Vol. XVII., No. 3.
JUNE, 1914.
Educational Books. JAMES G. BISSET •
C
ONTINUES to supply all the Class Books (New or Second-hand) suited for the Requirements of the Higher Educational Institutions in the City, at the Lowest Prices.
N.B.—BEST VALUE IN STUDENTS' NOTE BOOKS.
JAMES G. BISSET,
.
anb Ebucational Mooheeller,
Classical,
B5 BROAD STREET (Opposite Illiarlsohal college).
J. & A. MARR. ,( x r
Pianos. Organs. Gramophones. Violins. Mandolines. Melodeons. Cornets. Bugles. Autoharps. Banjoes. Concertinas. Flutes. Piccolos. Music. Music Rolls and Portfolios. Strings, and all Musical Fittings and Repairs. Best and Keenest in the Trade.
J. & A. MARR, 58-60 ST. N ICHO LAS STREET, RBERDEEN. Telephone No. 89.
1
GRAMMAR SCHOOL
FORMER
PUPILS' CLUB.
21 BRIDGE STREET,
ABERDEEN, 5th Tune, 1914.
DEAR SIR,
ANNUAL SUMMER MEETING, Cruden Bay, Saturday, 27th June, 1914. Golf Tournament. (t) A Stroke Competition under handicap. (2) A Bogey Competition under handicap for those who wish to play a second round. Entry Fee for each Competition, 1/-. Two Prizes will be provided for each Competition. Members may select their partners, but must state the name on the annexed form.
Motor Section. Members who go in the morning will make their own arrangements, and the Secretary of the Section will notify those who go in the afternoon of time and place of starting. Any member of the Section taking part in any of the Competitions must notify the Secretary of the Club at what hour he will be ready to play at Cruden Bay.
Railway Arrangements. Trains leave Aberdeen at 8'io a.m., 9'35 a.m., and 1.30 p.m., arriving at Cruden Bay at 9'17 a.m., to'49 a.m., and 2.30 p.m. Return train from Cruden Bay on Saturday at 7'28 p.m., and on Monday at 8.22 a.m., arriving at Aberdeen at 8.38 p.m. and 9'3o a.m. respectively. Fare, including use of Golf Course, 2/6, but members staying the week-end pay 8d. additional at Cruden Bay on Monday morning.
Hotel Arrangements. Week-end.--Lunch on Saturday to Breakfast on Monday inclusive, 2t/- ; Lunch on Saturday — Table d'HOte, 2/6 ; Cold, 2/-. Afternoon Tea, tj[ovEu.
In order that adequate Hotel arrangements may be made the annexed Form should be returned to me as early as possible, but not later than Monday, 22nd June, and vouchers, which must be presented at the Booking Office at Aberdeen, will be sent to those members travelling by the 8•ro a.m. and 9-35 a.m. trains. Partners, Handicaps, and Times of Starting will be posted in the Dressing Room of the Hotel. Yours faithfully, STODART M. CHRYSTALL, Hon. Assistant Secretary.
This Form must be returned not later than Monday, 22nd June,
Dear Sir, I intend to be present at Cruden Bay on A Saturday, 27th June, and to play in the Golf Competition s
is
Illy handicap at'
and
I will travel by3 intend to stay until the Monday morning. I will be ready to play at or about' and desire to play with Yours faithfully, ••
Mr. STODART M. CHRYSTALL, Solicitor, 21 Bridge Street, Aberdeen.
NOTE: I Score out " S " unless playing in both Golf Competitions. must be given. 2 If member of two clubs, the lowest handicap 3 Insert hour of train or " motor." 4 Insert approximate hour.
SILVER, 20;- to £5.
WRIST
GOLD, 36;'- to £10.
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For Ladies and Gentlemen.
GOLD - - - £4 to £25. Doctors' Watches.
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191 Union Street, and 23 & 25 St. Nicholas Street.
THE SHOP FOR
Fruit, chocolates, and Sweets, RIGBY'S,
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1
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The Unprecedented Demand for our
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W. & J. HAY, 'Wine fiDercbante,
199
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and Cigarette Specialists.
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LEARN 70 SHOOT with a B.S.A. Air Rifle
Not a toy, but a serious weapon. (Guaranteed accurate up to 50 yards.) Made in various Weights and Bores.
" Junior" Model, for Boys and Ladies, 40/- end). Heavy Model for Adults, 45/- and 50/- each. Ammunition, No. I Bore, 1/3 per 100. Accurate *22 Rifles (for 50 and 100 yards) 10/6. Catalogues Free. Inspection Invited. Intending Purchasers can Shoot Rifles on our Underground Rifle Range in Aberdeen.
ALEXANDER MARTIN, Gunmaker, Tel. No. 480.
128 UNION STREET, ABERDEEN. Agents for the Ariel, Rover, and Hazlewood. Any other make supplied at Liberal DisCORMS. Repairs a speciality by experienced Cycle and Motor Mechanics at Moderate Charges, -
v9Pilei
GEORGE BRUCE & SONS, Telephone No. 1524.
(Personal attention given.)
Holburn Motor and Cycle Works,
18 D.OLIIU RN STREET-
GARAGE AND WORKS-1 ALFORD LANE.
Get your Photographic Requirements at
D. SOUTER
ALLAN'S
PHARMACY,
Holburni 35 Holburn Street (Near Junction ) f
Photographic Department. A Large Stock of Cameras, Plates, Films, Papers, & Accessories.
Depiirt for
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Developing and Printing executed by an Expert and delivered in 24 hours. For really reliable Indiarubber and Waterproof Goods, ry the Actual Makers,
Jampbell & Company, 18 Bridge St., ABERDEEN. •
Telephone No. 157.
Estab. 1878.
Telegrams : " RUBBER."
Established 1847.
togants Music %atoons, 349 Union Street, Aberdeen. PIANOS
and
ORUANS.—A Large and Varied Selection of the Best Models always on hand. An Inspection Invited. Cash or Instalments.
MUSIC.—Up-to-date Music of all kinds always on hand. Examination and Educational a Speciality. Any kind of Music sent on approbation. Music specially ordered delivered in Three days. Bagpipes, Mandolins, Strings, and all Musical Accessories of the Best Quality.
MISCELLANEOUS.—Violins,
GEO. T. CANTLAY,
Proprietor.
CONTENTS. THE BYRON STATUE PORTRAIT OF CLASS VI., PREPARATORY DEPARTMENT, 1878-79 PORTRAIT OF MR. WILLIAM SMITH BENTON PORTRAIT OF THE SCHOOL RUGBY FOOTBALL, 1 ST XV.,
1913-14
✓
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SCHOOL NOTES • • RANDOM NOTES THE BYRON STATUE; THE NEW RECREATION GROUNDS NOTES ABOUT OLD BOYS THE RUGBY XV. OF 1886-87 A CLASS OF THIRTY-FIVE YEARS AGO MISS IdAynoN; SCHOOL LENDING LIBRARY OUR LORD ADVOCATE'S SCHOOL COMPANIONS THE MURDER OF MR. BENTON OLD SCHOOL BOOKS, BY MR. WM. KEITH LEASE THE SCHOOL CLASS OF 1872-77, BY CANON HARPER GLIMPSES OF NORTH AMERICA, BY H. R. MACDONALD SURPRISE LAKE, BY W. BRYAN WRIGHT • MILITARY MA/MIA-RES IN INDIA LIFE IN WINNIPEG, BY ALLAN C. ANDERSON GIRDLENESS, BY J. L. DOUGLASS SMITH THE BYRON REVIVAL SCHOOL FOOTBALL ; SCHOOL CRICKET NOTES DEBATING SOCIETY NOTES ; THE SCHOOL MUSEUM SCHOOL OFFICIALS THE FORMER PUPILS' CLUB -
Frontispiece Facing p. 168 176 51 201
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145 149
152 154
167 .
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168 169
170 171 177
184 187 194 196 197 199 200
201.202 203.204 205 206
BREAKFASTS, LUNCHEONS,
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154 UNION STREET,
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SPARKBROOK CYCLES.
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431.
BOWIV111.1\1 & SON, Picture jframers, 187 UNION STREET, AND
7a HOLBURN STREET.
The Ideal Schoolboy's Watch :
5/- "THE ENIG.viA" 5/*
In Oxydised and Nickel Cases. To be had from THE
City Goldsmiths' Co., 98 Union Street, ABERDEEN. Will be sent to any Adiress on receipt of P.O. for 5/6.
A large selection of Wristlet Watches also kept in stock.
V The
Rosemount Press SUPPLY EVERY DESCRIPTION OF
LETTERPRESS AND :: LITHOGRAPHIC ::
PRINTING On the Most Reasonable Terms.
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Farmers' Hall Lane, Aberdeen. Telephone No. 1035.
" To shorten time is to lengthen life."
THE GAZETTE FOUNTAIN PEN
ought to be one of the most cherished possessions of every student. It will materially aid him in his studies, will make writing a pleasure, and will tend to increase his leisure for recreation. . It is well worth Half-a-Sovereign, and only costs
HALF-A-CROWN, With i4-carat Instructions.
Gold
Nib, in box with
Filler and
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As easy as dipping once
Secure one 11OW at the
"GAZETTE " OFFICE, UNION STREET, ABERDEEN.
•
THE BYRON STATUE. (From Mr. Pittesdris* Naceillivray's model.)
Grammar School magazine. Vol. XVII.
JUNE, 1914.
No. 3.
Summer is here once more, bringing with it the prospect of the close of another session, to many of us the last to be spent at the Grammar School. We disperse, some to the University, some to business, some to the Colonies, or wherever our lot is cast, but we will always retain that affection for our old School which has for so many generations been a characteristic of old " Grammar" boys. It may be the fortune of some of us to add to the list of distinguished Former Pupils, but we all hope and trust to do credit to the School and to uphold its high reputation through years to come. 0 It is with the deepest sorrow that we record the death of a member of the staff. Miss Maydon was mistress of Lower II. for just ten years, and a great many of the present pupils of the School have passed under her care. She died last April after a short illness, deeply regretted by all her pupils. We are indebted for the photograph of her, which we reproduce in this number, to Mrs. Maydon, with whom the School feels the sincerest sympathy. as 0 Meantime Miss J. F. Davidson, supernumerary teacher in the Lower School, will have interim charge of Lower II.
146
Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine.
The University Preliminary Examinations resulted, as usual, greatly to the satisfaction of the School, as there were very few failures among our candidates. How the Leaving Certificate Examinations will turn out, remains yet to be seen. We must wait in suspense until July. Let us therefore be patient, and hope that our labours will be rewarded by a record number of passes. 0 0 The two highest classes are now looking forward with no little dread to the Bursary Competition. Both are determined to do credit to their School, and are working their level best for that purpose. Surely a class, containing last year's second bursar, has a reasonable chance of doing well. May good fortune attend the efforts of all the candidates, and justify these sanguine expectations. 0 0 0 The Gymnastic Assault was held in the Hall on Friday, 13th March. There was a change in the arrangement this year, the whole display being on the stage. It was as usual a great success, better, if anything, than in former years. The performance was enlivened by a " suffragette " outrage. We congratulate Mr. Summers on the success of his annual Assault.
a e : 4;
The Literary and Debating Society held its Finale Concert on 6th March. The entertainment was most successful. We beg to congratulate Mr. Mackenzie Forbes and W. T. B. Joss, who both contributed to the first half of the programme. The second part consisted of " Chiselling," a very amusing farce, acted by some of the office-bearers and committee of the Society. Our best congratulations are due to all the performers, and to Mr. C. Davidson, who very kindly acted as stage manager. The football season closed just before the Easter holidays. The School first XV. were again Junior Champions, now for the fifth year in succession. Their excellent performance is due to the enthusiasm and keenness of the captain and of each individual player ; and we offer our heartiest congratula-
Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine.
147
tions to the team which has so ably supported the School's reputation on the football field. A photograph of the team will be seen on another page. a. t.4". The cricket season is now in full swing. The prospects of the School XI. are not so bright as usual this year, as only three of last year's men are still at the School. But there are many promising players in the younger classes coming up to fill their places. The captain this year is C. E. Saunders, and the secretary is Alan McBain, to whom we wish all success in their positions.
•
Now, as for many years past, the need for a larger playing-field is being felt. We understand, however, that steps are being taken to procure for the School a suitable piece of ground. It is to be hoped that this end will have been achieved before another season, as the present field is very bad and much overcrowded. A new playing-ground would prove a great blessing to the athletic side of the School's education. 0 The Tennis Club has started again for the summer, under the leadership of A. C. Hendry. A court has been secured, as before, in the Duthie Park. The membership, we regret to say, is not so large as it was last year, but will, we hope, increase during the course of the season. We are told that the secretary intends to arrange a tournament before the end of the session. A The Swimming Club is at present in a flourishing condition. The membership is good, though not what it might be. The Annual Swimming Sports take place on the 5th of June, and a large entry is confidently expected. We hope that these Sports will be well attended. On 18th March, Major T. Ogilvie and Captain C. D. Peterkin, both Former Pupils, payed a visit to the School to get recruits for " D " Company, 4th Battalion Gordon Highlanders. A squad of about twenty was enrolled; and they have now put in their recruit drills. The School Company
148
Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine.
is thus brought up very nearly to its full strength of present and former pupils. The Company will attend camp at Tain for the last fortnight in July, where it expects to have a grand time. All through the session the enlargement of the School buildings has been steadily progressing, and is now almost finished. The classrooms will be ready for use after the summer holidays. As more accommodation is badly required to meet the increase in numbers, the School will be much benefited by the new additions. Before we lay down our pen, we beg to express our gratitude to all who have helped us to bring out our part of the Magazine. Our thanks are particularly due to our staff, whose support has been able and ready, and without whom we could have done nothing. As two of the staff will be at the School next year, our mantle is sure to fall upon a capable successor. So now our pleasant labours are ended, and we add our names to the long list of " former Editors." We are highly honoured to have been able to do this small service for the School, to which we owe so much.
M
s
With this number the Magazine concludes its seventeenth volume and the thirtieth year of its existence. Long may it continue to flourish!
Our Contemporaries. The Editor begs to acknowledge receipt of the following magazines, with apologies for any omissions :—" Vale of Leven Academy Former Pupils' Magazine," " The Nelsonian," " C.A.I.," " St. Andrew's College Magazine " (Dublin), " St. Andrew's College Magazine " (Grahamstown, Transvaal), " The Fettesian " (3), " Edinburgh Academy Chronicle " (2), " The Portmuthian," " Stewart's College Magazine," " School News " (Belfast Academical Institution), " The Yellow Dragon " (2), " Glasgow Academy Chronicle," " The Courier " (2), " The Watsonian," " The Boltonian," " Sligo Grammar School Magazine," " The Erasmian," " Penang Anglo-Chinese Scholars' Own," " Our School Times " (Foyle College, Londonderry).
a
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Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine.
149
Random Notes. The weeks have rolled by; the " Leavings " have left; the all too short Easter holidays have come and gone ; and we are once again hard at work. There are only two dark clouds on our horizon—the first, the " Bursary Comp.," and the second, beside which the first fades into insignificance, the task of writing more " Random Notes." We are in the sad position of having absolutely nothing to say, and three pages to say it in. This accounts for our pale, sunken cheeks, our careworn appearance, and our air of preoccupation, which have been causing so much anxiety to our friends lately. To any gentleman who may in future years be tempted to undertake the writing of " Random Notes," we tender this advice — " Don't, unless your idea of perfect happiness is to— Joke, for the Mag. is coming! Joke through your leisure hours ; Joke while the rest are playing; Joke while ' forming fours.' " • [This last line is a subtle reference to our occupation during the last few weeks. We are rapidly developing into a " Territorial."—Lit. Ed.] We witnessed a somewhat unusual incident at a football match we attended some weeks ago. The ball did as it not infrequently does—soared over the fence and fell into Leadside Road. Such, at least, was its fell design, but, as it happened, a dust-cart was passing at the moment, and, naturally, the ball landed in it, entirely without the knowledge of the slumbering driver. A throaty bellow from the field soon roused him, however, and the School's property was restored by a fine drop-kick from the cart. At another School match, we hear, a more unpleasant incident occurred. In the course of an exciting scrum, a member of an opposing team, overcome, we will suppose, by sudden madness, took a vicious bite of the ear of a School player. This sort of thing cannot be tolerated. If it were to go on, we tremble to think what might become of our team. Imagine a captain of football minus several bites of ear, or a secretary on whose hair an opponent had attempted to graze! We think that in future a small card should be suspended by a red, white, and blue ribbon round each player's neck, bearing on the obverse side the legend—" Not to be Bitten," and on the reverse— " Please do not Bite." It is interesting to notice the various manias which from time to time sweep over the School. Before Easter, the
150
Aberdeen Grammar School
Magazine.
junior classes suffered badly from the marble craze, while the seniors seemed to be possessed of a desire to practice clog-dancing in a certain passage. (This has not yet entirely died away.) A catapult epidemic next attacked the School, and one could not ascend the stairs without being assailed by " the slings and arrows of outrageous urchins." Next came a time when certain pseudo-wits kept themselves out of mischief by employing their leisure in filling the Editor's Box with waste paper, nuts, et cetera. This, too, passed away, and now cricket dominates all. If one has the temerity to venture to cross the field, one's progress is arrested by a yell of " Heads! " and, simultaneously, one receives a vicious crack on the shin from a cricket ball. Some people aim so badly ! The instructor in charge of the " Terrier " recruits who have recently been drilling before admiring throngs in the School grounds, has an excellent method of dealing with talking in the ranks. When such a breach of discipline occurs, he gives the command " Double—March! " and keeps his squad running round the field at full speed till they have no wind left to talk with. This beats the " seat of the scorner " method hollow. The new bubble fountains which have been installed in the playground have at least the charm of novelty. Their action is entirely unexpected, and they require careful practice to manipulate. After you have overcome your first fear of them, you stoop down and press the handle. The result is a steady stream of water directed in your eye, down your neck, anywhere but in the right direction. You retire discomfited, wet enough outside but as dry within as ever. Remembering, however, the old proverb—" If at first you should get wet, dry, dry, dry again,"—you persevere. And when, after weeks of steady practice, you at last taste the longed-for nectar, it turns out to be common water after all ! It's not playing the game ! The cycle-shed has, for some weeks past, been in a disgracefully overcrowded condition. This state of affairs is good neither for the bicycles nor for the owners of them, when they go to reclaim their property. Their feelings are something like this :— " Bicycles, bicycles, everywhere, And not one fit to ride ; Bicycles, bicycles, everywhere, And one can't even get inside."
Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine.
151
We understand that one gentleman who lives within 100 yards of the School gate cycles to School regularly. If he really is unable to walk to School, we should suggest a perambulator as a suitable vehicle for him. It would indeed be a touching spectacle to see his schoolfellows fighting as to which was to have the honour of wheeling the pram. that day ! From an essay on " Dreams " which was set some time ago to the higher classes, we learnt several new facts. One writer sagely remarked, " Why do we dream? or What makes us dream ?—These are two questions." We should have said they were only one, but . We presume the gentleman was thinking of the numerous answers to his question. A few which suggest themselves are—Gorgonzola cheese, Homer, and the " Bursary Comp." Another essayist, evidently speaking from bitter experience, asserted: " There are three kinds of dreams—pleasant dreams, horrid dreams, and nightmares." Complaints have been made recently about the tattered condition of the periodicals in the Reading Room. Readers are requested to remember that after the School has finished with them, they are sent, as someone unkindly put it, " to another asylum." Master—" Did you prepare this ? " Bright Pupil—" 1 looked it over, sir." Master—" H'm, overlooked it, I think." (Roars of laughter.) And now, reader, our last " Random Note " is written. The post of professional humorist is no enviable one. In private life we are not, as far as we know, " a fellow of infinite jest," and we have found it irksome to assume the motley for the delectation of the fickle mob. If, therefore, our humour has ofttimes seemed forced, we must crave our readers' indulgence. We have done our best, and it is with real relief that we replace the Editorial pen in the Editorial waistcoat pocket. Farewell! a long farewell, to wit and humour !
152
Aberdeen Grammar School
Magazine.
The Byron Statue. It is with very great pleasure that we present in this issue of the Magazine a reproduction of Mr. Pittendrigh Macgillivray's model of the Byron Statue. From the picture an excellent idea can be formed of what the Statue will be like. All will be glad to know that the model has been approved of, and that the sculptor is pushing on to complete his commission. The Statue is to be placed in the front centre of the School grounds, about 18 feet to 20 feet back from the Skene Street railing. It is proposed to lay out the part of the grounds in the vicinity as a sort of pleasance, in a manner to suit the Statue and relieve the space of its present bareness. It may be mentioned that the Statue Fund is not yet sufficient to cover the whole cost of the work. Those Former Pupils of the School who have not so far sent a donation might kindly note that the subscription list is still open, and that contributions are still most welcome. Remittances should be made to the Secretary of the Club, 154 Union Street, Aberdeen.
The New Recreation Grounds. All who are interested in the School will welcome the announcement that the scheme for new grounds was approved by the School Board on 22nd May. A full account of the initiation of the project was given in the last issue of the Since then, matters have progressed most satisMagazine. factorily, and the thanks of the Club and the School are due to Mr.. A. T. Cruickshank (an F.P.) for the skilful way in which he has brought the scheme to a successful issue, so far as the School Board is concerned. In order to explain the scheme in general, the report of the last meeting of the School Board in committee may be drawn upon :— The Convener of the Higher Education Committee (Mr. A. T. Cruickshank) adverted anew to the Committee's report on the subject of the proposed new playground for the Grammar School as submitted to the Board in February, and reconsidered at its meeting last month. He emphasised the point that the scheme would be virtually self-supporting, and adduced fresh figures in support of that contention. These were based on the capital cost . £4,500 . . of the ground being as formerly stated 373 . . . . . The cost of street formation . 800 The cost of filling up, laying out and enclosing ground . 127 . The cost of legal expenses and architect's fee Carry forward
.
