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The Exeter Times-Advocate, 1977-08-25, Page 4Among the events of the Queen's silver jubilee year, the Aug. 10, 11 visit to Northern Ireland will go down as perhaps the most significant of all the Queen's many special activities. It was a singularly courageous act for the 51-year-old monarch. Even given the tremendous protection of "Operation Monarch" which involved more than 32,300 troops and police, the Irish visit represented a very real hazard for the Queen. As governments throughout the world know only too well, it only takes a single bullet to snuff out a life and it is vir- tually impossible to protect anyone against the attack of a dedicated sniper. And yet, the visit to Northern Ireland was a must for the Queen. To have not made it would have been almost certainly interpreted as a backing-down on the part of the British government and as a victory of sorts for the outlawed Irish Republican Army. As it turned out, the affection shown the Queen by her loyal Irish supporters and the containment of the IRA violence was a slap-in-the-face to the radicals. The unfor- tunate fact is that those same rebels will now spend the rest of the summer trying to make up for what can only be described as a public defeat. In this regard, the timing of the Queen's visit is a matter for consideration. Why was it scheduled to fall between two of the most inflammatory dates on the Northern Ireland calendar? Aug. 9 marked the sixth anniversary of the now-rescinded policy of internment of suspected IRA guerrillas without trial, an act that led to some of the worst fighting, while Aug. 12 is the celebration of the 1689 defeat of King James Irs Catholic army in Northern Ireland. There can be no doubt but what the Queen's advisers deliberately timed her visit to coincide with these contentious happenings. One "cannot help but wonder why. Would not a visit at another time have proven the point of British involvement and concern equally well? And will subsequent bloodshed, provoked to a point by this add- ed show of might by the British, be worth it? Only time will tell. But regardless of the outcome, the courage of Queen Elizabeth in undertaking the visit and carrying it off with her usual dignity will remain a shining example for those in Northern Ireland of what can be ac- complished under the most trying of times. Whose responsibility? Employers are being asked by the Unemployment Insurance Commission to report untidy job seekers who do not appear to be serious about finding work. "They're encouraging a fink mentality. They want people to be stoolpigeons and fink on each other," said one leader of a un- ion. "It's just another gimmick they have come up with to disqualify people," declared another. We're convinced the large majority of those who are unemployed are not at all happy about it and would willingly accept reasonable employment. But we're also convinced there are a few who like the idea of receiving unemployment insurance rather than working. Because the few damage the reputation of so many honest job seekers, it doesn't seem unreasonable at all to seek out the few. No one wants to be a fink or a tattle tale or a stoolpigeon but those who work regularly to contribute to the unemploy- ment insurance fund should have some rights in reducing the number of fakers who benefit unfairly. We can continue to pass the blame for unemployment to someone else and achieve nothing, or we can all recognize that no problem is defeated without co- operative effort and get to work on it. It's the same with detecting those who take ad- vantage of a system designed to protect us all, We can say it's the government's job to catch the culprits or we can all be involved in the task. We dislike the mentality that looks to government to do everything — solve the inflation problem, solve the unemployment crisis, solve the difficulty of regional dis- parities, solve the unity crisis — the list is endless. But the country was not built by those who depended on government to do things for them. Individual responsibility needs to gain some new status and when it does we might find our problems have diminished considerably. Maybe it's time individuals were tattle tales on those who abuse a system designed to protect a great many. Maybe then more would have some respect for the rights of others. totefeainies-Ainsorafe SERVING CANADA'S BEST FARMLAND C.W.N.A., O.W.N.A. CLASS 'A' and ABC Published by J. W. Eedy Publications Limited LORNE EEDY, PUBLISHER Editor — Bill Batten Assistant Editor — Ross Haugh Advertising Manager — Jim Beckett Plant Manager — Bill Weekley Composition Manager Harry DeVries Business Manager — Dick Jongkind Phone 235-1331 SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Canada $11.00 Per Year; USA $22.00 Published Each Thursday Morning at Exeter, Ontario Second Class Mail Registration Number 0386 Paid in Advance Circulation .1 September 30, 1975 5,409 — • , Etan APL •••••••om.r." t. . t 3W4-1 CI • - r- zsi Official Suicide The Canadian Federation of Independent Business 0 GUARD AGAINST Fagg 4 Times-Advocate, August 25, 1977 . ,rn—reirrNMV —hv • --51,,,,,)%1,—Awneertie9g^4......vor1t.rw ,,,,,,,...,,,, wernverm,cosrxwerrrehrernoxpeaner.eroter.,-.. wt,....sweeorenneor. A Queen with courage Being modern isn't everything Golf is a silly game A great many people look down their noses at the game of golf . Scornfully they ask: "How can an adult with a mind walk around a few acres of manicured pasture hitting a tittle white ball with a long stock?" And I am inclined to agree with them. It's a silly game and at least once a week I determine