Page 4, THE HERALD, Thursday, August 24, 1978 r \ f Most of our readers who have passed the “useful” age - that is, are over 29 - will, at one time or another have come acroos one or more the “Great Canadian Myths’. Some of the myths perhaps falsely labelled “Canadian” - that have been perpetuated for many decades. There was the one about the “lifetime razor” that a British company called Rolls had invented - (No relation to Rolls Royce) - that was being kept off the U.S. and Canadian market by the big Gillette-type razor companies because it would put them out of business. Was it really a myth? T saved up the fifteen dollars or so - a lot of money, those days, when you could buy a Gillette razor with two packs of blades thrown in for fifty cents - bought one and nearly hacked my face to pieces. Icameacross it only the other day, at the bottom of an old drawer. (Not my face - the razor! } There were all those “fabulous” - and fables they were - and are - (the stories are still going Falling the public the rounds- I’m sure they'll never die - about the “gasoline pills’. - Just drop one in your automobile tank and fill ‘er up with water, and take off! 7 So many people have tiad a friend of theirs who just happened to be at a filling station when a car pulled up, a man got out, asked for a bucket of water - and performed the pill in tank and pour in | water, thank you and drive away routine. There used to be similar steries of perpetual motion machines, so perfectly balanced they, would run forever... 7 For centuries, of course, the ‘“biggie’’ was the. guy who had discovered a way to transmute lead into pure gold by his own secret process. Some of these chaps were willing - (of course - for asmall fee) - to sell their formula which, also” of course, never worked. The same “impossible dreams” extended into the patent medicine fields with pills and salves and liquids and foods one swallow of which would give any manall the “pep” he required to satisfy a dozen or more amorous women. (They didn’t work either - but don’t ask me how I happen to know! } : Then there was another “great Myth” that also, for years has been making the rounds in Canada. . I first heard it as a lad when I saw people in restaurants picking up empty cigarette read Now... the “Sruth Dear Sir: . from cigarettes for the From time to time, we at purchase of dog guides for. Not long ago an article in an English magazine, followed by a letter from thebasement. Other cities in Canada report on local collectors from time to time the Canadian National In- stitute for the Blind receive telephone enquiries about the value of collecting aluminum foil from cigarette packages. In an attempt to educate the public that aluminum foil from clgarette packages has no redeemable value in North America, our Van- couver Olfice has sent us the enclosed ‘“‘News Release”. You would do me a great favour if you would have the enclosed release published in your paper. Thank you in advance for your consideration, I remain, with friendly regards, M. Walker for Fred Koalenz, District Administrator ‘i La . ae For “years: CNS titty offices “hve beer receiving offers of tons of silver paper fa... TH \ Odds and ends this week -- many of them collected from notes written airline tickets. . has over the area. IS WEEK” f from Ottawa blind persons. Yet the foil never had any redeemable value. ‘There was never any truth in the silver foil support, but when the idea was at its peak, as many as five calls a day reached the Public Relations Department at CNIB headquarters. Foil collections were heavy. Some schools ac- tually put on drives with students collecting the worthless paper from all One caller had gathered one thousand separate pieces and filled many shopping bags for easy tabulation. Another had ‘ friends and relatives saving and every day the mail man was pushing packages of foil through her letter box. In Montreal, an entire city block ran a*save:the-foil campaign. -Asehobl there had weighed tty Thaterial ard had more thana ton stored in on the back of The Commonwealth Games are now over, and and word has come from New York that the rumour is popular throughout the eastern sector of the United States. For years CNIB tried to track down the source of the story. Noone couldfine it. A well-meaning person would advise a friend that a next- door: neighbour knew someone who obtained a guide dog for a blind person by saving silver foil. The idea had such a strong ap- peal that the newcomer would’ immediately set a collection in motion without taking the time to check with CNIB the validity of the story. The-first call would announce that a great bundle of the paper was now ready to be pleked up. Imagine the disappointment when.. told that it.was. worthless as lar as the purchase of a dog was concerned, CNIB, uncovered the source of the rumour. It has now been established the John E. Moore Ltd, Yeadon, Yorkshire, refiners of aluminum receive over found hundred tons a year from various sources for which the firm actually pays money. A large portion of this foit comes from sup- porters of Guide Dogs for the Blind Association which supplies this throughout the land. At CNIB we assume thal this is the source of the foil- saving. To our knowledge, the Moore Company is the only place in the worid where foil is actually redeemable