The Goderich Signal-Star, 1974-12-19, Page 2PAGE 2- OODHRICI°i SIGNAL -STAR, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 19, 1974
4 •
DITORIAL. COMMENT
Rural land owners must help
Land use in the rural areas is as much
- or more - of a problem to planners in
'Huron County as ,land use- in urban cen-
tres.. Of course it could be' strongly
argued that land ,use in the rural areas
would be no problem at all if it were not
for urban influences,. but it still remains
that land Use in, rural areas is one vivid
example of citizens wanting their cake
and eating it too.
At a special meeting of Huron iCounty
Council last Thursday to discuss the
$100,000 -plus UDIRA study (Urban
Development in Rurat Areas) it was
clearly . evident,- that everone wants
planning in the rural area providing it
does not interfere with one's or plans.
Doubtless no one would argue`that rural
land should be preserved for agricultural
uses, but tolytace succi li nFtatiens err
the bulk of rural land was met with con-
siderable dismay by some rural dwellers
who admitted that rural land sold for ur-
ban -like uses generally brought a much
greater price than strictly farming coun-
try.
It w,as incoming Goderich township
Reeve Gerry Ginn who told, the meeting
of the value of prime agricultural land.
"They're just not making it any more,':
Ginn said.
He's dead -right. But one• wonders at.
times if all rural land -capable of food
production in all parts of this great
county are being, put to full use. There
may well be room for the argument from
some quarters that if farmers in Huron
county as welt as elsewhere in the
nation - were being paid.top dollar for
. their produce, there would be more food
available in a short time than could be
consumed.
During last winter's gas shortages in
the United States, many skeptics were
saying, "There's no shortage of
gasoline. Just as soon as the price goes
high enough, there will be all the
gasoline we need."
Those sentiments may be too simple
to be exactly correct, yet there is
enough wisdom in them to risk com-
ment. Over and over it ' is becoming
abundantly clear -10-the-consumer—that
that
the old criteria for price setting no
longer are valid. While yesterday's con-
sumer was important to the producer,
today's consumer must step to the tune
of the, producer - or be trampled. Hence
• fuel for inflation's fire.
Huron's farmlandmust be protected,
not only for food production but to retain
Huron's unique character. Huron's far-
mers - those scientists of the soil - must
be as ready to protect that land as
anyone, -even, if such tegislation ,seems
to curtail their dreams to,some extent.
No peace and goodwill
Ours is not a world of peace and
goodwill among men.
In Africa, rival races of blacks and
whites struggle ... in the open and in
secret, with and without' violence ... for
dominance.
In the Middle East, great powers
escalate each other's armament bids.
Fighting has become so commonplace
in some places that newspapers hardly
report it any more: Viet Nam, Northern
Irerand, Cyprus, „. And the, repression of
an entire continent is ignored- in South
Am'erica an unofficial alliance of military
regimes tightens the screws on a .hun-
dred poor..
And in Bangladesh and India. - the
Sahel and who. knows how many more
centres of suffering, millions more die
the slow agony of..starvation.
There . seems- to be something in-
congruous about celebrating Christmas
in such a world. For Christmas speaks of
a
NOW "11115 15 WHAT, I CALL sump f f.UEI AL- PROV INCiAL Co•0?ERATION — yoOVE. GOT THE GALOS}IES
ANo tYE GrT THE UMKELIA
kindness and love, peace and goodwill.
Yet we Should remember that the first
Christmas was not a peaceful one.. The
baby Jesus was born into a world of
tyranny, of hate, of vicious dictators, and
treacherous politicians. In an effort to.
destroy that child, a pitiless Herod
slaughtered all the children of
Bethlehem. Nor was the life of. Jesus
particularly peaceful. He was always un-
der suspicion, always under attack. His
life was a conflict with forces �f evil, for-
ces which eventually brought him to the
Cross. •
So in celebratiri Christmas., we
should see in the one called Christ a
challenge, not only to the Herods and
Pi later of 2,000 years ago, but to those
of every day, of every nation.
That was the hope, of Christmas then.
It is still the hope, of Christmas today_,
But we need to- work harder to realize
• that hope.
The rules have changed.
It's snowmobiling season 'again but for
both the snowmobilers and land owners,
the rules have -changed.
