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Clinton News-Record, 1974-07-25, Page 44--cuNroN NEWS-RECORD, rotaisPAY, Juror go, 1974 Ectitorial comment Something to be proud of This writer had a chance last week to Make his first visit to the Huron COuntY Pioneer Museum in Goderich, and after seeing the fine display, we are left won. daring why we didn't go much sooner, Apparently, many other people in Huron County think the same way, because according to curator Raymond Scotchmer of Bayfield, most of the visitors are from outside the County. It seems the closer to home something is, the less we appreciate it. And the Pioneer Museum is a prime exaMple of that axiom. The museum is, without a doubt, one of the finest museums of its kind in Canada and Any Huron County resident would be proud to boast of that fact, if they had all seen it„ The museum is subsidized by Huron taxpayers, and it is one area where no one could complain they aren't getting full value for their tax dollar. The museum. Is so extensive, that one could spend a whole day at it carefully exploring every nook and cranny, It would alio be an excellent spot to take visitors, both young and old alike, when they come to visit you. It's a per- feet way to spend at least half a day and' at $1 for. adults and 75c for students, it's one of the best entertainment buys anywhere. Many of the items on display were donated Or loaned by people of Huron . County and 'their authenticity must be seen to be believed. It's well worth the trip. Police cells needed It is obvious from Monday night's disturbance that resulted in heavy damage to the town's new police cruiser, that one of the priorities of the Clinton council when they make up their minds about the fate of the town hall„is the need for a couple of jail cells in' town. For 'the second time this month, a disturbance resulted when police tried to take their arrested•prisoners to Strat- ford to be jailed. Had there been a cell in Clinton', much of these run-ins could be averted. The present cells, of wooden construction,' were condemned several years ago and • haven't been used since. As well, the town faces enormous costs each month on the police budget for prisoner escort. As.well as the high overtime bill paid to the ,constables to driVe all the way to Stratford,.there is the added expense of fuel, and the town goes without 'a police cruiser for hours on end. Clinton is now the only town in Huron County that doesn't have an overnight cell; and it's about time we did. If you think so too, call the mayor or a coun- 'cillor and voice your opinion, they are always reCeptive to, inquiries from their electors. Let the people decide The Jack Scott Column i• 110 The snooper Sugar and Spice/By Bill Smiley More on my stocks From our early files . • • • 0 • • AmoNornoted 1024 rtie C;1,INTON NEW ERA. Established. 1865 THE HURON NEWS-RECORD Established 1881 Mornboto °Marto Weekly 10J•wogisper Aseoclutlon Pubilithod "ivory Thutodity at Clinton, Ontario Editor Jornio E. Flt.kgoistid TN( NOME INI CAlt.ADA" Gonorsit Mohogik, J. Howard Aitken Second Class Moll rOglotration no', Wit Momber, Catisdlin community kratipispier Mroclation HUB Of HURON COUNt felt by some Hensall residents. Pauline Hono'ria Holland arrived in London, Ontario fresh from Herne Bay, Kent, England. She is the only daughter of Mrs. Norman Fitz., simmons, Clinton, and . they have not seen each other for three years. J, George' Melay manager of the Royal Bank• of .Canada, Clinton was the lucky, winner of the Dodge 'club coupe automobile given as the major prize at the third annual Car- nival of Bayfield Lions Club in Bayfield Lions Park last night.. Bisset Bros received a cer- tificate of Longtime Production from the Holstein Fresian Association of Canada, The cow has a 'total of 116,070 lbs milk 50 YEARS AGO July 24, 1024 Miss Bertha Cmi, daughter of Mr. and. Mrs.. G.D.• Cox, who recently went to London to write ,on her music examination, passed with first class honours her first grade • • pianoforte. • ' , Miss Rena Pickett, 'who has' been the very capable 'assistant at the local post office for some years past,' has: resigned: Mr, J.W. Stevenson has beer,' rather. /under the, weather during the pat week, At a meeting of the Huron County Fruit 'Growdr's''• Council held irothe office of the Depart- roent of Agriculture last.week, it was arranged to hold a .County• Fruit Show on Wed- nesday November 5th: C.G.•Middleton has been in Stratford attending meetings of the 'Liberal - Conservative Association. The Harris Knit Company has installed another machine at their . factory. Orders are piling up which keeps the fac— tory running at top speed all the time.'. Erskine Evans has obtained a position as science master at Dunnville High School. Mrs.