Galt Collegiate Institute and Vocational School - Specula Galtonia Yearbook (Galt, Ontario Canada)

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SPECULA GALTONIA 41 THE IRON MAN AND THE TIN WOMEN, by Stephen Leacock. According to critics, Leacock's humour which was so spontaneous in Non- sense Novels and Literary Lapses, has fallen to the crime of pilfering from comic papers and newspaper columnists. This book contains a good deal of burlesque, exaggeration, guys and epigrams. Everything hereto- fore made funny has been put into the ingredients of this book, and treated in exactly the same old way. One critic says I found it weary, stale, flat . . . but no doubt Mr. Leacock will find it profitable. However I have warned you. Space permits only brief mention of other best sellers. There are two good mystery stories, one The Golden Hades, by the inevitable Edgar Wallace, which is very good, although it sounds as if episode followed episode as they occurred to the writer while dictating to his secretary-The other is the enthralling 2-91,000,000 Deposit, by E. Phillip Oppenheim, which is as ingenious, and as pleasing to his extensive public as its .pre- decessors. There is, too, Susan Ertz' The Galaxy, which written in her own inimitable style makes fascinating reading for those who like very modern books. Priestleyis new and much talked of novel The Good Com- panions will appeal to countless thousands, especially as Priestley has written a very fine criticism of the Modern Novel himself, and consequent- ly should be able to embody his own ideas in a book. Mazo de la Roche's The Whiteoaks of Jalna is much better than the first book, Jalna -its characters are softer, more human, and the story itself less involved and sordid. Aix! The World lamboree ROWN SEA ISLAND, 1908, Birkenhead, twenty-one years. What does it all mean? It means that Scouting has become of age. The world- wide organization founded on Brownsea Island in 1908 by Lord Rob- ert Baden-Powell, has reached its twenty-first birthday. To celebrate this anniversary, fifty thousand Scouts of forty-two nations, assembled at Arrowe Park, Birkenhead, England. Canada was represented by one hundred and eighty Scouts and oflicers at this birthday gathering. Can- ada's contingent represented our country from Halifax to the Yukon and as a member of the contingent I will try to picture briefly this gathering of the youth of the world as seen by Canadians. The contingent trained at Ottawa for a week for overseas' displays and then we entrained for Montreal, where Premier King delivered Canada's farewell message to us. At Montreal, lVIayor Houde bade us farewell, and on July 19 we sailed for England. At Quebec city we were inspected by His Excellency, Lord Willingdon, who shook hands and spoke to each Scout. The ocean voyage was a delightful one, although there were many cases of mal de mer. The ship, the HS. S. Antonia, stopped at Greenoch, Scotland, and Belfast, Ireland, to allow passengers to go ashore, and then docked at Liverpool on July 28. Sir Alfred Pickford, the Commissioner for Overseas' Scouts, greeted us and then we were taken to Arrowe Park. The Chief Scout visited us while we were preparing supper and thus we had our first view of our beloved and honoured leader. The three days be- fore the opening of the Jamboree were spent in intensive training.

