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The Huron Expositor, 1975-10-23, Page 2Since1.0,60, Serving the Coramunity First Published AtSEAFoRTR: ONTARIO. every Thursday morning by McLEAN BROS. PUBLISHERS LTD, ANDREW Y. McLEAN, Publisher .SUSAN WHITE, Editor DAVE ROBR Advertising Manager Member Canadian Lommunnybewspaper Association Oahu lo Weekly Newspaper Association and Audit Bureau of Circulation Subscription Rates: Canada On advance) $10.00 a Year Outside Canada (in advance) 512.00 a Year SINGLE COPIES — 25 CENTS EACH Second Class Man Registration Number 06% Telephone 527-0240 SEAFORTH, ONTARIO, OCTOBER 23, 1975 Hanging is murder too A farmer hosts, through a paper which holds the events, even of one or two farm families, so dear. I was given the most friendly bospitality hy the families of Vera and Paul Szasz of Beamsville, Janet and Charles Munro of Embro, President of Canadian Federation of Agriculture and the International Association of Agriculture Producers, Mona and James McQuigan of Cedar Springs, Ruby and Gordon Hill of Varna and Mina and Joe Loewith of Lyndon. On the tour I had the opportunity to , meet several farmers on their fields, in the groves, in their barns cow-yards, a winery, a cooperative. I've learned to understand the basic facts of their life, the set up of the' various associations and marketing boards, the producer-consumer-government relations. Many •thanks to my host and to the unnamed farmers whom I met. May I stress one fundamental observation Your country, like mine, built and developed from wilderness, by an unend- ing wave of immigration, assimilated, luckily for them, into one nation. Mr. George Atkins, who was my guest in Israel, and Mr. S.J. Hale, of the OFA, planned my itinerary-intentionally or not, I 'do not know - so that I fortunately have had an insight into the trials and errors and the accomplishment of two immigrants (o ne of them a prisoner in the notorious Nazi death simply an act of social revenge. Our laws could be toughened up sufficiently to ensure that no convicted murderer would be released until it is certain he will n of repeat the act. But-death, by whatever means and let us be clear there Is no "humane" way of execution, is morally indefensible. Forgiveness, compassion, rehabilitation are part of the moral fibre of our society at its best, and these instincts must not be blunted in the first wave of emotion. Those who suggest that capital punishment is a deterrent must be prepared to return to public executions and put them 'in prime family hour TV viewing. That, would no doubt be the fastest way to ensure this barbaric method of punishment is forever eliminated. The irrevocable act of hanging on the part of society --all of us— precludes any chance to study and remedy the causes of these crimes. It strikes at the very sanctity of human life that our Judeao-Christian heritage so cherishes. Surely we can find more humane, effective and just ways of seeing that threats to our life and liberty are dealt with, than by hanging people. (Contributed) Storm coming the- YttiPs AgOge ,cicro gRzz, Snnday, the 17th o October , Dr. Walsh, Bishop pf London officiated at the reopening of the Roman Catholic ( Church at Seaforth. The interior of the church presents a tharited and beautiful appearance, Rev. Deon Kutphy showed refined taste, High Mass was chanted by the Very Rev. Dean Murphy, assisted by Rev, FathetsMcGrathp'Shea and Dara• with n splendid choir, presided over by Miss McDonald. On sunday morning we were favoured with the first genuine snow storm. It was accompanied by thunder and lightning and before dark, the snow had all disappeared. An entertainment in aid of the orphan's home "Belleville " was given in the hall at Brucefield. Not Withst anding the wet weather and bad roads the house was crowded. Dr. Campbell of Seaforth gave a very eloquent 'address to great applause. Comic readings were given by Dr, Burgess of Seaford'. Wm. Murray, 6th concession ot Tuckersmith last spring sowed one pound of Emperor oats. This one pound yielded 27 pounds of good clean oats. Mrs. Solomon McDonald of Egmondville was getting over a fence when she slipped and fell fracturing her leg. She lay in a helpless condition .for an hour. At a recent meeting of the IvIcKillop council, a resolution was passed exempting from taxation the sawmill of Andrew Govenlock, on the 10th concession. Robert Scott of Roxboro having occasion to