The Mail-Journal, Volume 18, Number 5, Milford, Kosciusko County, 18 February 1981 — Page 4

THE MAIL-JOURNAL —Wed.. Feb. 18.1981

4

Editorials George Washington George Washington’s birthday is observed on the third Monday (the 16th) this year. Until a few years ago, it was observed on his actual birthday anniversary, the 22nd. George Washington, first president and the soldier who did more than any other to defeat British armies in the Colonies and win independence for the Urjited States, was born in Westmoreland County, Virginia, in 1732. His father was a well-to-do planter and educated older sons abroad, but he died when George was twelve. This meant George only received the practical ard elementary teaching of colonial Virginia. He took’to the outdoors, forest life and sports. At this time he was engaged by Lord Fairfax, who had come from England to look after inherited property, and worked with him and acted as his companion for some threeyears. Thus he learned the manners and habits of an English gentleman. It was through his older brother, Lawrence, that George entered military prominence. Lawrence, in failing health, gave George his place in the militia before he died and Governor Dinwiddie gave him a commission. But Washington’s first efforts against the French were unsuccessful When fighting broke out between the Colonies and England, Washington — who had hoped for conciliation — was chosen to lead the American armies. His first success came when he forced the British from Boston in March in 1776 but it was to be a long and bitter struggle, which only ended in the British surrender at Yorktown, October 19,1781. That he held his forces together and won the loyalty and support of the various states is something of a miracle. He was modest by nature and his character was such that at those who once learned to know him admired him. Had it not been for his reluctant agreement to enter politics, unity might not have been possible among the states. After eight years as president, in which he set many sound precedents, he refused again to be a candidate. Three years later he died — in 1799 — at Mount Vernon. Our TV Twenty years ago a Federal Communications Commission chairman had the courage to describe US commercial television for what it was. Newton Minor described it as a “vast wasteland “ Because of homPtelevision’s growing importance, and power, the problem is even today, and. as columnist Anthony Lewis pointed out recently, qur TV today is even worse .than it was then — insulting, vulgar drivel. What can be done? As long as members of the FCC are friendly to (or in effect approved by) the fabulously wealthy commercial television networks, and not stalwart champions of the people and the national interest, seeking to improve quality, little can be done. Congress, which turned over the nation's best TV airwaves almost totally to commercial interests after World War 11. seems incapable of acting in the public interest. February Dates are filled with more memorable dates than February. The battleship. Maine was blown up in Havana. February 15. touching off the SpanishAmerican war. in 1898 The Cubans were at the time revolting against Spanish rule, which had been tyrannical, and the Navy sent the Maine to Havana, where it docked close to a Spanish battleship Some Spaniards resented the Maine's presence in the harbor (Americans were sympathetic to the Cubans) and when the ship was blown up with the loss of 252 Amerk'ans. relations deteriorated quickly into war. though the Spanish probably weren't guilty of the sinking. On the 23rd, in 1847. General Zachary Taylor defeated a large force of Mexicans at Buena Vista, forcing Santa Anna to retreat southward and helping to win the Mexican War. (General Winfield Scott was operating with an army near Mexico City.) Chester Nimitz. the naval commander-in-chief of the Pacific fleet in the Second World War. was born on the 24th in 1885 at Fredericksburg, Texas, a German-American settlement. W illiam F. Cody was born on the 26th in 1846 in Scott County. lowa. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was born on the 27th. in Portland, Maine, in 1807

others say — Falwell's message

Everyone's' at* it ter over the fact that an interview with the Reverend Jerry Falwell, head of .Moral Majority. is appearing in Penthouse, the lurid girhe magazine This is the interview m which the fundamentalist preacher denounces Jimmy Carter for having granted an interview four years ago to the slightly less lurid Rev Falwell didn't know the two freelancers to whom he granted the interview would sell it to a magazine hke Penthouse Because this mightn't be clear to his followers, he is highly embarrassed He shouldn't be We have lampooned Rev Falwell a bit in these columns over his suggestions that an amoral minority has taken control of the government Our concern has more often been raining down from the White House these recent years This is because we v#ew religion and certain aspects ot morality as basically private, family matters But — speaking privately — we think that Rev Falwell is right to a tot of what he's saying and that his message deserves wide attention, particularly among such audiences as enjoyed by Penthouse For his concerns are widely and profoundly shared by a lot of people, not only born-again Christians He is concerned, for example, about violence, drugs and indiscipline in the public schools, and about the total ban of religious expression there He is angry over the stonewalling these concerts have received from the Supreme Court, the Education Department and the National Education Association. So tos movement is starting to withdraw from the public schools In the past 20 years, he says, more than 14.000 Christian academies have been' set up in America, with a new one being formed every seven hours He's also concerned about where the 5 feminism movement is leading You don't have to agree with tom on the most volatile of his feuds with the feminists - abortion (he's against it altogether) — to recognize that a tot of what he's saying is thoughtful He is an activist, be says, for equality of opportunity and reward for the work of women and men. But he s concerned about the trend toward what he calls a "unisexual society" that is "demeaning to womanhood " Not everyone shares that concern, but we find nottang so demeaning to womanhood <

