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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Clinton News Record, 1926-11-11, Page 8icy Deep flats tie GREGORY CLARK, IN TIIE STAR WEEKLY Vii 'sit • :- ie c ' • hats i, men la not lift their is s Y. to their memorial tower. They are too practical for such os- turing'.-There is the school of prac- tical iae-tical science and -the various-collebes 1 of the practical arts, and the several P -t3 institutes of practical theology. Toronto University -- sometimes known as the University of Toronto=. ispL'actical extolas the people ef' Y o1 P Ontario asa whole are practical. But with so beautiful a memorial, so nb ripe for practical symbolism, it is an• y believable that some form or tragi-: tion has not as yet shown -itself at Varsity, The tower joins University ,College 1 4 .to Bart House. It straddles .one of the few roads khat, serve the univer- sity grounds. At the foot of the tim- er, in, a sort• of cloister, is -a wall on which are carventhe names of the ,619 Varsity men who are buried in shallow'. graves,, scattered over Rel— giant and France, _ Ofe tradition is imposed on the. students ley the builders ,of? the tower er. Everyone has to walk on foot to pass ,under • the tower. `-No, .wheeled traffic may pass. •:There was the -hope doubt, inhe :earns ,he` no do t h of t wild- Ir. ers that by causing the students • who use this mainhighway' within the un-' iversLty• grounds to go on foot,' they would' be. forced to go slawly enough. to see the tower and the cloister be- yond it "where swords,their' hilts up- permost, P- permost, guard a fen' hundred names, But this was too impractical. No doubt there has been practical resent- ment that a perfectly good liighevay should have been closed to traffic in this age of congestion, At first it was intended that the passageway under the Rawer. should :be' kept wide. open and' free, ands that no physical barrier but onlyesei tinent would keep it sacred;-; . It wee not long; however, until a,plain beerier, such as is tom nnonly used to keep .traffic from .fel- ling into a sewer exeavation,,had to be placed .in. the tower gate. The] students and professors have beeen parking their ears, right up against the tower, the noses of their cars of 'ten poked almost within the cloister. The university ,newspaper pretested vigorously against this praetice re- cently, and last week "No Parking" signs were placed about the .tower, A. barrier, and. "No Parking" signal The Almni Federation of the Un- iversity built the memorial tower, It was the idea of those who dedicated it andhanded it over to .the univer- sity that the students—there are 5,000 of them—would not merely 'undertake amenrwallmaimmomontrommossomem ....YSYYiMM1.11w. ;Mit demand the. right to hold the' meinoi'Jal Services each Armistice Day and to esta2is customs securing. t le- ��uiu s ae i revereiice so be" t fi l a ym 1e- 7 quires.. 11t only dothe stlici ets fail to 0u , inssin the taw e not en•, uncover•. pa a b the v , It' hassthere been no tradition aroused and rather a.sort;or disrespect estab- lished in the --careless indifference scars and con. iiowninthe arlcin , of i P g duct in general in the iminediate vt- e t6 r cinity of .th Lowe ,,but the 'Alumni 'Federation has railed entirely to in- terest the stridents, officially and_un= officially, inthe singiall "1e matter of tak- ing over the ,-.Memorial service for Armistice Day. WAR IS NOTHING TO STUDENTS' Tris'year's memorial service will be conducted as usual by the aiuinni. The students will be •officially'repre- sented'by the ` University Officers' Training Corps -a unit of some 840 students. • "We once had the hope," said.one of the leading'figuresamongst t - e al- umni, li 1 omni, "that it would become the .duty` of the5senior class, year after year, to carry out the : ceremonies at the tower on Armistice Day." With the intention of .arousing .in the students ,some -interest in the war; there will bethis year, in%,addit- ion to the eleven o'clock service`•at the tower on Armistice'Day a meeting 'in OInvocation Hall 'at-'night,when ad- dresses will be given on thgpaet Cane. ada ,played 3n the war•, and the effect. of the war on world polities. The aiuumi will be interested to see how :the students respond to this meeting. • Action speaks louder .than • words, yet tithe yiaexs, of the etudorits are . ini- portant, • !What 'is the feolin • of the students � as a whole towards the war?" we asked one of the,n'xost active of the undorgredeates: • ';What war?'' asked the student, with pardonable humor, "Pretty complete indifference," was his sincere answer, "But this is. certianly not peculiar to students. We aLe merely a peat of thepublic as a whole in that respect. There has been .1 should say a complete collapse of emotional interest in the war. Nee, body that I know is interested. I ;sec a Perfunctory gesture on Armistice Day. Ae forthe rest of the year, it simply does not enter into daily af- fairs." Christmas reefings Now is none'too early;- to place your order -for Christ;nas Cards and i',toliday,St'ationery. An ecrIy.order means early .delivery. 