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The Ac on Free Wednesday January fftet Editorial Even winter sourpuss like me cannot but be affected when one of those rare and perfect winter days Today is one of them Snapping twelve decrees Sun grinning down like an old yellow lecher as fresh snow lifts virginal bluewhite pleading hands Sky as cold and blue as Mr Benson s heart Ugly fallendo fence In back yard has vanished until spring Picnic table is a loaf of while bread rising Bis spruce by the garage holds with dignity sagging blue- green arms the big lumps of heavy white cotton In the country evergreens are startling black clumps of contrast Ancient rail fences with jaunty snowcapped posts run their erratic charm through the bluish So do the Skiers whiz down like gulls swooping for scraps And the damned snowmobiles grunt and bellow about like bulls in a chaste china shop There knew something would spoil it Don worry I won go into a diatribe about the stinking things I consider them beneath my dignity I ban them If I had the power They re a wonderful machine for farmers trappers and others who need to get places they couldnt before Some of the kids at our school who live on islands way out in the bay cross the ice on the things catch the school bus drive forty minutes to school then make the return Journey in the afternoon You can t knock that And they re fine for recreation too if they re used with some sense But there the rub As a cabinet minister remarked recently on the subject You can legislate against stupidity And some of the most stupid people I know own snowmobiles Not you gentle reader not you You don t go flying solo after an hour s instruction And you have to pass a fairly stiff test nowadays to get a car driver license But It seems that any nyurp of a kid or adult who can get one of the THINGS started and not necessarily slopped is free to go out and commit mayhem or suicide When I see some kid belting along at full throttle on an icy road or trying to pass a car an the right I shudder And when I see mature middleaged people attempting climbs and Jumps and crossing thin ice that even an intelligent ape would shy at I shake A package arrived at our house a few days before Christmas packaged in cheery gift wrappings None of your business she said with a mysterious grin that suggested artifice Natural the old appetite was whetted I shrugged smiled and attempted to read the Urge print discernible through the gift wrapping reasoning it must be a Christmas present intended for me After repeated attempts to decipher the type through the wrapping retired upstairs where I tore it off in large pieces of paper frustration Then I got the message BORN IN RAISED EVERYWHERE it read the box a cardboard container with no other distinguishing marks If haven guessed now contents revealed a shining new toilet seat Apparently we had worn our old one out The replacement was guaranteed to provide satisfactory service It was duly installed with appropriate ceremonies to mark the occasion and totally forgotten until last week It was at this point I picked up the Milton Champion and a related subject popped up In the column authored by Roy Downs He picked up a fresh and amusing viewpoint from Claude Urns Gate Tunes out in British Columbia which sheds further light on a subject always treated with the utmost delicacy and diplomacy Who says there a no humor in Canada weekly press An English lady making plans to visit Switzerland for Christinas holidays wrote to a country hotel for a room reservation She ended the letter saying as she Britishty phrased it that she preferred as close as possible to a WC water closet or toilet The innkeeper s English was sparse so be took the letter to his friend the parish priest and asked his help with the interpretation of C The priest mulled this over a long time and then finally the dawn broke I got it of course she means our Waj side Chapel Very pleased to tune the problem solved the innkeeper hastened to write to the English lady Dear Madam It is with great pleasure I am able to inform you that we have a loiely room reserved for your visit and that there is indeed a C to attend to your devotions ft is located only two miles from the Inn in a beautiful grove of pine trees which gives a feeling of serenity to the visitor We will be most pleased to arrange transportation for you during your stay with us It may surprise you to know that our C holds over people at a sitting and for the convenience of tourists it open on Thursdays as well as Saturdays It is a good idea to go as early as possible in order to get a good seat as sometimes standing room only is available which is especially hard on some of the older ladies On Sundays a good number of people take picnic lunches to the W a day of it while others take a bus or a horse carriage and usually arrive only just time would recommend Madam arrange to go on Thursday evenings when there are Photo by Bill Stuckcy my head sadly It seems that every third person you meet has a twisted ankle or sprained shoulder or bent bum Then there the gongs The only between motorcycle gang and a snowmobile gang Is the the time of year Both are likely to be half stoned and both arc prone to vandalism and indifferent to the feellnRs of others There s only one thing more boring and annoying than the abuses of the things And that is the constant conversation about them at practically any gathering of people anywhere in midwinter Boring It s enough to make the mind boggle One used to go to a party and have a party One used to curl and sit around af ter wards discussing the game One used to sit in the teachers staff room with a group of fairly intelligent people and talk about cabbages and kings and sealing wax and things Now all you hear is a melange of carburetors and tracks and horsepowers and feats of derringdo most of the latter gaming in each interminable repetition