Selwyn House School - Yearbook (Montreal, Quebec Canada)

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FOR THE SCHOOL YEAR 1936-1937 of abating, we took in the mainsail, and left only the foresail and the topsails. The boat was now running a steady eleven knots, and was not taking such heavy seas aboard, but soon the gale increased, and we took in the fore and mizzen upper topsails. W'e should have removed the foresail and main upper topsail also, for she was not steering easilyg as a result of the excess canvas she was carrying, she was allowing the waves to pass over her, instead of letting them slip under her. :Xt seven that evening, a storm struck us with terrific force. Huge waves rushed across the main deck, carrying away everything movable. The ship was lurching and rolling. She rose on the crest of a huge wave, and fell over sideways into the trough! down, down, until she lay almost on her beam ends. W'e waited, our hearts in our mouths. Suddenly, with a loud crash, the foresail blew out, and the ship began to rise. Our joy was short-lived, however, for she broached to again, and her other side was immersed. Captain de Cloux fought his way aft to the wheel, holding on to the lifelines and handrails as huge seas came aboard, one of which carried away the steering compass. The boat had righted herself, but was still rolling in the trough of the waves. After heroic eliforts on the part of the captain and his crew to get the helm up, we hove her to. W'e were safe ! As soon as we tried to take in the main upper topsail, however, its wire gear carried away, and this sail blew out also. W'e repaired our damages, and had no more gales for the rest of the voyage. W'e crossed the Line sixty-seven days after our departure, having averaged a hundred and fifty miles per day. Though we despaired of victory, we did not give up hope. :Xt one time, it took us four days to cover sixty miles, but we were greatly relieved when we came up with our rival, the Pamir, in the same diH'iculties. As we were both becalmed, our crew asked the captain for permission to row over to the other boat, fifteen miles away, for a yarn. W'e found, to our immense delight, that she had suffered as much as we had, having been caught in the same storms. W'e reached the Parma again at two that morning. W'e had hardly recovered from our keen disappointment at our slow progress from the Line northwards, when, a hundred miles from home, we ran into a head wind in the Channel. Also we had learnt that the Pamir was bound for Cork, seventy miles nearer than Falmouth Bay, our destination. W'e were rather disconsolate when the Falmouth pilot came on board, only to hear that, as far as he knew, the Pamir was not in yet, and that we had won l Nevertheless, the pilot had been in his cutter for four hours, and in that time our rival might have easily anchored at Cork. Later we discovered that she hadq she beat us by about two hours, but we had sailed a longer voyage, and therefore our Parma was the victor. The Herzogin Cecilie had taken a hundred and seven days, four more than we had. The Pedersen took a hundred and twenty-nine, while the Archibald Russell took a week longer still. The Melbourne was rammed by a steamer in the Channel, and sank, six hours from her anchorage. She would have beaten the Herzogin Cecilie. The Hougomont was dismasted soon after she left Australia, but managed to limp back to Melbourne. So ended the great grain-ship race round the Horn. V.C.G., fForm YU. l7l

