Walkerville Collegiate Institute - Blue and White Yearbook (Windsor, Ontario Canada)

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BLUE AND WHITE We Westerners are fortunate in many ways, living as we do in our ultra-mod¬ ern land, but without doubt we miss something which is found in these old, exotic countries. We have speed, econ¬ omy and invention, but they have a thrilling beauty, an ancient charm, and at the close of day, peace. LOUISE ARMERDING, 4B. A Tight Spot My job is that of radio announcer for a very small station in a small town. I also serve as advertising manager, ass¬ istant engineer, telephone operator, stenographer and general repairman. In addition to all this, I run the phonograph turntable. One of my most unpleasant duties is sitting un all night, three rights a week, playing swing records which are requested. I am the fellow who says “This program comes to you by means of electrical transcription”— in other words, “We are going to play a bunch of old phonograph records for you”. There is another guy at the station. He is the owner and chief engineer, and does all my duties when I’m not there. We don’t have an easy time of it like announcers in large stations do. We can’t just sit around and announce every fifteen minutes. Whenever we aren’t an¬ nounci ng, we have to type letters, wea¬ ther reports, news, advertising script or else we have to solicit advertising. One evening we were carrying a lovely opera from New York. There must have been a bad storm raging along the way some place, because the telephone line carrying the program was blown down and the program went off. I got up to the mike and said: “Due to conditions beyond our control, we are forced to dis¬ continue this program. We now bring you a transcribed musical interlude.” That is the way they do it on all the big stations, so that’s how I had to say it. Most p°or l ' 1 would have understood me better if I h d sa ' d: “The wire can¬ ning this program broke, so we will play some records for you”. I got un and went over to the turn¬ table, put on a record, and turned it on. There was silence—absolute silence. I tried to shake it into action, but to no avail; the turntable just wouldn’t turn. There was nobody at the mike and I couldn’t leave the station in silence while I tried to fix the turntable motor, so I walked back, desperately trying to think of something to say. First I said “Due to more conditions beyond our control, we are not able to present the transcribed musical inter¬ lude”. Then I looked out of the window at the weather conditions and gave the audience a hastily- formed weather re¬ port.. Next, I looked at my watch and ■ave the audience the correct eastern standard time, but the trouble was that 1 think mv watch was five or ten min¬ utes fast. In desperation, I started dis¬ cussing the European situation, a sub¬ ject of wh’ch I know little or nothing. I was finally going to give up and tell the listeners exactly what happened, when I remembered that I had some commercials and news reports typed out. I left the mike for a momqpt to get them. For a seemingly endless ten min¬ utes, I read every bit of news—up-to- date news, state news, any kind of news, over the air. Then I began reading com¬ mercials. I plugged Lux soap, Luckies and Camels, and different brands of pat¬ ent medicines and home remedies all in the same breath. I think I was begin¬ ning to lose my loud and excited-sound¬ ing voice which all announcers have, in m der to rush their listeners into buying the product. Just then, I remembered the govern¬ ment restriction which prohibits adver¬ tising over three minutes in length. I decided to say goodnight to the audi¬ ence (if there was any audience left by this time), pull the main switch, and go home, when suddenly, the good old op¬ era came on again, loud and clear. Opera has always been the kind of music that I have hated most but I was certainly overjoyed to hear this one. I’m sure that I let out a “whew” that the mike picked up, but I didn’t have to worry about where the next words would come from. ART BLAKELY, 13B. Page Thirty one