. £5.800
Aberdeen Grammar School
Magazine.
153
Brought forward. . . £5.800 Less—Contributions From the accumulated Games Fund of the School £500 From the Former Pupils' Club . . . . 1,000 In addition to which it is estimated that contributions by former pupils and other friends interested will provide . . . . . 500 2,000 £3,800 The recommendation formerly submitted, which is now renewed, is that the Board pledge its credit for the raising of this sum, and for its repayment by annual instalments, the last of which would see the field in the possession of the School as a free asset of considerable value, paid for meantime by the imposition of a games fee of 2s. 6d. per quarter, levied on all pupils above the infant stage. From this and other sources in connection with the School, a revenue of £320 a year would be forthcoming, and as the annuity required to pay for the field, with interest, amounts to £162 yearly, it will be seen that there would still remain in hand for games material, wages, rates, and taxes a sum of £158. It is anticipated that the outlay under these heads will amount to about £140, so that the annual income exceeds the expenditure by £18. The Committee discussed the Convener's figures at length, and having satisfied itself that the scheme is one that will conserve the best interests of the Grammar School, and make for its future development, it agreed to recommend that the Board do now approve of the scheme, and authorise that steps be taken to acquire the playfield. The Committee also recommend that arrangements be made with the Executive Committee of the Former Pupils' Club as to the rights to be secured to them in the use of the ground, the most important being that the Club shall, in virtue of their contribution, be entitled to the use of one football and one hockey pitch for one game each on Saturdays. The Committee also recommend that it be provided in the agreement with the Former Pupils' Club that in the event of the Board at any future time finding it desirable to use the site for other purposes they shall be entitled to do so on providing the School and the Club with ground of similar extent and equally suitable. The Board in Committee agreed to the report of the Committee unanimously. It now remains for the Club to raise the minimum subscription of £1,000 which has been promised towards the scheme. An appeal, giving full details, is being sent to every Member of the Club, and in the next issue of the Magazine we hope to have the pleasure of announcing that a very handsome response has been made.
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The dates given in parentheses after names indicate the years of entering and leaving the School. * Indicates Member of the Former Pupils' Club the refugees from and has much of Aberdeen, in arrived just has Mexico City, Since leaving in 1910, he has held interest to relate. engineering appointments in Tucuman, Argentine Republic; in Santa Maria, Brazil : and since December, 1913, in Mexico City, where he has been engineer in charge of the running plant of the Mexican Light and Power Company. He had settled down very comfortably in Mexico City, of the beautiful situation and delightful climate of which he gives a glowing account, and everything was going on normally there until 17th April, when a start was quietly made by the company, following the example of others, to fortify its works as a concentration centre for the families of the employees. Huerta, through his Secret Police, got wind of what was going on, and summarily seized all alien arms and ammunition. On 23rd April the foreigners thought it time to clear out, and Cook was ordered by his company to leave the country. On the following day a refugee train from Mexico City was made up. The passengers consisted of British and Germans, but mainly of Americans. These last were enabled to leave only by declaring themselves to be British subjects. As soon as they found themselves in safety on a U.S. steamer, they lost no time in discarding the Union Jack and proclaiming the saving power of the Stars and Stripes. Many of the refugees owed their safe-conduct to the exertions of Sir Lionel Carden, the British Envoy in Central America, who has proved himself a particularly strong and resourceful man in the Mexican crisis. The refugee train eventually got through to Vera Cruz after numerous delays and several disconcerting incidents. Cook stayed only one day there, and then took ship for home. His employers have treated him handsomely, paying all his expenses home, and putting him CHARLES GRANT COOK (1894-99), one of
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on furlough until 1st July, when he goes back to their service at Rio de Janeiro. He says that the outlook in Mexico is very black indeed, all business being paralysed, and that if Villa and Carranza get the upper hand, there will be complete chaos until some Power intervenes. The announcement has just been made of the prospective amalgamation of the P. and O. and the British India Shipping Companies. In the course of an article dealing with the amalgamation The Times says :—" The name of the P. and O. will always be associated with that of Sir THOMAS SUTHERLAND [* G.C.M.G., LL.D. (1844-48)], who, as he announced at the last annual meeting, has for the past forty-two years written the company's annual report—a document which is generally admitted by authorities to be a very able review of conditions in the shipping industry. . . . No one would deny that the present Chairman has done a very great deal for the company, and many will hold that in allying his company towards the end of his shipping career with the British India he has given evidence of his old perspicuity." Sir Thomas is one of the Honorary Vice-Presidents of the Former Pupils' Club. The retirement of Professor ALEXANDER THOMSON* (187377), M.A., from the Scottish Churches College, Calcutta (announced in the last issue of the Magazine), called forth the following eulogium from Sir A. Mukharji in an address to the Calcutta University :-" By the retirement of Mr. Alexander Thomson, we have lost a veteran educationist who conscientiously devoted himself for more than a quarter of a century to the task of the instruction of our youths in mathematics, in one of the foremost colleges of this city. Whatever duties he undertook he discharged with unfailing accuracy, and he impressed on whatever he touched the indelible mark of the man distinguished by capacity to take infinite pains, and it was mainly for this reason that his services as a tabulator and as a member of the Board of Accounts were truly invaluable." Rev. GEORGE PITTENDRIGH* (1872-76), M.A., Professor of English Literature in the Madras Christian College, was elected in March by the Senate and Honorary Fellows of the University of Madras, Member of the Madras Legislative Council. He was Dux and Gold Medallist of the School in 1876. JOHN MACMURRAY (1902-04) in March received the degree of M.A. with First Class Honours in Classics at Glasgow University. He won the Snell Scholarship in 1912, and is now an undergraduate at Balliol College, Oxford.
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GEORGE FREDERICK Cox (1899-1906), M.A., Dux and Gold Medallist of the School in 1906, received the degree of B.D. at St. Andrews University in March. Rev. JAMES THOMSON (1865-66), minister of St. Andrew's Parish Church, Glasgow, has received the degree of D.D. from Glasgow University. Rev. JOHN STEWART (1898-1905), M.A., was in March ordained as a missionary of the United Free Church of Scotland in Manchuria. At the service the charge to the newly-ordained missionary was delivered by Rev. JAMES WEBSTER (1867-69), now Foreign Mission Secretary of the U.F. Church, who was formerly a missionary in Manchuria. He accompanied General Gaselee as interpreter to the China Expeditionary Force for the relief of Peking in 1900, and organized relief for wounded and refugee Chinese during the Russo-Japanese War, 1904-05, for which he was rewarded by the Chinese Government. GEORGE HERBERT MAIR* (1899-1902), M.A. Aberd., B.A. Oxon., joint London editor and political correspondent in London of the Manchester Guardian has in the press a work on " English Literature: A Survey from Chaucer to the Present Day." The book is to be published by Messrs. Williams and Norgate. Rev. GEORGE WALKER* (1852-57), M.A., B.D., who has been minister of Castle Douglas Parish Church since 1874, has intimated that he will retire from the ministry at the close of the present year. ANGUS F. LEGGE* (1901-07), M.B., Ch.B., junior assistant, Aberdeen Royal Asylum, has received an appointment to the Hospital for Infectious Diseases, Singapore. ERNEST HUTCHEON LYON (1902-07) has been transferred from the Department of the Post Office, Edinburgh, to the Board of Agriculture (Scotland). W. MAURICE G. DAWSON* (1905-07) and ALEXANDER G. MACNEILL* (1905-09) have recently passed the final examination for associate membership of the Institution of Civil Engineers. FINLAY W. N. FINLAYSON* (1902-09) recently passed the examination for membership of the Institute of Bankers in Scotland. He is at present in the service of the North of Scotland and Town and County Bank, Aberdeen. ROBERT MACLEOD* (1892-96) has been appointed Government Inspector of Machinery in the Federated Malay States.
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In the last issue of the Magazine it was stated that Rev. (1854-57), M.A., D.D., Moderator of the General Assembly of the United Free Church of Scotland, retired in 1909. This was a mistake. He remains in active service as minister of Kelvingrove Church, Glasgow. The following paragraph concerning one of the most famous former pupils of the School appeared in the London Letter of the Aberdeen Free Press on 23rd February :— GEORGE REITH*
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" Aberdeen had a special interest in the celebration at St. MaryLe-Strand to-day of the laying of the foundation stone two hundred years ago, for this beautiful old church was the work of the great Aberdeen architect, James Gibbs. Born in Aberdeen in 1682, Gibbs took his degree at Marischal College and studied in Italy. St. Mary's was the first building he was employed on after his return. Subsequently, in 1726, he designed St. Martin's-inthe-Fields, and he was responsible for the quadrangle at "Bart's," St. Peter's, Vere Street, and the tombs of Ben Jonson, Prior, and ,Newcastle in Westminster Abbey. St. Mary's formed an island in the middle of the Strand, and as the adjoining property was removed a few years ago, one can now see it thoroughly. There are beautiful little cupids carved in stone on the outside windows. Indeed, it has been said that the church is overloaded with ornament, but that was less Gibb's fault than that of the Commissioners, who desired him to " beautify it " on account of its public situation. The spire was not in Gibb's original design. St. Mary's is one of the smallest churches in London. accommodating only about 300 people."
The Radcliffe Library of Oxford was built by Gibbs, and is his most magnificent work. GEORGE FALCONER KING* (1870-74) recently contributed to the Western Daily Press, Bristol, on the staff of which he is assistant editor and leader-writer, an important article on Lady Nairne and her niece, Caroline Oliphant. It contained numerous facts hitherto unpublished, and cleared up many points which have for long remained obscure.
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KENNETH MCIvER (1899-1901), M.A., Dunfermline, as mentioned in the last issue of the Magazine, is the prospective Liberal candidate for the West Perthshire parliamentary division. He is the President of the Young Scots' Society. In a recent speech to that Society, our Lord Advocate, ROBERT MUNRO,* K.C., M.P., made the following reference to Mr. McIver :—" I remember in one of the Wick Burghs that shortly before the election of December 1910, I submitted to my committee a leet of M.P.'s, and said ' Which of these gentlemen do you wish to wind up the campaign on the eve of the poll ? ' The reply which I got was, ' If you give us Mr. Kenneth McIver, you can keep the M.P.'s.' That
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distinction between Mr. McIver and the M.P.'s is one which we shall not be able to draw shortly, because if I am not very much mistaken, we shall have Mr. McIver with us at Westminster as M.P. for West Perthshire at a reasonably early date." Two other Old Boys are prospective candidates for parliamentary election, both, curiously enough, like Mr. McIver, in the Liberal interest. Sir JOHN COLLIE* (1873-76) has been adopted as junior Liberal candidate for Devonport, and GEORGE HERBERT MAIR* (1899-1902), M.A., recently delivered an address in Glasgow with a view to his adoption as Liberal candidate for the Central Division of that city in opposition to Mr. Scott Dickson, K.C. If the Magazine were not conducted on strictly non-political lines, the hope might perhaps have been expressed that the School's present representation in Parliament by two members will soon be increased to representation by five! HARRY JAMES RAE (1898-1904), M.A., M.B., has been appointed assistant medical officer for Aberdeenshire, in place Of HERBERT S. MILNE* (1897-1901), M.B., who has resigned. ALEXANDER STRONACH* (1890-97) was recently sworn-in as a member of the Alberta Bar. He is resident in Regina, Sask. Joan R. DAMON* (1897-1903) has gone from Dundee to La Plata, Buenos Aires, where he has received an appointment as second engineer in the power station.
recently wrote from work necessary for preliminary the do to offering Winnipeg establishing a branch of the Former Pupils' Club in Winnipeg. He has been supplied with a list of all members of the Club resident in Canada and of other Old Boys known to be living there. His letter concludes :—" You may rest assured if I am given the honour of doing this thing for the old School, I will give the best that is mine to make it an absolute success." We hope to be in a position to report favourably on his efforts in the next issue of the Magazine. STUART M. ROBERTSON* (1893-1904)
SIMPSON SHEPHERD* (1890-97) has received an appointment
with the City and Suburban Gold Mining Co., Ltd., Johannesburg. KENNETH S. HECTOR* (1893-1901), agent of the Bank of Madras at Ootacamund, is at present home on leave; as also is DAVID M. WHAMOND (1900-02), who for the last few years has been stationed in various parts of China.
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GEORGE A. LEDINGHAM* (1894-1905) has been assumed a partner in the firm of Messrs. Walker and Duncan, civil engineers, Aberdeen. GORDON A. MUNRO* (1901-06), C.A., has received an appointment with Messrs. Armitage and Norton, C.A., Huddersfield. KENNETH P. MCKENZIE* (1901-07), M.B., has been appointed one of the resident medical officers at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary. A. LANDSBOROUGH THOMSON* (1899-1908), M.A., B.Sc., is studying at the Biological Research Institute, Vienna. ROBERT J. ANDERSON* (1903-09), B.Sc.(Agr.), has been appointed farm manager to Lord Lovat at Beaufort Castle. GEORGE P. BURR* (1894-1905), M.B., is now in medical practice at Bradford. CLIFFORD C. CHANCE* (1906), M.B., iS studying for the D.P.H. at Aberdeen. He has been in many parts of the world during the last two years. JAMES COOPER CLARK* (1894-96) leaves soon for Florence, where he will be for six months. Acting on behalf of the Smithsonian Institute, America, he is to copy the illustrations in the Sahagun MS., which is preserved in the Laurentian Library. ROBERT A. HENDERSON* (1878-87), who was such a shining light in our F.P. Dramatic Club in its earlier days, has just come home from Tobago, not in the best of health, we are sorry to hear. DEREK G. BROWN, who has just left Modern IV., has been awarded the Hart Scholarship of £25 for two years at the Technical College, Glasgow. Captain HENRY F. LYALL GRANT* (1888-95) is on the staff of Sir Ronald C. Munro-Ferguson, Governor-General of Australia. HECTOR R. MACDONALD* (1900-12) was runner-up in the Heavy Weight Amateur Boxing Championship Competition open to the East of Scotland Boxing Association. The competition was held in Edinburgh, and Macdonald got a gold medal. He was judge for boxing at the Territorial Boxing Tournament in Aberdeen. ADAM RITCHIE* (1903-1908), the outside-right of the Aberdeen University Hockey Club, was selected by the Scottish Hockey Association to play for Scotland in all three
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matches this spring. At Aberdeen against Wales he scored the only goal for his side, playing under very adverse conditions. At Dublin against Ireland he played a good game, scoring an admitted goal, which was disallowed. At Glasgow against England he did nothing outstanding, but played a good hard game for his country. Not many players have received three caps in their first season of international hockey. Ritchie is the first F.P. to receive his hockey cap for Scotland. He has since got his blue from the University. A. PRINGLE JAMESON* (1892-1904), B.Sc., has been appointed chief assistant to the Professor of Zoology at Sheffield University. N. C. PROCTOR* (1904-09) is now in the service of the Moabund Tea Company, Gotoonga, Upper Assam. JOHN D. McGAvIN* (1902-06), who was in the service of the Eastern Telegraph Co. until last year, is now engaged in mining at Sardiniro, near Santander, Spain. CHARLES MUIR* (1899-1900) has been promoted to the Hong-Kong branch of the Mercantile Bank of India, Ltd. At the Spring Graduation of Aberdeen University, degrees were conferred on the following Old Boys :— Doctor of Divinity (D.D.)— Rev. HENRY STEPHEN (1865-66), M.A., late Professor of Philosophy in the Scottish Churches College, Calcutta, India. Doctor of Laws (LL.D.)— JOHN Come' (1864-65), M.A., late Principal, Central College, Bangalore, India. PETER CHALMERS MITCHELL (1879-80), M.A., D.Sc., F.R.S., Secretary of the Zoological Society of London. Master of Arts (M.A.)ARCHIBALD FORBES HYSLOP* (1897-1910), with First Class
Honours in Classics. (1908-10), with First Class Honours in Classics. HERBERT TOWER SORLEY* (1899-1909), with First Class Honours in Classics (high distinction in Roman History). WILLIAM ROBERT TENNANT* (1904-10), with First Class Honours in Classics. JOHN LYON BOOTH* (1904-10), with Second Class Honours in Classics (distinction in Roman History). VICTOR CHARLES JAMES MACRAE
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JAMES STUART GORHAM COLLIE* (1905-10). ALEXANDER JOHNSTONE* (1904-10). GEORGE SMITH MITCHELL MILNE* (1901-11).
Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.)— ARTHUR
LANDSBOROUGH THOMSON* (1899-1908), M.A., (with special distinction in Zoology). Bachelor of Science in Agriculture (B.Sc. Agr.)— ROBERT JOHN ANDERSON* (1903-09). HARRY EDWARD SHAND* (1906-09), M.A. Diploma in Agriculture— ARTHUR BERESFORD BYRES* (1899-1910). Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.)JAMES CATTO DUFFUS* (1897-1904), M.A. Doctor of Medicine (M.D.)— GEORGE ERNEST SHAND* (1894-1900), M.B., Ch.B., City Mental Hospital, Winson Green, Birmingham. DOUGLAS GORDON CHEYNE* (1901-05), M.B., Ch.B., Aberdeen. DONALD MUNRO MACIVER* (1891-93), M.B., Ch.B., Petrusville, Cape Province, South Africa. Bachelor of Medicine (M.B.) and Bachelor of Surgery (Ch.B.)IAN GORDON BISSET* (1897-1906), M.A., with Second Class Honours (distinction in Final). ARCHIBALD STIRLING KENNEDY ANDERSON (1900-06), M.A., (distinction in Final). JOHN GATHERER BROWN* (1905-08). • ALFRED WILLIAM HARPER CHEYNE* (1905-09). ARCHIE REITH FRASER* (1902-07). EDWARD GORDON (1907-08), M.A. (distinction in Final). KENNETH PIRIE MACKENZIE* (1901-07), M.A. JOHN MCGREGOR HARTLEY REID* (1904-09). PHILIP WILSON STEWART* (1899-1906), M.A. ALEXANDER JAMES WILL (1907-09). Diploma in Public Health (D.P.H.)— DOUGLAS GORDON CHEYNE* (1901-05), M.D., Ch.B. JAMES ELDER* (1896-1902), M.B., Ch.B. ANGUS FORSYTH LEGGE* (1901-07), M.B., Ch.B. (with credit). HARRY JAMES RAE (1898-1904), M.A., M.B., Ch.B. •
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In the Faculty of Arts WILLIAM R. TENNANT was awarded the Simpson Greek Prize of £65 and the Seafield Gold Medal in Latin, and ARCHIBALD F. HYSLOP was joint winner of the Dr. Black Prize in Latin. Special attention deserves to be drawn to the fact that of the six students who graduated in Arts with First Class Honours in Classics, four are F.P.'s. Another interesting feature of the foregoing list is that of the 33 names given, as many as 26 are starred, indicating membership of the Club.
OBITUARY. Rev. ALEXANDER FERGUSON (1838-41) died at Epsom, Auckland, New Zealand, on 14th April, in his 87th year. He was ordained a minister of the Established Church of Scotland in 1851, his first charge being at Oldmeldrum. He was afterwards for over four years at Rothiemay, and for twelve years at St. Luke's, Demerara, British Guiana. He returned to Aberdeen owing to ill-health, and for a time acted as honorary chaplain of the Royal Infirmary. Eventually he went to New Zealand where he engaged in farming, and for the last sixteen years he lived in retirement at Epsom, Auckland. Captain HENRY WILKES NOTMAN (1845-47), lately managing director of the South Indian Railway Company, died at Chohniey Lodge, West Hampstead, London, on 20th April, in his 81st year. Lodge, DAVID LUMSDEN (1854-56), M.A., died at Aboyne Port Elizabeth, South Africa, on 16th March, aged 72. After graduating in Arts at King's College, Aberdeen, in 1860, he went in the following year to South Africa, where he became an accountant, and was later taken into partnership by a firm in Port Elizabeth. He took a very keen interest in all the public and social activities of that town. Rev. JAMES FORREST (1856-60), M.A., D.D., minister of the parish of Lonmay, died at Aberdeen on 21st February, aged 70 years. He graduated M.A. in 1865, and after studyaping divinity at Aberdeen University for four years, was Chapel, pointed to the charge of the mission at Barthol of Tarves. In 1878 he was elected minister of the parish He Lonmay, and he continued in duty there until last year. and was a recognized authority on the history, folk-lore, place-names of Buchan.