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SFLWYN HOl'SI-I SCHOOL MAGAZINE Ulihe library. A good book is the precious blood of a master spirit. - Ulillozzil. We need scarcely say that the Library has proved to be a tremendous acquisition to the School. There is a splendid selection of over 300 booksf a selection to which much care and forethought was given. There is something to suit the individual taste of every boy in the School, the range covering Biographies, Stories of Adventure and Dis- covery, Fairy Tales, Nature Study, Music, Poetry, Reference books, Fncyclopzrdia, Science, Historical and Biblical stories, as well as 20 volumes of the Book of Knowledge, the kind gift of Mrs. Lindsay, mention of which has been made in School Notes. There has been a steady demand for books daily, and that there is a fondness for reading is evinced by the nature of the books requested. Members of the Staff, too, have recalled the Golden Age , and have re-read old favourites of their own schoolboy days. Here is a wonderful opportunity which no boy in the School should miss. May we suggest, too, that parents should encourage their boys to make use of the Library to its fullest extent F A thought has occurred to us, viz., that the gift ofa suitable book by boys leaving the School, for inclusion in the Molson Bookcase, would be a graceful act which would be much appreciated by all. B.K.T.H. The Qustralia-tw QEnglanlJ Grainesabip Bats 1As told by the part-owner of Parma, the winner in 1932.3 Many nations had formerly entered ships in this race, but now only twenty vessels were competing f- seventeen Finnish, two Swedish, and one German. For four years in succession the Herzogin Cecilie had been the winner. This year the captain who had sailed her on those victorious voyages had, with me, bought the Parma, and we were going to sail her together. This man was Ruben de Cloux, a Finn, despite his French-sounding name. Our chief rivals were the redoubtable Herzogin Cecilie and Pamir, and the rleet Archibald Russell. We were among the last to leave Spencer's Gulf lthe ship which took the shortest time from Australia to England or Ireland was the winnerl. Four ships left in quick succession f the Pedersen, the Melbourne, our Parma, and the Pamir. We kept in sight of the latter until we came into a squall, in which we were unable to hold our course, and had to make for Bass Strait, between Australia and Tasmania, instead of going south of the latter. L'nfortunately we were becalmed, and were forced to make our way slowly out through a rather narrow strait between Tasmania and some small islands. We were surprised to see another sailing vessel here, and crowded on all sail to catch up with her. It was the Pedersen, a Swedish boat. By the time she had full sail up, we were two miles ahead. After two days she dropped astern, and we saw her no more. The barometer kept falling, and squalls were rising continuously. After a good run of over six hundred and iifty miles in three days, we came into a gale, with hail and sleet, and the waters of the South Pacific washing our decks. As the storm showed no sign l6l

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SliI,W'YN HOUSE SCHOOI. MAGAZINE The life of a Zfanrse Nigger is my name and I am one of the ponies who work in the hlclntyre Gold hlines at Timmins, Ontario. There are eight of us to a shift: three shifts in the twenty- four hours, because gold mines are worked both day and night. Ours is the only mine in this district where ponies are used. l'nlike the ponies in the coal mines of Nova Scotia, we are not blind, but wide-eyed, and see everything there is to see. W'hen the other ponies go down into the mine, they never come up until they die and they go blind from lack of using their eyes. We are very healthy. The elevator that we go up and down in is a double-decker and can hold sixteen men in each deck. The elevator is made of metal, but the shafts are of wood which are kept moist all the time as a fire protection. Fight of us fill one deck. W'e are backed in: This is because, occasionly, one of us is nervous about walking into it and we make a fuss over it. The elevator is operated from above ground. W'hen you get in, you say to what level you are going and you are taken there at a breath-taking pace. The mine is worked at 11,000 ft., but we are only taken to the 3,000 ft. level. We pull the little trains which carry the ore, much more stone than ore, of course. One day, when I was pulling a ton of ore and stone, I heard the manager say that there was il lot of ore in it' about five dollars worth of it. This is good enough to make it worth-while to work it. Sometimes we are allowed to see a gold brick poured. This is wonderful. :X gold brick, the size of an ordinary brick, is worth S50,000, that is at 535. an ounce. Before it hardens, a small scoop is taken out to be sent to Ottawa to prove its purity, because, as Shakespeare says, all that glisters is not gold. Iiveryone is kind to us and I am one of the favourites. We are not always good. We have been known to upset a miner's lunch basket and to eat all his lunch, the apples were especially good. We are sometimes taken to the place where the tailings are deposited. Tailings are what is left of the stone after the gold is taken out. Until very recently, the tailings were thrown into the lakes and rivers, but now this is forbidden, as the clayey substance filled them up. Once, we went to see the Hollinger tailings. This is a show place, as they have one and a quarter square miles, part of it eighty ft. high, with a three car drive round the top of it. The things most feared by the miners and by us, while underground, are fire, water and earth, in this order. Our mine is lighted by electricity as are all modern mines, now. The miners and we carry lights on our heads. These are carefully fitted. W'e carry batteries that last ten hours. My life is splendid. T am very happy. W'.G.NI.S., Clform IYJ. ISI