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

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Scott Jolliffe There is not much that can be said about the 1972-73 Skule Year that has not already been said in the many articles and pictures in this Yearbook. The Engineering Society has had an excellent year in every sense. The Faculty has also had a very successful year, rising to the challenge of experimentation and change. The Engineering Alumni Association has once again proven to be the most active group of alumni of the university. And perhaps more than ever before, the spirit of our associa- tion with Skule has brought our three groups together in a joint sense of co-operation and celebration. I sincerely hope that the bond that has served to bring us together in this Centennial Year, will grow even stronger in the next hundred years to come. UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO

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Dean James Ham Congratulations to the Engineering Society on the Centen- nial Yearbook. The vitality of the Society has been expressed through diverse publications from the very year of its founding in 1885. “Papers of the Engineering Society”, “Transactions of the Engineering Society”, “Applied Science”, “The Yearbook”, “Toike Oike”, and “Tiny Toike” together have expressed both the serious professional concern and sense of humour that continue to make School the unusual community that it is. The ingenuity and symbolic renewal displayed in your Celebrations 1973 proclaim that we are one hundred years young. Let the Toike ring out to honour the past and to greet the future. It is a good time in which to become an engineer and Schoolman in a Province and Nation we have helped to build.

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THE SKULE CANNON No doubt many Skulemen wonder why we have a Cannon as a symbol of Engineering. Not only is there historical justification, buy loyal and , faculty spirited engineers have always had some sort of artificial noise- maker associated with them. As early as 1300 A.D., the name “Attilator” was given to the man responsible for the maintenance of defence works and weapons of war. This title was synonymous with engineer and artillery was probably derived from it. Engineers were responsible for the number of guns used in a battle, their sitting, mounting and protection. Hence the significance to the duty of every engineer to protect the Cannon from capture by rival faculities and colleges. The first cannon firings were those in front of Hart House. In 1929 an engineering caper held there produced less than perfect results, as only one cannon actually fired. The first Skule Cannon was built in 1936 by W.H. Kubbinga from a piece of water pipe 8 to 10” long, sealed at one end and mounted on a cast iron pillow block 4” wide, 8” long and 1” deep. The original Cannon lasted until 1950, with the excep- tion of a few times between 1941 and 1943, when a borrowed yacht gun was used. In 1950, Mr. Kubbinga, made a new Cannon by machining a barrel from a 2” dia cold rolled steel bar. The barrel was IIV 2 inches long and had a %” bore. It was mounted on a wheeled carriage made from heavy steel plate. The barrel and wheels were chrome plated at a later date. In 1959, a new barrel was fashioned to replace the badly pitted barrel of the 1950 piece. The new barrel was 12” long. It was machined from a stainless steel bar 2Vz dia. The bore was made to be This barrel was mounted on the 1950 carriage. The old barrel was later placed in the cornerstone of the Galbraith Building. In 1967, a crew of specialists made a new Cannon in honour of Canada’s Centennial. This barrel was made to be about 11” long with a 9 16” bore. A new carriage was also fashioned from mahogany. Included in the base is a steel plate to attach the chains to. The barrel and the wheels were chrome plated. The long lasting 1959 piece was fired for the last time at the 6T9 Cannonball by the Dean. Henceforth this Cannon formed the basis for the Skule Cannon Award, presented to a fourth year student of outstanding merit. With Skule’s Centennial fast approaching, the Can- noneer decided that a new Cannon should be fashioned for Skule’s 100th Birthday. Many hours o.f labour went into fashioning this new piece. The barrel was machined from a brass bar 3” in diameter and thus made to be 16 3 4” long with a % bore with a weight of about 38 lbs. A new carriage was constructed of walnut to enhance the beautiful brass shine of the barrel. The carriage includes a stainless steel plate for attachment of chains. The formal firing of the 1973 Cannon was at the Undergraduate Centennial Ball. On this occasion the Dean of the Faculty, James M. Ham fired the 1 967 piece for the last time. Dean Ham was then presented with the 1967 Cannon in honour of his retirement from Deanship in June, 1973. The Skule Cannon’s life has not been easy. University College stole the Cannon in 1944 and Meds in 1949 and 1959. Of course, these desecrators were severely punished. A replica of the Skule Cannon was given to Meds on the return of our 1959 piece which was stolen at a Blood Donor’s Clinic. Of course, the replica was promptly removed from a showcase in the Meds building (without scratching the glass) and subsequently destroyed by Engineers. The Meds Building was returned as a five story parking garage Since that time, the Cannon has stayed with Engineers. It is hoped that it will never leave our hands and it need not, as long as caution, brute force and devious means are employed whenever it is used. Skulemen, we have a Cannon which by virtue of the characteristics of the material used in its construction, will endure as long as Skule exists!