BOYS' HIGH SCHOOL.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 205, 3 October 1914, Page 11

BOYS' HIGH SCHOOL.

OLD BOYS' REUNION. A SUCCESSFUL FUNCTION. Last evening the Christchurch Boys' High School Old Boys' Association held its annual reunion in the Cadena Tea Rooms, the function being a success in every respect. The toast of "The King" w;as proposed by the chairman (Mr W. F. Tait), president of the was greeted with musical honours.

After the toast of '' The School " had been honoured, proposed by Mr E. E. Crawshaw, and seconded by Mr W. W. Walton, Mr C. E. Bevan-Brown,- M.A., headmaster, rose to propose the princi-, pal toast of the evening,'' The Empire.'' In doing so he spoke as follows:—"I am proposing a toast which is very unusual at such a gathering as this, but it is not inappropriate. I know you will agree with me that the toast of ' The Empire' takes precedence even over the toast of 'The School,' for Avhat" would be the worth of the school as an institution if it did not lead those it has trained to take the part of the Empire. Before touching on matters affecting the Empire, I should like to congratulate the Old Boys on ' their winning- the senior shield f-pr the second, time. ' ■

"Wednesday, August 5, the day that war was declared, was a momentous day," continued the speaker. "The news came to hand here only in the afternoon, but I venture to say that before evening many of the Old Boys had volunteered. I would say that those who have done so volunteered not in the spirit of going for a picnic, or merely, for adventure or excitement, but most of them in'a serious, patriotic spirit. So far there is a certified list of 76 Qld Boys who have volunteered. I think we may claim that the school has always been patriotic. My colleagues and myself have always tried to imbue the scholars with a spirit of patriotism, and we have had proof- of its Worth to-day, when they voluntarily gave up the costly prizes that we usually give, and accepted cheap medals in their place, in order to donate the balance to one of the patriotic funds. Nofonly that, but I think that every , boy in the school made a point of entering for all the races, whether he was running or- not, so that the contributions might swell the total to go to the fund. "Some of our 'anti-militarist friends have sometimes twitted ine about pa: triotism as a false ideal, saying that what should be inculcated is love of all mankind. I want to say that if you don't love your own country, you won't love fill mankind. ,

"One great good, I think, which will come out of .this trouble will be a newEmpire. Contingents have left to the assistance of the Mother Country frpm India, Canada, New Zealand, and even from South Africa, so lately conquered by us. This could not have happened if England had not been fighting in a righteous cause. We must believe that the great cause of the war is Germany herself, for up to the last moment England strove for peace almost to the point beyOnd which honour demanded. Before peace cart be restored the Prussian military spirit and power has to be crushed, and our Old Boys have gone to help to accomplish that." The toast was honoured enthusiastically, Mr F. G. J. Wilkinson and Major Meddings responding. Later in the evening Mr G. H. Mason (president of the Canterbury Rugby Football Union, presented the Old Boys' team with the Senior Shield, Mr E. E. Crawshaw (captain) suitably responding. Mr D. McMillan, donor of the McMillan Cup, also presented that trophy to the winner this year, Mr'H. Taylor.

A presentation of a case of pipes was also made to Mr Reg. Hobbs, in appreciation of his services at High School functions in the matter of assisting very materially in providing the musical entertainment.

Before the function closed Mr J. R. Cuningham spoke briefly on matters relating to the school generally, and then moved the following resolution: — That the committee of the Old Boys' Association be instructed to form a deputation to the Board of Governors, and lay before them the urgent necessity of the erection of a hostel for the school.

The motion was seconded by Mr A. T. Donnelly, and was carried unanimously. Various other toasts were honoured during the evening, and a splendid musical programme was provided by Messrs Campbell, Taylor, Phillips, and Hobbs, the gathering breaking up at an early hour.