Wingham Advance-Times, 1981-01-21, Page 4DVAACE
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THE WINGHAM ADVANCE -TIMES
Published at Wingham. Ontario, by Wenger Bros. Limited
Barry. Wenger, President
Robert 0 Wenger. Sec -Treas
Member Audit Bureau of Circulations
Member — Canadian Community Newspaper Assoc.
Subscription318.00 per year
Second Class Mail Registration No. 0821
laiglEiligglaffirtalSMIEENNSCIPEIMMEKIff
Ontario Weekly Newspaper Assoc
Six months $9.30
Return postage guaranteed
Right on, Bill
At the risk of being branded as
racist or Anglophone, we unhesitating-
ly support Premier Rill Davis' opposi-
tion to the demand that Ontario be
made officially bilingual.
if this province were to accede to
the pressure from the federal govern-
ment and some of the other provinces
and declare itself bilingual, the legisla-
ture and the courts would be forced to
carryon all proceedings In both French
and English. All official publications
would have to be printed and„ distri-
buted in two languages and the already
swollen army of civil servants would
swell still further. The cost, In tax dol-
lars, would be considerable.
Now wait a minute. We are not
suggesting that Ontario's French-
speaking residents should be Ignored.
Wherever there are sizable groups of
Canadians of French language they
must be provided with services In their
own tongue, not only in the courts, but
in schools as well. Refusal to have On-
tario become officially bilingual does
not mean that we should Ignore the
rights of our French-speaking citizens.
What we do object to is the
establishment of official bilingualism
merely as a meaningless but expensive
gesture— as it has been in many areas
of Canada since the move a few years
ago to mollify strident elements in
Quebec. If you received as much mall
In two languages as we do in a news-
paper office you would understand the
silliness of the two -language -every-
where program.
It Is simply unbelievable In this age
of computers, that federal mailing lists
cannot 6e separated Into 'addresses
where no English is requiredand those
where French serves no useful pur-
pose. Take a look at those words on°the
front of the post office. Do you really
° believe that "Bureau de Poste" adds
anything to the quality of life for any
person in this community?
The Ontario government has long
since employed a policy of providing
French education anc services where
they are needed. No matter what the
language of an accused person, inter-
preters must be provided In courts.
French language schools have oper-
ated for years in communities where
they serve a reasonable percentage of
French-speaking children. Admittedly
arguments can and do arise about what
constitutes a "reasonable" number,
but official bilingualism would not alter
that fact. Surely we would not be
expected to operate French schools In
every community, without regard to
reasonable need.
So far Mr. Davis has flatly refused
to agree to the proposal for official bil-
ingualism and we believe he is right.
Catching up with reality
History was Made last week when
the United Auto Workers, employees of
Chrysler Motors, agreed to a wage
freeze for thea next several months. I n
the words of the chief negotiator for the
UAW, it was the most terrible settle-
ment WieneFrMennileeeent l {story, .but
better' than no jobs at all.
How true! No working person likes
to see his or her standard of living
shrinking as inflation escalates, but
employers cannot forever raise prices
In Order to guarantee a no -sacrifice
position for employees. In fact the con-
stantly Increasing price of American
cars has been one of the factors In the
massive sales of foreign-bulit autos and
the resultant losses of North American
manufacturers.
Signs of worry
At week's end there were several
Indications that the government of Iran
would be happy to relieve themselves
of the, American hostage situation
without further delay. As Americans
'and Iranians negotiated through the
government of Algeria It appeared
highly possible that unfreezing of
Iranian assets In the United States
would at last prove the key to freedom
for the American hostages who have
been In Iranian captivitly for well over
a year.
Previous experience; of. course,
tells us that a last minute delay is still a
" distinct possibility, but With the in-
auguration of President-elect . Ronald
Reagan only days, away, the Iranian
government appears to be anxious for a
settlement. The election of Reagan,
who has a rumoured reputation as a
"
hawk„ hasnus vi I created fears
ob
Y ea
abroad that the American position
could swing over to one of hardline
toughness after the Reagan adminis-
tration takes office.
