Selwyn House School - Yearbook (Montreal, Quebec Canada)

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FOR THE SCHOOL YEAR 1961-1962 31 THE EMBEZZLER There was another robbery last night, Mr. Winters. Oh no! That's the third one this month. Are there any leads this time? No, it's the same as before. All the money was there when we quit work, and the guards didn't see or hear anything. Well, that did itl l'm calling in a private investigator. See if you can find me a fairly good one, Bill. All right sir, l'll get right on it. As Bill King walked out of the office, his boss, Robert Winters, who was managing director of a large automobile factory, began chuckling to himself. He was sure that a private investigator would not suspect someone who had hired him. About six months before, Winters, who had always been somewhat greedy, had started embezzling his companys money. At first he had taken a little at a time, but caution had given way to impatience, and he began to take as much as he could. ln another month he planned to leave the country. Soon Bill King returned with the name of the Don Tailor Detective Agency, that had been recommended by one of the employees. Two weeks later, Winters had occasion to work late one night. Half an hour after everyone had left, he put aside his work, walked into the next room where the safe was, opened it, and began to empty it. This was to be his last robbery before flying to ltoly the next week-end. He counted the money carefully, there was S50,000. He now had almost half a million. He was careful to avoid the guards when he left, as he had always been, just in case one of them was smart enough to put two and two together, and drove home very contented. The next day, during the course of the morning, Bill King was questioning the guards and taking notes. This disturbed Winters slightly, and so ot the end of the day he called King into his office. 'Yes sir? King asked as he entered. 'l see you've been doing some investigating Bill' said Winters. That's right, sir, he answered. Have you found anything? Yes sir, l believe I know who the thief is. 'tThat's very good, said Winters, trying to keep his composure, How did you do it? 'Well sir, none of the guards remembered seeing you leave last night, even though you were working late. This seemed very strange to me, then, with a little concentration l realized that to the best of my knowledge you had been working late every night that there was a robbery. More questioning showed that guards hadn't ever seen you come out. lt all fits together. As he finished, Winters lifted a revolver which was fitted with a silencer and shot him twice. Then, unscrewing the silencer, and stuffing the gun into his pocket, he grabbed

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30 SELWYN HOUSE SCHOOL MAGAZINE The Phoenicians learned about ships from the Egyptian traders, and then began building ships of their own, that could hold great cargoes. To protect their trading ships from the pirates, they built long, narrow fighting ships with two rows of oars and a sail. Still later, the Greeks built war galleys with three banks of oars and a sail and had a long piece of metal which stuck out in front, which they used for ramming enemy ships. The Romans also made war galleys and had slaves chained to the rowing benches, to do the rowing. A drummer beat out the stroke, so they could all pull the oars at the same time. In the ninth and tenth centuries, Viking ships appeared, which were long and narrow with a single mast, but were pointed at each end, so they could go in either direction. Because the steering oar was commonly used on the right side of a ship, that side became known as the steerboard or starboard. Later, the fixed rudder was invented and placed at the back of the ship, to overcome the fact that the steering oar might become useless, if the ship leaned over in rough seas. During the fifteenth century, Prince Henry of Portugal made many improvements in ships. One was the three-masted ship, which was able to make more use of the wind. By the sixteenth century, Spanish galleons with high stems had their masts rigged with very large sails. They had guns for protection and bigger holds to carry treasure back from the Caribbean. By fifteen hundred, cannon were used on fighting ships and port-holes were invented. By the eighteenth century, ships were stronger and narrower and did not have high sterns. These were known as frigates. By eighteen hundred and nineteen, paddle steamers had been invented, but the first of these used both sail and steam: later they were able to use steam alone. In eighteen hundred and thirty-six, the screw propellor was developed. lt was one of the most important events in the history of ships. Ships later became made of iron and steel and gun turrets were invented, to allow guns to turn and fire in any direction. A big advance in shipping came when the turbine engine was invented. Even to-day turbine engines are used in warships and passenger liners, but they use fuel oil instead of coal. There are many other ships which are fascinating, especially the atomic submarine, the Nautilus. This submarine can travel around the world, without once coming to the surface. Atomic fuel marks the beginning of a new era in world shipping. Robert Monteith, Form IV.

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32 SELWYN HOUSE SCHOOL MAGAZINE the small suitcase which had the money in it from a drawer, and ran out into thc street. He was met on the sidewalk by two men, one was in a police uniform, and the other he recognized as Don Tailor, his own detective. Mr, Winters, you are under arrest said the officer, 'and don't bother using the gun in your pocket, it's loaded with blanks. You're lying! Winters half screamed. I'm afraid he isnt came a voice from behind him. Winters wheeled around to see Bill King unharmed beside the door. Then it was all planned, he muttered. That's right, said the olTicer, ''Anything-you-say-may-be-held-against-you-kindIy-come- with-me. G. Norsworthy, Form V. FRIEND OR FOE? The wind was blowing, and the rain beating down. Suddenly I heard a knocking at the door. I was a little iittery, for I had heard on the radio that robbers were loose in the district. My parents were out, and I was alone. I did not know what to do, for they had told me not to open the door to any strangers. But how was I to know if it was a stranger or not? The chain on the door was broken. If it had not been, I could have opened the door to see who it was, without letting them get in. The knocking grew louder. I tried to look through the window, but it was too dark to recognize anything but the dark outline of a figure. I called to ask who was there, but the wind was growing louder, so that whoever it was did not hear me-or even if he did, he did not reply I thought of the story I had just been reading-a spooky one about a ghost- and this only added to my fright, By now I was nearly jumping out of my skin. Then, suddenly, there came a flash of lightning and a crack of thunder, and all the lights went out. In the complete and utter darkness I found myself more scared than ever. By now the tapping at the door was continuous. Suddenly I braced myself and asked myself, What am I? A man or a mouse? What am I afraid of? Groping my way to the hall, where I knew there was a torch, I crept to the door and unfastened the lock. Shining the torch at the person outside, in the hope that it would dazzle him if he was unfriendly, I flung the door wide open. l've come back for the Latin book I forgot this afternoon, explained my friend Mark. M. Pike, Form IIIB.