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the tribune thursday january 27 177 john montgomery i editor established 1888 charles hnolan publisher barrebeacock advertising manager editorial oept ted wuca asaearet tamere display advertising dept lois wleceua art dixaa business office jeaa marshman ooreta duces eileea clover pumisaed every tftirsday at s4 mais su sleuffvule oat tel 440- j 10 1 toronto phone mima single copies mc subscriptions simo per year la canada tum euewaere- member el audit bureau el circulation canadian community newspaper association and ontario weekly newspapers association second class mall registration number mm the tribune is one ol the inland publishing co limited group el suburban newspapers which includes the ajawhitdypickering news advertiser brampton guardian burlington post etoblceke oatette markbam economist and sun newmarketaurora era oakvule beaver oshawa this week and mississauga news 6402100 3611680 editorials co uncil should reco nsider decision to obliterate pond meeting in committee of the whole council last week reaffirmed an earlier decision to have the pond located on the future 3ulverton subdivision filledin the pond used for irrigation on the leh- rman farm is located on land that is to be jloriated for a public park within the sub division the rationale behind obliterating it is that 3here is a danger some child will drown in it z to our mind a pond is something that can really enhance a public park other and ilarger communities have parks with un- supervised open water in them and have very jew problems one example that comes im- inediately to mind is grenadier pond in high park x a pond is visually pleasing and in a quiet park will attract considerable wildlife z we would be willing to wager that every s hild who has grown up in the east end during 1he past 2 5 years has been in that pond at one uime or another to our knowledge no one has jirowned there yet one area of the pond could prove dangerous as the bank drops right off into 10 feet of water but this could be corrected by grading the shoreline a likely drowning spot in stouffville is at the flood plain dam not only is it much larger and deeper than the lehman pond but during the summer months youths swim there daily or nightly admittedly a school is to be built nearby but properly planned they should be able to co exist if the pond were made offbounds to younger children on the way to and from school and the approach to the pond was kept clear so no one could wander in without being seen it would be safe a pond- would also prove invaluable in teaching nature study courses and biology children will always find ponds to fall into or trees to fall out of it is part of human nature and cannot be legislated away the pond should and could be the focal point of the park the park should be designed aroundit and not over it sugar and spice driven to desperation with the flu by bill smiley politicians should have been kept z i 6ut of centennial queen pageant s- we were quite impressed with the professional manner in which the centennial queen pageant was organized and conducted but we dont feel politicians should have been fragged into it the federal and provincial represent- atives were invited to make presentations shd althoughitwasverygraciousdf them to attend especially on such a cold winter night we dont feel it should have been them making jhe presentations i neither man is really involved in the life of this community naturally enough as we are tucked into the corner of both the federal land provincial ridings x in fact it seems we rarely get a glimpse of either politician unless they are presenting snowmobile law common sense j beginning march 1 a provincial law will be coming into effect that to us makes a lot of sense namely anyone operating a snowmobile in a public trail crossing a highway or on a road must have either an ontario motor vehicle drivers licence or a licence given to graduates of aproyinciallyapproved course ion snowmobile operation ij ji this law would seem to take cognizance of the fact that snowmobiles are not toys and can and have been the cause of serious ac cidents when used foolishly a check or waving from a limousine travelling in the santa claus parade at a minimum there were probably a hundred local people at the showwho have actively contributed either to the pageant or other centennial activities and who would havebeen honoured to make the preseri tations we would like to see as many of these ceremonial activities as possible delegated to those who live in the community and give freely of their time here rather than import big names from outside had the flu this week and took a couple ol days off work that made 10 days in the last ie years on the job and i rediscovered the reason i will time and again totter off tc work when im practically onmy hands and knees with some ailment its because i nearly go out of my skuli with boredom when im home sick im not saying my wife isnt a delightful conversationalist or a charming companion she is but when you have the flu you want neither delight nor charm you just want to be left