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The Exeter Times-Advocate, 1974-04-25, Page 28The black dog By ELMORE BOOMER Counsellor for Information South Huron For appointment phone: 235-2715 • or 235-2474 ANYTIME... ANYWHERE... ANYBODY Ador Worthwhile probe Is the fact that most minor hockey leagues have already taken steps to reduce injuries and fights. Players engaged in fights are automatically tossed out of games in some leagues and given a further one-game suspension. The same punishment is meted out for dirty tactics such as spearing or butt-ending or deliberately attempting to injure another player. Players have been ordered to wear proper safety equipment and these pre be- ing improved each season. But, the fact remains, two high-spirited boys will often resort to throwing punches or other tactics of retaliation if they feel them necessary. It is, unfortunately, a way of life. * „:-- c-F;17..."5—HzE:15.4.14wv'.6160.-:c_...... ...,...,,,. .,... .41r. ' Title, MICK- TrINTY lt,„ _ SgrtiENTS 44:1,-.7.-Nr-i- ''''''---Tpor: :-... ....'.: t ,• ."-; , , ...,, C>" ' i'-,-?..- ....'''' -->-'•:: One potato at a time ',emen"•=nolue Some of us go so far as to build the mountains our- selves . mountains of wnrry; worry about a myriad of things Jesus clearly said would be taken care of if we would only let God be the dominating power in our lives. He pointed out in Matthew 6: 25-34 that worry is needless. Yet, many of us continue to do it to the point we may even become sick, In effect Jesus said, "Learn to live one day at a time." It's useless to worry about the past, for the past is past. Omar Khayyam was grimly correct: 'The moving finger writes, and, having writ, Moves on; nor all thy piety nor wit Shall lure it back to cancel half a line, Nor all thy tears wash out a word of it.' root lost year!" "I bold you this was at good spot—it's still here When the Ontario government ends its probe into violence in hockey, they would be well advised to consider such an in- vestigation into boxing. There's a "sport" where the main ob- jective is to render your opponent senseless by pommelling his head with your fists. Perhaps part of our problem is that we have not recognized such activities as "violence" and have therefore given people a false sense of what can be condoned and what can't. It all makes for a very interesting dialogue, and this newspaper would welcome your comments. There must be a better way The Ontario government have indicated they will launch a full , probe into the "in- Creasing violence" in the game of hockey. Reports stemming from a recent Junior "B" playoff between teams from Hamilton and Bramalea have spurred the probe. The Bramalea team withdrew from the provincial final when management of the team feared players would be subjected to injury if the series continued. Obviously, the stories circulating about the rough-house tactics in this series Warrant some scrutiny, although the OHA appears to •be satisfied as evidenced by their action in suspending the Bramalea president for two years for withdrawing his team. However, while community and social services minister Rene Brunelle is to be commended for his desire to protect young people involved in hockey, there is just no conceivable way that his ideal can come true. Mr. Brunelle suggests "it is essential, in the view of this government, that the young people of this province can par- ticipate in sporting activities without fear of injury, either from opposing players or fans in the stands." No rules can be devised to offer such assurances. Of course, if a government probe can come up with suggestions on how to reduce the risk of injury and the brawling, then it will be worthwhile. One of the things a probe will discover attitude and actions of some people. Meeting a lady in her nightie no blarney. They are all fighters, and they have a vital role called "first attack". More of this later. But let's get back to Lahr, and get on with this wretched trip of mine. My brother is now hustling me into his car. The town is pretty with spring flowers everywhere, a change from blizzards. There is a branch of the Bank of Montreal. And there is Jack Thomson and his wife. He's a first cousin of ours. They live in Winnipeg. It could happen only to me. I fly four thousand miles to savour the ancient hostelries, cathedrals and castles of old Germany, and I wind up sitting at a kitchen table talking and drinking with a cousin I've met once before in my life. I don't think we'll make it to Ramstein, destination, but we'll have a try next week. Social note for Western readers: Cousin Jack was in his underwear and his wife in her nightie, when we arrived. A man can learn from his past and use it for a guide to better action, but it's senseless and wrong to brood himself into paralysis over