call at the iesidence of Wm. Habkirk, north of Seaforth, tied his horse to the gate post . When he returned in half an hour the horseand buggy were gone. he found his property at Leslie's hotel. Louis Walper of Hay Twp. was returning from Exeter when his horses. became alarmed and jumped into the ditch. While endeavouring to prevent their escape, he had his arm put out of joint and two ribs broken. Add to this the fact that some who have accepted office and are not doing their fair share of the work, or, indeed, are dragging their feet and slowing progress of others by drinking too much at lunch, is frustrating to conscientious types to say the least` When such individuals are in county council, municipal council or'association work, their attendance and performance should be made known to those who place them ther-e. So, if some members drink so much at lunch they have a little snooze during the afternoon session, .• become ....a little 'belligerent. ' hi ' discussion, or otherwiimpede the normal se.. process of business, then e people who put them in office should h ' formed. It is a good thing the Grand Bend reeve was not on county council a few years ago, when drinking was heavier. Then he would have been really frustrated and disillusioned.But with drink so readily available, or people using more common sense now, there just is not the drinking there once was. While there are some municipal and county councillors who may feel Grand Bend's reeve. spoke out of turn, no doubt there was more he could have added. Whatever, he should be applauded, because it is only from such constructive criticism does improvement come arid goodness only knows , taxpayers are getting little enough for their money now from some levels of government. Bowing the whistle I t would be a n aive politician who, today, can approach the issue of the abolitibn of capital punishment without some trepidation. But, sooner or later it must be faced and' our leaders must give us some guidance. Police chiefs, law enforcement associations, municipal politicians and private citizens are demanding the return of the noose or some other form of execution for murder. Whether it be for the murder of policemen and prison guards, premeditated murder, murder by insane persons or simple crimes of on passion, there sers to be a vocal and substantial sec of society that believes Capital' Ounish ment is the only suitable way of dealing with murder. The reams of statistics, the endless studies by competent authorities and the clear pronouncements by many church leaders that hanging is n o deterrent for murderers and merely brutalizes society seems to have little effebt on people who are engulfed in revulsion when they hear of a partictklarly senseless or brutal crime inflicted on some innocent chUd. All society is afflicted with horror at such crimes. The perpetrators must be dealt with but to eradicate them is (By Ly nn Lashbrook in the Rodney Mercury) After Grand Bend's reeve exposed Lambton County councillors last week for drinking too much at two-hour lunch brekks, thus not giving taxpayers value for their money, you can imagine be is about as, acceptable to councillors as a polecat at a nuptial breakfast. Still, you have to give him credit for his conviction. No doubt h is criticism resulted from frustration with the system. The problem is not peculiar to Lambton. There always has been a joke in Elgin, and no doubt it is common el4ewhere, about the farmer who could not get his calf to drink so he took it to county council. But even the Grand Bend reeve had to admit 90 percent of county councillors do not drink so much at lunch hour that it hinders their thinking and duty at afternoon, sessions. Thus he means that one or two councillors drink too much. And it is the same two percent for which all laws are written ,and enforced. No doubt the Grand Bend reeve's exposee resulted beCause of frustration many feel whether on municipal council, county council, in association, or whatever -- the frustration of being unable to get enough accomplished. Anyone who has been elected 'or appointed to such a group knows how it feels to attend meeting after meeting, and the years come and go without much being accomplished. To the editor George Atkins of the CBC and Mr . S.J. Hale, the General Manager of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture have given me an unforgettable opportunity to follow, day by day, through