Oakwood Collegiate Institute - Oracle Yearbook (Toronto Ontario, Canada)

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1-HE oAKwoon ORACLE The QEcunumir wlunhitiun at the Setlist Bepuhlir Stop! Look! Listen! There, did that catch your eye, and make you read this 'F Well, now that you have started this dry article you may as well finish it, eh '? What do you know about the economic conditions of the Soviet Re- public? Very little, you confess in an ashamed voice. But then, who does 'F Who cares '? It seems that the Soviet Republic is a piece of former Russia, grows wheat, and has a periodical named in its honour. For the exact number of milligrams of wheat sold in 1927, and the number of roubles received, l refer you to the above mentioned magazine. I know no more aboui it, and have no desire to. That is enough. Remember how dry you thought this piece of poetry would be '? It is my aim in writing this and passing it on to you to allay a little of your fear of editorials. Try some others, I am sure they will interest you. Qbu' Elmpnrte? Will someone kindly tell me, Will someone tell me why, 1 study physiography And eke geometry '? And play at Latin and at French And work at chemistry, And puzzle over Algebra, When you can plainly see, l'll never need the blessed things When I'm a big lady '? For I shall marry-I won't tell, And keep his house, you see. Then when I'm making biscuits fine A weather graphs not needed. Geometry won't useful be When raisins must be seeded. When dishes line the kitchen sink At break of morning day, What Caesar did, or said, or thought, Say, will it matter? Nay! And when the first comes round each month And the butcher comes in view, Say, will it help me very much II' I can parlez-vous? liut when there's cabbage on the stove, And maybe boiling o'er, Will it remind me of my school, And IIZSO4? I won't keep lots of cash on hand, l'll always pay with cheques- l hope my husbands salary Will always equal X. A. S., IHA Pnyr Tru

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THE OAKWOOD ORACLE editorial, after divers vain attempts to write something interesting and brief, decided that he would apply his mighty intellect to this weighty probfem. However, having gone so deeply into the subject that he was practically immersed in it, he tin the ecstacy of day-dreaming about the closing minutes of the junior finalj almost forgot to write the required article. Nevertheless a few conclusions, which may throw a little light on the subject for the benefit of our first-formers, were arrived at after much studious scratching of the head, and other expressions of deep thought. It was decided that the root of all interest in the game is the prehistoric tactics used by the players. In the eyes of the fair sex, such exhibitions of the real manly qualities in a fellow excite much admiration, for girls do love to find that their sheik can be a man like her father after all. To her, it proves the case for the modern boy, who, in the eyes of her fond parents, is a thing to be despised. She delights in triumph- antly pointing out to her parents her boy friend's name among the columns of the daily newspaper, because of his spectacular tackling or brilliant broken-field running. How the girls love to see the players straining every muscle and giving all they have for the honour of their school! They deem him who has to be carried from the field a hero to be equalled only by him who runs seventy-five yards to score the winning touchdown. So much for the weaker sex! To sum it all up, one might say that girls enjoy rugby because it brings out the true he man spirit in a boy. As for the male section of the student-body, it suffices to say that it goes where the other section leads itl laugh ! Smirk, chortle, giggle, gurgle, grin, roar, chuckle, snort, snickerl do it any old way as long as you laugh. It's just as easy to laugh as to cry, and far more fun. The thing that lifts school from a dreadful bore to a pulsating centre of interest is the fun we have. Mr. Robb lifts us out of the depths with a joke. Mr. Brown re-enacts some touching scene between a boy and his sweety. Mr. Dunkley tells anecdotes, and Mr. Hanna's lectures sparkle with brilliant metaphors and quotations. Only we pupils know how much a laugh can brighten up a period. When the class funny man approaches, we forget about detentions and grin. Here's to the funny man. Glu Q9ur Jfnrm Cfhiturs - Another editor has been dragged from the depths of despair. No longer does he dream dread dreams, gone are the days when he refused food, tore his hair and growled at those pests who kept asking how the Oracle was coming along. To you, dear Form Editors, do we owe this amazing transformation. The last day on which material was to be accepted was past, and what had we '? By actual count, four articles: an editorial by the editor, a story by the editor-in-chief, and two jokes. But some days later you rose to the occasion by swamping him under a deluge of stories, jokes, cartoons, poetry and near-poetry. But, dear Form Editors, will you kind- ly tell us this: why did you wait so long? Page Nine

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THE oAKwooD oRAcLE 'lfjalzhictnrp It is perhaps a natural instinct when one sees a new or novel mech- anism to inquire into the method of manufacture. So with the spirit of the small boy who tears apart a dollar watch to see what makes it go, may I give you some insight into the process by which this graduating class was evolved '? It appears to be a rule of this world that first-formers should be as necessary and as unimportant as college freshmen. Seniors in any in- stitution are not long in making one realize his insignificance, and we have all experienced that superior tone and lofty manner which marks those above us. Everyone has seen and heard those chronic grouches who tell us regularly that we enjoy advantages of which they were ignorant. Such is our attitude toward you, and it is supported with truth, for in 1923 eight first-forms were housed in portables: but it is my private belief that the students were not merely as inconvenienced by those much-berated buildings as the poor teachers, who, in the winter months, lost not time between school and outdoor classroom. But our first year, one of newly-discovered wonders, slipped by, and the following September found the class of '28 engaged in looking over the new green- horns, while bitterly remarking that Oakwood was going down hill. And after six Septembers in close contact with the school, it is my experience that these same words have been used just six times in that period, in- cluding when they were applied to us. Second form appeared much like our first, only more so, and it is during this period that the class begins to look with the pride upon its doings. The Junior Literary Society flourished as never before, and led as usual by ZA, sponsored many well-remembered progrannnes. To relieve the monotony, the staff prepared little surprises every day or so. and we later discovered that they played for keeps, as far as examina- tions were concerned. At the end of this year the new Bloor Collegiate claimed many of the students, but the better remaining, the gain was wholly ours. It seems to me that Third Form furnished our best taste of high school life. We had lost our first respect for the institution, and were still young enough not to have gained a second and more permanent one. Then, too, matriculation meant nothing in our young lives-until June. And so the class swept on to Fourth minus some who did not realize in time. With a year's hard study before us, we partially realized our re- sponsibility, and teachers were viewed in a different light from before, even when they told us: Sign it twice, or Hire a hall! That we hurdled the matriculation barrier after the idling at which we were specialists is only to their credit. We proceeded to the exalted heights, and, serious at last, saw uni- versity just ahead fSometimes, I fear, we saw the wrong universityil. Often it seemed as if it were always just ahead, but unattainable. Algebra, Geometry and-once in a while-Latin, were studied almost eagerly, a frenzied month in a vain effort to regain a year lost, and once more we faced those papers which were to decide our fate. Then for that fortunate majority, graduation. Thus was our five years spent, and in your minds I see that almost natural question: What of it? For every class of necessity passes through collegiate pretty much as we have. Page Elezien