it. Worry about the future is also wasted effort. A wise man once said, "The biggest troubles you have got to face are those that never come." The future is seldom as bad as we think it will be. Worry is injurious. It's a medical fact that he who laughs lives longest and he who worries often brings on a stomach ulcer or a coronary. William Barclay's advice on worry is: "Let a man give his best to every situation . , . he cannot give more . . . and let him leave the rest to God." We know that with God's help we somehow are able to bear the unbearable and do the undoable and pass the breaking point without breaking. The lesson of life says worry doesn't help a bit. True, there may be worse sins than worry but there is no more disabling sin. Jesus' com- mandment "Take no anxious thought for the morrow" is the way to peace and to power and strength. How many of you remember being sent to the cellar to pick over the potatoes that had sprouted vigorously through the winter? It certainly wasn't the nicest job and memories of it rallied my sympathy for a little boy I heard about the other day. This boy (his name was Lewis) was sent to the potato bin to trim, what looked to him, a mountain of potatoes that had all sprouted white whiskers. He was crest fallen at the sight. The first session he spent in calculating how many potatoes there were in the pile, and how many sprouts would have to be rubbed off, and how long the irksome task would keep him away from his ball-playing pals. The next afternoon he again did more worrying than work. It would take him an eternity to finish such a staggering chore. He couldn't muster any heart to tackle in earnest such a hopeless job. When his father dropped down to see how the work was progressing, he saw that hardly a start had been made. He wanted to know why. Lewis poured out his tale of woe, explaining his calculations, and that he would never be able to finish the job. The father wisely refrained from scolding. Instead he picked up a potato, rubbed off the sprouts and quietly remarked: "Just do one potato at a time, Son, don't worry about the rest." And he proceeded to trim several more as an example until quite a dent had been made in the potato mountain. Inadvertently, the elder mentioned a circus was coming soon and spoke of the marvelous stunts advertised. When Lewis was called to supper, he noticed that the pile of trimmed potatoes was even larger than the pile yet to be trimmed. The mountain had been removed! One marvels at God's patience with us when we, like Lewis, sit dejectedly looking at the mountain ahead of us, preferring to settle for defeat instead of even trying to surmount it. series of Olympic Lottery tickets sold like hot-cakes following the televised showing of the first draw. Local outlets have been unable to keep up with the demand as area residents join their fellow citizens across the nation in their quest to become millionaires. Even the organizers of the draw must be surprised that so many Canadians are willing to divy up 10 bucks on the slim hope of hitting the big payoff. We wonder if the draw will have an adverse effect on the people who periodically conduct raffles for such miniscule amounts as $500 or $1,000 or merchandise in that price range. No doubt we "big spenders" will hardly consider it worth the effort to sign a ticket for such piddling amounts. + + + Experiences of the past week prove that only one thing is worse than slow mail delivery, and that's no mail delivery at all. It puts a serious crimp in the daily transactions of most businesses and creates hardships for many. Purchase orders, bills and cheques are tied up and that becomes a problem for any businessman at times when the interest rate on money is hovering around the 12 percent bracket. Having a cheque for a few thousand dollars delayed under these circumstances is extremely costly. The loss across the nation no doubt adds up to several hundred thousand dollars in the matter of a week or two. Added with the loss of wages, both directly and indirectly, of those involved in such a strike, it becomes. abundantly clear that, some alternative to strikes must be found to settle differences between unions and• management. The mail strike is only one example. When it is multiplied by the number of strikes which occur in this nation in one year, the total becomes a serious drain on the economy. There has to be a better way! + + + Indications are that the second No one can argue with the fact that Exeter's new garbage cans ,are quite attractive. We may disagree over the amount paid, but they certainly appear func- tional. Time alone will tell how they stand up to the abuse to which some people seem to subject items of this nature. The bit of controversy that has arisen may have some beneficial results in that people