Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1979-06-14, Page 4a PAGE 4—GODERICH SIGNAL -STAR, THURSDAY, JUNE. 14, 1979 Guderich` SIGNAL—STAR The County Town Newspaper of Huron founded In 1W/ and published every Thursday al Goderich, Ontario. Member of the CWNA and OWNA. Advertising rates on request. Subscriptions payable In advance '14.50 In Canada. 'x3.01 to U.S.A.. '05.00 to all Maher countries, single copies 3S'. Display advertising rates available on request. Please aslr for Rate Card. No. 0 effective Oct. 1. 1971. Second class mall Registration Number 0710. Advertising Is accepted on the condition that in the event of typographical error. the advertising space occupied by the erroneous Item. together with reasonable allowance for signature. will not be charged for but the balance of—tiw-advartisement-wllt'be—Iiatd-Ter—aTiias applicable rate. In the oyent of -a typographical error advertising goods or services at a wrong price. goods or service may not be sold. Advertising Is merely an offer to sell, and may`bo withdrawn at any time. The Signal -Star Is not responsible for the loss or damage of unsolicited manuscripts or photos, Business and Editorial Office TELEPHONE 524-8331 area code 519 Published by Signal -Star Publishing Ltd. ROB RT G. SHRIER — president and publisher SHIRIEY J. KELLER — editor DONALD M. HUBICK - advertising manager Mailing Address: P.O. BOX 220, Industrial Park, Goderich Second class mail registration number — 0716 Let peoplepolice themselves It is interesting year after year to hear the dif- fering opinions of council members, new and not so new, when it comes to the watering bylaw in Goderich. Of all the bylaws in Goderich, the watering bylaw is likely the most controversial. And that's not surprising. The watering bylaw attempts to control the days and the hours during the summer months when citizens in the municipality water their gardens and lawns.- It divides the town in half and gives day- about turns to the citizens in the A and B sections of town. The idea behind the bylaw is good and a great many citizens abide by it willingly and completely. Others need to be reminded by town officials that there are definite and reasonable watering hours. And that seems to be the biggest problem. Who will enforce it? How much will it cost? How will it be enforced? Is it a town council responsibility or should it be a PUC matter?` Where is the line drawn? Lots of people believe the watering bylaw was passed by council to conserve water. No wonder then that people fail to take the bylaw seriously. Knowing that Goderich takes its water from Lake Huron where the supply is virtually unlimited, cynics say the town's watering bylaw is stupid. But as Reeve Eileen Palmer pointed out at last week's council meeting, ,the bylaw is not designed to conserve water. It is simply a safety precaution in case of a serious fire. The town's water tower capacity just is not great enough to handle the volume that would be necessary to permit people to use as much water anytime as they would like to. The pressure in the water lines throughout the community would fall dangerously below requirements, and in the event of a major fire, the town's volunteer fire brigade could be. helpless to fight the blaze with forced water from the hydrants. Just that much knowledge puts a different light on the situation. Generally, when people un- derstand this excellent reasoning behind the watering bylaw, they are much more eager to co- operate. Hopefully when the town gets its much needed new water tower, the watering bylaw will become extinct along with many other useless bylaws of the past. +++ But there are always those who don't care, won't Has 'possibility There's an interesting program being initiated in Switzerland that should be watched by area of- ficials who have expressed the need for day care facilities in their communities. Some of the Swiss homes for the aged and senior citizen apartments have been fitted with rooins to be used as day care centres for children between the ages of three to six. Children-arebrought- there by their mothers every Friday afternoon and are taken care of by substitute "grandmothers" who are residents of the homes. The plan is working well in three respects. The children some of whom do not have real grand- parents, experience the loving relationship with the volunteers;•ithe older„women get a change of pace from the routine of institutional life or the lack of contact with young fry; while the mothers have free time to shop or just relax without the responsibility of having children underfoot. ' Sounds like a great idea and one that could be attempted during this year of the child,—Exeter Times -Advocate listen or are convinced their needs are more im- mediate than the next man's. They might even believe the bylaw was passed for other people to obey, but not for them. And there are inequities. Councillor Elsa Haydon, a long time critic of the wateringbylaw, points to things like swimming pools and car washing which take gallons• and gallons of water every summer. She's right,,'too. Councillor Stan Profit may also be correct when"he"" says that some people wash two and three cars in a day. That wouldn't be impossible even in the most average Goderich home. What about the homeowners who would much rather have a lush green lawn and a bed of colorful flowers than a clean car? What about the people who don't worry what their property looks like, but allow their kids to play for hours, day in and day out, under the sprinkler in the back yard? What about the cheaters who find ways around' the rules, like leaving a hidden soaker running daily through the garden or carrying pails and pails of water to keep Mother Nature's bevy happy while having the sprinkler shut off? And what about the childish few who abide by the rules religiously, so