KEARSNEY COLLEGE ■^7 ' CHRONICLE f- jf 2^P£ " V- JULY 1 Qit3 ~ o JULY, Y4^ ^ ^ afc.:-,? •-. wF V, Kearsney College Chronicle Vol. 1 No. 8 JULY. 1943 EDITORIAL Three years is but a minute portion of a man's span, and nothing in the immensity ot time. But as we look back over the past three years we realise that they have been the most critical of history. In July, 1940, after the miracle of Dunkirk, the freedom-loving peoples of the world watched tensely while the citizens of little England, with jaws set and shoulders squared, waited for the invasion. They were prepared to resist the enemy with shot guns, spades, crowbars—anything—and were going to fight to the last village. It was a grim moment—the grimmest in the history of the British Empire. But the invasion never came. The Battle of Britain is now history. What is almost incredible now is that in a mere three years the Allies, starting from scratch and suffering grievous reverses in the interim, have built up such a powerful war machine that they can, instead, contemplate invading the Continent, every mile of whose coast is heavily fortified. The initiative has changed hands. The Axis Powers are now as anxious as the Allies were three years ago. We can breathe again, for the future seems safe at last. Those of us out of the danger zone will never know the awfulness of the oppression in Europe and the bestialities of the Huns. But for those who have survived this tragedy a new day is dawning. It is unwise to prophesy in war time, but we appear to have advanced beyond the end of the beginning and have reached the beginning of the end. Our enemies realise this. Three years ago, to be optimistic was merely to be futile. To-day we know that the worst is behind us. We in South Africa have had a grandstand view of the change that has come about; we live in one of the very few countries not physically touched by war, safe from bombs, free from personal danger, well clothed and well fed, free to say and do what we like, within reason. In four 255 years we have not even lost a night's sleep. And the ques tion arises: will the war have made any real difference to us? Have we noticed it so little that its end will mean little beyond cheaper food and clothes, and the discarding of khaki uniforms? If so, we have failed the men who are fighting for us, and the horrors of the past four years in Europe have been endured in vain for us. There must arise out of all this a new world, a new South Africa, free from racial and colour prejudice, a country with equal opportu nities for all, and with a more even distribution of the good things of life. And it is our duty, as the citizens of to morrow, to aim at achieving this end. It is the thank- offering we can make at having lived through years of the most terrible war in history without once having tasted of its horrors. SCHOOL NOTES First Term: February 3rd to April 16th, Second Term: April 27th to July 1st. Gillingham House: Housemaster, Mr. G. M. Oram; Assistant, Mr. W. J. Swanepoel; Matron, Sister Attlee; Head Prefect, I. G. McLeod; Assistant Prefects, j. A. Clark- son (School), C. J. Davey, C. D. Nathan, D. Rock (House). Finningley House: Housemaster, Mr. j. F. Reece; Assistant, Mr. E. M. Knubley; Matron, Sister Gamble; Head Prefect, L. W. E. Dyson; Assistant Prefects, I, I. Ives (School), B. j. Woods, j. B. Trentham (House). junior House: Housemaster, Mr. C. O. Medworth; Prefects, M. j. Crookes; E, L. Ayres (House). The decision of Conference to give Durban County * Circuit a second married minister, resident at Kloof, has given us the opportunity of welcoming Rev. B. Sewell, B.A., B.Sc., with his wife and family, to our midst. Mr. Sewell • was unfortunate in being stationed in Burma when the ^ Japanese invaded the country, and lost all his possessions there, besides having to make a long and precarious flight to India. Then, while sailing for England, he and his family were torpedoed, and have decided to remain in South Africa ^ until the war is over. By living at Kloof, Mr. Sewell has become virtually the School Chaplain, not only taking most of the Sunday ser vices, but also holding weekly classes with the boys, besides taking for special instruction those boys Seeking to become full members of the Church. 