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I Page 4 The Canadian Statesman, Bowmanville, April 2,1997 Elle Canabian Statesman Former Publishers and Partners Rev. John M. Climie and VV. R. Climie 1854 -1878 M. A. James, 1878 -1935 • Norman S. B. James, 1919 -1929 G. Elena James, 1929 -1947 • Dr. George W. James, 1919 -1957 Produced weekly by James Publishing Company Limited P.O. Box 190,62 King St. W., Bowmanville, Ontario L1C 3K9 905-623-3303 lnternet-statesman@ocna.org Fax 905-623-6161 For 142 Years, Our First Concern Has Been Our Community Publisher - John M. James Assoc. Publisher - Rick James Plant Manager - Rick Patterson Ad. Manager - Brian G. Purdy Editor - Peter Parrott Production Supervisor - Ralph Rozema, Suzanne Bennett, Kevin Britton, Sharon Cole, Laurens Kaldeway, Doug Lugtenburg, Barb Patterson, Jim Snoek, Vance Sutherland, Jim Tuuramo Advertising Editorial Laverne Morrison Brad Kelly, Lorraine Manfredo, Laura J. Richards Office Supervisor-Angela Luscher, Junia Hodge, Grace McGregor, Nancy Pleasance-Sturman, Marilyn Rutherford Weather Trivia What percentage of precipitation in Canada falls as snow? Is it: A) 36 per cent? B) 5 per cent? C) In Febntary, it seems like KX) per cent? or D) 15 per cent? If you picked 36 per cent (answer A), you can go to the head of the meteorology class. And, you'd probably do quite well on some of the other questions contained in the great Canadian Weather Quiz which is published annually to mark World Meteorology Day. Mind you, we can understand why many might choose answer C. Because Canada has so much variety in its weather (both within regions and within each season), Canadians are well- known as weather-watchers. And, we are also known as people who endlessly discuss weather and even mention it in editorials. editorials. Anyhow, why not try these questions on for size? Which provincial capital receives more snow on average each year? Is it Winnipeg, St. John's, Victoria, Quebec City, or Charlottetown. The answer is Charlottetown, believe it or not. It receives about 339 centimetres per year, inching out Quebec City at 337. Equally surprising is the fact that Winnipeg ranks fourth among the above five cities when it comes to total snowfall. Another question from the weather quiz pertains to safety in a lightning storm. A forest is described as the safest place to be when lightning strikes. In fact, it is safer than a swimming pool, baseball field, telephone booth or golf course. The explanation explanation is that, although you shouldn't be under a tree in a lightning lightning storm, there are so many trees in a forest that the chances of lightning striking one of them is slight. The most dangerous place to be during a lightning storm is a golf course. Other items of trivia from the Weather Quiz are as follows: Did you know that snow is more likely to fall in Winnipeg on a Monday than any other day of the week? Did you know that if it is 6 p.m. EST in Toronto, the time at the North Pole would be five hours later? Did you know that the Saguenay flood last summer produced as much rain as a two-month flow of water over Niagara Falls? This made the Saguenay flood one of the five worst storms in Canadian history, even surpassing surpassing Hurricane Hazel, which hit Toronto in 1954. So, there you go! You now have a selection of weather trivia trivia to impress your friends and neighbours. After all, if you can't do something about the weather, you might as well talk about it. Letters to the Editor Wolves are Here, Local Farmer Says Dear Editor; This is not a comprehensive biological study, but a letter from someone who has suffered livestock damage by wolves, coyotes, coydogs and packs of dogs. Dave Ruch (in a letter headline livestock not being attacked by wolves) must be advised that wolves do live south of Lindsay. They live on our farm (3rd concession, Bowmanville boundry). Most livestock producers in this area wished that they did live north of Highway #7 only. Coyotes do pose a threat to full grown livestock. They train their young to hunt. While they may appear small in comparison comparison to a cow, often times a cow is in a vulnerable position when sleeping or calving. Try to tell the farmer on Taunton Road near Orono that coyotes coyotes hunt alone when they killed nineteen lambs, 2 cows and 2 heifers (young cows). Several calves were never found after calving on pasture. Try to tell the neighbour who had two 500 lb steers killed in the field fifty feet from his house that they hunt alone. Try to tell the Oshawa Townline fanner that the coyote doesn't frequent buildings when he surprised die coyote with a cat in his mouth in his barnyard. Try to tell my neighbour who lives in the town of Bowmanville that coyotes are afraid of people. Coyote chased his dog onto the porch of his house. Because the groundhog and rabbit population is so low, they are turning to domestic animals. There are many similar factual cases to these in Tyrone, Blackstock, Kendal, Bethany and Newcastle. We are not just a bunch of farmers! We know the difference between wolves and coyotes. There is a large bush wolf that follows me when I cut hay in the back fields. There are small coyote pups playing in the hay fields with no fear of tractors. I would rather my taxes go for bounty money than the huge amount paid for predator damage. Check with the clerk's office for statistics. Now about the story of Little Red Riding Hood, do you know the story of Mary Had a Little Lamb? Well she did until the wolf ate it too. Thanks Rick, Jim Coomhes EDITOR'S NOTE - Let's hope the Municipality of Clarington is aware of this information. No Reason to License Cats In Clarington Dear Sir: Licensing Kitty - on what grounds? My family lives with two spayed cats who only leave my house to visit the