Nov 1891

THE

P141TERITE. VOL . XIl .

NOVEMBER, 1891 .

No . 95.

CONFESSIONS OF A MASTER. ANY years ago, when first I joined myself to the glorious band of what the other day, in my hearing, a searcher after knowledge termed " Pup Stuffers, " I was a different person to what I am now.

(It has indeed been noticed that as men grow old they change, physically and mentally, and nature has possibly not seen fit to make an exception in my case .) I was then a slim B .A ., fresh from Oxford, and says I to myself, says I, "What old fools those Masters at School used to be and how the fellows used to rot them ." Just let me in the interests of humanity, take a mastership and I will show the boys how to sit up . Jam redit et virgo, redeunt Saturuia retina, (what is the good of a master who can ' t reel off a snag or two of Latin ?) I would herald the dawning of a new age, and chaos and anarchy should flee gibbering into the NO-MORE at sight of my imperial determination, and of my new system of marking . I had not then the beard which now you know ; in accordance with the prevailing fashion, I presented myself to the scholastic world —" Magnificent, with ambrosial whiskers, like a god . " Waistcoats were then a prominent feature, and I fancy mine rnoulted no feather. And so, with the dial pointing to Set Fair, I applied for a mastership, caught my mark book to my breast, and sat down to wait for the world to come and be regenerated.

M

Things would appear to have not been so bad as I thought, for, in place of competition for my services, I first appeared on the scene at a Private School . This Private School has been described to the life , by the author of " Vice Versa," a book which I now read as my own biography . Think of it, 0 ye Peterites, you with your blessed

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freedom, your football, your cricket, your river, and the shadow of the mighty Minster hanging over you . Forty of us, never out of sight of a master, and I was the Cerberus . Games we had, but we marched down to the field, two and two, played for a fixed number of lunar minutes, and marched back . Dinner was timed 35 minutes, breakfast and tea 20 each . Everything was mapped out and allowed for, and two terms of it choked me off.

And where was I now? The waistcoats were thought loud, the whiskers earned me the name of " Sidelights," and the system of marking took so long to explain that we reverted to counting round ; and I believe it was mainly the cause of one of the worst men in the form coming out top, simply because it was not understood . So I sware a mighty oath that I would renounce private schools and all their works, and I left them to redeem themselves or perish ; and I became a schoolmaster proper, taking advantage of the interregnum to grow a beard.

At first I devoted myself in my new sphere to redressing the wrongs which I recalled from the days of my youth . I remembered how our chief diversion during the week was in French hours . We had the privilege of learning from a celebrated Gaul, who was, without exception, the most unmitigated ass not yet made into pork pie . He was lame, and had the reputation of having a cork leg . This reputation was dearly bought, for whereas he never taught us any French, the more daring spirits spent the hour running pins into him to find out where the cork began, and as he never objected the rumour would appear to be well founded . I set my teeth and resolved that no one should stick pins into my leg, and they never did . Then I bethought me of a brilliant scholar, known as Newman Nogs, whom I myself had got to believe that I was consumptive and must not be over-worked, while a comrade represented that he was quite deaf and led the fair Nogs a thorny dance with shouting and lifting up of the voice, while all the time the pretended deaf man chuckled in his sleeve and grew fat in idleness ; moreover, he let us wear our caps in school if the sun shone. " No, " said I, " No consumption, no deaf mutes, and no caps iii school ." A/Ions done Z And thinking of many other ways in which I and my companions had hoodwinked our pastors and

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masters, I arranged to catch and scarify any hapless wight who should endeavour to mock himself of me.

And now years have passed away. I have taken my M .A . and made other advances to perfection, but the one conviction forced upon me is that however smart the Master, the boys are always smarter all round, and that systems are useless to him that cannot rise to an emergency . Emergencies have a way of happening at untoward moments, e.; . : the adventures of a shortsighted friend of mine with a taste for mathematics . When he laid down his chalk daring spirits would abstract it and draw a small line on the desk where it had lain, and the fun came in when he endeavoured to pick up this line . Such an exploit cannot be provided for by any system . Of my own experience I recall a certain South African who had a very ingenious little game, which he played off for some time with much success.

