The Goderich Signal-Star, 1972-10-26, Page 2PAGE, 2:, ;OPE ltlt"il $itiP AI, S'C'AR. icfr,. fll'.lt �,t►, (9'1 �
Town officers must co-operate
in int weeks, it has become evident
that 'slings are not running smoothly at
the Qodexioh 'Municipal Building. There's
a growing. fooling of mistrust, resentment
and hostility surrounding and between
Goderich Town Council and many of- the
people of the municipality who serve un-
der ' the direction of council,
Just how these ill -feelings were born is
of no consequence now. What must be
immediately considered are ---the ways in
. which problems can be erased, fences
can be mended arid future relations im-
proved.
If there was ever a time when
Goderich's elected' and appointed per-
sonnet,- need to pull together, .it. is right,
now and in the upcoming Months. This
municipality is, entering 4.,neW era, a
tricky time when all the collective wisdom
'and forethought that can be mustered is
vitally important totveryone's future.
There's no time now for pettiness and
hautiness. Goderich needs cool-headed
.guidance •fro.m men and women who
leave back-biting as well as back -
scratching to others,
It'slime now to meld the town's council
and its various officers and agencies into
one tight team, all co-operating towarda
single goal. Let,them do it for the good of
Goderich ...and let them begin now:,
We believe in voting but..
This newspaper would like to report
. next week that 100 percent of the people,
in Goderich voted, in the federal election
Monday, October 30. That's unlikely to
happen, however. Each year, more and
more eligible voters stay home from the
polls for a variety of reasons—most of
them weak.
,if you are one of the people in
Goderich and area who does not intend
to exercise your ,franchise next Monday,
and if you are looking, for a plausible ex-
cuse for your behaviour, you will find
listed here some of the most common
,alibis used by non -voters. Choose
whichever one best describes your
feelings:
1. ,Voting is' useless. It is an old-
fashioned -custom which should be
discontinued immediately because it
costs. everybody too much money. Gover-
nments should be appointed by the
Queen from names selected at randorn in
the telephone booJc:
2. . Voting'. is dangerous. Ordinary
citizens should not take part in the
decision-making of the nation. ' What do
they know about such problems,anyway?
It ' is far better to let somebody else
manipulate the future for, you. After. all,
what you don't know can't possibly hurt
you.
3: Voting is childish. Anyone can make
an X on a piece of paper. Such little
games should be forbidden for thinking
adults who rea)ize that voting doesn't
help anyway. It just helps some people
feel important.
4. Voting is for the young. ,When the
government made it legal for 18 -year olds
to vote, it automatically took the respon-
sibility ,offthe old-timers over 30.
5. Voting is too selective. It allows one
choice only., Many people don't like to get
that explicit. There should be room for in-
decision.
4 t
Be careful this Hallowe'en
It's that time of year again, when the lit-
tle people; the spooks and ghosts are out
in full force, full of excitement and with
safety the furthest thing from their minds.
We -join the Goderich detachment of
the.1.Ontario Provincial Police -' and the
Goderich Municipal Police __force in
reminding parents that they should do all'
they can to protect their young goblins by
adopting .a see and be seen policy.
Following are some techniques
suggested by the Police.
Instead of buying a funny face, make
one using make up. Eyebrow ' pencil,
clown white, colored moustache sticks
and anything else ''your 'imagination
suggests do a better and safer job.
Face paint provides clear vision
whereas the conventional mask, with
small peep holes, restricts vision and can
even slip down over the child's eyes.
To help drivers see dark clad
youngsters after dark decorate costumes
with' reflective iron on, or self stick, tapes.
It gives an eerie appearance and shows
up brilliantly in drivers headlights. 4.
Parents,. should accompany their
youngest toddlers and impress on .the'
older ones the need to be extra alert
when crossing streets.
Drivers should remember . that on
Halloween there's • bound to be some
small ,ghost who will forget to. be careful
and 'then his chances depend on you.
Jobs are opening up
Jobs for professionals . are opening up
again, . and dramatically so, says The
Financial Post. There have been'.34:''per-
cent more job openings during the first
nine 'months this year than a year ago,
says the Technical Service Council,
which surveyed 1,400 employers across
Canada. (The industry -backed TSC is the
largest private -placement agency in
Canada dealing with. professional and
• technical personnel.)
Most ''ot the new• jobs are in Ontario,
which traditionally has about 50 percent
of the country's openings for
professionals. The oil and gas boom has
also contributed to corporate manpower -
hunting. on the 'Prairies. Quebec was
work stoppages
slower and restrained
:BMW .Ootttrtibi`aettp"lo cs°fco1'�n
Who's in demand? The TSC says op-
portunities for accountants and industrial
engineers have more than doubled.
