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HomeMy WebLinkAboutWingham Advance-Times, 1977-12-14, Page 137.i+NM iK� :.;v;�. vx� - y..-. .. mw. ..W. W..a .... 071 A page of editorial opinion ;::•••;�} $iii}%rr,�'!'N•JJf/?i :.< Changing weather patterns Everybody, young and old, male and fe- male, short and tall, is interested in the weather. We complain when it's too hot; we grouse when it's too cold. A shortage of rainfall at the proper time worries towns- men and farmers alike. And we worry as much or more ..when the weather stays wet too long. For more than a year • there has been good reason for concern about the weather. Last winter was one of the meanest on record. Continuing high winds and heavy snowfall made driving, or even walking, hazardous. Blizzard conditions prevailed for days at a time with only brief periods- of clear weather. Then came summer and fall when the rains poured down and continued to fall day after day until some food crops were near -failures. The most recent issue of The National Geographic magazine tells us why. Accord- ing to that highly, researched article the world's weather is dominantly influenced by "jet streams" in the upper atmosphere — great rivers of wind travelling at speeds of up to 200 miles per hour. Normally a vast upper level airstream moves eastward ae\ross the Pacific Ocean and in over the west coast of the United States. Under condi- tions which normally prevail this air current carries with it moisture -laden air as a consequence dumps the annual rain and snowfall across much of the continent. However, for many months that stream of air has been diverted into a giant loop which swings northward over the Pacific, up and across the Alaskan peninsula and then southward over the eastern half of North A. r;ca Result? Drought in the western areas and unprecedented rain and snowfall in the central and eastern regions. The corse• quences are drastic Here in Onta,-fir F,a,.n suffered only extremes of weather condi- tions with which we have always been familiar, but last winter Florida faced ice and snow for the first time in its history. Because snow failed to accumulate in the western mountains there was no spring run-off of water in California and residents of that area have had to ration their water supplies. The grain. lands of the west had no snow cover and only a late spring rain saved those vital food supplies. The parched topsoil of the prairies has begun to drift into suffocating piles, much as it did in the 1930s. The Geographic has explained the phen- omenon, but fails to predict how long it will last. So far this winter we have good reason to believe that the jet strearns have not fallen back into normal patterns,,a fact to which residents of London, Windsor and the Niagara peninsula can certainly attest. Not for entertainment Speaking in Woodstock last week • Peter Kent, the "anchor man" for the CBC news broadcast team, lauded the presence of tele- vision cameras in the House of Commons. He may have been replying to criticism of the coverage by the Woodstock city council which recently branded the broadcasts as "disgraceful". Kent actually levelled criticism at his own employers, the CBC, for not devoting enough air time to Commons debates. He said that at least an hour every day should be provided for coverage at the question periods in the House. One of the Woodstock aldermen may have svoiced a commonly -held opinion when he aid that some of the soap operas on TV make better watching than the parliamen- tary debates. Apparently some people think that television cameras in the House are in- tended to provide live entertainment. Nothing could be further from the truth. Those cameras -serve one purpose only to let Canadians see the actual performance of the men and women they have placed in office. If they don't like what they see the electors may change' their minds before the next election is held. If the time wasted in desk -thumping and cat -calling convinces the voters that the nation's business should be- taken more seriously, that's good. As we suggested in this column a few weeks ago, television coverage of House of Commons debates may, in the long run, provide the nation with a more responsible quality of government. How to win friends Organized labor within the Canadian post office system'must be dedicated to winning the all-time award for most hated species. Not satisfied with mangling the life of the cot3ntry last year, a grotyp of full-time work- ers in the Toronto post office has chosen the weeks immediately prior to Christmas to walk off their jobs. ' If post office employees were actually suffering and in want there might' be some excuse. The reason for this latest disruption was trivial. It started when some of the union people ob-jectled to part-time help being al- lowed to use the recently introduced automated sorting equipment. Then the post office suspended the union ringleaders who were trying to organize a work stoppage or slowdown and the fat was in the fire. Unfortunately the general public is beginning to react with aversion to all labor unions. The repellent