Riverbend School for Girls - Vox Fluminis Yearbook (Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada)

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28 Vox Fluminis smell of new cloth. We saw snow white materials used for hospital supplies, bright plaids for dressing gowns and various other multi-colored materials. On the floor were large bales of wool, sent straight from Australia to the Red Cross branch in Vancouver, whence it was sent to various other branches. Ea-ch bale contained spindles which, in their turn, contained skeins of wool, some of air force blue, some of khaki. But the Red Cross must think of peace too. Accordingly, layettes were being made for babies, whose mothers cannot afford clothes for them. Also, trousers and breeches of the old army uniform were being sent to ex-service men and to men on farms. Lastly came the final shipping pro- cess. We journeyed out to the ramp down which come the freight trucks. There we met Mr. England, who stamps and addresses cases leaving for the front. We watched with interest as he showed us his method of stencilling the addresses on the parcels. All his work was done to the music of the roller skating rink next door. The cases, we learned, were fitted inside with water- proof paper and then packed with fin- ished goods, such as sweaters, rifle mitts and seamen's socks. Twenty cases had already been packed and shipped that day, but there were enough sup- plies to fill forty or fifty more. We had reached the end of our trip, so we left Miss Pritchard and her wil- ling assistants, realizing how futile would be our efforts to explain their wonderful work, but hoping in some way to convey to all the idea that the Red Cross is a splendid organization. DOROTHY KENNEDY, Grade XI, York Hall. .. t..ll1--. AN ELOQUENT WASTE-PAPER BASKET FWE o'cl0ck! The whistles from the factory district of Birmingham warned the city's great business sec- tion that it was closing time. In a short while, the great stores and office build- ings were empty except for the janitors and other cleaners making their eve- ning rounds. The street-cars and sub- ways were crowded with people hurry- ing home to supper. Johnson and Johnson, Insurance, Mortgage, Real Estate -one of the largest office buildings in the whole of Birmingham, was no exception. John- son and Johnson always closed punc- tually at five o'clock and five minutes later not a soul would be left in the building. Then a legion of janitors and chfar women, laden with dust-cloths and brooms, would sally forth, and under their onslaught the dust and scraps of paper, accumulated during the day. would disappear. On the fifth floor, Svenn, the Swedish janitor, plodded wearily down the long corridor with his broom and dust-pan. He hummed softly to himself as he stopped at the corner to pick up the pieces of paper which usually accumu- lated there because of the people who were in too muchof a hurry to see whether they hit the waste-paper bas- ket. Thump! Svenn groaned dis'- gustedly as he saw that he had upset the large waste-paper basket which stood in the corner. He got slowly down on his knees to pick up the ava- lanche of paper which had fallen out on the floor. Then, because he was very tired, he aimlessly sat down in a com- fortable position, leaned against the wall, and proceeded to read the papers, odd scraps on which were written the thoughts of a great many people. On one scrap of pink, slightly per- fumed paper, he read the-se words, I never want to see you again as long as I live. From the letter of some heart- broken stenographer written to her sweetheart with whom she had prob- ably quarreled, mused Svenn. On an- other scrap, a caricature of a fat, pom- pous gentleman, was drawn. It was entitled The Old Man and Svenn saw that it bore a great likeness to the sales manager. The work of an office boy, he thought. Svenn continued his meanderings through the papers. At the bottom of

