The Seaforth News, 1959-04-16, Page 2Class Was Small By
Modern Standards
'unseemly 'twould be to cross
words with Dr. Conant, but his
proposal to consolidate high
schools until everybody's class,
has at least 100 is most sweeping
in terms of my scholastic statis
ties. It all depends, no doubt, on
what anybody thinks is good. 1JLy
high-school class was a whopper,
so large that we couldn't hold
graduationexercises in the Bap-
tist Church because the platform
was too small, so we moved
to the Congregational Church,
where the platform was bigger
-and even then we sat almost
lap on lap.
We were 26 in all, but the class
just before us had only eight, and
the class after tis 13• We didn't
wear caps and gowns, because
in those unpretentious times we
associated baccalaureate garb
with the baccalaureate, for some
curious reason, and hadn't devel-
oped many notions. We wore
handsome blue suits (mine cost
$13.98, with extra pants and a
pair of suspenders) and pretty
white dresses which rustled. I
had one of the "parts," and did
rather well.
So, I am against any pretense
of erudition that is based .on
quantity alone. An even hundred
pupils might march down an
aisle with more average know-
ledge, than we had, but I'd want
to see it proved. The heights to
which we had ascended were
studendous, and there never was
a" better -educated crowd than
our unacceptable 26. There was
not a thing we didn't know, and
we all admitted it.
But -stupendousness of intellect
is not all I'm thinking • about.
There were other, less brainy,
aspects of high school we shared
joyously, and all the more be-
cause we were fewer. For one
thing, if 'anybody had a party,
we all went. You could never
shine up your sixteenth birthday
and have all 100 classmates in
for winkum and spin the -bottle,
but you could have 26.
The sports teams, alone, con-
found the theory of hundreds.
Our squads were limited, and we
never, did play football because
only seven boys ever thought
they'd like to try. Baseball was
better, and I went through three
'seasons in left field with a sub-
stitute on the bench. It made me
play better, for if •I goofed he
might get to play. Our pitcher
and catcher never worried about
that, because if anything • hap-
pened to them the game was
called off. We had only two subs
anyway, both outfielders.
I believe it is much- better to
have sports where the number
on a team uses about everybody.
I remember our girls' basketball
team, composed of six, played a
whole season and never lost a
game, and never used a substi-
tute. They didn't have a substi-
tute. One of the girls got her'
picture in the papers because she
scored more points in a season
than anybody else anywhere. She
had found out how to carom a
backhand off the steampipes, Our
gymnasium had been Laid out be-
fore basketball was invented, and
plumbers had never recessed the
fixtures. The pipes bothered vis-
iting teams but not us.
It seems too bad to get your
squad up into two figures so a
thing like basketball calls for
expensive gyms, and you lose -
such values as steampipe prow-
ess. I wouldn't go across the
street to see the Celtics beat the
Hawks, but I'd go a thousand
miles if I could once again see
Rosabeile bouncing baskets -off a
steampipe. She was good, And I
know if we'd had a hundred girls
out for basketball, we'd have had
the pipes changed over, and there
would be no such happy, mem-
ory for me.
It makes me think again of my
Datin class. We were three, Ellen,
Berta, and. myself, There was a
rapport there which would • be,
lost in numbers, When we got
our Vergil books, Ellen took hers
home, read it that night, and at.
school the next morning told us
how, the story came out, This was
a great help, for it eliminated the
need for daily assignments. We
had an instructor who was will-
ing to keep up with us, and we
sailed through Vergil much fast-
er than Aeneas ever did.
Afterward, to fill out the year,
we read some Horace and a little
Plautus, and got in a couple of
books oi' Livy, after which we
coasted.' If •we'd had a class of
100, we'd probably have stopped
just short of Vercingetorix some-
.. where, as they do now, and we'd
have worn caps and gowns with
a difference.
I've always thought 28 made
a fine English class, too. We had
the same English teacher all four
years, and those of us who took
French had her again. I have an
idea she was the best individual.
teacher we had, all along the
line, and she took us through so
many pleasant experiences that
I realize now how poverty-stric-
ken my own children are in those
respects.
They have had their "English"'
from excerpts and digests and
comprehensive readers, and their
exams have questions like "Name
four books by Mark Twain."
