The Exeter Times-Advocate, 1976-03-25, Page 4Smiley's
Ice presents dangers
The sparkling purity of a fresh blanket
of snow covering an icy river, stream or
lake can be deceptively inviting, We all
become eager to try out new skates or the
latest model snowmobile. But our haste
can lead to tragic mishaps. The Canadian
Red Cross Water Safety Service urges you
to think twice before you try the ice.
Remember to check both ice thickness
and weather conditions. Authorities usually
declare local sites safe in newspapers and
by radio. A quick phone call to the police is
all it takes to be sure. If these sources of in-
formation are not available you can
measure the thickness by cutting a hole in
the ice, Make sure the ice is at least four in-
ches thick for group skating and hockey.Ice
seven to eight inches thick is required for
ice boating, snowmobiling and similar ac-
tivities because of the extra weight.
Ice over large bodies of water, or
rivers with currents, or on salt water is
likely to be unsafe. Currents can erode and
melt ice from below. Extra caution is
necessary around moving currents because
it is here that it is easiest to become
trapped if you fall through and fail to sur-
face in the same spot.
Watch for dark spots which generally
indicate weakened ice. And stay close to
shore. Ice in the centre tends to be thinner.
Always check weather conditions, Be
extra careful during early and late winter
when' ice thaws and re-freezes. Remember
that ice weakens under midday sun. Make
sure the ice you played hockey on last even-
ing is just as sturdy today when you skate
during your lunch hour, And never skate or
snowmobile alone.
If you should fall in, don't panic.Extend
your hands and arms onto the ice surface
before you, Gently kick your legs out
behind you to a level position and slide or
squirm forward to safety. DO NOT
STAND! Your concentrated weight can
cause the ice to break
A fall through the ice is not always
fatal, but it can be an extremely shocking
experience. A plunge into icy water causes
muscles to contract. Blood circulation
slows down and body temperature falls
rapidly. When your core body temperatifre
drops from its normal 37 degrees C (98.6
degrees F) to around 30 degrees C (85
degrees F) your life is in danger.
If you like ice sports and want to con-
tinue enjoying them, remember that we're
warm-blooded humans, not cold-blooded
fish. The Red Cross reminds: If you're not
sure, always seek local advice, or stay off
the ice.
Gooc business practice
Have you ever heard these words from
a businessman "I'm not trying to pressure
you, but you should sign now.The price goes
up 20 percent tomorrow." or "I'm sorry,
but there's no way we can repair it. We'll
have to replace the whole thing?" If you
felt the dealer was lying, you now have
recourse, no longer is the sales pitch only a
matter for the salesman's conscience.
There is a new Business Practices Act
and Ontario's Consumer Minister has put -
out two booklets, Balance in the
Marketplace, one for the consumer and one
for the Ontario Businessman. These
booklets explain the Act which puts the
consumer on an equal footing with the
businessman, and sets out a straight-
forward means of redress for the con-
sumer.
Most businessmen operate on an
ethical basis but there has always been
those shady dealers who try to put it over
on the buyer: Now if the buyer thinks he
has been "had" he can ask the businessman
to rescind the agreement, transaction deal
or contract,ask a court to rescind the agree-
ment if the businessman refuses to, or ask
the Ministry of Consumer and Commercial
Relations to mediate the dispute.
The Business Practices Act Shouldn't
hurt the ethical businessmen, only do away
with his unethical competitors. The
booklets that have been put out and are
available to both consumers and
businessmen and will help them to know
the law and how they can use it effectively.
Copies are available free of charge from
the Ontario Consumer, Queen's Park,
Toronto.
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Man's Pedigree
Three monkeys sat in a coconut tree
Discussing things as they're said to be
Said one to the others
"Now listen you two
There's certain rumor that can't,be true
That man descended from our noble race
The very idea is sure a disgrace
No monkey has ever deserted his wife
Starved her babies and ruined her life
And you've never known another monk
To leave her babies with another to bunk
Or pass them on from one to another
Till they hardly know which one is their mother
And another thing you will never see
A monk build a fence round a coconut tree
And let the coconut waste
Forbidding all other monks to taste
Why, if I put a fence around this tree
Starvation would force you to steal from me
And here's something else a monk won't do
Go out at night and get in a "stew"
Or use a gun or a club or knife
To take some other poor monkey's life
Yes, man descended—the ornery cuss--
But, brother, he didn't descend from us!"
