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Charles Beck, Penetanguishene's first mayor, and the owner of The Beck Lumbering Company, the town's leading industry in the early 1900's, on at least one occasion corresponded wih Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier. The time was in 1908 and Beck, a financial backer of the Liberal Party, was displeased with the Liberal government's lumbering policy. The Liberal's had increased the duty on lumber making it a more expensive commodity. Lumbering was Beck's bread and butter. Naturally, he didn't take kindly to the higher duties and he 'My dear Beck" let the Liberals know of his objections. Whatever concern Beck expressed about the Liberals lumbering policy, Laurier must have considered it im- portant to answer him personally for he wrote the following letter dated, Quebec, October 8, 1908. In the letter Laurier basically says that the Con- servatives would have liked to have proposed the same duty, but they were afraid of alienating consumers in the western provinces with higher lumber prices. Laurier promises to review the matter after the election. My dear Beck A letter from Sir Wilfrid Laurier I understand that in this contest you do not feel very warmly towards us on account of the lumber duty. Do you believe that you would be any better off if you were to stand aloof and if the Conservatives were to be returned to power. You have noticed during the last session though the question was brought up several times in the House, they never dared to bring a motion in favour of an increased duty on lumber. The reason is very simple. Whilst they would have been pleased to. court favour from the lumbermen, they were afraid that they would lose the support of the consumers of lumber in the Western provinces. Such is the situation. The matter will have to be recon- sidered when the elections are over, and I speak to you as a friend and an honest man, and put the situation thus plainly before you. Believe me as ever, My dear Beck, Yours very sincerely, Wilfrid Laurier For an account of Charles Beck and his business interests turn to page 10 for the fifth in a series of 13 articles on Penetanguishene's Past. O.H.C. senior citizens' housing survey starts the request of the town of Pe eauniGteee the Ministry of Housing starts a survey today to determine the need and demand for senior citizen housing in Penetanguishene. A research analyst from the Ministry of Housing, the Ontario Government's housing agency, will estimate the number of senior citizens living in Penetanguishene whose housing is inadequate or beyond their financial capabilities. The demand in the area for housing on a rent-geared-to-income basis will be deter- mined by information gathered through advertising, direct mail questionnaires and interviews. The study will include an assessment of economic trends, growth factors and current and future housing needs in Penetanguishene. Senior Citizens will receive letters outlining the government's housing program and asking them if they wish to participate. Some interested persons may not be reached by direct mail. If this happens they are urged to obtain a questionnaire at the town office. The letters to senior citizens come with an introductory pamphlet which states "the Ontario Housing Corporation has been asked by your municipality to look into the need for rental housing that senior citizens with modest incomes can afford." If senior citizens think rental housing of this type, "'Ontario Housing" could be an improvement over their present ac- commodation they are urged to complete the enclosed questionnaire and return it to the Ontario Housing Corporation. The return of the questionnaire in no way puts a senior citizen under obligation to rent an Ontario Housing unit. If the survey shows a need for senior citizegm>gusing, it will likely be an apart- ment weiiding although consideration is given tehneetchey units which do not require stairways. All apartments have a living room, Park returns A familiar figure will be stomping throughout the town for the next two weeks, making the rounds for the Penetanguishene Citizen. While editor Tom Grand enjoys the Florida sunshine, former Citizen editor Jim Park will do the reporting. Park left the Citizen roughly a year ago to take over the editor's job at the Midland Times, the Penetanguishene Citizen's sister paper in the Markle Community newspaper chain. Although he works in Midland, Jim Park continues to make his home in Penetanguishene. bedroom, bathroom and kitchen, and are equipped with stove and refrigerator. Rent is geared to income and the minimum is $37.00 a month, including services. After considering the survey report, the town council can initiate the program it outlines by idopting a resolution requesting the Ministry of Housing to go ahead. Capital costs are shared by the provincial and federal governments. Housing on a rent-geared-to-income basis is part of the Ministry of Housing Home Ownership Made Easy (H.O.M.E.) Program. Those receiving questionnaires are asked to return them as soon as possible to assist the survey. Penetanguishene already has two Ontario Housing senior citizen apartments. They are located on Harriet Street and Gignac Drive. The one on Harriet Street has 20 units while the one on Gignac Drive has 15 units. The Midland branch of the O.H.C. has a waiting list of 44 Penetanguishene senior citizens seeking apartments from the 0.H.C. While the waiting list indicates there is sufficient demand for another 0O.H.C. apartment for senior citizens in town, it is not taken as the official indicator according to a town spokesman. The town official said the O.H.C. prefers