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The Wingham Advance-Times, 1972-06-29, Page 4THS ADVAACE -TImES '+ sL• � `• �• 44 1'\�' sssk\'�:�i�''s'"i�',� t'�•, ' '�?s, 1:�.:.-'• P: ' :;?:�.} '\: ''�'� '�•'� ''•.''ti:ti}•:;:};'•:t :; • • w::v.Y:::: • 49 \`�\\ � 4 4 � ti ���� Z• 4 ♦ • Z s••. {1� \4;..,:,s.. 4..:4 Xti•�:•.fi: •.vAt:vti'v: •.Y, as•. . t t. . v ,•, • h� �'1�� \ �. .ss� '\ • �\'s�ti� .s � �^+..�•. :ss��s.\ 's. •hs. :v tiG: ::':•: tv. •.t. .s •:v.v:s' ,. \ � .. ...,.. .. ":' ;:':{;:�':ti'::Y:•:': :1•:{tit':• ':•::•. .: '•: 1S`�� �� ri� L .LY ?�. ��h ••:':t.., M., t:thM ,ora,^.*rwsr• S, ^: :Y K t :aYtiti+r:Lriha'YY a•:. •h ..S ..1 :.: �`���•'x+T'f'+M*•..1Nt S 1a'Y'.a"a "S 'r 'a .1'h .S •.$s v 'rh a •ktials .•.. v. :'1. .a: .:�. 1 1•v.tic. 'L .:h .......... a .�'. • r .....•.All.... ,..n .... ...... i�;:}; ti}A�'• Board's decision was wise We heartily agree with the decision of the Huron County Board of Education to de- lete The Story of Steven Truscott from the list of books to be studied in the English classes of the five county secondary schools. A spokesman for the English teachers said the book was selected for study because it was of considerable local interest. That is precisely why it should not have been selected. . The Truscott case is Closed.. The young man has served his sentence, and, as far as the law of the land is concerned, has paid the penalty. He has been paroled and is living under a new name fully to make a be- lated start as an citizen. Because two of the present board of edu- cation members were directly connected with the trial, one as medical examiner and the other as a furor, it will possibly be claim- ed that the board's decision was made out of regard for their feelings. However, the de- cision should have, and probably would have been the same had none of the members been connected with that unfortunate case. Public sentiment ran high in Huron County while the trial was in -progress, par- ticularly in Clinton, where the families of Steven Truscott and the murdered girl were fairly well known.. Many were deeply con- vinced that a grave miscarriage of justice was contained in the jury's guilty verdict, while others were equally certain that the decision was the correct one. In point of fact it is unlikely that anyone other than the young man himself will ever know the truth. Certainly, -the two authors who wrote books on the trial (and made money from their sale) have added nothing to the known facts. The book selection committee was guilty of extremely bad taste in choosing that par- ticular book when there are so many very worthwhile alternatives. Government by command The Hon. Darcy McKeough is no longer waiting for Ontario residents to make up their own minds about regional govern- ment—he's telling them. His department will shortly announce the several regions which will in future become the focal points of municipal organization throughout the province. The present county boundaries are quite likely to be discarded in favor of much larger regional areas of administration. As is inevitably the case whenever long- established concepts are to be abolished, there is. strong 'resistance to the govern- ment's plan for consolidation of municipali- ties. Veteran county councillors in particular are up in arms about the changes. Quite a few people outside the ranks of county poli- tics are equally alarmed by what they fear is, in essence, only a tightening of the reins by the province. Regional government, of course, has many features which commend it for use in a rapidly changing cultural and economic climate. One of the most obvious should be economy. Theoretically it should be cheaper to operate one big municipality than a dozen smallones. Such items as policing, road budding, .insurance and fuel should be ob- tairaalIe at' lower rates., when purchased in large quantities but that is only a theory. •In actual fact these potential, savings are more than offset by increasing costs in other areas. „ ' County boards of education should be operating the• schools under their adminis- tration at a lower cost than the aggregate be- fore amalgamation. If they are, most count -y boards in the province ate strangely reticent about their success in this regard, for there. have been very few overall comparisons made public. As far as regional government is.