Selwyn House School - Yearbook (Montreal, Quebec Canada)

Page 33 text:

FOR THE SCHOOL YEAR 1960-1961 31 been to the Sorbonne in Paris. The President himself was a Cum Laude graduate of Harvard and went to the London School of Economics, which gives him an advantage in the economic field. He entered politics at 29, when he was elected to Congress. After winning two re-elections, he ran for the Senate in 1952 and defeated Henry Cabot Lodge, who was Nixon's right hand man, by 70,000 votes. At the Democratic convention in 1956 he challenged Estes Kefauver for the vice-presidential nomination, and though at one point he was leading by 100 votes he lost by a very small margin. ln the following four years he, his brother Bob, who was given the Father of the Year Award in 1960, and a group of Boston-lrish politicians, forged ahead and won him this year's Democratic Presidential Nomination and finally the presidentship. This is the first Catholic politician to even come within striking distance of the White House, since Al Smith lost to Herbert Hoover in 1928. George Hebert, Form V. CATS Ever since their first meeting, cats have been both companion and pet to man. During that time, they have been worshipped as gods, slaughtered almost to their extinction, and continually marvelled at by man for their amazing senses and hunting skills. In Egypt, cats were, at one time, put in the temples where they lived in complete luxury and safety, for anyone who killed or harmed a cat was put to death. On the other extreme, such great fear of cats arose during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries in England, that they were thought to be supernatural, and to communicate with the witches, and so anyone who owned a cat was burned at the stake. During this period, countless hundreds of thousands of cats were tortured and burned. The mystery of the feline instincts has long baffled man's reasoning, piqued his curiosity, and has given rise to dozens of misconceptions about cats in general. For instance, it is common belief that cats can see in complete darkness. This is not so, the pupil of their eye can expand to such a magnitude that the eye can operate in very faint light, however, it does need at least a faint glimmer. Subiective colour discrimination tests at Columbia University reveal that cats are colour-blind. lt seems that they live in a world of gray shadows, and distinguish objects by their degree of brightness, rather than by hue. A cat which has been deprived of its whiskers will most certainly become stuck in a narrow opening, for its whiskers grow in proportion to the cat's size, and serve as a depth gauge. However, the cat would have a further disadvantage in its being unable to judge distances when iumping, for the whiskers of a cat help to focus the eyes. The body hairs, apart from being a protection from the weather, allow the cat to thread its way among light and breakable objects, without disturbing one. Again, contrary to popular belief, cats do not fear water. Some are very fine swimmers and fishermen, however, they usually learn by accident, such as falling off a dock. Also, cats do not instinctively hate rats. A rat's hide and tail are poisonous to a cat, and after eating one, a cat will probably look for some milk, an antidote to the poison. Scientists are continually learning other strange facts, such as-the Maltese cat does not come from the lsle of Malta lno one as yet knows the exact origin of this breedl, the

Page 32 text:

30 SELWYN HOUSE SCHOOL MAGAZINE THE SHADOW ON THE WALL I looked upon the wall Which was down the hall. A shadow there was cast, But it did not last. The bolt on the door shone like a lamp, And l was afraid there might be a tramp. It came nearer to me - and now l shrieked, Who art thou? But it stood quite still. l looked back. lt was only the shadow of a doll Upon the window-sill. D. Colby, Form IB. WINTER ln the winter all the snow's white, And when the day's over comes the night, When the night's over comes the light, And the snow is still all white. Michael Kent, Form C. RABBITS Easter rabbits run about, To make the children laugh and shout, They make our Easter bright and gay, With Easter eggs for Easter Day. Christopher Laxton, Form C. PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY President Kennedy, as it was often held against him in the elections, is the son of a Millionaire. He was brought up under the best circumstances, went to the best schools and universities, has an outstanding war record, and has a reputation as being a shrewd and relentless fighter, which is a great attribute to a politician. He has travelled widely, has an appealing personality to the people around him as well as to the public, and has written a Pulitzer Prize winning book, which was a best seller. Republican reporters and editors describe him as Ha trained seal performing to the instructions of a team of shadowy trainers , his trainers being his family and advisors. Some people are apt to believe that since he is a Catholic, he would sometimes be influenced by the Pope, but being a Catholic myself l don't believe this. Although this will come beyond Kennedys time, some Catholic President may be faced with the problem of birth control which would be necessary for the country, but against the Catholic Religion. He said before the election that the separation of Church and State is fundamental in the American Heritage and should remain so. His wife is beautiful and has a lot of charm. This was very important for she had to attract the women voters since the women now have more voting power than the men. She, like her husband, has had an excellent education, one example being that she has

Page 34 text:

32 SELWYN HOUSE SCHOOL MAGAZINE so-called tailless Manx does have a tail, although it is very short, Siamese kittens are born a pure white in colour, the distinctive markings come later in life, Tortoise Shell cats are almost exclusively female, only four males have been recorded in the last thirty years, Angora cats, from the Angora region of Turkey, grow luxuriously long, silky hair, as do the goats, rabbits and dogs of the district. However, scientists still wonder at the marvellously powerful and accurate senses with which nature has equipped cats. These senses are so accurate, in fact, that it is almost impossible to lose a cat if it wants to be found, Gordon McNeil, Form V. THE ARGUMENT ABOUT AIRCRAFT FUELS The argument about aircraft fuels was started by Lord Brabozon of Tara, the chairman of the United Kingdoms Registration Board. He is famous in the world of aviation. He was the first man to be granted a British pilot's license, has had ministerial posts and at the end of World War ll he headed a special committee to plan the future of British civil aviation. He is now chairman of the Air Registration Board of Britain, which makes the regulations for all civil flying in Britain. Lord Brabazon says that UP-4 fuel which has an aviation gasoline base should not be used by any aeroplanes as it is more dangerous than UP-l which has a kerosene base. Lord Brabozon showed an experiment on a British T.V. show. A red-hot blow torch was applied to the UP-l fuel and nothing happened for two minutes. When applied to UP-4 it instantly burst into flmes. Lord Brabozon recommended that people should not fly on TCA, Pon American Airways, Trans-World Airlines or Belgium's Sabena. All four use UP-4. They like using UP-4 because it freezes at a much lower freezing point and it evaporates when it leaks and has other advantages. Last December a BOAC Boeing 707 let went out of control and tore aff a wing, fuel poured out without burning and there were no casualties. ln January of this year a Mexican Airlines DC-8 jet taking off from ldlewald Airport in New York crashed and all the passengers escaped before the fuel burnt the plane. Both the BOAC and the Mexican airlines were using UP-l fuel. lf a iet plane should have a crash it looks as if UP-l fuel would be less likely to catch fire instantly and the people would have more chance to escape. There are experts who say that one fuel is as safe as the other. J. LeMoine, Form V. FUN AT THE BEACH Winter is lots ot fun, but I like summertime best of all, because then we can go down to the beach and go swimming. Sometimes, we walk along the beach and collect all sorts of shells and sand dollars and odd shaped stones. Other times, we dig for clams, One time we found some, but not the way we'd expected, for when we dug our fork into the sand, we got an eyeful of water. After digging our clams, we make a bonfire, put a large kettle over it and steam the clams, and oh, are they good! Some days we go fishing off the rocks and catch a number of cunners and pollock. When we do, we take the larger ones home to Mother to fry for supper, give other ones to our neighbours' cats or throw them on the rocks for the sea-gulls, who swoop down and have a feast, Sometimes the waves catch us, while we are busy fishing and give us a good soaking, but even that is fun. But sometimes, our lines get caught on the seaweed or rocks