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The Exeter Times-Advocate, 1974-05-23, Page 4There was a time when city folk looked down their noses at country bumpkins and dismissed us on the basis of having no culture. Well, judging from activities. in the area, it isn't. that way any more. Students at two area elementary schools have been engaged in operetta presentations and the Huronia Singers will present another one next week. The drama club at the high school won the district championship with their recent play and even the Hensall Sales earn has been the scene of a drama presentation. To continue, the Huron Country Playhouse has released its schedule for the upcoming weeks and Theatre London have become well aware of the cultured people in this area as they have circulated their itinerary through this newspaper,. While the support given such ventures through attendance is growing, it is even more encouraging to note the participation that is evident, Particularly among our young people. It's an area in which recreation direc- tor Jim McKinlay may find some interest for further leisure time pursuits for the community. Must be deterrent Judge Glenn Hays expressed some con- cern recently over the practice of handing out restricted licence suspensions to im- paired drivers, and he should be en- couraged to continue his consideration of the validity of this practice. As he noted, the cases of impaired driv- ing appeared to decline when the breathalizer test became law, but with the advent of restricted suspensions, the numbers appearing on impaired charges have increased. Obviously, the deterrent is certainly not as great when those convicted of im- paired driving are still allowed to drive in the course of their work. People who imbibe too heavily are less likely to gamble if they were faced with the prospect of losing their jobs because of a licence suspension. That may be considered harsh punish- ment, but surely those who risk the lives of fellow motorists by taking to the highways in unsafe conditions warrant harsh penalties, Their victims certainly are sub- jected to harsh punishment in terms of death and serious injuries, Alcohol is still one of the leading causes of the carnage on our highways, and no doubt it will continue to be until the penalties for impaired driving are severe enough to provide stronger deterrents. The court records would indicate that restricted licence suspensions do not provide that deterrent. Out of your pocket One of the things which bothers many citizens of this country a great deal is the over-spending of our tax dollars by govern- ment at various levels. Just this month an example of how our money is "over-spent" was shown concerning the trade fair in Shanghai, China. The thing that really bothers, however, is the attitudes that influence the expen- diture of public money. For instance, the Canadian Government furnished each hotel room in Shanghai with a bottle of whiskey for the benefit of "special guests" at the Fair, This is only a small item in the expen- diture of $300,000. by the Canadian Govern- ment on this, Fair. With only 34 firms retireS6rited at the-Farr , 22 public servants made the trip from Ottawa to "see that all went well". The Government, in order to secure the participation of firms in the Fair, also paid the entire expense of ship- ping their exhibits across the Pacific! Do officials who approve public expen- diture such as this really pause to reflect that the money they are spending comes, not from some limitless "pirate's treasure trunk" but from the pockets of working people? Perhaps participation in the Shanghai Fair is important, but most taxpayers will agree that Ottawa could have trimmed the budget a good deal if they were really in tune with the feeling of the taxpayers of this country. St. Marys Journal-Argus Going on Vocation 1 YOU'LL ENJOY IT MORE IF YOU GIVE BLOCH) WEFORE YOU GO, MAW 5aTIO 7=7:::NZMITZWEEIREMMASEK=7.7.;:raRENTMVe: Times Established 1073 Advocate Established 1881 Amalgamated 1924 Oreferlitnes-Atructafe SERVING CANADA'S BEST FARMLAND C.W.N.A., 0.W.N.A., CLASS 'A i and ABC Editor — Bill Batten — Advertising Manager Assistant Editor -- Ross Haugh Published Each Thursday Morning at Exeter, Ontario second Class Mail Registration Number 0386 Paid in Advance Circulation, March 31, 1 V 2, 5,037 SUBSCRIPTION RATES:- Canada $9M0 Per• Year; USA $1 1 1)0 CO..""'rniESWEETAMTMSZI. . inutuas Phone 235.1331 "You'll have to speak up—my ears are full of sand!" An expression of gratitude? Charles Manson a battered child Culture abounds Pray with love Once enough for this career Several items this week, none of them large enough to write a column about, but each of them of such vital importance to the state of the world that they must not be ignored. Germany: