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Wednesday Nov 3 Tht TELEPHONE Founded In rry by Metroland Printing Ltd at 2M2 Telephone 3C each 1 5 per yea Canada SO other than Canada The Acton Free a one of the Printing Ltd group of rMwipapere which include Now Auras The Enterprise Guardian The The Weekend Pom Eiobtcoks Guardian The Independent Mai and Sun The The New The News Weekend Edition The York Beaver Friday Beaver Tbs Wee Tim Weekend The Richmond The Scarborouoh The Sioufhtfle Tribune vaufjhan New Ken Bellamy Publisher Don Ryder Hartley Coles Managing Editor EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT EeatorGordMutrev Sport Dan accepted on the condition that in the event of typ that of the apace by the trethe or oonatun not be fat but the advancement be paid for at the apphceble rate In the event of a error at a wrong price gpooa or not be merely an off end may be withdrawn at any ADVERTISING DEPAHTMENT BUSINESSACCOUNTING OFFICE Office Manager Jean Number CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT Manear Marvin Services centre deserves additional region funds It is indeed heartening to war region staff has come up with a financial rescue plan to keep he Acton Social Services and Information Centre open This agency the only one of its kind in Halton provides invaluable services to many Acton and area residents and in these tough economic times the number of people needing to use the centre is growing Welfare health services Block Parents Meals on Wheels to name a few are vices provided through the cen tre by the region staff and com munity volunteers We might not normally sup- port the spending of more social services dollars by the region especially considering the need to cut costs to keep I taxes down for the many fam ilies struggling with high int erest rates However there is no question the Acton Social Services and Information Centre is a cost ef ficient operation despite the fact it now faces a deficit and temporary closure if the new regional council which takes office next month isnt as sympathetic to the agencys problems as the present council seems to be The centre has a good track record of coming up with a budget and keeping to it However Increased operating costs and renovations for its move to a more visible new location threw a monkey wrench in its budget for If the region opts for the staff plan of continuing yearly grants as well as now paying a fee for use of the offices in the centre by welfare health and Childrens Aid staff it will cost the region more than in the past but it will still be less than if the region tried to provide its social services in Acton by staf fing its own office With unemployment insur ance benefits running out for many people in the winter ahead the number of people needing to deal with welfare of ficials will climb and an in creased investment in the cen tre will prove very wise GM From the editor s des This election is a cliff hanger Dogged endurance All these hopefuls who are now knocking on doors as they try to capture a seat on Halton Hills council may not realize just what theyre getting into hours and hours of tedious boring meetings ahead of hard work hard work comes not so much in trying to answer rate payers complaints but in try ing to understand reports on subjects they may never have encountered previously Just such a subject is plan ning a complicated one which no newcomer should be expec ted to know The present council deserves words of praise for its many hundreds of hours spent on bringing the Official Plan to completion at this level Meeting after meeting was held with one starting at one in the afternoon and continuing Clause by clause of pretty dry stuff was analysed while coun cillors had to keep alert It is important since the Official Plan is really the of their deci sion on the future of the Town For dogged endurance in finishing a dreary job council deserves appreciation Bailouts are wrong by Roger Worth Can Fed Independent Whether bailout or a sound invest ment Ottawa has plunked down a cool to prop up near- bankrupt oil and natural gas produ cer Dome Petroleum at the same time letting four of the nations major banks off the hook for Ihe poor decisions they made in lending Dome billions of dollars While the Dome package is far from settled the support follows federal government decisions to give hundreds of millions of tax payer dollars a trucking com pany a farm equipment and an auto producer Its not a pretty picture Here we have the elite of Canadian business men there are few women who are supposedly steeped in the free- enterprise tradition virtually begging for cash to the bank interest on their companys sizeable loans The bankers who will in many cases receive the money have developed annesla completely forgetting those stirring speeches they used to give on the right of a business to fail as well as succeed and the dire threat created by more government Intervention In the private sector For these people principles have become decldely fuzzy by Murray Free Press editor This is the fourth