Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Citizens News, 1974-01-24, Page 4PAGE 4 Its common sense! Adrian Vos, who contributes a deeply thought-out column to this paper from the standpoint of the average Canadian farm- er, has pointed to the decisions in both Prince Edward Island and Denmark that agricultural land, owned by non -farmers, must be available after one year, to persons who will use it for the production of food. That is, of course, if the non -farmer fails to make productive use of these acres in the same time period. Denmark, PEI and Mr. Vos have seized upon a valid point. Most of us have been made painfully aware that food has be- come a scarce and costly commodity within recent months. In this column we have been re -iterating the same point for 15 years --that there are too many hungry people and too few who are well fed. In the province and country referred to above the governments have taken concrete action to make sure that as many arable acres as possible are used for the production of food, in the belief that if more food is grown from the world's tillable acres, more hungry bellies will be satisfied. In total accord with all our preconveived notions in this prosperous part of the world, we still tend to think that as long as we are well fed it is unlikely that anyone else is in any real sort of need. The stark facts are, however, that we are the exceptions --not the general rule. Full stomaches are pure privil- ege-- or they have been up to the present. Too long we have stood idly by and watch tens of thousands of acres of food -producing soil skimmed off and thrown away to make a solid bed for asphalt and concrete. We build our cities on one of the remaining resources which can never be replaced -- the rich earth God gave us for the production of food. The west- ern part of Africa, and vast stretches of Asia, may be vaguely unhappy about our flagrant folly today --our own grandchildren will inevitably curse the greed for profits which permitted our generation to throw away for all time the soil from which their children might have expected to draw sustenance. Mr. Vos points to the fact that a land -owner who has no intention of using productive acres for the growth of food should be subject to some form of penalty --and he is right. There has been far too much discussion about the exhaustible resources of oil and minerals. The one and all-important resource is the comparatively small percentage of this world's land area which will produce edible crops. Those who have the money to acquire these acres must be forced to use them for something more productive than pure fun. (Wingham Advance Times) With a sigh of relief! The governments of both Ontario and British Columbia have decided against the imposition of year-round daylight saving time in those provinces. The residents of both of these Canadian areas are relieved, to say the least. Authorities in Ontario and B.C. conceded, weeks ago, that wintertime daylight saving would not save any appreciable amount of energy. Indeed, Ontario's Darcy McKeough at one point expressed his opinion that there would be a slight increase in the use of vital fuels if the change took place. The one and only reason for the contemplated time switch we: to fit our pattern to that of the United States, which went onto DST at the weekend. Although there will be some dislocation and inconvenience, it now appears that our legislators were agreed that a large majority of people in Ontario preferred to remain on standard time for the winter months. Boiled down to its essentials, the question was whether big business as personified by the airlines, railroads and the stock exchanges or the ordinary folks, particularly our school children receive priority. Thank goodness the kids won this round. (Wingham Advance Times) ZURICH Citizens NEWS PRINTED BY SOUTH HURON PUBLISHERS -"LIMITED, ZURICH HERB TURKHEIM, Publisher Second Class Mail Registration Number 1385 fists PPF Member: •�i40110. ! Canadian Weakly. Newspapers Association Ontario Weekly Newspapers Association ,�,'� mi Subscription Rates: $5,00 per year in advance in Canada; $6.00 in United States and Foreign; single' copies 15¢ ZURICH CITIZENS NEWS Bill Smiley This week I've been batching it, and I must say that I miss my wife. It's not that I can't cook and wash dishes and make the bed and do all those other silly things that our poor wives have to do day after day, year after year. No, there's no problem here. It's the danged cats. They're driving me out of the remnants of what was once a fine mind. I'd rather live with a herd of goats than with two cats, I've concluded. Take one elderly she -cat who has been spayed. She was quite content with life. She is beaut- iful and very, very distant, except when she's hungry. There isn't a bone in her body that is friendly. She just wants you to keep your distance, feed her well, and let her bask on a sunny stair -tread. In return, she will guarantee not to make a ' mess in the house. I had just begun to tolerate her, if not like her, after about six years. Now, add a boisterous young tom cat. He's as agile as an orang-outan, has an appetite like a polar bear, has the