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I Bill Smiley As I recall my last column was a tale of woe relating the dreadful things the gods had done to me In 1972 I should have kept my mouth shut same gods annoyed at my decided to show me what they could really do Tate a cat Go on Any old cat Take a freshlywaxed floor Take a guy with an armful of milk and eggs Take a wife who to upstairs watching TV when she should be helping that guy with the groceries OK The guy comes in He takes off boots so he wont make a men on the newly- washed andwaxed floor He is In his sock feet Right Out of the grocery bags be takes two quarts of milk a dozen eggs and a case of pop He heads for the kitchen counter At that very moment the cat unfed hurls herself at his legs meowing and rubbing He lifts his right foot gently to turf her out of the way spins smartly on his left metatarsal and goes down like Niagara Kails He fails to eject the grub out of some dun primitive idea that you hang onto the grub at any cost The first thing that hits anything is his noggin which tries to tear the copper off the cupboard door handles The next thing that strikes hardpan is nose which bounces off the floor In a spray of blood and milk His erstwhile wife and protector comes down and him sitting in something like Masai wedding two parts milk to one part blood a cold cloth on Ms torn scalp eggs over the place and his nose going up like a balloon bang filled with hydrogen But theres no fret no sweat Hes had his nose broken three times before and by far better people than a cat or his wifes Sitting there among the and and blood he remembers fondly the time his future brotherinlaw gave him an elbow and cracked the old beezer during football practice And then be thinks of that beautiful free- forall with the Royal Marines outside that pub in Wrexham North Wales when the pilots proved only that they could not And he remembers almost with pleasure the day be was being beaten up by the German guards and nobody bad even broken his nose yet and then the little guy who was engineer of the locomotive came rushing into the and kicked him right srioot And Id like to say this mutt set there happily for ever after thinking about the other times his nose had been broken But she wouldnt let him Her first thought was pure Florence Nightingale Everyone will think I did it she Jed would countered Knowing you Theyll think you were drunk was her next contribution Well thats what Id think if someone told me hed lost a one- round bout with a cat I suggested How am I going to get the blood out of that towel she queried Well you might pretend you were a vampire and suck it People will think youve been beaten up she worried Yes I rejoined Smugly No answer Im going to lock the door so nobody can see And I replied Im going to call a press conference and admit It was all your fault because youd waxed the floor and you hadnt put the cat out and you werent down to help me with the groceries Ah heck 1 shouldnt put her through all that It was not her fault except that shed waxed the floor and hadnt put the cat out and didnt come down to help with the groceries and insists I take my boots off when come in onto her rotten polished floors Its not so bad really Apart from the cuts on my nose which look as though a gang of Glaswegians had worked me over there are only the eyes For some reason when you break your nose theres a great sympathy from your eyes They dont weep except for the first six hours They swell up and un and up At first they are red Then they begin to look like a couple of teabags that have been on the booze And when the worst la over they turn a sort of bilious yellow When that happens you knoW you are home free and that all you have to do is think up witty answers for the query Wife beat you up again Proposed splitting of the new city of Cambridge in new electoral boundaries indicates the federal commission was unaware that Preston Gait and were to be linked together as the new city January 1 tinder the provincial governments regional government scheme It also clearly indicates that the two higher levels of government need to put their heads together and come up with a joint plan for electoral districts instead of these hit and miss tactics that continue to confuse voters New boundaries create concern Federal election boundary com missioners used representation by population guidelines as they remade the electoral map of Ontario Theoretically they have arranged new boundaries for a quotient of people but in practice may have set up some unwieldy ridings where the population has little In common Take the new electoral district as an example As MP Terry OConnor points out the rural townships and towns In this conglomerate do not share a common geography a single large population centre or similar history on problems The former In Arthur has little In common with the burgher in Acton or However it is well to remember that quite likely the same conditions existed when the County of riding was set up The main objection to the proposals as we see them would be from the politicians angle It is doubtful any politician could make sense out of this mixed bag mainly rural with towns such as Georgetown Orangeville and Acton accounting for almost half the vote Lumping the north end of Halton ICY WINTER WATER races down the rock chute alongside picturesque Hortops Mill in the heart of Everton before plunging over the falls into a boiling cauldron scooped out of limestone by centuries of wear Then it regains some of the tranquility of the mill pond above as it continues on to and more turbulence J Jennings Photo According to reports from Ottawa the Government has hired a bus service to ferry MPS from their of fices to the Parliament buildings a scant two blocks Cost of the service which uses four minibuses is per day We would suggest that the government could do better by hiring Tyler Transport Ltd from Acton They