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Clinton News-Record, 1974-04-04, Page 44,--CLINTON .NEWS-RECORD: THURSDAY, APRIL 4, 1974 Editorial Comm'ent. Fighting the dragon 6 Huron Member of Parliament Bob McKinley is fighting an uphill battle in his attempts to have parts of Vanastra,, the former C'FB Clinton, turned into an Olympic training site, Mr. McKinley has been fighting a bureaucratic nightmare for the last several years trying to get the govern- ment to fulfill a promise that probably will never be carried out. When CFB was closed several years ago, Prime Minister Trudeau had promised that federal assistance would be available to areas of slow growth where an armed forces base- had been closed. So far, at least as far as we know, not a single federal dime has--- found its way to the former base. Any hope of the 'sperts ;facilities at Vanastra were dashed on Tuesday (April 2) when Mr. McKinley learned frlom-NOr- man Cafik, parliamentary. secretary to the minister of health and welfare that the "feasibility of permanent sites fOr the moment is unlikely because of the dif- ficulty of assembling athletics in any one site for any length of time and the adap-i tability of such sites to facilitate the con- ditions for any Olympic program of some 20 events." Which is political doubletalk for: "Bob, go bother somebody else, I'm too busy with 'more important things." Fortunately, we here in Huron County are made of stronger stuff and haven't depended on the Federal government to get us back on our feet, otherwise, we would have long since succumbed. Despite Mr. McKinley's arguments that all the required facilities are available right here at Vanastra or in the case of water sports, are only a few miles away, his pleas have fallen on deaf ears. Wet pants The Canadian Radio and Television ,Commission's recommendation this week that •-•all'commercials should be banned from the Canadian Broadcast Corporation's radio and TV leaves us a • "tittle dumbfounded. Who is supposed to pick up the tab for the millions of dollars in revenue that will be lost? Why you and I of course, through our taxes. And besides, when would a person get a chance to raid the refrigerator or use the washroom if there weren't any com- mercials. Why we can see the headlines now, "Thousands wet pants during tense Stanley Cup final." "Streaker, nothing— I'm a . consumer!" . . The Jack Scott Column Stomach trouble Is ours a civilized society? It was one of those incidents that was almost incredible. Yet it occurred in our so-called civilized society here in North America. A couple in their 90's, living in poverty in Schenectady, New York, was found dead recently -- evidently having frozen to death because they had not paid power bills of about $250. The couple had lived in their rundown cottage for 40 years. But because they were behind in their payments for a few months, the power company cut off their electric power. This, in turn,, caused the gas furnace that heated;t the house to 4, stop operating. The two old people froze to death in. temperatures of about 12 degrees above zero. Who is to blame for this needless tragedy? Partly the poiier company, of course. But essentially It is the imper- sonal, urbanized society which we have created, and in which many millions of us now are forced to live. That crew that was' ordered to cut off the power almost certainly had no idea that two helpless old people were being condemned to'death, a horrible death by freezing. It is all very well for a local per; to say that the couple, Frank and Katherine Baker, had been fiercely in- dependent. The truth is that after 40 years in one home, they did not wish to leave. In a more normal, more humanistic society, a way would have been found to pay their outstanding power bill. As the Western, world moves into# a •,troubled 1974, perhaps it ought to take another - look at the less affluent, traditional societies of Asia and Africa where human values differ. Can we call ours a Christian society when two old people are allowed/ to freeze to death in their' house because they owe $250 to a power company? (contributed) . • Sugar and Spice/By Bill Smiley About my wife, kids and Germany From our early files • • • • Member, Canadian Community Newspepar Association atember, Ontario Wieldy spar Asseelatien THE CLINTON NEW ERA Established 1865 Amalgamated 1924 THE HURON NEWS-RECORD Established 1881 Clinton News-IZEkconl Published every Thursday at Clinton, Ontario Editor - Jame* E. Fitzgerald General Manager, J. Howard Aitken Second Chills Mall registration no. 0111? 