PAGE 2, THE HERALD, Friday, August 4, 1976 © EDITORIAL _ How -many of our readers remember the publicity given, for a few weeks, about nine ears ago, to a “Sugar battery’? About eight or nine years ago, newspapers and weekend ‘magazines were devoting great amounts of space to articles about a young (16 yr. old.) Canadian genius in Ontario (Ottawa, I think) who had invented a storage batter that ran on sugar. Once the battery ran down, a teaspoon of sugar would instantly re-charge it. American interests were said to have made tempting offers, all of which had been turned down by the youth who wanted to keep the in- vention and product — in Canada. The principle of how the battery worked was spelled out. Diagrams showed the technology. Famous scientists in the electrical generation field were quoted as saying, “My, My! Such a simple principle! How did we ever overlook it!‘ The first batteries, suitable for flashlight use, I ‘ think, were supposed to have been in production within nine months time. Then, after several weeks of feature articles, Otiawa Offbeat by Richard Jackson EDITOR’S NOTE . When Trudeau said, Tuesday, there would not be a federal election ‘“‘At this time’ reporters rushed to ask him if he meant “not until next Spring”. The P.M., however, refused to say other than it meant ‘'not at this time”. “This Time”, he agreed, could mean “Not this week.” Ottawa, - Pray that Prime Minister Trudeau plucks up his cautious courage and calls an élection for this month for October. For the way things now stack up at the Post Office, an election is just about the only development that could head off the mail strike just about everyone expects this Fall. Can you imagine what a mail strike would do to an election campaign? Don’t bother straining your imagination, because a many-times-bitten and many-more- times-strike-shy Parliament last Spring decreed that such a strike at such a time would be illegal. That was-when the country was on the verge of ° that Spring election the Prime Minister scrat- ched when he saw his slippage on the public popularity polls, == — But the no-strike legislation applies only to the current postal contract negotiations and affects only whatever walkout plans the inside postal workers may have cooking. The bill dies automatically if and when a settlement is reached. Collective “bargaining,” as it’s called even in the Post Office where violence often seems to be an accepted method of negotiation, is now in the final mediation stage. The mediator’s report is expected later this | month, and then a legal strike is possible within seven days, the union earlier this year having voted authorization. Unless the country’s collective prayers are answered and the taxpayers go to the polls with the double purpose of passing judgment on the Trudeau government and at least postponing the © strike for the duration of the election campaign. Not that.a postal strike in the midst of a federal election campaign would not be without some small fringe benefits, Sure, you wouldn't get your mail. Any of it, especially the welcome kind that brings pension, dividend, interest, tax refund cheques, and other such goodies. No bills either. But think of this: no junk mail, or as your friendly constituency party campaigner calls it - “householder mail,” Still, the small ‘fringe benefits” of the strike fall far short of offsetting its enraging in- convenience. So, Liberal, Conservative, New Democrat, Social Credit, Independent, or whatever, cross your fingers and hope Pierre Trudeau; sniffing the political wind, finds it warm. Election postponing the strike or not, the taxpayer again is going to be blackjacked to cover the settlement that will have to be made either to buy off a walkout or pay for a return to work. Brace yourself for still another increase in the postal rates as the inevitable price of temporary ce. This next time — and not so far off, either ~ . from 14 to 16 cents. noo Bring on the election — and in time. TERR ACE/KITIMAT daily herald Whatever happened to nothing more was heard. At least I have not been able to find anything out about it - either the inventor, or the invention. Perhaps one of our readers will be able to help us. What went wrong? The principle could not have been at fault, because - if I remember correctly, simple mock-up models had been tried out and found to function. Not only the young inventor described the process, but a number of chemists, engineers and electricians. Could it have been yet another instance of what the public suspects happens all the time, but manufacturers assure us is just imagination on the part of the public: that the young Canadian inventor was ‘‘bought out’”’ by big interests - such as the carbon battery and zinc-acid battery manufacturers, just to-keep it off the market? It should not be impossible to find out. The history of Canada is almost a history of pany this sort of thing. Some of the stories may be ‘myth - perhaps they indeed are - but a number of them would appear to be genuine enough. - The Sugar Battery? There was still another story about the in Thad no way of checking this one out to see if it was genuine