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Editorial Page Eight cents a lick We have to go along with the Fergus NewsRecord which editorially called the rise of first class letter rates to eight cents on January l as being psychologically 111 timed Almost everybody one sees is grumbling about the Christmas hiatus gap in service which amounted to about five days considering that mail scarcely got moving until Thursday NewsRecord comments Some people do continue in business In that week between the holidays and they were put to substantial inconvenience as well as some monetary loss We don expect postal employees to go back to 12 hour days or miss the holiday season any more than anyone else but we do think hours and service of the post office during the week between Christmas and New Years left a lot to be desired Surely there is Nowhere to go Smiley Photo by Bill Stuckey Either Im slowing down or life la speeding up Probably both which is one reason so these days The other reason is that I ve always been confused For one thing the new tax legislation It may be manna to lawyers and accountants but to the ordinary rather stupid Canadian like me it like wandering around in a bog in a fog blindfolded What did I do before Valuation Days were announced Nothing I have a clue where to start and besides the whole thing had about as much fascination for me as a January sale Now I discover that I should have valued some of my precious antiques and stuff so that I could pay taxes on them when they Increase in value Well I havent any stamp collections or coin collections or paintings that are going to increase in price steadily I don t have a summer cottage which seems to be a bad thing to have according to the papers But I do have some antiques Theres the violin for example Its an authentic hand made instrument My Uncle Tom made it about years ago and somehow it came into my possession No one in the family has played it because there Is only one string the bridge is broken and the frame warped Therefore it not just Junk but almost pristine and surely is Increasing in value daily The case in which it is enclosed is equally antique Id say about 1850 vintage I definitely slipped up there That thing could be worth as much as KB in ten or twelve years and I got it for nothing How much will a government snatch from mcin capital gains for that I And the beds of course They are genuine antiques My mother bought them at an auction sale and they must have been 100 years old then We Inherited them and they re probably priceless by now How about my hip waders If they re not antiques 1 11 eat your hip waders They re so old I can t remember when I bought themandtheyarefullofgenuincholes Just Ike old furniture And where does my woodpile come in One of my oaks blew down last summer and I had it cut into firewood Now I didnt pay for the oak when I bought the property and I Do I pay capital gains tax on if Enough of that I m becoming steadily more worked I can see my enure estate going down the drain to the greedy tax collector Something else has me just about as puzzled Its the educational system Its different in every province so that you can learn as much in twelve years in Manitoba as you can in thirteen years in Ontario That is understandable because of the difference in climate the only reason I can think of But a whole new frightening aspect of the blackboard Jungle Is being introduced in my province It probably something the Yanks tried out ten years ago and found un workable and have since abandoned That the way Canadian education at its worst How would you like to work seven days a week weeks of the year along way from Not a pleasant prospect is ft But those are the hours for sailors stewards waiters and the help that goes to make up the complement of a cruise ship plying the Caribbean which our party of four Canadians joined at Miami this fall I talked to several of the fellows hired to look after our personal needs while we cruised from Miami to Key West from there to Nassau In the Bahamas and back to Miami skirting Cuba because old Fidel had been making loud noises about craft invading his territorial waters around that time When I left you last week in this travelogue we were on our way to Naples on the Gulf Coast where we tied up overnight after a look at the millionaires shacks lining the coast Ii the house owners werent millionaires then they should have been From Naples we caught Alligator Alley a four bine road that narrows Into a wide two lane and crosses a large segment of the Everglades and the home of the Seminole Indians Our destination Fort Lauderdale where we proposed to hole up for a couple of days until it was time to catch the boat or ship beg your pardon Crossing that vast swamp was almost like Journeying across Equatorial Africa where Tartan and Jane swing the vines although trees were stunted There was water in abundance swamp buggies for hunters and oodles of fishermen after the many species of piscatorial beauties which frequent the pools and eddies that run almost continuously along the road The two hour drive was uneventful except for a deer Charlie observed at the edge of the road and a state trooper serving a speeder a ticket We were soon In Fort Lauderdale where enough part time help available so wicket and sorting service could be maintained at the same