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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Seaforth News, 1962-06-21, Page 2YOU! Can Hetp Ncib Iilt'AndNRun Drivers (continued from ]Gast %Seek) BY Patrol Sgt: Don Sa imlers as told to DAL TENNANT Our lab work is done •by the Attorney -General's laboratory, a provincially - financed organiza- tion of about 50' scientists and technicians in Toronto. wino each year examine, test, match and analyze physical evidence in thwusends of crimes and aeei- dents trent all aver Ontario, in- cluding 100 or more hit-and-run cases, They can often tell you, for in- stance, not only whether a cer- tain sliver of glass came from a certain damaged headlight after you've found a suspicious vehicle —they can tell you before you've emend any vehicle whether you ehould be looking for a big American-style car or a little European model, • and perhaps what make it is, too. By study- ing microscopically thin layers of a single flake of paint, they can tell you what color a car was before its last paint job. I'll never forget the case in which the -victim, a pedestrian, had been wearing tweed trousers, We trac- ed a ear, felt sure it was the right one, but couldn't prove it. Then, in the dust on the front • bumper, the lab men found an imprint in a tweed pattern. Using the victim's trousers they some- how managed to produce a sec- ond imprint elsewhere on the bumper. In court they showed that the two imprints were iden- tical in every detail. The driver was convicted. Of course we make deductions from many other kinds of clues. From skid marks, for instance, we can tell not only which way a driver was headed before the crash but where he first applied 'his brakes, how good the brakes were and how fast he was going. When you consider how many useful things we can find at the scene—things that aren't useful if they're disturbed by bystand- er.:—you can appreciate that the officer who tells the crowd to keep back and not touch any- thing Is not just putting on a Sherlock Holmes act. If you hap- pen upon a serious hit-and-run accident before police get there, you'll do them a good service by leaving things alone and advising others to do likewise. (Even the injured should be left as they are utiles: they're obviously expend to oanger.t We're always glad w hear of s: mebody taking charge that way if .'ler men are delayed in reach- ing the scene. And it makes all the difference in the world to have :he public's co-operation as we began what is ofter, a long and pain; taking search for the i wanted vehicle. We have Metro- politan Tiro(:ta divided into 310 areas. A typical downtown area might be six blocks long and five bleeks wide. Beat constables and other men out in the districts do a lot of the actual block -by -block marching. Four members of the 'GAL TWO—You can help nab loll slit -and -run squad co-ordinate the search and, usually with the help of men who can be spared temporarily from other squads, follow up tips from witnesses and peopie who have read about the March in the newspapers. By the time we get the search organized, we no longer expect That the hit-and-run car will salt be driving around. More likely, It will be standing abandoned on. the street or in a private garage, sir will be it: some shop for re- pairs. Our search usually begins around the accident scene, then ' ji4trt6uted jrotn: BOSTON LOS ANGELES LONDON CHICAGO interesting Accurate Complete Int¢rnatianei News Covcro9e The snorkel. ,F f .,' ms a inonay'f e -1 ) ye, $=W. 6 r,e" 5 s •7.?xs 55 FO 4:re Address d,ty on P$ -ii expands into the four adjtu'ent areas, end se on, Dy thls time we have long since gathered all the physical avidenee at the scene, but we go back there anyhow --either to talk to known witnesses again, or to hunt for ones that didn't come forward the first, time, Sometimes we'll also set up a road block, People are such creatures of habit that many who were traveling near the scene at Ste time of the accident will be found there again at the same hour a week' later. So we set up a block at that time, allowing a half-hour lee- way before and after the exact time of the accident. We don't expect the hit-and-run driver to be among the people we stop - although that has happened too— but you'd be surprised how many useful witnesses we find this way, And I've never talked to a law-abiding motorist yet who seemed to resent being stopped and questioned about a hit-and- run. I say "law-abiding" because our road blocks inevitably net other offenders—drinking driv- ers, people with improperly reg- istered vehicles, others driving while their licenses are under suspension, and so on. On one or two occasions our road biocici have even caught criminals who were on their way to or from "a job," I'll admit quite readily that we don't always get the co-opera- tion that is necessary from wit- nesses who are needed to testify in court. When we reach that stage in a case, many people shrink back and "forget" what they've seen earlier. They seem to dislike the notoriety of being a court witness, and of course the crowded court calendars and the practice of remanding a case several times can mean costly