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8 The Canadian Statesman, Bowmanville, Janauary 15, Rolling Home To St. John by Jean Ahlvik Two brothers were sitting around the kitchen table, in their Toronto apartment, talk- ing about home, St. John, New Brunswick. Steve Holden who was on workmen's compensa- tion because of a slipped disc, suddenly had an incredible idea; he would roller-skate home to St. John! Separated from his wife, who bas the couple's two daughters, and feeling there would be no work for him at the firm where he bad been employed as a T.V. service man, Steve feit there was nothing holding him in Tor- onto. Steve is bhiîndinone eve and has always had great sym- pathy for the blind so he decided to dedicate his effort to the Canadian National 1975 Section Two Institute for the Blind (C.N. I.B.). Anyone wishing to support his rollathon by pied- ging to the C.N.I.B. is invited to contact Mr. Les Langs (623-2435) who is local treas- urer of the C.N.I.B. fund. As far as' New Year's resolutions go, Steve is doing remarkably well with his. The day we met him he had skated 14 miles and was being urged on to do a couple more before quitting. His brother is travel- ling with him in a car until he gets well along the way, possibly to Kingston. By this time, Steve judges, his brother will be out of money and will have to go back to Toronto. Steve is travelling com- pletely without money or food. So far, he has been going back to his brother's apartment in Toronto after his day of WE SELL PANASONIC - TELEVISIONS -STEREOS -,PORTABLE RADIOS TAPE RECORDERS For Domestic &Commercial Refrigeration Units Sales &Service call 623-3221 or 579-2283. KOL ENTERPRISES 24 Division St. Bowmanville skating. When this becomes impractical, both brothers will sleep in the car until the brother departs. Armed against all eventu- alities, except starvation, Steve has a small pup tent which he will use when he is alone unless people along the road offer him shelter, His brother has designed a sled with both wheels and runners on which he will carry the extra wooden wheels and other parts for his skates. The really incredible part of this whole story is that Steve had never had roller skates on his feet until be made this New Year's resolution. Threading you way on roller skates through the traffic on No. 2 must require considerable skill even without the added irritations and hazards of snow, ice, sand and salt. Steve prepared himself for the ordeai by three practice sessions at the Terrace in Toronto. (The Terrace bas a perfectly flat wooden surface ideal for roller skating.) When we met him, be was favoring his right arm be- cause be had lost control going down a bill and injured his shoulder in the fall. "I must have been going 60 mph and I didn't know how to put on the brakes. I've learned that now," he smiles. Steve who reluctantly ad- mits to being in his forties is visibly tired from his exer- tions, His morale, so far, is excellent; he will not even entertain the idea that he might not make it. "I won't be setting any speed records, but I'Il get there. Don't you worry!" One wonders though, whether the glamor of being a media darling might begin to pale a little as he looks down the long, lonely 725 mile road from Kingston to St. John. WESLEYVILLE (Intended For Last Week) The weather man must have heard about the high price of oi for the temperature surely has helped to cut down on consumption. The first Sunday in the new year was fine and there was a good attendance at Welcome United Church for the morning service. For those who are able to be there a short time before the regular service, there is an opportun- ity to learn some new hymns. A period of singing is conduct- ed by choir leader John Groeneveld assisted by organ- ist Mrs. Reeve and some choir member. During the Observ- ance of the sacrament of communion, Rev. R. Bartlett was assisted by elders T. Wilson, A. Thorndyke, and mesdames Clarence Nichols and K. Dinner. The choir's anthem was "My presence shall go with you". Special flowers were in memory of Mrs. R. Newton's sister whose death occurred in Peter- borough~ last week. There is no snow here but some nortb at Apsley where Mr. and Mrs Ken Ashby have been spending a week a~t their cottage. Mr. and Mrs. Earl Ashby went out on Saturday and both couples came home on Sunday night. Weather was ideal for travellig during the holiday and families were able to get together to enjoy the festivit- ies of New Year's Eve and New Year's Day without road worries. The Austin family, Mr. and Mrs. Harold Austin, Mr. and Mrs. Roy Austin and Kevin and Charlene, Mr. and Mrs. Cann and sons, Mr and Mrs. Smith (Valerie) all spent New Year's with Mr. and Mrs. D. Jarvis and daughters in Grafton. Mr. and Mrs. Smith entertained some members of their family on Christmas Eve in Port Hope. Mrs. Pat Dreyer and Debbie spent the holiday with daught- er and family, Mr, and Mrs. Robert Shaw, at Innerkip. Al quiet on the news front this week but in a few days the annual meetings begin, Respiratory disease morta- lity figures are on the in- crease. -In 1972, 11,068 Cana- dians died from respiratory diseases *... bronchitis, emphysema, tuberculosis, in- fluenza, asthma, pneumonia and others. That's an increase of 535 cases over 1971 figures points out the Durham Region Tuberculosis and Respiratory Disease Association. Changeover to Metric System Will Be of Significant Benefit Says Bank of Commerce Letter Canada's changeover to the