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Page 4 THE OAKVILLE-TRAFALGAR JOURNAL, Thursday, March 23, 1950 The Oakville-Trafalgar Journal Member Canadian Weekly Newspapers Association Published Every Thursday Morning in Oskville, Ont., by. Oakyville-Trafalgar Publishers, Ltd. 7 Dunn Street North S. Casey Wood, Jr, Vincent H. Barrey Managing Editor Advertising Manager Bill Cotton, Editorial Assistant Phone 1298 | The Right Technique The Oakville Public School Board is to be com- mended for its action in having raised rates paid to teachers to a comparable level to those paid in Tor- onto. But. there should be no relaxing on its part-- the same action should be taken as soon as Toronto | rates increase. Oakville is not a community which i should be content with indifferent teachers . . . we can afford to pay for the best, and we should have the best. We do not believe that any taxpayer will really begrudge the taxes paid for education, as long as he | knows that those charged with the responsibility of | spending the money are making sure that the children Li will receive the best possible instruction . . . and that fa buildings are suitable for the number of students. This brings the question of Central school to J niind, and ft is one that the school board will have i to cope with as soon as possible. Additions to exist- pid th ing buildings are to be encouraged, so long as the present structures are sound and of a suitable con- ! 1 dition. But such is not the case with the present i Central School building. The stairs alone reveal the | age of the entire structure, and it is most question- | able if additional money spent to expand the huild- ing would be wise in view of this age. I A new start raises a problem for the board, and Ji for the taxpayers, but certainly some solution i should be found in the near future, and plans be in- stituted to impliment them immediately. It is a weighty problem, which will take considerable pon- Rdg dering, but the school board has shown it is aware of a problem . . .and its solution, while it may cost money, will undoubtedly take into consideration not only present conditions but future expansion. For let no one get the idea that Oakville has stopped its expansion. There. will be many more homes built and occupied in Oakville, even if other centres reach their saturation point. Oakville is an ideal place for family life--and that means more and more child- ren for the schools to handle. Let's Form One One of the anomalies of Oakville life seems to us to be the lack bf a ratepayers' association. Yow'll hear plenty of individuals discussing their taxes, and the advisability of adding to the town's funded debt in order to add some service to those available in the community--but most of the individuals are ill in- formed on what the funded debts stands at, and have little idea of the actual benefits to be derived from the proposed additional service. A ratepayers' association provides an opportunity for the individual to find out the answers, raise his objections and have them satisfied or have them tak- en up with the town council by the association on his behalf. It also provides a valuable service in that it can act, through its elected officers, with rapidity on some matter which vitally effects all members of the community. The Chamber of Commerce, to a limited extent, undertakes some of the functions that could be per- formed completely by such an association. But the Chamber's real functions have not got as much to do with the matters we refer to as would an association of ratepayers. The Chamber is responsible, primarily, for the interests of commercial enterprises . . . and its watchdog brief on such matters serves a decided need of our industries. It would seem that a ratepayers' association could easily be formed, if only the individuals who have so much to say on town affairs individually, would gather themselves into one place, and one or- ganization, and give tongue together. It is our guess that the membership would expand with rapidity, and the townsfolk would then have an instrument avail- able for furthering their interests with the town fath- ers. For example, to mention (bravely) trees! Had there been a ratepayers' association in existence at the time of the widening of Colborne Street, then the town council would have had better representations made to it of the entire town's opinion, than could possibly be provided to it by the few public spirited citizens who devoted a great deal of time to gathering opinions and presenting them. How does a ratepayers' association come. about? Well, the South Hast Trafalgar Property Owners' Association did come 'to its present active form by a Topsy-like growth. A few individuals who believed that the association was necessary got together, spent some time on it, and today have a flourishing