BONDS OF FRIENDSHIP.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19759, 9 April 1926, Page 13

BONDS OF FRIENDSHIP.

HIGH SCHOOL OLD BOYS. HAPPY REUNION FUNCTION. The bond of friendship that exists among old boys of the Otago Boys High School was strongly in evidence at the Exhibition reunion of ex-pupils or the 'institution held in the Savoy last night. There was a large attendance, Mr J. U. H. Somerville (president of the Old Bovs’ Cociety) occupying the chair. the toast of “The School was proposed by the Hon. C. E. Statham, who said that he was not merely conjuring up visions of the school building (one of the city’s finest pieces of architecture), nor was he thinking only of the present pupils; he thought of the old boys and the masters, and of all little High School boys yet to come. The pioneers of the province brought with them the customs and traditions of the Old Land and built schools and colleges. At present the school did not have many tradiditions. but traditions which would be carried on for centuries were now being created. There was a kind of treemasonry among the old boys, who were scattered throughout the world worthily upholding the school’s good name. Ihe greatness of the school could not be counted by the distinctions that had been won by old boys. It was the average boy who carried on its good name and gave it its standing. It had been said that the granting of free places would adversely affect the standing of the school. He did not agree with that sentiment in the slightest degree. . The Rector (Mr W. J. Morrell), in reply, said that no word of praise winch the Hoii. Mr Statham could say of the traditions of the school, of the old boys, and of the masters could be ■ too strong. The career of the school (63 years) was short in comparison with those of the gieat schools of England, but, alter all, -as the Governor-General had said, in the schools of New Zealand years counted as decades and decades as centuries. The present pupils owed a great deal to the masters and boys whose paths they v*ci c following. In all walks of life the old boys had done well. It was by the general performance of the old boys that a school was judged, and High School boys could claim with all due modesty that the school had a record of which they could be proud. Nearly 4000 boys had passed through the school since his arrival in 107. It was a tremendous responsibility, and he felt that he was becoming an institution. It was the pleasant and jolly parts of school life that stuck in the memory. ■ . Other toasts were “ The King, ‘ ' siting Old Boys and Boys from Other Schools,” proposed by Dr Marshall Macdonald, and replied to by Messrs J. Murray and A. B. Porteous (Wellington), E. Smith (Invercargill), and E. E. Clowes (Waitaki High School); and “ School Athletics,” proposed by Mr Crosby Morris and responded to by Mr R. W. S. Botting. During the evening Mr I*. H. Campbell and Mr W. R. Brough related stories of their meetings with old boys, during their visit to Great Britain, America. Europe, and Australia. Songs were contributed by Messrs W. J. Strong, G. Stuart Thomson, and A. W. Alloo, and Mr James Thompson pave a clarinet solo. Professor Adams acted as pianist.