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Section Two The Canadian Statesman, Bowmanville, August 10,1983 3 Editorial Comment Tribute to Dead Sea Gull Either there's an acute shortage of news or the excessive heat is responsible responsible for one of the wackiest , stories to hit the headlines of almost almost every newspaper and electronic electronic media outlet in Canada and the United States last week. It seems that Dave Winfield of the ;! New York Yankees, playing % baseball in Toronto, happened to hit and kill a seagull with a throw. The incident would have rested there without too much being made of it, had not an over zealous Metro > policeman charged Mr. Winfield yvith cruelty to animals. He was v taken to the police station after the • game and released on $500 bail to ' make certain he would appear in .court at a later date to answer the « charge. Frankly, had he been a > movie star his agent would have ; been overjoyed at the publicity that - followed. But, ball players don't need that type of promotion to as- ; sist their careers. ! Commentators, editorial writers : and Letters to the Editor poured in 2 complaining that the charge had " made a mockery of justice and also made the City of Toronto's police department look ridiculous. Mayor Eggleton, never one to miss an opportunity opportunity for publicity, may even apologize to Yankee players and fans when the Blue Jays play there this week. Frankly, the incident just gets sillier and sillier as time goes on. But, it was just different enough to make probably the best news story of the year, most people enjoying it to the full. The Toronto Sun's cartoonist Donato excelled himself portraying the sea gull's irate parent about to call on Winfield, Winfield, carrying a baseball bat with revenge in mind. On the weekend, The Statesman visited the home of local sea gulls :at St. Marys Cement and found hundreds hundreds of them flying around, . imourning the death of one of their :clan. They may also have been holding holding a conference to decide what action action they should take to prevent any further calamities of a similar nature. nature. We have been informed that there have been several deaths among the sea gull family here in recent days near chip wagons or other fast food outlets where some of their members hang out, but no charges have been laid against motorists responsible for the killings. killings. We also hear that one local supermarket shopper was hit by a gull's indiscreet dropping and as a result of her complaint to the manager, manager, the French fry wagon was ordered ordered to leave the premises and not return. It does seem as though sea gulls are being persecuted, with some justification. Over the weekend, we were also travelling around the area to various various events and noticed the birds following every farmer working machinery in the fields. We always thought sea gulls were supposed to fly over water, dive bombing when they saw a fish close to the surface. Apparently they are extending their field of operation inland, no doubt because they may have heard that the fish in Lake Ontario are somewhat polluted. We suppose they have as much right as the next bird to take advantage of any possible possible source of food, but this doesn't give them right to watch our Blue Jays play ball without paying. No doubt they are contributing something, something, but we doubt if their donations donations are improving the artificial turf too much; they certainly don't improve the appearance of automobiles automobiles or garments they hit. Maybe we'd better leave the sea gull incident alone before we too find ourselves in trouble with the law or local bird lovers for treating the incident too lightly. Anyone who really has a thing going for these feathered creatures might do well to visit St. Marys Cement plant where they can enjoy their swooping swooping and gliding in great numbers. They are magnificent birds who play a role in Mother Nature's scheme of things as scavengers and deserve to be protected, but we only wish they would stay in their own back yard and we'll stay in ours. It's no fun eating French fries with them begging for a helping or flying overhead squawking. On a Positive Note Some of our editorials in recent weeks may have given the impres- sion that town council was split : down the middle on many subjects, ; often resulting in open hostility ■■« among members who appeared to be indulging in confrontation _ rather than co-operation. The two most obvious incidents ; dealt with the filling of a vacant ;; council seat, either by appointment v or an election and the discussions relevant to an in camera meeting. Unfortunately, the details of the : subject matter of the latter session : are still somewhat vague and only I in the rumor stage so far as the gen- eral public is concerned. '• Council still has that problem to solve, along with the appointment .of a successor to Administrator Don ;Smith who will be leaving here in September to attend the London iSchool of Economics. Once those situations have been resolved we can only hope that the local political political scene will settle down some- t what and continue to ipake prog- cess without so much bickering or >; infighting as there has been since ^ithe recent election. After all, there 'are more, than two years left in their .term of office, so the need for preparing preparing for it can be left for at least ~a year and a half. 1 Following the appointment of 1 E.R. Woodyard, present council is almost exactly the same as following following the 1980 election, Councillor , Ivan Hobbs being the only exception exception and he certainly has had a ; wealth of experience earlier councils. councils. So, inexperience in the ways of municipal politics and local legislation should play no particular particular part in any decisions that will take place if all members are willing willing and eager to do their homework and dedicate themselves to working working only for what's best for this