The Huron Expositor, 1973-04-26, Page 2Since 1860, Serving the Community First
INt?IfMett SEAFORTH, ONTARIO, beery Thursday morning by McLEAN BROS., Publishers Ltd.
ANDREW Y.- MCLEAN, Editor
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Ontario Weekly Newspaper Association
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SEAFORTH, ONTARIO, April 26, 1973
:There was no alternative
A
From My Window
By Shirley J. Keller
Sir:
The Seaforth and District Knights of
Columbus and the Alliance. For Life would
like to draw to the attention of your
readerS the statement made recently by
Dr . Richard Potter, Ontario Health
Minister, that abortions should not be
covered under the Ontario Hedlth
Insurance Plan. (Toronto Star) March 17;
1973.
He stated further that it is hispersonal,,
view that abortion in many cases is being
used as a method of birth control and
these abortions cost the Ontario taxpayer
approximately $6 million in 1972.
Dr. Potter expressly stated that he was
giving his personal opinion rather than
government policy, but that he would like
the Health Plan changed to be in line with
his views. It would seem reasonable that
only abortions performed because
• the mother's life was at stake should be
covered by a medical insurance plan. The
Knights of Columbus and the Alliance For
Life believe this statement has been made
to test public reaction.
It is believed that Dr. Potter will be
put tinder great pressure by the Pro-
abortionists to reverse his stand. If
he is to maintain hiS opposition to this
-abuse of the Ontario Health plan, he will
require tremendous public support.
Accordingly, the Knights ofrolumbut
and the Alliance For Life wool d apprec-
iate It very much It the public would
support Dr. Potter's stand by writing
premier Davis, requesting that his
government support Dr. Potter in his
position, to Dr. Potter offering encourage-
ment and support and to your local MPP
and newspaper,
Wilfrid Mousseau, Recorder
Father Stephen Eckert Council,
No, 5289.
'APRIL 29, 18,98.
Robert Hewitt, east of Leadbury, Is,
84 years old, during this last winter
has threshed 400 bushels of grain with
a hand flail, attending his stock and
getting up wood.
Kruse Bros, masons of Egmondville,
are placing a stone'tonndation under Mrs.
Collie's residence.)
Frank Gutteildge, the well known
builder and' contractor of Seaforth has
invented a very Ingenious machine for
the manufacture of bricks*. ,The present
machine is designed to make from 8 to
10 thousand brick a day.
Dr, Chas. MacKay of town has had a
new foundation placed on his-residence on
Goderich St.
James Sproat, who for several years'
was in -the employ of D.D.Wilson, is now
iness. •
in charge of James Cowan's milk bus-
N. G. Adams of Constance is building'
a eew barn foundation and had the tim-
bers raised,
Mrs. Simpson of" Walton has pur-
e chased a n organ from Scott Bros.,
Seaforth.
Messrs. Cahtelon and Cook of Londes-
boro, shipped a carload of hay to Toronto.
delivered and the
fhoars tlireer thodist Church at
expect to start' but rain "4)ollacrs —
L
their
o
masons
n Tdhep:iboalnirsmeo.
F. W. Hess of Zurich has the brick
work of his jewellery store completed.
The Electric light company of Sea- •
forth has purchased the McBride pro-
perty near' the railway station and intend
using it for piling wood on. There are
three lots and they _paid $300. for them.
John Kalbflelsch of Hay was in
town and informs us that he has already
contracted for 10 new hbuses in Hay and
Stanley thfs season.
APRIL 27, 1923
Geo, Eaton, Winthrop, who has been
engaged by Smalldon Bros. of Cranbrook,
to work on the dredge, left to assume his
duties.
Ben Riley is erecting the cement foun-
dation for Mr. Cuthill's new barn at Win-
throp.
W. G. mcSpadden of Winthrop has been
pressing a large quantity of hay.
Seeding , has commenced and Robert
Cooper of Kippem. who. is now the owner
of 250 acres, is one of, the first to have
several acres sowed.
Mr. and Mrs. Alex Sparks have mdved
into--the' houtsuceeently owned ,by Mrs.
Andrew Dougalleg Hensel/.
The SeatorthqSaavn• Bowling Club are
making extensive preparations for the
coming season. A new wire fenbe will'
be erected and the ground levelled
and seeded from the fence to the sidewalk.
Mrs, J. G. Mullen of town entertained
the choir of First Presbyterian Church
at her home.
T. S. Smith of town is erecting a
garage at his home on John St.
Mrs. F. H. Larkin and Miss Edith
McKay are in Windsor attending the meet-
ing of the W.M.S,
Roy Lawson 'of Constance who pur-,
chased a barn from Bruce 14dd of Mc-
Killop, has been busy having it moved
home where he intends using it to en-
large his present building.