de- lays for witnesses who have to leave their jobs to appear in court, Citizens should remember that this is part of their duty. Furthermore we all have to do what we can to make the law work if we expect it to give us the protection we need. But in case it's any inducement to any- body called upon as a witness, I'd like to point out that hit- and-run drivers plead guilty oftener than people accused of premeditated crimes, So, if you witness a bit -and -run and tell your story to the police, you stand less chance of baying to appear in court than you would if you witnessed, say, a holdup. While we're naturally anxious to provide the Crown with an airtight case if we possibly can, we never take the attitude that we "win" if the driver is con- victed and "Iose" if he gets off. It's up to the magistrate, the judge or the jury to decide whether the accused is guilty. •Si'a are never dissatisfied with the decision made in court as long as eve feel we've presented the fullest possible account of the facts. That's a pant some people never quite understand, One witness I was questioning inter- rupted with what he thought was a friendly warning: "You don't want me as a witness. If I told what I saw, the driver would get off." It took me a while to conn ce the man that we really did want his testimony, no matter what it did :o our case, And the driver did get off. We police are out to make sure everybody gets just treatment under the law. But controlling hit-and-run drivers is too big a job for us to do alone. We need everybody's help. — From Int- peria' Oil Review. Walked—Not Crawled To Freedom It was a strangely peaceful si,ht so close to Berlin's fat -bid- ding stone wall --a little garden, with a wooden leen hou_e and a group of old -age pensioners, Reeding and planting flowers. The garden was in East Berlin but even the \repos guarding the wall often had a smile and a friendly word as they tramped, past she old talks on their daily search for would-be escapees. Then the garden was en:pry. A week :mer. as the a:elvers be- gan te wilt, a repo poliee:nett rolled aor a :find etzt what Had eappereed to his friende. Ore eeek-.ry the . a hen hesse and he kre:( . Led by 31 -year-old Aids T:em- ae the twelve elderly gardeners had c?nf ^ed mast :f their het-- tie-a:tura: activities to be'.:a :he geirena. it sixteen .days ad v.g a 105 -fee ^.e: .tae H, name: re r en: e West. Berlin tips t . T.2:•.^.:as expaised why. 'We :Lill" :tai:( te be buried over here. he eaid. "And we deg it deep se :.at our wives would net ;:ave le craw:. We wanted walk. ernbowed to free - been in furniture store: "Fea- ther your nest with a little dote n." ISSUE *3 1962 BLOOMIN` FLOWER -- Hits a bloomin' flower (of white or- gandy) that prepares London's SondraRussell for summer. 1°P64 ewsiviourwINGE_RFARcieukti The time as I write is just after eight o'clock; the day Sat- urday and the date May 17 -- so you may know we are still in the middle of our spring heat- wave, and, according to the weatherman, there is no let-up in sight, even though the heat has already lasted six days, I don't know how the are going to put up with more of the same, but I suppose we shall, since we have no option. Dee and her family have gone to their Stoney Lake cottage for the week -end. Art suggested that we go along too, but the thought of..a long, hot drive made us feel it zeas not worth the effort, Bob. Wand Joy intended going north for one long day and leaving- the boys here but decided agafast - it for the same reason. A11 things considered we feel home is the best place -during a heat -wave — once you have determined the best way way to keep yourselves and the house cool. As to that different people have different ideas. One of our neighbours has set up a bed in the basement; others get on with some kind of work that can be done down- stairs, We like to keep away from the basement; for one thing there is bound to be a certain amount of dampness and then if you stay down lona enough the heat upstairs strikes you all the ,more when you finally have to come up. There are also people who like to keep their houses shut up all the time, We natural- ly keep doors and windows closed against the sun but we like them open on the shady side of the house. Fortunately we have a well shaded front porch and an open patio at the back of the house. That is where I am sitting right new, facing a large section of our acre lot that has a background of trees. The orioles are slitting back and forth to their newly built nest and a brown thrasher is singing like mad from the top of a poplar tree. Wrens and sparrows are making use of our bird bath and feeding station. The sweet-smell- ing viburnum shrub that we put in two weeks ago is now in full bloom and it certainly does send out 2 lovely perfume. le we can protect it from rabbits during the winter we should have a nice bush next year. Another shrub I want is a wild curr=ant, it has a yellow bloom that can be smelt a bloc's away, and, so I am told, attracts :he humming birds. Climbing the trellis work at the side of the patio is sweet -scented hzneysucisia — and of course we have ii s — en you see ours she. d -be, a we:I-perfumed