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The Exeter Times-Advocate, 1973-03-01, Page 4The cost of living Almost everyone we talk to these days has something to say about food prices, and it is not always a criticism directed at ris- ing costs. Our viE,itors from Ottawa last week stocked up on buns and cookies from a local bakery, "They are so much tastier, and about half the price of what we can get down there" they explained. If that is so, perhaps we have less to complain about high prices than some other people.) At any rate we all know that some food prices are higher because the farmer and ., producer are getting a better price - and we welcome that! But we hear in many cases also that the consumer could combat higher costs by being more careful and selective when making purchases. What about packaged breakfast cereals, for instance? Here is one place where food costs are high because of costly packaging; food value is very, very low. A couple we know in a nearby centre tell about the delicious steaks they eat - and they have them once or twice a week. Other people we know do not enjoy a steak more than once in three months. And yet, strangely the couple who eat the many steaks are the ones who complain the most about the high cost of living! Statistics tell us that the average Cana- dian eats nearly twice the meat he did a couple of decades ago. Yes, it looks as though the average consumer himself is as much responsible for his food costs, and high living costs, as any other factor in the problem. It sounds very much like a need for "Buyer to beware". Sure the cost of living is ever higher, but so are the wages - and so are the affluent demands of many of us who insist on living "higher off the hog", matching each dollar in price rise with a dollar in spending on ourselves. — St. Marys Journal Argus "Now, that's what 1 call a 'dollar crisis'!" Searching out the sinners PUBLIC MEETINGS NORTHWEST MIDDLESEX PLANNING BOARD OFFICIAL PLAN Public Meetings will be held to present the Official Plan for the Northwest Middlesex Planning Area (McGillivray Township, West Williams Township and the Town of Parkhill) as follows& Tuesday, March 6, McGillivray Township Hal! 8:30 p.m. Thursday, March 8, West Williams Township Hall 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 14, Community Centre, Parkhill 8:00 p.m. The Official Plan documents may be seen at the of- fices of the Municipal Clerks during normal business hours, at the Parkhill Gazette Office, Parkhill P.U.C. Office and retail outlets in the Townships. K. D. MUIR, Secretary, Northwest Middlesex Planning Board Your Will, Your Lawyer and V and G Amalgamated 1924 Times Established 1873 Advocate Established 1881 Published Each Thursday Morning at Exeter, Ontario Second Class Mail Registration Number 0386 Paid in Advance Circulation, March 81, 1972, 5,037 SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Canada $8.00 Per Year; USA $10.00 SERVING CANADA'S BEST FARMLAND C.W.N.A., 0.W.N.A., CLASS 'A' and ABC Editor — Bill Batten — Advertising Manager Assistant Editor — Ross Haugh Women's Editor — Gwyn Whilsmith Phone 235-1331 Viva 2-Ply Paper Towels ROLl.$590 L53 Baby Scott Diapers PKG. of 30 Regular Newborn Size $1.79 Size Con fidets 12's 55c TRY OUR TOEASTMASTER Bread 29ct LOAF -OG DISCOUNT 433 MAIN ST. EXETER 235.1661 4 (4. Everybody needs a will. Every will needs. competent administration. Go to your lawyer for your will — to `V and G to assure that what you leave goes where exPerieRce bru-• ari• 1.1 d I I • 1 -"):,"tF AC: , our'judgment and asstircs corj)Ol'ate continuity in carrying out your wishes. VG The senior Trust Company devoted entirely to serving the people of Ontario. VICTORIA and GREY TRUST COMPANY SINCE 1889 Manager: Ron Cottrell Main St. Exeter 235-0530 Ij vi The wall of the Huron County jail yard is to fall, County council made that decision this week, despite pleas from hundreds of coun- ty residents, including all three candidates in the upcoming provincial by-election, Each had taken out membership in the Save the Jail committee. so it is presumed each was supporting retention of the wall. Legal entanglements may create delays in the demolition of the wall, but county council, has made its decision. One of the more interesting aspects of the situation is the fact that the province has not yet made strong requests to county council for an addition to the assessment of- It was a little disappointing this week to have Exeter council take no action on a suggestion by Ben Hoogenboom that a program be initiated to rid the community of abandoned car wrecks, Exeter is certainly not over-run with unsightly wrecks, but a number do create eye-sores in some locations and should be removed. However, while Councillor Hoogen- boom's suggestion does have considerable merit, council faces the rather impossible task of knowing what to do with the wrecks if such a project was undertaken to clean them up. At the same meeting, a bylaw was ap- proved prohibiting wrecking yards. Most other communities in the area have done the same thing, and the problem was clear- Not solving problem Is it necessary? fice. Yet, that was the sole reason for tear- ing down the wall; to make room for an ad. dition, Regardless of one's stand on the wall itself, there is room for question from the taxpayers as to why an addition is being built. Is it really necessary, or are county council members indulging in empire building? How long will the province have need for large assessment quarters. Will the pre- sent staff remain as large when the reassessing is completed, or will the county end up with a partially empty building? That would be ironic indeed! ly cited by Mayor Jack Delbridge when he wondered aloud what was to be done with old wrecks if communities outlawed wreck- ing yards. Obviously, prohibiting wrecking yards