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ttft 2 the tribune thuncjr mjta 2 1967 shfatn editorials a death trap on friday afternoon we stood near a level crossing on the cnr line and siaters road at vandorf in whitchurch township two days before one man had been killed and another badly in jured at the same site five years ago another life was snuffed out at the same location its a death trap following the fatality in 1962 an in quest jury recommended that whistle sign posts be erected both north and south of the crossing there is no indi cation that these suggested safety pre cautions were ever carried out for one driver its now too late within the space of five minutes two trucks and a small foreignbuilt car crossed over the tracks for the occupant of the volkswagen it was al most fatality number three seconds after the auto mounted the rather sharp incline and cleared the line a south bound freight roared through at an estimated 60 miles per hour its bell was ringing but no whistle sounded its a death trap he could have but he didnt the markham cenotaph fundrais ing banquet at the inn on the park was an outstanding success the close to 600 persons who attended were loud in their praise of the entire evenings pro gram for the chairman mr paul min- gay it must have been with a sense of personal satisfaction that he looked out on the sea of faces gathered in the huge banquet hall it was only right and proper that his efforts during preced ing weeks were rewarded by such en thusiasm from the citizens of the com munity the guest speaker for the occasion rear admiral w m landymore was as outstanding in his remarks as in his record of service to his country he held the attention of his audience for almost an hour and was accorded a standing ovation at the conclusion of his address it was what he said and not how he said it that impressed us most we had expected that he might dwell extensive ly on his war experiences but he didnt we had expected that he might dis charge a few volleys of verbal artillery at the government forces in the defence department but he didnt instead he concentrated his remarks on the very central theme of the fundraising cam paign the cenotaph that is why we and 600 others were all the more pleas ed to be present a solution to a problem dog control has become a perennial problem here in stouffville but like councils in most communities the members are reluctant to spend great sums of money to resolve it personally we dont blame them its a most extra vagant waste of funds caused by a few irresponsible people who insist on keeping a pet only to let it run at will on everybodys property but its own the current rabies scare has forced the council to take action of some kind it is timely that the toronto hu mane society has elected to consider the erection of an animal shelter near oak ridges general manager tom hughes has approached both whit church and stouffville with a recom mendation that could settle the issue once and for all the cost to whitchurch is 35 cents per capita we feel its a bargain the price to stouffville has not been announced if the fee is within reason we feel that the council here would be wise to accept the offer certainly something would be an improvement over nothing at all the ndp leadership question according to the mostrecent politi- cal polls the new democratic party of canada now has support second only to the liberals after the 1965 election the figures showed liberals 40 pcs 33 and ndp 18 today the figures are 37 25 and 28 in that order this suggests the liberals have lost 3 and the conservatives 8 to the ndp the reason without a doubt is the question of leadship in the two ma jor parties what would the ndp do in an elec tion today this is difficult to answer but undoubtedly the proportion of seats won would run much behind the pro portion of vote perhaps the reason for this is again the question of leadership have the new democrats thought about reviewing the record of t c douglas he took over the party at its founding convention six years ago editors mail keep pets under control by our readers february 27 1967 dear sir i have naturally been follow ing with much interest these past few weeks in your editors mail letters and comments concerning the death of a dog my interest has of course been ad mittedly abetted by the fact that i am a brother of councillor spang and was born and raised on the farm he now op eratcs at the outset however let me point out that i am not the slightest bit interested in taking sides in this is sue but it does seem to me that a great many literal shots have been taken at my brother without giving sufficient thought as to why he took the shots at the dog i would like lo refer back to the year 1928 while on this same farm i was obliged at my late fathers command to destroy the best and most valuable col lie dog that we ever owned on this same day our closest neighbor the late s h frctz likewise destroyed his dog and why were these dogs destroyed because they were found together rav aging our own hock of sheep now these men considered the act of destroving their dogs forthwith to lie in the public interest in keeping in harmony with township bylaws and tantamount to the cause of justice many virtues such as these seem lo be almost forgotten today though i hey shouldnt be as a life member of the naturalists and an inveterate outdoorsman