The Ottawa Journal from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada • Page 6

The Ottawa Jouiqial Publltw4 by Th Journal Publishing Co. of Ottawa Ltd, i sST Queen St J34 Bperka St, Ottawa, Ontario. WEDNESDAY. AUGUST 13, 1969 Mad, Mad World Of Housing Costs I (Housing Minister Andras lays the foundations for a lot of housing loans to Quebec which may total $250,000,000 and promises of earty policy statements oh urban renewal and public housing. But the frustration is that as more housing is planned the cost increases.

While the federal Government plays around with the appointment of a toothless prices and incomes commission and plaintively asks co-operation in observing anti-inflation rules it has not observed itself, building prices zoom. Costs of housing accommodation were 5.4 per cent higher in July, 1969, than a year ago. In Toronto new house and apartment prices are expected to increase by about 12 per cent when wage Boosts now granted are implemented. Carpenters settled for a wage and fringe benefit increase of $1.97 an hour over two years to make the rate $6 an hour, or basic earnings' of $240 for a 40-hour week. Plumbers will receive $260 a week by May, 1971, sheet-metal workers and concrete formers $245, electricians $232, bricklayers $213 and painters $206.

A Toronto authority estimates that louses which cost $20,000 today are to tost $22,400 in two years due to wage increases. Apartment rentals have a way. of going up in sympathy. Cabinet ministers can no longer compliment themselves on easing housing 'miseries by making more taxpayers' money available for loans. Governments, unions, building companies, suppliers of materials and those who loan money are caught up on the inflation merry-go-round which is moving too fast to let home-buyers get aboard.

Alas, the Old Roundhouse Bows to Progress There's a note of grandeur about that Word "viaduct" that we'll also miss when our narrow, rusty old one is replaced this week by the new Wellington Street "bridge." Landscaping and demolition of the viaduct completes the last significant portion of the railway relocation program which has cost the National Capital Commission about $41,000,000 since 1957. The Queensway which occupies the abandoned right-of-way, and the new. station and Walkley Road yards, are obvious and practical benefits 'of the program. But what memories go out with the viaduct! Below and stretching away were the Broad Street yards, once the terminal of Ottawa railway activities. Remember the old troop-movement days? The yards are reduced to a few spurs of track.

The old roundhouse on Bayview, a glorious sight in the days of steam, is gone. are the freight and coal sheds. The lines of snowplows no longer rust there incongruously in the summer sun. The old Ottawa West station has been rebuilt back from the road but trains go there only occasionally now. Construction of the viaduct in 1909 secured Wellington street as the principal western access to downtown Ottawa, despite constrictions and congestion, until the past decade brought the Queensway, the Parkway and rebuilt Carling Avenue.

The new bridge links Scott Street directly with Wellington beside the brewery; wider, smoother, safer and much faster! It's part of the new Ottawa we welcome but a bit reluctantly. August Sounds August is the shadow of autumn and Scientists tell us it is a quiet month. As eighth month days of beat and humidity plod by, one can feel Nature pause to consolidate its forces for the seasonal change ahead. It Is a quiet month if one thinks in terms of the bird symphony of May or the tempests that howl in January. But August has its own distinctive sounds that blend with the spirit of maturing year.

If a man goes into a meadow and sits quietly he can hear the humming of the Insects in the steady, pulsing rhythm that is part of Nature's symphony. By the uncounted tiny lives, complete their cycles in a brief time while1 they live, the soft music of their wings blends with August's brooding- Only six weeks until frost, the countryman says when he looks at the sheet on the kitchen calendar. Six weeks more for the tide of life to run strong before the time of rest begins. August sounds are a part of year's symphony and tell us that summer is drawing on. He who will can listen to the music and hear melodies more fundamental than any written by man.

v-( Those Astronauts What a breed apart are those astro- nauts! Fine men, fine minds, fine courage, and fine sense of humor. It wouldn't work, of course: but if it would we ought all to be obliged to see and hear them about once a month to remind us of what stuff man can be made. Yes, they were an hour late leaving the moon a lot of "housekeeping" chores got ahead of them. But "we enjoyed the ride (back up in the module) more than we can 'Apart from the busy work they had to do on the moon's surface were they not even for a little moment spell-bound at being there? "Yes, for about two-and-a-half hours! Could they really believe they were on the moon? "Oh yes, there was no doubt in our minds where we were, we had been orbiting around the moon for some time." They had perhaps only 15 or 20 seconds left of fuel when the module touched down "that sounds like a short time but it really is quite a long time." What did they think had been proved? Their collective answer was spacious enough so that all of us could bask in reflected glory. Man had touched down on the moon because of an efficient logical sequence of planning and he can solve other problems in the same way.

