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PAGE 4, THE HERALD, Monday, December 19, 1977

“Human” Resources?

Covering the picketting Incident outside the

Department of Human Resources offices in Terrace
last Friday, a HERALD representative went inside
the building hoping to get the “other side’’ of the
story. He was hopeful that Human Resources
representatives there might be willing to shed light
on why the government is permitting lack of suf-
ficient funding to close the Lazelle Pre-School — a
school serving 41 youngsters between the ages of 3
and 6.
_ The time was 1:30 p.m., and only one person was
in the row of DHR offices on the first floor up. This
was a short, middle aged woman. The Herald
representative made the usual enquiries, and was
told the supervisor was out and the time of his return
was uncertain, but that any other information
shoudl be sought at the desk at the head of the
corridor.

Before heading for the desk, the Herald staffer
was asked by the woman, to give his name. This he
did, then in turn assked the woman, ‘‘And to whom
am I speaking? The woman refused to give HER
name, however, and replied that her name didn’t
make any difference.

A small matter perhaps?

The news media are often described as being
brash, callous, unfair in their reportage, and rude.
Unfortunately, perhaps, such charges are all too
often justly made.

But why is it so hard for a department of the
government such as Human Resources (which
already ha; a poor image -in ;the minds of the
public) to release its side of the story, on occasions
such as this? And why should’ ANY government
SERVANT demand to know the name of an enquirer
— yet refuse to give hers (or his)?

There is a long Jong line of people out on the street,
out of work. Many of them are very polite. Could we

. not find from among their ranks some who are more
qualified in terms of manners, patience and
graciousness to deal with us?

In: War and Peace

At the Terrace CNR waiting room Friday night,
the scene was probably little different than most
Fridays when people -assemble to wait for the
Westbound train — either to board it or to mest
arriving friends. To me, being a resident of two
weeks in Terrace it was an althogether new ex-
perience.

I was struck by the “separateness” of each
traveller or travelling family group. In the middle of
the waiting room a middle-aged short woman tightly
clutched her purse and luggage — taaking up
enough room for three persons on a short bench that
could comfortably accommodate about four.

Despite the lack of vacant seating, forcingseme 15 .

or 20others to stand, several other bench sitters had
piled their suitcases on the seats taking up room
intended for people.

Ina far corner a couple with hippie-lenth hair and
two tired looking children about 6and 8 years of age,
waited crosaly for the 8:40 train. One of the children
—the boy, began to cry, softly. Innediately the male
adult slapped him across the mouth with a paper
bag. The boy stopped crying,

front of the

“tractive tall dark-haired beauty, who was stylishly
dressed, and wore knee-length wet-look black boots
with 3 inch cuban heels. As the youth chatted, he
appeared oblivious of the short woman seated
behind him. His faded, ragged cuffed blue jeans not
only had numerous holes in them, but the seat of his
jeans were so threadbare his soiled whitish un-
derwar was clearly visible each time he bent for-
ward — right in front of the woman seated behind
and below him.

Outside, on the platform, an aged couple, each of
the pair bent with years, arthritis and possibly
spinal curvature, stood in the dark and cold of the
nig :

No words of greeting, no cheery waves passed
between members of the different ‘islands’ of
humanity. Among the middle aged and elderly and
perhaps most others the primary concern seemed to

that of “protecting ones own” be it property,
seatspace, or place in the lineup.

My mind sped back over the years to other
railway platforms. These were at rhe railway
stations of London, Norwich, Sheffield, Glkasgow,
Edinburgh and Brighton, in the U.K. OF stations —
all sounding to the hiss and chug-lug chug-hiss of
steam powered locomotives... in Paris, Burssels,
Nijmegen, GHENT AND Hengelo and Enschede and
many more continental cities where I waite dthe
same wait — the same interminable time for the
train that was always late,

But what a difference —if my memory serves me
honestly. Despite the many times during those years
the night air was filled with sounds of War and the

robing fingers of searchlights trying to lock enemy

mbers in midair to provide targets for the ant
aircraft batteries to spit out out of inky-black skies
— there was such a warmth of friendliness amongst
strangers meeting strangers in the railroad stations
on the ground.

Older women jumped up to offer their tiny spaces
on platform benches to younger women with babes
in arms. Old men with crutches would limp aside to
make room for an obviously wounded soldier.
People shared sandwiches, cigarettes — anythix
they might have — with one another —- often wit
persons they had never seen before. People ex-
changed jokes, whims;y and dry humor with
passers-by sometimes as though they were intimate

riends. ‘Bit noisy tonight, eh?” “Glad I’m not up
there tonight” (indicating a "Jerry" bomber caught
in the anti-craft “flak” heading iowards the ground
in flames.)

I asked mysellf the same question countless
thousands must have asked themselves, over the
years. Why does it have to take a WAR to enable
people to lose their cold reserve, their chilling in-
difference to each other. Why does it require a
holocaust to move people wo they will be loving, and
friendly and warm and unselfish to “total
strangers’'?

