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Clinton News-Record, 1983-09-21, Page 4PAGE 4—e,LINTON NEWS -RECORD, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21,1983 r The Clinton Itiewo-Rocord Is pnbiishaud each Weeinmaday at P.O. Sem W Ciinton, Ontario, Concedes, MIPS 160. Tei.: 002.34+83. Subscription Rota: Cera da - "10.00 Sr. Chicon .119.44 per year U.S.A. a foreign - °90.00 par year it is roglirtonsce ea second dense moil by eW,ID pore office aadetr the permit atomiser SSW. Tuan ficeras-fierzonil incorparatcrd ito 19116 tfpe timron tloeva-Record, founded In 16111. and The Clinton New ora. kenneled in MS. Total press non 4.2110. incorporating (THE !SIXTH STANDARD J. HOWARD AITKEN - Publisher SHELLEY McNiff - Editor GARY HA1ST - Advertising Manager MARY ANN HOLLENBECK - Office Manager A MEMBER MEMBER Dlsploy advertising rotor available on request. Ask for Rota Cord No. 12 effective Oct. 1. 1!;111. Legions serve everyone The facts and figures and positive public profile clearly prove the valuable worth of our Royal Canadian Legion branches. Contrary to the narrow mind -id opinions of some, there's more, much more, to our local Legions than old vets talking about war days over a few pints of beer. The Royal Canadian Legion was founded in 1925 as an association -of those who served in the Armed Forces. It was originally formed to serve ex -service person - n& and their dependents, by improving their social and economic conditions. However the Legion is much more than that. It has grown in those 78 years to meet the today's needs throughout the communities it serves. The Clinton and Blyth Legions have long been active groups in the successful operation of the municipalities they serve. In the past year th,e Clinton Legion alone has donated $5,000 to the Clinton Public Hospital building fund. The members raised $500 to help purchase a new van for residents at Huronview and bought a new refrigerator for the home's social lounge. The branch is a regular contributor to minor hockey and baseball and assists many other causes through financial support whenever the need arises. Similarly the Blyth Legion Branch works hard to support the community. Funds are also generated to minor sports in the village and the branch sponsors the young Beavers troop. Donations have been made to supply wheelchairs at Huron - view and the branch has purchased hospital beds, canes and walkers for the needy. Both men and women take an active role in Legion work. The Legion Ladies Auxiliary in Blyth, for'example, host an annual Penny Sa!e to raise funds and they are a major contributor to the food services at the Thresher Reunion. The Legion objectives are noble. They recognize the sacrifice made by thousands of Canadians in the First and Second World Wars and in the Korean War and strive make others aware of the significance of Rememrance Day. Their aim is to develop an understanding of the ceremonies and rites of the past as they are reflected in the past. They work to teach others to appreciate the qualities of endurance and courage and of devotion to the principles of freedom within our multicultural community. They celebrate peace. This Legion Week, a time to think about the commendable service and the voluntary assistance. given by the men -and women who octivety support the Royal Canadian Legion in Ontario and help make our communities better places to live. -by S. McPhee. behind the scenes Buisiness basics History should teach us to beware times of crisis and turmoil, not just for the hard- ship and suffering they bring, but because they tempt people to listen to "rational" and "simple" solutions to all problems. We're in one of those periods now and voices are being raised with some simple solutions to our problems. It's to be expected that there would be reactions such as the swing to the right politically, a reaction against cradle -to - grave socialist philosophy that has ruled politics in many western countries in the last quarter century. For one thing, there is disappointment on behalf of the public that the utopia promised by the thinkers of the movement has not come true. Despite massive goverrunent spending we do not have the absolute security many of us would wish. There is also a reaction against the mistakes that were inevitable in trying to make such a change in our society as had been advocated. So it is not surprising that many have said we have to get back to a system that rewards the ambitious and encourages people to not depend on the state. Darwin's theory of evolution, of survival of the fit- test is in vogue'in our nos way of thinking about business. There were many businessmen, for instance, who were against supporting Chrysler and Massey Ferguson bei ause they had not proved they deserved to survive. But for some of the nei. ;conomic thinkers, the professors and 'the economists and increasingly, more pohti- (•ians, simple survival of the fittest is not enough in business. They want to help the process along. You'll hear a lot today about the need for a national industrial keith - - - roulston strategy. You'll hear economists who say we must develop government policies that encourage growth of those areas of business that show potential and kill off the industries that aren't seen as having potential for the future. The policy amounts to economic euthenasia. Rather than letting nature take its course, these economists want government to play God and make life and death decisions. They would have politi- cians backed by