There's a shortage of intermediate -level
sales engineers. There are jobs for plant
managers, computer programmers,
mining engineers, construction super-
visors, to name a few.
The 'catch is that the demand is strong
for individuals with five -10 years' in-
dustrial experience. The TSC also notes a
small, steady demand for $15,000 -$30,000-
a -year executives. But competition is
keen and employers insist on specialized
experience, The Post says.
1'^.�Blrfif.�
More on the gas war
There' is no better way than.. in the newspaper business
to learn there are always two sides to a story.'We always
knew it but sometimes an incident comes: along to
remind us just how true the old adage is.
Last week the Signal -Star published a short photo story
on the gas war. in Goderich. In it Ron Shaw noted "Gasp
war or no the prices are coming down, and may even
continue to come down for a time, 'and that's not bad
news. What is hard to -understand,'" he opserved, "is that
the same dealers who, charged 54 cents per gallon,- are
now , charging 47 cents' and somehow `staying in
business." a
Well apparently no one finds ,it worse news than the
dealers. The simple fact of the matter being that if the gas
war continues those dealers depending on gas to stay in
business will fold. There's little doubt about itv .:,,; pry
The set up works like this. The petroleum company
sells gas to their dealers at a rate where they can make
about 10 or 11 cent profit per gallon if they sell for
around 54 cents. When a gas war..hits ttiouh,,,.guess.has to lose? It's not, the company.
The real paradox of the situation is seen in the example
of Imperial Oil and Malone Petroleum. Imperial provides
Malone with cut rate gas at' a lower price but expects its
own dealers to compete against the discount joints and
to pay the regular price. -
The way the system is set up Malone should actually
be buying what might, be known as "bad batches" of
gasoline from Imperial'Oil but they have a contract With
Esso so even if there are no bad batches. Imperial must'
still provide fuel at. the contract price.
Now even -a bad .etch isn't all that bad since the
Society of Automotive- Engineers enforces quality coni
trols on all gasoline sold in Canada. W.lt this amounts
to then is that Imperial Oil undercuts its own dealers, but
expects them to continue to pav rent to the parent com-
pany of possibly .ssibly $300 to $400 per. 'month, and still make
• enough profit selling gas. Witt) a gas war on, that profit is
now down to five cents per gallon or less,
/he side effects of this situation of course -effect allthe
_. 'other dealers since they must sell gas at the same' tow
profit.
This means the dealer is getting the shaft and can't in-
deed remain in business. for long..
Now let's consider as service station making its living
on sellinggasdo not handle much
Many service stations
repair work and . the difference between survival' and
going under hinges on 'gasoline sales..
Even if every car in the station bought 10 gallons of,
gas, and no, one could argue,that Isn't -a liberal estimate,
•that means the dealer would take in 50 cents for about 10
minutes at the pumps (if he checked, the battery, cleaned
the windshield and 1ooked'at"the -`rater) as -most -do.
This would total an income of only $3.00 per hour out
of which he must pay.electric bills, 'water bills, at least
-, $165 per, hour for het and about $300 per month rent to
the petroleum company. '
With .a town of less than 7,000 people saturated by no
less than 18 gasolineoutlets it seems possible that even;
the estimate of six cars per hour is a generous one. We
need hardly point out that it is mote expensive for a ser-
vice station to sell gas than 'it is worth. Gasoline pumps
are therefore becoming a. loss- leader.. • e
We do not refute our reporter's observations las$ week
that the lower prices are better for the motorist or, that
they are even closer to what should be charged. What we
do point out is that local businessmen in the service
station trade are not making a living.
Who's really at fault then? Well it looks to us like it's
high time the petroleum Companies started giving their
dealers a fair shake.
4.4'�'�4'�'�'�'o�N.��1�.�1Hi'�O'��r�N1�•1-i.�11.1��. �� �1'��N��1� ��4N11N-�N11.���.•�•1.4���N1�►"��•�1�'�1��1-
=DEAR _EDITOR-
Thuritre bid
Dear: Editor:
Re your editorial which was
copied this past week in the
Blyth Standard, I am concerned
that 'you feel that we are adop-
ting a "Dog in the Manger" at-
titude towards our theatre in the
Blyth Memorial Hall.
As .President of The Blyth
Board of Trade, . who have
organized the movenient . to
renovate the. theatre, I have no
knowledge of any offers of help
' being refused or ignored. On the
contrary we are most gratefully
accepting any, offs ,s sof,
donations• or voluntary labour
that are made available to us.