Sinday moming, again at a station in Terrace.
This time at the Greyhound Bus depot. Time 7:30 to
8:0 a.m. Dark outside. A bit chilly. The small
restaurant opened its doors and perhaps a dozen
individuals and two couples moved in. Sure enough!
Every individual toak a separate table-for-four,
Each couple aut by itself. No one at a table spoke to
anyone at another table, even during the ten to
fifteen minutes it took for the coffee to be served.

I thought how lonely — and tired we all looked,
Surely the others must have fell the same longing
for @ friendly exchange. Nearly everyone in the
room would he travelling on the same bus — moat to
similar destinations. Whal is there, I wondered, that
prevents us from friendship and forces us to con-
inue our journey in such austere isalation.

Surely it shouldn't take another WAR to bring us
together — before we are blown apart!

u irst woman with purse and bag a |
Mali youth about 18 or 20 steod talking to an at-:.

spb des bt dtad you pat a bigger cugp.’

fu

Terrace HERALD Launches Junior Reporter Contest

In an attempt to het
better loca news
coverage in Terrace, the
Editor has launched a
Herald “Junior Repor-
ter” contest beginning

immediately among its
‘more than 40 newspaper

carriers. ;

The HERALD will pay
one dollar a piece for
every news tip or news
story tumed in by a
carrier that it published;
$5 for the best newspiece
by a Herald carrier each
week and $10 for the best
news item for the month,

Winners and those
turning in expecially
outstanding articles of
news (or black & white
news photos) will be

iven special mention in

e Herald plus other
recognition. .

“News” — in the in-
terpretation of the
Herald, is anything that
happened recently — or is
about to happen that
makes interesting
reading or viewing.

All news tips, items and
photographs must have
the name and address of
the person turning them
in, All news must be
turned in to the editorial

department or ‘News
Desk”.

In addition to extra
pocket money, the con-
test could be a “learning
experience’? for the
carriers participating
and even lead to the
discovery and
development of some to
flight journalists and
news photographers from
among our own Terrac e
young people.

A news story or news
Guides, Brownies,
Church, Sunday School,
hew people in town, roads
ripped up for repair,
unusual signs, street
lights not working, new
stores opeinng, things
that happen on the
newspaper route, nice
things that happen (for
example the woman who
always has a cup of hot
chocolate for the paper
boy ona cold wet day; the
dog that always runs out
to get the paper from the
paper carrier — as well
as the big ddog that
always tries to bite!)

How about the
customer who always has
the correct amount of the
subscription ready, in an
envelope instead of

photo shoud! ‘‘tell’’-Who,
t, Where, When, How
and Why.

News stories and
photes can be about —
people, pets, places,
weather, accidents,
UFO's, fires, funny
things, awards, School
(flood in the chemistry
lab or new equipment,
new club formed, special

exciting project or field
trip), about geet Cubs,

B.C. Writer Tells .
How

Thousands of
canadians are
discovering the  ex-
citement of tracing their
ancestral roots, and a
large number of these
researchers are British
Columbians.

If you have ever
thought of he a
detective, ever led to
the tales of historic times
and deeds or ever won-
dered about your family
origins then you are a
natural as a potential
genealogist.

Cross Canada News Briefs

RETIREMENT AGE:

SET
ANCASTER, Ont. (CP)
— Town council has

ssed ° a bylaw
lesignating the age of re-
tirement for town em-

ployees. It states that all
employees of the town,
except for firefighters,
are to retire at age 65—
firetighters are required
to retire at age 60 because
of the mental and
physical stress their job
exerts,
LIBRARY HELPS
WOMEN
NIAGARA-ON-THE-
LAKE,
Ont. (CP) — About 25
housebound women have
been setting aside
Wednesday afternoons
for the last two months to
take in the Programs for
Women offered free by
the public library. In
continuous weekly
sessions the program
covers topics ncluding
rape, parenting, coping
alone as a widow or

divorcee and financial
problems.

BOOK PUBLISHED
TORONTO (CP) — A
new children’s beok, The
Dog Power Tower b
Beverley Allinson and
Barbara O'Kelly, with
Judith Lawrence,

features the television
train of Mr. Dres-
sup~-Casey an .
negan, Aunt Bird and
Alligator Al~as they join
their friends Amelia and
Frobisher for an ad-
venture. Mr. Dressup is
seen on CBC every week-
day at 10:30 am.
‘MAYOR REMEM-

BED !
GUELPi Ont. (CP) —
John Smith was Guelph's
first mayor, and the
University Women’s Club
recently made sure his
name will be remem-
bered by future
generations. With city
officials and notables,
club president Janet
McLean fixed a historical
plaque, donated by the

club, to the wall of
Smith's old home.
FRENCH BEING
TAUGHT

GUELPH, Ont. (CP) —
Plans are under way in
the Wellington County
separate school system to
provide French  in-
struction for students
below Grades 7 and 8 for
the next school year, As a
forerunner to that, the
board approved a pilot
French-language i}
struction program to run
for 40 minutes each day
atone school this year for
students in Grades 4 to 6.

WEAR THOSE
HELMETS

BELLEVILLE,
(CP) _ Ontario
Provincial Police are
encouraging
snowmobilers and
passengers to wear
elmets although the law
does not require that
equipment in some cases,
“The most severe in-
juries in snowmobile
accidents are blows to the
head,” said a police of-
ficer.

