Trafalgar School - Echoes Yearbook (Montreal, Quebec Canada)

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JUNE 1934 VOLUME VIII Trafalgar Editor Nancy Murray MAGAZINE STAFF Sub ' Editor Emily Adams SecretaryTreasumr Forrest Burt EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Advertising Managers ' Art Representative Athletic Representative House Representative ' Advisor to Magazine Staff Frances Brown Katharine Weeks Mercy Walker ' Doreen Dann Bernice Bigley Miss Bryan CLASS REPRESENTATIVES Matriculation II. Upper Vi. Upper V2. Form IVa. Marjorie Bayne Phyllis Henry Owen Henderson Barbara Ward Form IVb. Form IIIa. Form IIIb. Form Upper II. Joan Walsh Ruth Mallory Margaret Saunders Margaret Ross SCHOOL OFFICERS— PREFECTS Emily Adams Peggy Boyd Forrest Burt JUANITA CrONYN Doreen Dann Katharine Weeks Lorraine Driver Sylvia Howard Nancy Murray Ruth Oliver Margaret Sweet FORM OFFICERS Form Matriculation I. Matriculation II. Upper Vi. Upper V2. IVa. IVb. IIIa. IIIb. Upper II. II. Upper I. Remove. President Nancy Murray Lorraine Driver Margaret Slack Katharine Stevenson Jean Scrimger Janet Porteous Faith Lyman Jane Seely Ann Dodd Jane Elliot Grace Wurtele Marion MacMillan Vice-President Emily Adams Lillian Thompson Betty Henry Elizabeth Shap.p Margaret Montgomery Phoebe Anne Freeman Peggy Tyndale Peggy MacMillan Madeleine Hersey Lyn Berens Frances Barnes 11 ]

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Sir Arthur Currie CANADIANS of a future day, looking back to the history of our time, will see in Sir Arthur Currie our greatest figure. They may well be inspired to wonder what were the qualities which fitted him to lead us in our greatest war, and to maintain his place for many years in our post ' war activities. Before endeavouring to appraise and analyse the qualities with which he was endowed, it is expedient that we should summarily review his career. Born in 1875 in the Province of Ontario, he early moved to British Columbia, where he taught school and engaged in business. His activities in the Canadian Militia were probably the most significant indication of his real interests. Certainly, it was this early military training which qualified him, on the outbreak of the Great War, to take an active part in it. Starting at the head of a battalion in the First Contingent, he rose steadily until in 1917 he became Commander-in-Chief of the Canadian Corps. It was then that his qualities as a leader became clearly apparent, for under his command the Canadian Corps achieved a great name as one of the outstanding units in the Allied Armies. Following the war, he became Principal of McGill University, then urgently in need of courageous leadership and inspiration. His efforts on behalf of this University were so successful that, on his death, its prestige and reputation were greater than ever before. The doubts ex- pressed on his appointment, based on his lack of academic training and university experience, were soon dissipated by his constant successes in all the various activities to which, in his new office, he was obliged to apply himself. Apart from his arduous duties at the University, Sir Arthur found time to provide leadership in public affairs, and to take his place in Canada, not merely as the Principal of a great University and a former commander of our Corps, but also as the exponent of those qualities of life and action of which he was at all times a fine examplar. We were fortunate in being able to claim a part of his thought and assistance in Trafalgar School. As President of our Board of Governors, he gave us the benefit of his advice and guidance, and the mere fact of his occupying the role of official head of our school gave it a special distinction. What were the qualities which made Sir Arthur great? As we see him now, the most out- standing were those which we designate under the general word character. Always a man of deep religious feeling, he felt that his work was his mission, and to it he applied all his forces. His stern and serious deportment were indicative only of the regimen he imposed on himself, as, with others, he was always kindly and considerate. His public addresses revealed a strong sense of duty and deep sincerity of thought. In the opinion of many he was, during his last years, our greatest orator, and this was due, less to his development to a high degree of the mechanical or technical arts of public speaking, than to the power of mind and heart which were revealed in his addresses. His intellectual powers were clearly exceptional as demonstrated by his achievements in widely different spheres. However, Canada has many able men, and Sir Arthur ' s career cannot be accounted for simply on the basis of intellect. His position as our great war-time and post-war leader was chiefly due to the fact that the people of Canada saw in him a man whose work was a religion, and who, in every activity of his life, exemplified the great virtues of honesty, devotion to duty, and love of country. Sylvia Howard, Form Matriculation I. [ 13]