Loading...
The Wingham Advance-Times, 1983-05-25, Page 22Page 16—Crossroads—May 25, 1883 fi :/ /� r�/ /A � '' 0 yam,//. `" /n IWa N/,A Y///////: fib! / e,. Ar t i , / A +% /y//!//iii//ii yy , / .44j /.. r / #77r4yf y� /�„/�j• �%//�!; r .... Ai:.r,;4.% �1i y ' '.''�'�;,,l, i/ , ,y /f/�% / A '// ,AA.' . fir %4,• //14..e.„ • COVERING 30 ACRES, Marineland's Dragon Mountain steel roller coaster is the largest ride of its kind in the world. The coaster (as seen in an artist's rendering) is one of the four major new rides Eire_ know aboutler cog' The world's first roller coaster didn't roll at all. In fact, it was a sled. A sled• which glided down a wood - frame ice slide near St. Petersburg, the former capi- tal of Russia, in the 1.7th Cen- tury. Daring young men raced their sleds 70 feet down a 50 - degree slope on the edge of the ancient Russian city, creating a sport that became so popular that "Russian Mountains” were later built near Paris, But the French winters were not nearly as long or severe as the Russian ones, so the enterprising Parisians added wheels to the sleds and — voila — a year-round sport. The term "roller" came after the attraction was introduced to North America. Artificial coasting courses were developed with closely -spaced rollers serv- ou. wan ing as the tracks for the sleds, and although this type of coasting course had disap- peared by 1884, the name rol- ler coaster remained. In 1870, a group of entre- preneurs turned an aban- doned coal -carrying inclined railway into a passenger ride. Although the passen- gers only travelled at five miles an hour and dropped 60 feet, the Mauch Chunk Rail- way, named after the coal mine, was an instant suc- cess. Adapting the Mauch Chunk concept, Sunday school teacher La Marcus A. Thompson opened the first commercial coaster at Brooklyn's Coney Island in 1884. He called his coaster the Switchback Gravity Pleasure Railway. Its 10 - seat car travelled six miles an hour over 450 feet of dip- ping and curving track. At the end of the ride, passen- ANNOUNCEMENT Dr. K.J. MacKenzie is pleased to announce that Dr. R.J. (Rod) MacKenzie is joining him in the practice of optometry at 210 Elizabeth St. East, Listowel. Effective June 1, 1983. Telephone 291-1511 being introduced at Marineland this year. The coaster sets many new records for length, height, duration of ride, tunnels, height of loops and number of trains. gers got out while the car was pushed up a 30 -foot hill. Then they got back in and rode back to the starting point. Later the same year, oval and figure eight tracks were developed, while 1885 saw the addition of power -oper- ated cable lifts to move cars to the top of the first hill, and a coaster craze that was to last 40 years was born. From the turn of the cen- tury, each new coaster tried to outdo its predecessor. By the end of the Roaring Twen- ties, there were more than 1,500 coasters world-wide, such was the craze at its height. The Depression, the Second World War and lack of maintenance took their toll on the coasters. By 1960, fewer than 200 remained. Yet, in the late 1970's, a new wave of coaster mania hit North America and steel coasters — which featured loops — were erected in many amusement parks. None, however, promises the thrilling ride that Marineland's Dragon Moun- tain offers. The world's larg- est steel roller coaster will take passengers over more than a mile of track during an active ride time of 3.2 minutes. Riders will whirl through tunnels, spin through double loops and speed down through double spirals past one-third repli- cas of Niagara's Canadian and American Falls. And then into the white -knuckle bowtie finish, upside down twice within seconds, as a fitting climax to the ride of your life_ continues_ Up to 40 % OFF Specially marked fixtures • Outdoor Fixtures • Chandeliers • Hanging lamps • Table Lamps • Lamp Shades See the large selection in our expanded and newly renovated show room. von LIC3(iifN(i CENTRE Division of ideal Snpp y Co. Limited 133 Regent St. 2730650 Stratford Hwy. 7 dt 8 Onrark St. Regent Sc. Frederick St. (AVON LIGHTING c yin Gardener By PATRICK DENTON Reward your blooming bulbs Let's turn our considera- tion this week to those beautiful bulb flowers that give us so much pleasure through the winter in the house or apartment, and in the outdoor spring garden. Those bulb flowers you potted last October and en- joyed indoors during the winter and early spring should not be grown in- doors again this year. Pro- ducing foliage and flowers from the confines of a con- tainer exhausts the bulbs, and they will need a well- prepared, rich lame in the garden as a reward. Whether the bulbs have been moved outdoors or are still in their pots, keep the foliage fed, watered and going till it dies down naturally, At this point the bulbs can be lifted and stored for fall planting or left in their pots, the soil dry, until fall. Either way, storage conditions should be coolish but not cold, dry and well ventilated These bulbs that have flowered indoors may not put on such a fine display nest spring, so the wise and wary gardener will want to plan on placing them in an inconspicuous spot for a year or so while they build up their flower power once more. Here again though is