One day when he was wrestling with the career of Balbus, as detailed

by Arnold, his tongue crave to the roof of his mouth, and Balbus was interrupted in the midst of his wall building . " What is it? " said I, What ' s that?" said he, pointing out of the window . " That's a rabbit," said I, observing one of these interesting rodents browsing on the mignonette . " Never saw one, we haven't got them at the Cape, may I look at it ?" " Yes, " said I, meaning only to be kind ; but from that hour we had a new play . Next day " Whe-ew ! What's that ?

Blue-bottle do you call it? May I look at it? " or he would fall on his knees, examine a spider on the floor, or if a pheasant crew close by, i t loosened the strings of his tongue, all because they had not got these things at the Cape . I came to the conclusion that the Cape was rather a one-horse place on the whole, and refused permission to discuss Natural History any more . These things, and many others that I could mention are emergencies, and not provided for by Cocker.

I will not burden you with specimens of answers and errors because they are so often trotted out and are so easy to compose, that one looks askance at the best of them . Yet I would you could see my collection.

I have things by me, which, if I live, I will brandish in the face of Archbishops and Generals and Lord Mayors, and say " Thus didest thou ! These were thy words, what time thou satest at my feet in the Upper Civil ! " Though these make me laugh indefinitely, it is to me

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more sweet to note the types which recur in certain revolution in the changing cycle of forms . I am indifferently fond of sport myself . I never miss Y . G . v . H . W ., and I can differentiate between York A and Brighton A ; and so I have always had a sporting man, who either for the love of the thing, or because he seeks to bespeak a favourable eye for work unknown, will tell me at beginning of form what he knows of current events . He dreams of football, and when we read the passage of the Beresina, he sees the Scope, and thinks how glorious it is to swing round it in the Four . He loves Latin when we are reading Virgil V, and when Dares knocks Entellus' teeth down his throat, he is hardly restrained from describing a similar feat performed by the Bootharn Bruiser on the person of the Champion, the famous Twickenham Teaser, when they fought for £I,coo a side and the Championship of the North Riding Asylum . But when we do the loves of Dido and 1Eneas, or the Storm in Book I, he yawns and calls it " treacle ."

He wears yellow boots and follows the prevailing taste in trousers, and is altogether a very interesting person.

Then there is the young " progeny," who for his tender years and much learning is high up in the school and is expected to do great things . In many ways he is a relief, but on the whole I hate him, because if he misses a question he wee ps—Multa gemens largoque lauwectat Amine vol/um—so that I have to look out of the window or anywhere but at him, which is disturbing, and if he answer one, the sporting men nip him and say, "You little beast 1 " Then as he hacks abroad, there is a temporary bullyrag and the peace is broken.

What I do love is the dear old man who sits at the butt end of the form and neither knows nor learns anything ; the man who says everything is in Asia Minor, and cannot be persuaded that good Latin scholars do not say bonissimus nor j5otebam, nor translate "without" by "cumex . " I love the dear old goat who tells me that the Habeas Corpus Act provided " That not even the meanest subject should have a fair trial, " far better than the young substitute for the unapproachable, who thinks the sun rose to shine on him doing French translation.

How much dearer the vacant stare of imbecility, the orb that glares without speculation, or it may be with surprise at my catching its owner pinning a paper tail on to his neighbour, than the bright, wicked

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glance of the gent who knows his work . Fancy a schoolmaster saying such a thing . True, it is heresy, but this is my confession, and the sparkling person has less need of help than the old cargo-shifted hulk who finds it hard to struggle with the waves of superior scholarship.

Nothing is more interesting than a boy ' s notebook, and few things are harder than to make him use it properly. Firstly, he will not bring it into form at all until he has been adjured several times so to do . Secondly, when he has brought it he will sit on it till recommended to get off. Thirdly, he will write nothing in it unless I say " Now put this down," or " • Do get this into your notebooks," and then he claps a remark about the Ethic Dative right into the middle of a list of miracle s peculiar to S . Luke, where, supposing even that he wanted it he would never find it again . At times I descend on my form and capture all the notebooks, with the aim of marking the neatest, and the perusal of these tomes simply causes me to " Kneel down, kneel down, and wonder, " for I find Latin, Greek, History, French, all woven into a delightfully meaningless and useless patchwork, written two lines at a time and interspersed with such things as portraits of the headmaster, " If my name you wish to see, look at page 203," " You flabby calf look at to8, " lists of masters with their nicknames (most interesting), a score of a cricket match, a calendar of the days till the holidays, and essays in coloured pencils . As to the actual notes, I generally find myself represented as making the most astounding statements, yet, as no one ever looks at them that is less important than it seems.

