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The Wingham Advance-Times, 1965-10-28, Page 9Hands Are Important Too In the years since the war awareness of shortcomings in our educational standards have been borne home to Canadians so strongly thatuniversity training has become the all-important goal in most families. When a son or daughter in a family of even reasonable affluence fails to attain the necessary standards for university there is a ten- dency to shame in the part of parents and close friends. It is interesting to note, however, that about 55% of the students attend- ing the Wingham District High School this year are taking vocational courses — thank goodness. What a world it would be if all our young people turned out to be university type. We still have great need for the mechanics, the ma- chine operators and the hundreds of other categories in which people serve us with the skills in their hands rather than the accumualted knowledge in their minds. In fact, there is a growing need to make sure that those who are capable of acquiring manual skills are given every opportunity to do so. Nor are the manual trades the only areas in which the non -university people are needed. Not long ago we had occasion to re- commend a friend for a newly -created government post. It was a job which required experience and intimate know- ledge of a particular line of business— which our friend had in abundance. In addition he was a man of unimpeachable honesty and good character — both of which characteristics should have recom- mended him for the position. After weeks of waiting he was informed by means of a ready -printed form, that he would not be acceptable because he did not have university education. If university graduates were indeed the only persons accepted on this field it was a sheer waste of highly -trained graduates, for there was not a single as- pect of the work which required any- thing more than reasonable high school training and a good fund of common sense. Certainly we need more university graduates and the need will increase with the passing years. However, let us use them wisely—and let us not forget that university education isn't the only accept- able standard of training. Voices of Experience Several people who attended the an- niversary services in the United Church on Sunday have remarked upon the deep satisfaction with which they reacted to the addresses of the two visiting speakers. Both are old men—one over 90 years— and both impressed their hearers with that most admirable of all human abilities . clear vision and sound reasoning from those who are old enough to really know what they are talking about. Our society has undergone some tre- mendous changes in the past few years, and one of the most impressive is the in- creasing demand for ever younger leaders and specialists. So exhausting is the race for knowledge and achievement that only the young can possess the physical sta- mina to withstand the gruelling punish- ment. Sir Winston Churchill was a not- able exception, but recall the ravages of responsibility upon such people as Frank- lin Delano Roosevelt and General Eisen- hower, to mention only two. Big business is so keenly aware of the drain it places upon mental and physical capabilities that retirement ages are being steadily lowered to make way for the younger executive who will burn through their short span of top -speed accomplish- ment. On these rare occasions when we can listen to old men, still in full possession of all their accumulated wisdom, a new vision of mankind's limitless future is opened before our eyes. Freedom for The Majority An intensely dramatic chapter in the history of human freedom is being written �► right at the present time in the small Af- rican colony of Rhodesia, where the poli- tical freedom of some four million colored people is at stake. Reviled by the Communists and scold- ed by the Americans for the past 50 years because of her colonial possessions, Bri- tain now finds herself in the odd position of attempting to retain control of a colony in order to guarantee freedom for its ma- jority. The prime minister of Rhodesia is determined to declare the colony an in- dependent country and it is believed that • • • if he succeeds his nation will become an- other South Africa, complete with apar- theid policies of race suppression. If, on the other hand, the colony re- mains a possession of Great Britain the Mother Country will insist that majority rule prevail, and the whites will find themselves outnumbered many times over at the polls. Whatever shortcomings Britain may have had in the past 250 years as a colo- nial power, she has unquestionably made every effort to guarantee freedom wher- ever possible in the past quarter century. To Vote or Not To Vote The United Church Observer applies some new thinking to an old question in a recent editorial: "That fatuous slogan, 'Vote as you please, but vote,' which suggests it doesn't matter how you vote as long as you don't appear apathetic, leaves us unimpressed. If you can't be intelligent about it, why go and cancel out the vote of someone who has studied the issues, assessed the candidates and brought his brains to the ballot box? "We are forever being warned by well- meaning people that if we neglect