The Acton Press Editorial Official opening of Actons new water pollution control plant is another milestone in the growth of the town The new tatihties ire both attractive and practical mil a model for communities where the pollution battle is being fought with either none or old decrepit plant unable to pro sewage to the degree required in ape when we are becoming increasingly aware the need tor stronger antipollution measures I he new lucihtv which is reall only an extension to the old plant but complements and doubles its will allow growth in the without tear of incurring the wrath of the Ontario Water Commission Cost ol the project iSMO400 does seem huge tor a toimminity almost people to but course there is aid from the tcdcval government It seemed like a big step when the first sewage plant was being broached but thanks to the foresight of the of the time and agreement from ratepayers 1 vote it was taken It meant the abolition of the old backhouse but it was a giant step forward for the town Weve added almost more people since that time mid I he own lias had problems and will continue have them hut the titicns Acton know it is i good plate to live and will become better as the go by We would like to band a bouquet to council and the oilier people responsible for planning and developing the new water pollution control plant and the foresight they showed in the venture It is tnie the old plant was working at capacity but council could have likely stumbled by on some makeshift arrangement Instead they installed the modern equipment albeit with some pressure from the provincial it is sometimes popular to malign industry it is also worthwhile to consider that and Co cooperated with the fown in donating the site lor the plant he company could have chosen to ignore the needs of the community but they also realize that the town must go ahead The new extended plant is tangible evidence that it will Hen much better There is abundant statistical evidence that the brought about a major adance in living standards but inflation and the multitude of taxes both direct and indirect have nude manv families wonder whether they are better off Speual calculations made by The Post show the devastating bite of higher prices and taxes lor the a year man of would have to earn 1 142 this year to maintain his standard of living Through the first hall the he would have had to add only Keep abreast of increased prices and taxes but to keep up from to 1970 he would need another S3 lurcher down the income scale where numbers are more realistic the earner of I960 now requires to offset higher taxes and prices the man needs ins in their haste to Those who believe all the old values have been destroyed in this world gone mad tan take comfort thai in Che imporlani Jungs there has been change People- arc as kooky as ever claims the Vancouver Sun I heres a widow hiking across the I nited Stales to Alaska a m in riding horseback over much of the same roule a legless man who has hiked from John foals to lands nd assume living standards are so much better today do not make much of higher taxes on incomes and the demand on income created by high prices lor people who earned more Chan 7000 in I960 today taxes have cut the value of income much more than price inflation So although the average person is better off it is difficult to gauge the extent of their affluence There is another and more devastating influence that is effects of better standards of living People arc very reluctant to let go when standards are raised They neither want nor intend to slide back the income scale TasCe is higher sights raised and above all there is the urge to keep up wilh the Jones who are getting blamed lor much of the labor unrest sweeping the country and is now planning to am These are gentle made life worth living They individuality to They suggested quiet way that man is still all right Wc have no cause to worry i man is unable to lake foolishness seriously that s to it a I the pa At OH THOSE LAZY hazy days of si bo a bit premature but theyre putting Photo Suga n Olson John Cameron find John Pink may practising or summer days now Staff r and Spice by bill smiley Mrs Kingston Rock wood lent this school picture have no sympathy lor anyo the public Mail service in Ibis country lias gone backwards ye in the past two or three yens Costs have steadily increased and service has decreased until we have readied tin point where many people would welcome the return of the pony express riders who used to carry the mail through dust ind storm and hostile Indians Because it is a government monopoly is huge sprawling and utterly inclfieieiit in a modem society No enterprising private business would put up with the incredible the present postal system If did the public would soon put it out business Its rather a note that the liquor stores which used to operalc on a five day week lie now open sis days plus I rid evenings while postal service has been cut