a couple of left- overs. Postitution is legal there. In Kaiserslautern, there's a rather bleak four-storey building. Probably financed by American aid. It is a (uh, shall we say?) house of ill repute. In their rude and licentious way, the soldiery call it, "Four floors of whores", which has a nice echoic ring to it. But what caught my eye, at 11 a.m., was the huge neon sign on top of the building. It read, "SEX MIT heart." The word heart was not spelled out, but represented by a huge, red, Valentine-type heart, in neon, A nice touch. Another place in the same city was "Harry's". He has a good gimmick, which I'd like to see Eaton's and Simpsons adopt. It is a clip joint for suspecting North Americans. There are no Ger- mans in the place. But you can buy anything from a hummel figurine to a vast, lousy painting. However, his gimmick getsem. When you walk in the door, you are offered a coke, a coffee, or a beer. And when you leave, you are offered a free gift; comb, nail-file, plastic car-key holder, something. It's chicken stuff, but it's smart. In a lot of Canadian stores, all you are offered is a slice of cold shoulder. Trees. The Germans treat their trees as we would roses. They are carefully husbanded — and even wifed — and produce the ex- pectant harvest. They are then cut up as carefully as bread. We whack ours down and burn them. Not that I'd want to live in Germany. Who wants to live in a country where the trains run on time, and highway signs say something as vulgar as Ansfar ten? Movies: Recently I was in- volved in the making of a movie. I am here to declare, by the grace of God, that I do not now, or ever, want to be a movie star, a sup- porting actor, or an extra. You guessed it. I was an extra. Unpaid. I spent a beautiful spring afternoon running up and down hills, shouting, "Get him! Kill him! Hang him!", in a soldier's uniform, and brandishing a stout club. Why I, as a soldier, was carrying a club, instead of a musket, I don't know, but extras don't question De-Mille, do they? Trouble was with the movie, that we extras didn't know what the hell was going on. We puffed up and clown the hills, got slapped in the eye by willow switches, and jumped over logs, waving our clubs menacingly. It was pretty exciting. The first time, Then we did it over and over again, because someone had forgotten to take off the sun- glasses, or the watch. It was a period piece, and the beer cans and coke bottles didn't fit into the 19th century milieu. Must admire the cameraman, though. He climbed about forty feet into a tree to take "down" shots of us idiots running through the woods, yelling, "Kill him! Get him I ," and such. Then he lay under a log, shooting up, getting crotch shots and feet shots as we did the same thing. Then he waded into a river (in April) and did the same thing. Finally, he ran backwards with a hand camera while we raced (or stumbled) toward him, shouting the same stuff. He tripped a couple of times over trees cut down with a 1974 chain saw, Biggest problem was not to laugh during shooting (as we call it). There is something eminently hilarious about a collection of middle-aged people, some of them with hernias and heart attacks, walking back up a hill, for the fifth time, in order to come running down it again, because some silly ass had cried, in the excitement, "Go get him, Mike!", instead of "Kill! Kill!" and the sound man had picked up the modern expression. Depression : Not the psychiatric kind, the economic kind. I feel it in my bones, There's a big depression coming, Jolly good, is what I say. We haven't had a decent depression Gratitude is generally of varying degrees, depending upon those involved, but the writer certainly is questioning the gratitude shown by one of his "neighbors" this week. For the past year or so, the neighborhood domain has been traversed by a variety of stray cats. Their ancestry is obviously of question and as yet we have been unable to find any humans who will claim ownership. For some time, the felines made a nightly pilgrimage to our yard where they proceeded to knock the top off the garbage can and start devouring the leftovers from the Batten table. Each morning we arrived on the scene to commence the task of picking up the mess that had been strewn upon the ground. Fortunately, for the writer, other people suffered from the antics of the night visitors. The noise made as the garbage can covers clanged to the ground was more than our neighbor could withstand in her nearby bedroom. She happened to have the editor on her Christmas list and this year we were the recipients of one of those big green garbage can holders. It was quickly put into use, but alas we found that the manufacturer had made a rather poor job in his design of the front doors and the cats quickly solved