metric system, scheduled to be completed by 1980, will be of significant benefit, not only to business and industry but to Canadians in general, accord- ing to the November-Decem- ber issue of the Commercial Letter published by Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. "Aside from the advantage of enhancing Canada's future in international trade, the conversion to the metric system is expected to yield substantial savings and in- creased productivity through- out the economy," the public- ation says. As anLexample, it cites the rationalization and standardization of products into a more logical range of package sizes and the stream- lining of obsolete and inef- ficient procedures. The increasing use of inter- national transportation and communication and the grow- ing value of world trade in recent years have focussed attention on the need for a universal system of measure- ment, and this bas special significance for Canada as a nation vitally dependent on foreign trade for its economic health. Noting that Canadian manu- facturers must 'go metric' to meet the demands of compet- ition for foreign markets, the Commercial Letter adds that, quite apart from such pres- sures, "there bas also been a desire for a system of mea- surement which, by eliminat- ing non-standard weights and measures and the complexity of common fractions, would make life easier for the Canadian people." The Commerce periodical forecasts that initial costs of Canada's 'voluntary' conver- sion will be high and that the main burden will fall on industry. Tangible costs in- clude modification of equip- ment and other physical changes• intangible costs over such aspects as retraining and education of workers. However, the Commercial Letter points out that exper- ience in other countries bas shown that costs are not usually as high as expected. In Britain, for example, money was saved by retraining workers on the Job on a need-to-know basis. Further savings were achieved by replacing tools when worn out or obsolete rather than in a mass switchover. Conversion does not involve a simple replacement of Imperial weights and mea- sures with the metric equiv- alent. It means the adoption of metric standards which as- sign convenient rounded-off metric measurements to each unit. Right now, the Canadian consumer is being gradually exposed to the transition process. The first stage is visible on the labels of many household products, partie ularly foodstuffs The un- rounded metric equivalent appears, in brackets, after the familiar Imperial'unit. In the second stage, the order will simply be reversed, with the unrounded metric equivalent comiig before the rounded Imperial measure. Then will come the stage of actual conversion to a logical, metric-rounded. standard measure. This is when a change in the size and-or contents of the package occurs. Initially, packages will include the rounded Imperial equivalent, in brack- ets. Metric conversion will touch almost every aspect of Canad- ian life but "it will provide the advantages of a system that is both simple and almost uni- versal," the Commercial Let- ter concludes. Copies of the Commercial Letter are available to the public without charge at any of the more than 1600 Com- merce branches across Can- ada. OBITUARIES MILTON PAYNE Milton Payne, a resident of Newcastle Village who had retired from the Canadian National Railway, died re- cently in Memorial Hospital Bowmanville following a short illness. Mr. Payne was born in Manvers Township in 1899, the son of the late John Payne and Fanny Ann Payne (nee Pat- terson) and attended schools in Peterborough. Following service with the Canadian Air Force in the First World War, Mr. Payne was employed by the CNR in its claims depart- ment. He worked for the Canadian National Railway in its Mont- real head office till his retirement in 1962 and at that time came to Newcastle Village taking up residence with his sister Florence Ferg- uson on Emily Street. Mr. Payne was a member of Prince Consort Lodge A.F. and A.M of Montreal, an adherant of Newcastle United Church and a member of the Canadian Club of Montreal and Bowmanville. Survivors include sisters Frances Mountjoy of Port Perry, Florence Ferguson of Newcastleand Laura Murray of Toronto, nephew Sydney Ferguson of Newcastle and a neice Marilyn Bower of St. Thomas. Services were held in the Morris Funeral Chapel with Rev. Tom Smith of the Nýwcastle United Church off- iciating. Mr. Payne will be buried in the Pontypool Ceme- tery in a Spring interment. ROBERT SHRED Following a lengthy illness, Robert Shred, passe away in the Pitt Nursing Home, Port Hope, on Thursday, January 2, 1975, in his 88th year. Born in South Creake, Norfolk, England, and educat- ed in England, he was the son of the late Stephen and Sarah Shred. In 1910 he was married to Emily Jean Westover. A resident of Colborne, Bowmanville and Castleton at various periods, he was em- ployed as a fprmer, a nursery- man and by the highway department, and had been retired for 15 years. He was a member of the Anglican Church Surviving are 6 sons, 5 daughters, 27 grandchildren, 24 great grandchildren, and 3 great great grandchildren. Reverend Leonard M. Ware, of Grafton conducted the funeral service from the Northcuttt Elliott Funeral Home on Saturday. The palu-bearers were six grandsons, Ronald Haynes William Ellis, Wayne and Ki Shred, Alvin and Sany Jon Interment was in Bowmar ville Cemeterv. 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