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HomeMy WebLinkAboutWingham Advance-Times, 1981-03-25, Page 41 AncE.-T1 r• rte. � -ter.,. T11r 1.%W.I '►Mlles 1kZr44Rl:'3aA%,` •11T THE WINGHAM ADV NCE -TIMES Published at Wingham, Ontario, by Wenger Bros. Limited Barry Wenger, President • Henry Hess, Editor Robert 0. Wenger, Sec.-Treas. Bill Crump, Advertising Manager Member Audit Bureau of Circulations Member — Canadian Community Newspaper Assoc. Subscription;16.00 per year Second Class Mail Registration No. 0821 Ontario Weekly Newspaper Assoc. Six month:: $9-50 Return postage guaranteed .n—nn'e1te-e—Ne- eee— a neeeeiee•- enleraeoeo �? 1a.aaa. ......�..eaa11tieionee Just as we thought Last week's provinciaf' election certainly didn't provide very many surprises for the voters. The results could have been, and•in many quarters were predicted from the outset. The Davis government has its long -sought majority. One aspect of the voting was dis- turbing, to say the least. Only 57 per cent of those eligible cast their ballots. Forty-three per cent didn't bother to say either yes or no. In a democratic country that sort of apathy isnot a good sign. Any one of several current condi- tions might account for the lazy turnout of voters. Obviously the electorate con- siders the PCs have provided good gov- ernment in recent years. Another fac- tor may have been that Bill Davis is seen as a staunch •Canadian and a sound anchorman at a time when inter- provincial disputes are so common. If that was the case, however, one might have expected his supporters to vote in greater numbers. Possibly -the greatest single reason was that his historical opponents, sup- porters of the Liberal and NDP parties, were simply too disillusioned to vote for their own leaders. Davis, of course, settled upon the best possible election strategy from the outset. In effect, his campaign simply asked the voters if they really wanted either Stuart Smith or Michael Cassidy as premier of On- tario. The answer was an obvious "no". As we have previously pointed out, the greatest danger in retaining one party in power too long Iles in the drain of good leadership talent from the op- position parties. After 38 years of Tory rule in Ontario very few really able politicians are willing to expend their futures on what appears to be a lost cause. The Liberal ,and NDP parties in Ontario and the PC party in Ottawa might as well face facts. Until they can persuade , men or women of real strength and appealing personality to offer themselves as leaders, neither federal nor provincial governments are likely to be unseated. Rumor unfounded The rumor that gasoline is about,to be rationed has been "scotched" by government officials who point out that it would take several months to set up the necessary machinery, even if ra- tioning had indeed been decided upon. Though none of us would like it very much, rationing of fuel supplies might be the fairest way to deal with the current problem. Rationing would, it may be supposed, differentiate be- tween those who must use gasoline for business purposes and those who burn up expensive fuel in the pursuit of plea- sure. If rationing should be decided upon it might even make sense to set two prices — one for commercial users and the other for pleasure drivers, boat Spare the rod Canadians, and particularly On- tarions, must be the most undecided people on earth when it comes to the education of their children. We just can't make up our own minds. A few weeks ago yet another study report was released, this time by Laur- ier Lapierre, eminent teacher and broadcaster, and a man of undoubted intellectual capacity. Brains to the contrary, he must have done his study of early education on Cloud Nine. Ne doubt many ,of the items in his detailed report are worth thinking about. Certainly there is lots of room for improv ment in our present educa- tional system. However, he comes forth with some recommendations that will make any sensible parent shake his or her head in disbelief. One of the most glaringais his pronouncement that physical punishment should be abolish- ed in both our schools and our homes. We don't know whether or not M. Lapierre is a father. If so he was bless- ed with something more than ideal owners .and. snowmobilers. Such a price differential would not be provided as a soft break for the businessman, but rather as a gesture toward the battle against inflation. In a country"as widespread as ours, trans- portation costs are automatically built into the price of virtually everything we buy. In many businesses the cost of vehicle operation is a prime factor in