tot. Palmer -m. eye 1 acrazy about nice. Maybe but why net Anyway it all adds up to a enanere ataresp :ere. And that sr.'t al: that adds to the tiiius:on. Beck of :se,yere is a fanlily with a large lei like ours and they have a Shetland .pony'. A:s :, a small shed that hooses eantie a d: zer. chickens When I wake. :;p and hear reenter crew- ing r , :nig I fee: as is we ere baele :n :e tar-eSeeing rabbits peppie up al over the. peace when I take Taffy tor a wane dowel t make me too happy. However the pheasants compensate for the rabbits so we take the good w:th the bad. Just lately ore neigh - hew saw a raecoon, and another a ground hog, so we ells' see=n have everything. I tell Partner we should complete the picture by having a cow tethered in the back yard. One :eine we lieveret got yet le a vegetabte gareen Partner says there will ba tide for that after we have had a good rain , if we ever get one. We have geraniums and begonias in the front borders and there are plenty of annual seedlings cern- ing up so I guess what is already growing will have to do for this summer. My goodness, I was almost forgetting to tell' you our latest news. We are breaking in a new car! A friend was looking at it yesterday and said - "I just love the smell of a new car, don't you?" I laughed as I answered — "I don't know, I've never smelt one before!" Which is per- fectly true. Our first car was a Model T. for which we paid $75. After a few years we graduated to a Model A., and then a de- monstrator Morris Oxford. Fi- nally a Plymouth 53 — until we got this new one. I won't tell you the make — I might be ac- cused of advertising. Anyway, it is an automatic, full size 4 -door sedan, We thought of getting a compact but I found the bigger car easier to handle. It hugs the road better and gives a smoother ride — but it does take up a lot of parking space. Well, the writing and typing of this column was divided by two days — and now it is actual- ly cooler. What a welcome re- lief! We thought we might get a good rain. All we got was five minutes heavy hail, followed by a slight shower. We were pre- pared for anything as about five o'clock this morning we were wakened by harsh cries from outside. It was our cock pheas- ant, perched on top of a sandpile in the back yard. He would shriek, then stand up and flap his wings, and wait for an an- swering call from a rooster next door. They kept it up for an hour and I watched from my bedroom window, For some crazy reason it reminded me of our present political campaign — with the leaders making a lot of noise and nobody taking much notice of it all, Modern Etiquette By Anne Ashley Q. Is it considered really pro- per for a man and his wife to kiss when meeting or leaving in public? A, There's nothing at all wrong with this, but be sure it's a "public" kind of kiss. Long, tender kissing is better done in private, Q, To whom do I address a letter of resignation from a club, and how is this worded? A. Address it to the secretary of the club. and in this general manner: "My dear Mrs- Rogers: It is with regret that I must ask the such -and -such club to accept my resignation, since I am (it is polite always to give your rea- son, if possible). Very sincerely Yours." They Like To Keep Ahead of Their Work Never does' the tide of living flow more strongly on the farm than in the month of May. Most of the garden planting conies now, though the first sowings of lettuce, radishes and early June peas are already showing up richly against their baekdrop of tall green winter- onion tops, The hardy perennials of the garden, the crisp pink rhubarb and the delicate green asparagus, give promise of good- ness soon to come, On sunny days the work, of washing away winter's grime goes on imide the house, while sheets and pillowcases billow and do daring fandangos on the line amidst the heavy quilts and comforters, the woollen clothing which have been put out to air. Thefirst hatchings of peeps tumbledeliriously about in the new grass and only pay heed to their anxiously clucking mothers when a dark shadow moves across the grass. Already in some mysterious fashion the mother hens have made them understand that there is danger about when a chicken hawk sails overhead, looking for small feathered crea- tures and the field .mice turned up by the plowshares in the corn plot. Spring sun has brought the jonquils to full fruition, The spiny reddish shoots of peonies seem to grow inches overnight. Yellow forsythia adds its own exciting 'beauty to the stately white daffodils and the cool sweet hyacinths, which are blooming now in the brightest of hot pinks and electric blues. Per- vading all is the heady perfume of newly mown grass, green and- damp, nddamp, as Hilda pushes the slat - tering mower on the gently slop- ing front lawn. The birds are as busy as 'the farm folk. Those that nest in the fields, on the ground or in nests elevated only a few inches,•start establishing their territory early. Meadowlarks have already fin- ished their building, and now the females sit on their clutch of tiny eggs sensing, one feels sure, that they must get their families raised before the farmers mows the grass in the fields. The kill- deer