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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1988-10-12, Page 21074 Huron XjJOS1tOI' SINCE 1860, SERVING Till COMMUNITY FIRST Incorporating The Brussels Post Published In Seaforth, Ontario Every Wednesday Morning The Expositor Is brought to you each meek by the efforts of: Pat Armes, Nell Corbett, Terri -Lynn Dale, Dianne McGrath and Bob McMillan. ED BYRSKI, General Manager HEATHER McILWRAITH, Editor Member Canadian Community Newspaper Assoc. Ontario Community Newspaper Association Ontario Press Council Commonwealth Press Union International Press Institute Subscription Rates: Canada '20.00 a year, In advance Senior Citizens - '17.00 a year In advance Outside Canada '60.00 a year, In advance Single Copies - .50 cents each Second•class mail registration Number 0696 Wednesday, October 12, 1988 Editorial and Business Offices - 10 Main Street, Seaforth Telephone (519) 527-0240 Mailing Address - P.O. Box 69, Seaforth, Ontario, NOK 1N/0 Fire Prevention depends on you Mts. O'Leary's cow really started something. Most people know she started the Great Chicago Fire when she kicked over a lantern and ignited a pile of straw. The resulting fire burned down much of the Illinois capital, and took many lives. What most people don't know however, is that Fire Prevention Week is a direct result of that fire. This year October 9 to 15 has been designated as Fire Prevention Week in Canada and the United States, and the concept is a good one. In 1987, 154 people died in Ontario as a result of fires. Many of these deaths could have been avoided if the victims had known more about fire prevention and how to protect themselves in the event of a fire. It really only takes a few minutes to check your home for fire hazards. And, eliminating them could save your family's lives. Fire hazards in the form of clutter and flammable materials such as paint thinner can accumulate in the cleanest of homes, and can be lethal. Electrical wiring can wear out and become dangerous, heating equip- ment - particularly wood stoves - require regular safety checks. Fire officials at the Ministry of the Solicitor General recommend regular checks of your home for fire hazards. Start in the kitchen - kitchen fires are the'most frequent type of home fires. Can window curtains graze your stove top, toaster or other hot sur- face? Is the stove and the hood above it collecting grease? Do you keep a pan -of fat on the back burner? Don't -- if you turn on the wrong burner by mistake, you could have a bad fire. The kitchen is an excellent place to keep a multi-purpose fire ex- tinguisher. Be sure it's bracketed to the wall at an exit, and make sure everyone in the family knows how to use it. Faulty wiring and electrical equipment are the second major cause of fatal home fires. Frayed or damaged electrical cords, extension cords used as permanent wiring or draped over nails or hidden under the rug, damag- ed or spliced appliance cords, bare wires, appliance plugs that heat up - these are examples of fires waiting to happen. If you regularly use "octopus plugs", or extension cords; or if you fre- quently blow fuses, or the lights dim when the fridge kicks in, your household wiring may be overloaded. It's time to have it checked and upgraded by a qualified electrician. Check the basement, particularly around the furnace, for clutter and flammables such as floor wax, paint thinner and tins of varnish. Do not store combustibles under the stairs. Be especially careful with oily rags, which can ignite by thesmelves. Have the furnance serviced regularly by an ex- pert, and keep the air filter clean. If you have a woodstove or fireplace, make sure the chimney is cleaned frequently - at least once a year. Creosote - the gummy, tar -like material that builds up in chimneys - can be set on fire by heat. Make sure all the doors are free from obstructions, and that windows open easily. If you need to escape during a fire, that isn't the time to unstick the window you painted shut last summer. Children must be taught that it is okay to smash a window or screen with a suitable object if the window is stuck. During your inspection tour, check the smoke alarms - make sure they are free of dust, and test them by holding a lighted incense stick or a bit of smoldering string under them. Invite your children to join you as you check for fire hazards, and take some time to make sure they understand what to do in case of a fire. Regualr fire inspections don't take long, but if a fire kills you, you're dead for a long time. LETTERS TO THE EDIM News dredges up old memories Dear Editor: I have just learned of Andy McLean's passing - Seaforth will not be the same town for me. I never visited Seaforth since 1929 without dropping into the Expositor office and chatting with Andy. He would bring me up to date \very quickly about the whereabouts ofrold friends as well as recent changes in town. It was a pleasant surprise at the last reu- nion to find the dinner served in the nvw community centre - to shake ha• swap stories with Andy, Joh ' Cr Ferguson, Clarence Armstr ug, LI •d garth and Nelson Howe. Seaforth Collegiate meant a great deal «. me - the track meets - sharing honors with - George Love, George Daly, Charlie Stewart and Clarence Trott. I have to single out Neil Bissonnette who encouraged me to change my high jump style from the scissors to the western roll. With his support I perfected the skill and in October 1929 won the event at OAC Guelph and broke the record which lasted for fourteen years. The biggest thrill was defeating the 6'6" Kenneth Galbraith - the Harvard economist. I well remember the stroll up Goderich Street with Tom Cluff, Louis Jackson and Charlie Stewart. The occasional hike to Egmondville with Bill McDonald, Jeanette Finnegan and Grace Scott, the Duncan Cup hockey games, Bissonette driving us to Clin- ton and Mitchell - these trips included Rooster Moir, Scoop Willis N '1, Cardin. Tim Weilano, Clarence Trot., T,pm Cluff, Joe Puree' John Archibald and others I ' -ecall their names. Who remembers -om Clinton when Bisonette's car >un through a 360 degree circle, p, let_ Jed to Seaforth with all oc- ts m dead silence. 