256 The Recognition Service, followed by the Holy Com munion, was held on Sunday, June 20th, being conducted by Rev. W. H. Irving. Rev. S. le Grove Smith, and Rev. B. Sewell. The following boys were received into full member ship: E. G. Gole, R. H. Dale, R. G. Foss, G. M. Gillies, T. D. and W. M. Jacobs, P. R. Jonsson, N. Johnston, N. Paverd, G. R. Slatter, J. L. Taylor. On Sunday, March 7th, the evening service was con ducted by Rev. G. Rheindorp, Naval Chaplain, who gave a stirring address on the theme " Be ye all of one mind in God." The following Sunday morning. Rev. G. Montgomery, padre of a hospital ship, and brother of General Mont gomery, conducted the service, and spoke effectively on two aspects of " Prayer." He visited us again for the service in the evening of Sunday, April 1 1 th, when the choir ren dered Beethoven's " Praise of God" and Jackson's " Te Deum." Rev. Montgomery, in fact, spent several days at the School, making close contact with the boys, refereeing the rugger, supping with the prefects, and beating our cham pions at ping-pong! Two very interesting albums of photos, taken while he was in action, accompanied him on his rounds. As for himself, he maintained that he was hitherto a nonentity, but was now gaining vicarious fame in the reflection of his brother's glory. On Saturday, March 20th, the Board had their Quar terly Meeting at the Headmaster's house, and then came over to the School to dine with the Staff. As this was the first time that Staff and Board had ever met officially as bodies since coming to our new site, an opportunity was given after lunch for a round-table talk on various aspects of School life. Fruitful discussions followed, at which members of the Staff revealed to the Board that they were at least men and women of vision, even if at present their visions cannot all be translated into bricks and mortar. The principal items thus discussed were: (1) Sunday observance; (2) swimming bath; (3) hobbies rooms; (4) lay-out of grounds. Later in the afternoon, the Board and Staff studied the grounds for the best sites for the chapel and the swim ming bath. The outcome of this meeting has been an immediate start on the swimming bath site. The contractor not yet being ready, the boys have lent a vigorous hand at the excavating, and there has been a steady plying of picks and wheeling of barrows. It has been possible to keep a check on the boy-hours, each worker being credited with having contributed 2/- to the cost of the bath per hour worked. From the inevitable few who have done no digging at all, 257 there is a steady rise to the giddy heights of Cadman and Ayres minor, who have so far put |n over 26 hours' work each. Other improvements to premises have been the glassing-in of the House verandahs, so making miniature hobbies rooms, and the gradual cementing of the paths—a great improvement, both from the point of view of dirt and of safety in walking. Also a large and adequate septic tank has now been completed. Needless to say, these operations are in the hands of Mr. Colley. Planting of trees, under the supervision of the Staff, has gone on apace; cypresses have been planted along the main approach to the School, and tristanias are going in here and there as windbreaks. Already the bareness of four years ago is fast disappearing. At the beginning of the second term, the whole School was put through an intelligence test, an interesting experi ment with, here and there, some surprising results. What is interesting to note is that whereas the median intelligence quotient for the country, on this test, is TOO, the Kearsney median is 116, only four boys in the School coming below 100. The highest mark was over 140. We regret to report the death of Mr. C. Campbell, who joined the Staff about ten years ago, leaving two years later. He passed away after very painful illness. Valete.—^The following boys left at the end of 1942, the year of arrival being placed in brackets: J. D. Allsopp (39), C. M. Albertyn (40), D. Beckett (34), D. L. Blake (36), N. I. Baker (40), O. R. Baumann (40), D. P. Bening- field (41), J. L. Couper (41 ), D. Crankshaw (42), P. R. Davidson (41 ), M. J. C. Graham (39), L. N. W. Hume (39), A. D. Harcourt (41 ), J. E. Harding (42), H. C. F. Ivory (39), L. P. Jackson (36), D. N. Johnson (40), W. H. John (41 ), O. E. Knaggs (41), T. J. Lees (40), L. D. Mathews (40), D. H. Percival (Michaelmas) (38), T. S. Peddie (40), R. le Grove Smith (36), B. L. and C. S. Vowles (39), T. Wyatt- Minter. Salvete.—We welcome the following new boys: J.