HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Citizens News, 1978-01-12, Page 4Page :4 Citizens News, January 12, 1978
Tranquility in the woods
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Vi.ewpoint
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A waste of money
About two years ago the LaMarsh Com-
mission was established to study the
significance of violence in the com-
munications media. When the commission
held its hearing in Wingham we heard
solemn words about costs. Miss LaMarsh,
obviously conscious of criticism of the ex-
penditure required for the study, was at
some pains to tell her audience that she
was making every effort to keep costs in
line.
Now that the commission has com-
pleted its work and turned in its report,
along with its statement of expenditures
one is left wondering what all those words
really meant. According to the provincial
auditor Miss LaMarsh personally received
$93,000 for her services. She was paid $250 a
day, plus expenses. And believe us (or
better still, the auditor) those expenses ran
high. Commission members apparently
forgot about the need to economize. One
visit to Europe by two of the com-
missioners and three staff members cost
more than $46,000. The room services
charges run up by one commissioner during
seven clays in one hotel amounted $688. The
HEST MPH LOCAL NEWS
hotel bill for one commissioner and one
staff member for seven days totalled $2,-
233.
There were other little items, such as
single meal charges as high as $55 for one
person. Limousine charges of $474 in Los
Angeles, including a $50 (yes, fifty dollar)
tip, a limousine trip from Toronto to Lon-
don with a price tag of $127; a limousine
trip from Toronto to Kingston, $658... and
on and on. ,
Miss LaMarsh at one point earlier in
the study estimated the total cost of the
report would be $125 million; actual cost,
$2,026,245.
And all this wealth for a study and
report commissioned by the Province of
Ontario on a subject over which the
province has not on iota of control. Chief
subject of criticism was the television
medium, which falls under federal jurisdic-
tion. Over two million dollars were spent
on a nearly useless exercise at a time when
Ontario hospitals were being ordered clos-
ed for lack of money.
—Wingham Advance Times
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Published Each Wednesday By J.W. Eedy Publications Ltd.
Member:
Canadian Weekly Newspapers Association
Ontario Weekly Newspapers Association
News Editor - Tom Creech
Second Class Mail Registration Number 1385
Subscription Rates: $7.00 per year in advance in Canada
$18.00 per year outside Canada Single copies 204
Cow -cuff
payments
Agriculture and Food
Minister Bill Newman has
announced that Ontario has
made an interim payment to
cow -calf producers under
the province's beef calf in-
come stabilization plan.
The payment, which
represents betweem 80 and
100 per cent of the entire
amount to be paid, was
made in December 1977.
In making the announce-
ment, Mr. Newman said,
"Although we don't know
what the federal support
price is going to be yet, the
Ontario government went
ahead with its interim pay-
ment to alleviate income tax
difficulties for Ontario
producers."
Producers with more than
five cows may expect to
receive two further, smaller
payments. One will com-
plete the provincial portion
of the program and the other
will come from Ottawa as
the federal government's
share. For producers with
five cows or fewer, the
December cheque
represents their full pay-
ment as their cows are not
eligible for the federal
program.
The entire gross payment
per eligible cow will total
$46.70, based on a weighted
average price for calves of
$39.29 per hundredweight.
The interim December pay-
ment was calculated on the
basis of $46.70 for every cow
in the herd, less $10 for any
cow eligible for the federal
program. The $10 will be
made up in the two cheques
to be mailed after the
federal government an-
nounces its support price in
the new year. Unpaid enroll-
ment fees have also been
deducted from the interim
payment:
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Miscellaneous
I mullings
By
TOM CREECH
A piece
of history
I like junk.
I'll always like junk.
Better to keep today rather than regret when it's
thrown away.
Most youngsters like to collect stuff from an early
age. It might be a dump -truck that only has two
wheels, the dump -box is missing and its electric motor
has long ago seized up, but he'll keep that thing until
he either grows out of it or until mother or father steps
in.
This writer was no exception to this and it was at
an early age when he began to enjoy the intonations of
the auctioneer's voice on a warm summer day.
Remembering back 10 or 11 years ago, the dulcet
tones of the late Alvin Walper still ring with clarity.
One of the biggest thrills at age 12 was the fact that
the writer actually out -bid somebody for an item
which he desperately wanted; a beat -up storm lantern
that was bent at a 20 degree angle, had a wick that was
,stuck and a fuel tank that leaked.
Soon after the purchase was made, a mad dash to
Traquair's Hardware store for some wick and then
home to get some coal oil. After numerous attempts at
getting the stupid thing to go, it was retired to hang in
the basement on one of the supporting beams where it
still remains to this day.
The point that the writer is attempting to make is
that collecting stuff is as much a young person's do-
main as it is an older person's; the difference lies
primarily in the value of the collectables.
Many people collect beer bottles, primarily in lots
of 24.
While beer bottles in roughly that number
habitate the Creech household, the age of the bottles
range between 20 and 70 years.
Any collectable is significant from the standpoint
of the images which it conjures up. Four bottles which
are sitting aft of my typewriter represent four
different decades.
The first beer bottle of any significance is one that
found its way a foot below the ground at Exeter United
Church. A beverage known as `Carling Black Label' is
still to be found in this container, albeit in a different
state than its drinkable form.
Louis St. Laurent and a lawyer from
Saskatchewan by the name of Diefenbaker were mak-
ing their presence felt in the House of Commons. A
young centerman by the name of Beliveau had just
made his debut with the Canadiens and Punch Imlach
was finishing a stint as coach for the Quebec Aces.
Across the border, the Rosenburgs had been convicted
of spying and were sent to the electric chair.
Jumping a decade, a bottle of `Black Horse Ale'
still with its contents, arrived on the scene. Purchased
at an auction sale a few years ago in Varna, memories
of the depression come into play. Days when being un-
employed really did mean something. A time when
`Bible Bill Aberhart' came up with a form of currency
for his province. A time when this area grieved over
the tragic death of Howie Morenz.
Back in the 1920's one of the more potent malt
beverages available must have been Taylor and Bate's
'Old Stock Ale' bottled in St. Catharines at a potent
nine percent alcoholic content. Charles Lindbergh had
just flown across the Atlantic, the stock market had
crashed and it was the Toronto Arenas and not the
Maple Leafs.
The bottle which is the most valued of this modest
collection, is but seven and one quarter inches high
with a base an inch and a half in diameter and is
shaped something akin to a miniature bowling pin.
The bottle contains no label but on the glass, the
words 'O'Keefe's OK, Toronto' are present.
From what little this writer knows of beer bottles
in this country, the O'Keefe bottle which is ap-
proximately 70 years old is a stage between what was
known as a torpedo bottle and the form of bottle that
was used until the early 60's.
The torpedo bottle contained a porcelain cap that
was permanently attached to the bottle. This bottle is
of a modified torpedo shape but is designed for use
with the normal metal crimp cap.
If there is anyone who knows anything about this
bottle, please give me a call or drop me a line. If you
have some old bottles of any type that you would like
to get rid of or just show, please do likewise,
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