- con- cerned, the provincial authorities are guilty of the same omission of"information which .resulted in public dissatisfaction over county boards of education. Perhaps the people whose daily concern it is to work out the de- tails of larger units of administration are so well informed that they fail to understand the ordinary citizen's need for knowledge. There have been hundreds of press releases and pamphlets, on the subject 'of regional government, and we see most of them as they cross the editor's desk. However, we have yet to see a clear-cut, simple explana- tion of the advantage to the general public which may be expected from amalgamation of local governments. The advantage for provincial politicians is quite obvious. The will of the voters will be quite safely submerged beneath impersonal units of regional organization to whom• the province may hand its- edicts without any serious likelihood of repercussions at the polls during the next election. The regional governments will provide a manageable but quite effective buffer for the province. The grants payable by the province to regional governments will be so large that they will purchase co-operation on without question, while the blame for errors and omissions will fall on the heads of the regional representa- tives. It's an ancient and proven technique. for keeping the little fellows in the land at arm's length. • Mr.. Mc Keough says .the present muni- cipalities will have ample opportunity to dis; cuss the plans and to raise objections before they are implemented. It's a safe bet the ob- jectors won't get very far with their argu- ments. County boards of education may be too young to make a good basis of comparison— but they are the only apt ones available. Under the county system it seems evident that education costs at least as much as it did under local boards—the level of education is not noticeably' higher—and the parents and, taxpayers have lost any chance of direct ac- cess to the board or direct influence on its decisions. - Will municipal government by regions be any bettyr? via nays not that good Someone pointed out in a barbershop conversation the other day that "the9 ood old days" to which reference is frequently made, were not really all that good. The man in the chair revealedhimself. as a philoso- pher.;• whenhe offered the opinion that those far-off times seem good in retrospect be- cause they were the days of yoyt• ,, with its boundless energy and rose -ti ed Spe'tt Iles. It takes nothing M94 a tr �o1I� through the older sections of any of.our On- tario cemeteries to debunk the theory that the old days were always happy ones. Have you ever observed the sad histories of early families inscribed on the stones? In some cases child after child died before the age of five; in other instances several deaths, often of children, occurred -within a few weeks, quite probably as a result of an epidemic of smallpox or scarlet fever. Tuberculosis reaped its harvest among both young and old. Such tragedies are rare today. Expect- ant mothers begin to practise careful child care long before the baby arrives, with the guidance of family doctor or public health services. Then follow well baby clinics, child care clinics, regular medical check-ups and 'as a consequence, the healthiest young people the world has ever seen: How good were the old days when you shivered in the kitchen until the big cast iron range began to throw a little heat from its ' newly -kindled wood fire? Hot water was dip- ped from the reservoir Sri' the back of the stove if the family was affluent enough to af- ford such a convenience. The drinking..wr reposed in a pail in theantr been lugged P Y after it had gged from the pump in the yard. Studies and all the other evening chores had to be accomplished by the 'light of coal oil lamps—and they were a tremendous im- provement over the candles of an earner era. Eyes would be red and sore by bedtime. You still hear sentimental .reminiscenses about the easier pace when transportation was limited to the gait of the faithful driving horse—but that was a miserable wavy to rush to town for the doctor or to get the good man out to the farm 'in the middle of the night when illness struck:— Things didn't improve all that much after the advent of the motor car. It took several years to develop automobiles which could be expected to travel 50 miles without flat tires or major mechanical breakdowns— and the reakdowns—andathe potholes in the old gravel roads were sure murder op the traveller with a sore back. Immigrants from other lands arrived in Canada only after making a heartbreaking decision in the homeland. The cost anti time required to get to this country meant that they would never again see families or friends they left behind. There was no slip- ping back for a couple of weeks in the sum- mer