111 4P VAL wir 4b* 1?3 HUB O'F HURON COUNtY This is going to be a shot-gun column, instead of the usual coherent, unified, lucid examination of a single topic. I'm going to aim in all direc- tions at once and pull both triggers. Reason is I've got to get ready to go to Germany on Sunday and have a lot to do. Like shine my shoes, and change $12 into rubles or whatever they use, and get my wife to iron some shirts, and, uh, get her to pack my bag, and, uh, well, a lot of important things. First of all, I've rediscovered a maxim that was already an- cient when Moses looked out over the promised land: women are not- only unpredictable, but unreasonable. My wife had known for about a month that I might be going to Germany on the winter break. She thought it was great for me. "It'll be a nice change for you. And it'll do you good to get away from me for a few days, You must get sick of me." I lied politely, as usual. Told her I didn't need a change, that I could scarcely bear the thought of being separated, and that the very idea of being sick of her was nauseating. Then I came home one day and told her it was all set, but that she couldn't go. "When?", she queried, knowing it would be several months off, and that there might be an earthquake or a flood or something in the meantime. "Oh, I guess Sunday night", I responded casually, serene in the knowledge that she was in favour of the trip, She burst into tears, My next topic also deals with the family, and with ari aqueous event. Aside from a rainstorm, 'have you ever been soaked from a great height? I have, Last Sunday, I was thoroughly enjoying playing with Iny grandson. He's old enough now to be played with, without fear that he'll break. I had him under the ar- mpits and was hoisting him in the air, making those ridiculous sounds that would make grand- father blush crimson if they ever heard them on tape. A look of pure glee passed across the kid's face, and I thought, "By golly, he knows me, and he's enjoying his gran- dad." Next second, I was soaked from shoulder to knee. It was warm, and at first I thought I'd burst a painless blood vessel. But it was the wrong .colour. It's not -unpleasant at first. Rather like taking a warm, salt bath with your clothes on. It's when it begins to cool... There's not much more to be developed there, so I'll turn to topic three: exams, which we have just gone through a session of. • Nothing is more depressing than starting to mark a set of exam papers, and finding that the first five you mark are failures. You are filled with self-doubt. "Have I not taught them anything? I'm a failure as a teacher. I should go back to the shoe factory, If everybody fails, I'll be fired, because in this system, if you're teaching failures, you're a failure as a teacher, regardless of any other factors." Then you pick up a paper and the student has understood what you've taught, and ap- plied it, and used some brains of its own, and it's a ninety per- center. Hallelujah! And you're hooked for another year, There is only'one thing worse than marking exam papers. That is supervising the writing of them. The quaint old word for this function is "in- vigilating." It sounds kind of dirty, but it isn't, ,lust utterly boring. You are figuratively locked in a room for two hours with about 35 teenagers. That alone is a fate worse than death, for some people. Personally, I'd rather be locked in with 35 students than with 35 balloons. Then begins two hours of hell. The kids are supposed to be tense, nervous, straining every brain cell to do well. They're about as tense as a hibernating bear. Susie takes off her shoes, assumes a yoga position, and looks out the win-- .dow. Jack's crutch, a relic of skiing and a broken leg, falls on the floor, and you jump a foot, while the victims snicker. . Ypu resort, after the first hour, to such things as counting greasy hair versus washed hair, bras versus braless, big clumsy boots versus sneakers, You look up at the picture on the wall of the Queen, on whom somebody has drawn a moustache. You fill in, with your imagination, sideburns, and realize the Queen would have been pretty dashing in 1580. You look out the window at the dirty snow-banks •and dream of a beach or a trout stream. You whip around, aware you were drifting, to see if anyone is cheating. Nobody is. Except Joe, who has given up after half an hour of tongue and pen working together, and is sound asleep, head on arms. An early fly buzzes, Warned you this would be a shotgun column. But I think I've covered everything on the home fron` Put? Next despat.th will be from Germany. I promise it will be loaded with fraulein, gernutlichheit, blutwurst, put= aches and other Teutonic goodies. Let's see now, if I remember my Deutsch, "Was maker) sie hier? "Wie vil hur ist es? Nich rauchen bevor der zug halte. Ich bin sin. krieggefangeriner, Wo bist die scheisshauS?" Reckon get along, While the United Nations is studying the question of human rights, I suggest they look into the right to eat as you please. You don't hear much about this, but Freedom of Appetite is as much in peril as any other. Maybe more. The intolerance of the •white man to the black man, which most of us deplore, may be wiped from the face of the earth. But I see 'no hope for bringing to an end the • in- tolerance of the oyster-eater to the non-oyster-eater or the olive-lover to the olive-hater or the chicken chow' mein en- thusiast to the man whose taste buds abhor chicken chow mein. , There is no,4reasonable hope that the man with the big. ap petite will ever grant. equality to the man with the pipsqueak appetite. I speak as a man cursed with appetite of a finch. All my life I have been surrounded by relatives and friends whoSe greatest joy is to confront •a mountain of meat and potatoes, to demolish it, and to fall back with little groans and belches 10 YEARS AGO April 2, 1964 Owing to ill health, Fred P. Arkell, chairman of the Trustee Board of the Police Village of Bayfield has handed in his resignation. He regrets his decision but