community. community. We'll be more than delighted to give scads of publicity to legislation that will make this community a better place. And will be prepared to give credit where it is due. We want to be proud of our town's \ elected officials and their actions. That doesn't mean that councillors should not disagree on the right course of action on any given topic if they feel it is wrong. But, we do urge thém to forget about the nitpicking nitpicking and keep their debates and differences on as high a level as possible, so the citizens who elected them will feel they are getting getting good value from their representatives. representatives. We realize that there are many times during lengthy sessions when individual members may become weary and seek action instead of more verbiage,but under our democratic democratic system, it's difficult sometimes sometimes to cut off discussion and bring on a vote. That's when patience patience has to overcome impatience, no matter how boring or irrelevant it may seem at the time. So, let's get on with the business of running this town as efficiently as possible both here and in our representation at Region where our reputation certainly leaves room for improvement. /■ mmmmÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊm^Ê^^mÊÊÊÊmmÊÊÊÊtam (Katmbtim Statesman Durham County'» Great Family Journal Eetabllahed 129 year» ago In 1854. Also Incorporating The Bowmanville News The Newcastle Independent The Otono News Second class mall registration number 1561 Produced every Wednesday by THE JAMESPUBLISHINQ COMPANY LIMITED 62-66 King St. W., Bowmanville, Ontario L1C 3K9 JOHN M. JAMES RICHARD A. JAMES Editor -- Publisher Asslstanl Publisher GEO. P. MORRIS BRIAN PURDY DONALD BISHOP Business Mgr. Advertising Mgr, Plant Mgr. All leyouli and composition of ■dvertliemenl* produced by the employees ol The Canadien Statesman, The Newcastle Independent end The James Publishing Company Limited are protected by copyright and must not be reproduced without written permission ol the publishers, *15.00 a year - a monlha «6,00 foreign - «45.00 a year strictly In advance Although every precaution will be taken to avoid error, The Canadian Statesman accepts advertising In Its columns on the understanding that It will not he liable lor any error In the advertisement published hereunder unless e proof of such advertisement Is requested In writing by the advertiser and returned to The Canadian Statesman business office duly signed by the advertiser and with such error or corrections plainly noted In writing thereon, and In that case II any error so noted Is not corrected by The Canadian Statesman Its liability shall not exceed such a portion of the entire cost ol such advertisement as .the space occupied by fhe noted error bears to the whole space occupied by such advertisement. 6233303 (*CNA Sign at Kawartha Dam Forbids Boating or Swimming SUGAR and SPICE Roughing it in the Bush Little old Susannah Hoodie, the gentle, iron-hearted, misplaced English-woman, whose diaries have become the touchstone of Canadian Literature, the archetype of survival in the Canadian wilderness. She wrote the title of this piece. She was about as Canadian as my great-great-great-grandfather, who was digging peat and potatoes about the time she composed her literary masterpieces. And about as Canadian as Frederick Philip Grove, a Finn, Swede, German -- take your pick -- who wrote interminable stories about snow, after he moved -- or escaped -- to Canada. Everyone, except me, begins his/her CanLit course with those two. They're dull, after a taste or two. But poor little old Susie's scenario would have crumpled into wept-over ashes if she'd gone along with me on a recent "roughing it" weekend. True, there was bush. .True, there were some weird characters about. True, the flies and skeeters were hostile. But roughing it? She'd have torn up her manuscripts and got on with making bread or maple syrup or digging a new backhouse, or whatever turned her crank. The roughest part of the trip was fighting the holiday traffic. The second roughest part was listening to non-stop stories about deer that were shot at 600 yards, bear that were 12 feet tall, and giant fish that required three men and a block and tackle to get them aboard. Yes, I went on a fishing weekend, as I threatened in an earlier column. Boys oh boys, it was rough. Drove 60 miles. Flew 20 minutes. Camp had a fridge with ice cubes, hot and cold running water, a propane cook stove, and--you won't believe this -- a carpet sweeper. The only concession to the primitive was an outdoor john, and even this had a touch of the exotic : a wild rose growing between the two seats. Night before I left, one of "the boys" phoned and told me to bring some heavy line, because the muskies were moving in and gobbling up those five-pound bass. I might as well have taken a piece of cotton thread from my wife's sewing machine. Now, I'm not knocking it. I.had a fine weekend. But it's a bit much when you have to keep moving your feet because someone wants to clean the carpet under them. And it's entirely too much when you see guys washing their armpits, at a hunting camp, in hot water. Last time I was at a hunt camp, the only thing we ever washed were our hands, and sometimes our feet, when we fell in the lake. I'd warned my wife that I was going to rough it, and that the food would be camp food, mostly canned stew and stuff. Told her to have something decent, like a pork chop, for when I got home. Expected to eat some fish. Know what we had for dinner, first night? Young, tender leg of lamb, and not that frozen stuff. With mint sauce naturally. Fresh young carrots and potatoes. Dessert. Wine with dinner. Second night was pretty ordinary. Just two pork chops each, with ap vegetab And i table. T )le sauce, and again fresh es. And wine. ' wasn't just thrown on the tie cooks served you at your Federal Riding Changes The riding of Durham-Northum- berland is not expected to see any major boundary changes the next time the electoral