Malvern Collegiate Institute - Muse Yearbook (Toronto, Ontario Canada)

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'THE MUSE' - In flight on Imperial Airways. Air Liner Fity of flozfcntry. Over Tonbridge Q25 miles from Croydenl August 18, 1931. I am writing this at an elevation of 2,000 feet and a speed of 85 miles. The day is sunny: the air clear: the land below an ir- regular patchwork of greens and yellows, dotted with buildings. A stream winds along, as do the lanes and highways between dark green hedges. The sun on our right lights up the objects below, and seated on the left, forward, I have an unobstructed view and watch the shadow of the plane as it races across the fields. Now at 5.35 we are off Dungeness, 60 miles from Croyden. Over the Straits of Dover the view is humdrum: blue sea below. mottled sky above and around. A propeller whirls at my left, another at my right: rather noisy they are. To get this writing paper I walked back to the steward at the rear: the stingy beggar gave me only one sheet. Above in front sit the pilots: through a small pane of glass I can see one as well as the steward who has just taken up to them what looks like refreshment. One of these pilots promised us we should see the German Zeppelin now on its way to London, which is all agog to-day over the expected visit. Look! I can see the French shore 65543. Tiny clouds spot the prospect. A town appears with its river. Boats below look like float- ing midges. A village shows a fan-shaped arrangement of streets. Here the steward brought me a bottle of Canada Dry Ginger Ale f9d.l in which I pledged the country which gives it its name. fI have begged another sheet from the steward who this time has given me two. I retract the word stingyl. In places the French fields below are more freakish in shape than the Sussex farms, so very odd at times. Villages appear, loiter alongside, and drop behind. Many fields are covered with water-a rainy season. Yonder lies a great wooded expanse, what forest I wonder. There a toy train creeps lazily along. For a time we kept the channel on our right but now I cannot see it. Here comes a considerable town in a pleasant valley with a long wind- ing stream, while near by a train tries in vain to race with us. Flooded in sunshine, the land to my left smiles with its myriad tiny fields. This town presents a tangled cluster, like a child's blocks in partial disarray. It is succeeded by a great plain with vari-coloured parquetry. The tall slender trees are casting elongated shadows. A score or so of houses nestle inside a green patch of wood around which spread fields of farm land. Directly below us motor cars creep along a narrow avenue of trees. I look abroad: my glass reveals a great distance to a somewhat hazy horizon. Now rain clouds envelop us but beyond shines the sun, though in a mottled sky. There lies Beauvais, succeeded by an agricultural section where farmers are ploughing with horses tandem. The scene displays the various colours of grain fields. meadow and fallow-land. interspersed with wooded patches and lines of trees. very lovely when i251

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THE MUSE For instance, each year there were far more boys out for the teams than could be carried. Some two-thirds of these eager-eyed battlers would have to be disappointed owing to their lack of size or speed or lack of judgment on the part of the coach land that often happenedi. But each year we noticed that these lads. who had failed to win themselves a place along the line of battle, were still the staunchest supporters of the Malvern teams and the stoutest rooters for the boys who had been fortunate enough to land the uniforms which they had tried so hard to win. On every team there would be a few fellows who only worked into the games for tive minutes here. a few moments there or perhaps a short quarter the following week when one of the regulars was being repaired. Yet these substitutes would be the first out to practice and the last to the shower baths. They were all for the team and often, it turned out. they developed into our finest players. Most positions. especially on the line. had two players to fill them about equally well and it always seemed to me that the snap-back or the inside wing who was on the bench was always the first to stand up and give a hearty Yea when the team mate in his position made a nice tackle or a good plunge. Those sort of things. which were perhaps noticeable to no one else. always made me think that there was more to football than the scoring of points. Associating with such boys would be an inspiration for any man. Their coach is free to admit that he has been helped more than once by the thought The Malvern kids wouldn't think much of me if I did that. Maybe, once or twice. it has worked both ways. I hope so. BY AEROPLANE ACROSS THE ENGLISH CHANNEL C. W. HOI'ffIll HE Imperial Airways operates a regular system of fiights and and publishes a time-table somewhat resembling those of the railways. The traveller must appear at its London ofiice. adjacent to Victoria Station. where he as well as his baggage is weighed. He is conveyed to Croydon aerodrome by bus and there is quickly ushered into the cabin of the waiting aeroplane. The first to enter drop into the nearest seats and I. the last to enter, was obliged to walk up the narrow aisle to the front where I secured a seat on the left, which unexpectedly proved to be the choicest in the cabin. The rumbling of the propellers rose rapidly to a roar: a short run and we left the ground entering at once on that curious sensation of being borne up on elastic supports as we soared onward. The lovely Surrey fields stretched out below. irregular in shape separated by dark green hedges. winding lanes and highways. Soon the vari- colourefl patchwork of Kentish fields succeeded and rapidly passed beneath us. Presently I discovered that it was possible to write with ease and comfort, and this is the letter I wrote home:- l24l

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kgwggggi THE MUSE sudden bright sunlight brightens one side of the trees and casts long dark shadows across the open spaces. Now I count ten villages all in view at one time. pleasant looking places all. That train is dwarfed by the great shadows which it casts. The shadow ot' its smoke wins in a race with those of a long line of Lombardy poplars to reach that winding river. A glance to the west out of our right window reveals haze and dimness but the sunlit View to my left is glorious. As I strain my sight in the endeavour to learn if any cattle other than Holstein. inhabit these iields, the aeroplane lurches but not violently. Is it a gusty wind? But this looks like Le Burget. The propeller slows. The noise decreases. We are descending. Now we are over the town: it comes up to meet us. A burst of speed! Here we are on earth once more. The taxi-ing is rough. This scrawl will be illegible. We cross the circle. rise and fall like a boat at sea. approach the hangars andl VAGABOND .lust a ragged. tattered suit that barely hangs together. But ripening summer fields are lying golden in the sun. And for my bed a hill-top with a soft green carpet The first star for my taper when the pleasant day is done. Not a half-a-dozen coins to jingle in my pockets, But yet as compensation there are moments of delight: That mystic wonder-moment when the dim, blue twilight Is softly overshadowed by the indigo of night. Few are my possessions, but the world is full of beauty: A white beach and the breaking waves with foam-tipped curls, And dawns that come as preludes to the hours of daylight. And tields of flowers that nod and sway like rows of dancing girls. Idle smoke in thin blue wisps from fires I have kindled And little friendly paths that twist and lead you know not where, And owls at night and bats that swoop black-winged in velvet And teasing winds that run their gentle fingers through your hair. I am rich, the earth has set her store of gifts before me. A symphony of beauty. and a pageant of surprise. I choose to be a Vagabond, to tramp foreverg My heart and soul are free, the open road before me lies. -HELEN ORAM. E261