likes to nest in fields that have been plowed and she, too, must accept hazards in raising her young.. Of all the birds in the fields hereabout, the most successful seems to be the redwing. We see them everywhere along country roads that border wide fields, In our part of the country they are much more numerous than the robin. In the orchard the apple, peach, and cherry trees are blooming. Nearby the pear trees show signs of being ready to burst forth with a froth of white. We are especially fond of a variety the Zauggs call "sugar pears." .Small in size, with a deep tan skin that is somewhat rougher than an ordinary pear, they seem to capture all of summer's sweet- ness in their juicy meat — as hundreds of wasps, bees, and yellowjackets attest when the sugar pears are at their peak of ripeness. Only humans know what delicious preserves they make. Practically every farmhouse in .our region has a large straw- berry patch near the orchard, and if the berries are being raised for market it is not un- common to have a whole acre of ground set aside for thein. What puzzled us at first was the practice of turning a flock of anywhere from ten to fifty white geese into the berry patch in the spring. "Won't they injure. the plants and eat the berries?" we asked Amos, "No," he replied, "they only eat the weeds, It's no love the honkers have for strawber- ries," he said, with an indulgent senile at the snowy birds, "For some reason they just plain won't eat them, But evetry weed in the patch will be gone by the time they are through in there." When the blossoms form on the plants the geese are taken out to prevent them trampling and in- juring the blooms, but by then their work is done, It is the only painless weeding done on the forte, writes Mabel Slack Shel- ton in the Celesta—up Setence Monitor, Maes and Eli de tremendous al -Wants of work in tie fields at this time of year with their house drawn equipment. Today, each has a team going. In the north ibrty, Eli is Pollewlcg the low orange colored lime spreader as it bounces along, spilling Out ter- tilizer on the cornstalk field, five hundred pounds to the acre. :Amos is riding the grain drill, sowing oats, Before the fields were ready to be worked, they enlarged the cattle feed lot and constructed some corn cribs. These are of the long, low type, capable of hold• ing several hundred bushels of eorn,.wibh wire covered sides and slanting roofs, They know that in Amish fields corn picked in the ear will not' be superseded by grain shell- ed in the field by a modern con- trivance, as in some other places. On a' trip this spring to another state, we noticed a farmer in the . field next to the highway picking corn with a two -row pull -type picker, Farther on was a soy- bean field awaiting the combine. We had heard of farmers who put off such work until spring. Yet coming as we do from a lo- cality, where all farm work is done 'in season by manpower, we found the sight of 'a field of standing beans in early spring amazing —and somewhat upset- ting, And this feeling was heigh- tened when we counted at least seven fields of unpicked corn. We realize that in other places methods of farming have chang- ed greatly, and it is doubtless a sign of progress to be able to leave the fields standing in full ear until spring. Still it is not the way to which we have be- come accustomed. We find that as time goes by tradition seems to mean more to us. It would not seem right somehow if on a fall morning, when frost lies thick on the roof- tops and the upland meadows glisten with a million lights in the thin sunlight of October, the wagons did not move through the dry and rustling stalks while the menfolk "gather." We like to hear the satisfying sound of plump ears of hybrid corn hit- ting the bang -boards as the pickers wrest them from their protective husks and fling them toward the wagons in a gesture that is without the slightest trace of lost motion. We like to see the fields lying clean and fallow in winter, wait- ing' for the proper season in which to yield up their stored riches. And it would make us feel sad to see heavy snows drifting across fields where the corn stood unpicked. It would violate something within us that we have acquired through living among people who are noted for being beforehand with their work, Far. this is the Amish way. it is one of the reasons they can always respond promptly when a call goes, out to help a sick neighbor, or enjoy to the fullest a day at the county fair, or a vendee, They are not fretted by undone tasks at home, To be ahead of the work is their way. They are happy with it. So are we, RECOMMENDATION! A banker asked the home- town police chief if he knew anything about a new applicant for the post of 'receiving teller. "I'll, say this about him," replied the chief thoughtfully; "He's a gentleman to his fingertips." SALLY'S SALLIES' "No, No, Mr. Jones, I'M not man's best friend!" WATER MUSIC — Strings of music are accompanied by splashing water in a pool, while t" a picriist, dressed in tuxedo, plays o concerto in Cannes France The stunt, port of a ss.er.e for s new movie, sort of gives you that old-time sinking feeling, doesn't it?I