HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1984-05-09, Page 4.
,
�
'nm�m�
� N���
�o»���u�uon ��.w�^�^ww»��— �� w«o�w^ ` \�
Published at Winglualo. Ontario, P.O. Bos.391)'IsiO(i2W0
b. Wenger flms.
8am Wenger. President
H*»nHess. uomAudro• Currie. Achertising Manager
Se,Tpo°
.Rohert O. Wenger.
Member Audit Bureau ofCirculations
Member '4-- ( anadian ( ommunit) NOY« spaper Assoc. Ontario Conunurt0 Newspaper Ashoc.
.Suhseriptions S20.00 pu>m,
Second Class Mail Registration No. 0821
SPOTLIGIIT
Six months ,SU.5V
Return postage guaranteed
Lottery by any other name
However, almost everybody will admit
that the hypocritical stand of some
cabinet ministers is n insult to the in-
telligence
week the Hon. Jacques Olivier, federal
minister responsible for his govern-
ment's bid to get into gambling, ap-
peared on a national TV network to
defend the sale of baseball pool tickets.
His defence rested on his claim that the
pools do not constitute lotteries be-
cause — now get this — the pools are
not games of chance. The ticket buyers
must be possessed of "skills" in order
to win. The skill in this case being able
to play the odds on one team over an-
other for an up -coming game.
If the feds want to get into the lot-
tery racket, so be it. But for goodness
sake call. it by an honest name. Can-
adians do have a few brains.
A couple of generations ago it was
iliegal for a Canadian to sell tickets on
the Irish sweepstakes. Caught as a lot-
tery "pusher" one could go to [aii
Reason for the stiff penalty was not
illicit movement f Canadian money. to
another country. The Iaw was based on
the moral istic concept thaf gambl Ing of
any sort was contrary to Christian be'
|iefs' much akin to the Sunday "blue"
laws.
How tihave ha
see our own governments going to
court to seek protection for their gam
b|ingrighta.Thminternationa|baseba||
leagues are seeking high court injunc-
tions to prevent
niunc'tionotnprevent the Canadian govern-
ment from selling tickets on gambling
pools.
You mayor may not have strong
convictions about the morals involved.
"
� �� ��~�mr�'�����0°�KNe course
__-_-
Given the increasing number of
accidents in which motorcycles and
their operators are involved, a course
in safe driving for cyclists to bed
by Conestoga College is worth mention.
First-time cyclists will be taught
safe -driving skills at courses this
spring and summer in Kitchener,
Guelph and Waterloo. The courses will
be provide6by.fhe college in co-opera-
tion with theOntario Safety League
and the Canada Safety Councfl and will
emphasize defensive driving and rider
awareness. Timing will be over two
weekends, Saturdays and Sundays
5:30 p.m., Although a highly pleasurablesport and means of economical transportation, the motorcycle and its rider
areexposmdhnunuuua| hazards on the
road. The mactiine itself is very small
compared to a truck, or even a motor
car and in most instances comes off a
poor, second in the eventmof a mishap.Tota||y unprotected by any surround-
ing metal strocture, the driver and
passenger, if there isone, are both at
high risk in even a single -vehicle acci-
dent.
Equipped with tremendous power
for the size of the machine, the motor-
cycle is both threat and challenge to the
notor'cyc|eioboththreatandcha||engetothe
young and inexperienced rider who na
tura|| rau ds to the feel of raw en-
-- &Me beffearitt~hiM-3bv|oosty~the -type
of training course which has produced
so many competent young car drivers
is bound to offer benefits to beginning
In rilemory of elephants
By Barry Wenger
1 am puffing my name on this piece
which, in the true sense of the word is
not an editorial., except that it does
commemorate the virtues of an incom
parab|e animal species.
The City of St. Thomas, Ontario
and its citizens have decided to erect a
40'ton statue in memory of Jumbo fhe
E|ephaht. Thisgreat beast was killed
in the St. Thomas raliway yards many
years ago when he was struck down by
an incoming train. In those days all the
circuses traveled by train. Jumbo had
been unloaded and was being herded
along the right-of-way when the acci
dent occurred
The animal was huge, possibly the
biggest African elephant in captiyity.