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'---'- 40 SPECULA GALTONIA There was a rustle among literary savants recently when it was heard that Wilkie Collin's The Moonstone was being republished, for it was one of the forerunners of the vast family of mystery stories of this age- but an equally famed author of the same time, Walter Besant, is all but forgotten to-day. Good reading is good reading-time will deal severely but justly with our methods. THE PRIVATE LIFE OF TUTANKHAMENX' by G. R. Tabouis. Here is, indeed, a book with rare qualities-that of enthralling interest combined with educational properties. It is in this age-this period of the ancient world, that backs were turned on the conventional gods of their forefathers, and the sun was worshipped. New temples to this worship were built, more beautiful than any heretofore known in Egypt. Archi- tecture, culture and love in Old Egypt are depicted in this book-Tutank- hamen came after this era, he took the people back to worship of the gods whom they revered and feared. The book is written artistically but with deep feeling-you see ancient Egyptian life--you feel with Tutankhamen the eternal problem of religion for the people. I WAS SENT TO ATHENS, by Henry Morgenthau. The former ambassador advocates that existing boundaries of Greece be maintained by the unanimous power of Europe-Seeing this is an impossibility he knows she will have to rely on her military strength. In addition to an outline along this vein, and establishment of the present Republic, many details are given of the exciting rehabilitation of 750,000 Greeks expelled from Turkish territory in 1922. In this book Mr. Morgenthau shows him- self to be an enthusiastic Hellinist. MIDSTREAM, by Helen Keller, should need no further introduction -written by a woman of such varied and beautiful life it should be hailed with interest. Among her numerous books, The Story of My Life, writ- ten 25 years ago, the bitter heartache and longing because of the handicap which hindered her from doing what others did. Her new book telling of her life and experiences since she left college, is a most beautifully written and outstanding biography, pervaded by a noble spirit which will make it live long after others have passed away. THE HIDDEN CITY, by Philip Gibbs. This is, as are his last two books, also an after-the-war story. The central figure is that of a doctor, whose patients are of wide and varied types. He is more interested in their emotional and mental ills and problems, than their physical, and thus the story is taken up with psychotherapy. When one allows himself to get into the story, he finds it very engrossing. THE YOUNG MAN FROM MANHATTAN, by Kathleen Brush. A book all who like well-told modern tales should read. The sparkling humour, keen observations, gay repartee and charming human interest, create an air of amusement and realism. It deals with the new adventure of marriage as experienced by a young newspaper reporter Cwho is some day going to write the Great American Novel J and a charming little personality connected with the Movie Review column-both carrying on their own separate careers. Both the hero and heroine are decidedly lov- able characters. It is a fascinating novel, rich in entertainment values, and individual descriptions.

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42 SPECULA GALTONIA The World Jamboree was oflicialy opened by the Duke of Connaught, on July 31. On his arrival at Arrowe Hall he was greeted by a Guard of Honour consisting of a troop of Canadian Scouts, of which the writer had the honour of being a member. His Highness shook hands with the entire troop and chatted with them. In the afternoon there took place the most touching ceremony of the Jamboree: the march past of nations. Fifty thousand Scouts of forty-two nations, scouts of all creeds and colours, fifty thousand of the youth of the world marched past the Duke of Connaught and their honoured Chieftain. The grandstands around the rally-ground held twenty thousand visitors and ropes were lined with hundreds more. The Canadians were loudly cheered, showing the warm spot in the English heart for Canada's subjects. The real impression and picture of this mark in history is beyond my powers of explanation. There the sons of most of the countries of the world were marching, sons of fathers who but some Hfteen years ago were slaughtering each other in the chaos of the World War. They all marched with joy and peace in their hearts and good fellow- ship prevailed. Here was one of the greatest sights the world has ever seen, all realized through the work of Lord Robert Baden-Powell. Two similar ceremonies were conducted before the Prince of Wales and before the Chief Scout. Each afternoon before the grandstand, displays of dancing, gymnas- tics, pageantry and various types of entertainment were conducted. Can- ada was given the position of honour before the royal box. The camp covered an area of four hundred acres. There were stores, banks, barber shops, fice creamy parlors, reading tents and many other establishments which carried on immense trade with the Scouts. In each contingent camp, displays of native goods, handiwork and products, were open to the public. It was comical to see perhaps a French Scout walking arm in arm with a Pole and a South African negro. Probably they could not understand each other but what did that matter? They were all Scouts and having a good time. It rained for eight days and during this period the mud was at times six and seven inches deep. During the two weeks in this city of fifty thousand souls only one death occurred, which is quite a record. The first week was spent in displays and visiting foreign contingents. During the second week Canadian and other oversea Scouts were taken on tours of neighbouring cities and points of interest. Port Sunlight, New Brighton, Chester, Bolton, Southport, were among the tours. We were given leave practically every day to go across the Mersey River to Liverpool. We be- came quite well acquainted with the stores and theatres of this city. The Prince of Wales visited the Jamboree and in full scout uniform chatted with the boys and visited all contingents-he was a real scout. gk! , I Hey, Bill, is your girl a positive or neg- DANS LA CLASSE D ESPAGNOL ative types, MISS CARTER- Cual es la obra mas if?he'S high-:' ' rt t d 1 rn t ' 1 2 mP0SS1 e-f lmpo an e e a I era um mg esa Well, last night, I proposed to her and LORRIMAN- No lo soy senora. she said 'Positively no'.