HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1969-11-06, Page 19THE BLU 1 THUM B
BY Gr MacLEOD ROSS
Diaries and diarykeeping are
as old as the hills, yet it takes a
clever man to record mundane
events and still make 4 then
interesting. It requires 'a special
aptitude of •mind, not to
- mention. a -sense of -purpose-and--
great patience, for however tired
you may be at night, the
successful diarist always
summons up enough' strength, to
write up his log. One of the most
useful tips is to write with
someone in mind for whom you
have congeniality and affinity;
someone who embraces much
the. same interests as yourself. A
good diary has to be written
from the heart, withholding
nothing. Perhaps these remarks
infer that your diary will be
opened in a hundred years time
and be read with great interest.
Whether this be the .case or not,
there is no excuse for not trying
▪ to write to interest others. Lord
Acton considered "History is
better written from letters than
from history," and when you
consider how much history, how
much background information,
is supplied by letters, which
after all are very °similar to
• diaries, the least you can expect
is that you will leave an accurate
account of the foibles and graces
of the age in which you lived.
One hundred years ago
people were much better letter
writers than we are today. When
• Christopher Hibbert wrote "The
Destruction of Lord Raglan," a
tragedy of the Crimean war, it
was possible to lend him a letter
"Ye falsest knave that liveth"
nevertheless no one has ever
doubted what. he recorded. It
te was Fletcher who recalls
conditions on . the California
coast, QWhich are so familiar
today, when he says: "when
they went into a convenient and
fitte harbor" just north of San
Francisco, they encountered
written by a Goderich- man to
his sister here, in which he
described the shelling of
Sebastopol by the .combined
,British --and. --French.-- fleets,- - -Of
course he could write and you
follow him to the crow's nest of
the good ship Lady Jocelyn as
she stood off in Kamiesch Bay at
11 p.m. on March 15, 1855. If
you write 4, a good letter, you
,ought to be able to compile an.
interesting diary.
If your life leads you to
become an eye witness of great
events it should not be, hard to
be readable, but it is all too easy
to write what is virtually .a.
catalogue of actions and events
without any analysis, comment
or soliloquy. In short it is very
easy to be devastatingly dull.
"Diaries, like love letters are
dangerous things. They should
be torn up the following
morning." • Thus advised Lord
Alanbrooke, and went on to
hand his diaries, written to his
wife, to Arthur Bryant, who
turned them into two volumes
of fascinating historical interest.
It would have been calamitous
had he followed his own
precept.
Robert Schuman said: "There
are corners of '-my mind into
which I prefer not to peer
myself." Certainly he was not
the kind , of diarist who would
have made interesting reading.
Diary writing demands patience
as well as interest and above all,
gossip. In a hurried age, the
ability to dictate is the greatest
asset and if no stenographer is -
available, there is always the
tape recorder.
London customer
M service centre will
operate December 15
Personnel in charge of the
customer service centre in
London which will serve south
• and southwestern Ontario have
been appointed by G. A. Powell,.
superintendent at, London .for
CP Rail.
According to Mr. Powell, the
centre' wily be brought` into full
operation December 15.
r, Installation of computer and
communications equipment is
proceeding at the customer
service centre building located at
Quebec Street yard in London.
When completed, a faster and
more 'di d service 'will be
provided to -the public:
'R. F. Platt, has been
appointed supervisor. At
London since 1966 as CP Rail
agent, he held a similar position
at Peterborough Ontario„.,W. B.
Trimble, for the past year
assistant supervisor at the
customer service centre at
Agincourt, Ont., and R. W.
Hyslop, agent since 1964 at
Woodstock, will be . assistant
supervisors at the London
centre.
Superintendent G. A. Powell,
,London, announces for C.P. Rail
that: ' authority to establish the
new customer . service centre at
London was given to C.P.. Rail
by the Railway Transport
Committee in• late August. It is
the ninth such approval given to
C.P. Rail and the third in
Ontario.
