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Class Was Small By Modern Standards Unseemly 'twould be to cross words with Dr. Conant, but his proposal to consolidate high schools until everybody's class has at least 100 is most sweeping in terms of my scholastic statistics. It all depends, no doubt, on what anybody thinks is good. My high-school class was a whopper, so large that we couldn't hold graduation exercises in the Baptist Church because the platform was too small, so we moved to the Congregational Church, where the platform was bigger --and even then we sat almost lap on lap. We were 26 in all, but the class just before us had only eight, and the class after us 13. We didn't wear caps and gowns, because in those unpretentious times we associated baccalaureate garb with the baccalaureate, for some curious reason, and hadn't developed many notions. We wore handsome blue suits (mine cost $13.98, with extra pants and a pair of suspenders) and pretty white dresses which rustled. I had one of the "parts," and did rather well. , So, I am against any pretense of erudition that is based on quantity alone. An even hundred pupils might march down an aisle with more average knowledge than we had, but I'd want to see it proved. The heights to which we had ascended were studendous, and there never was a better-educated crowd than our unacceptable 26. There was not a thing we didn't know, and we all admitted it. But stupendousness of intellect is not all I'm thinking about. There were other, less brainy, aspects of high school we shared joyously, aria all the more because we were fewer. For one thing, if anybody had a party, we all went. You could never shine up your sixteenth birthday and have all 100 classmates in for winkum and spin the-bottle, but you could have 26. The sports teams, alone, confound the theory of hundreds. Our squads were limited, and we never did play football because only seven boys ever thought they'd like to try. Baseball was better, and I went through three seasons in left field with a substitute on the bench. It made me play better, for if I goofed he might get to play. Our pitcher and catcher never worried about that, because if anything happened to them the game was called off. We had only two^ ' anyway, both outfielders. I believe it isj have sports I remember team, composed of six, whole season and never lost a game, and never used a substitute. They didn't have a substitute. One of the girls got her picture in the papers because she scored more points in a season than anybody else anywhere. She had found out how to carom a backhand off the steampipes. Our gymnasium had been laid out before basketball was invented, and plumbers had never recessed the fixtures. The pipes bothered visiting teams but not us. It seems too bad to get your squad up into two figures so a thing like basketball calls for expensive gyms, and you lose such values as steampipe prowess. I wouldn't go across the street to see the Celtics beat the Hawks, but I'd go a thousand miles if I could once again see Rosabelle bouncing baskets off a steampipe. She was good. And I know if we'd had a hundred girls out for basketball, we'd have had the pipes changed over, and there would be no such happy mem-It makes me think again of my Latin class. We were three, Ellen, Berta, and myself. There was a rapport there which would be iost in numbers. When we got our Vergil books, Ellen took hers home, read it that night, and at school the next morning told us how the story came out. This was a great help, for it eliminated the need for daily assignments, We had an instructor who was willing to keep up with us, and we sailed through Vergil much faster than Aeneas ever did. Afterward, to fill out the year, we read some Horace and a little Plautus, and got in a couple of books of Livy, after which we coasted. If we'd had a class of 100, we'd probably have stopped just short of Vercingetorix somewhere, as they do now, and we'd have worn caps and gowns with a difference. I've always thought 26 made a fine English class, too. We had the same English teacher all four years, and those of us who took French had her again. I have an idea she was the best individual teacher we had, all along the line, and she took us through so many pleasant experiences that I realize now how poverty-stricken my own children are in those respects. They have had their "English" from excerpts and digests and comprehensive readers, and-their exams have questions like "Name four books by Mark Twain." They haven't read anything by Mark Twain, you understand -- at least as school work, unless you count a few paragraphs in the accredited anthology. Somehow things are easier by the hundreds. But here's the best thing about my 26: After 30 years 24 of us are still gathering every five years to shake hands and share a clam chowder. We never got into the habit of bringing children and grandchildren, so our little group remains just us. This would be otherwise if we had been 100. Dr. Conant, I think, has seen too many schools and has lost perspective. I'd like to invite him to our next reunion, to see a smallish class eating chowder, and watch his face as his mind changes.