as newcomers so often .do today. This age we live in has plenty of draw backs, goodness knows'. We have a very Fong road to travel before we achieve universal peace and goodwill—but for our bwn part we don't regret the passing of those good old days. THE WINGHAM ADVANCE -TIMES ,Published at Wingham, Ontario, by Wenger Bros. Limited. Barry Wenger, President Robert 0. Wenger, Secretary -Treasurer Member Audit Bureau of Circulations Member Canadian and Ontario Weekly Newspaper Associations. Subscription Rate: thillattiption $10.00' a year, $5.25 for sic Months, In United States $12,50 in advance. Second Class Mail Registration No :0821 Return Postage Guaranteed e of eIt r l �� � V opinion '•.-S�»ay.v.4'�}'.Wt1'+LY1(�•�+s---...r..,.... ..x... � �,._,,.-�.:-.r_-,-�. ..s+--a�..a�. ..... ...;,. t. «.:._. c._ -�.. a__.......... v}:::, .: a : • .:.•:::.•: :'1ti•:v.\ ...•.•..; } .}: '1r • ::: ; }, • •.: Attkt}•�L\}w.+,: • tw w.•. ,.: •L • \tt : r1••: ".•'.':.'.:...•. \•.• •: �t.:�5.�,. . � •..,� •`,.. 1. }: S:'t'•;.,. \444\.,'1 :': •. \�'ti: .•• •:•:: n:t � .,. r"a . 'r'{t'�+.......r,...n... ': '•::}...,.,...+:,: v::pv.;'{•,. .;:. •.':•:.:•• .;L;�':::4ti::�v. tik:v; .::: . � ♦1Va::4a \ },:;,., .y:}.., \\ : ..: ..Y ..�:t .4y.•A .. \•• `. •r;.i;.:.:}:: .. \.,'.� •:.�;}'•:•.'•:. .ti•::•. :a• It's CaIIedQptjn0 Out 13i11 Smiley Occasionally, in the desert o wars and deaths and fires an strikes in the newspapers, on comes across something that i like a cool drink of water. 1 had that experience this very morning. The story concerned Gene MacLellan. The name won' be familiar to most of my square old readers, but will be to my younger ones. if I have any. MacLellan is a Canadian song- writer who has made it big in the music world. One of his songs, Snowbird. became a million - record seller for singer Anne Murray. That led to a wave of song successes, which in turn led to an avalanche bf roy'al"ty cheques. , Well, dear reader, ant ,,,you'd better take a deep breath at this point, McLellan is quitting'. No, he hasn't broken his guitar arm. He hasn't had a heart attack. He hasn't had a shattering emotional experience. He is dropping --out because he is making too much money and does not want the pressure of responsibilities it caused. . He -is giving up his interest in.a company set up to handle his af- fairs, and has asked that the royalties be used in part to help young performers. He has abandoned the farm he bought in P.E.I.,. and given away most of his possessions. He and his wife left with leo definite plans,. "probably" to hitch -hike through Europe. Canadian' Press quotes Mac- Lellan : "I don't know what I'll do. I don't know when or if I'll come back." Isn't that a refreshing little story? 1- envy him and many others caught in the material f tread -mill will too, I'm sure. d of course, I'm not naive enough e to compare him to Diogenes, who s lived in a barrel and owned noth- ing but a drinking. bowl, Some of those royalties will still find their way. into MacLellan's .pocket • and t he won't be- begging in the streets. But l admire a man, or woman, who can turn his' or her back on the whole thing and walk away. Mare and more of our young people are doing it, some for the worst of reasons. some for the best Some opt out because they've decided to let George do it. They deliberately become bums, have no scruples whatever about beg- ging, stealing accepting `welfare. They are dirty. promiscuous, malodorous and blasphemous. But often highly intelligent. on the other side of the coin are the young people who get off the boat for different reasons. At some point they take a clear-eyed look at their parents, at the lives they themselves are living, and decide. 'This is not for me." 'I'his..second group tends to be idealistic. They want to create. They want to make a life-style that doesn't depend on status and ° the• buck. They will work ex- c tremely hard for something they h think is worth doing They're al- b most invariably gentle, tolerant and reasonably clean. They are C not bums. but seekers after b something they don't see in our h society. They use the same four letter words the other group uses, d but unselfconsciously. They are s not blasphemous. but in a strange M way, religious. • Friends of ours have a son, in Mike. His parents despaired of s d pe him. He had a fantastic I.Q., but kept flunking in high school be - 'cause he was bored silly. Never did finish school. Bummed around, worked a bit. quit. Then he became a Bahai. He is at pres- ent pioneering the faith. as they call it. at Baker Lake in the Northwest Territories. . among