economists, for instance, give goodies to high technology industries while at the same time encouraging the death of the textile industry in Canada because it can be replaced by imported textiles from the far East more cheaply. While a case can be made against governments propping up sick industries like the textile industry, there seems to be nothing more dangerous than letting government decide which industries should be encouraged and which discouraged. For one thing, who has the knowledge to decide? Who can really see the future? The same people who are urg- ing this policy today are the people who didn't foresee the horrible economic mess Canada is in today. Do you want them deciding what the future should be? If a country is going to have a healthy future it must have a broad-based future. Too much specialization means that one wrong calculation can be suicidal. Too much centralized interference also means that options are cut off for people. Unknown to Ottawa, for instance, somebody in far off Huron county might have a brilliant idea that will revolutionize the world. If he must win the approval of government, the idea may never seen the light of day. Any policy that does not allow ideas to succeed or fail on their own merits without a government stamp of approval in the long run will fail. Dual energy plan expanded Ontario Hydro intends to expand its combination electricity -oil home heating program, i)ane MacCarthy, vice-president of marketing said recently. Last spring, hydro in- troduc ed a program to pro- vide assistance ti their customers who wish to add a plenum heater to their forced -air oil furnace to save heating dollars. 'Customers who are con- sidering converting to a dual electric -oil space heating system using baseboard heaters, heat pumps or hot ater 1eatini; hydrotuc ) systems will now be eligible for assistance," he said. Effective immediately, customers served directly by Ontario Hydro who reduce their oil consumption by at least 50 per cent by in- stalling a dual system will receive: — a taxable grant under the Canada Oil Substitution Program (COSP) up to a maximum of $800 or 50 per cent of the cost whichever is the lesser. - - up to $100 in . services from Ontario Hydro which will cover the cost of elec- trical inspection, as well as pre-installatauii and ul- service checks. - a $100 interest-free loan from Ontario Hydro. This loan will be waived by Hydro after three years from the date of installation providing the owner retains the system as it was originally installed to avoid electrical system peaks. For example, the typical cost to customers converting to the electric -oil dual system will be approximate- ly $500, after the above M- centives. Ship shape sugar andSpice Ode to the young One of the many things that occasionally arouse, my ire js ancient, slelf-satisfied,,,,. right-wing journalists who reiterate that Canadian young people are basically bums, spoiled by affluent parents, ready to flop onto welfare, eager to grab unemploy- ment insurance after a few months of work, lazy on the job, irresponsible, averse to anything resembling a dirty job, or a menial one, whatever that is. These writers would prefer our young people to be semi -robots, like the Japanese, who join a company, live with the company, eat with the company, suckle from the company, clap hands when the company gives them a holiday, and are retired when they are too old to work any more, but not fired: they get a job sweeping up the joint at barely enough yen to put rice on the table. The same writers celebrate young Ger- mans who go into an apprenticeship at 14, work like dogs for peanuts until they are journeymen, and by the time they are master craftsmen, are too old to enjoy anything but a glass of beer and a snooze in front of the television set. That is a lot of crap, and one of the worst purveyors of it is R. J. Needham, an occa- sional columnist with Canada's self - boosting title of Canada's National Newspaper, one of the great misnomers of the century. -If a man bites a dog in Toronto, it's front- page stuff. If a dog bites a man in the Yukon, or a halibut bashes a fishing -boat in Newfie, that's a little "amusing" paragraph on Page 18. "Mad dogs attack natives." "Crazed monster fish smashes dinghy; four kill- ed." But back to Needham and people like him. When he began his column, then dai- ly, I liked it. He was good for an aphorism By Shelley McPhee or two. He had a refreshing attitude toward women and young people. Some of his fairy-tale analogies were delightful. He got out and talked to kids. He thought they were great and their straight rniddle-class arents were,all wrong. `He has changed almost `completely. He now thinks most young people are bums, that Canadians have no spunk left in them. He goes on and on about how he's never been out of a job in his life. He quotes the Wall St. Journal, and most of his wit comes out of Bartlett's Familiar Quotations. He carries on his fiction that there isn't a male in Canada with any sense of gallantry, humor or courtesy toward the opposite sex. He makes snide remarks about homosexuals, and gives the general im- pression that he'd like to see the cops out with clubs, keeping "order" by bashing anybody who protests against anything. I have singled out Mr. Needham, but he's only a symbol. I once heard him say that no poetry had been written worth reading since Tennyson. That's because Tennyson rhymed, you see. I gave him the appropriate one -word answer, and he had the grace to back