PAGE 16, TUESOAVI DECEMBER 31, 1974, WHITBY FREE PRESS My traiditional year-end colurnn, as you mnay have noticed, consists of tid-bits, scraps, odds-and-ends, left-over notes and editorial commrrents of people, places and events which have dazzled my mind. Once again I'rn a bit late with my untimely observations but, as the saying gocs "better late than neyer". ,So here we go for 1974. The most exciing story that 1 had to cover (his year was the rnuch-publicized Peter Deineter murder trial in Lon- don, Ontario. It wvas a real challenge for a phiotographer. And, 1 think. 1 was very fortunate to corne up with pictures which were distributed world.wide. During the trial 1 met a number of interesting people. But above ail, 1 made new contacts for possible stories and pictures in the future. In the newspaper business contacts are very important. With- out an inside-track, a newsman's job is like a half-baked Chrîstrmas cake. And, speaking of Demeter, one cannot feel sorry for this Hungarian-born wheeler-dealer. The guilty verdict brouglit relief to hiundreds of people, including menibers of the Mafia. Nowv that 1 have nentioned that alr-nighty word Mafia, let's take a dloser look at -its activities during the year of 1974. Indeed. the 'Murder Inc.' has been.very busy for the last I12 months, particularly in Mississauga. Just shortly before Christmas a bonib blast almost killed an alleged Maia figure. Water Chomski lost his Ieg when a bomb wired to the transmission of his car, exploded in the faniily garage. Chiomski is still in a hospital under police guard. Chomski, as anyone will tell you here in Mississauga, has a history of involvemnent with gamrbling and bookmaking. One mnan who realîy knows whiat the Mafia is doing these days is Dr. Morton Shulman, the NDP member of parlia. ment for High Park. Shulman often carnies a gun for self protection. Recently, at a Mississauga night club, he told me, "After Magaddino's death. the field is left wide open. The struggle for power and control of bookmiaking opera- tions has reached new heights". Shulman's own life at the present time is more than safe, the way 1 see it, anyway. If anybody from the Mafia would tr%, to kilt Dr. Shulman, then the heat would become unbearable for aIl gangland characters in this province. As a matter of fact. the Mafia couldbe wiped out with one single stroke. Thus, Morty will be around for years to corne. One of the more disgusting stories last year came out of Ottawa. This was to do with the proposed 5017 pay hike for ail MP's who are already being overpaid for the work they perform. I was glad to see the public outcry and num- erous protests in the media. The Globe and Mail had the best editorial on ibis subject "GREED BEFORE LEAI&R- SHIP". However, l'm îold. the batîle for the 501o pay boost is not over yetîl If such an increase is to go îhrough, then I have only one comment to make. "Throw those greedy bums out of office and look for more sensible leaders!' The year of 1974 was also a year of bloopers. For instance, The Toronto Sun and CBC were careless in report- ing a woman juror*s comments in the jury's deliberations ai the Peter Demeter murder trial. They werc close to break. ing the Juror's Protection Act whichi specifies that jurors ANNUAL MEETING BROOKLIN & DISTRICT PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE ASSOCIATION ODDFELLOWS HALL, BROOKLIN Wednesday', January 8. 1975 at 8:00 p.m-. GUESI SPEAKER: HON. WILLIAM NEWMAN. M.P.P. Minister of the Environmeni EVERYONE WELCOM1E H-appy iNew rèJ> Raise those glasses high with a toast ta the Ne'.. Vear. Here's ta a great year filled with mony good thinis . . . Fealth, wealIth, .prosceritv. PICKWICK RESTAURANT Brock Rd.& Hwy. 2 683-1851 Pickering HAAIIF MAIL: Box 206, Whitby PHONE: 668-6111 TORONTO LINE: 282-1004 tL MAILING PERMIT NUMBER 2941 MANAGING EDITOR/PUBLISHER - Mike Burgess ASSISTANT EDITOR - Blake Purdy CONTRIBUTING EDITOR- Jim Quaul PRODUCTION MANAGER- Mari Burgess STAFF ARTISI - Sharon Benson DIPA DETSN MNGR-RbnLo La Contessa Beauty Lounge Our message is simple ... a Na, Vear to ail our good friends tomers who make busïiess a1 t,- ~ g i i I I I I N îppij New I I and cus- I M pleûsure. j âtby. -,668-9262 arc not allowed 10 discuss freely their deliberations, any- tbing that happeris in the jury room behind closed doors. H-owevcr, Gladys -Caley gave a rcvealing insigit into the mninds of' the jurons by taping an interview wiîlî CBC's Barbara Fruru. The itemi appcared on the progr.,mn As Il 1lappens. Needless 10 say, the ncxt day RCMP officers jpaid a'visit to CBC studios and took away thi particular tape. I nmusi add that tbrougbout the trial, soîne newspapers, in- cluding th e Sun, werequite liberal with their comninenis 'as the Demneter story kept unfolding. Another big story, worth remembering, was the police bruiality expose by The'Globe and'Mail. Eigbit cases were cited by the Globe's ace reporter, Gerry McAuliffe. I have a feeling that ihese stories wilI be nom-inated for the National Newspaper Awards. [n fact, tibis highiest award is a must for the excellent series on police brutality in Toronto. We need more reporters like Gerry McAffliffe, but we also need more papers with guts, able to present such stories to the general public. I hope the Globe wiIl neyer give up on the investigative reporting. Automobile Service Tips THE CATAIYTIC CONVERTER 70- $T/t4t/1ATrIeC/(M/C1ý_AL 'C7îONW ///LFg/?