charged the town only a day for a Christmas bus service which did very well Far away fields may look greener to some Acton shoppers but one man from said he did much of his Christmas shopping in Acton from advertisements in the Free Press He dropped into the Free Press office the other day to take out a subscription because he enjoys reading the paper Closest place he could buy it at a news stand was in Georgetown and he wanted to ensure getting it each week No comment needed The Financial Post says Bell Canada is clearly ahead in its new battle for rate increases but still must face the Ontario and Quebec governments the association of municipalities of Ontario before the war is won Stones circulating that graduates cannot find jobs and some end up as taxi drivers were given the boot by figures released by the Ontario Council on Graduate Studies showing per cent of 197172 had jobs when they handed in their theses Figures for the previous year were similar What we want to know now who starts the rumors leader David Lewis is bolstering public confidence in his party by deciding to back the Liberal Government in its legislative program as outlined from the Speech from the Throne Mr Lewis has correctly gauged the feelings of the Canadian people who do not want an election now or soon We feel he has acted responsibly in the matter despite some pressure The decision to back the Liberals until there is a piece of unacceptable legislation indicates a genuine desire to act on behalf of the country It would be the same way if the situation wasreversed and the Conservative party was in power The election is over and it is time to make the best of it until all parties are at loggerheads The unseasonable weather during the Christmas season has left us a legacy of icy streets which no amount of salt or sand seems able to dissolve In certain sections of town sidewalks are impassable so pedestrians must take the roads This has compounded the hazard for both motorists and walkers Pedestrians must be careful to avoid injury and at the same time not interfere with traffic Motorists must be doubly careful of pedestrians and themselves where roads are slippery In contrast to town streets and rural roads most highways are bare and conditions good When it comes to participating in TV quiz shows the members of the Given family who originate from the 2 Acton homestead must have set a new record Six of them have appeared on one CTV show and all have come away with a prize Dont know of any other family group who can match that record The death of former Conservative premier and leader George Drew last week was another in the chain of ob sequies for well known political figures from another era who have changed the course of history Mr Drew got his political start in nearby Guelph the Royal City and somehow he always seemed to embody all the attributes which used to identify the Conservatives His tall erect figure and British bearing seemed most at home when he was the Canadian trade commissioner in Britain but we always felt he was misunderstood outside of Ontario If Mr Drew had been bom a century earlier there is no doubt he would have been prime minister of Canada but his appearances at the national level never got past the statesmanship of Louis St Laurent who defeated him at the polls But newsmen have said Mr Drew was really a personable warm character in private who froze in public the opposite to Mr St Laurent who see med to come across in public but was personally very correct and cool with Erin and Eramosa townships for well over of the ridings estimated population indicating strongly where the decisions would be made This is all very well from a local viewpoint It would be fine to be in a position of power for a change after so many years in the shadow of such Halton giants as Oakvlllc and Burlington token Is lo Ihe former in the outer fringes of the riding in townships such as West Luther Maryborough and Peel There Is also going lo be some screaming from politicians who will lose support over the readjustment of boundaries We can understand their concern when they lose a township or town where there were plenty of votes and in its place an area is substituted where the other party cornered the vote One redeeming feature as we see it is thai the elected representative from WellingtonDufferin would have to considerable energy getting to know all corners of the riding a factor we do not find the least bit unpalatable although it will be difficult to fee the pulse of so vast and varied a population We can also understand the ob jections the people in Milton have in being lumped with Oakvllle Although there will be all kinds of official denials the two centres have been rivals for decades and Milton would not have the support of other northern munici palities in any concerns they may feel which differ from the huge vote to the south of them In any case the proposals have been made public and the commission is asking for comments on the proposed boundary readjustments Something is being done to straighten out real inequities in the political structure of the country The ball is now in the publics court either to reject or ac cept We anticipate there will be ob jections to the new boundary lines but none will be valid unless they are ac companied by workable alternatives Perhaps they may run second fiddle to regional government proposals from the provincial government due to be released at McMaster University January Tho Acton Free Press Wednesday January 1973 Sunday a pause that refreshes In 1906 federal legislation made it criminal to work on Sunday It was an attempt to suppress almost all Sunday activities except churchgoing In todays pluralistic society neither those who observe nor those who make the laws would wish to interpret them so narrowly Much of todays secular society has the emphasis on churchgoing but a large percentage of society would favor a common day of