to five day sand post ollices close- earlier Apparently theres more profit booe ill in public utilities government And dial s whit the posial service is or should be public utility Wouldnt we be- in a line state il livdro power and the telephone service and police and lire protection were lopped on to recommence Monday or il there were I holiday The people who have liom Mr new postal service arc the telephone ind telegraph complines ie reaping a harvest big business has pi slopped using the milk the pomt ol posting important iter on vVediicsdiv 1 know t won be delivered 1 ridav and will be delivered tollowing or lucsdav il Mondays a It bad enough drive businessman jpopkxy but it s is Itiisii mug on a more io the Our lives in tin miles away She i base plume II we Willi on she the letter I II OH the It its true that miniskirts allow women to express themselves some have little to say Nobody likes to be beaten to the punch especially when theres a little gin in it Soft Soap Something that can erase a dirty look delivering ihe mail on time THE ACTON FREE PRESS PHONE and fit Cot Don ydv Copyright 1970 Ive mentioned before in this column that my propensity for admiring flowers and exotic plant life does not extend to a talent for growing litem As a gardener Id make a good fence viewer although in front of me I have a press release which claims seven million Canadians with green thumbs are planting extra rows of flowers this spring According to llic secretary of the Canadian Nursery Trades Association who ought to know many people seem to he staying borne and gardening rather than buying a or renting a cottage I rich with seed catalogues and the art of growing things they arc going to stick close to home this year instead of staying urgent and we write Wednesday no guarantee shell get it that week So send her a wire Suppose shes not at home She doesnt get the telegram until next day or the next If I were to drop dead she might find out about it a week alter the It wouldnt bother me that condition but it might upset her a bit Today 1 checked at the local post oflicc Three mails a day go out Iflscnda letter to my lather inlaw miles due heres procedure- It goes due lor miles then southwest for miles southwest then northwest for 1 20 miles The shortest distance between two points is a triangle postoffice math there is a town three miles away A letter sent Irom there can and usually does take two days to get here You could walk it in minutes Paradoxically a colleague of mine writes his inolher in Ingland and she gets the letter within hours this is efficiency Im all turned around somehow Granted the posial workers were underpaid for years though Ill witness that diey were not overworked I was employed in a post office during the Christmas rush and nobody was rushing thai much Pay them decent wage give them decent working conditions but lets have some blasted service If the runs at a loss pav it The and the CNR are heavily subsidized and there arent too many squawks Millions and millions are thrown down drain on such nourishes as the aircraft earner and shrugged lough on llic resort operators tourist pushers but I can hear lie nurserymen cheering from here Confronted with the choice of two weeks at a resort or a fortnight the garden Im afraid there wouldnt be much indecision on my pari Id take the resort every tunc and let someone else grow the flowers for me to I Ins peculiar attitude has been with me all my life since m attempt to grow a geranium in i pot ended in j tulip popping up through the black soil 1 but doesnt stop me admiring myotic who can turn in acre sandy soil into a garden of I den I can remember the indelible impression the former premier Ontario Milch Hepburn left on me when he retired from polities Asked by some enterprising reporter what he was going to do Milch replied he just intended to stay home and the onions grow Some people this as meaning that he volatile Hepburn was going to lake it easy I thought he was hitting at something different the crying power in the onions As far as I could make out he was going to let the onions do the trying for him There is equal significance behind die growing of flowers In merry old I for instance they fought War of the Roses Lancastrians wore a red rose as their badge Yorkists wore white Inspired by this William Somemile wrote hi pale rose offends your sigh It in your bosom wtar blush to find itself lest white And turn there And of course another Wilham Shakespeare penned these worldfamous Pepper hartley words about roses in Romeo and Juliet What In a name trial which we call a rose any other name would smell as sweet Shakespeares works arc heavy with allusions to flowers with the rose national flower foremost Anyone who has been to old doesnt have to ask why Britain is an immense flower garden Switching another locale just have to mention the word Carmen and you get a mental picture of a voluptuous with a rose clenched between her teeth dancing