hours as the business community operates Theres no sense blaming your local post office for a situation which was Canadawide Orders obviously came down from above since there was a similar situation across the country The public was exceedingly annoyed and the simultaneous introduction of the eight cent first class letter rate didnt exactly throw any balm on the irritation If millions of dollars are available for all sorts of other makework projects surely some of it could be allocated to the post office so they could maintain a workable holiday schedule suitable to management employees and public alike As others see it seems to operate Beginning next September the kids and their parents choose what subjects the kid will take in high school So far so good Ive always been opposed to the old rigid system under which you had to take math or French or something you were hopelessly inept at I think there should be lots of options But surely this is going a bit far The provincial government with the aid of has spent millions and millions of dollars setting up schools with all manner of equipment especially In the technical departments Different subjects lets say English and History will be vying for students so that teachers won t lose jobs The History department will make its ploy by showing picturesof nude statues of Rome and Greece and the Renaissance But I ve laid my plans too We re going to lay in a supply of dirty modem novels and also give everybody at least per cent Don t tell me that a 13 or 14 year old will choose anything except what he thinks are the easiest subjects This could lead to courses in basket weaving archery or mope and gawkery And what do I do if the principal informs me that nobody wants to take English next year I not a bit worried I am convinced I can cook better than some of the Home Economics teachers and could fit in nicely there I know the first four letters of the Greek alphabet and could teach Greek in a pinch With the knowledge that the world would be a better place without excess consumption of alcohol proponents of a tolerant attitude to the use of drugs are off the beam in using as an argument that because we have alcohol we should have drugs Two wrongs have never made a right and to argue that because many people drink they should also be allowed to use drugs is a trap into Editorial notes The Bruce Trail News reports that the Radial line Trail from to Acton will likely be completed sometime in the Spring of 1972 The trail is being built mainly by the Radial Line Association of Guelph and partly by a committee of the Toronto Bruce Trail Club It follows the old electrical railway line Main problem to date according to the News is circumventing a large block of land owned by a member of Premier Bill Davis cabinet Information about the brail can be obtained from Jim Pierce at Cadillac Drive Guelph which many are falling One has only to read the dally news to realize how much more dangerous a situation we have with a generation seemingly bound to destroy itself in a fantasy world scorning the work ethic and a moral code which has taken centuries to evolve Some of the eastern countries seem much more aware of the dangers and have imposed the death penalty for A lot of people nowadays have a Sc M A or but they dont have a J O B The Halton County Board of Education isnt trying to separate children from their pert pet turtles according to Emerson Lavender assistant to the director of education and there is ho truth to a rumor that says they want to limit the sale of pet turtles to zoos educational institutions and authorized persons Hes right It is the Halton Board of Health not Education which supported that We hear considerable comment from citizens about service in the local post office much of it unfair but one we have heard considerably In the last few weeeks is the reluctance to fix the front door on the north side of the building Apparently It has been broken and unusable for some time We understand situations like these are out of the hands of the local postmaster He must rely on the Public Works Department to make repairs It is time the post office department gave the local more authority over such niggling matters allowing them more autonomy to suit conditions of their particular area Often decisions made regarding post office policy are suited to large cities but dont fit the milieu of small town and rural post offices drug trafficking Unless we are prepared to with the drug question much more firmly than we have to date we may be phasing out our world as we know it A nation can have the best of everything but if its citizens are unhealthy it is doomed to eventual destruction And that appears to be where we are heading The Georgetown Herald resolution It is possible the rumor started from a Free Press editorial which mistakenly pinned the blame on education not health The Board of Health has taken the stand because turtles spread salmonella The Bruce Trail News also notes with some sarcasm that development of the Conservation area has given conservation a new meaning Judging by the extent of roads being bulldozed through the area it must be under development as a motor raceway the News observes we promptly got lost in the maze of canals and apartment buildings Eventually we found the beach where it was proposed to spend the night in a suitable