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JAMES ALEXANDER BEATTIE (1856-61), C.E., died at Hillside, Cults, on 20th February, aged 68 years. He was a land surveyor and valuer in Aberdeen, being a partner successively in the firms of James Forbes Beattie and Son, and of Walker and Beattie. For many years he was in business on his own account. Latterly he lived in retirement at Cults. GEORGE FALCONER* (1859-64), M.A., advocate, died at Aberdeen on 22nd April, aged 65 years. After graduating in Arts at Aberdeen University, he served a law apprenticeship with Messrs. Yeats and Spottiswood, Aberdeen, and thereafter gained further experience in Edinburgh and Glasgow. He became a member of the Society of Advocates in Aberdeen in 1876, and immediately afterwards started practice on his own account. For many years he was assisted in business by another Old Boy, JAMES GRAY* (1882-87), and it is worthy of mention that he left to " his friend, colleague and assistant," his whole means and estate, amounting to a large sum. Rev. JOHN MCKESSER WEBSTER (1861-65), M.A., died at Glasgow on 2nd April, in his 66th year. He was minister of the parish of Row, Dumbartonshire, from 1877. WILLIAM JOIINSTON (1861-62), M.A., died at Aberdeen on 7th March, in his 69th year. He was schoolmaster at Daviot, Aberdeenshire, from 1869 to 1896, when he retired and settled in residence in Aberdeen. Rev. JOSEPH FORREST (1861-62), M.A., minister-emeritus of South U.F. Church, Fraserburgh, died at Fraserburgh on 25th March, aged 70 years. He graduated M.A. at Aberdeen in 1871, and received his theological training at the Aberdeen Free Church College. He was elected to the Free Church, Stevenston, Ayrshire, in 1876; the English Presbyterian Church, Douglas, Isle of Man, in 1885 ; and to the South Free Church, Fraserburgh, in 1890. He retired from ministerial duty in 1906. JOHN ADAM* (1862-64), M.A. Aberd., B.A. Cantab., died at Madras, India, on 15th March, in his 65th year. He graduated in Arts at Aberdeen University in 1868 as the most distinguished mathematician of his year, and in 1872 was twenty-third wrangler at Cambridge. In the FrancoPrussian War he acted as special correspondent of the Glasgow Herald, and was decorated for saving life under fire. In 1884 he went to Madras, where he was Principal of Pachaiyappa's College, the largest native college in South India, until 1894. In the following year he was called to the Bar at the Middle Temple, London, and returned to Madras as an advocate of the High Court. In 1900 he was appointed Crown and Public Prosecutor. This position he
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held until recently, when he was succeeded by his son. He was the author of many school and college text-books, and edited a series of books entitled " Epochs of Indian History." ALEXANDER MCPHERSON (1864-65), baker in Aberdeen, died on 24th May, aged 63 years. ARCHIBALD RAMSAY GORDON (1867-68) died at Aberdeen on 21st February, aged 61 years. He served as a chemist in Aberdeen and thereafter in London. For some years past he lived in retirement in Aberdeen. ROBERT MILNE (1868-72) died at Springfield, Mass., U.S.A., on 17th March, aged 57 years. He was for some time engaged in tea planting in India. Latterly he was resident in U.S.A. WILLIAM GIBB (1870-72) died at Melbourne, Australia, on 11th March, aged 59 years. As a young men he went to Australia, and engaged in business as a wool merchant in Melbourne. On retiring from this business, he became joint proprietor of the large stock farm of Cocketgedong, Urana, New South Wales. WILLIAM JOHN WOODMAN SMITH (1871-74), of Laithers, advocate, died at Aberdeen on 29th April, in his 57th year. He received his legal training in Edinburgh, and after qualifying as a law agent, became in 1881 a partner in the firm of Messrs. Burnett and Reid, advocates, Aberdeen. ALEXANDER SEYMOUR JAMESON (1873-78), M.A., M.B., died at Batavia, Java, on 17th May, aged 52 years. He was in medical practice at Ellon for eight years and at Stocktonon-Tees for thirteen years. Latterly he suffered from illhealth, and his death occurred during a sea voyage to the Far East. JOHN A. JOHNSTONE* (1880-86) died at Glasgow on 6th March at the age of 40. For a time he was employed in the business of his father, Mr. Charles Johnstone, wholesale merchant in Aberdeen. Later he became assistant in the management of Glenburgie Distillery, Forres, and at the time of his death was managing director and secretary to the company owning the distillery. CHARLES HUNTER THOMSON (1890-94) was drowned while bathing in Komati River, near Barberton, Transvaal, in February 1914. He served his apprenticeship as engineer with Messrs. Hall, Russell and Co., Aberdeen, and thereafter went to sea. He was chief engineer of the s.s. " Maori," when it was wrecked off Cape Town some years ago. After this, his second shipwreck, he gave up marine engineering and became a mining engineer in Transvaal.
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LAWSON TURNBULL* (1893-99) died at Banchory on 3rd May, aged 30 years. He was a partner in the firm of Messrs. Turnbull Brothers, metal merchants, Aberdeen.
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Many past and present pupils of the School will have learned with much sorrow of the tragic death, as the result of a motor-cycle accident, of Mr. Harold W. H. Millar. Although not strictly one of ourselves, he was closely associated with us, and gave great assistance to the Dramatic Section of the Club by taking part in its performances of " Beauty and the Barge " and " The Speckled Band." His genial disposition and kindly manner will be missed by all who knew him.
MARRIAGES. WILLOX (1873-74).—At Sharrow Lane Methodist Church, Sheffield, on 7th April, WILLIAM WILLOX,* M.I.C.E., London. to Bessie Lord, third daughter of William Lord. COOK (1877-82).—At the Church of St. John the Evangelist, Brown's Wood Road, London, on 2nd April, ROBERT HALDANE COOK,* M.D. , medical superintendent, Enfield and Edmonton Isolation Hospital, youngest son of the late John Cook, of Ashley, to Emma Sophia, second daughter of Ralph W. Harrison, of Ilford, Essex. CROLL (1882-87).—At the Parish Church, Chislehurst, on 15th April, GEORGE CROLL* to Edith Graham, second daughter of George R. Alston and Mrs. Alston of Rosemount, Chislehurst. LUMSDEN (1887- ?).-At Bombay, on 20th March, Captain ALFRED FORBES LUMSDEN, The Royal Scots, eldest son of James Forbes Lumsden, advocate, Aberdeen, to Ethel, third daughter of the late James Hay of Binghill, Murtle, Aberdeenshire, and Mrs. Hay, 10 Abingdon Court, Kensington. DAVIDSON (1889-99) .—At Hampstead, on 23rd April, JAMES S. B. DAVIDSON,* architect, third son of James Davidson, Hazelhurst, Aberdeen, to Marion Evelyn, youngest daughter of C E. Bartlett, leather merchant, London. SHEPHERD (1889-90 and 1894-99).—At Claremont, Westeril Australia, on 19th February, WILLIAM SHEPHERD, son of the late George Shepherd, Shethin, and of Mrs. Shepherd, 34 Morningfield Road, Aberdeen, to Emily Alice, daughter of Mrs. Eben Newman, Inglewood, Claremont. EssoN (1894-1903).—At Aberdeen on 12th May, GEORGE FORBES EssoN to Margaret, younger daughter of Captain J. B. Stephen, 56 Gray Street, Aberdeen.
THE SCHOOL RUGBY XV., SEASON 1886-87.
BACK ROW - Wm. H. Scott, Jos. R. Fraser, I). B. Millar, J. E. McRae, J. E. Rae, D. M. Strath, J. Bros, H. SECOND Rots—G. F. Smith, A. C. Forsyth, F. Irvine, Mr. A. V. Lothian, A. M. McIntyre, W. Rose. FRONT Row—D. A. McGillivray, A. D. Kelly.
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Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine. on 16th (1890-93).—At Toronto, TAYLOR ALEXANDER TAYLOR,* Lake Superior Corporation, to
167 April, Marie, Street,
second daughter of James Davidson, 25 Mount Aberdeen. SMITH (1891- ?).—At St. Andrew's Church, Cleveleys, on 25th March, JOHN GILBERT SMITH,* second son of the late Andrew Smith, Craigielea, Aberdeen, and Whiteness, Shetland, to May, third daughter of the late Thomas Seed, and of Mrs. Seed, " Heatherlea," Fleetwood. FIDDES (1896-1902).—At the West Parish Church, Aberdeen, on 11th April, JOHN DOUGLAS FIDDES,* M.A., B.Sc., M.B., F.R.C.S., " Rubislaw," Hutton, Essex, to Jessie, daughter of Thomas Bunting, artist, Aberdeen.
The Rugby XV. of 1886=87. In this number of the Magazine are reproduced two Rugby football groups. One is of the School XV. of 1913-14, the other is of the School XV. of 1886-87. To compare the two groups might be rather interesting, but we shall leave our readers to do this for themselves. A few notes, however, as to the careers of the members of the older group may be welcome. The central figure is Mr. A. V. LOTHIAN, who, though he has been for many years resident in Glasgow, continues to take a very keen interest in the School, and in recognition of this was recently elected an Honorary Member of the Former Pupils' Club. WILLIAM H. SCOTT became an engineer, and is now in the service of the White Star Line ; JOSEPH R. FRASER is minister of the U.F. Church, Kinneff ; DAVID BRUCE MILLAR is in charge of the Presbyterian Church, Ellisboro, Sask., Canada; JOHN Exic MCRAE became a minister of the Scottish Episcopal Church; JOHN EVERARD RAE is an advocate in Aberdeen; DAVID M. STRATH is a manufacturer, resident at Wemyss Bay; JOHN BROWN is resident secretary in Aberdeen of an insurance company; GEORGE F. SMITH was for many years at the farm of Pittingardner, Fordoun ; ALISTER C. FORSYTH died while an Arts student at Aberdeen University ; FRANCIS IRVINE is a doctor at Lemington-on-Tyne, Northumberland ; ALEXANDER M. MCINTYRE became a journalist ; WILLIAM ROSE is a shipowner in Aberdeen; DAVID A. MCGILLIVRAY was editor of the Nottingham Daily Express until 1910, when he resigned on account of ill-health; and ANDREW DAVIDSON KELLY is a doctor in Co. Durham.
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A Class of Thirty=five Years Ago. The old School photograph selected for reproduction in this issue of the Magazine is that of the highest class of the Preparatory Department in 1878-79. It will be noticed that the expression on some of the countenances is not so merry and bright as might be expected. This, we are credibly informed, is due to the fact that the photograph was executed in the midst of drizzling rain. The group does not represent the class completely ; among absentees were Norman A. Macdonald, Arthur F. Roberts, Alexander B. Giles, John Thomson, Alexander Gray, Lewis S. ➢rummond, and Robert Nisbet. We give, as usual, notes on most of those who appear in the picture. The master is Mr. ALEXANDER GREEN, M.A. (himself a former pupil), who had charge of the Preparatory Department, and who now lives in retirement in Aberdeen. ROBERT BLACK became a druggist; JAMES MURRAY Ross died at Bieldside in 1900 : WALTER MACBETH died as a boy: WILLIAM WALKER BURR went to sea, and is now living in retirement in London ; EDWIN G. FOGGO became a farmer in New South Wales : ROBERT WILLIAM Ross is resident in California ; GEORGE W. S. WALKER* is an advocate in Aberdeen ; JAMES C. FORBES joined the Royal Artillery, and having retired from the Army, is now resident abroad ; ALEXANDER BARCLAY died in Texas in 1913; JOHN EDWARD CROMBIE is in business in Liverpool: ANDREW BAXTER has been for many years in the Argentine Republic and has an office in Buenos Aires; ROBERT GORDON FOGGO is a farmer in U.S.A. ; HARRY J. KINGHORN* iS a draper in Aberdeen: JAMES CRAN was resident secretary of the Royal Insurance Company in Calcutta, and now holds a similar position in Brighton : JAMES LAING SALMOND is a doctor in London : JOHN A. R. GLENNIE is a doctor in Singapore ; JAMES HARPER engaged in business in South Africa, and died there in 1899 ; GEORGE WILSON CLYNE* is in business in Aberdeen; JAMES BROOMHEAD is a doctor at Haslingden, Lanes.: ALFRED HASSELL was engaged in banking, and died in Calcutta in 1892: JAMES WILLIAM BARCLAY was a chartered accountant, latterly in business in Buenos Aires, and died in 1902: JOHN HAY BEGG is a farmer in Australia: WILLIAM WALLACE REID went to sea; LOUIS HOLMES has been in South Africa for over twenty years; JAMES HUMPHRY SKEEN is medical superintendent at Kirklands Asylum, Bothwell, Lanarkshire; ROBERT W. DUNCAN is in the service of the Post Office, Aberdeen; ALEXANDER WALKER* is a merchant in Aberdeen : and JOHN CROMAR* is a dental surgeon in Aberdeen.
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I., PREPARATORY DEPARTMENT, 1878-79.
BACK Row—Mr. Green, R. Black, J. M. Ross, W. Macbeth, W. W. Burr, E. G. Foggo, R. W. Ross, G. W. S. Walker. SECOND Row—J. C. Forbes, A Barclay, R. Clews, J. E. Crombie, J. A. Taylor, A. Baxter, R. G. Fcggo, H. J. King4orn. Thum Row—J. Cran, J. L. Salmond, J. A. R. Glennie, J. Harper, G. W. Clyne, J. Munro, J. Broomhead, A. Hassell, J. W. Barclay, J. H. Begg. FRONT Row—J. A. Bain, W. W. Reid, L. Holmes, J. H. Skeen, R. W. Duncan, A. Walker, J. Cromer.
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Miss Maydon.
On Sunday, the 5th April, the School suffered a heavy loss by the death, from pneumonia, of Miss Helen Durward Maydon, after an illness of three weeks. Miss Maydon was educated at the Girls' High School. She joined the staff of our Lower School just ten years ago, in April 1904; and many throughout the School will recall with affectionate remembrance her patient, gentle teaching, and the cheerful courage with which, as on this last occasion, in spite of illness, she endeavoured to discharge her duty. Among the many friends of the family who attended her funeral on the day we broke up, a touch of unwonted pathos was given by the long files of her little pupils, who with sad and wistful faces followed their teacher to her last resting place. The sincere sympathy of staff and School is respectfully tendered to the mother, who has lost her only daughter and constant companion.
School Lending Library. The following books have been presented to the Library :—By Mr. W. Murison, M.A.—" The Plough of Shame," " The Log of a Snob." The Library has had a more successful session this year than ever before, but the membership is not yet so large as might be wished.
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Our Lord Advocate's School Companions. In the last issue of the Magazine appeared a report of the speech which Mr. Robert Munro, K.C., M.P., delivered at the Club Dinner in December last. In the course of that speech he said (p. 134) :—" The men I knew best were the men who lived along with me in a certain house in Fountainhall Road-34 Fountainhall Road—conducted under the supervision of a sister-in-law of the late Principal Salmond. . . . We had very happy times in that house."
Above is a portrait of Mr. Munro and his companions in the " certain house." The original is the property of one of the members of the group, Mr. W. W. Lackie, who has kindly sent it for reproduction. The names of the individuals are as follows (reading from left to right) :— BACK Row. ARCHIBALD WATSON (1884-87), corn factor and commission agent, Invergordon; died there, 1908. WILLIAM W. LACKIE (1885-87), chief engineer, Glasgow Corporation Electricity Works. GEORGE SHEPHERD (1882-85), farmer, Shethin, Tarves. ROBERT MUNRO (1884-85), Lord Advocate for Scotland. FRONT Row. CHARLES G. COWIE (1884-86), doctor in Bournemouth. ALEXANDER BROWN (1885-87), later Alexander Brown Shepherd of Longhaven, Aberdeenshire; died there 1913. J. MACDONALD (not a pupil at the School).
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The Murder of Mr. Benton. Story of the Tragedy.
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The tragic death of William Smith Benton—" murder," indeed, seems to be the most appropriate word, and it has been used by Sir Edward Grey—to which the briefest reference was made in the last number of the Magazine, has deeply stirred the country. Mystery envelopes the tragedy, and all the exertions of the British Government, as is evident from the dispatches summarised below, have failed to elucidate the circumstances of what there is little doubt was a singularly cold-blooded crime. Our School and the F.P.'s have taken the deepest interest in l'affaire Benton. The victim was one of ourselves. William Smith Benton was a native of the parish of Keig, Aberdeenshire, and, as was shown in a wellinformed article in the Aberdeen Free Press, the family was widely known and highly respected. At one time, not so very long ago, says the Free Press, there was no better known name in Keig and Tullynessle than that of Benton. In the words of one member of the family, " there was naebody in the place but Bentons," and it is stated on the same authority that no fewer than eight families of the same name lived in the district. Several well-known farms were tenanted by the different heads of the Benton family, and from these the members of each branch took their name. There were the Bentons of Airlie, the Bentons of Crookmore, the Bentons of Harthill, and the Bentons of Cattie, all of whom were in some way connected with each other. The migratory instinct, however, seems to have been a strong trait of the Benton character, for at the present day not one Benton remains in Keig, and the only representative living near the native soil of the family is Miss Jane Smith Benton, Vale View, Tullynessle. The old people died out, and the younger generation sought their fortunes in other lands than the one which gave them birth.
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Of the younger generation, none had a more romantic career than W. S. Benton. The main facts are admirably outlined in the letter (given below) which we have received from our correspondent—another F.P.—at El Paso. Benton was born at the farm of Airlie, Keig, some 55 years ago. He received his early education at Keig Public School and afterwards at the Aberdeen Grammar School. He was a pupil in the Third Class of the School in 1871-72. Not much is known of Benton's school days, but one interesting anecdote has been recorded by Mr. George Falconer King, a member of the literary staff of The Western Daily Press, Bristol, who recalls the fact that he was at school with W. S. Benton, and goes on to say that Benton, as a lad, was powerful and well-built, and at the Grammar School he was
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rather prone to displays of temper. Mr. King had himself were a schoolboy fight with Benton, in which the honours originally he than teeth fewer with retired One divided. owned; the other found himself " rejoicing " in a discoloured eye. The conflict was prematurely ended by the intervention of of one of the masters. Benton, adds Mr. King, was always he an adventurous spirit; and though hasty in his temper, was thoroughly good-hearted as a boy—a true type of the loyal and sturdy Scot. Mr. James R. Rait, Aberdeen, a cousin, who was at Keig School with the brothers Benton, confirms this account. " William," he says, " was a bright, active lad, inclined to be quick-tempered. He was a clever boy, and was in most ways smarter than his elder brother James." William, on one occasion, having been severely reprimanded by his teacher, resented his punishment, and amusing scenes followed. On another occasion William indulged in a schoolboy prank, in which he narrowly escaped being hanged by mistake. After a year at the Grammar School, Benton was sent to a school in Derbyshire, but he soon returned home. The roving instinct of the family was evidently seeking an outlet, and, about his twentieth year (in 1879, it is stated) Benton decided to follow the example of his older brother James, and emigrated to Texas, at that time a lawless State where typical " Wild West " conditions prevailed. Along with his brother (says the Free Press), young Benton became connected with a mining camp, and the greater part of his life in America was spent in a grim struggle for success. His career as a miner, however, did not make him a rich man, and it was only in comparatively recent years, on acquiring a ranch with his cousin in Mexico, that he reached a state of affluence. Only last summer he had made arrangements to come home, but the outbreak of the revolution in Mexico frustrated his plans, as he was obliged to stay in the country and look after his own interests. His nearest living relative is his sister, Mrs. George Reid, who, before her husband's death, lived on a farm near Forres. William Smith Benton was widely connected with Aberdeenshire and Aberdeen, and his relatives include many well-known men. Two of his cousins are Sir John Benton, K.C.I.E., and Mr. Alexander Hay Benton, M.A., K.C., a retired Indian judge, and a distinguished graduate of Aberdeen University. The following is a list of Mr. Benton's principal relatives in this country:— Mrs. Reid (sister). Sir John Benton, K.C.I.E. (cousin). Judge A. H. Benton, I.C.S. (retired), 16 Lancaster Road, Wimbledon, London (cousin).
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Miss
Jane Smith Benton, Vale View, Tullynessle (cousin). Mrs. Rennie, Milton of Fintray, Kinaldie (cousin). Mr. William Benton, manufacturers' agent, 178 Mid Stocket Road, Aberdeen (cousin). Mrs. Benton is also a cousin of Mr. William Smith Benton. Mr. James R. Rait, insurance inspector, 41 Brighton Place, Aberdeen (cousin). Mr. Benton's partner on the Mexican ranch, Mr. William Benton, is also a cousin. Mr. W. S. Benton very seldom wrote his cousins in the Old Country, but he corresponded regularly with his sister up to a year ago, when the troubles that arose in Mexico seriously interfered with the postal arrangements of the country. In autumn of last year his relatives in London received from Mr. Benton a cablegram stating that all was well with him, but it is understood that nothing had been heard from him since then. WHERE DOES THE TRUTH LIE ?
Very conflicting accounts have been received of the events which led up to Mr. Benton's death. Unofficial reports have given circumstantial narratives of the tragedy which do more credit to the imagination than the information of their authors. At anyrate there is little agreement on any one point. It is said that Mr. Benton went to Juarez to protest to Villa against the way in which his property was being treated by the Constitutionalists. He was armed ; he was unarmed. He spoke vehemently to Villa. He threatened him. He was accused of helping the enemy and of plotting against Villa. The rebel leader lost his temper and shot Benton on the spot. He fired in self-defence. Benton was shot or stabbed in Villa's presence by somebody else. He was ordered off to gaol and murdered on the way, and more than one story states that a certain scoundrel called Major Fierro (or Fiero) did this. Such are some of the conflicting statements that have been made. Where does the truth lie ? The safest way appears to be to rely on the official statements of our own Foreign Office. Sir Edward Grey's answers to questions in the House of Commons cover all the steps that were taken from the day that Sir Cecil Spring-Rice telegraphed the message he had received from Mrs. Benton, stating that she feared for her husband's life. Communications were entered into with the United States Government, and arrangements were made to have an inquiry conducted on the spot by British and American officials into all the circumstances of the affair. Negotiations dragged on, but Generals Carranza and Villa refused facilities
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for the Commission of Inquiry to cross the Mexican frontier, and, as the Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs (Mr. Acland) stated in the House of Commons on 17th March, " it has been found necessary, on the advice of His Majesty's Consul at El Paso, to drop the question of an examination of the body of the late Mr. Benton, which would, moreover, now serve no useful pdrpose. Mr. Consul Perceval is still at El Paso, where he has been conducting such inquiries as he can on United States territory." The result of these inquiries was communicated to the House on 22nd April in the following statement by Mr. Acland : — The conclusions drawn by Mr. Perceval after taking a number
of depositions, are that there appears to be little room for doubt that Mr. Benton entered Villa's house about 11 a.m. on 17th February, and that he was unarmed; that there is no certainty as to what occurred after Mr. Benton entered the house; and that there seems to be strong reason to believe that some extremely untoward occurrence had happened there before noon. and probably soon after 11 a.m. If Mr. Benton was killed during his interview, there is no room for doubt that Villa is responsible for his death, although it may have been actually inflicted by others; further, that it must have been caused by stabbing, as there is no evidence that shots were heard. Nor is there evidence as to the disposal of the body. There is, however, great room for doubt whether it was ever taken to Chihuahua, and it was quite possible that it was burnt. I do not consider that any further information could be obtained, and do not contemplate any further inquiries. As I have already stated, although it is impossible for His Majesty's Government to take any action at present, we do not intend to let the matter rest, and as soon as by any change of circumstances it is in our power to carry the matter further, we shall take whatever steps may be practicable. " WE DO NOT INTEND TO LET THE MATTER REST."
