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PRESS, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 21. 1987. PAGE 5 . Nobody knows, thought Lucas Letterpress, the trouble I've seen. He held his head high and whistled, as though he were skipping by a cemetery, and flicked his eyes neither to the. left nor to the right. Under his arm, the package grew heavy. "I'll pretend it is the Sunday roast," he thought. "Then nobody will think anything of it because it will look so per- fectly natural." He shifted the burden under his arm. On sober second and third thoughts, the pot roast scenario crumbled. Why, he thought, would a family man be bringing home the Sunday roast on Wednesday after- noon? Especially in the age of the freezer, would that not in itself look suspicious? Worse yet, do people in the late eighties actually cook roast beef on Sundays, or do they send out for pizza or mutilated oversalted chicken? He almost let his mind play over that for a moment to forget about his burden. Perhaps, as later events proved, it would have been better that way. But reality brought him up short. "Hallo hallo hallo what's this?" called out a mellow baritone voice, the clipped edges of a British accent still detectable. "Lucas Letterpress heading home at three o'clock of a Wednesday afternoon? This must be a red let- ter day. This must be a day of very important news. Those must be state secrets Lucas is carrying in his arms." Lucas recoiled from the stranger, wrapping his arms around the package the way high school girls in the f ifties used to hold their note binders: between two folded arms like a steel shield. "No, no, nn....no state secrets here," Lucas stammered. "Just mm...my Sss...Sunday roast. That's it. My SSS...Sunday roast. I 11I..." The newcomer stood a full two heads and half a shoulder taller than Lucas, who at four foot ten counted not among giants of men. He wore a brown trenchcoat, a belt with a broken plastic buckle tied sloppily around the middle. On WITH OUR FEET UP by Bill Swan Say no more his head sat a dated felt fedora; on his feet he wore un- polished brogues, the kind worn only by mid-European espionage agents or male school teachers over forty. "Are you sure," the stranger continued, "that this brown paper package under your arm does not harbor state secrets mailed to you by a disgruntled former em- ployee of the Prime Minister's office?" Lucas shifted, scratching the back of his left calf with his right instep. "Pot roast..." The stranger reached inside his trench coat. "Come now," he said, "no need to give me that Sunday roast routine. Besides, nobody cooks pot roast on Sunday. When they did do it, it would be rump roast, or blade roast. That pot roast thing gave you away. You'd make a terrible spy." Lucas bristled, stretching to his full height now that the Hotel plan gets council 'approvalin principle' Whitby council has given ap- proval 'in principle' to a hotel proposal by Glen Marquis at Sunray St. and Consumers Dr. However, counci) "ays it doesn't plan- to inform Durham Region about the decision until the com- pany's site plan has been resolved to council's approval. At committee level, couneillors had asked for a 'guarantee' that the hotel would go ahead as planned if approval was given.w n Approval will be withdrawn if a site plan is not submitted to council by Sept. 30, 1988. "The Region will say approval in principle is approval period," said councillor Joe Drumm at council last Tuesday night. But he added that, by not infor- ming the Region of the decision un- til the Town receives a site plan, the Town is protected. Planning department . had originally objected to the ap- plication, noting that conditions can't apply and the location un- suitable. Another objection came from Donald and Beverly Rogers, who announced earlier this year they would be constructing a hotel in the same area. United Way The local United Way campaign total has now reached $1,170,405, about 45 per cent of this year's total goal. "We are optimistic," says Michael Starr, who chairs this year's campaign. Canvassing by the City of Oshawa, Region of Durham, Durham College and Whitby Psychiatric Hospital is at the halfway stage while Darlington nuclear generating station em- ployees are about to begin their canvassing effort. General Motors raised another $23,000 in a recent truck raffle. Durham College held its Turkey Trot and GM held a sports collec- tibles show in Oshawa over the weekend to raise funds. Meanwhile, directors of the Oshawa-Whitby-Newcastle cam- paign had scheduled a public meeting for Wednesday this week at 5 p.m., at the Oshawa Golf Club. Up to date campaign totals