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MP Pledges Close Watch Michael Starr, Ontario riding|see Robert Winters (to become member of parliament, said to-|Minister of Trade and Com- day he was not impressed with] merce) in the new cabinet. "We the Liberal cabinet shuffle an-|can expect great things from nounced Friday. him," said Mr. Selby, He also 'Prime Minister Pearson did|said he was happy to see Mitche about as well as could be ex-jell Sharp appointed Finance pected, considering the material] Minister but added that he was from which he had to choose,"|a "little surprised" that Miss said the Conservative House| Judy LaMarsh has been shifted leader. : from the health and welfare de- We will have to watch the| partment to Secretary of State. performance of these people in} Mr. Starr, former Minister of the administration of their de-|Labor, said details of the new partments and in Parliament to|Manpower Ministry are still see whether there are going to|skeichy. be any improvements over what} He said the "redistribution" we have seen during the past|of departments and the estab- two and a half years," he said. lishment of new cabinet posts William Selby, president of|"is one way of creating posi- ™ |the city Liberal Association said} tions for Liberals who expected today Mr. Pearson came up|to be in the Cabinet". He also cata abt SLOT CARS HURTLE THROUGH TURN It's North America's fastest growing sport Go, Baby, Go- That's The Cry pvr ane ENA MERnse will be employed. In Slot Car Racing Circles CHRIS DENNE' My red down the straight. whips through the banking, over the bridge and down into a s ze right hander. Out on full bore with the back end edging dangerously close to the guard rail. A tweak of opposite lock and I'm back in a straight line again. The disaster. The brakes aren't holding and the car slides. Only time for a quick shout of alarm and I'm sud- denly welded to a brick wall. "Hard luck fella," shouts the opposition. I right the car and head back on to the track. A miser- able last place is my only reward. FUN AFTERNOON To my speed-crazy way of thinking it was a fun after- noon, It is not everyday on gets to have a go at a Fer- rarri, or a Grand Prix Lotus 30. The sport is called slot car racing -- and statistics show that it is one of the fastest growing pastimes in th America. In the past year, for ¢ « ple, six million Americans spent more than $150,000,000 on the sport Here in, Oshawa the slot car racing sets are' selling like the proverbial hot cake. Basement Grand Prix events are being fought out almost every night of the week There is one place, how- where the sport is being taken very seriously indeed It is the Don Owen Slot Racing. Club. which meets once a week for four or five hours of gritted competition in the Owen home basement at 383 Rossmount st. STARTER ART V A superb. 85-foot four-iane track has been laid out, com- plete with electronic lap coun- ter Around this high speed shrine. every week, some 15 enthusiasts compete' for honors The cars they build are highly specialized pieces of equipment "The basic. materials, founder Don Owen explains, "are the same as anyone can buy in a store. It is just that we know a few tricks for making these cars go a lot faster." 'An incredible amount of engineering skill goes into the model cars. People like Don Owen will spend upwards of 70 hours on building a model. During the last year or so the sport has become so com- petitive that drivers are ac- tually keeping "mum" on some of their high speed developments. There are some drivers, for instance, who loosen the body- work on their cars. This, they say, acts as a crude shock absorber and gives the car r road-holding. OST port, however, is ¥ of many of the b engineering jobs that must be done to get the utmost out of a slot car, "The thing to do," says club member Ron Harnden, "js to choose a model with a wid stance. We e in 1-32nd scale he "It takes. easily 70 or 80 hours to build the car. You put ball bearing runners on the wheels and balance the 1 c motor and gears The tires must be perfect- ly und. We have a tire grinding machine here in the club that does the job just nicely. The transmission is balanced on a couple of razor blades."' The sport in Canada is governed by the Model Car Racing Association. This body imposes. certain specifica- tions which cars must con- form to in all championshir events. The Don Owen club com- petes regularly with London and Toronto clubs. It com- petes every year in the Cana- dian Grand Prix which is run towards the end of January. Membership is a big prob- lem with the Oshawa club. More keen slot car enthusi- asts are needed. Anyone in- terested in having a go should contact Don Owen at his home. TOUGH, EXCITING A warning to prospective members, however, competi- tion is tough and exciting. After ry race a member reckons to spend two or three hours setting his car up again so that it will be in perfect condition for the following week's race. In many ways the sport is similar to real motor The cars require im- » amounts of time and patience. Even then, things can go wrong. On the track the similarities with real motor racing are great. The cars, guided by electric power, will slide and drift through the corners. If the hand held control is press- ed too hard in the corners the cars will leave the track in sensational style. "You have to consider," 8 Don Owen, "'that if yoy scaled up the speeds of these cars to the same degree as the model, they would be doing speeds of around 350 miles an hour, I can tell you they need a lot of holding DON OWEN CHECKS RACER Every car is perfectly engineered ON GUNTEN GETS CARS OFF TO START - Electric lap counters keep record of race progress DON OWEN CLUB FEATURES 85 FOOT HIGH SPEED TRACK Participants tense as the model cars streak away RON HARNDEN SHOWS LOTUS Model took over 70 hours to build DISASTER AS CARS COLLIDE