Saltus Grammar School - Yearbook (Hamilton, Bermuda)

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19 21,000 miles non-stop. This record was just recently set up, and was made possible by mid-air refuelling. Four jet and six piston engines, each developing over 3000 horse- power, keep today ' s B-6(36) bomber airborne. In 1909, the Wrignt Brothers ' aeroplane was powered by a thirty horse-power motor. The World Wars brought about improvements in aircraft. The first planes then had a speed of a little over 100 miles per hour. During the Second World War, America boasted that she would produce an aeroplane greatly superior to anything in the air at that time. This turned out to be the F-51 Mustang. Several versions of this were produced, the latest having a speed of 470 miles per hour. Another fine plane of this period was the British Spitfire. In the year 1947, a Bell X-1 Rocket was flown faster than sound. It was one of the first to do so. (The speed of sound is approximately 760 miles per hour at sea-level). Recently, a Bell X-IA has exceeded 1600 miles per hour, which is one of the fastest speeds ever attained. Much has been done to make aircraft safer. When the jet engine was invented, they also had to be made much stronger. At first, the high power of these engines was used almost entirely on war designs, but there are now some jet-powered passenger planes in existence. The British ' Comet ' was one of the first to use this new means of propulsion, but they have been grounded several times because of strange accidents. These crashes have been attributed to the weak structure around the cabin. It is claimed that a large crack develops here, and that the passengers are literally ' blown into space ' when the aircraft breaks in half. Helicopters are another remarkable invention. They are capable of taking off and landing in small areas. They will probably be used by business men who have to travel in large cities. Although the performance of this type cannot be compared with the conventional aeroplanes, it is quite considerable, some of the faster designs being able to exceed 150 miles per hour. Air travel has remained fairly cheap, because of the higher speeos that are being attained. One day it will probably provide our cheap- est means of transportation. What will the aeroplane of the future be like? is a question that is commonly asked today. This is almost impossible to answer, for, when we look back to aviation during the days of the Wright Brothers, and then inspect the dark-shaped aircraft of today, it is

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18 So, on Tuesday night came the rehearsal. After it was over, he and his future wife made plans with the priest for the date of their marriage. They settled the date, and went off happily. On the wedding day, the groom and the Best Man had to come twenty minutes early to get their place. On the stroke of three, the Bride drove up to the door in a carriage. The bells played, and the bride walked up the isle to the step, were her intended husband to be was. The organ stoped and the priest told him and her to kneel down. After a few prayers, the con- gregation sang a hymn. After the hymn the now Bride and Groom walked into the vestry with the Groom holding her arm. The Best man and Brides-Maid followed, and then came the ushers and the flower-girls. After they had finished signing their names in the book they went back down the Isle smiling and blushing like roses. The organ thundered and the bells dinged away while the husband and wife stepped into their carriage and drove away. The remaining people rushed to their cars and carriages and drove behind one another to the reception. At the reception the people ate and drank to their hearts content, while the Bride and Groom were being shaken by the hand of so many people that they didn ' t even have a chance to eat. After the wedding was over the maid had a terrible job getting the stains off the rugs, and clearing up the remainder of the food. She did not mind clearing the tables, because she ate and drank most of the stuff that was left. So, from that time on they lived happily, and now they have a boy eight months old. ANONYMOUS. (Editor ' s Note. Blue-pencilling, and a conference with the author, would produce better English than the above, but the clear observation and spontaneous thought would be destroyed, and so The Wedding is printed as it is written, and the identity of the author will r emain forever secret unless he talks too much.). The Progress of Aviation Since the time of Santos — Dumont and Wilbur and Orville Wright, tremendous progress has been made in aviation. In 1903, Wilbur Wright made a flight of 120 feet. Now an American B-47 can fly

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20 impossible to visualise those of the future. Statements made about designs seem fantastic, but when we look back over the last fifty years, and see the progress that has been made, we can see that the possibilities have no limit. The credit for such aircraft, however, should go to people like Wil- bur and Orville Wright, who risked so much to bring the secret of aviation to the world. DE SILVA. The Bat and the OwF ' In the coldness of the night, the old bell tolled the hour of three. The Bat was cleaning his wings of cobwebs, having finished his night ' s foraging, when through the broken lattice flew Owl. You are late tonight! said Bat, swinging on one leg, and scan- ning Owl with his sharp little eyes. What ' s the matter? Oh, when I was chasing a mice through a — — Mouse, said Bat, correcting him. Owl took no notice, and continued, — bramble hedge, my wing caught, and I had quite a time getting out of it! Go on, Bat, and get me the Bramble Ointment! So off went Bat, and soon returned with a bottle. Just as he was going to put the contents on Owl ' s wing. Owl said: This isn ' t Bramble Ointment! It ' s Clove Tea! Oh, I can ' t help it if I ' m short-sighted! complained Bat. So Bat went off again, and, after about a quarter of an hour of banging and crashing, he returned with half a dozen bottles. Ah, said Owl, there you are! I see you have brought the right one this time! By the way, what was all that banging about? Er — well, er — I had to go in quite difficult places to get the bottles, said Bat, quite sheepishly. So they said no more about it, and soon Owl was as good as new, if not better. The first rays of dawn saw Bat and Owl fast asleep. Bat upside down on one of the rafters, and Owl, with his head tucked under his wing, perched beside him on the same rafter. M. S. BREWER, (Upper Third).