attitude of the few trouble -makers in the post office tends to make us forget the fact that there are hund- reds of responsible labor unions in Canada which seek the best and fairest solutions in labor-management relations. The handwriting is already on the wall. More and more Canadian businesses are turning to alternative' methods of mail delivery. Private couriers are flourishing and prospering at the expense of the publicly owned postal system. The arrogant union leaders within post office seem blind to the fact that instead of achieving better condi- tions for their members they are well on the way to. losing jobs for thousands. Unless the general membershipof union workers can find more reasonable leadership the entire postal system as we know' it is doomed. The floodplain debate The Upper Thames Valley Conservation Authority's executive has voiced an opinion with which many will sympathize and agree. Last week that body criticized the provincial definition of all floodplains as those areas which would be' inundated by conditions at the level of Hurricane Hazel. The executive termed'that standard as "too .high a level of protection". In its place the London-based body would substitute a flood level demarkation as the highest point reached by flood waters in the past 100 years in any one locality. The floodplain issue is bound -to be a contentious one, since property values are drastically affected by being ruled as part of a potential floodplain. Under present legis- lation property owners within a floodplain may continue to reside in their homes as long as they wish, but no new owners may purchase such properties. The value of the properties thus becomes fixed at the level set by the presiding authority. The legislation is not, of course, as unjust as it sounds. Those who own property within areas which are regularly flooded either built there in full knowledge of the hazard or, on the other hand; purchased from previous owners, probably at drastically reduced prices because of the same hazard. How- ever, it is the unreasonably high level established for the hazard areas which is causing the trouble. If high water has never reached a given property for the past 90 ,t years, the owner feels justified in the claim that though there may be some risk, it is not a very high one. He will quite probably be much more concerned about the danger of fire than the remote possibility of flood. Another Hazel is certainly a possibility — but recorded weather conditions over the past century do not indicate that such ex- treme conditions are likely to recur with any frequency. Legal drink!ng age e A recent survey conducted by the Addic- tion Research..Foundation indicates that the politicians were not very astute in their estimate of public opinion when they lowered the drinking age to 18. In Southwestern Ontario 52.9 per cent of respondents want to see the age limit returned to 21. Over the province the figure was 53.5. The percentage in favor of raising the age to at least 19 was 68.3. in Southwest- ern Ontario the percentage was 70.7. Only 26.5 per cent said the age should remain at 18. The people surveyed were not confined to narrow-minded adults. The group ranged in age from 18 years up. THE WINGHAM ADVANCE -TIMES Published at Wingham, Ontario, by Wenger Bros. Limited 'Barry Wenger, President Member Audit Bureau of Circulations Member Canadian Community Newspaper Assoc. Subscription $12.00 per year Second Class Mad Registration No. 0821 Robert 0. Wenger, Sec. -Trees. Ontario Weekly Newspapers Assoc. Six months $6.50 Return postage guaranteed News Items from Old Files DECEMBER 1930 Mrs. George dlver was elected Worthy Matron of Huron Chapter No. 89 Order of the Eastern Star when the annual meeting was held. Worthy Patron is Dan Geddes. Associates are Mrs. J. A. Wilson and P. H: Gibson; secre- tary Mrs. E. J. Nash and treasurer Miss Mary Pattison. Three main street ,business places of Seaforth were wiped out by a disastrous blaze Thursday' morning, causing a total loss estimated at $60,000. 1 contents of the block wer totally destroyed, the apartment tenants not having a chance to save any- ' thing. The origin of the conflag- ration is undetermined. A large crowd attended the opening of the new Peaco Candy Shop and Cafe. A fr dance to themusic of th Vagabonds was given by th manager, George Tombros. Fred Howson was elected represent North Huron at th Older Boys' Parliament o Ontario at Toronto during Chris mas week. The annual meeting of Loya Orange Lodge No. 794 was hel and officers were elected for th ensuing year. Alex Robertso was named Worshipful . Maste and Theo Robertson is Deput Master; C. R. Copeland and J Guest are secretaries and treas urer is J. W. McKibbon. ' George Seiling and family have returned to the, village of Wrox eter. They have been living in Owen Sound where he had a job as night watchman on a pro- vincial highway which was under construction. At the regular meeting of coun- ty council, •Cour;*lerk Holman gave an account of the workings of the Mothers' Allowance. There are at present 53 mothers receiving allowances ranging from $15 to $55 per month. One half of this is payable by the Province of Ontario. The Belmore community suf- fered an inconvenience when the village chopping mill owned by Stirling Haskins was burned to the ground. Much sympathy is felt for Mr. Haskins, who recently erected the building and equip- ped it with up -today machinery. Snow on the roofs of surrounding buildings saved many homes. 