Elmwood School - Samara Yearbook (Ottawa, Ontario Canada)

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S A iM A R A 27 and in time a pearl would be produced. But it was not until 1890 that the Japanese began to do this at a large commercial scale. Today culture pearls are made in the Persian Gulf and many other places as well as Japan. To put the foreign substance into the shell is very difficult and requires great patience and experience. The culture pearl industry now supplies most of the quahty pearls sold in jewellery stores throughout the world. The fact that they are now made by the culture process makes them less expensive than genuine pearls, and they can be owned and their beauty ap - preciated by more people than ever before. Audrey Loeb The Story of an Animal Rescued by the Humane Society It was a cold, bleak December day. Mutt, a plain mutt, was wandering slowly down the road — cold, lost and hungry. As he walked by a medium sized bunga- low a small girl cried Hey kids, look at the new dog in the neighbourhood . A few boys turned around to look at it but when they saw how shabby and thin it was they went back to their hockey. Poor old Mutt wasn ' t taking any chances of being turned out of his house again. The old wooden shack was falling apart and his mistress didn ' t have enough money for food so Mutt wasn ' t going to starve. No indeed — he was heading straight for the garbage dump and no one could stop him. Next morning as the girl was having breakfast she saw the mutt walk by the win- dow. Sheila, as she was called, found Mutt with a cut ear and very smelly. Finding no collar on the dog she brought him in the house and fed him some milk. Her next thought was to ring the Humane Society. When Sheila got back from school that afternoon Mutt was at the Animal Shelter. For the next few days Sheila was so busy buying and decorating the Christmas tree that she almost forgot about Mutt. She didn ' t know that Mutt was lying at the Humane Society with a ' Sold ' tag on him. Indeed, her father had put a claim in for him and found out six days later they owned a dog. Late Christmas Eve, A ' lutt was hidden in the house. When Sheila awoke the next morning a brown furry ball jumped right on to her bed. Not a scrawny dog but a well groomed, nicely balanced dog. Indeed, Aiutt wasn ' t to find any more hardships in life with Sheila. He still could be a little fatter but that wouldn ' t take long. She didn ' t know A4utt ' s name so she called him Surprise Package and nicknamed him Super. Even if she had known his name M ' as iMutt — that wasn ' t good enough. Now we must go back and find out what had happened to Super at the Humane So- ciety Shelter. First of all he was given a small kennel away from the other dogs to be pro- perly cared for. A kind old man filled his water bowl three times a day and gave him two meals. He was given a bath of disinfectant and he didn ' t Hke the smell. This is not the only case where the Ot- tawa Humane Society has come to the rescue. It doesn ' t just care for lost dogs but a lso for dogs that are hurt or sick. It has a Shelter on Bayview Rd. where you can buy a dog or a cat. We must not forget cats, even if they are smaller than dogs, for they play just as big a part in the life at the Shelter. Alany sad dogs with a pleading look start barking as soon as you enter the kennels. If you have not already become a member of the Ottawa Humane Society, become one soon and Give to a worthy cause . Debbie Gill