with sensuous grace while the chorus lets fly with a rousing rendition that always reminded me of the Anvil Chorus but w is something else altogether And of course has plenty of I was i party one night where the hostess fascinated by the music not the orbs and aware she bore a slight resemblance t Rita grahbed an irhficial rose out of a bowl then encouraged by all present especially the males she leaped to the coffee table top and did her own version of the flamenco with swirling skirts and glistening eyes An enthusiastic guest over come by the occasion decided he would join Hie hostess in a heel and- toe tapping routine lie hounded to the top of the table for the rose which the held firmly between her molars She teemed icluctini to let go lie pulled harder She held on until somebody from the transfixed audience urged her to clamp She relaxed her grip to answer Out the rose- flew dragging a partial plate behind it The silence was awful until the lady husband a wit from the word go let out a loud which was picked up and magnified around the table Judging the withering look he got his hie has been no bed ol roses since unless he is content to settle for the thorns The purpose of all Ins of course is to show Hut lower power is not something new The power of the- flower has been with us since our ancestors first emerged from the caves or wherever scientists decide came next and adorned themselves with petals So I say a toast to the gardeners of the world May their thumbs be evergreen and their flowers Hie envy of us dolts who couldnt even grow hair if the good Lord had not provided th 20 years ago Taken from the issue of the Free Press Thursday June 1 1950 A fastmoving circus with all its was presented Acton audiences last Thursday and Friday by of the Acton Park Pavilion Fast and furious floor hockey cornfield capers a speedy gymnastic display a battle Knights of Yoic in armour and fully equipped with bloodstained swords and a fantasy in were features included in extravaganza Theie were square dances with the- old time music provided by George Fountain Mis and calling off by Fied Hunter Gowns on the program were Ken Joek and George Sutton and May directed the in their tan bark presentation hades acted as maslcr of ceremonies and a myriad of other helpers assisted The life of Harold Acton was saved by P J Hill on Queen Way last Saturday Driving a irutk Mr overcome by carbon monoxide fumes from engine and lost consciousness Two policemen were called Mr Hill and thev administered artificial tor over half an hour before reviving him In St Joan Waierhouse and Murray Hood married by Rev Luxlon They will in Milton truest West student at Hall was the subject of part of kale broadcast recently 50 years ago Taken from the or the Free Press Thursday June 1920 At a meeting held the Soldiers Memorial Home a baseball league was formed for the season composed of Acton Brampton Georgetown Glen Williams and Milton clubs Ed Ryder of Acton is president and Neil McNabb is on the executive The distribution of flower seeds by Acton Horticultural Society was made a month ago On Saturday the spring distribution of plants look place Salvias petunias Flax Drummondi etc to the number of 5000 plants were Acton should blossom as a Public School teachers of have now organized and adopted a salary schedule for rural teachers with one year experience at least up to four years experience Principal two to four looms at least up to SI more than five rooms one year experience at least 1 f up to at least 75 years ago from the issue of the Free Press Thursday May 0 1895 The iwentylourth dawned warm and bright and was just suth a morning as would put in good spirits those upon whose tested the responsibility providing lor the public a day of pleasure The joint committee of the Acton Cornet Band and the Clipper Base Ball club in escellent spirits and the successor the celebrations showed they were fully competent to carry out the celebration The crowd the park was far short 1000 Following lacrosse match between Glen Williams and Acton came the baseball game of Hal ton County League I Francis umpired the game and the final score was 18 When bicycle matches were called lor people thronged for vantage places Storey of Acton look the lead in the mile race and kept it the end For the twomdc race there were only two of and Storey of Acton and Storey was the winner Great excitement prevailed when the bicycle race was announced Though there were four entries but two started Bailey and R Gordon The race occupied about rales and Ihe former easily won the silver cop Then followed the foot racei A noteworthy feature of the days events wis that with the exception of the yard race all were won by Acton The parade veiy funny but lacked much of merit The arrangement wis left entirely to juveniles Acton Comet Band cannot be commended too highly for the music they provided The concert in the town hill in the evening was very enjoyable and successful