had changed a lot over a few years ago when he was opposed to moving the trailers out of the park and, in fact, as chairman of the town's parks committee at that time, instituted some improvements. • This too doesn't really mean too much. Times change and men change with them. It's a well known fact that Mr. Sheardown is opposed to the town being ` in any kind of business, even. if the town loses revenue by being out of it. He has stated many times the marina at Snug Harbour ,should be privately owned; he hasalso suggested Judith Gooderham Park Always . It doesn't seem to matter where we go, someone is always objecting to something. Objecting, either because they don't believe in a thing;or objecting for the sake Of objecting. • There were two men at council last . week who came to object to the use of sodium silicate fluoride being added to the town's water supply. • They claimed,- or rather the Spokesman of the_2044: claimed, the people of the townliattagreed to have calcium fluoride put into the town's water. _... W The obJection. was - strongly worded with phrases such as "rat poison" and so on when referring to sodium fluoride and the emphasis was placed strongly on the • apparent "dangers" involved in placing the stuff in the drinking water. "Workers have to wear protective clothing." "The' men at the water treatment plant aren't happy at: all about it." "The literature 'that is wits it would make the hair stand up on your head," etc and so on. The spokesman* very kindly, informed y council that doctors, dentists and laymen - are not qualified to.decide whether or not a product is safe for use, but spent most of his time trying to tell council the •product that is going to be used isn't safe! Dr. Frank Mills, mayor, probably came close to the truth when he suggested that a person opposed to the use of fluoride would not be convinced by any amount of explanation. This is quite apparent with this case, because at least one of the/ men who were at council 'refuses to have Letter to the Editor THE PURPOSE OF SAFE DRIVING MONTH The purpose of .safe driving month held each year' in the Town of Goderich is not merely to' reduce death and injury on the roads and streets for a single week or month. What is learned and practiced during safe driving month Sept. 1 to 30 can be put to use through the year to save lives and prevent, suffering and property loss. ' • The theme of. the campaign was Buckle upand defensive driving. Buckle up- feat belts have been standard equipment on new cars for some years but the„Canadian public has not kept pace with . the new safety advances. The majority of fatal accidents still ,finds both passenger and drivers sitting on be let to an individual rather than have the town run it. (What that would mean to the children of the town, is hard to imagine.) And -heLLdoesn't really think the town should be involved in running the arena. So if he suggests the town should also get out- of the trailer court business, he .is being consistent in his. thinking. But the orlp thing that the deputy reeve). and the other members of -counoil should search their souls for is the -answer to, the -question "Am ,I really doing this for the town, or is my subconscience being influenced by the 'involvement of friends and relatives in business?" It must be hard to be a member of council and" not be influenced if friends are in business, with the„ town as the opposition.- It takes a pretty (tall man to overcome personall*�4�.eelings when Voting for or against keepiI g a business under the control of the town. And it will take a much taller man to admit to himself that he is .being influenced and try to do something about it that will help him meet his obligations to, the- people who put -him in office. • There is nothing illegal in voting for or against a motion that could help or,hinder people . closely-- relate by blood or friendship. What the ethics of it are would have to be decided by the Ontario, Municipal Board if a situation arose that would cause that Board to investigate a member‘of the town council. But there is still one year to go before 'the next election, and much can happen before that time. What it will be, and what the:, benefit • to the town will be, remains to be seen. • op_ his children innoculated againstpsmallpox and the host of other ills than can assail the human body. 