our privileges at the polling booths we may lose them. Well, there are people in this western hemisphere who once had free elections who lost the privilege. It wasn't because they stayed away, it was because they were bribed into voting for the wrong men. "Democracy isn't dependent upon vast number of persons using the ballot boxes; it is dependent upon representatives being elected to parliament by informed and re- sponsible persons—the more the better— who know whom and what they are vot- ing for and why. Hitler didn't rise to power because voters were apathetic. He got there because great number of unin- formed, misled, excited people voted un- wisely. "Canada could be in trouble with its multi-party system and regional and pro- vincial pressures and interests, and parties making promises they know they will never keep. This country needs good gov- ernment and good opposition. We are not likely to get it if we continue to har- rangue the uninformed to get out and vote and do their duty by voting for hockey players, wrestling champions, orators, pretty -faced politicians, Bible-quoters or men with depression -complexes and big promises. "Heretical though it may seem, we prefer a slogan of our own, 'Vote or not, as you please, but if you do, please vote intelligently'." THE WINGHAM ADVANCE - TIMES Published at Winghatn, 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 Authorised by the Post Office Department as Second Class Mall and for payment of postage in cash Subscription Rate: One Year, $4.00; Six Months, $2.23, In advance U.S.A., $5.00 per year; Foreign rate, $5.00 per year Advertising Rates on application STEEL WORK for the new service centre at the hospital, which is part of the renovation program, is now up and it shows how the building will change in its outline when completed. Other work is progressing, most of the brick work on the second storey of the old building being com- pleted. ingbain Utianceffeinte Wingham, Ontario, Thursday, Oct. 28, 1965 SECOND SECTION SUGAR AND SPICE by. Bill Smiley Pity For The City Man This is a time of year when my heart goes out to city -dwell- ers. It's a time when rural or smalltown living is immensely superior to that in the concrete canyons, the abominable apart• ments, the sad suburbs of metropolia In the city, day ends drearily in the fall. There's the long, wearying battle home through t r a f f i c, or the draughty, crushed, degrading scramble on public transportation. The city man arrives home fit for nothing but slumping for the evening before the television set. And what greets him? The old lady, wound up like a steel spring because she hasn't seen a soul she knows all day, there's nothing to look at but that stu- pid house next door, exactly like their own, and the kids have been giving her hell. He's stuck with it. For the whole evening. That's why so many city chaps have work- shops in the basement. It's much simpler to go down cellar and whack off a couple of fin- gers in the power saw than lis- ten to Mabel. Life is quite different for the smalltown male. He is home from work in minutes. He sur- veys the ranch, says, "Must get those storm windows on one of these days," and goes in, to the good fall smells of cold drinks and hot food. His wife saw him at break- fast, again at lunch, has had a good natter with the dame next door, and has been out for two hours, raking leaves with the kids. She doesn't need him. Instead of drifting off to the basement, the small-town male announces that this is his bowl- ing night, or he has to go to a meeting of the Conservation and Slaughter Club, and where's a clean shirt. And that's all there is to it. While her city counterpart squats in front of TV, gnawing her nails and wondering why she didn't marry good old George. who has a big dairy farm now, the small-town gal collects the kids and goes out to burn leaves. There is nothing more roman- tic than the back streets of a small-town in the dark of a fall evening. Piles of leaves spurt orange flame, White smoke ed- dies. Neighbors call out, lean on rakes. Women. kerchiefed like gypsies, heap the dry leaves high on the fire. Kids avoid the subject of bedtime, dash about the fire like nimble gnomes. Or perhaps the whole family goes to a fowl supper. What, in city living, can compare to this finest of rural functions? A crisp fall evening, a drive to the church hall through a Hal- lowe'en landscape, an appetite like an alligator, and that first wild whiff of turkey and dress- ing that makes your knees buc- kle and the juices flow free in your cheeks, But it's on weekends that my pity for the city -dweller runneth over. Not for him the shooting - match on a clear fall Saturday, with its good-humored competi- tion, its easy friendliness. Not for him the quiet stroll down a rising like clouds of mosquitoes. sunny wood road, shotgun over arm, partridge and woodcock It's not that he doesn't live right, or doesn't deserve these pleasures. It's just that it's physically impossible to get to them easily. If he wants to crouch in a duck:blind, at dawn, he has to drive half the night to get there. Maybe on a Sunday or holi- day, in the fall, the city family decides to head out and see some of that beautiful autumn foliage. They see it, after driv- ing two hours. And with 50,000 other