to use the survey method to find the need for senior citizen housing. Roughly 450 to 500 letters will be mailed out to senior citizens for this survey. Eyes on the ball ehase the puck. The only problem according ro one of the Park Street players is that you shave to watch out for the police. Seems they think the road is made for cars. Players on the Park Street road hockey team race for the puck in a Sunday game. Although the local hockey season is over for most teams, youngsters still have the urge to Blaze damages Elmvale's arena A fire causing an estimated $100,000 damage broke out at the Flos-Elmvale arena last Sunday at 5:35 p.m. Only quick, effective firefighting by the members of the Flos-Elmvale fire depart- ment, aided by the Wasaga Beach fire department, restricted the fire to the nor- thwest section of the arena and' saved the structure from destruction. The actual extend of the damage will not be known until engineers examine the structure. The three large roof beams at the north end were all touched by fire but whether they are weakened to the extent that they have to be replaced is unknown at the present time. Probably one quarter of the roof surface will have to be replaced while the whole northwest corner will have to be replaced. The plastic boards at the north end of the rink were damaged while the ice cleaning tractor and equipment were totally destroyed. The time clock at the north end was also damaged by the fire. There was also smoke damage to much of the arena as smoke bellowed out of the south end and out of the ventilation stacks on the roof during the height of the blaze. There was also some damage to the inside roof of the curling club. The fire started in the tractor room at the Ni Rocking all the way to tenes David Limoges, 13, gives a wave and Roger Juneau, 12, flashes a peace sign during Saturday' 's Rock-a-thon at Ecolé St. Joseph. The rock-a-thon lasted from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Organizers. expect the 75 students who partcipated in the event will have raised $1,300 toward their May trip to Quebec. The trip Is an exchange program backed by the federal and provincial governments. The federal government contributed $2,000 to the trip while the provincial government added another $1,200. A total of 120 Grade 7 and 8 students will go on the four day trip from May 20 to May 24. Staff photo northwest corner of the arena when some af caught on fire. Arena manager Roger Neal tried to put out this fire with two fire ex- tinguishers but it spread too quickly, reaching the rafters and roof. The heart of the fire was a mass of tables owned by the Elmvale and District Lions Club and exhibit tables owned by the Flos Agricultural Society which were stored on top of the tractor room. The fire got into this and really got going. By 7 p.m., the firemen had the blaze under control and by 8 p.m. it was out. Stayner and Creemore bantams were playing a game in the three-day Georgian Bay League tournament which was winding up at the arena on Sunday when the fire broke out. All the players and spectators were evacuated from the arena and no one was hurt in the fire. There was only three games 5 go in the tournament and then hockey would have been over at the Elmvale arena for the season. In fact, the arena had been scheduled to shut down the previous weekend but the blizzard postponed the tournament to last weekend. This meant that the arena was kept open a week longer. All the moveable furniture and equipment from the Elmvale curling club which is alongside the arena was moved out as at first it appeared as if the fire would move into the curling club. The Ontario fire marshall will not be in- vestigating this fire because the cause is known and because there were no fatalities involved. The arena was insured, but whether it will cover the cost of repairs will not be known until the exact nature of the repairs are kno With 8 Pages Colour Comics Penetanguishene citizen Vol.8 No. 16 Wednesday, April 16, 1975 4O pages Manpower reaches out to area employers An organizational change has been in- stituted at the area Canada Manpower Centre in Midland, in an effort to more ef- fectly promote the Centre's services for area employers. The move means that the Penetanguishene-Midland area will be divided up into four geographic regions, each of which will be serviced exclusively by a councillor from the CMP office. The town of Midland will be divided into two areas to be serviced by two councillors. Penetanguishene and Lafontaine will comprise the third geographic area with Port MeNicoll, Victoria Harbour and Honey Harbour making up the fourth. The councillor for each area will be responsible for visiting employers in his or her area on a regular basis to promote the services of CMP. Since one councillor will be assigned to each geographic area CMP manager Don McKee said he hopes that the councillors and employers will become more familiar with each other, thereby making it easier to promote CMP services. Adopt overlooked orpha ns:Gordon After stating that the chances of a large number of Vietnamese orphans coming to Canada were slight, a representative of the Children's Aid Society, advised parents wanting to adopt a child, to ask for children who tend to be overlooked. David Gordon of the Midhurst branch of the Children's Aid Society met with a group of 20 to 30 Penetanguishene and Midland area parents, at a meeting at the Midland Y last Wednesday night. He told the parents that the Society was prepared to reduce the time for the home study part of the application for an orphan child from three months to three weeks, if necessary, to handle a large influx of Viet- namese