We are a village of ap-'
proximately 800 people, and we
realize' our limitations. To -be
able. to putthetheatre on a
paying basis on the amount of
productions we would be ableto
produce in a year would be very
difficult; if not impossible in-
deed: Therefore, we are. well
aware of the importance of
Goderich, Clinton and also
Winghainf'as a possible aid to
'us in procuring Little Theatre
Productions as soon as the
theatre' can be put in operation..
However, we have been infor-
med that we cannot hold 'any
gatherings of any size in the
future until pror fire escapes
are installed. These have been
approved by Town Council and
we are looking forward' to an
early. installation. Our fund has
reached the $622.00 mark and
we 'have had the donation of a
piano to date. The'next step is to
raise money for draperies which
we estimate will cost in the •
neighbourhood of one , to two
• thousand dollars when com-
pleted.
We realize that it would be
• difficult for a Little Theatre
.,..Group to put on a production of
any size with our dressing and
washroom facilities as they now
stand. In view of the con-
siderable cost of fire escapes, it
is out of the question to ask
uncil to - a rove - a n r
Co PP Y -further
expenditures until -we can prove
to them that we can make some
use of the theatre as it now
stands. We are working through
the .Blyth Recreation C9mgijttee
and all donations are made
directly to them. We are, respon-
sible to them and have been
given permission to , renovate
with paint and draperies .only,
they in turn must have the ap-
proval of Town Council for any
large expenditures.
I trust that this information
will clear up some of the misin-
formation:,__ 1 would._ be .most.
happy to hear from any' .persons
who are interested in the com-
pletion of the Memorial Hall
Theatre.
Sincerely, yours,
(Mrs.) Helen D. Cowing.
There also remain professions -where
there's still a surplus of manpower, A few
examples: arena eats, ` aeronautical "
'engi.neers, foresters, biochemists,
Rge 6needo
SIGNAL—STAR
disai— The County Town Newspaper of Huron
poundodintt'4trand publishedevery Thursday a 32 West St.,Goderich, Ontario. Member of the Audita
Bureau ofeircutstion,(ha CWNAandOWNA. Adve'lit inp.rates on request, Subscriptions payable in
advance, S11.00 in Canada, 0.50 in:all Countries other than Canada; single copies 20 cents. Second
crass. mailNegistration.Number 0716. Advertising is accepted en the condition that, in the event of .
tippraphicalerror,thatportionof the advertising spat* occupied by the erreneoue item; together
' iNiihroasonal►realiowatnciter Signature, will not bechargedfor but the balance M the advertisement
will it Maid fur at the sppliC'a
Cble rat., In the event of a typographical error' advertising, goods or
Hr$001aiawri'l' p e.,pi►odsortirviCesmaynatbe sold, Advertising is *rely en offer to sell,
aM maybe witfld sWn ai any time.
Published . by Signal -Star Publishing Ltd.
inesii$ and Editorial Of at RO ERT 0. �SHitieti .pr.nldont and publisher
�rEL i�iwn�+ a2�lt381 , SHif1LEI J A*tL i odltor
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1. W. 6HA►`YII °tial stilt- , .
ansa isblliM lilt eDWARD J EYRitta, "idvsillsing ,manae.
$444.4 ,w. t - DAVE R. WILLIAM$—advtirttNfig rsprosantailvo
ststt►�s'slii� �il�itwt+raiiait is�rillrl►r O�fi
Independent Socialist
Candidate Ed Bain was
invited to submit to the
opposite page eofltext,.
but no copy was reeeive'd
l"rom him '
Shirley i. Keller,
'Editor,
Siglllal-Star;
Goderich, Ontario
•
•
I've just completed compiling
the' results of the 1972 Reader-
ship .• Survey which was
,,published in our paper a few
weeks ago. Some surprising facts
were brought to light, some we
had suspected and some. of
which we were quite unaware.
- First of all, it is apparent that
the editorial page of the
newspaper is a well-read
segment of the paper. Of the 26
surveys returned to. us, 13
showed that the editorials were
enjoyed very much and 13 said
the editorials were" moderately
pleasing. Dear Readers and
Looking Back were just about
on a pair - ' each tallying 19
points in, the very well and
moderatelywell columns, and
each having seven "who cares".
votes thrown in to boot.
It could be noted at this point
that 'the Entertainment Page'
was tied with the Editorial Page
for total popularity points.
