OLDEST OLD BOYS

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 738, 10 August 1929, Page 15

OLDEST OLD BOYS

GAMES THEY USED TO PLAY AT GRAMMAR MARBLES THEN: FOOTBALL NOW A party of the “very old” old boys of the Auckland Grammar School called at the school yesterday afternoon at the invitation of the headmaster, Mr. H. J. D. Mahon, and in brief speeches delighted 800 boys by amusing descriptions of the kind of games played in the ’seventies. fJ'HE visit was part of the diamond

jubilee celebrations now being held and the assembly included six who were pupils when the school opened in 1869. They were Captain A. Duder and Messrs. R. E. Isaacs, H. F. Forder, A. B. Shalders, F. Prime and G. PI. Cook. Mr. C. B. Houghton was the only IS7O representative, Messrs. Thomas Macky and G. M. Pearce joined in 1871, Mr. J. A. Penalligan in 1872, Dr. E. Robertson, Dr. A. C. Purchas and Messrs. C. H. Burgess, Angus Gordon, F. D. Clayton, W. and John Kenderdine in 1574, and Messrs. J. Arneil and C. E. MacCormiek in 1875. “One of our favourite games was called ‘kingaseeny,’ and, of course, we used to play tops,” said Mr. Isaacs, who spoke first. The boys laughed heartily. “We used to make an enormous ring and put our alleys in the centre. We used a marble called a ‘bonze,’ and when you use the expression today, ‘Pie is a bonzer,’ what you really mean is that he is a leading marble. I believe that is the origin of the word.” Very little football was played, Mr. Isaacs admitted almost with apology. The field games in those days were cricket and rounders. The first school was held in the converted immigration barracks, and Mr. Isaacs remembered playing cricket on an open space where the Supreme Court now stands. On Constitution Hill, there used to be an old battery for defence against possible hostile attacks by the Maoris, and there the boys were taught something of military drill. Old-type Schneider carbines were used and musketry was carried out at a rifle range on the slopes of Mount Eden. RIDING AN ELEPHANT The excitement caused by the news that a real, live elephant had been brought to New Zealand by the Duke of Edinburgh and was to be stabled in the Albert Baruacks was remembered by Captaiii Duder. “It was a thing we Auckland boys had never seen,” he remarked, “and what was more natural than that a party of us should take French leave and have a look at it. all had a ride on the animal and had the greatest time of our lives—and the greatest licking of our lives afterward.” Captain Duder’s observation that he understood caning at the school had been abolished was greeted with laughter. “In the old days,” he said, “the desks used to be equipped with slates, which were a great blessing to cool one’s hands upon after corporal punishment.” “Truth and honour before education,” had been the mottb of the first headmaster, Dr. Kidd—“and heaven help you if you did not stick up to it,” Captain Duder added amid laughter. The greatest achievement of the Grammar School, in Captaiii Duder’s opinion, was that it had produced its own headmasters. He paid a tribute to the two old boy “heads,” the late Mr. J. Drummond and the present headmaster. There were many eminent men in Auckland in the sixties and seventies, and the board of governors boasted some of the best of them. In announcing his intention to present an athletic trophy to the school for annual competition an old boy, Mr. R. E. Isaacs, suggested that the present boys themselves should decide the form the competition should take. Of the 800 boys present about 780 expressed a preference for football, 20 voted for boxing and only one shyly raised a hand in favour of cricket. The result of the show of hands was greeted with loud applause. An intimation that the school was to receive a half-holiday toward the end of the term in recognition of the jubilee was received with cheers. Ail ovation greeted the old boys as they left the platform.