AND SPIN OFF THE TRAC us members 1. to r. are Don Owen, Art von Gunten and Ron Harnden ~ Times Photos By Chris Dennett jwere "good and progressive' jand added that the reorganiza- ition of departments was par- ticularly significant. Mr. Selby said he was glad to | Mr. Starr said he plans to be in Oshawa during the Christ- mas period and will return to Ottawa sometime early in the new year. | ALL BUT 12 PERCENT SPENT ON CITY $13,779,000 BUDGET All but 12 percent of the city's $13,779,000 budget has been spent or committed dur- ing the first 50 weeks of this year. In a report to city council this week, Frank Markson, city treasurer, reported that $12,082,000 of the current bud- get has been spent or commit- ted leaving $1,697,000 of the funds available. Two percent of the educa- tion budget estimate of $4,- 604,000 has not been spent; 17 percent of the traffic and public safety committee bud- get; 14 percent of the parks, Accused, 18, property and recreation com- mittee budget; 20 percent of the finance and assessment committee budget; and 12 percent of the public works committee budget. The report included all ex- penditures and commitments up to Dec. 3. A report dated Noy. 5 showed 16 percent of the budget funds available; an Oct. 8 report showed 28 per- cent of the funds available; and a Sept, 10 report showed 40 percent of the funds had not been spent or committed. Committed In Non-Capital Murder COBOURG (Staff) -- Manfred Grune, the 18-year-old Oshawa hospital orderly charged with non-capital murder, was com- mitted to trial hére yesterday by Magistrate R: B. Baxter. He is charged with the slay- ing of Earl Fraser Ross, 19; of Oshawa last Aug. 8 outside a cabin on Highway 2, just east of the Oshawa city limits. Four police officers testified at yesterday's hearing which was continued from Nov. 31 in Bowmanville. Dr. R. M. Clark, regional pathologist for Ontario County, testified at the start of the hear- ing that Ross died of shock, massive bleeding and almost complete severance of the major artery leading to the heart. Constable Chester Laughren of the Oshawa Police Department testified yesterday he was on cruiser patrol Aug. 8 when he recognized the accused from a description he had been given as he waiked aiong Centre st. He said Grune told him his name was Daly and he lived on King st. w. "He was carrying a copper- colored vest," said Const. Laughren, "'which fitted the de- scription and I thought then it was the accnsed, Grune." Cross - examined by Defence Counsel Terence V. Kelly, if a statement was taken from the accused at that time other than he have a name and address, Const. Laughren said "no", but added that "he. seemed quite normal". Sgt. of Det. William Jordan of the Oshawa police depart- ment, said he was alone with Grune for 15 or 20 minutes in the night inspector's office. ASKED FOR DRINK "The accused complained of the handcuffs hurting his wrists," he said, "and I re- moved them." He said Grune was "quite stable". Inspector Peter Sawatzky of the Ontario Provincial Police Criminal Investigation Branch, said Grune told him and Const. Leonard James of the Bowman- ville OPP detachment, 'well gentlemen, I told the other offi- cer my story, let's get it over with." He said Grune was unkempt, is white shirt was soiled and his trousers were dirty. He said the accused asked for a drink of water and when Const. James gave him one, he said 'this is better than the swamp water I had last night." Man, 55, Hurt In 45-Ft. Fall 4 City plumbing inspector Harry|in the Oshawa General Hospital Chapman, 55, fell 45 feet through) following a_ traffic accident an open stairwell on a Nonquon | Friday at Wilson rd. and Olive road apartment site yesterday | ave. afternoon, | She sustained bruises and He is in "fair condition' this|abrasions, city police said, morning in Oshawa General|when struck by a van south- Hospital with multiple fractures} bound on Wilson rd. Police iden- d broken ribs. | oner Fred y Mr. Chap- vas inspecting plumbing on the unfinished building's fifth tified the driver of the van as Milton Campbell, 37, of 228 Ver- jdun rd. Th girl was walking pei across Wilson road, they said. floor when a covering over a} An _ estimated $175 damage stairwell gave way. |was done to the vehicle which Mr. Crome said there were|had a shattered windshield and no stairs in the stairwell and,|damage to the right front panel. luckily, the ground floor had not been poured yet. He said Mr.|TWO IN HOSPITAL Chapman managed to land on} An intersection crash at Bond his feet on the earthen floor.jand Church streets last night Mrs.,Chapman 'said her hus-|sent two young persons to hos- band remained conscious all the] pital. Gary Robert Ogden, 17, of time and she was abl speak] Raglan, had a bruise above his with him briefly last' night. right eye. She said after he was given} A passenger in the car, Hea- pain-killing drugs he asked for.) ther Harrison, 14, of King st. e., land was given, a cup of ted.|Oshawa, was treated for a | Mrs. Chapman said she under-| bruised forehead and jaw. Both stands a light snowfall-powder-| were released after treatment. ed-the ce_of the fifth floor| Driver of the ofher car was (the roof is not on yet) and may| Edward A. Bayer, Walmer road, have hidden the sheeting and/Toronto. Total damage to the given the impression of a solid|cars was estimated at $550. floor. Yesterday afternoon Donna Mr. .Crome said the city is|Jean Grant of Alexandra st. investigating under the Con-] received a head laceration when struction Safety Act. The apart-|the car she was driving struck ment house is being built by|the rear end of a second car Lou Pantaleo. It is on the north}driven by Hugh C. Gannon, side of Nonquon road, near Sim-| Simcoe st. n. coe st. TX : She did not require hospital Leowna Ferguson, 17, of Fare-| treatment. Total estimated dam- well ave. is under observation' age to the cars was $90. ARR Si sea