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Vox Fluminis 27 his feet in first, and slowly began to wriggle his way in. But alas, for Mr. Murray! Once he could have done it, but now, because of his steadily grow- ing middle section, he was hopelessly stuck. Dismay swept over him, but dismay soon turned to glad embarrassment at the appearance of the neighbor's son. After answering numerous questions as to his predicament, he finally impressed upon the lad the need for immediate action. While Mr. Murray inhaled with all his might, the boy pushed. Un- fortunately the entrance to the bank- er's coal-bin was in plain view of the street, and an amused crowd was be- ginning to gather. Just as Mr. Murray inhaled par- ticularly deeply, and the boy pushed particularly hard, who should join the crowd but Miss Annabelle Potter! She was just in time to see the dishevelled form of Mr. Murray disappear through the coal chute, and a few minutes later a sooty head appear to thank the boy. Quickly she hurried on. She must try and intercept John Blake on his way home from work. She could certainly never be seen with that Mr. Murray again. He would be the laughing stock of the town for months after this. Later in the evening Mr. Murray learned of Miss Potter's sudden change of victims, and he relaxed in front of a cheery tire, well satisfied with the events of the day. What if he had ruined a perfectly good suit? What if his shirt could never be worn again? What if he could hardly move from bruises? What, indeed, were all these compared with the fact that he would never be bothered by Miss Annabelle Potter again? Painfully he shifted his position, and relaxed in the happy throes of contented bachelorhood. SHIRLEY RICHARDSON, Grade XI, Garry Hall. A VISIT TO THE HEADQUARTERS OF THE RED CROSS BETTER Health for Better Service Was, we were told, the motto of the Junior Red Cross. That was the first department we visited on our in- spection tour of the Red Cross head- quarters in the Winnipeg Auditorium. Filled with gay posters depicting health rules, it was indeed a cheery office in- to which we stepped. We were greeted by charming Miss Pritchard who wil- lingly accompanied us on our tour. After inspecting the supply room filled with posters and supplies to help the work of the 44,000 Junior Red Cross members of Manitoba, we journeyed on to the assembly room. In this large room were groups of voluntary work- ers, some of whom were weighing, che-cking and assembling scarves, sweaters, socks, etcetera, to be packed and sent overseas. Others were meas- uring bolts of cloth. Then we went on into the repair room where work which has been improp- erly done is rip-ped out and redone. We gazed with horror at a seaman's sock, fifteen inches long in the foot alone! However, we were told cheer- fully that this sad case could soon be remedied. Here, also, labels according to size, small, medium, or large. were being sewn on sweaters. As we crossed the hall, we heard the busy whir of sewing machines from the sewing room. Glancing in, we saw a group of women, busily sewing the cloth into garments. There are fifteen of these groups who assemble each week, afternoon and evening. This day it was the Jewish Hadassah group. They were making pyjamas at the time out of a fascinating blue material. On the way to the next room, Miss Pritchard told us that, although this new headquarters Cthe scene of many a badminton game in years beforel had been used only since January, every- thing was running smoothly, and we could well believe her. The next room, in our opinion, was the most interesting. It was the great store room. Shelves, piled high with materials or finished garments, lined the walls. The air was filled with the

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Vox Fluminis 29 the pile he found a two-day-old news- paper. As he picked it up, a sheet of paper fell from between the leaves. He caught it as it fiuttered to the floor and looked it over. It was a sheet from a memo pad and across it were scrawled some words in a peculiar straggly writing. Johnson unsuspect- ing. Carry on as planned. Cost and account records to be found in Vault Five to the left. Combination XV273. Change 25,000 to 2,500,000. Svenn was a little surprised to see the name of the head of the corporation, J. W. John- son, scrawled on a piece of paper, ap- parently good for nothing more than to be tossed into the waste-paper basket. However, the matter did not interest him particularly. He realized, with a yawn, that he had work to do. Slowly he rose to his feet and began to toss the papers back into the basket. Their next trip was to the furnace. Sf lk Pk if A month later in the London Times. these headlines appeared, HJ. W. John- son, Head of Johnson and Johnson In- corporated, Convicted of Embezzling 552,500,000 Insurance Money of Resi- dents of Birminghamf' NANCY KENNEDY, Grade X, Nelson Hall. YAKS THE Yaks belong to the same family as the ox. They are found only in Tibet and part of China. The Yak is soon recognized by the long hair that grows from its limbs and around its sides and which, sometimes, is so long that it reaches the ground. The Yak can be quite easily domesticated. It is very heavy for its size and has short legs and a long, narrow neck. The male Yak has long, cylindrical horns. Male s.pecimens, that are fine animals, stand nearly six feet high at the shoulders and weigh well over one thousand pounds. Yaks are to be found in the most rugged and inaccessible districts, and always at high elevations, as they are not able to stand the heat. It has been said that heat is fatal for them. Because they are creatures of the hills and consume only grasses and greens found on the mountains, they cannot be induced to eat grains. The Yaks are the motive po-wer of the Tibetans. Their strength in bearing burdens, their skill in crossing glaciers, their bold contempt for icy rivers, make the Yaks as useful for the Himalayas as camels are for the desert. Although the Yaks that have recently arrived at our city park are domesti- cated, they are the true beasts of bur- den of Tibet. Go out and see Yak' and Yill sometime. 7 AUDREY IVEY, Grade IX, Douglas Hall. ..i FROM A GARRET WINDOW The world is such a barren place, When all the view is chimney pots, And noisy, red-brick tenements Between the grassless vacant lots. It is a land of alleyways, And gray, slate roofs that stretch for miles, Where sit the solitary rooks, And tomcats leap across the tiles. Below, upon the cobbled streets The countless people hurry by, Above is just a blank expanse Of dreary, sunless, smoke-dulled sky. BETTY BASTERFIELD, Grade IX, Douglas Hall. 1l-1 PARAGRAPHS FROM SOUTH AMERICA HIS creature is not very p-leasant to meet. It is not accurately known how large the octopus grows. The whale and the octopus have terrible Hghts. The octopus places one tentacle over the whale's blow hole and another around the tail, thereby strangling the whale. The battle gets fiercer and fiercer, until the whale, being very an- noyed, dashes his foe against the bottom The Octopus