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rm rR rt A DITORIAL . PINION ~ Co-operation The theme of Mayor Malcolm's election campaign was, "co-operation." He has repeatedly pointed out that if Regional Government is going to work everyone will have to co-operate. Councillors will have to co-operate with each other, Scugog will have to co-eperate with Durham, etc. Since his election the STAR has repeatedly pointed out that if this new form of government is going to work every council will have to co-operate - with the press. Mayor Malcolm has gotten the message, if he ever needed it in the first place. We had pointed out that the only way your community n ewspaper would be able to get council news out to the township while it is still fresh would be for council to meet Monday evening. Council has decided to meet Monday evenings, so now we can write the news Tuesday morning, print it, and have it ready for you to read with your breakfast Wednesday. Co-operation. We have repeatedly pointed out that if council members want to make sure we get the facts of what they are doing straight every time then the press should be given copies of council documents. Even with the great rush that goes on around here every Tuesday it will be almost impossible to get a story mixed up if our reporter has the facts right in front of him in writing. The Mayor has agreed to make, "most" documents available to us, which is a very good start toward co-operation. At the inaugural meeting last week, our reporter through an error, did not get a copy of one by-law. When Mayor Malcolm found out about that he gave the reporter his won copy. More than reasonable co-opeation. Without wanting t6 push our luck may we make one more suggestion. Let's have no secret meetings. Some meetings will, of course, have to be in ?Committee of the Whole,"" which means we will not be able to report on what is done there u. til and - unless it is ratified later in open council. but there is a difference between having a meeting in committee and having it in secret, just as there is a difference between something being confidential and the same thing being sneaky. We have no reason to guess that council has ever intended meeting in secret. After all, Scugog is part of Durham and the Region's committee meetings are open to the press, reporters are on the same mailing list as councillors and get the same documents in advance at the same time as councillors. And, most important of all, the Mayor has been completely co-operative so far. We just hope the rest of council has gotten the Mayor's message. PORT PERRY STAR Company Limited \0 Ww, RD 44 ", Sa, @cn 2 (oun) : 2) NN "erg Serving Port Perry, Reach, Scugog and Cartwright Townships P. HVIDSTEN, Publisher BRUCE ARNOLD, Editor WM. T. HARRISON, J. PETER HVIDSTEN, Plant Manager Advertising Manager Member of the Canadian Community Newspaper Association Member of the Ontario Weekly Newspaper Association Published every Wednesday by the Part Perry Star Co. Ltd., Port Perry, Ontario Authorized as second class mail by the Pos! Office Department, Ottawa, and for' payment of postage in cash Second Class Mail Registration Number 0265 Subscription Rate: In Canada $4.00 per yeaf. Elsewhere $8.50 per year. Single Copy 15¢ SR ---- wh LA RR ps CTE add EASLEY TULA VFO WPRBS. BH2 0 wed wn 3 ANY ARNE PA »e 9 "Wotp'er, Bus ! /F YOU DRINK -.. DON] DRIVE I" - RTE Raed SANA BLAU LALLY EY Yer ARAB PETROLEUM BILL MILEY THE BATHTUB IS MY FAVOURITE Last week's column mentioned that unspeakable species, the readoholic. That reminded me of a speech I made about Good Reading Habits to a group of honour students. So I dug up the speech and propose this week to pass along some of the more worthwhile points in it. It's not primarily for students, but if you're not interested, you can go and cry over your post-Christmas bills. I became a readoholic shortly after I learned to read. My mother would moan, as she tore the flashlight out of my hot little hand about 2 a.m., "Billy Smiley, you'll be blind by the time you're fifteen if you don't stop reading in dark-corners and cubby- holes." Well, I've been reading in dark corners and bright ones, on planes and trains, in the bathroom and in bed, in revolving doors and on escalators, ever since, and I'm not blind yet. I don't even wear glasses. But Idon't want you to think I just ignored my mom's admonition. I have never since read in a cubby-hole. In fact, you can scarcely get your hands on a cubby-hole these days. They seem to have gone the way of spats and straw hats. I had trouble with that speech to the kids. The principal had suggested the topic, Good Reading Habits, and who was I to tell him it was a dull and stupid topic? When I sat down to write the speech, I could think of only one good reading habit. Many years ago, when I was in public school, they taught us in health classes, that you should always read with the light coming over your left shoulder. I don't know why. They're still teaching it. This good reading habit is rather useless if your left shoulder is higher than your right one, as is sometimes the case. And of course, if you are reading Hebrew