election In Hills Ive covered having missed only the first vote held late in when the Town and region were born I covered that election too though from where I was going to college Anyway I think if theres ever been a cliff hanger in Hills politics this is going to be it In the past at the close of nominations Ive been able to call the winner in every race with confidence and only one has been wrong I Just never saw Betty Fisher from Georgetown winning the Acton- Esquesing school board seat In 1978 Everyone expects reporters to be pretty close tn politic seen and we are so everyone is asking us these days how the races shape up Talking politics is a great pastime and election time Is the best tunc Its sort of the world series of the whole game the last two yearn of meetings and Issues was the regular season And Itics can be all the more fun and fascinating to watch when you think of the whole thing as a game though it serious business Most of the time reporters talk about politics with politicians you really only get to feel the pulse of the community by talking about specific issues with taxpayers But the time when Im pressions or perceptions of candidates are crystalizlng nows the tune to talk lo to talk politics and find out not who theyre voting for but who they think is going to win Reporters dont often have to initiate these conversations In just about any conversational situation the election races come up people want to know how we think its going to go when In fact the only way were going to get a handle on the races is by listening to what voters are saying Of course I have my personal preferences candidates I Intend to vote for and while In a casual conversation with someone I will indicate my pref erences theres no way Ill reveal them In print We wont be endorsing candidates and in the news columns were trying to be so fair that Im even measuring type and photos trying my to give every candidate in a race as close to the same amount of space as possible So while I have my own opinions and will verbalize them they arent the pos ition of the paper and shouldnt be taken as such In any circumstance Theyre just the views of someone who is a little closer to whats happening in this election than the average citizen Getting back to the way the races are shaping up Im not going to get into naming names or picking winners I couldnt anyway my reading is that Its going to be that dose In Acton for sev eral races still a lot of apathy but It sounds like theres a bit more interest than usual in a municipal election so I think the voter turnout will be above per cent And the vote Is pretty soft In other words peoples preferences changed continually throughout the weeks lead ing up to nominations as more cand idates entered the field And as the campaign has gone along voters have changed their preferences as theyve heard the candidates and read the flood of literature The campaign has probably been more Important in this election than in other campaigns People are listening and reading because they just arent firmly behind any candidates As for the Issues there dont seem to be any big controversial Issues In this election but there are lots of subjects being raised many of which the cand idates cant really do much about any way even if theyre elected Things like the police recreation taxes communications gravel pits and quarries are being discussed by cand idates and voters But the biggest issue I think in the minds of citizens Is the need for more businesses in Acton and the need for jobs And this Is the Issue candidates are addressing the least because the one they can have the least Impact on if they are elected due to current economic conditions There may be a few things which can be done say to encourage business or keep the tax increase down but not a whole lot and fortunately the cand idates generally realize this and arent making a whole lot of promises they wont be able to keep Im always somewhat sympathetic to elected and unelected councillors and school board trustees because I can see from covering their jobs week In and week out over the years that they have very little manoewering room what with provincial edicts for services and required costs which keep going up Beinga local poll really Is a thank less task and its pretty hard for an Individual or group of politicians say from Acton or from north Halton at the change They can get some things done to be sure which are beneficial to us all but the really big things like creat ing new jobs or bringing a lot of new businesses to Acton cant be done over night or very easily And they are so dependent on the staff for guidance on decisions The staff are the experts thats why they are hired They know the provinces reams of rules and regulations they know Ihe mechanics ana technology of their fields This is a situation we will likely continue to live with too the staff appearing to run the council or board because we dont very often elect dir ectors of education or school program specialists or engineers or municipal finance experts etc This the last