much so that in a pouring rain they will leave the sprinkler going just because it is their day to water and they're going to get what is coming to them. And what about the people who feel justified in watering on an "off” day because they were away the day before when watering was permitted, or because they were on the wrong shift to catch the petunias before they wilted. Imagine the nightmare facing the person charged with the duty to enforce the watering bylaw. There is every indication this summer that the watering bylaw will be even more difficult to en- force. With the town blatantly ignoring some provincial laws, it should be near impossible to convince already irate citizens of the need for them to give up watering their parched and brown lawns and gardens. After all, what's sauce for the goose should be sauce for the gander. Councillor Jim Searls has a valid arguinent, too. He feels that if anybody is to enforce the %Watering bylaw, it should be the Public Utilities Commission. After all, wateris a PUC responsibility and it seems only sensible that the PUC should take on the project of ensuring that the water pressure stays up all across town. Let the PUC have the headache ... and the expense ... says Searls. Councillor Brian Knights recommends special permits for people with newly seeded or sodded lawns. But the ,only real solution may be to make every effort to inform the people of Goderich of the serious consequences of allowing the water pressure in the town's water tank to drop drastically during the summer. Tell them that if the water pressureis too low, their property and lives might just be at stake in the event of a serious fire. Explain that careless use of water for any reason during the summer is a threat to their own safety. Direct them concerning the ideal watering procedure in the municipality - turn about on specified days. Ask them to adhere to the ' rules as closely as they can. Remind them this is only an interim measure until the new water tower is built. . Rely on them to police themselves, reminding them of the cost to hire some individual to do it for them. 'And then let the chips' fall where they will. Goderich citizens. will have to accept the con- sequences if they aren't able to keep the rules.-SJK Stripped down Infuriated Dear Editor, I have been infuriated many times •by being thrust under the "um- brella" of the Concerned Citizens' Group with reference to "the book issue". This morning .I read in the London Free Press of Mr. Lloyd Barth speaking for "80 per cent of the taxpaying parents of Huron County." As one of these parents, in contact with many others throughout the county holding similar views to my own, I have many doubts that he does have 80 per cent of us agreeing with his "book policy" By Dave Sykes DEAR EDITOR. As neither I, nor any of •• my acquaintances, have heard of any form . of survey in the county which would give credence to Mr. Barth's figure, I should like to know from where he has produced this 80 per cent. Until such time as he can prove that he does indeed have this kind df support, I would ask Mr. Barth, and his Concerned Citizens, to refrain from making such inferences on the part of the tax- paying parents of Huron County. I should like,. at this time, to take the op- portunity to thank our Board . of Education for " their excellent and enlightened book selection policy, and heartily congratulate them on their stand taken at their meeting of June 4. I thank you for your attention. Yours truly, Maureen Penn. Thanks Dear Editor: We would like to ex- press our sincere and appreciative thanks to the residents of Goderich and surrounding area for their generous support of the 1979 • Red Shield Campaign. We recognize with inflation on the rise, that there are many demands made on an individual's resources, and yet even so, the response to the Campaign has been overwhelming. To the Community of Goderich, whose hearts have opened wide to the need of `others',we do say "Thank You". To everyone who has been involved, from those who gave of their financial resources, to those who gave• of their time in canvassing, we pray God's blessing upon everyone. A very special word of thanks • to Mr. Lynn Meyers, Residential Campaign Chairman for Goderich. • 'Sincerely, Lieutenant Neil Watt The Salvation Army Good Work Dear Editor, The Huron County Unit of the Canadian Cancer Society would like to express their ap- preciation and . gratitude to all the residents, in- dustries, business firms and associations in your community who have contributed so generously to the 1979 campaign for cancer funds. The Goderich Branch has attained the remarkable sum of $15,200. This achievement combined with the other four branches of Huron. Unit has enabledto us to reach a new high of $59,000 to date in Huron Turn page 6 e 75 YEARS AGO The first sod for the building of the proposed Alexandra hospital .was turned at the selected site on Wellington Street last week in the presence of quite a number of citizens. The ceremony was organized by Judge Doyle, chairman. At the regular meeting of the Public School Board on Monday evening, Trustee Cutt• stated that the caretaker at St. David's ward school had told him that a resident was in the habit of trespassing on the school grounds pastureing his horse and it was agreed that the resident be notified to discontinue the trespass. On Wednesday night the Irish Nine and the LOOKING BACK Union Hotel team met in a baseball match. Both teams showed up well but' the Irsih were victors by a score of 10 to 6., The Railway Com- mittee of the House of Commons has approved the act incorporating a company to construct a railway from Guelph to Goderich with power to construct branch lines. 