Lisgar Collegiate Institute - Vox Lycei Yearbook (Ottawa, Ontario Canada)

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VOX LYCEI 37 On board everybody was rushing and bustling. Passengers were hurriedly packing last-minute boxes. Stewards were preparing for landing. London was in sight. After an exciting time waiting for the ship to dock, we said good-bye to it, and were on our way to Fenchurch Station, London. On arriving at Fenchurch Station, having sufficient time, we decided to walk to Vtfaterloo Station in order to see something of the city. This was my first sight of London: London with its noisy and numerous busses, crowds of bustling people, modern stores and tea rooms, picture houses and theatresg and then the other London, the London of historical days with its famous Parliament Buildings, its Tower, its Bridge, St. Paul's Cathedral and XYestminster Abbey. At Waterloo Station, we took a train for Bournemouth, a town on the South coast of England. Owing to the crowd, we had to take an end coach. We then travelled steadily for three long hours. I thought the train rather rocky, but did not mind it very much. About 9 p.m. we finally reached our destination, after what had seemed to me to be an endless! journey. From the station. we were: whisked home in an automobile which was driven 'round street cars and stopped at nothing. In England they have very few traffic regulations. As this was my first experience of English travelling, I thought to myself that it might be very good. but that I would have to get used to it before I could enjoy it. Vlfell, I did eventually get used to driving without traffic regulations and from Bournemouth took many motor trips. the most enjovable ones being in spring time. The soft note of the cuckoo is the first herald of an English Spring. Blue- bells and primroses, covering the low hills and valleys like a carpet, are the next arrivals. Daffodils grow wild by the roadside. In more cultivated parts rhodo- dendrons in great profusion present a mass of scarlets, whites, mauves, and pinks. In sheltered places, deep purple and white violets give out a fascinating perfume. In summer, the children fiock to the sea-front and play in the foaming breakers and on the sandy beach. ,In autunm, mauve and white heather and yellow gorse cover that wild open space known in England as 'the moors.' The leaves on the trees change from green to bright yellows and scarlets. Then winter comes with its foggy and rainy days. Qccasionally snow falls and in the northern parts small rivers freeze over. This is a big event for the school children who get out their skates and have a 'great time.' Unfortunately, the ice does not last very long. ' Winter is the time when the manufacturing cities, such as Sheffield and Leeds, seem particularly dirty and dreary. The cold, damp, sticky fog clings to everything and leaves behind a trail of dirt and soot. XVhen a fog is particularly heavy it is impossible to see the light from the street lamps. In this season the fire-place-the only heating apparatus of most English homes-is most appre- ciated. Members of the family cluster 'round these fire-places with their faces burning and their backs freezing. So the winter passes and spring comes once more. But the English get hardened to their winters and though they do not like the rain and fog, they take them philosophically. One cannot forget the scenery of England. It is beautiful. It vividly recalled to my mind Rudyard Kipling's poem, The Glory of the Gardenf' in which he pictures the beauty and order of the English countryside: l Our England is a garden that is full of stately views. Of borders, beds and shrubberies and lawns and avenues, With statues on the terraces and peacocks strutting byg But the Glory of the Garden lies in more than meets the eye. CHRISSIE HANBY-I-E.