'Presumably then, this same man, and the spokesman at last Thursday's meetirig, has no use for asprin, vitamins, medicine, doctors, dentists, hospitals, nurses,' etc ad. infinitum. • ' Almost tvithout exception, medication used today will kill a •person if taken in other than"the correct dosage.,Asprin will; so • will other pain -killers; aneasthic used, for surgery will also kill if -incorrectly adrinistered, and so will notocain which is used for pain killing in dentistry among other things. - Surely this should point out a basic truth. Chemicals can be beneficial to health when properly • administered; detrimental to health ' if not properly administered. Common salt, one of the- most necessary ingredients in our daily diet, will kill • if taken jn large quantities yet we would die without it. And there is enough tannin in 30 cups of good old tea to drop '7 a horse: - b So whether a bag- is marked poison or not, whether a product is toxic or not doesn't really mean much. It is the. quantity of the product that we take -in that counts: And as far as fluoride goes, we will be assimilating just one part in one million parts of water. So stop worrying gentlmen, unless you intend to drink one heck of a lot of water at one time, you haven't a thing to worry about. their seat belts: Only one person out of every five regularly uses a seat belt in spite 'of well publicized figures which show 50 per cent of fatalities could have been avoided with the use of seat belts. Now with the o introduction of shoulder belts motorists have a greater chance of escaping death. • DEFENSIVE DRIVING In an . appearance at the Goderich High school Chief of Police Fred Minshall lectured students on this subject and stated, "Defensive driving is little more than common sense. Simply, it means learning how to know potentially dangerous situations, learning how to avoid them, then putting that knowledge to use." The Canadian winter with its ice, snow and sub. • zero temperatures is almost' with us; defensive driving becomes more important now than ever. There is no place on our highways for the unthinking, overaggressive driver, but he will be there to plague us so we must avoid him, we must prevent his --idiocies_-_-_41om-_ ._--killing-----and-- haiming and destroying. This can be done through defensive driving. . We of the Goderich Police Department earnestly seek your assistance' in bringing through awareness of this to all who drive or walk. Do it during safe driving month so the effect will endure for many months. Constable Tom Fortner Traffic safety officer Goderich Police Department THE PUBLIC SPEAKER Photo by Ron Price mmmmumenamumummmmmmunmueinati ainimmiimriummm unnu un mmmmmmmllmmmmmumuummmmmmm nimummuma ummmmmmmmmmmnmmmnmmu Remember When ? ? ? 55 YEARS AGO Collapsible towers, adopted - .by the German army for searchlights and wireless telegraphy, are so light and compact that two men can carry a tower that extends to 160 feet. The Australian states concerned and, the commonwealth ,have agreed on a locking and storage system for the Murray river that will'open a navigable_ waterway 1,000 miles into the heart of producing Australia. • There is a telephone for every 15.2 persons in Canada, according to official figures. Promising surface indications of petroleum deposits in Spain ''have led the government to „investigate the discoveries. Argentine telegraph companies are bringing into general use a system whereby messages are received , automatically with printed type. Japan has sent an ultimatum t� Germany demanding that she withdraw her warships and evacuate., • Kiao-Chau. Unless Germany unconditionally accepts by August 23, Japan will take action. The official Press Bureau of Great Britain issued the following bulletin early Wednesday morning: "A certain liveliness is apparent in the southern area of the North Sea." This is taken to mean that the British and German fleets have either met in conflict or that a preliminary skirmish has taken place which is but a prelude on a big naval battle. ESTABLISHED122nd YEAR •1841 6,tthertrii.ignal-fotar, of --D a The County Town, Newspaper of Huron —0— PUBLICATION Published at +Crodericti, Ontario every Thursday morning by .Signal -Star Publishing Lint,ited - ROBERT 0. SNRIER President and Publisher R,ONALD P. V. PRICE Managing Editor EDWARD' J. RYRSKI Advertising -Alai Iger ABC 6014114Zt Subscription 'Rates $6 a Year -- To U.S.A. $7.50 (in advance) Second class nail registration nut . rber — 0716 25 YEARS AGO On .Monday a' last, while ,jjrapplingfor some 'anchors he had lost, off the mouth of the river, Bert MacDonald discovered a pair of anchors that came off the schooner Sephie several decades ago. 