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4vthje tribune thursday february 17 1977 john montgomery editor established 188 charles h nolan publisher barrebeacock advertising manager editorial oept tad wueex aaaagrat lamar display advertising oept lei wideaun art ouoo business office jaaa manamaa dorata dtacoa eiimb clover published vrry thursday at 54 mela tu jjteahvilla oat tel 402lt toronto phon mmmosiagla ceplei e wbicrlptioai siaj per ywr la caaada 20e atuwhara member el audit bureau el circulation caaadiw community neenpapen auecutioa aad ontario weekly newtpepen auodatloa second cuts mail restoration number mm l the tribune ta eae ol me lataad pumishiaa co united group ol suburbaa newspapers which includes the aiawbitbypickeriaa news advertiser brampton guardian burlington post etobicoke catena markham economist and sua newmarketaurora era oakviue beaver oshawa this week aadmissiiuuga news 6402100 3611680 editorials council reluctant to listen to on pond issue community although public pressure is mounting it seems council is still reluctant to reverse its earlier decision to destroy lehmans pond one encouraging sign is that june button in whose ward the pond is located has had a change of heart it seems hard to believe that only two months ago during the municipal elections the constant refrain we kept hearing from the council hopefuls was that they would listen to the people in the face of citizen opposition to bulldozing the pond and councils refusal to reconsider their decision it would seem that will new library jbe well funded the 1977library budget has now been finalized by library board and should be on the agenda for next tuesdays council meeting now that the new library is finally un- derway it will be interesting to see if council f will grant enough money to provide the level of service that will be possible with the new facility i the increase asked for although not horrendous is fairly substantial but then many of the higher costs are necessitated by the basic maintenance of the hew building it would not be particularly logical to put the board in a position where they would have rl to curtail services when we are about to i finally have a building that can function properly as a library that promise has been forgotten if in fact it was ever given seriously we have spoken to many people on this issue and have received several letters arid other than when conversing with members of council we have yet to speak to a single person who feels the pond is incompatible with the park that park is 535 acres and the pond could easily be reduced to about half an acre which would leave ample room for other uses in total there are more than nine acres of park and open space in dulverton the public school land consists of more than seven acres of property with that much land to cross it seems a child- intent on visiting the pond at recess would almost have to take a bus toget there on time since the school board has considerable property it might be possible for council to arrange for installation of a playing field for after school use by the rest of the community council it seems cannot grasp the concept of having a quiet beauty spot in the park we keep hearing niggling arguments that the flood control damis only a few minutes away and that itean be used for nature study tours for students but we dontfeel these arguments are relevant council and councillor eldredkingin particular seem to be putting forth the view that because the pond area cannot be walked on orusetl for sports it is somehow waste space if councils philosophy had been applied to the design of banff national park in alberta the first thing to go would have been the mountains after all children can get hurt on mountains and they really cant be used for walking about on sugai and spice smiley has the wintertime blues by bill smiley ah the little ironies of life had a letter from son hugh the other day complaining gently about the heat in paraguay said it was between 90 and 100 in the shade every day and onlydecently livable at night last night- it was 30 below around this burg and thats real temperature fahrenheit today it was about 20 below all day and is heading for another 30plus below as i write as of today weve had 142 inches of snow migawd thats just short of 12 feet and winter just begun who says we arent ahardy race or are we just stupid at the moment im a little short of breath and temper ive just come in from wrestling two cars to life shovelling enough driveway to get them off the street and hitting the side of the garage another belt when i slipped sideways- my garage is one of those ancient wooden redder calk pm sjv the author of flashing lights un- j necessary i dear sir are subjects for your editorials becoming i so scarce that your must subject your readers x to the likes of the above title feb 377 issue i the police are subjected to more than their share of criticism without this nit- picking a few questions to the right people may give you some insight into basic police procedures it appeals that youdidntbother lo do this before jumping headlong into your little story possibly the following may help clear things up for you 1 firstly a police officer has decided it is iriecessary toj stop a motorist the reason tdoesnvreally matter this being done we phave a potential hazard particularly with the slippery conditions you describe and nosey f inattentive drivers who may be passing it seemsto me that the flashing red lights should jsgive other motorists plenty of warning that there is a potential danger and afford them an opportunity to adjust their driving to the- j necessary j secondly if you had to stand on or very 30 years ago this week t excerpts from the february 20 1947 issue i- of the tribune j800 jam arena o i perfect weather conditions prevailed on v wednesday night for the stouffville lions club s winter jamborie in the arena and nearly eight huhdredjammed the place for the fun and skating j feature attraction were the four young ladies members of the toronto skating club vwho delighted the big crowd with an exhibition t of figure skating v thirty members ofthe lions club were tout in icostume portraying from a roman gladiator to a sing sing inmate lion ernie button stole the show so far as the lions were concerned in his policemans regalia lion ernie acted as official race starter and gave t the competitors a real send off with a round