An awkward animal to manipulate is the boy . Volatile and complex is his nature, passing my powers to describe, nay, causing difficulty even to the geniuses whose art embellishes the " York Herald " at the base fee of an obol a line . I love him dearly, and wish his eternal good, even if the fates determine that it is not to come to him through my medium .

H . W.

CAMBRIDGE LETTER. T would appear to be the unquestioned liberty of every Peterite University correspondent to preface his letter with a mere or less valid excuse for the defects that appear in his contribution . The

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present correspondent is so far from desiring to subvert the traditional privilege of his predecessors, that he feels it incumbent on him to supplement a request for toleration of his other shortcomings by stating that circumstances which demand his absorption in less congenial occupations, have also necessitated habits of withdrawal from the society of his fellows, which prevent that infinite knowledge of their concerns, which alone proceeds from frequent and familiar intercourse.

To deal with what items of news are forthcoming, it is perhaps fitting to leave aside, for the present, matters of general and University interest, and turn to the more important and interesting subject of the doings of old Peterites at Cambridge. On the football field, St . Peter ' s is, as it ought to be, ably represented ; to quote a familiar saying of a once famous School House Old Peterite, which cannot fail to appeal strongly to those who had the privilege of being his contemporaries, " Scnioresbriores . " A. C . Clarke, the Senior O .P. in residence, plays regularly for Emmanuel . K . E . T . Wilkinson (who by the way is Secretary for Caius II .) plays regularly for his college, and should get his colours . Metcalfe is playing half for Pembroke ; while Padel, who has developed a talent for scoring, is one of the ramparts of Sidney Sussex . Birks plays three-quarters for Peterhouse, the team of which College is again looking up ; and Naylor , is reported to be playing Association with Trinity Rest.

At the river are seen Leaf, who is Captain of Peterhouse B .C. Metcalfe, who divides the leisure he enjoys from the more absorbing pursuit of Rugby Football, in coaching Freshmen and stroking a Pembroke Senior Trial, and Easten, who is rowing in a Corpus Trial.

The placid Cam has been changed the last few days into a surging torrent, flooded by the recent rains, and lashed out of its torpor by the strong winds . Rumour prevails in the University that no fewer than four competent eights were sunk on the afternoon of November I rth, while rash captains venturing out in tubs with diffident freshmen were compelled by the fury of the elements to seek harbour at the first boathouse that presented itself, several tubs being unable to make their way under the new bridge, while others—among them one containing the present writer—suffered shipwreck on the grinds and chains .

OXFORD LETTER .

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The two principal topics that have been convulsing the Academical mind are the decision of the Senate about the retention of Compulsory Greek, and the celebration of the Fifth of November . Of the former it is needless to speak to right-feeling Peterites, and moreover, what Peterite has ever lacked right feeling? The curious, however, might have been diverted by the spectacle of those who flocked to vote in the Senate . Men clad in truly Academical gear of every status, set-off by faded hoods, passe caps, and, in some cases, deep-napped beavers, combined the opportunity of striking a blow for the dignity of their classics, and gazing and wondering on the sadly changed Cambridge of their youth.

Of the latter we have it on the authority of the most respectable of Cambridge Journals, that it passed off " without any of the disgraceful encounters between townsmen and undergraduates which used to characterise former years . " Personal testimony, however, must be born to the fact that Guys were carried round the streets by grotesquely habited urchins, jingling coppers in a cigar box as a precedent for gratuities to help them to celebrate the preservation of the realm, and to the rumours of vast crowds collected outside certain colleges, and black eyes received in skirmishes with the mob . But inside the College, though tutors and Deans tempted the vile contagion of the night, till it was night no longer, no opportunity of administering order offered itself to countenance their self-sacrificing vigilance, and the unconscious plaint of gybs, bull-dogs, and undergraduates alike was Tempora mutantnr nos et mutanutr in illis.

