Item 04: Memoirs of a Colonial Boy by Robert Joseph Stewart, ca. 1971 - Page 123
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[Page 123]
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of their different stations in life. "Jack" was skilled in "Ju Jitsu" (now known as Judo) and, unlike Suzuki, often demonstrated it to us. We tried several times to get Suzuki interested in Rugby football, but he never did get the right idea about tackling, and usually lost his temper when brought down. He was a very fast runner, sprinting with his arms waving rigidly above his head, and he might have made a good "Soccer" player.
Two Chinese dayboys, the sons of a Sydney Presbyterian Minister, the Rev. Young Wai, attended "Scots". The elder was a brilliant scholar and a fine "Rugger" player. As a medical student at the University later, he had a good academic record and a brilliant football career, playing with University Firsts in the Sydney First Grade Competitions. Other foreign school-fellows during my time were two Hungarians, an Italian and a Turk.
The normal daily routine was to be roused out of bed by the School Sergeant (B.J. Carey) at 7 a.m., to shower and shave quickly, and breakfast at 8 a.m. punctually. At 9 a.m. masters and pupils congregated in the big Assembly Hall for fifteen or twenty minutes for roll-call and prayers. First the Principal called our names to which we stood up and answered "Adsum" (I am here); next he read a chapter from the Bible, but always from the Book of Proverbs, and finally, more often than not, delivered a short lecture about any misdemeanours or any change in school routine. After which we hurried down to the book lockers at the schoolroom quadrangle, to select the text-books required for our first lesson of nearly an hour's duration, beginning at 9.30. A bell rang to mark the end of this period, and our class went over to another room for a change of subject under a different master. At 11 a.m. the School Sergeant took the boys of all classes, either for exertions on the apparatus in the gymnasium, or fifteen minutes of Swedish physical exercises in the covered quadrangle. Then followed a third period in the classroom lasting till noon, when there was a two-hour break for lunch, resting and recreation, before lessons