A deep feeling of indignation has been aroused by the death of Mr. Benton, and it is none the less significant that, as Sir Edward Grey said, it has been very restrained. There will be general sympathy with Mr. Benton's sister in the indignant protest which she has addressed to the Times. Writing from Nice on 3rd March, she said : — A fortnight has now passed since the death of my brother, Mr. Benton, was reported from Mexico. That fortnight has been spent in fruitless negotiations between the United States and the British Government. We are apparently no nearer the identification of my brother's body and the inquiry into the manner of his death, which must be the prelude to the punishment of the cynical ruffian who murdered him. Are these negotiations going to be dragged out until public feeling has subsided, and is the murder to pass thus unavenged ? Can English men and women no longer depend upon their country for protection or redress ?
The difficulties that confront our Government are obvious, and have been generally recognised. The Monroe doctrine
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has to be reckoned with, but even in regard to that Sir Edward Grey has entered a caveat. Speaking in the House of Commons on 3rd March, he said (we quote from The Times):— I would therefore sum up the situation by saying that, if the Government of the United States think it proper to take further steps, either on behalf of their own subjects or of a British subject, we will gladly await the result; but, if for reasons of their own, they do not think it desirable to take such steps, we must, of course, reserve to ourselves the right to secure reparation whenever there is opportunity. (Cheers.) Our general policy towards Mexico and Central and South American Republics is confined to commercial interests, which we keep within non-political limits. As a rule, therefore, all questions that arise between those Republics and ourselves are settled by diplomatic means or can be referred to arbitration. But the violent death of a British subject and the refusal by those responsible in Mexico to allow the circumstances to be investigated make it incumbent upon us to do what we can on our own behalf, assuming that the Government of the United States desire not themselves to take any responsibility for intervention. It has been urged upon me that we should take immediate action, without, however, giving me any suggestion or indication of what action we can take at the moment. I must therefore repeat what I said last week—that there is nothing we can do effectively under present conditions. The Government in Mexico City have no control over the territory where the death of Mr. Benton took place, nor over those who were responsible for his death. We cannot therefore, under present circumstances, secure reparation through that Government. We have no intention of engaging in what would be on our part a fantastic attempt, such as the sending of a force, which to be effective would have to be a very large force, into any part of Mexico. Under ordinary circumstances we might have taken action at a port, or by way of blockade. Under present conditions, if we took such action and it had any effect, it could only result in giving assistance to the contending party in the north of Mexico. To take action that would positively help those from whom we demand reparation, simply for the sake of appearing to do something, would be worse than futile. But we do not intend to let the matter rest—(cheers)—and as soon as by any change of circumstances it is in our power to carry the matter further, we shall take whatever steps may be practicable. (Renewed cheers.)
The Times itself has spoken out strongly, demanding " the exemplary punishment, so soon as punishment is possible, of all who may be answerable for our countryman's blood," and this demand has been endorsed all over the country. The United States have at last determined to use force against Huerta, the final reason being that " person's " refusal to salute the Stars and Stripes. It is due to the dignity and honour of Great Britain that we, too, should assert ourselves and, while nothing is to be gained by " fantastic attempts," we trust that, soon or late, the murderer of Mr. Benton will be brought to justice.
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Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine. Mr. Benton—His Life and Death. (From our own Correspondent.)
El Paso, Texas, May 5, 1914. Mr. Benton was not well-known around El Paso, as he had spent most of his life in Mexico about 200 miles south of here. I have on several occasions met his cousin, Mr. William Benton, who is a refugee from Mexico, and who owns large tracts of valuable land there. It is well known around here that the Benton ranches or haciendas, as they are called, are the show places of northern Mexico, being stocked with highly bred cattle and kept in the finest condition. Mr. William S. Benton was the owner of 100,000 acres of ranch land, an asset that in itself would place him in the million dollar class. He was a man of the highest character, and was well known for his frank and outspoken manner, a characteristic which probably led to his death. Coming over from Scotland about thirty years ago with a friend, Patrick Thomson of Inverurie, he tried his luck at mining without much success and had a hard struggle for several years. He finally made a rich stake at the Guadalupe mine and with the proceeds went into the ranching business, and seems to have prospered ever since. Benton was a strong man personally, and his cousin told me that on one occasion he had to sleep on the prairie over night on waking in the morning he found himself frozen to the ground and had to wait until sun-up to get loose. This kind of life made him a typical westerner. The Benton family are well known to the members of the Diaz government, but did not mix in politics. When General Villa got command of Chihuahua, he ordered Benton to leave the country, but promised to protect his property. Very soon after he left, his fences were cut and his cattle were driven off in spite of the express promises of Villa. What happened to Benton when he went to Juarez will always be a mystery, but it is believed here that Villa and he had trouble over the driving off of the latter's cattle, and that Benton was stabbed, if not by Villa himself, at least in his presence. It is not thought here that Benton carried a gun when he went to Juarez, as the only gun he was ever known to possess was left at the ranch. I went to the indignation meeting that was held a few nights after the tragedy to protest against it, and the sentiment expressed was certainly bellicose, but the authorities at Washington don't want to fight if it can be avoided. W. E. WALLACE.
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real merits of the book, Dr. Bain's widow depends on the sale of his works, and the infatuated teacher who changes his text books with his socks or the flowers that bloom in the spring, is alike to be pitied and condemned. Everything is really found in Bain, and his grammatical work will long survive his philosophical. The preface of the 1879 edition— the one I have kept by me for long years—has the following : " A very important adjunct to Grammatical teaching, according to my conception of it, is provided in a recent book, entitled First Work in English, by Mr. A. F. Murison, formerly English Master in the Grammar School of Aberdeen. This book is a happy combination of Grammar, properly so called, with an exhibition of the wealth of the language in equivalent forms." This little work, I believe, was adapted for use in Indian schools by John Adam' (M.A., 1868), of the High Court of Madras, so that the Grammar School has been responsible for much of the English taught in the East. Principal Miller at Madras gave Bain's book the pre-eminent place during his educational reign, so that it has been carried " where Rome's eagles never flew " far and wide by Aberdonians. I think I could reproduce much of another book, as Macaulay said of Paradise Lost, were every known copy of it to perish. This is Geddes's Greek Grammar, with the preface dated " King's College, 29th October, 1855." This is the edition which has the patriotic little dedication, which, omitted from subsequent issues and quite unknown to most, I here quote with very mingled feelings :— " Juventuti Scoticn Philograecn Quorum est pie patrin consulere Ut Angliam et Germanism tandem nmulata Grain Camenn domicilium Sat Utque ingenium illud prnfervidum Reviviscens exardescat Libelli hujusce auctor D. D. D." I hope his patriotic fervour may have done something to promote his wish, but from all I hear I cannot take a sanguine view. It is the day of options and soft subjects, and I fear Greek is not soft, and many heads are. Ingenium prcefervidum! Thereby hangs a tale. He told me that, the only time in which he was in the company of Sir William Hamilton, the conversation turned on that immortal quotation from Buchanan. Hamilton was certain Buchanan wrote " prwfervidum," but Geddes on the analogy—of which frail argument, as all will agree, he was ever too fond—of StaBeppbs advocated " perfervidum." He said he had hunted for it in vain in Buchanan. Masson and Skene, both of them Historioi see page 163.
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graphers Royal, on application told me that they believed it to be by Buchanan, but they had never run it to earth. Geddes suggested to me to try it with reference to Barbour's account (xx., 426-8) of the death of Douglas, and compare Buchanan. The old Aberdeen Archdeacon gives :— " Now passe thou forth before, As thou was wont in field to be, And I sail follow or els die,
but that famous story is not really the true text of Barbour, for the actual lines are interpolated in the 1616 edition of Andro Hart by some unknown editor, and are modelled on the Bake of the Howlat by Richard Holland. Long afterwards I found the phrase in Buchanan's History xvi., 51, over the Treaty of Berwick, between Scotland and England on February 27, 1560. Scott asserts that Buchanan got it from the to law books, and John Hill Burton was positive it was duebut Vapulans; Jesuit° his in Poitou, of Rivet Andrew Buchanan had it when Rivet was a boy of ten. It is strange to find all this brought up by Geddes's dedication, and to reflect that four historians of Scotland—Scott, Skene, Masson, Burton—two of them former pupils of the School—missed it. Buchanan was really translating the French proverb fier comme an Ecossois, which old John Major noted as common in his day, and which Scott with perfect accuracy puts into the mouth of Louis XI. in Quentin Durward. The little phrase is really Scottish history in miniature, and Flodden Pinkie, Dunbar, Darien, all bear witness to it, so that it should explode that detestable fiction of " pawkiness "—the creation merely of the Gorbals and the Sautmarket—being the characteristic, along with calculation, of the Scotsman. Harry Lauder and his kilt, with the swing of his hurdies, the may doubtless perpetuate that belief among the jackals ofknew Geddes and Scott but Colonies, the in and press London better. " The dear old country all over, pride and poverty," moralizes George Heriot in The Fortunes of Nigel over Richie Moniplies. " With all her deficiencies in scholastic applito ances," Geddes wrote in 1855, " Scotland has some reason so comparatively period a at produced, be proud of having early, two such practical and methodical Handbooks as RuddiGreek, man's Rudiments of Latin, and Moor's Elements of both so excellent in their several ways, that it may be doubted time they if any nation can boast of having possessed, at theelementary for adapted well equally appeared, two works training." " Ruddiman is dead," said Johnson significantly at present to his biographer, and I fear the higher learning domiciliumCamelia Groh(' flourishing. not is Scotland in 1914 fiat. Such was the wish in 1855. I wish I could in
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add fit. Much will depend in Scotland upon the example of the Grammar School of Aberdeen. I believe that three years ago four boys took Greek in the Edinburgh High School. We are not yet come to that. But a still older favourite than all the preceding is The History of Scotland, by the Rev. James Mackenzie (T. Nelson and Sons). It has passed through innumerable editions and has told greatly on the country. I had it as a prize in the First Class, in the library edition, but I had been reared on the little book before. I lost my own copy for many years, and the one I have is the 1907 reprint, sent to me by Mackenzie's son. In this year of the Sexcentenary of Bannockburn, I fear strongly that our nationality and history have been crushed out of existence by the mad policy of the Education Department, and nothing left to us but confused hubbubs and disastrous ineptitudes about Anglo-Saxons, the battle of Hastings, the Wars of the Roses, the wives of Henry VIII., and the campaigns of Marlborough, together with much more very small beer of John Bull. Bit by bit it would seem as if our old nationality was to pass away in an orgy of football mobs, picture palaces and sporting evening papers. In Mackenzie the great national figures stand out grandly, in a way the dull and ignorant compiler never can equal. But he is so national that he can only be taught in schools and classes where the flag of the national religion flies mast-high and the Shorter Catechism is absolute. He was of the school of the elder Thomas M'Crie, and the School Board has to be cautious. More is the pity, with the deplorable results before our eyes. James Mackenzie was the eldest son of William Mackenzie, parish schoolmaster of Barry. He was educated at the High School of Dundee, and entered St. Andrews at fifteen, taking his Arts course there, and dividing his theological attendance between St. Andrews and Edinburgh, where Chalmers was in his zenith. His first charge, on the eve of the great struggle, was to the quoad sacra of Dalbeattie, and he was the youngest of the pre-disruption men. Translated to Annan in 1844, he was called to the Abbey Free Church of Dunfermline in 1849, ever showing in his history a partiality for the " auld grey toun " and its Abbey, with its chartulary of fifty estates and lordship of Dunfermline, Kirkcaldy and Musselburgh. He died at Dunfermline on June 10, 1869, in the twenty-sixth year of his ministry and the fifty-first of his age. As I eye his little book, in which the influence of Carlyle is very marked, I feel as if its author were not forgotten even now. In 1886 the late Professor Alleyne Nicholson said to me with deep feeling, " Better for St. Andrews and her great
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memories to pass away for ever than for some of us to stand by and see her grinding poverty. Do you know what my That was at the nadir of her salary had there fallen to ? " day. I said I had seen something in the papers about a wealthy Scottish-American called Carnegie, a native of Dunfermline, and I added that as one of the newly established Scottish Home Rule Association—I am one of the two survivors of the original committee, my first convert being the Marquess of Bute: to-day our former pupil, Sir James Donaldson, Principal of St. Andrews, is a leading member— I would approach this Mr. Carnegie and lay the facts before him, indicating that he would thus have an opportunity of associating himself, as a recent speech had shown, with the illustrious dead in that Abbey. By return of post a reply was received from New York, to the effect that one day would show he was not to forget. He has certainly kept his word, if his trustees have not been conspicuously remarkable for wisdom. The chapter in Mackenzie upon George Buchanan is admirable. " There are not," said Burton, " above three or four names holding so proud a place in the homage of his countrymen," and he says it was a treat to see and hear Dr. Melvin in the Fifth Class teaching Buchanan's Psalms, so long a Scottish text-book of European reputation. His History, printed at Edinburgh in 1582 by Arbuthnot, the King's printer, re-issued next year at Geneva, and at Frankfort in 1584, was simply for Scotland the Quentin Durward and Ivanhoe of his day, making the story of Mary and Bothwell classic. That old little copy of the Psalms in Latin has had a wonderful influence on Scottish education. In France, by Protestant and Catholic alike, he was hailed as " poetarum sui smculi facile princeps," and the pride of his country over his achievement determined the Latin teaching so characteristic of and congenial to the mind of Scotland. Other nations—Spain, France, England—were all laying the foundations of a national and vernacular literature, but Scotland and Holland, the latter forecasting the rise of the Dutch Latin School, clung as little nations to the humanistic note and continued writing in Latin, long after Rabelais, Montaigne, Cervantes and Shakespeare had revolutionized the literature of their own country. Buchanan did for Scotland what Barrow did for Cambridge, where his mathematical pre-eminence gave the vogue to the study that has continued ever since. My copy of Buchanan's History, the one issued by James Man of King's College with Chalmers in the Broadgate in 1762, had its proofs revised by Professor Alexander Gerard, and was prefaced by Ruddiman's chronological table, where
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George III. is given as the 116th in descent from Fergus, who began to reign in B.C. 330, and reigned for twenty-five years. From this edition, and the little biographical sketch of Buchanan by himself, Melvin drew his version about the early days of the great scholar and Agnes Heriot, his mother, who has been immortalized by the filial piety of her son. She was of the same family as George Heriot, who for his second wife married a daughter of James Primrose, Clerk of the Privy Council, from whom Lord Rosebery is lineally descended. I think we were more national then. What has the educational publisher of to-day been doing for us ? Nothing that I can see. I think, in passing through the corridor of the School some days ago, I saw on the notice board a paper to the effect that a daughter of the late Dean of Guild Walker, a patriotic burgher of Bon-Accord, was giving a prize for the best essay on the History of Aberdeen during a certain period. Why is not more done in this way? It is to the Grammar School alone that the town and the Scot abroad can and should look to keep the civic feeling high and strong. Of recent years Former Pupils have not been unforgetful of the School, as the museum and other adjuncts of the building show, but I believe that all yet done is as nothing to what could be achieved were the history of the city, with which the School his been intimately linked for six hundred years, to become a real branch of instruction within its walls. Barbour's work could be made the foundation, and if some think that the old Archdeacon and minister of Rayne is dead as history and literature, they only make a great mistake. Though he died in 1395, the accents of his native city, clear, hard, imperishable, are heard with the greatest distinctness in his book as if he had written it but yesterday, and of all the historians of Scotland, few are more alive to-day. He is in all the guide books, you can hear all the incidents of the Lord of the Isles, lifted from Barbour, every summer in the West Coast and in the Trossachs. When the present Chancellor of the University, Lord Elgin, was Viceroy of India, his popularity with the Indian children was great. The incident of John of Lorn and the dog was played all over the land, and Barbour is the source of it. The most dramatic incident of all history, Bruce and De Bohun on 23rd June, 1314, is by our townsman, possibly a former pupil of the School. Had Bruce missed the blow, where as a nation would be our place to-day ? Something may result from the striking celebrations in June; but of this we may be certain, that nations with no pride in their past will never have a future to be proud of. WM. KEITH LEASK.
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The School Class of 1872-77. By Canon Harper, Cuiross, Fife. In the issue of the School ..lloyazine for February, 1914, there is a portrait of the Class of 1872-77, and a brief account of the careers of the members of it. Having been for four years a member of that Class, I have ventured to send a few notes regarding the School at that time, supplementing the short editorial narrative. I well remember the day when our photograph was taken. Rattray, on behalf of the Class, asked the Rector to come in with us; but he would not consent. I have often wished that the Rector and the other masters had been included with us in the group. We have, all of us, most pleasant memories of the teaching staff. In those days the masters wore frock coats t.nd silk hats. I believe that later on they were not so particular, but in our day it was de rigeur. Generally speaking, the masters were able men, and well abreast of their subjects. The one who had most to do with us was Mr. Still, our classical master. He gave us a good grounding in Version writing, and translating from Latin authors. He was a good disciplinarian, and was well liked by us all. He was very kind to me on several occasions that I can never forget. The other classical master, who had charge of the alternate classes, was the Rev. James Legge, respected and beloved by everyone. Mr. Charles Sleigh had charge of the mathematical classes. He was a great character and used to say the quaintest things. On getting an answer of " Greater," when it should have been " Less," he would say—" Ay, ay: greater, less, or less, greater; white, black, or black, white; something, nothing, or nothing, something." One day he asked one of us if he had got his sum right. The answer was, " Yes; all but a ha'penny." " Oh well," he said, " you'd better get that too." He was an inveterate snuffer. He kept splendid order, though he very seldom had to punish anyone. He was a very capable mathematician, and brought us well on in preparation for the College course. Mr. A. F. Murison was senior master of the English classes. He was younger than most of the other masters, but for all that he was the most scholarly member of our staff at that time. He had been first bursar in his day, and graduated with first class honours in classics. After leaving the School he studied law in London, and eventually became Professor of Roman Law in University College, London. He has been
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a prolific writer of books on education and of magazine articles. Mr. Martin, our Rector, was an accurate Latinist, and an excellent Greek scholar, as well as an admirable teacher. His class was most interesting, and was a pleasure to all of us. The other masters included the genial Mr. Macleod, teacher of elocution, still happily to the fore. We also had Herr Kruger, who gave some of us a smattering of French and German. The solemn but kindly Mr. Willox gave us lessons in history. Nor must we forget the amiable Mr. Samuel Pope, who has rapped the knuckles of many generations of Aberdeen boys, as well as taught them how to write and draw. It used to be thought by many that the School was in " low water " in our day. The classes were small, and we did not get many bursaries at the open competition at King's College, and seldom carried off the chief ones. There was strong competition from other schools, some of which have now ceased to exist. It may be frankly conceded that, taking the Bursary Competition as the sole criterion, we did not do as well as we should have. Somehow we had not the trick of it. But if the general results, the prizes and honours of the University as a whole, are considered, then we could more than hold our own. And, after all, the wider criterion is the fairer one. Out of that class of about 50, there is not anyone, so far as I know, that could be termed a failure. The Church claimed 5 of us, Medicine 10, Business 7, Education 4, Law 2, Ten graduated in arts—Rattray, and the Army 1. Shewan, Fergusson, Kelly, Davidson, Still, Barr, Stewart, A. Thomson, and Harper. This list is given from memory, and is subject to correction. Rattray took double honours, A. a first in classics, and a second in mental science. Thomson took honours in mathematics, and Harper in mental science—both second class. Ten graduated in medicine— Sinclair, Anderson, Rattray, Jenkyns, Davidson, Knight, Urquhart, Mackinnon, Ross, and Petrie. Of these, Rattray was as brilliant in medicine as he was in arts. He graduated with the highest distinction, and carried off many prizes. He practically " swept the board." Knight, too, was a first rate student, and graduated with highest honours, while Mackinnon took his degree with honourable distinction. But of all our Class, J. R. L. Macdonald is unquestionably the most famous. The son of an officer, he naturally chose the Army as his profession, after he had attended the College classes for a year or two. He was always a clever mathematician. After he entered the Army he soon came to the
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front, and for many years now his distinguished career has been before the world. He earned fame both in Uganda and in Tibet. His graphic and excellent book, " Soldiering and Surveying in British East Africa," is most interesting to all his old friends. His work has shed lustre on the School. Of those who were members of the Class but do not appear in the group, I can remember about a score. The most outstanding is D. B. D. Stewart of Banchory House. He graduated in arts along with Shewan and myself, a member of the Class that delights in calling itself " The 82 of '82." We have had several very pleasant reunions in Aberdeen of that Class. A namesake of my own, Hind Harper', was dux in 1873. He left School then and became an engineer. The last time I saw him was in 1880. William Mackinnon, a cousin of David's, attended the lower classes. Andrew Duncan' attended for three years and then went into an office. I lost sight of him after the 'seventies. Morrice Duncan'', who was not, I think, related to Andrew, was the son of a doctor. He was a sharp boy, and took a good place in the School. Then we had two brothers Smith, and two brothers Laing. I can only just put down the bare names of the others that occur to me—perhaps some of your readers could give details about them. I fancy most of them went into business life. In the lower classes we had Turreff5, Tullochs, John Duthie, James Stephen', Spackman, James Reid, Fred Drummond', George Neill10, and Thomas Barclay. In the upper classes we had Masson and James Gibb". Of those that appear in the group, nine have died. The rest of us are now in middle age, and perhaps inclined to ruminate on the experiences of forty years ago. But if any of us should be laudator temporis acti, there is in this case some little justification. For anyone may well be proud of the privilege of having been educated alongside such schoolfellows. ' Drowned in shipwreck off Holyhead, 1913. 2 Stockbrocker, Aberdeen. 3 Died in South Africa about 1893. 4 Landowner, Ladybrand, Orange Free State. 5 Now resident in London. 6 Merchant, Shanghai ; died 1907. 7 Shipbuilder, Aberdeen; died 1906. 8 Railway Carting Agent, Peterhead.