The London customer service
centre will be open seven days a
4
Pepys - The immortul gossip
Consider what a loss to
posterity it Would have been,
had not Sir Francis Drake had a
remembrancer on his
voyageS. It was the duty of his
chaplain, Fletcher to maintain
the diary, and though Fletcher
was characterized by. Drake as
--`-`the- -most stinldnge- fogge:" 3t' -
was the diligent Fletcher who
recorded the wording on Drake's
"plate of brasse" which was
nailed to "a firme post" and set
up in the harbor to mark the
fact that Drake had taken over
what is now Marin County, as
Nova Albion, in the name of
"Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth
of England and her successors
for ever." The date was June 17,
1579, and the same brasse plate
was lost until in 1936 when it
was recovered from a trash heap
near ,San Rafael. When the'
wording on it was checked with
Fletcher's diary, its genuineness
was proven.
Another diarist of the insular
16th century world only carne
to notice this year. He was an
Italian and one of the 18 men
out of the 270 who sailed with
Magellan. Antonio Pigafetta
joined the expedition to the
Pacific when he was 30 years of
age, in 1520, andwas a very
acute observer. He records that
"the Spanish masters and
captains of the other ships of his
company -loved not Magellan,"
the Portugese. Bananas "more
• than a foot long" he mistook for
figs and he was amazed at the
uses which the natives of 'the
Phillipines found for coconuts:
meat, drink, oil, vinegar and
fibres. It was here too that the
natives resisted the landing and
"sent a poisoned arrow through
Magellan's. leg," from which he
died. The expedition returned to
Spain in 1522 with only one
ship, 18 survivors and several
captive natives.
But one of the most famous
diarists of history and the
English speaking world was the
immortal gossip, Samuel Pepys.
He found emuch better way of
dealing with his - diary, than
burning it each morning,
incriminating as it undoubtedly
was, so he Wrote it in his private
cypher. In the result it was not
translated until 122 years after
his death. Clearly Pepys was no
believer in,. the "50 -year rule" of
today, -
Pepys died 266 years ago, yet
once a year, in the beautiful
little church of St. Olave in Hart
Street in the City of London,
the Lord Mayor and Sheriffs of
the City, with the Master of the
Clothworkers' 'Company arid the
week, 24 hours a day,. to handle
customer calls dealing with the
broad . spectrum of Canadian
Pacific services: '- freight,
passenger tickets, ' . hotel
reservations, . telecommunica-
tions, express.
The centre will be accessible
by teleplione at no cost to the
customer by means of Zenith
telephone numbers. In London,
and in .Windsor and Detroit
where agents and staffs will
remain in operation, local
telephone numbers will be used.'
Mobile supervisors will be
stationed throughoutthe area
bounded by Streetsville Owen
Soind, Waterdown, Port EUrwell
and . Detroit. These mobile
supervisors will assist customers
in obtaining information, placing
orders for" `ears, completing bills
of lading, settling accounts and
claims, and generally providing
improved service.
Stations- served by passenger
trains will be kept open, lighted
and heated, for convenience of
customers. Passenger tickets can
be obtained from the usual
sources suchas travel agents,
company offices or through the
customer service centre.
• Industrial
• Farm
• Factory
Plain or safety toe. Choice of
seven sole materials.
R055
SHOE SHOP
142 The . Square
Goderich, Ont.
• — . 17tf
• Elder Brethren of Trinity House,
march in procession to worship
at the Pepys Commemoration
Service, Pepys was Master of
Trinity House and also of the,
Clothworkers' Company and to
the latter he presented a
magnificent set of gold plate
-which appears at the luncheon
after the service, which is
enjoyed in the Clothworkers'
hospital hall.
This year the Lesson was read
by a former Secretary. of' the
Admiralty, the greatest office
held by Pepys.
