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Royal Tournament, 1957
Recently I visited the Royal Tournament which is a show put on by the servicemen every year. This was the first time I had ever been so it
was most interesting. We travelled there by coach and as we were among the first there we got in without any trouble. The show started with
a brass band from the R.A.F. together with some airmen marching with rifles. After a few more bands there was a show put on by the Royal
Navy, which was a story of how the people of Malta held out against the Germans in the last war. The scene was an airfield defended by two
ack-ack guns. There was an aircraft carrier which had some Spitfires Which needed refuelling but could not get to land owing to German
submarines. It showed how the men flew the aeroplanes on to the runway with the fuel they had left and it actually showed two Spitfires
come in, refuel and fly out again.
There was a contest between sailors from Devonport and the Fleet Air Arm who had to assemble a gun, take it over some walls bv means
of a cable, and fire a shell from it. Then they had to tike it to pieces again, take it back over the walls, assemble it again and pull it the length
of the arena. When the race started Devonport were in the lead, but just as they were coming back the cable jammed allowing the Fleet Air
Arm to win. Then there was the history of ships from the days of Nelson First there was an attack on a very old ship by pirates. This showed
the old guns and how the sea battles were fought in those days. Next then was a. battle between model ships of the last world war which fired
little shells at each other. Then there was a modern ship firing guided missiles. But instead of firing guided missiles it fired two rockets which
went straight through a hole in the roof.
1 cannot put everything in so I shall finish with what was perhaps the best band of all. It was the Royal Marines Massed Band, which consisted
of 208 men. It was a very big band and had four Drum Majors and three base drums. It played a few marching tunes and then to finish off with
played the National Anthem. So ended the Royal Tournament for another year but there is always next year. I wonder if it will be as good as
this next year?
L. DA VIES
My Visit To Stephen Austin And Sons
Twenty-eight of the printers were picked to visit Stephen Austin and Sons. At 2.0 o'clock on Thursday, 9th May, we left Printers' block by
lorry and cars on our excursion.
When we arrived we were taken up to the directors' office, and here we were split up into groups of six.
My party was shown around by one of the managers who took us downstairs into the workshop, which is one enormous room where nearly
everything is done. We went round the composing section first, that is where the type is set up. There we saw how the compositors set up the
type in different languages (Russian, Greek, Arabic, Chinese and about eighty other different languages). Austin's is the biggest oriental
printing works in Britain and one of the biggest in the world. They are the only printing works in Great Britain that cut their own matrices
from which the oriental types are cast. One of the men we spoke to could speak about three languages. He told us how the different characters
of the Chinese language were made up. Then we moved round to the machine department where the actual jobs are printed. One of the
machines was doing a job for Egypt. There was one very big machine in one corner which was printing The Hertfordshire Mercury. This
machine is called the "Cossor" printing machine which prints from a reel of paper, about 7 miles long and the papers finish up printed, folded
and counted in 13's. There were also smaller machines which were printing programmes, bills, books and magazines.
The next part of our tour took us to the Monotype keyboards. These machines are worked by compressed air, each time a key is tapped a
punch makes a hole in the spool paper which indicates a letter, then the spool is sent to the casting room where it is put on a machine which
"converts" the holes in the paper to metal types. We then visited the binding department. Here they bind, fold, stitch, collect and make into
books.
The last part of our tour took us to the Matrix making department. In this department the original drawing of letters and designs are created
by an artist who makes the original drawing of a subject, 20 times greater than the final requirement. This is super-imposed on to an acetate
sheet (20 thousandths of an inch thick). Then the face of the character is cut out. The combined sheets (now the master character) are then
taken to the cutting room and placed on a cutting machine. A piece of brass or aluminum alloy the required size, is positioned under the
cutting knife which cuts by rotating into the metal at a very high speed. The actual design cut is controlled at the other end of the machine
where the master is in position and where the operator is running a "style" or "follower" round the design cut out of the acetate. The actual
design I saw being cut was the Coat of Arms for the King of Ceylon. The actual finished size of this was 30 pt. square (approx. Two fiths of
an inch to non-printers). Having only seen this machine working once it is very difficult to explain but it was very interesting to see,
When we came from the Matrix Department we were taken into the canteen,,where we had a very good tea. Then we boarded the lorry and
came away with a better knowledge of printing.
J. WELL WOOD
Ramsgate
This pleasant seaside resort is situated on the eastern end of the south coast. Many people, especially Londoners go there for holidays. The
harbour has two basins and two piers which provide good fishing. There is a large fun fair which includes a skating rink. If the .golden sands
which stretch the whole length of the sea front are crowded, there are four beautiful parks in which visitors i an enjoy themselves. As well as
the fair there is a "Model Village" which stands on the west cliff. This is a replica in miniature of the (owns and countryside surrounding
Ramsgate, which gives holiday m.il.ers a reasonable idea of what it is like if they care to go for .in excursion by coach. This also has an
aerodrome complete with .HI. rait, and a cathedral with a miniature electric organ which l'l.i\ s hymns.
In the evening the village and the sea front are illuminated, .in.l l>olh look very attractive. There is a wide range of hotels in I' misgate, jnostly
situated on the west and east cliffs. These UK hide the Regency, the San Clue and the Granville, which in my "pinion are three of the finest in
the whole of Ramsgate.
A. BO WEN
Rabbits and Breeding
A lot of people have rabbits, but I am sorry to say they do not look after them, and only clean out their hutches once a fortnight, when they
should clean them out twice a week or more.
Before I came here I had three rabbits, an Albino and two Dutch hares. The rabbits with which I was breeding were the Albino and one of the
Dutch hares.
I had a lot of trouble in getting them to mix so I made a long cage about six feet long with a piece of wire netting in the middle and put them
both by the wire.
After a week they started kissing each other, so I took the wire netting away then put them in a bigger cage with a big bedroom in which I put
a lot of hay. The Albino then made a nest which I did not touch for three weeks and when I cleaned it out I only cleaned the pen and not the
nest. If I had touched the mother or the babies the father would have eaten them.
But I did not touch the babies and after a time they came jumping out to play on the grass.
I then took the father away and put him in a cage of his own. Then I started playing with the babies and the mother in their little pen.
After a year I sold all but one of the rabbits for three shillings each.
DAVID BIRD
The Many Joys Of Swimming
There are so many joys in swimming that it is almost impossible to describe them all. There are the breast stroke, crawl, back crawl, side
stroke and two newer ones, the butterfly and dolphin.
The butterfly was first used in the Olympic Games at Helsinki, Finland, in 1952. The dolphin is newer than the butterfly. The breast stroke is
really a long distance stroke as you can swim quite a way without being exhausted. The crawls are the fastest racing strokes, called the sprints.
Diving is the best part of swimming for me and nearly every time I go swimming I dive off the edge as soon as we are allowed in. Some of
the dives are: english header forward, the pike, commonly called the jacknife, the swallow dive and, last but not least, the somersalt.
The first dives I did were what you would call "belly-flops" but after a while I plunged into the water without much of a splash. Finally, I
wish every boy in Kinnaird who can swim "Good Luck" in the swimming sports.
R. A. FURNISS
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