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Clinton News-Record, 1972-08-10, Page 4`Sorry, we're not allowed to sell war toys. But we're having a special on guns in our sports department!' People in boxes Wave rules It would require enormous naivete to suppose that votes in elections are sought only through the merits and policies of candidates and parties. It was not thus in the past. Charles Dickens, describing the famous Eatan- swill election in Pickwick Papers (written 1837), has a politician rejoice in the "masterly stroke of policy" by which his party had "opened all the public-houses in the place and left our adversary nothing but the beer shops." Nineteenth century Canada was not free from such "masterly strokes of policy." In 1874, speaking against the secret ballot, an MP told the 'Commons that "elections cannot be carried without money. Under an open system of voting you can readily ascertain whether the voter has deceived you. Under vote by ballot, an elector may take your money and vote as he likes." Few politicians could be equally can- did today but what is one to think of a candidate in our next, still to be called Federal election who advertised a June meeting with "Music, Draft Beer and Free Refreshments" in larger type than an op- portunity to "talk to the candidate?" But the really classic phrase of the poster announcing this flow of beer and song describes it as 'NEW!! IMPROVED!! Meeting" at which "a splendid time is guaranteed for all." "What the Dickens have we come to"? — one might ask. But Dickens knew all about this "new, improved" type of elec- tion meeting well over a century ago.—contributed. Now I know it was all guff The Ontario Safety League reminds water skiers that there are laws contained in the Canadian Criminal Code controlling their activities: DANGEROUS OPERATION OF A TOWBOAT, WATER SKIS OR ANY OTHER TOWED OBJECT IS AN OFFENCE. This includes such actions as skiing too close to shorelines, docks, recognized swimming areas or boats either moored or underway or any action which would :cfeate a hazard to other boaters.' A SECOND RESPONSIBLE PERSON MUST BE CARRIED IN THE TOWBOAT TO ACT AS AN OBSERVER. The observer's duties are to watch the skier and pass on information to the boat driver. This allows the driver to concentrate on the course ahead. IT IS AN OFFENCE TO WATER SKI FROM ONE HALF HOUR AFTER SUNSET TO SUNRISE, This means during the hours of darkness when it would be difficult for other boat operators to see a skier. It is interesting to note that the towboat must show approved navigation lights during that last half hour of skiing as all power and sail boats must show running lights from sunset to sunrise, The Ontario Safety League warns water skiers that conviction for any of these offences could bring fines up to $500. Opinions in order tnat News—Record readers might express their opinions on any topic of public interest, Letters To The Editor are always welcome for publication. But the writers of such letters, as well as all readers, are reminded that the opinions expressed in letters published are not necessarily the opinions held by The News—Record. THE CLINTON NEW ERA Amalgamated THE HURON NEWS-RECORD Established 1865 1924 Established 1881 Clinton News-Record A member of the Canadian Weekly Newspaper Association, Ontario Weekly Newspaper Association and the Audit Bureau, of Circulation (ABC) second class mail registration number — 0817 SUBSCRIPTION RATES: (in advance) -Canada, $8.00 per year; US.k, $9.50 JAMES E. FITZGERALD—Editor J. HOWARD AITKEN — General Manager Published the heart every Thursday at of Huron County' Clinton, Ontario Population 3,475 THE HOME OF RA DAR IN CANADA Those who operate vehicles and equipment powered by petroleum fuels — cars, tractors, diesel and gasoline engines — are wondering how long they are to be penalized. They can see no reason, for instance, why gasoline should be priced at 54 or 55 cents a gallon in this Western Ontario area, when the same fuel sells for anywhere up to 10 cents a gallon less 50 miles to the east. A story in The Advance-Times a couple of weeks ago contained a report to the Huron Federation of Agriculture about the deliberations of the Ontario Federation's executive committee. One resolution presented to the executive urged a protest over the disparity in fuel prices, but the consensus of opinion was that it would have little or no effect on the oil companies. We are surprised that an organization as well known for its reforming zeal should entertain such a hopeless attitude. Far from agreeing that protest would be useless, the farm people should be screaming their heads off, They are among the heaviest consumers of petroleum products in the province and have the organization to insist