Lakehead University - Yearbook (Thunder Bay, Ontario Canada)

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LAKEHEAD TECHNICAL INSTITUTE YEAR BOOK KARL The marriage of a Finnish-Canadian soldier and a Scottish girl produced a child, who, when grown to six years, presented me with many problems, laughs and worries. Karl appeared the first day of school and sat quietly in his desk. I realize now that it must have taken all his power of self-control to do this. He re- sponded to his name with a gesture of a grimy hand. I followed the hand to its source. It was attached to a small body clad scantily in rough, soiled clothing. I was to become accustomed to viewing the traces of Karl ' s breakfast advertised liberally on his sweater. Above the small shoulders sat a head at a very jaunty angle. The face was large-boned and angular. All the bones sloped sharply upward and back. The ears were large and they also slanted back. Over his face bones was stretched, none too generously, a coarse, ruddy skin. The forehead was obscured by a veil of straight, sandy hair surmount- ed by tufts of the same standing at attention across the top of his head. At the sound of his name two gray-green eyes came out of their hiding place and began to shine. A grin spread from one ear to the other and was held in place by several stubby, sparsely placed teeth. This was Karl. Karl was a problem at first and remained a problem all year. I don ' t believe he was ever disciplined in my classroom. I could find him anywhere but in his desk. I could hear him from the moment he entered the room until he departed. After one particularly hectic day for both Karl and me, he slipped his hand into mine and in that thunderous voice of his said Geeze, you is nice, Miz Hamilton . Karl had won me; he could now commit any misdemeanour. Karl reminded me of Pinnochio, the same disjointed little frame with every limb hanging a different way. His hands and feet acted as though they had had a difference of opinion and even his eyes had joined in the argu- ment. In his hands a pencil could do extraordinary things — but not printing. His printing never became legible. In spite of his muscular handicap he learned to read quite well. To watch Karl read was an ordeal. He stood rigid, gripping a ten-page book as though for support and shouted the words until the radiators rattled. Although Karl could not transcribe his ideas, he learned everything I taught him. Poor Karl ' s quick mind was hampered by a very short concentration span. Every morning he would stamp his way to my desk with his galoshes (or someone else ' s) on the wrong feet, his trouser buttons undone, and a yard of scarf trailing behind him. His apparel was baggy at the knees and saggy at the coat pockets. A perennial drop hung from his nose. He would dig deep in his pockets to unearth a key, four or five beebees, some gum wrappers, and lastly, for me, a life-saver discolored with pocket dust and recognizable only by its hole. Once it was a bubble gum ball, well marked by teeth. Often it was a magazine picture folded so many ways that its subject was indiscernible. 12

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LAKEHEAD TECHNICAL INSTITUTE YEAR BOOK SIBLEY ' S SECRET — Continued When the Sioux saw that physical force could not break down the resist- ance of the Ojibways, they planned to send their scout, Dark Sky, into the Ojibway camp, dressed as an Ojibway brave. Dark Sky, a crafty Indian, soon learned the location of the mine. He immediately went to it to get some samples of the silver to give to his chief to prove that he had completed his mission. The Sioux scout was still some distance from his home camp when the Spirit of the Night spread out his wings and enshrouded the world in dark- ness. Because the night was so dark and there was no moon, Dark Sky de- cided to spend the night in the woods. He made camp on the shore of Kitci Garni where he lit a small fire to ward off any lurking evil spirits. The fire had only been going a short time when two white-men entered Dark Sky ' s camp in the hope of finding one of their friends. They exchanged greetings with Dark Sky and, disappointed, were about to move on to make camp for themselves when one of the traders noticed a piece of silver sparkling in the firelight. The one trader whispered to the other of his discovery and they agreed on a plan to find out where the silver came from. Dark Sky was given a generous amount of firewater that night and in the morning he was easily persuaded to show the traders the way to the mine. They set off, Dark Sky paddling his own canoe, and the two white-men shar- ing one. The Sun-god, Gisis, slowly followed his heavenly path toward the pine 1 - clad western hills, behind which he would come to rest. The lake was calm and it seemed to the traders as if it were going to be a pleasant as well as a profitable trip. But, just as they came in sight of the island where the sil- ver was, a storm broke with all the fury of a madman. The wind lashed the water into huge waves capped with froth. The sky became dark, and the God of Thunder spoke in a terrible voice and large forks of lightning were driven into the lake. The trader ' s canoe was soon overturned by one of the angry waves. Its frightened occupants perished in the icy lake. Dark Sky fared better than his followers. For a time it seemed as if some guiding spirit were watching over him and that he would come through the ordeal unharmed. But, just as the storm was abating, he was struck by light- ning. The shock was so great that he completely lost his senses and never re- gained them. The next morning an Ojibway brave, on his way to the mine, was sur- prised to see, where once was the wide opening of the bay, the sleeping figure of a huge man. Yes ! The great spirit ' s warning had been fulfilled. Kitci Manitou had been turned to stone and had become the Sleeping Giant of Thunder Bay. M.G. 11

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LAKEHEAD TECHNICAL INSTITUTE YEAR BOOK KARL — Continued At least once a day Karl made me laugh. Just listening to his deep rum- bling giggle interspersed with husky staccato statements as he conversed with the others brought a twinkle into the bluest of Mondays. I discovered once during the singing of God sees the little sparrow fall that Karl thought the second line was Its meat was tender, too, Karl could be relied upon to misinterpret many ideas. He was quick and very eager to expound his theories. One day, as he stood beside me reading, he nudged my bosom with his elbow and informed me confidentially that his mother had some of those, too. Karl was a bully and a coward. His victims were the kindergarten children. I assigned to him the very important job of holding open the door for the kindergarten class and then following behind to see that no one both- ered them. No royalty guarded by squadrons of policemen were better look- ed after than those youngsters protected by Karl. Later I worried about Karl. True, I knew he could go downstairs like the others now; that he had learned to use his handkerchief, but what else had he learned? Was it enough to overcome his poor homelife and to lead him to a glimpse of a better life? These questions troubled me as I watched him shuffle out on the last day of school. He turned and smiled and disap- peared down the stairs. When a student receives his graduation certificate from the Lakehead Technical Institute, many doors of opportunity are opened to him. The staff and students at the Institute follow with interest the achievements of the alumni. Below is a list of the graduates of the second and third sessions, and where they are this year. — E. H. ALUMNI CLASS OF ' 49 Technical Mining Maurice W. Murtack Walter Kostantin Arvo Hannula Alberta Nisto Mines, Saskatchewan Hard Rock Gold Mines, Geraldton Technical Forestry Thomas Inglis Black-Hanson Co., Port Arthur 13