Vaughan Road Academy - Acta Studentium Yearbook (Toronto, Ontario Canada)

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ACTA STUDENTIIIM Page 47 I l , 4 l S i 1 La... a life of hard training. For ninteen days we worked hard to get back into shape once more. The track there is of grass and circular, quite different from our cinder tracks. The other teams were the New Zealand team of nine boys and the Australian team of fourteen boys, all from Melbourne schools. In the meet we were successful in winning eight out of the eleven events and in gaining the championship. During our stay there each boy lived in the home of one of the Melbourne schoolfboys. Our visit was most interesting for the Australian people were hospitable and entertain' ing. After spending a few more days visiting interesting Australian towns we sailed for New Zealand. The Welling' ton schoolfboys interested us for they wore uniforms of short pants, flannel shirt and small skull cap. In this city also we took part in a track meet and were quite successful. From Wellington we went to Rotorura, a Maori town, the Maori people made our visit pleasant by entertaining us with native dances, war-cries and songs. The town is the centre of the thermal region. Everywhere we saw pools of boiling water. A nearby village is built amidst geysers, boiling pools and mud. No fires are needeclg the cooking is done in an oven placed in the sand: and the clothes are washed in these pools of hot water. At Rotorura and again at Auckland we took part in track meets. Out of fortyffive events which we had entered since leaving home we had won thirtyfsix and were well pleased. Our trip home was made more in' teresting by a stop at the Fijii Islands and Honolulu. We spent Christmas on board ship and arrived at Vancouver having covered a distance of twenty five thousand miles. jim Homer L., ,neva A. c-.

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Page 46 ACTA STUDENTIUM MONG the many new and exciting experiences on board ship, the most memorable was the initiation ceremony. It was to say the least, impressive. Old King Neptune, arrayed in all his regal grandeur was our judge and found us guilty, very guilty of disturbing the peace of the ship. We were sentenced to sit beside the swimming pool. After being forced to submit to an noneftoof -gentle lathering by Neptune's personal barber we were tipped into the pool. Mermaids, with rather more strength than we had supposed the ordinary mermaid to possess, kept us under water for some time. When we finally got out we were accepted as the true and loyal subjects of the great King of the Deep. That evening, Neptune, perhaps dis' satisfied with our vows of fealty sent a Flying Fish to visit us. Imagine our amazement when, as we we ware quietly sitting in our cabins one of these creatures hit the floor. It had flown in through the portfholeg the sea is filled with these small fish which fly close to the water like a flock of birds. Eight days after leaving San Francisco we stopped at Tahiti: I had always been fascinated by stories of the South Sea Islands and the reality at first was disappointing for the town of Papeeti was dull and uninteresting. However, the country fulfilled our best hopes. Tahiti is a French colony and our Vaughan Road French stood us in good stead. Wheii we tried to explain to a native that we wanted a bunch of bananas he got an axe and chopped down the tree. For this service he charged us the sum of fifteen cents and seemed most excited at neceiving so much money. But some of our boys got into real language difficulties and because they misunderstood the terms under which a car was rented them for a trip around the island finally landed in the police station. Their explanation to the police resulted in their release but the boat had to wait for them for five minutes. Our visit to Raratonga was one of the highlights of our trip. Here, through the kindness of the British Commission we visited a native school, went in for a swim, tried out the native canoes fvery awkward and slow but safer than our ownj and to crown all, enjoyed the meals served in native fashion. On a table cloth of wide leaves, were placed vegef tables, fruits, fowl and fish. The native believe in the old adage L'Fingers were made before forksi' and the only assist' ance we had in eating the meal was a spoon made of cocoa-nut shell. Races in the afternoon in which the natives to their surprise discovered that whites could beat them, a drive around the islands and an entertainment by native singers completed a most inter' esting day. I had rather an unfortunate experif ence when, on reaching New Zealand, we crossed the date line thereby losing a day. The last day happened to be my fbirthday. However, on Sunday we celebrated with a big party and all was well! In Melbourne the free and easy life we had been enjoying was changed to

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Page 48 ACTA STUDENTIUM Clllflllilllfklllg Df'ff'l1d!1lZf'S Life at Steak-Tables Turned in Last Zllinute tSpecial to the ACT.-XJ. Mr. Shylock, a Queen St. pawnbroker sued Mr. An- tonio, peanut vendor, for breach of promise to pay him a pound of flesh which he had lent him, because his ships had gone astray. Quite a sensation was added to the proceedings because the judge was really a smart society girl of Belmont St., dressed up as a man. Chris- tian name Portia tsurname withheldl. Mr. Bassanio, a friend of Mr. Antonio, offered Mr. Shylock 6000 Ducats tShakespearian for 6000 Berriesl, but Mr. Shylock replied that he would not take them even if they were each brok- en up into six pieces. Mr. Shylock spoke Shakespearian Yiddish, quite dif- ferent from the modern Queen St, Yid- dish. The tables were turned, in spite of the treacherous trickery of the ter- rible tightwad, by the judicious juris- diction of jarring judge. When the Duke tnot Bessboroughj asked Mr. Shylock why he lead'st this passion of thy cruelty, the latter re- plied that he had a rat in his house, and he had sworn in Sabbath tHebrewj that he would get rid of it. He needed a pound of carrion tripej flesh to kill it. He seemed to dislike Mr. Antonio, often saying nasty things about him. When Mr. Bassanio tried to argue with Mr. Shylock, the question being whether you should let a snake bite you once or twice, Mr. Antonio interrupted by saying, You may as well go bid the main flood bate his usual height, mean- ing Go shut your trap. Mr. Gratiano, who seemed to have a very poor opinion of Mr. Shylock, said to him, Be thou damned, inexorable dog tmodern translation censoredj. A letter was then delivered to the Duke, recommending Miss tor Mrsj Portia, praising her highly, tpretending Sll3lIE5llNllllE5 by mail that she was a male, called Belthazzarj. The writer begged the Duke not to think that Belthazzar tPor- tial was as dumb as he tshej looked. A quotation from the letter, I never saw so young a body with so bald a headf' Miss tmaybe Mrs.J Portia entered the courtroom ,and took the bench. justis Portia proceeded with the cus- tomary interrogation making sure that the prosecutor and defendant each knew their own names. She told Shylock that he must be merciful, saying The quality of mercy droppeth as the gentle rain from Heaven meaning, If you're not merciful youre all wet. Mr. Shylock remained obdurate. Mr. Bassanio then offered him his hands, his heart and head, and after that, if he wanted them-6000 Ducats. But the prosecutor wanted a pound of Mr. Antonio's tummy, and would have nothing but a pound of Mr. Antonio's tummy. He began to call the poor de- fendant names again. A Daniel come to judgment, snorted Shylock sarcas- tically. Then justice Portia again begged Mr. Shylock to be merciful. f'Bid me tear the bond, said she suavely. But the hard-hearted prosecutor replied that he was standing on it. t'Most cheerfully I do beseech the court to give the judgmentf' chirped Mr. Antonio. Why then you must strip to the waist, answered the coy judge, blush- mg. Mr. Shylock then flattered justice Portia by telling her that she didn't look a day older than the last time he saw her. 'fPompeian, Ponds, Cutex and Italian Balm is my secret,'l confided the judge modestly. When asked whether he had any scales and a heart specialist on hand he ans- wered f'Yes and 'tNo.