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BLUE AND WHITE cars. These small, dusty trains may be going to Cairo, Alexandria or Palestine. They consist of a series of small com¬ partments, each accommodating six or eight persons. Four unfortunates must ride backwards while the remainder put up with the results of the engine smoke pouring through the window. Woe to the thoughtless tourist who has appeared in spotless white linen. In Ceylon one has not even the con¬ venience of a train. Europeans who visit Colombo and who wish to visit the tea plantations at Kandy are driven out in long black hearse-like cars, which almost turn over at every corner. If one wishes to see the city only, there are rickshaws in abundance, waiting to be hired. These vehicles are drawn by thin brown Ind¬ ians who do not appear strong enough to pull a toy wagon, much less a rick¬ shaw containing a well-fed Englishman! They are, however, anxious to be hired and because of this the tourist forgives himself for his apparent cruelty. After being jostled and bumped about the countryside in such novel ways, one is pleasantly surprised to find modern hotels, refreshing, cool and clean, in most Oriental cities. Weary travellers are met at the door of a Cairo hotel by a swarm of coolies who seize all the bag¬ gage in sight and carry it triumphantly to the tourist’s rooms. The b°drooms and sitting rooms are decorated in nale, cool colours and. during the heat of the day, the shutters are closed. A few mo¬ ments after arrival one is surprised to hear a knock at the door and to see a coolie entering with a tray bearing tink¬ ling glasses of ice cold lime juice. What a reward for a day busily spent! Hotels of Palestine and Svria stand out in contrast to those of Egvot. Es¬ pecially in Syria, as one climbs the Leb¬ anon mountains in late afternoon, a gra¬ dual coolness is felt. Mt. Hermon in the distance shows its can of snow to make travellers forget the heat of the valley. The inns are small, res°mbl’ng over¬ sized cottages more than hotels. Tour¬ ists must find their own way in, look a- round for the manager, and secure rooms. No lime juice is offered, nor is it necessary, as the temperature has fallen considerably. There are no shutt¬ ers or even screens on the windows, but the beds are heavily draped with mos¬ quito netting. Women who live in these fascinating lands have ideas about clothing which would make a European lady’s hair stand on end. Whereas the latter arrive in the Orient with fashionable, expens¬ ive dresses, presumably to impress the natives, the former are oblivious to fa¬ shion and often even to cleanliness. The higher the temperature the more cloth¬ ing they wear, until they almost resem¬ ble small mountains moving slowly along. Their faces are covered with thin, flowered veils so that their faces may not be seen by the public. The men are just as picturesque as the ladies are drab. Arabs from the country wear long, white robes, sandals and flowing white headgear, held on bv a black rope, wound around the head. Underneath the head-dress is a piece of red flannel which seems to protect the wearer from sun stroke. Men of the towns wear either grey or roddish trousers, with coats to match. Many of them try to imitate the Engl¬ ish, though their own dress is more practical. Their heads are covered bv tar-booshes, which are brimless, red felt cans, with silk tassels at the side. To compensate for the heat of the Or¬ ient, its charm is breath-taking. Day dawns soon after 4 a.m. and, from a train one can make a shadowy camel caravan crossing the sand in the dim¬ ness. The heat of the dav is made gay with th cries of the street-vendors call¬ ing out thei wares in many tongues; or one mav enioy a quiet hour of siesta in a darkened room. The night is a time of enchantment. Stillness reigns and palm trees silhou¬ ette thpmselves against a sky more beautiful than any one can imagine. La¬ zy fishermen loll against their graceful boats, wh’le from somewhere across the 1 •ater a deep-toned bell tolls a call to i prayer. W{ er so ex on th at a al is st 2C tl dl ri w v b; ir a y t d V a c fi n t e c t 8 C i t 1 ( I Page Thirty

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BLUE AND WHITE Association of Ideas Hector Berlioz, the great “Father of orchestration and ton e-col ou r”, used to become entranced and raised to an ex¬ traordinary pitch of enthusiasm by the tone qualities he employed. His “Auto- biography”, as well as his “Treatise on Instrumentation” give examples of this. Sometimes his own sense of humour is turned upon himself. In the “Autobio¬ graphy” he tells how he was going home dreaming of the wonderful effect of brass instruments in his first big orch¬ estral work, the overture “Les Francs- Juges”, and so rapt was he that he slip¬ ped and sprained his ankle. “For a long time afterwards,” he said, “that pass¬ age gave me pain in my ankle when I heard it; now it gives me a pain in my head.” Bayreuth. On May 22, 1872, Richard Wagner’s fifty-ninth birthday, the foundation- stone of his “Festival Playhouse” was laid at Bayreuth, a quiet Bavarian town off the main lines of traffic, yet large enough to be a place where people could gather. This had been the dream of Wagner’s life—to establish a home for his art free from the cramping condit¬ ions of the ordinary opera-house — a place where he might found a “fellow¬ ship of all the artists”, and draw to¬ gether a new and appreciative public. The auditorium, instead of being built in the old fashion of circular galleries, is fan-shaped, sloping upwards from the stage at the narrow end in regular tiers which reach, in a slight curve, from side to side of the building. This plan gives a maximum of seating room, and also has the advantage of giving to every spectator a clear view of the stage which is practically identical from every part of the house. The rows of doors on each side of the fan make it possible for the audience to reach their seats without a crush. The orchestra, placed between the stage and the auditorium is sunk below the level of both and is screened from view by steel shields. This has a very appreciable effect upon the tone of the orchestra; it softens the hi outlines of the phrase and blends the ; eI instruments into a sonorous whole. Th f c js result is a great beauty of tone with, however, some diminution of strength! a t The conductor behind the outer shield sees both the stage and his players, but e d the audience cannot see him, and this is j n perhaps one of the greatest advantage? cl, of the plan, for everyone who has seen tr an opera knows how annoying are the « conductor’s waving arms between the ec stalls and the stage. i The stage of the Bayreuth theatre si was planned to accommodate the most io elaborate scenery, machinery, lighting and other equipment according to the “] most modern ideas of the day before n electric power was in use. pi In 1876 this “Festapielhaus” was svd- t) ficiently finished for use, and the first ] Festival was the first performance of the whole of Wagner’s opera “The Ring of the Nibelungs’ which took place from August 13 to 17. PHYLLIS WRIGHT, V-B. d I ii On Taking Modern History j t When the question of whether or not f you should take Modern History pres- c ented itself to you, perhaps you remem¬ bered your Ancient History teacher ' s v warning “Don’t take Modern History c unless you are prepared to do a great g deal of work. It is without a doubt the c most difficult Upper School subject”, j However, nothing is worth having c that is not worth working for, and Mod f ern History is no exception to this rule. For, although it requires more reference t work, more concentration, and more ser- 1 ious study than the average subject, it j rewards the diligent student with an ex 1 eel lent foundation for future study or a i background which helps to clarify cur¬ rent events. j By studying the growth of a nation, its struggles, the mistakes of its lead¬ ers in the past, we are in a better pos¬ ition to understand the problems which confront the leading powers of the work to-day. We see time and time again that Page Thirty-two