off a bit. But what I am getting to, and it's taking me a while, is that most of the young peo- ple in Canada, and their elders, are willing to work, and want to work, but they don't want to be slaves or blue-collar workers necessarily. They want to be independent. They don't want to say, "Ah, so!" when the boss says they are going to get a wage cut; or "Bitte schoen" when the boss says they'll work Sunday morning, or else. This is brought home to me time and again when I meet former students sweating away as waitresses or laborers so that they can go to college, instead of ly- ing around on welfare or unemployment or bumming off their parents. Oh, sure, there ate some who do. But tr,ey're burns, and they always will be. And there are plenty of them in other countries. kaleidoscope Finally the progress on the Clinton town hall and library restoration project is really starting to show. As Clarence Denomme Clinton's BiA secretary noted in a recent newsletter, "Have you notice the library? Isn't that building going to something to be proud of!" I must also say that I'm glad to see that while scaffolding and barricades are now in front of the town hall, we can still see what's going on in behind. There's nothing more frustrating than those walkways that totally barricade a building, without one tiny peep hole available to provide a glimpse behind the scenes. + + + This is Arthritis Month and Bayfield is hosting a very successful fund raising campaign in aid of the crippling disease. News -Record reporter Wendy Somer- ville is working on a special feature in conjunction with arthritis for next week's News -Record. We had a call from Hob Taylor of Clinton the other day, and he'd like to know who's heading the Arthritis Canvass in Clinton. Could you please let us know! + + + Well they say bad luck runs in threes and that was certainly the case in the News - Record editorial department last week. And always will be. But parents are smartening up, and saying, "Out or get a job." UI is tightening up, and about time. Welfare is being cut back to those in real need. But most people want to work, and are happy when they are working. I've seen an excellent example in the past couple of weeks. A construction company has torn our street to ribbons with their huge back - hoes and front-end loaders. These guys are mostly young. They work like dogs, but there's nobody going around with a whip to make sure they don't slow down. There doesn't even seem to be a foreman, running around, shouting epithets. They enjoy what they're doing, though it's hard, back -breaking work, long hours, and most wages below $7 an hour. (Try to get a plumber or an electrician for that.) They're happy; they're pleasant; they're co-operative. They don't quit the minute it's noon, or six. They finish what they're doing. They don't, as a government crew might do,'stand around with one guy digging a hole and six others watching him. The work they do in an hour would ex- haust the average postal worker, teacher, civil servant, in eight. They don't take five coffee breaks a day. They hate some of the things they're doing, but they're happy to be working. And what do they have to look forward to when the job's done, and bad weather slows construction work to a crawl? They'll probably have to go on pogey, to keep their families alive. If that's wrong, then let's create a state in which a guy is told where he's going to work, how much he's going to get, what size accommoda- tion he can have, lots of whips and guns, no right to say what he wants about his boss or the prime minister — a mass of "hap- py" workers, producing like hell, for no known reason. In a 60th wedding anniversary story about a Blyth couple we referred to Mr. Patterson as Francis. His name however is Nelson, always has been and always will be. Our apologies, Mr. and Mrs. Patterson. The gremlins were also at work regarding the recent draw at the Huron Day Care Centre for the Homebound. The report should have read that the draws were made by David Netzke of Seaforth, Alan Reid of Clinton and Ruby Anderson of Goderich. The Day Centre clients made the beautiful draw prizes. And finally two errors appeared regarding a photograph of Sergeant Roger Carr. Sergeant Carr is from Clinton, not London as reported and his parents, Mr. and Mrs. John Carr live in western Canada, not Clinton as reported. The Canadian Forces got this information wrong. Phew, glad that's over with. Errors are never purposely made at the News - Record. We strive each week to produce a mistake free, perfect newspaper. Ws a real challenge, one we'll probably never actually achieve, but it's still an excellent goa I to aim for. + + + On to this week's town talk. .John Fingland, son of Frank and Ilene Fingland of Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, has been invited by the minister of Veteran's Affairs to accompany the pilgrimage to France and Belgium on Nov. :3. He will join five other young people from across Canada and a group of First and Second World War veterans at Mirabel Airport on that date. They will go to Vimy, Arras and Mons and will attend the Remembrance Day ceremony in Paris. John is bilingual and speaks French fluently which will add greatly to his en- joyment of the expedition. He was chosen for his splendid effort for the Terry Fox program held in the Yukon and for his ability to speak French. + + + Dr. Man Cochrane, son of Harry and Ruth Cochrane of 122 Mary St., Clinton is spending this week in Annecy, France at the Second