it is axiomatic or selfevident to me that the number of dogs roaming at large is steadily on the increase seldom docs one wander through the woods and fields without seeing a small band of dogs straying at large a check of town ship records would astound the average ratepayer with the recorded number of stray dogs impounded to say nothing of the damage to flocks of sheep etc with the resultant high cost to the taxpayer furthermore it would reveal that cer tain breeds of dogs and the malemute is no exception are noted for their rapacious tactics where farmers ani mals are concerned i admit it is a sad thing to see a fine specimen of a dog destroyed but it is also a gory sight to sec as i have on many occasions a flock of sheep or poultry that have been the victims of straying bloodthirsty dogs since the dog that was shot was a very valued pet is that not further reason why the owner should have kept it under his watchful eye within his own confines a farmer is subject to the vagaries of many things including stray dogs and he has to keep constant watch for many such things and what other tactics can he employ but those of a socalled vigi lante in tracking down an avaricious predator in conclusion sir i submit that if dog owners would themselves keep a little closer vigilance on their pets it would release a great deal of friction and discord for both the urban and rural dweller yours truly harry m spang brougham ont established 1sss c h nolan publisher jim thomas editor noel edey advertising published every thursday by the stouttville tribune limited at 54 main st stouffvffle ont tel 6102101 single copies 10c subscriptions jj00 per year in canada 00 elsewhere member of audit bureau of circulation canadian weekly newspapers association and ontario weekly newspapers association authorized u second class mall post office dcpt ottawa weve been integrated with the armed forces and i hear railwaymen are next sugar and spice canvassers gripe me i dont know whether its the weath er but certain species proliferate in this country with the rapidity of rabbits one is the chairman of committees theres one for every snowbank in the nation another is the guest speaker theres one at the bottom of every bar rel and another is the canvasser in some smaller communities there are more canvassers than noncanvassers a canvasser is a weakwilled person who can be talked into asking other people for money for a good cause or even more popularly a worthy cause the number of worthy causes in this country is only exceeded by the number of backboneless birds of both sexes who allow themselves to be put on the list of canvassers and i know whereof i speak in my day i have canvassed for the blind the retarded the resort owners th red cross the salvation army and eleven- teen other worthy causes about the on growing a beard we had an explosion at our house the other day all poor daddy had to say is that im goin to join the centennial race to grow a beard upon my face growing a beard is the fashion today now alas poor dad has to sleep in the hay mow things round here dont seem so gay since we had that explosion the other day we had an explosion at our house the other day mom blew her lid that is to say as dough doth rise because of the yeast her temper did show to say the least words came fast and they didnt sound so sweet there were two or three that i wont repeat she cried and hollered all over the place it almost made dad shave his face the thunder heard by you and your spouse was no doubt the explosion at our house he tried to reason with her as best he could in every dark cloud there is some good as he spoke these words he tried to sound grave think of the money we will save we wont have any maternity bill and you wont have to swallow another pink pill no more blades to buy for my safty razor with the money we save ill buy an electric shaver this case is closed as far as im concerned but mom thinks different from what ive learned youve lost your stall at the kitchen table- banished from the bedroom youll sleep in the stable im ashamed of you you arc a disgrace ill never go with you to any place so thats what the noise was all about the day that the window panes fell out oh the suffering one must embrace to grow a beard upon ones far but dads still sticking to his gun and i really believe he is having fun hell never have a better reason this being our centennial season so his is growing his fuzz and he started early to get plenty of growth be it brown red or curly just yesterday dad pulled me idly by and with a glint showing in his eye he told me hed won a good half of the battle he didnt have to sleep with any more cattle that my mothers heart was beginning to yearn for her husband and his fuzzy face to return now mark my word you wait and sec shell want to sit upon his knee when the judges at the end of the race judge the beard on daddys face i wonder if mrs lincoln peered when abraham grew his bushy beard allan carson clarcmont rr 2 only thing i havent done is sell cookies for the girl guides and ive hated every minute of it the trouble is that the average cana dian citizen heartily detests the handing over of cash for an intangible at heart hes a generous soul he knows the red cross does good work that something should be done for the blind and that we need a school for retarded children but he cant eat them smoke them drink them or even attach