Ashbury College - Ashburian Yearbook (Ottawa, Ontario Canada)

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13' THE ASI-IBURIAN made here, even to special specihcations. At the conclusion of the tour we had refreshments and a question period when we asked various questions of the many people who accompanied us. We had dinner back at the Y.Xl.C.A. that night, and then set out for the St. Ann's .Xlill of Dominion Textile Company. In small groups, each led by one of our hosts, we followed the gradual transformation of Raw Cotton to the end product, cotton thread. The endless rows of ingenious machines, with their lightning fast attendants, were fascinating and interesting to watch. The Cotton bales for this Plant arrive from the Southern United States. We concluded the visit in the oflice, where we discussed the various operations of the Plant. And that concluded our first busy day. He returned to the HY for a much needed sleep. Friday, we were up early and after breakfast we were off to the Dominion Oilcloth and Linoleum Company, where we were met at the door by Mr. H. N. Blakeney, an Old Boy. This enormous factory will always be remembered by all who were on this tour, not only for its interesting machines, but also for its many stairs. XVe watched machines mixing the ingredients, oils and resins, from the United States, with Batu gum from Sumatra, the rolling presses, machines making coloured patterns in the linoleum, and also the showrooms where all the products were on display. One of the most interesting features here was the designing room where all new patterns are designed, and also the section where the new forms are made in wood and then put on rollers. We were offered lunch here and then took our leave from Mr. Blakeney and proceeded to the Bell Telephone Company of Canada. At the Bell we were introduced to a variety of communication systems, such as telephones, telegraph, telexes, T.V., and Radio. The telephone centres were awe inspiring with their thousands of clicking, winking electronic gadgets, which will soon make possible the system of intercity dialling. As we gradually worked our way up we saw the control installations where defects can be located anywhere along the communication lines, the telexes, typing away all by themselves, the Television relaying and selection apparatus. Then we paused in the huge Cafeteria for question period and refreshments, and then we were of to the Xluseum, where we could trace the history of the Telephone system. A working model of a microwave transmitter was demon- strated to ns, as was an experimental T.V. Camera with telephone so that it is possible to see the person who called on the telephone. Another interesting gadget was a pocket size transmitter, which was an experimental radio station. lts tinv size was due to the extensive use of transistors in its construction. Deeply impressed with the com- plexity and ingenuity of the Telephone system, we returned to the Y.Xl.C..-X. for late supper and a free evening..

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THE ASHHURI.-iN I7 ,h -4 --f.. ,M ,I 5 ,...., e f 1 nf' 2 f 6'32 f .Ai 'Qu H mv. 'WM . ,f Inli At Shell Oil Refinery On Thursday, our first visit was to the Shell Oil Refinery at Montreal East where we went by bus, courtesy of Shell. Heref this Company refines about 55,000 barrels of oil per day. Their crude oil supply comes in by pipe line from Portland, Maine. XYe were first given an explanation of all the processes involved. We were then given helmets, and set out to tour the plant. An outstanding feature of the rehnery was the fact that all the processes were remotely controlled from central control rooms, bristling with gauges, recorders, and switches. We visited the Topping Plant where the easy first fractions of the crude oil are removed. Then we went to the Vacuum Flashing unit where pitch is a product, and from there to the giant Cat Cracker , kept at 900OF, which breaks up the heavy oil molecules into smaller ones. We then saw the rest of the Refinery bv bus, and also caught a glimpse of the destruction caused by the fire Cand consequent explosionl of a few months ago. We then had an excellent lunch. and after thanking our host, Mr. Pangman, went by bus to our next plant, the Sherwin Williams Company. In this modern factory it was amazing to hear that varnishes are still made in an age old fashion by experts. XYe also found out that there is a synthetic way to make varnish from Phthalic .-Xnhydride. VVe saw through the complete Varnish Plant, noting that all fumes are removed before wastes go off into the air. We were then shown through the Paint factory with the manv laboratories for control and research. All of these paints are emulsions using latex, resins and oil as their base. In the control laboratories fascinating tests are carried on, e.g., in the fadometer and brine baths. All colours of paints are QJ

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THE ASHBURIAN 19 Early Saturday morning, we were off to NlcGill University. First we spent some time in the Library, where we admired the wonder- ful old volumes and manuscripts. Then we adjourned to the Redpath Museum to obtain an impression of thc variety of fossils, rocks and animals, with some attempt at learning something of the background of the history of the earth we live on. The rest of the morning was spent in the Natural Sciences Building making a tour of the Geology and Nlineralurgy Departments, led by Professor Clarke, Head of the Department of Geology, and Prof. Xlaclfwen, Head of the Department of Metallurgy. XYe also met our old friend Dr. XY. H. Hatcher, the Director of the Building. For lunch we were invited to the LaSalle Hotel bv Xlr. Fascio, who treated us to a most excellent and memorable lunch, complete with special Alaska cake with the inscription Ashbury Science '57 . We were very grateful for this excellent repast. Our last visit was to the Canadian Aviation lflectronics Company. where the main feature was a number of Flight Simulators. which were in various stages of construction. This company also does much work in Fire Control devices for Aeroplanes. Thus ended a very interesting and instructive trip. and most of us returned to Ashbury with Nlr. Sibley, to whom we owe our deep gratitude for organizing and leading the trip. XYith him this year were: Cumming, Hayley, jones, Paz Castillo, Springer, Barkun, Lackey, Newman, Ross. Sutherland I, and Van Schelle. Our thanks also to the many wonderful people in all the places we visited who gave us their time to show us around to see their respective plants. CAREER SERIES This interesting series of talks so happily inaugurated last vear was carried on again on the Wednesday afternoons of this year. We were fortunate again to hear from a number of distinguished representatives of various professions who gave the Senior boys most helpful in- formation on the advantages. disadvantages and requirements of their respective occupations. Here follows a list of the speakers and topics: jan. 23rd. The Headmaster. jan. 30th. journalism - Prof. XY. Eggleston, Nl.B.E., HA., F.A.G.S. Feb. 6th. Pure Science - Dr. D. K. C. XlacDonald, ALA.. Ph.D.. D.Phil.. F.R.S.F. Feb. 13th. Personnel VVork - F. L. XY. Xlcliim, KLA. Feb. 20th. The New Look in Astronomy - Dr. P. KI. Hill- men, AAI., Ph.D. Alar. 6th, Geophysics - Dr. H. Hodgson. ALA.. Ph.D. Har. 13th. Teaching - Dr. A. B. .XlcLeish, KLA., Ph.D.