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Zurich Citizens News, 1964-05-28, Page 2PAGE TWO THURSDAY, MAY 28, 1964 ectotionefril Words Without Meaning We doubt if any driver really objects to stopping behind a school bus. It is a minor irritation, particularly if the motor- ist behind the bus thinks he is in a hurry to get somewhere. When the irritation is balanced against the possibility of killing a child, it is really quite minor. There have been a number of eases in the news in re- lent years, of children stepping out from behind a school bus, and being hit by a passing car. Mostdrivers are aware that it can happen, and most normal people would rather be kept waiting for 30 sec- onds, than spend quite a lot of time ex- plaining to policemen and lawyers just how it happened that they killed a child, The backs of school buses now being decorated like Christmas trees, to comply with the law, there is no difficulty about remembering what is required, The letter- ing painted on the rear of an Ontario school bus says: "DO NOT PASS WHEN SIGNALS FLASHING". The two red sig- nal lights are there to do the flashing, and it would have to be a very dense fog, or a mild winter blizzard, that would make the lettering and the flashers invisible. A considerable responsibility for good judgment still remains on the shoulders of the school bus driver. The law in Ontario now says that the motorist who has stopped behind a school bus may proceed when the bus starts to move, or when the signal lights on the bus stop flashing. The bus driver has to exercise judgment when he is compromising between safety require- ments, and being a blockade to highway traffic. There are some long lanes on On- tario farms; if a child is running down the lane, toward a bus that is stopped partly on the shoulder of a highway, the bus driver has to decide whether to keep the signals flashing,or let .the traffic behind the bus get moving again. Another judgment problem exists when other drivers on the road are faced in the opposite direction to a school bus. The Highway Traffic Act has something to say about what is required of motorists who are meeting a stopped school bus, but the wording of the Act on this point does not impose a precisely -stated duty on the motorist. The Act says that the driver of a vehicle which is meeting a stopped school bus. "... on the front of which two amber signal lights are illuminated by intermit- tent flashes, shall reduce the speed of the vehicle at a distance of not less than 100 feet from the school bus to a reasonable and proper speed having due care for the safety of pedestrians and shall so proceed past the school bus for a distance of not less than 100 feet." This section is not much more than a meaningless jumble of words. All it says is that a driver meeting a stopped school bus should be careful, for a distance of 100 feet. It does not impose any duty on the driver that is not already imposed by the laws under which charges of careless driving, reckless driving, or failing to keep a proper look -out. can be laid. The only thing the section quoted says, which is not said in other sections of the Highway Traffic Act, or in the Crim- inal Code of Canada„ is that a motorist meeting a stopped school bus is required to be careful for a distance of 100 feet on each side of the bus. This kind of law- making is ,not related to reality; we doubt if any of the legislators who framed and enacted the section could, when driving at highways speeds, estimate correctly a dis- tance of 200 feet. Anyone who has ever sat through a few court hearings of traffic cases knows how wildly wrong most people can be, when estimating distances as judged from moving vehicles. For all practical purposes, the law as it now stands says nothing useful to govern the behavior of drivers who are meeting stopped school buses. There would be more clarity in the law, and motorists would know better what it expected of them, if it were simply made mandatory for traffic in both directions to stop when a school bus has its warning flashers going.—(Stratford Beacon -Herald) The Beatles "She loves you, ya, ya, ya" — no, not a poem but a glorious new sound sung by the one and only "Beatles". These four "limies" have caused havoc all over the world, but mainly among the younger set. They have produced a great new sound which is, oddly enough, a sen- sation. The quartet of Ringo Starr, Paul Mc- Cartney, George Harrison and John Len- non, began their now thriving career in their home city of Liverpool. First singing in pubs and coffee houses around the coun- try, they earned only a meagre living. Then, in only a short time, they brought out their first sensation, "Love Me Do", and they were great, ("gear" as Ringo would say). The song set them off. They quickly became a fad. Teenagers scream- ed for them from coast to coast. Through- out the continent "Beatlemania" set in. In the older groups also there was curiosity, perhaps not hysteria but an in- tense interest in the new fad which had set their children in a panic. Even the more sophisticated, although raising their eyebrows in public, switched on their tele- vision sets to have a glimpse of this British group which was causing mass hysteria among the juveniles of their country. When asked what they think of their own singing, the Beatles modestly reply, "Average. We're kidding you; we're kid- ding ourselves; we kidding everything. We don't take anything seriously, except the money." Will this fad die? Well, only time can tell, Until then—"Beatles forever".—(Nan- ton News). . Physical Fitness Tests It's not news that an 18 -year-old is supposed to be vigorous. What is in the news, we read, is a newly -invented set of tests, titled "Vigor", for measuring whether an 18-year-iold boy is as vigorous as he ought to be. To meet the requirements, the boy has to do 80 situps, 14 pullups, a standing broad jump of eight feet six inches, swim half a miles and either walk or run 600 yards in a minute and 30 seconds. After doing a little warmup testing, consisting of one situp (a few minutes after the alarm clock went off), one partial pull- up and a standing broad jump of rathr less than eight and a half feet, we are able to report that we are less vigorous than a vigorous 18 -year-old. Any reader who wishes to accept the implied challenge is welcome to do so. The "Vigor" tests for 18 -year-old boys have their counterpart in the "Vim" tests for 18 -year-old girls. If a girl is really possessed of vim, she should be able to do. 50 situps, a standing broad jump of six feet seven inches, and a 600 -yard distance, running or walking, in two minutes and 30 seconds. After studying these requirements briefly, we can see that they are calculated with an eye to a happy ending for the story. If a girl with vim starts the 600 yards, followed by a boy with vigor, boy will catch girl.