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Serving Newmarket and the rural district of North York 112th year publication Wednesday at Charles New mat be I by the Newmarket Era Newmarket Era 1852 THE EDITORIAL PAGE NINETEEN HUNDRED AND SIXTYFOUR CALL BACK YESTERDAY Uncle Podger it seems is dead This gentleman once representative of a type always used to affirm that employing a professional for such simple household chores as replacing the glass in a broken window or a washer in a leaking faucet was not only a needless waste of money but a downright slur upon his personal abilities When a picture needed a new cord Uncle Podger would assemble the whole family and have everybody standing around to hold him steady on the ladder and hand him tools Then he would drop the picture and cut his hand on the glass drop the nail lose the hammer lose the mark hed made on the wall smash his thumb with the first blow and drive the nail and half the hammer through the plaster with the second About midnight the picture would be up with the wall for yards around looking sis though it had been smoothed down with a rake Nowadays things are different A piece of elementary carpentry to he done Why the modern homeowner has been learning that at night classes for the last two years A drain is blocked Good ness he just round to the local book seller and buys a Howto book it will all be set down there The man of the house still has confidence in his ability to do the necessary Nowadays he is jus tified in his confidence As with greatness some men are born to skill in craftsmanship They may per haps spend their days in offices but give them a few tools and an idea and they find real pleasure in an evenings potlcr- rhei ike ilk household jobs as a duck lakes lo water Then there are those who achieve skill They are the men In their houses jobs arc usually put off in favor of a book and a deep arm chair But when a feminine fool begins to tap in earnest the book is put aside potent job is performed Lastly there are the amateurs who have had skill thrust upon them large ly by the mounting cost of professional services They do not like handwork and are not good at it Hut if a thing needs doing and money is tight by tears and sweat will do it somehow The doityourself movement is spreading rapidly in Canada Not only is it evidenced by the practical classes al ready mentioned and the many books published for the purpose but companies are finding a very valuable market among home owners who arc doing household jobs themselves and large and demonstrations for Vcs Uncle Podger seems to be dead In Pace His son does things in a different fashion FIRE TO FIGHT FIRE The first end holiday of Iho b lo say that the first massacre of the year has had its headlines It up pealed to be one of death and destruction everywhere from the highways of Cana da to the southern beaches of quiet se date England I A proportion of Ibis record toll on the highways was no doubt in the acciden tal category and beyond the scope of human control but despite the warnings from press and safety groups it still re mains that most of he lives lost in these accidents happened lo people who thought it couldnt happen to them j One disturbing factor not connected with deaths on our highways which now appears lo be a foregone conclusion is and dock areas of London We have faith in the justice and tra ditions of the courts on that side of the Atlantic to feel that these groups will get little mercy We of the older school con sidered a stiff sentence and a strapping appeared lo do more than the present day assumption that we might ruin the future mental outlook of these characters by refusing to let them vent their feel ings as Ihey like That mothers should be forced to grab their younger children and flee from the beaches and restaurants in England lo escape the uncontrolled exhibitions of these teenage goons is a sad reflection on what is happening to the decreasing moral standards in many parts of the world including our own country Youthful we might toler ate enthusiasm for speed and action we also had in our own youth but this de grading exhibition of wanton destruction and zest for maiming appears to be a combination of loo much little parental control and punishment of a nature which fails to make these petty racketeers and punks realize that it is still not loo late to call a halt and end this nonsense while we have Ihe disposal SHOULD DENOTE UNITY The observance of Queen Victorias birthday although advanced from May 24 to last Monday May still featured a display of flags despite the present con troversy regarding whether or not Cana da should have a new flag Perhaps we did not go far enough afield when viewing the flags on display but it seems cither the Union Jack or the Canadian Ensign was considered ade quate to mark the holiday and pay res pect for the queen for whom the day was named At Winnipeg a few days ago Prime Minister Lester Pearson caused con siderable uproar when speaking at a din ner held by the Canadian Legion and dis played two new flags which proved than an irritation to the men who had fought under other flags It may he a move in the right direc tion to adopt a flag which designates in some manner the English and French founding nations but what of the Ger mans and more recently the Ethnic people who have played a part in the develop ment of Canada We would be inclined lo think that the German people of Kitchener and Hanover districts who can trace the founding families back about 100 years would es pecially be irked to think Ihe Hem de Lis would receive prominence in the design of a new flag while they were overlooked The maple leaf has been established all over the world as the readily insignia of Canada as it was used to identify sports groups trade missions ami others travelling abroad Pew if any ate a French motif Perhaps it would he well to discard the proposed designs for a flag now under consideration and design one which has the maple if predominant with the now recognized Canadian Ensign in the cor ner and in that manner bring a unity to Canada which at the moment is lacking APPEARANCE COUNTS From time lo time wellmeaning citi zens raise the question Whats wrong wilh Newmarket They are concerned not because they find this town an un attractive place lo live or inconvenient to other towns or Toronto but because there the and almost mob violence which has ap peared in some of the south coast English towns over the Easier and during this last holiday weekend J Our dim recollections of a quiet Eng lish day at the seaside is perhaps ting ed with nostalgic memories of fond Mamas in frills and Papa with an off- while celluloid collar sedately sipping lea while the younger groups in bathing suits resembling a baseball uniform dodged the waves In ihe English Channel Knives fists and clubs were remotely with the notorious Limehouae question and it is one cry member of the community not just the industrial commissioner the depart ment of industry or t Perhaps we have an inferiority com plex developed from an overemphasis of our own shortcomings and every town and city has them when we should have been paying more attention to our assets We can help the put its worst font forward by doing nothing instead of looking around to see how our immediate locality might be improved If a man loses pride In his appearance he soon be comes slovenly The same fate can befall GO Finance Plan Bring all your personal credit needs under one roof LOW COST LIFEINSURED LOANS