--By John Gould in The Christian Science Moni- iway Position In the early morning of April 20, hardened merchant-marine skippers will be jockeying their ships around Montreal Harbor with the nervous eagerness of yachtsmen maneuvering for the start of an America's Cup race A dozen or more wallowing freighters may be on hand that day next month, ready to plow into the main channel of the St. Lawrence River and race for the St. Lambert locks upstream. The "trophy" at stake: The honor of being the first deep-draft, oceangoing ship to sail into the St. Lawrence Seaway, which is opening for business after five years of construction. ARTIFICIAL RESPIRATION FOR CHILDREN RECOMMENDED BY CIVIL DEFENSE Clear mouth of any foreign matter with' finger ond press tongue for- With child in facedown, head-down position, pat back to dislodge any .object- in air passage . . Placing child on back, use middle fingers of doth hands to lift lower jaw beneath and behind to that it "juts out." Hold Jaw in this position to keep open airway... Place your mouth over child's mouth and nose, breathing into its lungs with steady action until you see chest rise. Now sold free hand with moderate pressure on child's abdomen between navel and ribs to prevent air from filling --When lungi art inflated traovt your lips and allow lungs to empty. Repeat at rate of stoat 20 eyelet per minute. If you fell Ttiutenct to your toothing and child's sheet does not hm, repeat itep % and mam meuth-te-mouHi breathing. YOU SHOULD KNOW-Method for administering artificial respiration to a child is part on* "Handbook for Emergencies," distributed by Boy Scouts, drawn op by civil defense •xperti. Knowledge of this technique may result in tho) saving of many youngsters who otherwise would hava died from stoppage* «f fcueath ev drowning. ANYBODY GOT A DIME? - Members of the crack St. Mary's phone booth stuffing team spill out of a booth to set an unofficial world's record of 20 persons in a booth at one time. Stuffing teams in other countries are disputing claims; one reason: nobody can move to answer the phone. *TABLE TALKS GJatveArAciiJews: It is not so very long ago that cheesecake was considered a dessert for experts to make and beginning cooks did not often attempt to make one. Now that is changed -- and here is a recipe that you'll like and be proud to make and serve. Remember, .though dainty to look at, cheesecake is rich to eat; so serve small ' pieces for dessert. The wheat 'germ used in the crust adds a nutlike flavor. Bake it either in a spring-form pan or in an 8-inch square pan and decorate with peaches, strawberries, cherries, or any favorite fruit. Peaches 'n' Cream Cheese Cake Crust: Combine 1 cup wheat germ, Yi cup melted butter, and Yi cup sugar. Pat mixture down firmly on bottom and sides of a well-greased spring-form pan or square baking dish. CHEESE CAKE MIXTURE 3 cups cream style cottage cheese 4 eggs 1 cup sugar Y> teaspoon salt Yi cup sifted flour 2 tablespoons lemon juice VA teaspoons grated lemon rind Topping: 1 cup sour cream Peach slices Press cottage cheese through a fine sieve or food mill. In a bow] combine sugar and eggs; beat until light. Add salt, flour, lemon juice, rind and cottage cheese. Mix well. Pour mixture into crumb-lined pan and bake at 325° F. for 1 hour. Turn off heat. Leave in oven 1 hour longer with oven door closed. Remove from oven and spread top with sour cream; decorate with peach slices. Chill well before, serving Store in refrigerator. You don't have to cook the following pineapple dessert -- just make it right in your refrigerator tray the day before you: party and let it remain cold until you serve it. It serves 6. PINEAPPLE ICE CREAM PIE 1 cup graham cracker crumbs (about 15 crackers) Yi cup brown sugar 3 tablespoons melted butter 1 quart vanilla ice cream lVt cups crushed pineapple Maraschino cherries Pecans, walnut halves, or toasted almonds Set refrigerator at coldest point. Drain pineapple. Mix graham cracker crumbs, brown sugar, and melted butter together. Turn into 1-quart refrigerator tray" and pack to form crust. Chill for 30 minutes, then carefully fill with softened vanilla ice cream. Cover with drained crushed pineapple. Top with cherries and nuts. Almost everyone likes a lemon dessert, and here is one you bake in a graham cracker crust. LEMON DELIGHT Ya cup fresh lemon juice 1 tablespoon grated lemon rind H teaspoon cream of tartar 4 tablespoons sugar Crust: W% eups crushed graham cracker crumbs y3 cup sugar Yi cup soft butter Combine crust ingredients and reserve half of mixture for topping. Press remaining mixture firmly on bottom and sides of an 8-inch-square cake pan. Chill half an hour or more until ready to fill. Beat egg yolks lightly; add milk, lemon juice and peel. Beat egg whites and cream of tartar until stig but not dry, gradually adding sugar. Fold whites mixture into yolks mixture. Pour into pan that is lined with graham cracker crust. Sprinkle remaining cracker mixture on top. Bake at 350° F. for 25 minutes. Nearly all eggs purchased at a reputable retail store will be fresh; but, if you have any doubts, try this test. Drop each egg (in the shell) carefully into a deep saucepan full of cold water. If the egg is fresh, it will sink at once to the bottom and lie on its side. If, however, the egg sways about on one end, nearly upright but still in the water, it is not fresh, but is still usable. A spoiled, unusable egg bobs promptly to the surface and floats. Except when making a test like the above, eggs should not be washed until ready for use, for water removes their natural coating, and, without this coating, the egg is more likely to absorb foreign tastes anl odors, and will also deteriorate sooner. "When I was a boy," reminisced the lawyer, "my highest ambition was to b'e a pirate." "That