UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA, AUGUST, 1949
VOLUME VII NUMBER 3
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The New Trail
A quarterly publication of the University of Alberta and its Alumni Association
Editor: J. W. E, Markle
147
Associate Edstor: Edith Park. Business Manager: J. M. Whidden
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G. F. McNally Robert Newton
Hon. Mr. Justice Parlee W. H. Swift Volume VII. August 1949 Number III.
CONTENTS
Some Thoughts on the Lysenko Controversy = William Rowan p. 155 Reape for Pork Robert H. Blackburn p. 164 The Medical Faculty—University of Alberta Daniel G. Revell p. 170 Summer School in Europe F, William Lehmann p. 178 On Tour With the Mixed Chorus Mae Empey p. 183 Let’s Talk About Alumni J. W. E. Markle p. 188 Convocation Section p. 192 Books of Our Own p. 194 Trail Blazers p. 196 Whiskeyjack (Section devoted to Friends) p. 198 Chipmunk (News of the University) p. 201 Alumni Notes p- 207 News of the Branches p. 212 Homecoming 1949 p. 214
Annual subscription to The New Trail is $1.00. If the subscriber is an alumnus of the University of Alberta, subscription is included in the annual membership dues of the Alumnm: Association. (See page 148.)
The Contents of this issue are copyright. Printed by the University Printing Department.
148
General Alumni Association
President—Barclay Ww. Pitfield ’34. Past President—Dr. W H Swift ’24, ’27, °30. Vice-President —Dr. A. C. McGugan ’29. Honorary Secretary—G B. Taylor ’23, ’25. Councillors—Sonia Anhill 47, Edmonton; Major W. R. N. Blair 42, Orava; Raymond Dixon *40, 4A; Isador Goresky ’29, 45, Thorhild; Boyne Johnston °47, Lethbridge; Dr. P. J. Kendal ’36, Dental; T. C. McBeath ’28, Winn. peg; D. P. McDonald °26, "28, Calgary; Dr. R. A. McEwen "39, Edmonton; Dr. A. H. McLennan 32, Medical; Ken Madsen ’39, Toronto; Mary Moore ’43, Red Deer; A. Blair Paterson ’21, Victoria, E. H. Read °29, 733, Drumheller; Eleanor Whitbread °47, Camrose; Ewart Stutchbury ’22, 24, West. lock. | Permanent Secretary—J. W.E Markle ’37.
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Address
. 149
Editorial Laxity in High Places
In an editorial, first published in Izvestia, September 8, 1948, and re-printed in its entirety in the American Science, January 28, 1949, Mr. Kaftanov, Minister of Higher Education in the USSR, calls attention to the treatment the progressive, materialistic theories of Ivan Vladimirovich, “great reformer of nature”, have received in the Soviet republics.
In spite of the fact that the founders of the Mendel-Morgan-Weismann theory of genetics have been recognized for years as foreign-born reactionaries and idealists; in spite of the fact that Michurin’s theory of biological science has “developed into a mighty current which has taken hold of the masses” and has inspired “millions of collective farmers with faith in the creative powers of their efforts” and has given them “a firm assurance in the realization of new successes in the field of abundance of farming products”; in spite of the “care of the Bolshevist party and of the Soviet Government” as well as “the care of their great leaders, Lenin and Stalin”; in spite of all these considerations the USSR Lenin Academy of Agricultural Science, at its last session prior to September 1948, found it neces- sary to deplore the laxity of certain ministers of Soviet governmental departments, heads of Soviet Institutions and sundry scientists within the Soviet orbit who have not only ignored the Michurinists but have even gone so far as to speak against them.
Here in part is what Mr. Kaftanov has to say of the situation:
Academician Schmalhausen demes the inheritance of acquired charac- ters. He finds that evolution depends upon mutations which originate directly in the germ cells of the organism and have a quite accidental and indeterminate character, not regulated by the conditions of its life. This idealistic, reactionary theory is fundamentally antagonistic to Darwin’s teaching. Nevertheless, Schmalhausen always hid under the banner of Darwinism.
Weismann’s reactionary theory has found many adherents and sup- porters in numerous biological research institutions, as well as in the Unwversities of Leningrad and Moscow and, especially, in the Timiriaseff Academy of Agriculture.
Our homemade Weismanmsts . . . have fought for years the pro- gressive and revolutionary teaching of Michurin’s biology.
The laxity of certain ministers and institutions, of the Minister of Higher Education in particular, has encouraged these people and has given them an opportunity of occupying many responsible positions in universi- ties, institutes, etc. Using these opportunities they strongly opposed the Michurinists, hampered their work, sometimes treated them with contempt, and thus did the greatest harm to Soviet science and national agriculture.
It is in the Moscow and Leningrad Universities that the bearers of this reactionary-idealistic Weismann’s science had built their mightiest strongholds.
150 ° THE NEW TRAIL
Thanks to the laxity of the president of Moscow University, as well as of that of the Central Administration of the Universities of the Ministry of Higher Education, efforts have been made in the Biological Faculty to organize the anti-Michurinists by means of conferences of anti-Darwinis- tic character with specially selected participants; the Michurn theory was there and then treated with the highest contempt.
Several chairs of the Biological Faculty of the Leningrad University were also occupied by representatives of formal genetics . . . The former vice-president of the Biological Faculty, Docent Lobasheff, actively opposed the appointment of Michurinist biologists.
Many biological chairs at other universities were also occupied by anti- Michurinists . . . This proves that the Ministry of Higher Education as well as its Central Administration of Universities, was inefficient in its supervision of biological studies in the universities.
The same is the case in agricultural colleges and even in the most important one, the Timirtaseff Academy of Agriculture . . . Even the director of the Academy, Professor Nemchinoff, shared the convictions of Weismannists and opposed the appointments of Michurinists.
Mr. Kaftanov further points out that the same conditions have been found in medical colleges and in teachers’ colleges: here as in other cases the adherents of the Mendel-Morgan-Weismann theory have been allowed to keep out the Michurin- ists and then he concludes this portion of his narrative:
The Ministries of Higher Education, of Agriculture, of Public Health, and of Public Education have not become aware soon enough of the reactionary character of the anti-Michurinist trend in biology, did not put a stop to the spreading of such reactionary ideas, and did not create a free field for the new generation of Michurin’s followers. And there ts no doubt that these followers are very numerous.
This has been proved by the session of the Academy of Agriculture when many of the members of the Colleges spoke fervently in favor of Michurin’s theory.
We must admit that the principal responsibility for the defects of the teaching of biology lies on the Ministry of Higher Education.
We are first of all responsible for not having used enough propaganda for the’ development of Michurin’s doctrine of biology, for having been blind to the dangerous activities of anti-Michurinists in our higher institu- tions of learning, and for having admitted them to leading roles in many of them. This is the principal cause of the great defects in our teaching af biology, which were in evidence up to the last session of the Lenin Academy of Agriculture.
Mr. Kaftanov in all this makes it quite clear that he does not intend to condone what, from his political angle, he considers a gross misuse of freedom on the part of the Anti-Michurinists. Though Mr. Kaftanov in this editorial makes no effort to evaluate the merits of the opposing theories he does make it very clear that Michurin’s theories have been weighed in the balance by the Politburo, have received the rubber stamp of approval and that that must be the end of the argument. Scientists within the Soviet pale have been allowed for too long a time to peer and probe about at will into every sort of natural and unnatural phenomenon. Mr.
THE NEW TRAIL 151
Kaftanov evidently believes that science should be a political football to be kicked about only by expert propagandists.
Indeed he promises in his capacity as Minister of Higher Education, to put an abrupt end to all mollycoddle tactics in the handling of scientists:
The first task of the Ministry of Higher Education must now consist in the elimination of defects in the field of biology teaching and tn the clearing of the field for Michurin’s doctrine. Curricula and programs, textbooks, and methods of teaching and of research must be re-examined and reorganized as must the entire system of education and training of cadres of scientists and the activities of publishers and of journals. All biological chairs and faculties must be held and supported by qualified Michurinists, capable of developing the progressive Michurin’s doctrine.
The success of this reform in the teaching of biology in our colleges will depend most of all upon the right choice of teaching personnel.
Action along these lines has already been started. The anti-Michurinist Nemchinov . . . has been replaced by Comrade Stoletov, and Academician Lysenko has taken charge of the chair of genetics and selection; Acade- mician Present has replaced the anti-Michurimst Yudintseff as dean of the biological faculty of the State University of Moscow, etc. Our present aim is to fill the ranks of the teaching personnel by biologists—Michurinists.
Programs of basic courses must be urgently re-examined and modtfied . .. The reform of those programs should not be delayed even for a single day.
The textbooks of basic courses in biology are quite unsatisfactory. What has been published up to the present in biology in colleges does not guarantee an education based on the progressive Michurin doctrine.
Publishers specializing in biological literature . . . have not been aware of their responsibility when publishing theoretical or popular scientific books and other works on biology for colleges . . . We must have text-
books based on the progressive Michurin theory.
Schools for higher education will not be able to carry through this reform of teaching in biological sciences 1f they do not at the same time reconstruct their scientific research work.
In other words thete is to be an energetic mopping-up. Scientists are to be brought to heel, journals and periodicals are to be put in their places, teaching personnel is to be screened, stubborn Mendel-Morgan biologists are to be brushed out of the way, propaganda is to be re-vamped without the delay of a single day, writers of textbooks are to be compelled to realize that science is a matter of socialist construction, and in general, steps are to be taken immediately to protect this “flourishing, progressive” science of Michurin’s—this science “that has the courage to tear down old traditions, rules, forms, when they prove to be outlived, when they become breaks stopping the onward movement, a science that creates new traditions, new forms, new rules” (Stalin) against the infiltration and opposition of foreign reactionary influences.
Mr. Kaftanov’s hounds are in full cry and the old scientific attitude of objective
inquiry is doomed—at least in the USSR. Reputable scientists the world over are justifiably aghast. The controversy over the actual theories pales into insignificance
152 THE NEW TRAIL
before this newest demonstration that man in his lust for power is still all too ready to invoke the old repressive techniques of the past.
Mr. Kaftanov makes it quite definite that the political bosses of the Soviet world are determined to prostitute science to their own purposes and to the glory of Stalin. Mr. Lysenko, apostle and champion of Mr. Michurin and his doctrines, concludes his recently published book, The Science of Biology Today, thus (author’s
italics) :
Progressive biological science owes it to’ the geniuses of mankind, Lenin and Stalin, that the teaching of I. V. Michurin has been added to the treasure-house of our knowledge, has become part of the gold fund
of our science.
Long live the Michurinian teaching, the teaching on how to transform living nature for the benefit of the Soviet people!
Long live the party of Lenin and Stalin, which discovered Michurin for the world and created all the conditions for the progress of advanced
materialist biology in our country.
Glory to the great friend and protaganist of science, our leader and
teacher, Comrade Stalin!
Missing Alumni Records |
Perhaps some of these graduates were your classmates. We have no record of their present addresses If you know where they are and what they are doing, please drop a fine to the Alumni Secretary of the University of Alberta.
1914—
Reeve, George W., BA. 1915—
Murphy, Thomas, BA. 1916—
Riley, Frederick R, BA 1917—
Munro, James D, LL.B. 1920—
Lake, Ethel M, MA. 1921—
Hall, Mildred, BA. McArthur, Hector, BSA
1922 Loffertry, Mrs. Allan (nee Alice Swanson, B.Sc. (Phm ) Rein, Rose, LL B. Stick, Edward M, B.Sc. (A) Varnum, Alvin, BA.
1924—— Sterritt, William R., BSe (E) Symes, Wilfrid, BSc (E) 1925— Richert, Charles H, BSA. 1927— Harris, Joseph E, BA McAra, John B, BCom Newhouse, Eva, BA Nielsen, J B D, BCom. Smith, Lister E, DDS
1928— ‘ Johnston, Mrs G G (nee Kathleen Reed, BA) Morrison, Donald M, LL B. 1929—
Hango, John, BSc (E) Johnson, Hazel, BA Lampert, Mrs Laura, BA Morrissey, Joseph P, BA 1931— Murphy, Donald J, MD. McArthur, Peter D, BSc. (M.) McClintock, William N., BSc. (M) MacDonald, lan, B Com. Sketchley, Arthur D, B.A Smith, Howard W, BA.
THE NEW TRAIL 153
1932— Jackson, Mary, B.A. Lambert, Arthur, Dip. Phm.
1933— : Hargrave, Margaret, B.Sc. (N.) Jensen, Della, B.Sc. (H.Ec.) Jobe, Wilbert, B.Sc. (A.)
1934—
Mulligan, Hamilton V., B.A. North, Valma, Dip. Nursing. Ramelson, Baruch, LL.B.
1935— Griffiths, B.A.) 1936— Harper, Leonard W., B.Sc. (A.) Norton, George |., M.D. Sutherland, Evelina, B.Sc. (A.)
Mrs. Eric (nee Ruth Morgan,
1937— Alfke, Mrs. C. (nee Jessie McCoy, B.Sc. (H.Ec.) St. Germain, Gerard, LL.B. 1938— Burns, Mrs. R. M. (nee Barbara van Kleeck) B.A.
Diner, Allen, D.D.S.
Harrington, James, B.Sc. (A.) Jackson, William I., D.D.S. Johnson, Arthur F., B.Sc. (A.) Naiditch, Leon W., D.D:S.
1940— Jamieson, Robert C., ‘B.Sc. (A.) Johnston, Armina, B.A.
1941— Larmour, David K., B.Sc. (A.) McConkey, Mary, B.A.
1942— Hanson, Morris, B.S.A. Lane, Ross P. L., Dip. Phm. Narbeske, Edward, Dip. Phm.
1943—
Hackie, Theodore, D.D.S.
W. Errol Nicholson, B.A.
Stinton, Arthur W., B.Sc. (A.) 1944—
Stein, Samuel, D.D.S.
Sutherland, Marion, B.A. 1945—
McCullough, Hugh, 1946—
Affleck, Gordon H., B.Com.
B.A.
Have you sent your new address to the Alumni office?
THE NEW TRAIL
154
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Some Comments on the Lysenko
Controversy : By Wm. Rowan
The name of Lysenko is today raising a furore in scientific circles of the western world and creating a literature that is swelling daily. Much of it is yet specula- tive, some of it contradictory and too much of it plainly vindictive. Some points, however, seem to be clear, among them that science, freely cited as a world-unifying system of thought, a field of common interest and goodwill shared by all nations, now finds itself, in its branch of genetics, not merely simulating politics by being split into two opposed schools, the Russian and the Western, but subjected within Russia to direct political dictation. The situation is looked upon with great alarm by certain scientific commentators, and perhaps with some justification, but it might, in final analysis, do world science more good than harm.
Lysenko’s genetics, as revealed in his book (see below) appear on the surface to be a mixture of anti-western vituperation, political “ideology” and a denial of certain firmly established views on heredity which he condemns as “bourgeois”, “reactionary”, “capitalistic”, “pseudo-scientific” and even “anti-scientific”. While his language 1s frequently regrettable, his science may not be so bad as presently portrayed by his critics. Yet even if some or all of his claims should be sub- stantiated, his refutation of certain generally accepted theories of genetics will still leave him a target for the orthodox school.
The most disturbing aspect of the picture is that Lysenko has seemingly estab- lished his high status inside Russia through political channels. (He is now a Vice- President of the Supreme Soviet, President of the Academy of Agricultural Sciences of Russia, has been awarded the Order of Lenin, the Stalin prize twice over and in 1945 the title of “Hero of Socialist Labor”). When political leaders not only appoint and evict the personnel of the scientific Academies but dictate what may and may not be taught and believed inside their walls, genetics of the Soviet Union, with its loss of independence, can no longer be considered a science in any justifiable sense, for it is inevitably under suspicion of having become a political tool. I cali this aspect of the Lysenko case the most disturbing because it raises a question of extreme importance that no one seems yet to have squarely faced— the modern relationship of science to politics and government. In the Soviet Union, at least in the field of genetics, the negation of scientific thinking and method appears to have been attained. Could this situation provide the necessary, stimulus to induce leading learned societies of the rest of the world to consider and define their own stand and responsibilities in the matter of informed and enlightened
Some Thoughts on the Lysenko Controversy by our own Professor William Rowan speaks for itself and the editor would like to acknowledge briefly but sincerely his indebtedness to Dr. Rewan for his continued interest in The New Trail.
156 THE NEW TRAIL
government, Lysenko might prove a blessing in disguise. If, in place of the “cold ’ war” of politics, the sympathetic hand of scientific friendship were extended to the Soviet, who knows but what the assurance of world peace, which hangs ever more precariously in the balance, might not be an accompaniment of a scientific prestige rebuilt in Russia through the goodwill and cooperation of Western scientists.
Censorship of scientific thinking, despite our political propagandists, is neither unique to Russia nor anything new. For centuries it was the prerogative of the church in general: even on our own sophisticated and ostensibly liberty-blessed continent, it was still able to rear its head as lately as 1925 in the Scopes (“monkey”) trials of Tennessee. True, nobody was burned at the stake but scientists were dismissed and text-books rewritten, purged of the heresy of evolution, to con- form with religious dogma in several states of the Union. In Stalin’s Russia today political dogma plays the equivalent role but the situation is only a variant of earlier events in Hitler’s Germany, while at this moment there are ominous rum- blings in Truman’s America. Many Americans would probably agree with their fellow-scientist, Robert C. Cook (Scientific Monthly, June, 1949) when he remarks: “A reading of the transcript of this meeting (Moscow, July 31-Aug. 7, 1948) makes it clear that a Thomas Committee on Un-American Activities and a Lysenko scientific gathering have many things in common.” One thing they do not share, fortunately, is political control of scientific thinking, although it is sufficiently dis- quieting to realize that scientists may now be evicted from their posts, as in the Argentine and a few other countries, for holding the wrong political views. The ‘threat to scientific liberty that this situation harbours—so unpleasantly suggestive of the thin end of a most pernicious wedge—has received extensive consideration in the last issue of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (June-July, 1949), Science, (July 29, pp. 123-4), and elsewhere, and the discussions are not reassuring.
The political angle of the Lysenko case has received the lion’s share of publicity. Scientists have looked at it more or less soberly but with alatm: our professional propagandists find in it just another occasion for displaying a seemingly inherent Russo-phobia. This type of irresponsibility, added to the extraordinary sequence of events inside Russia herself, sheds a curious light on the intellectual level of the 20th century of which the second major angle of the controversy—a dispute of long standing among the geneticists of the world themselves—is not free either. Before considering this aspect of the case, however, a few facts about Lysenko’s personal history seem relevant. It should be noted that many facts of the Lysenko circumstances, like other events in Russia, are still unknown. The following remarks are based on the available literature but, apart from Lysenko’s small book, recently translated into English, it is the output of outside commentators, expressions of personal viewpoints and opinions by the opposition based on information that must still be considered incomplete.
In 1920 a scientist of unusual calibre, N. I. Vavilov, was chosen by Lenin in person to organize genetical science in the interests of Soviet agriculture. Vavilov appears to have been a superman with a gigantic intellect, could read every European language and speak ten of them fluently, thrived on four hours sleep
.
THE NEW TRAIL 187
per night and had the drive and imagination that has characterized so many of the world’s greatest scientists. Physically he could stand almost any hardship. He {ounded some four hundred research institutes and collected, or arranged for the collection of, almost every plant of economic promise from the four corners of the earth. He represented Russian science at its best and its best has rarely: been surpassed. By 1932 he had come to notice a certain Trofim Lysenko of Odessa, whose interests lay primarily in the effects of environment on plants. Lysenko had little formal training, yet by 1940 the scintillating Vavilov was dismissed from the position of President of the Academy of Agricultural Scientists of Russia to be superseded by Lysenko. Vavilov died under obscure circumstances in Siberia in 1942.
