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

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Shawnigan Lake School Magazine reminiscent of Spain, of Italy, of Scandinavia and even of New York. The news- papers are large and at times (especially Sundays) florid. But, after all, moving pictures are a major industry. And California provides ideal settings for jungles filled with wild animals, for deserts with camels silhouetted against an arid horizon, for perilous mountain scenes (Los Angeles covers a large area). The domestic affairs of Celebrities appear to be of great community interest, and the daily news is, at least, an antidote to the vitriolic comments of journals while time marches on. The serene austerity of villages like Nephi, Fredonia in Utah, are forgotten as we come upon the older beauty of San Juan Capistrano, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo, where one sees living relics of a civilization with a religious background. A quick side trip into Mexico, where no one worries about any- thing, and the Immigration officials care not whether you go or come providing you do not disturb their sleep; and, on returning, the U.S. officials are full of suspicion and want all your papers to examine and let you know how honoured you are to be allowed into the U.S. in spite of the fact that they saw you leave the country a few hours before. They are, of course, Federal agents, and therefore have no use for any single state, and their courtesy is of the gruffer type common to the State and City police. Did I forget politics? Well, before an election they remind me of our own provincial elections. One group of newspapers appear to be backing one candidate and pictures of this man appeared every day in the papers — Mr. . . . sitting at work, Mr. . . . sitting in his shirtsleeves, Mr. ... in the bosom of his (apparently) adoring family, etc., etc. And the less said about the arch-fiend who dares to oppose him the better. I loved the United States. I loved their citizens, individually, yes! but there seems to be less individual liberty than we are accustomed to; this may be due to the method by which government officials are elected. So I left it, hoping to return and revel in the individual courtesy and kindliness I have never before met in such abundance, and I left it hoping to forget that the thing I was to see was the biggest of its type in the world and had cost the most money — the Boulder Dam; the Grand Canyon, Death Valley, all so full of interest, romance or beauty, and in British Columbia we also have a noble share of these things, only, of course, we have no roads. And so three weeks on the Pacific and a farewell to our side. The Pacific, always restless, and the more so in a small ship of 7000 tons. And hence, time to review a few things I had seen. The won- drous educational buildings — but why chiefly buildings? The tre- mendous pleasure I had in seeing so many Old Boys, from Alec Ripley in Los Angeles, who gave me of his time to show me San Diego and its Exposition, to Thane Rogers in San Francisco, and Wilson, Hyde, Kinney at Stanford, Bruce Olsen and Harris in Portland, Doherty and Bill Johnson in Tacoma. They are doing well, our lads. And so to the old city of Panama and the Canal — a very beautiful run through tropical foliage on a perfect day, everything a brilliant green, and if it had not been -— for the presence of several alligators and a couple of — 30 —

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Shawnigan Lake School Magazine SOME NOTES AT RANDOM (Contributed by C. W. L.) Dear Editor: You demand from me some account of my doings whilst absent from the School. I have visited various places and seen various things. I sampled the hospitality of many friends in the U.S.A. and I must confess that I was over- whelmed by the generosity and kindness of the many parents with whom I had the pleasure of staying in the United States, England and Canada. However, this being my first real visit to the U.S.A., there was much to see and do, from the round of social pleasures in Seattle, Tacoma and Portland at one end of the trip, and through country similar to our own, to the deserts and mountains, of Arizona, California and New Mexico, the studios of Hollywood, the Hun- tington Library, Planetarium, and Universities of the South, at the other. To write at length would be impossible, especially as nearly twenty-five thousand miles of my trip were not in the United States; to write but a short account may be incoherent. Still, having read and heard so much of California I must con- fess to having been somewhat disappointed in fact. A True, the groves of eucalyptus, the oaks, the groves of fruit trees were lovely. The roads are extremely good (superlatively so compared to our own in B.C. ) . The old Missions were of interest to me, J although locally they do not appear to matter much Mtt judging by their poverty. There is agriculture to be , £t considered, of course, otherwise motion pictures and £J| B oil appeared to be the chief interests. 1 thought San Francisco the most interesting city on the Coast, Los Angeles is large in area, and they all seem to share a common heritage of fog. Vancouver harbour compares very favourably with San Francisco in spite of a couple of bridges which are costing many millions of dollars. Stanley Park may not be as fine a park as the Golden Gate Park, but the mounted police ride horses of which they are justly proud. Salt Lake City, in a lovely setting and well laid out, is interesting, and the organ- ization of the Latter Day Saints is remarkable and efficient. The petty officialdom is colossal, the schools are magnificent, the Civic Centres are wondrous, and English is a language which will take you to most places, although the American of Cali- fornia is frequently unable to speak it and his language is often — 29 —

