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The Canadian Champion, Friday, January 23, 2004-7 Students receive mini holiday *OUR READERS WRT to celebrate end of Boer War W 'ime Capsules' c gems of inJormation extracted from past issues of The Champion and other publications in order to provide a window into Miltons past. Explanatory comment is sometimes pro- vided to place the situation in context. June 1902 The war in South Afrca bas ended. On Saturday night, at Pretoria, terms were agreed on by Lords Kitchener and Milner and the Boer delegates and signed by them. Under the terns the Boers are required to give up their independence and become subjects of Great Britain but they are treat- ed very liberally. They are not to be taxed for war expens- es, the Dutch language will be taught in public schools if desired by pupils' parents and posession of rifles will be allowed in the Transvaal and Orange River Colony to persons who require them for protection and take out licenses. His Majesty's gov- emment will expend $15,000,000 in assist- ing in the restoration of the people to their homes and supplying those who are unable to provide for themselves with shelter, food, seed, stock and implements. The end of the war is the cause of general thankful- ness throughout the Empire, not excepting the newly added South African portion of it. Tie Boers not only express their gratifi- cation but show a very friendly spirit to the British. At the mayor's request, the trustees of Milton school gave the children a half hol- iday on Monday aftemoon to celebrate the conclusion of the war. J.H. Peacock's shipments of animals from Milton to slaughter for the last two weeks were eight car-loads of hogs and two of cattle, one car of the latter was export. The amount paid for the lot was $11,000. The Boys' Brigade of Grace Church, to the number of 20, paraded Main Street on Monday evening under charge of Sergt. Cunningham. The boys wished to celebrate the conclusion of peace in South Africa. Sergt. Major R.J. Cunningham put them tirough a short drill in front of the town hall. The new National Anthem, by Andrew H. Crozier of Meadowvale, has been a success from the start. Letters of congratu- lations and approval are being continually received. AhÂlI r- ÂbA--U MP() 1 Milton Retired school bus driver says careless Ime motorists made the job a daily challenge Capsules M Though all efforts to re-organize the old Milton senior baseball club for this season failed, the game is not dead here by any means. Apparently the remaining players of the old seniors have joined the Victoria juniors. At any rate a combined nine, which included four juniors, played an exhibition game with Acton here on Saturday. The boys had no practice but they played good ball and the visitors, who are very strong this season, led them by only three runs. Though Sam Brush had not pitched a ball before the match, he put them over in great style, had lots of speed and curves, and it was fielding that gave the game to Acton. The other end of the battery, Murray Campbell, of the juniors, was equally good. His throwing to second was responsible for the retirement of six would-be base stealers. Sergt. Beattie, son of Capt. M. Beattie of No. 4 Co. 20th Lorne Rifles, Campbellville, has taken Sergt.-Major Cunningham's place on the coronation contingent and he and Q.M. Sergt. W.J. Gould of Acton left for England last week. On Saturday last the Canadian Pacific Railway commenced a tri-weekly service, the trains used being styled the Imperial Limited. They leave Montreal every Sunday, Wednesday and Friday and retum- ing leave Vancouver, B.C. on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, the run across the continent, 2,906 miles being accom- plished in 67 hours. Burlington improvement committee held its regular semi-monthly meeting when a communication was received from John Hull of Hamilton giving as his opinion that it was not feasible to bring the water from Lake Medad over the mountain by syphon. The committee decided to get further evi- dence. A committee is to interview the owners of the lake as to the sale of the saine, price etc. This material is assembled on behalf of the Milton Historical Society by Jim Dills, who can be reached at jdills@idirect.com. Dear Editor: On December 19, the last day before the Christmas break, I retired from driving a school bus. It was one of the hardest deci- sions that I've ever had to make. I'd like to thank a few people for providing me with a challenging daily trip each day. To the motorists who pulled right up to the comer at intersections so that I could practice tight tums. As you all know, buses don't bend in the middle - we need a wide berth the same as trucks. A thank you goes out to those that gave me such polite hand and finger signals. Thanks to all of you who cut me off, tail-gated, passed me on the right, squeezed by me on to the shoulder of the road or flew past me at Mach-l10. Each of you made me thankful to be alive and able to practice my defensive driving skills. Thanks to those of you who flew past the overhead flashing lights on my bus, and a special thanks to those who ran through my stop sign. Maybe you didn't know, but flashing red lights mean be pre- pared to stop and stop means stop. This applies to traffic on both two and four lanes. This was a good reminder for me when I met a bus on the road. If driving behind a bus and having to wait is going to cause you to be delayed, late for work or a hot meal at supper, perhaps leaving home 10 minutes earlier would be benefi- cial. Or even better, consider a course in anger management. Thanks to those of you who drove slowly through my flashing red lights and stop sign and looked up at me, shrugging your shoulders and holding your palms up like you didn't understand the meaning of stop. Maybe you should reread your driver's manual. Even I can under- stand what the word stop means. And to one specific driver, may I ask why in heaven's name would you ever pass me on the passenger side of the bus while students are getting on the bus? Remember, it's not uncommon for a student to sud- denly dart from the bus door back to the sidewalk because they have forgotten something. Oh, and I don't want to forget t mention those who park in bus loading zones or cram bumper-to- bumper on both sides of an inter- section in order to pick up their sons and daughters from school. Do you really expect a 45-foot bus to weave safely around you, your vehicle, your children and your open car door? Common sense, to me, would say park a street away, get out of your car and walk up to the school to meet with your children. Thank you to the parents who felt that it was tieir responsibility to remind me how little control we as bus drivers are actually granted. For two hours or more, we're not only bus drivers but aiso supervi- sors, police, fire captains, sched- ulers, teachers, nurses, fill-in moms and dads, referees, psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, friends and so much more. The list is endless. For those of you that did the polite reminding, maybe you should be driving the bus instead. Bus drivers see a lot of strange, bizarre and unexplainable behav- iour while on the road. They're men and women just like everyone else on the road, and everyday they see their way to doing their utmost tirough every kind of weather, road condition and personal prob- lem in order to safely transport stu- dents to and from school. Drivers receive in-depth training that's updated on a regular basis throughout the year. To be honest, too many people show very little respect for the hard work and com- passion that drivers put out every- day - for meager wages, I might add. Parents have entrusted school bus drivers with the lives of their babies, adolescents and challeng- ing teenagers. When you the motorists are inconsiderate and endanger the lives of the driver, the students and other motorists, you will suffer for your thoughtlessness for the rest of your life, along with everyone else that you have hurt. Your actions are basically selfish. When you're about to commit an act of carelessness, please consider if it's really worth it. Last but not least, I'd like to sin- cerely thank the students and par- ents in particular who have allowed me to become a part of their lives for the past four years - those that have thanked me with hugs, gifts and well wishes. You have all been more than thoughtful and I will remember you always. Another special thanks that I would like to give is to two wonderful moms that live in Milton's Mattamy north subdivi- sion. They only knew me for about four months, but in the moming as I picked up their children, I told them that I was retiring so they watched for my bus in the after- noon. As soon as they saw my bus, they flagged me down, chased my bus down the street hollering, "Stop, stop." Nothing would do but for me to pull over. Then they hugged me, thanked me, wished me luck in future endeavours and presented me with gifts. Ladies, you will never know how much you touched my heart that day. I will miss all of the students that I've come to know and be friends with, and I'm not only saying thank you to them and their families but I would also like to add to this. Motorists, please be thoughtful, give bus drivers the right of way and show as much courtesy and consideration as possible. 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