It was from the program's beginning until touch-down a triumph of "attention to detail," but it was just "an instant in history, a beginning bf a new age. Now that they were heroes would they be able to return to normalcy? "That kind of depends on you." It does, but whether they can depend on us as we have depended on them is another question. Zambia One reaction to President Kaunda's decision to proceed with nationalization of the Zambian copper mining industry will be that he is ungrateful. The African republic has received substantial help from free-enterprise countries which object to nationalization, especially since Zambia's economy was affected by the illegal government in Rhodesia blocking trade lifelines. A year ago Kaunda said he had decided to take over foreign businesses.

In spite of that announcement the copper owners hoped their industry, as the mainstay of the Zambian economy, would not be nationalized. Their hopes were dashed this week when Kaunda said the two main mining companies should offer 51 per cent of their Zambian shares to the state after which he would give them leases to operate existing mines for 25 years. The terms for payment for the shares will be decided by the state. If the terms are unsatisfactory to the owners Kaunda may find them unco-operative In running the mines as minority shareholders. And if the nationalized mines eventually are turned over to the care of engineers from countries which never gave Zambia a sou or helped her development, the republic's prospects of loans or investments from the free world will be damaged.

Notes and Comment If those hawks don't drive the blackbirds away from the corn patches at the Experimental Farm they might try doves. An Ottawa alderman has suggested reducing the size of city council by abolishing Board of Control. Controllers look elsewhere for reductions, no doubt. Art as they say is in the eye of the beholder; especially when we read that two workmen who discovered a pair of stolen Picassos in a London basement set them up outside and threw tacks at them. QllaWa Boys' Club: QUTSro'E, an arty August sua' beat dawn oa Ne-pean Street, its stifling heat sending young and eld seeking shady, if not cool, comfort In the Junior games room of tba Ottawa Boys Club, or so youngsters ignore the dust caused by workmen Making.

Life in the City. Easier for a Boy to Live By JOHN McLEOD the female sanctity of the basement. Here they will find friends to join them in games, or a new look at life through the books a small upstairs library, or perhaps a quiet place to study if home Is without a corner of solitude. They also find the love be. greatly increased.

A ''special names" campaign boys have 'been allowed to elect a "youth council" of II now. under way to raise teenaiert. which is consulted money for a new club, at the by the staff and directors corner of St, Laurent Boule- and 'allowed to run week vard and McArthur Road, to serve the Eastview-Qverbrook area. Scheduled to open in October, 1870, the new club will be bilingual, have a full- dances, and Wed activities. Race Strife.

Splitting S. Churches By EDWARD B. TtSXZ 1 YORK. TAMES FORMAN, tba Black militant leader, has made few visible gains in Us quest for "reparations to niacin from American churches, but be ha succeeded in spurring a struggle for power between blacks and whites in' the cowtry's predominantly White Protestant Institutions. The struggle has potentially far-reaching implications because blacks, who represent about one out of every i i tour American rrowsuuiu.

may rrryT-Sr- VJ.m hTi far exercised nttle wall to build and fire three, and be ready to handle a es cape. They gather Intently, eyes around some pool tables, their joy of playing the game undaunted by crooked cues and the occasional ball with a large chip out of it -v -In the arts and crafts room, a thin youngster with flaming red hair has built what resembles an airplane; there is! no point telling him it wont fly, for his imagination has already sent it above the clouds. In the swimming pool. St yelling and laughing boys bound in and out of the water: the sound careens around the observation deck above making conversation Impossible. And in the "out-of-bounds basement, 40 or SO girls scramble from make-shift gymnasiums to games rooms, their own.

