Pelham Continuation School - Pelham Pnyx (Fenwick, Ontario Canada)

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THE PELHAM PNYX 37 BIRD'S EYE VIEW OF AEROPLANES By Joyce Gordon, GRADE IX ONE SUNNY summer morning, if you had been paying any particular at- tention at all to the bird activities in the old orchard, you would have seen Mr. Carrier Pigeon, the rural mailman, reluctantly stopping at every single nest on the route to deliver an important looking blue envelope. Well, seeing you apparently weren't looking at that particular moment, I will let you in on what those important looking blue envelopes contained. First of all there was an important looking blue card on which was neat- ly printed: ALL MEMBERS OF THE ORCHARD LADIES' AID ARE CORDIALLY INVITED TO COME AND BRING THEIR FAMILIES TO A SPECIAL MEETING RoR THE DISCUSSION or AERGPLANES, AT THE NEST OF MRS. JUDGE CHRISTOPHER ROBIN, AT 1:50 P.M. Well, that alone was enough to bring scores of bird folk, but another little notice below which read: HREFRESHMENTS WILL BE SERVEDH seemed to settle the matter, and everyone planned to come. Jenny Wren took a bath in Eau de Feather, and Sally Swallow, another gay belle, smothered herself in Cherry Blossom Powder. Grandmother Sparrow and all the English Sparrow Clan piled into the old flock formation and sailed over to the old apple tree, the home of Mrs. Robin. When the sparrows go any place they chatter so much that the noise tells everyone when to come. As a result the birds soon arrived by the tens and dozens. ' Mrs. Robin opened the meeting, and after a few minor details, moved that the rest of the meeting be set aside for the discussion of aeroplanes. Sat- ah Martin seconded it, and at once the juniors all broke out into a wave of conversation but were soon pounced on by their elders, and the tree was quiet once more. judge Christopher Tobias Robin, began Chrysanthemum Canary, I would like you to state your opinion on the various collections of flying ap- paratus known to the human race as aeroplanes. The Judge wiped his spectacles thoughtfully and tried to hide a smile, for Mrs. Canary greatly amused him by het flowery phrases. Finally he spoke, Well, Mrs. Canary, I think that it is just another of those foolish human inventions to try and copy some other creatures' original ideas. Well, gasped Jenny Wren, jumping up with such violence that it knock- ed her bonnet off, It seems to me that those men-things are always copying every peaceful, law-abiding creatures' notions. How would they like it if we carried their homes off for science classes, and put nests on wheels and went crashing all over the place? After that violent speech, Jenny fell back exhausted into the appreciative arms of Ned Kildeer who fanned her understandingly. Then up spoke Grandmother Sparrow, The things those men make are only some fool's conception. Those aeroplanes are great, big bulky affairs with a lot of useless gadgets that make a great noise. The whole outfit is the most clumsy affair I've seen in a long time, and believe you me, I've seen a lot of things in my time. All of a sudden Sammyjay broke loose from parental moorings and screech- ed When do we eat? Then all the minors asserted themselves in that respect and confusion reigned. Mrs. Robin wisely said, I think we had better follow Sammy's sug- gestion, as we are all tired of the discussion, so if you'll all just go over to the stone wall, you will find a picnic supper all ready for you.

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36 Tl-IE. PELHAM PNYX ON GRADE IX NAMES By Lilly Kinach, GRADE IX MINOR Brown rode over the Hill into the Dell. He soon came to some Brooks where the bridge was caved in over a small branch ofthe Fraser River. He thought that he could cross as the water was not deep, but as this was the thirteenth day ofjune, an unlucky day, he got stuck. Let's hire a Hague and she will pull us out, said Junior Brown. The Hague was procured but she was too weak to pull, but she gave some good advice, A Tokar can eas- ily be obtained! Minor Brown phoned HeinriCh's Garage from Staley's home. The Tokar soon arrived but with much diHiculty the car could not be pulled out. The Leppert driver began to cuss, Mosley me, this car weighs a Morton, I cannot pull her out. Junior Brown began to cry, But you'll have to for I Whan a go home. As it was getting dark a Lampman was fetched to light the way and soon pulled the car to dry land. Brown paid the full sum CFulsomD and said, You are a Weller and not an Ulman by helping me out so much. And the Leppert replied, And you, my good man, are not a Misener but a Goss by being so generous as to give me a tip. Minor Brown and Junior thanked the Leppert and went on their way. They neared the village where they lived and soon rode beneath the Bauer, which was the entrance to the estate. As soon as they stepped down from the mud covered Car they made ll dash for the pantry. They were very hungry and quickly ate some Burnham, Crowe Pie and other Bradley Specials. Minor Brown cleaned the mess up with a Bissell sweeper and Junior began to play with a Shaughnessy Dahl which he called Gordon. ,fl-7,7 aifmf f,r .gs .ii pm L 'Qs Qu fenfaefr X, 'hell -'7 A W R TJ . X Z 4 5 ' iq. 5 KEJEIVIB LAIWEIP

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38 THE PELI-IAM PNYX Strangely enough, everybody heard her in spite of the noise, and began a mad dash to see who would get there first. I think that to omit the following events would be of better taste, and I will close by quoting some of Judge Robin's remarks at the feast. As long as these aeroplanes are not as good fliers as we are, why worry, they are cer- tainly not giving us any competition. This speech was followed by unanimous cheers from young and old alike as they dispersed to their nests. EARLY SCHOOLS OF ONTARIO Ev Bob Brooks, GRADE ix WHO XVERE the founders of these 'Early Schools? Little do we realize as we sit in our comfortable school-room that one hundred years ago child- ren had to walk many miles to get to school. They would kiss their parents good-bye and wander off, not returning home till evening. After the War of Independence, many people from Pennsylvania and New York State wanted to remain loyal to the British crown. Little did they realize the hardships ahead. They left money, beautiful homes, and wander- ed off, with a few belongings to a new country. Many settled in Ontario, along the St. Lawrence River and the Maritime Provinces. These loyalists were not the only new people in our land. There were many from Ireland, Scotland and Wales and they wanted some schooling for their children. For schoolmasters many men from the Napoleonic Vylars came over. They were very cruel and for every little thing they would whip the children. The parents didn't like these men, but many of our famous Canadian men were educated in these schools. At first there were only the private schools attended by the richer child- ren. There were all sizes and it was very noisy. The Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church wanted to help the people receive education, so many attended these Church Schools. While in the villages, private schools were established, sometimes by a crippled soldier unable to do the heavy work of chopping, sometimes by a widow or spinster needing the shilling a week for each pupil, sometimes and very often, in the remote farmsteads, especially if the parents were not serious-minded, the children had little chance of being other than illiterate little savages. In 1804 five magistrates of the County of Glengarry, together with John Bethune, a Presbyterian minister, and five of the elders of his congregation, sent a petition to parliament urging that the government should establish common schools. This petition was denied by a majority of two, but the popular demand became so great that soon after the War of 1817. was ended, it became too strong to resist. In IS16 the government approved the principle and provided f6ooo to be paid as grants in aid of primary schools. By this law the residents of any community might build a school if there were twenty children of school age in the neighbourhood, and might elect three trustees with power to engage a teacher and manage the business of the school. The first schools were made of logs hewn on two sides. The cracks were chinked and filled with plaster. There were few text books and every child had a slate and pencil. Paper was very scarce. The common school system as first set up was not a success, either in point of architecture or management, so that ways and means were sought for improvement.