25 YEARS AGO Huron County will have the same tax rate as last year --10 mills --it was indicated at the opening session of County Council here yesterday morning, Rapidly nearing completion, Goderich's new swimming pool is slated to be open to the public within the next two weeks, Councillor ")~rank Skelton, chairman of the town council's pool committee, said yesterday. Satisfaction with the operation of Alexandra Marine and General Hospital in Goderich was expressed by Ontario Health Minister MacKinnon Phillips following a tour of the institution last Friday evening. The beautifully renovated Christ Church at Port Albert was filled to capacity Sunday morning when Rt. Rev. G.N. Luxton, Bishop of Huron, held a con- firmation service. Warden W.J. Dale was presented with a new gavel at yesterday morning's opening session of Huron County 'Council to replace the gavel lost when the court house burned to the ground in February. 5 YEARS AGO A crowd estimated by organizers to be 2,000' milled in and around the Pineridge Chalet near Hensall, Saturday af- ternoon to see Progressive Con- servative- leader Robert Stanfield. A committee has been formed in Huron County by commodity and urban organizations to study the impact of a power plant on the county. Violence at the Falls Conservation Area early last Sunday morning brought the O.P.P. to the scene of a brawl' between campers from Goderich and Stratford. After a long and somewhat bitter struggle to save the wall around the former Huron County Jail, the Huron Historic Jail Board expects to sign official documents soom which will give that -group jurisdiction over the building for a period of fiv'e'years . The Goderich Signal - Star press crew per- formed a first in the history of the Goderich paper when they did the first full color process job for the grand opening special edition included in this week's issue of the paper. During Supreme Court sittings, in County Courthouse, Goderich, recently, Fred William Jewell was sworn in as sheriff for the County of Huron. DEAR READERS BY SHIRLEY J.KELLER Maybe it is because my mother and her mother before her died of cancer. Whatever the reason, I have always .had a healthy respect for the disease known as cancer ... and I have always prayed to be spared this terrible or- dea 1. I watched my young ,sister-in-law waste away with cancer about 15 years ago. I have seen friends fight the bug ... some .winning,some losing. It isn't much fun for anybody. I . That's why .I'm always. delighted to hear about new and promising treat- ments for cancer. And this week, a whole batch of good news came across my desk. Apparently, due mainly to the efforts of two Canadian doctors, we are closer to a vaccine to prevent cancer. Wouldn't that be great? Remember when Salk vaccine for polio was offered to the entire population? Wouldn't it be marvellous if we could line up for a simple shot that would make us im- mune tocancer? It is closer to reality than you may think. In fact, it could be tried on humans within the next two years. And right here in Canada among high risk groups such as asbestos and uranium workers. Obviously it will take many years to find out if the vaccine, has any protective effect. But if preliminary results indicate that it does, it opens the doors to' similar vaccines to protect other high risk groups, like smokers and women with a vicious family history - of - breast cancer, against developing the disease. Two Ottawa doctors, Dr. Thomas Stewart and Dr. Jules Harris knew that there are markers on each cancer cell which tell the body that the cell is foreign and should be rejected. But for many reasons, the body ignores these antigens and the cancer is allowed to grow and to kill. The Ottawa doctors have devised a way of stripping off these cell markers, concentrating them and releasing them slowly into the blood stream. The first trial of he vaccine was started in Ottawa five years ago. In 28 'patients given the vaccine after being treated by • drugs and surgery, 81 percent survived for four years. This was an unheard of rate of survival from terminal cancer. But Dr. Stewart believes that the vaccine may have a better chance of preventing disease than curing it. It is for this reason he proposes giving a watered-down version to populations known to carry a high risk of lung cancer - like heavy smokers who work in the asbestos and uranium industries. The idea is to give one shot, then follow it three months later with a booster and five years later with another booster. These people will be monitored and their cancere rate compared to another • population who' either got rto injection or one without the active vaccine ingredient. . Dr. Stewart warns that one nasty side-effect of the vaccine is a painful ulcer at the injection site which may last for months. But that seems a small price to pay for protection from cancer, doesn't it? A team of Edmonton doctors have developed ai new cancer -fighting drug called areAMP. Preliminary work in patients shows that it can either lead to a remission of disease of to significantly shrink the tumor in one of every four patients it has been tested on so far. This is encouraging enough, but doctors have been noticing that the drug cured massive life-threatening viral infections, too. The drug was tested on 24 patients with complete cures in 100 percent of the cases. e Another drug, Lithium, used for years by psychiatrists to stabilize certain people with diseases like schizophrenia have discovered it has an amazing side effect - it can prevent other drugs from doing damage to bone marrow cells which are needed to produce blood components. A certain aid in cancer treatment. When the cancer campaign comes around again in April 1980, be generous. Remember that much of your donation goes to research ... and research is what will eventually save lives. Maybe -even your life or the life of someone you love. Boy, good news like this makes me feel young again.