I know they wonder why I don t eat lunch in the staffroom any more But I rather sit in the cafeteria with noisy students than In the staff room with twelve or fourteen snowmobilers bellowing at each other each trying to top the other story I told you I t going to write a diatribe And I won t The car started this morning Classes went well My wife in a decent mood on two essays And it was a beautiful day before that silver lining turned into a black cloud no regular services but there is organ Although the W C dates back to the century the acoustics are excellent and even the most delicate sounds may be heard in the halls It may also interest you to know that our daughter first met her future husband who was guest at the hotel in the W C arid they were later married there by our parish pr est We are also very proud of our unusual bell donated by a wealthy visitor which rings every time someone makes an offering my wife has a rather delicate condition and so she has not been able to attend regularly as a matter of fact it is almost a year now since she last went It grieves her very much not to be able to go more often as can imagine In conclusion we hope your stay with us will be most happy so please let me know if you wish a special seat reserved for you for the season at the There is a small service charge but it will ensure you an upholstered seat We also suggest you bring your camera as the evening candle lighting ceremony in the W C Is very colorful and it a beautiful sight to see the light playing on the fountains Some come with cheer some with chanty but all leave satisfied Yours obedient servant THE INNKEEPER Off the cuff The best way to remember your wife s birthday is to forget it once Don t complain about your didh pick you either The stork is often held responsible for circumstances which might be better attributed to a lark Need new directions vital part of the town a social and recreational activities the future of Acton M C A Is being discussed by board members members of the Mens Club in an effort to come up with a solution to some of the organlrnlion ills Many of the activities which made the a beehive of activity In the post have been usurped by schools recreation committees other organizations This has led to a gradual loss of Interest both by the public thosL charged with operating the facility with the exception of few dedkntid people who have to flagging Interest and Instill now lift Into the organization I here Is no doubt the people attempting to keep the YMCA tunc an an part of the town lift have been waging on uphill battle apathy and disinterest as well as dealing a building that Is becoming obsolete for the purposes Intended Iherc Is n genuine need to seek directions for the If It Is to remain as an integral part of the town life committed to the taBk have Important decision to moke In the discussions of the Y future Imaginative solutions needed It would be a tragedy if the organization which has supplied so much good to Acton and district should die from the twin diseases of public apathy lack of funds to operate a modern facility Economy on the move There a new optimism in financial circles that suggests the current depressed mood of the economy will change to a much brighter picture over the months immediately ahead Unemployment and bleak prospects coupled with the tight money situation created a lack of confidence in the economy that reflected In consumer spending Now it appears the Canadian consumer is In a more mood than at any lime In 1070 this is taken as clear evidence by The Financial Post that the only place the Canadian economy can go from here is up Dig Improvement that Is creating optimism Is the stepup plans to expensive things as houses and ears coupled with encouraging news about prices and credit also puts the serious unemployment situation In more promising perspective The number of Jobs looking for people may overtake the number of people joining the labor force In the latter half of and Is expected that then the rate of unemployment will drop But It won happen fast enough to keep the year from recording high unemployment totals Gloom spreaders of course would have us believe that a million unemployed can be expected before the situation clears up a figure which would he catastrophic if it materialized Government are more optimistic about the future of the job market but It is clear that it could bo well Into before they can talk about full employment It appears from the opinions of the experts thnt a return to economic buoyancy will depend on restoration of business confidence which In turn hopefully will lead to Increased employment as the situation Improves rhls is the feeling government Is trying to propagate and Canadians are hopeful It turns out that way only much speedier than the predictions Pornography on the shelves It has been our opinion that the least amount of censorship the better This was based on the idea that censorship might suppress some of the baser instincts but in the process also destroyed the motivation for finer things as well We had no reason to doubt this view Censorship imposed during the imposition of the War Measures Act for instance threw a blanket over many of the things we felt the public was entitled to know If censorship had been imposed in Viet Nam the American public would not be fully aware of the tragedies of war Lately however exposed to several movies and some publications we would label obscene we wonder if censorship isn t the answer to the filth peddlers We ve been inclined to the view before that people would recognize pornography when they see it and refuse to allow it into homes or places of business But this no longer is true They arc doing the stuff up in such attractive glossy packages now that some people are being misled At one time you could be pretty sure pornography would be pretty shoddy material printed on poor quality