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The Lucknow Sentinel, 1985-06-05, Page 6Page 6—Ltdmow Sentinel. Wednesday, June 5, 1985 "The Sepoy Town" BLUE RIBBON AWARD 1984 Thomas Thompson Sharon Dietz Pat Livingston Joan Helen Merle Elliott Alan Rivett -Advertising Manager -Editor • -General Manager -Compositor -Typesetter -Reporter Subscription rates in advance: 16.00'Outside Canada $45.00 Senior Citizen 513.50 Outside Canada s43.00 Second class rr.ailing reg. no. 0847 Advertising is accepted on the condition that in the event of a typographical error, the portion of the advertising• space occupied'by the erroneous item together with a reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged for, but the balance of the advertisement will be paid at the applicable rates. Tornad�'s passing a matter of luck Friday's .weather was like a time bomb ready to go off. High winds, off and on rain, and grey skies gave people in the area .an uneasy feeling that a storm was. approaching - a really bad one. The storm luckily passed us by. But, as so otten happens, another area felt the force of nature's fury. This time, the storm took the form of a tor- nado which devastated a section of south-central Ontario. The twister touched down to the north in the communities of Barrie, Orangeville, and. Tottenham. 'It stayed only for few minutes but in the process wiped out businesses, homes and, worst of all human lives. All tolled, nearly 1,000 people - were left homeless and still another 20,000 homes are without power. At least 12 people aredead and police, as of last Sunday, are still searching ;through the debris for , bodies. The total damage to the area is being estimated in the millions of dollars. The community of Grand Valley, a village the size of Lucknow, was literally torn apart by the storm. The statistics connected with the storm in this town were par- ticularly grim. Two are dead while 69 were injured and 101 buildings were destroyed. • Now, the stories come put of the eye witness accounts of the worst natural disaster known to roan. One man, reported the Toronto Star, watched helplessly as his young son was thrown 1,000 feet in the air to his death. Still others report of how they were able to think quickly and hide from the approaching tornado.. In the inidst of all the bad news, it's especially encourag- ing how these communities have pulled together to make the disaster a little bit more bearable. The unaffected peo- ple of these communities willingly opened their homes to those who were left homeless. The Ontario government is to be 'commended for its. quick work to .get the necessary financial aid made available to the victims of the storm. Our area is doing. its part to help the ,Barrie and area towns recover from the tornado. A delegation from area Lions clubs, including 20 men from the Lucknow Lions club, will leaye next Saturday by bus to the community of (.rand Valley. There;. they will go -to area farms and aid with the clean-up process. Through no fault of their own; these communities are forced to pick up the pieces and build new lives for themselves. The twister could have landed anywhere but unfortunately it landed on Barrie and area to work its path of destruction. , Hopefully, friends and relatives of people from this.area were spared nature's wrath last week. However, we can be thankful that we. were not the victims of ' this tragedy. Through sheer fate, the storm fell to the north and we were missed. —'A.R. Tie Spirit of ..Broadway.. Lucknow and area were treated to some fine al ateur theatre as Broadway came to Wingham's F.E. Madill Secondary School in the form of The Spirit of Broadway. The play, which ran from -May 30 until June 1, featured six of the greatest plays from Broadway. Above, the cast dances to Sellicle Songs from the musical Cats. Below, Paulette Lipped, with some help from the rest of the company, sings Summer Nights from the musical Grease. Mike Cameron (right) played the role of the "spirit of Broadway" in the play. (Photos by Alan Rivett) I Rebecca Barclay continued to lodge at the house of the Reverend Duncan MacLeod, but she was rarely seen between the hours of breakfast and supper. Sometimes, the minister and his wife Mary, did not see her for a whole day or more when she was atten- ding a particularly, difficult case in the doc- tor's absence. She was a very dedicated woman and MacLeod had no doubt that her forthcoming marriage .to Doctor Cameron would be long,- enduring, and of great benefit to all the people of Redtrees. But Rebecca' never felt fully confident of her capabilities and as- often, as she could, she studied the doctor's text books and the latest medical papers. She was particularly ex- cited about a discovery in 1847 by an Edin- burgh man called Simpson. He had found a substance which could be successfully used as an anaesthetic. . "We have acquired some of the new anaesthetic," she told the MacLeods one evening at supper. "It's called chloroform. Praise be to the Lord that we can now put a patient to sleep while we operate - there is no pain felt at all!" ' "Has the doctor used it?" MacLeod ask- ed. "Not yet - we only received it two days ago, and so far there has been no need for it. "I never heard of such a thing," MacLeod said in amazement. "What is it like?" Rebecca smiled and lowered her voice as if telling a closely guarded secret. "I took just the faintest sniff," she said. "I feel very naughty for doing it, of course. But upon my soul, it made me feel quite heady - as if I had over -indulged in wine!" As with every new medical discovery, Doctor Cameron was very cautious and non- committal about the anaesthetic. Never- theless, when he was called away into Al- bion to attend to a man requiring surgery, he took some of the new substance with him. "It must be used very sparingly and preferably on an empty stomach," he told Rebecca. "A wee drop at a time on a cloth held to the patient's nose until he becomes unconscious. Only use it as a last resort until we gain more experience." Doctor Cameron did not return that day or the next night. Rebecca was awakened about an hour before the dawn by one of the stonemason's wives. "Where is the doctor? - he must come quickly - my man is fearful sick with a pain in his belly!" Rebecca told the woman to calm herself, that the doctor was away, and she herself would come as soon as she was dressed. On the way to the stonemason's encampment, she stopped by the surgery and picked up a small bottle of the new anaesthetic. She hoped she would not have to use it. A quick examination of the patient reveal- ed he was suffering from an acute appen- dicitis. He needed immediate attention. The man was obviously upset even by being ex- amined by a woman and when Rebecca opened her bag and prepared to operatf, he objected. "No woman is going to cut me - I want a real doctor - I'll wait until he comes!" "You will die in the meantime, ". Rebecca said firmly. "Hold his arms and legs for a few moments," she instructed the men who had gathered to take a look at this strange woman medico. Rebecca> administered the anaesthetic and the patient soon gave up struggling. She turned to the spectators. "Please go outside, all of you," she said firmly. "I can manage quite well now, thank r you, • . The crowd who waited outside the tent were amazed that there was not one single cry of pain. When Rebecca eventually emerged, she was smiling with accomplish- ment. . "He is awaking from his sleep now," she said. "Keep him quiet and don't let him move until I have been to see him again." • On her way back, she saw a carriage stan- ding outside the doctor's house. Mary MacLeod was waiting for Rebecca's return and she hurried towards her. • "Please don't go inside there Rebecca: Jane, the doctor's wife has arrived - there might be trouble." "If • there''s to be trouble, I might as well face it now andbe done with it!" Rebecca said defiantly.