column Ill be writing before the election though we do have an election special being published Friday so Id just like to encourage everyone to vote but not just for the usual reasons I cant tell you how many times Ive heard voters say they were sure someone was going to win a race because they were going to vote for the person and all their friends were too Their candidate lost because you and your friends were so sure they were sure winners you skipped voting Dont because your vote really does count Its your ticket Into the game My grandfathers log a travelogue of the world Sometimes readers have asked me what motivation propelled me into the newspaper game either out of awe that anyone with so few qualifications should attempt it or from an earnest desire lo know In any event I have always replied it was due to my two grandfalhers They both had a literary bent Despite what anyone might tell you I still believe any talents we might have are partly inherited The rest comes from hard work This comes to mind this week because I just received a copy of my grandfather on my mothers side Log Book written from memory in his later years He lived his last years with his daughter and soninlaw Mr and Mrs Colin MacColl He wrote the log the 1960s and although there was always talk of it being published it took a cousin in Samia finally arrange lor the publi cation and distribute It to ail the You may remember James Gibbons or Jimmy as he was called He and bis wife lived on Cameron St in Acton when as the boundary of the town In a cottage built after the first Great War for employees of and Co and later bought and renovated by the occupants The one my grandfather lived in was bought by Harold and Doris Townaley and they have turned it into a very comfortable modern home Jimmy Gtflboos was an old and it was evident when one visited Ms home his heart was a I ill on the sea In his later years he took up oil painting as a hobby and turned out a prodiguous amount of canvases most of them reminiscences of voyages he made to exotic places such as New Zealand or the Falkland Islands Most of the paintings were of sailing ships because be spent years before the mast and went to school on one of them Borrowing a few excerpts from his log he noted he was born in the year 1B7S in London England I came from seafaring stock My father also his father earned their living at sea so naturally was bom with that kind of bug be relates At age he joined a naval training the Arethusa one of the old- time three deckers which in her time was part of Lord Nelsons fleet at the battle of Trafalgar The ship was used to train boys for the Royal Navy or the Merchant service and Jim Gibbons noted if you came up to the standard height of five feel one inch Into the navy you went At Ihe end of his two year training period he was only four feet am Inches so it was the Mer chant marine for me He of the homesickness felt when he boarded that vessel along with eight other boys and life aboard It Leave depended on your conduct during four month period If you bad bad marks against you as no leave There also some corporal puoisb- On the bait deck be relates tn his log there were eight old muzzle load ing guns used when the ship was sea going and they used one of them for punishment If a boy was brought up before the commander for some misdemeanor and he thought it deserved a caning the Master of Arms would lower the breech of the gun and lash the boy over the breech by tleing his wrists and ankles and lay the cane across his rear end It might be a dozen or two dozen and being a hefty man he sure his weight Into it The ship also had some cells relics of Nelsons day They were bare by feet and had a heavy oaken door with mall put into a cell during day When rest of the 200 boys on board were in their hammocks the unfor tunate fellow was brought up by the master of anna and he would be allowed to sleep in his hammock thing apart from the rest After he graduated from the Jim Gibbon took Ms first job on a sailing vessel the Narwhal commanded by Captain Wilson from Yarmouth Nova Scotia two tads Jimmy and Billy were put under the control of the Second Mate a big Swede who said VeU veil my llddki skipjacks and is your names When tbey told he said Veil come me and tee what you is made of Their first voyage on Narwhal took them to Argentina The ship bad tons of rock and gravel for ballast levelled out and the ties were loaded on this filling the holds and they also put some on deck There were 14 sailors and the two boys who each had to take their time on Watch The log notes the ship washauled out of the dock on a dull rainy January day The day it left the captain brought his wife aboard the log notes later generously fed them The log notes that Nova Scotia ships fed better than the British ships but they wanted more work out of their men We were getting used to the ship now the log relates but if the boys didnt move fast enough for the second mate they were tendered a boot in the rear They sighted the Cape Verde Islands and got into the Northeast trade winds but after that