Branksome Hall - Slogan Yearbook (Toronto, Ontario Canada)

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28 THE BRANKSOME SLOGAN bearable trials they had undergone, and although it was seven hours until the last man relieved his thirst, not a man pushed ahead, but each waited his turn. At last, the Crusaders were camped outside the Holy City, and preparing for the siege. Wanting some eggs for breakfast, the officers sent out the battalion cook to forage in a nearby village on the left. Strolling innocently to the right, he came at dawn on what seemed a very thriving village with tall minarets and domes outlined against the morning sky. Looking along the white road running be- fore him, he saw throngs of people standing at the city gates to wel- come him. On his entering, the people stopped shouting, and a black gent in a white nightshirt offered him a bunch of keys, which he un- wittingly refused and returned to report at Brigade Headquarters. Without waiting for the end of his story, the Brigade-General ordered his horse and his aide, and galloped away to accept the sur- render of Jerusalem. After the usual formalities, the Brigadier- General got on his horse, and galloped away to report to the Divi- sional Headquarters. However, this ceremony was deserving of a Divisional-General ' s dignity, and he accordingly drove off in a shining Rolls-Royce with a shining staff to receive the keys (which in the meantime had been returned). The Mayor, perplexed, made another presentation, and the General a speech, while the people cheered louder than ever, and driving home, he reported to the Commander- in-Chief ' s Headquarters. The reply came back that Lord Allenby himself would receive the city, and further preparations were made for the surrender of Jerusalem. In two days. General Allenby rode up to the Holy City, and dismounting at the gates, walked through the narrow Oriental streets. The Mayor, still more perplexed, again went through the presentation. Lord Allenby made a gracious reply, and the people cheered wildly. The keys of the Holy City were re- ceived in those hands most worthy of them. Unhappily, the strain was too much for the Mayor, who broke down under the stress and died of influenza two weeks later. But one of the most interesting facts involved in the capture is the fulfilment of a three-century-old Arabic prophecy, worded : W hen the waters of the River Nile pour into Palestine, the Prophet from the West shall drive the Turk from Jerusalem. Allenby was called the Prophet by his native troops, and w as not the waters from the Nile pumped to Jerusalem? And so ended the last crusade and only the first and the last had proved successful, and now peace and freedom reign in the Holy Land for the first time in 500 years, concluded Major Gilbert. Having been an actor before the war, he was able to impersonate vividly a blustering colonel or terrified recruit, and he rendered to perfection the dialect of the cockney cook who first brought back the amazing talk of surrender. Dramatic, interesting and amusing, Major Gilbert brought home to us the undauntable spirit and loyalty of the soldiers of the British Empire ; the magnetic personality and ability of General Sir Edward Allenby, Commander-in-Chief of His Majesty ' s Forces in Palestine. KATHLEEN WILSON, Form V.

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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-

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THE BRANKSOME SLOGAN 29 A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A HOUSE GIRL In glancing through a copy of last year ' s Slogan, we notice an article in which the many virtues of that body known as ' the day girls are extolled, and the thought strikes us, But what of the boarders? Surely they are worthy of mention! Of course, they are! So, although those who know us might say the fact of our importance goes without saying, for the benefit of those who are more ignorant of our doings, I shall endeavor to relate the varied and thrilling events in a day from the life of a boarder. I suppose one would say that the day begins with the ringing of that instrument of torture known as the rising bell — although, apart from its ringing, nothing else seems to happen. Silence settles over the house once more — to be rudely disturbed when the warning bell goes some time later. Well, then something does happen — a mad rush for clothes, soap and water, and then the stairs ! No — not for breakfast, for, being energetic people, the boarders must first indulge in exercise and fresh air. This is obtained in the form of the morning run, whch is not always as popular as one might suppose. However, all things have an end — even the morning run ! After breakfast comes an interval, during which our house- keeping ability is displayed — rooms are tidied (maybe!) and beds are made. Then comes school — but why think of it? Everyone knows how enthralled one is with following the thrilling experiences of Caesar, A C or how absorbing a task it is to prove — = — . Four hours of such B D delightful pastime and school is ended for another day, while we are the richer for a few more facts concerning such things as the Punic Wars and the Ablative Absolute, or by a few more returns. However, after lunch, the w orld seems a brighter place to live in, and this fact is intensified in the minds of those who are lucky enougfh to get mail, while those who aren ' t, console themselves. Pollyanna- like by saying: Oh, well there ' s another mail to-night! A long, long afternoon — which can be spent in various ways that one may or may not like. Of course, there is always the walk — there is sure to be ! This may be avoided in several ways — sometimes by getting a return, by playing tennis (if you are lucky enough to get a court in time), or by going to Yonge Street (if you happen to be a Senior or Prefect). So the afternoon passes — for some there are the pleasures of Yonge Street; for others, the pleasure of waiting for t he study bell to ring, which it does at four-thirty. Then in study everyone seems to believe in the truth of the state- ment, a little learning is a dangerous thing — for some try to grasp huge quantities of knowledge, while others seem to think it is easier to avoid both. the learning and the danger!