shriller cacophony o( ear-splitting sound reverberating up and down the halls. For the uninitiated, IS minutes of this brings an overwhelming urge to bolt for the quiet beat of the hot pavement. The young man who has conducted this quick tour, oblivious of the noise, apologizes: MIfs pretty quiet, around here today; you'll have to come back on a normal day when there's twice the number of kids around." fyH AN average summer day as many as 4M boys might pass through the doors of this centre of activity for downtown youth. Another SO or 70 girls will scurry down to the, most common problem among the club's 1,700 members is a fatherless home, and the dub and itsprofessional staff are equipped to fill this void. 4 The "average" sis -to-M-year old at the club comes from a family with four chil- dren living on an Income of $300 a month; many are en.

welfare so even finding room in the family budget for Boys Club fees $2 a year for boys. So cents for girls can be hard. Executive Director Richard Wood says that two-thirds of the 330 boys who annually get a two-week stay at the club's summer camp, on Mink Lake near Eganville, cannot afford to pay the full Hs fee. gUT the Boys' Club is there to provide a service, not worry about whether a boy or his family can pay. It has been part of Ottawa's life since 1923, when it was housed in the old St, Patrick's Hall on Laurier Avenue op-.

posits Carrier Square. In 1956 the club moved into its present quarters. The 137,000 operating budget that ran the club in 1356 has now become $93,000 a year, although per cent of it is provided by United Appeal funds. The Mink Lake Camp takes another $34,000. and this money must come from service clubs and private The club's role will soon Then and Now 25 Years Ago fa Tk li nil ImcmA IX IMS LLOYD'S, London, offered six to one odds that the war in Europe would not be over by ept 15 of tbe current year.

Lionel Dupuis of Ottawa within a year had been promoted from sergeant to squadron leader. He was a flight commander with the French Canadian AJouette Squadron. More than an acre of white pine oa property owned by J. A. Nesbitt, half a mile east of Aylmer, was destroyed by fire attributed to a carelessly tossed cigarette butt.

Dr. H. D. Sparks, chief food inspector for Ottawa's Health Department, ordered potato chip trucks off the market. Apples on By Ward Market, Ottawa, sold at from 50 to 75 cents for a six quart basket and Today With Ben Wicks 'Mr I ii (is and Mrs.

Moony' some 3,000 boys. This area was chosen be-u causa it has the highest population density and the largest number of youth of any com-' parably-sized area in the city. A 1967 study showed 14.S65 children aged four to 19 in the area, compared with In the West End and KXI In Lower Town. The new structure will be named the Fred C.i McCann Ottawa Boys' Club In honor of the man who was executive director from 1923 until his death four years ago. The special names campaign has raised 140,000 of a total $750,000 needed for the project; public donations will be sought in a campaign to begin in February.

YfTTH expansion and changing attitudes of youth have come some basic, changes in the role of the Boys' Club over the years. Executive Director Wood says the club must now provide a wider variety of activities to hold the boys. There is more emphasis on reading, photography and programs that will allow the to. lead. The role of sports in the club, while it is still considerable, has diminished.

This has helped solve one of the club's long-standing problems: how to keep boys A 'special'' teenage' lounge' will soon' have furniture bought with money raised at tne aancesi There is also; a II year 'olds win increased emphasis' on canoe trips and what Mr. Wood Calls "more challenging" "Our average has been that only IS to 20 per cent of the boys stay in, the club after they reach their teens," Mr. Wood explains. "We're trying to bold them with programs geared to giving them leadership experience, and it seems to be paying off," gUT in many ways the club's role has remained much the same. Mr.

Wood, who says be "grew up In a boys' club" in Massachusetts, explains that "basically we are here to give the boys a chance to find good companionship and, if they need it, sound advice." "We are small and flexible enough adapt to changing needs and, most important, we' try to be real live people the kids can talk to." Mr. Wood believes that one Of the best examples of the kind of service the club provides, is the summer camp. Most of the. boys who attend have never, been to camp, and without the club would probably -never get to "We have- one boy who comes from a family of 11 children," be says. "How many times in his life would this boy get a chance to sit by himself and watch the sun in the group once they reach go down?" their teens.