'The Sephie was a Marlton -built vessel, and by reputation the fastest ever turned out in the old harbor shipyards here. The closing night of the.Lions Club carnival, on Friday, was another outstanding success, with an attendance of 1620 people. The net returns for both nights will enrich the Lions treasury by approximately $2500, which will be devoted to the war' activities, crippled children's and British children war victims' work of the club. This week saw the close of the sale of Sky Harbor effects by the Huron • County Flying Training :School. Officials pronounced the sale a distinct success. • People came from considerable distances to attend it and good prices were realized, the company • getting what was asked in' every case. The demand for labor on Huron .county . farms is apparently slackening off, 'with most of the crop in and threshing in full swing. 10 YEARS 'AGO The Huron County petition seeking a vote on the repeal of the Canada 'T`empefance Act is scheduled to be in Ottawa today. e ; Municipal officials started IITAT'S LIFE! By G. MacLeod Ross yesterday to move into a new theatre of operations. - The police department moved office furniture and equipment out of the present Town Hall and into new- quarters in the front of the town -owned Capital Theatre on West•street. Green Acres Circuit, 12 miles north of Goderich on Highway 21, will be alive with scores of sports" -cart on Saturday from many parts of Canada, and the United States. Rear estate transactions in' Goderich have been fairly brisk during the past year. - A Signal -Star advertisement indirectly picked up a customer in Florida last week. The. Public Utilities Commission, meeting Tuesday evening, passed a by-law fixing new rates for water main extensions, effective August 25th. It's surprising ,the "stuff" which turns up around the house when you are preparing to move. Town Clerk S. -H. Blake is finding the same thing happening,as he "cleans house" at the Tow,n Hall preparatory to moving to the next Town Hall, corner of Waterloo and West street. Bundles of musty papers arc being brought out to "file" in the town dump. Among some of the old papers which will dot • be 'destroyed is a financial statement for , the Town of Goderich for, 1911. It is written in longhand and . the auditors whose signatures' appear at the bottom of the many sheets of paper are W. R. Robertson -and J.H.Tigert. GODERICH IN THE 1880'S BY W. E. ELLIOTT Goderich as it appeared in they 1880s, from,pn high, is presented in a rare collection of .photos for the stereoscope, received by town clerk S. H. Blake from aDetroit woman, Mrs. M. Corpelius Sullivan. The pictures had been in the family of Thomas McBride, her uncle,. who lived in Buffalo after leaving Goderich, and were sent here as a _ matter of interest. They are in fact of great value to local historians, inasmuch as -14 of the photos were taken from the steeple of St. George's church, counter-cldckwise from North Street to complete the circle. - Stereoscope pictures — two on a single mount ' giving a three-dimensional view through the glass of the 'scope - were popular at least through the 1890s, 'and they are doubtless tucked away in many homes today. The collection from Detroit bears the names of three photographers: E. L. Johnson, R. R. Thompson and '4 R. Sallows. Mr. Johnson's studio was at Hamilton Street and The Square, where the Brophy and Fell studios were later. He advertised in the Huron Signal in 1867 that he had "fitted up rooms in Mr. Stewart's new brick block, best adapted in the country for accomplishment of first-class work in this delicate and beautiful art." Which of these photographers made the original negatives is not indicated, but Mrs. Charles Saunders, daughter of the late R. R. Sallows, does not think it was her father. In any case, the pictures were not taken until 1880, when St. George's was' built, and the former -Judge Holt house on North St., built in 1887, is not shown, so it 'narrows to a few years. Mr. Saiows started in business for himself in 1881,.and evidently printed a great many of the pictures for stereoscopic use.' At the time they were made, virtually every residential property in town appears to have been fenced, reflecting the prevalence of cow ownership.