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

Page 64 text:

THE PELHAM PNYX 45 ufacture of sulphuric acid by the contact process. Platinum or, better, iridium- platinum alloy is the most suitable anode material for electrolysis of all kinds. It is used extensively for some surgical instruments, such as needles, for it can be sterilized easily. Canada is the leading country to-day in the production of platinum. It was first found in Russia but its supply is not as great as Canada's now. Colombia in South America also produces some platinum. COMMERCIAL XI N E-15 -f Seated Cleft to rightl -Annie Dalybozyk, Dorothy Martyn, Evelyn Kelly, Doris Dalybozyk, Annabel Hicks, Marjorie Berg. Standing-George Misener, William Peacock, Edward Guinn. OUR NEW COMMERCIAL DEPARTMENT By Doris Dalybozyk Qurre A change has taken place in our Commercial Department. Pre- viously, as you may remember, the balcony was open with a railing along the side which kept the students from falling over with a typewriter. This year an addition has been built out over the gymnasium, and a wall with three windows has been erected making it a proper room. What a relief! Now we can have all the space we want. Last year's classes were so cramped for room they could hardly move. Nobody has to worry about the typewriters falling over the ledge and as a result killing some- body below. The members of the School Board have had cupboards built in which to place them. The lighting system has been improved a great deal. If you can recall your public school days, you can probably remember that we are supposed to read with the light over our left shoulders, Well, we have that system up in the Commercial Department now. May we extend our warm thanks to the members of the School Board for their efforts in having the improvements made.

Page 63 text:

44 THE PELI-IAM PNYX We were then taken into a room which had a large maplike affair on the table showing Fort Erie and the vicinity as it was in 1811. In this room, the guard told us how Colonel Bradstreet had selected a certain site on which to build Old Fort Erie so that the men could be taken in a ship to relieve Fort Detroit where there was fierce fighting with the fierce Indians. One noted visitor at Old Fort Erie was Pontiac, an Indian chief, and he was well received for he was on his way to Oswego to a council meeting. In 1811 war was declared between Canada and the United States. The States thought that Canada would easily be conquered and on july 3rd, 1814, forty-five hundred Americans under Major-General Jacob Brown attacked Fort Erie, which had a garrison of one hundred and seventy men, so General Buck, the British commander, surrendered. The British, on August Isth, attacked Fort Erie. There were three columns of soldiers-two failed, but the third, under Colonel Drummond with 7oo men, led his force against the north-west demi-bastion with scaling ladders. They swarmed over the parapets and turned the guns against the Fort. The powder magazine under the bastion suddenly exploded blowing men to tre- mendous heights. The rest of the attackers were hurled from the parapets and as best they could, returned to the British lines. From here the Americans marched on Lundy's Lane, where they were met by the Canadians, who fought so valiantly that the Americans retreated. This was called a drawn battle. The Americans had now found that there was no use in keeping Old Fort Erie so they deserted it and returned to their own country. The museum was the next place that was shown to us. In one room there was a collection of Sir Henry Pellatt's photos of Regiments. In other rooms there were relics of all kinds-buttons of different regiments taken from the soldier's coats, a sword handle of Colonel Drummond which had a head of a lion engraved on it. On the upper floor there were swords, pikes, spears and guns of all kinds, armour, old hats, arrow heads, and metals of different makes. The floors of the Fort have no nails in them but are all pegged down and most of the relics that are in the museum are the ones found when rebuild- ing the fort. To leave the grounds of the Fort we passed through the Sally-porte and crossed the trestle bridge to the south-west bastion. In this place there are small holes for the sharp shooters to fire from. When we passed out of the gates of Old Fort Erie we thought that we had spent a very memorable day. PLATINUM By June Misener, GRADE ix PLATINUM was probably known in its impure state from early times, but because of its physical properties and especially its high melting point it was impossible to work it by any of the arts then known, and it therefore remained as an unnamed substance. About the middle of the eighteenth century it was introduced into Europe in small quantities and attracted the notice of various chemists. The chemists found that it was infusible in the highest temperature of the furnace. Plat- inum was melted in 1758 in the focus of a powerful burning glass. Platinum in the massive form is a greyish-white metal. When pure it is a white metal and is very soft, therefore for certain purposes it must be alloyed. It alloys very easily with metals of its own kind which are palladium, rhod- ium, ruthenium, osmium and iridium, and likewise with gold, silver and lead. Platinum is used in the laboratory. It is the best catalyst for the man-

Page 65 text:

46 THE PELHAIVI PNYX ESSENTIALS FOR COMMERCIAL STUDENTS 1111 Annie Dalybozyk Miss Edwards, who was a' student of the Northern Vocational School in Toronto, is the winner of a contest sponsored by the Underwood Typewriter Company. This contest was to take the form of an essay, giving a descrip- tion of the attainments of an efficient secretary. She has given us a very good account of what a thorough and efiicient secretary should be. As students of the Commercial class, it should be our aim, if we wish to become of value to a business oflice, to strive for all those essentials which Miss Edwards gives us in her essay. We print the essay that it may be a guid- ing light for every past, present, and future commercial student: Neat, accurate work, quickly and efiiciently completed, is undoubtedly essential in the making of a good secretary, but aniemployer looks for more than this when selecting an assistant. A young man or woman neatly and tastefully attired, with clothes brushed and pressed, shoes shined and hair tidily arranged, will: attract the attention and admiration of an employer and his clients and is an asset to any office. In choosing a secretary, the prospective employer looks for one who is not content merely to carry out his duties in a machine-like manner, but who endeavours to make each piece of work an improvement over the last-al- ways striving to get ahead. The secretary who has a definite interest in her work, who is anxious to please her employer and assist him to the best of her ability in all matters pertaining to the business, who uses initiative in the execution of her duties and is self-confident and tactful when dealing with clients and ofiice assoc- iates, has accomplished a great deal towards making a success of her position. The conscientious worker who does every assignment, no matter how small or unimportant it may seem, with the same thoroughness and care she would give to work of the greatest importance, has achieved one of the chief requisites of the model tecretary. Trustworthiness is appreciated highly by any employer. The secretary who can intelligently discuss the business of the firm with her superiors and yet who will not carry confidences out of the office to her friends and relatives, will win tl'e -greatest esteem and is always eligible for promotion ' By no nieans the least important item in the make-up of the good sec- retary is a sense of humour and a pleasant disposition. THE RISE OF BANKING By Edward Guinn .Q , n , K The bank as we know it to-day is a fairly new institution, but that prin- ciple of business for which it stands, that is, the taking of interest for money loaned, can be traced back to antiquity. About gooo B. c. the temple served as the bank of a community and it was not until about Goo ra. c. that private individuals began to set up in op- position to the temple. It is interesting to note the origin of the money chang- ers of ancient Athens. Many and varied systems of coinage existed in the old barbarian world. It is needless to say that great confusion arose when a man of one country tried to transact a business deal with a man of another. They had no way of knowing when they had arrived at a fair adjustment. Thus, men set up in the business of selling foreign coins to travellers. The money changers charged a commission in order to make a living. This was only