London Normal School - Spectrum Yearbook (London, Ontario Canada)

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Never-to-be-Forgotten Scene DURING my very limited experiences, I have had many interesting and touching scenes stamped on my memory. The most touching one of all occurred in one of our leading boarding houses, while I was on a sight ' seeing tour. This home resembles our exclusive boarding schools which are scattered throughout Canada. It nestles between two high hills. From a distance everything spells peace and prosperity. But wait! When I entered through the heavy brass barred door, a uniformed guard cautiously shut and locked the door behind me. Assuming the indifferent attitude of the bystander, I overheard the following conversation between a visitor and the informer. To see a friend, sir? Your name and his name, please! Glancing down the hall, after they had gone, I noticed that everything fairly glistened from continuous applications of soap and water. The large kitchen was filled with husky men hurrying about preparing meals for the numerous boarders. The chief cook creams the potatoes, intentionally omitting cream and butter. Several men in dark blue overalls carry in pails of foamy milk to be separated. Next to the kitchen is a small, narrow room boasting a hard springless cot. Several gray blankets are folded carefully across it. In the corner there is a washstand and chipped granite basin. The floor is smoothed by the tramping back and forth of the homesick roomer. Several rooms of the same character follow. In each room there is the occupant ' s dress suit, a gaily striped straight jacket, hanging from a nail. To the right is a large theatrical-looking room dec- orated with hand-made Bible pictures. The old, wooden benches are battered from constant use by the worship- pers. Here comes that friend now striding manfully down the hall. How thin and pale he is. Although he tries to smile his eyes are so pitiful to see. He has paid his debt to society but the signs of suffering remain. He hands his dark blue suit to a guard nearby. The G. R. buttons are gone forever. With one last re- pentant look, he bids his past boarding house, — The Guelph Reformatory, — farewell. VERLYN LADD. Form IV. The Lift Bridge WHILE driving some day on Dundas Street in Welland, you may watch the gigantic lift bridge as it stands, obscuring all view from the other side of the canal. The giant siderails cling to the massive frame as if in fear of the great abyss below. The sturdy tile floor stands defying anyone to try to mount it. We are now at the bridge. A horn blows. A freighter is slowly finding its way down the canal. It is the City of Erie. Vast clouds of heavy black smoke pour from the centre funnel. The smoke has been allowed for many years to settle on the ship, so on the whole it has a very dingy, grimy appearance. The dark vessel is now directly beneath the bridge. The pounding of the engines is quite audible. A fine spray is thrown upon the banks from the paddle wheels as they turn laboriously in continuous motion. The ship is past; the shadowy hulk fades away into the distance, leaving an oily path gleaming behind it in the sun. The cables creak as they are pulled downward by a humming electric motor. The wide corridor is beginning to lower. Majestically it seeks its position on the earth and forms once more the means of crossing the canal. Now, the car engines are starting, one by one. Now, they are all running. Horns are echoing as the congested traffic slowly crawls across the crowded bridge. Soon the noise dies down and the excitement is over until another ship chances to pass that way. Often times I think how grand it would be to sit by this magnificent bridge some moonlight night and watch it ascend towards the heavens and descend again, as it obeys the command of every passing ship. LLOYD FLANNIGAN. Form I. Uncle Tom ' s Cabin (As It Stands Today) I CAME finally to the supposedly historical spot and stopping in front of a zigzag fence, my eyes met the most neglected and forsaken scene imaginable. The line of fence was interrupted at one end by a partly- opened gate which had long since neglected its duty of repulsing invaders. Inside the yard, close to the gate, a shabby sycamore tree stood as a sentinel on guard with a sign of warning of prosecution for trespassers. From a bare branch of the tree the stillness of the place was broken by the unpleasant caw of a lone crow. In the space ' tween the fence and the cabin the undisturbed grass and weeds had reached a considerable height, and, I am sure, proved an ideal breeding place for reptiles. No paths leading to the ruins could be traced out. Age had ulcered its way and crept so steadily into every crevice and corner of the cabin that the roof and parts of the walls were present only in the imagination of the observer. Time had robbed the framework of the colour and freshness of its youth. The elements of nature had also played havoc with the interior of the cabin. The rain and snow had hammered and ruptured the walls. The wind had pierced through the weakened structures and had scattered debris about the place. The rafters had long since been food for larvae. In fact, the whole place spoke of utter desertion and no point of connection with the Uncle Tom ' s cabin of the story could be found. One was led to believe that its sole reason for existence was as a haven for unwanted children of Nature. SISTER ISABEL. Form IV.

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LONDON NORMAL SCHOOL MARGARET BANNER 6 St. An ne ' s Place St. Thomas. Ont. ZELMA BATEMAN Strathroy. Ont. EVA BICUM Mull. Ont. ELVA BOB I ER 17 Elgin St. St. Thomas. Ont. CEC1LLE BURNSTINE 440 Giles Blvd.. E. Windsor, Ont. HELEN CARES 17( Penrose St. Sarnia, Ont. MARY CARTER R. R. No St. Thomas. Ont. RUTH CLEMANCE Denfield. Ont. RHEA CLARK Watford. Ont. LOUISE COLLIER London, Ont. MARIAN CREWE Wheatley, Ont. VERA CUNNINGHAM Clandeboye, Ont. MILDRED EATON Hall St. Ingersoll, Ont. RUTH ELVIDGE Princeton. Ont. BARBARA ELSON R. R. No. 7 London, Ont. MADELINE FOX R. R. No. 2 Ridgetown, Ont. BERNICE FRASER R. R. No. 3 Ilderton. Ont. AUDREY FURSE Thamesford, Ont. GRACE GRAHAM R. R. No. 1 St. Thomas, Ont. Page Eleven

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LONDON NORMAL SCHOOL ESTHER W. G. MacMATH JEAN E. MacTAVISH R. R. No. 2 Walkers, Ont. Clinton, Ont. JEAN MacPHERSON R. R. No. 1 Wilton Grove, Ont. CATHERINE McEACHERN 40 Craig St. Alvinston, Ont. RJORIE MARTYN CATHERINE McGUGAN Springfield, Ont. Alvinston, Ont. VIOLA MILLER Merlin, Ont. MARY J. MILLER 785 Felix Ave. Windsor, Ont. JEAN MORRIS Mossley, Ont. JEAN MUNROE R. R. No. 3 Florence, Ont. Page Thirteen