11 11 We"have. beautiful designs for your personal use, for iiow-a-clays. people who care have their station-,' cry printed. Personal, individual,; and distinctive. 'tAlso' inuclr lnoi'e'' reasonable in price 'than you probably G imagine. If'1Iitt come in NOV ai`rd. see samples,. s'. The ton - ecce re iytixliouid students be expected to b1Iib$r the war any more than kjody else'? Yet that expectation its and , there isc some grounds itStadeir s re ai, anag'e when i' is ni 4ittgal to have isa emotional in terest m life. They are organized,in- to a body,and• ceremonies, ,parades andcelebrations come: easily to them. Aside altogether from the fact that' they are, students and, therefore, in duty' bound to;inake themselves aware of such tremendous facts in history'as the war, it is somehow in keeping with, student tradition that they work ;out. a feritula''for the 'remembrance of :them e'own : i almar zter's �'lor • n y. "I havetried.," saws'one ofthe most actio e 'alumni "tq di a little below, g,.. the suitace.and $mI, caus"�of this at- titude -tit 1e an ongar the under taduatcs.: find that even as;soon''-as this, the vat'`lra.': eo ie'ib re' ois � n n •lienf hu g,,at'all to' -the undergtaduatc. = They have no conceptiot>.ot':the parf`Canada played in -the tir, and ve u S irtl e conception- of who' the• War meant to the'histesk f• othe world. This'is ;a; tonis'hisig but literally true" 'The Alumni ,+oder T ai ton got in tvueh. with 'one of Canada's greatest soldiers,, a man unique' in his war and after -the• - war performaisces. They wanted hie. advice and assistance in the-pi'obleni that (aped them --not in getting rid of their' responsibility regarding `the Memorial tower, but in nseeticsg hat seemed, to then an extrordinary'eon_ dition•amongst,the students. The great soldier made a very sim- ple suggestionin'reply "Might it not be that the returned' men, due to modesty; on all occas- ions. belittle ccas-ions.:belittle -their efforts and ex-per- 'iences overseaes' talking only. of the amusing and; pleasant''featdres oily"?:. 'The result hes'•lbeeci that' those ,who died -pot - go:' overseas'are under the, false impression that a' "good time was had by all," arid that they missed. recruits, The 'number of Varsity! inert and graduates of .Varsity who', served in the war Was 13,180; half .i division of intantr 3= • But just as Toronto's ' cenotaph stands alone and - unheeded in Inc Midst of ,the ;city, Varsity's splendid tower seems to mean little to the e thousands of students who see.it overt' day. ' If you standand watch the centap:x n front of the City hall long`enough,i you will see a few ;salutes:: Mostly! ;elderly men, men incapallle;of affect ,ioc, wi11.-quietly and unostentatigusly, lift their"'. hats' as they pass the pillar, There is one unite old� 1 lady who, When she', a se . lays her � 1? ss s,,hand ' on her heart—astral e beautiful, g , b ti ttl, stiiutation surely l It is a awat 'he Uni .t, - } t ivtrsa.v novva- days that3 'start m' efore a student s b a t `a riot; he must secure theP -resident's per=mission in 'Writing.. It times have; so`ehanged,dancl s o- brest have `15ecome'.tre 'Powers 'ef thene authorityat the,rivexsitYr there Can be, a' •cgs why a n ' s"oix t$ cannot' be` made a;='law fis : every• stu en ` at-., d t sl 11 •'uncover `. in' assin -'. he . tower, ?� P, �' t .tw•, and every` wo1iiati student , shall .lay' hes hand on,her heart,'P It slioinld he the. duty of every freshman to stand and'read,,those (320 names within the cloister. There are hundreds of students tak- ing the course of military' studies hi place of -some liege deadly fall se- condary study, No man's military education may be said to have begun untie he has stood .sentry lir fair weather 'and foul, What is torevent the'Varsit l)t' Of- ficers' Training -:Corps w';hieh drills and =wears :