the selling price of goods and services. However,. no need to start scream- ing. We don't have rationing yet and it is doubtful that we will have for a con- siderable time to come. Rationing has to be agreed .upon by the nation's poli- ticians and those ladies and gentlemen know where their votes come from. children or else the kids grew up to be neighborhood monsters. No wise par- ent resorts to physical discipline more often than necessary. The child who is spanked for every little mistake soon. becomes hardened and indifferent to punishment. Most of the time there are better ways to command obedience than by using the flat of the hand. Along with the Huron -Perth Separ- ate School Board, we agree that strap- ping in our schools should be resorted to only after most careful examination of the situation by a third, unbiased party. But . any parent or any teacher who has never learned that there comes a time when words are not enough must have been living in anoth- er world where the children all have - wings on their shoulders. Indiscrimin- ate child abuse for either real or im- agined transgressions cannot be toler- ated, but anyone who thinks physical punishment is never advisable is just plain dreaming. Stupid regulation This is the age of protection for the poor, exploited laborer. In the effort to woo the common guy and gal, govern- ments go overboard in their magnani- mous gestures. One of the most unnecessary and potentially expensive of these gestures is the law that permits any employee three working hours in which to cast his or her ballot. There's nothing wrong with that regulation — if it really does take a worker three hours to get to the polling booth and back again. Fortunately it appears that very few workers in smaller communities demand the three paid hours. How many do so in the cities we don't know. In neither case are 'voters very far away from their polling places. In cases where workers are employed at points removed by distance from their homes, three separate advance polls are opened for their convenience. Have you any idea what a three-hour 4:^^e off period could cost the people of Ontario? The offer was open to 5.5 million voters for a total of 16.5 million hours. If the average em- ployee worked an average eight-hour day, total time off would have been 2,062,500 days or 8,418 working years calculated on 49 weeks of five days each. If .the average „earnings were 815,000 a year that would represent a total of 8126 million. 'Since the employees had to be paid for time off, the value of lost production would probably run to more than twice that staggering figure. Did the legislators who dreamed up this bright little scheme simply fail to do their homework or did they cynically think that it would be a vote - winning gesture of which very few would take advantage? Let's get back ,to reality! J• page edit,c)rial„,o.pinion i•':VK: •?';tiff: v,+:;.}}, :•'.}: titi•: ,'• Y}. $ >:n'(• til•} 'Q ♦ March 25 alaiallealaleleakaallalealeelesealeftee ta$ AUTO MART 111 —.'"';sARpo "/a BEP4MIED ! lff DEC/DEED 1O EjE H/4 38 YEAR OLD GAS- &OZZL€R! Letters to the Edit Red Cross clarification Dear Editor, In connection with an article that appeared in the March 11 edition of your newspaper, the Howick Branch executive committee of the Canadian Red Cross wishes to add, as a supple- ment, that while all of the services . mentioned arid described' :n the article are in fact provried and financed by the Ked Crass, several of the services mentioned are not available to t',e residents. of this a through the -operations of ',the Howick Branch.• The executive committee regrets .any misunder- standings that .ay ha -N e 'arisen as a resit, of state- ments contained i the ar- ticle.. Mrs. Nein.) Taylor per Executive Committee. Howick Branch, Canadian Red Cross Who started this? Sprinkled throughout the election stories and broadcasts of the past few weeks the letters MPP kept recurring.