Lysenko’s rise to fame was spectacular. He was born on September 29, 1898, into a peasant family in the Ukrainian village of Karlovka. After two years at the Poltava Horticultural School, he passed through the Kiev Agricultural Institute. Many others had similar training, but Lysenko apparently had a bent for original investigation. S.C. Harland, who met him in 1933 (Listener, December 9, 1948) found him at the age of thirty-five “ignorant” of the basic principles of scientific genetics and plant physiology. Lysenko was then working on the vernalization of plants. He has subsequently been described by British and American commentators as a mere yokel or declaimed as a charlatan, but Huxley’s more objective estimate of the man (Nature, June 25, 1949, p. 977) may be more justified. His star was already in the ascendant in 1932 when Vavilov, at the 6th International Congress of Genetics at Ithaca, N.Y., issued the following statement:—
“The remarkable discovery recently made by T. D. Lysenko of Odessa opens enormous new possibilities to plant breeders and plant geneticists of mastering individual variation . . . The essence of these methods, which are specific for different plants and different variety groups, consists in the action upon the seeds of definite combinations of darkness, tempera- ture and humidity. This discovery enables us to utilize in our climate for breeding and genetic work, tropical and sub-tropical varieties . . . This creates the possibility of widening the scope of breeding . . . to an unprecedented extent, allowing the crossing of varieties requiring entirely different periods of vegetation.”
Such was the contemporary opinion on Lysenko’s early work of one of the world’s outstanding geneticists. In the cloud of political and scientific prejudice that has since enveloped the Lysenko case, Vavilov’s opinion, informed and qualified, cannot be ignored. On the other hand, the unctuous praise so lavishly poured on Lysenko by the current political regime of the Soviet (eg. U.S.S.R. Information Bull., October 6, 1948) is another matter, for even if based on correct information it can hardly be founded on qualified judgment, and that Lysenko has pandered freely to politics seems self-evident: as a free scientist he has, in fact, written his own epitaph in his speech of July 31, 1948 before the Lenin Academy of Agricultural Sciences, recently published as a book, The Science of Siology Today (English Trans., Internat. Publishers, N.Y., 1948). His closing satement included the following comment:—“The question is asked in one of
158 THE NEW TRAIL
the notes handed to me—'What is the attitude of the Central Committee of the Communist Party to my report?’ I answer that the Central Committee of the Party examined my report and approved it.” (Italics Wm. R.) His science is now admittedly subservient to politics. In the words of St. Matthew one is tempted to ask—“What is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?”
Genetics deals with the transmission of hereditary characters. Many details still remain unexplained but the cellular mechanism involved—the occurrence, appearance, function and behaviour of the chromosomes and genes—is not only well known but has, until the Lysenko episode, been almost universally accepted. Many famous names are associated with this work but two are outstanding—Gregor Mendel (1822-1884) and T. H. Morgan (1866-1945). Mendel made the discovery that certain characters are transmitted in plants with such dependability that, given pure strains to start with, one can forecast with virtually mathematical precision the recurrence of selected characters in future generations. Morgan and his school, and innumerable other investigators, have worked out the cytological basis for this predictability—the genes and chromosomes of the reproductive cells. The evidence now seems irrefutable. Mendel and Morgan (as also Weismann) come in for Lysenko’s severest strictures.
It is now known that the inter-action of genes is in many cases a complicated thing, and not all characters lend themselves to clear-cut prediction in breeding experiments. There are also various factors that can upset the chromosomal con- stitution and produce entirely new somatic (body) characteristics. Since such modifications originate in the germ cells, they are transmissible, i.e., once they occur, they are there to stay (if certain other requirements are fulfilled). Such changes are termed mutations and are considered by the orthodox school of genetics to provide the only material that has contributed to the course of evolution through natural selection. The argument is sufficiently straightforward—changes in the germinal chromatin induce changes of structure, from the large and obvious to the extremely small, and in every conceivable direction. Some are advantageous, others merely: irrelevant, others again harmful or even lethal. As the animal gtows up and enters into competition with the rest of the world, such characters may either aid or handicap it: it may accordingly survive or perish (and its new modification, of course, with it). This is the essence of natural selection—the picking, by environment of favorable variations for reproduction and perpetuation and the elimination of the harmful. The whole mechanism provides the theoretical essentials for evolution, a combination of stability of transmission combined with the possibility of change: both are integral to the idea of progressive evolution.
Mutations can be artificially produced. The best known method is to subject plants or animals (not all react the same way) to limited doses of X-rays which may upset the chromosomes and genes and so lead to abberations in the chromo- somal constitution which in turn give rise to modification of the somatic make-up. (Gamma-rays are similarly potent). In the case of plants, chemicals can also be used, such as formaldehyde or colchicine. Manipulation of the general environment
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may be similarly effective, as with goldfish. The Japanese have for centuries sub- jected normal fish to abnormal conditions—food shortage, oxygen deficiency, etc-— to produce aberrant varieties such as fantails, telescope-eyes, etc. Plants and animals, if submitted to abnormal temperatures at certain stages of development, may also undergo induced changes. In certain snakes, for instance, low temperatures during development may alter the scale-pattern characteristic of the species. This class of modifications owes its incidence to alterations in the chromosomal constitution induc- ed by external factors. They are accepted by the formal geneticists because they are mutational in nature, and so, heritable.
Among the names that figure in the Lysenko literature, but this time with approbation, is the name of Lamarck, who died in 1829 at the age of 85. A brilliant and versatile individual, he was at one time a professional musician, with a distinguished army career to his credit, turning to botany and medicine later in life and in his sixties proving himself one of the most original thinkers in zoological history. He is best known for his theory of the inheritance of acquired characteris- tics, an attempt to explain the evolution of animals, of which concept he was one of the earliest protagonists and the first to propose a plausible and logical explana- tion: (Charles Darwin was twenty years of age at the time of Lamarck’s death and later adopted the Lamarckian viewpoint). The basic laws of inheritance formulated by Mendel were unknown to Lamarck, for they had not yet been discovered.
When one examines the types of variations produced on a mutational basis, one is struck by an arresting fact. A great many of them are lethal—they kill the animal before it has left any progeny behind it. Innumerable others are harmful to varying degree, while the remainder are apparently neutrals, affecting the animal generally neither for better nor for worse: in the matter of survival they are mainly immaterial. Rarely do they prove beneficial. Yet the form of variation that is most distinctive of one species as against another is the adaptive type, i.e., a modification specifically fitted to a particular way of life. The moles of the world provide a suitable illustration. The true mole, and three other so-called moles, belonging to unrelated major groups of mammals, occur in Europe, Australia, Africa and America. Despite their lack of genetic affinity, they are universally known as moles (except among professional zoologists) on account of their striking similarities. All live underground and have to earn their livelihood by perpetual digging. Inevitably each is designed essentially like the other, just as machines constructed by. different inventors for a common purpose would have to conform ‘o a common pattern. On a mutational basis one would have to imagine that scores of random mutations, all suited to the digging habit and affecting every system in the body, had occurred independently four times over in unrelated animals. The chance of such a series of coincidences taking place would probably not be one in a billion. Moreover, unless the animal had the digging habit in the first place, no mutation suited to this end would be selected or retained even if it recurred (as many mutations do) with relative frequency. A mutation suited to the digging habit, in fact, if it turned up in a surface-dwelling animal, might be
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neutral, harmful, or actually lethal, but it could not be adaptive. In that sense it is an inescapable conclusion that habit must precede an adaptive modification. From the demonstrable and familiar effects of certain habits on the physique of an individual during his lifetime, Lamarck held that if such habits were repeated generation after generation in a given species of animal, the structural modifica- tions involved would become accentuated and reinforced with the passage of time, ultimately to become incorporated in the genetic constitution, so resulting in a new species, adapted to some new way of life and a new niche of the environment. Lamarck explained the loss of organs on the converse principle of disuse, also through change of habit. It is certainly difficult to account for structural vestiges (such as the degenerate muscles of our own eats) on any basis other than lack of use through change of habit, or to fit them into the mutational scheme of things.
Many experiments have been designed to test the Lamarckian hypothesis, but the matter is infinitely more complex than the cytological study of chromosomes or the transmission of certain morphological characters which can be traced by the straightforward process of breeding. The time factor alone, inherent in the Lamarckian concept, seems an almost insurmountable barrier to experimental analysis, but there are other difficulties and the fact seems to be that no one has yet devised an experiment that is convincingly pertinent. This, however, by no means justifies the statement frequently made by geneticists that the Lamarckian hypothesis has been disproved. Nothing can be further from the truth: an incon- clusive experiment (or even a whole series of them) neither proves nor disproves anything. The question is, in fact, still wide open, with an enormous mass of circumstantial evidence in its favour. The truth is probably that in addition to the established facts of the orthodox school of genetics, there is another side to the question of which we know practically nothing. But, in view of those aspects of heredity and selection that the mutation theory fails to touch, to say that another side does not exist, is to reveal a closed mentality that does genetics on our side of the fence no more credit than Lysenko’s dogmatism does on his. It is the other side that is being pressed by Lysenko. Lysenko may be wrong in his tenets, his research work may be shoddy, his results may conceivably even be faked (suggestions made by his critics), but his basic contention that random mutations cannot account for all the known facts, is more than probably correct. His attempts to launch into the unknown are certainly not open to censure: such adventures ate fundamental to scientific progress. That the Lamarckian philosophy should appeal to the Marxist political school is almost self-evident: the idea that a care- fully devised and state-controlled environment can improve the human race is a happier concept (even if wrong) than the idea that we are all born with a fixed genetic constitution that can only be improved on the fortuitous basis of random mutations. Such thinking might well account for Lysenko’s rise to power and the intrusion of politics into Soviet genetics.
Neo-Lamarckism is in no sense incompatible with the mutation theory, for it is complementary. It is peculiar neither to Lysenko (although his particular brand
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may be) nor to the Soviet Union. Among its protagonists outside Russia are some of the world’s most notable biologists, including Wood Jones of England, Brazier Howell of this continent and Karl von Frisch of Germany, commonly considered the greatest experimental zoologist of the century. None of these men are primarily geneticists, and thereby enjoy the advantage of looking at genetic problems from the outside: they can see the wood without being lost in the maze of trees. Of the criticism that has been directed at Lysenko, some of it is doubtless justified, some of it uninformed, some of it biased, and much of it apparently ignorant of the real issues involved.
The following quotations from Lysenko’s book, in spite of its inconsistencies, polemics, and frequent lack of clear statement, seem to define his attitude. I quote:—
(p. 53)
“Thus experiments in vegetative hybridization provide unmistakable proof that any particle of a living body, even the plastic substances, and even the juices exchanged between scion and stock, possesses hereditary qualities.
“Does this detract from the role of the chromosomes? Not in the least. Is heredity transmitted through the chromosomes in the sexual process? Of course it is.
“We recognize the chromosomes. We do not deny their presence. But we do not recognize the chromosome theory (italics Lysenko’s) of heredity. We do not recognize Mendelism-Morganism.”
P. 54:—“Some of the Morganists who spoke at this session alleged that, together with the chromosome theory of heredity, Lysenko and his followers reject all the experimental facts obtained by the Mendelian- Morgan science. Such allegations are wrong. We do not reject any experimental facts, and this holds good for the facts concerning chromo- somes.
“Some go so far as to assert that the Michurian trend denies the action upon plants of factors producing mutations, such as X-rays, col- chicine, etc. But how 1s 1t possible‘to assert anything of the sort? Certainly, we Michurinists cannot deny the action of such factors. We recognize the action of the conditions of life upon the living body. Why then should we refuse to recognize the action of such potent factors as X-rays or a strong poison like colchicine, etc. We do not deny the action of substances which produce mutations, But we insist that such action, which penetrates the organs, not in the course of its development, nor through the process of assimilation and dissimulation, can only rarely and only fortuitously lead to results useful to agriculture. It is not the road of systematic selection, nor the road of progressive science.”
Being neither botanist nor horticulturist, I cannot presume to pass judgment on the value of the evidence offered by Lysenko but will merely record the fact that the Michurinists have two main claims. The first is vernalization, which involves subjecting seedlings to controlled temperature, light and humidity con- ditions for several years, the effect of this being, according to Lysenko’s contentions, that subsequent descendants from plants that originally had to be sown in spring to survive, can now be sown in the fall and withstand hard frosts. The conversion
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is thought to be permanent and inherited, and it is wheat treated in this manner that is said to have proved itself especially valuable in the hard climate of Siberia. Ie seems difficult to believe that the Russian Government would support Lysenko in this if his claims are invalid, in view of the fact that thousands of farmers could refute the story, at least in its surface aspects. But the theory of any such con- version, if substantiated, is, of course, open to various interpretations depending on the methods and controls used, and on one’s own viewpoint. It is also a matter
for experts.
The second major claim lies in grafting. According to Lysenko, when a scion of one species is grafted onto the stock of another (in certain plants), charac- teristics of one may be transferred to the other, the effects being subsequently inherited: even tomatoes may so be induced to produce nicotine. Bentley Glass (Quarterly Review of Biology, December, 1948), citing Hudson and Richens, refers to these experiments as Lysenko’s “most compelling evidence”, yet in the John Innes Horticultural Institution in England (39th Annual Report, 1948), and the Arnold Arboretum in America (personal communication, Karl Sax, director), where extensive grafting has been carried on for many years, corroborative evidence is lacking. And to the work of these two institutions Lysenko apparently makes no reference in his published accounts. His own interpretation of the results he claims to have produced is incorporated in the first paragraph quoted above: its curious mode of expression, without further qualification, unfortunately makes it difficult to comprehend.
Whatever may turn out to be the real facts of current Russian genetics, when they are all known, one point, I think, is clear—there has been an attempt to find a correlation, in plants, between inherited somatic changes and environment. Lysenko has called these Lamarckian effects: to me the term is inept and un- warranted. Assuming that his graft claims are admissible, this surely is a matter of biochemistry in the first place, whatever may follow in the second. His vernaliza- tion results, if corroborated elsewhere, would be roughly, and only in part, com- parable with what has long been known as photoperiodism, the effects of varying day-lengths on growing plants. These can, and have for years, been experimentally manipulated: no evidence is forthcoming, to my knowledge, that such manipulation has resulted in inherited responses. The evidence, however, being negative, does not rule this possibility out. Attempting to look at the situation objectively and without prejudice, I think it may be summarized somewhat as follows:—
We have not got all the facts and are still unqualified to pass final judgment. There has been an attempt to escape from the limitations of the mutation theory which are familiar to every Neo-Lamarckist, outside Russia as well as in it, to ptobe other channels in a hunt for a fuller answer. To adopt the attitude of politics, that all the virtues are on our side and all the vices on the other, is entirely illegitimate in the world of science: objectivity, impartiality and a hunt for the crucial facts in the interests of further knowledge are the goals of science. Let us remember that ideal and honour it. It is no purely Russian idea that our orthodox school of genetics is restricting itself to a much narrower hypothesis than
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the over-all facts of heredity, variation and selection warrant. Any attempts to further our knowledge are all to the good. The west has largely dismissed Russian claims as extravagant or even fantastic: it is possible that we are wrong. Suggestive excep- tions to those things that we have come to consider established rules in our theories of inheritance can be found in our own literature: unorthodox opinions also exist. The logical response to current Russian claims, so it seems to me, is systematically to investigate them ourselves. In our vast north we have every opportunity for testing them on as large a scale as we may wish. It seems quite possible to me that Lysenko, in spite of all the questionable aspects of the current controversy, may yet be found to have made in the general field of agricultural genetics a significant contribution.
One of the beautiful spots visited by the Mixed Chorus—the Mormon Temple, at Cardston, Alberta.
164
Recipe for Pork
By ROBERT H. BLACKBURN
You’re new in this part of the country, so maybe you never heard about Nick McGuffin and his wonderful hog-machine. Even some of the young folks that have grown up and married and got farms of their own right around here have never heard much about Nick’s machine, and some of us old-timers who know the whole story aren’t very fussy about telling it.
Nick McGuffin was a little runt of a man with a big voice. And he had a bushy red beard. You could tell him a mile away by his beard, and people used to crack jokes about it, but Nick generally enjoyed the jokes more than anybody. When he got to town Saturday nights the boys in the poolroom used to tell him he better get his beard shaved off so that he wouldn’t get his cue snarled up in it, but he’d laugh and say, “Why, this here beard is what gives me my strength and keeps me from catching cold! I just been reading about a man name of Samson that went all to pieces after he went and got his beard cut off!” Nick was a great reader, and folks used to say he did more reading than farming.
Nick farmed that Hudson Bay quarter, just down the hill from Jacob Akerman’s place, where the old windmill is. He never had much of a house on his place, just an old log shack with poles and sods piled on top for a roof. Not even a proper window in it, just a hole in the wall filled with brown and green beer bottles laid one on top of the other. Folks said he cooked all his meals in a white enamel pot with a handle on one side, that he picked up at an auction sale; but I couldn’t be sure about that. He had a little shingled barn, and some hogpens, and one or two granaries, and that was all—until he got the windmill.
One night after he got the windmill, somebody in the poolroom says, “Well, this red-bearded Nick friend of ours must of struck gold on his farm, buying a wind- mill, and all. Next thing you know, he’ll be gettin’ himself a wife!”
“Not for me,” Nick says. “None of the women I ever saw is the kind to appteciate real stain-glass windows like I got in my kitchen. And anyway, the way I figure, that windmill I got can pump more water and give less trouble than any woman on earth.”
Of course stories like that didn’t do Nick any good with the women in the neighborhood, and even Jessie Akerman—that’s Jacob Akerman’s sister—said that the sight of red beards made her sick to her stomach.
As I was telling you, Nick was a great reader, and folks used to say he wouldn’t milk a cow without reading about it in a book first. He always carried a copy of the Prairie Farmer in his overalls pocket, and was always sending samples of soil
Robert Harold Blackburn, BA (Alberta) ‘40, MA (Alberta) ‘41, BSL. (Toronto) ‘42, M.S (Columbia) ‘48, has an enviable record both as scholar and author Recipe for Pork first appeored in The Atlantic Monthly in 1947 and some of his poetry has appeared from time to time in various Canadian magazines At the present time Mr. Blackburn ts assistant librarian at the Toronto University Library.
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and things up to the University, or asking the district agriculturist for one of his pamphlets. It’s no wonder that folks thought he was queer, and didn’t pay any attention at first when they heard he had invented a hog-machine. They thought it was just another one of his jokes.
It all started one morning when Nick was driving to town with a load of pigs. He stopped to rest his horses at Akerman’s gate, and Jacob walked ‘out to say hello. Jacob stepped up on the wagon wheel and looked inside the box. “Nice lot of pigs you got there, Nick,” he said. You know the way Jacob talks, quick and excited like.
Nick rubbed the back of one glove along his beard. “Yup. Best pigs in the country.” The pigs had been squealing and chuntering and nipping ears, but they stopped dead quiet at the boom of Nick’s voice.
Jacob thought for a while. “Jessie says you been haulin’ past here three-four times this last week. You must be raisin’ a lotta hogs these days-——-”
Nick stroked his beard thoughtfully with the back of his glove, until Jacob spoke again: “Been thinkin’ I might start raisin’ a few hogs myself, if I can find some good sows. You got any sows for sale?”
Nick spat, and wiped his mouth with his glove. “Nope, I don’t keep brood sows any more. Takes too much feed.”
“You goin’ out of the pig business, then?”
“Nope, I’m just getting started in the pig business. I got a machine that turns out pigs ready for market. I haven’t got a pig on my: place right now, but to- morrow I’[l get my machine going again, and day after tomorrow you'll see me hauling out another load just like this one.”
Jacob grinned, the way folks do when they don’t know what to say, and Nick laughed and drove off to town with his pigs.
Well, at dinnertime Jacob told this story to his sister Jessie, and by midafter- noon every telephone wire within six miles had buzzed two or three times with it. By Saturday everybody had heard the story, and Saturday night the boys in the poolroom pestered Nick about it until he lost his temper and went home without playing even one game.
Of course everybody still thought that the hog-machine was just another one of Nick’s jokes; but every, second day Nick would drive to town with a load of pigs, and after two weeks people began to wonder. By the end of the month Nick was hauling pigs to town every day, and folks were thinking that something mighty queer was going on. It got whispered around that Jacob Akerman had gone over to Nick’s place one day to borrow a log chain, and had seen a strange machine out beside the windmill, and had seen that Nick’s pigpen was empty. But still Nick hauled pigs to town.