Harassed home -owners will probably'
'find the legislation introduced in the On-
tario Legislature last week to be the
greatest thing since ,indoor plumbing:
The legislation tightens the screws on.
the *.i'rrespo'nsible sndwrhobile • owners
and drivers while at the same time, not
unduly inconveniencing the majority of
thoughtful,' law-abiding snowmobilers.
The legislation would prohibit those
under • 12 years, of age from using public
trail. Helmets would be compulsory.
Snowmobiles would be prohibited from
all serviced roads unless specifically
permitted by municipalities. In other
words, unless your council'passes a by-
law permitting use, snowmobiles cannot
travel ,on the streets and roads.
All snowmobiles will have to have
registration numbers on both sides of
t'the machines All snowmobile owners will
have to have insurance. Speed limits in
all parks and 30, -mile limit areas will be
15 mites per hour. Elsewhere, the speed
limit will be 30 miles per hour, though
municipalities will be able to raise or
`lower this limit. '
And, mercifully,_ mufflers will. be
required on all machines. •
But the item that probably"brings relief
to land owners is the one that specifies
that private landowners will not be liable
for unintentional dangers to.
snowmobilers resulting in accidents. In
addition there will be a fine of $500 for
snowmobilers trespassing on private
property without written permission:
This part of the legislation in par-
ticular has been needed fora long time,'
ever since the snowmobile explosion
began. •
Now, the next thousand miles is how
to enforce the -new laws once they are
approved.
Laverty lines
Dear Editor,
A YULE TIME RHYME.
As weleave the job on Christ
mas eve,
Unmindful of the frosty breeze
With pay intact, and thoughts
that please
And blithe anticipation.
,.A'nd some will smile as home
they go -
To greet the wife and baby Joe,
Or Christmas gifts, or Mother's
glow
And Father's admiration.
Poor show '
And some will stop for two or
three, Dear Editor,
Then home to trim the Christ: I have been actively involved
mas tree; in church work for many years,
And some will go on one big + and like most people, I like to
spree hear Chr'stmas music. Thus it
To wifee's consternation. was that with great an-
ticipation, I went to the North
Others may go near and far, Street United Church here. in
- And drink• while piloting a car, Goderich ' on the evening of
They slip on ice, and there you December. 11, to attend a carol
are.., service put , on by the three
Their holiday's damnation. choirs of the church.
There had been no mention
So take it easy, boys and girls, of any charge for this service in
Try steering 'round depressing the church calendar, and I was
snarls,•surprised to find' that one had
And keep away from hasty to pay ah admission to the con -
quarrels :,_cert. I had , no objection to
And regretful altercation; paying this admission fee, but I
was appalled to see people
Be sure to have a pleasant taking money immediately out
side the doors of the church
sanctuary, where the concert
was to be
In my opinion the .sa ctuary
of the church is the place where
On holiday termination. anyone, rich or poor, may. come
Arthur Laverty to worship 'the Lord. There
should never, under any cir-
curnstances, be an admission
charge for any kind of a service
To whomheld in the church sanctuary:
If, this Christmas carol con -
it may concern cert Was intended to be , a
money -raising project for the
choirs of the North Street
church, then it should have
been held in the auditorium of
the 'church, and not in the
church sanctuary.
Loves Carole
headed the car for towns like
Lucknow and other towns to
pick up my groceries and other
things I need, and I will con-
tinue to do so as long ,as old
"Salty" is spreading .all that
salt on the road. Surely, in this
day and age, there is something
Netter which • will. not be so
damaging?
• Now, please don't get me
wrong. I love Goderich and I'm
quite happy here.'I think On-
tario has' so many 'beauty spots
and I wouldn't really .want to
go hack West. •
Sincerely,
R. P. Taylor.
time...
And have' a few,' despite my
rhyme; ' ,
Then hack to work, and he on
time,
Dear Editor,
. Well winter is upon us once
more and when winter comes to
Goderich I always have a
"beef' and that is the salt that
is put on the roads. I think
100% salt is ridiculous to put
—The Blyth Standard on the roads, for the winters we
have here, in this part of On Another poem
tario.
I come from the West, where Dear Editor
they.•could certainly use 100
salt, with temperatures, dipping
around 49-50 below. But they
use 10%. salt and the rest sand.
From what I've seen around One Christmas Eve, the
here, thereis plenty sand and Snowball at
salt. Sat by the fireplace red;
What burns me up, is the Tle children all had said their
t ruination it does to your car, prayers
•
and not only yciur car hut your And were fast asleep in bed.