°'Courthouse park was not only enciicled by a.chain fence; but had a number of wooden gates. The west side of North Street; shown in No. 1 view, includes the former A. M. Polley house, 43-45, with vacant lots north of it. Beyond are the business block on the Square, the courthouse and in the distance the Albion,. burned in 41893, and British Exchange, which bumed in 1956. These hotels are also shown in an excellent '• view taken apparently from •a •roof at Montreal street. Metal wheel tracks in the gravel of the street emphasize the period. Turned left, the camera took in the other•side of the'street, with North- Street Methodist church, later remodelled, the three-storey brick building at Hamilton and St. Andrew's, the Colborne House, and farther away Knox church and the town hall on East Street. No. 3 shows .more of the, Hamilton St. buildings. In .the foreground. of No. 4 is Frank Clark's house, which at the time was the home of D. C. McKay. Conspicuously missing is the pillared verandah, which was added in 1900: In the distance are the Union Hotel and stable, and Sam Sloan's brick feed warehouse at Hamilton and Victoria. One of the most interesting pictures is No. 5, showing the Church of Scotland, later the Gaelic church, now long gone, and beyond it part of its manse, now the Hopkinson house. In the foreground is the former manse of Knox church, now on Bruce Street. A couple of pictures to the north show that nearly every householder had a garden, vegetable or otherwisea;central school, now the museum, is prominent in No: 8, with the white frame•church farther along, that was predecessor of the present St. Peter's church. • _Photographically,No. 9 is one of the best. With the roof of St George's rectory in the foreground, it shows the Garrow-house, one time residence of Hon. A. M. Ross; with the numerous outbuildings and conservatory now long gone: Farther north is the convent, Dr. Harold Taylor's house and in the distance a glimpse of Ridgewood Park, shown more clearly in No. 10, with its ample vineyards sloping to the river. The former Wurtele house, now A. M. Harper's, shows up 'well. In the whole: series no single building stands -out, more clearly than the .residence on Nelson street of Crown Attorney William Cochrane;" with its extensive lawns.. The ,stables did not extend to the building now used for Little Theatre rehearsals. When the picture was taken, the property belonged to Wm. McLean, afterward to W. ,T. Kiely, Alex. Saunders and Judge Costello. McDermott's Castle (now. Ainslie's) is visible in the distance, also the. Horace Horton -Bissett house •now 'being remodelled for James Donnelly,, Q.C. Here also is a clear view of the river bank along 'Ridgewood Park, owned at the time the picture was taken by Henry Attri I I . • Nobody in recent years has been able to turn up a picture of the Park House, or Canada Company building; but in this collection is a view from Cobourg street, showing the front part and the original gabled roof, with Harbor street sloping down in front and the Danny Wiggins (Craven) house across the street - - There is a picture — not very clear — of Daniel Gordon's cabinet and undertaking. shop on West Street, and a sign. "Mrs. J. Vivian," ' whatever it may have denoted. Only oldtimers would _remember the flight of steps down from harbor park to the mill and elevator,,both gone along with the steps. (Several views will appear next week) 4, 4 0 ..i 0 d , HOW TO SECURE SECURITY . Taddeo,, a lean bearded Montreal 'student, WORKING AS A SECURITY GUARD WHILST OUT ON BAIL, is charged with conspiring to blow up a mailbox in Quebec City during the Union Nationale leadership convention. [ Gl'obe & Mail] ,POUR ENCOURAGER LES AUTRES. - Simon has left Eton at the age of 1/. During his last three years there he went to lectures for his external degree and duringAhe same three years won the first prize in International Mathematical Olympiad in Eastern Europe. Now he has got a scholarship to Cambridge, where he will complete a three year course in two years. ,Hobbies are chess and bridge, which he began when aged five. Since the age of three°he .has been a.mathematical recluse. Now he says he wants to break new ground, not necessarily by inventing something, but if he had his dream it would be to leave the same kind of mark on history as Einstein. His education has been almost entirely paid for by his successive scholarships. The name to watch for is Simon Norton, ARBORICULTURE In many arboretum's the trees are labeled this: American Elm-Ulmus Americana; Magnolia -Magnolia Grandiflora. A wit tacked this°sign on a nearby utility ,pole: Telephone Pole-Telephonus Po1us.to THE STUFF OF DREAMS f It is true they were both suffering from a saturated diet of, first, "Hadrian VII," closely followed by three and a half hours of "The Shoes of the Fish'erman." In her dreams she was absolutely nonplussed when her husband conveyed the information that was the Pope. "But how long . have you been the Pope?" she aske ; still incredulous'. <,"Oh, for some years now" he answered casually. "And what do you call yourself?" she asked. "Pope Hennessey)." he replied. FREEZER SPECIAL — CUT .FREE IDES (TWO-YEAR-OLD STEER — Gyi RAN`G',EED TENDER) Repeat Special. USAGES ITEAKE.TrES WHITE -- SLICED -- SAVE 35c MADE. FRES" DAILY 5 LOAVES 4 0 0