that I'm going to quit. But it's just about as easy to quit golf as it is to quit smoking. It's a game that reduces strong men to tears of impotent rage and turns honest women into cheats who move their ball from a bad lie when nobody is looking. Even the parlance of the game is ridiculous, combining terms from the butcher shop (hook, slice, shank) with those from an aviary (birdie, eagle) and those from a horror movie (bogey, scull). It's an expensive game. Membership in a club can run from $300 a year to $5,000 or more. Even the basic equipment can easily run to $500 for clubs, cart, bag, shoes. Those who don't belong to a club can pay as you go, eight or 10 dollars a round, and add to that three $2 balls lost in the bush and a couple of drinks in the club house and you're getting up around $20 for four hours of muttering at a little ball, pur- suing a little ball, and oc- casionally hitting that little ball so sweetly that nothing can quite compare with the feeling, and you are hooked all over again on this silliest of sports. Come to think of it, golf isn't a sport, any more than chess is, It's more like a way of life. And there are a lot worse ways of life. For a teenager, once bitten by the bug, it's like a disease. But a kid who has played 27 or 36 holes of golf on a Saturday is not very likely to be out smashing windows in the local 'school on Saturday night. He's too pooped, For the old-timer who plays nine holes every day with his foursome of cronies, it's a lot better life than sitting around the Legion Hall or the beverage room grousing about the govern- ment. He still has a challenge. He knows perfectly well that one of these days, if the wind is right, his arthritis isn't acting up, and the dam' club will connect with the dam' ball often enough, he can bring his score down equal to his age. An 80-year-old can still play golf and enjoy it, but you don't see too many of them surf- boarding or parachute jumping. Of course, it's an evil game. I've heard it rumored that there is sometimes betting involved, especially among the older guys, sometimes staggering wagers of as much as a nickel a hole. And then, of course, it's a dangerous game, physically, emotionally and psychologically. You can be thumped on the head by a golf ball traveling about 300 miles an hour. You can be struck by lightning • right at the top of your backsw- ing, if it's storming. Some golfers have gone into sand traps and never been seen again. , Emotionally, it can turn a calm college professor, the epitome of reason, into a raging maniac who is capable of throw- ing all his clubs into a water hazard and stalking from the course, purple-eared. I have seen one of the sweetest-natured chaps I've ever known, after hit- ting the ball three yards three times in a row, put his foot in the middle of a perfectly good four wood, bend it double, and hurl the crippled club deep into the nearest woods. I have heard a poised young matron, a regular churchgoer, using language on the golf course that would curdle the blood of a drunken Danish seaman. And if the game doesn't sear you physically and/or emotional- ly, it will probably destroy you psychologically, There are 40 people watching as you take your three practice swings, each one a marvel of symmetry, a machine that is grooved and oiled. You step up to the ball and hit it 60 yards straight up and 20 feet ahead of you. Or right over the fence on to the road. Or straight into the woods. While the gallery snickers discreetly and you desperately try to grin non- chalantly. It can get worse. Your wife, whom you can outdrive by 60 yards, steps up and hits a beauty right down the middle, and then gives you one of those looks. Marriages may be made in heaven, but they can become un- made on a golf course. Golfers do have a couple of things going for them. For one thing, they're extremely generous. They'll tell you, without charge, what is wrong with your backswing, your downswing, your stance, your grip and the kind of balls you are using. For another, they're tough. They wouldn't think of walking to church in the rain, but they'll play 18 holes in a torrent. On sul- try summer days when people are dropping with heat stroke, and on cold fall days when people are huddled by the fireplace, the golfers are out there, hacking and hewing around the course. Well, there you are. The game is silly, expensive, evil, and dangerous. Golfers run the risk of being scarred for life In one or more ways and should be locked up for their own safety. I'm definitely going to quit. And yet . . And yet . . The other day I had three good drives. Tuesday my putting was improving. Wednesday I'd have had a birdie if I hadn't hit the tree. Yesterday I was chipping well. I think maybe I'll give her one more go. It's all got to come together one day. Surely. While most planners would ad- vise that merchant groups have to be modern in their approach to attract customers, at least one community in Ontario has proven that it is not necessarily so, That community is Niagara- On-The-Lake and a jaunt along its main thoroughfare is akin to a step back into time. Most of the local store owners have joined together to give the town an old fashioned appearance, and judging from the crowds milling about during our recent visit there, they have been most successful in making the town a popular tourist attrac- tion. There are no flashing neon signs or fancy window dressings. Simple hand-painted signs have been used to designate each business and many still use some of the old store fixtures and equipment that most Ontario merchants tossed out years ago. One of the added benefits of the appearance