Brandon Collegiate Institute - New Era Yearbook (Brandon, Manitoba Canada)

Page 12 text:

Sitting, Left to Right: Dr. J. A. Hall, Dr. E. W. Montgomery, W. McKellar, R A. Clement. Standing, Left to Right: Dr. J. S. Matheson, Judge S. E. Clement. The Matriculation Class of 1889 The first Public School in Brandon was a two-storey frame build¬ ing consisting of one class room on the ground floor and one above. The building can still be seen at the rear of the Alexandra Block on the west side of Tenth Street. The teacher was Mr. T. .1. Lamont, afterwards Dr. T. J. Lamont, of Treherne; and Miss Weightman (later Mrs. T. J. Lamont, who is still living), assistant. In the spring of 1883, a four-roomed brick building was erected adjoining the original building on the east and facing on Tenth Street (afterwards remodelled and now the Alexandra Block). The Collegiate opened in one room, in September, 1883, with Dr. E. S. Popham as Principal, who resigned to become Principal of the Winnipeg Collegiate and afterwards Dr. E. S. Popham. There were some students who matriculated from the Collegiate prior to the year 1889. I cannot give a complete list of the names, nor the dates, but from memory I recall these names: Rev. Dan. McKay,

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the new era p STUDENT COUNCIL ACTIVITIES The Student Council was organ¬ ized under the supervision of Mr. Bell who lent a guiding hand to our activities throughout the year. Beth Crawford was our capable and cheery president. We wish to thank those students who so will¬ ingly co-operated with us and helped us in our every enterprise. As usual all the students were required to buy Student Tickets which could be purchased at the price of twenty-five cents. A new ruling was made that these cards were not replacahle. The purpose of a student card is to entitle the holder to special admission prices at theatres and to admittance to school functions, as well as to add some money to our treasury. The amount of money secured in this way was $97.00. Raymond Bailey was our effi¬ cient reporter of “Collegiate Col¬ lections” in the Brandon Sun. A very capable and successful committee for Introduction Night, with Marguerite Hanson as con¬ vener, gave us an original and en¬ joyable evening. The different form of Prom showed its popular¬ ity by the large attendance. Neomia Axford as convenor for the Junior Prom deserves much credit for the good time had by all. Instead of having an orchestra for this Prom we had a Whirlitzer which fulfill- our needs. Ted. Speers and Cliff. Kitson were in charge of our Sen¬ ior Prom which was a “backward party”. It proved to be one of the most successful Proms ever. The original ideas of the committees were a boon to our social activi¬ ties. Early in November a special committee decided upon the editor of “The New Era”. Anita Smith was their splendid choice. The annual Collegiate swimming meet was held at the “Y” on No¬ vember 19th. The boys showed special interest in this event. The winning boys’ room received a cup and the winning girls’ room re¬ ceived a pennant. The meet was a decided success and added much to our extra-curricular activities. Our major production, “The Adorable Age” was the most suc¬ cessful project of the year. The cast and directors deserve hearty congratulations for their hard work in making it what it was. As to ticket sales we can boast of a full house for the two nights of presentation. We can honestly say the success was largely due to the effort of Miss Insley’s room. Her room received the prize of five dollars for a room party as a re¬ ward for selling the most tickets. A profit of $180.00 was the result of our production. A motion for the purchase of school dishes was put to the Stu¬ dent Council but was rejected be¬ cause of the high cost until Mr. Reid told us that the School Board and teachers of the city would help us. Thus we were enabled to purchase dishes which are to be left in the school for use at our social functions. Each year the students try to leave behind them some addition to the school. The usual procedure of award¬ ing school crests to deserving stu¬ dents will be observed at the clos¬ ing exercises in the middle of June. —M.W.

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THE NEW ERA 11 Rev. William Gumming, R. M. Matheson, K.C., Miss Relle Hooper, afterwards Mrs. Von-Eberts, Walter H. Shillinglaw, Dr. Mortimer Mc- Ewen, and H. R. Hooper, Barrister at Carberry. In tbe early spring of 1889, Mr. William E. Elliott, the Collegiate teacher, resigned and Mr. E. W. Montgomery was appointed. Tbe matri¬ culation class was composed of: J. Andrew Hall, J. S. Matheson, R. A. Clement, William McKellar, and S. E. Clement. A photo of the teacher and the five students was taken at that time. On account of the change in teachers during the term, it was a difficult task for both teacher and students. William McKellar dropped out of the class during the year. Great credit was due to Mr. Montgomery for his ability, industry, inspiration, and sacrifice. For weeks he generously held classes on Saturdays and devoted the time to reviewing the work with the re¬ maining four students, until in May, 1889, they went to Winnipeg and wrote their matriculation examinations. Fifty years have passed since this first class graduated from B.C.l. It is a unique circumstance and probably without parallel, that the teacher and all members of the class are still living. The teacher, now the Hon. Dr. E. W. Montgomery, formerly Minister of Health and Pub¬ lic Welfare for this Province, lives in Winnipeg. Dr. J. Andrew Hall, who spent most of his life as a Medical Missionary and established a Hospital in the Phillipine Islands, is now retired and living in Southern California. Mr. R. A. Clement is a Barrister-at-Law in Brandon. Dr. .1. S. Matheson, Physician and Surgeon, is still practising in Brandon, and Judge S. E. Clement is Judge of the County Court, Brandon. JUDGE S. E. CLEMENT “QUIZ”—Fable thus accounts for this word, which was not found prior to 1780: Mr. Daly, manager of a Dublin theatre, laid a wager that he could introduce a new word, with no meaning, into the lan¬ guage within twenty-four hours. Accord¬ ingly, on every wall, these four mystic letters were chalked up and overnight all Dublin was enquiring what they meant. The wager was won and the word remains current in language. “A man may be so totally lost to hope that he will refuse to believe he can ever do or be anything, but few ever get so far down that they can’t imagine a wo¬ man might be in love with them.” — H. L. Davies. Henry Ford: The one thing we’ve got more of than the rest of the world is future! Few take care to live well—but many to live long. “Before you ask advice of others—EX¬ PLORE YOUR OWN HEAD—There may be something in it. Eagles fly alone—but sheep flock to¬ gether. You have a dollar— I have a dollar— We swap. Now you have my dollar— I have your dollar— We are no better off. You have an idea— I have an idea— We swap Now you have two ideas— I have two ideas— Both are richer What you gave you have What I got, you did not lose.