orphans into Canada. Gordon added, however, that he did not expect many Vietnamese orphans to be airlifted to Canada. In response to a question from one of the parents Gordon confirmed that there are orphans in Canada who are being overlooked because they are older, racially mixed, or have physical or mental handicaps. He ex- plained that is the reason for the Toronto Star column "Today's Child", to try and find a home for the difficult to place children. The number of children available for adoption in Canada are decreasing he said, partly because more unmarried mothers are keeping their children. A number of parents complained that Children's Aid Societies were reluctant to even allow parents to fill out adoption request forms. One mother said she was told that the Society has so many people on its waiting list it was not really worthwhile for her to fill out an application. Gordon indicated that this situation exists throughout Canada advising Man pleads guilty to indecency A 39-year-old Toronto man pleaded guilty to committing acts of gross indecency with two young boys. in provincial court in Penetanguishene last Thursday. The acts were committed at Mariners Camp near Port Severn during the summers of 1973 and 1974. The boys are now 13 and 14-years-old. The court was told that Dennis Locke had invited the youths to go swimming in the nude with him and later had the youths commit gross indecent acts with him. A parent of one of the boys later discovered what was going on and phoned the police. When Locke learned the police were looking for him he surrendered himself to officers of the area detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police. He was released on a promise to appear in provincial court. The lawyer for the defense noted that Locke was single and living with his 64-year- old mother in Toronto. Locke is employed at Northern Electric in Toronto and helps to support his mother who receives a disability pension. Although Locke had a record for a similar offense with an adult in 1956 5,20 years ago, his lawyer indicated that such an act would not be considered an offense under today's law. The defense also argued that the boys must have voluntarily committed the acts as they happened more then once. The defense recommended Locke not be sent to jail because he could be ill treated. Instead treatment at a medical centre was recommended. Noting that no physical harm had come to the youths and that Locke had been copoperative with police, provincial court judge Len Montgomery suspended sentence, putting Locke on probation for 30 months with instructions to admit himself volun- tarily to the Clark Institute of psychiatry for treatment. "Nothing can be done by penalizing a man with a disorder such as this man has,"' Montgomery said. "if you're limiting yourself to a male or female infant, you're not going to get too much encouragement." In fact, he added, "some agencies in Ontario haven't taken home studies (a prerequisite to adopting a child) for the last two years" because they have more than enough appropriate homes on the waiting list. Applications for difficult to place children, like a racially mixed child, stand a better chance Gordon said. Other difficult to place children may be mildly retarded, he said, "but this doesn't mean the child can't develop into responsible and respected citizen.' Children, who come into the Societies care from ages four to 10 are generally hard to place he said. Many of these children have been in several foster homes, some have had rough experiences, in addition to suffering from emotional and health problems. They are the difficult to place children. (The C.A.S. rarely allows a child older than 10 to be adopted.) C.A.S. figures for the last seven years show that the number of adoptions in Ontario have dropped significantly during the last two years. In 1968 there were 91 adoptions, followed by 88 in 1969, 104 in 1970, 103 in 1971, 88 in 1972, 68 in 1973 and 49 in 1974. Larger industries generally use the manpower centre to fill vacancies but ac- cording to manager Don McNee smaller employers are not taking advantage of the free service that is available at Canada Manpower. Councillors for each area will be visiting employers to solicite vacancies, promote the CMP's employment services and industrial training program. If job openings exist but there are no skilled people to fill them the industrial training program may offer a solution to the em- ployer and the employee. Under this program the employer trains the worker and is reimbursed a certain percentage of money during the training period. The amount of the reimbursement varies from 40 per cent to 85 per cent. If the person being trained is already employed and ineffect upgrading his or her skills the reimbursement amounts to 40 per cent. A 60 per cent reimbursement is paid out to an unemployed person who receives job training. An 85 per cent reim- bursement is allowed for people with special needs who participate in this job training program. The CMP councillor for the Penetanguishene area, Suzanne Brunelle, is bilingual. .. mmm, good Paul Gendron muncnes on a pancake dinner during a picnic for the Penetanguishene Cubs and Scouts. The picnic was held at Alcide Ladouceur's farm outside of Penetanguishene. The women's auxiliary prepared the dinner for the cubs and scouts, . who enjoyed their meal on an outdoor (Sunday featuring sunny skies and live music played by guitarist Joe Ladouceur. UY oy douu BEMULIED a Citizen contents Cancer campaign starts Operation facelift may blast off Good move, curlers ' Penetanguishene's lumber king {0 ' Sports Classified, Entertainment > Ww PP 13-15 18-21 23-24