will be more aware of the trash cans, and hopefully will use them more than they did the previous con- tainers. However, we still see some people dropping debris along the street; apparently too lazy or unconcerned about the eyesore to take a few extra steps to use the trash cans. Perhaps if the police watched the situation closely and laid a few charges for littering, it would add to the public's awareness of garbage containers and the fact that they should be used. There's just no excuse for the + + + If you're in the same boat as the writer, you've had it pointed out quite vividly how the governments of the land find enough money to meet their ever- increasing budgets. It's tax time, of course, and no doubt the figures you've tabulated on the amount paid in income tax in the past year have you shaking your head in disbelief. For the past several weeks, the Ontario government has been conducting an extensive ad- vertising campaign urging people to make sure "you get your fair share" of Ontario's tax credit scheme. Judging from our returns, the only people who have been heeding the advice are the guys who are collecting the tax in Queen's Park and we suggest they have been getting more than their fair share of our weekly stipend. + + + Several daily newspapers have been checking the accuracy of firms engaged in the business of figuring out tax returns for people seeking assistance. Their findings indicate that most of the firms have as much trouble as the average citizen in coming up with the correct figures. A pair of Toronto reporters provided 10 different offices with the same set of figures and came up with 10 answers only one of which was correct. The answers varied by over $500, while the rates charged for the service ranged from $7 to $50. With a score of only one correct in 10 tries, it appears the so- called experts have a poorer batting average than the rest of us. Dear Sir: For some time now I have been trying to refrain from these comments. However impulse has overcome my better judgement, and I submit the following. What's all this talk about food shortages? Everywhere, I read about food shortages, or expected food shortages. Anybody who goes shopping must realize that the food stores are well stocked with a good selection of anything they wish to purchase. You can take your choice of fruits, vegetables, meats, pastries, cereals or anything else, its all there waiting for customers. unloved, lost, unwanted. Some symptoms are moping, apathy and withdrawal. Teenagers act out, un- derachieve, disobey, run away. Ambitious young people are depressed when they do not accomplish their ideals. Marriage break down is ex- perienced as failure. The married woman in her mid- thirties can see herself as just "a housewife". Incidence of depression mounts in middle-aged people. Youth is perceived as fading, emotional and physical resource is ex- perienced as limited, "What have I done in my life?" As retirement with its radical change ap- proaches, depression can set in. The old feel depressed. They must become dependent; in- , security may stock their living; a sense of not being needed descends like a fog taking away every vistage of sunshine. We could say much about treatment. Anti-depressant drugs vary in their affectiveness with each individual. Severely depressed persons have found relief as a result of electroshock therapy, Often this is temporary. qPsychotherapy, where the depressed person is led by dif- ferent techniques to a knowledge of the reasons for his malaise, is seen by many as the most ef- fective. Other forms of therapy are often followed by counselling and psychotherapy. To be depressed may be beneficial in the long view. Depression often affords the only way through to the real person buried under many defenses. One viewpoint was expressed in the following terms. . those who have come through the pit Of depression and the temptations Of self-destruction are those who know death, but they also know life more abundantly." It is to be hoped that we can all call off our "black dogs". By ELMORE BOOMER We can gauge how Sir Winston Churchill felt when he was depressed, by the descriptive term he used of such attacks — "the black dog". Job at one point lived in "the land of darkness and the shadow of death". And who hasn't felt such dejection? It is well "to see depression as a natural condition of man". For all are sad at times. One definition recognizes this tendency to sadness. "Depression is an emotional state of dejection and sadness, ranging from mild discouragement and down- heartedness to feelings of utter hopelessness and despair." We live in an age of depression. More depressed people are ad- mitted to mental hospitals than any other category of illness. Schizophrenia has been sup- planted as number one. One cannot