Grandview Commerce High School - Annual Yearbook (Vancouver, British Columbia Canada)

Page 57 text:

COMMERCE ANNUAL The thunder abated and very seldom now did the lightning pierce the wall of the sky.The rain calmed to a steady patter and remained so for the rest of the night. I looked around me. The grass was a fresher green and the flowers raised their lofty heads and stood as flagstaffs. The birds began to sing. People commenced to straggle out into the streets. Walking up and down, letting the soothing rain strike their faces and seep through their light clothing. They did not care. There was only one thing that mattered to th-em-the drought was over. There would be no hot, sultry days with dust-laden winds catching one's every breathg no more cattle would wail pathetically in the plains, look into the heat-oppressed air, and then sink slowly to the ground and lie stillg no more burning afternoons when people would not venture to leave the house for fear the blazing sun would strike them down into a raving fever. Yes, it was all over, and one by one the villagers dropped to their knees in the wet streets, looked into the moisture-filled clouds, and gave thanks to God for the long-awaited gift of rain. A TRIP TO THE ANTIPODES The prospect ot a trip to Australia did at first sound rather exciting, but ns the days wore on and one thought of all one was leaving, a dread filled its place, . The great day arrived and mid tears and stream- ers we left. The next five hours to Victoria were ,,, T almost blank since all I did was to get settled in my new quarters and get hopelessly lost looking 4- for the dining room. nz- N L r -A ti' gi? I 7 . -1- FPS? -. 1--3' l fl, mf .r pe 432 at r 4 X -tat -1 'lb' 5 ff . ' -':' ,.,:.i ' ' ' SPH -' ' ful. wx' , x Jig e1 1' fre- , -N ' -' f3l!'25'- ff.-197 - - AZ ' 15 :,,-M -- 'e ' Leaving Victoria was really worse than one J -, ff Tl L55 . . . . . would imagine since it meant leaving the last part of Canada. One of my fellow passengers was so homesick that I wondered when she would try to jump off and swim to shore. The next few days were spent in my cabin as I was afflicted with usual seasickness, but on the fourth day I managed to get on deck and was soon well again. The weather had turned rather warm as we were approaching Honolulu, land of palms, white sand and Hawaiian music. The first glimpse of land was Dia- mond Head. This mountain at one time was an active volcano, but it is now

Page 56 text:

COMMERCE ANNUAL IN MEMORIAM Losing Bob was like losing my right hand. He was a real pal. He pulled me out of more tight places than any other friend could have thought of doing, That time when he pulled me from the Dead River after our canoe had overturned. If it wasn't for him then, I wouldn't be here now. Lost, sick with hunger, and half frozen, Bob came to the door of my cabin seven years ago. That was when I first saw him. I fed him and put him to work, and he helped me more than any man could have. He was a companion through those long six months of darkness. There was that time when we were attacked by a Grizzly. While running, I had tripped and sprained my ankle, but Bob did notleave me. No, he stayed and fought that bear until he had it so worried that it was glad to take the chance of escaping. That was almost two years ago He left me at the cabin this morning, I presume to hunt rabbit. When he did not return by noon, I became worried and went to look for him.l found him at the end of a canyon stretched out in a pool of blood. It looked as though he had been attacked by another bear, and had lost the battle which had ensued. He was in a fearful condition--ripped to shreds. Such a fine companion should receive a burial fit for a king, but, in this country, it is impossible for any really decent burial. As soon as I can thaw a plot that will be large and deep enough for him, I will place him at rest, I have started carving a monument for him, and will place on it an epitaph which will read as follows: Here lies my friend and companion, One who finished his job. I found him dead in the canyon, Alas, t'was my poor Huskie--Bob. Cecil Blatchford THE END OF THE DROUGHT Just at dusk the storm struck the village. The whole day had been strangely quiet as if waiting expectantly for something to happen- Now, a sense of re- lief went through me. At last the world would have rain, Thunder pourded against the murky clouds seeking ,relentlessly to batter its way through. At intervals, forks of lightning lit the sky with a weird glow. Then came the rain. At first, in torrents, absolutely vertical. lt beat on the road like the tramp of a thousand soldiers, bouncing to the height of four inches or so, and then soaking into the thirsty earth.

Page 58 text:

COMMERCE ANNUAL dead. Farther along the shore the famous beach of Waikiki could be seen and in its background a beautiful hotel. We had only a. few hours to spend so we left the ship as soo.n as possible. At the entrance to the wharf, native girls were selling Ieis or necklaces. Making way to the town, we decided to visit Dole's modern pineapple factory. Among the many interesting things to be seen were the skinning, cleaning and slicing of the pineapple, the last two operations being done by women, the first one by machine, Next is the canning and then the labeling which is done by the fastest machine in the world, doing aboutone thousand cans per minute. But all good things come to an end and Honolulu is no exception. Soon we were slowly moving out of the harbour. The Hawaiian orchestra was playing the Welcome and Farewell Song and Aloha, while the natives dived for money which the passengers threw to them. The next week we crossed the Equator and approached the land of down under . Suva, Fiji, was our next port of call. The first thing our wandering eye glanced on, as we approached the wharf, was the native policemen in their uniforms of navy blue coat with brass buttons and white pointed skirts, blafk skins and sticking-up hair. On the opposite side of the fence which en- closes the wharf, the natives have small tents in which they display their wares. Rings, bracelets, brooches and many other things made from tortoise shell were for sale. Some had hand-woven fans, and blankets and at the far end baskets made from pineapple leaves filled with beautiful coloured coral were for sale. The native women sell long necklaces made from many different kinds of coloured seeds. Suva is a quiet town, having both European and native stores, the latter operated by Hindus and Chinese. At the entrance to the harbour the surf can be seen breaking on the coral reef. As we reached Auckland, New Zealand., the weather became colder for we were now approaching winter. In some ways the Auckland harbour is not unlike that of Vancouver. This is the last lap before we reach Australia and already we noticed a distinct English accent in the speech of the people. We also noticed the change in the money since it was now pounds, shillings, and pence. Auckland has many beautiful buildings, theatres, and parks. One theatre had a roof of pale blue and on this were stars which made one think he was looking up into the sky. The museum and war memorial is a very fine building. The lower part of the museum has many wonderful exhibits including a Maori hut, canoes, coloured fish, beautiful birds, and skeletons of prehistoric animals. We were warned of the treacherous weather to expect on the Tasman Sea, but, to our surprise, found the crossing between New Zealand and Australia very calm.