'In Ceylon for a few years ; now dead. In service of Eastern Telegraph Co., London ; died there some years ago. Presbyterian Minister, Dunedin, N.Z. i Ed. A.G.S. Mag.].
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Glimpses of North America. A Revue in Five Scenes. Chicago is a notable city from several causes. Michigan Avenue, facing Grant Park and Lake Michigan, is one of the finest streets in existence and would be still more impressive without the Illinois Central Yards in front. Marshall Field's, in State Street, is the first and most famous of the American department stores, which have introduced so many ideas into modern business. Mr. Gordon Selfridge, of the London firm, was originally a partner in Marshall Field's. Until a few months ago Mr. Jack Johnson, now residing in Paris, conducted a gorgeous Cafe de Champion on South Side well worth a visit. The name of the city in addition is made the subject of the most ghastly mispronunciations. But to the world in general Chicago stands for the stockyards and tinned meat, much the same as the association of Scotsmen and sixpences. Not a little of this notoriety is due to Mr. Sinclair's book, " The Jungle," which had an -Upton enormous sale, almost as big as that of a censored novel. To-day the Yards are the recognized show-place of the city. Lying in the district of Packingtown, about four miles from the centre of the city, they can be reached easily by street car or elevated railway, a loop of which traverses the Yards. As the name Union Stockyards implies, they are shared by a number of companies, each with their own offices and buildings. The stock pens of cattle, sheep, and pigs extend as far as the eye can see, and are reached by streets, runs, and galleries. The animals are allowed to rest until the day after their arrival, when they are killed and dressed. All the processes may be seen in any of the big firms, Armour's, Swift's, or Hammond's, but more than one visit is necessary if all the branches are to be followed, as each firm kills only pigs, let us say, on Monday forenoon and cattle on Tuesday. Swift's kill on an average twenty-five hundred cattle, eight thousand pigs, and six thousand sheep per day. Guides in uniform conduct visitors round all the points of interest in the buildings. Curiously enough on these expeditions the ladies are nearly always in the majority, and these smartlydressed Americaines hang on every word of the guide and scramble for a good place to view the slaughter. One lady actually brought a little boy of five. The progress of the live animal to the finished product can be followed in all its stages. In the huge killing-room at Swift's the cattle enter alive at one side and in thirty-five minutes they leave at the other side-ready for the refrigerating room, washed, trimmed,
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and dressed. Each part of the process forms the work of one man, and the time is worked out with mathematical exactitude. Two hundred and fifty are thus dressed in an hour. In Armour's we see a man standing killing pigs at the rate of eight hundred an hour as they swing round a great wooden wheel, dangling by their hind feet. The dressing process in this case takes only twenty-five minutes. Sheep need thirty minutes. In Libby, McNeill and Libby's, one sees the whole of the tinning processes from the making of the tins to the painting of the labels. On the whole, however, most people seem to be of the opinion that the Stockyards are like the bull-fights of Seville, a scene to be visited but not revisited. * * * * * * * * * * The United States and Canada have thoroughly grasped the importance of numerous parks in their town-planning. Areas like Lincoln Park, Chicago, and Central Park, New York, provide welcome breathing spaces in the middle of these cities. Their size is enormous. Central Park extends from Fifty-Ninth Street north to One-Hundred-and-Tenth, and from Fifth Avenue west to Eighth, two and a half miles long and half a mile wide. The unsuspecting visitor should be warned in time from entering on these thirty miles of gravel walks. The New Yorker coming home "later than he oughter," if he is not a club member, can always explain that he was trying to cross Central Park. To Montreal and Detroit, in comparison, Nature has thrown down two natural parks. In the middle of Montreal, or what soon will be the middle, rises the mountain which gave the city its name. Its wooded slopes afford a welcome shade in the terrible July days, when the temperature goes up to almost a hundred degrees in the shade. Facing Detroit, in the Detroit River, lies Belle Isle. Bought in 1879, this island-park is now worth millions of dollars and is always being improved. The island is heavily wooded, and is traversed in all directions by driveways and paths. Waterways abound for canoes, and the gardens are a wonderful show of glowing foliage and blazing flower beds. The people of Detroit are justifiably proud of the great park, and it is doubtless owing to the fame of the city's environs that Detroit has become the convention centre of a convention-loving country. Detroit has other claims to distinction. It is the greatest fur centre and automobile-manufacturing city in America, and in drug manufacture it is easily first. As we look across from the island the huge sky-line advertisements tell us these facts plainly. The American has no false modesty in his assertions. He lives in an atmosphere of superlatives. After a few days in Chicago one begins to have serious doubts whether there
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is anything left in the rest of the world worth seeing. This street is the longest in the world, this railroad depot is the largest in the world, these department stores are the most extensive in the world, this is the most congested street crossing in the world, this is the most important harbour in the world. and Chicago is the finest city in the world. Every European, not to mention New Yorker, knows how much truth there is in these claims. Detroit gravely informs its visitors that the Detroit River carries more freight than enters the harbours of New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore and San Francisco combined. When in addition we learn that Detroit has the largest chair factory in the world, we are impressed. Every large city in the States has its array of unique features. The seven wonders of the world have become seventy and seven, and the supply is still inadequate. In spite of these features, however, America remains a wonderful country. Baseball is one of the finest games played anywhere, Indian corn is excellent, their slang is original and unusually witty, and their street car conductors are the most wonderful specimens in the world. The attitude of these to the public is best described as militant. * * * * * * * * * American trains have come in for much criticism at the hands of visitors. They form a stock subject of discussion along with the check system of baggage and the iced water in hotels. Probably part of this is owing to the usual American practice of grandiloquent claims. " It has been left to us," says the American citizen, " to evolve a system of super-trains like nothing else in the world." " That is perfectly true," replies the foreigner, viewing with ferocious interest the sleeping-car arrangements. The general features of the American railroad-car are well known. Compared with ours, it has entrances at each end only, is much larger in height and breadth, and has its seats arranged down each side of the central passage. The sleeping-cars are usually supplied by the Pullman Company, who pay so much for the privilege and then make their own charges. On the greatest of all the super-trains or " Limiteds," the Twentieth Century Limited, running in eighteen hours from Chicago to New York, the train consists entirely of Pullman cars, no daycoaches being carried. During the day the Pullman can be used as a day-coach. At night the armchair seats rapidly change into the lower bunks. The upper berths drop from the roof of the car. Long green curtains screen the occupants from the passage and each other. The berths are placed lengthways and not across as in this country, of which in the circumstances Mr. Arnold Bennett approved : otherwise, with
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American methods of starting trains and coming to a rapid standstill, the passengers would spend the night picking themselves up off the floor. In the morning the negro attendant comes round, and within an hour or so the car has resumed its normal appearance. Breakfast is now served in the breakfastcar attached, the only good point of this very promiscuous system. The negro waiter brings a New York morning paper which has met the train. This and the theatre programmes are always given free. There is something magnificent about the way in which American theatre managers can afford to refrain from the petty extortions in which London managers are such adepts. Sitting at the broad plate-glass windows, one has an excellent view of the last stage of the long journey. New York is timed to be reached at half-past nine. Our train is now running southwards along the east bank of the Hudson, almost at the water's edge. As the early morning mist clears we get a magnificent view of the broad river, golden grey in the rising sunlight, with distant wooded heights on which can be seen summer residences of wealthy New Yorkers. Far out a river-steamer is on its way downstream from Albany. Up this mighty stream came the early Dutch settlers from New Amsterdam. Yonder in the Catskills Rip Van Winkle spent his long sleep. As the haze lifts, the scene becomes distinct and the view broadens. An increase of traffic betokens the vicinity of the metropolis. Houses connect into streets and these gradually close in on the railway track in a flashing panorama. The New York Central Railroad crosses the Harlem River into Manhattan Island from the north, and an electric engine draws the train on elevated tracks through smokeless New York. The miles from 125th Street to 42nd Street are soon covered and here in the Grand Central Terminal, for long the only depot in New York, and now rebuilt at a cost of £10,000,000, we are introduced in a fitting manner to the city of great enterprise.
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The situation of New York on Manhattan Island has given rise to many of the features which distinguish it from other world centres. The extraordinary growth of population has compelled thousands of its inhabitants to make their homes across the Hudson to the west, in Jersey City and Hoboken, or across the East River in Brooklyn, Long Island. It became necessary that all these people should get to business in the city as quickly as possible, and this produced the great engineering feats of the Hudson tunnels and the Brooklyn bridges. The business district, with its painfully circumscribed limits at the south end of Manhattan, and
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building sites fabulously enhanced in price, had to expand somewhere. The American brain, ever fertile in ideas, soon found a solution. The architects borrowed hints from the bridge builders and engineers, and invented the " skyscraper." Discarding the old system of walls supporting the floors, they erected a steel framework or cage and then fitted in the walls. The cage is really a vertical bridge, and the walls are merely thin weather curtains. Sometimes the upper storeys are walled in before the bottom. The foundations go down to bedrock and rest on enormous caissons of concrete, and though to the nervous the " skyscrapers " may seem precarious and tottering to a fall, yet their stability is unquestionable. To-day in New York there are three buildings over forty storeys in height, and by the cage method of construction there is no mechanical obstacle in the way of a hundred-storey building. New York now possesses the most irregular but also the most magnificent and overwhelming sky-line of any city in the world. Lower Manhattan from the bay is an immense mountain of jagged masonry, gradually towering into the graceful pinnacles of the Singer and Woolworth buildings. The population in the down-town district during business hours is amazing. Both the office buildings mentioned above accommodate ten thousand people, and twelve buildings on Lower Broadway within a few acres could empty out in ten minutes seventy-five thousand people into the street. Each building is a small town in itself with its elevator system, water, light, heat and power plants, post office and telegraph office, uniformed police force, insurance offices, banks, safe' deposit, and an arcade of shops. To bring in this huge office population in the morning and take it away at night provides a pretty problem for the organisers of subway, elevated railway, and surface car systems. How extensive and complicated is New York's street traffic can be seen at the junction of Thirty-Fourth Street and Park Avenue. On the surface run the Thirty-Fourth Street cars, one flight down are the Madison Avenue cars, two flights down is the Rapid Transit Subway, and three flights down the Pennsylvania Railroad tunnel. After that we lost count.
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To understand New York's street arrangement seems to be a matter of great difficulty to many, but why this should be so passes understanding. As in most other American cities, the streets run east and west, the avenues north and south, and both are usually numbered. In the Loop District of Chicago there are twelve streets named after the first presidents, from Washington to Polk, but the series has never
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been brought up to date. Evidently the later presidents have not come up to expectations. In the old district of New York on Lower Broadway we come on a few names such as Maiden Lane, Wall Street, and Nassau Street. Wall Street commemorates the old city boundary in the days of the Dutch occupation. Nowadays New York stretches away into the Bronx to 242nd Street, the present city boundary to the north. Running north and south across the streets are sixteen avenues, of which four only are named, Lexington, Park, Madison and Broadway. The advantages of this rectangular numbered system are obvious. One can at once tell how long a journey to any destination will take and by the street number how many blocks east or west of Fifth Avenue, or in Chicago east or west of State Street. Curiously enough the numbers of the streets very soon lose their prosaic touch in the association of ideas. No one ever confuses 125th Street with 127th, or Forty-Second Street with Forty-Third. What other street in the world stands for more than Fifth Avenue ? Third Avenue has its own associations, and no one could ever confuse the one with the other. The case is very strong against our practice of arbitrarily naming streets " Carnation Crescent " and " Trellis Terrace," where nothing is commemorated and when probably " Carnation Street " is at the other end of the town. To follow the course of Broadway and Fifth Avenue up New York is to see all the successive spheres of a city in one. It is as if we joined Lombard Street, Oxford Street, Leicester Square, Bond Street and Park Lane into one. What associations the two names conjure up, of "tenderloin " and theatreland, millionaires and murders. Broadway stretching from Battery Park to the Yonkers is eighteen miles long. At Battery Park we look out into the bay to Ellis Island Immigration Buildings and the Statue of Liberty on Bedloe's Island. The proximity of these two edifices is one of the ironies of history. Lower Broadway is the centre of the great " sky-scraper " section. Wall Street runs off at right angles opposite old Trinity Church, where once visitors used to climb to see the city. A few yards off on Broad Street stands the Stock Exchange. It and the Chicago Exchange are always worth a visit, if only to see the members knee-deep in telegraph forms. We never remember seeing so many except once in a post office near Princes Street, where an incoherent commercial traveller was in the throes of composition. Further up Broadway are the Singer and Woolworth Buildings, forty-seven and fifty-five storeys respectively. The top can be reached by express elevators and from there, as might be expected, a moderately expansive view can be gained. The searchlight in the Singer
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tower can be seen at night for sixty to seventy-five miles. The canon in the cliffs is Broadway, and far below may be seen with difficulty the tower of the World newspaper building, fifteen years ago the highest in New York, and now overshadowed in every direction. Reached by elevated railway from City Hall Park is Third Avenue, better known as the Bowery, and now a very respectable neighbourhood. Following Broadway we cross most of the other avenues, as Broadway pursues a diagonal course across Manhattan. At Fourth Avenue we have Union Square, where stands the headquarters of the political organisation, Tammany Hall. The growth of respectability noted in the Bowery has not seriously affected this neighbourhood. Fifth Avenue and Twenty-Third Street are crossed at Madison Square, containing the Fuller or Flat-iron Building and Madison Square Garden, where Thaw shot Stanford White. Sixth and Seventh Avenues are crossed at Herald and Times Squares respectively. Up to here, at Forty-Second Street from Twenty-Third Street, is the fashionable centre of New York with the great department stores and also theatreland. New Yorkers are probably the greatest, though not the most discerning, theatregoers in the world. New York has sixtyeight theatres to London's thirty-four, and others are building. The finest shops of this district are those on Fifth Avenue. This aristocrat of streets begins at Washington Arch in an old established and conservative residential district. From Twenty-Third Street it enters on the business district. At Thirty-Fourth begins the Murray Hill district of hotels and clubs. At the corner of Forty-Fourth is Delmonico's, and opposite, Sherry's, two restaurants of international reputation. From Forty-Seventh the residential district begins, the district of the Goulds and the Vanderbilts. At Fifty-Fourth Street is John D. Rockefeller's house. From Fifty-Ninth Street the Avenue looks over Central Park to the west, and this district is popularly known as " Millionaires' Row," ending with Andrew Carnegie's house at Ninetieth Street. From there onwards the Avenue takes a new lease of life in the palatial flat district extending up past 125th Street to the Harlem River. Here and on Riverside Drive overlooking the Hudson, as it sweeps round by General Grant's Tomb, are splendid blocks of buildings, bearing testimony to the genius of the American for supplying an economic want. In these flats he has by numerous wonderful labour-saving. devices reduced housework to a minimum, an incalculable boon in a city where the domestic labour problem is acute and paralysing in its results. To leave New York without seeing one of these flats would be almost as bad as
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not climbing up into the torch of the Statue of Liberty, or to the top of the Woolworth Building. They are the three great " lions " of this marvellous city. * * * * * * * * * * Of the making of books there is no end. " Neither does there seem any end to this article," groans the reader. Subjects are not wanting, but we forbear. American hotels and theatres as compared with our own would have given an opportunity for many sage remarks. To describe a crowd of thirty thousand people crazy with excitement in the ninth innings of a close-fought world series' game of baseball would need several pages. By natural transitions we might have drifted into bursts of confidence concerning baseball slang and American newspapers in general. Niagara is also a subject which very few people have touched upon. Indeed readers seem to have come to regard Niagara as a sort of necessary tribulation to be expected in all articles touching upon the North American Continent. Then " to give artistic verisimilitude to a bald and unconvincing narrative," cne might have discussed the merits of the street car conductors of various cities, with especial reference to those of Toronto. All this we might have perpetrated but we considered—well —we considered. H. R. MACDONALD. (1900-12)
Surprise Lake. A Fishing Trip in British Columbia. About 7 a.m. one morning in the early fall of 1910, two men, apparently of the genus " hobo," left the little village of Hosmer in the Crow's Nest Pass, B.C., and headed across the Elk River in the direction of the southern face of Hosmer Mountain. The individuals in question were my good friend M , and myself. M is an Irishman, and, of course, a sportsman; a fine shot, casts a beautiful line, and is one of those rare beings with whom one can walk for hours with pipe in mouth, never saying a word, but feeling that one is in congenial company. His special delight was to get me out for a day's fishing and walk me off my legs. He knew I hated walking but liked fishing, especially in his company. On this occasion, we had decided to hike up to Surprise Lake, on the west side of the mountain, and camp there for a few days, get some fishing, and perhaps a shot at something. The weather was glorious when we started, and with pipe (mine) and cigarette (his) in full blast, we hit the trail. Out along the Fernie Road we went for four miles, and
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then we were lucky enough to hit upon an engine from Sandy McDougall's logging camp, which ran us up several miles on our way through the bush. Abour four o'clock in the afternoon we arrived at the lake, after sundry wanderings from the trail in search of game. I have seen the Trossachs in my own native land, and other famous beauty spots, but that little loch, for its size, would be hard to beat. About three hundred yards long and one hundred wide, it lay nestling there like a dewdrop in a flower, clear as crystal ; its banks, rising precipitately upon three sides, were almost impenetrable, so thick was the growth of pine and fir, luckily untouched by the great fire of 1908 and I had been through). On the fourth (which both M side in a little clearing was a log shack, about 6 feet by 8 feet, once the winter abode of a trapper, with, of course, no door, and only half a roof. It was lucky for us as it turned out, that we had such a refuge. busied himself in preparing supper as only an old M campaigner can, while I rustled firewood and made a general nuisance of myself. After supper—the deluge! Rain—ye gods! how it did rain! Thunderstorm, with our shack as the central pivot, it seemed to be. Anyway, it got so cold that we got very, very little sleep, but were sustained by our thoughts of the fishing on the morrow. One After an early breakfast, we went out to fish. couldn't use fly, as it was impossible to cast in from the bank. Well we could use bait ! The water was so clear that we could see the fish (and be seen by them) half across the lake. We must hide behind a bush! We did both these disgraceful two fine trout, one million things! Net result--M mosquito bites, myself—one finer trout, and even more mosquito bites. They were awful, ferocious, insatiable! Even when we made a smudge and sat absolutely in it— buzzzzzz---stung again ! However, the day passed pretty well making an expedition in search in eating and smoking, M of something to shoot, which proved fruitless. It was so cold and the mosquitoes were so bad that night that M , who forced me to take the heavier blanket, didn't get to sleep at all, while I scratched and smoked and, I fancy, swore, till after two o'clock, when I must have dozed off. Horrors! I am awakened by an awful yell and see M--- shaking against the wall ; while some fearful wild beast enters the door and crosses the shack. I grab for my rifle (which I can't reach) and make frantic efforts to disentangle myself from the blankets to use my .38 S. & W., which I have in my pocket. By the time I have performed these tricks, I discover several things, one, that M----- is shaking with laughter; two, that at three a.m. courage and
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presence of mind are apt to be lacking when one is suddenly aroused, and lastly, that my wild beast is only a poor, inoffensive porcupine ! The slow-moving, harmless porcy is very fond of crusts of bread, or any scraps of food, and this one evidently made a habit of searching for the same in our temporary residence. In fact, I suppose he does so still, for we let him go in peace, his dramatic exit being made by crawling, with much rattling and scraping of his quills, up the log wall and dropping out of the smoke hole. I am glad to say that my nerves were not wrecked by this horrible experience, and that we eventually returned to Hosmer all the better for our trip, but I at least, very glad to see a bed situated where mosquitoes cease from troubling and wood ticks are " non est." Surprise Lake had certainly lived up to its name. W. BRYAN WRIGHT. (1897-1900)
Military Manoeuvres in India. Several thousand troops, including two Highland regiments, gathered at the beginning of this year at Dacca, the capital of Eastern Bengal, for military manoeuvres. An Old Boy, writing home from there to his friends in Aberdeen, gives a graphic account of some of them. " Camp," he writes, " was more interesting than usual this year, as we went out once or twice with the regulars. On Wednesday morning we went out and saw the artillery practising firing real live shells at screen targets a mile and a half away. The accuracy of these big guns is wonderful. They plugged the target all right after one or two sighting shots. They can even hit targets in the dark. They first fire an illuminator, which bursts like a firework and lights up the country for miles round. This enables them to see what they want to get at, and then before the light dies away, they plug in the real shell. To see these big guns being galloped across country, over heights and hollows, then suddenly at a word getting into position and going bang, bang, bang, till the target is bowled over, and then off again all in the space of a few minutes, is a sight worth seeing. When you think that one of these shells can blow a hundred or so men to pieces, it makes you realise what terrible things they are. The means they have of communicating with the different units over miles of country, is one of the most interesting things to watch. On a field day, they have the men of the intelligence department dotted about here and there, lying in holes and hollows all over the country, and they keep sending backwards
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and forwards streams of messages to the main bodies by heliographs and flag signals, and field telephones. The flag signallers are very expert. They can signal at a rate of eight words a minute from distances as far as the eye can reach, just by flapping flags in different ways. The field telephones, too, are quite entertaining. A man jumps on a horse with a great big reel of wire attached to his saddle. One end of i he wire is attached to a small receiver fixed in the ground at the point he starts from, and off he gallops, the reel unwinding as he goes, and in a minute or two he is a mile or so away and speaking back along the wire to the point he started from."