a case where a well -accept- ed garden principle does not always apply and we sometimes do weft to defy the rules. Last spring, for example, both my Eros hy- acinth and Dutch Master daffodils bloomed beauti- fully in a very prominent flower bed after having flowered in pots the previ- ous winter. In the garden, bulb flow- ers that have faded should be removed so the plants will not spend precious en- ergy on making seed. The tidy types among us will be sorely tempted to do some- thing omathing about the foliage as it slowly Mmes las and less decorative and progresses to downright shabby in the garden. But the foliage must be !eft intact, fed, weeded and watered so it can work to fatten the bulb for next year's flowers. As the leaves begin to wilt, if you feel you must do some- thing, tie the leaves of ittdi- viduai daffodil plants into a loose knot to get thein out of the way of seeding marigolds, zinnias or other warmth -loving annuals. Once the leaves have dried and can easily be pulled out of the ground, they have finished their work and can be removed. Some gardeners prefer to empty their bulb flower display beds after the blooms have finished so they can have a clear sweep at replenishing the soil and planting the area with annual flowers. In this case, each plant is carefully lifted with a good ball of soil around bulb and roots, and replanted in an out-of-the-way area to ripen its foliage and devel- op the bulb for setting outs again in the fall. This bulb -ripening bed should be fertile and sunny, and the plants should be carefully set out, fertilized and watered till the foliage dies down naturally. All the care you give them is a deposit made in the bulb bank for next spring's flow- ers. Tulips should be dug at least every second year after the foliage has died, for they multiply into small bulbs and need sort- ing before fail planting. Think of your tulips as cannibal plants. The mother bidb produces nu- merous babies at the ex- pense of her own existence. The baby' bulbs need sort- ing into the larger, bloom- ing -size ones for planting in display beds, and smaller ones that can be grown in another area for a year or two tmtii they reach blooming size. Shirley Whittingto Gds WILL be gals! From New York: Some- thing new, something old .. . something has been dis- covered in the Big Apple that we have known for a long time up here in the boonies. The New York Times re- ports that women -only social occasions are fun. One wide- eyed participant in such an outing was quoted thus: "It was so stimulating that when I got home I couldn't get to sleep." The article goes on to point out that this changing attitude shows that women feel more secure about themselves and they admit more freely that they enjoy the company of other women. The article keeps talking about a "new dimension" in dinner parties. This new dimension is where you eat dinner with eight or nine women friends instead of with a bunch of couples that you owe. "It's nice to be able to meet and talk with women you are not involved with in your workday world," says another breathless convert to this new dimension in socializing. She adds, "It broadens one's horizons." I am surprised to see this coming from the New York Times. This is news? For heaven's sake, women have been enjoying each other's company for generations. pTheon brave women -only . _ini_. ,New. York keep -talking.-about "common- ality" and I guess that's what my grandmother and her friends had when they put together the little cook- book that has been preserved through the generations. The book is heavily sprinkled with handwritten additions, like "Greta's Governor's Sauce. Nice" and "M's choc cake. Scorches easily." On one page, my grandmother has written firmly, "The art of rolling up wealth begins with the sleeves." Common- ality or not, Granny and her friends talked about more than just cooking. My mother and her friends met regularly to exchange ideas. She was a Women's Institute member and with her cohorts she tirelessly attended meetings, drafted letters which were sent off to the big boys' club in Ottawa, established scholarships, taught young people and started a county museum. Quibblers will say these were working groups. But my mother also had a closely knit circle of friends with whom she travelled, played bridge or Scrabble and ex- changed letters and books. They cheered each other up when there was trouble. When they said "Keep in touch" they meant it. My own life experience in- cludes memorable dinner parties with seven or eight stimulating and creative women friends. Some of us meet regularly for lunch. Sometimes we travel together to play tennis or`ski L or go to the theatre. We cele- brate each other's joys and sorrows. We're more than a _network. _We're._a :bulwark _ We➢ve been doing this for years and years, so it comes as a surprise to read that the fashionable ladies of Gotham — the actresses, authors, photographers, ad execu- tives and lawyers — have just discovered the import - Mainstream Canada Travel observations that hit home By W. Roger Worth Perhaps, just perhaps, we are our own worst enemies. How else to describe Cana- dians' penchant for visiting other nations, while tourism operators and their em- ployees in