- Clara rtu.mball is visiting in Windsor with her son, Ray Rumball, David Cantelon has been in Morris Township Deputy Reeve James Mair hit the nail right on the .head' recently when discussing the proposed, restructuring of Huron County, says the Blyth Standard, Amid a great .deal of confused discussion Mr, Mair suggested that any proposal for restructuring should be put before the people of the county° for a • vote. It's about' the ' ;most sensible thing were 'heard eVei6. ;sinc e first Carrie up under its former name, regional governmeht. County council decided at the meeting that a Idcal committee would be set up to study restructuring rather than pay a big fee to a consulting firm, If the members are objective enough, thiS should be a good move. The council should draw up proposals for restruc- turing and then put them before the had tried his best to heal, the, wounds of that experience. It was'as if he'd ptit a Band-Aid over a shotgun wound. He had come to realize, he said, that all groups tend to be critical pf absent friends and that he, had caught himself in precisely this situation. "It's really just a way of fortifying your own ego by deflating others, isn't it?" be observed. "Everyone does it,?: I found— myself wondering then if each of us might not be a less trusting wayfarer, lonelier in the society we choose, if we knew others really thought or said of us. All of this, told Under an oath of secrecy, came back to 'me when I read of The • Snoopei. I felt I had to write something as a warning to ';`piYone,,tempteci, to tiny, kt,„ 'eln a sense I, 'feel 'as strongly about it :as Tom. I was one 'of the guests, you see, that, he'd . left behind that fateful 'after- noon. To this day I don't know . what ,I said, Last week, faithful readers, if there are any left, followed the enthralling, if not appalling, ac- count of my meteoric career in the financial world. I had suggested that I felt I was being caught in the middle of a great financial squeeze when someone offered to buy me Peel-Elder stock at $13 a share. I smelled something peculiar and promised I'd try to get to the bottom of it. I haven't, but I hate to part with those twenty-five shares of Peel-Elder. I've had them as long as I've had my wife, They are all that's left of my second and final savage attack on the stock market, My first was rather deflating, as I men- tioned last week. But the second time around, I didn't take any chances. It was only when a trusted stock- broker told me Eldridge Mines was going to be the hottest thing on the market, that I carefully 'bought 1,000 shares. They cost me $330, The broker was a former prisoner-of-war, so could be trusted implicitly. The stock held firm, went up about five cents a share in a week, and this time there ac- tually was a producing gold mine. I reckoned I was in Biscuit City, as we say in these parts. What nobody told me was that there was more Money in gravel than there was in gold, in those days, and for many years to corne. I should have bought a gravel pit. I have previously related how that 1,000 shares of Eldridge has shrunk to 25 shares of Peel-Elder, so I 'won't bore you. But I did learn one of the inevitable, or so it seems to me, laws of stoeks. Every time a company gets bigger, t have fewer stoplts, Eldridge expanded, beanie 44, known as Elder; with a lot of new capital and great prospects in the offing. I was told thaffor my 1,000 shares of that cheap little old Eldridge, I would get 120 shares of this tremendona new Elder. There was no money 'in gold mining, apparently, (so Elder became Peel-Eider and got. heavily into real estate. Assets increased, , profits rose, and Smiley wound up with something like' 12t1'2 shares of Peel-Elder, There was one halcyon period when Peel-Elder went • up to more than $20 a share, I was tempted to sell, I could have come out only about $100 in the hole, after twenty years. Not bad, that. But I hung in there. Then, about': year ago, Peel- Elder, with a flamboyant burst of something or other, informed me that, as a lOyal shareholder, .1 could have two shares for every one I had. I don't remember the details. I think you had to be a white Anglican with some teeth missing, a bad back, and no more or less than two children, neither of them self-supporting, Something like that, Anyway, I qualified. That's how I wound up with 25 shares of Peel-Elder. And now along comes an impressive brochure from an outfit called Harribro Canada Limited with an offer to buy at $t3 a share. In February and March I could have sold tor about $14, Hambro is a Canadian af- filiate of,Hambros Ltd, a Lon- don, England, based inter- national merchant banker, with a good many fingers in a good many pies. • Hambro Canada Ltd. already Owns almost 60 percent of Peel,-Elder, but wants to buy the rest. Most Of the directors and of- ficers of Peel-Elder are .also directors or officers of •Hambro Canada. Limited. ' • Are you confused? Me too.