Selwyn House School - Yearbook (Montreal, Quebec Canada)

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SELWYN HOUSE SCHOOL M.-XG.-XZINE Generally speaking, l do not think Canada is experienced enough to become ab- solutely autonomous. It would not be impossible, but rather risky. To remain in the British limpire has many more advantages than becoming in- dependent. lt means that Canada is a member of a world-wide brotherhood of nations, the greatest empire the world has ever seen. lt offers innumerable advantages to a nation like Canada. There are great economic possibilities in trade preference which is in practice throughout the Iimpire, and hence Canada is able to obtain goods ol' all kinds, cheaper, from all over the world. Canada is not bound by any central oligarchy to light for Britain. Matters ot life and death are differentg then Canada is practically bound to help Britain. But on the other hand, in secondary wars, such as the Khartum incident 1182-ll, neither Canada nor the other Countries of the lfmpire need help. Imperial migration is feared by lfrench-Canadians, who would greatly dislike to have Quebec peopled with an lfnglish majority. In addition to this Canada has the full protection of the British Navy, the greatest navy in the world, for which she contributes nothing, though the British public pays a large tax for its upkeep. Roosevelt has also said that the l'nited States would help Canada in the event of a war. The most safe of all these courses, is, in my opinion, to stay with the Empire. In it we are practically sell'-governing, we have a member in the League of Nations, there is a Canadian embassy in the Vnited States, Japan and France, and the government is estab- lishing embassies at Brussels and the Hague. We can gain nothing by breaking away from the Empire. D. H., Form 5. Zllibe Eluniur Svtbuul These little boys are very young, so please do I1Ot be too critical of their efforts . Contributions to the Magazine are always most welcome, even from the youngest members of the School, and the lriditor wishes to thank the many contributors. George Furse, age 7, sends us: f Tlzfre 011111 10115 ll ,vrlzoofbnvy 71111116117 :7i111, Ifho 13117116111 111 le111'11 Ima' 10 .ffi,'ilIi.' The 1111111 111 fha' 150111 Did flu' 0C'l'J'-IIl7'7l ,vt1'0k1', .-11111 lic lrim' to imitaff him ! liniericks are obviously popular, for M. Ballantyne, age S, offers: H- Tl11'1'f tL'11.r 1111 ofd 1111111 i11 I1 boat, Ii'!10 mirzl, 1,111 QHOIZI, Illil 11170111 , 1171111 lhrir said, No, -ran 11i11'l, Hr 16111 1'1'111ir 10f11i11l, Thar Illlhllfljt-X' old 1111111 in fl boat. lSl

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FOR THE SCHOOL YEAR 1938 e 1939 which may C!EanaiJa? It is a major problem facing Canadians today. Shall Canada remain linked with the British Crown P Shall she break all ties with the Fmpire, and become an absolutely autonomous state, or can we visualize Canada as the northern portion of the United States P There are three possible paths open to Canada, from which Canadians may sometime have to choose. Taking Canada Hirst as an American province, it is difficult to say just how much of her varied population would stand for such a thing. The majority seems to reason that we have been Americanized enough already. Up to within the last decade or so, our strong emotional and sentimental ties with the British Empire have welded us, in our minds, as something basically different from the United States. But in the past ten years, American ideas have been seeping in, and showing themselves everywhere. Our newspapers have adopted the abbreviated American spelling of the English language. But more marked than anything else is the American pronunciation, and the massacre of the good English language over the radio. I do not think the French-Canadians would tolerate any American union, and out of a population of eleven millions, the demands of two million nine hundred thousand French-Canadians cannot be overlooked. In the event of a union, a large number of Canadians would emigrate to other countries Calso a good number of United Empire Loyalists 7, and very likely Newfoundland would receive a large inl'Iux. There would undoubtedly be a large number of Americans moving North. The radium, in the form of pitchblend, of the great lakes of the North Yyest would receive a greater number of workers. In my opinion, a union between Canada and the United States would I1Ot be success- ful, Americanized though we are, since our ideals are not the same as those of the United States. Though undoubtedly a union would appeal to some, yet to me, and I dare say to a majority in Canada, a union with the United States would be anathema. Next we think of Canada as an autonomous state. In this, we come up against the difhculties of defence. Canada has at present done little about the problem. She has a navy, composed of six destroyers and a number of mine-sweepersg two of these destroyers are on the Atlantic coast, and four on the Pacific. She has a permanent militia composed of 4000 men, and the beginnings of an air-force. As to the danger of attack by other nations, I think we would be safe, if things run as they are now. Danger from Japan is practically negligible at present, as she is too busy in China even to think of Canadian invasion. The Atlantic coast offers even less opportunity of attack, though there would be danger to the coastal towns, Such as Halifax and others in the province of Nova Scotia. Even after landing in and overwhelming Nova Scotia, invaders would still be 800 miles from blontreal and 1100 miles from Toronto. The much thought-of fear of Germany's attacking Canada is rather groundless. With Germany at war with an autonomous Canada, her powerful neighbours might at once seize the chance of attacking and demolishing her. l7l