The annual -inspection of the Seaforth
Collegiate cadets was held on the grounds.
After the manoeuvres the Inspecting cf.:
ficer, Col. Gillespie; of London, highly
complimented the corps for their work and
appearance, the boys marched down street
to the Olympia Restaurant. Chas. Holmes,
has been acting, as instructor and to him
goeeli great deal of credit for the success
of the corps. The officers for this year
are: Captain, Adam Dodds. Int.Lieut.Don
Kerslake; 2nd. • Lieut.' ohn Archibald;
Sergeants Fred Crich, W.T.Blackwell,
Garnet R. Sillery, Clarence Munn; Cor-
porals, Ronald McKay, Arthur Burrows,
Harvey Prichard, Claire Leatherland,
Wm..Landsborough, Scott Ferguson, Fred
Jackson and Ross McGregor.
The relatives and many friends of
the late Thos. Nellands, Hensel, will
regret to learti,,,of his very sudden death.
For some 21 years he pnblished the
Hensall Observor. He was 72 years of,
age.
APRIL' 30, 1948. .
Among those nurses-in-training who
will graduate from St. 'Joseph's Hos--
pital, 'London, -are Miss Helen Louise
Smith and Miss Beatrice Mary Cath-
arine Lane.
Frank Fingland, K, C. Clinton, was
named Liberal Standard-Bearer in the
forthcoming Provincial election on
June 7th. •
Mr.' and Mrs. John .Hotham Jr. en-
tertained Mr. and Mrs. John Hotham Sr.
on the occasion of their 35th Vedding
anniversary. Mr. Hotham is foreman
at the Seaforth Creamery.
Mr. and Mrs. Albert Baker were the
recipients of many beautiful gifts in honor
of their 30th wedding anpiversary, Their
family presented them with a mantel radio.
Injuries received when he was caught
in _ a conveyance belt operating 'in a
gravel pit on his farm, proved fatal to
Geo. Eberhart, 70, well known McKIllop
farmer, Wilfred Coleman, Tuckersmith,
was nearby when the accident occurred
and he summoned help and the injured
man was removed to the hospital..
Work commenced leading to the in-
stallation of flood lights at the softball
diamond at the Seaforth Lions' Park, when
Sonie ten members took part in a bee to
dig post holes.
Mr. and Mrs. Wilson Little of Win-
throp have moved into their house at
the corner.
Alvin Rau of town has purchased the
residence of the Misset -Mulcahy on •George street. A
dery A') ki t ()la
r r ,Fa
. 00:0
J
In the Years Agone
nigffitinare for those Charged
with its appl'ication.What
made the'propasal even
more astounding was the
indication that little or
no consideration had been
given by)the premier or
other ministers to impli-
cations it held •:in
kcreased costs -for goverpl
me.nt controlled facilities
such as schools "arid hos-
pitals. Despite the hun-
dreds of thousands of dol-
I almost hesitate to tell you about
this but • I. really. can't think of another
topic for this column and deadline time is
here. So I've decided to throw caution to
the wind 'and relate the strange tale of my
ivy plant.
During the winter on one of those cold
bleak days with no sun, only bitter biting
wind, my daughter presented me with a
small but healthy ivy plant. I was over-
joyed. I've always loved green things but
I'm no gardener . . . and it doesn't take
my green things long to become brown
things and finally dead things.
"It is no wonder," chastises my nus-
band. "You forget to water them. The
'poor plants thirst to death."
He's right, L, told myself. This time
it will be different. This time I will
watch over my ivy plant, I will water it
faithfully, I will see it flourish into
something lovely.
The first few weeks were fine. I
set the ivy in , a bright 'but not too bright
spot. I tended it faithfully. ,It rewarded
me by shrivelling up one entire branch
and allowing it to fall limp and lifeless
onto the floor.
After that, I lost heart-. I must admit
I fell off caring for my ivy plant. I
neglected to water it regularly and except
for the times when the cleaning lady
sloshed it with liquid, the poor plant was
left alone.
And then one day not long ago, I
passed by my ivy plant and took a look
at it there, struggling valiantly for' life.
Its soil was parched. Its leaves were
turning ,yellow.
Suddenly I remembered a movie I'd
• seen with Barbara Steisand called "on
A Clear Day You Can See Forever". I
remembered that in the movie, Miss Strei
Sand had played the part cif a gal who had
a talent for making things grow. And she
claimed the secret was in talking to her
plants . treating them as living, breath-
ihg souls.
"What the heck," I thought. "Maybe
there's 'sor' ething to this business of talk-
ing to .plante, /Ire heard others talk abbut
it. Maybe 'p-Should conduct a small ea-
It's a long time since I read as much
misdirected garbage as I have in the past
weeks,• concerning meat prices. Directed
garbage is when you hit the target. Most
of this hit the wrong target - the farmer.
