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The Exeter Times-Advocate, 1961-08-31, Page 4Page 4 The Thnes-.Advoe,ato, Au0ust 31, 19 1. Editorials Attract leaders This newspaper believes the right to express an opinion in .public contributes to the progress of the notion and that It must be exer, cised freely and without prejudice to preserve and improve .demo- critic government, Mayor Pooley's comment last week regard- ing his retirement from office ("I would retire if a qualified man would stand for the position") prompts speculation over the availability of can- didates for the post. The prospect it not bright at the moment. Reeve McKenzie indicates he again may seek the county warden's chair next year, which means. he would be unavailable, Deputy -Reeve Fisher has given no indication that he wishes to leave county council, a form of govt which seems to get in the blood and stick there. Of the councillors, there are some who are qualified from the point of view of length of ser- vice. The question is: do they have time to serve? The mayoralty requires an extensive amount of time, Mayor Pooley and the electors indeed should recognize this devotes an exceptional number of hours to the post, certahily far beyond that for which his salary reimburses him, It niay be argued that he should delegate more authority to his committees yet there are two drawbacks to this. First, in the final analysis, it is the mayor who must assume the major responsibility for council's spending and, second, according to the mayor himself, he is requested to attend to many committee matters simply because the chairmen cannot take time from their business or employ- ment to look after all the details which arise from their responsibilities. Exeter is now in its eleventh year under the status of a town, entitling it to a mayor. There have been three incumbents — B. W. Tuckey, who first won the post; W. G. Cochrane, who served three years, and Mayor Pooley, now completing his seventh terns. In only three of the 11 years have there been elections for the post; altogether there have been six prepared to serve, three of which were successful. It is evident that few men feel they can afford the time to serve in the position of chief magistrate under present conditions. Since the position of mayor is by far the most responsible in town government and since the years ahead, with sewerage imminent, indicate that expert leadership will be required more than ever, the community should give serious consider- ation to ways in which the post can be made more attractive. One of the most obvious would be to in- crease the salary. The present $500 might be Over the mark Regardless of the wisdom of the project •— and there is some doubt about its valve -- Mayor ,Poo.ley and Deputy -Reeve Fisher overstepped their authority when they authorized the replacement of the cement area in front of the town hall. Council, without much study of the situation unfortunately, empowered the property committee to have the fire hall door widened and the floor strengthened to house the two fire trucks. To be sure, the authority formally given was not specific ("necessary repairs" was the wording of the mo- tion) but there was no discussion concerning, the ripping up of the cement approach to the hall at the time. While the cost of the work has not been determined, it may well reach $1,500 or more,. roughly half a mill, The decision to spend this amount was made by two of the nine elected rep- resentatives on council. From the indications given at last week's council meeting, when the project was questioned, a majority may have opposed it had it been brought to full council meeting for approval, There are tines when a committee may be justified in going beyond the authority given it by council but only when the cost is minimal and the benefit obvious, Neither of these reasons can be applied in the town hall case. Council has a duty to the electors to ensure that such spending does not recur, It should re- quire concrete, rather than vague, proposals from its committees for final approval and it should be specific in the authority it delegates in regard to the expenditure of public funds, doubled, not necessarily on the basis of time re- quired but because of the responsibilities involved. This might produce more candidates. Another suggestion is that council consider a modified town manager system, under which a full-time man could be employed to direct and supervise the work authorized by council. Under this type of administration, council would serve more as a board of directors in establishing policy and making decisions on recommendations sub- mitted to it.. The investigations into problems and the projects undertaken to solve them would be the responsibility of the manager. In our opinion, this type of administration should be given serious consideration, even though it may be more costly. and appear to take some control away from the elected, representatives, i�w1.'