North Toronto Collegiate Institute - Howler Yearbook (Toronto, Ontario Canada)

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Page ,SiL Z't'1lfj F0ll1' AN EX-PUPIL LOOKS AT LONDON, ENGLAND Extracts from a Ictfcr from rlftzrgfarcz' C. D. zll'acKay who left Norflz T07'0IlfL7 in 1932 and has ,vinrc 116001116 a jvriwate secretary in LUIZCTUII, London is a fascinating place. Somehozi' it has a variety that is never stale. Iiach morn- ing I cross the Thames on a bus to my office, 'which is south of the river. The house where I have my digs is quite a piece north of it in a very nice district, and it is a half hour's drive down every morning. There the river lies in the early morning air, still and sleeping. The tide is half in, but a soft grey-blue veil lies over the dark water. It wraps the great bridges and spires and buildings in an enchant- ing mystery, so that they appear like the towers of a fairy city. It rests gently on the still sleep- ing fo 'ms of great barges and small tugs and the t. ll masts of the shipping anchorage along the shore. Then as you watch, it turns grad- ually to silver, and then to gold, as the gleam- ing fmgers of the sun snatch it from its resting place. You may see all this in a glance as you rush across the Battersea Bridge on the top of a large red bus, clinging to your lunch and your library book as the son of Nimshi takes the down-grade without braking, and non- chalantly slips the wheel of his huge chariot between a Shell-Mex oil tanker and a diminu- tive market cart, skids past three workmen on bikes, and draws smoothly up to the curb. And you descend, still grasping lunch and book, from your perch and your view of beauty, and slide expertly through the traffic to the drab grey street leading to a time clock and the daily round. But when that day is over, in part, and you have consumed a hasty lunch, you go and hook your elbows on the Fmbankment parapet, and watch the endless pageant of the river. The tide is full in and everything is busy. Tugs, dozens of tugs. Big tugs, little tugs, tugs of all sizes and shapes plying busily up and down with airs of the greatest importance and en- ergy. No one ever saw a lazy tug. A large tug passes going down river with three empty barges. A tiny little one with the entire rain- THE HOIVLER, 1934 bow in bands round her smoke stack is going up with six vast barges behind. On the off side is another of about the same size. So broad are their combined barges that it is tricky for them to pass under the smaller spans of the bridge abreast. Each tries to beat the other to it. The net result is a tie, and they scrape through together, fortunately without damage. The two barge masters shout at each other at the tops of their voices. Neither one has consumption, so the air is purple. Rainbow bands describes black and white funnel's an- cestors with a keen eye for detail, and an equal attention to the female line. Black and white responds with hair-raising biographies of rain- bow bands, progenitors and progeny unto the third and fourth generation and never once repeats himself. Finally rainbow follows a particularly blistering remark with See you at the Queens 'ead tonight, George ? Yus, you perishin' so-and-so and which-and-what, and if I beat you through Lambeth Bridge it's your turn too! And so they pass. A Dutch cargo boat, gleaming like a yacht in white and green paint,very neat and dignifiedg a battered, dirty coaster, badly in need of paint and repairs, her decks littered with rope and anchor chains, her squat funnels slanted to take the arch of the bridge, comes wallowing up river, very low in the water, but she'll ride high going down again. It is surprising that one never observes a clean coasting steamer. A Norwegein tramp is coming in to take on cargo at one of the great warehouses. Flour or something. Can't quite make out the name on the dock. Her anchor goes away with a great splash and there is much shouting and running to and fro on her decks. Several strings of coal barges are going up river, followed by a small French freighter. A smart sea-going cabin cruiser launch comes tearing down, the flag of the Thames yacht club showing. Somebody going for a trip. About fiveish, you pack up and start for home. If it is later, you see a new aspect of your beloved river. Night. The water is a band of black satin sewn with gold sequins and red. The water is silent, mysterious. Blacker shadows on the blackness, lie the ships tied up for the night. Slipping silently in and out of the bands of coloured light on the surface is a

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THE HOIVLIZR, 1934 long, slim, black shape. The launch of the river police. It has quite a turn of speed con- cealed in its long lines. This little-known body of men prowl up and down the river with a keen nose for smugglers of all sorts. Cocaine, lace, French wines, cigars and what not. Also they are the terror and despair of all criminals who use the river as an highway and a way, sa- VGICIQ lN THIC XVILDIZRNESS fAny teacher with Association ticketsi VVha'll buy my pretty tickets Fresh brought frae the press, 'Tis nae sa much l'm askin', Their wee sma' price I stress. VVha'll buy my bluish tickets, But half-a-buck to males: Think on the old school spirit, Dinna disregard my wails. XVha'll buy my pinkish tickets, At forty sous a femg 'Twill match yere Sunday bonnet And I tell ye 'tis a gem. Come round ye sheiks and gentlemen, Ye coquettes, brutes and flirts, And buy my tickets quick, before They take me out stark nerts. XYilliam Barringer, SD. Y. I G 441 IH A Y 111315 ,Slut'flllbx'-1 1i'Z't' hut not the way of holiness. Of course they're farther down in the Port of London proper, and the great Docks, but one sees them up the river quite often. Fascinating London, with its marvellous gal- leries and museums, its theatres, the finest in the world, its Court and its State functions, its endless pageantry, its never stale variety. t ,,,-, ODIC TO THIQ YICTUIQS The Seniors won- Nor once did dire defeat's degrading sting Find harbour in their ever-tighting hearts, But victory over teams from all the parts Of town, at last fulfilled the words we sing- To N,T.i ntany trophies we will bring. lkith seven wins in just as many starts XX'ith one tie game, inconsequential thing, XYith T'ettit's plunges, 9windon's nimble darts The Seniors won.- To any mountain-man would l'etrie cling. Old Merry fifty yards the hall would fling And fleet-foot Glover make the play look smart 3 So let the chimes of victory loud ringg To every ear the joyous news impart, The Seniors won. Xl'illiam H. Barringer 5-17