Selwyn House School - Yearbook (Montreal, Quebec Canada)

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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

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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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FOR THE SCHOOL YEAR 1956- WBT lust in the Snow One day I decided to take a camping trip into the mountains near my home, with Arthur, my St. Bernard. IYe set off with the dog attached to a sleigh. On the sleigh I had a camping outfit, food, and a great many flasks of water, in case we should come across anyone overcome by the snow. Of course, I took plenty of extra clothes, blankets, and so forth. At the end ofa day's trip, with no adventures, we stopped and camped. In the middle of the night, I heard a moaning sound. I roused myself, took a flashlight, and looked around. In a few minutes, I found my visitor, who told me how, that night, in the snowstorm, he had lost his companion, and had himself been buried in the snow. The next day, after showing my visitor where he was, we started off again, and only travelled a few miles, before another storm arose. Immediately, I built a strong tent, and went to sleep. As soon as it dawned, we set out as usual, but in the middle of the day, a violent blizzard sprang up. I tried in vain to make a protection, but it was useless. At five o'clock, to my dismay, I couldn't see a sign of Arthur. In a few seconds, I found myself struggling in the snow. I called and called for my guardian, but he never appeared. I lay there, a poor man, being buried in the snow, my dog not beside me, as he should have been. I stayed there all night, and in the morning I found myself lying beside my own fireside, with my loving dog, Arthur, bending over me. I had apparently been unconscious, and while in that state, Arthur had dragged me home. I had only been dreaming that my dog was lost. E I This story shows what a St. Bernard dog can do. C.A.Q.B., Clform IJ. Q Q1Zanuck'5 hetsiun uf a jlillaruun tn. Qlanahian ilautksp mattb. On Saturday le seize janvier A fren' come up to me and say: D'you wanna see les Marounn play F Perhaps, say I, perhaps . . . O.K. For sure Canucks dey win today, vu Altho' Marounn fans say ' Hooray . My pa know pa of George Mantha, My dentis' know Aurel .Ioliatg I-Ie also know de Babe Siebert, And tix his teet' when puck it hurt. Dat's why de Canayens I like: Dey win de game for sure tonight. At eight thirty we go down town, Den into Forum, and sit down: No vacant seat could den be foun', Eleven tousan' troats mak' soun': Les Marounn fan' gib fort' a frown, To win les Canayens are boun'. l9l