in cash for charitable purposes. As far as Canada and United States are concerned, there is no change in practice - - silver foil has noredeemable + v" value and will not purchase‘a dog guide. Stu Leggatt witl be misced Olympics was no fluke, and that our country is becoming one of the world’s to sport nations. But, more important in my mind, is the fact that service" while Canadians are enjoying a rightful pride in the magnificent performance of our athletes (except a few professional cynics who seem to find something objectionable about the thought of Canada actually winning a competition), many of these athletes themselves are now in Europe, participating in further world-class competitions. ; Cyclist Jocelyn Lovell has just this week won 4 silver medal in the World Cycling Cham- pionships in Munich, and our swim team is in West Berlin, preparing for next week’s Worl Swimming Championships. . PERFORMANCE NO FLUKE The Commonwealth Games showed that Canada's tenth place finish in the Montreal Canadian athletes are performing with a sense of pride and spirit, and with the knowledge that their country does support them... and it does! DAILY CONSTITUTIONAL? Like most people, I watched with interest the recent provincial premiers meeting, and their discussion of the Prime Minister’s. proposals for constitutional reform. Perhaps the “highlight” of the meeting was Rene Levesque’s apparent conversion and fondness for the Monarchy. As a somewhat cynical rancher in Vanderhoof commented to me “If you believe that one, then T've got this bridge in New York I'd love to sell you...cheap!"” ; Unfortuantely, the question of constitutional reform and the preservation of our country’s unity cannot be taken as lightly as Premier the Blind has actually tracked down the origin of - packages and collecting what they called ‘4infoil”, They told me they were gathering it for the Red Cross who sold it for money with which to buy hospital beds. The logistics of it - the bundling, the mailing and postage etc. involved even then, seemed to me to make the entire operation a questionable one. I wondered whether the collectors would not have achieved more by just donating the same amount of money they were spending on postage and ex- press, directly to the hospitals - but nothing I said one such “biggie” - the Great Canadian (or . North American) Cigarette Foil Collecting For Seeing - Eye Dogs Myth. And, surprisingly, it dees have a legitimate foundation - though not in Canada, but in the county of Yorkshire, England - the county that produced the ‘flying Yorkshireman” Legend. We are publishing the letter from the Canadian National Institute for the Blind in our Letters column, below, that should clear everything up. tg. te otaliny Mow cars atin, Soe Levesque would have us believe (he, after all, has a vested interest in seeing us fail). So it was with some concern that I saw the Premiers take the easy way out, and condemn the Prime Minister’s proposals while failing to put forward any alterna!‘ves of their own. Whatever the merits of the Prime Minister's proposals are (and, like all legislative proposals, they are subject to Parliamentary amendment), it must be remembered that they are the first new initiatives on this important issue -- an issue which must be resolved -- since 1971. As the Financial Post newspaper put it, ‘“The denun- ciation of Ottawa's proposals by the Premiers... has a certain bitter irony about it, Although the provinces show remarkable alacrity in agreeing on the shortcoming of the federal bill, they have demonstrated over the years a chronic inability to agree on what they think should be in an amended constitution.” 4 Bok WUcEwan Goer “fo Loudon Contributed June 21 to 24 Bob Mckiwan, northern director of the B.C. | Automotive Retailers Association, was privileged to be one of the nearly 200 - people attending the first international conference of the Vehicle Builders and Repairers Association held in’ London. Hosted by the British Association, the convention drew members from as far away as Japan and Australia, as well as from Canada, the U.S., and most of western Europe, seven- feen nations In all being represented. The overall theme of the conference was safety In the Industry, safety of the workers and safety of the motoring public. The safety of the worker depends on a number of factors, First must be the skill and training of the worker; an unskilled person ig a menace to himself and to those around him, He must have adequate equipment in good repalr to do the job required. His working surroundings must be as hazard-free as possible. Above all, he must have a knowledge of, and the assurance of being protected from, the hidden hazards of modern technology (ie. poisons). The safety of the motoring public is al least as im- portant in the eyes of the repair industry generally. A driver must be sure that a repaired vehicle is as safe to drive, as roadworthy as it was before it was damaged. To assure this, the repairer must have skilled workers, adequate equipment and, sufficient time in which lo carry out proper repairs. Throughout the industry, regardless of country, there arre a number of common problems. Technological developments have made vehicles more costly to repair as well as ta own; they also demand more highly skilled repair per- sons, Costs