Everybody. agreed that Nick’s claim that he made pigs in a machine was con- trary to nature and could not be true, but many people agreed with Jessie Aker- ‘nan too, when she said that somebody should report the matter to the police. Reverend Walker preached a long sermon about casting out devils into swine,
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but folks couldn’t quite see what he was driving at; and of course Nick didn’t hear the sermon anyway. Then Mr. Nielson, the district agricultural agent, announced that there would be a free public demonstration of McGuffin’s new method of hog- taising, and folks came from fifteen miles around to be on hand.
On the day of the demonstration the crowd started to gather before noon, and by two o'clock Nick McGuffin’s yard was swarming with farmers and townfolks, men and women and kids and their dogs. At two o'clock Mr. Nielson got up on the first cross-brace of the windmill, right beside Nick’s hog-machine, and made a speech about the wonders of scientific agriculture. He said that while he had no claims to make for McGuffin’s machine, he knew that everybody present would want to pay careful attention and learn what there was to be learned.
Then it was Nick’s turn to speak, and Nick was in his glory. He had pre- pared a speech too. “Here she is, folks,” he started. “Most of you have looked this machine over inside out, and there ain’t no more to it than what you see. Just this big hopper, like a funnel, with buckets of barley and oats and slack-coal and water and salt and other things hung around the top. And under this hopper is the mixing box, big enough to mix up a pig in. See, I got a storage battery hooked up to the box. And under the box, of course, I need this chute down into the wagon. Now I'll make you a pig.”
“Wait a minute, Nick!” Mr. Nielson hollered. “The best procedure is to have someone inspect the machine first, just so we can all be certain you haven’t got a pig concealed in it before you commence.”
Jacob Akerman was the first volunteer, because he was standing right up front. And then Mr. Nielson himself inspected the machine, inside and out; and after him came six or seven other men to look it over.
“All right,” Nick shouted. ‘Anybody else want to look at her before I start? —All right, here goes!—Now I want you folks to understand that there’s nothing very wonderful about this hog-machine. It just turns out full-grown, ready-made, live hogs. You all know that flesh is nothing but a pinch of salt and a bucket of water and bits of this and that; well, all you got to do is mix the right amounts and you get a pig. All you need is the right recipe. No use starting with a little pig and feeding it for six months when you can mix the recipe and get a full-grown hog in half an hour.”
Folks looked at their watches and whispered back and forth uneasily while Nick stood on the ladder and mixed his recipe. His arms were hidden inside the hopper, so that nobody could see what he was doing. After a while he straightened up and stood gazing into the hopper, thoughtful like.
“Ts that all? I guess we can go home now, folks,” called Jessie Akerman from the edge of the crowd, and there was a snickering of amusement. Nick fumbled for the loop of a rope that hung on the side of the ladder; he found it and gave it a jerk. The mixing box turned upside down; the crowd’s laughter was cut short by a loud squeal. A full-grown white hog slid out of the box and skidded down the chute, squealing in terror, squirming and struggling for a foothold. But there was
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no foothold on the slippery boards, and the pig thumped out of sight into the wagon.
Everybody scrambled forward, pushing and pulling so as to get a better look. Mr. Nielson jumped up on the wagon tongue and started to make another speech, but somebody shoved him off backwards and he lost his hat. It looked as though the wagon itself was going to be upset or torn to pieces, but Nick’s voice carried above the confusion: “Stand back you honyocks, stand back there! Think you never saw a hog before in your lives! Stand back and have a little respect for a man’s property. I got something to say: to you.”
The hubbub simmered down, and then Jacob Akerman shouted, “Nick, what’s
your recipe?”
Suddenly there was complete silence. ‘My recipe,” Nick said, “calls for water and slack-coal and barley and some of these other things you saw up here in these buckets. At first I didn’t use any slack-coal, and I got three or four runts before I figured out what was lacking. I just measure out these things into the box and——”
Mr. Nielson, the agricultural agent, spoke up again. “Ladies and gentlemen, you have just witnessed one of the greatest scientific revelations of this age. In- deed, this may be the beginning of a new age. We can hardly realize what this will mean to the world, being able to produce its food without-——”
Jacob Akerman cut in, “Hey, Nick, how much water do you use?”
Again there was silence. Nick spat, and rubbed his beard. “I always have to use just the right amount. I reckon I could make a pig out of that wagon tongue or anything else, if I just knew the right amounts of things to mix with it. And now that I did find out how much of these things to mix, I reckon I better not tell everybody else. Inside of a month the whole world would be overrun with pigs and a man couldn’t get to sleep at night for the noise.”
You see, Nick was trying to turn the question aside with a joke, but the joke didn’t take and Jacob came right back. “Look, Nick, if you can make pigs as quick as you like and as often as you like, there won’t be any use of the rest of us farmers trying to raise them. And then pretty soon you'll be turning out steers and chickens and—and everything, and nobody else will be able to make a living. You gotta let us know too, or else——”
Nick didn’t wait for the threat to be spoken. “Listen, everybody,” he called cut, “listen. I’m the one that found out how to make pigs, and you came here to see whether I could do it. Now, do you want to see me do it again? Stand back, then; and you boys up on the windmill, you get down on the ground. And vou, I don’t want you spying on me from the granary roof, either.”
This time there was no talking or laughing, for everyone was intent on each move that Nick made, everyone counting silently and trying to guess what was being done. The tension increased, and folks were hardly breathing by the time Nick finished the mixing and looked over the crowd. “This time I’ll make you a lack one. Jake, hand me up that bag of lampblack.”
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He added five cupfuls of lampblack to the mix and paused dramatically, peer- ing in triumph from side to side, pointing his red beard at his audience. Then he reached for the loop of rope and yelled, “Here she comes!”
Out slithered a black pig, down the chute and into the wagon box.
Only a few of the people went up to look at the black pig, and nobody said much for a minute or so. Then from the fringe of the crowd, Jessie shouted again: “Now throw in your beard and make us a red one!”
Nick’s face looked even redder than usual. “Nope, that’s all for today, folks. So far I haven’t figured out how to make red pigs. Anyway, red is too good a color for pigs. Black is more fitting.” That was in the days when Jessie’s hair was still black.
After that, Mr. Nielson got out a tape measure and started measuring the machine and writing in his book, and Jacob Akerman and the stock-buyer from town and three or four other men got talking to Nick very seriously, but they couldn’t get him to tell them his recipe for pigs. The rest of the people wandered around and looked at the machine, and studied the two pigs, and finally went home. It was nearly suppertime before Mr. Nielson drove away and Nick was left alone with his pigs and his hog-machine and his recipe.
After dark, Nick lit a lantern and went back out to the machine. He didn’t think to look up the windmill, or hz might have seen Jacob Akerman perched up there; and if he had looked up to the granary roof he might have seen where Mr. Nielson was hiding. There may have been some others that sneaked back to watch, too, but Jake and Mr. Nielson were the only ones that told about it afterwards.
Nick just climbed the ladder up the side of his hog-machine, set his lantern on the edge of the hopper, and went to work. He reached for the salt bucket first, and carefully measured out eight cupfuls of salt into the mixing box. Then came four cupfuls of some gray powder out of the second bucket. Then, just as he reached for the slack-coal, he must have heard a noise that startled him. He drew back quickly, and in drawing back he tipped the lantern into the hopper. Frantic- ally he reached for the lantern—reached so far that he lost his balance and fell into the hopper himself. He let out a shriek, and then the mixing box turned upside down and the lantern went out.
Mr. Nielson and Jacob climbed down from their hiding places as quick as they could in the dark, and ran to help Nick. They climbed up the hopper and struck matches, and looked all around, and called, but they couldn’t find him. Even his lantern had disappeared.
Jake ran to the barn for another lantern, and by its light he helped Mr. Nielson search again. They knew before they started that there was no place for Nick to be, no hidden corner or false floor. But they crawled under and climbed over, calling and looking and flashing their lantern.
There was not a sign of Nick. There was nothing but the empty hopper, the buckets, the upturned mixing box, and the slippery chute. There was nothing at
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all in the wagon except the pigs: one white and one black, and one little red runt. And so nobody ever knew what became of Nick McGuffin, and even folks that
saw him working his hog-machine that day don’t say much about it.
Premier Manning lays the cornerstone for the Students’ Union Building.
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170
The Medical Faculty-- University of Alberta
By Daniel G. Revell, B.A.,. M.B., Professor Emeritus of Anatomy, University of Alberta
The Medical Faculty of the University of Alberta graduated its first class twenty-five years ago and is today a well-founded, mature medical school. At present it has one hundred and eighty students in the undergraduate courses; of these, thirteen are women. Our quota for the first year is fifty students, in the second year there are now fifty-two, in the third year forty-four and in the fourth (final) year, thirty-four. Dr. John W. Scott, Professor of Medicine, is Dean and Dr. H. E. Rawlinson, Professor of Anatomy, is executive secretary to the medical faculty, a recently created office very helpful to the students and to the Dean. The teaching staff number one hundred and eight. On the campus there are six hundred and fifty hospital beds; under construction there is a new wing of the main hospital and an entirely new building for a tuberculosis hospital named for William Aberhart, late Premier of Alberta. In the Edmonton hospitals there are over eighteen hundred beds all of which are considered to be available for clinical teaching.
Here is the youngest complete medical school in Canada and the first to be originated almost wholly within a university. So early did medical teaching begin in the University that the history of the medical faculty is best told when it includes the story of the founding of the whole institution. This is necessary too because a large part of the medical school antedates the birth of the Universicy itself. The departments of pathology, bacteriology and public health developed out of or within the Provincial Laboratory—or perhaps I should say, the Provincial Laboratory became these university departments. This will become clearer as our story proceeds, and I may begin with the Laboratory in the chronological order of beginning.
THe LaporaTory
The Province of Alberta was born September Ist, 1905. The Hon. A. C. Rutherford was the first Premier, and also Minister of Education, and he was ambitious to have a university in the new province. This idea was fostered by the medical men. Their laboratory needs had been met in a distant way by the North- west Territory Laboratory in Regina but they now wanted their own in Edmonton. This resulted early in 1907 in authorization by the government for the appoint- ment of a provincial pathologist.
The Medical Faculty—University of Alberto, is re-printed from the Historicel Bulletin issued by the Calgary Associate Clinic, Volume 13, Number 4. This account of the begin- nings and progress of the medical faculty and other departments of the University of Alberta, contributed by Dr. Revell, constitutes the sixth in a series dealing with early history of medical teaching in the universities of Canada. We are indebted to Dr. Revell for per- mitting us to reprint this most interesting article in The New Trail.
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Dr. and Mrs. R. B. Wells, my wife and I were all classmates in 794 and ’95 in the University of Toronto. The doctor and his family came to Edmonton in August, 1906. Prior to specializing in Eye, Ear, Nose and Throat, he did part of his postgraduate work in the University of Chicago where I was on the anatomy staff. Thus it was that I learned of the prospect of a laboratory in Edmonton which it was hoped would become the nucleus of a medical faculty in a hoped-for university. In short, I was appointed pathologist to the Government of Alberta in April 1907, and arrived in Edmonton in August of that year. In the meantime I visited the leading public health laboratories in Eastern Canada and the United States. Those of the Minnesota State Board of Health in Minneapolis were pre- eminent and were under the direction of two Canadians, Dr. Frank F. Wesbrook (later the first president of the University of British Columbia) and Dr. Hibbert W. Hill, who accompanied Dr. Wesbrook to British Columbia in public health work. I was fortunate to be able to bring to Edmonton the methods and techniques of the Minnesota Laboratories appropriate to the needs here.
The first quarters of the Provincial Laboratory were in the east end of the Terrace Building, so-called from its plan to form ultimately four dwellings— which it would become when the Government offices would move into newer, more adequate accommodation. But it is still in “Civil Service” for the Fur Farms Branch, Mechanical Branch, Dairy, Veterinary and Apiary Branches. This build- ing was the first to be erected by the government, in 1907. The boiler-room was on the same level as the lab. and so the steam (at 220°F.) radiators were hung on the ceiling. In winter, 1ce would lie all day on the tables and even benzole went solid one really cold day beside the microscope down which I was looking at a throat-swab smear. I had to wear a straw hat to ward off the ceiling radiators and overshoes to keep my feet from freezing. However, one learns how to adjust to new conditions and my remedy was an electric fan, set on the floor to hoist the cold air to the ceiling and to drive the torrid zone above into the arctic region, producing a temperate zone, to the comfort and joy of the stenographer and myself. One winter day before our lab. climate had been thus adjusted, I was hurrying home to noon lunch. I was late and just flung on my coonskin coat and fled across the old Fort grounds, not to keep the children late for school. In the steeple- chase I ran down a slope and, clapping my hand to my hat, was horrified to find that it was my: summer straw. There was no time to turn back so I went on, sneaking up the alley past all the fine residences. Our maid spied me coming and ran to my wife crying, “Oh, Mrs. Revell, whatever can be wrong? The doctor is coming up the lane in his fur coat and a straw hat!”
My guinea pigs were stabled in the old Fort powder-magazine, a small brick building sunk about four feet in the ground. They were new to Edmontonians and it was my first winter here. One fine, bright, bracing Alberta morning I paid my customary visit to the animals and to my dismay found every last guinea pig frozen like a brick. There was no heater in the magazine and the temperature had gone to 10° below in the night. But that was really the finest winter (’07-08) that I have ever seen—though I wore my coonskin overcoat faith-
172 THE NEW TRAIL
fully every day. I had bought it at Eaton’s in Toronto in August for $85.00 at a bargain sale. I still have it, in good condition and quite presentable on suitable days down town. But it is seldom worn except sometimes when I find its shawl collar welcome to my ears.
But climate isn’t all. Rabbits are well clad against cold and they soon took the place of the luckless guinea pigs. They multiplied proverbially and before long a fine herd was hopping around in the new chicken-wire yard beside the old maga- zine. One fine, etc., morning I discovered that an enterprising fox-terrier had squeezed under the edge of the chicken wire and there lay every last rabbit—dead!
The transfer of the lab. to the University was no easy task. It was a branch of Agriculrure and Mr. Duncan Marshall had succeeded Hon. Wm. Findlay, of Medicine Hat, as Minister. The Hon. A. L. Sifton had followed Dr. Rutherford as Premier in 1910, the Rutherford Government having resigned as a result of the finding of a Royal Commission on the building of the Alberta and Great Waterways Railway. Whenever business took Mr. Marshall ‘out of town, Mr. Sifton would be acting Minister of Agriculture and I could discuss matters with him officially. On hearing that it was the early intention to transfer the laboratory to the University, Mr. Sitton asked, “What do you think about it, Dr. Revell?” T said I thought it would be much easier to attract a better trained staff to it in the University. “But what does Dr. Tory say?” I knew that Dr. Tory was very keen for it but only said that he was willing to take the lab. over. “Well,” said Mr. Sifton, “the Department of Agriculture has many branches and Mr. Marshall seems unwilling to let any of them go, but I’ll have a meeting of the Cabinet right away and we’ll discuss the matter. You come to me at noon tomorrow and PU tell you the decision.” Promptly at 12 o’clock next day I went to his office and found him in the ante-room, which was the office of his secretary, Miss Kathe- tine Hughes (who later wrote the life of Father Lacombe). Mr. Sifton was seated on the edge of the table swinging his feet and talking to Miss Hughes. He greeted me with, “I know what you have come for, Dr. Revell, and it has been decided that the laboratory is to go over to the University as soon as there 1s a place for it there.” This was good news indeed and I scarcely found the right words to thank him for it.
The first building on the campus was well along—this was in April 1911, and within a week the laboratory movables had been loaded on two wagons, taken across the river on the ferry, up the long hill to Strathcona and along the trail to Athabasca Hall. Arrived there they had to be set down on the floor until the carpenters and plumbers put up tables, shelves and sinks. We were located in the basement of the north wing of Athabasca in ample space, and I had made sure earlier that the boiler-room was put in a sub-basement. Thus was the transfer accomplished in 1911. That spring and summer were very wet and the rutted roads were deep with that prairie specialty, gumbo, which is compounded of lard, lampblack and paint, when it is wet. When it has dried out it is nature’s concrete. Strathcona streets then belonged to the “dirt road” classification and you may imagine the sort of roads we travelled to and from the lab., but we shared them
THE NEW TRAIL 173
with the University folk and didn’t complain. Indeed much the same sort of thoroughfare is fought along in some suburbs of Greater Edmonton in 1949,
In our new location we were miles from the post office and the express office. There was no mail delivery and we had to have our own messenger service. This was successfully supplied by Oliver Wilson with his horse and buggy. We also had our own office girls, Miss Ann Hewton and Miss Mary Traub (whom Wilson married a few years later when she was the public stenographer at the Macdonald Hotel and he a well-to-do garden farmer). In wet weather they reached the lab. in knee-high rubber boots; the men tied on their goloshes with strong cord. In 1910 Mr. Harry C. Graham, honor graduate in chemistry, came from Toronto University as chemist for the lab. Part of his work consisted in the analysis of water and milk, but most of it was devoted to beer for alcoholic content (under 2% “proof spirit” could be sold without licence, as on Fair Grounds) and to medico-legal “exhibits” for opium or for poison (usually strychnine) and for wood alcohol in Florida water or other cosmetic disguises or in liquid shoe-polish; these were the only forms in which the Indians could “legally” obtain their intoxicants. Graham also became bacteriologist and in 1914 went over permanently to Edmonton as City Chemist from which post he has just retired. The chemical work of the Provincial Laboratory of those days has been separated off and is now the function of the provincial analyst, Mr. James Kelso.
THe UNiversity
The University campus was acquired for that purpose in June 1907, “title to the original grant being issued in the name of the King to the Province,” to quote the words of the Land Titles Office. This means that River Lot No. 5 of the Edmonton Settlement was Crown Land. It fronts the North Saskatchewan River, contains 258 acres and was part of the land included in the City of Strathcona when it was incorporated in March 1907. Indeed one feels that Premier A. C. Rutherford, resident of Strathcona and Member of the Legislature for Strathcona electoral district, had a hand in the incorporating with a view to the locating of the university of which he was dreaming. It would never do to put it out in the country on a farm. It must be given a respectable place in a city. In good sooth, however, to get to it from the Post Office you would have to cross Garneau’s farm (River Lot No. 7) and when you got to River Lot No. 5 you would have found yourself on somewhat rolling raw land mostly covered with the forest primeval of cottonwood, birch, willow, poplar, saskatoon, choke-cherry, wild rose, honeysuckle, clematis, cranberry and hazel-nut. This is all simple truth. But Rutherford’s wisdom in choosing the location has been most amply confirmed. Probably no other university in Canada is more happily located. Garneau’s farm is now a solid residential district and beyond the campus Windsor Park subdivision is fast filling in with beautiful new homes. From the campus one looks across the deep wide valley along which the North Saskatchewan River winds under the High Level Bridge and three low bridges, and sees the Parliament Buildings, the Macdonald
174 THE NEW TRAIL
Hotel, churches, hospitals, business blocks and residences. But did Rutherford, Premier, Minister of Education, University founder, then envisage in 1907 the amalgamation of Strathcona and Edmonton in one city? This took place just five years later. Result: the Provincial University of Alberta is situated in the capital of the province.
There was much spade-work to be done before the University could open its door on the campus. As yet it existed only on paper. Under the University Act of 1906-1907 a tangible beginning was initiated in 1907 by the formation of Con- vocation. This was accomplished by, the voluntary enrolment (for a fee of $2) of graduates of accredited universities residing in the province. Mr. Harold Riley, deputy provincial secretary, was pro-tem. registrar. By Feb. 18th, 1908, when registration ended, he had enrolled 364 names, of which number 104 were the names of medical doctors. Just think of becoming a charter member of a state university for two dollars! Soon a Senate had been duly elected by Convocation, also a Chancellor—Mr. Justice C. A. Stuart of Calgary—and a Faculty of Arts and Science set up with four young professors appointed. Not until 1910 did the Board of Governors come on the scene and take over the financial side of the administration. Henry Marshall Tory, a McGill professor, had been appointed president by the Lieutenant Governor-in-Council and took office January Ist, 1908.