of blanks from his pistol he was assisted by j lions harold spoffprd fred button frank riches and john hammersley dave stoffer copped theeash prize for the oldest person on skates v times have changed passing a show room in one of stouff- villes- spick- looking car sales places the other day the sight of a new car on exhibition caught the eye of passerbyhowever the next dayitwasgonethey dont stay long said i the dealer but we nope to get better service in may behere much sooner than you expect a recerilcheck with motor car manufacturers in canadas motor capital reveals that it will be aboutfl2monthsj from now before youll be cable to walk in any showroom and drive your fnew caraway- near to a travelled portion of a road in order to speak to a motorist would you not afford yourself some protection by having your car partially blocking traffic do notforgetthe way you describe the actions of some drivers tryto think of the cars position as the officers protection arid the red lights as the drivers protection arid not as the officers own way of making a public spectacleof some innocentparty r i the way one views a situation i presume depends on ones attitude- toward the subjects involved do hope yours doesnt rub off i also hope this opinion can be allotted the same space in your paper thank you t- pneilson ed note we received a telephone call mondayfrom deputy chief wally harkness of the york regional j police mr harkness although he didnt agree with all aspects of the editorial told the tribune it has somemerit its wellfaken- the deputy chief explained there has been an increase in candlepoweron the flashing- defends police sl jear sir reactions of disbelief were felt byriie when i read your editorial about theun- necessary use of flashing lights in the beginning of your story you claim the use of these mights are potentially dangerous then in a few paragraphs later you explain when seeing these lights many motorists slow down slowing down is ob- viously travelling much safer especially in weather conditions you- have already described the officer in question thoughtof his own personal safety and the safety of others when using the lights had you looked a little closer you would have noticed the police cruiser was white i believe thats the 4 same colour as snow s the policeman who approaches a car with an unknown occupant does so at a risk to his life if i were a policeman on a back street alone late at night i would certainly want others to witness what was going on in the event i needed assistance i was born ina house on main st 22 years ago i consider myself a longtime resident 7 if and when the police stop me ill insist they turn their lights on just to avoid being struck by someone who claims they didnt see me william t keeping stouffville iight units and this has resulted in some complaints from residential neighbourhoods where people apparently are being awakened late at night bythe lights he said the force is giving officers some direction on use of the lights in residential areas v mr harkness said it is police policy to leave the jeruiser sticking out to protect-the- officer when stopping motorists at roadside- he explained that an unshielded officer was killed after being struck on don mills rd with regard to the incident referred to in the editorial we maintain the officer could have shielded himself and still had his cruiser far enough over that hewouldnt have been blocking the travelled portionof the roadway v the police officer in that case was probably quite safe but at the same time was creating an unnecessary hazard to other motorists structures in which those realistic car owners of the 20s and 30s used to jack up their fords and essexes and mclaughlin buicks and leave them sensibly suspended for the winter a modern car even an old battlewagon like my 1967 dodge has about an inch and a half clearance on each side if you want to put it in the garage and i do in the summer the birds poop all over the windshield if i leave her out in winter winter poops all over the whole thing with ice and snow if i leave her out so i put her in but that clearance is pretty skinny the twobyfour that supports thev joist or whatever that supports the roof of my garage is no longer a twobyfour my wife and daughter have no idea whether the car is four feet wide or- six accordingly that twobyfour is now about the thickness of six toothpicks and any day the whole structure will cave in i haye forthe mornent two they are located in one garage and directly behind it one driveway just as long as a garage this morning the car in the garage the 10-year- old started like a rocket heading for mars- the new one the fiveyearold groaned twice grunted once and died there i ain with one perky car humming merrily in the garage and one great lump of cold dead metal sitting right behind it its enough to make a saint swear andi aint no saint but then i think of how lucky i am compared to our ancestors i have an oil furnace that is practically supporting the entire province of alberta but at least i dont have to cut wood all summer tostay warm all winter i have a wife who wantsto drive the car that is working the one in the garage when the one behind it wont start but at least idont to hang her washing out in this weather and have it turn into instant white boards as i used to have to do for my mother back around ought34 im a school teacher in my spare time but i dont have to trudge two miles to the school with snow to my navel light the fire in the old boxstove and sit there shuddering with cold until the students arrive i just get to school as best i can and the students dont arrive at all half of them come by bus and the buses cant get through the storm half of the remaining half look out the window say to hell with it tell their mothers they have the flu and roll over and go back to sleep oh she was rugged in those old days in a winter like this with homemade insulation and redhot stovepipes no wonder many of the oldtimers never got out of their long johns from october to may thats why we moderns feel the cold somuchwe donthave a-half- inch of personal insulation made up of sweat and skin and dirt under the underwear what really baffles me is why the very first settlers of canada stayed here after experiencing one winter things niust have been pretty rotten back in france and f england and ireland to make therii tough it out in thisfew arpents of snow as voltaire