is that, it generates a warm, friendly feel- ing and shoppers and merchants alike appear to be going at about half the normal pace of today's modern business world. The theme is not one that would work in every community of course, but it does prove that when merchants get together and cooperate on a particular theme it can have tremendous benefits for them all. The real advantage is that it not only becomes an attractive and popular shopping centre for local residents, it also is a pop- ular tourist attraction. Small wonder that most of the merchants in Niagara appear to have a wider smile than many of their confreres throughout the province. No doubt the simplici- ty of their project made it com- paratively cheap, as well. A jaunt through that particular region of Ontario is probably one of the most interesting to be found as it is steeped in natural beauty and historical significance. The Niagara Parkway is a blaze of color amid well coif- fured lawns and fruit groves. It is probably. that refreshing appearance that tempts many visitors to jump out of their vehicles and test their legs against the 235 steps of the General Brock memorial at Queenston Heights. Those who are able to over- come their leg cramps at the top are rewarded with a majestic view of the countryside that makes the climb well worth the effort. It's probably one of the few at- tractions left in this province that is free, although most peo- ple would probably question their sanity for paying for such a climb. The other popular attraction is Fort George, a reconstruction of one of the nation's earliest army posts. Students in period un- iforms go about the many chores that were required in the opera- tion of this fort and it is a most educational adventure for people of all ages. It is an interesting history lesson from the pages of 1812 and no doubt most visitors come away with more knowledge of that memorable portion of the nation's history than they can in the countless hours spent in classroom lessons. Perhaps it was just a figment of our imagination, but most of the visitors to Fort George appear to be Canadian citizens, despite the thousands of Increases allowable only once Tenants and landlords should be aware that only one rent in- crease is permitted in any 12- month period, consumer and commercial relations minister Sidney Handleman said recently in a statement aimed at clearing up any confusion that still exists over changes in rent review legislation. Even if the rent increase is under the eight percent guideline, it must stay in effect for a year, the minister said, "Landlords wishing to increase rents by more than eight percent must continue to apply to rent review for permission do do so," Mr. Handleman said. "This figure will remain in effect until October 14, 1977." Written reasons justifying a rent increase must accompany the 90-day notice of increase which the landlord must give under The Landlord and Tenant Act. A tenant or landlord now has 21 days, instead of 15, in which to file an appeal against a rent review officer's decision. The other party to the appeal must be notified within seven days after the notice has been filed. The minister 'urged landlords or tenants who have questions about their rights and protections under the Act to contact the nearest regional rent review office. (Anybody can have a second house, a second car, a second T.V. All it takes is a second job, a second mortgage and a second wind.) Americans who pour into the region each year. Could it be that they would just as soon not be reminded that they did lose that war? * It's not often that a poor per- formance can be termed in- teresting, but that was certainly the situation with our visit to the famous Marineland show last week. The show had been running smoothly with the mind boggling acts of the trained lions, tigers, bears, elephants, seals and dolphins, but the finale with the killer whales was something else. At the particular show we witnessed, the two whales simp- ly refused to go through their normal routines. As you may ex- pect, there's little anyone can do to change their minds when they have them made up. The trainers pleaded and prodded, but Kandu and his cohort simply wouldn't do. It may have spoiled the show for some, but because we had the pleasure of seeing it previously, it was interesting to know that man still does not have complete control of all members of the nature kingdom. We enjoyed a picnic lunch following the show and stayed around to watch from the sidelines the next time the whales were asked to perform. They went through about one- quarter of their act and again decided that was enough. Their decision was final. However, we also found that some humans don't give everything they're supposed to on occasions. We pulled into a motel boasting of a sauna, phones and color TV. On investigation we found that the room we booked did indeed have a TV, but it didn't work. The phones were ap- parently located in the office, because there was none in our room. The sauna? Oh, it was there alright. But it cost an extra $3 per head to sit and steam. It was also interesting to note that most establishments were taking American money at par, which no doubt made many U.S, visitors a little upset as well. Niagara Falls may well be one of the seven natural wonders of the world, but it's doubtful If Mother Nature expected so many people to make such a good living off It with questionable tactics. Amalgamated 1924 ' 55 Years Ago by JIM SMITH Someday, somehow, the technicians of this world will devise a marvellous machine which will be so important that the rest of the world will be utterly