I
Island of me
I'm lonely on this
Island of Me, Lord
If I said that out loud
others would exclaim
'but you know so many people
how can you be lonely?'
Lord, you know
I don't know people
And they don't know me
How can they?
the inadequacies
the disappointments
the longings
the hopes, the fears
They don't understand me
Sometimes I think
you don't understand me either, Lord
How come I'm on this island anyway?
Who put me here?
You mean 'I did', Lord?
Thank you for showing me
it's time
to row back to the Mainland
The
Whisperer
When I was little
and naughtily behaved
my mother used to tell me
"There's an ugly little man
sitting on your shoulder
whispering bad things
in your ear".
And I would stamp angrily
around the house
trying to knock
him off.
Today I feel mean,
belligerent and spiteful.
Could it be that ugly little man
is still whispering
in my ear?
Who is he
anyway?
me?
There she is
here I am
There she is, Lord,
little, old weather-beaten lady
living in her little old weather-beaten house,
cheerfully bobbing, nodding
a loving welcome to her affluent neighbor.
She has so little
asks so little
expects so little
and is so much happier than I
who have so much and
want so much more.
Bless her, God,
Help me.
Sitting Quietly
By KIT SCHILLER
I)
OrefeRrimesabuocafe
I So:
SERVING CANADA'S BEST FARMLAND
C.W.N,A,, 0.W.N.A. CLASS 'A' and ABC
Published by Eedy Publications Limited
Editor Jim Beckett — Advertising Manager
Women's Editor — Gwyn Whilsmith
Plant Manager — Jim Scott
Composition Manager — Dave Worby
Business Manager — Dick Jongkind
Phone 235.1331
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Published Each Thursday Morning
at Exeter, Ontario
Second Class Mail
Registration Number 0386
Paid in Advance Circulation
September 30, 1975 5,420
SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Canada $9.00 Per Year; USA $11,00
•
If you have teenage children
who may in the next decade get
married and have children, it is
not too early for you to start
getting into condition. The life
you save may be your own.
I'd suggest a lot of jogging, for
a start. Get your wind together.
You'll need it.
Then you should get your back
in shape. Practice leaning over a
bath-tub until you can do it for 10
minutes without a stitch or a
twinge.
Next, you should work on your
arms and shoulder muscles. I
suggest you buy a baby cot and a
high chair. Then get hold of a
large plastic bag and fill it with 25
pounds of sand or old iron. Nails
might be even better.
Now. Put the bag of sand in the
high chair and practice hoisting it
out until you can do it 10 times in
a row without puffing. Do the
same with the baby's cot, with
the sides up.
This is only a facsimile, of
course, not the real thing. One
hopes that the bag of sand will not
be struggling, or screaming that
it doesn't want its bib on, or
doesn't want to go bye-byes.
Next, put on your winter
clothes, tuck the bag of sand
under one arm and a 20 lb. bag of
groceries under the other, and
practice walking out to the car
with them, over the slippery
sidewalk. If you see a dog or cat
or kid, you must stop and look for
a suitable interval, saying: "See
the nice doggie," about eight
times,
If you followed this regime for
Times Established 1873
five years or so, you might be
physically able to cope with a
lively two-year-old grandson or
daughter. I wish someone had
warned me.
We're into our third week with
Pokey, and we're getting a bit
tattered around the edges.
When I was a young father and
had young children of my own,
for some reason I didn't get so
exhausted.
Of course, then, I didn't get
home from work until about 6:30.
The kids were fed, bathed by
their mother, and I told them
their bed-time story. There was
nothing to it.
Nowadays, I get home about
4:30, and a little demon hurls
himself at me. He's just up,
refreshed, after his nap, and I'm
a little pooped after coping with
the life styles of 150 adolescents.
It's no contest.
I'm beginning to have the
deepest sympathy for young
mothers. With one child, it's
about a 16-hour a day shift. With
several young ones, it's got to be
the modern answer to the Chinese
water torture.