cars, they crawl home in late afternoon, bumper to bump- er, the old man cursing, the kids getting hungrier, the moth- er growing owlier. Smalltown people can drive for 15 minutes and hit scenery, at least around here, that leaves them breathless. Or they'll wheel out a few miles to see their relatives on the farm, eat a magnificent dinner, and sit around watching TV in a state of delicious torpor. Yup. It's tough to live in the city, in the fall. ADVENTUROUS PRINCE !lend, Prince of Orleans, who was born in 1867, became a famous explorer of his day, journeying into the remote vastnesses of Tibet, Abyssinia, Laos, Siam, Madagascar, and Yunnan, where he discovered the sources of the lrawady. to 1887 Prince Henri fought a duel with the Count of Turin and Was wounded. Early in 1901 he left France for Annam, where he died in August, a famous explorer and travel writer, yet only 34. REMINISCING OCTOBER 1915 Mrs. (Dr.) J. A. Fox and children are visiting for a few days with friends in Mount For- est. The first weekly market of last Thursday was fairly well at- tended and everything was bought up as soon as it arrived. The produce mostly consisted of poultry, butter and eggs, on- ions and some potatoes. There were a lot of enquiries for print butter, crab apples and pears Poultry dressers were kept busy all day. It is a very rare occurrence to hear of a lodge paying sick benefits to a soldier who was wounded at the front, but Pte. Percy Syder, a member of the Wingham lodge of Maccabees has received a cheque for $50 paying him sick benefits on ac- count of his being wounded in the battle of Langemarck. Mr. Albert Buttery, who en- listed with the first contingent and who was wounded in the trenches on July 27 was honor- ably discharged unfit for service and arrived home recently to Wingham. He sailed on the "Cassisian" the same boat which carried the survivors of the "Hesperian" which was torpedo- ed. OCTOBER 1929 A number of business men of the town, had booths at the Wingham Fall Fair, displaying their merchandise. The Walker Store was exhibiting ladies' dresses and coats and rugs. W. T. Cruickshank was demonstrat- ing the Stromberg-Carlson and Atwater -Kent radios; W. J. Greer, ladies' and tnen's shoes; Mr. McKinnon, the SingerSew- ing Machine; A. J. Walker, a fine showing of chesterfields, lamps and the Sherlock Man- ning piano; King Bros., Ladies' coats and dresses and home furnishings; Wm. Clark, ex- hibiting stoves made by the Western Foundry. Wm. Brawley, local C.P.R. station master walks around with a proper tilt to his hat and with just reason. The other day he received word that the sta- tion grounds and flower beds had been awarded 1st prize in the annual competition arrang- ed by the officials for the most attractive flower plots in the division. The Winghatn ltnitedChurch was the scene of a pretty wed- ding at high noon Saturday, October 19th, when Addie Pearl, second daughter of Mr. and Mrs. G. Miller Procter, became the bride of Dr. George W. Ilow- son, son of Mr. and Mrs. W. J. Howson. The ceremony was per- formed erformed by Rev. Sydney Davison. OCTOBER 1940 Elections for the November Public School Students' Council resulted in the following pupils being elected: Grade VIII, Jean Town, Bill Lee; Grade VII, Dawna Walker, Donald Schatte; Grade VI, Helen Sturdy; Grade V, Buddy Wild. Mr. Carl Deans has purch- ased the Dobie house on Diag- onal Road. Mr. Cameron Edgar has pur- chased the Gorrie Garage. For some time Cameron was em- ployed by the Huron Motors here and his friends here wish him every success. The home of Mr. and Mrs. John Thomas Currie, Lot 33, Concession 13 of East Wawan- osh, was the scene of an inter- esting celebration on Thanks- giving Day, when friends from far and near called to congratu- late them on their Diamond Wedding day. Mr. and Mrs. Currie were married at Clinton on January 19th, 1851, but the celebration was held previous to the actual dateso that a larger number of the family could be present. Mr. Archie Peebles who re- cently received the appoint- ment of postmaster here. will take over the duties of this of- fice on November 1st. Miss C. Scholtz, superin- tendent of Wingham General Hospital, attended the annual convention of the Ontario Hos- pital Association held in Toron- to last week. OCTOBER 1951 Alice Laidlaw, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. R. E. Laidlaw, has written two stories which halve been accepted for broad- cast by the CBC. The first, en- titled "The Stranger", was heard last Friday night over the program entitled "Short Stories". A second story will he heard in November. Alice wrote them while a student at the Univer- sity of Western Ontario and is presently at work on another. A car driven by William Nicholson, of Bluevale, which was proceeding north on Diag- onal Road, was in collision with a car driven by Mrs. Geo. Mc- Arthur, of Walton, at the inter- section of Diagonal and Victor- ia. Mrs. McArthur was head- ing east on Victoria Street. No person was injured and no charges have been laid. Last Friday afternoon a fire broke out in a chesterfield in the home of Melvin Jermyn on the second line of Morris. A call was sent to the Wingham fire brigade and they arrived to find a soggy chesterfield and the fire out. Origin of the fire is unknown.