Balmoral Hall School - Optima Anni Yearbook (Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada)

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IO g gg gg gg gg g g ggg g Te? ' hull H IA l -fx VR -ff'- M f U'-bl nf What the Cat Saw The fire leaped and danced and spread a cheery glow through the room. The cat sat blink- ing in the warmth, tail curved neatly about him, eyes on the flames. Like an aged professor, he seemed to be reminiscing on past experiences. His thoughts went back and back . . . Egypt . . . The jewelled fingers of Cleopatra stroked her fui ry companion. Deftly, she slipped the deadly potion into her brother's goblet as he bent, laughing, to retrieve the fan she had let fall. Slowly, she stroked, and stroked. Suddenly the youth uttered a sharp cry and fell to the floor where he writhed for a moment, twitched, and grew still, She smiled, and stroked M who would know? Only the cat had seen. Rome . . . The agonized voice cried hoarsely, Et tu, Brute? as the knife plunged once more. His murderers watched as their emperor crumpled slowly to the floor, then fled silently. The cat, disinterestedly washing himself in a small square of sunlight, reflected: So, Caesar is dead. Britain . . . At the sound of the terror-stricken scream, the cat leaped into a doorway. Running footsteps approached, and presently a sobbing girl darted past. Her frightened eyes glanced wildly to left and right, as if in search of refuge in the cold, echoing rooms. All day her pitiful cries were heard. Then all sound ceased. Another English queen had met her death, swiftly, at the block. France , . . From his perch on the window sill, the cat had a perfect view of the screaming mob below. Through the crowd rumbled a cart filled with aristocrats -- their faces drawn and haggard. One stood out among the rest - her snowy hair and erect body hinted at former beauty. But soon the gracious head was mutilated, the proud body broken and lifeless. The guillotine had ended the life of Marie Antoinette. America . . . Savage screams broke the calm of the still night. One by one the family was dragged into the yard screaming . . , then the night grew still once more, The only sound was the crackling of the burning barn. After a long while, the cat crept from his hiding place and gingerly picked his way to the middle of the yard where lay a child. He sniffed her cold cheek, and then, as if summoning her to play, patted a dishevelled curl. There was no movement. He mewed plaintively several times, then began a long vigil beside his little mistress. Is it any wonder that the cat looks so wise, so mysterious? Perhaps many of our questions would be answered if we had seen what the cat saw, Lyn Stephen, Grade XI.

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. 'Z PREFECTS and SENIORS in the COMMON ROOM Our Prefects XII Carol Cross Jacqueline Hoare jennifer Rose Patricia Smith Xl Brenda Dougall joy McDiarmid Dianne McPhail Lyn Stephen Diane Smith - Head Girl I Am The Common Room I am the Common Room and I speak as the Common Room. Hear my tale. Barely had the painters moved out when girls moved in. I must have been needed for I have stored away a long list of appreciative remarks beginning with Do you remember when we didn't have this Common Room? How am I used? I hardly know where to begin but if I tell you that the first month of opening produced a piano, the next month a new three- speed record player which the girls purchased themselves, QI heard about this one day at recrea- tionj you will understand that there is music in the C.R. Where there is music and a group of girls there is dancing. Believe me Friday nights were quite interesting when a group of seniors took a short course in ball-room dancing. My walls also resound to the tuneful voices of the singing classes where I hear no evil, see no evil and speak no evil. I have witnessed interesting meetings, Guide parties, Alumnae Teas and endless moments of casual living. I seem to be the place where people let off but the greatest moment of all and one that I shall long remember was the occasion of the boarders' Christmas party when Staff and Pre- fects were the guests of honour. I remember the gay mood of the evening, the gaily-decorated Christmas tree, the sparkling eyes of excited girls, little girls in party dresses, big girls in sophisti- cated taffetas but all were one with uncontrolled delight when Santa brought to me, the Common Room, a gleaming new Television Set. From that day on I have been convinced that of all my com- panion rooms in this new building I am the most used and the happiest. I suppose that is natural for after all I am the Common Roomf' The Common Room