How many of you old-timers
have tried recently to get an
infant into one of those winter
snowsuits? The boots won't go
through the legs, the zippers
won't zip. Yesterday, I spent
eight minutes getting one leg in,
and for once the zipper worked. I
straightened up to draw breath
and ease my back, looked down
with some satisfaction, and saw
to my horror that the child's leg
was in the wrong leg of the
1
Advocate Established 1881
snowsuit. Back to scratch.
Sunday, there was a fresh fall
of snow, and I thought I'd take
Pokey for a toboggan ride. After
the usual ordeal of getting him
dressed, I was sweating and
puffing. He was calm and keen to
get going.
Unfortunately, our house is
surrounded by hills. If you start
off downhill, you'll be going uphill
on the way home. I was smart. I
tackled the steepest hill, going
up, so it would be easier,
downhill, on the way back, when
I'd be tired.
Oh yes, I was smart. Near the
top of the first hill, an elderly
lady, out shovelling her snow,
remarked: "Well, you must be a
devoted grandfather. I've seen
men pulling kids on a toboggan
before, but I've never seen one
doing it on his hands and knees,
pretending to be a sleigh dog." I
wasn't pretending.
After three blocks, all uphill,
we hit the road home. I didn't
know, by this time, whether I
was going up, down, or sideways.
I was lathered in sweat and my
knees were trembling like a
virgin's on her honeymoon.
If you're wondering how your
heart is, take your grandchild for
a toboggan ride, preferably with
long patches of bare sidewalk
covered with sand. By the end of
it, you'll either be dead, or you'll
know your ticker is in pretty good
shape.
But the outdoor games are mild
compared with the indoor. At
least, when he's swaddled in a
— Please turn to Page 5
Amalgamated 1924
CCNA
111UF RIBBON
AWARD
1074
The fortunes of the Exeter
Squirt Soccer team seem to have
taken a downward turn in the
past two weeks.
The trip to England for the
young players has been cancelled
and Dave Silcock, their coach,
has severed his connection with
the team.
The cancellation of the trip was
the right move because it was
apparent that the fund raising
efforts were not running too
smoothly. It may have been the
amount of money needed was too
much when you took into con-
sideration the small number of
people who would benefit from
the trip.
Mr. Silcock deserves credit for
the amount of success the team
reached under his guidance in the
short time the club has been
playing competitive soccer, but
the wording in his letter of
resignation, published in the T-A
last week, gives the impression,
he has abandoned the team at a
time when they need him most,
The final paragraph in his
letter almost reeks of "sour
grapes" on his part when he said
"the best advice I can give them
is that they do like I have done
and change their sports this
summer, thus helping to relieve
certain people of headaches,"
If you read between the lines,
the message seems to be clear
that if things don't go exactly the
way the coach wants them to go
the entire operation should be
scrapped.
This writer hopes the team will
stay together and continue to
show a certain degree of success.
Even if they don't win any more
championships, the soccer club
would continue to perform the
task it was established for in the
first place.
Enjoyment of the game and
teaching sportsmanship to our
youngsters is reason enough to
keep the Squirts together.
Any championships or trips
that might be won could be
described at best as a secondary
fringe benefit.
Perhaps someone else in town
will show enough interest in the
Squirts to volunteer his services
as a coach. At this low point in the
brief history of the organization
they could use all the help they
can get.
Must prove age
Recent announcements that
age of majority cards must be
shown by young people who want
to drink in liquor and beer
establishments will be welcomed
by the owners of these places.
In the past it's been far too easy
for somebody 16 or 17 years old to
borrow a drivers licence or birth
certificate from a friend to
enable them to go. and "hoist a
few" with the older drinkers.
In some cases these people
have been caught by inspectors
and the tavern or hotel owners
have been nailed for a substantial
fine or even had their licenses
suspended.
The new cards with the picture
of the bearer will make the job of
policing the premises much
easier for waiters and bar-
tenders.
The system sounds almost
foolproof if a strict enough job of
checking for this new type of
identification is carried out.
It won't cut down on the
amount of drinking by those 18
and older who are in a legal
position to do so, but it should
substantially reduce the numbers
of people under 18 who are
presently passing themselves off
as older than they really are.
Gooc weather arena
The Exeter Arena is still
showing signs of life after the
obituaries had been written.