H .R .T.P.

OXFORD LETTER. HE gloomy and lifeless aspect which pervades the city in the absence of the undergraduate element has been removed once more, and a new year has set in with its usual severity . The travelled tutor has returned to his task, and the lecturer again looks up with reluctance his old notes, notes perhaps read ad nauseam to generations of guileless freshmen . The enthusiast rushes about to congratulate his friends on their success in the schools, or to condole with those

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who have experienced the extreme bitterness of a plough, and begins the term ' s programme by issuing invitations for a breakfast . A new brood of freshmen, bringing with it a variety of gowns and pipes, has gone into apprenticeship to the scouts, whilst senior men renew their broken vows to begin reading in earnest . Rival football and rowing captains are on the qui vine canvassing their new material which, by the way, is very plentiful . In fact, everything presages a new spell of academic activity.

In football, the great question is how to fill up the team, there have seldom been so few old blues left as this year.

Fleming, though in residence, is unable to play, being in his fifth year . A good man too is lost in the person of G . Wilson, of Queens, whose place is much envied, and will doubtless be hotly contested for.

Rowing prospects are not very bright at present, the river swollen by recent rains having attained a size and velocity quite unintended when it was originally created . But in spite of this, the freshmen, deo gratias, are as ready as ever to come and toil at the oar, a task by no means easy or attractive even when the water is content to run in its ordinary course.

The small number of Oxford Peterites has this term been increased by one, the Hastings Exhibitioner, who, we are glad to see, is daily in attendance at the river, hazarding his life in a glorious cause.

With these few remarks, and our wishes for the future success of present Peterites, both in the field and schools at the Universities, we would close our letter .

D .L.

SCHOOL LETTER.

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HE term is fast speeding away, and before this composition meets the gaze of men the holidays will again be rapidly overtaking us.

Our subject matter is confined to the two main topics of the term— Football and the coming Theatricals.

To turn our attention to the former, the team of the Schools has only been beaten once, namely, by Clifton, who won by three points .

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Bradford and Ripon offered but little opposition ; Leeds, it is only right to state, would, in all probability, have been beaten with much greater ease but for the most questionable decisions of the referee, who seemed totally incapable of filling such a post. Whitby, we regret to say, who was developing into an excellent three-quarter back, has been obliged to leave us, and his place will be hard to fill . Three scratch matches were played at the beginning of the term . The first agains t W. Draper ' s XV . resulted in a win for the School : against Mr. Lord ' s XV ., though beaten, the team played as well as we have seen them this term, the forwards playing remarkably well together : in the last, against R . D . C . Rose 's XV ., the School showed less dash than in the preceding match, and were beaten by three points.

In internal matches the School House, with nine members out of the regular fifteen, ought to have no difficulty in beating the Day Boys.

The School has twice beaten the Choir, but the Classicals have not yet played the Moderns, who are weaker than last year.

The theatricals as usual promise well . The chosen play is Henry 1V., in which the leading parts are taken by A . W. Peel as Falstaff, and C . D . I'Anson as Prince Henry . The minor characters are nearly all taken by new actors . Though Mr . Yeld, energetic as ever, has much crude material to work upon, we can safely prognosticate that the reputation which the School has obtained for acting will by no means be lowered, but that this year 's play will be another addition to the successes of the past .

FOOTBALL. z' . BRADFORD GRAMMAR SCHOOL. Played on the School ground on Wednesday, October 7th . A heavy shower swept over the field just before the game began, and a second soon after half-time sadly handicapped the backs . Bradford kicked off against a slight wind, and F. M . Bingham was tackled with the ball' From the " scrum, " the ball was thrown to S . O . Bingham, who sent a wide pass to Carter, which the latter took smartly, and ran in, Tute kicking a nice goal. After the kick-off, Spence and Williams gained ground by a good dribble ; the former also, saving a nasty rush, passed neatly to Carter, who scored the second try, rushing right through the