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26 S A M A R A of her favourite hymns, Abide with me, fast falls the eventide. At five o ' clock Edith rose and dressed. She made her bed just as neatly as she ever had in any of the hospitals. She wrote this in her diary before the guards led her away. Died at seven a.m. on Oct. 12, 1915, with love to my Mother, E. Cavell. At seven o ' clock Edith stood facing the firing squad. Not one man wanted to kill this brave woman and no one will ever know who did for it was the only one gun which was loaded. In a few seconds the sound of gun- shots could be heard and the bodies of Phillipe Barcq and Edith Cavell lay dead on the ground. Edith Cavell not only gave her life for her country, but set a great example for us to follow. Her last words were: Standing as I do in view of God and eternity, 1 realize that patriotism is not enough, I must have no hatred or bitterness toward anyone. xVIarilyn Ross Pearls It is believed that the pearl was the first gem known to man. We find it mentioned in the oldest of writings. Many legends and stories have been written about it during its long history and in many countries it is valued above any other precious stone. The Arabs have a superstition that pearls are dewdrops filled with moonlight, that fall into the sea and are swallowed up by oysters, then turn from liquid to solid form. But the natural way in which a pearl is made is far more interesting than the superstition. Sometimes a tiny grain of sand or perhaps a little parasite works its way into the shell of an oyster, and gets caught in the soft mem- brane. This irritates the membrane and in order to stop the irritation it begins to coat the intruder with thin layers of a substance called nacre. Day after day the nacre is de- posited until the pearl sometimes grows quite large. As the deposits are made, muscles ex- pand and contract in an effort to get rid of the object, so that the nacre is smoothed on in even layers, and the pearl becomes round in shape. Kfot all pearls are perfectly round, some are irregular in shape. The oddly shaped pearls are often made into beautiful pendants, rings, brooches and other types of jewellery. The colours of the most valuable pearls are rose, cream, white and black. The finest pearls come from the Persian Gulf, near the island of Bahrein. The pearl diving season begins in A4ay when the water is warm. The diving is done in much the same way as it was done 600 years ago. The divers work in pairs, one to dive while the other stays in the boat, waiting for the signal from the one in the water. A diver can stay underwater usually for 1 Vi minutes. A good diver can go down as many as 30 times in a day. The bags which they carry around their necks are filled with oysters when they come to the surface where the oysters are opened in the hunt for pearls. The pearls are sorted according to size and shape and sold to the dealers. In the Indian Ocean and the Persian Gulf, the pearls are sent to India where the great pearl center is located. Here they are washed and polished and those which are to be used in necklaces are drilled by hand according to a three thousand year old method which re- quires great skill and delicacy. A necklace of real pearls costs thousands or even hundreds of thousands of dollars. But it takes years to collect the pearls to make it. The pearls must be perfect both in colour and shape. Until the Second World War interrupted it, the pearling industry off the north coast of Australia flourished. Unfortunately, the Japanese fleets had in previous years nearly crowded out the Australian companies. There is, however, another type of pearl which is not an imitation, yet is not entirely a natural growth. This is the culture pearl and the finest of these are very beautiful and costly. As far back as the thirteenth century, the Chinese knew that pearls could be grown by putting a fresh water mussel inside the shell, and it would at once start covering the object

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28 SAMARA 5C It ' s a wonder that 5C Aren ' t as busy as a bee Speaking FRENCH. Although the floor boards squeak Les pictures are magnifique Of FRANCE. The homework section on the board Is beautifully ? decored With FRENCH. The map is faded — quite, But anyone with sight Would find That FRANCE is all outlined. The bookshelf is completely stocked With many interesting lots, But the ones that number most Are FRANCAIS. At the head of the class sits Mrs. Betts, For without her U5C would be in frets, And of course she is Magnifiquely FRENCH. 8.45 a.m. Monday 1960 This is the school Elmwood Rockcliffe. I live here I ' m a classroom Most people call me the cell But anyway I have a story to tell. ' Twas the morning after the night. The U5C classroom a beautiful sight — Desks straight in line. Everything fine — BUT THEN In came the gang Making such a noise An outsider would think The room was full of boys. BUT REALLY The U5C ' s are brains — Oh yes ? In all the subjects you could possibly guess They pay attention? all the time? And know? their memory work just fine? FRENCH Their French is so fluent It twinges the spine? But I ' ll say something — for them It ' s just fine! HISTORY They are also Historians, I mean, — Seriously? Once someone found Denmark In middle Germany. LATIN In Latin class they all excel: They know their declensions Ever so well! (But sometimes on days when They don ' t feel so bright, Their declensions aren ' t Exactly right.) ALGEBRA In Algebra they aren ' t exactly zany: In actual fact they are quite brainy. But sometimes they get their signs in a mix. And find themselves in a fix. There are other subjects Besides the four, But they do not wish To be a bore. So before we think of anything else We ' ll forget all our frets And give our thanks to our wonderful Form Mistress, Mr s. Betts.