as the sort of treatment women are given in the pages of Penthouse. Rev Falwell is also concerned about family And why shouldn't he be in this age of rampant divorce, of old age homes, and of any family welfare policies'’ He s scared by what is being shown on television, and by prospects such as widely sanctioned homosexual marriage He approaches a tot of these issues with a moralistic tone that we don't share, but a person who s indifferent to these questions is a cold person indeed And the indifference — even hostility — being evinced toward his concerns by so much of the country is tn part what is fueling his movement. That indifference and hostility — and'the sort of gl ‘ v with which the Penthouse scoop was greeted, bothers us as much as what we sometimes see as the excess mor a I ism of the Moral Majority We have known people like the members of Rev Falwell's flock all our lives, and we've liked them We might not want to tore in a society where their moralistic instincts ran untrammeled But we don't see a chance that Jerry Falwell will run Penthouse magazine off the newsstands It seems to us. rather, that the pendulum has swung too far in the other direction, and that this society would profit from more attention, not less, to the kinds of concerns that move his followers We see the danger not so much that his people will take over society, tort that they will withdraw from it. If they take their children out of our schools, if they turn away completely from our magazines and our television programs, if they pull out of our communities, then we are all going to be the losers For those who don't agree with everything Rev Falwell has to say. it probably comes down to a question of confidence. Those who ridicule him. who stonewall on the issues he is pressing, and who enjoy the sort of embarrassment he feels at seeing his interview to Penthouse are probably those who lack confidence to their own philosophies of life. Those who have confidence to their own sense of things are going to make room for Rev. Falwell and his flock. The nation will be a better place for it. for although we don't agree with Rev Falwell on everything, we do believe it ’s not a sin to believe to sin. — THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

i /Ft W Everyone knows George Washington was the Father of his country but how many know his portrait is the only object in the White House that has been there since its occupancy in 1800. Dolly Madison in 1814 delayed her flight from the invading British until she safeguarded the canvas. Voice of the people A column on the opinions of the people of the Lakeland area ... Question: "How high do you think the price of gas will go before it levels off? What wiH you do if it goes too high?"

MRS. JOHN SELLERS North Webster (homemaker)

“They said this month it would probably go to about $2.80.1 don’t drive any car myself A lot of people are doubling up. ’’

KAREN | LEINSETTER 1 North Webster ’ (homemaker)

“Pretty high, higher than we want I’ll go where I can with what gas I can afford ’’

Letters to the editor

A great success

Dear Editor* We feci that Kip Schumm. the park board members and everyone who contributed to the Syracuse Winter Carnival should be commended The day was a great success with varied activities providing fun for everyone The fireworks were even more spectacular m the winter sky and the torch parade was a beautiful idea The day proved that the lake area is a

Disagrees with Beer

Dear Editor I wish to take issue with a letter written by one Max Beer to the editor of The Mail-Journal and published January 28. I presume he is from Milford'’ In attempting to analyse political issues and politicians, one can reasonably expect some objectivity from a writer In short he should attempt to keep in the middle without bias Instead, we find rancor, name calling (' Jimmy and his leftist friends." and others*, innuendo, smear tactics and half truths. For example “Free enterprise is dead." With the exception of the auto and steel industries which are meeting foreign competition, thousands of corporations are working to full capacity and paying dividends Consult the American Gross National Product for the last 10 yean. Abo, regarding the assertion that Christians voted to defeat Carter . Where is the proof for this absurd proposition ’ One could just as easily assert that this same group voted for Carter four years ago. As for the Panama Canal deal, the U.S. Senate by law passes on issues of foreign policy and they do not do so tightly. The true , story of the Panama Canal may yet be revealed. Regardmg “Jimmy preaching civil rights around the world,** I would recommend that Beer read the first 1® amendments to the US. Constitution, adopted in 1791. xhey are buttressed by

LILLIE WRIGHT North Webster (factory worker) “It will probably get up to $2 I’ll stay at home. Can’t afford to go”

mt

RICHARD RUNYAN North Webster (electrician)

I don’t think it will get over $1 50. I ll keep buying gas Have to. not much choice." Critics of youth forget that boys and girls become adults after being trained and educated by their elders.