on equal and fair treatment. The only explanation we have ever heard for the disparity in prices of petroleum products is that the oil companies use a "zoning" system — and that Western Ontario is a high-priced zone. Same old game As far as we know there is nothing the local service station operators or petroleum distributors can do about the price of the fuels they sell. It is laid down by the companies themselves. On the surface it may appear to be logical for the oil companies to charge a somewhat higher price for commodities delivered to points farther from their distribution centres than to those where long hauls are not necessary. However, most businesses have been swinging well away from that out-dated concept, reasoning that the customer is all- important to the life of trade and the firm that wants to sell its products should solve the delivery problem, rather than passing it on to the buyer. In any case, a jump of 10 cents, or close to 20,per cent, is altogether out of line within a distance of 100 miles. It is quite probable that the oil companies will disclaim the validity of our figures. Fuel prices, of course, vary to some degree from point to point. We dO know, however, that we filled the gas tank in the family car for 44 cents a gallon two weeks ago at a village north of Toronto — and that was standard grade gasoline. Much has been said in recent years on the "one Canada" theme. The petroleum suppliers evidently do not even believe in "One Ontario". — Wingham Advance Times Letter, to the Editor Dear Editor: Re; The Urban Rural Exchange Patsy de Graaf, living at R.R.3, Auburn, guest from Toronto is Kathy Jarosz. Between the days of August the 1st to August 8th, Kathy learned alot about the country life and how to handle a dairy farm, She has attempted to do everything along with Patsy from finding chicken eggs to cleaning out the gutter, in which 'all she had to do was press a button, Patsy will be returning with Kathy to Toronto for a week. They both advise everyone to participate in the exchange organized by the Department of Agriculture and Food. Patsy de Graaf Kathy Jarosz Water skiing is the ultimate in thrills for the avid devotee and even the spills do not dampen his enthusiasm. It is a far different story for many a cottager seeking quiet and relaxation or the fisherman seeking the peacefulness of a sheltered bay to unwind nerves frazzled by urban living. The constant whine of high-speed motors and the wash of fast- moving towboats is not conducive to relaxation. 4—Clinton News-Record, Thursdayt August 10, 1972 Editorial coif mell t Unfair fuel prices I've suddenly discovered that my wife isn't such a lazy bum after all, and that most women aren't appreciated by their husbands. Last week I wrote an idyllic column about how peaceful and beautiful it was at Grandad's, out in the country, overlooking the bay, quiet, restful and all that guff. It wasn't guff at the time, but it is now. It's neither peaceful or quiet around here, though it's still beautiful Yes, we're still here. On the eve of our departure, my silly old woman stepped out of the car, twisted her silly old ankle and broke the silly old thing. We didn't know it until next day. a bad sprain. But on the morrow it was the shape and colour of a fully matured beet so off to the hospital for X-rays. That was quite an experience. It was one of those dripping hot days, and also a Saturday. Nor- mally a small-town hospital is a pretty quiet place. But on a Saturday afternoon in mid- summer, in tourist country, the emergency ward is a bit of a mad-house. We were lucky. The girl at the desk had gone to school with my wife and had our names written down before I could open my mouth. Another school friend is a nurse, and though off duty, came in and helped in many ways. There was one doctor and one medical student on the job. In poured the patients, and I couldn't help admiring the way the staff coped, in the appalling heat. I hope Doc Leeson, another old friend, had his breakfast that morning, because he cer- tainly didn't have any lunch. Here's an Indian girl with a sick baby. Here's a twelve-year-old bov being carried in by a worried father. The boy has cut his leg badly. Tourists. Here's a young kid who has burned his hand badly. Here's a young fellow with his hand all mangled. Here comes a very pregnant lady, just about ready to pop. I see the doc in the office, a cup of coffee he's trying to snatch held in one hand, phone in the other. I know it's a bad one, because he's lost his joking, jovial, personal manner and looks grave. Two orderlies and the medical student tear down the hall in the direction of the am- bulance garage. Running, flat out. Sure enough, it is a bad one. Plane crash just a few miles out of town. The