They haven't read .anything by
Mark Twain, you understand —
at least as school work, unless
you count a few paragraphs in
the accredited anthology. Some-
how things are easier by the
hundreds.
But here's the best thing about
my 26: After 30 years 24 of; us
are still gathering every five
•.years to shake hands and' share
a clam chowder, We never got
into the habit of bringing chil-
dren and grandchildren, so our
little group remains just us, This
would be otherwise if we had
been 100. Dr. Conant, I think, has -
seen too many schools and has
lost perspective. I'd like to in-
vite him to our next reunion, to
see a smallish class eating. chow-
der, and watch his face as his
mind changes.—By John Gould.
in The Christian Science Moni-
tor.
Jockeying For
Seaway Position
In the early morning of April
20, hardened merchant -marine
skippers will be jockeying' their
ships around Montreal Harbor
with the nervous eagerness'. of
yachtsmen maneuvering for the
start of an America's Cup race,
A dozen or more wallowing
freighters may be on hand that
day next month, ready to plow
into the main channel of the St.
Lawrence River and race for the
St. Lambert locks upstream. The
"trophy" at stake: 'The honor of
being the first deep -draft, ocean-
going ship to sail into the St.
Lawrence Seaway, which is
opening for business after five,
years of construction.
ARTIFICIAL RESPIRATIONFOR CHILDREN
RECOMMENDED BY CIVIL DEFENSE
Gear mouth of any for-
eign matter with' finger
and press tongue for.
word...
Placing •child on back,
rise middle fingers of
loth hands to lift (ower
jaw beneath and behind
go that it "juts out."
Hold jaw in this position
to keep open airway , .
With child in face.
down, head -down posi-
tion, pat back to dis-
lodge any object in air
passage .
Place your mouth over
child's mouth and nose;
breathing into its lungs
with steady action until
you see chest rise. Now
hold freehand with
moderate pressure on
hild's abdomen be-
tween navel and ribs to
prevent air from filling
stomach . , ,
—When lungs are inflated stove your lips and ellow'Iunpe
to empty. Repeat at rate of sbopt 20 wits ppci minute, IF
you feel 'resistance to•yoyqr breathing end ehlid a ghost does
not rise, repeat step 2, and lean ateath•to•mautb breathing.
wwy. dt r
YOU SHOULD KNOW—Method for •administering artificial
respiration to a child is part of "Handbook for Emergencies,"
distributed by Boy Scouts, drawn up by civil defense. experts,
Knowledge of this technique may result in the saving of many
youngsters who otherwise would' have died i<urom. stoppao of
breath or drowning.
ANYBODY; GOT A DIME? Members of the crack St. Mary's
phone booth stuffing team spill out of a booth to set an
unofficial world's record of 20 persons in a booth at one time.
Stuffing teams in other'•countries are disputing claims; one
reason; naliod,y can move to answer the phone.
ITh6LE
AL
KS
eJave A•nd.ws.
It is not so very long ago•that
cheesecake was considereda des-
sert-for,experts to make and be-
ginning cooks did not often .at-
tempt to make one. Now that is
changed — and here is a recipe
that.you'll like and be proud` to
make and serve. Remember.
,though dainty to look at, cheese-
cake is•rich to eat; so serve small
pieces for dessert, The 'wheat
germ used in 'the crust adds a
nutlike flavor. Bake it either in
a spring -form pan or in an 8 -inch
square ,pan and decorate with
peaches, strawberries, cherries. f
or any favorite fruit.
reaches 'n' Cream' Cheese Cake ,
Crust: Combine 1 cup wheat
germ, -1/4 cup melted butter, and
Ms cup .sugar. Pat mixture down
firmly on bottom and sides of a
well -greased spring -form pan or
square baking; dish.
CHEESE CARE MLYTURE
3 cups cream style. cottage
cheese,
4. eggs
1 cup sugar
s teaspoon salt
14 cup sifted flour
'a tablespoons lemon .juice
11/2teaspoonsgrated lemon rind
Topping:
cup sour cream -
Peach slices
Press cottage cheese through a
fine sieve or food mill. In a bowl
combine sugar and eggs; beat
until light. Add salt, flour, lemon.
juice, rind and cottage cheese.
Mix well. : Pour mixture into
crumb -lined pan and bake at
325° F. for 1 hour. Turn off heat.
