London South Collegiate Institute - Oracle Yearbook (London, Ontario Canada)

Page 96 text:

an . ,. rv- if -'14 A Q-.'lv 1 ye Editor-BUS WIDEMAN, V A. A RETROSPIECT By H. B. D1NsMoRE ONDON SOUTH COLLEGIATE ig v opened its doors in September, Q f t 1922, in the old Victoria School . T at Askin and Wharncliffe. Many changes have taken place since then and the ones with which I am most inti- mately acquainted are the changes in our Boys' Athletic programme. The first school team organized was the track team for the three-school track meet which later became a four-school affair when the Sir Adam Beck Collegiate, then the East Collegiate, was organized. South captured the intermediate shield with such stellar athletes as Riddell, Ellyatt, Hadfield, Chapman and Vollick. An excellent showing in the senior and junior was made, and such a wealth of excellent material was developed that the next year South swept the meet, taking all three shields. The second activity in which the boys took part was soccer. They made an auspicious start and took the city group easily. The organization and coaching of this team was undertaken by Mr. John McKellar, now of Jarvis Collegiate, To- ronto. The proof of his ability is shown in the fact that the next year this team went to the finals, losing to Windsor after two very close games. Basketball was started by Mr. Graham, the present principal, and such stalwarts as the Ferguson brothers, Dave McLean, Hadfield, Vollick, Ellyatt, Chapman and SOUTH C. I. others carried the school colours to many stirring victories. Hockey was also an interesting sport during that winter, and the chief players were Ted Johnston. Bus. lVIcLeod, Had- field, Ellyatt. Appleyard, Baker, Gordon, Riddell. This was the start, but the progress continued to such an extent that in 1924- 25 we had our great year in Athletics. Our soccer team lost to Walkerville in twenty minutes overtime by one goal. This aggregation, made up of such great players as Haysom, George, Sinclair, Mc- Eachren, Campbell, Mennill, Dale, Riddell, Norris. Screaton, put up a magnificent game and were very unfortunate to lose. Their spirits were not dampened in any way by this reverse, and they showed their ability to stage a comeback the next year when they won the senior track meet. Riddell won the senior individual, and his efforts, coupled with those of Norris, Mc- Eachren, Franks, George, Franklin, For- sythe, Haysom, Sinclair, swept the team to a magnificent victory. At this point I would like to pay indi- vidual tribute to Allan Riddell. He was, in my mind, the greatest all-round athlete we have had in our school. He was a star track athlete and soccer player. He played a good game of hockey and basket- ball. He also showed himself to advan- tage in rugby after he went to Western. To him I say, Yea! Riddell! In every page sixty-seven

Page 95 text:

Island, north of Bafhn Land, for the pur- pose of protecting them from the menace of the Greenland Eskimos. The Eskimos' main source of income in derived from the barter of the white or Arctic fox, which they catch in steel traps, and trade to the Hudson's Bay Company for flour, rifles, and ammunition. Every year, there is a huge antelope trek across from Victoria Island to the mainland, in the vicinity of the north magnetic pole. Many offthese are killed and eaten by the Eskimos. The Walrus is valuable for its tusks, which furnish very fine ivory for spear tips and other hunting equipment. The whale is useful for its blubber. ambergris and whalebone tbaleenl, of which the latter is used for making sleds, snowshoes, etc. The smallest mammal in the Canadian Arctic is the lem- ming, a rodent not unlike our rat. Bird life is quite varied and abundant. The nesting grounds of the Blue Goose, in Baffin Land. were just recently discovered. The tinker,!' or Razor-billed Auk, which resembles a small duck, is exceedinly com- mon, flocks of them sometimes covering a whole island. The natives have a very ingenious method of killing birds for food. A piece of thin wholebone is bent into a tight spring, held in position by sinews. This they embed in a piece of fat, which they leave out for the birds, who readily eat it on account of the scarcity of other food. In the process of digestion the sinew is dissolved, allowing the spring of Whale- bone to uncoil and spear the bird. Another method of taking birds is to use an ivory- tipped double-barbed lance, which the Eskimos hurl with remarkable rapidity. In season, cod are very plentiful. As a matter of fact if, at this time, the Eskimo drops a four-pronged hook into a school of them, he has no difficulty in catching them Without any bait whatever. He also dries a large quantity of haddock for winter use. Arctic char, similar to our salmon trout, is the Eskimo's staple food. However, certain features of Eskimo life in the north deserve special mention. The Eskimos are nomadic hunters, following the game, Which, although abundant, is widely scattered from place to place. They have no regular meal times, but eat When- ever they feel the need. Some of their favourite delicacies are berries, which they find in the fall, and birds' eggs, which are stored in the mud till used. As regards adaptation to environment, the Eskimo is, in reality, superior to us, who claim to have the better civilization. page sixty-six THE ORACLE