Classes were begun in September with a class of forty-five students. For the first year the University had space enough in the attic of one of the public schools, the “Duggan Street” or “Queen Alec”, and for the next two years it was accom- modated on one floor of the Strathcona Collegiate Institute. In the summer of
_ 1911 it moved to its own campus. My earlier memory-picture of the beginnings
on the campus shows a pile of gravel in a clearing in the woods. This was in the summer of 1910. By April 1911 it had risen into a fine red-brick scholastic type of building and had been named Athabasca Hall. It was really intended ultimately to be a dormitory or residence for students but for the nonce it was the complete home for the University. In the following years two similar buildings were added alongside—Assiniboia to the north, Pembina to the south, and beyond the latter on the highest, best site on the campus there was perched an incongruous rough- cast building looking like a private dwelling that had somehow dropped from the sky. It houses plant pathology and research and valuable work is being done in it. Probably it was located so prominently as a bid for the good-will of ‘agricultural interests.’
Tne University Hospirar
The University Hospital was known in 1908 as Strathcona Hospital, this city having been so named in 1892 when the Canadian Pacific Railway reached Edmon- ton South (south of the river). Lord Strathcona was then president of the C.P.R. The hospital was housed in a private dwélling and boasted fifteen beds including attic space. A small cottage next door served as a nurses’ home. In 1910 it was moved into temporary quarters in the Oddfellows’ Hall and expanded to fifty beds. The efficient lady-superintendent, Miss Annie Baird, chose the new equip-
THE NEW TRAIL 175
ment with a view to the standard suitable to the large modern hospital in prospect on the campus. In 1912 the first unit of a general hospital was built to plans provided by the well-known hospital architect, Meyer J. Sturm of Chicago. The city voted $100,000 for the building cost and the site on the campus was provided by the University in prospect of a medical faculty. By agreement between President Tory and the City of Strathcona the hospital was to be taken over by the University when medical education was begun. This was done in 1914.
THe Mepicat ScHooL
In 1913 medical teaching was duly authorized by the Senate and twenty-seven students were registered for what was really the pre-medical year. I was appointed Professor of Anatomy, assisting the Professor of Biology and continuing in charge of the Provincial Laboratory. This was later taken over by Heber H. Moshier, M.B., Toronto 09 who was made Professor of Physiology and Biochemistry early in 1914. He had interned two years in the Toronto General Hospital and had been in medical practice in Calgary for three years. In 1915 Moshier was joined by J. B. Collip, B.A., Ph.D. (Toronto). When Moshier went overseas in 1916 Collip took full charge of the department. In August, 1918, Major Moshier was killed in action in France shortly after having been promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in the No. 11 Canadian Field Ambulance. Many: of our students had gone over- seas with him and several made the supreme sacrifice. In 1921 Collip was made Professor of Biochemistry, and A. W. Downs, M.A., M.D., D.Sc., became head of Physiology and Pharmacology.
It was the intention to give only the first three years of a five-year curriculum, the other two years to be taken at Toronto or McGill until they could be developed with hospital growth here. Toronto and McGill both agreed to accept our students with full credit for work done here. They were “A” schools and thus we had “A” rating temporarily on the basis of our curriculum and teaching facilities, and the qualifications of Moshier and myself. We were both Toronto graduates. Dr. Tory had the goodwill and confidence of McGill. In February 1922, Dr. N. P. Colwell of the American Medical Association inspected our school and confirmed our “A” rating officially. It has been a good mark to live up to.
Tt was originally planned to have space for anatomy and physiology in Power Plant No. 2 building which was under construction. But when the war suspended this we were given the north half of the top floor of Pembina Hall. Here was a fine view of a wide horizon to which we climbed raw unfinished stairs. No elevator. The undertaker and his man shouldered the four “subjects” up the four flights to the spacious dissecting-room and laid them on the new kitchen tables that were Al for the gross anatomy. For histology teaching I had excellent slides brought from the University of Chicago in 1907. These were projected for the lectures on 1 screen by a very good projection microscope which was shared by physiology. In the laboratory each student had a new Leitz microscope and a set of slides prepared bv Vango, In that first year’s work in anatomy the students had practically the
BOO ONIN po Ca as Tee
176 THE NEW TRAIL
same instruction and similar material and facilities as I had used for several years in Chicago. In physiology Moshier probably repeated or followed closely the courses of his undergraduate years in Toronto. We had sixteen students—keen, earnest and capable pioneers. Their names are worth recalling. Half of them are still carrying on thirty-five years later, C. H. Hankinson (Prince Rupert, B.C.) who died in May of this year, Walter Morrish (Edmonton), Robert Hewson (Cal- gary), F. Deane Locke (Lacombe), Geo. A. Cheeseman (Field, B.C.), M. E. Tiffin (Edson), Wm. Hustler (Edmonton), A. W. Valens (Rochester, Alberta) and J. K. Mulloy (Calgary). P. B. McNally and John Hammond died in action in France in 1918. N. F. W. Graham died recently in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.; Sam C. Leonard died in an auto accident years ago. E. Henderson and W. F. Beamish died some years since. I have lost track of Roy Walton and E. Ferguson. My lab. technician was a young lad from London, England, Harold M. Vango; Gordon C. Gray and Leighton C. Conn demonstrated in gross anatomy. Moshier had Gray also and C. W. Field to demonstrate in physiology. Joe Garner was his technician; and Miss B. B. Murray was stenographer to both departments.
In 1915 Anatomy: and Physiology moved into the east half of Power Plant Building No. 2. (No. 1 was in Athabasca). Through 1915-16 to 1920-21 we had six years more of temporary quarters, really happy, productive years for students and staff. The latter had a free hand to carry courses on as we pleased, except smallness of budgets. The students in anatomy had “single unit” dissecting- rooms and were formed into small study groups with four or five students in each. The facilities for good work thus enjoyed were better understood by the students when they went east and studied surgical anatomy in the “one big dissecting-room” with its distracting hubbub.
During the years, the long, anxious years of the war, the home front was very busy. So many of the medical men went overseas that we were left short-handed. Not only in our regular work were we without the assistance of a staff, but we also took on work of the men who had gone. I had all the courses in Anatomy and took on the teaching of Pathology. Having also “joined up”, I was pathologist to the Edmonton area of Military District No. 13 with duty at the University Hospital which had been taken over by the Department of Militia. In the work of teaching I had the invaluable—indeed indispensable—help of Harold M. Vango who had enlisted but was detailed to duty with me.
In 1920 the Rockefeller Foundation gave the University $500,000 in securities for the use of the medical school. The income from this gift was applied to the clinical years. Edgerton L. Pope, B.A., M.D.C.M., was appointed Professor of Medicine and Frank H. Mewburn, M.D.C.M., Professor of Surgery. L. C. Conn, M.D.C.M., had become Professor of Gynecology and Obstetrics. All were excellent teachers. In 1920 Dr. A. C. Rankin had been nominated Dean. In May 1925 a class of eleven were graduated M.D.’s and the Medical Faculty was full-fledged. One of the eleven was Leone Macgregor, later to become famous in research, who is now married and living in Stockholm, Sweden.
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In 1920-21 the “Medical Building” was erected on a site from which the virgin forest had to be cleared off in January to prepare the ground for the foundations. . Four feet of snow lay among the trees and the earth was not frozen under the snow, but as it was laid bare it froze ahead of the workers and had to be loosened daily by blasting. This added considerably to the cost of what was at that time perhaps the most expensive university building (per unit) in Canada. It serves many purposes besides the medical, has two large lecture theatres, contains the dental school, pharmacy and departments of entomology and zoology. While most other Canadian medical schools have begun their existence in old buildings, Alberta from the outset has been in new buildings, so new indeed that at first they have always been shared with carpenters, plumbers, steamfitters and painters!
For the early organization of the medical side of the University, excellent exemplars were followed. The Provincial Laboratory was largely patterned in policy and method on the Minnesota State Board of Health. The Anatomy Department was framed on experience and practice in that department in the University of Chicago under two eminent Canadians, Dr. Llewellys F. Barker and Dr. R. R. Bensley, and on the Model Medical Curriculum, the report of a com- mittee appointed by the American Medical Association. The Department of Physiology and Bio-Chemistry was planned and equipped by Moshier very closely after that of his alma mater, University of Toronto.
Of much importance in the enterprise was the other part of the company of adventurers embarking on the voyage of medical education—namely, the students. The high quality of our students dates from the beginning of the University and the “meds” have always been unexcelled. They set a fine standard of student hehaviour which became traditional in Alberta. They were fortunate in having the environment of a real university and a large body of other students. This was mutually good and had a broadening influence, improving the extra-curricular activities on the campus. There was then but one fraternity and it comprised the whole personnel of the University. We were indeed a happy family and those were the golden days of youthfulness.
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178
Summer School in Europe By F. William Lehmann
It is gratifying to know that the University of Alberta is the “top-notch” univer- sity in the West,” but it is disappointing to discover that outside Canada its very existence is scarcely known. Of the 750 fellow-students from sixteen American and Canadian universities who found themselves on the M.S. Tabinta, Europe- bound, few had ever heard of my alma mater. “Alberta? You mean Alabama, don’t you?” was a common query from the Americans. On being told that Alberta is a province in Western Canada, a few insisted that I must be from Alaska. It would seem that the world still is a pretty big place, and that people who do not travel cannot help being provincial rather than cosmopolitan. After all, I don’t know anything about Vermont University either: yet the largest group of my fellow- travellers were from that institution.
Known as the “Marshall Planners,” these 300 Vermont students and a number of professors were embarked upon no pleasure trip, but held shipboard courses as a preliminary to eleven weeks’ intensive study of actual conditions prevailing in Western Europe. The effects of the Marshall Plan in action upon the economic and social structure of France, England, the Benelux countries, the Ruhr and the Saar were to form the subject matter for first-hand reports by five groups of sixty “Planners.”
Smaller groups, calling themselves the “Experiment in International Living,” planned to help build dikes in Holland, clear rubble in Germany and build a home for French orphans in Savoy. “It isn’t so much the number of ditches we dig or the number of bricks we carry that is going to make a difference,” they said with typical youthful enthusiasm, “but the number of friends we make as we work side by side with the Dutch, German and French students, eating their rations and getting to know what they think about our mutual problems.”
Upon disembarking at Rotterdam, I was advised that the education course at Kiel had been cancelled. The alternate course at Hamburg did not begin until three weeks later. What was I to do? Admission into Germany was not to be had until the first day of the seminary. After several days in Amsterdam, where I spent most of my time visiting the Rembrandthuis and the Rijksmuseum, and an alarming portion of my funds, I went to Leiden to consult the N.B.B.S. office— the Netherlands branch of the International Student Service.
The Leiden students invited me to attend the summer session course, Civilization and Modern Society, about to begin at their famous old university. Promptly I
F. Willtam Lehmann, 8.Ed. ‘44 ts one of the younger generation of Alberta high school teachers He has always been a keen student of international affairs and his attendance in 1948 at the International Summer Schools of Leiden and Hamburg must have been a very gratifying experience. Summer School in Europe, written especially for The New Trail, gives an interesting account of Mr. Lehmann’s travels and offers some shrewd comments on conditions as he found them amongst European students.
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accepted. Where else could I have obtained for sixty dollars not only three weeks’ room and board but all this, too? I quote from the introduction to the programme of lectures and excursions:
“The course will deal mainly with a set of social and cultural problems which are created by the relations between civilization and modern society . . . your attention will be directed to three special fields in which the problems are manifest- ing themselves: habitation, education and recreation ... You will be given a picture of our system of education, an interesting subject for comparison with institutions in your own countries. Some schools and colleges will be visited.
“But our course must not be confined to an academic study of the subjects concerned. You should also take an inside look into this country and get acquainted with the circumstances under which it is meeting its problems. Therefore you will be shown the old port of Amsterdam .. . in Delft you will visit the Jubilee Exhibition of the Peace of Westphalia (1648) ... Then you will pay a full-day visit to the old polders of North Holland and the Zuider Zee works. Three ensuing excursions will conduct you to the new part of Amsterdam, Hilversum and the cities of Rotterdam and Utrecht.
“Finally, the course is also meant to promote international contact. Students from America, Austria, Belgsum, Canada, Denmark, Esthonia, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, India, Italy, Latvia, Norway, Pakistan and
. . 2? Turkey. will live together and study together in mutual fellowship.
That the course was a splendid success was due in no small measure to the realization of the desired aims. Racial and national differences melted away as participants discovered each other’s common interests. The lectures on Dutch city planning got French, Scottish and Hindu students together in animated dinner- table discussions. German, Welsh and Belgian law students were invited by their Dutch fellows to visit the International Court of Justice at The Hague. Whatever thoughts arose in their minds were not expressed as they pondered the inscription on the wall of the great chamber: Ubi judicia deficit incipit bellum. Teachers from Denmark, England, Ireland and Canada compared their common problems and found that they were fundamentally the same.
Although the lectures were given in English, informal discussions were carried on in French, Dutch or German as well. Most European students are conversant with two or three languages. Dutch students usually have more textbooks in French, German and English than in their own language. It need hardly be said that their fields of interest are immeasurably broader than those of students who are at home in one language only. The latter are consequently those who remain at home in the literal sense also, whenever invitations ate issued to students to par- ticipate in student celebrations or university functions in other countries.
All too soon the course came to an end. The participants had, besides excellent, printed summaries of the lectures and a certificate of attendance, a store of memories to take home. On the morrow I was to take the Scandinavian Express to Hamburg, but I had yet an entire afternoon in which to bid farewell to the lovely old city of Leiden.
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The university itself was founded by William the Silent in 1581, as an expression of gratitude for successfully resisting the Spanish siege. Many historic events have since taken place there, not the least—nor the last—being the granting of honorary degrees to Winston Churchill and Jan C. Smuts. Across the street and up the cobblestone Kloksteeg stands the fifteenth century Pieterskerk, where a memorial tablet reads as follows:
The Mayflower, 1620. In Memory of John Robinson, M.A., Pastor
of the English Church worshiping over against this spot A.D. 1609- 1625, whence at his prompting went forth the Pilgrim Fathers to settle New England in 1620.
At the next corner the Museum of Ancient History exhibits the culture of our forebears, from misshapen prehistoric pottery to matchless Greek marbles and Roman bronzes. Past the seventeenth century gabled houses, past the Toonkunst and Musickschool, whose sweet harmony had floated out through its open windows ° on the warm July nights, and across the canal, one comes to the National Museum of Ethnology. It contains examples of native art of every primitive tribe in the world, with one exception: there 1s no totem pole! (I wonder how one should go about the matter of initiating an exchange of a Haida totem pole for, let us say, a Javanese theatre complete with native ceremonial masks and musical instruments?)
But on into Germany the country lay basking under a hot harvest sun. Adults and “teen-agers” were busily digging potatoes, turning haycocks or raking the aftermath, while the ubiquitous tow-headed tots waved their hands at the travellers leaning out of the windows. In the ruined cities the pale, listless natives took little notice of us. I was not surprised to find no one expecting me at the wrecked Hamburg station. For a bar of soap worth nine cents in Canada, but to him more than his entire day’s earnings, a porter carried my bags to the street-car stop. Then I proceeded to the home of a fellow-teacher with whom I had corresponded for nearly twenty-five years. Only a short time ago, separated by seven thousand miles of continent and ocean, neither of us had dreamed that we would ever see each other.
The education course was held in a former soldiers’ kaserne, solidly built barracks of brick and stone, five stories high. There were comfortable beds and, incidentally, it was the first time since leaving Canada that I had found plenty of hot running water. But the food situation was grim. I was reminded of a student song in which occur the lines:
Die Supp’ die tat uns munden— Das Fletsch war drin verschwunden,
Breakfast consisted of thin gruel with salt (no milk or sugar), two pieces of black bread and several plums. Alas, there was no Tuck Shop around the corner where one could have had pie and coffee the night before or between meals. Unlike Oliver Twist, we did not ask for more, because we knew that our pooled rations did not allow for anything else. However, we had not come together here in order to eat well, but to break down walls of separation behind which the German students in particular had been isolated for so long.
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As at Leiden the chief aim of the course was not the study of lecture material. The Swiss professor who attempted to “unveil Plato’s concept of Truth by going back to Greek origins” did not succeed, I am afraid, in unveiling very much philosophy to those, who, like myself, had not previously been exposed to philosophy lectures in German with a Swiss accent at that. The purpose of the seminar was realized the evening Lord Lindsey led an informal discussion on ideals of Democracy. There was no trace of condescension on the one hand nor of polite indifference on the other. The eminent British visitor spoke as a kindly philosopher whose privilege it was to offer suggestions and guidance. And it was a pleasant surprise to hear the German students debate on the future status of universities in a new Germany, with intelligence and vigour, yet with a parliamentary decorum as though they had never known any but the most democratic schooling all their lives. In the dim light shed by a single bulb, (the other fifteen were turned off for reasons of economy), mysterious shadows played on the walls as the various speakers expounded their views. Even old Frederick the Great on his white charger and the Friesian fisherfolk in the mural opposite seemed to listen with approbation.
From this course also the participants took home new friendships, to be con- solidated through future correspondence. Hansjorg Volz, writing from Pforzheim in the French zone, said: “... the fact that despite our various origins and tastes we did harmonize so well must have been an encouraging experience and a hopeful sign for each of us that national and racial discriminations are rather easily over- come. ... But will this make any difference in the ‘artful play’ of high diplomacy? I fear not.”
Colette Patte of Poitiers writes: “Vous savez que je m’intéresse A votre pays et j'aime aussi rester en contact avec mes amis . . . C’est mon réve de venir un jour connaitre votre pays qui doit étre si différent du mien.”
But attempts to establish overseas contacts by correspondence alone seem fore- doomed to failure. Roland Capelle, Secretary of Foreign Section at Hamburg University, voices his disappointment: “We had hoped to establish many new connections betwzen ourselves and America. In May and June last year we sent copies of a booklet, ‘Our Post-War Aims,’ to over two hundred American and Canadian colleges and universities. The replies so for have been nil. Only those students who were here are corresponding regularly.”
Are there, then, significant differences between European students and our- selves? After thirty-two shipboard lectures and discussions on the way home, Dutch Professor P. Kuin recorded his observations in the ship’s paper:
“American students are traditionally more isolated, politically more conservative, than their European counterparts, readily, adapt old frames-of-reference to new data, new impressions. Compared with our discussions at home those on board wert remarkably matter-of-fact. . . . Strangely absent were the debates on political, philosophical and theological issues that are characteristic of many student meetings m Europe. ... The deportment of the speakers seemed often shockingly negligent. Why shouldn’t one stand up and speak clearly? Some lay down and murmured to the ceiling.
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“Tt is not only your society, that seems to show a greater mobility. It is also you. European students are on the whole more complicated and more difficult. Maybe we would find only a few amongst you who have the sense of the tragic that characterizes a mature personality. But we enjoyed the vitality, the optimism
and extremely good humor you have shown. We found you nice people and hope to see you again.”
The Mixed Chorus did have moments of relaxation. This was one of them.
183
On Tour with the Mixed Chorus
By Mae Empey
“T hear you went on tour with the Mixed Chorus. Did you have fun? Where did you go, and what did you do?”
“Well now, you’d be surprised!”
Of course it’s an exciting experience to go on a tour of any sort at any time, but when it comes to a group like the University Mixed Chorus—well, that is some- thing else again. University students are, of course, much like other people, but, really, when Mr. Eaton looks that certain way we are not quite certain—but wait! We must begin our story with a proper introduction.