them to his car therefore the fellow who will fling down a ten in the liquor store as though he grew the lettuce will dourly head shaking peel off a couple of thin one- spots for the sally ann the housewife who buys her weeds by the carton will spend 20 minutes looking for two quar ters for the cancer society and i know just how they feel im the same some day somebody is going to rap at my door for a bad cause a free crock a day for alcoholics a clinic for poten tial pool players a home for unwed fathers and im going to hand over 20 cash without quivering an eyelid this preamble as you have probably gathered is because i got suckered once again into canvassing for a good cause this time its a community swim ming pool a yearround pool already theres a goodsized lake- within the town limits we live ontheshore of the biggest freshwater bay in the world lakes with miles of safe sand beaches but the kids have to be able to swim in the winter next summer ill probably be can vassing for a summer ski hill with ar tificial snow for the kids maybe it was sheer audacity of this by bill smiley campaign that grabbed me this is no picking up 800 for the blind or s500 for the crippled children they want over a quarter of a million the result ant campaign is a combination of the night of the long knives and the st bartholomews day massacre what it amounts to is 30 for every man woman and child in town non- realistic you say nonsense ah it takes is enough canvassers and they will cowe the citizenry into coughing up my first night out was a typical six calls to make first place nobody home second place no such address third place a response a chap on shift work tottered down in his pyjamas and snarled the party i was seeking lived next door called on him wouldnt give you a plugged nickel he said but my wife said shed give two bucks at the fifth place i rang and vang no answer i looked in the window the householder was lying on the chester field there was an empty glass beside him i threw snow at the window no response i kicked the door four times i left but i struck it rich at the last place caught both husband and wife at home a very modest home gave my sales pitch with fervor enthusiasm and sin cerity they admitted they had five kids agreed they would use the pool and looking a bit troubled but game pledg ed 50 a year for three years returned triumphant to make my report oh yes good old jimmy chortled an oldtimer on convassing he pledges for everything from church to paying his taxes has been on welfare for two years cant hold a job more than a week this week next- no tears please by ray argyle in the new math of teacher wage de mands the cost of operating schools is already the biggest single factor in local and provincial taxes accounting for half of all government spending done outside of ottawa balancing the need for bigger and belter schools against limited tax re sources has posed recurring problems for provincial planners and local coun cils following as they must the lead of school boards in setting spending and taxing levels have had to content themselves with only what they feel the taxpayer can still afford after the cost of schools is taken care of none of this fiscal jumble however is preventing the growth of a new mili tancy among canadas teachers paced by the demands of tradition ally lowlypaid quebec teachers and urged on by their betterpaid toronto counterparts who arc themselves ask ing for 25 per cent wage increase this year canadas teachers have suddenly emerged as the countrys most aggres sive labor bloc teachers associations which for years have carefully nuturcd an air of genteel refinement have suddenly taken on all the earmarks of militant union ism rising living costs which have af fected every segment of the community are one reason of course torontos elementary teachers for example claim that at starting salaries of 4100 a year rising to an average of 6500 they arc paid less than floor sweepers in some factories another reason however is the growing public awareness that our edu cation system for all its shortcomings needs yet heavier financing to attract better teachers and assure adequate schooling for canadas young the most traumatic educational ex perience is that which has gripped que bec since the return to power of the union nationalc government released from religious direction by the liberal government of jean lcsagc the quebec education system was mov ing toward nondcnominantional public control direction for the first time in its history the meaning was clear that to meet the challenge of a technical age quebecs school system would have to throw off its clssical wraps quebecs new government did not resist the move in principle because even the most conservative of premier daniel johnsons followers recognized the need for an upgrading of the prov inces education system but the ap proach was cautious and fearful it was determined that costs must be kept down that taxes which have hit busi ness even harder than wageearners must be kept down it was for this reason the quebec government sided in effect with the school boards in the strike of catholic school teachers by enacting bill 25 which forced teachers to return to work under existing conditions until july 1968 the government took much more drastic action than was required to set tle the walkout it was obviously too good a chance to be missed an