the Eskimoes. He's happy. working hard. and wants to get some more schooling so�lhat he can go back and teach Eskimo children. His parents are proud of him. There was a lad, charming, witty. handsome. He had every opportunity to go to university, and would have made a mark in society. He chose otherwise, but may be making a bigger mark, in the long run. Our own son has done pretty much the same sort of'thing. He, too. if you'll pardon it, is charm- ing, witty and handsome. He has a great musical talent. He is highly intelligent. After a couple of goes at university, he quit. He had his wild times and bad times:' Now he too is a Bahai. He doesn't have a degree, but he can talk rings around most university professors, in French or English. He works at a tough job, second het' in a restaurant, to support imself. He had a chance to be a ar-tender for more. money, but serving liquor is against his prin- iples. He planned to go to Fro- isher to pioneer. the faith. Then e thought there were enough 'missionaries" there tae a— eliberate decision to attempt to pread the faith in the east end of ontreal I can't see much future in try - g to convert to Bahai any sub- tantial number of French-Cana- ian Catholics. But Hugh has a ace and serenity and a sitn- •icity of life that one can only nvy. He doesn't A, ant any things", just enou'`l'- to keep ive and keep covered. I wish I ere twenty years younger. Unperceived asset A queer quirk in the collective Canadian personality' is .that bilingualism, our possession of two official languages, is widely,considereda liability, instead of, as it actually is, a .major national asset and cause for. pride. ' . All Canadians arenot.compelled to know both their coun- try's languages and many Canadians speak neither correct- ly—but the advantages of some knowledge of both are enor- mous.. ' Some of these advantages are practical: the ability to re- ply in the same, language in which one is asked a question; to read La Presse and the Free Press with equal ease; to pos- sess two ways of articulating any idea with the option of using the one which says it best. But perhaps Canada's two -language status is most valu- able when a*ilingual Canadian travels, for he can go scarce- ly anywhere without finding someone who can understand him. In the majority of the new nations of Africa, English or French is almost certain to be one .of the official languages. The same is true in the nations" of the former British and French empires on the other continents. - Bilingualism is our unperceived asset. We should be en- joying our two languages instead of squabbling over them. Rather than threatening anyone's job for not knowing one of them. WP chnulfi be .��.,:..:..,. __ � .• devising ann educational sysiem through which every Canadian child will learn and love both the tongues which are his inheritance. —"Unchurched Edi- torials" how Wage „ al w Hector was complaining about the number of pets in his house. He said to his friend: "Boy, am I sick of all the noise in my house! Aunt Jane'srfour cats get to fight- ing with Cousin Jack's two dogs, then they all get into it with Uncle Jasper's monkey! . It's terrible, especially with the windows closed, most of the time." His friend asked: "Why don't you open a window and let some of the noise out?" Hector replied: "What? And let my three buz• - zards escape?" A young mother was looking at a toy for her small child: "Isn't this awfully complicated for him 9 " c'hc askcd the salesman. ,ldn. "That, madame," replied the salesman, "is an education toy, designed to prepare the child for life in today's world. Any way he puts it together is wrong. RilEf! /7/71fm1 ffi 110W COME YOU DOA1T GIVE ME LiTavE cezztr FOR mit A' iN SEX EDucA 7ON ? tt1 :' to s '�}�• " ��},� t:rrti�}v: �:; `%}r :r;.. r•�•+}:;C�i'�::{:•:• ?, }; :{tif•{•}i i :%:: f4. X,fi�}7 :;:}�;',; -{,:: '4.r. a.,ua!v+,...l...e}.ii,ra.s :r:•.dn:.'ll:S:�:•:•.•}:e:•r .