Burlington High School - Rarebits Yearbook (Burlington, Ontario Canada)

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RAREBITS 37 illrgkiauik By TOM LEIGHTON IV Mist - mist everywhere, weighing us down like some tremendous shroud! A soft rainy drizzle alighting gently upon the glistening decks added to the general brooding loneli- ness. The storm of two days ago had died down to a heavy silent swell. The only noises were the deep foreboding groans of the ship's fog-horn, and the rattle and creak of cordage, blocks, and trunks coupled with an occasional hail from a member of the crew at the hold. All this was dulled and muffled by the chok- ing fog which dripped, dripped, dripped from spars, cordage, and guy wires with a mad- dening monotony. Time:-Forenoon of Friday, June 20, 1930. Ship:-S.S. Montcalm, C.P.S., under Com- mander A. Rothwell. Place:-Just below the Arctic Circle, be- tween Greenland and Iceland. Destination:-Reykjavik, capital of Ice- land, scheduled to reach there at about 10.30 p.m. The voyage thus far had not been exactly uneventful. Upon rounding the south tip of Greenland, we had borne into a storm which lasted three days. I had crossed the Atlantic before, and had seen some rough weather, but never before had I experienced such a storm, nor have ,I any desire to do so again. It came from the north east, right into our bows, precipitating sixteen and a half thou- sand tons of ship into a most exasperating corkscrew motion. Its potency became mani- fest in an extremely nauseating brand of sea- sickness. Now, to those who think sea-sick- ness is something to make jokes about, ,I would advise a day's indulgence in it, for ex- perience is the greatest teacher of all. It particularly struck the third class passengers, most of whom were Icelanders, cursed with the idea that an abundance of intoxicants was the ideal cure for it. Most of them had never travelled scientifically and didn't know that the best thing for sea-sickness is a dry stomach. But sea-sickness, like death, is impartialg it also laid low most of the cabin passengers and of these, I was no exception. I survived the first day of the storm with merely a dizzy feeling. The second day I felt worse, and tried to walk it off, although the tremendous seas made walking rather pre- carious. What finally conquered me and sent me below was 'the sight of so many people leaning over the rails at the side of the ship. They were jerking rather spasmodically and, although I could see only their backs, I felt quite sure that they weren't fishing. I shan't dwell much upon my experience below, but I soon reached the conclusion that, even if Al- cock and Brown did land in an Irish bog, they certainly had the right idea. As the ship rolled, the curtains at the side of my bunk swung back land forth, and my valise slithered across the floor from one side of the cabin to the other in a most annoying man- ner. As dinner time approached tmy cabin being near the dining saloon? I could hear the crockery slide off the table and crash and clatter right merrily with every severe lurch of the ship. But not many people worried about it that day. On the third day the storm abated some- what, so I went on deck and soon felt my old self again. The ship wasn't in such bad shape, considering the severity of the storm. Of course, many things had been washed

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36 RAREBITS V... Q. I 55, :ia 5 'EXECUTIVE OF STUDENTS' COUNCIL Back Row-Wm. Galashan lPres. Boys' Ath. Soc.l, Roy Carlton IIB fTreas.l, Jerome King fPres, Lit. Soc.l, Rae Guthrie fPres.J, Homer Smith fIBl, Russel Ferrey KIIIBL Front Row-Mr. J. MacF, Bates iPrincipall, Kathleen Coleman QVice-Pres.l, Sally Loree fPres. Girls' Ath. So . Enid Holtb CVD. Constance Galashan KIIAJ Pauline Tancock lSec.l, Dora c b. y , Barber QI Cl, Miss E. Eby fStaff Adviserj. Svtuhentz' Glnunril By' Pauline Tancock fSec.y At the end of the second year of its regime the Students' Council is in a better position to state the purpose and aims of the organization. As we conceive it, the duties of the council are as follows: to provide a fair rep- resentation of the student body, speaking for them at meetings of oth- er societies, catering to their wishes and feeling their needs, if necessary, to negotiate with the Principal in dis- cussing problems which may arise in the school. The accomplishments of the body have not been numerous, but under the guidance of Miss Eby and the leadership of the President, Ray Guthrie, the society has had a suc- cessful year. Christmas cards, engraved with the school crest, proved very popular with the students, but the greatest achievement has been to provide the students of B. H. S. with an appropri- ate school pin. The Council realized a fair profit from these sales, and act- ing upon the wise and careful advice of the treasurer, Roy Carlton, was able to add considerably to the funds. Although it is not the object of the organization to make money, it is a tribute to the executive that they can accomplish this, and still give satis- faction. To the culinary department of the school the council presented two dozen silver spoons, which were gratefully accepted. As the term of 1931-32 is swiftly drawing to a close, we take the oppor- tunity of wishing to future councils every success, and a full measure of prosperity, We trust that they will profit by our example and our experi- ence.