rest and recreation for all Despite this observance of the Day Act has been nibbled at all sides You can shop for groceries see a movie bet on a horse or ride a ferns wheel on Sunday The concern of those who would continue to enforce the Lords Day Act is not for those who participate in these activities but for those who must work on Sunday in order to keep the stores theatres and amusements open Most of the activity is not necessarily unsuitable perhaps the family where both parents work need that Sunday afternoon trip to the supermarket Perhaps it is a real family event to shop together But what of the cashier the meat cutter the man who fills the shelves Their families are denied their company The fact that they dont work on Mondays doesnt compensate By Monday the rest of the family Is back at school or work While no one would deny that certain vital services must be carried on over Sunday the increasing de- emphasis of Sunday as a day of rest for as many as possible is a creeping blight whose growth we should stop There is a need for a uniform weekly pause one that refreshes Back Issues of The Free Press years ago Taken from the issue of the Free Press Thursday January 15 Icebroken hydro and telephone lines blacked out Acton and district for hours at a time over the weekend when an ice storm described as the worst in a decade covered the area Sunday services continued In churches but choirs were led by piano and churches dependent on oil burners were cool Richard Harris has begun his year of corresponding from for the Free Press Be sure gifts packed in ditty bags for seamen will keep a long time During the last week Mrs of Lime ho use received a thank you especially for cookies and candy from Able Seaman D Russell of HMCS Athabaskan which recently returned to our west coast In answer to an appeal by the Navy League Mrs packed the ditty bag during the summer of 19M The sailor Just received It for Christmas was without power for hours in the Ice storm About Acton school students heard Ron Cooksley of the public relations depart ment of the Hydro speak on power and safety From Acton he went to Rockwood where he addressed more It looks as if Baxter Labs might repeat their feat of last year and win the Tost trophy They have only lost one game The two new additions to the team John Cunningham and Phil McCristall have added a lot of scoring punch Its the nearest Acton has to O hockey They play every Monday night in the arena The Legion held its annual banquet by candlelight The first Elizabeth If coins go Into circulation this week Town workmen have kept ice in the arena despite milder weather 50 years ago Taken from the tune of the Free Press Thursday January A 1923 Sir Henry Thornton president of the National Railways has decided not to sell the Toronto Suburban Railway system until he has made a personal survey of the lines to Guelph and to ascertain if same are a necessary part of the national system of Railways The Hydro Commission had hoped to have the deal completed The Community House now the funeral home has been renamed the Sunderland This Is quite consistent with Its history When the late H Storey erected this fine building for the family residence years ago it was called Sunderland Villa in honor of his birthplace Sunderland in England Misses Margaret and Jessie McNabb of Toronto were with friends here Tor the holidays Mr and Mrs William McNabb and Master Cameron also visited here Mr and Mrs William of Brampton spent a few days with Mr and Mrs Amos Mason Mrs A Smith of Detroit formerly of Acton died of septic poisoning In an extracted tooth Her brother customs of ficer M McDonald attended the funeral Acton OX officers elected are DM Geo Anderson chaplain Rev J P F Kennedy H Wm Beavers Herb Ritchie Ed Gamble Wheeler George H Masales Smith Cook Wm Hall J H Denny The Baptist congregation welcomed their new pastor Mr Howard Rockwood elections were held New Years Day and despite ley conditions ballots were cast out of ITS Commissioners elected are W M Harris Fred McWiUlams and R Peart In the old days a ford was the place where you crossed the river Now its everyplace you try to cross the street 75 years ago Taken from the issue of the Free Press Thursday January 15 1S9S Lot was hardly more alarmed when the fire fell down from heaven and licked up the town he was living In than the good people at Sodom church in last Friday morning when Mr James Monehan rushed in shouting to the worshippers Help help my barn is on fire Fire had broken out in the straw stack of Frank and James The worshippers rushed out and gave the fire fiend battle saving all the stock and about bushels of wheat also the implements Hay roots and feed were destroyed The barn and outbuildings were wrecked Loss will be with insurance The members of the club and their visitors in all nearly a hundred spent a delightful evening In the town hall Monday night It was the clubs first gathering games were played from to 10 when the ladles served cakes and coffee after which there was a short business session The Jubilee Orchestra enlivened the proceedings Local Master McKinnon sold at Guelph Saturday morning the farm of the Sayers of Baltlnafad Fifty acres were sold to Francis Belfountaln for and acres to B Sayers of Ballinafad for Come ye maidens almost thirty do not cavil at your fate Father Time may send a suitor In the year of ninetyeight Messrs John Mann J Warren and McDonald have been elected trustees of school for IBM Toronto now has a population of Last Thursday Messrs Chas Davidson F Lindsay and G and A MacDonald had their herds of cattle dehorned with the latest Improved method by Mr Allan McDonald VS Erin Safety corner Safety is being orderly in all that we do Safety is a respect for law and order and a striving for good government Safety seeks freedom without license justice without fear Safety is a way of life THE ACTON FREE PRESS PHONE Business and Editorial Office Copyrlfiht