Library ... 11 The Saturday Society

Librarian: Rev. F. H. BARNBY. Assistant Librarians : P. B. COCKBURN, J. T. BROCKBANK,

J. A. WRIGHT, J. M. RUCKLIDGE, R. S. DIXON.

The following additions to the Library were made during the Easter term:— G. VI. 28. Ends and Means—Aldous Huxley. M. I. 7. Le Mysterieux Numero Un—Anthony Armstrong. 8. be Train Bleu—Agatha Christie. 9. Les Sept Cadrans—Agatha Christie. 10. Un Meurtre a L'Universite—Q. Patrick. 11. Double Crime Sur La Ligne Maginot—Pierre Nord. 12. be Diable au College—Sintair and Steeman. 13. Le Crime du Siècle—Freeman Wills Croft. 14. La Faute de Mr. Pottermack—R. Austin Freeman. 15. Un Trio Tragique—R. Austin Freeman. 16. Le Pyjama Rouge—Willis Kent. 17. La Mort a Cheval—Ellery Queen. B. V. 38. Place Names of the East Riding of Yorkshire and York—A. H. Smith. H. I. 17. The Navy—Admiral Sir Herbert Richmond. Wisden's Cricketer's Almanack for 1938.

THE SATURDAY SOCIETY.

The Saturday Society has been continued this term, and

five meetings have been held. Short accounts of the entertainments follow.

January 22nd.

An interesting Lantern Lecture on " Soaring and

Gliding " was given by Miss Naomi Heron-Maxwell, a wellknown authority. She dealt with the subject mainly from the beginner's point of view, but stressed the importance of the study of prevailing weather conditions and air currents, relating how misfortune had befallen many experienced flyers through the neglect of this essential.

The slides were very good indeed, some excellent ones being shown of many of the well-known gliding centres of the country. A film was to have been shown, but this was unfortunately prevented, owing to a technical fault.

February 5th.

Sir Curtis Lampson, who has made a number of 'expeditions to North and West Africa, gave us a very 11

interesting Lantern Lecture on " Secrets of the Sahara." He recalled a number of thrilling and amusing incidents during his travels, and related the characteristics, customs and conditions of the tribes with which he came into contact. He told of the primitive Siwans with their beautiful gardens, the warlike Tuaregs, and the Senusi, who are without a faith and have absolutely no mercy on any traveller who has the misfortune to fall into their hands.

He ended his talk by telling of the bubonic plague which was raging in West Africa, describing the remarkable progress made by science to combat this terrible disease.

February 19th.

The School had the pleasure of a return visit of Lieut.Colonel Harrison, who gave another of his most interesting talks on his escapes from German prison camps and his adventures with his two companions, Cartwright and Templar.

The details of escape were explained with the help of a number of slides, and some of the methods adopted to defeat the guards were extremely humorous. They sometimes succeeded in escaping as far as the frontier, only to be recaptured there and sent back to the prison at Magdeburg or Torgau, and it says much for their patience that they never gave way to despair. Their perseverance was finally rewarded, for after three years' captivity, Colonel Harrison and his companions succeeded in escaping across the border to their respective regiments.

March 5th.

The School enjoyed an evening's entertainment given by Ernest Sewell, a well-known conjuror and ventriloquist.

First of all he gave us a clever display of conjuring with the help of two young accomplices from the audience, and this was very much appreciated. Cards were made to pass from pocket to pocket and coins were produced from all parts of the stage.

Then we had the ventriloquism, performed with the aid of a dummy, which carried on a clever and amusing conversation with one of the accomplices.

This was followed by some clever paper tricks, in which trees and ladders were constructed merely by rolling up and tearing sheets of coloured paper.

The programme ended with a marionette show, which proved very popular. An Arctic explorer, a lighthouse keeper and a general appeared in turn, and their antics were extremely amusing. 12

March 19th.

We were given a Lantern Lecture on " Coronation " by the Rev. Jocelyn Perkins, who has taken part in the last three Coronations. He described in the fullest detail the quaint old ceremonies and incidents, both solemn and humorous, the transformation of the Abbey, the music, the regalia, and the Coronation Service itself. His collection of lantern slides showing the Coronations of Edward VII and George V were brought up to date by a number of pictures illustrating the memorable events of May 12th, 1937, on which occasion he stood only a few feet from the King's chair.

The entertainments of the Saturday Society this term have been much appreciated by the whole School, and we would like to take this opportunity of thanking Mr. Corkhill for the care he has taken to arrange such interesting programmes.

THE DEBATING SOCIETY.

Two debates were held this term, both of which were quite well attended, and on the last Saturday of term a Spelling Bee was held between the Staff and the School Monitors.

