University of Toronto Engineering Society - Skule Yearbook (Toronto, Ontario Canada)

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The Skule Cannon Many Skulemen undoubtedly wonder why we have a Cannon. Not only is there an historical justification but loyal and faculty-spirited engineers have always had some sort of artificial noise-maker associated with them. Historically, as early at 1300 A.D. the name Attilator was given to the man responsible for the maintenance of defence works and the handling of engines of war. This title was synonymous with engineer and from it we probably gained the word artillery. Thus engineers came to have control over the artillery which in early times consisted of cannons. They were in part responsible for the number of guns used in a battle, their siting, mounting and protec- tion. This last item has particular significance in that today it is the duty of every Skuleman, as an Engineer, to rally around the Cannon to defend it against capture by rival faculties and colleges. The first actual Cannon our faculty had was made in 1936 by W. H. Kubbinga, from a piece of water pipe 8 to 10 inches long, sealed at one end and mounted on a cast iron pillow block which was 4 inches wide, 8 inches long and one inch deep, with a raised hump in the centre through which a hole was bored to take the barrel. It was without wheels and was more of a noise-maker than a Cannon. It is interesting to note that in 1929 the two Cannons in front of Hart House were loaded by engineering students; however this caper was not 100% successful as only one of the Cannons actually fired. The original Skule Cannon was used until 1950 with the exception of a few times between the years of 1941 and 1943 when the machinist in the shop in the basement of the Engineering Building loaned students his Yacht Gun. In 1950 Mr. Kubbinga made a very significant contri- bution to the Skule Cannon tradition by machining a barrel from 2 diameter cold rolled steel. This barrel which was IIV 2 long and had a W bore, was mounted on a wheeled carriage fabricated from heavy steel plate. Towards the last few years of it ' s life, this barrel and the steel wheels were chrome plated. In 1959 Bills Riggs, the Chief Cannoneer for that period, requested permission from the Engineering Society to replace the barrel of the Skule Cannon. The bore by this time was severely pitted from the chemically corrosive action of black powder residue, and rusting beneath the chrome plating had rendered the barrel unsightly. Thus a new barrel 12 long was machined from a solid stainless steel bar, 2 I 2 in diameter,- the % bore being retained. The new barrel was finished just in time to occupy a prominent position at the Skule Dinner. Thus, the present Skule Cannon is made up of the new barrel on the old carriage and has a weight of twenty pounds without the chains which secure it to four stalwart Skulemen whenever it appears in public. The old barrel, having played a great part in our Skule History, is being considered for placement in the Cornerstone of the new Engineering Building. Our Cannon is the only one now on Campus, as in a masterful piece of engineering subterfuge a replica cannon was stolen from the trophy case in the Meds Cafeteria without the glass even being scratched. This small replica was given to the Medsmen last year on the occasion of the return of our beloved Skule Cannon which they had stolen while its guards were donating blood, and kept in their possession for approximately one week. They gave it back at the end of that period as engineering retaliation was extremely vigorous (kidnappings, stink bombs, etc.). The replica was promptly destroyed by its creators. The new Cannon has been appropriately christened, having been used on several highly successful exploits. It was formally fired for the first time on the front campus last Autumn and many engineers and others turned out to witness this spectacular event. It was next used in conjunction with the L.G.M.B. when the engineers literally stopped the Homecoming Show for ten minutes while a presentation was made to Jim Vasoff, a former Skuleman and director of this year ' s show. Needless to say, the large crowd, consisting predominately of Arts types, were green with envy at the bold spirit and prowess of the engineers, and managed no protest other than a few feeble boos. One night a group of individuals from the Brute Force Committee together with the Cannon paid a complimentary visit to the Victoria College Scarlet Gold Dance. The Middlehouse Four were rendering a tender ballad at the time the gun discharged, and they were literally stopped dead in the middle of a verse by the thunderous roar which shook Alumni Hall. The Brute Force Committee then scattered leaflets proclaiming Skule Night and the Cannon Ball. In the latest caper, which took place on the day of our glorious At-Home, Beatnik and Varsity types sitting in the U.C. ' s J.C.R. were blasted; only this time we stayed for a complete Toike Oike, a Beatnik Go Home and more leaflets. The tradition of our Cannon has been slightly broad- ened to include the appointment of an Artificer by the Engineering Society, who will inspect the Cannon, issue powder, and in general look after the material needs of the Cannon. Being connected with the Faculty, this man will thus protect the engineers ' interests relating to the Cannon. This appointment will not change the Cannoneer ' s status in any way; however, it will lend an essential con- tinuity from year to year pertaining to the actual operation of the Cannon. It is hoped that this Cannon will never leave our hands, and it need not, provided that caution, brute force and devious means are employed whenever it is used. Skule- men now have a Cannon which, by virtue of the charac- teristics of the material used in its construction, will endure as long as the University exists. 18

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(Left to Right) — Phil Brown, Ed Slater, John Van Iterson, Jim Ferguson, John Coggins, Doug Gordon, Duff Steele, Dune Blachford, Jim Skeaff, Bill Van Iterson, Barry White. Lady Godiva Memorial Band For the benefit of the past year ' s Freshmen who have had their first year of pleasure listening to the Lady Godiva Memorial Band but are perhaps puzzled by the glorious name, and for the benefit of any Skulemen who even after two or three years are still in ignorance, an attempt will be made to sketch the History of this fine band of musicians. Since turning Professional this year the band has been able to establish a foundation fund known as the Lady Godiva Research Foundation. The principal is invested in Uranium stock and the income is used to feed, clothe and house one research student in the lower basement of the Archive Building on Queen ' s Park. This student ' s main task is peeping through dusty records and gleaning any information he can about the L.G.M.B. and its members. The results of his research serve as the basis of this brief sketch. In the early days of Engineering at the U of T (it wasn ' t called Engineering then but it was just as bad) a group of lab-report-ridden students decided to get away from it all and take a trip to Europe. They bought an old coach, and as a number of them had considerable musical talent and some instruments, they decided to play to raise money for food and hay. While traversing the beautiful Midland counties of England they came to ye olde city of Coventry, but to their surprise it was deserted. Nailed to an old hitching post they found a notice declaring that on that very day Lady Godiva, the Mayor ' s wife, would ride naked through the streets in fulfilment of a bargain with her husband. He apparently had promised not to levee a crippling tax if his wife would ride naked through the city — he never thought she would! However being a strong minded woman with only the welfare of the citizens at heart she took him up on his promise. To cause her as little embarrassment as possible he decreed that every citizen should stay in his house with his windows shuttered and further that the first citizen to look at his wife would be struck blind on the spot. Suddenly hearing the sound of horse ' s hooves in the distance, the Engineers ran for the nearest Pub for cover. But one engineer, Tom Skule, whom the girls on the con- tinent had not gone crazy over as they did for all other engineers, and who had not seen a copy of Playboy for months, just couldn ' t resist the temptation to peep through the letter-box. First he saw the horse, a beautiful white stallion, but as his eyes focussed on the Lady all went black — he was blinded, the dog! After this act of sorcery the spell was broken and out poured the Engineers — was Lady Godiva ever glad to see them. She beseeched them to take her to a bar and proceeded to tell 20