Brentwood College School - Brentonian Yearbook (Mill Bay, British Columbia Canada)

Page 23 text:

Brentwood College Magazine I have just been sitting for the geographical tripos and am feeling very re- lieved that it is all over, though not sure as to the result. I have little time to enjoy relaxation though as I am leaving on an expedition (anthropological) to the Zambezi River in less than a week, which will last till October. I have come across several Old Boys since returning here. I should like to visit B.C. and the School again, but whether I get the chance remains to be seen. Very truly yours, C. P. A. SHARLAND. 3409 Elbow Drive, Calgary, Alta., May 26th, 1934. Dear Mr. Ellis: — I ' m working my way to England this summer on a cattle boat and thought to drop in and see Mr. Phillips while there. I was wondering if you knew of his whereabouts there, if so would you kindly forward his address to me? Two of us are going and we ' ll be leaving on Thursday. We plan to be back about the end of August, taking in Scotland, France and Germany in our travels. We board a freight here and travel on a caboose from here to Montreal. When the cattle have been loaded on the boat our work starts — each of us will have fifty cattle to feed, water, etc. The day ' s work starts at 4 a.m. and goes on indefinitely. I ' ve never tried to nurse sea-sick cattle and from what I hear from those who know, it ' s quite a job. I had a fairly successful year at University — the results have been out for two weeks. I took six courses and was successful in five, French being the dark horse. On that course it took me the better part of two months before I was able to under- stand what the professor was speaking of. I intend to write it off at the end of September and start next year with a clean slate. John Poole and I were hoping to drive out to the Coast right after the exams but the car we intended to go in changed owners before our plan could materialize. It sure would have been fine to spend a day or so rowing and sailing again. I was very pleased to hear how well the School was doing and hope it will continue to progress. Yours truly, LAURENCE H. WILKINSON. London Hospital Medical College, Whitechapel, London, E.I., May 23, 1934. The Editor, Brentwood College Magazine, Brentwood College, Victoria. Dear Sir: — It has been brought to my notice that there is to be an Old Boys ' Section to the magazine, and that this is to consist of letters from Old Boys. Accord- ingly, I shall do my best to comply with a request to write about some of my experi- ences in England. I left Cambridge in June, 1933, after passing the second M.B. examinations and after obtaining an ordinary B.A. degree. I might explain that the examinations for the Cambridge M.B. degree are divided into three parts, the first two of which are usually — though not always — passed by the time the student leaves Cambridge; the third part is taken after the student has spent the required time in one of the recognized hospitals. Page Twenty-one

Page 22 text:

Brentwood College Magazine 36 Netherby Road, Edinburgh, Scotland, May 28th, 1934. The Editor, The School Magazine, Brentwood College, Victoria, B.C. Dear Sir: — I have received word that you intend to start an Old Boys ' Section of the magazine this year. Now, I consider that to be a great idea. Personally, I have not seen a School Magazine for at least five years, and I am sure there are other Old Boys over in this part of the world who have the same complaint to make. Perhaps you could let me know how I could get a copy sent to me regularly? As for myself, I am getting along quite well, and 1 am quite contented over here — as contented as one could expect to be away from home. I do not see many Old Brentwood Boys nowadays, and I have lost touch entirely with the few that were up at Cambridge with me. I see Jack Miller occasionally. He is resident in Glasgow and is often through here. When we do get together we spend most of our time talking about the good old days and wishing tha there were more of us around so that we could have regular meetings. As far as any work is concerned, I find the practical side — i.e., the office work — very interesting. There always seems to be something new turning up which does away with any feeling of monotony. On the theoretical side, I am anxiously awaiting the results of the second division of the intermediate section of the Chartered Account- ants ' exams, which I sat ten days ago. I managed to pass the first section in December last. For recreation, I play badminton during the winter and tennis and a little golf during the summer. For the past two winters I have been lucky enough to play for the East of Scotland on some occasions in the Inter-County Badminton Championships. The first year I played in this contest we managed to win the title. This year we were not so fortunate. At tennis I have not done so well, but I play for my club, which is in the first division of the East of Scotland League. I still play a very bad game of golf, but nevertheless I enjoy it. There are the most extraordinary facilities for the game in Scotland. There seems to be a golf course around every corner and on every vacant lot, and they are good courses, too! The charge at most courses is only one shilling — that is about 25 cents — a round! That probably accounts for the popularity of the game of golf up here. Well, I sincerely hope that your venture turns out to be a success. Here ' s wishing you all the breaks, anyway. With all good wishes to the School and everything connected with it. Yours very sincerely, F. D. M. WILLIAMS. 19 Malcolm St., Cambridge, June 1st, 1934. Dear Mr. Ellis: — I should like to express my appreciation of the first Brent- wood terminal letter to Old Boys — a thoroughly sound scheme. Over here one obtains odd pieces of news as to the achievements of the School either in letters from B.C. friends or from the occasional Old Boy one runs across in this country. I may say most of this news is more than second hand and so is not always to be relied upon. Now we shall know just how things stand. Considering the number of boys this year we seem to have made a remarkably good showing at Rugby and other sports. I shall be interested to see how the cricket fares this summer. The lowering of the average age of the School is indeed a good sign. I per- sonally think that the influx of boys of the ages of sixteen, seventeen and over is a great handicap to private schools in Canada. Page Twenty