$WmllNlvc OIJAN6ev"g FP 1-VF5. 7//ec,47A[/-cC o/VL/e7e FOg C46 U5 $ 6,e OeeMrl S 5ZCI//-AS PM7IA I AjVP PAL-A PIUMAS CA7A i- Y 7-S q 9A5F 4- L 5 5,ÉÉ AS COPPeR, MC<~PCIIeOM/l. /ll AC7,47Ae *I/ff// -FATr THE WKITBY FREE PRESS (Voice of the County Town) Hometown paper of Whitby. Brooklin, Myrtie and Ashburn also serving Ajax and Pickering. Serving over 26,000 readers. Published every Wednesday by Whitby Free Press Inc, Bruno Har;iaid, President Located at: the Free Press Building. 121 Brock Street North Whitby, Ontario SUBSCRIPTION (BY MAIL) $10.00 VEARLY th ai extra hockey can be played. And that afler îhey had e, already agreed on tbe lime the Club could have. Il seems t hai volunteer groups ibat try 10 caler to the commnunîy -o wishes thal the Department is inclined 10 ignore, gel the 0- real run around. Either the Department is being deliberate- Sly high-banded, or il isn't 10 wetl up on the art of com- munication. 1 hope it's making a New Year resolution 10 *do betler in 1975..or as we pointed out aI the beginning M of the column, it 100 is going lu feel the wrath of those *who are paying for ils 'services'. S l'close for Ibis week with a reminder for the Ashburn Ireaders..general meeting for the Ashburn Community SCentre will be held on Wednesday, January j5. Please Mr support the Centre by attending. 11. See you next week..don't forget 10 caîIl 655-3750 wilh any y ews or views that you wish 10 share! LIZ The Law and You Q 1 boughit a rather expensive FM radio at a depart- mient store. ht ran for exac.tly.twoio urs, and tihen died. I took il back t0 the store andto td the manager inin.o unceriain ternis ihat I wanted mny money back. He said ibat he was sorry but the manufacturer's was tbe only guarantee given. This nîeans-t4at 1 have to ship the whole sysîem to Montreal postpaid and maybe wait weeks until it is fixed. This really doesn'i seem fair. A. The deparirnent store is responsible under the Sale of Goods Act for the quality of the goods sold. Il -mi-ghif lie the -ma-nufacîurer's fauît if the radio is no good -but the merchant is stilî required to give you your money back or replace tbe goods when they are not fit for the purpose for whicb you purchased them. Q. Last fal I decided that I needed sonie new ski equip- ment. Tbe store where I went liad a plan;, wbereby you, could put a deposit down and pay, off the balance in weekly instalîr-nents. The store kept possession of the equipmerîî and my receipts said thai until the full pur- chase price was paid off, the store would reîaio property in il. A week before the lasî payment was due the store went bankrupt. I've paid about $180Oîo the store. [s there any way I can cither gel the money back, or the skis? A. l'm afraid'not. Since the store retained property in the skis, they were part of it's assets when il wenî bank- rupi. They, aîong wiîh the resi of the store's stock has' been 'seized by the liquidator. Basically the store now owes you tbe money you've paid becatse you can't gel the skis you paid for. .You are a crediior of the store and will be included' in the bankruptcy seulement. Unfortunately, tbis won'l be much; about fflteeni cents on the dollar. It's an expensive way 10 learn a lesson but in future, neyer pay for anyîhing in advance. Q. Ray and I had a child several years ago- before we were married, in faci. We married last year wben Ray's mother died and lefi him some money. But 1 bave been worrying about the cbild. Do we have 10 adopt him or anyihing to make him legitirnate? A. No. Under Ontario's Legiiimacy Act, a child of un- wed parents becomes legitimate from birth if the par- ents subsequently marry each other. Q. My car was involved in an accident. It seems pretty dlean thai the accident was tbe other guy's fault. I îalked to his lawyer a coup12 of limes and finally gol an offer for seutlement ihat-seemns satisfactory. At the top of the letter, thougb, was an expression thatýpuzzled me. Il said "Wiihout Prejudice". Justwhai exactly does this me an? A . "Without Prejudice" ai the top of a letter like Ibis mneans that the offer of setulement cannot be used in court as an admission of liabiliiy for negligence, should you ieject an offer and sue. "THESE QUESTIONS AND ANS WERS, BASED ON ONTARIO LAW, ARE PUBLISHED TO INFORM AND NOT TO ADVISE. NO ONE SHOULD TRY TO APPLY OR INTERPRET THE LAW WITHOUT THE AID AND ADVICE 0F A TRAINED EXPERT WHO 'KNOWS THE FACTS, BECAUSE THE FACTS 0F EACH CASE MAY CHANGE THE APPLICATION 0F THE LAW." coont'1d from P. 12'