-we give him that and In recent vears the older much more." 'Comin' Through the Rye ALCOHOLIC beverages don't come cheap In New Brunswick, especially with the major tax tidbits tacked on by federal and provincial governments. But at least the New Brunswick Liquor Control Commission is doing its part to take the purchasing practices out of the dark ages and make it a little more pleasant for the customer to part with his hard-earned cash. Two of the commission's retail stores at Devon and at St George Street in Mope-ton offer soft background music as you serve yourself. There are three more self-service stores which dont have the music piped in yet. but the eventual plan is to convert all the government retail liquor stores to (his modern merchandising method.

The idea, the commission says, isnt to have the consumer buy any more liquor, but to provide him with the modern supermarket atmosphere while he makes his purchases. Hours will eventually all be changed from the standard 10 a.m. to 7 m. to a more customer-oriented 9 a m. to 9 p.m., with no cutback oh staff anticipated.

What a challenging opportunity for the liquor store manager to select the right mood music! Would you have Brahms to buy beer by, reveries for retailing rye, waltzes to weigh wine with? Or would you prefer the Sound of Scotch, the contemporary beat of Gin-Pan Alley, or maybe just Lawrence Welk's Champ agne Music? The only trouble is, the serenade ends when you get to the cash register. influence within these Insri- tutions. The Increased militancy of Negro churchmen is being felt in all the major Protes-t a denominations, and especially in the National Council of Churches, which represents -most major Pro- .1 A.tk,4. churches in the country. The estimated total of 1.000,000 Negroes in pre- dominenUy white churches' and the 11,000,000 members of all-black churches make up more than a quarter of the council's 42,000,000 constituents.

Recent with black and wUte churchmen and reports from correspondents of the New York Times in eight major cities Indicate that the subsequent wave Of sit-ins and other demonstrations across the country had the following effects: Members of local congregations have virtually unanimously rejected Forman's demand for reparations and vigorously condemned bis tactics 'and the revolutionary rhetoric of his Black Manifesto As a result, he has been able to raise only $18,000 of the $3,000,000,000 that he seeks from churches and synagogues. National leaders of- the major denominations and the church council, however, have been seriously divided over how to respond to the black demands. Some fear that this polarization will' seriously impair the future functioning of the council on social matters. Black churchmen in various denominations have been unified in support of Form an ana tne isiacx Economic De budding organization for which he is the chief fund raiser. LONG as everyone was talking simply about money, we were missing the real point," said the Rev.

Charles S. Sptvey Jr, a black who is director of the department of social Justice of the National Council of Churches. The overriding issue is now redistribution of power." The current crisis arose in late April when Forman, a veteran civil rights activist and former national chairman of the Student Non-Violent Co-Oniinating committee read his "manifesto" to the National Black Economic Development Conference in Detroit The -manifesto" called for S500.0O0.000 of reparations later raised to for projects such as a Southern land hank, black publishing and tele vision facilities and a black university. It also called for the building of a socialist society run by blacks and urged radical steps against existing social and economic institutions. "Caution is fine," declared Forman.

"but no oppressed people ever gained their I teration until they were ready to fight to use whatever means necessary, including the use of force, and power of the gun to bring down the colonizer." At the present time the status of the black economic development tonfetence that emeiged from the Detroit meeting still in flux. The organization has no office or full-time can, and Forman has operated largely out of the offices of black staff members of the National Council of Churches. "pfE wave of demonstrations has prompted numerous Protestant groups to Initiate new programs In the area of black economic de-veiopment Thus far. however, virtually all of them have circumvented direct Involvement with Forman and his group. The most ambitious was hat of the United Presby.

terian Church fat the U.S. whose general assembly beard Formaa apeak and voted grants of $100,000 to the tnterrellglous foundation. It also authorized planning for a 150.000.000 fund-raising program for general anti-poverty work. Such programs, however, have not obscured deep division among religious leaders, especially at the national level, over how to deal with the race Issue, (c) New York Thaws Service.