Page 24 text:

Bre n t w o o d College M a g a z i 11 e Of the life at Cambridge I can say but little in a letter, since books have been written on the subject, but I propose to comment on a few of the many interesting- traditions and customs of the university. The university is divided into colleges, each student belonging to a particular college, and each college having its own rules and regulations. There are certain rules to which every undergraduate must — or is sup- posed to — conform. One of these is that he must be in by 12 midnight. The gates of all colleges, and the doors and ground floor windows of all lodgings are locked at 10 p.m. Students may get in after 10 to their own lodgings, but not to anyone else ' s, and when they do come in after 10 the time of arrival is written down on a Gate Paper, which is sent to the tutor each week. Thus if a student comes in after 10 on too many occasions he may receive an intimation from his tutor that he is not paying sufficient attention to his work. Personally, I was in lodgings and each night at 10 my landlady arrived to lock my window, which I was permitted to have open only six inches after that hour. The usual custom is to be in lodgings for two years and in college for one year, though there are exceptions to this. Another rule is the wearing of cap and gown — mortar board (or square , as it is more commonly called) — and a black or blue gown reaching to the knees. No lectures (though this does not apply to science students) after dusk. Each college has its own gown, differing from that of other colleges in sonie small detail such as having three velvet stripes around the arm, etc. The officials who see that caps and gowns are worn are the Proctors and their Bulldogs, who walk through the streets after dark. The former wear the ordinary M.A. cap and gown and are each accompanied by two Bulldogs — college servants — wearing top hats. It is very amusing to see some of the races which go on when an unfortunate undergraduate is trying to escape from a Proctor — amusing, that is, unless you are the culprit. The fine for not wearing cap and gown is six and eight pence (roughly $1.50), but this is doubled if the student tries to escape and is eventually caught. Of the sports, there are inter-collegial e matches at rugby, soccer, hockey, cricket, tennis, etc., but as these are much the same as our own, I shall not comment further, although a short description of the boat races may be of interest. The May boat races (rowed in June incidentally) are the cause of a good deal of excitement. There are five divisions, each consisting of sixteen crews, some colleges having as many as six crews racing. The races take place on four consecutive after- noons, each division being rowed at intervals of about an hour. As the River Cam is not wide enough in some places to allow an eight to turn, there is not sufficient width to race the boats side by side. Consequently the sixteen crews race at one time, the object of the crews being to bump the boat in front. Usually the bump is light, after which both crews pull in to the bank to allow the crews following to pass; sometimes the bump is not so gentle, however, and the boats may get broadside- on across the river and so cause obstruction to the boats behind. On other occasions one boat may be holed or mount the bank, with the result that the crews have to swim for it. When one boat bumps another, then the bumping boat takes the place of the bumped boat and vice versa on the following day. The crew at the head of each division (except Division l) has ' to race twice during the afternoon — once at the head of the division and secondly at the bottom of the division above, thus having a chance of getting into the latter. The college finishing at the head of the river at the end of the fourth day ' s racing celebrate in the evening by victoriously carrying the boat to the college grounds and burning it. Armistice Day, November 11th, is the signal for a good deal of ragging, combined with hard work. The collections for Earl Haig ' s Fund are in the hands Page Twenty-two