"""''"'""""''""'""""'"'""""",,,'"'""'""'""tf"""'"m"',w1,m""''"'""'""'"'"'"'"11mm1111m11111111mmm11u11,.m,w111um11mmmm11,,mmm1m111111mm1111mmmmmm,1,m1m11m11111111111111m1111Jo, Tfie Co[fee t~~~: ... t!J-.1~~~--.0-n nu a[ TWELFTH YEAR ICHRISTMAS 19581 TWELFTH YEAR i' .................. ,.., .. ,.,, .. ;.. ,;;'11,............. ,,,,1,..... ,.... .;. .. ,.,,,u,..,,,.,.,.,,,,,.,.,., ......,.,,,,,i Duplicated throughout by YORKIXJPLICATING SERVICES, 12A THE SHAMBLF.s,YOOK, ENGLAND Editor: HERBERT LECKENBY 12 Herbert Street, Hull Road, York, England, OR c/o York fuplicating Services, 12a The Shambles, York, England. * * * * * * * * * JoY'eworcf Dear Fellow Collectors, Here it is once again; now we have a round dozen, with well over a million words altogether - all on the same subject, a most impressive achievement, as you will all agree. As I have read the contributions as they have come along, once again I have marvelled at the devotion of those who have compiled them. Just think of the time they must have spent in swotting up the material,· just for example, the feature of Bill Loftl;I and Derek Adley in the Sexton Blake Circle section. Mark the care they have taken to get their statements correct. The same applies to the rest of our loyal band. There are several new names in the "Who's Who". I shall particularly appreciate their comments in due course. Nor must I forget to express my regrets to those contributors whose. articles have had to be unavoidably held over. Now the old, old wish. "A Very Happy Christmas am Prosperous New Year to all at home and overseas." Yours gratefully, '"lllHlltHllllll!lllllltllfltltll<IIHlltflN1•0IWIIIIHff"!Hlflllttfl,Olfll•""'"IIIH1r•lfflllllJOIIHlmm,rmf"""'"'"""'""""'"''""'""""""'"'"'"'""llll/tlfllfffO,fltfl/Oltfllllf1HffflWIOffm1f,011rtr,ri,,r11,,11n,.,m,u,i,tot/tllflOI/I/IIJ,Ufl, Page 2 Pages 3 - 6 - On Hearing The Greyfriars Chimes At Midnight .................................................................._ ..Lesley V, Rowley Pages 7 - 14 - Buffalo Bill and His Rivals ..............................................................Geoff Hockley Pages 15 - 22 - The Fourth Form at Rookwood .........................._ ... _ ................J, Breeze Bentley Page 23 - 30 - A Question of Origins l E v c Some Thoughts on The "Bullseye" J _ ...............-.............. • ' opeman Pages 31 - 46 - Hail and Farewell ........................................_., ... _ ...........,... - ................__ Eric Fayne Page 46 - - Sexton Blake - 1958 ................., .................................................................. Frank Unwin Pages 47 - 49 - Hi Fag!! .............................................................................................................Donald Webster Pages 50 - 55 - The Packsaddle Bunch ................- ........................................................... Ronald Hodgson Pages 56 - 64 - The Career of the Boys I Realm ....- .............- ............... _ .... _ ..Herbert I.eckenby Pages 65 - 70 - 1935-1937: Autumn Years of the Magnet ...........- ........................................_ ..__ ., ..... - •.- ................Roger M, Jenkins Page 71 Illustration Pages 72 - 74 - Just Where is Greyfriars ....................................._ ....................... W. H, Brester Pages 75 - 77 - 100 Questions ..................................................................Four English O,B,B, Clubs Pages 78 - 81 - Men at Work .....~ ...............................................- ... ,........................................ H. W. Twyman Page 82 - "Picture Quizll ..........................- .................................. - ................. _ ......--Bob Whiter Pages 83 - 94 - Kalahari Secret ........................................................................................- .., ......... Jim Cook Pages 95 - 102 - Pentelow 1 s Other Schools ....................................................................W, H, Brester Pages 103 - 112 - Skinner, Snoop and Stott ..................................................................Gerald Allison Pages 113 - 133 - The Man From Baker Street ......