Havergal College - Magazine Yearbook (Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada)

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Havergal College Magazine sport — that is, dog-sleigh racing; and they thoroughly enjoy it, especially when it ends in a fight. All kinds of dogs take part, from terriers to deerhonnds, bulldogs and St. Bernards. It is very difficult to get the dogs started fairly, as they always want to go, or else fight. Their masters stay at the side of the track and encourage them. Each dog has a harness with a light sleigh attached, and a small boy (or sometimes girl) has to sit on the sleigh or hang on. The driver, as they call him, has to be on the sleigh when the dog finishes. It is great fun for the spectators. Curling is somehow always thought of as an old man ' s game ; but, nevertheless, it takes great skill. It is the national game of Scotland, as cricket is of England or lacrosse of Canada, and al- most every Scotchman plays. They have no separate curling rink in Nelson, but flood part of the exhibition building, which does quite as well. For those who wish to combine pleasure with profit there can be found plenty of both in trapping. All kinds of valuable fur- bearing animals are numerous, and good hunting may be found almost anywhere. There are lynx, wolves, coyotes, bears, deer, marten, mink, mnskrats, weasels or ermine, wolverines, cougars, fishers, otters, and beavers. A favorite sport with the boys is snowballing the Yellow Peril, especially if he is loaded down with bags of washing. The Chinaman in Nelson has a lovely time all the year round: in winter, snowballs ; in summer, bad eggs and rotten tomatoes. The sportsmen of Nelson have just found out what sport does for the peo ple in general, and have formed a Sports Club. Each man who is an adept over the others in any one branch has volun- tarily consented to teach what he knows to anyone who wants to learn. Everyone in the district is taking a great interest in it, and as it is for both summer and winter sports, Nelson will per- haps send some contestants to the next Olympic Games. — Amy Ebbutt, Form VI. CAPTAIN SCOTT Twice within one short year the world has been horrified by the news of a terrible disaster: first, by the sinking of that splen- did sea-palace, the Titanic, and now by the heartbreaking news that the expedition of our Antarctic explorers has been dark- ened by the loss of its brave commander and four of his best men. It was early in 1910 that Scott, one of the most famous Ant- arctic explorers, left New Zealand for the polar regions with a twofold object in view: to discover the South Pole and to collect 37

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Havergal College Magazine rigs and vehicles having to use alleys, as it would be very dangerous to all concerned if heavy wagons or sleighs were allowed to use the street. A bobsleigh is made of two hand-sleighs, with steel runners, with a board about 14 inches wide and 6 or 8 feet long. One sleigh is nailed securely to the back of the board ; the other sleigh is bolted to the front of the board so that it is possible to turn very fine corners. There is no sleigh under the middle of the board, and it is therefore very springy. Ropes are attached to the rings on the front sleigh, railings are nailed to the sides of the board, and a strut, along the front of the board against which the person steering rests his feet in order to get more purchase on the steering ropes. A u bob of this size will hold about six persons, and when fully loaded will go like the wind. The person steering needs a strong wrist and a pair of good eyes. Bumps got worn in the road, and then, if you do not take them dead straight, the bob will skid, shoot all its occupants off and scatter them down the road. Accidents sometimes happen when it skids, such as running into a telegraph post, or right over the sidewalk and through a picket fence into someone ' s garden. The road gets worn perfectly smooth with the snow packed hard, and the street is very noisy and unsafe for pedestrians from the time school is let out until twelve o ' clock at night. Quite a lot of skiing is done in Xelson, there being a number of Swedes and Norwegians there. It is good fun, but takes a great deal of patience to get the idea of it at first. If you are going ( ' own a steep hill and the toes of the skis get crossed it is all up, and you fall flat on your nose. It is very difficult to turn corners on them unless you have a stick to scratch along on the side to which you wish to turn. Some of the Swedes are adepts at it and can jump and do all kinds of things on skis, but it is a really difficult accomplishment as you need such a fine sense of balance. For climbing mountains on skis they tack deerskin with the hair downwards on the bottom of the skis. The hair does not hamper you going down — it rather accelerates the speed — and going up you walk on the skis and the hair pushes the wrong way, so that you cannot slide down, as you would without the hair. Snowshoeing is especially useful to the trappers, of whom there are a good many in the district, and also to prospectors. The bear-paw snowshoes are used in the mountains, as they are much wider, shorter and more upturned in front than the kind used on the prairies. As the snow is often from fourteen to twenty feet deep up in the mountains, snowshoes are most useful to those who have to travel over them. The snow covers the brush and does not reach the lowest branches of the fir trees, so it is prac- tically clear going, and a good speed can be ke pt up. In ISTelson the dogs as Well as the people have their winter 36

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Havergal College Magazine scientific data concerning conditions existing in that part of the world. With him went the best-equipped of expeditions — every- thing, from men to dogs, being absolutely complete. The whole party sailed on the Terra Nova 7 which was to be their home for the first stage of the journey. Prospects were bright when first the ship was left, and par- ties consisting of four or five men were despatched in several direc- tions with special orders as to their various duties. The polar party, however, composed of Captain Scott, Dr. Wilson, Captain Oates, Lieutenant Bower and Seaman Evans, had not long left their comrades before they began to battle with difficulties. As the dogs, then almost invaluable to them, had been divided am ong the other little companies, the commander and those with him were forced to draw their own sledges ; thus the work was made very tiring for each one and progress was considerably delayed. Neverthe- less, in sjDite of this and many other drawbacks, they pressed on, brave and hopeful, little suspecting what was to greet them at their destination. What must have been their disappointment when they finally reached the goal to find the flag of Norway floating defiantly from the spot which they had sought ! It is not difficult to imagine their feelings as they regarded it ; but, from what we know of our great British nation, those feelings would be far from bitter. Regretful, of course, but with congratu- lations for the victorious Norsemen and a gladness that it should be men of such a race who triumphed — men who, like themselves, would have known the manner in which to take defeat, known how to play the game. However, although Captain Scott thus failed to realize one part of his quest, he was signally successful as far as the other was concerned, inasmuch as his valuable manuscripts were found in- tact by the search party. The return journey was one long period of suffering, fighting against the merciless blizzard, trying to make supplies last them out and endeavouring to help one another in every possible way. The unselfishness of the other men when Seaman Evans suffered concussion of the brain; the way in which they cared for him, never leaving him even though he was a hindrance to their pro- gress, will always be remembered. They knew that they were certainly courting death by remaining with him, and it is this that makes the deed so noble ; but, in spite of everything they could do, he died and the four weak and shaken men pushed on to fight the remainder of their battles. On the seventeenth of March, after the world had received the news of Amundsen ' s victory, Captain Oates, suffering beyond human endurance, went out into the night to die alone. Scott 38