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

Page 13 text:

SHAWNIGAN LAKE SCHOOL MAGAZINE What can we ask more of the world than this — Great Nature ' s endless store of beauteous things, To fill our minds with thoughts, and make our life Flow smoothly through a world of love and art, And help us rise above all common lust, To reach before we die a point as near Perfection as we may, who are the sons Of countless generations of the earth Since first sin came. Our duty ' tis to see Through life ' s wide window one thing, only this — See Beauty, nothing else, and rise to life Of perfect harmony and lasting love. — D. I. FOUNTAIN PENS No child of to-day is ever content to write with ordinary, satisfactory, smooth-running pens and pen nibs, but always looks forward to the day when he may scrawl ugly characters with a real fountain pen. No boy wishes to go through life without a watch, about the merits of which he may continually argue. It is the same with a fountain pen. In spite of the fact that he never really believes any of them to be satisfactory, yet he never tires of showing the superiority of the Parker over the ShearTer, or the ShearTer over the Waterman ' s as the case may be. I well remember the first fountain pen I ever had. It was a Christmas gift from a well-meaning and loving relation. The first thing I did, naturally, was to fill it with ink and to scrib- ble my name on anything- and everything, including paper, furniture, and the kitchen pots. Soon, however, it was for- gotten and put in my pocket as my attention was turned to other presents. When I remembered it later I drew it forth from a soggy and inkstained pocket, as it appeared that I had used the filler instead of the clip as a fastener. Seeing ink all over my hands I immediately dropped and broke the pen in two. The 11

Page 12 text:

SHAWNIGAN LAKE SCHOOL MAGAZINE Reading (Bishop ' s Prize) — J. F. Lake. Sportsmanship Cup — P. S. Mallam. Efficiency Cup (Michaelmas and Summer) — J. F. Lake. Inter-House Sports Cup — Ripley ' s and Copeman ' s (a tie). Form I Race— O. B. McDonald. Old Boys ' Race — A. Playfair. MATRICULATION EXAMINATIOINS The following took the Departmental Examinations suc- cessfully in 1932 : Senior— E. A. Riddell, D. E. Bradford. Junior — R. F. Pearce, D. B. Savage, B. L. Robinson, C. H. Hyde, D. C. S. Barker, J. R. Doull, M. P. Larsen, D. J. Lawson, G. A. Pownall, P. N. T. Skrimshire, M. G. Stirling. LOOK THROUGH LIFE ' S WINDOW Look through the window, and the scene A placid, wondrous beauty holds, That charms the eye, and quiets the soul. Against the cloudless perfect sky the trees Hang in a lofty wall of green, which glows With the rich late sunshine striking down ; And many a soft shadow, or a gap Of palest blue blends perfectly, to form A pattern not outdone by Persia ' s best, And costing nought, for it is always there To be enjoyed, and no smooth merchant Makes profane its glorious shroud with talk Of money and exchange. The topmost branches Reach their stems towards the blue, as if They were uplifted to do honour to the sun Who clothes them in their cloak of light. Their soaring height gives majesty to all The view; their great trunks ' firmness lends An air of power : they glory in their strength. 10

Page 14 text:

SHAWNIGAN LAKE SCHOOL MAGAZINE annoying- part of this episode was that I had to write to my well-meaning relation, telling her how pleased I was with the gift, and how useful I knew it would be. We often read in advertisements of new fountain pens that never leak, that always run smoothly and that give us every pleasure to write with. I, personally, have never had the good luck to have a pen of this type. Every fountain pen I have ever had the misfortune to own has been unsatisfactory. If it does not leak, it will not write. I must have spent hours thumping it on a blotter, swinging it around in the air, filling and emptying it, in vain attempts to persuade it to write. The only one of these tricks it ever responds to is the swinging one. Then ink will suddenly gush out and spread itself in pretty blue patterns over the plaster. If it leaks the only thing to do is to leave it empty. In this case you spend hours in a fruitless search for ink, which is never where you saw it last. Pens that have nibs which do not suit your style are only an invention to increase your vocabulary. In fact, I would even say that they rival golf in that function, for it is as dis- concerting to try to write with an unfamiliar type of nib, as it is to miss a two-foot putt. If you like a fine nib you invariably get a thick one, and so spend hours turning it sideways and writing at every conceiv- able angle. Sometimes you find that by turning the nib around it will give satisfactory results. In these cases, however, after one month ' s use, the nib is worn right away. If you like a thick nib and get a fine one, you either t end the ends of the nib apart by pressing too hard on it, or you try to have the nib changed. Finding that both these methods fail, you resort to the old way — via the ash can. I am sure that the only satisfactory answer to the unsatis- factory fountain pen question is to write in pencil. — J. D. Noswal. 12