His name has been adopted to describe
the attributes for everything from ice
cream cones to iet aircraft.
However, | was Personally disap-
pointed when
isap'pointodwhan | heard a spokesman for
the City of St. Thomas as he descrlbed
the statue project on the air, for he
made no menfion of a sequel to the ele-
_ mjo .wbichlbm.amdas @-bmY.
According to this second yarn
(which must have been a fabrication)
Jumbohad a mate who never forgot the
tragic sight of his fateful encounter
with the train. Fifty years later (so the
story was told) Mr. Jumbo came back
to St. Thomas with another and later
circus. She, tob' was unloaded from a
circus car and when she came to the
spotwhere
Jumbo met his frightful end
she broke free ofher keepers and led a
trumpeting t| stampede
de mf animals right
through the centre of the city.
Sad and romantic, that tale of lost
love, but obviously untrue or I'm sure
the promoter from St. Thomas would
have thrown in the legend.
My story of elephants doesn't. end
there. As a lad, | personally witnessed
an elephant under considerable stress.
Living In the Town of Goderich at
the time, | never missed the arrival or
departure of a circus. Being without
the necessary 75 cents required for
admission to the Big Top, ! got my fun
out of the setting up and taking down of
the big tent. The stakes required to
take the strain of the tent ropes were
four or five feet long and as thlck as a
strong man's ank}e, usually banded
with which they were driven into the
ground.
The driving itself was a work of
art. Four men surrounded the mighty
stake facing their task, each with a
nine -pound hammer. Wlth onty an hour
or two in whlch to get the show rolling,
the circus was a wonder of organiza-
tion. The men around the stake started
rgan|za't|on.Thernenmroundthmetahemtmrted
oSED NUCLEAR REACTOR
~'and heavy
tuaier on -tap !
out
'
will to bu.y
���U� N����;���p����'
GORRIE — It will cost the
Township of Howick ap-
proximately, $26,000
p'mroxioumhely,$26,000 to buy
the Miniatni of Transporta-
tion
t o tatimu and Communication's
Refrain trom
working Sunday
Dear Editor,
While driving to church
Sunday mornings,it
—becomes more and—more
thelo
apparent many people
planting the fields or doing
garden work.
This saddens me a lot; We
call ourselves Chtifihs,.
liviug'iouChristian
Why then not follow
uumunuaodnimuto, one of
which is to honor God on Hs
'day by refraining from daily
labors?
Fathers, go to church with
your family instead of
working your land. There is
great reward in keeping His
law. Please read Malachi 3.
Rinke Bakelaar
their work, each one -swinging in per-
fectcoordination' one after the other,
so that the four feet of stake simply
sank into the hard soti to leave only 18
inches above ground.
Driving those stakes was one thing
— getting them out a ,couple of morn-
ings later was something else. With
true circus ingenuity the elephants
were trained toheave the stakes out of
the ground with their trunks. | was on
hand when a young aninnai was in
training for the task, and like many
youngsters he was not strong on hard
work. His trainer continued to goad
him to the task until finally, in a rage,
the beast furned to a nearby cannon of
the 1812 variety which was one of the
adornments of the park. Wrapping his
trunk around that monstrous piece of
hardware he tore it off fheground and
hurled it, gun carriage and alt, 20 feet
in the air. It landed in tangle of car-
riage beams, shattered.
The circus owner reassured the
town council. At his insistence a new
` concrete base was pouredf the an'non and it was to be the elephant's task
+o set the gunin ifs new cradle.
The trainer said that if the beast
couldn't be made to repair his own
damage they would never be able to
control him again.
It took several hours, but finally
the animal gave in. Like a pouting child
he reluctantly picked up the big gun
and replaced it on the base.
So much for elephants.
Try marriage
��� ��� °����
�'�� ���&����.� ��.�U�.�@ �
�-' K-
First\twasnu-fau\t}nmurancaand
now it is no-fault divorce, says the
Huron Expositor.
The changes in divorce law
pro-
posed by Justice Minister Mark
MacGuigan should make It all simpler,
quicker and cheaper to go through the
legal divorce.