entirely is not a solution, just as prohibiting municipal dumps would not be a practical solution to preserving the environment from the problems dumps create. The answer lies in choosing proper locations for wrecking yards and dumps and in enforcing stringent regulations on the manner in which they are operated. Unless municipalities are prepared to undertake disposal programs for car wrecks, they should provide some avenue whereby private interests can undertake this necessary work. A man worth a salute There are still a few of the old breed left, thank goodness. And one of them is my friend Ab Cordingley. Received a letter from him this week, and, as with everything he says and writes, it was right to the point. He doesn't waste any words. The letter ends thus, "Hope U R OK." He told me bluntly that he still reads this column and "Sometimes think U R OK, sometimes off base." He never had any hesitation in telling me what was wrong with my line of thought. To my face, I remember the last time we went trout fishing together. I was to pick him up at 5.30 a.m, or some such hour, and have break- fast with him, I arrived at a quarter to six and he gave me hell, Then he forced me, a coffee- and-toast man, to shovel down a huge breakfast of bacon and eggs, enough for a logger, which he had ready. We had a good day. I got thirteen speckles and a brown and he filled his creel. The only untoward incident in the mor- ning's fishing was when he stepped into a bog-hole, fell flat on his face and hit his head on a rotten stump. `Dam' good thing I had my hat on," he quipped, looking ruefully at his cigar, which had been mashed in the fall, Of course, he was just a spring chicken then, at the height of his faculties. He was only 80 years old, We knocked off for lunch. I was glad. I was pooped. I pulled out my two meagre sandwiches, and Ab hauled out a lunch that would stagger a truck driver. He forced apples and bananas and great hunks of cheese on me until it was coming out my ears. I thought, "I'll fix the old devil." I'd brought two beers along. I knew he was teetotal. It was a hot day, and the beer was the colour and temperature of you-know-what, Offered him one. He was not only a teetotaller but a gentleman. He took it, drank down the gaseous horror, and said calmly, "Haven't had a beer in 20-30 years." A couple of years later, we became across-the-street neigh- bours. One evening a few months later, about 10 p.m. there was a banging on our kitchen door, It was Ab. "Call the fire brigade, Smiley. The dam' house is on fire." He had his pants pulled on over his flannel pyjamas, and was in his bare feet. Had been going to bed. "That gravel is hell on the feet," he observed, while I reached for the phone. The road between us was paved in gravel. Try running across it in your barefeet, at 82. I got the fire brigade, and told them it was Ab Cordingley's house, and hung up. In a small town, you don't give addresses, you just say whose house it is. Unfortunately, the fire brigade went to Ab's old house and dithered about for ten minutes There's a group over at Exeter United Church who have ap- parently struck upon a novel idea to search out the sinners in their midst. So enthusiastic are they, that they even give up their Sunday evening TV viewing time to participate in their methodical pursuit of those within the community. Under the pretext of a "scavenger hunt" they come knocking on doors with a list of items which they claim to be collecting for the game. Apparently, many are fooled and fall for the diabolical scheme, turning over to the participants many items of in- criminating evidence. Fortunately, the editor is of a more suspicious nature than most and hopefully saved himself from being completely black- listed at the church by some quick thinking on Sunday.' Having tucked the lads intdbed after another exciting episode of Black Beauty, he had settled down with a juicy apple (the real thing—not his wife) to watch Julie Andrews when his attention was attracted to some unusually loud knocking at the door. Apparently, part of the trick in the game the couple's club play, is to generate an air of ex- citement to make the plan look even more realistic. Answering the door, or at least the knock there at, we found our neighbor's wife and the minister (for the editor they sent the top dog) standing on the porch and they immediatelyy produced a list of items which they con- vincingly indicated as being those which were required for them to win the contest. With a bit more polish, the two of them would probably be before someone remembered he'd moved. Unaware of this, we two hustled across the street and started carrying out of the house such valuables as potted plants, old pictures worth about seventy- five cents on the open market. We'd been doing this for about five minutes when Ab stopped at the bottom of the stairs and yelled up, "Dammit, Annie, I told you to get down here." The flames were roaring in the roof by now. I realized with horror that his wife, who had bad legs and trouble walking, was still up there. Then the fire brigade arrived, and soon confusion became chaos. We got his wife over to our house and into a hot cup of tea, Ab nipped around like a twelve-year- old, telling people what to carry out and driving kids back from the flames. I got our kids out of bed, so that they could watch something they'd remember all their lives — a fine old house going up in a glorious pyre of blaze and smoke. There's something heart-wrenching and at the same time thrilling in such a sight. Many people of 82 would have been utterly daunted by such a set-back. Not Ab. He'd have been more disturbed if the Tories had lost a by-election. Quite a guy. He's 93 or 94 now, and still has a mind that would make many fif teen-year-olds look senile. He's a walking en- cyclopedia. He doesn't pretend to