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Bradford forwards—a grand performance . S . O . Bingham failed at goal . The drop-out went to touch at the centre . S . O . Bingham next made a strong run, whilst Rose and Whitby did some tricky passing, and the latter scored a neat try, Tute kicking a goal . After the kick-out, Clarke, F. M . Bingham, and Coning, rushed the ball down, and Tute obtaining from a scrummage ran in, but failed to improve from a difficult place . Williams got over from a " throw out, ' but lost the ball . Bradford then came away with a rush, but S . O. Bingham by a strong run took the ball back to the line . Bradford relieved by risky passing, whilst Eastwood returned with a strong kick into touch . Whitby again gathered well, and passed to Carter, who scored his third try, Tute kicking a goal . Soon after, "half-time " was called . On resuming, Bradford put in some strong kicks, but Tute returned grandly, and S . 0 . Bingham receiving the ball from Spence, ran in . Bradford again "showed fight, " but S . O . Bingham taking a good pass from Whitby, scored again, but no goal was kicked.

Spence then ran in from a pass from Tute, the latter converting.

Bradford kicked well, but the home forwards led by Clarke, F . M. Bingham, and Coning, rushed the ball back, and Whitby scored, Tute adding another goal ! F . M . Bingham and MacTurk were next conspicuous, and the former passed finely to his brother, who transferred to Whitby, and another try was obtained, and a goal kicked . Time was then called with the score 7 goals, 4 tries (43 points) to nil.

Tute kicked 7 goals . Of the backs, Eastwood kicked strongly and well into touch . Whitby and Carter gathered and ran well, and S . 0.

Bingham worked hard all through, giving Bradford plenty to do . The halves were very neat, Tute especially so : Spence should have passed more . Forward, F . M . Bingham and Clarke were very good, whilst Williams, Scargill, and Coning did good work . Taken as a whole they did not pack well, while they lacked dash, and passed poorly.

The following were the teams : ST. PETER ' S .—Full back, A. W . Eastwood ; Three-quarter backs, S . O . Bingham (Captain), H . B . Whitby, C . J . N . Carter ; Half backs, R . C . Tute, T . S . Spence ; Forwards, F . M. Bingham, E . W . Clarke, F . G. Williams, B . J . Scargill, N . T . Crumbie, \V . H . M . Hancock, H . Macturk, C . W . Coning, A . W . Rose.

BRADFORD .—Full back, Shorter ; Three-quarter backs, Heilborn, Foggin, Milnes ; Half backs, Butler, Linley ; Forwards, Slater, Stansfield, Heap, MacMillan, Gordon, Clapham, Macturk, Jackson, I~illich .

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v . RIPON GRAMMAR SCHOOL. Played on the School ground on Saturday, October 24 . Fenton kicked off at 3-20 from the lower end, and the ball went into touch at the home " 25 " flag . Several scrummages were fought out here, and Coupland passed to Fenton, who went round the touch side of the "scrum " and scored far out, East wood being just too late in bringing him down . No goal resulted from a good attempt . Then some good passing took the ball down the ground, and Whitby kicked over the line. After the drop out, play was in Ripon quarters, and from a line out on the far side Clarke threw to Carter who ran across and passed to Whitby on the right ; the latter ran completely round his wing and scored behind the post, Tute kicking a goal . Tute next secured from a scrum, " and the ball was passed to S . Bingham who scored easily, Tute again being successful . Bland then by good passing brought the ball to the home 25 " where Tute made good use of a free kick, landing the ball into touch at the Ripon quarter flag . Spence showed up with a good dribble, and F. Bingham, picking up in the loose, threw well to his brother, who ran in far out . On restarting, Tute broke away from the pack and passed to Scargill, who got over. No goal was kicked . F . Bingham and Williams dribbled well, and Crumble passing to Tute, the latter was pulled down on the line . Good passing between S .

