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The Wingham Advance-Times, 1979-08-08, Page 4THE aavancE -rims We're still very young Talking recently with a friend just back from three weeks in England we found him deeply impressed by the great age of so many buildings in that country. By compari- son Canada is a historical juvenile. To us anything over a hundred years old is ancient indeed, but in Europe 1,000 years Is history. As we In Allingham launch Into our second century of civic life we should give some thought to what the people of this place will be saying about us when they celebrate the town's bicentenary in the year 2079. The pessimists among us will probably not be- lieve there will be any Wingham 100 years hence, what w(fh pollution, energy shortages and the threat of a nuclear holocaust. Don't you believe it. This'old world has met and survived threats'of devastation many times In its long history and Its human Inhabitants have a miraculous ability to emerge from the worst of emergencies undaunted. It is true, however, that the opportu- nities and the problems of the next century will be on a much grander scale than any- thing mankind has had to face so far. Every- thing moves faster, so the problems assume new and ever more gigantic shapes. On the other hand the sum total of mankind's knowledge is growing at a pace our grand- fathers could not have dreamed 016ssible ... and we are only on the threshold of human development. Nor can we, who are living today imagine what the next hundred years will bring. All we can do is continue to build on the, . solid foundations we have inherited. We can- not allow ourselves to be carried away by permissiveness and waste in the affluent times, nor should we retreat into conserva- tism and narrow-mindedness when reces- sion strikes. In all our planning and building we should be looking ahead to the world and the town in which our grandchildren and great-grandchildren will live. In 2079, we hope, the people of Wingham will be able to say as many good things about us as we have been saying this year about the founders of our town. Well done Murray! Last Week The London Free Press car- ried a feature article on Murray Gaunt, one of our Wingham neighbors and MPP for the riding of Huron -Bruce for the past sixteen years. The writer of that article Cheryl Hamilton is a sound and accurate reporter, for the many fine qualities of Murray Gaunt were enumerated and described with skill and insight. A few weeks ago it was our own personal pleasure to attend a meeting of the Legisla- ture's all -party committee on social de- velopment, of which Murray is the chair- man. It was not an easy meeting to chair for A:SC:'C5inn namely. the - closing out of active treatment hospital beds, was a contentious one. The chairman, of course, must at all times remain neutral and scrupulously fair, and that is exactly what Murray was. The writer of The Free Press article had questioned other MPPs about the member for Huron -Bruce and found that Murray is generally regarded as one of the best committee chairman in the Legislature. The writer attributed Murray's long- standing success in politics to his genuine friendliness and his unique regard for other people, no matter what their station in life. There is no doubt whatsoever about that statement. We have attended functions many times where Murray was present and were amazed at his ability to call almost everyone present, including the ladies, by first names. Murray Gaunt has served his consti- tuents well and quite probably will do so as long as he chooses to run in provincial elec- tions. He is always elected by his friends and those friends include people of every poli- tical stripe. A nation of gamblers? There is one man in Toronto who is thoroughly disillusioned when it comes to lotteries. After doing some concentrated calculations on the matter of how many chances a single person has of winning a million dollars in a Loto Canada draw, he sold his house and bought s50,000 worth of tickets. His winnings amounted to a few of the smaller prizes and a $1,500 trip. However, he was delayed in picking up' the tickets for the trip and found he was too late when he tried to collect. Certainly very few Canadians are about to sell their homes or endanger their life savings to buy lottery tickets, but we often wonder where all the lottery money comes from. When the first lottery was proposed we were in favor of the plan, simply because it might keep money at home which had previ- ously gone in lotteries in Ireland and elsewhere. However, once the lottery plan was put into effect and Canadians learned they could become legal gamblers the whole thing mushroomed into a national monstro- sity. Face the facts: under normal circum- stances Canadians are going to spend a A page of editorial' opinion Wednesday, August $ certain amount of their earnings on gam- bling of some sort, be it a bingo at the church hall, a few dollars placed on a promising horse or a back -room poker game. However, when millions of dollars are poured into un- ceasing "commercial