paper Distribution was usually an under the counter deal with furtive looks for possible exposure Today you can walk into many bookstores find much more lurid material on the shelves done up In attractive covers and wide open for children or anyone else to peruse It undoubtedly is a good seller because many book stores have as much if not more of it than the less sensational material There are those who claim that reiding and leafing through this type of literature and Illustration does no one any harm In fact some supposedly learned people maintain exposure to pornography is good for the immature mind basing this supposition I suppose on their own personal habits Anyone with sense of course recognizes that If this was true then by the same token there is no merit in reading good literature You t possibly benefit What can be done about the problem then There no use leaving It to the police and the courts They are so bound up with legalities loopholes and obscure definitions of what pornography Is they arc almost completely Ineffective The Lincoln Post Express suggests that the women who arc so busy with this nonsensical women s rights business would go on rampage against the filth they could clean it up in a big way The paper suggests a baseball bat would make a convenient and handy weapon Fewer marches for rights ladies says the Post Express and a lot more righteous indignation against the tilth and perversion that is being peddled to your children Well we draw the line at marching mothers with baseball bats even If the police are looking the other way but the spirit of the editorial we endorse one hundred per cent It is time people took stock of who Is poisoning the minds of the young and did something about it making doubly sure it t enter their own homes years ago Taken from the issue of the Free Press Thursday January 23 Topping the Georgetown Industrial league this week is the Baxter Lab team who can also boast of downing Guelph Electric at Acton arena on Tuesday In the Georgetown games played every Monday Baxter has climbed from the bottomspottotheverytop and hope to take the league Players are Mel Jordan Bob Marshall Harold Robson Vic Masters Julian BUI Fields Jack Stewart Ray Somerville Robinson Ken Allen Lome Masale3 and coach Kerwin The Daughters of Knox was the name chosen by a group of Presbyterian teenage THE ACTON FREE PRESS PHONE torts when they met at the manse on Monday to organize a girls guild The group is for girls 12 to and Mrs A J Buchanan is the leader The following officers were nstalled Hon presidents Mrs H Mainprise and Mrs H Armstrong president Ruth Smith secretary Joan Ch treasurer Marilyn pianist Elizabeth crofts convener Betty Wilds Associated with Mrs Buchanan are Mrs Ritchie and Mrs K Mackenzie as the leaders Radio transmitting station on Centre Island was serviced with its two steel transmitting towers this week which were made at Engineering The new station is owned by Foster Hewitt Employees of the Bank of Montreal gathered at the Dominion Hotel for an Informal dinner party in honor of Mr and Mrs William Clayton He being transferred to Toronto Hunt made the presentation of an end table Miss Russell Oakville sent her wedding bouquet to her grandmother Mrs D Russell here Ed Jennings saw a robin on Cobble Hill 50 years ago Taken from the issueof the Free Press Thursday January There great sorrow and the keenest feelings of personal loss in many homes in Acton and the surrounding community today Yesterday there was laid tenderly at rest in Mount Pleasant cemetery Toronto the earthly remains of Dr Thomas Gray the physician beloved and esteemed by many indeed His services were besought year in and year out in snow and heat with very meagre holidays for years He served his community with a devotion that knew no reserve In August last while performing an operation on a patient he sustained a slight wound in the right hand Evidence of infection later followed and the poison went through his system His son Col A Gray returned from Winnipeg and his wife and daughter Miss Laura were at his bedside He was a councillor and a member of the committee arranging the war memorial He was a past master in Masonry and a Presbyterian of the old school Saturday afternoon the of Devonshire chapter of the I O D held a tea at the home of Mrs Bell in honor of Mrs MacDonald the retiring regent Alter an hour spent in sewing and conversation a dainty lunch was served In hours the mercury went from 10 below to above Mrs William Hall picked pansles out In her garden in full bloom Mr Harry Holmes Is filling the place station until his injured hand is better Council paid damages for his mare which received injuries falling in a ditch on Mill St 75 years ago Taken from the issue of the Free Press Thursday January 1896 On Monday evening a passenger train going west struck a man walking on the track near The stranger Is from Florida and was looking for work He spoke of starting a barber shop in He stayed in Ltmehouse Sunday night He was about years old Deaths recorded Maggie Grant Limehouse age Christopher Moffat Campbeliville years struck by a train Isabella Miller Osprlnge years George Little now of Hamilton years William J Hill in Guelph hospital years Alice Ford Johnson Trafalgar 22 Mary Livingstone eldest daughter of Rev James Livingstone in Kincardine Douglas Cameron Arms Toronto seven years twin sons of P Falconbridge age nine months and days and nine months and 24 days Mrs John of celebrated her 101st birthday Messrs J and A Symon have their new stock of hardware tinware Jewellery and patent medicines opened up Mr J Guelph been appointed collector of customs to fin the vacancy caused by the death of Collector Hefferman last week This being leap year the new woman will have better opportunity than ever to show ber superiority over the old man Miss Sowler of is in town for the purpose of taking pupils In oil painting