vets. What cost are they to the community? I can understand charging for the filth left by dogs, or more correctly, by their owners, which can be viewed in any recreational recreational area in the Town. But a cat, even if let out, is usually "discreet" in doing its business, I have experienced very few disagreeable sights or smells from neighbourhood cals, as compared with the dogs in the area. If the Council needs money, let it look elsewhere for it - preferably to areas that are causing costs, Yours truly, George Litter EDITOR'S NOTE - So long as the cals are kept indoors, who's going to notice they don't have a licence? Council at Waverley P.S. Opposes Out-Sourcing The following is a copy of a letter sent to Ontario's Education Minister. Dear Mr. Snobelen: It has ben suggested by your government that the School Council be given more power. There is a limit to what.a School Council can achieve, however there are issues .that we need to make a firm statement on. We feel it is important to express our views, regarding the restructuring as it deals with the possibility of out sourcing of non-teaching staff, and specialized teaching staff. Present out sourcing has. led to safety issues for the children. Contractors are not ' always as safety conscious and considerate of the community community as those working full time in our system. An exam: pie would be contracting of grass cutting where the safety of the children is at risk, where poor operation of equipment exists. Existing staff consider their jobs as a career and as such devote their time and a caring attitude to die students. Some contract workers are lower paid and in some cases are using the jobs as steps up to better employment, so diey will just do the minimum work required, Our school board (Northumbcriand-Clarington) assures us of the specialized training required for each position held in our schools. Will our contractors be required to , provide their employees with the same qualifications of present board staff? In closing, our School Council and parents in our community are concerned about the addition of strangers in our schools. Our children need die support, stability stability and safety of familiar faces on a daily basis. We need the security, of knowing that all adults in contact with our children have been cleared through a police check. Please give your full Outlook Time to do Some Home Improvements by Laura J. Richards consideration to our concerns regarding out sourcing. Today's children are our greatest resource. Don't short change them, INSTEAD positively react to our concerns as PARENTS! Sincerely, A.M. Harwood : . : L. Richardson ■ Members of Waverley Public School Council As spring creeps closer, and the waters of the Port Britain Creek rise and fall again (and again), landscaping has become a big priority in this homeowner's mind. This will be the year the ditches will be dug out and two long, contoured berms will be put into place to funnel water washing into our yard towards the ditches. A couple of weeks ago, during the big rain, I almost lost my cool a number of times while trying to dig a ditch along one side of the property- property- If you happened be driving by one ol those nights, all you would have seen would have been flailing arms attached to a spade. I held a small mag light clenched between my teeth as I worked away, hacking at the sod. I am sure 1 could have been mistaken for Tim 'The Tool Man' Taylor. This past winter has'been a learning experience for Gillian and I. To say the least. There have been some interesting discoveries -- like the awareness that water does indeed run down the old, unused chimney and creates interesting patterns on drywall. Guess we really do need to cap the chimney. Or, the discovery that the hole on the roof was not really fixed last summer. Or, learning that cluster flies are stupid, and make an easy protein supplement to our cats' diets. (Yuck!) Or, finding out the person who put in the septic system during during the 1960's can't remember where it actually is. He mentioned mentioned a cap that is supposedly close to the house, but we have not been able to find it. Perhaps once the horrible deck is taken off, the cap will be in view...we hope. Another thing that we have learned is that you never take anything for granted, especially fuel oil delivery. We ran out on the coldest weekend of the winter.. .brrrrrr! T I have discovered I enjoy decorative painting, stenciling and doing other crafty things. We are looking forward to building a dog house for Gina, the ever-present brown-eyed wonderdog, who is fitting in quite nicely...too bad the cats don't get along with her. She has decided she loves the new sunny yellow coverlet we put on the futon couch. Her dark fur looks so interesting intertwined with the fibres; Another project we have been thinking about that's pretty major is changing the kitchen. We've been buying a lot of magazines magazines which focus on kitchens, trying to get an idea of what we really want and need and (here's the kicker) fits into our budget. We want the usual stuff like a chest freezer, a freezerless freezerless refrigerator, a. double-sink, lots of below waist-height cabinets, cabinets, an island,'and places to hang our pots and wine glasses When people start thinking about renovation and outdoor projects, you know spring is not far away. Dear Editor: Today my dog died! Do you want to know why my dog died? Every morning my mother would take her for a walk in the field.of the Bowmanville Creek behind the town houses off Lawrence Cres. One morning during their daily walk, she came across a bag of garbage that was dumped there by someone. Like any dog, she ripped open the bag and went through it, eating some and getting very sick. After four days of vomiting, we had