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THE HERALD Home Newspaper of Georgetown Acton and Esquesing A Division of Canadian Newspapers Company Limited Main St South Georgetown L7G Ontario RICHARD CAMERON TE HERALD January IS COMMERCIAL ARRIVAL Hello To A Newcomer It always nice to welcome a new industry to a community This week we say Hello to William Ltd which is moving into Hills in a former plant of General FireproofJng located at the eastern entrance to the community of Georgetown The company is known as a good corporate citizen and it prides itself on being a responsible member of the community will be using the Georgetown location as a distribution centre Initially this means that manufacture of chocolate confections will not taking place Instead the plant will serve as a distribution point for the company s products serving many thousands of outlets But the acquisition is a big one The plant acquired has huge floor capacity extensive shipping facilities and is located on acres of land in the community in dust rial park There is plenty of room for expansion And expansion would be as welcome as the arrival of the company itself The new year has got off to an auspicious beginning Ours A Civilized Society It was one of those incidents that was almost incredible Yet it occurred in our socalled civilized society here in North American A couple in their 90s living in poverty in Schenectady New York was found dead recently evidently having frozen to death because they had not paid electricity bills of about The couple had lived in their rundown cottage for 40 years But because they were behind in their payments for a few months the utility company cut off their electric power This in turn caused the gas furnace that heated the house to stop operating The two old people froze to death in temperatures of about 12 degrees above zero Who is to blame for this needless tragedy Partly the utility com of course But essentially it is the impersonal urbanized society which we have created and in which many millions of us now art forced to live The crew that was ordered to cut off the electricity almost certainly had no idea that two helpless people were being condemned to death a horrible death by freezing It is all very well for a local person to say that the couple Frank and Kalhenne Baker had been fiercely independent The truth is that after years in one home they did not wish to leave In a more normal more humanistic society a way would have been found to pay their out standing electricity bill As the Western world moves into a troubled 1974 perhaps it ought to take another look at the less fluent traditional societies of Asia and Africa where human values differ Can we call ours a Christian society when two old people are allowed to freeze to death in their house because they owe to a utility company Conservation Smallness Don Wright supervisor publishing and information vices Ontario Hyrdo has come up with his own answer to the energy crunch He wants to produce smaller people Writing in the November December issue of Hydro News in his back page column of comment he declares we must start making smaller people He continues Firm government leadership is the first requisite All biologists and genetic engineers should be called in and the national goal made clear three foot people by 2050 two feet by Jonathan Swift had somewhat the same idea century or so ago but his Lilliputians were only six inches high and had nothing to do with conservation Quick slide rule calculations suggest that two feet is about the minimum if we are to tote around a brain big enough to cope with the few problems which see likely to remain The mind boggles at the advantages Car pools with people per vehicle Houses the size of insulated beehives and each heated with four quarts of oil per year Fifteen people sharing a tub full of hot water Granted this is no short term solution We can t do much with the people we already have but some measures may be feasible French fries cream puffs and chocolate eclairs could be banned immediately We could also base our tax structure on waist measurements and impose stiff fines on people caught taking vitamins This wouldn t shorten us up much but at least we be able to crowd more people into a sub way car Do you suppose he might be right Would it indeed be easier to make people smaller instead of the world bigger YEARS AGO Two Georgetown boys Brian Beaumont and Richard La veil met the famous hockey Howes in Detroit when they visited that city for a novice hockey encounter The two were billeted at the home or Mark and Marty Howe and met the famous father or die School Board filled a vacancy by appointing Russell Miller to the board He was one of five prospective members and was a past president of Stewart own Home and School Association Despite opposition from Mayor Joseph Gibbons 19G4 centennial celebrations for Georgetown remained alive Mayor Gibbons objected because a centennial celebration was held in 1937 and he favored a celebration in conjunction with Canada centennial In Coun Jim said Georgetown was incorporated in 1064 but was settled in 1837 Acton Chamber of Commerce Twelfth Night bonfire was as big a spectacle as It was supposed to be because the hundreds of discarded Christmas trees to be used as fuel were used as a trampoline by children Georgetown readied plans for ski schooling at the Kelso dam and 20 skiers were