Bingham, Scargill, Spence, and Whitby brought half-time . A minor resulted from the kick-off. Tute then gave the ball to Spence, who ran well but failed to pass, and Fenton securing got well away, but S. Bingham overhauled him, and Eastwood picking up returned to the centre. F . Bingham and Williams took the ball on . After a great amount of scrummaging, S . Bingham threw to Carter, who ran to the line . Bland then spoiled the home-team's passing, but Williams and Spence dribbled back, and a minor resulted . After the drop-out, Hancock was conspicuous at the touch line several times, and F. Bingham led a rush of the forwards . Then Spence passed well to Whitby who got right in, and Tute kicked a goal . Spence scored next, Cute again converting . A fine bit of passing between Tute, Spence, Whitby, and S . Bingham ended in the last-named getting in . Thus the home team won by 4 goals, 3 tries (26 points), to r try (2 points).

Taking the School play as a whole the forwards worked very "hard tackling much better than previously ; they dribbled well, but in the

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second half did not often have possession of the ball . F . Bingham and Clarke were always in the thick, and nearly all showed up at different times . Tute's play was excellent ; Spence though he should have passed on three or four conspicuous occasions still did very well . The threequarter and full-back play was very good . For Ripon, Fenton's kicking and Bland ' s running were good, while Coupland passed well. The pick of their forwards were Ellis and Thompson.

RIPON .—Back, H . E . Collins ; three-quarters, A . E . Fenton (captain), C . Bland, and F . Stow ; E . Coupland and F . M . Shene ; forwards, C . E . Ellis, W . Thompson, F. E . Day, A . Albes, H . Nunn, W . Thomson, W . T . Wrangham, W . S . Rutton.

For the School, Newton played instead of Coning.

v . LEEDS GRAMMAR SCHOOL. Played at Leeds, on October 31st, before a fair number of spectators.

York suffered somewhat from injuries to Clarke and Spence, sustained in the Ripon match . Leeds kicked off at 2-30, and the ball finally dropped into touch at the visitor's 25 ." S . Bingham got the ball and passed to Williams, who kicked, and the forwards worked well into the Leeds half. Tute got away, but nothing came of the pass. The ball, which seemed of a most curious make, was difficult to handle, and spoilt our passing a great deal . A lot of forward play in neutral ground followed, and Carter then made a good mark from a kick, but punted weakly . Yeadon next dropped at goal and a minor resulted.

The drop out was well followed up, and Carter, picking up, kicked to the Leeds " 25 . " F. Bingham was soon after prominent for good tackling . Whitby then kicked a minor . After the drop out Whitby ran in, but was robbed of the ball . Then Burrell by a fine run, the York tackling being of the weakest, got nearly to the centre, and Leeds, by good passing, took play almost to the posts . Yeadon then tried another drop, which failed, and Whitby ran it out but anothe r minor ensued to Leeds . After the drop out F . Bingham and Williams were prominent, but our forwards, as a whole, were not playing well, their tackling being very poor . York then received a free-kick near touch, from which Tute made a very good attempt and almost landed a goal ; after this half-time was called . F . Bingham kicked off, and

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Scargill charging the return, Crumbie followed up and scored a try, which for no apparent reason was disallowed . For some time now we kept in the Leeds half, but were very much handicapped by the referee, who was continually whistling without any visible cause . Tute and Spence then did well together, and Whitby dribbled over the line, a minor resulting . Soon after Carter put in a good run and another minor was scored . Leeds then visited York quarters, but Whitby returned, and Clarke and Scargill took the ball on, the ball being taken back by Leeds ; Eastwood put in a fine kick and Tute got over from a scrummage, but was called back for " held outside ." After a good run by S. Bingham another minor was scored . A run by Burrell then took play to the York line where he was well brought down by Eastwood, and Rose brought the ball away . Then Tute and Spence starting a dribble, the forwards took the ball back to the Leeds end, where Tute ran in front and passed to Carter, who scored a try, Tute kicking an excellent goal . After some more forward play, in which Clarke showed up well, time was called, the score standing at five points to nil in favour of York . There is no doubt that our backs were badly handicapped by the vagaries of the referee and the ball, not to mention the persistent off-side play of Bettany, still they seemed out of form . At half, Spence, though working hard, was clearly not himself ; Tute was very fair. At three-quarters Carter and Whitby were variable, and S. Bingham slow and uncertain in catching the ball . Of the forwards, F. Bingham, Scargill, and Crumbie were the pick ; but as a whole they tackled poorly . For Leeds the full-back did well, while Burrell was very fast at three-quarters . Bettany, at half, seemed to have taken a lodging on his opponent' s side of the scrummage ; for unvarying offside play we have rarely seen his equal . The forwards were a good even set and played better than York in the open.