organization and membership to justify their expen- diture of time. Possibly the Chamber of Commerce in town could be the starting force, or two or three in- dividuals might start things rolling. An association can get underway with only one member at the start __. the others will come quickly if there is the need, and we believe there is. The planning board have representatives of the SE. Trafalgar Property Owners' Association at its meeting to advise it on matters pertaining to the area that the association represents. In considering town matters representatives of a town property owners' RANT OINNA Trafalgar Tales BY BESSIE CAIRNS A COMMON TONGUE I have often heen asked how I managed to make myself under- stood when travelling alone in a foreign country and have replied, "All you need is a quantity of American cigarettes and the ability to say "How much?" and "Too much." Actually it wasn't as simple as that. I ran into dif ficulties in China, Greece, Turk- ey, Korea and Guatemala that though amusing in retrospect were pretty disconcerting at the time. Yet when we use the express- ion "We speak the same lang- uage" we do not imply a com- mon knowledge of English, Hin- dustani, Chinese, = Esperanto, but rather a common bond of under- standing. According to Mario Pei author of "The Story of Lang- uage" no common bond of un- derstanding is possible without a i He 7 nothing would so quickly disarm the prejudice, fear and hatred that will otherwise seek recourse to weapons. He states his case quite simply. Swiss children can learn French and German, South African children English and Afrikaans and there is no reason why in the next genera- tion any child capable of learning anything should not be equipped with a new universal language. All of which reminds me of a a wealthy American businessman who wished to take a trip around the world shortly after the first story I once read. It was about]. . . of a conducted tour but speak- ing only English (or American) didn't know how he could man- age alone, He advertised for a companion who could speak sev- eral languages and receiving a satisfactory reply from one, Boris Vasilishoff, they set out. The trip was a great success and never once did they have any linguistic troubles. On returning to New York the American said to Boris, "My it must be won- derful to speak so many lang- uages I certainly envy you. Boris who had by this time been generously paid replied, "But I speak only two languages." "What?" said the American, "How did you manage to arrange accommodations and guides in all the foreign places we visted?" "Quite simply," replied the im- perturbable Boris, " as soon as the. boat docked I inquired if anyone spoke any Russian. I invariably found a white Russian hanging. around the ship and I hired him to arrange everything for us." Surely our language experts could answer the world's needs as simply as Boris answered the American's. Recently while reading a re- view of the movie "Malaya" in a Toronto daily paper I came across the word "derring-do." I like that I said to myself, a good old-fash- ioned word and a bit of a change from so much '"cloak-and-dag- ger." Next I read the New York- er's review of "Malaya." . .. with plenty of old-fashioned derring- do" . . . turning to Time I found " before abandoning itself to derring-do the film tries" . . . . Shucks, it's 1950 and time for 'daring action." Could be I read too much. world war. He disliked the idea | Having ambled to within two or three short years,of that famous age which some deluded writer hopefully dubbed: "When life be- gins," I was forced to pause this week and reluctantly admit that I am forced by circumstances, including a twinge of lumbago, to heartily disagree with these Thodern Ponce de Leons. In fact, I am goaded in desperation by perspiration and shaky knees to conclude that life for me must have begun way back near the first part of the Paeleolithic age. A few brisk sets of tennis, fol- lowed by a swim and an evening of dancing, used to be steady Saturday fare which I took in my lithe, springy stride. Now such a program would just be open de- fiance of a mortuary. Thirty six holes of golf was once just an enjoyable stroll. But this sum- mer, I'm afraid, it will turn out to be a pass to the new memor- ial hospital. A cold, needling shower used to put pep into this particular systern, but not any more. Now it is plainly courting double pne- umonia. And am I glad Tve learned to get up in decent time in the morning, because I'd nev- er be able to make that last min- ute 30-second sprint to the office. It isn't that I'm any better at waking up, of course. It's just that I can't seem to sleep the way IT used to. Not that my beard has sprout- ed so luxuriantly that the gals NOT YET, ANYWAY leap up tol offer me a seat on the bus or street car. It's just that I figure I'd