that problem. in this country for years. There's almost a desire for one. The kids, of course, don't even know what one is. Heard a girl say today to another, "Vu gotny money?" The other replied, "Yabudy. Yabudy godda-getsum cigrets." Priorities. But the old folks now. In fact, they almost have a nostalgia for it. They brag about it. Lumpy porridge instead of Krinkly Krunchies. Hamburger, two pounds for two-bits. Mailmen working and danged glad to have a job. Railwaymen ditto. There are books, "Ten Lost Years", and plays dramatizing the Depression. And it was dramatic. I was there. For the ten Lost Years. And I didn't feel they were lost. Ask anyone. If you can find him. Or her? Dear Sir, On Monday, May 27, the Legion Auxiliary is sponsoring a Red Cross Blood Donor Clinic at the Exeter Legion Hall, In the past few years, the at- tendance at these clinics has remained about the same with about 100 to 130 donors per clinic. Many of these donors live in surrounding communities. At our last clinic, in December, we had 52 donors from the town of Exeter. I think Exeter can do Better. For a population of over 3,000, surely we have more than 52 people who care about the urgent need for blood. Won't you think seriously about becoming a regular blood donor? If you have any fears about donating blood, please feel free to attend the clinic and look around. Talk to some donors and they'll tell you how simple the process is. If you are between 18 and 65 years of age and in good health, you can be a blood donor. Please come to the clinic Monday night and bring a friend, The need for blood is urgent! If you have any questions about donating blood, phone 235- 1501 and I will try to answer thetn. Thank you very much. Sincerely, Mrs, Elaine Baynharn The resulting noise was even greater than before. In addition to the lids of the garbage cans clattering to the ground, we now have the added nuisance of listening to the front doors of the garbage can holder hitting the deck, To make a long story short, the problem was ended by putting the table scraps out on the verandah floor for the cats, rather than slowing them down for the usual two seconds it took them to get into the garbage. + + + While most of the felines are nervous and bound out of sight upon the arrival of any human, one did embark upon a program to be more friendly . . . no doubt expecting even greater favors in the hand-outs. The friendliness, unfortunately required this particular'animal to show some gratitude and here's where the crunch came in As stated previously, gratitude can be shown in many ways. -. Our feline chose to present us with a litter of kittens . . . presently residing in the home chosen for them under our verandah. The exact count has not been determined, primarily because their mother has returned to her anti-social ways, particularly when she thinks someone is endangering her brood. At any rate, the neighborhood will soon be inundated with some more cats in the immediate future and the number of mid- night brawls to which we have been subjected in the past by these critters no doubt will in- crease. If you have any old shoes, will you pass them along for ammunition? Better still, if you happen to know thd owners of a tiger- colored cat, will you please ad- 50 Years Ago Mr. S. M. Sanders was in Chicago, last week attending the International Convention of Garment Manufacturers. May 24 opened with a drizzling rain but cleared towards the end of the day. In consequence motor traffic was curtailed somewhat, The usual list of visitors was not as large as in some years. Rev, Linden Harvey, of Coatsworth is spending a few days with his parents Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Harvey. At the district meeting of the I.O.O,F. held in Clinton on Wednesday of last week, Mr. W. W. Taman was elected District Deputy Grand Master for this district. Mr. Bruce Rivers left Monday for St. Thomas, where he has secured a position. 25 Years Ago W. G. Cochrane has moved into his new house, Senior St, The Huronia choir woe first prize at the Woodstock Musical Festival Wednesday evening, Winston Shapton graduated from CAC, Guelph, at the con- vocation exercises last Wed- nesday, Ed Hunter-Duvar will open his new service station at the south end of town Friday night With an old and new time dance. 