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4- PORT PERRY STAR - Tuesday, April 21, 1998 "Scugog's Community Newspaper of Choice" Tale of tragedy Port Perry man finds books that | describe Titanic's 1912 sinking By Chris Hall Port Perry Star Thumbing through an old, forgotten book, a Port Perry man shakes his head at the pictures before his eyes. Eighty-six years ago this month the RMS Titanic went to the bottom of the North Atlantic; 86 years later, Ken Kimmerly flips through a book docu- menting the horrors of the evening of April 15, 1912 -- a book published three days after the ship sank. The Titanic, at the time the largest and most luxurious ocean liner ever built, was on its maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York when it struck an iceberg and sank more than two-and-a-half miles to the bottom of the ocean. The inci- dent took the lives of more than 1,500 peo- ple. Everything even remotely connected to the Titanic is all the rage these days, in the wake of the blockbuster film about the tragedy. Late last week a Toronto daily ran a story of a Peterborough woman who holds a rare copy of Nearer My God To Thee, The Story of the Wreck of The Titanic, The Ocean's Greatest Disaster, a book com- class -- the dead -- and that's something that's very rare. I heard once that they never published the complete list of names, but it's right here," he said, flip- ping through the pages listing the steer- age passengers, who made up the major- ity of the disaster's 1,635 casualties. While the earlier book lists both the first and second class survivors, and victims, it notes that third-class riders and crew "are not included in the list here given owing to the impossibility of obtaining the exact names..." And, while he holds two very rare books in his hands, Mr. Kimmerly says neither were something he really want- ed, or wants. "I picked this up at an auction four of five years ago," he says of his copy of Nearer My God To Thee. "lI was at an auction in Little Britain and was bidding on a box of history books; I didn't buy the box for that book. It was in with the others and I kept it; I had no reason to keep it except that it was a his- tory book." The item was forgotten over the years with the ear- lier book -- some- piled 28 days after the ship sank. Mr. Kimmerly suggests-that he has her beat with his copy of The Sinking of the Titanic and Great Sea Disasters, Thrilling Stories of Survivors with Photographs and Sketches; it contains no publisher's imprint, but bears an introduction dated April 18, 1912, from Henry Van Dyke in Princeton, New Jersey. "I guess they were trying to beat each other; trying to get something out after the ship sank," the retired General Motors employee said last Friday, hold- ing his own copy of a memorial edition of Nearer My God To Thee as well. Amazingly, he says, both books are much the same, except for a few differ- ences. "The later book lists all the third thing he says he's "always just had" but does not know where it came from -- but Mr. Kimmerly says that the recent release of James Cameron's movie Titanic had spurred him to read them again, to judge the accuracy of the film. Each book also contained a newspaper clipping from around the time of the disaster, he says. One showed a final photograph of the Titanic as it left on its doomed journey. The other is a story reporting that embalming fluid had been sent from Toronto to Newfoundland to help workers deal with bodies as they were brought ashore. Now, the Canadian and Native history buff says, is time to sell the books. "Yes, I think it's time to sell them. I'd like to find out what they are worth, SaaS a Ken Kimmerly pores over antique books on th e sinking of the Titanic. He's had the volumes, printed within weeks of the famous ocean liner's demise, for a number of years. and then I would consider selling them. "They don't mean anything to me; to someone else they might. They're just history books to me." And, sometime in the near future, Mr. Kimmerly says he and his wife Sharon will see the popular new movie. "The kids have got us tickets and we're going to go see it. They say we have to see it," he said, pointing out that it's not the fictitious romantic sto- ryline he wants to see, but the recreation of the time period. "My wife loves the clothes and toys, and I like the boat and cars and stuff. It'll be like viewing a time capsule for us," he said, adding that they'd like to see the Maritime museum containing Titanic artifacts as well. "Both books are very good -- even the early one which really amazed me -- and I was surprised to see the one in the (paper)." NDP chief vows to take parents' fight to Toronto By Rik Davie Port Perry Star Provincial NDP leader Howard Hampton had a promise for parents of physically and mentally chal- lenged kids in Durham Region when he visited the Grandview Childrens' Centre yesterday. "I will bring your concerns and fears to the house," He said, pledging to present their concerns at Queen's Park. "Ontario is not poor. I can find no evidence that we are poor," said Mr. Hampton during his visit Monday morning. "But the resources we have are being unfairly allocated," he said. The statement was in response to pleas for support from a committee called PACK (Parents in Action for Challenged Kids). One of the committee founders, Donna Herold of Port Perry, asked Mr. Hampton to respond to concerns that Durham Access To Care (DATC) may not provide the same kind of therapy service that area kids once received from the Grandview Centre, and that many may not even qualify for DATC services under new guidelines that are as yet not finalized. DATC has contracted out services region-wide to private companies, a requirement of the provincial government. The new caregivers' system took effect April 1. Mr. Hampton was blunt: "You've got to become political... hold demonstrations and marches," he said. But even that will be a tough road, he told the hall full of parents. "You are dealing with a government that simply doesn't care about your problems." Mrs. ram was emotional in her plea for the NDP leader to champion the cause of her child. "The amount, quality and availability of services to my child are dwindling," she said. "I don't mind becoming political and I'll do whatever is necessary to protect the future of my child... but we need the support of politicians to do it. All we ask is a commit- ment from you to carry our messages to Queen's Park." Mr. Hampton replied, "That I will do." Hampton told the crowd that they'll have to make some noise if they want to preserve the level of care they've come to expect for their kids. "Picket... get out and demonstrate... picket (Community and Social Services Minister) Janet Ecker's office, or anywhere else it will get your message out. You must." Mr. Hampton said cutbacks in education, special education and health care are being implemented by the Tories so they can make good on an election promise to cut income taxes. "They will cut $5 billion out of social programs to finance a tax cut that will only benefit those already well off," he said. "That's the kind of government you're up against. "They don't care about the level of service challenged kids receive, and the company delivering the service is in it for the profit." Mrs. Herold says that PACK will take its message where ever it has to in order to make sure that kids who need Grandview's therapy and other facilities can still get access to them. "This is my child's future, I won't go away on this," said Mrs. Herold. A I a ol EE rr rT i. 5 Th,