he is very ap- preciative of the support he has, received in the past four years. The meeting of the Trustee Board for the Police Village of Bayfield on March 26 could prove to be a historic event for residents of Bayfield. "The Case for Incorporation of Bayfield" a compilation of thoroughly researched facts . was presented at this meeting. The report was signed by Brigadier F,A. Clift, H.H. Or- mond and Fred Watson. The proposal will be put to vote to, the ratepayers on April 10. For the second time in the past three years, Clinton Legion Juveniles have eliminated Hespeler in the OHA Juvenile "B" semi-finals. The Clinton Juveniles won the game in Hespeler by a score of 5-3. The local team is now ex- pected to go right into the OHA Juvenile "B" finals for the sec- and year in a row. They were finalists last year against Parry Sound. A Clinton rink skipped by E. Beecher Menzies, 'on Tuesday evening the Royal Bank of Canada trophy at theSeaforth curling club, Clayt Dixon was vice-skip; George Cutter, second; and Len Archanabault of Auburn was lead. Only three of Clinton's new 7-man planning board and eight other citizens were present to hear John Pearson, Community Planning Branch, Department of Municipal Af- fairs speak at a public meeting Thursday, Those few present heard Mr. Pearson repeat many of the suggestions he made at a public meeting some four yeara ago. The new Clinton RIC hydro , sub-station on East Street will be known AS E. Perdue of delight. "Oh," they will cry, "I did make a proper pig of myself"--a remark filled with a curious self-esteem. Someone is bound to say, "Poor .Jack, he doesn't eat enough to keep a canary alive." Then I will be exposed to •the glances of -pity and scorn which the , heavy eater reserves for the man with the light appetite. I am made to feel that I am unmanly, sickly, slightly exotic figure, an object of suspicion,' perhaps even a foreign spy. This is of course, a two-sided affair. My own intolerance of heavy eaters is a terrible thing. I hate myself for it. Confronted by a table full of Henry VIII. types, „intent on fitting their great bellies,. I feel my'''. eyes narrowing, my sym• patliy curdling. This is especially true of these friends of mine who must have their meat raw, a choice they are per- fectly free to make, but which I like to consider' an affectation to be lumped with moustache- ,growing, retaining of military rank in civilian life, and other contemptuous acts. station in honour of the veteran commissioner. 25 YEARS AGO April 6, 1949 The Clinton Lions Club is greatly encouraged by the response being made by the Clinton citizens and the people in the district to the Easter Seal Campaign to aid crippled children. Clinton's new Chief of Police, Jack P. Hinchberger, moved into his new home 'On Albert Street in the Snider 'apartment on Friday and assumed 'his new . duties on Saturday. The; Chief has been doing quite a 1,bit of checking up on (111,ffic violations. Just when we 'were congratulating ourselves that spring really was here with its spring floods, King Winterap- neared on the scene once again this week with the result that it i `is very cold out. A near tragedy was averted at Bayfield on Tuesday evening when Tom Kestle Jr. was able to rescue and save the life of Jack Cameron. Mr, Cameron was paying a visit to the Bayfield River when he ac- cidentally fell into the swollen swirling waters. Dr. John Shaw, one of Huron COunty's most widely known, and highly esteemed residents was honoured at an informal meeting of the directors of fthe Huron Central Agricultural Society last Thursday evening when he was the recipient of a Departmental certificate "for meticulous service to 'agriculture" and a complimen- tary address. A ceremonial parade with colour party and band in atten- dance marked the observance Friday last of the RCAF's 25th anniversary at the RCAF's No. I Radar & Cotti: munications Schnol, Clinton. 50 YEARS AGO April 3, 1924 Owing to sickness on staff, some of the roomS are having a At almost any dinner party where steaks are to be ordered, I sit in sorrow as each diner asks for his meat "very rare." When I, in turn, order mine "well done" I know that I will feel their glances on me. It is as if they had suddenly encoun- tered a strange and rather loathsome bug. In self-defence, I am bound to make some remark about cannibalism or to mouth some nasty reference to their large stomachs, Unhappily, in recent years, I have developed an im- mense pot myself, which does not escape • notice. The raw-meat eater is prone to associate his taste with masculinity and I have seen lit- tle fellows with handkerchiefs tucked in their coat sleeves who will behave over an uncooked and defenceless piece of beef as if it were a lion they had per- sonally strangled with bare hands. A particularly glaring exam- ple of this intolerance occurred at our place last weekend. It involved a bucket of oysters and, as it happens, I am something of a glutton myself few holidays. Needless to say the pupils are not sorry. Most are down with colds. Mr. George Tomlin, who has been connected with the Bell Telephone Co. here for several years as the local "trouble man", has been transferred to Stratford. He will take over his new duties this week. Mrs. Tomlin and the fathily will reside here for the present'c