15 Years Ago The Exeter Kinettes plan to purchase a cart of their own through South Huron Hospital channels for the purpose of [selling confections anclsundry articles to the hospital patients. They have been doing this for some time but used a hospital cart, vise them to contact the writer. With haste! + + + The next time you consider how lucky you are to be living in Canada, add this to the list of benefits — blood transfusions, free of charge, if and when you need them. Through the Red Cross, our country can boast one of the most efficient blood transfusion ser- vices in.the world. The program provides a unique and vital service which has saved literally hundreds of thousands of lives. This service only exists because of the unselfishness of Canadians who are regular blood donors, Blood donors are part of a growing community of people who believe in action — they are doing something to help. For people in need, blood is a miracle. It is, however, only the kind of miracle that happens because you care enough to give. Join your friends on Monday at the blood donor clinic at the Exeter Legion Hall. + + + If you did much driving over the holiday weekend, you'll be well aware that the price of gasoline has shot up by as much as 10 cents per gallon. It now becomes necessary to part with an arm and a leg when you say "fill 'er up". The writer doesn't comprehend the Canadian oil and gas policies well enough to explain the in- crease, but it certainly appears excessive. The odd thing is, that even before the price increases, the oil companies were making gigantic profits. Now they'll have to use some of their special tankers to carry their money to the bank. The Clandeboye station on the CNR railway has been sold by tender and is to be removed. Between campaign speechesat Wingham and Stratford,Premier Frost attended a luncheon meeting of party workers at Armstrong's Restaurant, Exeter, Wednesday afternoon. Joanne Mair of Exeter and Audrey Rhodes, an outstanding Stratford athlete, whose parents now live in Exeter, were among the nurses who graduated from. St. Joseph's Hospital School of Nursing, Friday. 10 Years Ago The sons and daughters of members of Exeter Lions swelled attendance to 85 at their "family night" staged at the Exeter Legion. Guest of the evening was Merle "Ting" Tingley, noted cartoonist with the London Free Press, First official practice for the Exeter Mohawks, who have been centered in the Huron-Perth Baseball loop, will be held Tuesday night. Manager Joe Wooden has extended an in- vitation to all ball players in the area to try out for Spots with the club. Joan Westcott, daughter of Mr. and Mts. Roylarice Westcott graduated froth London Teachers' College. She is a SHDHS graduate and has ac- cepted a position with the Kit- chener public school board. Bob Beavers, son of Mr. and Mrs. Reg Beavers, brae his 'right leg while playing seccer at SIIDHS. The bones have had to be reset and he is ie Vietoria Hospital, London, I never pray for the conversion of my unbelieving husband," stated my friend as she sat across the kitchen table from me. Seeing my startled look, she continued, "He's been given the freedom of choice and he must exercise it with no outward in- fluence." "But surely," I replied, "all of us are influenced by many things and in many ways in every choice we make whether it be in our religious lives or the nitty-gritty of our daily affairs." "Right," she agreed, "and my husband, seeing the difference between the Christian way of life and the non-christian, must decide for himself which he will choose. I don't feel it's right for me to ask God to change him, If he makes the change he must do it of his own free will." "Do you not think, though," I countered "there may be con- ditions he can't change by himself?" She replied that she didn't think so. "Well, suppose your husband was kidnapped by some vicious, armed bandit. Blindfolded, bound and gagged in some secret place, with no way of escape he would be quite helpless to change his situation wouldn't he? You, too, even though you wanted desperately for him to be free and out of the clutches of this terrible man would be powerless to help him. "However, supposing you knew another man who had such power and influence that he could bring this power to bear on the villain and force him to free your husband. Wouldn't you ask him to use his authority to have your husband freed?" She replied that she would. "Then, let's think about this a bit more," I said. "You believe there is an evil force (call it what you will) loose in the world which can be conquered only through the power oif Jesus Christ?" Yes, she said, she did. By ELMORE BOOMER Counsellor for Information South Huron For appointment phone: 235-2715 or 235-2474 Not only did Mr, Manson, mass murderer of California, suffer brutally as a child at the hands of his mother, but so also did she when she was a child. Both Sirhan Sirhan, who killed Robert Kennedy, and James Earl Ray, who shot the Rev. Martin Luther King suffered brutality as children. The suggestion is simply - child battering runs in families. One study in Britain, published three years ago, surveys five generations of one such family, There were 49 children in the family tree, of which only seven were described as not