• - By his own admission, Pepys
.. was an unquestionable sinner; an
unfaithful husband)! a liar; a
taker of bribes. He stole books
and cut pages out of them; he
basted his maid with a broom
and pulled his wife's nose; he
madevows which he never kept;,
deplored vices in others,
including his King; slept during
sermons and ogled strange young
women in church, and yet, as'he
presents himself in his diary, he
is Everyman and each one of us
is mirrored in his confessions..
But what rich humanity : he
displayed! Vivacity, vitality, wit,
intelligence, a warm heart,
affection and good humor. When
woken by the snoring of his
companions he writes: "But
Lord, "the mirth which it caused
me to be waked in the night by
this snoring round about me; I
did laugh till I was ready to
burst." And how he loved 'the
pleasures of the flesh: Houses,
lands, titles, honors, lusts and
kingdoms. Having such gusto for
carnal delights one could
scarcely have blamed him had he
remained always in the gutting
wicked, entrancing Fair. But no!
He shouldered, his pack and went
to the office "where all the
afternoon late, writing my
letters and doing business but
Lord, what a conflict I had with
myself, my heart tempting me
1,000 times to go abroad for
some . pleasure , or other,
norwithstanding the weather
foule."
Thus i ''was that in the sense
that all men are bad men, he was
at times a bad man, but he never
ceased to wish to be a good man.
Saints are men, not angels. They
have the weaknesses of men and
start by committing the sins of
men. But their 'sainthoodalies in
nothing but this: That they,
through surrender of themselves
to something greater than
thexnselves, overcome their
weaknesses
Pepys • is loved because, he
showed in his diary how
intensely human he was. He gave
his ,life to the Service and by
GODI RICH SIGNAL -STAR, ` litmsSPAM,. NOVEMB
CO-OPERATORS INSURANCE ASSOCIATIONS
OF GUELPH
6 t$60
pinching and °scraping he
restored the Royal Navy to its
previous state of efficiency and
readiness. Re learnt to love the
things of the mind and the spirit,'
and to be happy in,- -their
contemplation. A keeper of his
word; a just dealer and a
charitable dispenser of .the. gifts-.
of God. °, He left the world
bravely and uncomplainingly
and loved it to the end. Never
quite a' saint, but a good man
who overcame his infirmities and
left the world better than he
found it.
West Street
Laundromat
54 West St., Goderich
Dial 524- 9953
21 WASHERS — 10 DRYERS
COIN OPERATED DRY CLEANING
41.
DRY CLEANING ONLY WHEN ATTEND ANT IS ON DUTY
9 A.M. TO 6 P.M. DAILY EXCEPT SUNDAY
ALSO FRIDAY EVENINGS
Shirley Ga•
BREAD
REG. 27
•
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STUDIO
Specializing in ...
* Weddings
* Children
Single or Group Portraits
and Passports
TBONE RIB
OR WING
STEAKS
118 St. David Goderich
$5,000,000
in unclaimed
savings.
Is any
of it yours?
LIQuID X28
OZ.
Pias.
BLEACH 9. . ........ ....... .. .... ..... .
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ALLEN'S ASSORTED
FRUIT' ,
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TOMATO OR VEGETABLE
AYLMER
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1 o
If so we'll be glad to arrange transfer to
a Bank of Montreal account.
On December 31st, 1969, the Canada
Post Office Savings Bank will terminate
operations. But there remains about '-
5
'5 million dollars in savings a6counts still
unclaimed. -
So think carefully. Do you or any of your
relatives have a post office account?
Any of our branches will be.clad to open
a True Savings Account for you where
your money will earn 61/2% interest
per annum.
Bankof Montreal
Canada's First Sank
Goderich Branch— W. M. (Bill] Wardley, Manager
.a
PRICES EFFECTIVE UNTIL CLOSING sA"I''i,, NOV. 8
WE .REStRtVE THE RIGHT TO LIMIT QUANTITIES
t