Trafalgar School - Echoes Yearbook (Montreal, Quebec Canada)

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effects of taking ' Der Wacht am Rhein and La Marseillaise at the same time. We have to guard carefully against this and are continually experimenting as to which combinations make for the best mental and physical development. Some things of course, such as gardening and aeroplane driving, require practical applica- tion, but the time saved from mechanical learning of verbs, etc., allows for a much wider range of subjects. And we hope B-r-r-r! off went my alarm! Seven o ' clock, time to get up! And it was with a rather envious heart that I climbed up the hill that morning, thinking of aeroplanes, mechanical benches, and al- gebra pastilles! After the benches were up, however, lessons were over and we were trooping home again, discussing the proposition, we decided that the satisfaction of doing a piece of work well, not having it stuffed down our throats, made up for the extra effort. — M.B. VI. GETTING READY FOR A PARTY When Kitty to a party goes, we say good-bye to sweet repose. She says, Go there, do that, she says Stay here, sew that; Oh angel dear, please brush my hat. In fact the family ' s on the run, till, all my lady ' s errands done, we flop into a cosy chair and while we ' re quietly resting there, we thank our stars in hearty way, that parties don ' t come every day. — A.C. VI. 27

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A VISIT TO TRAFALGAR IN THE YEAR 2000 A.D. ' Yes, I vsaid to the charming head-mistress, who was showing me around my old school, ' it is almost a hundred years since I went to school here. I suppose if it wasn ' t for these new life extension discoveries I would be in my grave by now. The first thing I had noticed on approaching was the aeroplane landing; here were waiting several machines to take the girls home, just as in the old days a trim line of motors stood outside the gate. I was very interested to see how the classes were conducted, for I knew that it was an entirely different system from that of my time. There were no class-rooms, only a huge dispensary that reminded one of a clean white hospital room. This was divided into com- partments labelled Algebra , History , French Grammar , Ovid , etc. In each was stationed a white-capped woman who looked very hygienic and pretty. These were the mistresses. They were nearly all fussing with various sized bottles and my eye caught such names as Gerund , Quadratic Equations , Conjugation of Avoir . Rather mystified I followed my guide through a large assembly hall with mechanical benches that put themselves up. This made me wonder if the present girls appreciate their advantages to the full. From there we went through a prettily decorated lunch-room, through the cloak-rooms, a well stocked library, a music room, and finally arrived at the gymnasium which was a marvel of mechanical devices for physical development. All through my tour I had not seen a single girl and on asking whether this was a holiday I was told certainly not, we were coming to the girls in a moment. It was a beautiful May day and as we entered the garden I saw that it was full of girls of all ages. They were playing tennis, basket-ball, and amusing themselves in various ways. Upon asking how long recess lasted I was told that it was school time. Dumbfounded, I begged to be enlightened. Well, said the head-mistress, a few years ago when Dr. Cuttemup announced that he had solved the problem of education with his pastilles I was rather dubious of his success, but after re- peated experiments I found out that it was indeed so, and I pro- ceeded to establish his system here. The pastilles come ready to administer, and when one is swallowed the lesson is known accord- ing to whatever subject the pastille teaches so to speak. The Algebra ones are very disagreeable tasting but outside of that they are relished greatly by the students. Once your pastilles for the day have been given to you by the mistresses in the dispensary you spend the rest of the time in the swimming pool or playing gamesoutsideaswellasin organized exercise in the gymnasium. How- ever, it is not as easy as it may seem, for some combinations make one very ill, for instance it would take weeks to recover from the 26

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TEN TRAFALGAR GIRLS Ten Trafalgar girls marching in a line One dropped out to tie her shoe And then there were nine. Nine Trafalgar girls coming in late One slipped and hurt herself And then there were eight. Eight Trafalgar girls at quarter past eleven One spoke when the gong had rung And then there were seven. Seven Trafalgar girls all in a fix One managed to get out of it And then there were six. Six Trafalgar girls going for a drive One slipped out into the snow And then there were five. Five Trafalgar girls playing jacks on the floor One got up to chase the ball And that left four. Four Trafalgar girls at recess were free One flew down to get a drink And that left three. Three Trafalgar girls sticking things with glue One got stuck to the book And that left two. Two Trafalgar girls holidays begun One went to the country And then there was one. One Trafalgar girl going for a run She fell into the river And then there were none. — C.V. Upper II. 28