Zurich Citizens News, 1972-09-07, Page 4PAGE 4
ZURICH CITIZENS NEWS
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 1972
well treated.
Singh would have nothing to
do with the other "Indians"
and joined a convivial little
group with Van, a Belgian,
Sven, a Norwegian, a couple
of Australians and Jack Ryan
and myself, Canadians. With
the beard, the turban and the
silver tongue, he attracted girls
like flies. He loved flying as
Koori hated it.
Never forget the time I shared
a room with him in London, on
a weekend leave. About 11 a.m.
we started to pull ourselves to-
gether. He got up, groaning,
holding his head, and tottering
about in his shorts, his great
mass of hair hanging down to
his bum. (He didn't wear a turb-
an to bed).
There was a knock at the door,
one of us grunted, "Come in, "
and the maid entered, to clean
the room. At least she almost
entered. She took one look, her
mouth fell open, then she
screamed and ran.
Despite his head, Singh
nearly threw up from laughing
so hard. "I bet, Smilee, she
thought you were shacked up
with the bearded lady from the
circus, " Singh was killed in
Burma.
I like Indians, Let's invite
more to our country.
FU has clou'ofui claim
The decade-long dispute about what organ-
izations should speak for Canadian farmers
has been brought into sharp focus by the dem-
ands of the National Farmer's Union. The
NFU president's demands that his organization
become the official voice of Canadian agric-
ulture --not only where commodity prices are
concerned but also in the matter of marketing
regulations, transportation and other related
fields, will not meet with acceptance.
It is highly probable that the Canadian
Federation of Agriculture will hotly dispute
the right of the Farmers' Union to speak for
all farmers across the country. Union memb-
ership has always been a closely guarded sec-
ret, but President Roy Atkinson says the NFU
will represent about 25, 000 farm units. What
that figure means in terms of actual individ-
ual memberships is not clear, but by a wide
stretch of imagination it cannot be thought
of as anything more than a small minority.
Farmers have as much right to speak through
a union as any other class of wage earners --
if, in fact, they can actually be considered
in the same way as the people who draw wages
from employers. Many Federation members
prefer to look upon themselves as independent
businessmen and shy away from the violent
tactics which have frequently characterized
NFU programs.
The Federation, which has been active on
the Canadian agricultural scene for much
longer than the Union, has sought to achieve
its goals through the regular channels which
are open to the thousands of other business-
men across the land, and many important
successes have attended their efforts.
Such prominent persons as Ontario's minist-
er of agriculture and food, have long urged
farmers to pool their organizations and thus
speak with a united and powerful voice. The
NFU demand to become official spokesman is
simply not supported by the necessary statist-
ics. A demand to become an official voice,
without evidence of numerical majority is
ridiculous, (Wingham Advance Times)
Smoking is for chimneys
Cigarette smoking is a major public health
problem in this country. A cause of chronic
bronchitis, emphysema, lung cancer, heart
disease, and other serious illnesses, More than
300, 000 people die prematurely each year from
smoking-related diseases. How can we combat
this enormous problem?
Our society. .. says Surgeon General Jesse
Steinfeld --has been tremendously successful
in solving some public health problems. When
no responsible action was demanded of citizens.
For example, we have purified our water sup-
plies, banned cyclamates, prevented sewage
from entering our drinking water, pasteurized
our milk, made certain that meat products did
not transmit trichinosis or tuberculosis. We
immunized our citizens against smallpox, polio,
and measles.
But how about when the responsible action
has to come from people themselves? When
people must exercise and choose proper diets
to .avoid obesity and arteriosclerosis? When
they must restrict alcohol intake? When they
should quit smoking?
Speaking specifically about smoking, the
Surgeon General asks, "What is the role of
government beyond education, when education
doesn't do the job?" There are almost 45
million Americans still smoking.
The Surgeon General considered two possib-
ilities: limiting the amount of tars and nicot-
ine in cigarettes; and raising the cigarette
tax. Although the Surgeon General has not
suggested banning the manufacture and sale of
cigarettes, some prominent health experts
have. But the spectre of prohibition casts a
dismal shadow over this prospect.
Action has already been taken by 29 million
ex-smokers. To find out how to join this
group, contact your local tuberculosis and
respiratory disease association. It's a matter
of life and breath.
ZURICH Citizens NEWS
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THEY ALREADY HAVE
MY INVITATION
by Bill Smiley
One of those new African
nations is kicking out of the
country all the Indians. This is
an emotional and political,
rather than a rational decision.
African blacks hate these
Asian Indians because the latter
are better educated and on the
whole, much wealthier than the
natives. The reason for this is
that the Indians are smart, work
hard, and in backward count-
ries, usually wind up in control
of much of the economy.
