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The Exeter Times-Advocate, 1966-08-11, Page 4`fie exeferZimaAkasocafe SERVING CANADA'S BEST FARMLAND Member: C.W.N.A., O.W,N.A., C.C.N.R, and ABC Publishers: J. M. Southcott, R. M. Southcott Editor: Bill Batten Advertising Manager: Val Baltkalns Phone 2354331 More than economic loss Summer reading schools and brought the area many scholastic records. Their background of periodic travel made us more cosmo- politan in our thinking as we lived with them. We could go on at great length to expound on the enjoyment and bene- fits we derived from them, but perhaps it is suffice to say "they were good neighbors and friends". From this standpoint alone they will be missed. While many personnel from Cen- tralia have departed in the past 20 years without any great fanfare, the mass exodus that is presently planned warrants some mention, and we are certain this newspaper speaks for ev- eryone in the area in extending best wishes for the future to all the fam- ilies leaving. We trust they too will always have a warm spot in their hearts for this area and will certainly be most wel- come visitors at any time. Within the next few weeks, this area will witness the "disappearance" of many familiar faces as military per- sonnel from CFB Centralia pack up their belongings to head for their new bases. While the economic plight that may face the area has already been noted, there is certainly another great loss; that being the many personnel who have played an integral part in the many facets of the life of this area. In the past 20 years, we have come to rely upon the personnel at Centralia for more than the economic value they represented as they lived among us. They coached our minor athletes, played for some of our teams and pro- vided opposition for others. They joined in our social activities and at- tended our churches. They were con- genial hosts to us as private citizens as well as to our service groups. Their children attended our Time they were trained study of one of North America's most acute diseases, His conclu- sion that we are producing a more rigid class structure than ever before mime sense when we see suburbs springing up where the residents are all from the same economic group. 6) The American Way of Death by Jessica Mitford. The faint- hearted or the sentimental should not read this book, This is the most vicious attack ever made on North American funeral customs. It should, however, be required reading for all ministers, funeral directors and everyone who feels that enough is enough already. There is probably no more sensitive, sacrosanct and un- touchable area of our life and thought than this one. She rips the veil in the holy of holies. Like the movie, "The Loved Ones" I believe she goes too far but it is a fact of life that one extreme inevitably produces an extreme reaction, I personal- ly hope that this book and the reaction it has created — it came out in 1963 — will bring us all to a more sane approach in this sensitive area, As I close this column my sincere thanks to Philip Gandon, Harold Currie, Terry McCauley and Douglas Palmer who made it possible for me to have a holi- day from this column. 2 HI At the present time, most of the persons assigned these duties appear to have no knowledge of their respon- sibilities at all, and their lackadasical attitude usually leaves the motorist strictly on his own to guess whether he should proceed around heavy con- struction equipment or assume the right-of-way through one-way stretches. The fact is, the type of flagmen one sees on TV commercials sponsored by accident prevention associations, bear no resemblance whatever to the men who are actually employed on con- struction jobs. In most cases, the guid- ance given motorists is non-existent. It's high time someone started to train people in this type of work. By Val Baltkains Rugged beauty near Vancouver, B.C. edemieiri#1 eal/tada, z ee9Vued "That's probably Mrs. Car- stairs calling to thank you for the haircut I gave her little girl." se :eel eeeeeeee • We :: ..ee Veireexee te W ... ' Aiee, ee e • e• eeeeeee k' With most of this country's high- ways appearing to be under a constant state of construction or reconstruction, it is encouraging to note that a firm has been established in Vancouver to train flagmen on such construction jobs. Many of the students in the course are young, single women, and all must pass written and practical tests before they are assigned to a job. While the idea of being flagged down by a pretty girl would make such inconveniences less annoying, the very fact that someone has seen the need for training such people is of even greater importance. The sweepstakes myth "My daughter's baby-sitting here tomorrow night and she asked me to check your set." During holidays I like to change the pace. For me this means more time with the family, wor- shipping in the Roman Catholic Church a couple of times, paint- ing the cottage, a lot of swim- ming, a little golf, woodchopping and a couple of ball games in Detroit, I also usually read books I don't get the time to read the other eleven months of the yeer. Inspite of—or perhaps because of the beautiful, buoyant weath- er of July, I found it enjoyable to read some books that are, by and large, depressing because of their hard core realism. It is perhaps a little