have increased, not only for materials and wages, but for the mare sophisticated equipment required to repair, check, and adjust damaged seclions to agsure complete repair. The shortage of skilled personne] appears to be international; there was general concern that it is too easy for unqualified: people to pass themselves off as qualified repalrmen and, without some for of man- datory certification, it is difficult to protect the public in this matter. Also, Many expressed the fear that the repair industry was being forced by insurance companies to accept a lower return than would enable repairers to do adequate repairs, purchase necessary equipment, see to the training of future tradesmen and upgrading of present skills, and to leave a modest profit on investment. Talks on various aspects were delivered In English, French, or German. Simultaneous _ translation, closed circuit TV and in- dividual microphones allowed for full participation by everyone, "Included in the conference was a large display of equipment, most of it similar to that in use at McEwan's shop; repair materials and techniques also differed little, considering the dil- ference i average vehicle size, Of coilrse, one always learns something. For example, in Britain the government, research centre establishes repair times and procedures which are ac- cepted by the private in- surers and the repair in- dustry.. Another highlight of the conference was a visit to Vanden Plas, custom coach builders for British Leyland, toe see Daimlers being hand- built and hand-finished; one was for the Queen Mother. Following the conference, most of the B.C. contingent joined a week-long tour of southera, Ireland. As well as enjoying jthe obious tourist attractions (castles, cathedralg and countryside) “wilte also welcomed gues! large body shop in Du and a couple of smaller ones in Killarney. Hob was impressed by the friendliness and co-operation of the many people he met at and after the conference and is looking forward to the next one in New York in 1980. After a couple of days in Paris and a short slay in London, Bob and Nora relurned home July 10 Dack for WMasoet A contract worth $479,430 to construct a replacement for the government wharf in Massel which was destroyed by fire in January has been awarded {o Minette Bay Marina Lid., of Kitimal. The announcement was made today by Skeena M.P. and Minister of State,- Iona Campagnolo, on behalf of Public Works Minister Judd Buchatian. “Work: on this project should start almost im- mediately", said Mrs. Campagnolo, ‘‘and = is scheduled for completion within five months”. There has beena delay in awarding this contract, explained the Skeena M.P., because when by the federal Treasury Board. It was then necessary logo back to Treasury Board and seek their approval toward the contract -al a higher than estimated cost. This approval has now been obtained. Additional delays in the project were caused by discussions with the provincial government. in the hope thal the new dock could be combined with a terminal for the B.C, Ferry Corporation service lo the Queen Charlottes. The lack of any firm action by the province in determining the location of its Queen Charlotte Island terminal. and in establishing ferry service to the Charlottes, eventually made such cooperation impossible. tenders were originally called all bids received were over ihe cost level approved LIBRARY NEWS - KITIMAT By Doug Hagerman ; . Fight that ticket is a guide to defending yourself in court when wrongfully charged with a minor traffic violation. ‘A layperson stands an ex- cellent chance of receiving a not guilty verdict if he-she takes the time to dispute the matter”. according to the author. ‘er Gh GE MGS a 5 Sareea Anaaalg mew Tet wo tibsasd tows odd Ke 5 FALL FAIR FITNESS Turning to some upcoming events, I will be in Smithers on August 25th for the opening of the Bulkley Valley Fall Fair. The next morning [ will - visit Granisle to officially open that community's new fitness trail, which was constructed through a Canada Works grant. On Sunday the 27th I will (briefly) be home in Prince Rupert before returning to Ottawa for Cabinet discussions. .A LOSS TO PARLIAMENT Closing on a more personal note, it was with sadness that I noted Stuart Leggatt’s decision to resign from Parliament. There are some M.P.’s who, no matter what side of the House they sit on, are universally respected for their valuable contribution to Parliament and the country. Stu Leggatt was one of those, and was also a per- sonal friend. With his resignation the NDP has lost one of their most responsible and articulate spokesmen -- a man who kept all of his opponents on their toes. He we be hard toreplace. The Kitimat Public Library will receive a grant from the Legal Services Commission for $300 this year. These funds will be used towards the cost of maintaining an up-to-date collection of boo on law. | TERRACE/KITIMAT daily herald — Genera} Office - 635-6357 Circulation - 635-6357 Published by Sterling Publishers. PUBLISHER - Laurie Mallett EDITOR . Ernie Senior REPORTER - Donna Vallieres REPORTER . CIRCULATION | Pat = Zelinski 692-2747 CIRCULATION | Joyce ~ Fish 635-6357 KITIMAT OFFICE - 632-2747 Published every weekday at 32712 Kalum Slreet, - Terrace, 8.C. 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