British Ship Adoption Society

The Minister of Education, M. I. H. Unwin, moved the second reading of The Voluntary Subjects Extension Bill, the principles of which were :- 1. That a total of four options be taken by all members of the Transitus and VIth. 2. That one optional subject be taken by all members of the Vth forms for three periods per week. 3. That an additional afternoon be devoted to optional subjects for the IVth forms and Shell.

In his speech he spoke of the purposes of the education offered by the Public Schools, saying that such an education aimed at producing a well-educated man with a wide range of knowledge. This could only be effected by a general education which need not interfere with examination work.

J. B. Mortimer, as leader of the Opposition, said that whilst over specialisation was a danger, over generalisation was even more so. He emphasised the importance of examination results, and argued that further indulgence in optional subjects would be detrimental.

Speeches were also made by Jackson, Markus, Cobham, D. J. Wilson, E. G. Thompson, Chatterton, R. M. Booth, Frater, Pringle, and Beeehall.

The Bill was decisively defeated.

The "Mountpark's" movements this term have consisted of but one passage—from Sydney, N.S.W., which she left on 9th January, to Liverpool, where she arrived on 9th March.

The route was via Panama, and thus the voyage again took the ship around the world, for the outward trip was via Morocco and the Suez Canal, and altogether she has been away from Great Britain 18 months.

Cargo (flour) was discharged at Liverpool, and the ship then went to Glasgow during the School 'holidays. There she has loaded general cargo for the Persian Gulf.

Mr. Greenough, the Second Officer, has sent us an account of a passage made by the "Mountpark" from Sydney to Malaya in November, 1948, using the route inside the Great Barrier Reef. We print an extract below : "Our pilot joined us in Sydney, and we sailed from there on 5th November. Far the first three days the weather was rather unkind, and we experienced strong northerly winds with an accompanying

heavy swell, which made things rather uncomfortable for us; but we soon lost this, and from Sandy Cape onwards we experienced perfect weather conditions.

The Great Barrier Reef is an extensive line of coral reefs stretching for nearly 1,000 miles along that coast from latitude 221°S. in a N.-Westerly direction almost to New Guinea. It is a formidable obstruction to navigation, although there are several navigable passages through it from the Coral Sea. The route we took inside the reefs is considered a tricky one, but our pilot knew these water intimately. His knowledge of the reefs was extensive and he often held our interest with little stories of how some of the reefs, islands, and bays got their names.

The fine sunny weather and smooth waters made sailing very pleasant, close in amongst the numerous small islands, which gave us some very pretty scenery. The reefs were at times visible to us, but usually appeared only as differing coloured patches of water. We were picking our way through them all along the route, but the many beacons and lights and the pilot's local knowledge assured us of a safe passage. The early navigators must have had a trying time along this coast. Captain Cook was the first to make the passage, and he sailed in the "Endeavour" right to the Torres Strait without a chart— charting the coast as he went along. It was whilst making this passage that he ran the "Endeavour" on to a reef, the only occasion on all his voyages of exploration when he grounded a ship.

We reached Torres Strait on 13th November, and stopped at Goods Island, where our pilot left us. A motor launch put him ashore on Thursday Island, where he would perhaps await a southbound ship or perhaps be flown back to Sydney.

From Goods Island we then set of across the Timor Sea."

We are glad to hear that both Mr. Ellis and Mr. Greenough are remaining with the ship for the next voyage, and are looking forward to hearing from them about their visit to the Persian Gulf.

FILM SOCIETY

"Night at the Opera" was undoubtedly the most popular film of the winter series : the surrealistic antics of the Marx Brothers appeared to be precisely to the Society's liking, and the film is, by any standards, a fast-moving and entertaining one. "Mutiny on the Bounty" retained the fine sweep and spirit of adventure that it had when first issued, and by no means every film keeps, with the passing of years, its pristine virtues : it is surely one of the best produced "period" films ever made : history on the screen only too often means that the camera never gets more than six feet away from the subject in order to cut down expense