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

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Shawnigan Lake School Magazine sandy beach, while a short distance from shore little fishing smacks are hovering between lines of bobbing corks which mark their nets. Farther out in the gulf little pleasure yachts with cream coloured sails are on the homeward tack before the light breeze. Across the blue stretch of water green mountains with bare peaks of purple - hued rock rise sheer from the shore. In the distance range upon range of snow- capped mountains rear white summits as they merge into the horizon. On a rocky promontory opposite stands a lighthouse whose white walls and red conical roof are glistening with a sparkling brilliance. Around a headland the Empress of Canada slowly and majestically glides past. As if by a visible effort the sun remains poised above the hills in its decline for its rays to reflect in a thousand different lights from windows, portholes, brass work, gleaming white sides and green waterline. A bow wave darts from the prow to be rapidly overtaken by the angry wash of twin propellers. A yel- low customs plane swoops above like an angry hornet while the fishing smacks and sailing yachts have scurried close in to shore leaving the Empress, returning from the Orient, supreme. After a few minutes the sun slips below the hills and the ship is gone, leaving an ever widening foaming wake which soon will be crashing on the beach below. As I wend my way back through the quiet sombre trees the sun has set, leaving only a crimson glow to combat the encroaching twilight. — Athos. A BROADCAST THE other afternoon, as I was idly turning the dial of my radio, I suddenly heard the following broadcast: Good afternoon, folks. This is your sports announcer, Homer, bringing you the Greeks vs. Trojans game with the compliments of Jason Co., makers of the world-famous Argos-type boats, guaranteed to stand the harshest treat- ment. Well, folks, it sure is a great day down here at Troy and we ' re looking forward to some scrap. I ' m afraid we are a bit late starting, but the Greek team didn ' t arrive on time: they had some trouble with the ferry, which was delayed by head winds, until Captain Agamemnon very nobly sacrificed his daughter and told her she couldn ' t come and see the game because the ferry was over- loaded already. However, they are all coming out onto the field now and the game will soon start. The Greeks look mighty nice in their silver helmets and uniforms. There goes Agamemnon; he ' s playing left tackle today; and I see that Mr. Odysseus, the coach, is sending in Achilles first too: that boy has a big reputation back in Greece and maybe we shall see something good from him today. I can see a lot of distinguished spectators down there in the stands. There is Vulcan, the all-Olympian quarter-back, still using a stick from that leg injury he got when the Gods played the Giants. There ' s Hermes, too, one of the quickest broken-field runners ever seen in the game. Bacchus is parading round the ground now at the head of a fifty-piece band of Bacchanals. Now they are wheeling round and forming up into a big wine-jar formation down at the south end. But there goes the whistle! The Trojans have kicked off, a long high kick down the middle of the field: they are following up fast. Ajax has caught the ball: he is running it back — five, ten, fifteen yards. He is tackled — 26 —