An important part of any tour is the making of arrangements. In our case this includes billets in each centre—halls to sing in, and sponsors to guarantee the costs. Mr. Richard McDonald, co-ordinator of cultural activities for the Govern- ment of Alberta (Joe for short), together with Mr. Richard Eaton, conductor, and Bob Hatfield, business manager (Moe for short) had all the worry. I can’t tell you how many man-hours they say they spent writing letters, sending telegrams and dropping gentle hints, but the net results were: (a) billets with breakfast and supper for everyone in pairs at private houses; (b) halls of various sorts—theatres, community halls, churches; (c) comfortable transportation in two large Grey- hound buses and (d) a sum of four hundred dollars for the Students’ Union to cover incidental expenses. You can figure out for yourself how much this meant for each of the eighty songsters. Altogether, the committee must really have gone to a great deal of trouble, for the arrangements were certainly Grade A.
The chorus members, too, had arrangements to make. These involved three hours of practice each week during the varsity term and extra rehearsals as soon as final examinations were over. Maybe you think this would be just play, but not with Mr. Eaton waving his arms wildly around and straining his ears to catch the faintest sour note. No, ic was work, but it was worth it, and that is for sure.
So at last we were ready to start out. Two buses gaily decorated with banners, drew up before the Arts building at noon, May 2, and took us on board. We must not omit to mention the masks on the banners. Some remarks were indeed passed about certain resemblances between certain chorus members and these puckish works of art—but perhaps I shouldn’t say, too much about this.
But anyway we did get off and the first thing we knew we were transferred to the Didsbury Hotel. If you have ever tried to pack eighty people, with eighty suit- cases into eight rooms, you will be able to appreciate the fun we had hunting for un- occupied corners in which to slip evening dresses over special hair-dos. But we managed, and eventually found ourselves on a stage that tilted us over the heads
Miss Mae Empey, who has very kindly found time to give us this account of the tour of the Mixed Chorus, is a student im education and an enthusiastic booster for the Mixed Chorus. Miss Empey, we hear, took along seventeen films and filled them all. We wish we had more room for more of her shots.
184 THE NEW TRAIL
of the people swarming even in the front of the aisles. But our music was, apparently, just what the audience liked and we felt that we were off to a good start. We did our best and our Didsbury sponsors seemed gratified at the results of all their splendid effort.
And then we were off to High River the next morning. A two-hour stop at Calgary gave some of the choristers a chance to have lunch at home. The rest of us window-shopped. Before leaving we brightened up the bus depot with a few of our favorite tunes and still managed to get safely away.
The trip from Calgary to High River was not dull in spite of the forest-fire smoke that completely obscured the mountains and made our eyes smart. To the northerners the flat fields stretching away into the distance looked new and strange but to the southerners they were home. All agreed, however, that the good old buffalo beans trimming the dusty edge of the highway were right pretty.
High River’s civic centre, built as a war memorial, is really something. It con- sists of an auditorium-gymnasium large enough to accommodate several hundred people, and a long dining-room with adjoining kitchen space. And stylish as all get’out. Boy, was it a surprise!
The concert here was, we think, a good one and the folk of High River showed their appreciation by staging a real town fire about four in the morning. Some of us saw it and others didn’t. Well—naturally!
_._- @-——.
The Mixed Chorus getting ready to push off.
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Cardston, in the rolling foothills, sixteen miles from the United States border, under the stern eye of snow-capped Chief Mountain, was the next stop. Here we gave pethaps our best performance from Mr. Eaton’s point of view. As we sang in the Tabernacle, the acoustics probably helped, or perhaps it was just the atmos- phere of the moon-bathed Temple crowning the hill-top within sound of our voices. The whole concert was a triumph. There is really nothing like sore palms to make singers do their best.
I should like to take you over Cardston’s new social centre but I haven’t the time or the space. Perhaps it is just as well not to say too much about the wonderful civic centres we saw on the trip. Comparisons are always odious and would be impossible to avoid if I went on to say more. Certainly they were a revelation and to us, as visitors, another indication that Alberta is not the most backward of Canada’s ten provinces.
Then we were off to Pincher Creek and nearby Waterton Lakes. Those of us who go in for breath-taking scenery wasted no time in looking at the dreary heaps of snow in the ditches. We went to work on the best of bus drivers and soon were in Waterton’s fairyland. Most of us had seen deer before but we were not accustomed to seeing them grazing on lawns. If you haven’t yet seen Waterton Lakes, go there the first chance you have.
At Pincher, Bill Kelly, soloist of “Blow the Man Down”, and a home-boy, was the star of the show. Joe (see page one), presented him with a most beautiful
All ready to leave——(left to right): Mr. Richard Eaton, Miss Maimie Simpson, J. W. E. Markle, Bob Hatfield and Richard McDonald.
186 THE NEW TRAIL
corsage for his splendid work. It is surprising how well new carrots, spring onions, small pale turnips and ruddy red beets, all tied up with baby-blue ribbon, look in a corsage. The hall was too full and the audience too enthusiastic. We sang our hearts out and finally Mr. Eaton had to get tough and swing us grimly into “The King”. I think the Mixed Chorus will be invited again to Pincher Creek.
A dance followed the performance. The Junior Athletic Association of the town, our sponsors, were hosts and I wish you could have seen Mr. Eaton going through the intricate mazes of the chicken wing. Somehow he didn’t seem exactly happy.
Everybody was in fine shape when we took off for our next stop. Indeed, in the matter of health, we were surprisingly fortunate throughout the whole trip— there were few colds and very little laryngitis—no one was really ill. Of course a little sleep was lost by the wayside, but the buses were comfortable and the drivers kept their eyes“glued on the road. So we kept well and safe. The same, alas, cannot be said of our clothes. They did wilt rather visibly and did require a good deal of reviving. Most of us, I suppose, had not learned to live in suitcases (the farther we went the harder they were to close).
And so to Lethbridge for Saturday: and Sunday of the week. Here in this city’s impressive Southminster we gave our concert, sang at the evening service and went on fo# a short programme period afterwards. Lethbridge seemed to like us and we certainly liked it. Our sponsors, the Cosmopolitans, did a wonderful job and everything went smoothly. Here, many of us heard recordings of our own voices. To say the least we were a bit surprised but the concensus of opinion was that we didn’t sound too bad.
Blairmore was next, back again over our tracks, a smoking industrial centre, snuggling deep into the valleys of the eastern Rockies. We sang our concert in an old-time “op’ry house”, reminiscent of the gay nineties. The audience was drawn from every town in The Pass. A visit to the coke ovens in Coleman and a spot of mountain climbing rounded off the evening and part of the next morning. I heard, unofficially, that Miss Simpson, that very morning at three o'clock precisely, turned over three times in her sleep as “Quick We Have But a Moment” came rolling down from the top of the ski-jump mountain. “Singing on a Mountain- top” sounds like a good title for a new song. How about it, Mr. Eaton?
Back through the famous and dreadful Frank Slide, with many a backward glance at our mountains we made our way to Raymond. There we sang in the magnificent new Stake Centre. At the time of our visit, Raymond was having a little trouble with its water supply. But we managed to wet our throats without sampling the water running all over the town in the irrigation ditches.
It was just 87 degrees in the shade at Medicine Hat. Here, however, Joe, our commentator, entertainer and general “fixer-upper”, gave his most startling per- formance. Each evening of the tour he had been in the habit of filling in the inter- missions with bouquets, explanations and snide remarks, but this evening he went the rounds. The honorary president, Mr. Markle (sometimes carelessly referred to as the “ornery” president), Ron Stephens, choir president and chief mourner, Bob Hatfield (Moe), Miss Kitchen, accompanist extraordinary in black velvet,
THE NEW TRAIL 187
Miss Simpson, best scout in the world, Mrs. Markle (Mr. Markle’s first wife), the bus drivers in absentia, and the Lady Liberals of the city, all came in for honourable mention. That night, Mr. McDonald really went to town—no doubt the effect of the heat. But there were some of us who felt, taking all things to- gether, that our concert in Medicine Hat was another of the best.
Our last appearance was at Macleod. Since this southern town was celebrating its seventy-fifth anniversary, a fearsome array of beards was sprouting all over the place—ted, black, rusty blonde—in various stages of incubation and style, greeting us from the audience. Some of the basses were seen to stroke their chins reflectively, but the tenors seemed entirely unimpressed. Somehow those husky bearded pards in the hall seemed to put a lot of “umph” behind their applause. Yes, sir, they not only: looked like he-men: they made appropriate noises. The local Lions Club passed around after the programme the coolest and sweetest “cokes” we had ever tasted and further showed their appreciation by arranging for a party in the local hall. - tS
So the tour came to an end much too soon. We covered in all twelve hundred long miles; expenses were high ($1,900 for the buses alone), but I hear that expenses were squared away and what is more important the University’s Mixed Chorus not only gave fresh pleasure to many an old friend but sang its way into the hearts of hundreds of new ones—in the field of Public Relations, item Num-
ber One. “Did we have fun? Well, rather.”
Miss Empey having a little joke with Mr. Eaton. Bill Kelly and “Hunky” look on.
188
Let’s Talk about Alumni
By J. W. E. Markle
Within the last few weeks thousands of Canada’s most promising young men and women have received the magic word from their respective chancellors and are now busily seeking their niches in the workaday world. Over twelve hundred of these attended the spring convocation of our own University of Alberta.
Somewhere amid the showers of congratulations, invitations and admonitions, their tired ears may have heard the word “alumni” spoken gently and without too much insistence. They may have heard it coupled with such terms as “privilege” and “responsibility”, but it is no cause for wonder, if their minds, jaded with the pressure of examinations, have failed to grasp the relationship.
Principally for these new members of convocation a few lines devoted to the subject of alumni associations in general and to our own association at the Univer- sity of Alberta in particular, may be of interest and value.
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But first, a short word about the word “alumni”. Just because the reader is a graduate of a university there is no guarantee that he is familiar with such a wotd as this. In these days when the people of the so-called progressive persuasion look askance at anyone who bothers with such useless lumber as Latin, it may seem odd that associations of graduates all over the continent still prefer to use this term. It can’t be that they are all decadent. But this is no place to argue that point.
A word of explanation, then, is in order, merely to save confusion. If the graduate of a university is male, the word alumnus is used; if female, alumna is the word, and the plural forms are respectively alumni and alumnae. As for pronunciation one may make a choice. The most commonly used on this continent is as follows:
alumnus (a-lum-nus) alumni (a-lum-ni) alumna (a-lim-na) alumnae (a-lum-né)
If any Latin scholars wish to quarrel with this pronunciation they are at perfect liberty to do so. This explanation is made merely in the hope of heading off the use of the slangy “alum”, which like most vulgarisms is the result of confusion.
Nor should anyone let the word “alumnor” mix him up. This is a new coinage and is being widely used in the universities of the United States to designate a secretary or other graduate who is engaged in alumni work.
A further word in this connection: just what Mr. McCormick’s “Americanese” may do with the spelling and usage of these hoary old words this writer does not know nor could He care less.
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To proceed then, let us look at a short resumé of the history, of alumni associa-
tions as they exist on this continent. They are for the most part patterned after
THE NEW TRAIL 189
the clubs of such public schools as Eton and St. Paul, and may be regarded as still in the formative stage. As far back as 1792 Yale led the way by organizing its graduate class as a sort of alumni group with a secretary as executive officer. This club began to publish records in 1821 and its aims were at first mainly social. Alumni associations, enrolling graduates of all years began to make their appear- ance during the first half of the nineteenth century. One of the earliest was organized at Williams College in 1821, “that the influence and patronage of those it has educated might be united for its support, protection, and improvement”. The University of Virginia in 1838 instructed a committee “to notify the alumni to form a permanent society: to offer graduates an inducement to revisit the seat of their youthful studies and to give new life to disinterested friendships founded in student days”. Others followed suit until by the last quarter of the nineteenth century the main features of our present system of alumni organizations were well established. In the University of Alberta the alumn: association was first organized very soon after the first convocation in 1911 and The Trail, predecessor of The New Trail, made its appearance during the session of 1920-1921. Since that time the association has encountered various vicissitudes and undergone several re- organizations. * * * *
The purpose behind this development of alumni organization is not difficult to find. All universities frankly admit that they must look to former students for support. If a college is privately endowed it needs such support in a double measure: if it 1s a state institution, like the University of Alberta, it needs support for scholarships, gifts and research activities. To whom should it look with more confidence than to those who are members of its own convocation? But support is to be recognized as something far above mere money. It is common knowledge that the number of university graduates has been increasing, especially on this continent, at a rate proportionately far in excess of the growth of population. With this increasing number of graduates taking their places in the world of men it is reasonable to expect that more and more university-trained men will bring their influence to bear upon governments in the matter of appropriations, expansions and policies. The primary purpose then of alumni associations on this continent has been and still is to enlist all graduates as active partners in their respective universities: to inculcate the idea that privilege irrevocably involves responsibility.
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Some alumni associations are organized outside the university or college itself. Some are partly within and partly: without. Few are organized as integral parts of the university administrative staff. Many ate still struggling to obtain recog- nition on university boards, and in not a few cases their activities and suggestions are viewed by the university personnel with dislike and even suspicion. Here in Alberta the happiest possible conditions prevail. The Alumni Association was re- organized in 1946 as an integral part of the administrative staff. A permanent ilumni secretary was appointed by the Board of Governors on the advice of the Alumni Association and given status on the academic staff. The expenses of salary
190 THE NEW TRAIL
and office’ are taken care of by the university. The advice and assistance of the alumni are eagerly sought by the governing bodies; the president and the vice- president of the association are both automatically members of both the Board of Governors and the Senate. Thus the closest sort of co-operation between the Alumni Association and the University is attained.
Some alumni associations in an effort to swell their numbers, and perhaps to interest the undergraduates, are opening their ranks to almost anyone who has had any connection, however slight, with the university. In Alberta membership is solicited only from graduates who have received regular degrees or diplomas in pharmacy, education and nursing. Membership is, of course, entirely, voluntary.
Many alumni associations in the United States and Canada encourage the formation of what are known as branches: others frown upon these subsidiary organizations. In the University of Alberta the association has branches spread from Victoria to Toronto and include some very active faculty associations. A list of these is published in each issue of The New Trail and graduates new and old are encouraged, nay adjured, to identify themselves with these groups.
* * * *
On many of the older campuses there are elaborate buildings erected and main- tained by the respective alumni associations. Here are found the secretaries and their staffs busily carrying on their business in very “posh” surroundings. In other centres, not quite so old nor so fortunate, the alumni offices are to be found almost anywhere. Sometimes they are located conveniently, but in many instances they are put in any spot not immediately required for other purposes. In the University of Alberta they are to be found in the rooms assigned to the Assistant Registrar and are very pleasing and convenient. Whether or not their presence there makes things more convenient for the Assistant Registrar and his staff is another question. However, when the new Students’ Union Building, now under construction on the campus, is completed, the alumni office will be found immedi- ately to the right of the main entrance. Here ample space has been thoughtfully set aside at the very hub of student affairs.
Without too much detail the activities of alumni offices are mainly: the prepara- tion and publication of an alumni magazine, the organization of all graduates into class and local groups, and the recording and checking of data on the graduates themselves.
Most magazines are quarterlies, but some are published each month and others even appear weekly. In most cases the secretary. is also editor. The magazines are for the most part devoted to items of news from the university, discussions of university affairs and the all-important personal paragraphs. Many magazines are semi-official journals of the universities and their alumni associations. In some one hundred cases the publications remain in the hands of alumni groups and have attained a high degree of prominence. Examples are The Yale Weekly, instituted in 1891, the Harvard Graduates’ Magazine, begun in 1892 and the Michigan Alumnus, first published in 1894. In Alberta The New Trail is the
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“publication of the Ujniversity of Alberta and its Alumni Association”. It is issued quartetly and endeavours to combine material of a thought-provoking nature with the other features usually found in such magazines. The alumni secre- tary is the editor and the book is distributed only to those alumni who are in good
standing.
The organizing of the graduates into class and local groups has a two-fold purpose: to foster the sentimental ties among the various members and to lay emphasis on the establishment of proper relations between the universities and their graduates, each to each in the field of university effort and more broadly in the affairs of the whole wide world. Hence the periodical class re-unions -arrd homecomings with costumes, parades and hilarious good fun. Luncheons, banquets and parties of every conceivable description help along the work of injecting always a serious note of responsibility and the proper use of influence.
The maintenance of office records, of which the collection of dues is no small part, is a great business. If every graduate after being once pigeon-holed in the alumni secretary’s office would stay put, there would be some hope on the part of the secretary of catching up eventually with everyone and of being able some day to say, “There, my, records are at last complete.” But university graduates do not stay put; no, sir; and the business of keeping complete records is an impossi- bility. Of course there may come a day when every graduate will be so alumni- minded that he will not dream of neglecting to inform the poor alumni secretary whenever he makes any major change in his career and then we shall see what we shall see. In the meantime most alumni secretaries are trying manfully to maintain some degree of efficiency with a calculating eye on the ever-increasing number of graduates coming out of our universities.
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Officials of this new and aggressive element in university life are “cagey:” about the future. There are those who regard the formation of alumni associations as a danger either on the side of ultra-conservatism or on the opposing side of purely practical considerations. Most alumni organizations have, therefore, been very careful to make it clear that their desire for closer participation in the affairs of the various universities is based wholly on a desire to direct this new power and influence into channels which will bring the greatest good to the universities. A proper sense of responsibility in the men and women whom an institution has trained itself cannot but be for the good of all. Whatever may be the situation in a few isolated instances, a survey of alumni associations, as they exist today, shows that they are bringing to their universities intelligent and loyal support. In the future it will be undoubtedly the task of such organizations to bring more and more graduates into active co-operation with their mother institutions, so that these, because of this interest and connection may maintain the highest standards, voth academic and practical.
192
CONVOCATION
The First Convocation Day
(From the Files of The Plaindealer)
The Plaindealer gives a vivid description of the events of the day. “The business houses were decorated with flags and bunting and the window dressings were especially fine for the occasion. Everywhere flags were flying. The main auditorium of the Oddfellows Hall was very tastefully decorated with the Univer- sity colors, green and gold, and with the crests of all the provinces of the Dominion. A very large reproduction of the crest of Alberta painted on canvas, covered the back of the stage.
“At three o’clock the members of Convocation began to assemble at the Opera House for the chief function of the occasion. The undergraduate students arrayed in their gowns marched in a body from the temporary home of the University and were ushered to seats at the front of the auditorium. The seats immediately behind them were reserved for the members of Convocation who had assembled in large numbers, most of them wearing gowns and hoods. Behind them and filling the hall to capacity were gathered citizens of both cities and various parts of the province to witness the ceremonies and listen to the addresses.
“The Chancellor, Mr. Justice Stuart, presided. On the platform with him, arrayed in the robes peculiar to the degrees they hold, were Lieutenant-Governor Bulyea, the Minister of Education, the President of the University, Chief Justice Sifton, Reverend Bishop Gray, His Worship Mayor Duggan, the members of the Senate and members of the Faculty. Honorary Degrees were conferred as follows: Doctor of Laws on His Honor, the Lieutenant-Governor and on the Premier, Honourable A. C. Rutherford; Doctor of Civil Laws on Chief Justice Arthur L. Sifton. Following this President Tory admitted all the members of Convocation to the Degrees, ad eundem, which they held at the time of registration.
“The civic reception in the evening was the climax of a happy day in the history of the university and of the city, of Strathcona. The streets leading to the Con- vocation Hall were brilliantly lighted and early in the evening crowds of people wended their way in that direction, while scores of buses and carriages brought hundreds of ladies and gentlemen from Edmonton. It proved the grandest and most popular social function ever held in Strathcona.
“His Worship Mayor Duggan and his wife with the city aldermen and their wives received the guests as they arrived. When the party was complete, Mayor Duggan and the official dignitaries of the University took places on the platform
THE NEW TRAIL 193
and there was a programme of music and speeches. Mayor Duggan, on behalf of the city, extended a welcome to Convocation and the other guests. There were then addresses by the Vice-Chancellor Mr. Justice Beck, Professor W. H. Alexander, Dr. Riddell, Aldermen Bush and Tipton, Mr. Nolan and Principal Bryan, and vocal music by the university male quartette and Messrs. Marriott and Patton of
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Considerable effort has been expended in an attempt to determine the where- abouts of those who took part in these memorable proceedings who are still living.