so?" said his client "Congratulations." SUGAR - LUMP RADIO - Revolutionary radio set the size of a lump of sugar, above, will sharply reduce the size and weight of components for missiles, and consumer goods as well. The receiver is made of circuit-building blocks measuring a third of an inch on each side. ISSUE 15 - 1959 House Full Of Smuggled Brandy A father and son in the wild Scottish Highlands around Gair-loch had kept an illicit whisky still hidden undetected in a cave for many years, but it had become worn out and useless. They couldn't afford a new one, so it looked as if they'd have to go without their daily dram. One day the son came to his father in great excitement. "Exciseman is offering a reward of £25 to anyone who will give information leading to the discovery and seizure of a still in this "Oh, the man will never find ours!" said the father. "You would never give away anyone's still to Exciseman, I hope." "I was thinking of that," the son replied. "I'm sure it is the best thing to do. If the still is done, he may as well take it. Twenty-five younds is a lot of money, and will do us more good than it will do him." So, to keep their own cave secret, they moved the old stiil to a cranny in another hillside, then went to the Exciseman and told him they'd stumbled on a still while going after straying sheep. With the £25 reward they went into Inverness and bought parts to make a new still for £20, celebrating on the five left over! This happened only a year oi two back, Dawn MacLeod discloses in "Oasis Of The North" a charming account of her life at Inverewe, Western Ross, and her travels in the district as a handicrafts teacher. In the real smuggling days, when everyone on the coast drank contraband whisky, brandy, sherry, and port, James Mac-Donald ran many a cargo of liquor into Gairloch and other places in his fast schooner, The Rover's Bride, while maintaining his position as a Highland gentleman of the Clanranaid family. Once she was chased into Gairloch, but by the time the Revenue men were able to land, the smugglers, aided by many willing hands, had unloaded her and hidden every cask or' brandy and claret. It so happened that Sir Hector Mackenzie, of Eileanach, who had been away, returned unexpectedly to Gairloch at this time. When he tried to enter his house he found that the only way in was by ladder through an upper window, for the schooner's entire cargo had been stowed inside! The Revenue men, naturally, hadn't dreamed of searching the laird's home for the missing casks! Miss MacLeod's Aunt Mairi, with whom she stayed at Inverewe, told her that rationing officials in that part of Scotland had. a difficult job during tha war. One Inspector came all tha way from Inverness to lecture a village shopkeeper for sending in 5,000 points coupons fewer than were due for the goods ' Well," said the culprit innocently, "I do not know what I can have done with the coupons at all, at all." Actually, he hadn't bothered to collect them, and as his was the only shop for miles, and people must be fed, the authorities couldn't dock his supplies, so he got away with his casual methods for the rest of the war. Everyone also had plenty of unrationed meat. "It would be interesting to know," Aunt Mairi said, "just how many sheep died --as was said--from 'broken legs' during those year. We do not hear any more of this alarmingly high mortality rate now that rationing has ended!" Asked was there plenty of venison and salmon poaching, too, she replied: "Here we only call it poaching when those horrible gangs come out in motors from the towns and take game or fish in large quantities at night for the trade, and luckily we are too far from centres of population to be much troubled with gangsters." Miss MacLeod tells other quaint stories of life in this remote corner of Ross, and of the sterling Highland folk she came to know so well, in this well-written book. U.S. Illiterates In Hawaii, a sugar-company .executive sadly surveyed the wreckage of a costly new cultivator, ruined because its operator had poured oil into an opening labeled "water." In Detroit, a new auto worker was given a sheet of safety rules. Puzzled, he threw it away. A few minutes later his hand was mangled in a machine. Management traced both accidents to the same cause Illiteracy. The scope of the problem was etched sharply last month by Ambrose Caliver, chief of the Adult Education Section of the United States Office of Education, during a conference in Har-riman, N.Y. The highlights of Caliver's report: Nine per cent of the over-25 adults in the U.S. - nearly 10 million of them (about evenly divided among native whites, Negroes, and foreign - born whites) -- are "functionally illiterate" in English. Of these, 2.5 million have never attended school at all. The technologically unempii able will probably exceed 15 million by 1970. The problem is wors South. Junior Allure LITTLE PRINCESS dress, sleeveless - in a gay tulip print and matching solid color bolero, both in quick drying fabric of Dacron and cotton blend -- hardiy needs the touch of an iron to look fresh as a real tulip after laundering. The style this little six-year-old wears was made by using Anne Adams Printed Pattern 4520. It comes in Sizes 2 to 10. To order, send 40 cents (stamps cannot be accepted; use postal note for safety) for this Pattern 4520. Pleasje print plainly YOUR NAME, ADDRESS, SIZE and STYLE NUMBER. Send your order to Anne Adams, Box 1, 123 Eighteenth St,' New Toronto, Ont.