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Shawnigan Lake School Magazine to a happy-go-lucky attitude (excellent in its way) which thinks that it will all turn out all right in the end. Canada must develop her aviation for three reasons; the first is her internal development, the second is her overseas trade, the third her own security in time of war. Fortunately something is being done to achieve the first and third con- siderations. A series of landing grounds are being prepared after the American model about thirty miles apart from Halifax to Vancouver. These are to be ready for use quite soon, and should be equally useful for either commercial or military purposes. It must be remembered that the effectiveness of all kinds of aerial transport operations depends as much upon ground organization as upon the efficiency of the aircraft in use. But surely more could be done to use the aeroplane for opening up the vast northern regions. And is it too fantastic to say that most of the flying from eastern Europe and Western Asia to this continent will be done by way of the Polar regions and Canada ' s northern islands? And what of Canada ' s external air-connections? Every day the press con- tains reports of America ' s great attempt to span the Pacific by air (only lately we have seen the China Clipper make that dream a reality) , Britain ' s extension of her air lines to Hong-Kong, Germany ' s route to South America. But not a word of Canada, a nation more vitally interested in the problems of transporta- tion than the majority of others. And yet the gateway to this continent is by Canada. Montreal is nearer London and Chicago than is New York. The great circle between London and Chicago runs through Montreal. A Japanese, Chinese or a Russian aviator would fly to San Francisco nine times out of ten by way of Canada. To this must be added considerations inherent in the words of the trade mission sent by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce to the Orient in 1930, Japan, China and Hong-Kong constitute Canada ' s richest potential market. Moreover the conquest of the air has completely changed the question of the security of Canada. She need no longer hide behind the Monroe Doctrine or the British Navy. And as her southern boundary is probably the most secure in the world, she need only defend her coasts. A few aircraft carriers at Esquimalt and Halifax would render her independent of other powers for protection. At the moment her principal training centre is on the North shore of Lake Ontario, at Trenton, but it is 1000 miles from the East Coast and 2000 miles from the West. And who knows that the cause of world peace in the next hundred years may not lie in the air forces of the British Dominions, as it did in the navy of Great Britain between 1815-1914. Is Canada ready to join in this responsibility? Wake up, Canada! SUNSET THE golden sun is slowly setting behind low hills to the west, tinting a few feathery clouds, which are lazily drifting through the evening air, a glorious pink. There is no sound in the foliaged look-out on the cliff top, where I am standing, save a gentle rustling of leaves moved by a light breeze. A few hundred feet below white waves are forever lapping on the broad — 25 —

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Shawnigan Lake School Magazine on his own thirty-yard line. I couldn ' t see who made that tackle; just a minute, please. Oh yes, it was Hector. Hector, number one for the Trojans, made that tackle, putting Ajax down hard on his own thirty-five-yard line. Now the Greeks have possession of the ball, so they are going into a huddle. They are out of it again. Achilles is calling the signals. It ' s a line back, Philoctetes carrying the ball and going hard through the centre of the Trojan line for a gain of two yards before being dog-piled. The referee, Mr. Zeus, is sending Philoctetes to the showers for being foul, so foul in fact that the ref . couldn ' t stand him any longer — At this point unfortunately my radio broke down and would produce nothing but squeals and grunts. I worked feverishly over it, but it was a long time before I could get it mended, and when I finally tuned in again the game was over. Well, folks, that ' s that! The Greeks have won by that final touchdown, scored thanks to the tricky fake play introduced by Coach Odysseus which got right inside the Trojan defences. That sure was a dandy piece of work. And now I am going to ask Mr. Odysseus to say a few words to you about the game. Mr. Odysseus. Good afternoon, everybody. I ' m mighty pleased we won, but it sure was a hard fight. That boy Hector looked mighty dangerous for a while, and I think maybe I made a mistake in putting Achilles on the bench at the beginning of the last quarter; but anyhow he c ertainly gave Hector the works when he got back in the game. He ' s a fine player is Achilles, though he was a bit worried by that poisoned ankle of his today. I kept that last play under my hat till the very end, because I figured it would have the Trojans guessing, but the boys sure put it over swell. There was only one Trojan left standing at the end of it — that little guy, Aeneas, who was quick enough to get out of the way. Thank you, Mr. Odysseus. And now, folks, just a word about Jason ' s boats. Remember that if you ever want to go fleecing anybody, first get an Argos-type boat with an Orpheus self-starter and all the latest fittings. It will never let you down. This is Homer speaking over station ILIAD. Good afternoon, everybody. M. LAPIN AGAIN I DID not feel it would be right to leave France, where I had been travelling, without paying my respects to Monsieur le Capitaine Lapin. In spite of his eccentric behaviour on the only occasion on which he went with our Natural History Society, I still had a high regard for him and for his intriguing nomen- clature of zoological specimens. When I arrived at his house the good captain greeted me in the affectionate manner of his countrymen, which made me immediately aware that he had omitted to shave that morning. Although the day was in its infancy he insisted on my sampling the bouquet of his most prized vintages, which had the effect of putting us on very good terms with each other and induced that pleasant, reminiscent mood, more often attained as the evening shadows lengthen. After dwelling on our Canadian experiences, by way of flattering my host I enquired whether he had any troohies of the chase to show me. But yes: of course he had. I must come at once to his museum. The captain was now in such splendid form — 27 —