Oakville- Trafalgar Journal Member Canadian Weekly Newspapers Association ont, by Published Every Thursday Morning in Oakville, Qakville-Trafalgar Publishers, Ltd. 7 DUNN STREET NORTH S. Casey Wood, Jr. Vincent H. Barrey Managing Editor Advertising Manager Bill Cotton, Editorial Assistant PHONE 1298 Thursday, February lst, 1 The Time Has Come Again Last year we made this same suggestion. The wreatk are a fitting tribute to those who gave their lives that our way of life may be preserved'to us. But leaving the wreaths on the Cenotaph until, as they are to: day, they become bedraggled and weather-worn, turns this tribute into something else again. As we suggested last year, it is time for Parks Board em-. ployees to clear'away the wreaths. Estimate Time Is Nearly Here When the various committees sit down this year to make up the horror-list--that's the list of the ex- penses there'll be this year--for the spending of the taxpayers' dollars, we'd like to mention once more that a drinking fountain isn't such a luxury as one of last year's councillors told us. The day when new town offices are built and a water fountain is includ- ed may well be far distant. In the meantime, our summers are hot and drinking fountains on the main street would be a decided asset. The fountain in Lakeside Park is used a great deal Fountains on the main street would also be used. Could fountains be included in this year's estimates? And if not, why not? No Annexation Now The decision of town council not to indulge in annexation of Kent Gardens, even with the addition- al land suggested by the planning board included, is a sound resolving of this matter at this time. Oak- ville, if it is to expand its boundaries, must secure along with residential lands, a proportion of manu- facturing potential. If this is not done the town will increase expense to all taxpayers, because of the services which must be supplied, with no offsetting compensation from tax revenue which additional in- dustry would provide. While the industry would also require service, provision of one service facility in- stead of multiple units would be considerably more economical. The Kent Garden residents will not feel happy about the town council's decision, and for this no one could blame them. This subdivision has had a rough time of it, but now the town decision has been reach- ed, the township council will undoubtedly take. the necessary steps to put right any remaining problems. In the final analysis, Kent Garden taxpayers will have less taxes to pay as a part of the township than they would have done as town taxpayers. However, many of the problems originally faced by this subdivision might have been lessened had the town been respon- sible for lightening them. Township council now has Kent Gardens squar- ely in its lap--and it is to be hoped that the 1951 coun- cil will act with rapidity to assist this section of the township to a solution of all problems. Chairman Ken Giles of the public school board, ated recently that the problem of schooling facili- ties for Kent Gardens was only waiting for the decis- ion of the town council before being explored in its entirety. The school board is aware that arrange- ments at present are not satisfactory, although the bus system would seem to be working adequately. Kent Garden parents will find, we are confident, that the school hoard will now move in on the problems of schooling, and that a solution will result that will suit the conditions, subject of course to the cost fac- tor. One suggestion for Kent Garden taxpayers would be to enter the South East Trafalgar Property Own- ers' association as members, or form their own assoc- iation. A property owners' group can accomplish a great deal, where a single effort, or even a small group may not be able to speak with as much authority. When as large a percentage of the residents of a subdivision request to be made a part of a town, and are turned down, obviously there will be much hard feeling toward the town which has refused to admit them. But the town's side of the picture does deserve consideration, and Kent Gardens is a town- ship matter. Township council should now take every step possible to see that the roads in this district are made usable as soon as possible, and that all other possible services receive immediate attention. GET ALL THE COMMUNITY NEWS FOR ONLY FIVE CENTS A WEEK READ OAKVILLE-TRAFALGA JOURNAL placed on the Cenotaph on Armistice Day... T0 HE!! BY P. W. THOMPSON modern edugation turning out a race of fools? It is--accord- ing to a large majority of debat- ers who pondered the question at the University of Toronto's Hart House last week. Soap opera and movies, one debater thought, were evidence of the shocking state to which bad educational methods had reduced people. Another speaker, prominent in the relig- ious life of his community, charg- ed that mass education failed to h v il lielp students think for themsel- es, and that it "sacrificed qual ity of thinking to the size of en- rollment." Others condemned cer- tain frivolous modern. institutions. Certainly there is much in the current scene that lends stren- gth to the contention of the BY BESSIE CAIRNS TRAFALGAR TALES THE GOLDEN WARRIOR A Canadian in search of fame d fortune in the literary or tic field frequently crosses the border, few cross the ocean. This month I received from an Eng- lish Book Club a volume entitled The Golden Warrior." It has al- ready sold 150,000 copies and has been translated into, four lang- uages. The author, Hope Muntz, was born in Toronto 43 years ago. confess I had never heard of her before and T much doubt if she has been widely read in her nat- ive land, She left Toronto when a child and went to live in Bng- land but later returned to study art. For some years she freelan- ced as a writer and illustrator. The Golden Warrior, which took .