Trouble is, with these Indians
in Africa, that nobody wants
them. Many of them have
British passports, as their grand-
fathers went to Africa when the
territory was under British rule,
to build railroads. They'r e
clinging to these passports like
life -belts, but is isn't doing
them much good.
Britain doesn't want them.
It has enough racial strife on
its hands already, after admit-
ting thousands of Pakistanis,
Indians and West Indians after
the war. There have been race
riots, white against coloured.
India, their homeland,
doesn't want them. It already
has more refugees than it can
handle. Canada has been ap-
proached, and, as usual, dithers,
We could do a lot worse than
accept a sizeable chunk of these
people without a home. They art
industrious, peaceable and cap-
able. They wouldn't be coming
here as penniless immigrants.
Most of them are fairly well
off. Many of them have skills
and professions we need.
I don't know much about
Indians. I have some Canadian
Indian friends, but the only
Asian Indians I have known well
were four chaps with whom I
learned to fly Spitfires in Engl-
and, longer ago than I care to
remember.
Perhaps they weren't represent•
ative, because they were all
from well-to-do families, and
all spoke good English. But
they were certainly a cross-sect-
ion of that class, and gave me
a good idea of why there is so
much strife in India.
You's think that four youths
who had come all the way from
India for advanced training
would have been pretty close,
thrown into the midst of all
those Poles, British, Austral-
ians, Canadians, and a dozen
other species of whites. On the
contrary, they could barely
stand one another,
There was Krishna. Smallish,
very handsome, flashing black
eyes that could almost literally
flame when he was angry. He
spoke such precise and fluent
English that he made the rest of
us feel like hicks. He was a
Christian.
There was Ahmed. A lanky
kid of about nineteen, sleepy-
eyed, slow-moving, a big grin,
and not much to say. He was a
Pakistani Moslem.
And little Koori. He was
a Pakistani Moslem.
And little Koori. He was
pigeon chested, weighed about
115, had large mournful black
eye s, and was in a perpetual
state of terror when flying. He
should never have been there.
One day he and I were sent
up to practice dog -fighting in
our Spits. I knew he didn't like
flying, but `not until that day
just how deep was his fear.
Every time I'd take a pass at
him and go, "Tut -tut -tut -tut"
like a machine gun, he'd veer
wildly off about a mile and
call wildly, "Smilee, Smilee,
don't come so close." He was
a Hindu.
And then there was the inim-
itable Singh Thandi. Flashing
white teeth, chuckling eyes,
magnificent silk turbans, under
which he bundled his hair,
which came down to his tail-
bone. Curly black beard. Fasti-
dious as a model. Kept his
beard curly by tying a handker-
chief around his jaw at night
and knotting it on top of his
head.
Singh was a Sikh, another
religion heard from. But he
was a pretty lousy Sikh. They're
not supposed to drink, smoke,
cut their hair, and a lot of
other things. He didn't smoke
or cut his hair but he could put
away about twelve pints of beer
in an evening, and , except for
a little giggling, be none the
worse.
But he had his hangovers. He
was a crafty devil. When he
had a particularly bad head, he'd
just stay in bed, When the C. O.
tried to give him a blast for his
absence, he'd roll his eyes at
the ignorance of these infidels,
and say politely "Sorry sir,
today is holy day for Sikhs.
Cannot fly on holy day." The
baffled C.O. had no answer,
as these Indian boys had to be
0
About People
You Know ...
Miss Gabrielle Schuler from
Rothenburg, Germany, a guest
at the home of Mr. and Mrs.
John F. Haberer, Toronto, is
presently visiting friends and
relatives in this community,
staying at the home of Mr.
and Mrs. Jacob Haberer, Miss
Schuler is a graduate in Comp-
uter Programming of Engineer-
ing from Konstanz, Germany.
Business and Professional Directory
OPTOMETRISTS
J. E. longstaff
OPTOMETRIST
SEAFORTH MEDICAL CENTRE
527.1240
Tyesday, Thursday, Friday, Sat-
urday a.m.. Thursday evening
CLINTON OFFICE
10 Issac Street 482-7010
Monday and Wednesday
Call either office for
appointment.
Norman Martin
OPTOMETRIST
Office Hours:
9-12 A,M. — 1:30-6 P.M.
. Closed all day Saturday
Phone 235.2433 Exeter
INSURANCES
Robert F. Westlake
Insurance
"Specializing In
General Insurance"
Phone 236.4391 — Zurish
For Safety ...
EVERY FARMER NEEDS
Liability Insurance
For Information About All
Insurance -- Call
BERT KLOPP
DIAL 2364988 — ZURICH
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CO-OPERATORS INSURANCE
ASSOCIATION
AUCTIONEERS
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