Perhaps the answer lies in mar-
riage preparation. The.chVrch should
make |tmandatory for all couples who
wish to be married in the church to at-
tend marriage preparation courses.
The Anglican Church (and others)
should consider following the Roman
Catholic Engagement Encounter ldea.
These courses in themselves will
not prevent marriage breakdown but
they will at least prepare couples for
the very different task of living to-
gether in comparative harmony.
RR 5, Brussels
share of the Howick Town-
ship
decides to convert the shed
into a fire hall.
This fi0urm, based on
appraisals f the property's
value done by independant
real estate evaluators, was
disclosed at the May 2
meeting of council. The
money would eventually
x.-ome_back_toAlowick in the
form of grants from .the
ministry for the construction
of a new township shed.
Keith Fitzsimmons, a
ealkaestate ap-
praiser, put Ole value of the
. property' at $42,000, Paul
Zurbrigg, another appraiser
gave a verbal estimate at
between $40,000 and $45,000
and promised to subMit a
written estimate to the
The township
would have to purchace the
MTC's 62 per cent of the
property and the balance
would go to the township's
road account.
At the April meeting
councillors using a much
higher estimate, about
$80,000 for the
arrived at a cost of about
$30,000 more to build the new
shed and convert the old one
than it would cost to build
only the fire hall.
The lower estimate means
the township could complete
both jobs for about the same
money as- -rt---would cost lo
build only the new fire
station.
Clerk -treasurer Marvin
Bosetti pointed out that bybuilding the, new shed with was a sUCcess
ministry grants and money
diverted from the road
budget for the current fiscal
have to be delayed at leasa
year.
The township shed was
recently inspected by Gerry
Sunstrum, of the London
office of the \Outario Fire
Marshal. Mr. Bosetti said
Mr. Sunstrum found the
building "adequate" for Use
as a fire hall.
Councillors are now re-
searching possible s
+mmu item for
- the proposed new Shed.
Paper drive
year, the project could be
completed without a
debenture and with a lower
than expected raise in the
mill rate.
This diversion of funds
would mean that most of the
road improvement projects
already budgeted for will
Editor i has rights
too
Periodically we who write and
select the news which this paper car-
ries must make firm decisions — even
arrieunnustnnakefirrnd*dsionu--avmn
though one or more of our readers may
not be pleased with the choices we
make. Any given week's issue rnust be
made up of a certain number of pages
and it is our task to provide space for
the stories which are of actual news
value.
You, as a reader, may be con
vinced that the particular item you
send in for publication should be print-
ed' because you and perhaps a few
others are inferesied or involved in the
event. However, from the standpoint of
the editor,the" story nniJwti7P rIeW&oYan
interesting aturm not to iust a few
people in the area, but it must have
fairly widespread news value.
Your objections to our decision are
always considered with
badelighted topublish even one issue a
year which is totallpleasing to every-
ona who reads the paper -- but that is
wishful thinking.
The one sort of complaint which
makes us respond with irrltation is the
threat, "Put it in or |'|| quit taking the
paper." Only a great deal of patience
and some sense of courtesy prevents us
from a nasty response in such cases.
Thank goodness those instances are
rare.
WPS
YARD SALE—MurrayHunter,ateacha/at the F. E. Madill Seconclary School,Song" and 13 -year' -old
vo!unteered some of his time to act as a salesmaat last sale at the
Wingham Public School. Here Mr. Hunter shows Jim English Jr. how terrific he would
look in a new pair of checked pants.
v
DeWITT MILLER of Wingham was involved
inlocal politics politics tor almost 25 years as a coun-
dUor,PUCconmrnissionerand as mayor of the
town. Today he is retired and spends his days
reading, watching television and visiting with
friends who drop by his Charles Street home.
Dear Editor,
On behalf of the 1st
Wingham Scouts l would
like to thank the residents of
Wingham, Belgrave, Blue
vale and Whitechurch for
making lasat Saturday's
Scout paper drive a success.
It is a viable money -making
project for the Scouts, but it
takes the cooperation of local
residents to be productive.
I would also like to thank
Pat Bailey at Sunrise Dairy
for supplying free milk for
the Scouts involved in the
paper drive. A special
thanks goes to those who
donated trucks, especially to
John Cullen, LeRoy Jackson,
Andy McBride and CKNX.