unable to function without that machine. The machine will be so ef- ficiently designed that it will require only one human op- erator. Moreover, the opera- tor will require absolutely no skills; any one of the billions of humans will be able to master the machine within a matter of seconds. Then the politicians will get into the act, granting the operator the right to strike. The unions will insist on — and get — exclusive opera- ting rights for that one indi- vidual. So, if the operator isn't happy with his work- ing conditions, the entire world will grind to a halt. Crazy? Of course. Impos- sible?Not at all; in fact, some- thing similar has happened to our public services in the past decade. The air traffic controllers grounded the en- tire country — including hun- dreds of thousands of travel- lers and fantastic amounts of business mail. Even that is of little importance compared to what the inside postal workers are planning for Christmas. There's incipient idiocy in our labour laws. Any block of workers, given responsi- bility for a function with enough economic or safety importance, can cripple the nation. In return for sacrifi- cing a couple of weeks' pay, dition to Zurich Public School was also used for the first time this week. Mary Lou McCoy, 17 year-old Exeter hairdresser became the second Ontario Bean Queen Monday when she was selected from among eight contestants in The beauty contest at Hensall Monday. Runners-up for the title were Marian Desjardine, Grand Bend and Margaret Moir, Hensall. Hensall Legion's baseball team won the Huron County Minor Baseball Trophy in a tournament held during the Ontario Bean Festival in Hensall. They defeated Exeter 12-1. Bob McBride, 8 son of Mr. & Mrs. Clare McBride, of the Goshen Line, is recuperating in War Memorial Children's Hospital, London, from a badly crushed left ankle he suffered when he caught his foot between the axle and wheel of the tractor his father was driving. 15 Years Ago Local children are taking advantage of the hot late-August weather to swim as much as they can before going back to school.) Wednesday, nearly 100 who have been taking swimming lessons during the year received badges and awards for passing various Red Cross tests. For the first time, a rotary system will be established for grades seven and eight at the J.A.D. McCurdy school, Huron Park. For some of ,their subjects, they will move from classroom to classroom, as is the practice at high school, Labour Day, T-A publisher J.M. Southcott marks his 60th anniversary in the newspaper business in Exeter, He started in 1902 with the paper when he was 15, and was a carrier boy several years before that. Sandra Snider, Exeter, has won a UWO Board of Governors School scholarship valued at $200. She qualified as the top ranking student in the graduating class of SHDHS. the postal workers can bring the economy to its knees. This isn't to say that the workers' case is unjustified. However, there are options for seeing justice done — op- tions which do not cost the workers lost wages or the economy lost opportunities. The most popular of the al- ternative suggestions has long been some form of arbitra- tion with settlements related to private sector wage hikes. For several years, the Ca- nadian Federation of In- dependent Business, armed with a poll showing support by more than 90 per cent of its membership, has been urging the government to outlaw strikes in essential public services. The Federa- tion believes that some form of arbitration is far more • practical for all concerned. There is, in fact,justification for the belief that much of our labour strife exists be- cause there is an institutional basis — the excessive power it tf t poubl ex ist . e sector unions — for Unfortunately, the federal government has failed to re- cognize the common sense of eliminating essential service strikes. Labour Minister John Munro is on record as oppo- sing removal of strike rights: The government may be in tune with the labour move- ment — but it doesn't appre- ciate the feelings of the vast majority of Canadians who are innocent victims in any disputes. Surely the government has better things to do than to officially sanction Canada's • economic suicide. Times Established 1873 Advocate Established 1881 The Exeter Junior softball team are winners of their group in the NWBA. They defeated Lucan Friday night, Miss Flear, of Blyth has returned to town and resumed her position as milliner with Miss Armstrong. Miss Cowan, Atwood has resumed her position as milliner with Miss Yelland, Miss McDonald, who recently sold her millinery business in town to Miss A, Yelland has purchased a similar business in Clinton. Miss Emalie Hogarth and Gladys Harvey succeeded in passing their summer course. examinations in agriculture at the OAC, Guelph. Mr. Wm. Waal has disposed of his property on Huron Street consisting of house and ten acres of land to Mr. Jas. A. VanCamp, London. 30 Years Ago Mr. & Mrs. J.S. Fulcher Brandon, Manitoba arrived last week to take up residence in Exeter. Exeter High School re-opened Tuesday with an enrolment of 270 Fire destroyed the Ritz Hotel at Bayfield Saturday night. Mr. Lou Bailey of town is at present in Saskatchewan assisting with the harvest. Miss Helen Walper, new teacher for the Primary room of the Exeter Public School, now meeting in the basement of the Public Library, has 39 new pupils ehrolled. All places of entertainment at Grand Bend report a successful season. 20 Years Ago The new $112,000 Hensall Public School was unofficially christened Tuesday when 181 students moved into the modern building which was completed this summer. A two-room ad-