sad that much of our best writing today tends to be tinged with bitterness — there is much to be bitter about! The six books I choose to re- commend for your reading are all available in cheap paper back editions. They will shock, enrage, anger, challenge — in short they will stimulate you, 1) Cry The Beloved Country by Alan Paton. This was by far the best novel of a dozen or so I read in July. Although it was written in 1948 it should still be compulsory reading for anyone concerned about racial relations. It's setting is South Africa and the writer is a white South Afri- can. To quote from the introduc- tion, "It stands by itself; it creates rather than follows a tradition. It is at once unas h- amedly innocent and subtly soph- isticated. It is a story; it is a prophesy; it is a psalm. It is passionately African; it is uni- versal". 2) The Quiet American by Gra- ham Greene. This man is prob- ably the best mystery writer in the business and this book is a good introduction to his writing. The story is set in Viet Nam in the early 1950's — published first in 1955. It's amazing that its theme is even more relevant in 1966 than it was prior to the full scale American involvement there. This novel is good background for a better understanding of the present mess. 3) The Heart of the Matter by Graham Greene. Here is a dev- astating analysis of boredom, adultery, suicide and more. Here Greene is a second Dostoievsky. 4) More Joy In Heaven by Mor- ley Callaghan. In this old novel a Canadian author dissects and analyzes much of the hypocrisy and shallowness of "do-good- ism". As the introduction has it, "Like Graham Greene's psychol- ogical melodramas it is both an effective thriller and a searching examination of society's stricken heart". 5) The Status Seekers by Vance Packard, This is an in depth The Hon. C. S. MacNaughton may not have hit any homers at the official opening of the new floodlights at the Exeter Com- munity Park last week, but he's still rated as a "power hitter" by a writer for the Toronto Daily Star. In a series on "The men a- round John Roberts", Perry Ang- lin concluded by naming High- ways Minister MacNaughton, Ag- riculture Minister Bill Stewart, Education Minister William Da- vis and Provincial Treasurer James Allan, as "the four pow- ers behind the throne". In general comments about the four men, Anglin stated that they have powers extending far beyond their own departments and "more than anyone else in provincial politics, they decide how govern- ment affects our lives." He claims they overshadow most of their colleagues who are preoccupied with the burden of complex portfolios, zealously trying to demonstrate ability in minor portfolios; or simply coasting along out of sight. "Like Robarts' close advisers in the Conservative party and the civil service, they are closer to the premier than ordinary cabinet ministers," he explains. He says MacNaughton and his neighbor, William Stewart, are considered influential beyond their own departments because they are personally close to the premier. A visit to the hometown Anglin explained MacNaughton and Stewart are seatmates in the Legislature; both are in their early 50s; both are highly able and shrewd administrators of politically important depart- ments; and both are intensely political. "A clue to their close relation- ship with Robarts is that each was a key figure in the Roberts' campaign for the provincial lead- ership in 1961 — and both come from Robartsland, southwestern Ontario," the article reported. Anglie had this to say: "Char- ley" MacNaughton is a congenial, charming politician, who indulges occasionally in hot debate in the Legislature and who isn't ad- verse to wearing a sharp, light colored sports coat in the House. The manager of an Exeter seed company, he came into politics as a high school board chairman and right-hand man of a former Huron MPP, Thomas pryde. His department, highways, is the second biggest spender (after education) in the government; and MacNaughton has taken over oth- er sensitive jobs with energy and enthusiasm such as the Burlington to Dunbarton com- muter train to serve Metro Tor- onto — thereby completely over- shadowing his colleague in trans- port, Irwin Haskett. However, Anglin noted that Stewart has had a less happy and trim will be 35e; shave 15e and children under 12, 25e. cabinet career. "He enjoyed a honeymoon with Ontario farmers after Robarts made the London township farmer his agriculture minister five years ago. But this year he came under increasing hot attacks from farmers repre- senting their failure to achieve affluence which the e c o no m i c boom has brought city workers and small businessmen. The turning point seemed to come when 1,200 farmers march- ed on Queen's Park this year, booing and hissing Stewart into awkward retreat. His handling of the farm dis- content as pressure mounted when tractors took to the roads was uncharacteristically feeble. His arguments and efforts smacked to many farmers of arrogance although a folksier agriculture minister might well have earned farm sympathy with the same stand. For Stewart, as one Queen's Park veteran pointed out, is a farmer with a high school edu- cation who looks more like a lawyer, and easier to imagine spraying himself with deodorant than chewing a straw, (The same man suggested federal agricul- ture