For some mysterious reason, a lot of
people- look 'on the farmer as a flinty,
money-grubbing character who takes a
Particular sadistic .pleasure In gouging
the poor working-man, not to mention the
downtrodden executive, professional man,
or school teacher.
It's just the opposite. For years,
generations in this country, the farmer
has been gouged by the rest of• us, and
here's one consumer who not &ly be-
lieves, but knows, that the average farmer
has had a tinier share of our twentieth
century affluence than any,other segment
of our • community, including those on
welfare, proportionately.
There are a fevi exceptions. There
are .a few wealthy' farmers. Just as
there are a few wealthy school teachers.
In the case of the farmer, it is the man
whose forefathers were lucky enough tp,,
clear a farm near a big city-to-be. His
land has become valuable 'for building
and he can 'sit on it 'and watch the value
, appreciate. But Jiets not a real farmer
any more.,
The real farmer is the fellow who
works hours-per-week that would have
'an industrial worker screaming for the
union, owns one suit, ,hasn't. had a holi-
day in years, owes money at the bank,
and has a net income of about $4,000 a
year.
He's got to be a gambler, a fatalist,
and a man in whom hope springs eternal.
He gambles, on the weather and the market,
must accept disaster with a shrug, and
must begin each new season with opti-
mism.
•
More and more, in regions of marginal
farming and small, mixed farming, we
see that the farmer must have a job in town
if he is to enjoy more than a frugal
living.
More and more we,.see that it is
only the big ,farmer or the specialist who
. can meet the bills and make a decent •
living. ,
More and more we see that farming
has become an industry in which the in-
vestment in land, machinery, supplies and
labour is inordinate in comparison to the
returrisi
lars involvecT nobody
either in cabinet or in
the vast Tory bureaucracy
at Queen's Park appears
to have given this a
thought.
As far as the govern-
ment, is concerned the 'up-
'roar on the energy, tax
has blunted criticism of
the 40% increase in the
existing sales tax which
the budget also provided.
As .a result little con-
sideration has been given
to the extravagances
which have contributed to
the governments desperate
search for more revenue. '
Meanwhile those mini-
cipalities who:Are busy
working out ways of spend-
ing the added thousands .
which the budget indicated•
would be forthcoming. by
way of grants may =be wise
to' wait until precise
amounts are indicated to
• them.
While the budget talked
in rosy terms of thousands
upon thousands of .added
revenue dollars going out
to towns and townships it
also has this qualification
"All 'gleins are shown as
accruing to lower-tier
municipalities. rather than
In reality, part of the
4 general support grant will
be paid directly to upper-
tier municipalities."
In other words the
amounts shown in the bud-
get as coming to Seaforth
or McKillop or Tuckersmith
are to be shared with other.
levels of government. It
is anybody's guess as to
the amounts that will be
on the cheques when they
finally come in.
periment in that direction.'
Anyway I moved my sickly looking
plant from its lonely corner in the dining-
room • to the centre of attention in the
middle of our kitchen table.
"There yoti are ivy plant," I told
it. "Welcome to the family."
That evening when hubby and the child-
ren came home and were seated around
the kitchen table for dinner, I explained
my plan.
"From now on," I explained, "ivy ,
(that's her first name, surname plant)
will sit in the middle of our table. She
will be one of us. And each time you
sit down at the table for a meal, a
snack or 'for any purpose, you are
expected' to address Ivy with a civil
tongue as you would any member of the
family."
You can imagine the reaction that
I gcit from my family. My two teen-
agers looked at each other, then at
then at their father and finally back at
each other with that expression that
means, "She's at it again."
My husband took the suggestion in
his usual manner - unmoved.
"Pass the potatoes," was his re-
sponse,". . . . and don't burn ivy."
Your youngest son wasn't quite cer-
tain that he was involved in this latest
family adventure.
"You haven't spoken to Ivy," I chi-
ded him.
The poor little guy waved rather weakly
at the plant and muttered "Hi Ivy" in
his smallest voice , glancing quickly at
his father to see if he'd lost favor with
his favorite man..
"It's okay son," my husband assured
him."We have to do these things some-
times to keep Mom happy."
Well I'm here to tell you folks, it
has worked, Ivy plant is flourishing like
no ivy I've ever seen. Her leaves shine.
Her stems are strong. She's shoetirgodt
new sprouts all over--the- place. And
when you speak to her 1 swear you can
almost see her sway with pleastre.
There's only one thing-I'm worried
about. What happens when she gets ten
big for the table?
If an average farmer charged himself
wages for his' own work, he'd show a net
loss. He'd be better to put his money
into a hot-dog stand.
