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DURING A TOUR of Samte Mane among the near Midland teacher Miss Patricia Nelson on the far right of Acton instructs her deaf students on the Huron Indian culture Miss Nelson Is using a sign language alphabet as well as speaking so her students can lip read From the right is Maria 15 of Hamilton Heather Gibson 4 Creemore and Gail 16 of Agincourt The girls are students at the Ontario School for the Deaf in Milton and were among several students from the school who lived in at the mission They slept in fireplace heated dwellings and prepared their meals century style over an open fire and ma hotcoal oven Samte Mane was built by French Jesuit priests in the middle as a mission head quarters among the Hurons The Ontario government undertook reconstruction in and the historic site Photo by Midland Spread the wealth around Bill SMILEY Cross my heart I won I write another column about my trip to Germany After this one But I may never be treated a again so you 11 just with me Highlight or the trip for my kid brother was Lunch With The General lie organized It and as the time approached there was so much excitement about it that I began to get the foiling I wis going have lunch with God Unacquainted as I am with the military hierarchy and unimpressed as I am with rank 1 expect I didn show the proper awe but It was impressed on fftim all sides thai It was a signal honor I know what kind of a line my brother shot about but it must have good one It seems that The General just normally invite smalltown columnists to lunch or anything else It much of a lunch The General is a spartan type one of those Infuriating people who get up and jog in the morning are on the job at a work like fury and have no bad hub Is There was a gaggle of American one twostar generals present anil two other Canadians Colonel Smiley and Brig tun Joey a westerner THE General David Jonts has four stars about as as they handout and Is Commander In US Air He greeted pleasantly sat me on his right and after some desultory luncheon talk gave me a lucid exposition of the military picture and kept waiting Jar me to ask intelligent penetrating questions I didn have any He threw my brother a compliment telling me the kid was his right hand man when it came to liaison w ith the French My brother beamed I threw a little cold water on him by reminding him that he always so smart I used to borrow half his paper route money from him every Salur day night and still owe him He countered with a reminder that he was keeping track and at compound interest it the neighborhood of 0 Oh Anyway the general made me feel safer about the Warsaw Pact people on the other of the Iron Curtain They have more of everything should hostilities break out but we have better hardware for both and attack Mori fun than the lunch with the general was a paid to the Canadian school at Only kids and seven teachers an idtal educational situation The kids have it lucky and know it So do the liachers Hire I was at home Teased the kids about not having long hair scared them about the big sausage- factory schools were going back to signed autographs on copies of my column they had and went for a ride in a simulated spaceship with four little guys A lively croup of youngsters who are seeing a lot of Europe but who all signified they d be glad to get home lo Teachers young and friendly wishing they could stay on an extra year Principal Warren of Itegina said it a a great experience young English teacher Tanner a Kincardine boy reads my column in the hometown paper and re produces some of them for the students One more party to go to an all Canadian bash It wis formal dress for officers I had none and wanted to tag along in my blazer and flannels but the kid brother is a man for none am He dug duds and the result was some- thing to see tan you picture your faithful correspondent in a pink evening shirt with ruffles down the front a huge black bow tie a black evening jacket big enough for two of him black evening trousers cutting him in two my brother is shorter held up by a pair of red skiing braces My wife was horrified when I told her but I looked rather dashing Off in the morning groggy with fatigue for the mad dash home to by to Gatwick by plane to Ottawa Ottawa to Trenton First casualty of trip They taken off my bag at Ottawa Slept at officers mess borrowed razor in morning had breakfast with Padre most sensible chap I d metinfivedays Bag had ami Bummed rldetocity with Bill Major andhis dog was running down Including yours truly From Lunch With The General to sharing an old station wagon with a dachshund Long dreary bus ride Con bus late Snowing Finally home feeling like a skeleton And I knew the V I was back to his usual Very Unimportant Person status when my wife after bussing me heartily pro claimed Bill I e hid a terrible time with those cats tut as we say in the movies Those of us who live within the periphery of large cities with Its attendant inflated living prices would not view the 156 announced recently as the average weekly wage for Ontario workers as being over abundant However there are those parts of Ontario which He well beyond influence of the cities where the average wage would seem to be far above what the average worker makes Take for Instance The Banner says We believe that with the exception of teachers registered nurses our top municipal employees and our policemen wed be safe in saying very few people In are up to that average And the Banner asserts there Is strong resentment over that fact Workers in the cities and larger centres around them usually work for companies where profit margins are substantially above industries in the smalt towns and this accounts for the difference but Lets not forget it is more costly to live in the cities than in a small town Nevertheless the Banner is right there is resentment regar ding the salaries of many public employees in the small towns of Ontario Wages of postal worker for instance are away ahead of what most people in a small town can hope to earn Employees of small businesses and factories are apparently expected to accept a lower wage scale part of their sacrifice for the advantage of living in a town or rural area while public employees are not Naturally the worker who is earning less resents having to fork over money in taxes to help pay people with similar educational background and doing the same work The inequality is there but It is a problem that wont be solved by paying public employees less Many public employees in the cities are just getting by on their wages unable to keep up with the escalating cost of living They are caught up in the price squeeze just as much as small town businesses and employers Making their wages less would only be making more people discontented The answer obviously then is in increasing the take home pay of those who live in smaller places and rural areas How could It be done Thats a problem for the politicians and the economists and one to which they are welcome but we suggest it means devising ways of spreading industrial growth around Ontario making it profitable and desirable It means improving public transportation in the small towns- better railway and bus service It means bending an ear towards the problems of those in the small townb spreading