We also wouldbhwtoeopreso
our thanks to Waiden Trans-
port Limited for allowing us
the use of their yard and a
tractor -trailer to store the
paper.
If anyone was missed in
the paper drive, bundles can
be dropped off at the storage
trailer, parked at the rear of
Walden's Transport yard.
All proceeds from the.sale of
bulk paper to a recycling
plant will be used for
Scouting projects.
Vice Chairman
Scouts Advisory Committee
Wingham
Tumberry pupils
do well at festival
A number of students from
the Turnberry Central
School ced highly in the
individual vocal solos
categories at last week's
Midwestern Ontario Rotary
Music Festival held at
WulIcertou.
Dana Mathers was first in
the seven-year-old girls
category singing "Balloon
Song"Sharon vvuumosoo,
also from Turnberry uwn-
tral, was third in the same
division.
Angela Musgrove was
girlssecond in the eight-year-old
category and sang
"Good morning Merry
Sunshine". Julie Fortune
captured first }mow in the
girls 10 -year-old category
with her renditiOfl of "Lions
and Crocodiles".
Patti Walker was tied for
third in the 12 -year-old girls
division, singing "Walking
•
Tammy Storm rounded out
the honors for her school by
placing third in her division.
���8�m��almost
Miller spent
25 years in local politics
By Margaret Arbuckle
DeWitt Miller is a farniliarand his
friendly face is easily recognized by people who
remember him as a prominent Wingham politician
and businessman.
Even though he has been out of the political
limelight for 10 years now, he still likes to keep
abreast of what's happening and enjoys morning tea
sessions and afternoon chats with his many friends.
He was born on Charles Street, or "Pleasant
Valley" as it was known then, in the same house
where he lives today. His father was a painter and
paper hanger,
Young "Dec" attended the Wingham Public Schoo
and spent one year at the Wingham high school before
dropping out to help his ailing father. He also worked
at the old Fry and Blackhall factory for 10 hours, five
days a week at a weekly wage of $9.00.
When World War ]I broke out, Mr. Miller was
working at Walker's department store. Like many
young men of his day he enlisted and found himself in
the Air Force for four years.
He has vivid memories of his wartime experiences
and has numerous stories about his two years spent in
Ceylon, now Sri Lanka.
Four was long time to be away from home
but it only made him appreciate Wingham that much
more when he did return m April of 1945.
His first job as a civilian was sandiro floors with
Norm Hinton'. Mr. Miller then bought Wingham
Manufacturing with several others. The firm
produced toilet seats. He sold it several years later
and purchased the downtown store which the family
still operates, Miller's Ladies' Wear.
Mis love of politics led him to stand for election to
town_ council io19e50and be was successful iohis bid -
whicbledto almost 25 years of community service.
Mr. Miller ed for nine
years first in 1953-54 and again from 1987-74. All in
all, he spent 14 years on council, 10 years with the
PUC and was a member of the hospit.al board for 25
years.
Although he is modest about his accomplishments,
he is proud of the things he helped bring about for the
town, such as additions to the foundry, the Stanley
Doors- plant and the hospital. A new high school and
swimming pool were built and the recreational area
along the Maitland River was developed.
One of the highlights of his career in office was the
town's 75th anniversary celebration in 1954. He also is
proud to have contributed to bringing the Royal
Homes plant to Wingham.
Mr. Miller did not "go it alone" all those years. He
had the Bertha (Casemore)
whom he married in 1946.
They have thruniversity
in Los Angeles; Bob, an employee of the department
of education at Toronto; and Toro of Wingham, who
baoJnDmwmd in his father's footsteps and now sits on
town council.
Mr. Milier also has been lnvo!ved with the Masonic
Lodge and was Legion president in 1949.
Today he finds it difficult to walk long dimbmcmm,
but still manages to get out for the morning coffee
and chatting, session. Most afternoons are spent at
borne but he said there is hardly day that by
without someone dropping by for a visit. He is a
voracious reader and enjoys watching television.
Something he is looking forward to is the yearly
reunion of his World War II flying squadron which is
held in Toronto.
°