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38 RAREBITS overboard before they could be lashed down. Among these were several props that had been washed from under the life boats on the top deck near the funnels. That gave me some idea as to the height of the waves. As for personal injuries, several people had fal- len, and one member of the crew had sus- tained a broken leg. On the afternoon of that third day when the wind and waves were still high, a small fishing schooner passed us .on our larboard beam, her sails reefed to mere strips. At one moment she was visible, the next she was hidden in a gulley between the waves. Life looked quite perilous aboard her, and it gave me a certain thrill of pride to see through a pair of binoculars that she flew a tattered old Union Jack. Two days later .I was to see that flag on most of the shipping in Reyk- javik harbour, and a day after leaving Reyk- javik I was to see it again on the H.M.S. Rodney, one of the largest battleships in the world. It impressed on me the fact that it is a pretty good old flag, despite depressions. When ca person can travel thousands of miles and land on territory under the same flag, the experience is quite an object lesson. But let us return to Friday, July 20. Every- thing was shipshape once more, although, as I have said, it was a terribly depressing day. However, by mid-afternoon the fog lifted, and people began to walk out on deck, chatting expectantly about Iceland. Everyone seemed to know what would be done on our arrival. yet no one really knew. .It wasn't often that a liner went up there, but we were carrying about two hundred Icelanders back to Ice- land for the millennial anniversary celebra- tion of their parliament. They had come from all over North America, some were cul- tured and some were not. The celebration was to be held on the ancient Plain of Thing- vellir and already a great city of tents and temporary shelters had been thrown up there. As the evening wore on it became a little colder. Strange to say, it wasn't cold up there, but the dampness ran through your body as sand runs through your fingers. Another one of nature's little curiosities became evident in the fact that at this time of the year, when the people of Reykjavik go to bed at night, they have to pull down their blinds in order to keep the midnight sun out of their eyes. About eight o'clock we sighted land, but Oh! what a dreary land! There was a light- house, a shack or two, and a church - the whole insignificant conglomeration being blessed or cursed with a tongue-twister of a name. I won't afflict your ears with it simply because I've forgotten what it was. In a few more knots two large greyish-brown moun- tains loomed side by side out of the sea, miles ahead of us. The grey clouds above them and the grey sea below made them look more forbidding and desolate. Several ships seemed to separate themselves from the foot of these mountains and come steaming to meet us. As they came closer we saw that they were the Icelandic navy, consisting of two de- stroyers and some other craft. The destroyers were flying a message of welcome and were distinguished by the names Aegir and Odinn . The officers and official reception committee from Reykjavik were on them. As they boarded us through a watertight door, I freed myself from the noisy cheering crowd, who craned their necks over the rail, and ran down to one of the dining saloons through which the newcomers were entering. It was quite a dignified meeting, with the usual pomp and dignity of uniforms, diplomacy, and elaborate manners, and it was rather in- teresting to watch. On my return to the deck, a fine, uniformed choir on the nearby boat started to sing some Icelandic songs. A little later, the destroyers shoved off from our side and formed an escort as we steamed into Reykjavik harbour. By this time, the decks were alive with chatter- ing rand laughing people. Scores of boats of all shapes and sizes, filled with people from the town, moved around us. They were laughing, shouting and hailing, and waving their red, white, and blue flags about. The whole population of 25,000 seemed to have come swarming around us. By about two o'clock in the morning most of the boats had gone back to the town and most of the pas- sengers had retired. By three o'clock all the boats had gone, and the only people on deck were two or three noisy parties from Reyk- javik. Since there is partial prohibition in Iceland, these people had bought some strong liquor at the ship's bar before it closed, and had proceeded to go on a spree . When I saw them they were in various stages of merry inebriation, but through diplomacy they weren't disturbed. As I wandered about alone I took stock of the surroundings. We were anchored out- side the harbour because the ship was too big to moor inside. Across the bay from Reykjavik were two large mountains of sand and shale. In the bay 'itself were two is- lands, and several tramp steamers could be seen. Within the harbour mole were scores of ships of all kinds, from square-rigged whalers to modern destroyers. There were also two junker sea-planes, which kept in daily communication with Denmark, the mo- ther country, and the Scandinavian Penin- sula. Along the shore line were the usual factories, an :oil refinery, and a ship-building plant. On every stretch of open shore were small white objects that looked, from the ship, like square tents. I found out later that they were used for ldrying .fish upon. The town proper is scattered over two low hills and a Tvalley. On top of one hill is a huge Catholic church, which can belseen for miles. Far from the town, at the end of the bay, stands a very gloomy looking building, all who enter can escape only through the grave, for it is a leper hospital. After taking some snap-shots of this, I retired. That day, all who wished to could go ashore in the life-boats, from six-thirty to ten-thirty a.m. I took the six-thirty landing party and in a few minutes 'I had set foot on Iceland for the first time. There were not many people up, but those who were stared at us as if we were from Mars. On and on I strolled up hill and down dale, for, indeed, those Icelanders don't care where they put their apologies for cow-tracks which they call roads. A travelling acquaintance of tContinued on page 713