registered Georgetown skier Francis Hulme was named as Instructor YEARS AGO When a Glen Williams woman was unable to get to hospital In Brampton because of slippery roads Reeve Stan Allen home on Mill Road became an auxiliary hospital Mr and Mrs Bert Ford were on their way to Brampton for the birth of their second child and found It impossible to return home or to ctlmb the icy Ninth Line hill Dr A McAllister attended at the birth of a nine pound boy Annual meeting of Balllnafad Hat I was held and plans were begun o renovate the hall Work was scheduled start as soon as weather permitted Lloyd Marshall acted as chairman for the meeting and Mrs Tom Gibson was secretary Two new con were appointed to serve the northern part of were J of and f READERS FORUM Fighters From Acton Disturbed By Statements Gentlemen During the recent controversy con the Halton Hills fire chief there have been certain statements made by some members of council to the which we as find most distrubing We feel that our views on these matters must be brought to your attention and we trust given due consideration First on the subject of Chief Holmes We are quite with the way our chief has been maligned He applied for the job In good faith it is a pity this faith was violated The Acton Fire Depart ment has long enjoyed a reputation as an efficient well trained and effective always willing to perform whatever action is required in firefighting as well as all other functions of department Mr Holmes has headed this fire department for the last years we feel our record alone must say something ibout the qualifications of man as a capable and competent leader We feel it is unnecessary to carry on with this subject as anyone who cares to take the lime can find the statistical proof of our record In public files Secondly Acton firefighters have always enjoyed the faith trust and cooperation of the citizens of Acton and district It would be impossible to serve properly the community without this confidence It now appears from reported statements in the local press that there are members of council who have absolutely no faith in volunteer firefighters indeed one member was quoted as saying the lives and property of the community Mould be endangered with a volunteer as chief of Halton Hills You can understand It be Impossible for us as a ire department consisting completely of volunteers to continue without the con of all members of council Certainly if the Town Fathers do not have confidence In us how can we expect the citizens to rest easy If these facts are correct regrettably we must ask you to appoint a member or members of council to meet with us so that wc may immediately commence to phase out the volunteer service of the Acton Fiji Department trust we will be replaced wim more Qualified professional men If however these facM have somehow misconstrued and all members of council do have confidence in the volunteer service we would request lhat the public be made aware of these feelings We request that a vote of con fidencc by all members of council be given as much publicity as the adverse comments have been given trust that this matter will be dealt with at your earliest possible con that the situation may be resolved Theatre Building Needed Writer Calls For Action Some of us got Books for Christmas This Year BILL SMILEY Cat And Mouse Game And Hes The Mouse ECHOES FROM THE PAST This week 1 been bit and just say that I miss my wife not that I tan t cook wash dishes rrnkt bed and do all those other sill things that our poor wives have to do day after day year No there no there It cats They redrivingmcoulof remnants of what was once a tine mind I rather live with a herd of goats than with two cats I concluded Take one elderly tiecot who has been spayed She was quilt content with life She is beautiful very very distant when she hungry There a bone in her body that Is friendly She Just wants you to keep your distance feed her well and let her bask on i sunny stair tread In return she will not to make a mess in tht house I had just begun to tolerate her if not like her after about six TOM Now add a boisterous torn cat tics as as an has an a peine a polar bear has the manners of a pig and is friendly He has completely disrupted what was a fairly quiet peaceful household lie is driving old cat out of her nut He follows her QUEEN S PARK around licking and kissing her until she spits takes a snipe at him and makes him off long enough for her t skediddlc to one of her He looks hurl Ml have lo do is settle down with a newspaper and a of tea and he quite likely to flying through the sending the paper one way and the tea the other as he seeks solace for his ycirnlng heart Given iny encouragement whatever he climb all over you digging his claws into your shoulders because he know any better smooching your face and neck in a wet disgusting fashion before thumping himself down Tor a rest on your stomach or chest or any other pari of you that suild his convenience IWIM Two minutes later he hears the old cat sneaking digs his claws into jour knee and takes a flying leip ff to court her some There absolutely no sex involved wants lobe loved by a second mother but she is a happy childless widow and wants to stay that way can even feed them together She is a dainty He cats like a wolf who lias just broken a long fast Put down two bowls He gulps his while she Is Mac Alexander was elected president of the