Saltus Grammar School - Yearbook (Hamilton, Bermuda)

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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).

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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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21 The Birth of a Poem There are so many strange rules attached to poetry, quite apart from the technical skill, the inspiration, and the personality of the poet, that writing a poem must be approached stealthily. The Upper Third has done so, taking advantage of X (the Unknown) who blew a strange instrument of yellow and red generally known as The Pipes of Pan just before the first period on Tuesday, April 26th. Apart from the pattern, supplied by the teacher, who provided the first coup- let, the poem is the work of the form itself. On Tuesday, when the day began. Smith played upon the Pipes of Pan; He played until the master came And called poor Smith a dreadful name! C Pessime! he called at last; Get out of here, and travel fast! He took the instrument away, And kept it till the close of day. When school was o ' er, he hurried home. And changed himself into a gnome; He toolc some music from a shelf, And played exactly like an elf. While Smith was sitting on a bench, He then began to curse — in French! The elfin Master took to flight, And rose three hundred feet in height; And down the funnel of the ' Queen He fell, and nevermore was seen! The Elephants ' Annual Ball One day in Fairyland Forest, Jumbo was walking along the road, sighing to himself. He was stopped by Bobby Raccoon, who asked him to play ball with him, but Jumbo said No . He did not feel too happy, because all the pretty little girls did not want to go with him to the Elephants ' Annual Ball, or else they already had another partner — and the Ball was only the next night! After he had finished his supper, he went right to bed. He lay there thinking, and trying to remember any girl that he had not asked to go with him. After about ten to twenty minutes, he remembered Clarabelle, the little girl who lived over at the waterhole.