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36 VOX LYCEI head, showing over an intervening wave. The remainder of my watch is a painful memory I would rather overlook, as I began to feel a bit queer, and ceased to take an active interest in my surroundings. The sea was so violent, that the ship was obliged to slow down to six knots, and our speed through the water was barely three knots. Meals became very sketchy affairs, attended only by a few hardy souls. I had lost all interest in meals until supper, when, fortified by an afternoons siesta on the iron deck, I partook of a few sea biscuits and some cold ham. Dishes seemed to have sud- denly been imbued with life and had to be watched very closely to prevent brcakages, which would call down upon one the just wrath of one's shipmates. The washing up afterward was performed under the greatest difficulties, and was a triumph in the art of balance. That night was the worst of the storm: the wind was like the howling of a thousand demons. and blew the spray up into my face with great force-like shot thrown into it. My sea-sickness had left me, and I began to enjoy the grandeur and power of the storm, which was now at its height. At times the wind would drop to a calm, and then, seemingly, would blow with increased force. During one of these periods. a ball of St, Elmo's Fire, a curious manifestation of static electricity, perched on the mast-head for a moment and then vanished. This at one time was regarded with superstitious awe by sailors. Farly in the morning, a stupendous sea struck the ship, and the mast snapped off at the maintop, crashing down in a tangle of writhing stays and aerial wires. At each roll of the ship the mast swung around in a huge arc from its stump, a veritable scythe of destruction, threatening to wreck the bridge and the wireless cabin. The pipe of the bo'sun's mate shrilled out. Clear lower deck! All hand muster on the bridge! The watch came tumb- ling up from below in various stages of dress, wiping the sleep from their eyes and scrambling up to the bridge. Then began the dangerous task of securing the whipping mass of destructive wreckage. A half hour of terrific effort and we succeeded in lashing it safely down. The aerial was a hopeless tangle. I swarmed up the stump of the mast and rigged a temporary aerial. From my precarious perch it seemed as though I would be dipped under the water at each roll. - Early on the following morning we passed the Straits of Gibraltar. leaving the storm behind. H. Carstens, IIIA. lfwtfz a Lisgar Girl in England Land! At last after an uneventful voyage across the Atlantic, through the drizzly fog of a typical English rainy day could be seen the green cliffs of Land's End, visible a short time after passing Eddystone lighthouse. VVe continued sailing parallel with the South coast of England. Toward evening, lighthouses, one after the other along the coast, flashed out their messages of warning. At daybreak the next morning, the white cliffs of Dover with the sun streaming down on them, presented a beautiful sight. As we sailed along. these cliffs gradually lessened in height until they were very low. Groups of farm houses and cottages with whitewashed walls and thatched roofs dotted the landscape. During the afternoon of the following day, the mouthgiof the River Thames was reached. At Gravesend on the Thames, we saw several battleships and the Government dockyards. Farther on the river narrowed and the busy traffic of ships passing up and down announced the fact that we were nearing London.

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38 V O X L Y C E I lfwilz a Member of the Staff in Holland' To the tourist who has been privileged to travel through Switzerland, gaze in wondering admiration at Mount lllanc, Mount Pilatus and the hlungfrau, Holland may seem at first strangely flat and uninteresting. However, this sensation soon passes, for Holland has a fascination, a picturesqueness, distinct from that of any other European country. It was during the summer. of 1928. when Amsterdam was getting ready for the Olympic Games, that we had the pleasure of visiting the country. Flags of every nation waved merrily in the breeze-the city was cn fifvf' Trade, carried on with the East India Company, has made Amsterdam a city of wealth and importance. It is the seat of the diamond trade of the world. Here diamonds from Africa are cut, polished and set. But there is another side to Amsterdam, it was the home of Rembrandt. Here we see his most famous painting, Anatomy, and many other treasures. The Hague has a population of four hundred thousand, and is the capital of the Netherlands. The royal palace, called the House in the XVood, has a very plain exterior, but the inside is very beautiful. China and Japan have each furnished a room in it and seemed to vie with each other in the splendour of ornamentation. The chandelier in the Japanese room is composed of cups and saucers of the finest. most transparent porcelain. The walls of the Chinese room are beautifully adorned with birds, painted on rice paper, but their plumage is real. The art gallery has been decorated, both ceiling and walls, by famous artists. There are chairs of tortoise shell and brass, tables of ebony and a clock presented by Napoleon I., which indicates the day, month and year as well as the time. The library contains one million volumes, But the distinctive feature of Holland is that wonderful network of canals, through which the commerce of the country is distributed. In Amsterdam alone there are four hundred canals and eighty bridges. The cleanliness of Holland is proverbial, but the industry and resourcefulness of the Dutch people is equally noteworthy. A great deal of the line agricultural land on which the cattle graze, making Holland a famous dairy producer, has been reclaimed from the sea. Dykes keep back the encroaching ocean and windmills also check its ravages. lYhat the automobile is to America, the bicycle is to Holland. On a fine day one may see hundreds upon hundreds of young people travelling alongside the canals on their bicycles, taking an outing. D. A. 3lacKAY, M. A. Wav, .-,nf 4 R' ' , I X ' rr, ' . r-l i ' --' if g-I E l J f ' E .J. Q lv -1 4 Xu f M E X g Y . ill .nxn iff X T E .1 ty- im'-' till M M 5 I .1 Eiiigsggqegmx macoww ff Y ,viii E i i ' B-my- 1 -X l J' E 4 , ' s g iwwllllll ll E fiererrrrrf r r ss f ff 23,3 -