Shawnigan Lake School - Yearbook (Shawnigan Lake, British Columbia Canada)

Page 33 text:

SHAWNIGAN LAKE SCHOOL MAGAZINE plucky fight. Bradford ii. in the lower half had no difficulty in disposing of all his opponents. The final between Maxwell and Bradford produced one of the pluckiest fights of the whole competition. Maxwell was thoroughly outboxed and out-generaled by a much more experienced boxer, but he stuck to it, and thoroughly deserved the Good Loser ' s Cup. Wild Life on Vancouver Island CCUSTOMED as 1 am to taking a little mild exercise after lunch, I thought to stroll up the hill one Saturday afternoon and admire the scenery of Shawnigan. On topping the rise, somewhat out of breath, I instantly saw that some form of heathen rites was being celebrated. Huddled together in attitudes of complete abasement were some dozen or more figures, while other satellites grouped themselves in certain positions on either flank, apparently the better to watch the sacrifice which was about to be made. It was then I made a startling discovery. No heathen rites were these, but obviously a hunt had taken place, and I was now about to observe the kill and the dividing of the remains amongst the human hounds. The huntsman, or high priest, rolled the kill or sacrifice into the midst of the hounds, or devotees, who thereupon be- came filled with the utmost frenzy. Casting aside their form er brooding attitude, they strug- gled and fought, bit and clawed at each other in their efforts to get at the spoil. This last rolled out from the rear, un- observed by all except one eager ghoul who, seizing it in his hands, became apparently filled with loathing for it immedi- ately, for, to my amazement, he cast it from him. Another dashed forward ,and, seizing the remains, made off with it to his lair. 31

Page 32 text:

SHAWNIGAN LAKE SCHOOL MAGAZINE semi-finals and Punnett against Harcourt also in the semi- final. The final between Harcourt and Sherlock was quite interesting and a good lesson of the one-handed slow-moving fighter against a quicker-footed and two-handed one. Har- court took the fight from the start straight to his opponent and was away and at him again before he realized what had happened. Sherlock wasted a lot of strength with his well- labelled right by hitting the air, but he was quite outclassed and only on very few occasions landed a telling blow, and then as a rule when Harcourt was going away. Harcourt won this weight quite easily. Middle Weight (95 to 110 lbs.)— A very poor weight, Cromie and Milne meeting very little opposition. The final between them was a very poor exhibi- tion, both forgetting all the} had ever been taught, and the bout developed into a poor type of prize fight. Light Weights (85 to 95 lbs.)— All through this weight, the boxing, on the whole, was of a much better standard, Osborn putting up a very good fight with Taylor, who had the advantage of a longer reach. Mac- laren, in the top half, fought his way through by superior boxing. In the lower half, the bout between Riddell i. and Walkem i. was one of the best fights of the competition, both fighting themselves to a standstill, Riddell winning by a very small margin. Bradford i. got through to the final in this half by hard rugged boxing, but was beaten in the final by a more polished and quicker boxer in Maclaren. Feather Weights (75 to 85 lbs.) — In the early bouts the finalists had it all their own way, Walkem ii. being the only one to put up a very plucky fight against Slater. In the final Barker fought well, but was rather outclassed by a quicker and older boxer. Bantam Weight (Up to 75 lbs.)— In the top half of this weight, Maxwell ii. met but little opposition, with the exception of Shaw i., who put up a very 30

Page 34 text:

SHAWNIGAN LAKE SCHOOL MAGAZINE This, however, was not to be. The first mentioned group had now discovered how they had been tricked and, wrought up to a pitch of fervour, excelling any I had ever seen, they seized on the luckless one and hurled him to the ground with much snapping of jaws and signs of evident satisfaction. A new diversion now occurred. Swooping down on the scene of carnage came four or five figures, who snatched up the remains and by means of certain cunning manoeuvres, successfully evaded the rest. Darting amongst the justly enraged hordes, who tried to surround them, they ran off at full speed and eventually dis- appeared in the bush. Surprised that the rest now prepared to give up the chase, I was about to ask another onlooker the reason, when a voice at my elbow said, Well, what do you think of our Rugger XV? 32