to take her to the vet. The vet did not know what was wrong with her, but said that it could cost a lot of money to find out. Our family could not afford this and had to put her down to end her suffering. Our family lost a beloved family member probably because someone couldn't properly dispose of their garbage. Luckily, a pet can be put out of its pain and suffering by putting it down, but a wild animal has to suffer before eventually dying. This dog was our pet which we enjoyed and loved for nine years before being brought down by an improperly placed bag of garbage. Daryl Stockman EDITOR'S NOTE - What more can we say? Thoughts Unlimited r by Rick James Name Finally in Print After many years of extensive research, former former classmate Don Childs has finally been able to put his work on paper and publish a book about T.S. Eliot. Thomas Stearns Eliot was a British poet, dramatist and critic who lived from 1888 to 1965. Don, Joe Dalrymple and 1 lived together while attending Queen's University in Kingston where we saw the beginnings of Don's interest in T.S. Eliot. Almost twenty years later, "T.S. Eliot, Mystic, Son and Lover," has rolled off the presses of Cambridge University in Great Britain. It is being released in New York later this month. One of Don's greatest followers in this venture venture has been local councillor, Carson Elliott. As I recall, when Don studied at the University of Hull in England, Carson arranged a meeting with a scholarly relative who also studied the work of T.S. Eliot. The assistance must have been invaluable as Don recognized Carson's help in the acknowledgements section of the book. Carson was also one of the first to receive a copy and was kind enough to let me peruse my friend's efforts, Are you going to see "Mystic, Son and Lover" at your local book store beside Stephen King's latest thriller. Ahh.,.no, This book is written for academics and is intended for university university libraries and English departments. Publishing a book for that audience is far tougher than any paperback and Don deserves credit for successfully completing his project after close to two decades. Now, if he wants a real challenge, he should try writing a weekly newspaper column! Don is the son of Don and Vera Childs of Bowmanville. He married another high school classmate of mine, Janet Luxton, and they have two children, Kathleen and Emma, If you would like to know more about T.S. Eliot, Don can be reached at The University of Ottawa, Faculty of Arts, English, at 613-562-5764. Check That Spelling During the time Don, Joe and I lived together together in Kingston, we would sometimes exchange essays and check each other's work for typing mistakes. It was always beneficial to have another set of eyes look over your work carefully, carefully, instead of flying through it and missing an obvious error. I can remember Don and Joe even reading essays backwards to avoid the problem of reading through sentences. But, that was in the days before computers and spell checkers. Now, all you have to do it run your prose through your computer and it will check for incorrect spelling and poor grammar. grammar. Or will it? How many times have you received correspondence correspondence from someone and noticed a spelling error? When questioned about it, the writer always responds with, "Gee, the spell checker missed that one." You would think we would rely on spell checkers extensively in the newspaper industry. We use them, but we certainly don't trust them. The following poem illustrates why. Spellbound I have a spelling checker, It came with my P.C. It plainly marks Jour my revue Mistakes I cannot sea. I've run this poem threw it, I"in sure your pleased too no, Its letter perfect in it '.v weigh, My checker tolled me sew. We're Honest, Most of the Time If you would like to test your honesty, you should tune into Global TV on April 6 for "The Great Canadian Scruples Challenge," The show presents eight moral dilemmas to participants and judges how honestly the group responds. The answers are compared to a survey of 1,600 people across Canada to determine how many of us are misbehavin'. For example, how many of you have given a copy of licenced computer software to a friend for free? According to the survey, close to 70% of respondents did not feel guilty about doing it, while only 16% believe their friends would refuse to share software. One scenario that we deal with weekly involves people who pay for one copy at a newspaper newspaper box, but.allow other people to take copies while the door is open. Surprisingly, over 70% of Canadians said they would refuse to allow another person to take a paper. The number of respondents who would close the door and tell the other person they were being dishonest is 45%. Ever more impressive, one per cent would close the newspaper box on the other person's hand. What if your bike were stolen and then replaced by the insurance company? After receiving the new bike, the police find your old two-wheeler and return it. The poll showed that 74% of the survey would notify the insurance company while 18% would keep both bikes. The last question involves one of my favpurite computers, the automatic bank machine. What if an ATM accidentally gave you more money than you requested during a withdrawal? withdrawal? According to the poll, 71% of respondents respondents said they would behave ethically and return the money while 28% said they would take the money and run. But, if the machine were replaced with a human, the number of people people who would return the money rose to 97%. I could go on, but time does not permit me. After considering the dilemmas above, I've goi , to return a bike, pay for some software, stuff some money back in the ATM, and slam some hands in our newspaper boxes.