„ It's pretty obviously a takeover of an established Canadian cor- .poration by a British-based cor- poration, with somebody probably about to make a pot of bullion in the proceSs. • ,And here's something else that puzzles, 'me: After thirty- odd years of watching Peel- Elder grow from a sickly little gold mine 'into a husky Cor- poration, and watching my share of the cake diminish from a small wedge to a crumb, I suddenly get two whacking great dividend cheques from Peel-Elder. One for $2,94, the other for $1.50. Wouldn't you be wary when you'd not received a dividend for three decades and suddenly got two in one mail? The offer to buy me out, from Hambro Canada Ltd., states rather sternly that the offer will expire July 23rd.' If I accept the offer, I will receive $325, The stock cost me $330 thirty years ago. And' Trudeau would probably want a capital gains tax if I sold. Well, there we are. I started out In a quandary and I've en' ded in a quagmire, I wish I'd put that original IWO into a couple of beach lots which would now be worth $20,000. wish I'd gone into pig farming. I wish I could win a sweep- stake, However, that's the way it goes with us chaps who play the market. We accept the fact that we're compulsive gamblers and take our losses with a stiff lower lip, But I Won't sell that stock. Let them fight it out, the core notate hum, Columnists, too, must rigidly obey. the newspaperman's car- dinal ,rule .of never breaking a confidence: . I wouldn't even attempt this piece today, which will be full of disguise and camouflage to Protect the central figure, had I 'not seen the advertisement for a deVice called The Snooper and realized my duty to recon- struct Tom's story. Tom, I need hardly add, is not his name. The. Snooper, to. get 'right to the point, is. . an electronic device "guaranteed to •amplify conversations• 500 feet away." •It was deVeloped in the States for ',short-range spying." It weighs a mere' four pounds, yet beamed at a voice well beyond normal hearing range .will register it 'loud and clear. The advertisement I saw was' headed, ."Have Fun!" -was the„;„idea of having faun "'that incInCed Tom to, make the experiment he'll regret. to.his dying day, a whim that, in his case, caused a man .who 'thought he had everything to feel . that he really had 10 YEARS AGO July,23, 1964 • The Mexican Bean Beetle is affecting bean crops in Many areas of the county, The population of the .Bean Beetle has 'not* :yet made spraying neeeasary, • although the .situation' is reaching the breaking point, ' • • The first sod was turned in Seaforth' Friday for .an $802,000, 47-bed hospital. The nevabuilding is to'oo erected on a site overlooking Silver Creek and will replace the 33-bed Scott Memorial Hospital now considered Obsolete. , Mr. •and Mrs. Bert Gibbings, RR 4 Clinton-returned Monday from a pleasant trip to the Eastern . States and the Maritime Provinces. They , joined the members Of the Canadian Guernsey 'Breeders Association at Moncton, N.B,, where the . group went on a . planned tour of Nova Scotia. Jill Goldsworthy, daughter of Mr. and Mrs, Alfred Goldswor- 'thy of RR 1 Clinton has been awarded the first Father Reed- Lewis Memorial by the Catholic Women's, League, She won the award with a Grade Eight average of 90 ,percent, i n June examinations, • ' Mrs. Robert Scotchmer :petit several days last week at Kin- tou, staying with friends the Rev, and Mrs. Gay, 25 YEARS AGO July 21, 1949 Cattle on the whole, are in good shape, because of the ex- cellent recuperation of pasture since the weather unproved about a month ago, R. Gordon Bennett Clinton agricultural representative for Huron County informed the News- Record today. Clinton District Collegiate Institute Board held its July meeting in the Collegiate In- stitute with chairman A. M, Knight oroidiCg. The earthquake tremor felt in Exeter on Priday last was nothing at all. Given 'a rainy day, a„ slight excess of the grape and a lull in the fishing, the snug cabin of a small. cruiser is calculated to make the strongest men babble their innermost secrets. These were the circumstances under which Tom told me of •his ex- perience, A couple of years ago, it seems, he was given an expen- sive tape recorder, as a Christ-• mas gift, On Boxing Day, enter- taining a group of friends in his apartment, he Was called away on urgent business. On an im- pulse, 'without telling anyone, be switched on the, recorder and left it running. ' ' It was not a malicious. act, you, understand. It would be a million laughs, he thought, to play it back 'to the assembled guests on his return„As it hap- pened, his rettit4s 'clelaYed by hours. 'When he finally returned the guests had depar- ted, the tape had run its Course, Tom poured himself a drink and, Chuckling and grinning,' sat dow,n 'to listen. , The roinutds that followed must' have been crushing. Through the.sOunds of clinking glasses and ' the mumble of party talk came the voices of his, guests, dissecting him by . conversational surgery. • It came to him that he had been no more than 60"seconds from the room' before' they set- tled, •like vultores; on., the weaknesses of his character. He heard • his then fiancee laughingly deriding the forceful • ,opinions that, he'd thought, she • wholly admired. He heard his closest friend :recounting and relishing an episode in which he, ..Torn, had looked foolish. He sat there, •stunned, pouring' liquor,,,,into himself to fill the emptiness 'where his self-esteem had•been, ancr,some of the light Of the-world bebn to fade. . As we talked this rainy day in the cabin of his small cruiser Tom ' said • many reflective things that clearly indicated he False Dear Editor: The comments of Ontario Federation of Agriculture President Frank Wall.