COURSE OFFERED
PETERBOROUGH,
Ont. (CP) — Area beef
producers will be eligible

take am management:
of-the-farm business
course this winter offered
by Canada Manpower,
Sir Sandford Fleming
College and the Ontario
ministry of agriculture
and food, The course will
last five weeks and will
include topics such as
feeding, breeding and
livestock management.

BOOKLET MIGHT
HELP

BELLEVILLE, Ont.
(CP) — Booklets on
winter driving are ay
ilable from offices of the
provincial police and the

ministry of tran-
sportation and com-
munications,

having to make change
for a $20 bill every time?
Or the customer that
provides. a special
eovered box to put the
newspaper in that is easy
to get at? Things like
that.

Is there any carrier
whose little sister helps
him deliver papers on his
rovte every day’? How
about the carrier whose
dog goes along with him

To Trace Your Family

“Reasons for searching
out a family tree vary
considerably. They range
from attempts to link up
the family with a lost
inheritance, to discover
family relationships with
important historical
figures, to prepare
material for an authentic
family histoyr, or merely
to fulfil the urge to
discover something of the
hundreds of forebers that
have resulted in the
unique individual of

mr
“Whatever the reason,
a duke, a withc, a pirate
and many many or-
dina;ry folk are all
possible participants in
the family line.’
Edis is a former
executive member of
both th ‘B.C

3] C,
Genealogical Society and
the amily story
Association. He teaches
basic genealogy to adult
education classes and is
the Chief Librarian for
the Vancouver Branch
Genealogical Library,
part of 2 Salt Lake City

ased Genealogical
Society, the world's
largesat family history
microfilm library.
. Last yelar his Van-
couver library staff
helped almost 4,000
researchers get on the
right track of their early
families.

An Australian by birth,
but without the drsam of
convict ancestry, he
traces his origins to early
Britain and has noted the
earliest Edis name way
back in 669 AD when
Stephanus Edius came to
England to teach the
Roman ecclesiastical art
of chanting.

His wife, the former
Shirley Huscroft, was
born in the Koolenays
from a line of pioneers.
He Huscrofts are often
credited with be the
first family to settle in the
Kootenay Valley near
present-day Creston after
a 1000 mile trek overland

and helps deliver the

news? Or the woman on a

paper route who has a 40
year old parrot that can
speak four languages?
These are just some of
the sort of news that can
be covered which the
Herald would be happy ta
usle — and to pay for.
These are just for
“starters”. We are sure
our more than two score

earriers will come up

with covered wagons
from the U.S. midwest.

Together they have
produced a do-it-yourself
Workbook, “Trace your
Family Tree’ to start
enghusiasts from all
walks of life on the art of
ancestry hunting.

“The workbook really
wasn't planned. It just
grew over two years from
solving the problems that
the average person had
when getting started in
genealogy,” said Edis.

The couple first
adapted standard
pedigree charts and
record sheets so tha they
were easier for the novice
to use, then created a
system of record logs to
ensure researchers knew
where they were going
;and how to get there.

“We found that a large
number of people just
confused themselves by
reading the heavy
genealogy books before
they really were under
way. Often they also
forgot where they had
searched and who they
had written to. They got
lost in their own con-
fusion of records, so we
added a system , that
would enable them to

with some really in-
teresting, exciting and
surprising items.

One thing though.
Plea;se try every way to
be accurate, correct, and
sure of names, dates and
places.. We.. don’t, want
any false items. How long
can astory be? It does-not
matter, We can always
shorten it, if we have to.
Just bring it in — while it
is still fresh news.

Tree

record their
correspondence,
research in any library,
record office or cemetary
and their work on
microfilmed records
from all over the world.”
Starting as a series of
duplicated and stapled
sheets the instruction
guide has grown into a
comprehensivebut hack
inexpensive paper
workbook with eenough
Sheets and pedigree
sharts to keep even the
most enthusiastic
researcher busy for at
least a year. Along with
the pages of addresses
and “get you started’
advice there's even a
relationship chart so one
can figure where third
cousin Richard five times
removed fits into the
family scheme of 8.
Edis sayd that while
family histories have
heen publisehd con-
tinually for several
hundred years, it took the
popularity of ‘‘Roots” in
k and television form
to make the majority fo
20th Century would-be
genealogist realise that it
was possible for them to
trace their own roots and
have fun doing it.

TERRACE

daily herald

General Office - 635-6357
Circulation - 635-6357

PUBLISHER... W.R. (BILL) LOISELLE
EDITOR ... ERNEST SENIOR

Published every weekday at 3212 Kalum St., Terrace,
B.C. A member of Varifled Cireviation. Authorized as
second class mail, Registration number 1201. Postage
pald In cash, return postage guaranteed.

NOTE OF COPYRIGHT

The Herald retains full, complete and sole copyright
In any advertisement produced and-or any editorial or
photographic contant published in the Harald.
Reproduction Is not permitted without the written
permission of the Publisher.

Published by
Sterling Publishers