alone like an old dog to live or die as the lord decides she wont leave me alone she brings me a big breakfast to bed when all i really want is a sharp harikari knife after once spending a year in bed in a sanatorium i hate eating in bed trying to balance a tray on the knees spilling coffeefon the sheets with the- inevitable blast from the laundress dripping gooey egg down the front of your pyjamas then bylunchtime im so bored withbed thati stagger up and dress dying or-not- and she starts again i should have some lunch to keep my strength up have you taken your anti bioiic pills dear maybe you should 30 years ago this week excerpts from the january 30 1947 issue of the tribune buffet car regular passenger trains to and from toronto on this line of the cnr passing through stouffville are now carrying a buffet car tardy morning risers can now enjoy the luxury of breakfasting on the train that pulls out for the city and lunch enroute home in the evening so that there need be no time lost when you step off the train around 740 go straight to that meeting or other appointment of course the buffet dinner will be more ap- predated by passengers travelling farther north to perhaps lindsay or peterboro stouffville is indeed fortunate to be located on a line of railway with such modern con venience while some towns and villages find themselves on spur lines of communication that have discontinued ser vice feathered men minister of trade and industries in bc an nounces that a bc- scientist has discovered a method of making new fabrics from chicken feathers thefeathers from 38 hens will when processed make- a- full mans suit it is estimated that- thirteen- million pounds of feathers are going to waste annually in canada v however the an nouncement has moved a telegram poet to write away out in the breezy west where people ask and get the best not eggs alone come from to judge by latest word soft feathers that surround the hen when she cavorts- about the pen will make new suits for stylish men when taken off the bird watch tv for a while to keep your spirits up would you like another cup of tea i dont want another cup of tea im drowning in it already i dont want any sardines on toast or cheese bits in the oven or nice tasty soup my pills make me dizzy tv makes me want to throw up this has got to be the swine flu am i really dying or will i just be paralyzed for life does god really exist if he does why is he dumping this on me well all that is bad enough but during this session the worst happened i ran out of reading material by the end of day two i had whipped through three library books two daily papers twice a day and a halfadozen weeklies a couple of news magazines and the directions on the cereal box in english and french the inevitable occurred i was forced to read one of those womens magazines that my wife buys occasionally at i the supermarket- when she sees an interesting recipe it plunged me into an even deeper almost suicidal depression one of the feature articles told me i must love myself first if i were going to amount to- anything i plowed through it with growing disgust considering that at the moment i despised myself modern medicine my wife and almost anything else i could think of when tgot to a list of things i must stop doing if i were to love myself and read not having orgasms i threw up all over the jivingroom rug x after settling my stomach with a hot toddy and finding nothing else around that i hadnt read twice i picked up the magazine again in sheer desperation the other feature article plunged me once again into abysmal gloom it was called chart your way to success when i read about the author that she is a professor of educational psychology i should nave stopped right there i know how much those birds know about real life they live in a dream world of stuff like positive rein forcement arid negative feedback but i pressed on after wading through three saccharine endorsements from people whose whole life she had changed i went on to this you too can follow in the footsteps of lee mark and doris you can define and attain your own success it seems that all you have to do is make a chart divided into three periods each representing a third of your life beginning at the age of five then you list three successes l for each period and opposite each list why it was a success for you out of sheer ennui i started a chart in the first period from five to 15 1 could think of only one success i won one fight with a belligerent urchin named george cornell with whom i tangled frequently it was success for me because it was the only one i ever did win in the second period from 15 to 30 again i could think of only one success i learned to fly an airplane but this wasnt such a great success since- because of it ispent astretclr in a german prison camp in the third period from 30 on i couldnt think of a single success i became a newspaper editor through sheer accident all that got me was 10 years laboring as a galley slave to pay off the mortgage on the paper then i became a teacher which any damfool could become in those days they were pulling bodies in off