Saltus Grammar School - Yearbook (Hamilton, Bermuda)

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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

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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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19 inky ' black-out ' saying ' Good-night ' to persons we can no longer see, at the same time feeling for the edge of the pavement with our umbrellas. The Debating Society During the past season the Society has given much of its attention to some of the problems exercising the minds of those in another place. There may be those who consider that the ponderous has predominated; but it may be observed that the motions have been argued with cogency and understanding, that the debates have yielded their lighter moments, too, and that it is perhaps a good omen for the future that the younger generation chooses to interest itself in weighty matters. The activities of the season have included: — 15th October, 1942. — General meeting for the election of officers, followed by a Debate on the motion: ' ' That the electoral system of Bermuda is obsolete, and should be drastically reformed. Proposer: J. T. Gilbert Opposer: R. H. Motyer This was a keenly contested debate, and well argued. The Constitution quivered, — but survived. The motion was defeated. 5th November. — Hat Debate. Each member is called upon for an impromptu speech on a subject drawn from the hat. This method is found to be effective in opening lips which might otherwise remain sealed, and sometimes induces a surprising flow of eloquence from unexpected sources. Among the subjects were these: — The Bermuda onion is the best in the world. Homework should be rationed. What is a spiral? Ignorance is bliss. There is a tide in the affairs of men which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune. Should Bermuda have an Income Tax? Spare the rod and spoil the child. Why does a wheel turn? 26th November. — Debate on the motion That the Cinema provides a complete entertainment. Proposer: M. D. Taylor Opposer: H. A. Leseur Third: J. T. Gilbert Fourth: M. C. Misick Movie fans rallied strongly to defend their weekly solace, and the more austere of the brethren succumbed to the frontal attack of Abbott and Costello. The motion was carried with gusto and a touch of whoopee.