¢ Back in the sturdy pioneer days, historians tell us, our fem- inine ancestors had a pretty rough time of it keeping the fam- ily wardrobe trim and neat. When the, wagon trail would pull up beside a Stream, it always meant a major project for great-great- grandmother, who would spend arduous hours failing the accum- ulated dirt; out of pop's red flan- nel drawers by pounding them on the river bed rocks. Rub-A-Dub Then came an enterprising Ir- isher who invented a washboard that leaned against the side of a tin tub. This rig did a much more satisfactory job for grandmaw, as far as the finished wash was con- cerned, but it didn't tend to soothe her saccroiliae. In' fact, it was downright rugged work. The washing machine put an end to all that nonsense,' though. Mother just dumped the soiled clothes in and let the padgles do the work, and even though she still had to iron the stuff, she was fairly happy about the whole things. Her daughters feel the same way about it--or did until recently, when some South Amer- ican women got together and in- vented a game named Canasta that was designed to keep their husband in at nights. It did, too. Trouble was, the game jumped in- ternational boundary lines so quickly that now it keeps Canad- fan wives out most of the day. Which once again brought up the washing problem, because even a Bendix has to be loaded and un- loaded and even electric ironers have to be operated. Along Came Larry The washing problem has be- come particularly complex in Oak- ville, which must certainly be as Canasta-conscious as any town in Canada. But it seems that a chap name of Larry Reynolds is about to come up with the solution. Mr. Reynolds came to town a few months back and settled down to look the situation over. The more: he looked, the sorriei he became for all the poor gals who Were finding that the weekly wash was throwing their. Canasta youthful critics. = But perhaps they went too far in laying the blame entirely on the doorstep of our educational system. In certain directions that system there has been, in the past gen- eration or so, @ notable increase in the literacy of the masses. A far higher: per centage of people can read and write to- day than could half a century ago, and an impressive amount of reasonably good literature is being turned out. Then, thanks largely to the inventions of the radio and phonograph, a certain amount of good music is available to large numbers of people who never had a chance ! to enjoy it in earlier times. These, we think, repre- sent solid achievements. On the other side of the ledger, however, are symptoms that lead one to heavily discount these ed- ucational and cultural advances. For never, we suppose, has there been such a large-scale exhibition of bad taste as that which exists today. Much of the current "pop- ular music" consists of an appal- ling noise such as might be creat- ed by groups of debauched sav- ages. The whinings and moanings of some of the most popular sing: ers are a blatant offence to lis- tener's sense of decency. And the maudlin drivel dished up in the form of radio "soap operas" is surely without parallel in history. Good books and magazines are more plentiful than ever before. But there is @lso, unfortunately, a vast flood | of cheap, highly sensational. and sugges- tive reading matter, specimens of which are everywhere. If it is possible for reading matter to exert | a harmful influence, then stuff of . this description must be dangerous indeed. But what is most noticeable in the more popular periodicals is the manner in which | they parade vulgarity, glorify the trivial, lurid, ; and worthy to be compared with en Ei Job Our | Stevia Undsett's "Kristin Lavrans- vast numbers of competent |datter" In my opinion, much bet doctors, engineers, chemists, | (°F than anything penned by and others skilled in various | Thomas B. Costain or Kenneth branchees of applied science and | Roberts. It rings true. business adminstration. Then | There is not a fictional charac- 16 years of writing and research, is the story 'of Harold of England from early manhood to his death at Hastings. It is a great book ter in the book. Norman Knights and English Barls little realizing their momentous part in world history, curse, argue and pray in castle and hall. The ladies bowers are not neglected. Here the reader meets Edith Swan Neck, Harold's mistress and the mother of his children, Aldyth, his Queen, Gyrth, daughter of Canute and mother of six illfated sons. It is a tale of glorious pagean- and brave deeds performed y great though very human her- oes. When Harold took mass be- fore the fateful battle how I wish- ed I could have warned him of the treason of two-of his most trusted earls and thus saved the day for England; but perhaps Wil- liam was the better man for King! Truly a great book and one that deserves a place in every Canadian library and its author at least a civic reception if not a wrist-watch should she schedules out of kilter. This, pon- dered the benevolent Mr. Reyn- olds, i y sad situation in- deed. lassies are simply rushing their lives away--rushing through their laundry chores, rushing out to rush through their melding in time to rush home to get the family dinner. They must lose MORE Canasta woman hours that way! Somebody, Mr. Reyn- olds told himself, as he dabbed away a tear with his bandana, should start a modern cleansing emporium that would lighten the local laundry load. Eureka!!! "That's it!!!" cried Mr. Reyn- olds, exultantly snapping his fing- "Ill do it.! I'l lighten the household chores of the woinen of Oakville. Southern chivalry is not dead!" Mr. Reynolds hails from south Rochester, by way of south Toronto. © PUFFS FROM THE OTTON GIN Now it just happened that yp, Reynolds had had some expe, fence in the laundry busine Several years of experience, j, fact. So when hie set about esta, lishing his laundry service things moved ahead With