most enjoyable place to live any > season We hope the success of the J winter carnival can be continued 1 for years to come and hope that we can keep an ambitious and 5 creative person like Kip Schumm ? at the helm of a group that is 5 doing so much for the com--1 munitv. i e Thanks. i Rick and Malmda Pinney

many legal precedents and they have stood the test of time. What is illegal <r immoral for Carter advocating them to any nation? And can theauthor of this letter cite one reputable historian or political scientist who ever quoted the Reader's Digest as an authority on anything? I am riot trying to pull Carter's chestnuts out of the fire His brief stint in political life finds him clean. No breath of scandal has touched him Nothing of a disruptable nature has been imputed to him. I firmly believe that he is an honest man with integrity. His debate with Reagan in Cleveland and his recent farewell address to the nation were of a high order But it taxes one's credulity to see an honorable man castigated as a crook and scoundrel. While Carter will not go down as one of our great Presidents, the hostage crisis was probably his downfall. He tned hard to resolve this crisis, but his image was really a delusion of weakness, unfortunately I have been a student at historical events for over 70 years and I have observed that the element of time usually places events in their proper perspective What seems true today may be reversed tomorrow or at a later date. Let it not be said that there are no budding politics to be found in the hustings Joseph C Baumgartner 21M0 W.Wagar Circle Cleveland. Ohio 441 IS

taiziN AROUND

(EDITOR'S NOTE Jack Elam and his wHa Janot ora rosidonts of Pickwick Rood Jock was manager of Budgot Loan In Syracuse. but is now solos representative for Thunandor and Son. on Elkhart wholosole dealer in small hand tools.) By JACK ELAM THE REGULAR writer of this column is out of the country somewhere and asked me to fill in for him this issue. This task is not new. This writer way back in 1964 started this column for The Mail-Journal. I wrote the column for about three months and gave it up as a lost cause. My pay was all the fish I could eat on Friday at a buck eighty five (Arch bought) at a local restaurant. ONE OF the first newsworthy items was dedicated to Louie Firestone It told how the enterprising Louie Firestone sold his pet bull calf to finance his wedding to the then Pauline Hibschman. You will have to ask Louie to tell you the rest of the tale. Speaking of Louie, he recently retired from the Lakeland Communit* School System and is busily engaged in the art of cabinet making. —o— AT THE time this Cruzin Column got started the familiar faces on Main Street were Ruth and Dale Plummer at the dime store. Mrs. Connolly and her dress shop Operating the grocery was Byron Connolly and Pete and Wanette Luttman next door at the Gambles store. Noble Blocker was the man with the cash at the bank. Going west was Cleo Singery and the Anchor Bar. Dr. Coil. Optometrist and the telegraph office was next. Followed byDoggie’s Pool Hall. Burkholder’s Drug Store and Crow’s Hardware finished up the block. Across the street next to the theatre was the Pickwick Lounge operated bv Jack Wells. Rose Jeweler and Thornburgs finished up the block. On the Corner was the Bon-Len operated by Bonnie Workman Next was The Mail-Journal office manned by Georgia Buster and in the front of the building was Budget Loans with Jean Rogers as cashier with yours truly managing. Going on East was Jay Peffley collecting utility bills as usual for NIPSCo. Then we had Dr. Fosbrink and next to him was Fletcher Marsh and his art studio. Overhead was and still is the Masonic Lodge. As you see in just 17 short years many faces have changed along Main Street. Oh yes. I forgot to mention the peace keepers. They were Don Enyeart. Chief: Rov “Doc” Miller. Sgt.: with Fred Personette and Oscar Dahl as Deputy Marshals. And let us not forget the daily visit of Seth Ward who would travel from his Lake Wawasee home and make his tour of nearly every downtown business. THE FOLLOWING is a borrowed article I would like to dedicate to a certain group of people. You will know wbo you are as you read k. You know you're growing older when: Everything hurts and what doesn’t hurt, doesn’t work. The gleam in your eyes is from the sun hitting your bifocals You feel Hke the night before, and you haven’t been anywhere. Your little black book contains only names ending in M.D. Yea get winded playing chess. Your children begin to look • middle aged.