Page 97 text:

activity I found him a great athlete and a gentleman. What more can be said than that? Great changes followed this era of track and soccer activity. They both de- clined, and for a time we found ourselves in very poor circumstances athletically. From 1926 to 1929 our place in the win column was very small. We were only kept from complete eclipse by Don Rivers, the great school-boy sprinter who came to us from St. John, N. B., and Art. Car- ruthers of Melbourne. a star half-miler. Rivers' greatest effort was at Acton on July 1, 1929, when- he won the 100-yard dash in 945 seconds. beating two great men, Miller of Hamilton and Smallcombe of Toronto. These two were followed by Maurice Shore, who was an expert hurdler and who kept our heads above the level for two or three years with some magni- ficent performances. In 1929, rugby displaced soccer, and the four-school track meet was dropped. Our rugby teams of that year were with- out experience of any kind, but they made up for this deficiency by a determination to do their very best at all times. Success has crowned their efforts to such an ex- tent that the Seniors have won the city group in 1930 and 1932 and the Juniors in 1931, 1932, 1933. These teams have developed some great players, such as Bill Rivers, Ron. McCallum, George McVicar, Harm. Westland, Art McKenzie, and many others. The present teams, both of which are doing their part to carry on the standard of sportsmanship and gen- tlemanly conduct which was raised for them when Thames Park was little better than a pasture and the dressing-room an old shack over in the corner of the field from which the words echo even to this day, Last out, lock up. The other sports, hockey and basketball, went through the same periods of success and defeat as the ones mentioned. From 1923 to 1930 the boys did not have much success in their basketball. The coming of Mr. Freeman changed all this, with the result that during the past four years they have won the city group once and have never finished lower than second. This is a record of which to be proud, and one for future teams to keep before them. Hockey has always been at a disadvan- tage. The lack of natural ice has been a page sixty-eight great drawback, and the Arena is too ex- pensive for our financial condition. As a result, teams have had to go without much-needed practice, and players have not developed as they otherwise would. In spite of all these hindrances some excellent players have played on our teams, such as Getliffe, McCallum, Mc- Kenzie, Dobbyn, Milne, Smith, Ready, Coleman and Dawkins. All our teams have played their games with the same sportsmanlike manner and have given us the best they had. In con- clusion, I would like to mention several boys who were outstanding in our athletics and who have passed on to their last great reward. Eric Chapman and Reg. Apple- 1932, on Lake Huron, were on the first teams we had in the school. Ken Burgess was killed three years ago as a result of an airplane accident, and Oliver Miller lost his life in an automobile accident. These four boys were instrumental in our success and did their part to set the high ideals which others are carrying on. We oder our heartfelt sympathy to their families, and hope that their example of gentlemanly conduct on the playing field will be an incentive for those who are the athletes of today and tomorrow. And when the one Great Scorer comes To write against your name, He counts not that you won or lost, But how you played the game. if it .gi , F -,Qt THE ORACLE