a week, the events and thoughts of farmers families, on the farm and at home. My last "stop" was in your editorial office, in the company of Mr. Gordon Hill of Varna, the President of OFA, and I had a friendly chat with Mr. Andrew Y. McLean, the publisher. As a token I was given fortunately enough for me sotne issues of your weekly.t, That added a very useful impression to my observations on the week-long. tour from village to village, a paper, which in 'tradition of 116 years of "serving the community first" (as stated at the paper head), in the midst of several towns, puts above all the news of its area the sad event of "Two Walton Area Barns Burn, Crops, Livestock Destroyed". Being on a life-long servier of the farmers federation of Israel, whose motto is "Homestead is Homeland", and whose founder at the turn of this century coined the expression "The family of Land", stressing the togetherness of farmers, I was, understandably, even touched by the "gradation" of the news, not common in out urbanized world. That is why I deaded to ask' your kindness, to -express my thanks to my Amen by Karl Schuessler My wife started to take all those TV ads to heart, Give mother a treat. She needs a break from meal making. Take her out to lunch. To' dinner. To supper. Take her out to anything. But just take her out. Give the lady in the kitchen a rest. Now if she'd listened closer to those commercials we should have wound up at a hamburg place. Or a finger lickin' good chicken palace. Or a plain old stop and shop for fish and chips --eaten right out of simulated newsprint in the front seat of the car. . But no--it didn't wind up as simple as all that. Or as inexpensive as all that. She had a place in mind alright. A very posh place in town, She asured mel'd like it. The decor was exciting.' ought to feel -right at home, It was a 100 year old church converted into a restaurant. Now I've had supper before in a church basement, but this• Meal on• the main floor was something else again. It -was red carpet treatment all the way from the very beginning when we walked under a • black canopy stretched at least ten feet in front of the entrance, The host led us into soft carpets and dim lights. Sweet music. Why, he even took the napkin off the table, shook it, open and helped us tuck it in our laps as we sat down. The cousine was as excellent as the service. Then came the inevitable bill at the end. A good stiff one. It wasn't the charge that bothered me. Well okay, maybe it did a little. But I was taking mother out, wasn't I? She deserved every bit and bite of it. But I do feel guilty paying so much for foOd. If I had spent only a quarter of that amount some place else, I would have come out well nonrished.And at a time like this I couldn't dare let myself think about all the starving people in the world. Why' was I getting so bothered in .that restaurant? What's wrong with in e? Is the old church getting to me? This place is impeccable: in .t'as'te and food and style. Everything is stylish. Of high order. If anythini, understated -- not garislvor gaudy in tone. The church's stained glass windows spo ke of more gaiety than the newly painted dark walls and dim lights. What's wrong with me? What am I feeling so uneasy about? Some closed down churches beg to get such stylish treatment. Why,I've seen Oh& old churches reduced tp living in weeds on the'outside and falling plaster on the inside. I've known about churches turned into grist mills and garages and beauty shops. camp of Ashwitz), a self made man, a farm labour hand, who has built by toil and sweat, a farming enterprise, and, two farmers who were born on their very farm and expanded them, while dedicating time to public service with the help of their resourceful sons. Together, by free will, compromise and consent, they constitute one farming society in Ontario. As an Israeli, from a country of mass immigr ation, of vastly different backgrounds, I fully apprehend this achievement of the Canadian farmers. _ 4 I am not used to the sight of the vast plain, to the blessing of fertile earth. My country is small and dangerously narrow, the land is mostly poor. the rains an24 the water resources are miserley (our national slogan is "Save Every Drop"). There is the National Land Fund, set up for reclamation of rocky land„swamps and desert sand in order to lease it (through the National Land Authority) for farming, for 48-96 years -92% of the land is national. Even the kindergarten children are taught to donate some pennies to , the Fund, for this purpose, on the eve of every Sabbath. The family farm is small, and to provide a living the farmers have to run it intensively. But the agriculture in my country is regarded not only as an economic factor, but as the main instrument in National revival. Even the army maintains a unique corns. the Combat Pioneering Youth Corps ot And I've walked through churches made into dance halls and gift shops and community halls. And I've lived -- and I am living \.