were to be given, a day earlier than the usual Thursday reporting day. "We're hoping to give the cam- paign a shot in the arm," says Ron Owens, who handles publie relations. A letter from their solicitors, Johnston, Morton, Burch and Boland, questions whether "general planning principles have been ignored by the administration committee in making their recom- mendation to council to adopt the amendment. "In particular, they (Rogers) would . ike to emphasize that currentlywithin the municipality there are ample lands with zoning in place which will permit the ex- pressed intended end use, that of a hotel." With approval in principle, coun- cil has approved a hotel being built on land designated prestige in- dustrial. "It is a recognized fact that the inventory of serviced industrial lands within the municipality are dwindling rapidly "continues the letter of objection. "To take a par- WATCH FOR MONSTER SL ASH ., OCTOBER 30th PE ACHES*N*JE ANS THEOIL HEATING SUPPLIER THAT WILL: e e e e e R.S. If you've paid for a service plan to another company, we wilI honour that plan at no extra cost to you. Plus, we will insure your furnace and tank'- free of charge. BLANKET COVERAGE BONUS FREE ALL-PURPOSE BLANKET COMMEMORATING DIXON'S 85 YEARS OF SERVICE TO DURHAM REGION. cel in the middle of this designated area and allow an amendment of this nature will only deplete the stock of this type of land further. This raises the obvious question whether the public's interests at large are being served or just those of a particular landowner." Council members received the letter but made no comments. REDUCE YOUR HEATING BILL BY 25%-50% REPLACE YOUR FURNACE FREE OF CHARGE (IF NECESSARY) EFFICIENCY TEST YOUR FURNACE FREE OF CHARGE GUARANTEE CONTINUOUS HEAT - 24 hrs, 7 days per week OFFER THE MOST ATTRACTIVE PAYMENT TERMS CORPORATION OF THE TOWN OF WH ITBY PARKS AND RECREATION DEPARTM ENT PUBLIC MEETING NOTICE THE ARTS AND CULTURAL NEEDS OF WHITBY RESIDENTS (CENTENNIAL BUILDING FEASIBILITY STUDY) PURPOSE OF MEETING: The purpose of the meeting is to provide the opportunity for residen- ts of the Town of Whitby to discuss the existing and future Arts and Cultural Needs of the Community. Public discussion will focus on the feasibility of the Centennial Building in the Town of Whitby being used as a potential site. DATE: October 22, 1987 TIME: 7:00 P.M. LOCATION: Council Chambers, Town of Whitby, Municipal Building 575 Rossland Road East, Whitby, Ontario. The Staff of the Parks and Recreation Department encourage residents of the Town of Whitby to get involved and attend the Public Meeting. All information received from the public will be used to assist the Town in planning for the future. FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CALL PARKS AND RECREATION DEPARTMENT. 668-5803 Ext. 292: 1 secret lay threadbare. "Yeah," he said, "but this will still make one heck of a story. A real beauty of a story. The in- side secrets of..." "Too bad that you will not live to write them," said the stranger. "Now I must have that package. Hand it to me, and you will not get hurt." The menace had left his voice; he now sounded congenial, like an uncle taking dynamite from a young boy. "And if I don't?" Lucas asked. "Let us just say that you might disappear in broad day light while walking home." "But I know the contents. I could print the story anyway." "But you won't. Not without the papers to back them up. You're too good a journalist for that, Lucas. I've done my homework. Those big city nitwits might try a trick like that. But you've spent all your time with weekly newspapers, and you'd never publish a story without proper proof." Lucas hung his head, defeated. "I guess you got me there," ne said. "I cannot publish a rumor, even to deny it. Now the world will never know the real truth behind the free trade deal between Canada and United States." "The stranger held out one hand unflinchingly for the package. "But the world is not yet ready for that kind of knowledge. It is best left unsaid." Lucas gave up the package. "Someday," he said, "the world will know. Readers of The Flat Tail already know that the Prime Minister traded away the Blue Jays pen- nant chances for a dispute settlement mechanism, whatever that is. That was bad enough. "But to promise Ronald Reagan he could be the next Governor General. I mean, really. And for what?" "I'm warning you," says the stranger, "say no more." "...So Reagan becomes the next G-G, and in return the Prime Minister, defeated as he will be in the next election, becomes the next U.S. Ambassador to Canada. At least he could have traded the Leafs up to a playoff position..." ffl 1 WHITY FREE