1925-19°f I was impressed with the ,members of the baseball team - the Ke- ;lake brothers, Fred, Crich, Bob Aberhart, Lloyd Workman, Bob Willis and Elroy Brownlee. I will leave someone else to complete the list. The mention of Andy's name stimulates my dwindling memory of many pleasant times in Seaforth. We will miss you Andy. Cord Wright Box 806 Alliston, Ont. LOM lA0 Canadians duped twice by Ben I had promised myself that I would NOT, under any circumstances, write again of the $en Johnson controversy. However, despite having such column topics as thanksgiving day preparation and pig out, my sister's birthday, and the annual pumpkin pie chucking contest held over the Mcllwraith thanksgiving table, I had to break my promise to myself. I cannot seem to collect enough thoughts on any one sub- ject except the Ben Johnson controversy. Here's why: Like every other Canadian I felt a surge of pride when Ben Johnson won his 100 metre Olympic sprint in record time, and I was keenly disappointed when that sprint was nulified after Johnson tested positive for having anabolic steroids in his system. But despite my disappointment, like thousands of others, I found it difficult to believe that Johnson Was in fact, guilty of the crime he was being accused of, especial- ly since he, and everyone else in his camp, were claiming innocence - and sabotage. I felt sure enough that Johnson had the banned drug in his body, but, being a wishful thinker, I was happier believing it got there through no fault of his own. Despite the reasonings of my head, which told me Johnson was like a fine-tuned automobile and had to have known what kind of gasoline was going into his engine, I preferred to SWEATSOCKS by Heather Mdlwraith believe his protestatlpns of innocence. Boy was that stupid. It's turned out that Johnson's body is not only chock full of the banned anabolic steroids, but that Johnson himself was a willing recipient of the performance' enhan- cing drug, and not the mishandled racehorse everyone had determined him to be. Angela Issanjenko, Johnson's teammate at the Mazda track club in Toronto, and also his teammate at the Seoul Olympics, came forward last week to set the record straight. Tired of all the lies and risking her own career, she announced that both she and Ben Johnson (and a number of other Mazda club athletes) had knowingly been on steroids for a number of years. She con- demned Johnson for his refusal to admit the truth and for his continued placing of blame on other parties - even the truly innocent parties. What a blow to Ben Johnson believers. Myself, I'm livid and not so much because Johnson took the steroids. What angers me is that when caught, Johnson spun a web of deceit that implicated everyone else except himself. I think all of Canada would have been more sympathetic had Johnson admit- ted initially that he had cheated, instead of encouraging an investigation into his in- nocence, and then failing to live up to his claims. It was stupid of Johnson to assume his deception would not be found out. And it wtt8 stupid of him to place the blame where it didn't belong. Canadians can forgive the man, but they may never forget his actions. They've been far from honorable. I know a man is supposed to remain inno- cent until proven guilty, but in this case, Canadians might well have saved themselves from a roller coaster ride of emotions, had they anchored their decisions about Ben Johnson on the truth of the state- ment, "Me thinks thou doest protest too much". Are rambo cops really needed? Do we need commandos to protect us from criminals in Canada? Police are on trial in Ontario after the accidental death of 34 -year-old Bernard Bastlen of Windsor. And people are asking themselves if we really need tactical units with camouflage and automatic weapons. I've seen the London based TRU team (or Tactics and Rescue Unit) in action in our own Walton, and when they first dash out of their van, dressed in military style camouflage uniforms, with their faces painted to match their clothing; and carry- ing automatic weapons and moving like they're always in someone's sights, you have to wonder if you're not in Nicaragua or in the middle of some guerrilla conflict. They don't look at all like policemen and wear nothing to distinguish them as such, and that's a big issue in the investigation into the Bastien shooting. The Windsor resident thought the tactical troopers were burglars and he opened fire on them with a shotgun. The rescue unit responded with 13 MY TWO BITS by Neil Corbett rounds from their automatic weapons which killed the innocent but mistaken man. After the incident Solicitor -General Joan Smith ordered the teams to no longer wear camouflage uniforms. Another issue is why the TRU team was deployed at all. They were responding