The ministry of labor has in-
dicated the building can be used
from April 15 to October 15 if a
structural engineer de-cides that
it is safe to do so.
It must be established the
arena is strong enough to carry
its own weight and to handle the
stress created by local wind
conditions.
This will be good news to many
organizations that usually use the
facilities for a variety of ac-
tivities.
Roller skating may be resumed
again this summer as well as the
May campout and the Hospital
Auxiliary rummage sale.
This is an important
development for area residents
because the arena is much more
than just a winter facility for
hockey games.
Cattle rustling
Ontario Provincial Police have
asked farmers to look for any
suspicious activities following a
discovery by Bob Down of
Usborne township that 23 cattle
had been stolen from his farm.
Cattle rustling is a crime that
you don't hear much about these
days — perhaps the criminals are
running short of ideas and are
forced to adopt old time crimes to
get a little money these days.
This kind of thievery would not
resemble the rustling we have
become familiar with in the
western movies.
The criminals that visited the
Down farm would undoubtedly
have a large truck to enable them
to get away quickly.
They also could have had
connections with someone in the
50 Years Ago
Mr. Trueman Elliott has sold
his residence on Main Street to
Mr. Roy Webber who gets
possession in April.
Mr. Rd. Coates, of Usborne has
disposed of his fine 200 acre farm
at Eden to Mr. Earl Whiting of
Parkhill.
Messrs. R. Goulding and Frank
Sheere leave for Toronto to hear
the Mendelssohn choir at Massey
Hall.
Mr, Bert Gillespie is holidaying
in Buffalo.
25 Years Ago
The SHDHS senior boys suc-
cessfully defended their WOSSA
"B" title in an exciting match
with Kingsville at UWO's
Thames Hall Saturday night with
a 36-35 score.
W. I. Carroll principal of
Mitchell High School for the past
27 years tendered his resignation
to the Mitchell District High
School Board at their meeting
last Wednesday night, to become
effective at the end of June.
The March meeting of Caven
Congregational Circle was held
at the home of Mrs, E. Johnston
on Tuesday evening last. Mrs. W.
G. Cochrane presided over the
meeting.
Plans for a monster Dominion
Day Celebration in Exeter this
year were tentatively approved
by the Kinsmen at their regular
meeting Thursday night.
Thirty employees of the
Riverside Silk Mill plant at
Mitchell went out on strike
Monday for higher pay and other
benefits, A pay increase of five
cents an hour, under a con-
ciliation board award had been
refused by the strikers
previously.
meat business who could dispose
of the animals with a minimum of
risk.
One farmer said last week that
it wouldn't take very long to load
the cattle and he thought the
thieves would be hundreds of miles
away before the loss was
discovered.
The police are going to need a
lucky break or they'll have to
come up with some pretty fancy
detective work in order to catch
these rustlers.
Cubs 'n cops
One of the major areas in which
police departments in the country
have been concentrating is public
relations,
Larger departments have
public relations officers who
work full time at spreading the
word on the helpfulness of the
police.
The Exeter Police Department
is no different and the idea they
have come up with should be a hit
with local Cubs.
The idea is for a Cub to spend
an hour with a police officer so
they will have a better ideal of the
work these people do in the
community. It should go a long
way to helping these young
people understand what police do
and I'm sure the impressions will
be totally different than those left
by many of the popular television
programs.
Constable Fice is in charge of
the program that originated
when he spoke recently to the 18
members of the Exeter Cubs.
Perhaps some of the Cubs will
like police work so much they will
choose this field as a career when
they get a little older,
20 Yr Ars Ago
Fred WellF., Exeter Legion's
best poppy seller, received a
certificate of merit for out-
standing service to the branch in
a special ceremony last week.
The 83-year-old five foot two-inch
veteran of World War I has spent
many hours in Legion work since
its beginning 25 years ago.
SHDHS student Connie Ostland
won second prize in the provin-
cial lyric verse-speaking com-
petition at the Ontario Education
Association in Toronto.
Over 500 entries have been
received for competition in the
South Huron Festival. It is a
three-day festival sponsored by
Huronia Male Chorus.
10 Years Ago
At a meeting of Exeter Library
Board Thursday evening Mr.