—(Stratford Beacon -Herald). ZURICH Citizens NEWS HERB TIURKHEIM — ]editor and Publisher PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY MORNING at ZURICH, ONTARIO Authorized as Second Class Mail, Post Office Department, Ottawa and for the payment of postage in cash. Member: Member: CANADIAN WEEKLY NEWSPAPERS .ASSOCIATION ONTARIO WEEKLY NEWSPAPERS ASSOCIATION Subscription Rates: $3.00 per year in advance, in Canada; $4.00 izi United State and. And Foreign; single copies 7 cents 9NIIWI1U1111111111111111111II IIIIIIIII II 1111111 IIIIWWWWtl11Ia What this country needs is a good, five -cent civil war, It might relieve some of the pus and venom that seem to be fill- ing Canadians these days, and get them back to the important things of life, like making money, love and rock gardens. Symptoms of the national ulcer are everywhere: the fer- ocity of the Canadian flag argu- ment; the lurking threat of vio- lence in Quebec; the growing difiance of police by youth gangs; the increase in homi- cidal tactics on our highways. Perhaps a little blood-letting would purge our native land of this tendency to quibble and squable about everything from the national anthem to the water level in the Great Lakes. There's also the matter of international prestige. All the big boys — England, France, Kippen East W.1. Will Sell Books SUGAP� and SPICE By Bill Smiley The May meeting of Kippen East Women's Institute was held at the home of the president, Mrs. Vern Alderdice, on Wed- nesday evening, with the presi- dent presiding. The meeting opened with the Institute Ode and the Mary Stewart Collect. Minutes were read, corrected and approved. Treasurer's report was given. The roll call "When did I plant my garden" was answered by 22 members. A number of vis- itors were also present. Mrs. Wilmer Broadfoot gave the top on "The Origin of Mother's Day", and also read a poem. Reports were given by Mrs. William Kyle and Mrs. Vivan Cooper, delegates to the district annual. District Director Mrs. William Bell gave an account of her first day at officers' conference in Guelph, and Mrs. James Mc- Naughton reported on the meet- ing of the Historical Society in Goderich May 6. It was decided that the new cook books should go on sale at $1.00 per copy, Mrs. Harry Caldwell demonstrated on the making of an orange dessert. Mrs. Ken McKay won the des- sert in a draw. Mrs. Ernie Whitehouse conducted an in- triguing contest. Each member received the, name of her Sunshine Pal for this year. Delicious luncheon was served by Mrs. Ross Chap- man, Mrs. Ross Sararas, Mrs. Robert Kinsman and Mrs. Jack Consitt. 0 Hensall Plans House Leagues Any boys eight years and over interested in playing base- ball in a local league are to meet at Hensall ball park on Monday, June 1, at 7 p.m. Girls 12 years and over in- terested in playing house league softball will meet at the soft- ball diamond on Monday, June. 1,at7p.m. In •case of •rain, all groups are to meet at the local Arena. Any adults interested in baseball coaching are asked to attend, The groups are being sponsored by the Hensall Minor Athletic Association. DUWARD McADAMS RADIO -- TELEVISION • Sales and Service • DAY AND NIGHT CALLS Phone 254—Zurich "Always ready to serve you" BOB'S Barber Shop MAIN STREET, ZURICH "Professional Hair Carr" Agent for Dry Cleaning Russia, the U.S., China — have been through an. all-out civil war,. and gone on to greater things. In each case the coun- try was so whacked out by the end of the war that everybody stopped bickering and com- plaining, and got down to the job of becoming a Great Nation. How can we hope to gain re- spect of the world if we never go through a testing time of seething hatred, unmentionable cruelties, gallant guerrillas, and all the other ingredients of a good civil war? How is our national character to be transformed from lumpy porridge to forged steel if we never throw a Molotov cocktail, blow up a bridge, or hurl our- selves, barehanded, against tanks? We should be ashamed of ourselves. Mumbling and grum- bling about the CBC and the NDP and the Red Ensign and 0 Canada and what's for sup- per, when we could be string- ing up cabinet ministers, dyna- miting the Soo locks, and sack- ing the O'Keefe Centre. .The Irish had a rebellion nearly 50 years ago. It lasted a few days but they've written countless books about it, and every Irish over the age of 20 swears he was in it, though he'll admit he was •only a broth of a boy at the time. Why can't we have some grand traditions like that? Think of the stories we'd have to hand down to our ancestors. "Yes, Homer, your grandaddy was there, back in '64, when the Legion, enraged about the flag, marched on Ottawa. Mayor Charlotte Whitton slowed them for a moment at the ramparts with a tirade of invective, but nothing could stop them. They swarmed into the city, sur- rounded the government build- ings, and fired a salvo of reso- lutions. One of these happened to pierce the National Debt, and the streets ran red with ink". E) Or, "Yes, dear, I want you always to remember and to tell your own children, that your father was one the brave free- dom fighters in the Great Ris- ing of '64. He was leading a wave of our gallant lads in a loot . , . uh, liberating attack on the Seagram distilleries, a capitalist stronghold. He was cut down by the fascist fire - hoses and seriously wounded in the, uh, lower back when he fell heroically on the mickey of rye in his hip pocket." Only one stipulation. If this necessary catharsis, this na- tional lancing of our abscess, breaks out, and it's brother against, father against son, may I be on the same side as my wife? 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