• Those letters are supposed to stand for Member Provincial Parliament — a body which simply does not exist. There are no provincial parli- aments in Canada. There are 10 pro- vincial legislative assemblies and the elected members of those assemblies are Members Legislative Assembly — or MLAs. As a matter of fact, provincial members were always referred to as MLAs until a few years ago. We don't know who started the fad, but within a year or two it seemed that all of them were converted to the belief that a member of parliament carried more prestige than a plain old member of the legislature. If you want to take it a step further, the selected body which is known as the cabinet in federal administration iS the legislative council in a provincial gov- ernment. Church column - would be nice Dear Editor. My compliments are extended to the students of F. E. Madill high school who contribute to the Madill Mirror section. Both the inspiration and clarity of thought contained in these articles are delightful. Special thanks to you and your staff foe sharing space with these deserving students. May I suggest a regular .column in The Wingham Advance -Times for brief church notices? The purpose of this feature would -be to spotlight special programs, visiting musical groups, speakers and coming events as a .public service to the community at large. Thank you for the op• portunity to respond to the queries presented in. the Citizens' Forum. Nancy Elliott Greenwood Morris Township St. Jerome's plans reunion Dear Editor, St. Jerome's College at the University of Waterloo is planning' its first alumni reunion. All graduates of St. Jerome's-College as well as those University of Waterloo graduates who have lived at St. Jer'ome's'or Notre Dame ('ollege are invited to attend. The reunion will take place .tune -7 on the University of Waterloo campus. Grad- uates who are interested in attending the reunion should contact Ken Lavigne, regis- trar, University of St. Jer- ome's College, Waterloo, On- tario. N2L 3G3. h A 1 : vigne, Re•'strar Ontario farm vacations are worth considering Dear Editor,. Perhaps the initials OVFA are a total mystery to you, but hopefully my letter will lift the veil and leave you as enthusiastic about • the • project as many other people are. The ptair f -the 0 ltariiO;� Vacation' F Associd ionr is to give people from the' city an opportunity to spend 'some time on a real, family - operated farm: It provides the farmer with a chance to share his often unique way of living with the city folk. , Many farmers •., have retained 'a good measure of the: simple, basic way of liv'ng of their forefathers, whi.e at the same. time allowing modern technology to make life more pleasant ';itbout completely,~ taking a •er Televisions, dish - v fishers, electric ap- p: lanes,. sometimes even microwave ovens.are just as common in farmhouses as they are in the city. On the other hand, there are few places in the city where a person is able to order the kind of homemade meals that one will be served at the farm: fresh, home- made butter, oven -fresh pies and rolls, milk that is still 'the real thing', bread with- out additives, fruit 'still warm with sunshine. A farm holiday offers the things that so many .people yearn for,'and it is all here in Ontario! Does it not make sense to 4eve1i;p ^ thriving "tourist' industry in our province? It " benefits not only the farmer and his guests, but keeps Canadian dollars here where they are needed. How many travellers to foreign places have enjoyed the finest of Ontario's own hospitality or explored thoroughly the places of interest and beauty right here at their doorstep. Both the Department of Agriculture and Food, and the Department of Tourism promote•OVFA's objectives. Yet, it would bring our program to the attention of so many more people if a newspaper like • yours would decide that our program deserves more publicity. Our funds for promotion and advertising are very limited, while most of the work is done on a voluntary basis. Ruth Bender, Area Director OVFA RR 3, Mildmay Schools prepare for science fairs Dear Editor, ' The elementary schools in the northern portion of Huron County will be having their annual Environmental Studies Fair at Grey Central School, Ethel, en April 7 and 8. Judging will take place,pn Wednesday, April 8. The competitors will be from Grades 6, 7 and 8 and the entries will. be in three 'categories: physical sciences, social sciences and biological sciences. Each school will send its best exhibits to the area com- petition at. Grey Central. The winners there will be entered in the Perth Science Fair at Stratford April 10-11. 