Life in Winnipeg. Sketch by a Recent Pupil of the School. It is now nearly two years since I came to Winnipeg, and I am in a better position than before to try to give an idea of our life here. One noticeable point of difference from home is the comparative absence of walking for pleasure, which is here an impossibility. There are no places of either beauty or historical interest in this flat, new country, and outside the centre of the city the roads are inconceivably bad. In summer most of the young men play baseball, lacrosse, or one of the three kinds of football (soccer, and British and American Rugby). I can see very little in baseball, and with the glass above 70 or 80 degrees in the shade, the idea of football appals me. Lacrosse, I may say, is decidedly faster than Rugby! I therefore fall back on tennis. This game has become very popular here, and there are some fine players in the city. Last year Winnipeg had one man in the Canadian team for the Davis Cup. Golf is here a game for rich men only. There are two or three clubs, all (I believe) limited companies. To become a member in any of them, one must make a purchase of stock to the modest amount of $300. There has been a great deal of talk about a new public course to be opened this year at one of the big parks, but I see no signs as yet of any practical move being made in the matter. All kinds of water sports are popular—canoeing, rowing, swimming. The river is a little dangerous for swimmers, however, and the public baths, like the Aberdeen ones, are absurdly inadequate for their purpose. The Y.M.C.A. have a well-equipped and popular pool in their new building. Rowing is perhaps the favourite sport, and Winnipeg will be represented by a crew in the eights at Henley this year. Winter sports are naturally fewer in number. Skating and ice-hockey are extensively followed, and snowshoeing and
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ski-ing attract a smaller number of enthusiasts. Tobogganing is good sport once in a while, but gets monotonous. The life of the city, however, is indoors. Two theatres (one a stock company), four or five vaudeville houses, and dozens of picture shows find full houses nearly all the time, and offer, on the whole, very good programmes. This winter we have been visited by Robert Mantel! (in Shakespeare plays), the Quinlan Grand Opera Company, Martin Harvey, and several good musical comedies, including that old favourite, the " Chocolate Soldier." At the Orpheum, our best vaudeville house, have been seen Eddie Foy, Sarah Bernhardt, Marie Lloyd, and others. Every Sunday night there are at least two or three band concerts in various theatres and hotels (in summer in the parks). There is no charge for these, of course, but a silver collection is usually taken. They are extraordinarily popular, and afford a very pleasant way of finishing up the evening after church. Nor is there any lack of better-class music. Ysaye, Kreisler, Freidheim, Melba, and the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra were among the best of this winter's offerings. Parties and dances are very frequent, especially the surprise party, which is almost unknown in Scotland. The procedure is somewhat as follows. The promoters get together a crowd about equal to the capacity of the house to be visited, and make sure that their victims will be at home. They meet at any convenient place, each one bringing a plentiful supply of fruit, or sandwiches, cakes, etc., and descend in a body on the doomed household. The evening is spent just as at any other party, and the meeting is usually adjourned some time next morning. In some such fashion the time passes, and one's enjoyment The depends largely on the kind of set one gets into. churches are the centres of social life in a much greater degree than at home, especially for young people. Socials, tea-fights, The Church Football League and etc., are frequent. also the Baseball League flourish very heartily, and several churches possess tennis-clubs, gymnasia, etc. The Y.M.C.A. acts in a similar way on a rather larger scale than any one church. It is enormously different from and better than the Y.M. at home, so far as I recall the latter. The Y.M.C.A. building is seven or eight storeys high. It contains about 150 bedrooms, a lunch room, a fine swimming-pool, a beautifully-equipped gym. with a running track in a gallery above it, a branch of the Public Library, a large and comfortable reading room, several billiard and pool tables, and bowling alleys, etc. The annual subscription of $12 covers practically all of the above.
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Outside the city there are no resorts like Banchory, Ballater, or Stonehaven, except Kenora, on the Lake of the Woods, and Winnipeg Beach, on Lake Winnipeg. The chief attraction of the latter is a dance-hall, but Kenora is beautifully situated, and has fine facilities for camping, canoeing, swimming, fishing, flirting, and similar delights. I hope this sketch may prove of some interest to readers of the old Mag., especially to any who may be thinking of coming to Canada. There is plenty of room here, and there are a great many Scots in the city. Any boy who knows shorthand and typewriting can be certain of a position, and even without these, is reasonably sure of getting started within a short time. In any case, no one ever seems really to regret having come, though, of course, we all want a holiday at home now and then. ALLAN C. ANDERSON.
(1907-12) Winnipeg, Canada.
Oirdleness. Not here a coast That breakers' rage may conquer, or the fret Of age-long trituration wear away; Here are no crumbling downs, no chalk white cliffs Which with the billows wage unequal war In softer southern climes. Here no forsaken hamlet, which the waves Unsparing in their savage lust of land Daily devour and cast in ocean's maw, Nor here trim wall nor futile groyne would dare Thy majesty, Oh Sea ' The surge of elements, the shock of seas, The warring of the winds, are baffled here By rugged crags of granite, grim and grey Frowning defiance to the angry waste Of leaping waters; even the gloomy night Must yield its terrors to the flashing beam Which from the summit of yon stately tower Sends cheering message far o'er ocean's face And rends the screaming dark. So stand thou fast, Thy guardian granite bastions at thy base, Stout Girdleness! and stem the wintry blast And Berserk fury of the wild North Sea. J. L. DOUGLASS SMITH. (1885-90)
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The Byron Revival. The following extract is from an article in The Times of 29th April by Mr. John Murray, the well-known London publisher :— " It was not uncommon to hear, a few years ago, confident statements that the public interest in Byron had passed away : that his day had gone by. Few, however, would venture to maintain this view to-day. Not only in England and the United States is the interest in Byron alive and keen, but in France, and more especially in Germany, it has undergone a marked revival. In 1911 a new translation of Byron's letters by M. Jean Delachaume, with a preface by M. G. Clemenceau, appeared in Paris; and in Germany, besides the monumental ' Textiiberlieferungen ' of Professor Kolbing, we have the studies of Professor Varnhagen, of Erlangen; Dr. Ackermann's ' Essay on Thyrza ' ; and Herr E. Koppels on ' Byron,' to name but a few out of many. Every year I am glad to welcome some scores of visitors who come to see my Byroniana, and on more than one occasion German students have come to make a special study of some of the MSS. " At the great exhibition at Leipzig, which is to be opened next month, Byron has been chosen by the Germans, next to Shakespeare, as the subject of an illustrative display typical of English literature. There is a special appropriateness in this, for on May 26, 1822, Byron wrote to my grandfather :— I am told of considerable literary honours in Germany. Goethe, I am told is my professed patron and protector. At Leipsic this year the highest prize was proposed for a translation of two cantos of "Childe Harold." " Whether this prize was ever awarded or the translation was ever published cannot now be ascertained, but in Mr. Coleridge's admirable bibliography of Byron's works (published in 1904) no fewer than 85 separate German translations of all or some parts of his works are recorded. " I have inherited from my father and grandfather the largest collection of the existing MSS. and proof sheets of Lord Byron's works, and, at the request of the managers of the Leipzig exhibition, I have lent the MSS. of " Childe Harold " and of the " Waltz," with a series of proof sheets and various editions as a typical illustration of Byron's work."
THE SCHOOL RUGBY FOOTBALL ist XV. Junior Champions, Season, I913=14.
\ C. Thomson. D. MacFarlane. J. D. Taggart. J. Bell. D. Macrae. G. C. Whyte. J. L. L. Duffus. (lion. Sec.) Robson. N. K. (Cape.) B. Joss W. T. Ferguson. P. A. H. Saunders. E. C. J. McLeod. A. C. Hendry. J. G. Ritchie.
Mr. James Davidson
W. 0. Fiddes. W. 3. Johnston.
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School Football. The School XV. have ended up as successful a season as it has ever been their lot to have. Under the capable management of Joss they have played good, sound Rugby. They are again Junior Champions, and have well deserved that honour. Although many of this year's XV. will be gone by next year, we feel sure that their places will be filled without much difficulty from the strong 2nd XV. we have had this season. Of the sixteen matches played, thirteen have been won, two lost, and one drawn. Below will be found a detailed list of results :— RESULTS. Date. Match. Oct. 4—Ist Queen's . „ 11—Montrose . . „ 18-2nd Queen's . „ 25-2nd F.P.'s (L) . Nov. 8—GQrdon's (L) . „ 15—'Varsity A (L) . „ 22-2nd Queen's (L) . 29-2nd 'Shire (L) . Dec. 6--Ist 'Shire . . „ 13-1st F.P.'s . . „ 20-2nd Gordonians . . „ 27-1st 'Shire . Jan. 10—'Varsity A . . „ 17—Heriot's . . „ 24—Cordon's (L) . „ 31-2nd F.P.'s (L) . Feb. 7-2nd Queen's (L) . „ 14—Montrose . . „ 21-2nd 'Shire (L) . „ 26—Gordon's . . „ 28-2nd Gordonians (L) Mar. 7—Heriot's . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Points. For. Against. 10 3 8 3 14 3 14 8 5 5 c)11 0 5 0 4 18 Scratched 8 21 Scratched Scratched Scratched Scratched 16 • 0 4 0 18 0 18 11 15 0 13 0 0 21 8 16
Result. Won Won Won Won Drawn Won Won Won Lost
Won Won Won Won Won Won Won Lost
Criticism of 1st XV. BACK.
Ferguson—Safe tackle, kicking improved, resourceful but apt to mis-field. THREEQUARTERS.
Hendry—Small and light, fast with good swerve, tackles too high. Robson—Invaluable in defence, useful kick but slow on the ball. Joss (Captain)—Hard-working and conscientious, good speed. swerve and kick, apt to run his outside into touch. Thomson—Good kick with either foot, shines in defence. Fiddes—Good speed and swerve, but might pick up oftener and better. HALVES. Ritchie—Small and plucky, good low tackle, might give his threes better passes.
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Saunders—Tricky player, full of resource, good in attack and defence, too apt to run on his own. FORWARDS.
Bell—Hard-working, follows up well, might get the ball out oftener. Johnston—Knows the game, conscientious worker, falls off occasionally. Macrae—Good useful weight, might take more advantage of it, helpful at touch. McFarlane—Good kick, useful in the loose, might shove harder in the scrums. Whyte—Useful kick and tackle, rather slow on the ball, occasionally impedes his threes. McLeod—Small but nippy, always on the ball, excellent dribble, works well. Duffus—Forcible if not scientific, useful man, must avoid being off-side. Taggart—Big and strong, shoves well, but a trifle slow on the ball. Stephen—Good, quiet, unobtrusive worker.
School Cricket Notes. Once more the summer• season is upon us and King Cricket occupies his wonted place. Three of last year's XI. are with us— All Saunders (Captain), McBain (Secretary), and Fiddes. " possibles " have been given their trial at the nets, and we are informed that some very promising material has been discovered. Although some of the members are somewhat hindered by Territorial drills, the attendance at the nets is fairly regular. The weak point of the XI. this year is batting ; almost every man is a change-bowler. Perhaps the best all-round wan is Mackintosh, who has been particularly deadly. The first practice was held on 25th April, when Sounder's XI. beat Robson's XI. by 46 to 36. On 2nd May, Modern inflicted a substantial defeat on Classical. 9th May.—The School, with a very weak team, visited Ellon to play their first match with Ellon Gordon. The pitch was sodden and a cold wind brought showers of rain. Ellon batted first, and, thanks to the bad fielding of the School, ran up 151 (Mackintosh bowling five for 50). The School then responded with 38 (Duffus 13, Bell 12 not out). The team must improve its fielding before success can be hoped for. 16th May.—The School, with a fairly strong team, visited Stonehaven to play Mackie Academy. The match began late awing to a breakdown of some of the team on the road. The School commenced and declared at 73 for four wickets (Wisely 19, Mackintosh 17 not out). The Academy then batted and were dismissed for 42. Bowling, Duffus four for 21. On this afternoon the School played a second match, this time with Stonehaven Thistle. The Thistle batted first and their last wicket fell at 89 (Holloway, the professional, contributing 71). The School went to the wickets, but were unable to reach more than 55 (Mackintosh 17, Bell 13). Bowling for the School, the best was Mackintosh with six for 26.
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Debating Society Notes. 20th February, 1914.—The Society met in Room I. to hear a lecture by Rev. W. W. Reid, B.D., entitled " John Milton : why we don't, and why we should read him." Mr. Middleton presided over a small audience. The lecturer began by examining the average person's knowledge of Milton, and showing wherein he erred. He then proceeded to the reasons why we do not read Milton, and thence to the reasons why we should. The lecture was full of extracts from Milton's works, which were much appreciated. The lecture closed with a brief summary of Milton's life. At the end Mr. Middleton proposed a vote of thanks to Mr. Reid, which was heartily given. Mr. Reid replied in a neat speech, and proposed a vote of thanks to Mr. Middleton. A " Hat Night " was afterwards held, and proved most successful. 27th February, 1914.—On this evening the Society met in Room I. Mr. Middleton occupied the chair, and with a few remarks called upon Mr. Knox, the lecturer for the evening, to read his paper on " Mark Twain." Mr. Knox's lecture kept his audience in fits of laughter from start to finish. His selections from Mark Twain's works were exceedingly well chosen, and caused great amusement. The Society has found in Mr. Knox a new humorous lecturer, and after this no syllabus will be complete without a lecture by him. At the close of the lecture, the audience showed by its enthusiastic applause how much it had appreciated the lecture. A " Hat Night " was then held, and the meeting broke up at nine o'clock. 20th March, 1914.—The closing meeting for the session was held this evening in Room V. at 7 p.m. As usual it was a " SingSong." Mr. A. F. Hyslop officiated at the piano with his usual skill, being relieved at intervals by Mr. McCallum. Songs were sung by Messrs. I3endry, Saunders, Joss, and others, those by Mr. Joss proving particularly acceptable. The meeting broke up about ten o'clock. 6th March, 1914.—A highly successful Finale was held on this evening in the Hall, before a large audience. The first part of the programme was composed of songs, recitations, and instrumental solos kindly contributed by friends of the School. To all who helped in this way the Society's grateful thanks are due. The second part of the programme was a farce, " Chiselling," produced by members of the Society. This farce is by no means new to School audiences, but proved very successful. Much of the success was due to the efforts of Mr. Charles Davidson. who acted as stage manager, and spared no pains to make the play go off well. Mention must also be made of the Janitor, who did yeoman service as stage carpenter. The cast of " Chiselling " is not a large one, but brief mention of each character must suffice here. The principal part, that of Trotter, was ably filled by Mr. I. Cumming. His acting was unrestrained, and characterised by a naturalness which was somewhat lacking in the other members of the cast. Mr. A. McBain made an excellent Dr. Stonecrop, and caused much amusement by his short-sightedness and his " Beautiful! beautiful!". As
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Larkspur, Mr. A. D. Wisely had a difficult part to play, and played it with great success. He was perhaps inclined to be restrained in his love-making, but this can be put down to his natural modesty. Certainly no encouragement was lacking to him, for Mr. C. E. Saunders made a most bewitching Kate. Her appearance quite won the hearts of the School members of the audience! Last, but by no means least, we come to Mr. F. M. F. Dawson's clever impersonation of Mrs. Piper. This was a skilful piece of acting, and won well-deserved applause. Mrs. Piper's good looks and tartan stockings found great favour among her schoolfellows. Taken as a whole, the play was most enjoyable, and reflects much credit on the members of the cast. The Finale was a financial success, almost £5 being cleared after paying all expenses. It may be mentioned that the Society was able, partly by reason of this success, to give a donation of five guineas to the new recreation ground for the School. The revival of the Finale was an experiment made with some trepidation by the officials, but their fondest hopes were exceeded, and it is to be hoped that future committees will see to it that the Finale is not again allowed to lapse.
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The School Museum. (Since June, 1913.) Presented by James Clark, F.P.—Forty-six flint and stone implements, flakes and fossils, spear and arrow-heads, etc., from Egypt, some of them paleolithic ; also one bronze arrow-head with long single barb ; also specimen of the red chalky substance used by the ancient Egyptians to stain their skin. By Peter Jamieson (Lower IV.)—Shale containing three fine trilobites from Ben Nevis coal mine, S. Alberta. (This is almost our only exhibit of any description from North America !). By Mr. C. R. Leslie Miller— Dragon fly, taken in the sea, Loch Fyne. By W. D. Simpson, F.P.—Stalactite from Bolivian mine. By Ken. Brown (Lower V.) —Skate's egg-pouch. By Miss Walker, from her brother. J. M. Walker, F.P., now in India—Head cf bison, and head of tame Indian buffalo; also two skulls of the same. By James Saunders, F.P.—Beetles and 26 snakes from Sumatra. By Mr. R. H. Fenton —Two hundred and twenty-three eggs, including 1-2 honeybazzard, 1-5 grasshopper-warbler, 1-4 snow bunting, 1-4 Lapland bunting, 1-6 little bittern, 1-5 lesser kestrel, 1-3 bearded titmouse, 1-2 " laughing thrush " or garrula albigularis (Indian)—all new species ; also 1-2 Egyptian vulture, 1-4 linnet (white variety of eggs), 1-2 squacco heron, 1-4 black-tailed godwit, etc. ; also one large case, beautifully arranged and mounted by Mr. Fenton to illustrate varieties of colour and marking in (1) the eggs of one species, (2) tie eggs of allied species. This is to be followed by a second case to exhibit varieties of form and size, etc. By Ken. M. Tomory, F.P.—Forty eggs from Burmah. By Mr. R. H. Wrigley, Clitheroe—Nests of Dartford warbler, Savi's warbler, red flycatcher, goldcrest. The collection now contains 2.222 British and 92 foreign eggs, including 241 British species.
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School Officials. SESSION
-
President, Hon. Secretary,
Sports Committee. The RECTOR. Mr. JAMES DAVIDSON. -
-
-
-
1913-1914.
I. CUMMING. W. T. B. JOSS. D. MCFARLANE. A. H. P. FERGUSON. I Mr. J. C. KNox. D. MCRAE. W. O. FIDDES. Mr. M. H. MACKIE. I C. E. SAUNDERS. W. J. JOHNSTON. I A. MCBAIN. I J. F. WALKER.
Captain,
Football. - W. T. B. Joss. I Secretary, A. H. P. FERGUSON Cricket.
Captain, -
- C. E. SAUNDERS. I Secretary,
A. MCBAIN.
Swimming Club. C'afitain, C. E. SAUNDERS. Vice-Captain, A. H. P. FERGUSON. Secretary, R. I. MAXWELL. Hon. Treasurer, Mr. M. H. MACKIE. Committee. W. J. JOHNSTON. I J. D. TAGGART. I. CUMMING. D. MCFARLANE.
Captain, -
Tennis Club. - A. C. HENDRY. I Secretary, -
C. E. SAUNDERS.
Literary and Debating Society. President, I. CUMMING. (A. MCBAIN. Vice-Presidents, MCBAIN. Secretary, H. G. EDWARDS. Committee. D. A. DAVIDSON. I C. A. DEAN. A. D. WISELY. A. C. HENDRY. F. M. F. DAWSON. I i Library.
Reference,
-
-
Miss SINCLAIR. Lending—
A. MCBAIN.
I Editor-in-Chief, Literary Editor, Editor for Sport, Business Manager,
F. M. F. DAWSON. H. G. EDWARDS. 1 Magazine.
-
A. C. HENDRY.
J. F. WALKER. H. G. EDWARDS. I. CUMMING. A. D. WISELY.
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The Former Pupils' Club. The Annual General Meeting. The Annual General Meeting of the Club was held in the Palace Hotel, Aberdeen, on the evening of Wednesday, 29th April. Mr. Charles J. Davidson, advocate, Vice-President of the Club, presided over a larger attendance than usual. The first business was the submission of the Report far the year 1913-14, which was read by Mr. James W. Milne, C.A.. the Secretary and Treasurer. It was as follows :-Annual Report for Year Ending 15th April 191 4. The Executive has pleasure in submitting the Twenty-Second Annual Report of the Club. The Membership. The number of Members on the Roll is as follows:— Life Members . . . 243 Ordinary Members . . 1.145 Honorary Members . . 31 giving a total of 1,419, as compared with 1,308 last year, an increase of 24 Life Members, 86 Ordinary Members, and one Honorary Member, a total of 111 Members. It will be noticed that there has been a further expansion of the membership during the year, and this is a matter of gratification to the Executive. Death has again removed a considerable number of Members, amongst these being two of the Vice-Presidents —The Right Hon. Lord Strathcona, G.C.M.G., G.C.V.O., and Major-General Sir Alexander J. F. Reid, K.C.B. The Executive would again appeal to all Old Boys who are not Members, and to all present pupils on leaving School, to join the Club. The " Magazine." The Magazine continues to fulfil very successfully the objects for which it exists. Numerous letters received during the year testify that its periodic appearance is a source of pleasure to readers in all parts of the world. In recent issues the number of illustrations has been increased, and it is the intention of the Editors to develop this side of the Magazine still further. They appeal to Members to send photographs of former school classes and of other subjects of general interest for the purpose of reproduction, and to send articles or letters for publication, without waiting to be asked specially for these. The membership of the Club being what it is, the Editors feel that they ought to
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have correspondents in almost every land. The Magazine can be conducted with success only by the co-operation of Members of the Club. The Various Sections.