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Shawnigan Lake School Magazine sharks, a tempting place to bathe. We were fortunate, however, inasmuch as we had a swimming tank rigged up on our after deck. We were anchored for some time off Colon and had the interesting experience of seeing a miniature cyclone, a small patch of water drawn up into a small point, and from there what appeared to be an ever increasing cone of cloud rearing up for hundreds of feet, the whole gradually moving south. A glimpse of Santo Domingo, Jamaica and Cuba, with warm and delightful weather and the smoothest sea since leaving San Francisco, certainly a welcome rest after bucking the North- east Trades across the Caribbean. A wireless suggested that we were to call in at Porto Rico, but, as we could not connect with shore stations owing to atmosphere, headed away North and East with the Scilly Isles as our first land- fall in two weeks ' time. We passed through the Sargasso Sea, and all the cher- ished fables of my youth were dispelled when I saw no derelicts, no slimy sea things, but only more seaweed than appeared elsewhere. At last the Bishop Light and an interesting picture at the entrance to the Channel — a full- rig ship sailing along, and a brig. And so up the English Channel, and one wonders at the number of ships gradually converging to go up Channel or spreading away in all directions for the Amer- icas, India, Australia, et cetera, and so to London. And so this is England, this country of narrow roads with beautiful surfaces which wind about in the most amazing way, where people drive on whichever side seems convenient, where the stream of traffic is continuous, where the cyclists, five abreast, care for no one, and motor cycles weave in and out, where the lights turn green or red, but pedestrians care not, although there are weird things called Belisha Beacons to give them a right of way, and where everyone, pedestrian, cyclist, or car, implicitly obeys only the policeman, and where every- one enjoys sensible liquor laws. Lunch at a charming house in an old-world village in Cambridgeshire, and behold, Pat Nixon. A night at a London hotel, and at the next table at breakfast, Bruce Robertson. My headquarters were at Rampton as the guest of A. G. Crisp and his wife. In London also, but hard t o find, Jack Rochfort and Denis Douglas, Derek Johnston and R. Eddison. Rumours of Alan Best and G. Dyson, but August is a bad month, and Jock Mair in Sheffield. A week in Cheltenham listening to great educationalists dis- coursing on their own varied experiments in Education, but staying with a head master who felt that the All India team should be seen playing Glouces- tershire. Visits to various schools, chiefly of the more modern types, and a couple of interesting days at two types of Borstal Institutions. People discussing the growing success of the Russian System and the complete failure of the same system. Religion and Communism still shouted about at Hyde Park Corner. But elsewhere Sheep Dog Trials and the preservation of National Beauty Spots of greater importance, In spite of the extreme busyness of shipyards and muni- tion factories, no one seemed interested in war as affecting Great Britain, so one supposes that the usual optimism (or egoism) of the British is still para- mount. An amazingly stable and apparently prosperous country and a country where religion is still honoured by observance in family life, and a spiritual side is considered essential in school life. And so two weeks in the country, where the Golden Eagle flings the shadow of his wings, where the clouds are never still, where the tarns lie black and still — 31 —