4114 The locations and dates of each individual school fair are: Wingham Public School, March 31 -April 1; Brussels Public School, March 31; East Wawanosh Public School, April 2; Grey Central, April 6; and Turn - berry 'Central, April 6. • Thank you for your in- terest in this project for the children. Bevan Lindsay, Principal Golden Circle School, Wingham ews Items MARCH 1934 Bruce H: Edgar of Toronto, former Wingham boy, sings over CKCL Radio, Toronto, on Sunday af- ternoons. Last Sunday one of his numbers was 'Mother Machree', dedicated to his aunt, Mrs. Francis Edgar of town. Last , Sunday Capt. Mar- shall and Lieut. Gray of the Salvation Army held farewell services, Both have been transferred to. L inenburg, Nova Scotia. Capt. Keeling and Lieut. Everett of. Dundas will have charge of the work here. The Supertest Gasoline Co. has purchased the gasoline station where the old Exchange Hotel stood, from, .J. G. Armstrong. Mrs. H. C. MacLean was elected president of the Ladies' Bowling Club when the final bridge party of the season was held. Vice presidents are Mrs. T. A. Currie and Mrs. W. J. Greer; secretary is Mrs. D. Geddes and treasurer is Mrs. F. Preston. Norman Mulligan of Molesworth moved his. household effects to L. H. Bosman's farm west of Bluevale. Mr. and Mrs. Jack Lar - r and baby Jack are g from Whitechurch eek to Wingham where s secured work at the mo this he machine shop of Elwell Webster. They will live in the house of George Orvis Sr. The Co -Operative Com- monwealth Federation (CCF) will be organized on an entirely new basis in Ontario, it was announced by J. S. oodsworth, •head of the movement. A convention will be held April 14. MARCH 1946 R. S. Hetherington has completed arrangements foy. the purchase of - the law practice in Brussels from Elmer Bell who ,purchased an Exeter practicea few ' weeks ago. Mr. Hetherington will be in Brussels a couple of days each week and is in Lucknow two days a week as • well. Allan Phillips of Toronto, who has recently been released from the Navy Show, has joined the staff of CKNX. Mr. Phillips was a popular soloist with the Navy Show on tours of Canada and Europe. Joseph Ellacott left Sunday for Toronto.where he met his wife who came frorn England on the Agtlit'ariia. She was the former Brenda Humphrey of Sussex and they were married in December 1943. J. R. M. Spittal has been appointed manager of. the Dominion Bank at Brant- ford. Before enlisting with the 99th Battery, Bob was the • 1981 ti,•�. '{. .cam, R'"+iti ' {:•.•::... •r.Wi::%'•rr MUSEUM MUSINGS By John Pattison For the past 60 years, Wingham has had a Public Utilities Commission to look after the needs of the citizens as far as water and electri- city are concerned. It was not always so. Back in 1908 it was suggested that a commission should be set up to adminis- ter the Wingham. Electric Co. which had been pur- chased from Walter Green hi' 1903. A committee of council. had been in charge of it along with the waterworks. It was thought that more experienced men could be obtained and they would hold office longer. It was also pointed out that there were only two towns in Ontario without a commission that owned their own electric light plants, and Wingham was one. Nominations were held, and two men, Walter Green and John A. McLean, were elected by acclamation for the commission, with the mayor to be the third mem- ber. But when the bylaw to set up a commission was submitted to the people at the end of March, 1908, it was turned down 231 to 176. Two citizens were elected to offices that did not exist! At the end of July, 1909, votes were held to approve the raising of $4,000 to finish ' eying for the town hall, to approve the starting of a domestic water system, and the establishment . of a commission. The bylaw to provide domestic water was turned down, but the other two were approved. Wing-, ham at last would have a utilities cbmmission • to pro- vide electricity and water for Fire protection. Van VanNorman and J. A. Morton..., were the elected commissioners for 1910-11. After the town had finally, approved a domestic water system the commission decided to drill - wells in Lower Town near the power house. This did not meet with approval. As a result there was much dissatisfaction with the commission. When nomination night rolled around the commissioners did not qualify for re-elec- tion. A bylaw to abolish the commission carried 257 to 184. The water and electric committee of the council carried on and drilled wells near Ahe upper dam and suppli d the town with pure drinking water. It was soon found that the electricity generated by water power and, steam at the Lower Wingham power plant would not be enough to supply both light and power. Mayor W. H. Gurney was a strong advocate for Hydro, and after the war was over steps were taken to bring Hydro power to Winghanjr, Delegates were seat_ to Ta- ronto to meet witittir Adan) Beck to ask for Hydro to 1* distribtited throughout Western Ontario. It was necessary to raise $40,000 to have Hydro stalled in Wingham. Part of the deal for Hydro to come tQ to was the formation of a utilities commission to look after the distribution of elec- tricity in the municipality. On Oct. 17, 1919 the voters accepted. Hydro and agreed to the $40,000 debenture: Work on