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FOR THF SCHOOL YEAR 1938 - 1930 NlacDowell, age R, sends a nice little essay on Esate A bear can mend a broken bone with mud, grass, and sticks, so Kipling called him the Doctor of the Forest. Bears sometimes get scurvy, and when shot are found to have their stomachs stuffed with pine needles, or, if these are not available, with moss. Mother bear believes in Spare the rod, and spoil the child , and when her cubs are naughty she gives them a box on the ear with her paw Y One day some men while hunting came upon two cubs in a tree. They found mother bear a few yards away, because hears love their cubs and look after them. The men threw sticks and stones at the bear, but she would not move away until they fired a gun into the ground in front of her. She then ran only a short distance and stayed behind some bushes. The men caught the young bears and when the cubs found that they were to be taken away from their mother, they moaned and cried and even shed tears. Pk PII PF We have to thank also the following: f- R. Molson, Jani YYinter, Stuart Morgan, M. Nlagor, .-X. Powell, George Clarke, and D. Rhea, for various efforts in prose and verse. As a sample of their work, we print herewith IJ. Rhea's Valentine Verse, handed to Miss S dz Y- .. , . mea I -zrolffff fzkr 10 be zz fzllff' bzrff, .fwzz-y up 1471 flu' air, But-ver I tc'nn.fn' no! fikr ff, l'11!f.v.v -von, too, www flzvrr .' Qlluriuus Jfatts Qhuut Zlnsstts ant: Worms Entomology is my hobby, and l find it very interesting. YYorms are not insects, but I have included them in this article, as they are so peculiar. Another common mistake is that a spider belongs to the insect class. The average human baby weighs eight pounds. lt' a caterpillar weighed this when he was born, in one month, if he could find enough leaves to eat, he would weigh 2-L0 tons I Think what a IeI'rO1' this insect would be I The record for egg-laying goes to a species of white ant. The female of this species lays 89,600 eggs in a day. She would certainly take the prize in a Stork Derby I Many insects lay nearly as many eggs as this, however. If you told anyone that his ancestors were worms, he would probably take it as an insult. Nevertheless, this is true. :X kind of worm was the ancestor of all vertebrates. An earthworm has a digestive system, nervous system, and his blood circulates. In many ways, man is the same as a humble worm. The grasshopper is the world's greatest jumper. He can jump fifty times his own length. To equal this feat, a man six feet tall would have to jump a distance of 300 feet, and rise a good height above the earth. The leap would be a standing jump. The grass- hopper never runs before a leap. Not many people think of the glow-worm as the inventor of the brush, light by oxidisation, and the use of anaesthetics. If you look closely at a glow-worm's head, you will see two small mandibles. These he uses to kill his prey, a kind ofsnail. First, he stalks l9l