CLIFTON. Played on the School ground on Saturday, November 14th . This was the first match since Whitby ' s departure, and the School Captain being unable to play, 1\Ir. Lord and illr . Whittam filled the centre and right position . The game was not very enjoyable, as Clifton were a little out of date in respect of rules, e .g ., they were of opinion that for the drop out after a try the ball must be brought out straight, also that

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nobody could be off-side " at a " throw out . " This latter principle of " no off-side " they applied to all their play, and, as they were fast and heavy forward, the School backs had plenty of saving . Clifton started with great dash, and kept the game in the School half for some time, but failed to score, Mr . Lord relieving splendidly and tackling finely . After about 20 minutes ' play there was a scrummage right in the corner, and Clifton heeling out, the ball was passed to their centre, who dropped at goal . The referee gave a goal, though he was hardly in a position to see, and the ball went outside the posts . The next point was a try to Clifton from a long loose dribble, accompanied by continual claims for " off-side " by the School, all to no purpose . No goal resulted, and soon after " half-time " was called . The School had much the best of the second half, except at the beginning, when Clifton were allowed a try manifestly " off-side " from the " throw out ."

Soon after, Carter ran in for the School, which Tute converted, but though pressing continually we were unable to increase our score . It is a poor thing to complain after defeat, but we must say the School had much to contend against in this match . The forwards played in much better form, dribbling more than usual, and holding up well against superior weight . Behind, all the work was saving with a greasy ball, at which Spence and Tute did very well . Carter picked up clean and took passes well, and Eastwood did all that was required.

v . MR . WALhER'S 1V. This was against a team, got up by the brother of the York man, on Thursday, November igth . Unluckily they came short-handed but secured recruits from the spectators . The School team was as usual except that Macturk took Newton ' s place . It was twenty minutes before any scoring took place, when Carter got in after a pass, which we thought forward . Before "half-time " was called Tute and Spence had both got in, bringing the total to 2 goals i try. In the second half the School scored five more tries but no goals were kicked as they were mostly far out and there was a strong wind, though Mr . Lord made some very fine attempts . Thus the home team won by 2 goals 6 tries, or 22 points to nothing, after a very pleasant game . Each of the School backs scored a try ; Carter, who was in great form, crossed

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the line four times . One of his runs from the centre was a very good one . Both in this match and in the succeeding one against Darlington the visitors found it necessary to put on an extra three-quarter back to cope wsth the School passing . The half-back play was again very good, unselfish, and neat . The forwards showed very good form, pushing their heavier opponents in the tight (this was even more noticeable against Darlington) and passing well amongst themselves.

It seemed to us that the team were slow in getting together and settling down ; they should go in with plenty of dash at the beginning, as many a match is lost by a point scored early in the game.

v. DARLINGTON. Played on the School ground on Saturday, November 21st, before a very large gathering of spectators . The School played as in the match against Mr. Walker's team, S . Bingham being still away . Darlington won the toss and chose the lower goal, and F . Bingham kicked off. At the start the home forwards scarcely seemed to get together, and as a consequence most of the play was in their quarters . Just as the ball was being worked away, Crallan, the Darlington centre, intercepted a bad pass from one of the forwards and scored an easy try, kicking a goal from the place . The School restarted and, for the rest of the half, had the best of the play . For some time scrummages were formed almost on the Darlington line, and there were many near things, notably a very good drop at goal by Mr . Lord, which, unfortunately, passed outside the posts . At last a sharp piece of passing between Tute and Spence gave the ball to Mr . Whittam, who ran well in, and the scores were equalised by the goal which resulted .

The School were again attacking when " half-time " was called .

In the second half play was largely in the centre, varied by visits to the Darlington line . Then Spence dodged over cleverly with a little feinting, and soon after, Scargill charging a kick, the ball went off to the right wing where Mr . Whittam picked up at full speed and scored a second try . Darlington were once very dangerous when Crallan got clean away to Eastwood, but, as he passed badly, the chance was lost.