dismissed it so casually and what- completely stymies me is that the first white settlers found anybody alive in this countrywhen they firsfarrived i simply cannot understand how the indians survived a winter like this 1 you think your arthritis is bad aunt mabel how would you like to live on corn and sex in a tepee or a longhouse for five months witha little smoky fire burning on theflobr and 12 feet of snow outside and no television x do you realize your greatgrandfather when grub got low probably had to walk eight or 10 miles to the nearest store and home with a sack of flour on his shoulder and a package of tea in his pocket i on the worst of days i can battle my way four blocks to the supermarket and come hoirie laden with grapes and oranges and fresh meat arid if ive had a big day on the stock market even a pound of coffee oh we have it soft soft compared with- them tomorrow morning i may be as surly as my grandfather was if the car wont start but tonight im going to eat a gourmet dinner stew i looked in the pot arid sit iri my warm house watching iri living color a movie about the south seas whafa rotten spoiled lot we are v l window on wildlife jackrrahbits nqt always native here by art briggs jude fa few months and if you havent received that ps every time i turn around someone is new car order last year dontworry for it downgrading the law enforcement system of u u 1 u- n this country its about time they were given praise for a job well done editorvnote we dont like to be picky but we fed it is our duty to point out to you that snow on the main st of stouffville is rarely if ever white i under the fluffy surface the snow was hardfrom previous winds the dog ranover this unseen crust with ease sniffing and snorting at every inark in the new snow only on occasion didshe flounder- where a hedge- vrow or fenceline had lessened the winds fir- ming effect it was in such places i was glad to have the snowshoes for judging from the protruding posts there was more than a three foot buildup of the white blanket mywebbed trail crossed an open field followed a rowof naked trees then cut into an old corn patch although onlyjhe odd sign of corn was visible other signs nearby proved to be of greater interest at a place t7iere some of thedried stalks showed above the white surface my dog discovered a large hole in the snow bank it was the workings of a jackrabbit digging down to feed on some of- the hidden cobs i looked carefully at the animals track where the dog had not disturbed it and whistled softly for this- track- was a dandy an ex- ceptionally large track even when tallowed for some fluffy surface distortion i glanced up just iritime to see a huge longeared hare explode from the snow in front of thedog the chase was on f its hard to beiieve that the european hare or jackrabbit as we know it was not always a part of our native fauna even to acceptis the fact that all the multitudes of jacks seen in southern ontario over the past 65 yearsare thcresult of one or two pairs of imports but uiis is indeed truethe story though really begins at brantfordcv y in 1912 at the bowpark farm on the grand river the manager a german im migrant brought several young european hares out from danzig like many old country people he probably longed for some of the old familiar ties whether this was behind his thinking or if he had ideas on rnarketing the animals no one really knows at any rate hares being hares and long noted for their incredible wildness his new stock grew and became so hard to handle he finally gave them the run of the property that winter they 1 crossed over the river ice and went wild the jackrabbits appearance in brant and neighbouring counties was at first welcorned by sportsmen and farmers alike its presence filled a void in the open coun tryside providing riieat and sport during the long winter season but as these big bunnies increased and spread during the following- years the boon for the hunter became a bust for the fanner young orchards seedlings and berry patches were girdled and destroyed tender plants were nipped off with disastrous results a mad hare was on the march and the farmers called for help invitations were sent out to hunters and sportsmens groups to come and shoot the ravaging rabbits soon caravans of cars arid busloads of nimrods were leaving st catharines hamilton and torontotheir des- unationthe outlying areas near wainfleet cayuga hagersville paris and orangeville the old method of hunting the thickets and woodlots for cottontails and sriowshoe rabbits was changed now lines of men spaced gunshot distance apart or closer pushed across the open fields and croplands while others spread out and waited in advance at the next concession road the term jack drive was bornin this regionlocal groups from markham- stouffville and uxbridge joined the legions of hunters across southern ontario in quest of the 40 mph targets gameags bulged and belts strained under the weight of the lopeared giants almost every butcher store and market displayed the big jacks for sale then just as the bonanza was at its height the rural land owners called for help again only this time it was to the then depl of game 4v fisheries the hordes of hunters drawn to reap the hare harvest were now themselves becoming a problefn the heavy concentrations of men were too much for fences and at times fresh growing crops to help the farmers the department limited jack drives to 12 hunters and to help themselves many landowners erected no trespass signs actually after these events the jack- rabbit population stabilized in some areas while in others it diminished noticeably to many people the days of the great hunts were over and i guess if you measure by hares hung up they were r personally its a great hunt whenever i go afield with the dog and gun and whether i discharge the firearm or not doesnt distract from the experienced of enjoying the great outdoors if im lucky and get one for the pot- thats an added bonus today i needed a large pot for that inuleeared critter was as big as my dog and weighed12 pounds what to look for a pileated wood- pecker in the south east part of stouffville also iri the sariie area a very cold robin spent the day indoors courtesy of the moffat family a total of 18 brush wolves have been taken so far this winter near uxbridge lake simcoe whitefish and lake trout are starting to hit for hardier enthusiasts without huti try gull lake- t v v