On Saturday, January 29th, the motion before the House was " That International Sport promotes International Illfeeling." Before the debate opened the Committee was censured for failing to produce the Minutes Book for the second successive time.

R. S. Dixon was elected as member of the Committee in succession to T. D. Ambler, who left last term.

In proposing the motion, E. V. Elgey quoted several recent examples in international sport which have led to strained feelings, and also stressed the fact that excited crowds were too prone to allow their enthusiasm to run away with them.

J. H. Butler, in opposing the motion, showed that a good sportsman does not allow his temper to carry him away, even in the white-heat of enthusiasm which is so often produced by sport. He also laid stress on the fact that as international sport has been going on for something like thirty years, and is still as popular as ever, he could see no reason for it producing bad feelings.

Mr. H. A. Wrenn, in seconding the motion, gave a speech which was more witty than to the point. He suggested that 13

international sport was so wrapped up in propaganda we would do well to be out of it.

E. W. Whitney, for the opposition, pointed out that international relations can hardly be seriously affected by the result of a game, and that all games and sports are meant, and generally succeed, to be a means whereby men and women can work off their surplus energy and excitement.

The Debate was then thrown open to the House and two or three members spoke.

After Butler and Elgey had summed up, the count was taken, resulting in the defeat of the motion by 16 votes to 4.

On Saturday, 26th February, the motion before the House was " That Mr. Chamberlain is deserving of all support in his attitude towards Italy." Before the debate opened, R. S. Dixon was acquitted from the censure passed on him at the previous meeting as a member of the Committee, as he was elected only five minutes before the censure was proposed.

A. C. W. Ping took the Chair, as Mr. L. C. Le Tocq was the proposer. •

In proposing, Mr. Le Tocq stated that the problem was whether Britain should begin talks with Italy or wait until Mussolini gave us some proof of Italy's good intentions. He showed by various arguments that the first alternative was the only means of reaching some valuable agreement with Italy, which everyone will agree is important. If the second were adopted, Mr. Le Tocq showed that Britain would probably remain without treaties which were so important for her.

P. B. Cockburn stated, on the other hand, that the best policy was quite obvious, meaning, no doubt, the second, and that it required little demonstration. Italy had seldom kept her treaties in the past, and it seemed there was little chance of her doing so in the future. This he exemplified by the non-withdrawal of volunteers in Spain.

J. A. Wright, seconding the motion, gave the trading side of our Italian relations, with particular reference to the Suez Canal and our position in Egypt, Palestine and the Near East in general.

As J. T. Harding, who was to have seconded the opposition, was unavoidably absent, the debate was thrown open to the House, and three members spoke all to good effect.

The motion was carried by 20 votes to 4.

14

On Saturday, 26th March, by way of a change, a Spelling Bee was held in the Big Hall between the Staff and the School Monitors. The teams were:—

Staff : Rev. F. H. Barnby, K. H. Rhodes, Esq., A. C. Ping, Esq., J. S. Cooper, Esq., H. A. Wrenn, Esq., and H. M. Pollard, Esq.

Monitors : J. T. Harding, J. T. Brockbank, A. C. W. Ping, P. B. Cockburn, V. L. F. Davin and J. A. Wright.

As was expected, the Bee proved very amusing, and aroused sundry comments from the audience. The Staff were handicapped by having to spell another word each, which hardly seemed fair, since when each side had spelt four words each, the scores were level, each team having made seven mistakes. In the extra round, both Mr. Rhodes and Mr. Cooper fell over " sorrel."

J. T. Harding and Rev. F. H. Barnby were the only competitors who had a clean slate at the end.

THE SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY.

President : THE HEADMASTER. Vice-Presidents : A. W. PING, Esq., W. N. CORKHILL, Esq.,

J. H. STEVENSON, Esq., K. G. CHILMAN, Esq., G. S. STEAD, Esq. Treasurer: A. W. PING, Esq. Honorary Secretary: J. A. WRIGHT. Curator of Museum : D. R. MACKINTOSH. House Representatives : School House: J. M. RUCKLIDGE. Temple House: J. T. BROCKBANK. Clifton Rise: A. C. W. PING.

Unfortunately for the Society, very few Saturday nights indeed are left for our use after the dates of the various meetings of the Saturday Society and the Debating Society have been arranged.

However, Mr. Ping obtained the Headmaster's permission for members of the Scientific Society to attend a lecture on a Wednesday night in the Tempest Anderson Hall. Here a large number of Peterites heard a very interesting lecture on " Some Birds of the Yorkshire Moors." The lecture was illustrated by some magnificent slides, and the unusual perch of one bird at least gave us a hint as to how a bird-watcher whiles away the time during which he is waiting to take a photograph. As this lecture was really 15