Jersey Club for at the clubs annual meeting Mrs Arthur Beaumont was elected president of the Ladies Guild of St Alban Anglican Church Retiring president was Mrs F Beaumont Craig was chosen as president of Georgetown fall Fair Board with W J Alexander serving as first ice president and Charles as second vice president Treasurer reports showed a surplus of close to Two months of practice and rehearsal culminated in the opening of a four act musical comedy in Acton Soup Slock The production with an all local cast was under direction of R Parker War theme continued to fill fare of films shown at Gregory Theatre in Georgetown Night Plane Chungking was followed by Salute To The Marines variety there was a Bob Hope film Let Face It Bruce wrote home lo his parents in Georgetown Mr and Mrs Dean about a trip he made to Mount fctna In Sicily during his tenure with Canadian forces there On the trip up the mountain the truck carrying his party into a British New vehicle permits for 1944 were late In arriving so In Ontario sale the items was to Jan Motorists had to present their 1943 plates for validation and collection of a windshield sticker Meeting IheTcrra Union of Farm Organizations and Federated arm Women Clubs met the home of Mr and Mrs Wilfrid Ixrslle and attendance was SO per sons Band instrument numbers were provided by lloss Pitch and Mrs George gave report about a III- convention hi Id In Ontario Financing On Disaster Course DOM III- TOItONTO Perhaps we just shouldn t let Bill Davis handle money Bob Nixon mide a speech And he brought out something most of us are unlikely remember This is that in fiscal year 1969 Ontario hid a surplus of million The next there wis a deficit of l3fi million Then this rose to more thin million And in the three years since last wonderful surplus total deficits have been billion The ball of wax of course of life we arc ipt not remember is that we from large surplus to large and growing deficit was the vear Bill Davis took over from John It need a to foretell the trend of our recent financing is i course The cost of financing the present debt car 111 be better than million or i lose to of the budget I el the in increase continue and the tost of debt interest alone will as big a bite of tax pay as in t so long ago we used to grab to run whole province Ai Insists inn give many for this head first A i mi I had to spend money to fight unemployment But stilt you have to believe that if cither John It harts or Icslie frost had been doing the shelling out it would have been different had reputations for very creaky purses perhaps simglncss but the truth was they both had a very healthy respect for the value of the public dollar Bill Davis had never really hem suspected of this Rather suspicion is that he t much Idea of at all Back in his days it was i well known scuttle butt that when on the road he never carried enough cash and thai his subordinates be shelling out for meals and incidentals Then there was ihe in stance of community alleges These wire a good idea prophets predicted that under the wing of Education and its minister they would a weed grow like a weed did Soon the province was plastered with them And same developed Into edifices worthy of an old the sniffing hers then shoulders her aside and gels Into her grub while she bats him then retreats in to sulk under a bed She is bed sneaker under since he arrived And if Iherc anything more dif ficult than getting a deter mined old cat out from under a bed I like to see it The only way to do it is go under the bed after her wllh a broom or mop You 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 as an eel and a heck of a lot more cunning Meanwhile during the half our you chase the old cat trying to grab any of her extremities so that you can Ihrow her where she should have been long ago his arrogant young nibs is having the run of the kitchen He not a bed sneaker under lies a counter walker And a cupboard dour opener One leap and he up on the kitchen counters strolling sniffing licking Don leave the butter out He 11 down a quarter pound straight Give three minutes alone and he somehow opened the cupboard dnr below the sink and is gaily into the garbage Hell cat anything baked potato skins left over soup stale lettuce fried eggs The only time I have seen him a bit nonplused wis on New Year Day Maybe he had a hangover I was half drowsing in a chair and watching him out of a corner of my eye In case he took a flying leap and his arms around my neck to kiss me which 1 abhor He d caught mouse seemed though we never had mice in this house He would slam his paw on it pick it up In his teeth chew and swallow il tiny Thank goodness he s good for something Then throw up the mouse and go through the whole business again I got a bit alarmed that he d throw up more than therm use one of these limes nto the rug SIR From information published this week con the so called recreation complex it Is apparent once again a decision has been made which will be regretted many limes particularly us the area population continues to grow suitable tracts of land become scarcer and more expensive and building costs increase I say once again We had a similar op portunity to provide a theatre building when the lastaddltlon was made to the high school also at a lime when a regional authority was IX made otherwise and as a result the present built This is a type of hall similar to that contemplated