the population out so it is not concentrated in the Toronto Hamilton area of the province 11 means spreading the wealth of the province around so it is not controlled by Bay St James St or any other centralized heavily urbanied bureau ft means making small town living so attractive the city dweller will no longer wish to remain in the smog noise and less appealing of the city The unfortunate part of all these changes would be the growth of the small towns into small cities but that a price which would have to be paid Editorial Page B2 The Free Press Wed 15 The British are coming Great Britain once again took over the lead in providing migrants to Canada ousting the United States which led the migration in the previous two years Percentages show Britain provided 4 per cent of the 184200 newcomers while the U S was second with per cent or 25242 people Hong Kong Portugal Jamaica and India are the four next countries in line Canada was a more attractive place in than in because immigration was up 51 per cent over the previous year Ontario got the major part of the immigrants Centennial shapes up Good news to a has been town is the decision of the and firefighters to proceed with plans for a giant July 1 celebration of Actons centennial Rotary will have a chicken barbecue and firefighters plan their biggest fireworks display ever And more is promised including a special week by the merchants of the retail section of the Chamber of Commerce Many people have had the feeling nothing would be done to mark centennial since Acton was no longer a town Previous plans had fallen through and we attended up with that Tost feeling of having no council to back groups up Plenty more can be done Other groups like the Legion and Duke of Devonshire chapter of the I D E are quietly proceeding with their own special things But if more groups would opt in to the Rotary firefighter plan Actons big day can De even bigger It doesnt really take long to arrange our big birthday bash 56 per cent while the warm balmy climate of British Columbia attracted 2 per cent followed closely by Quebec per cent Almost per cent of the im migrants 79 per cent were under years of age showing the attractions of this vast country appeal to the young and strong those who want to carve a life for themselves in a comparatively new style Perhaps the most surprising figures during the last few years have been the number of im migrants from the United States where the tide used to flow from Canada Roles are reversed now with citizens of the S trekking north This is due in part to the number of Americans taking jobs with their own firms in Canada but is also a symptom of the magnetic attraction Canada has for Amen cans There are those who oppose immigration to Canada supposing immigrants take jobs from Canadians but experience in the past has shown they create jobs as well as enriching the country spiritually and culturally The Canadian mosaic may seem like an exaggerated concept but it becomes more real as immigration from the world multitudes con tinues to flow here THE ACTON FREE PRESS PHONE Editorial Office 20 years ago Taken from the Issue of the Free Press Thursday May 13 I9S4 Acton Rotary third annual Peanut Diy marked its best success to date Saturday when net revenue of about was tabulated Saturday s parade was a colorful event led by six local ladles stepping high and one young man Immediately behind came the band followed by the popular Planters float with its oversize human pea nuts Two nineyearold boys Carmen and Jack Hint on were the best on how many peanuts studded the oat Both boys submitted Arrangements for this year s Peanut Day were made by Vie Masters and Jim Ledger Decoration Day which its planning committee hopes will become an annual event for community will be held Sunday June20 A parade and brief service are planned Decision to hold Decoration Tor the town stemmed from the lake side chapter I O D E annual practice of decorating graves of servicemen and chapter members on Remembrance Day The Legion agreed to cooperate Vic Patrick was chairman of the com and Mrs A Orr secretary Marshal for the parade will be A J Buchanan Doug Manning owner of Manning is erecting a twostorey brick building at the corner of Mill and John Sis Ov 100 tots and their mothers attended the cradle roll tea at Knox Presbyterian church Wednesday afternoon Janice Baker was chosen to represent Acton high school in a Rotary sponsored trip to Ottawa Well baby clinics are conducted by Dr Bull nurses and staff of the county health unit third Friday In St Alban halt 50 years ago A new cement platform is under con struct Ion at the Canadian National Railway station here Several cars of cement and gravel hove armed The old platform was a well built one of threeInch pine plank and has done duty with sundry repairs since the erection of the present station It had gotten considerably out of repair Among me nurses who graduated at General Hospital on Monday were Misses Mary Mabel Boyd Acton and Nellie Jane Cook The first ball game of the season is scheduled for this evening when the Acton senior team and a team from Hillsburg arc to play In the park The officers of the Upper Canada Bible Society are arranging for a field day in the churches in town on Sunday May Four of the churches have opened their pulpits to Twenty six new members were received into the Methodist church In the Rock wood and circuit Infant was also administered at the evening service in Rock wood It Is a fine thing for any community when Mother Day is loyally observed The churches and Sunday schools In town made much of the occasion Even last Thursday evening when the rain was falling in lorrents a good sized audience in the town hall for the concert by Acton Citizens Band The general opinion Is that the band has never reached a higher state of efficiency To a Nassagaweva man goes the ex pensive distinction of being the first man to lose his auto under the new confiscation ruling He was charged with selling home brew Toronto His Ford louring was confiscated and he was fined 75 years ago One of the elderly ladles of this section is Mrs mother of Alex of lot con 3 I and a highly esteemed lady She is in her year and as independent as a matron of thirty On Tuesday having a few purchases to make and there being no conveyance coming to Acton she walked up the four mites and was as lively during her stay in town as a school girl It was a happy thought of Capt when he conceived the Idea of a dinner for Ihe officers and men of Company of the Scots and a of spending an enjoyable evening and of popularizing militia matters in On Friday the dining room of the Dominion Hotel was well filled with guests The menu was one of the finest ever given in town The town assessor returned the roll for IBM and showed that the total assessment was 105 as follows real estate personal property BO Income MOO population children between ages of and 16 between and years between IS and 104 dogs bitches The merchants of Acton covenant with one another to close their places on the evenings of Monday Tues day and Thursday from May to Sep tember IS Had their agreement Included the closing of stores at or on Saturday evenings It would have been a wise action No considerate person would compel merchants to keep open until mid night every Saturday of the year