Round and About with Mar-
tha is still the most popular
column the . newspaper ' carries
having 22 points in the very
much and moderately well
columns and pulling' only four
"who cares" check marks. Mrs.
'Rathburn beat out Bill Smiley
•
with Goderich and area folk.
Bill, perhaps Ontario's best
known and most widely read
columnist, had 19 votes (tied
with Dear Readers) in the first
two columns and seven in the
"who cares" division (also tied
with Dear Readers).,
And are"7•you ready for this
The next most popular feature
of our newspaper is Today's
Child with 15. votes in the first.
two columns and 11 in the third.
Not far behind was the
Minister's Study and the weekly
recipe tied with 13 points in the
first two columns and 13 each in
the "who cares" slot.
From there down came the
real losers as far as our
newspaper is concerned:' Sports
Action Line was 6 to 20; bridge
scores was 4-22; and baseball
quiz and the raceway were tied
for the • basement at 2-24.
The actual results were:
.-Editorials, 13, very much, 13
moderately well, 0 who cares;
Dear Readers, 6, 13; 7; Looking
Back, 5, 14, 7; Baseball Quiz,
1,1,24; Sports Action Line;
2,4,20; At The Raceways, 2,0,24;
The Minister's Study, . 637,13;.
recipes, 4,9,13; Today's Child,
5,10,11; Bill Smiley, J2;7,7;
Round and About with Martha,
8,14,4; Bridge Scores, 2,2,22;
and Entertainment Page,
,13,13,0. .
Of the 26 persons who retnr;
ned the survey, 16 were from
Goderich; one from Goderich
Township, five from Colborne
Township, two from Clinton and
two from Ashfield: There were
no replies from Bayfield or
Lucknow.
Of these people, 16. receive
their newspapers by subscrip-
tion, nine from the news stand
one thought thenewspaper
came as a "gift (?)". •
.In most homes, only two
people read the paper and the
majority of readers spend about
A question answered
Why?
Dear Editor,
As a visitor to your town for
the 50th celebration of the Lions
Club, I was most surprised to
see `a car, carrying placards for
one of the political parties in an
otherwise excellent parade.
As the wife of an ex -Lion, I
was under the impression 'that
the Lions were an non-political
club. '
I wondered if there was an ex-
planation why, if, their policy
had been changed, that' there
�►as- only one party represented?
Zelma Barber
(Mrs. Gordon Barber)
R.R. 2, Bradford, Ont.
I hire ;s why
Dear Editor:
Without the approval of the
Parade ,Committee of the
Goderich Lions Club, a station
wagon with promotion
-.-i 'political decorations of a , critical . s!r
♦{1.4444444b 4444M*1.6'1►.
followed the last float in our
earade last Saturday.
Obviously, the last float In
our parade was the big float in
regard to our anniversary. Two
members of Our committee
asked the driver of the station
wagon not to fall in line but he
refused to co-operate. Sime our
responsibilities ended with our
last float we had no .control of
the vehicle in question.
The Goderich Lions Club does
everything we can to help our
community but there are two
o thingswe stay away from -
politics and religion.
.We Want to thank everyone
for their co-operation in making
our celebration such 'a wonder-
ful success but we felt an ex-
planation ,to the public should
be made outlining our .position.
Sincerely,
E.A. Blliot
President-
•
Goderich Lions Club.
one hour poring over the pages.
Twenty-five said the news
coverage .ranged from good to
fair (13 good, 121air) and only
one said the news coverage was
"terfible". One person added a
footnote that there's more in the
Signal -Star than there is in
most weekly newspapers, and
for that comment, I personally
thank the sender. It helped
brighten an otherwise
depressing day.
*.*
Over and over again in the
survey sheets it was stated that
more council news - more
detailed council news - was
desired. Many people said the
council news is what they like
most about the Signal -Star. In,
fact, that was by far the most
oft -repeated phrase in the com-
ment section of the question-
naire.
Also mentioned by several
persons was the local content of
the paper which they enjoy:'•the
historical items written by W.E.
Elliott; the classified ads, and'
the photography of Ron Shaw
(and others).
Other things' mentioned only
once - but mentioned nonethe-
less were sports, -weddings, the
Letters to .the Editor, Ann Lan-
ders, coming events, school news
and theBlue] Thumb.
And just for your information,
I'll list the items which have'
been requested for The Signal -
Star through the readership sur-
vey. You will see we've got some
thinking to do in the, next few
weeks.