mention depression without speaking of suicidal tendencies. The suicide rates have increased greatly in our western world in recent years. The intensity of depression can be fairly blamed on many of the social realities of our day. Frustration, anger, disap- pointment, suppressed and denied, is a ready source of chronic sadness. Depression is usually one of three things. It can be a mild, passing dejection. Depression is often a symptom of our defensive living, of frustration suppressed. Or it can be a deep seated illness. Some feel that babies are not depressed but Dr. Joseph Teicher of California disagrees. "Clinically, such infants show feeding disorder, often repeated regurgitation, lassitude, poor muscle tone, and excessive sleeping . . These infants look like depressed little Old men." Children, because of family friction and break-up, often feel Lawrence Wein held a festival of music in Thames Road church Friday, Over 250 students par- ticipated. Nearly 200 contributed to the free blood bank at the Red Cross blood clinic held in Exeter Tuesday. Women's Auxiliary to South Huron Hospital had its biggest and best yet rummage sale this week when they cleared $1,006,00 Queen's Scout badges were presented to Doug Jermyn, Jim Sweitzer, Doug Hodgson and Dale Turvey Monday night. This is the highest award to be given to scouts. "It's TAR i've outgrown mud." coming out of his ears, and I think he lost a fair bit of enamel off his molars. But that was later. Let's go back to Lahr, where I left you breathless to read what would happen next. There we are. He is hustling me out of the hotel and I am dawdling and poking in his wake. Lahr is something of a com- pany town, with the Canadian forces as the "company". The town itself has about 17,000 people, plus 12,000 Canadians on the periphery. A big industry for the town. There are about 5,000 Canadians in the military. The rest are made up of families, teachers, and assorted odds and sods. Canadian forces there make a real effort to get along with the German community and are closely knitted with it. Interestingly, the Canadians do all their dealings in German marks, while the Americans at their bases, deal in U.S. dollars. At Lahr, the Canadians publish a lively daily newspaper, Der Kanadier; have their own churches; excellent schools; and -sports facilities galore. But of course, it isn't home. And the troops never forget that they are there on serious business, not on a European holiday. I received an impression, perhaps wrong, that the Canadian forces feel that they are somewhat forgotten, that the folks at home are rather apathetic about the boys in dark green, the "violent, obedient ones" out there on the periphery with guns. This is not exactly assuaged by the heavy cuts in our armed forces in Europe. These have been cut approximately in two, from 10,000 to 5,000. The land forces are down from a brigade to a brigade-group. The air arm has been whittled from twelve squadrons in 1954 to three squadrons of attack fighters in 1974. This hurts, if you are in the service. But morale is high, despite the ancient Centurion tanks, and we have cracking good troops in the front line, made up of tanks, commandos and in- fantry. In the air, we have, to quote a well-informed source (my brother), "The best pilots in Europe", and he means it, with Last week's column, if you recall, had a smashing ending. It left your hero asleep in a small hotel in a small town in Germany, Lahr, home of most of the Canadian Nato forces in Europe. Up betimes, after 14 hours sleep, and tottered down to the dining-room, smelling for coffee. Hadn't eaten for 16 hours. And it was there, sipping a coffee and cognac, in an effort to get the bones moving, that my crazy kid brother, the Colonel, found me at 7:30 a.m. We ex- changed our usual fond greetings. Him: "Hello, you clot. Just up? Supposed to be on our way." Me: "Hello, clot, Yes. Who cares? I'm dying." Him: "You're getting a little thin on top, like Dad." Me: "You're getting a little thick in the middle, like Mum." The contrast between us was never clearer. He was spic and span, gold braid gleaming, fresh- shaven, full of beans, ready to hit the road for Ramstein, his base. I was a rumpled flannel shirt, .sock feet, unwashed, unshaven, un- combed, and ready to hit him for showing up so early. He's always like that. And I'm always like that. He comes flying out of nowhere, talks a blue streak, tells a hundred stories and goes dashing off to somewhere. I come dawdling out of somewhere, sit around as taciturn as a turtle, and go dawdling off to nowhere. He's a hustler; I'm a poke. Perhaps that's why he's a colonel and I'm more of a kernel. Anyway, it's a great com- bination to throw together for a three-day crash course on Germany— a hustler and a poke. I must say we didn't have a cross word in those three days. Although I admit I thought he was going to have a baby when he came to pick me up for lunch with the Commander-in-Chief, a four- star general, and found me still in bed. That was at 11:30; lunch at twelve noon sharp "And you don't keep generals waiting and we have fifteen miles to drive." We made it with 19 seconds to spare. And he wasn't exactly chortling when we started off to catch the plane home and after we'd driven like a bat out of hell for ten minutes, I observed, "Gracious to goodness, I've left all my money in your apartment; we'll have to go back." He didn't say a word, but there was steam .02.44a1BNIVEMIMMEZVAMMUMNPANMAWMPi. •.