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The Wingham Advance-Times, 1965-01-14, Page 9It Was A Great Year Whatever 1964 may have held for • each of us, personally, Canadians in gen- eral have little room for complaint about lack of prosperity. Budgetary forecasts early in the year optimistically hinted at a 5% increase in the gross national product. Many experts were doubtful about this sizeable gain in • production, so one can understand their glee to find that by the year end the GNP had actually leaped ahead by 8%. Gross national product figures are not watched with particular interest in small- er communities because our local eco- nomy normally lags many months behind the national trends. In Wingham, how- ever, we have better than average reas- ons for paying close attention to the national economy. At least four of our manufacturing concerns were directly affected by the general—prosperity of Canada in 1964. • Production and sales of our two door plants follow the ups and downs of Ca- nadian buying capacity in a precise and positive pattern. Certainly furniture sales are tied to the trade barometer and gloves as well, though the latter may be somewhat more affected by weather and local patterns. Gross national product is a very im- portant statistic where international credits are concerned. Total production in a nation is a barometer of the energy, resourcefulness and hard work of the people. It may be likened to our opinion of a neighboring family—one in which we observe the father, often the mother and all the youngsters busily employed at building a well-to-do home through their own efforts. They are the kind of folks who merit universal confidence and ad- miration. So it is with Canada as a country. If Canadians can maintain this rapid rate of economic growth the future is indeed promising. If, however, labor disputes, strikes and eternal demands for ever shorter working hours should hamper our production of goods and services the gleaming 8% could very easily turn into something much Tess promising. Facing A New Problem One of the most serious problems • which has ever faced the people of West- ern Ontario has emerged within the past few years. We speak of the acute short- age of water which began to cause ser- ious financial losses in all levels of en- terprise within recent years. Last summer brought the problem * right out into the open when farmers, even in this normally well -supplied area, found themselves desperately short of water for stock. The owners of lake- front properties were most keenly aware of the seriousness of the situation, and those who operate resorts or who ship merchandise by water suffered tremend- ous losses. The problem has been long in the making, perhaps since the first trees were felled by the pioneers and the first ditches and drains were sunk into the fertile soil. Past generations certainly knew very little about the conservation of the moisture which has proved to be so vital to our economy. The solution, of course, will take' many years, and it is imperative that a start be made at once. We are finding it difficult to accept and agree to the • high costs involved in remedial programs, but if we fail to ante up our future and that of our children is bleak indeed. Visualize for a moment, a situation in which our use of water, even for or- dinary household purposes would be sharply curtailed ... even rationed. Our houses and places of business would be placed on a metering system, with an allowance of say, 150 gallons a week, and authorities would be empowered to cut off the supply of those who exceeded the quota. • Can you picture yourself hoarding • • • water so that a bath had to be taken with no more than two inches in the tub? Family washings limited to one a week so that you would think twice about a clean shirt in the morning? Yelping at the youngsters every time they let the tap run for a cold drink—and not a drop of water for the lawn! One of the most direct methods of attacking the problem is the establish- ment of what is termed "small reser- voirs" such as our own Lower Town pond. There are other derelict millponds all over the countryside which will, in the course of time, be repaired and deepened. In addition, right along the Maitland River there are many potential dam sites where lakes of varying sizes could be created within the next ten years. As we have said, the cost will be high. The provincial government has recognized this factor and has passed legislation to ease the burden to a great degree as far as the municipalities are concerned. The conservation and use of surface drainage water is another phase of the over-all program which must not be ne- glected. Water always appeared to be so plentiful in our part of the world that land owners were a great deal more con- cerned about getting rid of surplus rain- fall than they were about its potential value. Now, however, farm ponds are becoming an increasingly important fac- tor. Even hillside seepage is being col- lected to fill water tanks for the use of livestock, thus conserving the remain- ing underground supplies. Unless we recognize the urgency of the situation and are prepared to pay the necessary costs our, beautiful green countryside could become as barren as the Sahara. Grooming for the Contest Preliminary speaking contests are in progress in many public and high school classes throughout the district at the present time in preparation for the an- nual Legion -sponsored contest. The latter • event will be held in the Wingham Dis- trict High School an Saturday, January 23, at 1:30 p.m. As in previous years the contest is broken into