or not, but a number of years ago I used to pass on my way to college, every week, a farm between Portage and Nespewa. There, friends would tell me, lived a strange family that had immigrated to Canada years ago, and were always coming up with strange inventions. One of these was a cross between an autogyro and a helicopter that would occasionally be seen hopping up and down in the-sky over the farm. Other wierd and wonderful gadgets -: that sup- posedly worked well - were described as having been put to use on that farm - which was near Westbourne, Manitoba. ; But what intrigued me most was that this was supposed to be the farmstead of the ‘“‘miracle” carburetor that could get over a hundred miles to the gallon of gas, on an automobile. Supposedly, a well known automobile com- had offered a thousand dollars to anyone who could ever prove such a carburetor had ever | been invented. I never did get around to in- somewhat ventors, I should add, that discourage- me from looking further. I was told that when the aged mother of the inventor-farmers died, neighbours wondered why they had never heard anything about a ~ funeral for her. A public health official and social worker were said to have been sent in to investigate the matter. And, so the story goes, to their amazement (but not th e neighbours) they found a partly mummified body of the old lady propped ub in bed, connected to all sorts of electrical devices. (Possibly including a sugar-powered battery?) Unfortunately, though, this was one invention that had not worked - and the sons were induced to disconnect their mother’s body, and dispose of it in the ‘“‘civiliz ” conventional manner. One never knows though. Perhaps they had something going the world will never learn about. Ifso, perhapsit is just as well! vestigating - and have regretted it ever ‘since. ete “One nice thing about returning to tow by turning the motor off!” Governor General Visits B.C. and Alberta OTTAWA, July 27, 1978 - Government House has announced Their Excellencies the Governor General and Madame Jules Leger will visit the provinces British Columbia and Alberta from July 31 to August 13. . The visit to British Columbia will mark the bi- centennial of the voyages of Captain Cook to the coastline of Western da. In Alberta, the Governor 2 . ir Excellencies arrived at Victeria én July 31. at 11:00a.m. where they were grepted the Lieutenant- Pybus Beth ieei we Bell irvine, gust was Genicated tothe Canadian Navy in ts bi centennial celebrations. The Governor General sailed a Gay sates oleh betel dre J Cc 2 ie te of Mex Zealand, the United Ballroom louse Governor General presented twelve Bravery ‘decorations, This was the first time that a large in- vestiture was held outside the Governor General’s official reside Ther ternoon. In the evening they gave a DISOOVERY for Members of the of Canada who are British Columbia residents. Following the reception, Their Excellencies atlended a €or ven by the . These events were pe the celebrations held in each provincev the 104 anni of the Order Their Excellencies will arrive in Edmonton on August 6 where they will attend a private Juncheon given by ‘The Queen at the Plaza Hotel, Later in the afternoon, Their Excellencies the Governor General Governors of ; an, a the On a TT Their Excellencies ve immi titioms at the Com- ET orig, will view several track and field finals and will it for the arrival of the marathon runners, Later on monwealth Games. The . Prince Philip and Prince attend the reception. On August 12, Their Excellencies will watch cross- Cversor” General wil artiste ithe closing in the_ Co a th Games. The ceremonies af following day Their Excellencies willleave Edmonton for Ottawa. . $340,000 For Seaweed Research Recreation and Con- servation Minister Sam Bawilf stated today that the province is investing $340,000 this in research toward the development ‘of a multi- complimentary to other uses of the resource. To ae things we are spen a substantial part of the $2 million Accelerated Fisheries Program an- sufficient natural abundance to sustain continued har- vesting. However,s outhern British Columbia has unique geographic, oceanographic, and climatic conditions andother industrial ap- plications, One extract, algin, currently sells for $4.50 - $6.50kg. and in dustrial grade agar ls worth $11.00 kg. n Sunday evening T’ve been getting 110 miles General Office - 635-6357 Published by Circulation - 635-6357 Sterting Publishers PUBLISHER - Laurie Mallett EDITOR « Ernie Senior REPORTER - Donna Valilieres REPORTER - Jim Morris CIRCULATION Pat = Zelinski. $32.6609 CIRCULATION Joyce Fish '. 635-6357 KITIMAT OFFICE - 432.680? . Published every weekday at 3212 Kalum Street, Terrace, B.C. A member of Varifled Circutation. 