HIGH SCHOOL OLD BOYS

Evening Star, Issue 21170, 2 August 1932, Page 13

HIGH SCHOOL OLD BOYS

ANNUAL DINNER The annual dinner of the Otago High School Old Boys’ Society was held in the Somerset Lounge of the bavoy last night, when there was a large attendance of old boys and visitors. Mr J. J. Mallard presided. . Following the dinner,, the Chairman extended a welcome to a number or visitors, and referred with pleasure to the fact that some of the oldest old boys were present, among whom were Dr A. R. Andrew, Mr E. R- Smith, Mr G. C. Proudfoot, and the Rev. G. Taylor. The Rev. R. J. Richards, head master of Christ’s , College, also welcomed as a distinguished guest.

THE TOAST LIST. ■The toast of “ The School ” was entrusted to Dr A. R. Andrew, who said they till looked back on their schooldays, and he thought that such recollections emphasised the unusual. It v ?he outstanding things such as an finish to a cricket match that er ®. re membered, but the humdrum things were generally forgotten. Scholarship, sport, and character were all developed at school, and the very old boys of the schoof had handed down a heritage to the younger boys, but he thought the school was somewhat overshadowed by the University. The townspeople were inclined to overlook the school in favour of the University, and there was not the some feeling between school and townspeople in Dunedin as therc was iii some of the towns which had no university. School was one ot the big things in building up character and esprit de corps. The secondary schools of New Zealand were the greatest asset the dominion had—not in terms ot money, but in real value. Ihe secondary schools were the training ground of the country’s leaders, and the Otago High School was not lacking in that re Th<fßector (Mr W. J. Morrell) replied, thanked Dr Andrew for his remarks, and joined in the welcome to Mr Richards. He referred to the annual contests between the _ school and Christ’s College, and the friendship between the two schools which such matches cemented. He agreed that the three things which built up a school were scholarship (perhaps a better word was achievement), sport, and character. School tradition was built up by the boys year after year, and, though the New Zealand schools were not as old as Harrow and some of the English schools, they were building up a respectable antiquity. The school had built up a tradition in the nearly seventy years of its existence, and the tradition was something of which they might be proud. The school hall itself was something that impressed the boys, and the religious atmosphere that pervaded the building went far in building up the boys’ characters. The influence of such schools played a great part in keeping up the standard of sportsmanship throughout the community. Speaking of leadership, Mr Morrell referred with pride to the fact that it had two old boys representing the dominion at the Ottawa Conference in the persons of the Hon. W. Downie Stewart and Dr Craig, Comptroller of Customs.- In other walks of life old boys a ere distinguishing themselves, among those mentioned being Mr Harold Taylor, who had made a name for himself in the mathematical world. In conclusion, Mr Morrell thanked them for the way the toast had been honoured, and for the sentiments that had been expressed. The toast of “ Masters, Past and Present,” was proposed by Mr J. M. Fraser, and responded to by Mr G. M. Thomson and Mr Stuart S. Tbomson. . In responding to the toast ot Jxindred Societies,” Mr Richards, the new head master of Christ’s College, referred to the extreme criticisms of the post-war boy attributed by the cables to an English head master. The cnticismSj he stated, were not true, either of the British or of the New Zealand boy. Mr W. F. Alexander (president of the Christchurch High School Old Boys’ Association) also replied to the toast. A number of musical items were rendered during the evening, and some of the school songs were sung.