Trafalgar Castle School - Yearbook (Whitby, Ontario Canada)

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vox COLLEGII 21 woman dressed in black, and her very straight hair w as drawn back tightly from her forehead. Could this be Win? the Win who used to make those hur- ried trips up to Wiggins ' for a marcel ? We went from room to room, and fin- ally to the gymnasium where a score of K U IJ D V eomplexioned little chaps romped and played. It was then the matron confided in me. You know, she said, I have made physical culture and swimming compulsory here. Then I remembered the gym classes at O.L.C. Was Win a regular attendant? We were then conducted to the din- ing-room where the evening meal was in progress. The matron explained that she had planned the menues her- self — each child receiving a requisite amount of carbohydrates, proteins, fats. Yes, this was Win ! But oh, how she had detested dietetics ! At this point I made myself known to her, and in the course of the conver- sation she explained that after having spent part of the summer of ' 23 at Camp Bolton, she had decided to de- vote her life to the work in which she was now engaged. So now. amid the clatter of tin cups I made an exit, and stumbled down the steps in a stupor of amazement. Alice Lees In July, 1943, I was sent as a Cana- dian del:gate to an International Con- ference at Copenhagen. We were shown every courtesy and entertained by Royalty. Towards the end of our stay there was a good deal of excite- ment in the city, occasioned by the ar- rival of the new British Ambassador, Sir Mortimer Cecil Percival Treval- Jones and Lady Jones. There had been slightly strained re- lations between the two countries and it was thought wise to remove the for- mer ambassador, but in select circles it Avas known, that it was not on Sir Mor- timer ' s account, that he had received the appointment, but it was all due to the diplomacy, tact, and charming per- sonality of Lady Treval-Jones. The crown prince gave a formal din- ner and reception in the.r honour, and I received an invitation. The guests had all assembled; a hush went over the room, and Sir Mortimer Cecil Percival Treval-Jones and Lady Treval-Jones were announced. Being one of the last to be presented, 1 had ample time to study the Treval-Joneses. Sir Morti- mer was small and mouse-like. Lady Treval-Jones was a large woman, well proportioned, every mov m-errt full of grace and quite at ease among the n- tricacies of the Danish court. When 1 was finally introduced Lady Treval- Jones looked at me through her Lor- gnette, and in that soft, highly culti- vated English voice said: Charmed to know you my dear, 1 am a Canadian by birth but English by adoption. When she lowered her Lorgnette I was vaguely troubled. Her face seemed familiar, and then that beautiful voice murmured ' ' My dear, your name ? ' ' Ah ! 1 remember, and seeing my puzzled look she said: Don ' t you remember Alice Lees at Ontario Ladies ' College? The change was so great 1 could hard- ly be convinced. She told me a little about herself. Her eldest son was at- tending Eton preparing for Oxford, and her two older daughters were still in the school room, having not yet made their debut; and wouldn ' t I visit the nursery some morning and see the younger children? She would be de- lighted to have me. I asked if she had enjoyed the trip over. She said No. the water always made her deathly sick. The mere thought of an accident terrified her. ' ' I inquired why she of all this company wore long sleeves in hei ' gown, and in a well-bred but hor- rified tone she exclaimed that she could not tolerate the vulgarity of an expos- ed foi ' earm. During this time Sir Moi ' - tinier had been standing near, remark- ing at intervals ' ' Quite right, my dear, ' ' Yes, certainly, if you say so. I was very sorry I could not have seen my old