be an intellectual, but has read thousands of books and can still recite poetry he learned in public school, He's everything you're not supposed to be these days. He's prejudiced. He's 100 percent opposed to Grits, booze and — Please turn to page 5 50 Years Ago Early Thursday morning a severe wind storm passed over the district and caused con- siderable damage, Several chimneys were blown down. Thunder and lightning ac- companied the storm. The Bethany Methodist Church on the Thames Road suffered greatly. The roof was blown off and the gable end blown in. The Young People's Guild of Caven Presbyterian Church visited Trivitt Memorial Parish Hall on Friday evening of last week where they were treated to slides and an interesting address on Windsor Castle and Tower of London, by Rev. Mr. Trumpet., Mr. Kenneth Stanbury played a violin selection and a very pleasing duet was sung by Miss Weekes and Miss Hamilton. Mr. Chas. Shaddock has taken a position in the bakeshop of Mr. R.E. Cook in Hensall. Most of the snow has disap- peared the past week. It has gone gradually and all danger of spring floods seems over. The roads are still in bad condition, 25 Years Ago Mrs. Ida M. Sanders, London, former resident of Exeter was elected president of the London Women's Progressive-Conser- vative Association. Mr. Arthur Fraser of town has been appointed secretary- treasurer of the Usborne-Hibbert Mutual Fire Insurance CO, Mr. and Mrs. Wm. I3aker of town celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary on Sunday. Mr, Irwin Ford has recently completed his new Food Market on Huron St. and this Week an- nounces the opening, such literature was available. Once that step was taken, no measure of denial of having such literature would be accepted. So, while the editor naturally had no girlie magazine, the question of his reading habits was still suspect from his initial reaction to the question, Apparently, the callers were not quite convinced, for no sooner had we calmed the cold sweat and returned to our apple (won't say which one this time) than another pounding noise, errupted from another entrance to our home. This time it was not the neigh- bor's wife and the minister, but rather the neighbor and someone else's wife. (It leads one to believe that perhaps the co- educational antics of the church group shOuld lbe•I trir egti gited welLaS their games.)m,: However, this time 'the editor was not to be fooled in th6 t least. Yes, we ' had another broken hockey stick but in rapid order and without any trace of in- crimination, we advised there were no more straw hats, no stable brooms, and definitely not any girlie magazines. In fact, we answered the last question before it was even asked. However, the gnawing in the writer's mind continues. Did he completely fool the minister and the neighbor's wife? It will be a question that will haunt him until his last gasp, when he looks up into the eyes of his clergy man and asks . . ."did I take that fateful step and give myself away, or did you really believe I had no girlie magazine?". The Lucan Irish dropped a hard fought semi final round with Ilderton on Monday night. 15 Years Ago Mrs. A.E. Holley of Main Street United Church addressed the World Day of Prayer Friday afternoon. Lucan Public School on No. 4 Highway, nearly across from the Arena, was destroyed by fire early Thursday morning. One of the courses offered at the night classes during the past winter was a study of drama with lectures and demonstrations given by members -of London Little Theatre. A play will be presented at the close of the classes. Ken Flear, of SHDHS placed second in WOSSA public speaking competition held in Thames Hall UWO on Saturday. 10 Years Ago Miss Mary Tapp, a life-long resident of Exeter, celebrated her 90th birthday on Saturday at Mrs. L, Desjardine's Eventide Rest Home, Main St, Huron PC's formally nominated verteran MP Elston Cardiff to run again in the April 8 federal election at a nomination meeting in Clinton Friday night. Exeter Public School "Eager Beavers" square dancing club enteredthesquare dancingcontest at the Farm Show London, Friday night, Three schools competed and, the Exeter group was placed third receiving $15, Huron's yield of winter wheat was the highest in Ontario in nu, latest year for which statistics are available, county prOdUcers were told at their annual meeting Tuesday night in Clinton, successful as encyclopedia salesmen. Did we have a broken hockey stick? Well, any family with four boys is bound to have a broken hockey stick around the place and it was quickly gathered from its resting spot at our backyard rink and handed over to the callers. Next, they needed a straw hat. Again, no problem for anyone with four boys around the house. One was pulled out from among the rubble in the games chest. Now they needed a stable broom. Our thoughts flittered to some questions about the wife's reputation as a house-keeper, but in hindsight, the unlikely request for a stable broom was ap- parently part of the scheme to elicit a quick reaction from the editor, because no sooner had he given a quick' "no stable broom" than the minister asked for a girlie ;magazine. '—,See how the plot was devised? The' first two items would naturally be found in the editor's home, while the third would not. But the secret of success to the church scheme is to draw a quick reaction from the suspect, Don't give him time for reasoning. Ask for things he would know im- mediately whether or not he would have. So, the request for a girlie magazine followed in proper succession in the hope of sending him racing off to the hidden library under his bed before he had time to realize that it was his minister who had sent him on the search for his supply of girlie magazines. One quick step, of course, would be all that was needed for the interviewers to know whether 0 V