International Congress on Malaria Research. While there he will present a paper on his current research on the development of a malaria vaccine. After the conference r,r. Cochrane will travel to Europe before returning to New York City where he is an associate professor at the New York University School of Medicine. He has been employed for there for the past 10 years he. eae-rs write letters lig®g ett'd0}r every ay Dear Editor: This past week brought another exciting event into my life in Clinton, and I would like to tell you about it. On Thursday, Sept. 15 an entire class from a present day school carne to visit me! My walls echoed with their happy voices, just like my memories of northern children, long ago. The class was Mr. Roorda's Grade 4 class accompanied by Mrs. Harris, Mr. Reed, Mr. Hicks, Mr. McCone and author Elizabeth Willmot Kettlewell. The students asked many interesting questions about my past - and about my future. They are all looking forward to the big celebra- tion when my Restoration is complete, and are all anxious to help. Each girl and boy planted a spring bulb to make the park more beautiful to welcome visitors. Mrs. Kettlewell took pictures of all the children beside my lovely new paint ... I do hope these pictures show my brand new roof! But I do hope that my broken win- dows do not show in such an important pic- ture... The windows were all so new and sparkling, donated by my many friends, and were broken just before the holidays ended, by some of the children who played beside me nearly every day. At the same time, several gentlemen from Goderich were giving many, many hours of their holiday time to transfer an enormous donation of beautiful interior walls to my bare walls. This recent work is really hastening my Restoration... Wouldn't it be wonderful if other classes will follow the enthusiasm of Mr. Roorda and his Grade 4? Sincerely, 15089, Clinton School Car Naughty Rhymes So you think Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water? If you believe that, you probably believe that Little Miss Muffet was all innocence, seated guilelessly on a tuffet, and that Lit- tle Boy Blue was merely asleep under the haystack. How little you know. A British folklore expert, who has devoted a lifetime to exploring the carnal side of nursery rhymes, claims that they were really meant for adult bookstores. That tale about Jack and Jill being up the hill on an errand was concocted by prudes offended by pubescent sexuality. Jack and Jill had sex on their minds, ac- cording to folklorist Norman Iles, to whom a pail of water is evidently an erotic sym- bol. What do you suppose he would `make cf pease -porridge hot? His theories will be explained in `Nursery Rhymes Restored To their AdultrJ Originals', a book which may turn rupseala ed in plastic at your cornier variety store. But before you dismiss his theories as the excesses of an empurpled mind, remember that Iles is a scholar who has read and re -read nursery rhymes fre- quently and exhaustively, with a keen eye for sexual nuance. So if he claims there's more to them than most of us ever suspected or detected, maybe he's right. It's easy to imagine how the folklorist will explain Miss Muffet. The little wench enticed the spider to her side, teased him provocatively, then cried out in alarm when he edged closer. What did she ex- pect? Iles blames the church and establish- ment for purifying nursery rhymes. If that's the case, there's a lot to explain. Perhaps by telling us what Pat -a -Cake, Pat -a -Cake really means. On second thought, we don't want to know.—The Lon- don Free Press Intriguing? By Diane White (The Boston Globe) If you're anything like me, you're probably sitting around worrying and wondering if you're going to make People magazine's list of the 25 Most Intriguing People of 1983. Here's a simple list of questions to help you determine how you're doing so far. (1) Are you the tiny, adorable, drooling heir to the British throne? Yes? Congratulations. Give yourself 50 points. (2) Have you invented a vaccine that protects people from herpes? Add 10 points. 13) Have you recently orbited the Earth in a spacecraft? Five points if you're male. Fifty if you're female. One hundred if you're an extraterrestrial. 14) Are you an old has-been who's made a big, splashy comeback? Add one point if your comeback was on TV, five points if it was in a movie, 10 if it was on Broadway. Tack on five bonus points if you made your comeback in tandem with your ex- spouse, once -removed). (5) Are you the beautiful star of a popular TV series who is still amazingly sexy even though youlre over 40? Big deal. One point. (6) Have you designed a high-fashion line of outrageously expensive clothing that resembles ripped feed sacks? Two points. (7) Are you an incredibly gorgeous model -movie star who will soon enter a certain Ivy League university located in southern New Jersey? Twenty points. (8) Are you an aging but priapic literary legend -in -his -own -time who has written an interminable, unreadable novel about ancient Egypt? Ten points. (9) Have yon written a best-selling diet book? 11 not, why not? Everyone else has. Two points. (10) Did you spend the last 12 years forging those Hitler diaries? Twenty points. Add up your points. If your score is more than one, your chances are excellent of making People's list of the 25 Most intriguing People of 1!83. If it's less than that - well, there are still a few months left in the year. Anything can happen. But with any luck, it won't.