I just hate the thought of get
shoes and tracking it in on rugs And Mummy White and Daddy
etc.white
ere listening to.,,the clock,-
ting myself another car and it Said, "Santa will soon be
sinking all that money in one, here,
when 1 know the salt is going to Sty go to bed, tick, tock."
get it. One of my friends bough} �- Then Mummy cried, "Now
a new car and also an old one Snowball,' dear,
car.
to drive in the winter, hut I It's outside you tntyst go,
My friend thinks the same as
along with a lot of others, can't For little cats should not he
afford a summer and a winter here
1 do on the salt question.
This winter I have just
VRRIF1.0
c,acuLAY10N
atfje ooaetich
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Published by Signal -Star Publishing Ltd
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_ .
THE TALE OF C$
A' CURIOUS T
When Santa comes; you know."
Rut Snowtf'all , was a curious
cat,
And most determined was
That she that night should stay
indoors
And wait for Santa Claus.
She ran as fast as she could go,
And, seeing Dad's fur hat
Upon the floor behind the door,
She hid herself in that.
Then Mum searched here, and
Dad looked there,
But when they couldn't find.
her,
At last they said, "Let's go to
bed,
Perhaps Santa won't mind
her."
The clock ticked on, the fire
went out,
But Snowball did not sleep,
That curious cat determined
was
Her midnight watch to keep.
At last she heard the sound of
bells,
And laughter in the sky:
Straight to the fireplace
Snowball ran
And there, Oh me, Oh my!
Right down the chimney Santa
came, •
The dust and ashes flew,
And Snowball got a new, gray
coat •
Before she could say, "Mew!"
"Oh Snowball dear", cried
Santa Claus,
"You're such a curious cat!
Your pure white coat is gray
and black,
What do you think of that?"
But Snowball only purred and
'purred, ,,
So Santa, always jokey,
Hung nn her neck a card which
read, °
"A Merry Christmas, Smokey."
And that is how the Stookey cat
Received her brand new name,
The Whites- all her
"Smokey" now,
But she'll-
-curious
just
the
same!
calla
—As of Christmas 1973
"Jingle Bell"
Questions story
Dear Editor,
I work parttime in one of
our local stores, and thus I
noted with interest the front
page article in your Thursday,
December 12 edition, entitled
"Christmas brings out shoppers
looking for free merchandise in
the stores."
I realize that the aim of the
article was to give the mer-
chants advice on how to
prevent shoplifting in their
stores, and that the police chief
was only trying 'to perform a
service to the storekeeper in
this respect, but in my opinion
the article does more harm
than good.
I feel that this article gives
the seasoned shoplifter and
also the person who ,might be
tempted to try shoplifting for
the, °first time, some excellent
tips on how to go about it.
1 also question the value of
placing such an article in the
newspaper in the first place.
The article is really of interest
only to the merchants, and this
group makes up only a small
part of the townspeople. Why
publish such an article in :a
newspaper where the general
public has access to it and its
shoplifting suggestions?
Would it „not have been bet-
ter to circulate this type of
advice to the merchants only?
Concerned
OOMN6 BACN
75 YEARS AGO .
The Clinton New Era tries to
extract sunbeams from cucum-
bers in this way: "While we
had a couple of days fairly good
sleighing last week, the people
of Goderich had no ,such
pleasure:. people must come to
the hub if they want the good
things in life." We admit that
Clinton can beat Goderich all
hollow for cold weather in Win-
ter,
inter, but we don't' care much. Of
course in our warmer climate
we sometimes feel a little sorry»
for the people in the hub when
some of those cold spells drop
on them,but they don't seem. to
mind it much and after all,
Clinton isn't such a bad' little
place to live.
There was an
interesting
sight in the heavens on Satur-
day evening, the earth getting
in between the sun and the
moon and causing almost a
total eclipse of the latter..body.
Unfortunately the evening was
cloudy and only occasionally a
good view of the phenomenon
could be had. It was a full
moon, and when the clouds
cleared .away for a few
moments and a lzortion of the
yellow orb could be seen it was
a sight worth viewing. For a
while ,'between eight and nine
o'clock almost •the whole
surface of the moon could be
seen, .
Work upon the breakwater
has been suspended for the
season. The superstructure
upon- which the contractors
have . been working .has been
raised to a height of almost fif-
teen courses, and the work has
been done to the entire satisfac-
tion of the Department. The
weather this fall has been very
satisfactory to the job and the
workers have had very little
time off.