At the commencement of the present year the Club had the following Sections :—Rugby Football, Hockey, Badminton, Territorial, Dramatic, and Motor. An Ice Hockey Section has been formed during this year. All the Sections have made steady progress during the year, and have carried out interesting fixtures and programmes. The Motor Section has been a distinct success, and is likely to have a considerable increase in its membership during the coming season. Club Medals.
The Club, as usual, presented Medals to the best English, Science, and Mathematical scholars at the School. Various Social Events.
During the year the following social events have taken place :— The Dinner, the Ball, the " At Home," a Lecture by Mr. Seton P. Gordon, and several Bridge Matches. Special mention must be made of the success of the Dinner, which was noteworthy not only on account of the fact that it celebrated the majority of the Club's existence and the Jubilee of the School's entrance into the present buildings, but also on account of the initiation of a scheme to provide a Recreation Ground for the School and Members of the Club. The guest of the evening was a distinguished Member of the Club, the Right Hon. Robert Munro, K.C., M.P., the Lord Advocate for Scotland. The Dramatic Section gave successful performances of " The Speckled Band," and the Rugby Section held a Cinderella Dance. It should be added that these functions have been as successful this year as in previous years. In General.
The Executive has had under consideration during the year many schemes for the benefit of the Members of the Club and the School. Some of these have already been successfully carried out, and others have been so materially advanced that the prospect of their completion in the near future is distinctly bright. A scheme for a Trophy to be presented to the best all-round boy at the School has been arranged, and the Trophy presented to the School. The " Roll of Old Boys " is now in the press, and will, it is anticipated, be published in the Autumn.
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The Byron Statue has at length reached its final stage, and in the opinion of those Members who had the opportunity of inspecting the model, will be an ornament not only to the School, but also to the city. The question of a Recreation Ground has not been absolutely settled, but there is every hope that it will receive further consideration immediately, and that the offer of the Club will be accepted by the School Board. In this connection, the Executive desires to accord to the President, Mr. James Esslemont, its very hearty thanks for the great interest he has shown, and the large amount of work he has done, in promoting this scheme. A new Register of Members, on the loose-leaf system, and divided into various geographical sections, has been prepared during the year. The Constitution of the Club has been revised by the Executive, and will come before you for approval to-night. It may, therefore, be stated that the year under review has been a notable one in the history of the Club.
The Financial Statement. While the objects of the Club have been steadily advanced at considerable expense, it is noteworthy that the funds of the Club have been maintained in a healthy condition. The Treasurer's accounts, after having been duly audited, show that the balance at the beginning of the financial year amounted to £703 18s. 2d., of which sum £452 9s. 6d. was capital. The revenue amounts to £480 Os. ld. and the expenditure to £422 ls. 9d., leaving a total balance of £761 16s. 5d., of which sum £541 14s. 6d. is capital, £117 14s. 3d. is at the credit of the Byron Statue Fund, £33 14s. 11d. is at the credit of the " Roll of Old Boys" Scheme, and £15 19s. 20. is at the credit of the London Section. These funds are invested to the extent of £250 in 4 per cent. Debenture Stock of the 1st Scottish Northern Investment Trust, Limited, £200 on Deposit Receipt with the Aberdeen Trust Company, Limited, and the balance on Deposit Receipt with the North of Scotland and Town & County Bank, Limited, in the Aberdeen Savings Bank, and in the London and Aberdeen Treasurers' hands. It will be noticed that the capital sum of £541 14s. 6d., which represents the total of all Life Members' subscriptions, along with all subscriptions paid in advance, is held intact, and that there is accrued surplus revenue amounting to £52 13s. 6d., of which sum £3 10s. 60. is the surplus for the year.
ABERDEEN GRAMMAR SCHOOL FORMER PUPILS' CLUB. Abstract of Revenue and Expenditure Account for Year ending 15th April 1914. REVENUE. EXPENDITURE. I. Cash in hand and Invested Funds at 16th April 1913 £703 18 2 I. Lectures, Evenings, etc. I I. Subscriptions-11. Development Scheme Life Members— III. Roll of Old Boys Scheme Admitted during year-4o -£84 O O IV. Magazine Additional Subscriptions from V. New Register of Members Life Members i 1 O VI. Miscellaneous Expenses Ordinary Members— VII. Working Expenses Arrears recovered VIII. Cash in hand and Invested Funds 14 5 O Subscriptions paid in advance Afifilicable asfollows : — during year - 22 7 6 Capital i £541 14 6 Subscriptions paid during Roll of Old Boys Scheme 33 1 4 11 1913-14 - II I 12 6 Byron Statue Fund 11 7 14 4 6 o London Section 15 19 21s. 2 33 111. Miscellaneous— £7o9 2 I I All Round Trophy—Surplus - Lo O Add--Surplus Revenue at 16th April Sundry Interests and Discounts - 26 6 3 1 913 - 49 3 O Dramatic Section 8 19 8 Surplus Revenue for year ending Annual Ball—Surplus 15th April 1914 2 3 6 3 to 6. Byron Statue Fund 3 5 9 Hire of Stage Fittings £761 16 O. 5 5 o 46 16
•
£t8 9 6 o 38 1 4 79 7 8 o 16 3 55 9 761 16
9 2 1 7 o 2 5_ 1.
2
£984 O 4
£984 O 4
ABERDEEN, 29111 Afiril 1914.—We have examined the foregoing Revenue and Expenditure Account for year ending 1 5th April 1914, compared same with the vouchers, and found it correct. (Signed) BOWER & SMITH, C.A., Auditors.
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Aberdeen Grammar School
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After the Report had been unanimously adopted, the meeting proceeded to elect office-bearers for the year 1914-15. A full list of these will be found on page 220. • Mr. Theodore Watt, in proposing the re-election of Mr. James Esslemont as President, said it was not customary to re-elect the President• but this year there were exceptional circumstances Mr. Esslemont had had a very big piece of work in hand in connection with the Club and it was only fitting that he should be continued in the office of President until the playing field scheme was carried to a successful conclusion. (Applause). Then he had been absent through illness from the Annual Dinner, and it would be a graceful thing that he should be given the opportunity of presiding in the coming year. (Applause). Mr. A. T. Cruickshank, who seconded, remarked that the purpose of Mr. Esslemont's re-appointment would be duly carried out, and the motion was cordially agreed to. The Chairman moved that Mr. Charles Watt be appointed VicePresident, remarking that there was no keener or more interested member of the Executive. Mr. A. G. Nicol Smith, in seconding, said the thanks of the Club were due to Mr. Davidson for his conduct in the chair during the last two years. (Applause). Mr. Watt had shown a great deal of interest in the Club and he would do them every justice in the position to which they were now promoting him. (Applause). Mr. James W. Milne, " our guiding spirit," as the Chairman described him, was re-elected Secretary and Treasurer with the most hearty approval of the meeting, and Mr. Stodart M. Chrystall was re-appointed Assistant Secretary and Treasurer. The various Committees were then appointed and the meeting passed on to the consideration of the new draft constitution. With various minor alterations, all the Rules, except Rule 16, were unanimously agreed to. The first sentence of Rule 16 was amended by consent of the meeting, and Mr. J. B. Gillies supported the Chairman's motion, that the Rule, with the addition of the last sentence, " No Section shall be allowed to admit to membership gentlemen who are not members of the Club," be adopted. Mr. W. G. Craigen moved and Mr. A. G. Nicol Smith seconded, " that the proposed new Rules be approved, with the exception of the last sentence of Rule 16, in place of which sentence the following words shall be inserted :—` No Section may admit to membership any Former Pupil who is not a member of the Club. Gentlemen who are not Former Pupils may not be admitted to membership of a Section, except under such conditions as may be imposed from time to time by the Executive '." An interesting discussion followed, and on a vote being taken 18 supported the amendment and 13 the motion. The motion was thus defeated, but the amendment, not having the necessary twothirds majority, failed, and Rule 16 stands without the last The Rules as finally adjusted are sentence quoted above. printed below. The meeting, which lasted over two hours, ended with a cordial vote of thanks to the Chairman, moved by Mr. Gillies.
Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine.
211
The Rules of the Club, As approved on 29th April 1914. 1. The Club shall be called " THE ABERDEEN GRAMMAR SCHOOL FORMER PUPILS' CLUB."
2. The objects of the Club shall be to promote educational and social intercourse among the Former Pupils, to keep them in touch with the School, and to assist Former Pupils and the School in whatever way may seem advisable to the Executive. 3. The Club shall consist of Life, Ordinary, and Honorary Members. 4. All Former Pupils of the School shall be eligible for admission as Life or Ordinary Members, and all past and present teachers of the School for admission as Honorary Members. 5. The Executive shall have power to elect, as Honorary Members, those who show an interest in the School, though not eligible for election under Rule 4, but no such election shall be made unless two-thirds of the members of the Executive be present and the meeting be unanimous. The number of Honorary Members elected under this Rule shall be limited to ten. 6. The Subscription for Ordinary Membership of the Club shall be 2/6 per annum, payable on or before 15th April, and that for Life Membership, £2 2s., these subscriptions to entitle members to a copy of the School Magazine, which will be published three times a year and will be sent post free. 7. The colours of the Club shall be Magenta and Dark Green. 8. The Financial Year shall end on the 15th April and the Accounts of the Club, made up to that date, shall be submitted to an auditor or auditors appointed at the preceding Annual General Meeting. The Annual General Meeting shall be held on or before the 21st May. 9. At the Annual General Meeting of the Club, OfficeBearers shall be elected as follows : —An Honorary President, Honorary Vice-Presidents, a President, a Vice-President, a Secretary and Treasurer, and, if desired, a Joint or Assistant Secretary and Treasurer.
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Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine.
10. At the same time an Executive shall be appointed which shall comprise: (a) the Office-Bearers (other than Honorary Office-Bearers) (b) representatives from the Sections appointed under Rule 16, and (c) fifteen Ordinary or Life Members of the Club. 11. All Office-Bearers and members of the Executive shall retire annually, but shall be eligible for re-election. The Executive shall have power to appoint Committees and to co-opt members to such Committees. 12. The Executive shall have general control of the affairs of the Club and of any Sections which may be formed, and may determine any matter relating to the Club not provided for in the rules. 13. The Executive shall have power to regulate generally the admission of persons not members of the Club to meetings of or arranged by the Club, but in no case shall any Former Pupil not a member of the Club be admitted. 14. For Executive Meetings, notices of motions shall be sent to the Secretary in writing at least seven days before the date of the meeting, and intimation of the meetings and of the business to be transacted shall be sent to each member at least four days before the date of meeting. 15. At meetings of the Executive the President shall occupy the chair, or, in his absence, the Vice-President, or, in their absence, any member of the Executive elected by the meeting, and the Chairman shall have a deliberative vote and a casting vote. 16. A Section may be formed at any time with a view to furthering the objects of the Club, provided the sanction of the Executive or of a General Meeting be obtained, and the proposed rules of such Section be submitted to, and approved by, the Executive; and each such Section, having a membership of at least 20, shall have the privilege of electing one representative to the Executive of the Club, who must be a Life or Ordinary Member. 17. An appeal against a decision of any Section may be made to the Executive, provided it be sustained by six members of the Section in question, and that notice be given in writing to the Secretary of the Section within seven days of the decision in question; and an appeal against a decision of the Executive may be made to a General Meeting of the Club, provided it be supported by twelve members of the Club, or by one-third of the members of the Executive—
Aberdeen Gram mar School Magazine.
. 213
such appeal to be lodged in writing with the Secretary, within seven days of the decision in question. 18. A General Meeting of the Club may be called at any time by the Executive, or at the request of twelve members, conveyed in writing to the Secretary. 19. For General Meetings of the Club, notices of motions shall be sent to the Secretary in writing at least ten days before the date of meeting, and intimation of such meeting shall be given to each member in writing at least six days before the date of meeting. 20. If it shall appear to the Executive that the conduct of any member requires investigation, the Executive shall require such member, and the complainer, if any, to appear before them at a meeting specially called for the purpose. Four days' notice, at least, of the meeting shall be given the members of the Executive, and to the complainer, to any, and also to the member in question. Any member if so called before the Executive shall be entitled to be heard, and to have the services of a friend. If such member to attend the said meeting, or, if after such investigationfails as the Executive, in their absolute discretion, may think necessary, it shall be the opinion of a majority of the Executive present at that meeting, or any adjournment thereof, that it is undesirable in the interests of the Club that such member should remain a member thereof, then the Executive may pass a resolution that the name of the said member shall be removed from the List of Members, and thereupon such member shall cease to be a member of the Club. Any member so removed shall have the right at any time within one month of the date of such resolution, by giving notice in writing to the Secretary, to appeal from the decision of the Executive to a General Meeting of the Club. On said written notice being lodged with the Secretary, he shall call, within one month, a Special General Meeting of the Club, to consider such appeal, and the decision of such General Meeting shall be final. The member so removed shall be entitled to six days' notice of such General Meeting, and to appear to defend himself, and to have the assistance of a friend, but no notice of any adjournment of any meeting of the Club or the Executive shall be required, either to the member whose conduct is in question, the complainer, if any, the members of the Executive, or the other members of the Club. Pending the decision of the General Meeting, the member so removed shall be suspended from the privileges of membership. No member so removed
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Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine.
shall be entitled to repayment of any subscription, or relieved of liability for any payments due by him at the date of his removal. 21. No change shall be made in the Rules or new Rule added except with the consent of two-thirds of the members present at a General Meeting.
List of New Members. Life Members. The following have become Life Members of the Club since the last issue of the Magazine :— William S. Henderson (1890-97), Pabhoi Tea Estate, Bisnanth, Assam. Douglas C. Sangster (1906-13), Lynwood, Rubislaw Den South, Aberdeen. William R. Mackintosh (1900-02), 22 Dundas Crescent, Kirkwall. M. Walker-Pole (1886-89), P.O. Box 3209, .Johannesburg, South Africa. Dr. George A. Mayor (1885-90), 2 Morningside Park, Edinburgh. George A. Nicol (1882-83), 114 Victoria Avenue, Hull. George A. Combe (1889-95), H.B.M. Consulate-General, Canton, China. George P. Hector, M.A. (1889.97), Agricultural Dept., Dacca, Eastern Bengal, India. John R. Danson (1897-1903), Casilla de Correo No. 12, La Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentine. Dr. Angus F. Legge (1901-07), Municipal Health Dept., Singapore, I.M.S. Lieut.-Col. Sir David Prain (1872-73), C.M.G., C.I.E.. Royal Gardens, Kew, Surrey. Charles E. Mitchell (1897-98), North Ness, Lerwick.
Ordinary Members. The following have become Ordinary Members of the Club since the last issue of the Magazine:— James A. Park (1898.1901), 90 Vine Street, Coventry. A. C. Irvine (1908.10), 5 Westfield Terrace, Aberdeen. John Milne (1888-94), Braemar. John Smith (1894-9'7), Yost Office, Dyce. Frederick C. Mutch (1895-1905), c/o 67 Beaconsfield Place, Aberdeen. Surtees Hume (1881.83), 7 Gosforth Terrace, South Gosforth, Newcastle. Victor T. Gunter (1902.04), 114 Wightman Road, Harringay, London. J. F. Lediugham (1901.11), 96 Queen's Road, Aberdeen. J. Maurice Walker (1909-12), 6 Strawberry Bank, Aberdeen. Samuel Reid (1868-71), R.S.W.. Caversharu Lodge, Chorleywood, Herts. Alex. E. Lee (1884-90), n Hereford Grove, Urmstun, Manchester. J. R. H. Jones (1885.93), 19 Oakfield Road, Southgate, Middlesex.
Robert Murray (1861-64), North of Scotland and Town & County Bank, Dundee. Robert Macleod (1892.96), c/o 15 King's Gate, Aberdeen. Canon James W. Harper (1873-77), M.A., Dunimarle, Culross, Fife. John Livingstone (1906-08), c/o 139 Blenheim Place, Aberdeen. Major Alex. K. Robb (1881.89), 19 Osborne Avenue, Newcastle. Hugh A. Wark (1909-12), North U. F. Manse, Banchory. Sir Alexander Ogston (1855-58), K.C.V.O., 252 Union Street, Aberdeen. Sir George Watt (1867-69), C.I.E., Annandale House, Lockerhie. Arnold S. Milne (1883-90), Durban Roodepoort Gold Mining Co., Roodepoort, Transvaal. J. A. Morgan (1908.09), 28 Potful& Road, Aberdeen.
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215
Summer Meeting of the Club: Cruden Bay,
:Saturday, 27th June.
It has been decided to hold the Summer Meeting at Cruden Bay and to arrange a Handicap Golf Competition on the same lines as previously. There was a large attendance of Members at last year's meeting, and many, availing themselves of the excellent facilities given by the railway company and the manageress of the hotel, stayed over the week-end. The Motor Section has also arranged a run to Cruden Bay on the same date. It is hoped that there will be even a larger attendance on this occasion than there was last year. For the benefit of mediocre golfers it may be mentioned that the Committee are liberal in their handicaps. Aberdeen members should find full particulars of the arrangements enclosed with the Magazine. Any member not receiving these particulars and thinking of being present, should at once apply to the Assistant Secretary, Mr. Stodart M. Chrystall, solicitor, 21 Bridge Street, Aberdeen. As the detailed arrangements require some little time, members would greatly oblige by returning their forms by Monday, 22nd June, at latest.
The Motor Section. The opening run of the Section via Banchory and the Slug to Stonehaven was very well attended, some twenty members taking part. About half these, having lingered in Stonehaven till 10 p.m., decided that to return to Aberdeen by Muchalls and " the Cove " was much too prosaic. The only alternative route appeared to be by Auchinblae and the Cairn o' Mounth. This was successfully achieved, the summit being reached at midnight in dense mist, and Aberdeen about an hour and a half later, with no outstanding incidents. A WEEK-END TOUR. The spring week-end tour was as successful as ever. Twentytwo turned out—eleven soloists and five side-cars. The following gathered at Pitlochry :—W. P. Barron and A. G. MacNeill, 4 h.p. B.S.A. and side-car ; W. Bisset (Where was it?) ; John Bruce, jun., 4 h.p. Sunbeam ; J. D. Cook, 2i h.p. Enfield ; J. S. G. Collie, 4 h.p. T.T. Rudge ; W. G. Craigen, 3 h.p. Rudge ; J. C. Duffus and C. D. Peterkin, 4 h.p. Ariel and side-car ; John A. Dunn. h.p. Scott; James Ellis, 2i h.p. Douglas; W. C. Glegg, 3 h.p. T.T. Ariel; R. Glegg, 4 h.p. T.T. New Imperial; G. A. Ledingham and J. L. S. Allan, 6 h.p. A.J.S. and side-car; R. M. Ledingham and R. J. A. Dunn, 8 h.p. Matchless and side-car ; D. R. Macdonald, 4 h.p. T.T. Triumph ; J. Murray, 2i h.p. A.J.S. : D. H. W. Williamson, 4 h.p. B.S.A. ; J. J. Williamson and John Brown, jun., 6 h.p. A.J.S. and side-car ; A. M. Wilson, 3 h.p. P.V. The Saturday run was to Pitlochry. The conditions were excellent, but dry roads made for punctures. Fisher's Hotel was duly reached by everybody, no one having serious trouble, except the New Imperial enthusiast, who bent a valve rocker-arm but got
n
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it straightened out at Blairgowrie, and Murray, who had words with a yokel (Non-T.T., extra thick lugs) as to the whereabouts of the Blairgowrie Art Gallery. Apparently art is hereditary. Bruce and Bisset arrived early at Pitlochry from a tour in the Lake District, Bisset minus his Scott. " The laws of Convention were made to be broke, Said Alfred J. Scott when he built his two-stroke. But W. B., after touring the Lakes, Found the Scott had a varied assortment of ' brakes'." Saturday was a busy evening, and, as a result, Sunday was the. slackest day the Club has yet had. Two members of the party— Wilson and Murray—rose with the lark and set out to climb Schiehallion—by Gad! There were others who rose for a lark, but of that anon. COOK'S TOUR.