four major divisions by age and the winners in the local contests • will go to further zone and district trials and, if still in the running, to the provincial finals in Toronto. Those who are not personally familiar with the methods employed in such pub- lic speaking contests may wonder at the importance which is attached to the many such trials held under varying aus- pices. Educators know, however, that the ability to communicate thoughts in clear and well-defined phraseology pres- ages success in many fields of human en- deavor. The child or teen-ager who has mastered the art of speaking in public has already overcome one of the most troublesome hurdles in the business world. If you would like to treat yourself to a truly interesting afternoon, plan to be at the high school on the 23rd. THE WINGHAM ADVANCE - TIMES Published at Wingham, Ontario, by Wenger Bros. Limited W. Barry Wenger, President Robert O. Wenger, Secretary -Treasurer Member Audit Bureau of Circulation; Member Canadian Weekly Newspapers Associ- ation; Member Canadian Community Newspapers Representatives i ,Authorized by .the. P,ost Office Department as Second Class Mall and for payment of postage in cash Subscription Rate: One Year -$4.00; Six Months—$2.25, in advance U.S,A.—$5.40 per year; Foreign rate—$5.00 per year Advertising Rates on application REMINISCING JANUARY 1915 Last week Mr. and Mrs. Thom. Robinson of Belgrave, gave an At Home to their friend and guest of honor, Miss Bertha Disney, of Wingham. They had a very pleasant tea, after which was music, vocal and instrumental. Miss Alva Robinson, daughter of the house, gave an instrumental. There were about one hundred and fifty present. The guests inclu- ded Belmore, Bluevale, White- church, St. Augustine, an d Wingham. Miss Netterfield, of Torontq is visiting her sister, Mrs. T.J. McLean. Miss Violet Scott, who is home for her holidays, gave a party to a number of her friends and neighbours of East Wawa - nosh on Friday eyening. Mr. J.W.K. VanNorman of Brandon, Man., while on a business trip to the eastern cities, took a run up to Wing - ham where he'was a welcome visitor to his many old friends. This week Mr. Fred David- son of East Wawanosh who is one of the best feeders of Dur- ham cattle, sold to Mr. Wil- liam Field, a pair of Baby Beef year olds, which have made very fancy beef. Mr. Field in tends to keep in stock the best beef that can be bought. Mr. C. Munro, Manager of the Buying Dept. of the Wil- liam Davies Co. for Western Ontario, has increased the floor space of his office, taking in that formerly occupied by ' the North Huron Tel. Co. Mr: W.F. Vanstone , who owns the building, is making some im- provements. JANUARY 1929 A very pretty wedding took place at the home of Mr. and Mrs. J. T. Brydges,Belgrave, on Thursday, December 27, when the Rev. Shore, of Blyth, in the presence of a few relatives and friends, joined in matri- mony Miss Dorothy Brydges, second daughter of Mr. and Mts. J. T. Brydges and Mr. Louis A.Hayes, of Detroit. The mar• - riage took place at four o'clock under a beautiful arch and wed- ding decorations. A. W. Webster, one of the town's oldest residents, passed away in the hospital on Sunday afternoon, where he had been a fortnight, following a slight seizure at Clifford. Coming to Wingham, he opened a tailor shop, employing as many as twenty hands at one time, and had a large business connection. But with changed business meth- ods and the progress of highly - specialized factory production this particular business soon diminished. In the early years Mr. Webster built what was the "Castle" on Carling Terrace, a very pretentious home at that time, and where he lived with , his parents and brother. Some years afterwards it was purchas- ed for hospital purposes, and now is the home of a most nec- essary and highly appreciated local organizatio' Sad to re- late, fortune did lot smile any too sweetly on tli; builder of this place, and there seemed an irony of fate that he should spend the last few days of an active life in the shelter of a building which to him at one time must have meant the fu- ture of a thousand dreams. JANUARY 1940 The home of Mr. and Mrs. Hector McLean was the scene of a very happy gatherine when they entertained their friends and neighbours on Friday even- ing, December 29th, it being the occasion of their thirtieth wedding anniversary. The house was tastefully decorated in pink and white with silver bells. A very pleasant time was enjoyed by the Councillors and the officials of East Wawanosh on Monday evening when their genial Reeve, Raymond R. Redmond entertained them at a dinner party at the home Of Mrs. C.Jordan, of Belgrave. After the serving of a very sumptuous repast, short ad- dresses were given by several present. Eric Cox, of LucknoW, Who THE NEW CULVERTS at the Lower Town dam are now being used to drain off water from the pond. The inlets to the eight - foot pipes are pictured here. If weather conditions are favorable the Maitland Val- ley Conservation Authority will proceed with desilting the pond during the winter. —Advance -Times Photo. ingbaut Utencogintes Wingham, Ontario, Thursday, January 14, 1965 SECOND SECTION until recently resided in Wing - ham, received burns on Wed- nesday in a peculiar manner. A match which he had lighted to look into the radiator, ig- nited the anti -freeze solution and shot a blue flame of fire into his face. Cub Master E. O. Gallagher invested ten boys from the rank of '7enderpad to the rank of fully invested Cubs of the Wingham Pack with the Offi - cial Investiture service. The newly -invested Cubs are -- Maitland Breen, Bill Johnston, Bob Kress, Arnold