doc can't leave. He has to read X-rays, bandage wounds and deliver a baby. But he phones for help at the accident scene and goes right back to work. He's disturbed, because he's a flying buff himself. But he doesn't show it. He goes right on toiling with ailing humans, joking, calling them by their first names, doing six things at once. (Later he told me there were two killed, father and son, in the crash.) He finally got a look at my wife's X-rays, cheerfully told her yep, it was broken, and swif- tly and skillfully made and slapped on a walking cast. The nurses, though running in all directions, found time to put her in a wheelchair, get us out to the car, and loaned us a walker, a thing you push ahead of you, hopping on one foot. What a difference from the impersonality, and even inef- ficiency so often found in a big city hospital, There, too, there are dedicated people doing their best, but there's a mass of paperwork, a coldness, a lack of intimacy that is rather off- putting. Well, I've digressed, but the hospital scene impressed me deeply. It's the way a hospital should be: friendly, concerned, and with' a minimum of red tape. Anyway, the old girl is lying on the chesterfield with her leg propped up and feeling furious and frustrated. She's the type who does everything in the house at about eighty miles an hour, and the speed at which I do them, about one-tenth of that, is driving her insane. Every time she remembers that she's going to be hobbling for six weeks, can't go swim- ming or play golf, can't get at her washing, she gets angrier. I try to cheer her up by saying she's lucky she isn't in a full leg cast, in traction for six months. It doesn't seem to help. To her, immobility is anathema. Meantime, I'm re-learning a lot of the things I used to do when the kids were little but have sloughed off, ever so casually, over the years. Cooking. Last night for din- ner, small new potatoes, boiled in their skins, buttered young carrots and beans, sirloin steak and salad. Tonight, sausage, broccoli spears and whatever else turns up. Housework. I've made my bed, after only three days, vacuumed the rug and done about eight thousand dishes. Just finished washing out a brassiere and some socks. I'll cope. However, it will be a joyful day when the lady of the house can get off her backside and get back to doing all those things that take her so short, and me so long. Housewives of the world, I salute you. I'll never again ask, "What in the world do you do all day, when I'm at work?" Never. Now I know. The three founding fathers of a proposed new organization of short people, eligibility to be restricted to men or women whose height measures less than five feet, have written to this department to publicize their ventut e. "In a world of giants the man or woman of short stature suffers many handicaps," their letter notes. "It is with the idea of trying to encourage small people to help each other in dif- ferent ways that we are now planning our club. Any assistance or advice will be ap- precia ted." My advice, I fear, will be limited to the earnest suggestion that they break up the little gang right quick. It's not that I'm unsympathetic but simply that I think they'll be creating a brand new problem for them- selves through any effort to set themselves apart. As it happens, too, one of my friends is a sterling fellow named Ronald Street, 37 years of age and exactly three feet eight inches in height who wouldn't be found dead in an organization of little people. He is a bigger man than many who loom over him, resolutely 15 YEARS AGO THURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 1957 Would. be thieves broke into the Legion Memorial Hall on Kirk Street sometime during Monday night, and caused considerable damage before they apparently were frightened away. Chief Constable H. R. Thompson received word of the break-in during Magistrate's Court session on Tuesday morning, at about 11 o'clock. Nothing was taken from the premises. Water started pouring into the new Clinton Community Swimming Pool on Tuesday night, and now its full and gradually warming in the sun. A full 180,000 gallons, or twice the supply held by the town's standpipe is ready to serve Clinton's swimmers. 