messages" over the air waves to brainwash Canadians into buy- ing lottery tickets, that's something else again. That deluge of advertising comes dangerously close to being misleading, for its intent is certainly to convince the man or woman of small means that he or she has a good chance of winning a fortune. If those advertisements included the information that the individual ticket -holder's chance of winning the big prize was only one in 800,000 there might be more justification. Profits from the lotteries are certainly providing funds for many commendable programs, but much of that money is coming from the pockets of people who can ill afford any extra expenditures. As tong as the ticket buyers view the lotteries as a harmless sort of fun and don't go overboard, little harm is done. But the whole thing tends to foster the all -too -prevalent attitude that the best way to get along in this life is to look for a means of getting something for nothing. Promises gone haywire Prime Minister Joe Clark has run into some sticky situations due to promises made to the voters during his election campaign. The most troublesome one, of course, is his promise to remove the Canadian embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. No doubt he re- alizes by now that such a promise was unwise ... a hornets' nest he need not have disturbed. There are others, such as his promise to dismantle Petro Canada, the government- owned corporation which has invested heav- ily in exploration and development, of Can- ada' petroleum resources. A recent WI Indi- cated that 48 per cent of Canadians believe the government should continue its par- ticipation In this field. More Important, the NDP may even be prepared to share In the defeat of the Clark government should Petro -Can be wiped out. And many of the country's financial and resource experts agree. Perhaps one of the reasons for unpop- ular or unworkable promises was the Liberal government's very obvious reluctance to share information of any kind with either the public or the opposition parties. There is widespread demand at present for new and more open regulations about what informa- tion may be kept secret. Hopefully the Clark government, smarting from its own experi- ence with official secrecy, will favor a new approach to the subject. One promise which none of us did hear during the campaign was a complete over- haul of the Canadian postal system, which is little short of a disgrace. It has been obvious for many years that something Is seriously wrong and a succession of postmasters -gen- eral appointed by the Liberals did nothing to resolve the mess. When we can all see the clearly -marked vehicles of private couriers on our streets and when we are willing to pay their inflated prices to get our mail from one place to another without delay It is high time to do something constructive about the man- agement of our publicly owned postal system. I THE WINGHAM ADVANCE -TIMES + Published at Wingham. Ontario, by Wenger Bros. Limited Barry Wenger, President Robert O Wenger, Sec -Treas AWARD Member Audit Bureau of Circulations 1979 Member Canadian Community Newspaper Assoc Ontario Weekly Newspaper Assoc Subscription $14.00 per year Six months $7 W Second Class Mail Registration No 0821 1 Return postage guaranteed PLAQUE UNVEILING--Wingham's centennial royalty unveiled a historical plaque in front of the museum just before Saturday's parade. Local dignitaries, government representatives and the mayors of Wingham, Australia, and Standish, Michigan, spoke at the ceremony. Miss Cen- tennial Queen Karen Wood and Centennial King and Queen Harley and Bernice Crawford unveiled the plaque. New Books in the Library u J u► v. r -41111—A ,r u CACTUS PIE by Gerald Green Oram Prettyman was just another obscure sociologist when the federal government's urgent need for a solution to rampant crime in the streets suddenly put the Prettyman Plan into headlines. Alvin Bernstein, a professor on leave, was happy to be launched on the writing of his novel in Mexico until he discovered two sinister things present there — girls and roosters. These are some of the characters and situations in this admirable and readable collection of stories. THE DOOMSDAY SCROLL by Barbara Rogers The dawn attack on the Israeli school is swift and savage. Twenty-one children are killed and one, a boy, is carried away by the Arab raiders. Shortly afterward an old man emerges from the rugged hills near the Dead cep with an ancient scroll bearing a chilling message from the past. DIVORCED DADS by Morris A. Shepard This book presents a com- prehensive view of what the divorced dad needs to know to play an active part in his kids' lives. It covers such topics as child sharing plans, a place of their own for children in their father's home and how to recognize a child's need for extra emotional support and what to do about it. There are sixteen Canadian Red Cross Blood Transfusion Service centres across Canada where blood is broken into its component parts. It's an opera- tion requiring the most sophisticated medical equipment and