by the Georgetown council but one which can ac commodate significantly more people There are several other halls of varying size in Georgetown and vicinity which can also provide kind of facility Regarding merits of the as a theatre it would be charitable to say only that it leaves something to be desired visually ac functionally If a permanent theatre is not to be built It would be better to apply the funds to swimming pool and provide at least a three metre diving board I would entreat those responsible however for administering this project to reconsider Ihe cultural advantages of a proper theatre the benefits to many in community it would be comfortable suitable place to see not only Little Theatre movies concerts and various theatrical productions or simply to hold all kinds of meetings As I pointed out m an earlier letter to the former Council there is no such theatre in County north of Highway With regional government now a fact it may be a long before we can get ear of a governing body tuned to our particular needs I repeat my pleas ladles and gentlemen I hope there are many others who will speak up NOT ANOTHER HALL Please Ralph Georgetown Too Many Fire Chiefs Sir I am wriUng in reference to an article in The Herald last week stating that Hills council had decided to have three fire chiefs two district and one For a community that has held back industrial and housing it puzzles me how a responsible council or at least one that should be could spend 23 on two fire chiefs and then say it will spend more to pay another Docs council know the meaning of overhead ex But I guess since it is using tax monies it is not Higher Cost Of Food If Pesticides Banned Food costs Tour to five limes higher than hose of today could result if modern pest control products were not employed lo protect crop yields deputy environment minister Evcrcll Biggs says In an address to a sym on pesticides held in Toronto Mr Biggs cited estimates by Nobel prize winner or I a UK and others that crop than per cent of present rates vwtnout pesticides This would result in a jump In food costs of four to five limes those of today And what would the con sumcr get for five times present food bills All estimates indicate that the quality of the products available would be- 1 ess than today shopper is to Mr Biggs said Commenting on possible results of a complete moratorium on pesticide use Mr Biggs quoted statement if we leave things to Mother Natures whims we will harvest only one third one half of the yield per unit of cultivated area thai can be harvested using modern balanced technological practices although these products provide great benefits for man s food production they can be a liability if misused Mishandling has had serious consequences such as the killing of benevolent plants or insects outside the intended target he em supplied by the Ontario Ministry or Agriculture and Food reveal that in 1972 worlh of insured crops were destroyed by misuse of these crop protecting products he said indicate thai this loss was reduced lo less 50 Mr Biggs went on to comment on the penchant of some to overlook the benefits of pesticides use seeing only dangers from their abuse When there is a car people always in vcsligatc lo sec where the made his mistake In the case of an accident in pest contra products the immediate reaction is that these products are at fault and arc too dangerous to use If we use these sub stances if we agree that they must be used then they must be used wisely he con eluded too concerned I wonder if anyone asked how many fires we have per year and if wedo indeed need this many chiefs I feel an explanation should be given lo Ihe tax payers for his extraordinary expenditure Basil Georgetown Upward Trend Pay Contracts Wage rates In Canada may rise to to 11 percent in 1974 al least for union workers whose contracts will be ego Hated during the year says Roger Worth in The Financial Post This is a Jump over recent advances and if achieved could provide ex tin momentum in salary in creases generally With a mighty push from inflation and an assist from high corporate earnings labor leaders predict the upward trend in settlements will continue next year Manufacturers on the other hand say fallout from the energy crisis and severe material shortages in some industries will make bargaining difficult Although the 1974 negotiating calendar is lighter than it was in unions ore getting tougher at the bargaining table In an at tempt to achieve real income gains An indication of this average annual percentage wage increases in collective agreements covering more than employees rose to percent in the third quarter of 1973 up from the average percent figure in 1972 The figures are based on the total contract period In Montreal 16 municipal workers are shooting for wage increases of as much percent per year a union spokesman says In Toronto another 15 municipal workers are seeking more than a 12 percent annual increase MAKING USE OF THE SNOW became a lhat still perplexes the fine minds designated to try and straighten It out The waste and necessary spending must run to a tremendous amount Hill Davis in iinny Is tine leader He has vision sympathy and the i if his principles all might be better If vw lake away his I Ihe hank replaces horses in this ski j ring in a chopping icntrt fun provided speeds are not too high and skier stays i Icar of This skier alio is wearing safety