Of the Senate Dr. J. H. Riddell still lives in Winnipeg. He visited the Univer- sity a few months ago.
Of the City Council of Strathcona Mayor Duggan is still active. He recently turned the first sod for the new building for St. Anthony’s pro-cathedral. A. G. Baalim has been resident for many years in Lethbridge and is one of the best known business men in the South.
J. M. Duggan, then President of the Board of Trade, has been for many years an alderman of the city of Edmonton and a few weeks ago was acting mayor.
The only member of the School Board still living is R. B. Douglas who retired a few years ago from the provincial civil service.
Dr. W. H. Alexander, a member of the Faculty at the opening of classes, retired some years ago and is now living in California. He re-visits Edmonton
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Nearly one hundred of the original members of Convocation—graduates of Canadian and British Universities resident in Alberta at that date—have been located and invited to participate in the Convocation proceedings of October next.
—G. Fren McNatry, Chancellor.
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194
Books of Our Own Blankets and Beads
By J. G. MacGregor The Institute of Applied Art Ltd., Edmonton
In my grandmother’s parlor on the old homestead in Ontario—a room, mind you, not to be confused with modern living rooms—there used to hang a most fascinating picture. On the rare occasions upon which I as a small boy was allowed to enter this deeply-carpeted state-room, my eyes were always drawn to this monstrosity. There in a frame of tawny gilt, red-jacketed soldiers, unmistakably English, with fierce eyes and flashing guns, led by resplendent officers with glinting sabres, advanced triumphantly on a horde of dark-skinned and rather shadowy figures, cowering and writhing in the smoke of battle. Underneath was the legerid, The Battle of Batoche. How the grotesque thing came to be there I do not know. My grandfather was an Irishman who had no use for the English and I have no doubt made that clear on every possible occasion to my poor English grandmother. But there the gory thing hung, a grim reminder of the fairly recent North-West Rebellion. There must have been other things in my grandmother’s parlor but my mind at this distance recalls no details and indeed I had forgotten the picture entirely until I opened Mr. MacGregor’s new book, Blankets and Beads, at page 241 and found the name “Batoche” staring me in the face.
To be sure, Blankets and Beads, by one of our graduates, J. G. MacGregor, B.A. ’26, B.Sc. (E) ’29, is a book to stir an abundance of memories. What reader who has lived for even a short time in the West will not be able to recall such incidents as that of the new settler who hobbled his horses to check their speed downhill; or that of the poor lost soul from the Old Country who found all her precious china in bits at the end of the long trail? Indeed, I myself can recall with what merriment the citizens of Vermilion, Alberta regarded the antics of the New Hebrideans who settled Clandonald in 1930 or thereabouts. On one par- ticular Sunday the whole family of new settlers, but scarcely settled in their new quarters, had gone off to church leaving father to prepare dinner. When we arrived on the scene he was in dire distress. Smoke, thick and acrid, filled the tiny cabin and the poor man’s eyes were completely beaten. The stove, we learned, simply would not function. The fire would not burn and, when it did flare up, it filled the place with clouds of foul smoke. It was some time before we could venture into the cabin: but not very long before we discovered the trouble. The poor man, who had never seen a plain cast-iron box stove, had been trying for hours to build a fire in the oven!
Few readers of this history of the Saskatchewan River will be meeting for the first time the sturdy pioneers who have made this page of history. Nor will they be hearing for the first time of the stirring events that marked the progress of
THE NEW TRAIL 195
these great figures across the bald face of the west land. But I venture to predict that most readers will find a thrill in making the better acquaintance of the mighty river system that is really the central character in this romantic tale of history. Mr. MacGregor spins many a skilful yarn about this great sprawling, beautiful stream, friendly at times and moody and unpredictable at others. Full justice is done to its splendor and majestic sweep and the ugly bits are lightly touched. Evidently Mr. MacGregor has learned one of the first lessons of a lover—when not to see.
Nor is it the first time a river has been placed in the dead centre of a piece of history. But I commend the author of Blankets and Beads for choosing a river that has received all too little attention in comparison with such other glamorous rivers as the St. Lawrence and the Mississippi. Certainly the Saskatchewan has tales to tell—tales of staunch traders and renegade interlopers, towering men of God and mean little traitors, dauntless settlers and frail adventurers—tales of burning forts, massacres, and foul disease—tales of bitter rivalries and burning loyalties—tales of unimaginable and fanatic enthusiasm—tales of leaping progress and retarding officialdom—tales of advances and retreats—tales of conquest on a continental scale—and here they are in Blankets and Beads.
Mr. MacGregor has a most readable and easy style of writing. There is no “blurb”, no attempt to window-dress or pad the plain tale. He has sifted a mass of interesting and arresting material and he has the skill to let it speak for itself. At times he lets himself go, as, for example, in those chapters in which he describes the beauty of the river valley in October and the snowy charm of a winter scene. Who, indeed, that dwells along the banks of the Saskatchewan can resist casting a loving eye over such scenes. There are people no doubt to whom a river is just a river, but to those who read this latest history of the North-West the Saskatchewan River will surely never be the same again. And that will be Mr. MacGregor’s doing.
This stirring tale is amply documented and furnishes the reader with a well selected bibliography. The index will doubtless prove of value to any who wish to use Blankets and Beads as a book of reference.
Mr. MacGregor concludes his stirring history thus:
Gone now is the explorer’s camp-fire and the fur-trader’s canoe. Gone are the river steamers and the Red River carts. Gone are the explorers, the trappers, the traders, the voyageurs and the pioneers. We, who build on the foundation they laid, must not forget them. They are our roots.
This dweller, for one, is grateful to Mr. MacGregor for his most timely and wholesome reminder.
Have you sent your new address to the Alumni office?
196
Trail Blazers
Dr. George Sinclair
During the war we were lucky enough to be shown over a British battleship. Up on the bridge, while everyone else in the party was admiring the view of the harbour, we spied an interesting-looking gadget. “What’s this?” we asked. The embarrassed and awful silence told us. We had asked about “r-d-r”! Even now we
THE NEW TRAIL 197
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feel a little uncomfortable talking about “it”, but we can’t tell you about Dr. George Sinclair without discussing radar, for he was one of the few who pioneered in radar research at Ohio State University.
Born in Hamilton in 1917, George Sinclair graduated from Alberta in electrical engineering in 1933 and received his M.Sc. in 1935. In 1939 he went to Ohio State intending to study for his doctorate. However, when war broke out he shelved his personal plans and plunged into research in radar antennae, literally working “around the clock”. He was associated in this work with Professor W. L. Everitt and Dr. E. E. Dreese, chairman of electrical engineering at Ohio. The initial suggestion came from Professor Everitt, but it was Sinclair who, almost single-handed, developed the model technique for designing and measuring antennae.
He proved conclusively that scale models were practical in measuring radiation to the high degree of accuracy required. He then developed new mathematical and theoretical approaches to the calculation of antennae radiation patterns when the antennae were mounted on regular shapes, such as cylinders, elliptic cylinders, prolate and oblate spheroids and spheres, using a diffraction field viewpoint. The results of these computations later were proved experimentally by measurements.
With this model technique Dr. Sinclair and his colleagues in Ohio State’s antennae laboratory were able to experiment with scale models, and thus find out what designs of antennae were best suited to various radar installations required for different types of aircraft, ships and ground vehicles. Thus they were able to avoid the slow and costly problem of testing various designs in actual aircraft or ships as the case might be. As pioneers in this field, the researchers at Ohio State were called upon to solve an ever-increasing number of problems and were able to effect immeasurable savings in trme and money for the war effort.
The laboratory also made valuable contributions to counter-radar devices which helped cut American air losses over Japan from 5 per cent to .5 per cent and also aided in jamming German installations on D Day. The research at Ohio started a radar industry that cost three billions during the war. Since the war Dr. Sinclair’s model technique has been adapted to such fields as television and frequency modulation.
Tribute has been paid to Dr. Sinclair’s work by the award of a Certificate of Appreciation from the United States War-Navy Departments, the highest civilian awatd bestowed by the United States Government. An official in the Research Foundation said of him, “His contribution to this country during the war was more than could be expected of one man.”
After the war Dr. Sinclair was able to return to his original plans. He com- pleted his Ph.D. work in °46 and a year later returned to Canada as assistant professor of electrical engineering at the University of Toronto. However, he still serves as a consultant to the laboratory in Ohio.
198... THE NEW TRAIL
Whiskeyjack .. .
The Editor, Saturday Night.
Dear Mr. Editor:
It is very heartening to us out here to learn that you are interested in the welfare of this University. Since you have given such striking evidence of the fact (“Academic Freedom Again”, Saturday Night, July, 19, 1949), perhaps you will not consider me too shameless if I suggest that there are other Friends of the University who would wel- come you as a member. The sub- scription is only five dollars a year, Lut please don’t feel limited to that amount if you would like to con- tribute more.
Like yourself, the Friends of the University are men and women of high ideals, although they would be too modest to say so. They believe in education and in the need for re- search. And they have heard that “money talks”. The phrase really belongs to the wilder days of the West when another common expres- sion was, “Put up or shut up”. The Friends of the University put up their bit, whatever they can afford, and shut up.
THE NEW TRAIL 199
I must not pretend that you would see eye to eye with every one of the Friends on every possible issue. Indeed, I think there might be great and serious differences. If I may speak frankly and kindly, your tendency seems to us rather reactionary, even bigoted; in a word, you live in the nineteenth century, or the eighteenth, but we live in the West. Then, you seem to see things black and white, with no shading between except, perhaps, tattle-tale grey. But we have grown up in, ot absorbed, the traditions of a pioneer country, and we believe that life is “woven of a mingled yarn, good and ill together.” We tend, therefore, to study a situation, rather than leap to hasty conclusions; we like to see what we are shooting at before we let go with both barrels. And where people are involved, we don’t pre-judge.
In short, there is a friendly spirit in the West. It is a blessing or a boon like the love of God which all of us inherit, though none is deserving. Friendliness from others is expected—it is our birthright: and friendliness to others is our first obligation; therefore we cannot hastily condemn, nor even hastily, classify, human beings.
I find it difficult to write this letter, for we don’t talk much out here about big things like Christianity and Democracy and Academic Freedom and the other Liberties—but don’t think, Mr. Editor, that we can’t fight for them, and die for them too if need be. But most Westerners would feel (as I do) that it is actually harmful to talk about things like Democracy. That is, by talking about them, we may fool ourselves into thinking they exist. Nobody west of Ontario could be so deluded. We know that Democracy is not a thing, not a fact, but an ideal toward which we must strive, for we are convinced that, like Christianity, it would be a good way of life if it were put into practice. Obviously, if ic did exist, we shouldn’t need the Friends of the University: in a Democracy things would be managed with intelligence, and everyone would have a fair chance.
I look out of the window, and I see a long-legged neighbor youngster in pig- tails. And leaning against the gate there is an awkward, freckled boy. It may be a new idea to you, but no Westerner needs to be told that if that boy and girl were set down in Toronto, rather than Edmonton, they would have a better chance to develop themselves and their talents. I’m not saying they wouldn’t find some- thing stultifying in the atmosphere, but it’s not atmosphere I’m talking about. And they’ve got a betrer chance in Edmonton than if they lived in Yellowknife or Keg River. That’s why the Friends of the University exist to try to even things up a little. And, as I said, the Friends don’t gab about themselves. Perhaps they -feel (like the Murderer in Richard III!) that “talkers are no good doers.” Or perhaps they feel that if we talk too much about Western friendliness, it may, cease to exist. There’s precedent enough—remember how they talked about Socialism in Germany? The Nazis, after all, were National Socialists. We have an idea out here that Toronto talks too much about—oh, about a lot of things.
But what I really wanted to say, Mr. Editor, is this: we don’t blame you for seeing things your way, all nicely ordered, classified, with the contrasts so glaring that you can easily, without even stopping to think, line up with virtue and thunder at wickedness. We don’t blame you, we don’t envy you, we just aren’t impressed.
200 THE NEW TRAIL
Perhaps I could say it this way: we still believe in free speech even though a lot of people talk nonsense or gibberish.
Let me find an example: you say that our President has no more authority in this University than “the laboratory cat”. If I were to say that the President of the University of Toronto had no more authority than the laboratory cat, you would think me incredibly naive, stupid, ignorant, or malicious; you would have me pinned down and classified in a second. If I said that the Editor of Saturday
_ Night writes irresponsibly and mischievously, you would know where to place me
in your nice, orderly, virtuous, classified world. For of course the Editor of Saturday Night does not write irresponsibly; if he did, he wouldn’t be Editor.
I’m not getting on very well with this letter. I envy your facility. Well, there’s this: I thought I’d ask the cat. The lab. cat itself ought to have an opinion. So I went to Biochemistry and Physics and Entomology and Anatomy and Field Crops— the plain fact is that there isn’t any laboratory cat in this University. I found some fine people whom it was a pleasure to chat with, friendly and open and un- affected and sensible, but no cats. I hesitate to say it for fear you may misunder- stand—but we don’t need lab. cats out here: there are no rats in Alberta. I mean nothing personal: I’m just trying to show you how hard it is to be sure of the truth at long distance and at second or third or fourth hand. That is, unless you can know things by a sort of feminine intuition or god-like omniscience.
And that’s what I’ve been struggling so hard to say all this while: that if you would like a good source of information about this University, I can recommend The New Trail. You can absolutely depend upon anything you see in it. Perhaps I should have said so before, but you will get it free with your subscription to the Friends.
Sincerely yours,
Acpert WHISKEYJACK.
P.S.—If you ever get tired of thundering at wickedness, come on out and we'll go fishing. There’s nothing like a job lot of mountains for cutting a man down to his proper size; and if you and I crawled around among them together for a few days, we might see each other for what we are.
NEW FRIENDS OF THE UNIVERSITY (June-August 1949)
Norman F. Priestley, 739 3 Ave. W., Calgary. Mrs. R. B. Dewson, 10835 75 St., Edmonton.
201
the chipmunk
Homecoming Weekend is being arranged this year by the Golden Key Soctety Formed only last winter, the Golden Key 1s an honour society of thirty students, elected by fellow- students in their own faculty from those most prominent in extra-curricular activities This group has been working all summer, in Calgary and Edmonton, meeting with groups of alumni and past members of the students’ council, try- ing to find out what alumni want their home- coming to be Asa result of these discussrons something a little different is being planned with emphasis on smaller gatherings of various year groups and faculties so that homecoming alumni will not feel lost in a sea of unfamiliar faces Plans are not complete yet but from what we hear we think we can promise you an even gayer and friendlier reunion with plenty of fine entertainment So put a ring around the dates on your calendar—-Nov 4th, 5th and 6th
The campus ts well in keeping with the rest of Edmonton these days—as one building nears completion the skeleton of another arises With exterior brickwork on the new library nearly finished, work 1s now progressing rapidly on the new Students’ Unton Building
Of the latter building, the cornerstone was ‘well and truly faid’’ by Premier Manning on /uly 11th Also taking part in the ceremony were Dr Robert Newton, Mr Justice Frank Ford, Rev Dr Thomas Hart, Dr G Fred Mc- Nolly, Barclay W_ Pitfield, Tevie Miller, Students’ Union president, Gordon Wynn, archi- tect, and Dr Jack Nielson, chairman of the Students’ Union building advisory fund Speak- ers praised the perseverance of the students ond their proven ability to govern themselves The building, it was pointed out, would pro-
vide a much-needed centre for student govern- ment and extra-curricular activities.
Summer school students did their part to- wards financing the building by holding a successful tag day and we understand that a central committee plans winter session activi- ties to raise money for furnishings, among other things With luck the building may be open some time next term ond tn any event it should be completed in time for graduation next spring.
Summer school students found time amid a gruelling programme of lectures, labs, sports and social activities, to present two fine enter- tainments, one musical and one dramatic. A concert under the direction of Miss Violet Archer of Quebec and L R Cluderay of Cal- gary was delightfully chosen musical fare for a warm summer evening Solos and choral numbers were interspersed with piano selec- trons Miss Archer, a well known Canadian pianist, organist and composer, played her own lively and interesting Sonatina No, 2. Miss Donna Gail Richards sang three short pictorial settings of poems by another Canadian, Arthur Bourinot Other soloists were Mrs. Verda Town, who played two Chopin selections, and Mr F K McKay, who sang Handel’s "Where'er You Walk’’ and Schumann's ‘’Dedi- cation “
The work of the chorus under the direction of Mr Cluderay was truly impressive, especially considering the short time it had for practice. Opening with two Bach chorales, it presented a varied programme which tncluded works by Vaughan Williams, Roger Quilter, Handel, Brahms and Armstrong Gibbs, as well as Eng- lish and Welsh folk-songs.
202 THE NEW TRAIL
One evening in the University Studio theatre, drama students presented two plays selected to show what could be done in rural
and consolidated town schools with a minimum -
of scenery and stage effects. Both plays were comedies The one, Joint Owner in Spain, by Alice Brown, was a little character study of an old ladies’ home and was ably directed by Sister Anne of Medicine Hat The other, The Wandering Scholor from Paradise, a sixteenth century folk comedy by Hans Sachs, was directed by a visiting instructor, Max Popo- vich of Yale The plays were presented to give drama students practice in acting and also to give the stage-craft course practical work In scene construction and lighting. Both plays were very well done and enthusiastically re- ceived by an unexpectedly large audience.
The Faculty of Agriculture has been much in the news this summer. Early in June the Department of Animal Science held its annual Feeders’ Day” at the livestock pavilion of the University farm To acquaint visitors with the results of the year’s experiments in feed- ing sheep, swine, dairy cows and beef cattle, the animals used in these experiments were exhibited and such important topics as feeding, management and cost of production were dis- cussed A picnic lunch was also enjoyed.
The annual meeting of the Alberta Insti- tute of Agrologists reported an enrolment of 159 -agrologists in the province, an increase of 15. Seasonal plans were discussed, includ- ing a proposal to hold a refresher course of from four days to a week at the University for members It is also planned to make repre- sentations to the provincial government regard- ing the need of an agricultural science build- ing on the campus to house the Faculty of Agriculture This will be the institute’s first move in this direction
Closer co-operation between the Institute and the Agricultural Institute of Canada will be achieved, it was reported, through the recent decision of all branches of both organizations in this province to have joint single councils
The Department of Dairying has announced its fifth annual diploma course in dairying, offered to a limited group of twenty students with grade nine standing. The course is a joint project of the University, the dairy branch of the Department of Agriculture and Canadian
- Vesational Training, and teaches such sub-
jects as the manufacture of butter, cheese, ice-cream, refrigeration, dairy chemistry, bac- teriology, computations and the keeping of records.
Biggest news from the Agriculture Faculty, however, was the opening of the hundred- thousand dollar provincial veterinary laboratory on July 11th = In the magnificently-equipped, three storey lab, research into diseases of cattle and swine, sheep, poultry and fur-bearing animals is carried on under the most modern conditions The building was officially opened by the Hon. D. B. MacMillan. About two hundred visitors heard addresses by the repre- sentatives of related branches of the livestock industry and university and government of- ficials, inspected the lab’s facilities and were entertained at a barbecue luncheon
The University of Alberta, like most uni- verstties in Canada, has been obliged to in- crease tuition fees this year in an attempt to meet the rising costs of higher education, and maintain a fair contribution on the part of the student to the cost of his tuition.
Increases were recently approved by the Board of Governors to take effect in the 1949- 50 session for courses leading to al! degrees except that of Bachelor of Arts and the first year of courses tn the Faculty of Education —In- creases range from less than 4 per cent in the School of Household Economics to close to t5 per cent in the Faculty of Medicine.
At the same time the registration fee was raised from $6 to $8 and the medical service fee from $6 to $7. Students’ Union general fees remain the same, but in accordance with a plan worked out for covering costs of the Students’ Union Building, now under construc- tron, contribution by each student will be in- creased from $6 to $8 for the 1949-50 session In the following year this will be increased to $10 where it will remain stable until! the interest-free loan from the government has been retired This is expected to take place within about 15 years.