techniques. The results are worth it. It means that blood components such as platelets can be given to those who need them. New Is Items from Old F116S Life Insurance Co. in London and commenced her duties this week. Dick Scott, son of Mr. and Mrs. George Scott, is studying to become an X-ray technician. Dick commenced his two-year course at Victoria Hospital, London. SUMMER 1932 The following students were successful in obtaining Interim First Class certificates at the Stratford Normal School: Norma Coutts, Hilton Dickson, Hazel Wilson, all of town; John Weir of Turnberry and Agnes Robertson, East Wawanosh. The pavement in front of the Advance -Times office and Grier and Grier Hat Shop, which has been sinking for some time, has been mended and the bad joints have been removed. Bill Hayes and Jack Adams, who are at work renovating Mills' Hall for the local Masonic Lodge, came upon a nest of honey bees while working near the roof. The wall had to be rebuilt and while replacing the brick, the bees made it hot for them. They were more than repaid. however, as they successfully removed atwut too pounds of honey. I F Nicol has taken over tho service station formerly operated by Thomas Abell and is prepared to give efficient courteous serv- ice. The home of W. H. Gregg at Gorrie was the centre of at- traction when four aeroplanes used the large field near the barn as an airport. They were busy all afternoon and evening taking up passengers, many getting a thrill thev had never had before. The beautiful home of Mr. and Mrs. Earl Anderson, fifth line of Morris. was burned to the ground with all the contents Mr and Mrs. Anderson were a,wav from home and the fire was not noticed until it had gained such headway that nothing was sa%ed A reception was held in I the Brussels Vnited Church to welcome Rev and Mrs. `toorhouse to the charge SVNIME.R 11111 Miss Dorothy Wells has ac- cepted a position as operator with the Bell Telephone Co at London. Toronto and has worked at Thorold and Welland before coming to Wingham. CKNX received final approval for the establishment of a television station in Wingham. A telegram bearing the good news meant the end of three months of waiting and the beginning of a new era of television in Wingham. Young women to train as nursing assistants are scarce in this part of the world, according to Miss E. M. Snider, superin- tendent of nurses at Stratford General Hospital. She told the hospital board she had planned to start a training school for the assistants but has had only one nnnliention_ Wingham has a Mrs ,J .J Allen. who for the past two years taught in Dane's School north of Gorrie, has ac- cepted a position on the teaching staff in Toronto SUMMER 1955 Work on the paving of I ighw'av 86 from Wingham to Lucknow• was started on Frndav by the Stirling Construction Company of Windsor When completed, the work will mean a paved highway stretching from Wingham to Amherley Lieut D V Goodridge has been appointed in command of the Wingham Corp% of the Salvation Army He is a native of training school but most of its graduates seem to go to the larger centres, Miss Snider said. Rev. and Mrs. C. A. Krug and family have moved into the manse in Belgrave. At the regular meeting of Howick Township Council, members accepted the tender of King Bros. Construction for the construction of the Underwood Bridge. Mr., and Mrs. Ross Coates of Fordwich have purchased the store property of Miss Rona VanVelsor in Wroxeter and will shortly be open for business. SUMMER 1965 Officials of Wingham's Orange Lodge No. 794 said as many as 5,000 were in Wingham for the annual Orange Walk. The Walk marked the 275th anniversary of the Battle of the Boyne. At its Monday meeting Council approved the drawing up of warrants for the tax sale of lands on which taxes are in arrears for three years or more. Mrs. Gus Boyle, a familiar and respected member of the Wingham business community, died in the hospital here after a short illness. She was the senior retailer in town, having operated Rusts Ready -To -Wear for the past 52 years. Miss Sheila Gibbons; a graduate of the Wingham District High School, has ac- cepted a position with the London Mr. and (IMrs. Jack King have purchased the former Padfield home in the village of Fordwich and will take possession im- mediately. Senior families of St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church were represented when Miss C. Isbister and Mrs. Norman Fry assisted at the sod -turning for the new sanctuary which will be built this year. CENTENNIAL TREE—In another hundred years thl� small red maple will be much more Impressive. It was William Walden; Mrs. Iris Morrey, president, and Ed planted in Riverside Park just east of the Hanna Bridge by Fielding, past president of the horticultural society; Bill the Wingham Horticultural Society to mark the towns cen- Rintoul, centennial committee chairman; Gordon Baxter tennial year. Present at the ceremony last Friday were Bill and Mrs. Ena Ritchie of the horticultural society; and Joe Walker, mayor of Wingham, Australlli, and his wife; Mayor Kerr, Wingham reeve.