or Persian, and read from right to left, it seems more logical to have the light coming over your right shoulder. I had to admit to the students that this was the only good reading habit I could remember. That seemed to be the end of the speech. Then I thought, "Heck, this is no good." So I confessed that I could say, without pride, but with little fear of contradiction, that I had the most atrocious reading habits of any male in Canada. I suggested that I talk instead about Bad Reading Habits. Then, if they listened care- fully, and immediately afterward forgot everything I had said, they would be well on the way to acquiring Good Reading Habits. There was general agreement that this was a sensible approach. I warned them of the depths of degrada- tion to which a readoholic would descend to get his stuff. I told them that an alcoholic or a drug addict would stoop pretty low to get UGAR ano Serice the wherewithal for his habit. And I told them this was kid stuff compared to what the readoholic would stoop to. I gave them an example: a friend of mine during the war. He had the habit very badly. I lost track of him, but heard from friends that he had managed to kick it. Then one day, a couple of months after the war, I met him in Alexandria, North Africa. He was a handsome Sikh, with a sky-blue turban and a curly, black beard. But right away, I knew from the re-rimmed eyes, the * glazed look, that he was still hooked on reading. He was leading an old lady by the hand. I asked him who she was and where they were gong. He had the decency to look ashamed as he answered ambiguously, "Old friend Smilee, I am knowing what you theenk, but I got to get a book," before hurrying off. I heard later that the aged lady was his mother, and he was on his way to the slave market. I understand he got $19 for her. Or, in readolholic terms, about twenty-two paper-backs. Oh, I put the fear into those honour students. But then I tried to soften the blow. Told them of some of the great discoveries for which readoholism had been respon- sible. Newton, reading under and apple tree. The old story is that he was sleeping, but the truth is that he had just picked up a copy of the recently published "Fanny Hill" and was definitely reading, Apple fell, hit him on the head, and we had the Law of Gravity, without which we'd be in very grave shape. And there was the Greek, Archimedes. He climbed into the bath one day for a quiet read. Immediately he opened his book, he knew something was wrong. He leaped out of the tub, crying, "Paprika!" Somebody had put paprika instead of bath salts in his water. And thus was discovered Archimedes Principle, a very important law in the study of physics. I don't know much about the Principle, but I think it's something like, "Half a bath is better than none." ety This anecdote brought me toward my peroration. It reminded me that I knew of another Good Reading Habit. This made two. A good Reading Habit is to read in the bath-tub. Someone once said that the ideal learning situation was a boy sitting on one end of a log, and Mark Van Doren, the great U.S. educator, sitting on the other. My notion of the ideal learning situation would be a classroom with thirty-five bath-tubs instead of desks. And up at the front, a super-tub, preferably in pink mother-of-pearl, for Mr. Smiley. It might be a little expensive, but think of the special effects we-could get when teaching The Spanish Armada in history, or Old Man and the Sea, in English. i Perhaps Ishould add that we'd be wearing swim-suits. Thursday, January 10, 1924 A party of five from Port Perry -- Messrs. Jas. Ruddy, Percy Ingram, Dr. McMaster, Samuel Farmer and Wm. Graham, narrowly escaped injury when a car in which they were riding over- turned on icy roads south of Myrtle Station. - - : Early Saturday morning a fire was discovered in the basement of Alex . Naples fruit store. The fire was confined and only 'smoke damage was evident up- stairs. 25 YEARS AGO Thursday, January 13, 1949 There were no casualties int he fire which destroyed a business block -in Sunder- land last Thursday morning. The block housed Mr. Geo. Clay's restaurant, Hender- son's pool room and barber- shop, McPhadden's Grocery Post. Office and several @ apartments. : A former Port Perry man, Alf Andrus, is now the owner of a Studebaker car. Mr. Andrus, Exeter, won the new car in a Legion Club draw which took place New Year's Eve. 15 YEARS AGO Thursday, January 8, 1959 39 percent electors turned out to vote the council of 1958 back into office for 1959, headed by Reeve Anson Gerrow. The issuing of bicycle plates was passed by the town council. These plates are used for identification in case of theft or other loss. Heavy - drifting of snow caused Highway 12, north of y¢ Myrtle to be closed for some time on Sunday afternoon. 10 YEARS AGO Thursday, January 9, 1964 Anna Forder and Richard Stevens placed second in the Central Ontario Sectional Championships, stepping from Novice to Senior in one year. The first New Year's baby gy for 1964 was Robert Blair Felstead, son of Mr. and Mrs. _ Robert Felstead, Blackstock. He was born January 2nd, at 11:45 p.m. of Scugog Es