-in a church right now. None of this ever bothered me. - But why was that posh restaurant getting to me so? Lswallowed hard when I looked up at that stained glass window given by a family in loving memory of their father. I marvelled' at the organ pipes that covered one wall. And when my eye traced them down from the ceiling to the floor, it came to rest on mirrors and a long bar. Now there's nothing wrong with a bar in a restaurant. But where an altar was? And there's nothing wrong with aguest registry. But at the lecturn where the Gospel was read each Sunday? There's nothing wrong with tables and chairs on a carpeted floor?- But where pews should have been? . How could such a noble and stately building remain so beautiful and still not be a church? No restaurant deserves to h ave walls that soar to height's unspeakable. No restaurant deserves to have beams that arch to peaked gables. No restaurant deserves to spread itself out across that traditional concept of nave and transpept -- that plan that lays out the church in the shape of a cross. Maybe that's what was hurting.The original intent of the building was thwarted. It's no longer serving the purpose it was made for. In art, it's called kitsch. Something thrown together --especially for popular appeal--but it's a debdsed, lesser form of art. It's the kind of art that takes a gunstock and turns it into a lampbase. Or an old milkcan into a bar stool. It's a substitute art--something wrenched from its origins and made to serve other purposes. And what hurts even more is that money can make the difference. Lack of money can close a church. A pocket-full can open it up.And turn it into a thriving business, Maybe the Anglicans are right. Maybe they have something. When one of their Surches has to close, the traditional way is to burn it down: And if not burn it down, then tear it down. Not that the policy is always followed, of course. I never could understand it. It seemed such a waste -- a very impractical thing to do. But now, I'm beginning to see why. conscript, whose function is to man the new farm settlements. The pride of farming is the essential motivation. Most Of the national leaders come from various farming settlements ahd the 'Ministry of Agriculture is one 9f the 4 or 5 top ministries, (recently, the minister is a refugee of an Arab country, who was settled on a farm in the desert). Among the farmer ministers are the defence, foreign, transport, immigration, and two of the deputy-ministers (agriculture and trans- port) are Arab-Israelil farmers. The most prominent generals, like Moshe Dayan, are farmers. In short, Israel regards farming as 'a' national arm. We do not diminish the importance of industry and commerce, but it is commonly agreed the basis of a stable, healthy and progressive economy is agriculture. The measure of Heaven above and people is-the meature of the ploughed land they possess, as our national poet so milly phrases it. Coming hack to my journey through your farmland, these are the reasons why I dared to ask the kindness of a, country paper, so expressively dedidated to the farmers interest, to express the thanks of their guest. ' Sincerely, Izchak Ziv-Az Tel-Aviv, Israel Chairman, Farmers Federation Farmer from Israel thanks Canadians OCTOBER 19, 1900 T.R.F.Case .8c Company have disposed of their meat business in town to Fred Gales. The 33rd Regiment band gave an entertainment in Clinton and were assisted by Wm. McLeod, the comic vocalist. Messrs. Alex Winter and J. P. Henderson, are making arrangements for the publication of a picturesque souvenir of Seaforth. While coming down town Wm. Morrow, lost his purse and it was found by Mrs. J.H.Hays. Messrs. Reid and Wilson have displayed in the door of their hardware store an inimense block of Carmel coal which weighs about 563 pounds. J. Love of Hilisgreen disposed of some of his valuable cattle