- ......................Members Sexton Blake Circle ' Pages 134 - EllD - The Collectors I WhoI s Who........... - ...........Compiled by Herbert I.eckenby .. * * * ***** *'°* * * * **** - ---·-- - ----------~ -·-------------·---- ----·----·-·--- Pa~ 3 dn Jfeorv'in3 the <;jreef riorrs .." Chimes at rtlllian(qht by LESLIE V, ROWLEY -r,-****** LT:IOUGHI have long passed the age when 'hearing the chimes at midnight' ceased to be a novelty, the fascination to be found in reading of the nocturnal happenings at Greyfriars School is as fresh today as it was in r,r-wthe far-off days of innocent youth. ) _ . · ~r others there is the call of the closely-contested sports events on "'=- Little Side; the feud between the Famous Five and the 1knuts' of High­ cliffe; the ragging of Coker; the pilfering activities of W,G, Bunter or the japing in the French set and the many other activities that took place - and still take place - twixt rising bell and dorm, But for me there is the excitement of the darkened shadows, the sigh of the sea and the boom of the late hour struck in reverberating tones from the old clock tower. ~ Gerald Assheton Loder in the story "Harry Wharton Declares War" provides the excitement of the type I have in mind, The bully of the Sixth has returned after a night with his sporting cronies at 'The Cross Keys' - leaving most of his cash and the last remnants of his temper behind him, He finds the lobby door barred, the window of his study fastened and the face of Harry Wharton grinning out at him, One ean well imagine the feelings of Loder, The junior he has so often persecuted has the whiphand, Expulsion stares the prefect in the face, But it transpires that Wharton (in a mood more in character with that of the 'Bounder), will allow Loder admission providing the bully writes a document stating that he will get Quelch to let Wharton off a detention in return for being let in after a midnight spree at the 'Cross Keys 1 • Well, no-one sheds any tears for dear Gerald or pities him for the anxiety he must suffer for the rest of the story, Greyfriars could have done without its Loder, perhaps. Arthur Woodhead Carne could have worn the blackpiard's cloak with ease, Herbert Vernon-Smith - another doughty contender for the pub-haunting stakes, is a different proposition, Greyfriars without its 'Bounder' would have been a much duller I place indeed, Late hours and Smithy were constant companions and there are many instances on record of excursions to 'The Three Fishers' and 'The Cross Keys'. On just as many occasions have I shared an anxious vigil in the silent dormitory with Tom Redwing, sighing with relief at the following dialogue "Is that you, Smithy?" "Shut up, you ass, Do you want the whole school to know that I've been breaking bounds?" hill Now and then a note of irony would prevail when the 'Bounder' - absent on other business - would have the crimes of others laid to his charge, In "Loder Looks for Trouble", Loder is attacked and left unconscious in the doorwey of the headmaster's Page 4 --------· study. Smithy, returning to the dormitory, finds himself destined for 'punny' and an early train home the following day. But of course, the worst never happens - thanks to the _loyalty of Red.wing and the unmasking of the real culprit Randolph Crocker. 1 1 299 et seq Jim (Dick the Penman) Valentine was typical of a number of crook~d youths who underwent almost miraculous refonnation at the school and who brought in their train a number of ex-colleagues who would have them return to less legal but more profitable occupation, In the case of Valentine we have characters like Nosey Clark and Nutty Nixon. In this series there is an excellent example of Mr. Richards' gift for blending drama with comic relief, Messrs. Clark and Nixon are adrift in the House - and so is Horace James Coker. The disturbance brings Prout and Quelch to the Remove dormitory at two in the morning to indulge in typical cross-talk as to which members of which form are responsible. b.fil William George Bunter having purloined a pie from Study 13, and the owner of that pie, Wun Lung, having inferred that the pie contained a cat, snails and slugs, the stage is set for another midnight drama, The 'sinister Dr, Syn' arrives to abduct the Chinese junior and for once the fat Owl comes in useful, Unable to sleep because of cat, nails and slugs (real or imagined), Bunter heaves a pillow at the doctor and rouses the rest of the form, who put the disturbance down to nightmare caused by the pie, This is but one of the many nocturnal disturbances in which Bunter has been involved, Dig for your treasure and you will find them, 1...211 I have it on sound legal authority that Dr. H.H. Locke, Mr, H.S. Quelch and Horace James Coker were guilty of being accessories to crime in giving shelter to the pick-pocket, 'Skip'. Richard Bullivant, as he turns out to be, should have been handed over immediately to Inspector Grimes. Fortunately this exercise of author's license allows us to enjoy the prospect of a willing young rogue having being inveigled into the school by the fathead Coker, roaming the deserted (?~ corridors of the H.ouse at midnight, But the influence of the school is already upon the young rascal and instead of robbing Prout he saves Coker from a brutal attack from the inevitable ex-crony (see under Valentine). These former associates (of ex-crook schoolboys) who sought to coerce by bribe or bludgeon,