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The Brussels Post, 1974-01-09, Page 2CSITABLIVIED • • , 1172 russels Post BRUSSELS ONTARIO. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 9, 1'974 Serving Brussels and the surrounding community published each Wednesday afternoon at Brussels, Ontario by McLean Bros. Publishers, Limited. Evelyn Kennedy - Editor Tom Haley - Advertising. Member Canadian Community Newspaper Association and Ontario Weekly Newspaper Association. Subscriptions (in advance) Canada $4.00 a year, Others $5.00 a year, Single Copies 10 cents each. Second class mail. Registration No. 0562. Telephone 887-6641. The luckiest in the world w. Sa Com . W anelie ddN1 born.coanlhlh Sur utur hri Marg three Walt T( G , A. when Trails in the Rockies Supri Spice By Bill'Smiley !loin() t.r1 cl; ' - )1 . Last week'S column mentioned, that -mff.'" unspeakable species, the readohOlic. That reminded me of a speech I made about Good. Reading Habits to a group of hOluitir: students. So I dug up the speech 'and propose this week to pass along some -of the more worthwhile points in it. It's not primarily for students, but if you're not interested, you can go and cry over your post-Christmas bills. I beOgrrie I areadoholic shortly, after I learned- to -read-.. My mother would moan, as she-tote the flashlight out of my hot little hand about 2 a.m., "Billy Smiley, you'll be blind by the time you're fifteen if you don't stop reading in dark-corners and cubby-holes." Well, I've been reading in dark corners and bright ones; on planes and trains, in the bathroom and in bed, in revolving doors and on escalators, ever since, and I'm not blind yet. I don't even wear glasses. ' But I don't want you to think I ignored my mom's admonition. ;41, never since read in a cubby-hole. In fact; you can scarcely get your hand cubby-hole these days. They seem to'h ve gone the way of spats and straw hats. d , , I had trouble with that speech to ie- kids. The principal had suggested the topic, Good Reading Habits, and who was to tell him it was a dull and stupid topic? When sat down to write the speech, I could think of only one good reading habit. Many years ago, when I was in public school, they taught us in health classes that you should always read with the light coming over your left shoulder. I don't know why. They're still teaching it. This good reading habit is rather useless if your left shoulder is higher than your right one, as Is sometimes the case. And of course, if you are reading Hebrew or Persian, and read from right to left, it seems more logical to have the light coming .over your right shoulder. I had to admit to the students; that this was the only good reading habit I could remeniber. That seemed to be the end of the speech. Then I thought, "Heck, this is no good." So I confessed. that I could say, withouf pride, but with little fear of contradiction, that I had the most atrocious reading habits of any male in Canada. I suggested that I talk instead about Bad ., Reading Habits. Then, if they listened, carefully, and immediately afterward forgot everything I had said, they would be well on the way to acquiring Good Reading Habits. There was general agreement that this was a sensible approach: I warned them of the depths of degradation to which a readoholic would descend to get his stuff. I told them that an alcoholic or a drug addict would stoop pretty low to get the Wherewithal for his habit, Arid I told them this WaS kid stuff conmared to what the readfiholir wriold Fm t I put the fear into those honour students. But then I tried to soften the blow, ,Told them of some of the great "discoveries for which readoholism had been responsible. Newton, reading under an 'apple tree. The old story is that he was sleeping, but the truth is that- he had just picked up a copy of the recently published "Fanny Hill" and was definitely reading. Apple fell, hit him on the head, and we had the Law of Gravity, without which we'd be in very grave shape. And there was the Greek, Archimedes. He climbed into the bath one day for a quiet read. Immediately he opened his book,he knew something was wrong. He leaped out of the tub, -crying, "Paprika!" Somebody had put paprika instead of bath salts in his water. And thus was discovered Archimedes Principle, -a very important, law in the study of physics. , I don't know much about the Principle, but I think it's something like, "Half a bath is better than none." This anecdote brought me toward my peroration. It reminded me that I knew of another Good Reading Habit. This made two. A good Reading Habit is to read in the bath-tub, Someone once said that the ideal learning situation was a boy sitting on one etict of a log, and Mark Van Doren, the great -U.S. educator, sitting on the other, My notion of the ideal learning situation *Mild. be a elassiOom with thirty-five bath-tubs instead of desks. And up at the front, a super tub, preferably in pink inother-of-pearli for Mr. Smiley. It might be a little expensive, but think of the special effects we could get when teaching The Spanish Armada in history, or Old Man and the Sea, in Perhaps I should- add that we'd be wearing, swim suits. 'stoop, to. - • I gave them an example: a friend of mine during the war. He had the habit very badly. Nost track of him; but heard from friends that he had managed to kick it. Then one day; -a couple ,of months after the War,'I met him in' Ale*andria, North Africa. He was a handsome Sikh, with a sky-blue turban and a curly, black beard. But right away, I knew from the red-rimmed eyes, the glazed ldok, that he was still hooked on reading. • He was leading an old lady by the hand. I asked him, who she was, and where they were going. He-had the decency to looked ashamed as he answered ambiguously,' "Old friend Smilee, I am knowing what you thee'nk, but I got to get a book", before hurrying off. I heard later that the aged lady was his mother, and he was on his way to the slave market. I understand he got $19 for her. Or, in readoholic terms, about twenty-two paperibaCks. Fre! GP Sure CC Mai LE PC OP In a review of 1973 on CBC recently several correspondents were discussing the priospects for 1974 in various parts of the world. Around the table they went, concluding that England faced a very bleak new year "a lot of people will have only three days pay", that Europe was infer more insecurity, that the middle east and the far east would continue to have serious problems and that the US could ,look forward to more Watergate scandal in '74. With only gloom and doom in store on the international scene, a newsman who is stationed in England said he couldn't help but conclude that Canadians, as they headed into 1974, were about the luckiest people on earth. There is a certain uneasiness that comes when you admit that you are favoured - - - - a feeling that your luck will change and the rug may be pulled out from under you. And on the other hand we are not saying that Canadians should become smug and view the more hard-hit parts of the world with comfortable disdain. But it is true that Canadians have been lucky so far and face a comparatively bright 1974. We have enough energy to keep ourselves warm and 'reasonably well lit. We don't face gasoline rationing' in the near' future and most of us are. still working and getting paid for a five day week. We haven't been shaken by evidence of dishonesty on the part of our political leaders and we can still retain our faith about democracy being representative. Although we haven't seen the massive layoffs that the American auto industry faces, the employment picture in Canada in some areas is far from good. In. Huron County 500 people are out of Work in the past few weeks with the shut downs of Hall Lamp inHuron Park and Glendale Homes in Vanastra and layoffs at Bendix in Hensel!. But at least we have unemployment insurance and the economy as a whole is not in danger of imminent collapse - - - there are other jobs around. What we are saying is - - things might not be perfect here, but they -are a quite a lot better than in most other countries we can think of. Let's not get . complacent about our apparent favour with the gods but let's keep it in mind. May we give thanks for what was good, personally and nationally in 1973, and go into 1974 with optimism. "No* iYoika tough estimate on when I'll be able to pay yiii0