�'`.�:�:cZWm�'r n.r,..i�x' .s..�:<..:. .X.:.�:.3"�' Y� ......,.. •, ,. ,.... ., 'K;'Z"Et� n�.�x: ,� .....,.,., �...,,,,.. '; Sugar and Spice I have just tried to wade through a novel, written by a woman, which contains 1,085 pages of fine print, And I •use the word "wade" advisedly, It was like lurching through a swamp in a pair of leaking hip waders, with a 100 -pound sack of wet fish on my back, The only thing the novel conveyed to me, after hours and, hours of reading. was something of which I was al- ready aware — that women Calk too much. Now, I'm not trying to be offensive when I say that. I am merely making a scienti- fic observation. It's easy to ut- ter generalities, and 1 don't mean that all women talk too much. No more than a woman means all men, when she states flatly — and I've heard it a hundred times — "Men are selfish, utterly selfish!" She just means all the males she has ever known. And I just mean all the women I've ever known. z * * * I've made something of a study of this, in moments of quiet desperation, and my con- clusions are based on actual a. .. e r or fat, nervous or placid, se- cure or insecure, ugly or beau- tiful, they talk too much, and 1 honestly believe they can't help it. * * * Now, I'm not trying to sug- gest that men are strong, sil- ent types who never open their mouths unless they are about to emit some morsel_ of wis- dom. Some politicians and some preachers can talk more and say less than a whole gag- gle of women. But they're the exceptions. Few men can talk endlessly, without apparent ef. The Reader Comments Likes features To the editor: Please find enclosed a $4,00 money order for which renew my subscriptionto the paper, I would like to mention sev- eral ev•eral things or rather articles which I enjoyed, About a dispensed by Bill Smiley fort, Most women can. And do, I am not suggesting that this is a bad thing, necessarily. The cheerful chirps of the la- dies over the tea -cups is a 'symbol that all's well with the world. The interminable tele - p h o n e conversations about clothes and pickles and what Maisie said to Thelma are re- assuring sounds in the far frons reassuring society. It'is not the talk of women that sends nations reeling into annihilating wars. It is not the talk of women that introduces corruption into public affairs. It is not the talk of women that produces inflation, starva- tion and all the other "ations" that beset us. No, these delights of the modern world are produced by the talking of men. It is the talking of women that hushes the frightened child, that soothes the old person in pain. It is the talking of women that( keeps husbands from polygam' and a fondness for the grave. It is the talking of women that produces better schools and better hospitals. * There's no doubt about it. the hand that :rocks the cra- dle rules the roost, or some- thing. Like the weather, death and taxes, we can look for- ward to the talking of women as a sure thing and while it may fray the nerves to the shrieking point, at Limes, it will not likely do the world any permanent harm. It's also usefulas a weather- vane. Around, our house, the. only time the Old Girl.. ,s r,s talking is when, ne's mad. And when that happens, we all know enough J.o`head for the storm cellars, Fob r the last 20 years or so of life, my Dad pretended he w/ so deaf he couldn't hear ,+ word my mother said. And the longer I'm married, the more I respect his native cun- ning. APEX FINANCE co, (+j to61, nC FeuG„ .SYnrliwfe. world r,ahta rexerv,.,�; ,::,`••.. "He's tall, dark, handsome and paid up!" Machinery pioneer Following our jottings of last week which referred to some of the early businessmen of Exeter as recorded by the late W. H. Johnston in 1938 another man referred to as a friend of the village was the late W. H. Verity. "Unlike Mr. Pickard Mr. Verity had a fair share of education and this was a great help to a man who dared great things" wrote Mr. Johnston, Your library By MRS. JMS Turtles as pets Wondering how to keep in healthy condition that turtle that Junior brought home from the creek?A small booklet in your library of about 30 pages "Turtles as Pets" serves as a guide for the care of these rep- tiles. Many interesting facts are presented telling the different varieties, their care and com- ntort ailments. Many argu- ments are given for keeping turtles as pets: good-natured, odorless, inexpensive to feed, not noisy, long-lived and fin- ally "if your turtle grows too big you can always make deli- cious soup." Greg's Choice Known throughout Canada as a reporter, feature writer and story -teller Gregory Clark is beloved by a multitude of read- ers, many of whom have fol- lowed his writing career for more than 40 years. His