interesting comparison could be made between public funds available for meeting education costs and the interest rates charged on consumer loans and credit sales a parliamentary committee on con sumer prices recently hit out at interest rates charged low income consumers consumer credit hit the seven billion dollar mark in 1965 on most of this business according to the committee excessive interest rates have been charged governmentbacked low interest loans for families with annual incomes of 4000 or less were recommended by the committee it is idle to speculate on what share of our education bills could be covered if the money spent on consumer credit interest charges was diverted to the cost of running schools but one can nevertheless draw a parallel between funds required for publicsupported endeavors and money lost to public benefit through private gain a society that is able to afford vast sums on nonproductive interest charges which are really only higher prices in disguise should not cry too mue n the taxman comcth stouffville that once was twenty years is not really a long period of time in the life of a town hut financiallv speavin stouffville has changed a great deal eveopeninc proof of this fact is contained in a financial statement located by mr k r davis and dated 1946 the reeve of that day was a v nolan council members in cluded e a button ross brown jack smits and huch bovd the tax rate was then 325 mills and it raised s23m4 to- dav it is 84 r mills and the total rcom- sition is 39s327 the public school rate was 43 mills to raise soso0 ow it is 165 mills to raise 763700 the hih school rate was 2 milts for an expendi ture of 140900 maintenance and 2072 debentures in 1966 it was 168 mills for 8034200 the librarv rate was 1 mill for 700 last vear it was 86 mils for 4000 in 1946 the sum of sl40lno was set aside for street lichtina in 1966 the fiaure was 4800 fmnloyee salaries 20 years aao were k r davis tax collector s 7500 per vear george sto rey clerktreasurer s3333 per month ira rusnell police constable 40 ner month high school teachers salaries 878300 per year and piblic school teachers salaries 673800 per year the fire chief was del jcnninas and he received 50 per year yes financiallv times have surclv chanced and so has stouffville its little wonder that board mem bers of the whitchurch public school area are showing a keen interest in testhole drillings for gravel on the georae rodanz farm at concession 7 and the vandorf slderoad the selected site for the townships new senior school is only a stones throw to the north in past years the very mention of the ontario good roads convention was often greeted by smiles of good- natured approval from members of municipal councils for the men or many of them it was the social event of the year a time to cat drink and be merry a place to put pleasure before business but now all is changed ap parently someone came up with the bright idea to include the wives in on the threeday gathering forcing mr councilman to be on his best behavior at all times the latest convention was held at the royal york last week and was said to be one of the most success- full on record never underestimate the power of a woman a colored photo of highjumper susan nigh concession 7 markham is featured in the current issue of tv guide from the number of 66 licence plates we saw on stouffville cars on tuesday we can only conclude that many had to walk to work on wednes day as if easter examinations arent tough enough stouffville high school students must also compete with bull dozers and the like during the construc tion of another new addition a set of ear plugs should come with every paper wc wonder how many stouffville natives recall the name bert robinson son of dr and mrs wesley robinson a beautiful plaque in markhams new centennial libray is in memory of this man the inscription reads in part in honored memory of edgar bertram frcll robinson who on november 9 1906 organized a number of his blind colleagues and founded the canadian free library for the blind in his home in markham ontario from this library eventually grew the canadian national institute for the blind bert robinson born in stouffville april 20 1872 son of dr wesley robinson and elizabeth arvilla fred robinson of markham progress in transportation is not all its cracked up to be on saturday near clarcmont wc saw a newmodel chevrolet hopeessly marooned in a six foot snow drift a mile farther on we came unon a chap carrying a shovel obviously the driver he was wearing snow shoes if members on official boards within the stouffville united church are still debating whether to erect a new edifice or renovate the present one it mijiht be wise for them to tale a look at the in terior of st andrews united in mark ham wc dont know the cost involved in remodelling their sanctuary but its the most beautiful job weve ever seen while stouffville council is showing increased concern for an overdose of stray dogs in the village there seems also to be a population explosion among cats in our community cats are run ning rampant in the clarke street area and one owner it said to have between six and twelve of the felines in his house it should be remembered that it was a rabid cat that attacked the girl near ottawa and also a woman at but- tonvillc rather than hire a canine control officer here a permanent cat- catcher might be more in order