the streets because of the baby boom hitting the high schools i became head of the english department purely because nobody else was qualified not on merit experience or dedication i became a syndicated columnist by chance all that gets me is a deadline hanging about my neck like a big old albatross by the time id finished making out the chart i realized not forthe first time that i was an utter failure and that it was going to take a lot more than a chart to change things y it was then that i made my one and only resolution for 1977 and all subsequentyears i will never again should i be forced to peruse nothing more exciting than the small printon toothpaste tubes read another womans magazine from a supermarket immediately i made this resolve i felt a lot better and next morning was back- at work window on wildlife backryard buzz bomb attack observed by art briggsjude s this artistry in fiiil jj4ky lloyd street ice 11 home was one of many homes in the area displaying natures vv t isi r- tedwncox the flock of feeding sparrows stiffened then bolted for the cover of some protecting shrubbery one bird a little tardier than the rest paid the price of hesitating and was pinned against the snow crust by the swift moving sparrow hawk i had watched this drama unfold from the start with mixed feelings and now as the little falcon ended its victims struggles i could not help buffeei a tinge of sorrow for the un- fortunate creature the flying predator had apparently made an earlier and unsuccessful attempt to capture one of these numerous neighbourhood birds now he rested and reviewed the situation from the top of a tall telephone pole a hundred yards or so away it was here i first spotted him and with the aid of the glasses was able to pick up the blue grey wings and the black and white facial markings kis rusty tail hung straight down as he remained motionless save for the oc- casional turning of his patterned head giarcg back towards the feeding j platfonnfirjktlced the house sparrows beginning to return in- ever increasing numbers- three five nine a dozen the t hungry accipiter also watched the buildup and now even the slightly moving head and neck remained still when the tray was well covered with about three dozen or so seed- eaters thelhawk tensed then launched himself silently towards the feeding birds gradually decreasing his wingspan and increasing his speed he plummeted down on i an arrowlikecourse forward and downward still the small birds fed on unaware of the impending peril i found myself estimating the distance remaining at 40 yards the hawk was alltucked in tight a hurtling feathered missile rapidly nearing the target twenty yards and by now the hunter had probably singled out its intended victim it was about this instant the sparrows sensed some danger a cautious look skyward cost them more precious time and as they lifted to- evade the clutching talons the sparrow hawk was already amongst them with a shriek of warning they wheeled away but the plummeting predator was even then closing his claws on the less alert one both birds hit the frozen snow with a dull thud the hawk driving hard and unable to brake him- self fully beforehand the sparrow died in a matter of seconds and was lofted almost immediately to the tip of a nearby tree to be devoured such acts of predation are commonplace in natures world around us to the casual observer who witnesses these happenings may come a natural resentment towards the socalled villains a formed opinion that reasons the extermination of these predators will somehow make for a better selective bird popilation however we must look further afield than our own front yard we must somehow realize while the hawk i was wat ching destroyed a house sparrow many others of its kind were probably out preying on mice man is forever upsetting the applecart in wildlife balance and misunderstanding the measures by which nature tries to correct his stupidity the introduction of such com petitive species as the english house sparrow and the starling for example contributed no small degree to the threatened existence of our beautiful native bluebird if the heavy concentrations of house sparrows around feeding stations are kept just a few less by the appearance of a hawk or two im for it the only fly in the ointment is that our colourful cardinals and other desirable backyard birds may suffer the same fate the answer when predators of this kind persist at your feeder try providing some overhead protection with branches or feed your feathered neighbours under the safety of nearby shrubs or bushes what to look for some wire mesh or other protection for your fruit trees and ornamentals as the rabbit population in this area is near the top of the cycle pickerel still hitting at scugog dont pour those left- over live minnows down the hole when youve finished ice fishing theres enough junk fish in our lakes already cardinals come early and late to feed except on blustery days so get your feed out first thing in the morning or better still the night before a stamped selfaddressed envelope to this column will answeranyofyourwildlifequestions i e