A terrific gale of wind prevailed here all day yester- day. The roof of Central Hotel in Exeter was completely torn off and deposited in the backyard. W.J. Acheson, the proprietor, has been unable to give an estimate of the damage. A board fence on the school property was also demolished. The council in Blyth have decided to go `ahead with the cement paving of Queen and Dinsley Streets. The work will commence soon and should be finished by this year. Mr, A.S. Inkley of Stratford is now on the job as "trouble man" of the Bell Telephone Co., taking the place of George Tomlin. Mr. O.M. Chowen, who has when oysters are involved. Our friend Burwash was staying with us and, when in- formed of the oyster orgy, said in a matter-of-fact voice, "I never did like oysters." Everyone wheeled on the poor fellow. It was as if he'd said, "I never did like mothers." "You must like oysters," I snarled at him. "Everyone likes oysters," someone else hissed. "Why don't you like oysters?" 'my wife demanded. Burwash fell back. I could see that he was alarmed. He began to stammer, and a terrible look of guilt came to his face. It was the end for him. Soon he found himself left out of every conversation. His ideas had become the ideas of a non-oyster-lover and con- sequently dross. The face we had all loved seemed suddenly sinister and I, caught myself wondering what other strange frustrations the man possessed. He left, a broken man, un- willing to the last to mend his ways, and I can only hope that someday he will come to his senses. filled the post of Station Agent of the now Canadian. National for the past' four years with so much acceptance is to be promoted to Kincardine. Mr. and Mrs. George Kirby, of Brussels, have been married for sixty-four years. Mr. Kirby served the Township of Morris as councillor for eight years and four years as deputy reeve. They are the only remaining members of their respective families. 75 YEARS AGO April 6, 1899 A London friend sent Mr. George Swallow a trio of Black Javas the other day. The Javas are a hardy breed of fowl, will stand severe weather and mature early. Mr. Swallow has been thinking of purchasing some Javas for some time so the gift was most appropriate. When the C.P.R. build an ex- tension to Goderich, Clinton is to have a station. They are un- sure of the starting origin will be Guelph or Drumbo, but the station officials recognize the impoqance of Clinton as a shipping and railway centre and will not pass it by. we get letters Badges Dear Editor: In the paper of March 7, 1974 in the "From our early files"column, there is a piece in 'the 75 Years Ago part about the debate at the Baptist Church under the topic of "Women's Equality." In the debate, it mentioned a Mr. Bezzo. I was wondering if you could tell me Mr. Bezzo's first name as I' believe he could be some relation to me as I am a former Clinton resident. I'm still quite interested ,in the community's affairs, and I also like the column written by Jabez Rands. Keep up the good work Mr. Rands. I really enjoy the News-Record. Yours truly, Douglas Bezzo RR 2, Thamesford, Ont. (Editor's note: the only men- tion of•Mr. Bezzo's name refers to him as Mr. C. Bezzo. This is the only name we were able to find.) Early files Dear Editor: I hope that you may be so kind and find me a small space in your newspaper for my quest. I have a very interesting hobby of collecting regimental badges. I do have a fair collec- tion to date and have been collecting now since my discharge from the Royal Army Service-Corp in 1966, My main interest is the badges of the Canadian Armies and especially the C.E.F. and old. militia badges. I understand that there are some very nice badges in Canada. I am very anxious to fill in gaps in my collection and wish that some kind readers may be able to assist me in my quest for any military badges. Bert Pike. News-Record readers are en- couraged to express their opinions in letters to the editor, however, such opinions do not necessarily represent the opinions of the News-Iteoord. Pseudonyms may be used by Wm writers, but no letter wIN be published unless It can be verified by phone. Shooting Dear Editors This letter is in reply to an article in The Free Press Satur- day, February 23. "Shoot a deer, prevent a crash," was its heading. The article told of Rene Jones' proposal of having a deer-hunting season in Huron County because of the numbers of deer-automobile crashes in the past few years. I would like to promote an automobile-hunting season - a month of great sport for we bazooka shooters. Wouldn't it be more sensible to rid our- selves of the man-made destruction implement, the car, o than to niurcier nature's in- nocent creatures? The automobile excretes poisonous carbon monoxide and it murders people, animals and vegetation. Cars rust and die in our lovely wrecking yards and certainly are 'eyesores and pollution. How can we accept the presence of that over the purely natural deer, a most graceful animal? The deer excretes natural fer,•,• tilizer, exhales carbon dioxide into our air for plants to use and provides food for other animals. I feel this issue is a matter of values and it is time that man started to look inward to find his place in relation to nature and God and to understand his reason for existence. • Maura Gascho Zurich