our own country are facing such difficult times? It's a paradox, but the facts are relatively simple. Last year, Canadians took more than five billion of their dollars out of the country to travel and • support tourism operators in other nations. What's more, about $3.2 -bil- lion of the total bill was spent in the United States. Naturally, there are some good reasons for the spend- ing. The winter weather in Florida, Arizona and Cali- fornia, for example, is cer- tainly warmer than it is in St. John's, Chicoutimi, Thunder Bay and Cold Lake. But that's a cross we have to bear, even condoning the sun -seekers who drift south to recharge their batteries. Nevertheless, we're now entering the sunny season when Canadians can get the ready-made warmth in their own country. So, there's little reason for them to take their money south of the border. Still, many persist in making the trek.. There are good reasons why they should change their ways. POSH K IWO A MI Of PRE- PA1k1ED SOIL, TO MAKE TRE HOLES PLAIT TNG BULLS. S0u1iZT� CAMMJD IT WILL 1401120 TNS SOILTO LIFT Vr OUT. Canada's campgrounds, trailer parks, cabins, lodges, motels, hotels and tourist facilities, for instance, are at least the equal of those in the U.S,, and travellers don't have to worry about losing money on currency ex- change rates (Don't forget, the exchange rate is more than 20 per cent, and that cash is lost money.) Then there are the funny little items that people tend to forget when they add up the cost of a trip. We some- times don't compute, for example, that the use of Canadians roads is generally free, while travel on those south of the border costs nickles, dimes or dollars. But there is more than out- of-pocket costs involved in the choice between vacation- ing in Canada or the USA. As it stands, it is a crucial mat- ter of jobs, and in which country they will be avail- able, With 1.6 million or more of us unemployed, Canadians badly need the jobs that can be provided if we vacation in our own country. In addition, they are the kinds,. of jobs that really count. Many of them are filled by students, who may not be able to attend sessions in the fall if they don't earn some cash. Others belong to the young unemployed, who haven't had the opportunity to show their skills, even on a short-term basis. So perhaps Canadians should have second thoughts about relaxing for a week or two at a U.S., rather than a Canadian, resort this sum- mer. By spending the cash in Canada, you won't have to feel guilty about depriving Canadians of jobs. What's more, your spouse or children might actually appreciate seeing a greater part of their own country. it's a point worth consider- ing. No pain in brain It's odd, but studies show that the brain tissue doesn't feel pain from direct stimu- lation, nor does the bone of the skull. But other parts of the head are sensitive to pain, such as the scalp, blood vessels and some of the brain covering. ance of women friends. As one convert commented, "If you have any sense you real- ize the importance of women friends. A date is just a date, buta friend is a friend for life." Since my particular circle of friends does occasionally — very occasionally — stoop to frivolity, I was interested to hear what the New York dinner party conversations centre on. "Once," reports one lady, "we got involved in discussing the relative merits of shaving legs as opposed to waxing ... and we got off on a trivia contest to see who could name all of Lana Turner's husbands." The reasons advanced for the growth of this new social. phenomenon were interest- ing. "These women had not only gone to coeducational schools, but had also lived ill co-ed dorms." In other words, these women had been surrounded by men for most of their lives and men just don't come to grips with problems like leg waxing and Lana Turner's husbands. There is nothing new under the sun. Maybe the girls from New York will try dis- cussing that in their next commonality session. R.R. 1, Tavistock, Ontario NOB 2R0 Telephone: (519) 662-2385 Retail Flour Mill Outlet Freshly Milled; Stone Ground, Organically Grown • Flours • Flakes • Cereals • Soup Barley • Whole Grains for Home Milling • Seeds for Home Sprouting Wholesale Prices on Group Orders over $200 2 miles south of Punkeydoodles Corners on Oxford Road 5 Mon. - Fri, 9-12, 1 - 5; Sat. 9-5 blood pr1Sure,a_ but IF of over it. That's a rough way to get over it! But it didn't haw to be that way. High Mood pressure can he treated. A pill a day may be all it takes. Stay on treatment and live a longer• healthier lite. High Blood Pressure Treat it .. - and live. Other Days SPECIAL HOT MEAD 12 noon to 2:00 p. m. Thurs., Fri. & Sat. May 26, 27 & 28 "BEANS MORROCCO" _4 pc. rock 'n roll band Male Dancers June 6 - $2.00 Cover Charge Dancing Girl Each Week Mon. to Wed. 12 noon till 1:00 a.m. Thurs. to Sat. 12 noon to 6:00 p.m. Rooms for Rent Daily or Weekly Reasonable Rates formerly Manor Hotel WINGHAM INN 238 Josephine St., Wingham 357-3811 StClair rtsnEwEeEnn 111111510110 soot Ultimate 14.195 Woodstains 4litres StCIair The paint and paper people ` Waterloo Square Waterloo 886-3791 Mon -Wed. , Sat. 9:30.5:30 Thurs Fri 9.30-9.00 Conestoga Mall Waterloo 886-2789 Mon, -Fri. 9:30-9:30 Sat. 9:30-6:00