0-0-0 also, brut this service will b discontinued. Use of oil as a substitute fo electricity to light store windows show cases, advertising signs o decorative, ornamental or outlin lighting, has • been prohibited i power shortage areas. The first annual meeting of th Morris Township unit of the Fed eration of Agriculture was held with president William Spiers i charge, Harvey Johnston wa • elecred'--the new 'president with James Michie elected vice-presi dent. Canada's national nutrition program will be launched next January and Prime Minister MacKenzie King has urged public support for this vital drive to improve health standards in e Club is proud of the fact that four of its girls tried the Dutch Waltz ✓ in the preliminary dance test held in Seaforth. They are Dorothy ✓ Chamney, Doreen Machan, • e Marykae Newman and Sandra n Smith. John V. Fischer was elected e reeve of Turnberry Township in _ an election contest last week. He defeated Isaac Wright by 49 n votes. Miss. Hazel Sanderson of Jamestown has taken a position _ in the Wroxeter Telephone Office. The ladies of St. Stephen's Anglican Church, Gorrie, met at the home of Mrs. Harry King to consider forming a church Guild, comprising the younger women of the congregation. It was decided that the Guild be named the Guild of Ste. Martha. The annual meeting of North Huron County, Loyal Orange Lodge, was held in Belgrave. Thomas McInnis was elected county master; W. Scott deputy county master. Secretaries are Ross Errington and Milo Case - more and treasurer is Bert Isard. While rummaging through some old keepsakes, J. R. McNab of Lucknow came upon a pair of glasses which are.110 years old. The frames are pure gold and the lenses are hand ground. Engrav- ed.on the glasses are the words: "From Dr. Gilbert McNab to his ' father, 1893". - ck Canada. While better•nutrition is ee an important part of the war e effort, it is also a contribution to e the building of Canada of the future. to Wroxeter community wel- e comed Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd f Felker and family. of Listowel t- who are residing on the Timm farm, fourth- concession. Mrs. 1 Felker, the former Glady§ Timm, d is well known in that area. e The annual meeting of the n Huron Curling Club was held, ✓ with J. J. Evans elected presi- y dent, J. Harley Crawford vice- . president and Art Wilsotr secre- - tary-treasurer. 'According to an official of the Confederation Rink Company, - the Walkerton Arena has been taken over by the military and the ice will not be available for " skating or hockey during the coming winter•. The 97th Battery began drilling in the arena last week. Enlistments in the Active Army recently include? R. 1-1.0 Montgomery, Wingham; J. S. Finlay, RR 1, Wroxeter; and D. J. Ross and R J. Ross. RR 5, Lucknow. DECEMBER 1942 In a world of dreary blackouts the Christmas Star of Hope and Peace shines on ... a prophecy of what shall be and a symbol of that for which free men still suffer and strive. May its gleam lighten all the world this Christmastide. . Arthur Mordeji, who has been Teeswater's Chief of Police for well nigh a decade, resigned his position in that town and com- menced duties in Harriston as law enforcer. At the regular meeting of Wingha..r. Town w incii• it was announced that the contract for plowing the roads in town has been let to Gordon McGregor The recent, storms had already placed the plow in use and the ,'dewalk plows have been used 0-0 --0 DECEMBER 1953 Bailie Parrott was elected reeve in a close fought election in Morris Township, defeating two other contestants. Charles Coul- tes and Sam Alcock. for the honors. in West Wawanosh. John Durnin defeated Harold Gaunt for the position of •reeve. Reports that spring is here may be greatly exaggerated hut the warm weather has had some peculiar effects on the Vegetation hereabouts Amelia Willert brought into the Advance -Times office a dandelion she picked on a lawn on JohnStreet Miss Isobel Dennis was the valedictorian when the annual commencement exercises were held at the Wingham District High School. Scholarships were awarded to Sally Slosser, Rodie Craig. Isobel Dennis and Marlene Schumacher Athletic awards were won by Kinloch Grewar. Keith Lancaster, Grace Thome son and Neil Stainton. Hanka!o r':. 