The appointment of General Alex-
ander Haig as Reagan's secretary of
state has reinforced the fear of a more
aggressive America. Haig, a former
A few years back, `when help was
- hard to find following the war a hard-
nosed hold-out position on the part of
.##fie working people won for them husky
annual increases. With nearly a million
Canadians out of work today there are
plenty of replacements for those whOse
demands are unreasonably high.
'Of -course there are many busi-
nesses and corporations whose high -
profits de permit cost -of -living in-
creases In wages — but the car com-
panies are not in this fortunate posi-
tion. When both Canadian and Amerl-
can taxpayers are guaranteeing- hun-
dreds''of millions of dollars in loan sup-
port to the car makers, the employees
of those firms have every right to
shoulder their share of the sacrifice.
.
commanderin chiet of NATO forces in
Europe Is very well informed about
foreign attitudes and armaments and
with his military background could be
the catalyst for a swing away . from
American's currently peaceful stance.
The entire hostage incident has
proven that the tools of international
negotiation have been altered within
the past few decades. Twenty years
ago it would• have been Inconceivable
for 59 Americans with diplomatic
status to have been held all this time
without military intervention on the
part of the United States. However,
since such an action would almost cer-
tainly Invite Soviet retaliation, nothing
has happened, no doubt because the
threat of the hydrogen bomb hangs
over the entire world.
It now appears that a small nation
hasuite suecessfull defied one of the
q Y
world's malor powers. Even though the
hostage incident, may be resolved
peacefully, there will be a next time.
Humans are great imitators. It won't
be long before another small nation
tries something similar, just as one act
of terrorism always begets a duplica-
tion.
Knowing how to suffer
Reading a lengthy book about
Peter the Great, the tsar who moved
Russia Into the modern world at the
opening of the eighteenth century, we
have gained a new Insight into the basic
characteristics of the Russian people.
In Peter's day his countrymen pos-
sessed en unbelievable capacity for-
suffering.
orsuffering. The ordinary Russian was a
serf — slave in plain words — without
any hint of recourse from Inlustice. He
suffered untold miseries, not only at
the hands of Invaders from all sides,
but equally from the ruling class in his
own land. The marvel of the whole his-
tory of the nation Is that ttfe peasantry
and working etas* endured their hope-
less state until the boishevlk revolution
In 191/.
However, thei revolution and the
establishment of a communist govern-
ment has not altered that basic Russian
capacity to endure suffering. Anyone
who has read the details of the serge of
Stalingrad during World. War 11 must
be aware that the German hordes were
turned back only because the Russian
citizens and soldiers could endure total
horror longer than their enemies:
Today,' with the Russian forces
poised on the border of Poland, ready
to squash 1' people who seek a reason-
able measure of freedom, one should
also rernember that the antagon!sms
between Russia and Poland reach back
over hundreds of years. In fact, at one
time a Polish king sat on the throne of
the. Russian tsars — a fact which has
not been :forgotten even In thls day of
the tank and the guided missile.. ,
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Letters to the Edito
Gun control nothing more Christmas Bureau
than tticaI hnokesreen t thanksmolunteers
Dear Editor,
As a subscriber to your
paper I would like to take the
opportunity to reply to your
Dec. 17, 1 0 editorial, 'They
love those guns'.
You state that you have
difficulty understanding
"the Americans' fanatic 1 ye
affair with guns". Perha it
would be easier to under-
stand if you recognize the
fact that the American
people won their in-
dependence as &direct result
of private gun ownership.
The American •.Constitution
guarantees the° right of its
citizens "to keep 'and bear
arms" in no less than the
second amendment, because
some very wise ' . and far-
sighted men in drawing up
the constitution recognized
that since the beginning of
history, freedom and
democracy seem to depend
directly on arms available to
the people.
Traditionally one of the
first steps of a totalitarian
government is to abolish the
right &its citizens to private
gun ownership. Once this has
been completed', history once
again shows us that the other
rights so cherished in a
democracy soon vanish also.
Such disabled people are
powerless against the whims
of ;tyrants, who usually
control a powerful military
a d police.