Arthur B. Idle was appointed
chairman succeeding Cecil
Wilson, who has acted as
chairman for the past 20 years
and who has resigned,
A separate committee has been
set up as a branch of the Exeter
Centennial committee to look
after details pertaining to the
visit of the Centennial Con-
federation Caravan which will
visit Exeter in October of 1967.
Mrs, Lorne Keller is the new
secretary bookkeeper for the
Town of Exeter, replacing Mrs.
Jean Weber who resigned as
deputy clerk-treasurer,
Council has approved a safety
week•for Exeter from June 27 to
July 1. Department of Transport
testing equipment will be brought
to town and as many cars
checked as possible.
It may start in our schooldays
but surely the guilty feeling
starts earlier. The teacher
glowers down at a pupil and says
"What are you doing?" The kid
says "nothing," and the teacher
exclaims "NOTHING!" as
though it were an impossibility.
Hence early in life wp learn that
always we have to account for
our actions, by having actions, It
doesn't matter what, as long as
we're doing something. 'the
absurdity of this condition was
summed up by our best humorist
Stephen Leacock when he
described the man who mounted
his horse and galloped off madly
in all directions. "The Octopus
Complex" we might call it — the
wish to be busy all our waking
hours. To that end, better we
have eight arms than two.
Unfortunately since we are
only human we have to relax
though, and let go somehow, The
ways we let off steam are
sometimes as crazy as our
frantic busyness. Take the
physician who told I'm so tired at
the end of the day I sit in front of
the TV set stunned, until it's time
to hit the hay". Then there is the
pill syndrome — the roller
coaster which is easy to get on
and darn hard to get off, You
start the day with a pep-up pill
and end the day with a slow-down
pill, with lots of variations in-
between, But we're never, well
hardly ever, caught DOING
NOTHING,
Hard to believe? Try the
following experiment where you
work or in the bosom of your
family. Sit down, hands relaxed
on the arms of your chair, feet
comfortably outstretched.
Breathe slowly and deeply, and
do nothing else. One of several
things may happen, They may
immediately cart you off to the
local booby hatch, or they may
shout at you and ask you what the
hell you've doing, or if you're at
work, you may be fired for
loafing on the job,
Yet if you were smoking while
sitting relaxing, Or drinking
coffee, or gossiping with friends
or co-workers, you'd be fine,
because you wouldn't be caught
DOING NOTHING,
Now excesses of all kinds can
result from our crazy pre-
occupation with busyness. True
relaxation, except in sleep (at the
socially acceptable.ti me — night)
is impossible. Smoking is a
socially acceptable form of
relaxation, even if the Depart-
ment of Health warns against it.
The activity of bending the elbow
is okay too. Even when drinking
to excess, a person can say to
himself, "well, at least I'm doing
something." Eating too,
thousands upon thousands of
calories too many, is a socially
acceptable form of relaxation.
Eating has the added advantage
of fuelling us up for even more
activity. How many overweight
folk do you know who plunge into
activities every night of the
week?
But as air transportation
brings peoples and ideas closer
together, a gentleman from India
got the idea that in the west our
activities were really getting us
down, The stage was set for
Transcendental Meditation, The
gentleman had a ready market,
He couldn't simply say to us
Westerners "Relax, do nothing"
because we wouldn't know how.
We're so dumb about these things
that even when we sit in a rocking
chair we gotta rock, rock, rock.
' The guilt about doing nothing is
so much a part of us that we have
to have a label and excuse for
doing it — a label like Tran-
scendental Meditation.
Recently ttiis idea came home
to roost when a convert to T-M
visited us for a weekend. There
were certain times of the day, she
announced on her arrival, when
she could not be disturbed, They
were her meditating times, She
spoke as though she was onto
something big, mysterious and
wonderful, She was also onto
something expensive, It had cost
her over one hundred bucks to get
a secret, nonsense four -syllable
sound which belonged to her
exclusively. At least twice a day
she sat quietly for fifteen minutes
and repeated her word until she
was lost to the busy world around
her. Now that's kind of an ex-
pensive way to learn to loaf isn't
it?
We believe, we really believe,
we can sit quietly and do nothing
without having to put a label on it,
"Nothing" is a beautiful word,
►w n memory Iane,
S
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