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20 VOX COLLEGII school chum, Lillian Sparling-. T could hardly get to her soon enough. After she had stared at me for fully two minutes she recognized me. While chatting to her, two little gii ' ls came running up to her said said Mother, Papa Frank is getting rather impatient waiting. I asked her the little girls ' names. She answered The older one is Gwendoline and the young- er name is Mabel. She asked me to go home with her, which of course I did. We enjoyed the time to -ether ag-ain. She spoke of the good old day.s at O.L.C. and of how we had enjoyed them. Evelyn Symon One day in the year 1927 I was very Inisy shopping in Batons. I had to make a hurr ed luncheon and decided to go to Child ' s. When the girl came 1o take my order T thought I recog- nized her face. When she returned T spoke to her and found her to be Ev- elyn Symon. my old College friend. We talked for some time about our College life and of our experiences since leav- ing school. She said that she had been clerking in Simpson ' s for several years and had just secured her new position. This post had always had a certain at- traction for her as she loved to work in a kitchen. Even the making of pan- cakes and hash interested her. In a few minutes she was called to wait upon another table. I was very pleased to have spoken for those few moments to my old chum. I hope she is able to keep her pleasing and busy position. Marg-aret McNab In 1947 I happened to be spending a few days at the Watt Hotel in Hamil- ton. As this hotel had been recom- mended to me for its excellent meals, I was exceedingly anxious to go into the dining-room. While 1 was waiting for the first course I noticed many delicious des- serts on the menu Init what appealed to me the most was the banana pie. After having ordered and tasted the pie, 1 thought to myself, Where have I tasted such wonderful banana pie be- fore? Then my curiosity was aroused to find out who the cook was because 1 thought no one could excel in this, like a class-mate 1 once had at O.L.C. I called the head waiter and asked him the name of the cook. He blushed with pleasure and bowing to m? said, Zee luime of zee cook most exceelunt am Maggie McNab. I exclaimed witli surprise, How long has she been here? I til ink she is an old school friend of min Then I asked if she would be allowed to come to my room. That even ' ng a rap sounded on my door and upon opening it, sonieone in a sweet voice asked if T had sent for her. Oh! Yes! Are you the cook? Why! M-a-r-g-a-r-e-t ! How you have chang- ed! Sh came into my room and we chat- ted about old times and Margaret told of her experiences after she left O.L.C. She had tried several times as a steno- grapher in offices but decided she would do better by going as a cook in a hotel. This was my last day at the hotel, so Margaret and I said farewell ; then we both prom-sed to kep in touch with each other by writing. Winifred Hambly It was the first time I had attended a meeting of the board of directors of that large orphanage in New York. After the meeting the members were shown through the building on a tour of inspection. We were first conducted to the office of the matron and dieti- tian. Upon entering, to my great sur- prise, who should I see but my old class-mate, Winifred Hambly. I decided that my identity should re- main unknown, for the time being at least. After the necessary formalities, she offered to accompany us ; and throughout the tour I watched her in- tently. She was a stout motherly

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vox COLLEGII friend longer, but she was claimed by His Ilighness the Crown Prince, who escorted her to dinner, and as she float- ed down the room on his arm she look- ed back and smiled. Virginia Charles For many years 1 have been travel- ling and consequently have kept in toiieh more or less with niy old pals of O.L.C. Some of them 1 liave found do- ing strange things in strange places, such as Al. Lees, but stranger even than this is the life of one of the old Art students who graduated with me. I was riding through a market place in Chengtu, West China, when my rick- sha was suddenly halted and a sweet voice begged me to buy a beautiful painting of a little child. The voice was quite unfamiliar, but something in the dark, roving eye caught and held my attention, but it was she who recogniz- ed me first and then she made her.self known. 8he said that she was Virginia Charles, but had married a missionary, who, after a long struggle had convert- ed her and now she spent her days painting pictures of little children, which she sold at these packed market places, in aid of the Chinese Children ' s Hospital. She invited me to have din- ner with here. This was a most unique meal. AVe all sat around on the floor and ate rice with chop sticks and it was wonderful the speed they made with those chop sticks. A few hours later I bade them good-bye, and the last I saw of Virginia she was standing at the door of her cottage, waving good-bye. Lorna Rumball In my recent travels, while visiting in Los Angeles I was told that a mov- ing picture of Charlie Chaplin ' s entit- led Leave Me B was being produced and with him was his famous new as- sistant, Madame Gracie Hipperenthun- der, whom it was whispered was even better than the famous Charles. Being anxious to see a movie produc- ed I went to the Hollywood studio to see this famous woinan and man. Up- on my arrival 1 was surprised to see a woman l)eing hauled across the stage by a derrick, clutching in her arms vig- orously an infant child. When she landed on the other side she began to talk baby-talk to the child. I observed her closer as this was the famous come- dian and I beheld her to be a portly motherly woman, very tall, her he ' ght being about seven feet and with hair as dark as a raven ' s wing. To my aston- ishment I saw that it was my old Friend Lorna Rumball. I was then taken to her home in a Stutz roadster which 1 recognized as the one given to her by her friend Am- elita for a graduation gift. She had become a very domesticated woman by knitting between scenes. Upon talk- ing of her married life, she told me she was •ery happily married to a man 75 years of age, whose previous occupa- tion had been a derrick mechanic and had now elevated his position to that of a scene shifter. She told me she had had offers for dancing on the stage. While she was keenly interested in this she felt she had not made the best of her opportunities and regretted having ' skipped ' so many dancing classes and not going in more for athletics while at O.L.C. I asked her how she kept her health and happinef-:s and was astonish- ed to hear that she had formed a diet of bologna and onions as the main fruits of diet and as for exercise ' Em- erson ' always. Jessie Brown In the spring of 1935 I was on an in- spection tour of the gymnasium work in Alberta. About 4 o ' clock one morn- ing we were riidely awakened by the jarring noise of the application of the brakes — the rails having been washed out by the terrific storms — the train had nothing to guide the wheels. The head engineer told us it would be impossible to secure help before the next day at noon, so a party of us com- menced walking in search of a nearby