Another way'
'bear"'Editor,
Instead ,of spending fantastic
amounts of money widening
roads that do not need to be,
let's eliminate our Bayfield
road traffic problem as easily
• and cheaply, as possible.
Britannia Road from
Bayfield Road to Huron Raod
should be one way with traffic
,travelling east. Remove the
stop sign on • Bayfield for the
traffic leading north. Traffic
going east from Victoria on.
Britannia' should either yield
for north bound traffic on
Bayfield or have a compulsory
,right hand turn only onto
Bayfield Road.
The south ' west corner of
Bayfield Road + - Britannia
Road should be slightly
diused to sem
someraease inallow turning. Ti -trailers stop
signs' on Britannia . should
definitely be retained for safety
no drag strip and safer cross
walks.
Traffic heading north will
have no problem with the stop
sign at Victoria Street. It's just
a matter of stopping, -'.no cars
to have. to `wait for.
' The money saved by not
widening Bayfield Road and
Britannia Road could be used
to re -surface Blake Street and
Bennett Street between
Bayfield Road and . Huron
Road - They need it.
Signed
Tired of seeing money being
wasted.
Great treat '
Dear Editor, •
Those who live in Goderich,
and areas surrounding, can be
justly proud, especially if they
heard and sallw "Singtime"
televised from Ch. 8 last Sun-
day at 5:30 p.m,
The Teens and Junior Choirs
of our own North Street United
Church performed all of that
spirity choral Christmas
program so splendidly, under
the superb direction of the very
creative, and attractive, Irla
Stewart; with Lorne Dotterer
the enterprising piano accom-
panist.
These gifted, very young
singers have i remarkable
sense of sincere pitch, tonal in-
tegrity and pure articulation ---
such talents alway'e'"a joy for
the audience. They are off to an
excellent start and worthy of
every encouragement in their
aad'mirable endeavors. We look
forward to seeing and heari4
50 YEARS AGO
Chas. C. Lee !says that an-
thracite coal is still the burning .
question. The strike seems to be
as far from settlement as it was
at the start.' It was fortunate
for the town that Mr. Lee put
in a big tonnage just before the
strike. The coal was bought at
premium prices, but his price of
$19.00 per ton is less than other •
towns- which are fortunate-'•
enough to have their diwn an- "-
ttiracite. Mr. Lee says that his
supply of the fuel is getting low.
With the arrival of the
Drummond yesterday morning
navigation for the season ended .
at Goderich. The winter fleet
this yea"r consists of twelve
boats. The grain elevator
reports that its storage spaces
are just as ,full as can be.
Work has begun on the Salt -
ford Hill and 'last week several
amen and teams became
engaged in the work of cutting
off the dangerous bend in the
bank. The earth is being dum-
• ped over the bank on the other
side of the roadway.
His Worship the Mayor
-MacEwan is entertaining the
-town council, water and light
commission, officials and press
representatives 'at his home on
Friday evening after the coun-
cil meeting, which will be the
last regular meeting - of the
Council for the year.
The Inland Revenue Act of-
fender .that his supply of liquor
seized from his premises in
Bayfield last week was found
guilty in magistrate's court for
- having liquor and for owning
equipment for the making of
said item.
5 YEARS AGO
An industrial , development
program for Huron County was
outlined to, two, dozen county
and ,local government officials
by an Ottawa firm at a meeting
in Clinton recently. The
pricetag, $42,00Q a year. During
the evening Huron MP Robert
Mclinley disclosed that the
federal department of transport
is not interested in taking over
Canadian Forces Base Clinton
when the ,armed forces move
out in 1971. He said he is
asking the government for more
data on the base phase-out in-
cluding the cost of renovating •,
CFB Kingston facilitiI»! to
house the Radar and' Coni-
municatjons School now in
Clinton.
Goderich Mayor G.F. Mills
gave council a verbal lashing at
the last'meeting and to Coun-
cillor Prank Walkom in par-
tC
Walkomicular car
a $55ouncillor bar
bill. Mr, Walkom resented the
bill because he said it was for
refreshment, for a' party the
mayor threw for his friends for
which he should hive paid
himself, Mr. Mills said that if
he was throwing a party for hip
friends he would foot the bill
but that . he did not feel
obligated to pay the expenses of
(continued on page 3 entertaining council.
• t,