neatney, and dispatch. Until the. pita), problems and | perplexities of py, sent day | building | caught y, with him, that is. But Ne shryg. ged off delays ' andl disappoin, ments and plugged perseveringly on, ever mindful of his oblig, tion to the town's host! of (ay. asta Coras, Cynthias and Carme, itas. And now, gals, he is jug about ready to fulfill that obiig,. tion, so you may look for reliey soon. A Small Consideration But, lest your enthusiasm over. whelm you, don't go getting the notion that Mr. | Reynolds con. cern for: lessening your burden is a purely philanthropic oho, There will, he informed me apol. ogetically this week, be a modest fee for the service that will be utilized for the purchase of suc things as soap, starches, water and occasional change of oil for liis machinery. He even hopes op. timidtically that there will be enough loft over to take care of a certain amount of depreciation on that machinery, which spreads out over the floor of the spaci new plant in a gleaming impres. sive array. Larry showed me around last Friday, chattering gayly in that technical jargon that the expert artisan always saves up to dazzle the layman. I didn't understand any of it, matter of fact, I felt like I'd been through the wring er when he got through. But it was obvious that he's equipped to handle thousands more dirty shirts than grandmaw used to shake a stick at. And speaking of shirts, there was the bank of machines that really got me=--the shirt pressing assembly. There are four mach ines in a shallow square, and one girl (who must revolve on one Cuban heel like Junior's top) can shoot about 50 shirts through in an hour. This amazed me no end, because the one time I ever iron- ed a shirt it took me 42 minutes, not counting the quarter hour my wife took to do it properly afterwards. I mentioned this to Larry, marvelling at the speed his presser will acquire. "It IS a fairly steady job," he conceded A Sight To See About 16 more girls will be re: quired to operate the various gadgets, he jnformed me. None of them play Canasta, however. Larry was very careful about that when engaging hfs personnel. So, if you're like me, you're looking forward to seeing that battery of gals and machines swing into action. Yowll be able to watch, too, because one wall of the Dunn St. plant is practical- | ly all and window. (yuk, yuk) olds clean up. So drop around wateh Mr. Reyn- Insolubly Yours, BILL COTTON re-visit her native city. 'and expound a banal, material- istic philosophy of life. In one of his early books, "The Time Machine," H. G. Wells des- cribes an imaginary period in the remote future + of mankind in which the more fortunate mem- bers of society had deteriorated to a race of pretty, empty-headed little dolls, as the result of long 'centuries of too-easy living and trivial occupations. Sometimes, today, one is inclined to wonder if a section of humanity is not headed in that direction already. But it is a reassuring sign when students get up and voice their protest against the trends towards a state of universal inanity. Let them, and others, keep up their criticisms, They will act as a res- training "influence, and may per- haps help the race to preserve a balance of sanity. them all the up. AN OLD SAYING: : There's an old saying we've always considered sum- med up the comment one 'feels like making whenever one hears: someone telling the 'world how (good they are. It goes like this: "The | chicken * with { the full mouth doesn't need to chirp." We can think of so many cases where 'this 'old saying applies. Youll run into time--next time just snap this back at the boaster and you'll be amazed how quickly he'll shut it isn't work at all. We say Our new social editor Mrs. Ahearn tells us that she enjoys her contacts with the people who call her social affairs. You see, she says everyone is so nice, a: to tell her of their nd each conversation brings her such pleasure, that she's almost decided almost, because we think she'll still want that cheque. But maybe if a few more people call, We'll be able to get out of it. So why don't you give her a call the next time you have guests of a party--and help us about that cheque and meet a very nice girl on the phone? Not to mention making your guests feel pleased as a result of your thought on their part. Our contention that the people of this district are among the most sensible on this somewhat confused earth, has been borne out by Fire (Chief Fred Shaw's statement that, when the siren went on Thursday morn. ing, there wasn't a call put through the switchboard for @ half hour after asking where the fire was. Once the dangers in the habit of immediately lifting the re. ceiver 'of [the phone to ask where-(the fire Ys was ex. plained, ithe people stopped the practice completely. We are confident that this helpful co-operation will continue. But be sure and impress on 'anyone who reach: es for tthe telephone immediately the siren goes that their action is a dangerous one . . . they may be new residents anid not have heard of the reasons why they should not do this. We compliment everyone on reveal- ing a sense of responsibility toward their neighbors. One of our subscribers was in the office the other day and we fourld out she did not know about the Canadian Weekly 2 lation weekly . It's over CBLs every Sunday morning at 10 am, with Don Fairbairn doing the stint. He reads all the weekly papers to cull interesting stor- ies, and the ever popular over 90 birthday section will show you Canucks are a long-lived group. If you haven't heard the programme, tune it in next Sunday. Yowll enjoy it and, on 2 number of Sundays, youll hear a story from this paper going out to all the people of Ontario who listen. And just for your information the program has one of the largest listening aud: iences. Makes good publicity for your town when a story rates the program, incidentally. paper A