There will be quite a number of new faces about the campus this fall and a few familiar ones missing In September, Dr. H. Grayson Smith, now Associate Professor of Physics at the University of Toronto, will join the staff as Professor of Physics After obtaining the
THE NEW TRAIL 208
PhD degree from the University of Toronto, Dr Grayson Smith served for two years in the Dominion Meteorological Service and for four years as Assistant Professor of Physics at the University of British Columbia. Since 1933 he has been a member of the University of Toronto staff. For two years during the War he supervised instruction of Nava! ratings for Asdic work, and then for the next three years he was in charge of a group of research assist- ants working on oxygen equipment for the RCAF. In 1946 he was awarded the M.B.E. for his contributions to war research. In 1940, in recognition of the high standard of his original scientific work, largely in the field of low temperature investigations, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. For the past two years he has been a Director of the Canadian Association of Physicists.
Dr Dennis Shute will take over the director- ship of the Calgary Branch of the Provincial Laboratory of Public Health on his arrival from England tn June A medical graduate of Victoria University, Manchester, he served in the Royal Navy for eleven years, including the entire War period, when he was bacteriolo- gist and medical officer in charge of laboratories in various Naval hospitals and hospital ships. During his war service he was seconded to the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, where he gained the Diploma in Tropical Medicine After retirement from the Navy with the rank of Surgeon Lieutenant Commander, he engaged In general pathological work for several large hospitals in the Liverpool area and will leave his present post as Senior Pathologist of a large group of municipal hospitals to come to Alberta
Mr W R Salt will become Assistant Pro- fessor of Anatomy this fall, and will teach non- medical students in that Department. A Uni- versity of Alberta graduate, holding the M.Sc. degree in Zoology, he has taught for many years in Alberta schools and since 1945 has been an instructor at Mount Royal College, Calgary.
Another addition to the staff this fall will be Mr J P Bowland, who will be Assistant Professor of Animal Husbandry. He 1s 0 B.S.A Graduate of the University of Manitoba, where he won the University Gold Medal. He then attended the State College of Washington, ob- taining the MS. degree in 1947. He is now
at the University of Wisconsin on a Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation Fellowship, and expects to complete requirements for the Ph.D. degree this summer.
Mr. A. J. Anderson, formerly employed at the Charles Camsell Indian Hospital, has joined the School of Pharmacy as a Lecturer A gradu- ate of the University of Alberta, he joined the RCAF. in 1942, and after medical discharge, he attended the University of Washington, ob- taining the M.Sc. degree in Pharmacy.
Mr D. E A MacKay has been appointed Assistant Engineer and will help in building and maintenance work on the campus Next session he will serve on a part-time basis as Instructor tn Civil and Mechanical Engineering. He holds the degrees of BSc. in Mechanical Engineering from McGill University and Master of Commerce from the University of Toronto. During the past session he has been an In- structor in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Alberta.
This summer Mrs Emma MacDonald, who has recently moved to Edmonton from Toronto, will join the Library staff as an Assistant. An Arts graduate of the University of British Columbia, she also holds the degree of Bachelor of Library Science from the University of To- ronto. Her several years’ experience in library work includes service in the University of To- ronto Library, the Royal Society of Arts in London, England, the University Department of the Canadian Legion Educational Services Overseas, and recently the Toronto office of the Canadion Institute of International Affairs.
In August Miss Helen G F Hamilton will become Science Instructor in the School of Nursing <A graduate of the School of Nursing of the Montreal Genera! Hospital, she has studied also at Dalhousie University, McGill University, and Teachers’ College, Columbia University, where she obtained the degree of M.A During the War she served in the Royal Canadian Navy, first as instructor and later as matron in charge of a hospital nursing staff. For the past year she has been a science in- structor at the Hamilton General Hospital.
Miss Muriel Caldwell, a member of the University Elementary Schoo! staff, has been granted a year’s leave-of-absence to enable her to accept a temporary appointment as Lec- turer in the Faculty of Education. She will
assist in primary grade instruction in that Faculty.
Miss Helen Stock, who is an Arts graduate of Queen’s University arid hos just received the MA. degree from the University of To- ronto, will be a Sessional Instructor in Physi- ology.
Mr. E. W. Buxton, Assistant Professor of Education in the Calgary Branch, has been appointed Assistant Provost of the University, and will be in charge of disciplinary matters in that Branch.
This spring the Board approved the pro- motion of four staff members from Associate Professor to Professor: Messrs J. W. Mac- gregor, R. A. Rooney, D E. Smith, and L. A. Thorssen.
Dre J W Macgregor, Professor of Path- ology, is a graduate of the University of Al- berta in Arts and Medicine. He has been associated with the Department of Pathology and the Provincial Laboratory of Public Health since 1931, with the exception of short periods of post-graduate training in New York, Wash- ington, and Central America. He has had broad experience in the field of gross and htsto-pathology applied to medicine and 1s particularly interested im cancer research.
Dr. D. E Smith, Professor of Psychology, holds the degrees of MA. from Queen’s Uni- versity and Ph.D from Harvard. He has been on the University of Alberta staff since 1937, interrupted by four and a half years’ service in the Directorate of Personne! Selection of the Canadian Army, from which he retired with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. At present he is one of six Directors of the Canadian Psychological Association.
Dr R A. Rooney, Professor of Prosthetic Dentistry, 1s a graduate of Valparaiso Univer- sity. Since 1935 he has been Secretary of the Alberta Dental Association and in 1943-44 was President of the Canadian Dental Associa- tion He hos taught in the University of Al- berta on a part-time basis for several years, and will now be the senior professor tn the Department of Prosthetics, one of the four recently organized departments of the Faculty of Dentistry. The other three departments are: Oral Surgery, administered by Dean W Scott Hamilton; Operative Dentistry, adminis- tered by Dr H R. Maclean, and Peridontia
THE NEW TRAIL
and Orthodontia, administered by Dr. J. W. Neilson
Professor L A Thorssen has been asso- ciated with the Department of Civil Engineering of the University of Alberta since his student days After graduation in 1939 with the degree of B.Sc in Civil Engineering with High Distinction, he was appointed Demonstrator and has been on the staff since then. During the 1945-46 session he was on sabbatical leave and obtained the degree of MS. in Hydraulic Engineering from the University of lowa. During the past few summers he has had extensive experience with the Dominion Department of Transport and the Calgary Power Company, and 1s considered one of the foremost concrete engineers in Canada
Three staff members have resigned and will leave the University at August 31. Miss Iriny de Buisseret has given up her position as Assistant Professor of Modern Languages. Mr D A Fraser, Lecturer in Botany, has ac- cepted a post as Forest Ecologist with the Dominion Department of Agriculture. Mr F G Winspear, CA, has asked to be relieved of his duties as Professor of Accounting in order to have more time for his private prac- tice The Board expressed special appreciation of his twenty years’ service to the University
Two appointments have been made in the Department of Biochemistry to replace Dr George Hunter who had been head of the Department for the past twenty years. Dr. H Bruce Collier, now Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Saskatchewan, will be senior Professor in the Department, and Dr Bohdan Jelinek, now Research Fellow at the University of Birmingham, will be Assistant Professor.
Dr Collier is a PhD graduate of the University of Toronto From 1932 to 1939 he was head of the Department of Biochemistry of the College of Medicine and Dentistry, West China University On his return to Canada he was appointed biochemist in the Institute of Parasitology, McGill University, and three years later joined the staff of Dalhousie University Since 1946 he has been Professor and Head of the Department of Biochemistry at the Uni- versity of Saskatchewan. He is a member of the Advisory Committee on Medica! Research of the National Research Council, a Fellow of the Chemical Institute of Canada, and a
THE NEW TRAIL 205
member of the American Society of Biological Chemists, the Canadian Physiological Society, the History of Science Society, and the Sigma X: Honorary Scientific Society. To date he has published 29 papers in various scientific journals. He will take up his duties at the University of Alberta some time this fall.
Dr, Jelinek was born in Czechoslovakia and 1s a graduate of the Technical University at Brno, where he received a Diploma in Chemical Engineering and the D.Sc. degree, and of Masaryk University, also in Brno, where he received the degree of BSc. and MD. He has had wide industrial and research experience, working for a time in Germany and France, as well as in Czechoslovakia. In 1939 he be- came Assistant Professor in the Technical University at Brno, and held this post until the German Army closed the Czechoslovakian universities When they were reopened after the War, he was appointed Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Fermentation at the Technical University, Prague. He left there in February 1948, because of the political situation During 1945, at the invitation of the British Council, he was Visiting Professor at the University of Birmingham and in 1948 that University appointed him Research Fellow. He ts a member of French and British scientific societies and has published about 40 scientific papers in Czech, French, German, and English. He will join the University of Alberta staff this fall
A recent press release lists several other instructors who will join the staff in September
Mr Arthur B. Lamb, a graduate of McGill University, will be Assistant Professor of Bac- tertology For several years he has been em- ployed in the Laboratory Division of the On- tario Department of Health, and is now Bac- teniologist at the Kingston Regional Laboratory. In 1946 he was appointed a Member of the Chemical Institute of Canada.
Dr Rolf Shaftlin has been appointed Assist- ant Professor of Russian. He has studied at the universities of Toulouse, Riga, Oslo, Stock- hoim and Uppsala, and holds the degree of Licentiate of Philosophy tn Slavonic Languages from the last-mentioned university. Formerly head of the Department of Russian at Stock- holr: University Extension, he is now Head of the Department of Russian Language and Lite-oture at Leeds University.
In the Department of Fine Arts two posts have been filled Mr. Arthur B. Crighton will be Lecturer in Music, and Miss Esther Nelson Extension Lecturer in Drama. An _ R.C.A,F. veteran, Mr Crighton recently received the Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Toronto, and also holds the L.R.C.T. and LRSM diplomas in piano teaching and per- formance respectively During the past year he has been teaching music in Quebec City schools
Miss Nelson attended school in Ponoka and, after completing the Normal Schoo! course in Edmonton, taught for three years in Alberta rural schools She ts keenly interested in the community theatre and has had experience in every department of thts work, both in Al- berta and at the Pacific Coast. In 1946 she toured from Victoria to Winnipeg with Every- man Theatre, a Canadian professional company. She holds the senior certificate in dramatics from the Banff School of Fine Arts and fast year completed a two-year course at the Seattle Repertory Playhouse School of the Theatre.
Mr. Daroch D Campbell will join the staff of the Department of Extension as Lecturer. He received his early education in Medicine Hat, and after four years in the R.CA.F., attended the University of British Columbia, last year receiving the Bachelor of Commerce degree and this spring the BA with First Class General Standing in the Honours course in Economics
In the Faculty of Education Mr. John A. Forbes will be Lecturer in Art. After attend- ing Calgary Normal School, he taught in Al- berta and then served for three years in the RCAF. Last fall he received the B.Ed. degree from the University of Alberta, and during the past sesston has been doing graduate work at this University.
Two Lecturers in Mathematics have been appointed, Mr. W. R. Shanklin and Mr. Albert Shaw. Mr. Shanklin holds the Master's degree in Mathematics from Mount Allison University and the MA. in Education frem the University of Alberta For the past three years he has been on the faculty of the University of Mani- toba.
Mr. Shaw is a graduate of the University of Alberta with first class honours in Mathe- matics in his under-graduate years he served as a part-time instructor, For the past two
206 THE NEW TRAIL
years he has been studying at the University of North Carolina.
Miss Elaine A. Fildes, a graduate of the McGill School of Physical Education, will be instructor in Physical Education. Miss Jeanne A. Smeltzer, a B.Sc. graduate of the University of Alberta, will be Instructor in Bacteriology.
Mr. Victor E. Graham, Assistant Professor of French and English in the Calgary Branch of the Faculty of Education, has been given a year’s leave of absence to continue his gradu- ate studies. To replace him two part-time appointments have been made: Mrs. Mary Graham, to be Sessional Instructor in French, and Mr. |. Gislason, to be Sessional Instructor in English.
Other Sessional Instructors recently ap- pointed are: Miss Isabel V. Burwash, in Botany;
W. G. Goward, in Chemistry; Mrs. Helen B. Laycraft, in Nursing; and Dr. D. C. Ritchie, in Obstetrics and Gynecology. Dr. D. M. Mac-
donald will be Demonstrator in Anatomy.
Because of _ ill-health Miss Genevieve Twomey, Assistant Professor of Education, will retire at August 31. Dr. J. E. Carmichael, of the Faculty of Medicine, will also retire at the same time, becoming Honorary Instructor in Anesthesia. Three resignations have recently been reported to the Board: Dr. Winifred Hughes, Associate Professor of Zoology; Dr.
M. M. Cantor, Associate Professor of Bio- chemistry; and Mr. R. Stuart, Lecturer in Drama.
A sextette at Waterton Lakes.
» »
‘15 Arthur E. Popple advises us that his address has recently changed to. 1258 Rockland Ave, Victoria, B.C.
‘18
Miriam Bowman will return to Edmonton this fall and will be on the staff of Victoria High School She has spent the last three years as an instructor at Spelman College, At- lanta, Georgia, and at the present time ts studying at the Highlands University of New Mexico at Las Vegas
‘20 After August 15, Dr. S$. Sands, who has practised in Westlock for the last twenty-three years, will be ‘’at home’’ at the Astor Apart- ments at 1045 Rockland Ave, Victoria
On a recent trip ‘’down south’, our editor met Mrs. F. H. Grahom (nee Betty Fraser) and family He reports that they have a delightful home on the hill overlooking Coleman
R. P. Miller and Mrs. Miller (a graduate of the University of California) were in the office some time ago R P has been in the service of Standard Oil of California for twenty-five years and lives at 3333 Divisadero St, San Francisco We were glad to hear through him of Lawrence Miller, C. H. Tookey, Elmer Mc- Kitrick and Sam Francis, all members of the Class of ‘20
‘23 Edith Mary Martin dropped into the office fora chat recently An instructor at McMaster University, she reports things are very busy there
Dr. Harry Shankman, who writes from Chil- har Court, Bulawayo, Southern Rhodesia, won- ders if there are any other Alberta alumni in frat vicinity
Or. Charles D. Reid of Rochester N Y spent Q stort hohday in Edmonton this summer Whi's here he visited with old ‘23 pals and took 2 grand tour of the Leduc oil ftelds with Sur «ditor, Mr. Markle. Primarily a physicist, Dr Reid's main business is lenses—the ap- Praising of photographic lenses as they are turnc + out by the lens department.
Alumni Notes
207
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‘24
John Millen, who ts still with C.M. & 5. at Trail, tells us he had a recent visit with John Tames ‘25, who ts now in Vancouver with Westinghouse Mr Millen’s daughter is a successful school teacher at Trail.
Our editor also reports that Arthur Putiond, organist and choirmaster of Southminster United Church of Lethbridge, has developed into quite a kodachrome artist.
‘25
Dr. Esther Prevey, director of Family Life Education of the Kansas City Public Schools, has been instructing in child psychology at the University of Alberta summer session.
Dr. M. A. R. Young of Lamont has been appointed to the provincial health survey com- mittee as representative of the College of Physicians and Surgeons.
Professor L. H. Nichols, while in Sudbury, met James C. Perlee ‘33, who is assistant manager of International Nickel, and on a visit to the separation plant of this company, met Dr. Alan Harcourt ‘30. To round out the visit he had dinner with Jack McConnel ‘34, a resident of Copper Cliff, Ontario, who is also in the employ of International Nickel
‘27
WO. H. Norbury, R.C.N., and Mes. Nor- bury (the former Marjorie Race, BSc. (H.Ec.), who were married in Edmonton on July 22, are making their home in Victoria, B.C Before her marriage, the bride was a medical social worker at the Victoria Veterans’ Hospital
Horty Hunter is general superintendent of the Canadian Western Natural Gas Co. Ltd., Calgary
Dr. E. R. Tinkham of Indio, California, has been holidaying in Edmonton during the month of August A pioneer in the study of plant and animal life in the deserts of America, Dr Tinkham is now district entomologist for the Coachella Valley of California. He ts presently working on control of a species of gnat that causes an eye disease.
‘28 C. A. Laverty has recently moved from To- ronto to Quebec City, where he is an electrical
superintendent of the Anglo-Canadian Pulp and Paper Mills Ltd. He tells us that Murray Swallow ‘42 is working in the same plant.
‘29
A graduate in pharmacy, Frencis William Johnston of Mundare, died in hospital a short time ago. He and his family had lived in Mundare for the past eighteen years.
Mrs. E. G. Langilie (nee Marguerite Mc- Lellan) writes from Pioneer Mine, B.C., where her husband is resident geologist. A daughter, Donna, was born on November 28 of last year —a sister for four-year-old John.
‘30
Of wide interest is the news of the mar- riage on July 7 of Dr. Anna Wilson of Winni- peg to Group Captain Norman Sharp, R.C.A.F.
Dr. George V. Haythorne, who received his Ph.D. from Harvard this year, is director of the economics and research branch with the Department of Labour at Ottawa.
Grace Duggen has been awarded a special fellowship by the Canadian Home Economics Association to devote the next year to a survey of home economics education in Canada and the United States in relation to professional services expected of graduates.
"31
Dre. Ken Argue, who 1s on the U.B.C. staff, has been instructing in History of Education at the summer session here.
Robert Putnam has been appointed super- intendent of Schools of Agriculture in this province, and W. H. T. Mead ‘32 has been appointed Livestock Commissioner.
Zella Oliver, who is studying for her Ph.D. degree at Columbia University in New York, has obtained the leading role in Columbia's production of Oscar Wilde’s play ‘““A Woman of No tmportance’’. Miss Oliver will return to the U. of A. this fall, where she is assistant professor of education.
‘32 Mrs. W. A. Paterson (nee Marjorie M. Foster) lives at 250 Bartlett Ave., Winnipeg.
‘34 Chief Geologist with Texaco Exploration Co., Dr. Hugh Beach telis us that his present address is: 809 4th Street West, Calgary.
THE NEW TRAIL
“Red” Davidson and Mrs. Davidson turned up in Lethbridge on the occasion of the visit of the Mixed Chorus to that city. “Red” ong his wife are living a few miles out of Leth- bridge, and are devoting all their energies to the raising of sheep, literally by the thou. sands-—well, they do have five children o, well, but you would never know it by the look of them.
Mrs. G. F. Wilcock (nee Edith Moorhouse) who lives at Calgary, advises us that her sons, John and Billy, are now five and one-half and three years old respectively.
.i% 35
Ralph E. Carlyle has resigned from the staff of the Colorado A. & M. College and 1s now employed as agronomist by Monsanto Chemical Co of St Louis, Mo.
Leonard Sayers, who is with a light and power company at Rio de Janeiro tells us of the birth of a son on May 29. His doughter Wendy 1s now two and one-half years old.
36
Dr. E. Y. Spencer also visited our office this summer. He 1s co-ordinator of Research of the Saskatchewan Research Council, but still remains as a member of the Chemistry Department at the University of Saskatchewan Through him we heard news of Francis Rigby ‘42, A. C. Blackwood ‘42, Ray Lemieux ‘43, and Clarence Gerbrandt '44
Born to Mr. and Mrs. Gordon K. Wynn on July 22, a son, John Gordon.
‘37
Dr. Max Tofield Rogers, associate pro- fessor of chemistry at Michigan State College, has been visiting his parents ot Tofield, Al- berta He was accompanied by his wife and thetr two children.
Bill Elliott, who has been principal of the Viking school for several years, will be prin- cipal at Fort Saskatchewan next fall.
Mr. and Mrs. George Chattaway tell us that they are still ranching near Muirhead, Alberta. They have two children: a son who is two and one-half and a daughter who is 9 year old. ,
‘38 A June wedding of wide interest is that of Madeline McCulla, former assistant pro-
THE NEW TRAIL 209
fessor of the school of nursing at the Univer- sity of Alberta, to Mr. Lars A. Larson of Lethbridge.
John Decore was a successful Liberal can- dicate in the federal general election.
J. T. Cuyler, principal of Alexandra Com- posite High School, called in one day recently for a yaw about Medicine Hat
Samuel $. Graham, who has been an em- ployee of the Department of Agriculture since 1927, has been appointed Supervisor of Dis- trict Agriculturists for that department.