I must agree with you,
however, that .the USA has
d a number of tragic and
Bless political assassina-
ons involving the use of
firearms. But the number of
_lives lost in this manner
pales to insignificance when
you consider the millions of
lives lost in countries liken,
Nazi Germany, the Soviet
Union and -more recently. in
Cambodia because the gen-
eral populace had.no means
of defence against a rogue
government intent on de-
stroying certain segments of
their citizens,
The inference you give in
your editorial is that
availability of firearms
leads inevitably to violent'
crime... The unanimous
findings of sociologists and
criminologists lead to the
conclusion that crime is a
result of sociological factors
and is in no way connected to
the availability of guns,
It is indeed very un-
fortunate that the same type
of brilliant thinkers who
brought us prohibition now
think they can legislate guns
out of the hands of criminals,
who don't obey or respect
any laws in the first place.
That these restrictive, gun
laws do nothing to deter a
criminal from securing a
gun is common and provable
knowledge. What they do,
however, is to unduly harass
the vast majority of law-
abiding gun owners who
derive a great dealof
pleasure from such
legitimate pursuits as
hunting, collecting and
target shooting.
'Gun Control' in this
country and elsewhere is•'
nothing more than a smoke
screen • thrown up by
politicians who lack the
intelligence, integrity or guts
to tackle and deal effectively
with the sociological and
cultural factors that produce
crime in our North. American
society.
Don Vincent
Riverview, New Brunswick
EDITOR'S NOTE: It was
necessary to shorten this
letter by several paragraphs
for space reasons. However
every , effort was made .to
retain the sense of the
original.
Dear Editor,
The Huron County Christ-
mas Bureau, operated by
Family and Children's„
Services, has completed
another successful project of
assisting families at Christ-
mas. This is due largely to
the efforts . of a number of
dedicated volunteers in the
community who coordinate
the distribution .centers and
who are assisted by many in-
dividuals and groups in the
community who provide
facilities, donation of gifts,
and money.
In 1980, the Christmas
Bureau assisted 200 families
and 475 children in having a
happier Christmas. Families
were referred by social serv-
ice agencies, ministers and.
service clubs in the county
and requests were co-ordin-
ated through our office.
Each family was given an
appointment . at the center
closest to their own home
and assisted with -their
shopping'. at the center, by
volunteer staff there. As a
result, each child received
one new toy and one new
article of clothing under the
tree on Christmas morning.
In your area we would
have been unable to provide
TODAY'S CHILD
BY HELEN ALLEN
Kenneth is 7, a small, fair-haired youngster with
friendly eyes and a sprinkle of freckles.
He is a healthy boy, gentle and sweet -natured, who'
sometimes doesn't like other children, because he lets
them push him. around. Recently he has begun to stand up
for himself sometimes, which his teacher says is good -
Not academically inclined, Kenneth is slow to learn.
However he is doing well in a special class and his foster
mother, herself a special education teacher, feels his
progress is excellent. He does need, however, a family
which values a warhl, loving disposition More than
scholastic success.
Kenneth loves the outdoors --swimming and horseback
riding and just plating. He is altvays polite and easy to
live with.
To inquire about adopting Kenneth, please write to
Today's Child, Ministry of Communitand Social Ser-
vices Box 888, Station K, Toronto, Ontario M4P 2112. In
your letter tell something of your present family and your
way of life.
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this service without the cap-
able assistance of Captain
W. Perrin, the coordinator of
the Christmas Bureau Cen-
ter in : Wingham. He gave
many hours of his time to
bring some pleasure to
others and deserves recogni-
tion for his service to people.
In order to operate the cen-
ter appropriately, Captain
Perrin and his staff of volun-
teers spent many hours
organizing the requests of
specific children, shopping
for suitable articles,
collecting donations, . and
then setting up, . obtaining
staff and distributing gifts
from the centers. Their con-
tribution to Family and Chil-
dren's Services and to their
community was immeasur-
able and invaluable.
We must also acknowledge
the contribution of service
clubs throughout the county
to the Huron County Christ-
mas Bureau. In some areas
they spent many hours dis-
tributing, collecting and
sorting boxes for donations
of new toys. Many service
clubs made financial contri-
butions to our budget of
almost $10,000, which also
provided funds for families
to buy Christmas dinner. In-
dividuals all over the county
spent the year knitting so
that children coming
to
the
centers could be provided
with warm mitts. The Salva-
tion Army in Goderich and
Wingham allowed us the tfse
of their buildings and Cap-
tain Perrin and Lieutenant
Koops spent : many hours
working on our behalf.
