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An early divisive issue J A I Winter mobility on Fairy Lake by blades and machines Bill SMILEY This week I been batching and 1 must lhat miss my wife It a not that I can t cook and wash dishes and make the bed and do all those other silly things that our poor ives have to do day after day Near after No there no problem there It the cats They re driving me out of the remnants what was once a fine mind Take one shecat who has been with life She is beautiful and very distant except hungry There a bone in her body lhat is fnendlv She just wants you to keep jour distance feed her well and let her bask on a stairtread In return she will not to make a mess in the house had just begun to tolerate her if not like her after about six Now add a voting tout cut lies agile is in iitin has appetite like a Ik tins lit m of a pin and is fnindly Ho is driving the old out of her nut He follows lux Inking and kissing her until she spits likes swipe at him and makes him ick off for her to skedaddle to of her hideouts He looks hurt All to do is clown with a newspaper and a tup of anil he quite likel to fljiiiR through the air sending the out and the lea the other he seeks for his heart Given iny nt vvhitever he II climb ill over digging claws into shoulders tie know belter smooching face and neck in a wet fislnon before OUR READERS WRITE Acton brigade has enviable record To The Editor The recent controversy concerning the Hills sen ice to the protection of life and has in the writer opinion been unjustified and signifies the capability of some members of the local government from which the controversy began Through ignorance of proper management it was allowed to continue No person should be called ignorant until they have shown their unwillingness to team Acton docs have an enviable record relative to the protection of persons and property Municipal Administration etc with only by the efforts of volunteers The Acton Fire Department has actively participated through the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs from Halifax to Vancouver are chartered members of County Mutual Aid a Canada First The County Fire Prevention Bureau and their efforts have exceeded in the provision of service beyond that of many so called professional supervised and manned departments now serving many localities The Acton area Annual Fire Loss and Insurance Rates are emblematic of the Quality of and effort of the Acton Administration Volunteer Fire Department membership Includes a good cross section of tradesmen supervisors ma gen etc which man the services of the Works Department etc as well as being taxpayers They do not have to belong Ammositj is something should not be tolerated from who have done nothing to improve the new tegration of services for Hills but propose increase costs to the residents who will pay the taxes creating poor public relations throughout J Weston Ontario Dear Sir No doubt arc aware lhat the week Jan IB is National Education Week on Smoking In connection with this the County TB and would advise the public lileriliiri required regarding smoking is available to them by confuting tht office at Balsam Drive ours sincerely Mrs Secretary thumping himself down for a rest on your stomach or chest or any port of you that suits his Two minutes later he hears the old cat around digs his claws Into your knt and takes flying liap off to court her some more There absolutely no sex involved He just wants to be loved by second mother but she Is a happy childless widow and wants to stay that way can I even feed them together She Is a dainty eater He cats like a wolf who has lust a long fast Put down two bowls He gulps his while she is sniffing then shoulders her aside and gets Into her grub while she bits him Ineffectually then retreats in disgust to sulk under a bed She is a bed sneaker under since he arrived And if there anything more difficult thin getting a determined old cat out from under a bed I d like to see it only way to do it is to go under the bed after her with a broom or mop Vou wind up puffing stuck under the bed while she has darted off and Is under one of the beds in one of the other rooms She as slippery us an eel and a heck of a lot more cunning Meanwhile during the half hour chase the old cat trying to grab any of her extremities so that can throw her out where she should have been long ago his arrogant young nibs is the run or the kitchen He not a bed sneaker under He a counter walker And a cupboard door opener One leap and he up on the kitchen counters strolling sniffing licking Don t leave the butler out He II down a quarter pound straight Give him three minutes alone and he somehow opened the cupboard door below he sink and is gaily into the garbage He II tat anything baked potato skins leftover soup stale lettuce fried eggs The only time I have seen him a bit non was on New Year Day Maybe he had a hangover I was ha If drowsing in a chair and watching him out of a corner of my eye in case he took a flying leap and threw his arms around my neck to kiss me which I abhor He caught a mouse it seemed though we vc never had mice in this house He would slam his paw on it pick it up in his teeth chew it and swallow it A tiny mouse Thank goodness good for some thing Then he d throw up the mouse and Igota bit alarmed that he d throw up more than onto the rug I investigated He was trying to digest one of those wide elastic bands Every time he hit it it would jump so he thought it chewed it and swallowed it but t keep it down That the kind of stupid cat he is But getting smart very quickly When I try to grab him and throw him out In the snow after a feeding he goes by me like a cheetah going by a rhino Hills council stumbled In its curly existence on one of the moat divisive issues possible and it will have to do some fence mending if that division is not to be simply the first of many The appointment of fire chief the protests that bubbled through and the final resolution of the situation has been a bad example for the members in their first weeks in office Hie town now has two district chiefs with a chief yet to be con sidered for Hills ihe stormy discussion took on municipal boundary lines and despite the fact there must have been a majority in favor of the first public reaction changed tho minds of council sufficiently to reach a compromise The issue has left a bad taste In two The compromise may have smoothed away some of the difficulty but If Halton Hills is ever to be a harmonious community elected officials will have to weigh the issues more carefully We have never been in favor of closed meetings and It Ik possible the decision of Hills council to meet In closed sessions until January 1 was not entirely wise The full Impact of closed sessions doesnt seem to huve penetrated yet however and the council we understand will take leaf from the Board of Education book and meet in camera for the first hour of each meeting It took another closed session last week for the members to agree that they would approve a vole of confidence in the fire depart That will certainly leave the fire departments wondering about Uie issues thut had to be discussed Closed meetings enable every councillor to tell the the way he wants It told