better coast a bit as I start down the other side of that well known hill. So, instead of speeding the time when I'll be pushing up pe- tunias, I now saunter slowly. along the street admiring the trees and the birds, and all the are beginning to think association would, undoubtedly, be equally welcom _. and certainly should be of assistance. It is not right that taxpayers should throw the burden of mun- icipal affairs that effect them on the shoulders of a few willing citizens, or be unready to express them- selves on important matters. The association would fill a need. i that Im a confirmed nature lov- er. Nature?' Nuts, it's the old ticker that has called the shot. After a half hour of snow shovelling, I find that the steam PUFFS FROM THE COTTON GIN has long since seeped away. Just a couple of weeks ago, after a stint with those downy drifts, in- stead of my back snapping into place when I tried to straighten up, the knots were unfathomable even by an expert like Scouter Vince Dunstan. And I firmly ex- pect that, after I've weeded out the pansies next summer, it will take at least two hours and 40 minutes to extricate my head from between my knees. Twenty years ago, I could wolf down hamburgers smother- ed in onions at 4 a.m. without any sign of a complaint from a seem- ingly cast iron interior. Even at 30, I could bolt old cheese to the very last luscious morsel. But lately its getting so I have to use very gentle persuasion to get my stomach to begin to accept a poached egg with bread and milk. T even have a bit of trouble With martinis and cuba libres, By 50, TI expect to have gotten around around to existing on cambric tea. I thought for a while I could be smart and outwit that ultra sluggish 'feeling in the early mornings. When pink pills failed to energize the old hulk, I switched to brown ones, then worked in rapid progression through blue pills, red pills, pur- ple pills and just plain white pills, But there weren't any vis- ible results, so I was forced to the conclusion that this degen- erating stomach of mine is not only color blind but completely unappreciative of the artistic in medical science. So next week, just for spite, I'm going to be- labor it with black pills. This creeping up on-40 is no joke. As a matter of fact, it's a blasted nuisance! « ° " Morosely Yours; BILL COTTON A Complete Investment Service _BONDS STOCKS on all Exchanges MACRAE AND COMPANY Investment Dealers 80 King St. W.--Toronto PHONE: EL 3374 within this battered old boiler 7-- ° Corr merid Since Knee-Hi, the Toronto Daily Star's: safety-teaching | dog, we haven't seen a program for educating youngsters on traffic safety that has been worth anything until the De- partment of Highways came along With their paint boolcl plan, Which is being made available to all, schools, It's clever, § | applealing . . . and we'd guess will be most effective. } Because its all for a good cause--and because the | are all worth having there are a lot of good 25¢ buys around Cement blocks for the Humane Society Shelter, the White-Oa: | LOD.E. annual house-to-house canvass, the Lions Club autos | mobile, the Rotary $1,000 bond, St. John's C.G.IT. doll, Juns | Radio. ior Chamber of Commerce Television set, LO.O.F. Admiral il Too Busy To Get Ready For A Party THEN LET US QUOTE ON YOUR NEEDS! FANCY CAKES, COOKIES & SANDWICHES OR'S D'EUVRES Showers, Parties, Weddings, Special Occasions FREE DELIVERY F. MORGAN-BROWN CATERING SERVICE Phone Oakville 616421 FOR ALL YOUR BUILDING AND REPAIR NEEDS .,. . Get your home spruced-up for spring by making all repairs and improvements now! For steps, shuttefs, | cupboards, shelves . . . whatever your needs, we haye the grade of lumber you want, priced to please! Yi will find all your other quality building needs here, top! ORDER NOW For Early Delivery On Millwork * Chas. F. Doty & So DUNDAS ST. N. PHONE ¥6 After Hours: 558-W or 670 Nowhere is the truth of this adage more dramatically reaffirmed than in the service of your health. For itis here, that the physician and the pharmacist combih¢ their particular and highly specialized skills to bribe you relief from illness. It is the physician who diag noses and prescribes. It is the pharmacist who trai lates the prescription into healing medicine. We a always ready, willing, and able to put our compouil ing skill at the disposal of physicians and at the se vice of their patients. i * Oakville Drug Co. Limited | | Phone 94 Colborne St. [FE ------ Len Hope, Mgr. directors ings fo | ation sin 'this sum permissi form a commun swhich!'w setup |W | tion/ Cor 8 3th without would minox b profits need for donation the asst 400 you itive, W¢ a payin Chaim full ag stateme ifer, the and wo baseball tained. to kick playoff netted playoff more: i West, penses the go Brant finish highly' $226 petitive but fin its the think to hay playing Bud ordinal work, T