Anstett Jewellers allowed us
use of their building in Sea -
forth and we appreciate that.
Overall, the Huron County
Christmas Bureau rep-
resents a massive effort of
dedicated people in the
community on behalf of
those less fortunate than
themselves. It is a -tribute to
people caring for other
people and we feel that
Huron County has shown it-
self to be a leader again this
Christmas.
Yours very truly,
Mrs. Peggy Rivers
Coordinator of
Volunteer Services,
Family and Children's
Services of Huron County
B,,3 Jam .
R. W. HaetinOe' pi Taw:
berry and 'Mantas Ritchie f 4
Wingham Witte two-storey;;
cider mill on, the west aide of°d
Josephine St., near the otV
St. cornerin the ap;l of
f . It was powered by a 34
horsepower steam. engine.
Later they .decided ed4 ars
chopping stoga
round operative ;to tom n
In September t; .:.�
year they #ll
r
evaporator aninsttdby;he
the month were:d
trade in making
well as cider. Iii Oa
car load of cider was
to Norwich. Over tlt*„•
few years the cider Milt'�
tinued to operate in season!,
making cider, Deily ,;a�nc .
sweet syrup. In -1.:: hey oft
fered to boil cider down to
apple butter at one cent per
gallon. The mill was oper-
ated by David Hastings in
1900. r
It is not known when
operations ceased, but T. J..
Maguire, realtor, offered the
cider mill for sale in 1902.,
However it was not sold until
May of 1906 when W. A.,
Currie purchased it from
Mrs. Thomas Ritchie of Bel-
more through Chisholm Real
Estate. Currie moved the old
cider mill closer to the street
onto a concrete foundation.
He purchased a large quan-
tity of machinery and tools to
set up a general repair and
machine shop, and offered to
repair all kinds of
machinery.
W. A. Currie was a ver-
satile man. In addition to
operating his machine shop,
he was an auctioneer and for
some time had auction
rooms in the Kent Block. He
was agent for gas and steam
engines and offered repairs
Tor bicycles, boilers, engines
and all types of machinery.
After oxy-acetylene welding
was perfected, he introduced
it to the Wingham area. ,This
was a great advance over the
old system of welding and
brazing with a forge.
In 1911 hebuilt anadditiofl
to the shop to provide room
to repair autos. In 1914 he
was °appointed a technical
examiner for chauffeurs° .
licences. Currie retired in
1928, selling the shop to El- ..
well Webster, who carried
on.
Currie is remembered for
bringing acetylene welding
to Winghamk, but Webster is
remembered for introducing
electric welding to this area.
The boiler at the Gunn -Son -
'Ola factory developed a
crack, and Webster ° was
asked to' repair it. Realizing
it would require the new
electric welding to do it, he
went to Toronto, bought an
electric welder, and re-
turned with it and an expert
to demonstrate it. The boiler
was repaired and that same
welder is still in service fifty
years later.
Elwell is also'remembered
for the snowmobile he built _
around 1930. Unlike the
machines of today it was
mounted on four runners and
was driven by a propellor on
a four -cylinder engine. While
he owned the shop, the
second storey was removed
as well as the office which
extended out to the sidewalk.
For many years there was a
punch
press in the shopthat
made stampings' for&
� gsFry
Blackhall.
is
Many machine shops in
Wingham have come and
gone, but the shop at the
south end of town survives.
Since 1938 it has been oper-
ated by David Murray, who
has been on the Main street
longer than anyone at the
present time. The forge and
punch press are gone and no
longer is it the only place
with an electric welder. To-
day most farmers, construc-
tion firms etc. have their
own. Most of the jobs re-
ceived now require lathe
work or the services of an
expert welder.
LIBARY EXTENSIVE
The National Gallery of
Canada, in addition to
having the most extensive
collection of Canadian' Art in
the world, has a reference
library with more than 96;000
boob and periodicals.
aimeneennesensmeessememesi
A tree press can, of course, be good
or bad, but, most certainly without
freedom it will never be anything but
bad: —Albert Carnot
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