Rev. Mr. Spady has moved from Spirit River to Medicine Hat
‘40 Alex Robertson has received his PhD. in chemistry from McGill University, and will continue research work tn Montreal.
Andy Gorrett resigned this spring from the news editorship of ‘The Albertan’’ to become Provincial Manager of ‘’The Canadian Press.”
Delmar Oviatt was one of six men who received doctor of education degrees from Stan- ford University Others were: Arthur Reeves '37, Donovan Swanson ‘47, and Maurice Free- hill ‘46 Haldor Rosvold received his Ph.D. in_ psychology.
Thomas F. G. Mason is at present repre- sentative of the J Walter Thompson (Eastern) Ltd, Lakshmi Bldg, Sir P Mahta Road, Box 241, Bombay 1, India.
Sandy Patterson, Edmonton's superintend- ent of parks, 1s back at work after having been confined for several! months to the Centra! Alberta Sanitartum
‘41
We are sorry to report the death of Dr. Michael W. Feniak, who was resident geologist for the federal government at Yellowknife, NWT It is thought that Dr. Feniak was drowned in the Indin River while taking flow mec'urements of the river.
Dr. J. G. Ross is now assistant professor of o.ronomy at South Dakota State College.
Mr. and Mrs. George Lambert tell us that they have a new daughter, Judith May
Max Stewart of New York City was a recent Edmonton visitor, :
Dr. Jean Holowach was married August 7 to Dr Donald Thurston of St Louis, Mo. They wil rake their home in St Louis.
After September 23, Dr. Ray Burnap will be associated with Dr. Charles McCuskey of Los Angeles, in the practice of anesthesia. Dr Burnap has been assistant anesthetist at the University of Alberta Hospital!
Mrs. W. J. Ward (nee Gwyneth Shaw) tells us she would be most happy to see any alumnus that might five near Seattle. She and her husband and small daughter live at 3029 West 56th Street, Seattle.
‘42
Dr. F. C. Day, who is doing post-graduate work at Liverpool, has been awarded a fellow- ship degree in orthopaedic surgery at Glasgow. Dr Day and his family will return to Edmon- ton tn December.
Cloverdale, BC, was the scene of the recent wedding of Catherine Pierce and Dr. George Ford. Or Ford has been assistant pro- fessor of applied mechanics here for the past year
Rev. Hart Cantelon has returned from Berkeley and will open his new pastorate in Jasper Place United Church (Edmonton) in the near future
Gordon Brown (our former secretary of the Alumni Association and editor of “The New Trail’) and Mrs. Brown called in to see us late in June. Gordon has been in ill-health for some time and at the moment is visiting the home of his parents in Edmonton.
James Roxburgh has obtained his PhD. from McGill University and has accepted a position on the staff of the prairie regional laboratories of the National Research Council at Saskatoon
An early summer wedding was that of Ralph Hole and Ada Bruce of Edmonton.
Dr. L. B. Pett, director of the nutrition division of the Department of National Health and Welfare, visited Edmonton early this sum- mer. Dr. Pett was at one time a lecturer in the Department of Biochemistry here
Isabel Dean was awarded a Master of Arts degree at the University of Wisconsin com- mencement recently.
‘43 From Paris comes news of the marriage of Gerard R. Touges ‘43 to Doris M. Kirk ‘44 Mr Tougas ts an interpreter with the United Nations’ World Health Organization in Geneva
210
and Mrs. Tougas has been doing post-graduate work at the Sorbonne.
Gilbert Brimacombe has been appointed to the staff of the Westlock High School, after having taught at Holden for the past three years. Gilbert was recently married to Mildred Joyce Bailey of Tofield.
Born to Dr. and Mrs. E. A. Gain (nee Effie Dunn ‘40) on July 26 at the University Hos- pital in Edmonton, a son, Richard Alexander.
On June 7 Wm. E. Brown received his Ph.D. in agriculture from the University of Wisconsin, while Mrs Brown (the former Lily Cutts of Edmonton) received her B Sc. in home economics from the some university. Dr. Brown is now doing research work at Valley- field, Quebec.
After honeymooning at Salt Lake City and Yellowstone Park, Mr. and Mrs. Gerald Heath will reside in Edmonton. Mrs Heath is the former Lorna Fraser who obtained her B.Sc (N) in 1948
Dr. James C. Nicol has been appointed to the faculty of Williamette University at Salem, Oregon He will teach physical and general chemistry.
‘A4 Edward F. Murphy, who received his B. Com, in 1944 and his LL.B. last year, was recently admitted to the bar in Red Deer.
July 29 was the wedding day of Horry Evans and Estelle Hargreaves Richardson of Montreal. Harry has been doing research work under National Research Council in Montreal for several years.
Arthur K. Brimacomb, who has been on the staff of the Brooks High School for the past four years, has been appointed principal of the high and public schools at Athabasca He replaces Neil Purvis ‘47 who has accepted a position as superintendent with the Depart- ment of Education.
Dr. Robert A. Macbeth was married on August 10 in Montreal to Monique Filliol, who is a graduate of the Montreal General Hos- pital. Dr Macbeth has been doing post- graduate work ot the Children’s Memorial Hospital in the eastern city.
Fronces Clark, who has been studying at the Union Theological Seminary, an affiliate of Columbia University, has spent the summer here organizing church vacation schools. She
THE NEW TRAIL
plans to return to New York in the fall for further study.
From Washington State College come; news of Mary Corbett ‘44 receiving her M.Sc in home economics, and John Jorgens '45 re ceiving his MA in agricultural economics.
Born to Mr. and Mrs. A. R. Robblee (ne Peggy Tredger '39) on June 13, a son, Douglas Nell.
‘a5
Mrs. R. L. Outhet (the former Doreas Stewart) is in charge of the Biochemistry De- partment of the Ottawa Clinic Hospital.
Beatrice Grant and Corl Rolf were recently married in Edmonton, where they will make their future home Car! is a law student and Beatrice a graduate in household economics
Another summer wedding of interest was that of Frank Quigley to Donne Mary Steven- son They are making their home in Calgary
De. John H. Jones who has his practice at Peace River, tells us that he has three daugh- ters and a son—at last!
‘A6
Devid Lubert has been awarded a scholar- ship at the University of Wisconsin and will undertake research in agricultural bacteriology at that university under the direction of Dr W. C Frazier.
Dr. Robert S. Fraser was recently married to Margoret Woodman of Winnipeg. They will make their home tn Edmonton
Richard A. Morton, who has been prin- cipal ‘of Sangudo High School for six years, has now accepted a position with radio station CJCA as a script writer.
Born to Mr. and Mrs. Robert Hollingshead (nee Betty Pullar) on June 12, a daughter, Susan
Nicholos Swabb was recently awarded a Master of Arts degree in Bacteriology from Queen’s University.
Dr. Gilbert Campbell, who for the past two years hos been on the staff of Ponoka Hospital, has left for New York to take an appointment as resident doctor in psychiatry at the Syracuse Psychopathic Hospital.
Gordon Groves, who was recently married to Katherine Tiffin of Edmonton, has been ap- pointed to the staff of the University of British Columbia.
THE NEW TRAIL 211
Master of Science degrees in Electrical Engineering were awarded from Stanford Uni- versity to George Mathers ‘46 and William G. Morison ‘48
‘AT
A staff member of the Faculty of Dentistry, Dr. Kenneth McMurchy was married to Miss Noncy Alton on August 6 Nancy is a ‘48 graduate.
Marjorie Holtsman and Robb Wilson were married at St Stephen’s College Chapel on August 1. Both are graduates of this univer- sity.
Joseph J. Stratton was recently admitted to the Alberta bar. He has articled with the firm of Nolan, Chambers, Might, Saucier and Peacock and will continue with it.
Dr. Francis Leboldus was recently married in Rimbey to Bernice Donnelly, o graduate of the Edmonton General Hospital School of Nursing.
Born to Mr. and Mrs. F. A. Roneghon (nee Stetla Doze) on June 21, a son, Brian Mitchell.
Archie Greenaway is entering Union Col- lege, University of British Columbia, this fall.
Mary Mcintosh, who has been teaching in Medicine Hat, will be on the Junior High School staff in Calgary next year.
June 25 was the wedding date for Edward Stewart and Betty Christian of Edmonton. Ed is a ‘47 pharmacy graduate
‘48
Two graduates in law who were recently admitted to the bar are Lawrence Hennon, who will now join the National Trust Co. as a trust officer, and Alex Dubensky, who plans to open his own practice in Edmonton. Others admitted to the Alberta bar are Bill Sinclair, Sam Lieberman and Guy Beaudry. Bill will be associated with the firm of Smith, Clement, Parlee and Whittaker. Sam will continue his association with his father’s firm of Friedman, Lieberman and Newson, while Guy has begun duty as assistant to the crown prosecutor at the city police station in Edmonton.
Among the numerous summer weddings of Pariicular interest to this class is that of Dr. John Appleby and Dr. Shirley Haynes.
Louis Voghell and Edythe Gordanier were married on July 9 in Edmonton The bride ts 9 1948 graduate of the Provincial Mental Hos- Pita! school of nursing Louis has been teach-
ing at St. Michael’s Schoo! in Edmonton this past year.
After their June wedding, De. and Mrs. Russel Lastiwke ore living at Radway. Mrs. Lastiwka 1s the former Lucy Shewehuk of Willingdon.
De. and Mrs. R. F. Makeroff are practising tn the Edmonton district for the summer but will leave in the autumn to take post-graduate work Mrs Makaroff is the former Dr. Shauns Little.
Alex Markle, who received the degree of Bachelor of Journalism from Carleton College this year, has joined the staff of the Canadian Legion Press Ltd. in Ottawa as circulation manager of ‘The Legionary”.
De. and Mrs. Arthur Follett, who were re- cently married in Edmonton, will take up resi- dence in Regina. Mrs Follett is the former Morgoret Austen, o graduote in nursing from St. Joseph’s Hospital of Port Arthur.
Don Brundage ‘48 and Kay Sheasby ‘46 were married early this summer in Calgary, where they are making therr home. Don 1s with the YMCA. in that city.
Born to Dr. and Mrs. R. D. Reikie (nee Lois Dunbar) on May 26, a son, William Rod- dick,
On July 28 Beth Tanner was married to Grant L. Spackman of Raymond.
Kilburn Urquhart is pursuing a course in veterinary medicine During the summer months he 1s working at the Dominion Ex- perimental Station at Fort Vermilion, Alberta.
Mr. and Mrs. Donald Lougheed (the former Doreen Bradley) who were married in Edmon- ton this summer, are making their home in Calgary. Donald 1s a graduate in mining engineering, while Doreen is a recent com- merce graduate.
Dr. Doris Mackay is in practice with the High Prairie Clinic.
Paul Melnychyn, Olga Barilko and Mary Millar are attending the International Students’ Service Seminar at Breda, Holland, this sum- mer Paul graduated in agriculture in 1948, Olga in arts this spring and Mary ts an arts student, now in her third year.
‘a9 W. R. (Ron) Vernon has been appointed consultant engineer with Radio Supply Co. Ltd of Edmonton.
212 THE NEW TRAIL
Leura Townsend and John Perrott were morried late in June and are now residing near Stavely. Laura received her B.Ed. degree and John has BSc. in agriculture.
A June wedding took place in Camrose when Jessie Evelyn Copsey was united in mar- riage to George Whitmore. They will reside in Edmonton where George will continue his medical course at the U. of A.
Mary Morrison has been awarded a fellow- ship in home economics at Washington State Coflege, where she will study for a year.
June 18 was the wedding day of Gwyneth Cook and Reginald Bailey, both ‘49 graduates
Robert Buck, who graduated with honors in classics and archaeology, has been named graduate assistant at the University of Ken- tucky.
Library science scholarships have been awarded by the provincial government to Helen McGregor ‘49, Marjorie Bailie ‘49 and Etta Barnecut ‘48.
Married in July, Mr. and Mrs. Bruce Powe (the former Alys Brady) are making their home in Edmonton.
G. A. Martin, a graduate in chemical en- gineering, has been awarded an Imperial Oil Ltd. fellowship for research in petroleum en- gineering.
Jack Armstrong, B.Com., will teach com- mercial subjects at the Alexandra Composite High School in Medicine Hat this year.
J. Benedict Smith will attend Oxford Uni- versity this fall. Prior to his arrival there, he intends to go on tour through Belgium, France, Switzerland and Italy
Myrnie Sands and Ken Boyd were married in fate July at Westlock They will reside in Edmonton where Ken will continue his law studies.
Born to Mr. and Mrs. Doug Darrah (nee Virginia Thompson '44) of Edmonton, on July 24, a son, John Douglas
Joyce Green has accepted a teaching fel- lowship at the University of Western Ontario for the 1949-50 term.
Mr. and Mrs. Bob Rosser, who were mar- ried July 16 in Edmonton, will make their home in Hamilton, Ontario Mrs Rosser, the former Doris Sheppard, has been on the University High School staff here.
Marion Puffer ond John M. Black were marned in Edmonton on August 15. Both education graduates, they are planning to teach in England this next term.
—KAY BENDIKSEN, Editor.
‘NEWS .... from the branches
The “Dents”
The Denta! Alumni Association held its annual meeting for 1949 on June 6 last at the Bessborough Hotet, Saskatoon. The occa- sion was the three-day convention of the Cana- dion Dental Association Officials reported a splendid attendance—we hear that ninety-five per cent of the Alberta graduates who were eligible to attend the convention turned up for the Alberta alumni meeting.
The chief topics of discussion were. the adoption of a constitution, the setting of mem- bership dues and the advisability of issuing a news bulletin this coming fall.
The main speakers were Dean Hamilton of the University of Alberta, and Dr. John Clay. Dean Hamilton conveyed the thanks of the
University for the support of the alumn and expressed the hope that such assistance would continue. He stressed the importance to the profession of care in selecting the proper kind of students Dr Clay spoke on what an alumni association can mean to a university and participated in a short discussion of aims and objects.
The Honorary President, Or. Bulyea, sent greetings and his regrets at being unable to attend.
A jolly socral hour brought the Albertu graduates together informally and gave them a chance to swap stories and to warm up for the meeting which followed
The present executive, with Dr. P J Ken- dal, Edmonton, at the head, was empower d to carry on until the next annual meeting. Th's
THE NEW TRAIL 213
will probably be in connection with a fall clinic at the University of Alberta in 1950.
Toronto
In a letter from Ken Madsen we have all the latest news on the tea-party scheduled for the month of May. We do not think we can improve on Ken's enthusiastic report; so here it 1s (quote):
“Our Tea, originally scheduled for May 22nd, was postponed (because of the May 24th holiday week-end) until May 29th. It was a most successful affair... It was held at Wymilwood (one of the Women’s Residences —wUniversity of Toronto). Situated right on the University of Toronto Campus, facing Queens Park, it 1s an ideal setting for such an affair, We had almost seventy-five out, and | think everyone enjoyed to the fullest the opportunity to renew old contacts and friendships The tea table looked lovely, and Jesste Heath (nee Carmichael) had everything organized to perfection.”
From the press report we learn that J C K Madsen, president, with Mrs Madsen (nee Marte Foley) received, assisted by Registrar J A Tuck and Mrs Tuck (nee Dorothy Reed) Pouring tea were Mrs G B Langford and Mrs D M Robertson. Serving during the after- noon were [ris Amundsen, Mrs H. M. Boles (nee Jane Macdonald), Mrs L. O. Bradley (nee Mona Bounds), Mrs. Wm. Logan (nee Jean Hickey), Lots Courtney, Marcia Gillespie, Mar- jorte Sedgwick, Mary Soper and Mrs Chas. Stauffer (nee Isabel Kippen) Mrs. Fred J. Heath (nee Jessie Carmichael) acted as con- vener,
Now for some more of Ken's letter:
“During the course of the afternoon Mr Jack Tuck presented a new slate of officers for the 1949-1950 season on behalf of the Nominating Committee and the following execu- was elected: President, Fred Heath; Vice- President, Dr. L ©. Bradley, Secretary, Marcia Gillespie; Treasurer, Clem King; Members, iris Amundsen, Jane Boles, Marton Francis,
Ken Madsen, Isabel! Stauffer.
“As you know, both Fred and Jessie Heath have given a great deal of time and effort to the work of the Toronto Branch and | know that the Branch will have a most successful yeor under Fred’s guidance.
“Although Clem King was unable to attend he did have a financial statement ready for Presentation Our finances, naturally, are not tnvolved but the statement indicated a reason- ably healthy balance on hand. Clem, inci- dentally, has done a wonderful job for us in his capacity as treasurer, and you will note that we have prevailed upon him to carry on for another term “
Thanks, Ken We are delighted to pass on your account of the doings of the Toronto Branch to the rest of the world
4-A Agriculture graduates of the University of Alberta in all but six of the 32 years re- sponded to the roll call at the annual reunion dinner and dance in Athabasca Hall on Satur- day, June 11 Dean Sinclair, who extended greetings from the University and the Faculty of Agriculture to the company of 150, was the single proud representative of the first
graduating class of 1918.
The reunion was jointly sponsored by the 4-A and the Alberta Institute of Agrology. Ray Dixon, president of the 4-A, which by the way ts short for Alberta Agricultural Alumni Association, presided at the head of the table and saw that his guests had a good time. We noticed among the distinguished guests Dean Sinclair, Earl Bowser, registrar of the ALA., Frank Wood, secretary of the 4-A and A. M. Wilson, and, of course, their respective wives.
It was a most enjoyable affair from all angles the dinner was delicious, the speeches were short and the social gathering after dinner was gay and informal. Altogether the whole evening’s entertainment was a fitting climax to the University’s Feeders’ Day activities.
Have you sent your new address to the Alumni office?
214 THE NEW TRAIL
WANTED!
/9/2-49| {1912-49
1,500 “ALUMS ”-- For Alumni Homecoming Week-end, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Nov. 4th, 5th and 6th, 1949
REWARD—
A memorable week-end for all who attend. Yes, you “Alums”, we want YOU! Your hosts will be the thirty active members of the Golden Key Society, newly formed on the Alberta campus. They aim to provide a full programme of entertainment, arranging accommodation and giving you the time of your life. So why not make this your year to renew old memories. Remember— the first. week-end in November!
The Programme--
FRIDAY—Variety Show. Entertainment by old and young.
SATURDAY—3:00 p.m.,Coffee Party; 9:00 p.m., Alumni Dance. (During the day tours of the campus will be arranged).
SUNDAY—11:00 a.m., Church parade; 12:30 p.m., Buffet Luncheon.
A SPECIAL MESSAGE TO THE CLASS ‘24!
This is your 25th anniversary year. We want especially ‘“YOU” to return to ; your old ““U". Keep it in mind.
nnn nn nee EEE
BRANDED LINES
Are Year-Round Features at EATON’S
From "Coast to Coast”
a E ATO N Ce
wesTErRN LIMITED
Our cover portrays the head of a male prongbuck or antelope, native to the prairie regions of Saskatchewan, Al- berta and Montana At one time it ranged extensively across the western plains But the notorious winter of 1906-7, which killed scores of thousands of cattle, so decimated its ranks, already seriously depleted through over hunting, as almost to cause its total extinction Complete protection has restored it sufficiently to permit again a brief shooting season annually the meat is an epicure’s item Its present numbers are estimated in Canada at about 30,000 animals
Despite its popular name of antelope, the prongbuck 1s not related to the well known antelopes of Africa The prong on the horn, to which it owes its common name, is peculiar to it, as is the fact that the hornsheaths are periodically shed Although it stands barely three feet at the shoulder, it has been clocked by speedometer over short distances at 60 mph (The mammalian world’s record is held by the Cheeta, hunting leopard of Africa, which can exceed 80 mph_ a good race horse can manage little over 45) The introduction of fences across the prairies for some years menaced its survival till it solved the problem, not by jumping over but by sliding under Possibly there are geniuses even among antelopes the individual that thought this one up, contributed at least as much to the survival of the race as all man's conservation measures put together