Saltus Grammar School - Yearbook (Hamilton, Bermuda)

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23 The Arend-Roland Comet On Wednesday the lOfth. of April 1957 I first read about a comet which would be visible in Great Britain in April. Although it may- have been seen in England I was not sure, then, whether it woiuld be visible here or not, but I had my hopes. I made arrangements to rise at 4.00 a.m. on Monday 15th. When I awoke and dressed it was still very dark (the comet Ax ' end-Roland was said to be visible just before dawn, rising with the sun, and was to be visible at about the middle of the month). While I was waiting I endeavoured to increase my knowledge of stars, and constellations and their relative positions. At last the eastern sky brightened perceptibly but a high dawn rendered the comet invisible. I still searched the sky frantically but all was fruitless. Soon after this several articles were published in the newspapers about the comet. A Mr. Winfield, a noted amateur astronomer, said that he had seen the comet during a trip to Barbados but said that the comet probably would not be visible here. We did not hear much more about the comet until, on the 24th. we saw in ' The Telegraph ' that the comet would soon be visible low in the N.W., setting some time after the sun. The paper showed a dia- gram illustrating the movement of the comet through the night sky during April and May. I then made a few simple calculations and decided that the comet would be visible in Bermuda, as the constella- tions in which it would appear each night moving progreissively high- er in the sky as the month advanced, were still visible here. Friday, 26th. April, was the finest day there had been for a week- There was little cloud in the N.W. during the late afternoon. At 7.30 p.m. my father and I made our way to our vantage point on North Shore. At 7.40 p.m. I had my 40 mm. telescope rigged up on a low hillock. The brighter stars were already visible and the lesser ones were appearing quickly. I had a good idea where to look for the comet, and was already searching the N.W. for it. At 7.50 p.m. I saw it, a faint blur in the N.W. I trained my telescope on it and sure enough the nucleus was clearly visible. At 8.00 p.m. it showed as a large luminous, transparent shuttlecock with a tail pointing at 2 o ' clock extending through Perseus moving to- wards the zenith in that constellation — comets do not speed across the sky as meteorites do but appear as blurred stars with tails. Comets, it is believed, consist mainly of fine dust, small stones, and incandes-

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22 The sailboat, which was royal blue, Glistened like the morning dew; The sail, which spread from boom to mast, Its shadows o ' er the sea had cast; The sailors, sitting quietly, Gazed out upon the moonlit sea. And then there came a little breeze, And back to land they sailed with ease. R. BANYARD, Form IV L. The Adventures Of Tex The Terrier CHAPTER I Tex was a fine Boston Terrier who lived in Thornton, but as he was a puppy he was not allowed out by himself. One day someoine left the gate open and Tex decided to go for a walk in the country as it was a fine spring morning. It was very quiet but Tex did not like it because he liked noise and chatter and laughter. Suddenly he saw a figure standing alone in a field so Tex went up to speak to him but he didn ' t know it was a scarecrow and just then a gust of wind came and made the straw rustle and the scarecrow waved his arms and frightened poor Tex and he ran so fast he fell in the canal and was wet and cold. At last it began to get dark so he started to walk in the direction of home. After a while he saw that the country- side was unfamiliar — he was lost! CHAPTER II That night Tex slept under a bush instead of his nice cosy basket. In the morning he came to a village. When he got there he wandered about. At last he heard a familiar voice which he followed and sud- denly he came upon his master. They were very pleased to see each other and when Tex got home he told his brother ' s and sisters of his adventures and they were very thrilled. P. D. MAiCRAE, Form II

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24 cent gases. Most of the comets ' light is reflected sunlight. Their tails always point away from the sun and are produced by tiny particles of dust being forced out by the sheer pressure of sunlight on the light material. As far as I know, I was the first person to see the comet in Ber- muda. Since that time I have seen and observed the comet three times. The comet is now invisible to the naked eye, about 35° to 40° above the horizon at 8.00 p.m. At the time of the first observa- tion the comet was about 28° above the horizon M. S. BREWER Form V. Our Gym Class Our Upper Third Gym Class is held every Wednesday and is the fourth class in the morning, just after break. As soon as the break bell rings, Upper third B. boys rush into the changing room and change smartly. By that time our Gym master, Mr. Alger, has arrived and he says: Right boys, this morning we will go down to the field and play a game of soft ball. A cheer breaks out, and he says: We won ' t go if you are going to do that. So every one is silent. We arrive down at the field, pick teams quickly, then start the game. There are twenty-four boys so we have twelve on each side. The first two innings go quite smoothly, there is no noise, every one does what the captain says even if he thinks it is wrong. But when the third innings comes everyone wants to pitch, nobody wants to play catcher and no one will listen to the captain. By the time we have settled down again our gym class is all over and we have to go up and get ready for our next class. T. A. HETZEU Form Upper 3B. A Narrow Escape I am Fred Smith, and I live in Wales. My house is situated near an old disused drift mine which has a small railway track connected to the main line which was used for hauling the coal trucks from inside the mine to the main line where it