Saltus Grammar School - Yearbook (Hamilton, Bermuda)

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17 Just before going to press news has come to hand of three more Saltus Old Boys. E. A. Benevides has gained his B.A. degree at Queen ' s Uni- versity, Canada. He is now undergoing training in the Canadian Armoured Corps. H. R. Outerbridge has been chosen Class President for 1944 at Mount Allison University. Ernest Petty, Jr., is now in England and has passed the neces- sary exams, qualifying him for instruction as a P 0. in the Fleet Air Arm. Finally the Editor would like to thank all those who have written during the year. There is no space here to acknowledge all the letters, but the writers can rest assured that both the Head- m.aster and the Editor appreciate their efforts sincerely. Day at the Office, Winter 1942 43 By R. T. Gorton There is really no excuse at all; it is just a question of getting up earlier. Other Experimental Officers, Scientific Officers and Experimental Assistants greet me with a stony silence, apparently having been engrossed in many, vital, secret Chemical Warfare problems since sunrise. This form of silent rebuke is quite effective and I make up my mind, for the hundredth time, to be earlier in future. The scene of all these labours is laid in Savoy Hill House, between the Strand and the Embankment, the original home of the B,B.C. Historic considerations, do not, however, quite make up for the fact that one corner has been blown off by a bomb, and the whole place, though full of people, has a deserted and rather derelict air about it. My office looks out over the Savoy Chapel. With grim humour we have decided that this has one advantage, that, if a bomb should utterly destroy us, we shall be thrown into well prepared graves. When finally I settle down, there are the four trays on my desk, filled, as usual, with typewritten sheets of all sizes. The first tray is marked ' Urgent, ' and the papers it contains have to be dealt with at once. I struggle to understand the incomprehen- sible Civil Service language, which, when translated, may mean something after all. The second tray is just marked ' In, ' and has been well filled by the messenger, who brings the mail in from the Registry, where all the papers are sorted. The contents of this tray have to be divided between the urgent tray and the third tray marked Tending. ' This latter tray is a very useful one and is always overflowing with a mixture of papers which can wait or papers which I cannot understand. Quite a number of the latter variety get hidden away in this manner, and surreptitiously

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16 with a class of British students at Maxwell Field, Montgomery, Ala. Malcolm Gosling who attained top marks at the completion of his training for the R.C.A.F. R. S. Biggs now P 0. in the R.C.A.F. Sir Henry Watlington died during the year. His services to education both in the Colony as a whole and to this School in particular are well known. Our sympathy is extended to his family, and especially to his son, Mr. Hereward Watlington, who is now on our Board of Trustees and has been Chairman of it. Sgt. Geoffrey Welch has been killed in action. His name ap- pears elsewhere in this issue on the Roll of Honour. H. J. Tucker has been appointed to the Executive Council. The Headmaster has already written to him congratulating him on behalf of the school. C. H. V. Talbot has been appointed Temporary Assistant Director of Education. W. R. Kempe has gained his Bachelor of Laws Degree at Edinburgh University. P. S. Welch was awarded the Bermuda Teachers Training Scholarship last year and is now in Canada. Henry Vesey has been appointed Cadet 2nd Lieut, in the Bermuda Cadet Corps. D. McC. Critchley has been awarded a scholarship at Mount Allison Academy for having the best standing in English. S. M. Paschall was married in England to Evelyn Nesta Proom. S. A. Thompson was married in Bermuda last November to Gwendolyn Blackman. M. A. Gibbons, Jr., has joined the R.C.A.F. Graham Powell was voted the best boxer at Ridley College and is also their swimming champion. A hospital bed at Malta has been dedicated to the memory of P 0. W. C. H. Hallett. The Saltus Old Boys ' Association Annual General Meeting was probably better attended this year than ever before. After the business was over, hot dogs and drinks were provided, and the proceedings terminated with an excellent conjuring show by Mr. Roy Grant. Officers for the coming year were elected as follows: — President: H. M. Cooper. Vice-president: George Gorham. Secretary-treasurer: Duncan Gosling. Committee: H. St. G. Butterfield, Archie Brown, Thomas Vesey, Jack King, H. C. Adams, W. H. Freisenbruch. At this meeting one decision was made of the very greatest interest to the School. The Old Boys have definitely promised to find the necessary funds to build a gymnasium. We shall owe them an immense debt of gratitude when this is accomplished.

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18 brought out later and scrutinized with an air intended to convey that it is their first appearance. It is difficult to fool oneself even this way I find. Lastly there is a tray marked ' Out. ' This is to receive the papers I have dealt with, and always seems to be empty. Lest the messenger who clears it should think I have been idle, I transfer to it a few of the papers from the ' Pending ' tray. He happily takes these out to the Registry for disposal, and, since they, of course, are still marked up for my attention, back they all come an hour later. I have not been found out in this once yet, since, as nobody has the time to read them, nobody is any the wiser. Thiis all are happy, and this act of subterfuge is all part of the war effort. My painstaking mental efforts are constantly being inter- rupted by the telephone. It rings yet again. I snatch up the receiver and mumble my department and name ungraciously into it. Will I be in at four o ' clock? Doctor X. would like to see me about this and that. I reply that I shall be delighted, and replace the receiver realising I must look up the answers to his problems before he arrives. After a fruitless search I ring up the laboratories for ex- pert advice and find that, as usual, there is a two hour delay on the trunk line. On these trunk calls one is only allowed six minutes conversation. This is all very trying, because, once having made connection, we ' ll suppose, with Leeds, one minute is spent in get- ting the right extension, another in finding the particular person you want, who wastes yet another minute in trying to understand who you are, and another what it is you want. There is thus never much time for sensible conversation and very often the call is entirely wasted. I have now thought out replies to some of the bits of paper which, by this time, seem to be all over the desk, so I ring for a typist to come and take some dictation. Here again there will be a long delay. The day drags on, my head aches and I am very bad-tempered. As I fully expected, Dr. X. and the typist both arrive together, just as I am in the middle of my call to the laboratories. I hastily finish the call without, I hope, letting Dr. X. know that I am talking about his problems, and tell the typist to come back later. The worthy doctor and I talk back and forth for some time, and then, finally, I bring out the answer I have just extracted from the laboratories, as if it were my own sudden and original brilliance. H departs satisfied and, I think, impressed. I call back the typist, but there has been such a long delay that I find that I have now forgotten all the neatly worded answers that I had previously prepared. I get all tied up with the dictation, and get hot and em- barrassed, but finally it is done. I shall be spared seeing it in black and white till the next morning. We clear up. At last all the ' Confidential, ' ' Secret ' and ' Most secret ' papers are locked safely away. We stagger out into the