The Saturday Society

The Saturday Society, which was temporarily suspended during the Summer, has been continued this term. We have had a number of interesting and amusing entertainments, short accounts of which follow.

September 25th.

The School were entertained by Mr. Dwight Long, who gave us a very interesting lantern lecture on his travels round the world in a ketch. He set out from Seattle in 1934 in his boat, which he named the " Idle Hour." After sailing for about six months, he ran into bad weather, and was forced to put into harbour in New Zealand to have the boat repaired. After a short time the boat was ready, and he set off across the Indian Ocean. At Colombo, however, Timi, a fifteen year old Tahitan boy who had been his companion throughout the journey, died from pneumonia; his loss was greatly felt. Continuing through the Suez Canal, he reached the Mediterranean Sea, where he was delayed by the presence of mine-infested areas; these, however, were avoided without mishap. He finally reached London in the Summer of 1937, and anchored in the shadow of the Houses of Parliament.

The slides were very good indeed, some excellent ones being shown of the East Indies and New Zealand.

October 9th.

Mr. Herbert Milton, who has performed many times at Maskelyne's Theatre, gave us an entertainment of " Magic Extraordinary." He gave a very clever exhibition of conjuring, one of his tricks being to borrow a bank note (Mr. Corkhill very conveniently obliged) and, after tucking it carefully away in his pocket, to produce it finally from a wallet, hermetically sealed by twenty rubber bands. He ended his programme by showing us some very puzzling card tricks, carried out with the help of two members of the audience.

October 19th.

A rugger film was shown in the place of a lecture on " Life Saving " by Captain J. D. Daintree, which, unfortunately, had to be cancelled. Some of the leading players of to-day showed us how the game should be played, and demonstrated, in slow motion, some useful tactical movements, including the " scissors " and the reverse pass.

The film was very interesting and contained some valuable advice for both backs and forwards.

October 23rd.

The School had the pleasure of a return visit of Mr. Selwyn Driver, who gave us an amusing evening's entertainment. His programme consisted of a mixture of humorous songs at the piano, and amusing stories in which the Scotsman and the American played a prominent part. He ended by giving an interpretation of a typical scene during a village concert, with the village parson in charge of affairs.

November 6th.

We were given an interesting lecture on the " Secrets, Hazards and Humours of Modern British Mountain Climbing," by Mr. Stanley Watson, who is universally acknowledged as one of the world's greatest cragsmen. He related his experiences of mountain climbing in the Lake District, Wales and Scotland, illustrating his lecture with many excellent slides. He revealed the methods practised by modern cragsmen, enabling them to overcome seemingly impossible obstacles, but emphasized that the real essential of climbing lay in the perfect co-ordination of brain and muscle.

November 20th.

Mr. Edward Broadhead visited us once more, and gave another of his interesting lectures on " Living Literature." He commenced his programme by reciting an extract from Victor Hugo's " Les Miserables." This was followed by " A Change of Treatment," an amusing seafaring story by W. W. Jacobs. Then, by clever make-up, he succeeded in bringing to life three of Dickens' characters: the pompous " Sergeant Buzfuz," who figured in the Bardell-Pickwick law suit; " Barnaby Rudge," the mad boy; and " Trotty Veck," the old ticket-porter in " The Chimes."

December 4th.

Mr. Stanley Bell gave us an excellent variety entertainment. He began with some short humorous stories, followed by some clever conjuring tricks. He then entertained us for a short time with some songs at the piano, and ended by giving an amusing interpretation of a typical melodrama, in which he proved himself to be a quickchange artist, taking the parts of the hero, the heroine, the villain, the village squire, and the country yokel. 17