The School thus won, amidst great enthusiasm, by 1 goal 2 tries to r goal . The forwards and halves are chiefly to be thanked for this, as

1 88

THE OLD PETERITE CLUB.

they rarely let the opposing halves have the ball . Consequently the Darlington three-quarters, who all seemed fast, had few chances . The forwards, finely led by Bingham and Clarke, we congratulate on their steadily improving form shown in the last three matches . Though not very fast they were always on the ball, and their touch line play was excellent ; the ball always went towards the Darlington goal from the throw out of touch . The halves both played a fine game, their combined work being beautiful and very unselfish . Carter had less to do than in any previous match, but did what he had to do well . The Darlington left wing was closely watched by Mr. Whittam, whilst Mr. Lord did any amount of work at centre, Crallan being rarely able to get away. This we consider the best win so far ; the play of the School was only spoiled by some half dozen wild passes to nobody.

We cannot do better than remind everyone of the advice of Vassall and Budd, " Always keep your eyes on the passee ." Up to the present the School has scored 110 points to 15 (8 of these latter in the Clifton match).

THE OLD PETERITE CLUB. (Addenda et Corrigenda .)

Alington, F. W., 7, Lennard Road, West Croydon.

Anderson, Y ., Dr. Johnson' s Buildings, Temple, E .C. Baskett, B . G . M ., Royal General Hospital, Bristol.

Crowther, Lt .-Col . G . H ., 6, Thornhill Road, Edgerton, Huddersfield.

Darrell, C ., c/o Messrs . Gregory and Co ., r, Old Palace Yard, Westminster, W. Griffith, F . T ., Whitehall Gardens, London, W. Heaven, F. C ., Hessle, Hull.

Padel, G .,

25,

Young Street, Doncaster.

Pixley, F . W ., Conservative Club, S .W. Snowden, J . C .,

12,

Pavement, York.

Stephenson, A ., The Club, Beckenham, hent.

Walker, E ., New Square, Lincoln's Inn, V .C .

OBITUARY-NOTES AND ITEMS .

189

®bttuatp.

RODERICK DHU McGACHEN, DIED SEPTEMBER I0, 1891.

AGED 19 YEARS.

NOTES AND ITEMS. G. H . Wade has been appointed Master of the Head Form on the Modern Side in Dulwich College.

F. T . Griffith, who obtained the tenth place in Open Competitive Examination for Civil Service Clerkships . Class I . (Higher Division), in January, 1886, and was appointed to the Secretary ' s Department G .P .O ., has been transferred to H .M . Board of Trade, Whitehall.

J . F . Leaf was placed first in the Combined Examinations of Pembroke and St . Peter' s College, Cambridge.

F . Mitchell is playing half-back for Sussex County.

A . W . Eastwood has been appointed Under Secretary of the Theatricals in the place of H . B . Whitby.

N . L. Hood is playing half-back for St . Thomas' Hospital, London.

J . E . Gofton and T . Dunkerly are playing forward for Hull.

S . O. Bingham has been appointed an editor of this Magazine.

Mr . T . R . Parker, the School Porter, has been re-appointed Tyler of the Albert Victor Lodge.

We acknowledge with thanks the receipt of—Drnrelmian (2), Hurst johmlzu, Ulula, Leodiensian, Sutton Valence .tlfagawine, Pockli -zgtonian, Herefordian .

MARRIAGE.

1 90

The following are the fixtures for the last week of the Term.

December 17 . Theatricals, Children's Night.

19 .

Theatricals, 1st Night.

21.

Theatricals, and Night.

Oki Boys v . Old i)unelmians, on the York ground.

The Annual Meeting of the O . P . Club, at 4-30 p .m ., in St . Peter's School.

22.

Old Boys v School.

Lecture on the Graian Alps by Mr . Yeld.

23.

Old Boys v Old Leodiensians, at Leeds.

O . P . Dinner.

MARRIAGE Haider William Wood, eldest son of Mr . William Wood, M .R .C .S ., Eng ., L .S .A , Lond ., of Middleton-on-the-Wolds, to Isabelle Katharine, only daughter of the late Captain Lancaster Byron J. Davies (Bengal Staff Corps) .