Leave in oven 1 hour, longer with
oven door closed. Remove •from
oven and spread top with sour
cream;' decorate with ' peach
slices. Chill well before. serving
Store in refrigerator.
4 ? R
You don't have to cook the fol-
lowing pineapple dessert — ,just
make it right in your refrigerator
`tray the day before you: party
and let it remain cold until you
serve it. It serves 6,
PINEAPPLE ICE CREAM PIE
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
(about 15 crackers)
r/,s cup brown 'sugar
3 tablespoons melted butter
1 quart vanilla ice cream
17/ cups crushed pineapple
Maraschino cherries
Pecans, walnut halves, or
toasted almonds
Set refrigerator at coldest
point. Drain pineapple. Mix gra-
ham cracker crumbs, brown
sugar, and melted butter togeth-
er, Turn into 1 -quart refrigerator
tray and peck to form crust.
Chill for 30 minutes, then care-
fully fill with softened vanilla
ice cream, Cover with drained
crushed pineapple. Top with
cherries and nuts,
a o n
Almost everyone likes a lemon
dessert, and here is one you bake
in a grahann cracker crust,
LEMON DELIGHT
eggs, separated
1 can sweetened condensed
milk
f/ cup fresh lemon Juice
i tablespoon grated lemon rind
t/ teaspoon ,cream of tartar
4 tablespoons sugar
Crust:
13/4 cups crushed pattern Crack-
er crumbs
34 cup sugar
IA ;cup soft butter
Combine crust ingredients and
reserve half of mixture tor top-
ping. Press remaining mixture.
firmly on bottom and sides of : an
8 -inch -square ' cake ` pan. Chill
half an hour or more until ready
tofill. •
Beat egg yolks lightly; add
milk, lemon .juice and peel. Beat
egg whites and cream of tartar
until stig but not dry, gradually
adding sugar. Fold whites mix-
ture into yolks 'mixture. Pour.
into pan, that is lined with gra-
'ham cracker crust. Sprinkle re-
maining cracker mixture on top.
Bake at 350° F. for 25 minutes.
a a.a
Nearly all eggs purchased at a
reputable retail store will be
fresh; but, if you have any
doubts, try this test. Drop each
egg (in the shell) •carefully into
a deep saucepan full of .cold
water. If the egg is fresh, it will
sink at once to the bottom and
Iie on its side, If, however, the
egg 'sways abouton one end,
nearly upright but still in the
water, it is not fresh, but 'is still
usable. A spoiled, unusable egg
bobs promptly to the surface and
floats..
Except when making a test
like the above, eggs should not
be washed until ready for use,
for water removes`. their natural•
coating, and, without this coat-
ing, the egg is more likely to ab-
sorb foreign tastes ani odors,
and will also,• deteriorate:sooner.
"When I ' was a boy," remin-
isced the lawyer, "my highest
ambition was to be a`pirate."
"That so?" said his client.
"Congratulations."
SUGAR -LUMP RADIO Rev-
olutionary radio set the size of
a lump of sugar, .above, will
sharply reduce the size and
weight of components for mis-
siles, and consumer goods as
well. The receiver is made of.
eircult-building blocks measur-
Ing a third of an inch on each
side.
ISSUE 15 — 1959
House Full Of
Smuggled Brandy
A father and son in the wild
Scottish Highlands around Gair-
loch had kept an illicit whisky
still hidden undetected in a cave
for many years; but it had be -
Prime worn out and useless; They
couldn't afford a new one, so it
looked as if they'd have to go
without their daily dram.
One day the sen came to his
father, in great excitement.
"Exciseman is offering a reward
of £25 to anyone whowill give,
information leading to the discov-
ery and seizure of 'a still in this.
areal"
"Oh, the man will never find
ours! said the father, "You
would Never give away anyone's
still to Exciseman, I hope,"'
• "I was thinking of that," the
son `replied, "I'm sure it is the
best thing to do. 1f the still, is
done, he may as well take it.
Twenty-five Pounds is a lot of
money, and will do us more good
than .it will do him."
So, to keep their own cave
secret, they moved . the old still
to a cranny in another hillside,
then went to the Exciseman and
told him they'd stumbled on a
still while going after straying
sheep. With the £25 reward
they; went into Inverness and
bought parts to make a new -still,
for £20, celebrating on the five
left over!.