man- ners of a pig, and is sickeningly friendly. He has completely disrupted what was a fairly quiet, peace- ful household. He is driving the old cat out of her nut. He follows her ar- ound, licking and kissing her, until she spits, takes a swipe at him and maked him back off long enough for her to skedaddle to one of her hideouts. He looks hurt. All you have to do is settle down with a newspaper and a cup of tea, and he's quite likely to come flying through the air, sending the paper one way and the tea the other, as he seeks solace for his yearning heart. Given any encouragement whatever, he'll climb all over you, digging his claws into your shoulders because he doesn't know any better, smooching your face and neck in a wet disgusting fashion, before thump- ing himself down for a rest on your stomach or chest or any other part of you that suits his convenience. Two minutes later, he hears the old cat sneaking around, digs his claws into your knee and takes a flying leap, off to court her some more. There's absolutely no sex involved. He just wants to be loved by a second mother, but she is a happy, childless widow, and wants to stay that way. You can't even feed them together, She is a dainty eater. He eats like a wolf who has just broken a long fast. Put down two bowls. He gulps his while she is sniffing hers, then should- ers her aside and gets into her grub, while she bats him in- effectually, then retreats in disgust to sulk under a bed. She is a bed sneaker -under, since he arrived. And if there's anything more difficult than getting a determined old cat out from under a bed, I'd like to see it. The only way to do it is go under the bed after her, with a broom or mop. You wind up, puffing, stuck under the bed , while she has darted off and is under one of the beds in one of the other rooms. She's as slip- pery as an eel, and a heck of THURSDAY, JANUARY 24, 1974 a lot more cunning. Meanwhile, during the half hour you chase the old cat, trying to grab any of her extrem- ities so that you can throw her out, where she should have been long ago, his arrogant young nibs is having the run of the kitchen. He's not a bed sneaker -under, He's a counter -walker, And a cupboard- door- opener. One leap and he's up on the kitchen counters, strilling, sniffing, licking. Don't leave the butter out. He'll down a quarter -pound straight. Give him three minutes alone and he's somehow opened the cupboard door below the sink and is gaily into the garbage. He'll eat anything; baked potato skins, left -over soup, stale lettuce, fried eggs. The only time I have seen him a bit nonplused was on New Year's Day, Maybe he had a hangover. I was half -drowsing in a chair, and watching him out of the corner of my eye, in case he took a flying leap and threw his arms around my neck to kiss me, which I abhor. He'd caught a mouse, it seemed, though we've never had nice in this house. He would slam his paw on it, pick it up in his teeth, chew it and swallow it. A tiny mouse. Thank goodness he's good for something. Then he'd throw up the mouse, and go through the whole business again. I got a bit alarmed that he'd throw up more than the mouse one of these times, onto the rug. I in- vestigated. He was trying to digest one of those wide elastic bands. Every time he hit it, it would jump, so he thought it was alive and chewed it and swallowed it, but couldn't keep it down. That's the kind of stupid cat he ii. But he's getting smart very quickly. When I try to grab him and throw him out in the snow after a feeding, he goes by me like a cheetah going by a rhinocerous. Sure wish my wife would get home. It takes two of us to handle the two of them. Business and Professional Directory OPTOMETRISTS J. E. Longstaff OPTOMETRIST SEAFORTH MEDICAL CENTRE 527.1240 Ttiesday, Thursday, Friday, Sat- urday a.m., Thursday evening CLINTON OFFICE 10 Isaac Street 482.7010 Monday and Wednesday Call either office for appointment. Norman Martin OPTOMETRIST Office Hours: 9 -12 A,M, — 1:30.8 P,14. Closed all day Saturday Phone 235.2433 Exits: INSURANCES Robert F. Westlake Insurance "Specialising in General Insurance"- Phone 236-4391 — Zurich NORM WHITING LICENSED AUCTIONEER A APPRAISER Prompt, Courteous, Efficient ANY TYPE, ANY SIZE, ANYWHERE We give complete sale service. PROFIT EY EXPERIENCE Phone Csgset 235-1N4 EXETER AUCTIONEERS MeV WRIGHT LICENSED AUCTIONEER Kippen, Ont. Auction Sale Service that is most efficient and courteous. CALL THE WRIGHT AUCTIONEER Telephone Hensel) (519)262-5515 D & J RIDDELL AUCTION SERVICES * Licensed Auctioneers and Appraisers * Complete Auction Service * Sales large or small, any type, anywhere * Reasonable — Two for the price of one Let our experience be your reward. Phone Collect 'Doug' 'Jack' 237-3576 237-3431 Hugh FILSON and Tom ROBSON AUCTIONEERS 20 years' experience of complete sale service Provincially licensed. Conduct sales of any kind, any place. To insure success of your sale or appraisal Phone Collect 666-0833 666-1%7 Guaranteed Treat Certificates 1 year 8 1/2% 2 ,3 ,4 and 5 yrs 8 3/4% J. W. JIABERNIC ZURICH PHONE 2364346 GERALD L. MERNER Chartered Accountant BUS: 20 Sanders E. — EXETER — 235-0281 RES: 10 Green Acres --GRAND BEND — 238-8070