to A. McMurtrie of Kipper'. Hugh Dunlop qf Constance sold his farm on the 8th concession of Hullett to a gentleman in Morris. John Kaiser of Brucefield, had the misfortune to lose a fine Jersey cow. She got an apple in its throat and died from the effects. Wm. Scott of Brucefield is' at present receiving large quantities of grain and is paying the highest market price. Squirrels, especially red ones, are unusually numerous this fall. Some say that it means that we will have a severe winter. The teams of Geo Murray and W. J. Beattie have been busily engaged in drawing gravel for the town streets. Messrs.John Beattie and J.O.Rose left for Lambton County on a quail shooting expedition. R. McMordie of Kippen was on a business trip to Owen Sound. Miss Jessie Gillegpie of Cromarty has been visiting in Wingham and Whitechurch. The brick work of the Ancient Order of United Workmen's Hall is now completed and the carpentry work will be pushed ahead. Geo. O'Brien, of Hensall , has purchased 50 acres of swamp land to the west of his farm. Wm. Glass, of Wingham, well known resident of McKillop, visited and while here presented his adopted daughters, Mrs. J.E.1rvine, with a new -cooking stove andi a large number of pieces of furniture. S. Rennie, of Zurich, has disposed of his farm and is having a' sale of his farm stock and implements. Messrs. Lewis Foster, S.E.Faust, and W.G.Hess were out shooting and came home with thirteen black squirrels and one pheasant. DECEMBER 19, 1925 Messrs. Finlay McKercher, Thos. Wheatley and Geo. Little ' have returned from Re gina, Sask. with their brother-in-law Robert Robinson and while there they were Mr. Robinson threshed 500 acres of wheat which averaged 35 bushels to the acre. Matt Murray and James McQuaid of Manley left for Detroit to seek their fortune in Uncle Sam's domain. The meeting of the Manley School in the interest of Thos. McMillan waslargelya ttendecl. Dr. Ross of Seaforth said that the Liberals from Seaforth were as strong as ever, The first snow of the season visited the people of McKiliop. The result of the membership contest of the H Orticultural Society was announced and L. Norris carried off the honors having secured 26 new members. The summons of death came with startling suddeness to a well known man when John R. Habkirk passed away at his home on -John Street. The -euchre and dance held in the G.W.V.A. Hall was a wonderful success. A Fter the euchre, the Lions led by Frank Sills, gave a fine sample of singing the favorite songs. Hugh Chesney accompanied by Edith Hunt played the music for our old time square dance. Wallace Parke of town left for his home in Norwich, England. He was accompanied by P. Calder, who is returning to his home in Scotland. Samuel Cluff, a former well known resident of Seaforth died suddenly at his home in Goderich. OCTOBER 1950 Miss Ella M. Roulston, Reg. N. has heen appointed Matron- of the now $2,000,000 Hospital for Indians at Moose Factory in Northern Ontario. The T. Eaton Co.Ltd. special award to the highest scoring girl and boy at the,Mcicillop School Pair was won by Barbara Boyd, and Bobby genres of McKillop. Diane Bolton was the lucky winner of a bicycle in a draw conducted by the fair officials. The Eastern Star sponsored a home baking sale at which $120.00 was realized. • E. C. Boswell retires as manager of the Dominion Bank ere and his place will be taken by J. R. M. Spittal of Brantford. _ "One of the most useful lives spent in Agriculture" was the description of Rt. Hon. James G. Gardiner of Miss Isabel Cummings, acting librarian of the Dept. of Agriculture who retired after 29 years in the Federal Civic Service. The men of the Seafortli Lawn Bowling Club entertained the ladies to a turkey dinner. W. J. Duncan expressed the thanks of the men to Mrs. Win. Miller. Following the dinner, bridge and euchre were played. Gordon Muir and his partner ' won the euchre while Mrs. W.M.Harbana& Mrs. J.C.Keating won the bridge honors. Neighbors and friends gathered at the Salvation Army to honor Lieut. M. Deacon, bride-elect. She was the recipient of many lovely gifts. A miscellaneous shower was held at the home of Mr. and MrS. Emelt Toll in Mullett when about SO ladies gathered to honor ICtithleen Roe. Mrs. Thos. Kirkby read an address and Dianne Kirkby drew in a decorated wagon with the gifts. Mr. and Mrs.Wm. Koehler entertained 'on Oct. 15, the occasion being the 85th birthday of Mira. Henry KOehler. 0