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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. °