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 photographie content published In tho Herald. Reproduction is not permilted without the written permission of the Publisher, million dollay seaweed in- dustry, “There are hurdreds of species of marine algae long our coast’, said Bawif. “Perhals ten have potential commercial value. Scien- ists in our Marine Resources Branch believe that the industry's potential value could excead §0- million annually, and we are actively searching for ways to develop it”, “We are aiming for three thinga’’, said Bawlf. ‘We must develop our capacity to manage the resource, develop efficient cultivation technology for the most marketable a will be producing an In- dustrial development plan les, and we - nounced in thisyear's budget Bawlf sald preliminary research indicates that a seaweed industry would be based partly on harvesting natural kelp beds and partly on growing red and-brown algae in marine culture (Mariculture) operations. Valuable seaweed by- products such as the colloid geis algin, agar and carrageenan would he ex- tracted in processing plants. Bawl! said, “The market for seaweed extracts Is excellent, and demand is steadily increasing’. The extracts are widely used In food processing, bac-: teriological research. cosmetics, photography Government surveys have revealed that there are 400,000 to 500,000 metric tons of economically and an- nually harvestable giant kelp along the British Columbia coastline. Ear research indicates this amount of kelp could support zor $ algin extraction plants whose combined annual sales would be $3 to$5 million, A teat harvesting ject will be fala aummer near Port MeNoill to obtain basle in- formation on regrowth of kelp and the impact of harvesting on associated species such al salmon, herring, and abalone. Red algae, containing valuable colloids, are not In which make it attractive for intensive culture of seaweed. Bawlf. indicated that preliminary work on the red alga Gracilaria, centered at the Bamfield Marine Station, has been encouraging, and a gram is now underway to olate fast-growing strains of algae which have high proportiona of the colloid extract, Mr. Bawlf added his ministry is considering an offer from Marine Colloids Limited, one of the largest firms in the com- mercial seaweed industry, to participate in the develop- ment of a unique prototype culture system, and to provide evaluations of the colloids in local seaweed species, PROPANE per gallon 7 an 1 ” coma | by Jim Smith Tyranny by any Other Name In the beginning, there were the Haves and the Have- Nots. The Haves lived in com- fort from the proceeds of their investments, including the factories where the Have- Nots sweated for starvation wages, The tabourers figured that this was unjust and de- * manded an honest day's pay for an honest day's work. This eventually led to labour winning the right to form unioas — and unions gave la- bour power. Well, power is a dangerous thing. Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts ab- . solutely, So, the closer the labour movement came to acquiring absolute power, the farther it strayed from the orginal aim of achieving equity between workers and employers. ‘ An indication of how dan- gerously off-track unions can get is found in the Cliche Commission Report oncrime in Quebec. According to Mr. Justice Cliche, a Quebec Fed- eration of Labour leader named Yvon Duhamel be- came enraged that a handful of workers from a riyal union were permitted to work at the James Bay Hydro Project Clicheweports that Duhamel led a riot on March 21, 1974, resulting in a $33 million cost to Quebec taxpayers and de- laying this important project, Local 791 of the QFL, accor- ding to Cliche, subsequently praised the “excellent work” carried out by Duhamel ‘for the Socal and all its members,” In Southwestern Ontario this year, the UAW struck against Fleck Manufacturing, asmallish company which te- fused to conduct a compul- sory dues check-off for the union, Some workers decid- ed ta continue working, The union strengthened by mem- bers imported from anearby Ford plant, threw up picket lines which on occasion forci- bly prevented workers from entering the plant. Unfortu- nately, Fleck shares space in an industrial complex with several other firms and work- ers for these firms were also caught in the action, The legal status of vio- lence originating from union acts is interesting, Except ina handful of provinces, includ- ing British Columbia, there is po such legal entity as a union. Consequently, unions enjoy privileges — such as the right tp grind a company to a halt — but operate under very few restrictions or obli- gations. Unlike corporations or individuals - who may be sued for the same types of acts that unions commit with irnpunity — unions cannot be sued in most provinces, Even for those provinces which do allow unions to be sued for irresponsible actions by their members, there isa cost imposed by those pro- vinces with more liberal regu- lations, Every illegal act car- ries a dollar cost which, ulti: . mately, is passed along to the consumers — who, generally, are found in all parts of the country. There’s a role for unions, even if that role is no longer as important as in years gone by. Just as it demands rights, however, organized labour should face soclal responsi bilities specified by law. It- .isn’t good enough to trade the tyranny of capitalism for the tyranny of organized labour, ; “Think small" is an editorial message from the Canadian Federation o Independent Business.”