minister "Joe" Greene is a lawyer who looks more like a farmer.) And this year Stewart renamed his department the Department of Agriculture and Food, to em- phasise its broad responsibili- ties, But the new name has an urban ring doing little to en- dear Stewart in the politically potent farm areas. An idea that keeps cropping up is that sweepstakes would be a pain- less, efficient way to raise all the mon- ey needed for new hospital construc- tion in Canada. It may be an attractive idea, but it is pure myth. The most recent support for the idea comes from James Walker, Lib- eral MP for Toronto's York Centre rid- ing. Ottawa-operated sweeps, the press reports him as saying, could pull in more than $50,000,000 a year for fed- eral hospital building grants. Aside from the fact that this sum would be only half of what is being spent annually on hospital construction, if a lottery could provide that amount the most surprised people in the world would be those who operate the Irish hospital sweeps, the most successful such undertaking in the world. After paying for prizes and ex- penses the Irish sweepstakes turns 21 per cent of its ticket money over to the hospitals. Over a 33-year period the payment to the hospitals has aver- aged $4,270,000 annually. Even with its worldwide selling campaign, the gross sales of this very successful sweepstakes has averaged only $20,- 000,000. For a Canadian lottery to provide $50,000,000 a year, as Mr. Walker sug- gests, the gross sales would have to be about a quarter of a billion dollars a year. That would be about 13 times the ticket sales of the Irish or, to put it another way, we would have to have the equivalent of an Irish sweeps about every four weeks. It might be argued that a Canad- ian lottery could devote less of its in- come to prizes and more to hospitals but the fact is that if it were to com- pete with the Irish lottery, as it would have to, it could not offer smaller prizes. Even the fact that lotteries would produce so little revenue is not the most compelling argument against their legalization. It is often said that it is hyprocritical to permit race track bet- ting and yet prohibit other forms of gambling. But by that logic we should permit all forms of gambling—sweep- stakes, slot machines, gaming tables, and so on. Few of those who want legalized sweepstakes would support that argument. The problem, really, is to decide on the degree of gambling that should be allowed. On that basis, as well as on the basis that they are no substitute for taxation, sweepstakes serve no good purpose. There is one final point, lotteries have the longest record of legality of any form of gambling. Augustus, Nero and other Roman emporers used them to finance building projects. In Eng- land the first legal lottery was held in 1569 with Queen Elizabeth I as patron- ess. In North America there were lot- teries as early as the 17th century, chiefly for the benefit of schools, churches and public works. But even as long as there have been legal lotteries, they have always been acknowledged as a tax on the poor. C.J.H. Fee2MOneeleMeile~- TWORMISINNOWSIONNNINOSOMOM Times Established 1873 Advocate Established 1881 Amalgamated 1924 50 YEARS AGO Main St. Sunday School picnic Was held at Grand Bend Thurs- day. Five bus loads drove away from the church about seven o'clock in the morning as well as a great many who drove their own rigs or autos. Miss Alice Kedwell, telephone operator, has returned after holi- daying at her home in Petrolia, Mr. J, G. Jones and family are holidaying at their cottage "The Mayflower", Grand Bend. George Blatchford, son of Mr. and Mrs. Francis Blatchford, was drowned at Goderich Monday afternoon while there with aSun- day School picnic from Listowel. Up until a week previous to his death he was a member of the Times staff leaving here for Lis- towel where he had secured a position on the Listowel Banner. 15 YEARS AGO Miss Willa Hunter of Strathroy has been appointed chief operator at the local office of the Bell Telephone Co. Shesucceeds Mrs. Harold Holtzman who has been transferred to Sarnia. The once-prominent home of James Pickard, one of the pion- eers of Exeter, is being torn down. The large brick dwelling is south of Snell Bros. Ltd and will be removed for expansion. The large beige brick front being erected by Lindenfields Ltd is almost completed. The south half formerly housed the oldpost office. This week the Exeter Public School Board called for tenders for the demolition of the old pub- lic schbol. 411011112119311100 MO AM 00144r Published Each Thursday Morning at Exeter, Ont. Authorized as Second Class Mail, Post Office NO, Ottawa, and for Payment of Postage in Cash 25 YEARS AGO The property (house and five acres of land) of the late Mre. Saxon Fitton,Main Street S., has been sold to Mr. Fred Wild- man of town, for $2,500, William E. Sanders and R. G. Seldon, skip, were winners of the Tip Top trophy and the cream colored flannel trousers that go with it, at the men's double bowl- ing tournament on the local greens CIVIC Holiday. Clerk Joseph Senior, who, for 33 years has been the efficient clerk andtreesurer Of the village, has tendered his resignation to the council. The tonsorial artiste of this community are raising their prices as of August 28. Hair cut millionaire still slugs bags of salt and feed into the back of his '66 model and lugs it out to feed his cattle. The barber, with whome you once shared a riotous Legion zone rally, still quips with his customers, though he went off to fight in a war over 50 years ago. The canny Scot chortles as he tells you his shore lots are now going over $4,000. The same waiter insults the same customers, in the pub. The same beer barrel in human form sits in the same seat in the same pub. The same people still come to the same cottages. Except that the pregnant young matron was a skinny kid in bare feet last time you saw her. And the handsome young chap who works at the summer store was a tyke called Johnny-Cake last time you saw him. However, it's good to get back for a visit. And it's never un- eventful. Kept my hand in by writing a few news stories for the paper. Took the family to the Indian reserve; same beautiful view and easy-going inhabitants. Dropped in on old friends and got all the latest dope on who was going crazy, and who was running around with whom. Had a beer at The Cedar Rail, most unique bar in the country, and with the best prices. It's a shed on a farm, hill of tools and baled hay. A cedar rail extends across the front, You stand there with your farmer friend, lean on the rail and look at the lake down below. We've seen deer and bear from there, and covered local politics and talked cattle. Got stuck in the sand at the beach, to the rage of my wife. She went flying off to find a tow truck, in a friend's car. While she was away, I was pulled out easily by a man with no arms, who had a chain in his trunk, a wife to drive his car, and a gaggle of kids to help push. Sounds like fiction, but it's fact. It could only happen in or around the old hometown. Paid in Advance Circulation, March 1, 1966, 4,180 SUBSCRIPTION RA'TESl Canada $5.00 Per Year; USA $7.00 Spent a week in the old home- town recently, and, as usual, it was anything but a rest. The weather was perfect, but the hospitality was exhausting. It's not really my hometown. I didn't grow up there, physically. But I spent a decade there in the newspaper business, and maybe I grew up there in other ways. Anyway, when you walk down the main street, and every second person stops to shake hands and ask about your fam- ily, and tell you what their kids are doing now, it's your home- town. A smalltown changes and yet remains the same. A few busi- nesses have changed hands. Some of the stores have new fronts. The paint on the hotel has been changed from pas- sionate purple to ghastly green. The shady, tree-lined street on which you used to live has been raped: the stately trees cut to ugly stumps, as the street is to be widened. But the biggest changes are in the people. The young men you used to work and play with are grizeled or as bald as eggs. The young women you used to look at with some interest because of their big eyes are sagging and dentered. The lovable kids that your kids used to play with are hulking adolescents, some of them delinquents with police records. And your old partner, once apparently indestructible, is taking eight different colors of pills. Despite the changes, there is continuity as comfortable as an old fishing hat. The Chamber of Commerce is still fighting over store hours. The Industrial Commission is on the verge of announcing a huge new indus- try. The fire brigade races per- iodically to the town d tem p, where the incinerating process has got Out of hand because the caretaker has bogged off for a beer. Some of the local characters have gone to their reward, but many are still around. The local lawyer still plays hie electric Or- gen between clients. The local While speaking of governments, we came across an interesting article noting that the way people are looking to governments for answers to their financial and other difficulties these days, they must think these bodies are com- posed of some special type of genii, able to release rivers of money at the wave of a wand. It isn't so. When governments spend money it's the big stick they wave over the taxpayer. It could be just a problem of words. Maybe we should do away with all such terms as "grant" and "subsidy" and instead sub- stitute "tax money" when we talk of money coming from govern- ments. And instead of "going to the government" for aseistance, let us substitute "asking our neigh- bors". In the long run, very few gain an advantage in goVernme nt grants and subsidies as they generally balance out across the nation. An example of this is the cen- tennial grant whereby munici- palities were offered equal shares from the federal and pro- vincial governments to proceed On such projects as building swim pools, libraries, arenas and fix- ing parks. Most communities took ad- vantage of these generous gifts, and so everyone really ended up paying for their own projects. 10 YEARS AGO A new rock well has been drill- ed at Crediton to Supply at least ten houses on Xing Street. Klondyke Gardens at Grand Bend is now the Second largest vegetable-producing marshland of Ontario. For the !fret time since the Huron County Health Unit was or- ganized, a resident sanitary en- gineer in the person of Jim Pinder, Sanders St., Exeter, has been appointed for the South end Of the Minty. Work was started this week on the $120,000 five-room addition at SHOJIS by contractors McKay, Crocker Construction Co., Lop- don. zee.. " 'feeeee