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. aa -aaa ca- ...csc - ll About Gipsies Gipsies are a nomadic race who are supposed to be descended from some East Indian tribe. They first appeared in England at the beginning of the sixteenth century. Although they are descendants of the East, they are more commonly seen in Europe. They do, however, show evidence of their Eastern origin. They are dark skinned, they have black hair, black or dark eyes, and pearly white teeth. A large percentage of the people have the power to hypnotize people, and have been known to offer and use remedies by using herbs in cases of sickness. They dress quite raggedly and many of them wear no shoes. They live in caravans and move around from place to place in tribes. They live from the land but many times the police have had to chase them away. The gipsies earn their living by small occupations, such as tinkering and basket-making. They pick heather and wild flowers and arrange them neatly in baskets and sell them. Their chief occupation in England, though, is the making of clothes pegs. They strip the bark from the trees, shape it into pegs, wind tin around it, and then hang it up to dry. You will often see them in market places selling these, and it is amazing, sometimes, how quickly they sell them. The old women specialize in fortune-telling while the men usually pick the customer's pockets. The men are also very clever horse-dealers. The gipsies are known for their lovely gruel. It is similar to a stew and is made from meat, bones and many other ingredients. The language of the gipsies is Romany, the speech of the Roma or Zincoli, It is debased Hindu dialect with a large addition of Persian, Armenian and European words. Romany is from the Gipsy word ran meaning a man or a hus- band. A Romany rye is one who enters into the gipsy world which means a gentleman. The gipsies have no religion, although they allow themselves to be baptized in the Christian faith. There is a legend that the gipsies are strays on the earth because they refused to shelter the Virgin and her Child when they were escaping to Egypt. Many people have wondered about the truth of this saying, because many gipsies are wealthy enough to settle down in a house instead of moving from one place to another around the countryside. The gipsies never stay in one place too long, partly because of their unpopularity. They are quite cunning and sly and often camp on a far- mer's land until, gradually, the farmer begins to notice that his ducks, chickens and geese are dis- appearing. The name of the largest group of gipsies in Europe is Atzigang in Turkey and Greece they are called Tshingiang in the Balkans and Rumania Tsigang in Hungary Ziganyg in Germany Zige- norerg in Italy Zigarig in Portugal Ciganog and in Spain Gitano. The French call the gipsies cagoux, which means unsociable. Although many people do not approve of the gipsies' way of living, I would like to be a gipsy because I love their carefree life. Beryl Hoare, Grade X. The Lucky Charm Raoul entered the swamp from the south-east pasture, never again to return home. He had lived in the sprawling shack behind him for all of his seventeen years and was sad at leaving it. But now was the time to strike out - he was too old to live with his family. His parents would be sad at first, but they would soon forget. There were eight other mouths to feed and the celery crop was going to be poor. All his life, Raoul had been a more thoughtful child than the others and had been discontented with farm life. He was independent. Earlier in the afternoon after weeding the celery trenches, Raoul had packed a greasy slab of bacon and a big portion of cornpone into ri sack, whistled to Tigre, and had left. As he trudged through the coarse cane grass he began to doubt his own ability to live alone. However, the charm on the rawhide around his neck reassured him. Nothing short of success could ever cross his path while he was wearing his charm. The charm was a yellowed alligator's tooth. Old Guan had given it to the boy. The tooth had belonged to the alligator who had taken three hngers from Guan's right hand. He had killed the beast and kept a tooth as a charm. That had happened eighty years before. Guan had been a trapper all his life - had lived in the swamp and had finally died there. When he was ten Raoul had met the old trapper and from that time on, they were friends. The old man knew all the swamp lore and the young, inquisitive boy proved to be an ardent listener. Guan trapped opossum for a living and sold the hides to a factory for a small price. During this friendship, Raoul had matured considerably. Then suddenly, the old man died. Guan had known the end was coming and had given the charm to Raoul. This charm was a symbol of the boy's future life - swamp life. Raoul knew his would be a hard life, but he was prepared for it. Boy and dog scrambled through the thicket, lurching over the uneven ground under low- hanging branches. This thicket was the barrier