The Lucknow Sentinel, 1978-07-12, Page 4Page 4—Lucknow Scalise', Wednesday, July 12, 1978 ' +
The Lucknow Sentinel
LUCKNOW, ONTARIO
-"The Sepoy Town"
On the Huron -Bruce Boundary
Established 1873 - Published Wednesday
Published by Signal -Star Publishing Ltd.
Robert G. Shrier - president and publisher
Sharon J. Dietz - editor
Anthony N. Johnstone - advertising and
general manager
A:w
Subscription rate, $10 per year in advance
Senior Citizens rate, $8.00 per year in advance
U.S.A. and Foreign; $14 per year in advance
Business and Editorial Office Telephone 528-2822
Mailing Address P.O. Box 400, Lucknow NOG 2H0
Second class mail registration number - 0847
A sadness
The community has been saddened by the
deaths of two young people over the
weekend. One youth was the son of a
Wawanosh family, the other young man, a
grandson of two of our seniors.
The number of our young people who have
had their lives snatched away in accidents on
our roads and highways would be appalling
to consider. It is a part of growing up to
realize that someone in your home room will
probably die on a highway before your class
reaches graduation from high school.
Faulty design and mechanical failure have
contributed signifcantly to many accidents
but manufacturers are showing increasing
responsibility in the design and making of
automobiles. Most garagemen are basically
honest and competent so that careless work
on cars and trucks .is only rarely a factor.
Dangerous speeding, illegal passing and
drunken driving-- are three of the most
common reasons for highway accidents. But,
surprisingly, the most significant reason for
accidents on our roads is driver inattention.
Cars are such a common part of our
everyday lives, that we are all over -confident
about the lethal weapon we control when we
grip a steering wheel.• We are all guilty of
driving too fast, passing the car in front when
we really shouldn't, driving home from a
party when we've had a bit too much to drink,
and gazing at the houses and countryside as
we roll along with all that horsepower under
the hood.
Perhaps our most significant fault is that
we are guilty of a false sense df pride.
Whether we realize it or not, we are all proud -
of our driving ability. One gets the
impression that about 95 per cent . of all
drivers consider themselves above average in.
driving ability.
Experienced drivers believe they can take
chances because of this dangerous pride, the
over -confidence of driving every day and the
conviction that an accident can't happen to
Me.
It is sad that our young people, who have
less driving experience, are proud and
confident because they have just come of age
and now have this long awaited privilege of
driving, and have a carefree attitude, that
makes them perhaps a little less cautious
because they are young and they believe
things cannot happen to them, must learn by
the cruelest of experience.
This editorial is not to point blame at either
of the drivers in the two incidents over the
weekend. But rather, to consider that we are
all guilty of careless driving habits. To say,
that we should all take a moment to consider
our own driving habits in this time of
sadness.
Let us all take time to think about our own
bad habits behind the wheel.
The community stops to offer its heart in
sympathy and compassion to the families
who grieve. And sadly, this will not be the
last time a car accident will take a young life
from our community.
r•
UNNIMOVA
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Grey Ox
&(cws.0/ Venom"
BY D. A. CAMPBELL
The tenth line of Redtrees was a rock strewn ribbon
of sand which followed the contours of the rolling land,
until it blended with the sky on the horizon. Where the
road ran between the embankments at the crests of the
ridges, the rains of countless seasons had washed the
soil from the surface roots of trees, so that they
appeared as knarled fingers probing into the earth.
To climb those steep hills ii Molly, my '39 Dodge,
was a daily endurance test. In bottom gear, and with
the gas pedal pressed to the floor, I sometimes wonder
how I managed to travel back and forth between the
newspaper office and the "Hungry Hundred".
"She's seen better days," the man who sold her said
in all honesty, but you can't expect much for seventy
bucks!"
If I can ever afford to drive a Cadilac, (and I never
will), I won't feel the affection for it that I felt for Molly!
We rode through some tough times together and over
roads which never led to the palaces of my dreams.
One day, I discovered another car in even worse
shape than Molly. It looked as if it had escaped from a
junk yard only to die in 'a cloud of steam, in a last
desperate attempt to climb a hill. Its owner had his
head stuck inside the bonnet, whilst his wife and four
pretty children watched him helplessly from the shade
of roadside trees.
"Indians," I told myself, as I chugged and wheezed
my way past them - to stop on that hill would have been
fatal for Molly. When I reached the top, I placed the old
girl in a position for a,rolling start and walked back to
the stranded travellers.
"Problems?" I asked the man. It was a stupid
question - like asking a drowning man if he could use a
life jacket!
He looked at me and smiled, friendly brown eyes
appreciating my concern. His hair was black and
sweaty and his hands caked with grease. He pointed to
a large hole in the bottom of the radiator from which a
few drops of scalding water still dripped.
"Too big to fix. - 'ave ter leave it 'ere today."
My many year in military service had taught me to
size up men quickly. I liked this man instinctively. He
was proud and independent.- he would not ask me for
help,
"I guess I'd better take you and your family to where
you were going," I said, taking the initiative. "Where
do you live?"
"Blue Lake Reserve, it's a long way, - twenty miles or
more:" For a moment he examined my face for my
reaction, and when he spoke again, it was with a tone of
embarrassment.
"Couldn't even pay yer for the gas - haven't made a
nickel today!"
Three of the children came shyly towards us, perhaps
seeing me as their rescuer. The smallest child was
crying in its mother's arms - it was past supper time
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