* Times Established 1873 Advocate Established 1881 Amalgamated ma Irize erefeaimes-ibisocafe SERVING CANADA'S BEST FARMLAND C.W.N.A., 0,11CN.A., CLASS 'A' and ABC Editor — Bill Batten Advertising Manager Assistant Editor — Ross Haugh Phone 235.1331 Published Each Thursday Morning at Exeter, Ontario Secend Class Mail Registration Number 0388 Paid in Advance Circulation, March 31, 1972, 5,037 SUBSCRI PTION RATES: Canada $9.00 Per Year; USA $11.00 Has anyone tried to buy a home freezer lately? or a single bed mattress, or matched set of washer and drier, or the new car of your choice? Or worse still parts to repair the one you have? Farm machinery, tile, brick, plumbing fixtures and I could go on and on are back order nearly every time you need any. Has the food store operator ever told you to come back in two weeks that he may have some then? It seems to me that food is one of the few things that is not in short supply. We often hear that the people of India are starving. I have a close friend living in India at the present time, who tells me that many people in India are hungry and starving. But the people in India who have money can buy anything they want in the line of food, and there are 200 million cows roaming around eating everything in sight till they die of old age or unattended sickness. It seems to me that society can be conned into a state of mind that blinds, simply by well directed publicity. When people whose main physical problems are a result of over eating or drinking, can be led to believe there is a food shortage, we must admit there must be some expert publicity people around. Then there is this business about good land going but of food production. I agree that there should be better management of land uses. But whose respon- sibility is it to maintain a resource for some future generation? If Canada's population continues to increase at the rate of only 1,7 percent every ten years and farmers efficiency increases as it has in the past ten years, we'll be looking for export markets for a long time yet. And isn't land that is occupied by highways, airfields, cities etc, serving people better than land that lies under thorn trees. Sincerely, aeon Bailey R11313Iyth, Ont.. 50 Years Ago Messrs. William IL bearing and Harry Sweet left Saturday for Liverpool, England, in charge of a shipment of cattle for Mr. William Colwill, of Centralia. Mr. M. Senior of Toronto who has completed his year at Osgoode Hall, has returned home for the holidays. Mr. Walter Johns, of Elimville, has received word from the Methodist Book Room that he has been awarded the prize for his story The Law of Kindness' which will be published in the Onward, June 21. 25 Years' Ago Jack Doerr won a blue ribbon of merit for one of four portraits entered at the Ontario Society of Photographers at the Royal York Hotel, Toronto. Mr. W. G. Cochrane moved into hiS new home on Senior Street last week. Mr. Ed Hunter-buvar has moved into the motel-cabins he erected in connection with the service station he is building on the highway south of town. Pupils of Grades V and VI of Hensall Public School were taken on a bus tour to the Hobby Fair at London. They also visited the University of Western Ontario and other places of interest. 15 Years Ago Die Peter Fraser, UWO London has been awarded a $4,000 research grant from the National Research Connell for theoretical studies in atomic collision, Usborne township schools under music supervisor 10 Years Ago Appointment of William Batten as editor of The Times-Advocate was announced this Week by Publisher J, M. Southcott. The latest in fashions were presented Thursday in the "Patio Parade' sponsored by Beta Sigma Phi sorority in co- operation with Exeter businessmen. A prediction of Exeter's Planning Board places the population of Exeter at 4,000 by the year 1911. Murray DeaJardins, clerk- treasurer of Grand Bend, has been informed he has been ha med a Justice of the Peace for Huron County, Shirley Genttniry Carolynne Slrrrhl received their geld cord and certificate in Guiding at a ceremony in North Bay, Satur- day. 4 ,......7ARMIATias, ..;400041400i*otlitElre