motel picked out by the women in the party since our choice of accommodation had been found to be border line whatever that means We discovered that motel rooms along the coast run around per couple in the offseason And that settled the situation quickly After scouting around on Shanks Mare we found delightful accommodation one block off the beach with full kitchen facilities and a kidney shaped pool for half the price The proprietor had also run up a Canadian flag on the flagstaff which was an added inducement for homesick travellers So there we stayed from Saturday until Monday venturing forth only to shop visit the Gold Coast Railroad and swim in the Continued on Page 20 years ago Taken from the is a of the Free Press Thursday January 1952 With a record vote on Monday to decide who will be Mayor of Acton for 1952 B D Acton merchant won a close race and was elected to the chief post in Acton The contest narrowed down between Ted Tyler who was mayor last year and a former reeve and councillor When the votes were tabulated Mr plurality was seven over Mr Tyler vote C Hansen a Councillor for someyears and who served years on the C ran third with Nicol also a former Councillor fourth Of the total possible vote of there were 1079 counted and nine spoiled There were per cent of the voterajmt Mr Rachlin has been a resident of Acton for over years He came here from Toronto and conducts a very successful ladies and mens wear store and also a jewellery business He is a member of the Men club Rev W G died suddenly at his home Monday evening He is rector of St Acton and St John During his ministry a parish hall was added to both Acton and Milton Duncan Moffat was elected chairman to the township school area board Overcrowding in the school is of particular concern this year A petition signed by ratepayers was presented to council against the turkey farm operated by Wes Wolfe Rev R H Armstrong is chairman of the library board Acton has had a library board since Over 1200 readers borrow books from the on the ground floor room of the M C A Student pastor Douglas was given an unanimous call by members of Acton Baptist church 50 years ago Taken from be Issue of the Free Press Thursday January 10 The annual meeting of Acton Horticultural Society held last Friday revealed the fact their operations were very satisfactory The spring distribution included sweet peas and nasturtium seeds half dozen gladiolus bulbs two boxes mixed each member In fall daffodil narcissus and hyacinth bulbs were distributed In the spring the society plants flowers in the Memorial Plot at the Soldiers Monument and tulip bulbs in the fall Officers elected president J Gamble first vicepresident Mra H Moore directors Miss Laura Gray Miss Elizabeth Graham Mrs L Gregory Moore Lawrence Williams B Bay lias H Masales Bauer A Mochrie Mrs Mac Donald who has been the very efficient and painstaking secretary of the society since its organization four years ago expressed her desire to be relieved of the office Kind words of appreciation were spoken H A Coxe announces the following new prices on Ford cars which are now effective truck touring runabout couple sedan A letter was received on Saturday by Mrs G H Brown from Harold Allin thanking her for a sweater sent to him through the Red Cross in 1918 It evidentally travelled overseas and back THE ACTON FREE PRESS PHONE Business and Editorial Office again for two or three years before reaching him at his farm in the Parry Sound district The rural mail carriers would very much appreciate having names on the mail boxes Regular couriers of course know your box but sometimes they have assistants who are not so well acquainted A very ingeniously contrived still has been seized at Milton Officers secured a two gallon jug of home brew Themannamed was fined 75 years ago Taken from the of the Free Press Thursday January The first session of the newlyorganized county council of was held at Milton on Tuesday The eight members representing the four divisions made a rather lonesome appearance David Hulcheon of was elected warden Famine and plague are stalking hand in hand through India Subscription lists are being circulated to help these unfortunates The cold snap is causing a great deal of distress to the poor in the large American cities The comparatively large audience which assembled in the hall last Friday evening to bear the concert under the auspices of the band had a real treat The concert was probably the beat ever given In HHlsburg The singing of Miss Jessie Nicklin of Acton was received with tremendous applause Miss Walker Will Stark and Harry Jeans also took part from Acton Quite a number of pupils from Acton are attending Guelph Collegiate Institute and one or two Guelph Business Colleges Those who bewail the absence of good old fashioned winters should now be satisfied Acton Temperance Union held a delightful at home Among the musical numbers and recitations were Temperance Ball Rolling Collins Beware tbeDrfak Not Drink the Ruby Wine Rock of Ages What Tommy Did and Save me Boy Rev struck a responsive note when be advocated a library provkttng a place for young men to spend the evenings rather than in the taverns fa town Be further suggested so effort be made to open a gymnasium with an athletic director It be a benefit to our town if these suggestions are discussed and acted upon