After breakfast Mr. Cook personally conducted a party to Kinloch Rannoch, via Kenmore and Aberfeldy, but many of his party fell by the wayside—they do make hOtels attractive these days. Others fell on stony ground, notably Glegg, jun., who had to be scraped off a dyke and carefully replaced inside his helmet. If a man wears a helmet he has got to live (or die) up to it. His front tyre was like " Skinny Lizzie" (anylice: Emaciated ElizaAfter the necessary beth), a well-known Pitlochry beauty. alterations and repairs were effected he was, however, again able to alarm hens and other frequenters of the highway on his violent solo. Cook's tourists eventually dwindled to two, one of whom had the misfortune to drop his baggage en route. As " it " had also been picked up en route, no great loss was sustained. Most of the party returned to Pitlochry in time for lunch, after which the attention of some was centred in " The House Opposite," while others amused themselves in various ways. Ledingham and Brown interested themselves in pigs and poultry, and after dinner lectured on " Pigs, and how to pluck them," and " How to choose Election Eggs." Later on, those who were not looking for " baggage " at Aberfeldy or perspiring—by Gad !—on Schiehallion, went to BlairAtholl. On the return journey, " Duffus's Ariel began to squeak, And meander along at a mile a week." After dinner, a party of experts—including " Bertie "—held a consultation at its bedside. A seized big-end was soon diagnosed, " Bertie " reserving his opinion as to whether it was not rather a broken sprocket on the differential carburettor, a sooted-up magneto or want of carbide. Hours of hard work, gallons of paraffin and volumes of abuse proved of little avail, and the Ariel hail eventually to be sent home by rail. However, " There's a divinity that puts right big-ends, Rough use them as we will," and we trust that Duffus will be a " man we meet on the road— or thereby," right soon. At 11 o'clock on Monday morning the party left Pitlochry for Road repairing caused numerous Braemar .by the Spital. punctures. Continued on page 117.
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Aberdeen Grammar School
Magazine.
217
The Devil's Elbow was taken in style by most of the party, the outstanding climbs being those of Ledingham and Williamson with Duffus and Peterkin on their respective carriers. The rough roads made Peterkin congratulate himself that his teeth were his own, but sigh in vain for another cushion. Wilson's beltslipping device was much admired. What he doesn't know about water isn't worth knowing. All arrived at Braemar in due course, and discussed lunch and " Our Pitlochry Correspondent's " fairy tales simultaneously. After lunch, the run to Aboyne was remarkable only for further punctures, though Williamson (B.S.A.) had engine trouble. Ile is an expert at " stopping" trouble, though this gave him some worry. At Aboyne the owner of the Enfield invested in a newspaper—these week-ends are expensive—and in a condition of pronounced cerebral agitation informed the assembled company that he was riding a 9 h.p. Enfield ! (Foreign papers please copy.) From Aboyne the run home was uneventful. THINGS WE WANT TO KNOW-Is there really an Art Gallery at Blairgowrie? Is Cook going back to Aberfeldy this summer, and is he fitting a new and larger carrier ? Does Murray carry a spare gear-box—eh, what; and has he got a softer saddle yet—by Gad? Where did the little Sunbeam go to? How many hair-breadth escapes had the Rudge rider ; does he count them, and do they make his hair curl? Is Douglas qualifying for the T.T. ? Was Ivan asleep on the Elbow? Where did Wilson get his head-gear, and are they giving any more away? Was J. J. W.'s appendix a useless accessory? Were Ellis's gaiters Paris models, and are the neeps thriving? Did Wilson find the third time lucky on the Elbow, and does he prefer running up to riding up? Was the Secretary's carrier used solely for luggage? Did Bisset feel lonely without his badger'? Does Puddock mean to patent his H2O gear? If the A.J.S. passengers were not more ready with advice than► assistance?
The Rugby Football Section. Although failing to take the premier place in the League table and to survive the semi-final in the Cup-ties, this section of the Club has had, nevertheless, a most satisfactory season. In the League the club finished second (equal with Queen's Cross), 'Varsity being top. After a tie with Shire in the semi-final for the Cup, the team was beaten in the replay by 6 points to 0. Few expected the F.P.'s to fall to the Shire, especially after beating that team in the League by 22 to 0 and 26 to 0. But the unexpected happened, and in the first of the two games at
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Aberdeen Grammar School
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Mannofield a draw resulted. The second match was played at Braeside and 'Shire triumphed. Our team played rank bad football in the drawn game, but in the other, luck and the awful state of the ground were against us. In both of these games, however, the team was severely handicapped by the absence of the two halves—Duffus and Johnston ; with them present, the result might have been very different. The XV. probably played better Rugby than any of the other city teams. The combination behind the scrum was equal to that of the F.P.'s in their palmiest days, and it was owing to the fine understanding that existed between the backs that such large scores were put up week after week. Duffus was the most successful try-getter and goal-kicker. Panmure were unable to fulfil their fixture at Mannofield. The best performances of the team since the last issue of the Magazine were a 20-points-to-0 victory over Queen's Cross and a 16-points-to-3 win over the City. In the Queen's Cross match each member of the team seemed to be playing at the top of his form, and some great individual efforts were seen. 1st XV. caps have been awarded to R. Robson and A. D. Spark. The 2nd XV. have also had a satisfactory season, and their last game was probably their best, for at Montrose they beat a strong Academy team by 9 points to 3. A concert in aid of the club funds was held on the 27th March and brought in a few pounds. The thanks of the club are due to the ladies and gentlemen who assisted, especially to the Messrs. Craigen for arranging the dramatic part, and Mr. Lorimer for arranging the musical part of the entertainment. 1ST XV. RESULTS (since Feb. 7). Points 1914. Match. Result. For. Against. Feb. 21—Queen's Cross (Cup Tie) Won 20 0 „ 28—'Shire (Cup Tie) . . Drawn 0 0 Mar. 7—'Shire (Replay) . . Lost 0 6 „ 21—City . . . . Won 16 3 Played 4, Won 2, Lost 1, Drawn 1 ; Points for, 36 ; Against, 9. 2ND XV. RESULTS (since Feb. 7). 1914. Match. April 4—Montrose Academy
.
Result. Won
For. 9
Points Against. 3
SUMMARY OF SEASON. 1ST XV. League Matches Cup Tie Matches Total Matches
Played. 8 3 17
Won. 5 1 10
Lost. 3 1 4
Drawn. 0 1 3
Points For. Against. 127 35 20 6 •226 71
Drawn. 1
For. 130
2ND XV. Matches
.
Played. . 13
Won. 9
Lost. 3
For " The Hockey Section," see page 219.
Points Against. 74
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Maim:4w.
219
The Hockey Section. The results of all but one of the matches for the season 1913-14 were given in the last issue of the Magazine. The final game, however, was perhaps our best, and resulted in our beating Aberdeen (Duthie Park, 28th February). The first half was evenly fought, and we may have been lucky in crossing over one up, Rose having scored shortly before the interval. In the second half we had the upper hand altogether, and our goal was only once seriously in danger. For us, Rose and Collie scored, and several other opportunities were lost. Although affecting the Championship very materially, this victory came too late to do ourselves much good in that way. Won 3-0. SUMMARY OF SEASON. 1913. Opponents. . . Oct. 11—'Varsity Nov. 1—Gordon's F.P's . ,, 8—'Varsity (L.1 . ,, 15—Nomads . . ,, 22—Aberdeen (L.) . Dec. 13—Bon-Accord (L.) . ,, 20—Gordon's F.P's (L) 27—Aberdeen . . 1914. Jan. 17—Gordon's F. P's (L. ) ,, 24—'Varsity (L.) . 31—Bon-Accord (L) . Feb. 28—Aberdeen (L.) .
. . . . . . . .
Result. Lost Drawn Drawn Won Lost Lost Won Won
. . . .
Lost Won Lost Won
Goals League For. Against. Points. 2 3 ••• 2 •• • 2 0 0 1 5 1 1 2 1 2 0 4 2 2 2 0 ••• 1 3 0 3
2 2 5 0
Total—Played 12 ; Won 5 ; Lost, 5 ; Drawn 2 : 24 League Total—Played 8; Won 3; Lost 4; Drawn 1 : 13
21 15
0 2 0 2
We have lost only one match by a margin of more than a single goal, and have had the better of our exchanges (in total goals where equal in matches) with all the clubs except one. The Annual General Meeting was held on 22nd April, the captain presiding over a very meagre attendance. The accounts of the 1st XI. and 2nd XI. respectively were submitted and approved. Some minor changes were made in the constitution in regard to officials and committees. The following officials were then appointed for 1914-15 :—Captain, A. J. Hawes ; vice-captain, R. I. Maxwell ; secretary and treasurer, A. L. Thomson, Castleton House, Old Aberdeen. E. Main and A. L. Thomson were re-appointed as representatives on the Executive Committees of the Northern District Hockey Association and of the Former Pupils' Club respectively. A third member of the 1st XI. Selection Committee remains to be elected. The 2nd XI. officials will be appointed at a special meeting to be held in autumn ; meanwhile intending members may communicate with G. J. Key, 121 Hamilton Place. NOTICE.—Articles, letters, notes, verses, photographs, etc., intended for the October, 1914, issue of the "Magazine" should be sent, not later than 30th September, to Mr. Theodore Watt, 206 Mid Stocket Road, Aberdeen.
220
Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine.
Club Office-Bearers, 1914-1915. Hon. President-H. F. MORLAND SIMPSON, M.A., LL.D. I Hon. Vice-Presidents— Hon. Sir WM. BISSET-BERRY, M.A., M.D., LL.D. (1848-53). Col. Sir WM. SINCLAIR SMITH BISSET, K.C.I.E. (18 54-55). Sir WM. WATSON CHEYNE, Bart., M.B., C.M., C.B., F.R.C.S., F.R.S., LL.D., D.Sc. (1863-68). Sir WILLIAM MORTIMER CLARK, K.C., LL.D. (1845-47). Sir JOHN COLLIE, M.D., C.M. (1873-76). Professor WM. LESLIE DAVIDSON, M.A., LL.D. (1859-64). Sir JAMES DONALDSON, M.A., D.D., LL.D. (1842-46). ALEXANDER DUFFUS, Advocate (1871-76). GEORGE BIRNIE ESSLEMONT, M.P. (1871-76). Sir DAVID FERRIER, M.A., M.D., LL.D. (1854-58). Sir GEORGE STUART FORBES, K.C.S.I., M.A. (1860-64). Sir GEORGE STEGMANN GIBS, LL.B. (1860-65). Sir WILLIAM DUFF GIBBON. (1848-51). Major-General Sir JAMES R. L. MACDONALD, K.C.I.E., C.B. (1873-76). Sir JOHN MACDONELL, C.B., M.A., LL.D. (1860-61). Sir WILLIAM MACGREGOR, G.C.M.G., C.B., M.D., LL.D., D.Sc. (1865-67). Lieut.-Colonel Sir ALEXANDER B. WHARDY, K.C.B. (1853-57). Sir JAMES SCORGIE MESTON, K.C.S.I. (1876-80). Sir WILLIAM ROBERTSON NICOLL, M.A_ ., LL.D. (1866). Sir ALEXANDER OGST0N, K.C.V.O., M.D., C.M., LL.D. (1855-58). Lieut.-Col. Sir DAVID PRAIN, C.M.G., C.I.E., M.A., M.B., LL.D., F.R.S. (1872-73). Sir JAMES REID, Bart., G.C.V.O., K.C.B., M.A., M.D., LLD. (1861-65). Right Hon. Sir JAMES STIRLING, M.A., LL.D., F.R.S., P.C. (1846-5 i). Sir THOMAS SUTHERLAND, G.C.M.G., LL.D. (1844-48). Sir GEORGE WATT, C.I.E., M.B., C.M., LLD. (1867-69). The LORD PROVOST OF ABERDEEN. The CHAIRMAN OF ABERDEEN SCHOOL BOARD. President—JAMES ESSLEMONT (1875-8o). Vice-President—CHARLES WATT (1894-98).
Secretary and Treasurer— JAMES WM. MILNE, C.A., 46A Union Street.
Assistant Secretary— STODART M. CHRYSTALL, M.A., B.L., 2I Bridge Street, Aberdeen.
Committee. WM. AITKEN. W. G. CRAIGEN, M.A., LL.B. ALEX. DAVIDSON. CHAS. J. DAVIDSON, M.A., B.L. J. B. GILLIES, B.L.
HELMTALBERT RICH. A. M. JOHNSTON. WM. K. LEASK, M.A. GEO.A. LEDINGHAM. D. R. MACDONALD. A. G. NICOL SMITH.
H. EDGAR SMITH, M.A., M.B. THEODORE WATT, M.A. E. W. WATT, M.A. D. H. W. WILLIAMSON, M.A.
TELEPHONE No. 1891.
ARCHIBALD McKELLAR, family Grocer and Wine Illercbant,
456 UNION STREET, TC BERDEEN. * Excellent Value given in 2 - Tea. English Bottled Fruits, in globe-shaped bottles, 1 - each. Glass Shapes, Chicken, Ham and Tongue, etc., etc., 16 each. Glasses Potted Grouse, 6d. each. Glasses Potted Wild Duck, 6d. each. White's Crystal Jellies, per pint packet, 31d. each.
Medicinal Wines—Vibrona,
Wincarnis, Glendenning's.
Vegetable Ivory Collar Studs For Back of Neckband.
Price One Penny.
These Studs are made from a hard nut that grows in Brazil.
W. 251
J.
MILNE,
UNION
STREET,
ABERDEEN (Opposite the Royal Northern Club).
Telephone 1293.
Messrs. MORGAN, 'Photographic artists, Miniature 'painters, anb Matters of artistic frames. . . • •
393 UNION STREET, ABERDEEN. f-gEgEg
Special Cernis to Grammar School Stuaegts. gig 10 A.M. TILL 5 P.M.
TELEPHONE No. 603.
'Catioring for acntlemen. GEORGE NICOL the patronage of gentlemen desirous of being well dressed at a moderate cost. We are fully prepared for the coming season with extensive ranges of the smartest materials in Lounge Suitings, Dress Coatings, and Overcoatings.
S
OLICITS
Bartell Patent Pocket in all Garments. Selections of Patterns and Estimates forwarded on approval.
11 CROWN Telephone 2510Y5.
STREET.
for over Cweav Mars.
Vatronieet) bp VoraIrv
SPICER & KIDD, HAIR SPECIALISTS,
gLabtes' ant) Oentlemen's lbigb.ciass lbairbressers ant) Perfumers,
10 BRIDGE STREET, AND PALACE HOTEL, X 13ERDEEN. The Largest Ladles' Saloons In Scotland. Face Massage—French and American Methods. and Manicure. Telephone No. 2995.
Electrolysis, Chiropody,
•
BY
APPOINTMENT.
DINE AT
The Royal Athenaeum Restaurant
and Grill Room
(OPPOSITE TOWN HOUSE).
vv
THE
PREMIER DINING
HALL IN THE CITY.
patronised by the elite of the Gown 4 County. CHOICE SELECTION OF
OLD VINTAGE CHAMPAGNES AND OTHER WINES. HIGH-CLASS PURE HIGHLAND POT-STILL WHISKY, Tel. No. 2273.
John Mitchell, Proprietor.
Established 1859.
Telephone 1750.
FOR
MILK and CREAM, BUTTER, EGGS, TEA CAKES, SCONES, & OATCAKES, TRY
FINDLAY'S DAIRY, 457 UNION STREET, & BRANCHES, ABERDEEN;
Also, THE SQUARE. CULTS. Esta Nish ed over ei I valuey.
DAVIDSON BROTHERS, Cabinetmakers anb Illpbolsterers, CARPET
WAREHOUSEMEN,
Removal Contractors & Complete House Furnishers,
131; UNION STREET, RBERDEEN. Works-45 and 47 CHAPEL STREET.
Vis i t
.
.
Moir's Hairdressing Saloons, 5 DEE STREET (Just off Union Street). First-class Assistants always in attendance Business Hours—
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday , Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday, 8 a.m. to i•30 p.m.
FOR
MEMBER
OF
THE ABOVE
.
Drawing Instruments and Materials, framer ant) TAYLOR9 picture artists' Colourman, SCHOOLHILL, ABERDEEN. Telephone 2870.
—
J. GEDDES, ilobacco a Cigar II1Sercbant. All High-class Tobaccos, Cigars, and Cigarettes in perfect condition may be had at
lV All kinds of Smokers' Requisites.
fire
A large and varied Stock of Walking Sticks by the beet London Makers.
Agent for Loewe Pipes.
478 TELEPHONE 989.
Union Street, Aberdeen. Established over Hall a Century.
TRAVELLING REQUISITES. GLADSTONE BAGS, 12s. and upwards. TRAVELLING TRUNKS, los. to 3os. IMMENSE Solid Leather PORTMANTEAUX. SELECTION. SCHOOL BAGS and BOOK STRAPS. REPAIRS neatly executed by practical workmen on the premises. TRUNK, AND GAUL 8? WILSON, SADDLERY, PORTMANTEAU MANUFACTURERS
BON-ACCORD STREET, ABERDEEN.
All Fresh from Ellon Daily. The Fountainhead for Fine Buchan Butter, Fresh Farm Eggs, Fine Home-made Cheese, Fowls, Chickens, Rabbits, Ducklings, Jams (all own make), Honey (in Supers, 11b. and 2 lb.), Honey (in nice Tumblers).
MILNE, Ellon Stall, New Market; And Branch-404
JOHN
UNION STREET
G. MORISON,
48 NETHERKIRKGATE, Aberdeen. Violin and 'Cello Repairs. Pianos, Organs, Violins, Mandolins, 'Cellos. Piano Tunings and Repairs. Pianos and Organs and Violins Exchanged Hobbs & Co.'s Fire and Burglar Lists. Pianos on Three Years' System. Proof Steel Sal _s, also Doors, Locks, etc.
MAKERS TO
THE KING.
Skidmore's Patent Steel Safes and Doors.
Lists sent on application.
Best Quality of DRUGS, etc., at Lowest Gash Price.
JAMES D. DUNCAN, M.P.S., ebemistopbarmaciet,
231 -UNION STREET---231 Telephone 311.
D. WYLLIE
&
SON,
247 UNION STREET, ABERDEEN. Agents for Ordnance Survey Maps. Booksellers, Army and Navy Stationers. Circulating Library in connection with Mudie's, of London. Engraving, Bookbinding, and Printing of every description. Fountain Pen Emporium. Premier House in the North of Scotland for the sale of Scottish Publications. Publishers and Proprietors of " The Aberdeen Book-Lover." Telephone 402. Established 1814. Telegraphic Address : " Wyllie, Booksellers, Aberdeen."
Gentlemen,
Our Overcoat to Measure (A 2 Guineas) is absolutely unbeatable. GIVE
US
A
MOUNTAIN5
TRIAL.
the art 'Collor,
4 SCHOOLHILL, CIBERDEEN.
M. GERARD, JEWELLER AND SILVERSNIIT I
411 UNION STREET (WEST). Engagement and Wedding Rings. JEWELLERY OF EVERY DESCRIPTION; ALSO
Watches, Clocks, Silver and Electro-Plated Goods in Newest Designs, and Large Selection to choose from. Telephone 2533Y5.
ABERDEEN
GRAMMAR SCHOOL.
(Founded previous to 1256.)
Rector—H. F. MORLAND SIMPSON, M.A. (Cantab.), LL.D., F.S.A. Scot.
The School, which is one of the Secondary Public Schools of Scotland, provides for Boys a complete course of study—Elementary and Secondary, Classical and Modern. The Lower School receives Boys of the Infant stage and upwards. The School contains excellent Laboratories—Chemical and Physical, Art Room, Workshop, Botanical Garden, Gymnasium, Library, and Reading Room. The situation of the School is open and healthy, within ten minutes of the Railway Station. There is a Cricket Field, and there are separate Playgrounds for the various departments. Boarders are received by several of the Masters. Information as to Fees, Scholarships, etc., is given in the School Prospectus, which may be had free on application to the CLERK of the SCHOOL BOARD, 22 Union Terrace, or to the RECTOR.
ABERDEEN HIGH SCHOOL FOR GIRLS. Head Mistress—Miss LUCY L. WARD, B.A. (Load.) The School, which is one of the Secondary Public Schools of Scotland, is organised in Three Departments—a Junior, an Intermediate, and a Secondary—the last combining Modern and University Sections. The Art and Music Departments are under highly qualified Masters and Governesses. Pupils are received from the age of Five Years. The recent additions, consisting of an elegant Hall, Cookery and Laundry Rooms, and a Suite of Laboratories of the most approved description for the teaching of Physics, Chemistry, and Biology, make the School one of the best equipped in the country. A Library and Reading Room and Luncheon Rooms are provided. The School occupies a spacious site in the West End of the City, within twelve minutes of the Railway Station. The Head Mistress can arrange for the Boarding of Pupils from a distance. Information as to Fees, Scholarships, etc., is given in the School Prospectus, which may be had free on application to the CLERK of the SCHOOL BOARD, 22 Union Terrace, or to the HEAD MISTRESS.
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Your Boys' Spring Outfits R. K. Smith's Comfortable and Hard Wearing OVERCOATS are just the thing for your boys' Spring wear. They are in good style and perfectly tailored, and their is a large variety of materials and sizes from which to make selection. TWEED . SUITS are another Seasonable requirement which are largely featured, and in fact you will do well to get the whole of your boys' outfits at R. K. Smith's. SCOUTS' UNIFORM and Equipment is a speciality of which we shouldilike•n you to have a complete list. Please ask for one. -
R. K. SMITH, Ltd., The King's Buildings, II3-II9 Union Street (PP"ite) Fayade v ABERDEEN. Tolaphone No. 077.
Tgegraras "Clothing, Aberdeen."
JOHN A. DUNN'S New Spring Styles in Footwear for Ladies and Gent.'s, Boys and Girls. Patterns and Styles specially suitable for Town and Country wear. Light and heavy makes of. Boots and Shoes in Black and Tan Leathers. All Prices. Boots and Shoes Made to Measure, Splendid Pit Guaranteed. . . We do repairing, either with Leather, Rubber, or Gutta Percha. LETTER ORDERS HAVE PROMPT ATTENTION. —,-
d,--
26 & 175 UNION STREET, ABERDEEN. TELEPHONE No. 158.