This' happened only a year or
two back, Dawn MacLeod dis-
closes in "Oasis Of The North"
a charming account . of her life
at Inverewe, Western Ross, and
her travels in the district as a
handicrafts teacher,
In the real smuggling days,
when everyone on the coast
drank contraband whisky, bran-
dy, sherry, and port, James Mac-
Donald ran many a cargo of
•liquor into Gairloch and other
places in his fast schooner, The
Rover's Bride, while , maintain-
ing • his position as a Highland
gentleman of the Clanranald
gamily.
Once she was chased into
Gairloch, but by the time the
Revenue men were able to land,
the smugglers, aided by many
willing hands, had unloaded her.
and hidden every cask or brandy
and claret.
It so happened that Sir Hector'
Mackenzie, of Eileanaeh, who
had been away, returned unex-
pectedly to Gairloch at this time.
When he tried to enter his house
he found that the only way in
was by ladder through an upper
window, for the schooner's entire
cargo had been stowed inside!
The 'Revenue men,; naturally,
hadn't dreamed of searching the
,laird's home for the missing
casks! ;•
Miss MacLeod's Aunt Mairi,
with ' whom she stayed at In-
verewe, told her that rationing
officials in that part of Scotland
bad a difficult job during tri
war. One Inspector came all th4
way from Inverness to lecture a
village shopkeeper for sending
jn 0,000 points coupons fewer
thin • were. due for the goodie
sold.
" Well," said the culprit lino-
cently, '"L do not know what -Z
can have done With the coupons
at all, at all." Actually, he hadn't
bothered to collect them, and as
his was the only shop for miles,
and people must be fed, the auth-
orities couldn't doses his supplied,
so he got away With his casual
lnethods for the rest of the war.
Everyone also had .plenty of
unrationed meat. "It would be
interesting to know," Aunt Mewl
said, "just how many sheep died
—as was said—from 'broken legs
during those year. We do not.
hear any more of this alarmingly
high mortality Yate now 'that
rationing has ended!"
Asked was there plenty of
venison and salmon poaching,
too, she 'replied: "Here we only
call it poaching when those hor-
rible gangs come out in motors
from the towns and take game or
fish in large quantities at night
for the trade, and luckily we are
too far from centres oe popula-
tion to be much troubled with
gangsters."
,Miss MacLeod tells other
quaint stories of life in this re-
mote corner of Ross, and of the
sterling Highland folk, she came
to know so well, in this well.
written book.
U.S. illiterates
In Hawaii, a sugar -company
executive sadly surveyed the
wreckage of a costly new culti-
vator, ruined because : its opera-
tor had poured oil into an open-
ing labeled "water." -
In Detroit, a new auto worker
was given -a sheet of safety rules.
Puzzled, he threw it away. A.
.few minutet ,later his hand was
mangled in a machine.
Management traced both acoi-
dents to the same cause• Illiter••
acy. The scope of the problem
was etched sharply last month
by Ambrose Caliver, chief of the
Adult Education Section of the
United States Office of Educa-
tion, during a conference in Har-
riman, N.Y.' The highlights of
'Csliver's report:
Nine per cent of the over -25
adults in the U.S. — nearly 10
million ' of them (about •evenly
divided among native whites,
Negroes, and foreign - born
whites) — are "functionally illi-
terate"' in English. Of these, 2.5
million have never - attended
school at all. -.
The technologically unemploy
able will probably exceed 15
million by 1970.
The problemis worst in the
-South.
Junior Allure
LITTLE PRINCESS dress, sleeveless- in a gay tulip print and -
matching solid color bolero, both', in quick drying fabric of Dacron
and cotton blend — hardly needs the touch of an iron to look fresh
as a real tulipafter laundering. The style .this 'little six-year-old
wears was made by using Anne Adams Printed Pattern 4520. Et
comes in Sizes 2 to 10. To order, send 40 cents (stamps cannot be
accepted; use postal note for safety) for this Pattern 4520 Nerd*
print plainly YOUR NAME, ADDRESS, SIZE anti. STY,*,,E NUM-
Send ,your order to Anne Adams, Box 1, 123 Eighteenth Sty
New Toronto, Ont,