'nn. scn i,t ,ur and Mrs. Frank Preston of Wingham, was re-elected to the Waterloo City Council at the haad of the poll. The Wingham Figure Skating 0-0-0 DECEMBER 1963 The auditorium of the new Salvation Army Citadel was filled to capacity on Saturday evening and the overflow crowd was ac- commodated in the basement as friends, members of, the Corps and guests assembled for the opening of the new building. Guest of honor was Commis- sioner W. Wycliffe Booth, terri- torial commander for the Salva- tion Army for Canaa and Bermuda, who officially opened the Citadel. Alex Strong, son of Mrs. John Strong. RR 1. Gorrie, received [i'nhr'ri Arthur Stewart Bursary at a banquet in the physical education building at the I a,, l 1. , nir�r. l,uelpii tit was one of the eight honor stu- dents in a class of 250. Julie Cruikshank was valedic- torian at the commencement exercises of the Wingham Dis- trict High School . Proficiency awards were presented to Doris Ross. Ruth ('asagrande• Wayne Caslick,. Joan ('hittick, Sandra Rowe and Murray MacLennan Rest hog athlete was John Madill and hest girl athlete Karen E;llh ill Rev(' F .Johnson dedicated a Communion Office hook at the morning service in St. Paul's Anglican Church on Sunday. The hook was' a gift from Miss Ann Henry. donated in memory of her sister Elizabeth, Mrs. C. H. lluule, who passed away last Ma} Nick Zuidema. who has been assistant accountant at the Toronto 1)onrinion Bank here for the past year. has been transfer- red to Thornbury as accountant. At the 161h annual Huron Coun- ty 4 H Achievement. Night held in Clinton. Neil, Gowing of Bluevale and John Wightman of Belgrave were among the special -awards winners. Neil won the Warden's Novice Trophy for the highest score by a first-year member and John Wightman won a wrist watch for having the highest score in 4-H Beef Calf Clubs. December 14 MUSEUM MUSINGS Did: you know? ZFT'LAND was a post village fu► ; the Township of Wawanosh and Turnberry . (they were still. ,coined) in 1856, and was describ., ed as being on the Maitland River' 30 miles from Goderich and two miles from Wingham. It had a post office, doctor, and a school before Wingham.. 11�ai1 was received three times weekly. At one time it had three hotels, dance hall, store, two single mills, blacksmith shop and a steam sawmill. During its history it had three different schools. The first on a back street was a low shack of round logs. Later a new school of hewn logs was built further west. For a .couple of years pupils from Winghatrn attended as there was no school in, Wingham. Finally in 1879 a stone school was built and used until 1938. In 1955 it was . d ' the Hiblownghwayup Department.andburneNothing - remains today except. ''Zetland" bridge. There is a map of Zetland showing the layout of the streets (60 feet wide) and the lots which were one fifth of an acre in size, on display in the Wingham Museum, It was signed by the county engineer in Goderich in 1855. • 0-0-0 . The first cemetery in Wingham was located where the, town park is today. It was opened in 1866. Wheat grew on the western half, where the bowling green is now. Across the street up the eastern hill on Alfred ,Street . were grain fields owned by the Cornyn family. As the town grew northward it was seen that a larger cemetery was needed farther from town. In 1877 10 acres were purchased from Alex Kelly outside the town plot, and the graves were remdved from town. Later the Sacred Heart Church purchased, an acre of land adjoining the municipal plot. KARA NEIL, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Doug Neil Wingham, gets her Christmas requests in first-hand. LETTERS TH EDITOR BREAKING DOWN THE BARRIERS Wingham Advance -Times, Dear Editor: Accessibility to community facilities has been a major pro- blem for physically disabled citiznes in this community and throughout Ontario. The Ontario nuilumg &.ode which became el- fective in January of 1976 re- quires that many new facilities have an accessible entrance and washrooms designed for use by people in wheelchairs. Most of our community cultural and recreational facilities, however, were built before .the new code and are not required to meet these basic accessibility stand- ards. Although most com- munities are aware of the need to improve their facilities, few have been able to afford the renova- tions required. new program under Wintario may be the answer to this very serious problem. Art galeries, swimming pools, libraries, YMCA's, and other publicly own- ed community cultural and re- creational facilities may be elig- ible for '100 per cent funding re- novations that improve access of for physically disabled citizens. Wintario financial assistance may permit renovations of buildings constructed prior to the new building code, so that those facilities may comply with basic accessibility standards. In addi- tion, all eligible facilities meeting the basic standards may apply for funding to assist with ar- chitectural improvements be- yond the basic requirements of the code. The Ontario March of Dimes has been working with physically disabled adults and interested community groups on the issue of accessibility. We view this new programme as a major break- through in eliminating the arch- itectural barriers which limit participation in community life. We urge all concerned citizens to join us in advising municipal authorities of this new funding program. For more informa- tion. contact any office of the • Ontario March of Dimes of the Ministry of Culture and Recrea- tion. Yours truly Shirley Hanula Chairman Ontario March of Dimes