Let's take an average beef farmer.
He has no sock of gold under the bed. He
must borrow money to buy stock, mach-
inery, feed, fertilizer. He must pay
interest on this money to our established
banks, "which are no less greedy than-
they were in the depression. They
merely have a better "image" because
they have a big public relations pro-
gramme.
While his beef is becoming beef, this
farmer has nothing coming in, except
interest charges on his loan. when-his
beef is ready, does he set the price? He
does not. He sells it 'at auction. Who
drives up the price? The beef-hungry
consumer, that's who.
,Marie Antoinette,• of ill-fated fame,
said of the peasants who protested that
they had _no bread, "Let them eat cake."
I'd reverse that a bit and say of people
• ,who,-say they can't afford beef, 'Let .,
theilc ,. barley.'! It's very nutritious.,
Per :Si I'm prejudiced. I greit4 hP.
during the depression. 'If we had beef -
once a week, it was probably hamburg.
As a kid, I was sometimes sent to the
store for some "dog bones." These were
beef bones with some meat on them, and
they were free. The butcher knew darn
well what they were for - a good pot of
soup - but he winked at it.
Many a time our "dinner' was pea •
soup and hoMemade bread, with some pre-
serves -'wild berries picked by our-
selVes - for dessert. Nobody suffered
malnutrition in that family.
Sometimes our "meat" was the
ground-up skins of baked potatoes, mixed
in with onions and fried potatoes. They '
gave it the appearance and' roughage of
meat, if not the flavour. Jolly good stuff.
In 'prison camp, meat was merely
something you thought about, like going to
• heaven. But a bowl of sweetened barley!
Now, that was heaven.
There are Some holes in the chain of
food prices. But don't blame the farmer.,
He's the last to benefit when prices go up,
the first to suffer when the
-the first to suffer when they go down.
• Show me a rich farmer and,I'll show
you a rich weekly editor, or arrich school
teacher.
•
Sir:
Yes Mr. Gordon Sinclair I agree with
you, it is a terrible thing to watch a man
being hung, to see him dangling on the end
of a rope. The elecrric chair is not much
better. The poor victim is strapped
in a chair while the appliances are strap-
ped to his bare legs and arms. What a
terrible sensation that must be waiting,
expecting any moment the juice could
'be turned on.
On the other hand Mr. Sinclair if
you were to come home and find your wife
lying on the floor the victim of an attacker,
strangled lo death or perhaps hAr throat
cut or punched full of holes with a sharp
knife, would you net call for revenge'?
Or if the assassin was still there would
you not grab the first weapon you could
find and with all' your might strike Km
over the head, not caring whether you
killed him or not? I think I would.
Turning back 'to capital punishment, I
think there should be more human ways
than hanging. We used to hang dogs it
one turned out to' be useless. That
seemed-to be the only Way years ago, now
they are taken to a vet and given a needle
and the poor animal is put' away without
a struggle. Why not use the same treat-.
ment for human beings.
But I certainly do not believe in cir-
cumstantial evidence, I have known of two
men that were hung, and the real murderer
admitted to the murder on his death bed.
perhaps he wanted to get it off Ms chest
before he met his Maker.
Again I think many who get a life
sentence would put themselves to death if
they had a chance. Some murderers Mire
an urge ,to kill and Ile in wait and kill the
first human being that comet within reach,
Such murderers would not be safe if
they got' a reprieve. Convictions should
he at the discretion of the Judge.
A Subscriber,
— .or—or ...... •••••••••••...
Sugar and Spice
By Bill Smiley
People power played a
Major role in the decis-
ion of the Davis govern-
ment to back down from
its intention ,t9 apply a
7% sale's' tax on heat and
light.
Facing a revolt by his
supporters in the legis-
lature and outspoken criti-
cism by members of his
cabinet coupled with wide
public disapproval of the
measure, the premier had
little alternative but to
make the best of a poor !
deal. It was another
humbling experience for
the Big Blue Machine and
provided the name of an-
other minister to add to
those who in recent months
had• by their actions in--
dicated'lack orjudgment.
Provincial Treasurer
John White's decision to
remove the energy tax
from his budget legislat-
ion, of course, in no way
affects his integrity.It
does however, reduce his
credibility in the eyes
of the public who cannot
help but wonder how a
person charged. with res-
ponstbilJty for the fiscal
affairs of the province
coul d, recommend a measure
that had within it inequi- county or regional govern-
ties that .bore most heavily bents: to facilitate interr
on • those of lower'income municipal comparisons be
and which would in the. tween single-tier municir
e resole', munici cra of a 1 s• pan ti es an ,c1 muntoviTa te's
be 'wan administrative _,3n-two-tier governments.
•
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