Branksome Hall - Slogan Yearbook (Toronto, Ontario Canada)

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26 THE BRANKSOME SLOGAN

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THE BRANKSOME SLOGAN 25 which there were always crowds. The fruit exhibit surpassed any other. Something may be said of Canada that may be said of no other place — Nothing was for sale ; everything was for exhibition only. In this way Canada came nearest to fulfilling the aim of the British Empire Exhibition. Soon afterwards we left. As we were leaving we saw the natives of many lands, of India. China, North America, South America, walkilig together, in perfect friendliness, along the streets of Wembley, and we felt that the British Empire Exhibition had made possible a much closer relationship between the peoples of the British Empire. HELEN SPENCE, Form V. CHANGE Over the hills and far away, The inanimate things of Nature lay ; Thither I shall go this day. Along the banks of the brook to stray. Of companions there are few Who will evermore be true. But on some inviting clue. Win be off to seek anew. Even through all Nature ' s range, Her dominating law is change ; So I judge it is not strange Man ' s affections disarrange. Think on seas, rains and skies, Sun and moon but set to rise ; A flower blooms and then it dies. The wind in the forest whistles and sighs. So enjoy all passing cheer, For the future, never fear ; Spring is born from Winter drear, Thus was Nature ' s counsel dear. HELEN HOME, Form IV.

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THE BRANKSOME SLOGAN 27 THE ROMANCE OF THE LAST CRUSADE One Wednesday morning of the Easter Term, we had the great pleasure of hearing Major Gilbert lecture upon ' The Romance of the Last Crusade. Major Gilbert was with General Allenby during the whole of that most thrilling and romantic exploit, the Palestine Cam- paign, and. therefore, gave a most vivid description of it. The preparations for the crusade were stupendous. The train, consisting of 100,000 men. with full equipment, 30,000 camels, guns and ammunition, landed in the Holy Land and had to traverse 200 miles of desert waste under appalling conditions. All their water was pumped from the Nile over that huge tract through pipes, originally intended for the use of the Standard Oil Company, which were laid by the engineering parties as the army proceeded, each man being on a ration of one pint a day for drink- ing, washing and shaving. The troops also had great difficulty in marching over the ever- shifting sand, and could not travel any distance without great weari- ness overcoming them. Such was the case until an ingenious officer suggested using the thousands of coils of chicken wire, intended by the War Office for entanglements, as a corduroy road, and three thick- nesses were bound together and rolled over the loose sand, thus enabling the soldiers to march more easily. Unfaltering, they plodded on, over ground travelled several hun- dreds of years ago by those who before had attempted to free the Holy City from its bonds, but only the First Crusade had succeeded. Would this Last? It was. indeed, over historic ground they marched, sometimes watering at the wells of Abraham or fighting on the same battlefields as those on which the Israelites had concjuered. On the night before the British attacked the Turkish camps at Mickmack, the O. C. read the account of Jonathan ' s routing of the Philistines (I. Sam. xiv.) and changing his tactics completely, copied those re- counted in the Bible. A few men attacked the enemy ' s stronghold and misled by the echoing of their voices and the numbers coming through the narrow pass, the Turks were terrorized and fled, thinking themselves surrounded by the full force. After a successful attack on Beersheba, the army proceeded with greater speed. One day, they were advancing rapidly, knowing that unless they could occupy a certain town by nightfall, the Turks would destroy the wells, thus cutting off their water supply. Pressing on- ward, they outmarched their water convoy, and were forced to go on all day without anything to quench their thirst. Towards the end, their lips became swollen and burst, flies by hundreds settled on the wounds, their parched tongues hung out of their mouths. And yet they marched on. though some fell exhausted by the way, and some, blinded by the sand and sun, clung to their more able comrades. Then at the end. the assault on the Turk — several times they were re)- pulsed. but at last they won the town, and the wells! Then occurred the incident described by Major Gilbert as the finest piece of discip- line I ever saw. The men were lined up, horses and mules sent to one well, and the wounded served first. Notwithstanding the un-