and the absence of impartial observers puts them beyond Divisive shut net will be two heavy opponents to a Hal Ion mils Editorial The Acton Free Proas Wed J Money that skips borders Wellington County MP Hales has long been fond of poin ting the finger at some of the waste of taxpayers money in Ottawa Mr Hales is chairman of the Commons Public Accounts Com miltee and this puts him in a good position to uncover some of the examples of irresponsible use or public money But does the Government listen One of the latest examples of flagrant mishandling of the public purse is recorded in the page of the Auditor General of Canada to the House of Commons ft shows that during the year ending March 1973 1193 tax payers left the country owing million in taxes The incredible is thut 4 million of that sum is owed by six taxpayers Apparently they are getting away with it Hie report says the continuing problem of collecting income tax from non residents Is aggravated by the fact that a person emigrating from Canada is not required to obtain a tax clearance before departing and by the lack of agreements with other countries for the collection of taxes on a reciprocal basis The public accounts committee pointed out that something should be done about the situation four years ago but it appears the Government is not unduly alarmed by the tax drain presumably because then is plenty more of It for them to spend flic answer surely is as simple as making sure no one emigrates until their taxes are paid full or some provision made to make sure collection will be done Likely there nothing to be done when a taxpayer skips the country to find sanctuary in a country unfriendly to Canada but most cases there must be ample warning that a well heeled citizen is readying to lake off for parts unknown Most of us who have had brushes with the Governments tax departments know how firm they can be when only a few dollars and cents are concerned But million Why not answer Mr Kerr It is encouraging to read reports attributed to the Hon George Kerr the Provincial Secretary for Justice which suggested that any change in laws governing mer chandising on Sundays would tend to be more restrictive rather than more open Mr Kerr who also happens to be our Member suggests that the people of the province want to keep Sundays as a day set apart for activities which differ from those indulged in the remainder of the week According to the Green Paper issued from Mr Kerrs office the main issues involved are Is the principle of a common pause day consistent with trends in social attitudes and behaviour Do the people of Ontario wish to reflect in legislation the growing secularization of Sunday Do the people of Ontario wish to support a common day of rest and if so should this be Sunday If legislation is changed which classes of retail outlets will be permitted to open and what items will be sold Are the potential social benefits of regulation likely to outweigh the potential disad vantages How should our laws assist people who wish and need to work on Sundays Should provincewide legislation treat all localities the same with respect to Sunday opening How should the government administer and enforce this legislation The Government acknowledges there have been major changes in social attitudes and needs since Sunday observance laws were introduced early in the century Laws have not kept up and the Attorney General is often faced with making decisions concepts of another age w Mi Kerr is touring key parts of province to find out what shoppers and people in general think about Sunday and his recommendations to the Govern will be based on the in formation he picks up We have often gone on record in these columns as supporting Sunday as a common day of leisure to punctuate the pressures generated by the workday week and as a day set apart to refresh the spirit but why not let Mr Ken- know how you feel about it Correspondence should be directed to Honorable George A Kerr C Provincial Secretary for Justice Legislative building Queens Park Toronto Ontario Back Issues of The Free Press 20 years ago Taken from the Issue of the Free Press of Thursday January 1954 Following the town third nomination meeting In space of a month and a half Acton council Friday night was supplied with its sixth councillor Arthur St qualified from the list of six nominees At the same meeting three nominated for the position of THE ACTON FREE PRESS PHONE 2010 Business and Editorial Office Public Utilities Commissioner Theron Jones and Robert resigned from the nomination and frank lilted the post Other citizens nominated for the council seat were Lome Masters W Peal Harold Frank Crump and James Dills Eighteen men at landed the nomination meeting On Monday former mayor Frank was elected chairman of the PUC vice chairman Mayor Tyler is the third member of the com mission Residents of this district for most of the SO years of their married life Mr and Mrs Martin Kelly celebrated their golden an Y Ladies Auxiliarytshaving more tables made for banquets Fred Davison who operated a barber shop here for many years passed away Manor MacSprowl prominent in Junior Farmer activity Acton Fall Fair president and recent Nuffield scholarship winner con tinues to be in the news Wednesday he was interviewed by the Don Fairbaim and the January issue of Junior Farmer News carries a page spread on Mr Sprowl accomplishments and activities Teachers at the nubile school celebrated caretaker George Manns birthday with a social time alter school He has been caretaker for years and has seen many changes 50 years ago One party in Acton making moonshine for Christmas was fined and another for making beer In one case the husband ran off leaving the wife to bear the brunt of the charge The annual meeting of Acton Society was held Wednesday Hon Prs H P Moore Frank 1st Vicepresident J Gamble 2nd Vicepresident Lawrence Williams Secrelar Treasurer T Directors Miss L M Gray Mrs Hall Mrs Moore Miss Minnie Bennett Frank Kennedy A J Smcthurst A Mochrie and George There will be a generous distribution of seeds and hydro Members are Reeve Barber and Commissioner G King with Charles Wilson superintendent and Miss Bertha Speight secretary treasurer Santa Clans was late in reaching St Sunday School but he finally arrived Monday evening laden with can dies nuts apples and oranges After supper many old time games were indulged In followed by a candy and nut scramble A very interesting and varied program came next Prizes for highest marks were presented and Ihere was a grand march around the Christmas tree The rate of rental for the town hall for evenings was reduced to but rental for dances remains Miss Nellie Hall entertained a number of her girl friends at a birthday parry Some of the girls seem to prefer to look pretty to the winter comfortably Saw logs have been coming in freely to Henderson s Mill this week 75 years ago Taken from of the Free Press of Thursday January Acton council appointed Dr McKeague Medical Officer of Health for 1899 at a salary of fifteen dollars Thomas T Moore was reappointed Clerk and Treasurer at a salary of one hundred and fifty dollars for the year There is a good attendance al the Literary Society held in Peacock school A good debate ana programme every night m Page