• about Hydro's.' new .policy for acquiring land for•trarismission line rights of •way creates a false impression .of how • much property owners will be paid. 1. Hydro has always paid 100 percent market value for land it buys, plus injurious affection to the remaining lands of an *owner where applicable. The new policy, however,•allows for additional ' compensation beyond that for such things as disturbanCa to a bonafide farm operation. 2. If the owner wishes to grant'an easement for the right of way instead of selling, payment is 75 percent of. market value for the basic property rights without any towers. Additional compen- sation. will be paid for each tower located on the easement based on an allowance of 75 iptreent.of market value for one • acre for the first tower, 80 per- cent. for the second tower and continuing to increase by.5 per- cent for each additional tower. If towers are involved, the total payment for. an easement can be in excess of 100 percent of market value, depending on the number of •towers. ,Mr. Wall noted that our new policy ,did not spell out that • Hydro should buy an, entire .farm if the transmission line right of way took so' much land that the farm becomes uneconomical to work... As in the .paSt, if the owner and HYdro agree that the . property is made unworkable because of Hydro's need, then we will buy it all, It is im- possible to be more definite than that: The owner' 'mist agree., to .sell the. whole property, because Hydro cannot prove the necessity of ex- propriation. ' A key element of the new policy is that, generally speaking, all prOperty needed will be expropriated. This is • not for. Hydro's convenience or benefit. By following this prac tice, all property owners will placed on the same footing and, most important, all will b assured that their rights ar safeguarded under the province's ' Expropriation 'Procedures Act. Mr. Wall commented in les than affectionate' terms abou the' alleged conduct of som Hydro property agent's in dealing with owners. This has been tediously echoed by the Ontario Federation o Agriculture during: the past year without, valid basis or sup- porting facts. In response,. I can • only quote from our Code of Field Practices which is im- pressed upon all our agents: "There is no place for an autocratic manner. Every representative should at all times be courteous—infor- ,mative and fattaal...of the in- dividual owner's concerns." Copies of this manual are available to any property Owner who wants one. nespite Mr. Wall's criticism, he does admit, "If these changes annouri- ced...by the top brass get carried out in the fields, far- mers will indeed benefit." Let me assure your readers that this poliey will be followed by every Hydro employee, If it is not, I would like to hear about it. Yours very truly, H. )1. Hawley for Director of Property we get letters Trust Dear Editor; It seems rather pathetic tha country people apparently can' go to bed M night with true that their possessions will b intact in the morning, • Such was not the case at•tb Mac Elliott farm on th' eleventh con. south o Holmesville, last Tuesday nigh some time between 11 p.m. an morning, a sneaky thief stopPe at the gate and after durnpin an old iron sap kettle o beautiful flowers, made off with the kettle. Whoever took it must take great pleaSure in looking at it with a guilty conscience. • Mrs. M:, Elliott • RA 3, Clinton, Exprtitt? Toronto 'for.. 'several days on busineSs. ' 75 YEARS AGO July 27, -1899 Mr. R.G.. Webb, our enter- prising miller, is working at the dam with a 'large staff..It is a big job as Mr. Webb' is going to, make it strong and durable this time. There was always trouble with this dam in the ospring when the ice was breaking up, but he is now going to put up a darn that . ought to stand anything. ' • Mr. Peter Cook, a highly esteemed resident of Goderich Township, intends' moving into Clinton in a few weeks and set- tling down to the joys of ,residence, He has hired John Cantelon who will live in the, house and do the bulk of the plowing, sowing and reaping. Miss Eva Stephenson, who for the past couple of years has resided in Jackson, Mich., returned to town yesterday. She was accompanied by Mrs. Colwell of the same place who will be her guest for some time. people of the county for their approval or disapproVal. • Many, including provincial govern- ment officials, would disapprove of such action of course. They believe, that the people aren't smart enough to. decide ' ' their own future. That. is why the provin- cial government gave the people .in -areas like Niagara no chance to vote for. or against regional government .plans. They, just dropped theha In their laps and 'There kiddies, we knoW 640:. whSt's best, for. you.' . Perhaps at times people 'don't make the, best decision (after all they keep eleCting Bill, Davis and hiS Tories) but you either have to have faith in peoPle.pr • ' • " ..give up paying lip service to Democracy as a form of government. ' In Huron, if noWhere' else, let's opt for. Democracy and give the people a vote • on' their own future.