map of the Durham Region is drawn up. But speculation suggests that other parts of Durham could be altered altered by the re-drawing of electoral boundaries. Although all three federal political political parties are gearing up for a possible possible election within the next 12 months,there is no indication of whether or not the boundaries would be re-established in time for an election next year. If a proposal of the Electoral Boundaries Commission is accepted accepted by Parliament, the biggest change would conic in Ontario Riding Riding which is currently held by Conservative Conservative MP Scott Fennell. The Commission is suggesting that a new riding be formed from the ridings of Ontario and Oshawa. That riding would include Ajax, Whitby, and part of Oshawa. It would consist of all of Ajax north to the 5th concession, all of Whitby north to Taunton Rd., and a large slice of Oshawa. Oshawa Riding would lose that portion of the city west of Stevenson Rd. to the Whitby Townline and part of the southwest corner of the City of Oshawa. Ontario Riding would lose the urban areas of Ajax and Whitby but would gain a rural area of Oshawa located between Taunton Rd. and the Scugog Township Township Townline. Unless Parliament were to act quickly to implement these changes, the suggestions of the Electoral Boundaries Commission would not be put into place in time for an election in 1984. place. All you had to do was push your wine glass or coffee cup past a big, hairy arm, and it was filled immediately. Roughing it ! Lunches were pretty rudimentary, though, and by the second day I was getting sore that I had to make my own. There was nothing but sardines, tuna, cold lamb, ham, and eight pounds of salad, plus Campbell's soup du jour and fruit salad, with a bit of old cheese to top off. Breakfasts were sparse, however. A mere four cups of coffee, three eggs, half a pound of bacon, and a big portion of fried spuds, plus toast and the best homemade marmalade in North America. Nobody was able to fish until mid-day, by which time the bass had also eaten and were sulking in the depths. Certainly didn't get sick of eating fish. Seven of us caught two smallish bass, just before the plane arrived to fly us out. I know it sounds like a weekend at a big, rich resort. But it wasn't. The moment I arrived, I began to feel uneasy. And my feeling grew. These other guys weren't there to fish. They were there to work getting the camp ready for the fall hunting season. To the great dismay of myself, and another guest, the regulars pulled out paint brushes, lawn mowers and other such horrors of civilization, and went to work. They painted and piled wood and slashed underbrush, and generally did so much manual labor they'd have all been on strike if asked to do so at home. The other old fighter pilot and I retreated into the kitchen and did the dishes. My hands are still all shrivelled up from doing dishes. Aside from that, I came home in pretty good shape. I thought I'd gained at least eight pounds, but. the deer flies and skeeters took care of that. I lost two. My arthritic foot is destroyed for the summer. I've lost the hearing in my right ear from trying to clout a mosquito with my left hand, while holding a five-gallon can of gas in it, and my fishing tackle in my right hand. But that was nothing, compared to the evening poker games, in which everything is wild except the joker. Have to tell you more next week about the typical personnel among any group which belongs to a "camp". Thermometer's Rising We hate to complain about the last few weeks of scorching heat, but darn it, it's hot! After spending another hot, sleepless night sweating in the bedroom bedroom oven, we decided to investigate investigate the possibility of purchasing an air conditioner to escape the humidity and heat of August. However, after a quick check around town, we found that we were not alone in our search for comfort. Air conditioners are hot items right now. Several retailers have been sold out for weeks while others are back-ordered out the back door. Indeed, a large shot in the arm for the industry. In this case the heat is a true blessing for the manufacturers manufacturers who must feel optimistic about the future. When air conditioners became unavailable, it appears that people turned to other methods of personal personal refrigeration. Hence, a beer shortage swept the nation a few weeks ago and consumers were forced to switch from their favorite swish to beat the heat, Again, the coffers of the breweries must have been fattened considerably thanks to the surge in demand. Swimming pool companies must have gone for a big dive this summer summer trying to meet the orders for pools, Now that the Memorial Park Pool is gone, youngsters arc pester ing over-heated parents to cut their allowance and put in a pool. After all, neighbors who are fortunate enough to have a pool tend to stare daggers when you show up at their front door in your bathing suit with a towel over your shoulder. Whether we like it or not, the heat does seem to add a good dollar to the national income. The provincial provincial government was generous this summer with the sales tax exemption exemption that saw a buying bonanza occur on the weekend before the tax reprieve was lifted. Seven per cent of a thousand dollars is certainly certainly a sizeable cut in price for many consumers. So, when you read this editorial with ice packs on your neck and fans whirring at your face, just remember remember that the heat is actually helping the economy and creating jobs for Canadians. We have only cited three industries that have benefited benefited from the heat, but we are sure there must be many more. We still haven't found an air conditioner conditioner and by the time we do, it will probably be snowing. So, we will prepare ourselves for another day of heat and humidity that has become so common. Then again, perhaps we will show up at our friend's house with our bathing suit and towel. "Hi buddy, mind if we use your pool?"