25 YEARS AGO THURSDAY, AUGUST 7, 1947 Clinton's newest industry is refusing to accept the accident of physique as anything but an extra incentive to be tall in the spirit. Like the equally limited organization of excessively tall girls, which I believe died a natural death, I've a hunch that these short men have banded together because of a sensitivity about their size and maybe the wistful hope that they may be at ease with folks of their own dimensions. It might seem that there would be a sharing of common interests if there are, in fact, problems that arise from being under five feet in height. This, I feel, would be a false hope. One might as well form an organization of people with large noses (J. Scott, president) or bald men or cross-eyed men. In any event, the urge to organize could only serve to in- crease that sensitivity by volun- tarily setting themselves apart as "different". I would not wish to join an organization of people with large noses because I do not care to admit that this is a han- dicap. If I were four feet in height I would not consciously seek the company of other four- the Wakfer Electronic Company, operated by M. J. Wakfer and W. H. Christmas. These two young veterans of the electronic field, are working through Snap-On Tools of Canada Ltd. Bayfield veterans are holding an unveiling of the memorial plaque in Clan Gregor Square to those lost in World War II. American currency is required to be paid into the banks, rather than to be turned over freely as change. This is because the money is needed for foreign exchange. 40 YEARS AGO THURSDAY, AUGUST 11, 1932 Irwin's, Clinton's leading style shop, is offering full- fashioned pure silk hose at 59 cents a pair. A truck made off with some 90 cases of eggs from the offices of Gunn, Langlois Company and foot men and thus admit that it was a liability. My friend Ronnie has proven that to me. He is neither defiant nor self-pitying about his size, but simply accepts it graciously and thankful that fate has spared him from the wide variety of more crippling disabilities. Every man, he believes, has some deficiency that he must learn to live with, whether it shows or not, and size alone is a serious handicap only if a man chooses to think of it that way. The fact is, I am opposed to all such organizations of special interests or minority groups that tend to separate them from the main stream of life. I oppose religious or racial organizations where the mem- bers are really trying to escape, to find a protective coloring among their fellows, I oppose organizations that put up any kind of barriers or which come into existence mainly because their member- ship shares an irritation or a fad. I'm cool to every Junior League, all Caldeonian societies, all businessmen's ser- vice clubs,, all groups which did the same thing in Thedford the next night. Police will have to put on strong glasses and go after these robbers. Steve Stothers has been appointed agricultural representative at Wellington County, with headquarters in Arthur. 55 YEARS AGO THURSDAY, AUGUST 9, 1917 Saturday night saw a coal oil famine in town. With oil at 25 cents a gallon here, you would imagine there would be lots of it. Magistrate Andrews instructed the county constables to pour some good booze down the sewers last Friday, which had been seized in Hullett Township. Fines were imposed upon the two farmers. The contribution of the Brucefield Red Cross for July was 20 sets of pyjamas and 95 pairs of socks. The little folks' knitting brigade had their photos taken last week. There are 14 (one boy)from 7 to 12 years old. They are fine knitters, all doing their bit for king and country. 75 YEARS AGO WED., AUGUST 11, 1897 The other day a lad picked up a gold watch and chain near the station stock yards. We have not learned of the owner yet. While the local apple yield seems to be very light, there is from outside indications, an abundance. However, Huron's King, in the person of Mr. D. Cantelon, is again on the warpath and buying all the apples he can get of good quality. In apples alone, Mr. Cantelon has spent in this section hundreds of thousands of dollars, and we would be' pleased to note that he had made more money than he has. erect walls of limiting interests and aims. I have never been a joiner simply because the things I am asked to join are always an in- vitation to insularity. When B'nai B'rith opens its imembership tions thet M a cTa getting h in- terested and the St. Andrew's Society nnens its membership to the art terested in belonging. It strikes me that when the five-foot people meet in one hall and the seven-foot people meet in another they merely en- courage prejudices and ignorance which is a disservice to themselves and to those who are unlike them. They'd all be better off to join their local United Nations society. I'm always astonished at how people will seek out orders of their own persuasion or limitations to huddle together, as it were, in the safety of num- bers. The classic case was an Organizationn onofsIetgiduiivtuidr in th Individualists, complete world of group identity which, I'm happy to say, folded as swif- tly as will, I hope, this proposed club of the short people. Wear a government- approved LIFE- JACKET when Water skiing. Have a lookout man in your tow-boat.