the transmission, lines was soon started, but Hydro power was not turned on until 1 p.m., Dec. 21, 1920. Another bylaw to put the waterworks under the con- trol of the commission had one of the smallest voter turnouts ever recorded. It carried 115 to 15 in July 1920: W. Y. Gurney and William Holmes were elected as commissioners for 1921 at a salary of $'75 per year. Mr. Gurney served in -this posi- tion for 27 years. This is a re- cord that has not been matched. New Books in the. Library BRAIN by Robin Cook From' the dark terror of, Coma, Robin Cook moves into the gleaming nightmare hospital universe of techno- horror and science gone mad with his new novel, Brain. THE MEDICINE CALF by Bill Hotchkiss Medicine Calf — mountain man, hunter, scout, leader of. Crow warriors, and later, head chief of the Mountain Crows — was otherwise known as Jim Beckwourth, the son of a Virginia aristo- crat and a mulatto slave girl. This is a novel based on Beckwourth's own account of those years between 1824 and 1833. CANADA LOST, CANADA FOUND by Peter Desbarats Peter Desbarats, one of the nation's .,most astute political commentators, has written a condemnation of our failure to live up to the great, promise the country once held. He exposes the provincial jealousies, regional resentments, in- tolerance, and bureaucratic strangleholds that are crippling Canada. He makes a stirring plea for the mending of these divisions before it is too late. rom old Files. manager of the branch at Wingham. The Liquor Authority Control Board of Ontario has notified 29 holders of beer and wine sale authorities in Peel, Perth and Huron Counties that their licenses will not be renewed when they expire March 31. The action is the result of the recent Privy Council decision upholding the validity of the Canada Temperance Act which is in force in the. three counties. Mr. and Mrs. Cecil Skinner of Centralia announce the engagement of their daughter, Beulah, to Ken- neth Mason, son of Mr. and Mrs. John Mason, Belgrave. The marriage will take place April .10. R. S. Hetherington has purchased the Mills residence on the 'corner of John and Catherine Streets and. takes immediate possession. MARCH 1957 Hyndman Bros. expect to have work started this week on the construction of an aluminum -covered building to house machinery for the manufacture of basket bottoms. The building will he located on Highway 97; west of the Gorrie railroad station. It is expected that six or seven men will be employed. New agent at the CPIs "station is B. C. Keats who. has been transferred to Wingham from Kaladar in Eastern Ontario. He suc- ceeds B. S. Nichols who has been moved to Cooksville. Members of the parochial committee of St. Paul's Anglican Church learned at a meeting this week that Rev. H. L. Parker, rector of the Wingham parish, is likely to be 'transferred to Owen Sound next month. The Owen Sound rector, Rev. C. 'F: Johnson, is expected to come to Wingham. Unlike almost every club in the country the Wingham Golf Club is looking for members. This was an- nounced at the club's annual meeting when members elected R. H. Lloyd president, Dr. W. A. McKibbon vice president, Frank Madill treasurer and John Cruickshank treasurer. Members of the Wingham Sportsmen's Association are enthusiastic with the pur- chase of a seven -acre tract of land in Turnberry Township,' situated just west of Lower Town, across the road from the residence of Jack Ward. The group plans to erect a club house bathe property: Helen Haines. daughter of Mr. and Mrs. J. V. Haines, RR 4, Wingham, was featured as,School Queen in Monday's London Free Press, representing Wingham District High School. Arthur Laidlaw of Whitechurch was the lucky winner of $50 in a . contest sponsored by the firemen as. to when a barrel wedged in the ice would go over the dam. MARCH 1967 George Gammage, who has been the accountant in the Wingham branch of the Toronto -Dominion Ba} k for. the past 22 months, has been moved to the Elliot Lake branch as manager. Taking his place as accountant here is William Lindup of Shelburne. A group of friends from South Huron Youth for Christ gathered at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Collar to honor Rev. Joe Baker who has worked among teenagers in this district since 1955. He plans to work with Crusade Evangelism, travelling to the west coast and into Alaska. Colleen Carson and Cheryl Lynn were winners of the Howick Lions public speaking contest held in conjunction with the Lions Ladies' Night. Colleen spoke on Howick Townithip's First Settler and Cheryl's topic was Centennial Canada. Cheryl was also the overall winner,