first hook, "The Best of Gregory Clark" (stories by the publisher) has been enthusias- tically received by the Cana- dian public andnow the second volume, "Greg's Choice" are his own favorite tales selected from the hundreds he has writ- ten for his popular Weekend Magazine column. Because of his ability to find drama and fun in the most ,:onimonplace events, the ma- jority of these stories are sim- ple tales of ordinary people — told with a gay humor. Never in any of then will you find the stinging shaft of so-called "wit" directed at any person. His wit is never mean or bit- ing and he laughs hardest at himself. There will be few people any- JOTTINGS BY JMS Coming -to Exeter as a corn• partitively young man he opened a blacksmith shop in the north end of the village, then known as Francistown, Al- most at once he realized that farmers were becoming weal- thy and were tired of cutting their grain withthe old-fash- ioned cradle when they heard of the advent of reapers and mowers. 11r. Verity grasped Lhe situa- tion and opened a small. foun- dry in which he began the ma- nufacture of reapers, mowers, the celebrated Verity plows and other agricultural implem ents. Later in association with the Massey -Harris Company the plant was moved to Brantford. This was a serious setback to the village as nearly all of the people who moved were ac- tive in church and village ac- tivities. The loss of the large payroll of the firm was keen- ly felt by the businessmen. At first people thought when the plow works closed that the end of the world had come or something. But no, changed conditions brought a new order o- things. P.S.—The large trick Verity home north of the river has recently been demolished. The Verity foundry which occupied the length of a block on Wellington Street has been replaced with fine homes and the brick building on Main Street which at one time was the Verity office has been torn down to make room for the new Liquor Control building. Following the removal of the Veritys to Brantfordthe foun- dry continued to operate, the last owner being J. Murray & Son. The brick building on Main Street was owned by S. J. V. Cann, who used part of it as a dwelling while the south part was used for the making of apple butter and apple cider during the fall season. where who won't find enjoy- ment in this book. Learn Geography the Easy Way A paper back of Learn the Easy Way series gives a new concept of geography that helps you understand the headlines and the news. The book acquaints you first with whole regions, then re- views individual countries with- in these regions. It's an ideal book for hoarse study, it has a wealth of maps, charts and illustrations to learn the easy way. As the "Times" go by HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE T -A FILES 50 YEARS AGO Mr. Homer Steer of the Mol. sons Bank was moved to Dash- wood last week. Exeter Fall Fair is being held September 18 and 19. Best Crawford peaches are for sale at W. John's old stand one door south of F. Woods' Butcher Shop. iry secured 15 YEARS AGO Peter Fraser, a student at Exeter High. School, stood high- est in Western Ontario in Grade 13 examinations. He won a scholarship of $50 and free tuition up to $125 for two years. Mr. G. W. Lawson has pur- chased from Miss Reta Rowe the residence on James Street formerly owned by Mrs. James eft my fiirns at,„ HUNTLEY' DRUG STORE EXETER in D ' Phone SO QBaa. Don't saddle Dobbin with a Ioaky roof Poor horse. His reward for a lifetime of hard work is rain in the face. Why doesn't the boss get the roof fixed? Even a horse knows that leaks left unattended just get worse. If money's the problem, all that's needed is to apply for a Scotiabank Farm Improvement Loan. A Scotia bank loan is available easily and quickly for repairing buildings, buying new machinery, upgrading livestock, and many other worthwhile projects. Don't wait to get your farm in the shape you want if. Visit your Bank of Nova Scotia branch manager soon. Find out how a Scotiabank Farm Improvement Loan can help you, /696AWE3RNK THE BANK OF NOVR SCOTIFI SHELL BRINGS YOU Your Shell Furnace Oil order means heal'n-o-hurry. Wheiher you went last heat of a touch of your thermostat, orservice quitk as a wink, we'll bring you a complete home hooting service at your call -24 hours in every day! And you get these extra benefits at no additional cost. Keep Filled Service: We refill your tank whenever our records show your supply is running low, Trouble-free Heat: With Shell you get Sonitor plus a special additive to keep your heating system at peak efficiency. Complete Maintenance Service: We arrange complete maintenance service -24 hours a day! Get full value foryour healing dollar califov Hcat'n-a-burryl Phone 80 Arra Clarke EXETER a a o L i:1 h, el cv S. Al d: 131 alPt Bi L it ar of 11. th till by ea t1 int 1!k be reit tnii