Vanner,Jim Hall, John Armitage, Bill Pol- lock, Ernest Buckman, Jack Henderson, Donald Hopper. On his way to Mr. J. H. Ro- gers', just prior to six o'clock Friday evening, Francis Erie - burger was accosted by a man whom he described as a big fellow and whom he said stood in front of him and demanded money. Francis handed him fifty cents and said that was all he had and the man made off without molesting him further. The incident took place on the C. N. R. bridge. Jack Gard, star defenceman of the Indians, has accepted a position with the Huron Motors. JANUARY 1951 A recently married couple, Mr. and Mrs. Leonard Reinhart (nee Emma Fisher) were presen- ted with a beautiful wool bed - throw Monday evening of last week, by the winding depart- ment staff of Dominion Wool- len Mills of Hespeler, where Mrs. Reinhart has been employ- ed for the past two years. Mr. Arnold Lillow, who is a garageman at Bluevale and also holds a Canadian Pilot's license, displayed a great amount of pilot skill when he brought the Piper airplane he was flying to a safe landing at a point north of Auburn last week -end, after the motor died at 2000 feet altitude. The air- craft wasn't even scratched in the powerless forced landing and the pilot and passenger were completely unharmed. New members on the Fire Dept. are as follows: Alvin Seli, Jack Pym, Gordon Rap- son, Bill Tiffin, Clifford Ben- nett, Robert Green, Harvey Taylor and Lloyd Bruder. The officers appointed by the 'lbwn Council for a year were as fol- lows: Chief James Carr, Deputy Chief, David Crothers; Cap- tains, Jack Orvis, Harvey Ait- cheson. At a special meeting held on Friday evening Jack "Ace" Bateson was elected president of Branch 180 of the Canadian Legion, B. E. S. L. Jack served five years in the R.C. A.F. and SUGAR AND SPICE by Bill Smiley And Where Did It Get You? Well, here it is mid-January, and another year has slipped down the drain. It's rather depressing to look back over the 12 months and realize that neither civilization nor yourself has improved one iota, despite the frantic scram- bling of the pair of you, through- out the year. Not that I'm admitting for a moment that 1964 was a com- plete failure. There were some things from which I derived a good deal of satisfaction. For one thing, I remained alive. With the traffic the way it is, and the tension cutting swaths through the rauks of chaps my age, just staying alive these days is quite a feat. In the second place, I hung onto my job. This may seem like a trivial boast. But what with computers, it's like stay- ing alive. Ask the fellow who hasn't managed to do either. Or both. What it meant was that I was able to continue keeping in high style a woman I never met until I was 25, and two kids who think money grows on fathers. Keeping my job also meant that I was able to keep up my payments, no mean accomplish- ment in this age. In fact, I would be content to have my epitaph read: "He was a good man. He kept up his pay- ments." As a matter of fact, I did a lit- tle better. Not only did I meet all my interest payments, but I reduced the mortgage on my house by $28.64, leaving a mere balance due of $12,9'71.36. This was somewhat offset by the borrowing of a couple of G's from my friendly banker, in order to replace the family transportation, which was rot - completed a tour with No. 30 Squadron, Royal Air Force, in the Middle East, Speaking at the inaugural meeting of the Wingham Town Council on Monday evening, Mayor W.W. Gurney suggested that the most important items facing the corporation for the year will be the sewage dispo- sal plant, the erection of a mausoleum at the cemetery and the construction or rebuild- ing of certain roads in the town. ting on the vine, but you can't win them all. I'm not trying to brag. There were a lot of things in 1964 that I'd do differently another time. That is, if I'd ever got around to doing them. But since I didn't, they probably weren't worth doing in the first place. Figure that one out, if you can find an Irishman to help you. 1 have already drawn up a program for 1965 that is perhaps the most positive plan, in a ne- gative sort of way, that I've ever come up with. It's com- posed of all the things I'm NOT going to do this year. For one thing, I'm not going to worry so much. My reckoning shows that I spent 20 to 30 min- utes worrying last year about trifling things, like my son run- ning away from home, my daughter going out on her first date, and my wife reporting cancer in a new location week- ly. That's enough to put a fel- low in the hospital. I aim to cut that down to a maximum of ten minutes this year. And it'll be worry about something worthwhile, like my golf slice and trout that got away. Another thing I'm not going to do this year is lose so many ar- guments with the Old Battleaxe. Last year, I must have lost about 97 per cent. of them. I don't know just how I'll go about it, but I'm determined to cut that figure to the bone — maybe right back to 95 per cent. Once again, I'm not going to buy my wife a mink coat; I'm not going to build that patio that I didn't build last summer; I'm neither going to start getting to bed early nor getting up early; I'm not going to stop smoking because it might kill me, nor drinking ditto; I'm not going to pay my income tax with any- thing milder than rage; I'm not going to pay any attention to all the silly people in the world who tell me what I'm not supposed to do. In short, the next year will be much like every other year. And good enough for me. But per- haps we could all join heartily in repeating a little slogan for the corning year. It goes, "Let's stay alive In '65."