Selwyn House School - Yearbook (Montreal, Quebec Canada)

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Sl-iI.WYN HUL'S1-1 SCHOOI, NI.-XG.-XZINPQ The Ziaalifax Qlixplnsiun. Thursday December oth, 1917, will ever be memorable as the date of the great disaster which, with catastrophic suddenness, burst upon the beautiful and historic city of H2llifz1X. The spotlight is on two ships, the French ship Mont Blanc , a steamer, and a Norwegian ship, the lmo During the 1Yar, ships who wanted either to enter or leave the port had to ask the Admiralty at what time they could enter or leave. Naturally a great many ofthe old salts resented having to ask a young Lieutenant when they were allowed to move their own ships. The lmo was requested to leave the harbour at 8 p.m. on the evening of the Sth, but her captain decided to take his ship out at 8 a.m. on the oth. Consequently there were two ships advancing towards each other, the Admiralty having arranged with the Mont Blanc to come in at 3 a.m. on the oth. The Tmo was on her way to New York to pick up a relief cargo for the war sullferers of Belgium. The Mont Blanc was carrying a deck cargo of benzol, and an under - cargo of the most powerful explosive, T.N.T. Slowly the two vessels approached each other, nearer and nearer they drew, reaching the Narrows between the harbour and Bedford basin. Then happened the inexplicable: someone had blundered . The Norwegian vessel collided with the Mont Blanc and almost immediately her deck cargo of benzol caught Fire. The lmo then sheered otli and went aground. The oH'icers on board l-l.lXI.S. Niobe lan old cruiser which was now tied up to the wharf, and used as a depot shipl sent a picket boat to try and tow the French ship away from the wharves Lthe ship burned for about seventeen minutes before she went upl. However, it was too late to do anything, as the fire had reached the 4 000 tons ofexplosive she carried, and the ship blew up. The men on the picket boat were never heard of or seen again. The damage of course was terrible. Property damage was estimated at between forty and fifty millions. There were 1,200 dead, 2,000 wounded, and 6,000 rendered home- lessg some say the death list amounted to '2,000, the injured 20,000. Five hundred persons vanished altogether. The houses collapsed like cards. The whole north end of the city, practically two square miles of territory, became a burning ruin. A considerable section of the water front was completely shattered. There was not a single window left intact. One piece of the Mont Blanc's anchor went three miles in Hameg the other part sailed across the harbour and landed hve miles away. :X box-car on a station siding was picked up and thrown right across a corner of the harbour, and could be seen sticking up in the ground for weeks. The lmo which had run aground had her decks completely swept, her captain and thirty of his crew had been squashed on her deck by the concussion, her masts had been taken otl' her, ,-Xll kinds of ships were drifting round the harbour. To crown it all, a blizzard arrived in the evening making the already terrible-iob of the rescuers twice as hard. However, aid was sent immediately from all parts of the 1141

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FOR THE SCHOOL YEAR 1950-1940 Qlatetpillars. Last spring I had the fun of keeping a few apple-tree tent caterpillars. Many people think that caterpillars are dull creatures, but they are entirely wrong, and I think that caterpillars are, in their way, more interesting than dogs, cats, or horses. A few people think that caterpillars change directly into butterliies or moths. This is not true. The butterfly exists in four formszfegg, larva fcaterpillarj, chrysalis Qpupa, if connected with a mothj, and the maggi, or perfect insect. The word caterpillar is commonly used for larva H. It has three pairs of legs, and four pairs of false legs, which are elongated bumps, and are immovable. The latter are of a duller colour, and are to be found in front of two minute claws at the end of the body. These claws are strong enough to hang on to a leaf, while the rest of the body is left hanging in mid air. The caterpillar's head can be pulled inwards like a turtle's when in danger. Some have heads provided with two repulsive horns. The puss moth caterpillar has two long tails , which can be waved in a frighten- ing manner. Many caterpillars have a coat of bristles which hurt the devouring bird's mouth: some are helpless, but resemble those who have defence, and so live unharmed. Nlany more resort to camouflage. Nearly all caterpillars sham death when hard pressed by a foe. All these are forms of defence. A caterpillar has no lungs, and breathes through small holes in its sides, which are called spiracles. A large number of cocoons are built, each year, by the caterpillars of the moths. Only moth caterpillars build cocoons, and each species of caterpillar has its own type of cocoon. The cocoon is a means of defence to the sleeping pupa. A question arises, and the question is: Why does the pupa sleep F The answer is that, if the pupa were awake, while changing from a caterpillar to a pupa, it would suffer greatly: so it sleeps through it. A tent caterpillar makes its cocoon in a very systematic way. It starts it in a shel- tered place by making a silk pad. The silk comes from glands near the caterpillar's mouth. Gradually the cocoon forms over the caterpillar. It then coats the inside with a yellowish substance, called chitin. A caterpillar which I recently found made its cocoon in a very strange way. It shed its bristles, and then tied them around its body with sticky silk: it was protected by a barrier of bristles 5 The moth emerges from the cocoon in spring or in summer. I always remember my first moth. It was a beautiful, light shade of brown. A large number of moths are of this colour. The Polythemus, Io, Luna, Cynthia, Crecropia, and the Great Atlas Moth are among the most beautiful insects. Their colours are pale, but very pretty. Caterpillars are very interesting creatures, and one can learn a great deal about their peculiar habits from keeping them for a season. One feels quite proud, when the first moth emerges from the cocoon, and spreads and dries its wings. D. P., Form -l. l13l

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FOR THE SCHOOL YEAR 1939- 1940 States and Canada, but it was a very long time before the city and its population re- Covered. P. R. I., Form 5. lNO'I'EI Stories of this, the most horrible explosion in world history, are conflicting, but the above account, told the author of the above article by one who experienced the tragedy, is closely' borne out by .-Xrthur Mee in his Hero Book. He tells how Captain Newcombe having, at the time of the collision, a wound dressed aboard the Niobe after the amputation of a leg, called for volunteers to take the ship's pinnace, when Boat- swain Matthison of Toronto and six seamen came forward at once to try and grapple with the burning Mont Blanc. The seven men perished. Another account states that three otlicers and twenty men of H.NI.S. Highflyer anchored near by put a boat overside, reached the Mont Blanc, and clambered aboard. All were dissolved in that globe of fiery gas 4 by possibly the greatest detonation ever heard on earth. In any case, the officers and men of Xiobe and Highflyer offer an example of bravery that will be long remembered in our naval history. - Ed. I The Defeat of the Emi bpm . IVhife --ljax shepherded Formose , On the seas of Uruguay, J German hallleship arose - The .fdnziral Graf Spee .' is fhe English me! fheir thunderingfoes, The French ship left thefraiv. The .z'ja.v had hut six-inrh guns, Seven thousand tons her weightg The Graf Spee izeiglzea' len thousand Ions, ina' eleven-inch guns, her rafeg Bu! the Graf Spee ana' her lhousanfl sons Eaeh minute neared their fate. For ou! of a efoud came Exeter , .ind slruek, and took her slrokeg Jchiffes darted after her, .ind in and out the smoke, Now, her guns, now, as hraee a slir, The guns of Jjax spoke. Hurrah .' The Spee turns in to shore .' She's wounded ! Vietoflv .' Now will she five hut two days more, ,ind .fhen her end will he .J turn, a pause, a mighty roar, - Then silence on the sea. J. S. C., Form 5. ll5l