Those t . n s re u.ested by
eaiers were: lower subscription
rates, less children's 'stuff',
authentic medical facts, more
cartoons, more current events
from the world at large, a ser-
vice
club page, articles on local
hobbyists, . articles on local
businessmen, more local politics,
do-it-yourself •hints, carpentry
projects, more personal items,
more opinion surveys, less pic-
tures, more harbor news, more
council news, more women's
news, less old news, more rural
news.
70 YE RS Ago
QcTon 2.9„ atm.
Goderichovie goers, were
told they were in for better
rnovin,g pictures as the Victoria
Street Opera House announced
the purchase of an improved
and updated projector. •
William Lewis. of Crediton
was narnetj' returning officer for
South Huron, Sheriff Ueynolds
for East Huron and J. Newton
Campbell for West Huron in
preparation for upcoming elec-
tions.
lections. a
° . 'he,Godericli Literary Society
announced that their monthly
meeting would take' the formof
a debate on the resolution that
Capital Punishment . was
justified.
The Goderich shooting club -
announced- that' -E. R:- Wathon- w:
holder of the Robin Hood
Trophy would be putting his w
title on the line in a competition
sponsored,by the local club.
The home of'Danny Campbell
at the foot of Cambria road was
destroyed in the fourth fire in
three weeks within Goderich.
Mr. R. P. Roy, Director of the
G.T.R.. railway was said to be
resigning his position and
moving to the United States
where he would occupy the same
position with the Rio Grande
R.R.
An Ottawa dispatch _announ-
ced that the November 9 holiday
recognizing the King's Birthcay
would not be held but the oc-
casion would rather be held in
May. .
25 YEARS AGO
OCTOBER*26, 1947
p
Nine schools took part in the
third' annual Goderich Town-
ship Rural Track and Field
meet held at Union Number six
School.
.. CoflEctions by 'Mrs. Macklin
°
of Stratford and Miss Ann Wur-
tele were the outstanding 0
e, hihits of note when the first
Doll Fair ever to be 'held in
Goderich, was on display at the.
Town Hall auditorium.
The Goderich Board of Trade
published what was described as
a "profusely illustrated"
booklet on the community of
Goderich to advertise its
facilities.
The fall executive meeting of
the Huron Presbyterian
Presbyterial was held at
Goderich.
After a lapse of several years
it was announced that Goderich
would once again hav' an Inter-
mediate ' Hockey T . m. . The
local Kinsmen Club said they
would be giving the group the
necessary ' financial . support to
get off the ground. •
The Maitland Gand Coun-
try Club •held theirolf ' annual
closing' tournament under ex-
cellent weather conditions.
Students at Goderich
Collegiate Institute were
holding their .annual , elections
for representatives to Students
Council.
FIVE YEARS AGO
OCTOBER 26, 1967
. Mayor Doctor Frank Mills of-
ficially cut the ribbon to open w
the new $900,000 water polution
control plant. °
A fire which broke out' from
overheated grease in a deep
' fryer at the Elgin Avenue Fish
and Chip Store resulted in the
second building being destroyed
during Fire Safety Week.
Tranquility was restored to
Town Council when Councillor
B. R. Robinson and Reeve, Bert
Such shook hands and brought
to an .end a 'feud that had seen
the councillor call for the
reeve's resignation. ..
The Goderich Junior B Sifto's
. won , their season opener as they
• dumped Kitchener 7-5 in Kit-
chener.
Goderich's recently purchases
street sweeper; valued at, $3,500
went into service on cbmmunity
streets.
Two 4tratford then were
�-missing and presumed -drowned ._• --
following a boating mishap on
Laice Huron about three miles
north of Goderich. '
The 1,967 addition to the
Goderich and District Collegiate
Institute was. officially_ opened
in a ceremony conducted by the
Minister of Education William
Davis.
0.
it
* * *
As a news person, I was in-
terested in a couple of remarks
which were added to the sur-
veys.-
�.
One comment was that there's
"lots of interest" in the Signal -
Star. That statement mean
something. to me, since Ron
Shaw and I have worked pretty
hard to , ensure there would be
something for everybody in' our
paper ... even if it is only one or
+
two things,
Secondly, at least two people,
mentioned that it wAS good that
' x ' otintlnurd on tits' 15
w
Letters to the Editor
are welcomed and
encouraged by this
newspaper on any .matter
01 public; tnterost. •
Ail letters must be
signed but pseudonyms
will be permitted on the
understanding that
should any reader
question the identity of
the • writer, that identity
wilt bewdisctossd.
rRiiradort aro - reminded
that ''the opinions
Sxprass►d in the
publlshod
correspondonco are not
neeessarity 11* opinion*
hold by 'Tho Signal Star.
0
e
.,9