North Bay Collegiate Institute and Vocational School - Northland Echo Yearbook (North Bay, Ontario Canada)

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24 THE NORTHLAND ECHO code of morals is average and they fear ex- tremes of any kind. On the whole they are quiet, shy and harmless. We definitely don't like the owners of the short, sharp, pointed noses. Snobbishness in them is quite apparent. As close friends they are complete failures since they are selfish, in- considerate and spoiled. They get their des- serts however, in that they are not popular and are liked only by other people of their own type. Although we hate to admit it we rather fear the thin crooked-nosed people. They can be so sarcastic when they choose and yet they are to be pitied. Their outlook is so cynical and bitter. Once their hard outer shell is penetrated you find real companionship in them but then few people bother to crack their hard veneer. Yes, there are exceptions to all these dif- ferent classes but are there not always ex- ceptions? They do not detract from the truth of the rule in any way. OF OTH ER DAYS LAURIER Rmour The last rays of the setting sun linger on the Cairn, which the people of Mattawa erected in remembrance of the heroic voyageurs and explorers of the Ottawa, the Mattawa and the West. To the minds of many, I imagine, the four centuries which have passed since Cartier first came and named Canada, seem but a mere shadow fleeting on the dial of by- gone years, an epoch of little interest: but as I gaze on this simple memorial with its bronze plaque in French and English, I see once more a Champlain, skirting the waters of the beautiful Ottawa and Mattawa rivers with a band of primitive, wolf-eyed, and silent Indians in their light but strong canoes. I see the Jesuits preaching to and vainly attempting to civilize the savage Hurons. I see under the arches of the virgin forests, over miles of lakes, rivers, deserts and plains, the conflicts between France and England for the possession of America. I see again those explorers who left the comforts of Old France, crossed the perilous Atlantic, and founded Montreal, Quebec, Ottawa: I see, too, the hardy voyageurs and coureurs-de-bois pushing their explorations farther and farther westward, sowing the seeds of civilization on the banks of rivers as they went, in order to establish a commercial route between Montreal and the Great Lakes. On the spot where the Cairn is built I visualize Champlain stopping to rest. Here also I see the Missionaries wondering whether to turn back or keep on amidst the hardships and privations of the forest. Yet on they go, up the Mattawa River to Lake Nipissing, through the French River to Georgian Bay where the cruel fate of martyrdom awaits them. DESTROYERS FOR BASES A. REPOL, XI B VOC. The idea of sending U. S. destroyers to Britain was only a rumor until on September 3rd, with great suddenness, it became a reality, the most important factor in the vast U. S. rearmament program. The U. S. has acquired at one bold stroke, in exchange for fifty des- troyers, a ninety-nine year lease for U. S. naval and air bases on eight British-owned islands, or island groups from Newfoundland to British Guiana. So enormously will these bases strengthen America's Atlantic defences, so vast are the possibilities now opened up to America tio become dominant in both great oceans, that hardly anyone disputes the value of this transfer. To the U. S. Navy the loss of these overaged and outmodeled little warships was chiefly im- portant as diminishing by 50 the number of ships available for training its younger officers. To Britain these warships were godsent. Britain started with one hundred and eighty- five destroyers, lost 32 by torpedoes, shell fire and bombs and is frantically building new ones. Many have been completed and sent into action since the war began, but all these are by no means enough to run the war at sea. The fifty American destroyers may well turn the tide of battle and sink so many German boats, guns, tanks and soldiers that Hitler will call quits. These destroyers cut down the possibili- ties of any attack on the U. S. and they will do it far from the shores of the U. S. where wars are best won. The aquisition of new Atlantic bases in re- turn for destroyers was a brilliant bargain for the U. S. They put that country in a far stronger Atlantic position and create a whole new strategic picture. Since the U. S. have no advance bases such as they have in the Pacific they were forced to rely on shore bases in the Atlantic. Since the development of long range aviation, advance bases are needed to assure vital centres against attack and to prevent a hostile power from establishing itself near their shores. Essential qualities of a naval base as stated by Admiral Mahan are first, position, second, strength and third resources. These are also the qualities of an air base. How does each base planned, measure up to these standards? Newfoundland is an ideal base for patrol of the North Atlantic and is shrouded by heavy fog. An ideal arrangement would be an ad- vance fleet base on the south coast with Halifax as a main base. The best spot for an air base would be near Botwood where fog is light. A watch could also be kept on the French islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon on the south shore of Newfoundland.