came the dold rums Sometimes It was dead calm with ra rain squalls The crew had to trim the yards to catch J1 the light breeze going They saw no more land until they raised the Argentine coast They sailed into the River Plata dropp ing anchor about a mile Inn Monte video days after they left London It was the start of a long career to the Merchant Marine and there were voyages to many parts of the world ail recounted In ihe log But after voyages to Australia and New Zealand and marriage Grandfather Gibbons deci ded be wood to He found better food and batter wages three pounds month Intbend tired of the life aboard ship and knew people who had gone to Canada and liked It My wlfewas willing It a try so in June 1907 we left Liverpool with five children including my mother- They landed at Quebec and went to Toronto arriving the day before Dominion Day He found a job at Fesserton up around Georgian Bay working at a sawmill but later found a better one at a tannery Wages at ton were a day and working in the bush during the winter netted lie a month not much to keep a family on At he worked in the tannery for 17 cents an hour and was paid every two weeks My family at that time was increasing he writes with understatements There were of them he writes But when war came he enlisted in the Muskoka BaUUIon and served In France along with two of his sons Demobbed in March he went back to his job In When the tannery moved to Acton the Gibbons family along with many others from came with the firm He concludes I am to my Slat year and have nothing to regret He died In July IMS in his year He and bis family were typical of many who came to Canada at the turn of the century didnt have much timea hard Uvea taking life It came Theres a lesson there f or ail of us 10 years ago November 11BT1 The Tory Broom swept two Halton seats as Terry OConnor defeated In cumbent Whiting by 3000 votes in and in it was Tory BUI On Sunday October Church celebrated Its i The original roll book is still in use by the church After SO years of married life Mr and Mrs James Alfred Thompson known as and Georgena were treated to a gala night on Saturday October by their sons daughters and grandchildren at the home of Mr and Mrs Bud Anderson 3 Acton Mr and Mrs John Glynn attended the convocation of their son Peter when he received his degree In chemical engineering at Laterloo College on October Mrs George Green is a patient in St Josephs Hospital in best wishes of friends go to her 20 years ago Fridays freak snow storm landed over a foot of snow this district There were several accidents on the roads A offer to purchase by the town of Acton for acres of land was accepted Monday by the Wool Combing Corp of Canada The property adjoins Fairvlew cemetery and fronts of Road and the extension of Mill Street West Friends were very sorry to hear of Mr Stewart Russells eye operation and hope for a speedy recovery Actons gift to Seton Hall University South Orange Bruce Andrews is one of two Canadians greatly reepon- Work on the new Hall started this week after a brief layoff 50 years ago October The eighth anniversary of the United Church Acton and eightyseventh of the old church will be observed next Sunday October 30 Mr and Mrs Joel Leslie observed their fiftyfifth wedding anniversary on Monday night October About thirty guests were present on this occasion and a most enjoyable evening was spent High School costs In County Acton High School S3 town pupils and county pupils countys share of cost per pupil Specials this week at Carrolls Ltd Mill Street are Campbells Pork and Beans lb tins for 3 cakes of SoapforlOc mixed nuts 17c a lb Popping corn lbs for and Jelly Powders and an animal shaped jelly mold FREE Little Lorraine observed her first birthday on October with cus tomary party to mark the occasion 75 years ago October 1W7 Mr John Denny has purchased the farm of Mr Brock Acton fifty acres at lot con Mr Albert March who moved to Toronto Junction some time ago has just moved Into his own home at Street At the meeting of the Rural Deanery held here Rev Matthew Wilson MA was appointed Secretary- Treasurer for the Rural Deanery of James has sold his pro perty on Church Street to Mr Joseph Hall of Chlnguacousy Arnolds livery has been removed from John Street stables to the stables at the Station Hotel For Sale 12 farms in the county of ranging in price from to Apply to WH Denny Acton Ontario 100 years ago November Mr Thomas has dis posed of his property in the sixth concession and taken up his residence in our village Suits and Overcoats at extremely low rates and made In the latest styles Be sure to call and see them J Acton Mr James Goodalts coal storehouse is now com pleted and open for business The new grain warehouse of Messrs Nlcklto and Son has been completed at the GTR station We notice by the Guelph papers that Mr Mann formerly of this village has gone Into the grocery and dry goods business in that city Mr James McLetlan has purchased the building on Mill Street formerly used by the as a tank house and Intends removing to Young Street for a stable