•}. TQQJY CHILD BY HELEN ALLEN AN ,t)t'TD00J4s'HO1' Terry will soon be five. It may not be possible to find adopting parents for this handsome youngster before his birthday, 'but it w►11 be wonderful if he can be settled in a permanent home:in time to start kindergarten in September. • Tall and slim. Terry has curly, light brown hair, big blue. eyes and olive skin. Ills background is black (West Indian) and white. Terry is in excellent health but he has met most of his mikkstones later than average• His speech is not yet up to his age level, which is frustrating both for Terry and for people who are trying to ut'tderstand him. This active boy loves to play outdoors. especially riding his tricycle. Ile enjoys the company' of other children, though he sometimes finds it hard to share toys. Ile is. always c'oncer'ned about lr hisown possessions -- a new Da�ir' of shoes ' I roe s hits to go to bed with him so he wilt be certain they will be there in the morning. •Ilere is a laddie who steeds a loving, understanding latnil% %•here both parents will want to spend a lot of time %% id) him. They should be able to overlook limited information on his background,, and to accept the fact that he will probable be a slow learner. There should be no other children close to Mill in age. To inquire' about ade;piingtTemy, please write' -to Today's Child, Box, MK,, .Station. K, • 77,o4o4. For r,gcnet1al a do d, ol: 'Jforhrartioc,�wMi� �it*(hildrnks AftSoddy. a; '44 •� , . to As Senior Citizens' Week draws to a close, the residents seem to be standing up to the busy sched- 'ule of events better than some of the staff and volunteers. Speak- ing of volunteers, we owe 'them a really big "thank -you": Members • of the auxiliary, were here every day to look after registration'of guests and w help 111 Cuuniiess other ways. Clinton Kinettes helped out on "picnic" day, • Wednesday, June 21st. Individ- uals helped in many ways and space would not -permit us to list them all, even if we were sure we would remember them • all . Our own staff pitched in to try to make this a memorable week for E all residents and we 'want to publicly thank them. The Sunday morning church service was taken by the regular pastor, Rev. McWinnie, with spe- cial music supplied by the On- tario Street Choir and directed by Doris McKinley. This was rated by several of the residents as one of the nicest services yet. During the afternoon,•the Goderich Blue - water Band, led by Mr. Kalb- fleisch, played for a concert on the lawn which was enjoyed by the residents either from the rooms on the west side of the building, or outdoors, along with about 100 visitors. The Goderich Senior Citizens' Club was in charge of Monday afternoon's- program and pro- vided an hour and a half of fine entertainment for the crowd of 250. They assisted the volunteers and staff to serve the refresh- ments. Rev. Youmitoff of Bay- field, a former padre at the Cana- dian Forces Base at Clinton, ac- companied at the piano .by Mrs. Jack Parker, led a lively sing -a- long - and contributed several vocal solos on Tuesday afternoon. Although the weatherman was not very co-operative for Wed- nesday aftern`oon's picnic, it didn't dampen the spirits of the residents, who gathered in the auditorium, along with their guests and 40 members of the Wingham Senior Citizens' Club. The Wingham Club put-on a milli- nery show, which featured styles of the hats of the future which were very practical, made.out of such things as bedpans, cham- bers, bird nests, etc. Each of the hats represented a song, with the chorus of nineteen ladies joining in the music melody. The Lions Club of Clinton set up some games of chance in the craft room which proved very: popular. Following the showing. of slides on activities at Huron- view, and sing -song, everyone gathered at the main dining room area for the picnic supper. Mrs. Couper of Hensall, along with her class of six young people, demonstrated spinning • and weaving in several areas of the home, on Thursday after- noon, Many of theresidents who remembered the art of carding and spinning the yarn from the sheep's wool, enjoyed the demob- stration. Speakers were set up in five different areas in the home so that everyone could enjoy the fine organ music of Ed Stiles, who played many old favorites and requests. The Bayfield and Exeter Senior Citizens' clubs joined forces to provide a variety program for Family Night. One hundred and twenty took part in the' Friday afternoon bingo in the auditorium. Some twenty games were played with 50 winners. Thirty table's of garhes were played on Saturday afternoon, sponsored by the Happy Citizens' Club of Seaforth. The antique cars on display\ during the week were courtesy of 4 William Wells of Clinton. They added an attraction for many of the residents who had driven some of the models in the 1920's. 1 Little boy: "Dad, did grandpa paddle you when you were a little boy? Father holding paddle: "He certainly did." ,M Little boy: "And did great grandpa paddle grandpa when he was a little boy?" Father : "Yes, son." Little Boy: "And did great - great -grandpa paddle great - grandpa?" Father : "Yes." Little boy: "Well, don't you think that with a little encourage- ment from me you could over -0 come this inherited rowdyism?"