to a call about a teenager who was threatening to commit suicide, and not a hostage or terrorist situation. This same question was asked in Walton. Why could regular police not handle a potential suicide situation. In my eyes they seemed to be handling it quite well. They were negotiating by phone with the armed man, and he had been coming to the door of his home, talking to police, and carrying rifles outside and laying them on the porch. When the London based TRU team ar- rived they seized control of the situation. I have to admit that within minutes they had their target pinned in the road and not a shot had been fired. But I think the regular OPP officers would eventually have brought the situation to the same conclusion. Deploying a tactical team should be a last resort to keep a situation from getting out of hand, and not a means of providing extra firepower for an armed confrontation. The question isn't really who are the Turn to page 15A Surveyors study feasibility of electrical railway OCTOBER 12, Ism The Guelph people are commencing to move in the matter of the extension of the Canadian Pacific Railway from that city to Goderich. Mr. D.D. Wilson this week got in a car load of grapes. He intends storing them in his refrigerator and selling them out when they get scarce. A football match between the clubs of the Clinton and the Collegiate Institutes was played here on Saturday last, resulting in a victory of two games to one in favor of the Clinton players. The players having placed their clothes in the dressing room at the recreation grounds, some miscreants entered unobserved and stole the loose change and other valuables found in the pockets Mr. ',r', - ; , was injured last r we _. 1 be:, irtt„ '`v on, his pigs while attending a Goo ,w I ow able to be around again, althoug, nis leg is still pretty sore and stiff. OCTOBER 17, 1913 The hotel keepers of Huron held a meeting in Clinton last week for the purpose of devis- ing means to put up an effective fight in the Canada temperance campaign shortly to be inaugurated in this county. Lucknow is a local option town. It costs $20 to get "0 be joyful" there. A few days ago a farmer from Kinloss township was picked up on the street by the police because his gait was not so steady as it should be. After spending a night in the cooler he was taken before the magistrate and confessing his crime was fined $20 and costs and was ad- monished that if he repeated the offence the fine would be $50 the next time. The engineers of the Hydro -Electric Com- mission are now busily at work making a preliminary survey for a radial electrical railway throughout this county, with the YEARSIN ME AONE from the Archives view of making a report as to the feasibility and cost of such a scheme. The engineers were in the vicinity of Bayfield last week and working their way southward. Their report will be awaited with interest. Mr. John Dodds has disposed of his pop business, plant and property in this town to a Mr. Arnold, of Guelph, who takes posses- sion at once. Mr. Dodds is now one of the oldest businessmen in Seaforth and from a small beginning has built up a large and lucrative business. His plant is one of the best and most complete in this part of the province. OCTOBER 14, 1938 Competing in the 20th annual Specialty Show of the Boston Terrier Club of Toronto on Thanksgiving Day, "Boots," a Boston Bull Terrier, owned by Baden Powell, Seaforth, won first prize in the class under one year and also a special prize for best dog under one year. There were 84 dogs entered in the show. • The assessors report disclosed that the total population for the town now stands at 1,705. Taxable land and buildings were assessed at $879,614, income corporations $7,174, business $72,425, for a total assess- ment of $959,213, an increase of $9,090. Town Council's meeting, which turned out to be the shortest in many months,'discuss- ed the promiscuous riding of bicycles on Main Street. According to the councillors, Collegiate students are the worst offenders, the pupils riding five and six abreast and circling about without any consideration for other traffic. Several narrow escapes were cited. Council instructed constable Currie to issue warnings and enforce the bylaw. OCTOBER 18, 1903 Celebrating the fortieth anniversary of commencing business in Seaforth, J. E. Keating agrees he wouldn't have missed a minute of it. It was October, 1923 that Mr. Keating established Keating's Pharmacy. Not long returned from overseas where he was wounded, and a recent graduate of the On- tario College of Pharmacy, he had never heard of Seaforth until a former area resi- dent, the late W.A. Hargraves, of Drug Trading Co., told him of a drug business established 60 years earlier which was for sale here, and of the opportunities that ex- isted in the area. County engineer James Britnell said Tuesday the road commission had approved paving North Main Street this fall. Original- ly it had been intended to defer the work un- til spring when the stretch between Seaforth and Walton is to be paved. A barn, crops and implements belonging to Albert Cronin, RR 4 Seaforth, were destroyed by a spectacular fire Monday night. Damage was estimated at between $15,000 and $18,000 by Seaforth fire chief John F. Scott. This Saturday, the Cubs and Boy Scouts of the Seaforth area will take part in their an- nual Apple Day. Some 100 boys are to take part in the drive. Topnotch Feeds Limited opened a new mill at Wroxeter Saturday afternoon. 6