being ill- used. Six of the babies were killed, three were battered, ten children were abandoned and eleven left unsupervised. The battered child is being programmed to batter his own children. The explanation for such programming seems to be as follows - under severe stress, rational response is supplanted by emotional reaction. Instead of helpful response resulting in relief of a situation the built-in, learned reaction to stress takes over. One Etobicoke father spoke of the stressful situation in which his three year old daughter died, "I was so mad. I couldn't get a job. I didn't mean to hurt the kid." Child battering occurs in every stratum of society. For while low- income families suffer the most, yet cases are reported from the most affluent homes. Three conditions must seemingly 011ie together in any given situation for child battering to happen. First, the adult is emotionally vulnerable with little control over impulse. Second, that emotionally frail individual is overloaded with stress. Third, there iS an infant or a child whose behaviour at the moment acts as trigger. Cyril Greenland studied 1,121 cases of child-abuse in Ontario over a three year period and reported, "The common elements in most reported cases were poverty and severe en- vironmental stress." Mt. Arthur "Do you not think, then, your husband might be so bound by this force he isn't able to break the bonds by himself and make the right choiee as your suggest? For my Part," I continued, would be afraid NOT to pray for him." I don't understand prayer . (I don't understand electricity either but that doesn't stop me from switching on the light when I enter a dark room). Dr. Frank, Lauback says it may be that as prayer vibrations go out on the ether waves they attach them- selves to other powers operating for good. Whatever it is, I believe, like Malcolm Muggeridge, that in some mysterious and wonderful way prayer opens up a channel between God and the person being prayed for which helps clear the way for the Holy Spirit to move, As my friend and I continued our conversation I said, "I think you are quite right not to ask God to CHANGE your husband. If you pray for him always thinking about his faults, judging him and criticising him, then I think you pray in yain and keep him ear- thbound) But if you pray with love and the knowledge of the mercy of God, asking Him to pour out His love on your husband just as he,ig now, then I believe you pray w411 power." Many of us pray long and earnest y for our families and friends but never through the love of God as revealed in Jesus. There are some saints in the world who have learned this secret of intercessory prayer, and to be remembered in their prayers is far more enriching than to be remembered in their wills! "Love never faileth" and only as we bind our prayers with our love and the knowledge of God's love can we hope for effective answers. Wood who heads the Royal Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children commented, "Parents who batter their children are not so different from parents who don't," The difference need only be a little more living room, the op- portunity of closing a door for quiet and rest, some help from a relative - the opening of a safety valve. June Callwood gives one in- stance of death arising out of frustration."A five month old girl who died in Toronto three years ago was found to have seven broken bones, all in dif- ferent stages of healing. Police arrested the mother who was 19, mentally retarded, one of 16 children raised in Northern Ontario and a stranger in the city. She told them that her husband was never home. 'If I only had someone to talk to,' she said." Many parents have ex- pectations for their children which are unrealistic. Many loveless adults have children in order that they may experience love. Battered children are often children prematurely born. The • sugestion is that the bonding process between child and parents is damaged because of a long separation after birth. Many battered children are unwanted children. There are records of battered children whose mothers had un- successfully sought abortions. Parents may even be seeking to be responsible in what to them is a trying situation. So babies are whipped raw to accomplish toilet- training. Reporter Callwood speaks of one Montreal couple who tried to curb their 6 year-old boy's taste for candy by stuffing sugar into him, He died through their efforts, Here then is a resume of what Dr. C. Henry Kempe of Denver, ' Colorado, called the "child- battered syndrome." Questions arise. What is the scope of this problem? What is being done? What should be done? It is well to be informed about such matters and next week we will present statistics and discuss Some proposals for prevention of child destruction.