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You finally reach the top of the .ladder, and find it against the wrong wall. You join a health chib and don't go. You begin to -outlive enthusiasm. You decide to procrastinate but then never get around to it. You’re still chasing women, but can’t remember why. Your mind makes contracts your body can’t meet. A dripping faucet causes an uncontrollable bladder urge. You know all the answers, but nobody asks you the questions. You look forward to a dull evening. You walk with your high trying to get used to your bifocals. Your favorite part of the newspaper is 25 years ago today. You turn out the light for economic rather than romantic reasons You sit in a rocking chair and can’t make it go. Your knees buckle and your belt won’t. You regret all those mistakes resisting temptation. You’re 17 around the neck. 42 around the waist, and 96 around the golf course You stop looking forward to your next birthday. After painting the town red. you have to take a long rest before applying the second coat. Dialing long distance wears you out. Y’ou’re startled the first time you are addressed as old timer. You remember today, that yesterday was your wedding anniversary. You just can’t stand people who are intolerant The best part of your day is over when vour alarm clock goes off. s You bum the midnight oil after 9pm Your back goes out more than you go. / A fortune teller offers to read your face. Your pacemaker makes the garage door go up when you watch a pretty girl go by. The little gray haired lady you help across the street is your wife. You get exercise acting as a pallbearer for vour friends who exercise. You have too much room in the house and not enough in the medicine cabinet You sink your teeth into a steak and they stay there. HAVING JUST returned from Texas I found that the word recession is not listed in their vocabulary Houston and Dallas are probably the fastest growing areas in the United States Road building, housing developments and high rise apartments show sighs of a good economy Many Northern industries are moving to these sun-belt cities. This places them next to a market of ' the population which are leaving the cold north for warmer climates to combat the backbreaking fuel and heat bills There is a drawback to this Texas Utopia in the form of no water. Texas has received very little rain this winter and the reservoirs and lakes are dangerouslv low.

Miles returns to Imfiamgolis

Senator Dan Quayle has announced Mark Miles of Indianapolis will assume state director duties effective April 1. Miles, who was Quayle’s Senate election campaign manager, was appointed administrative assistant in Quayle’s Washington office. “Mark will return to Indianapolis to help ensure that the combined office concept functions as efficiently as possible His presence in the Indiana office underscores my commitment to stay in dose contact with my constituents through strong representation in the state,” Quayle said. Quayle and Senator Richard Lugar have begun setting up dual offices in Indianapolis and

Flying from •’ Dallas to Indianapolis on an American Airlines 727 we had a grand total of 16 passengers and four flight attendants. One attendant for every four passengers sure makes the good service. With all of the vacant seats I would imagine the bookkeeper for American had to use red ink to tally the day’s business. The /price raise on Airline tickets must have taken its toll. IF THE interest rates would come down or become stable the local economy would slow a definite upswing in the manufacturing of mobile homes and modular housing. A recent study by McGraw-Hill Research shows the average cost of a conventional built home nearing the SIOO,OOO level. The average family can still purchase affordable housing in the form of mobile homes or modular housing starting at 120.000 (furnished). —•— WE HAVE some real avid sportsmen in our local ice fishermen. On our channel we observed them fishing when the temperature was zero and 30 mile an hour winds driving the wind chill factor out erf sight. These brave and courageous men kept their vigil spending most of their time skimming the ice from the holes that were continually freezing over. THE NEAR blizzard conditions of last week could be our last big storm of the season. However, we usually have a stormy blast around sectional time. Let’s hope not. IF ANY’ of you dear readers are interested in tracing your family roots please go to the downtown Fort Wayne Public Library. They have just opened a new genealogy section containing information on ancestors in any state of the Union They also have many passage lists of boat passengers arriving in this country. .Are you thinking about doing a family history research? If you are I suggest that you start now Otherwise the next generation will have to finish the work. It is a slow, tedius. tiresome and a rewarding task For the past four years in tracing our ancestors we have found doctors, lawyers, preachers, soldiers who were heroes, soldiers who were cowards, rich people, poor people, slave owners, fanners, midwives and merchants Try it sometime, you’ll like it —O'SEE YA later. Court news Violations The following violations have had fines assessed and paid in Kosciusko County Court. James Jarrette, judge Fishing without valid license — James L. Thompson. 28, Syracuse. S3O plus $5 to conservatin department Speeding — John R. Lewis. 20. Leesburg. $35 MARRI AGE LICENSES The following couples have .tiled for marriage license in the office of Kosciusko County Clerk. Jean Messmore: Miller-Albert Roger B. Miller. 30, r 2 box 89 North Webster and Paula J. Albert. 28. r 1 box 58 Milford Gilbert-Martin Andrew L. Gilbert. 32. r 5 box 469 Syracuse and Melinda K Martin. 19, r 5 box 469 Syracuse Mitcbell-Rav Richard D Mitchell. 50. PO. Box 144 North Webster and Sue A. Ray, 34. r 1 box 96 Warsaw

several other cities around Indiana. “These offices will handle all constituent problems, casework, grants and will help both Senator Lugar and me keep in touch with Hoosiers in all parts of the state,” Quayle said Lester Ro§en. who was Quayle’s legislative director, will assume administrative assistant duties in Washington “Mark Miles will have spent four months in Washington helping us get our legislative office organized. He will now lend his administrative talents to making sure our constituent operation runs as smoothly as the legislative operation.” Quayle said.