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

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PARA Tu N C U La A A PARATUS MR. R. S. HAMILTON, M.A. 24

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I I' -I' f -- -- I . ' V 1 ie Sfmpir spg v PARA? l U La A A PARATUSI. ' ' The York Bible Class has been a success. If we could find stronger words we might use them. Superlatives are unnecessary and we feel that that word success expresses all that is needed. But in the words of Denton Massey, Only the empty head swells. The greatest danger of success is success itself-success that promises a greater success to come. A. A. Milne puts these words into the mouth of his child hero Christopher Robin. N ow I am Six I am clever as clever, I think I shall stay six For ever and ever. Now that the York Bible Class is six it does not intend to stay six forever and ever but to go on to greater things, to develop a wider sphere and to strive after the truth. These young men and their young man leader are standing on the seventh step-they have barely begun--the whole stairway is now before them and their success, though large, is small in comparison to what it promises to be when they are sixty. gi!! The dramatic talent of pupils throughout the school has The Student been evinced in the three departmental plays presented this Dramatic term. These plays, sponsored by the Literary Society, have Club served to sustain general interest in dramatics among the students, they have trained the players to act more convincingly, and have demonstrated that we can play parts when we try. It is our purpose, in these lines, to arouse interest in an organization which would enlarge our knowledge of dramatics, and enable us to present at least one long play in a year. We have, in our school, a Staff Players Club, which annually enacts plays from noted playwrights. Their efforts are always crowned with success, and we pupils wish them well. But we feel, that since we have eight hundred scholars in this Institute, we should have a players' organization of our own, under the guidance of the staff club. This society would be open to any person in the school, and would give a performance for the public each year. In it we would learn the rudiments and some of the finer points of stage expression. 23

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11 SE ..,. QE , . VA. JP I 1 'M Tv l Pnrrvs ' R. S. Hamilton, M.A. Note:-This is the second of a series of sketches of our illustrious teachers, to appear in the Specula Galtonia each year. He ls a Verray Parjit Qentzl Knightf, -CHAUCER R. HAMILTON was born in the little country village of Motherwell, situated in the beautiful valley of the Thames, six miles north of St. Mary's. At that time it was a Scotch settlement, but since then it has lost its identity as such. His father was the Presbyterian minister at Motherwell. Mr. Hamilton received his primary education at the Regular Mother- well Academyj, as it was called. Where, said he, smiling reminiscently, The rawhide and maple-wood pointer reigned supreme. These were the symbols of authority. The Academy was preparatory for the entrance examinations, but during the winter months it was not unusual for pupils of twenty and twenty-five years of age to attend. Leaving the Academy, Mr. Hamilton started his High School career at the St. Maryfs Collegiate Institute. It was during this period that he de- veloped a liking for walking because he had to walk the six miles back and forth from his home to St. Mary's every week-end. Mr. I. M. Levann, one of the Inspectors of High Schools for Ontario, was principal of the St. Mary's Collegiate Institute at that time. Graduating from St. Mary's, Mr. Hamilton journeyed to Toronto where he enrolled in the Science Course of the University. At that time there were just eleven men in the freshman year of the Science Course and these eleven passed through the whole four years and graduated together. The Hon. Howard Ferguson, newly appointed High Commissioner for Canada to Gt. Britaing James Brebner, former Registrar of Toronto University, and Dean DeLury were amongst those who graduated at the same time. Mr. Hamilton has always been vitally interested in all kinds of sports. He played soccer and football and it was while at University that he first became interested in and started to play rugby. He was a member of the Varsity Glee Club which toured the country during the Christmas holidays making appearances. At this point in the interview he laughingly re- marked, I am now a horrible example of one whose vocal chords have become useless through lack of exercise-or was it too much exercise ? Apparently those old Glee Club days left some impression on him for he has since played very successfully many prominent roles in the Staff Players' Productions in our School. The year Mr. Hamilton graduated, the University was completely destroyed by fire, which they said was due to Pride, because of the fact that the unfortunate man who dropped the fatal lamp was named Johnny Pride.--So the old adage- Pride goeth before destruction. Dr. Daniel Wilson was president of the University at that time. Mr. Hamilton graduated from University with his B.A. degree and went to one of the Training Schools at Guelph, Ont. He accepted his first position teaching at Georgetown, but for only six months. Then he took another position at Whitby, where he taught for three years under Prin- cipal Tamblyn. . Then Mr. Hamilton came to the Galt Collegiate in the capacity of Science Master. At that time there were only five other teachers on the staff : Dr. Carscadden, PrincipalgMr. DeGuerre, MathematicsgMr. Wright, 25