Read the 1925 WBHS School Magazine online
Courtesy of the WBHS Archives in the Oude Wijnberg Museum – the digital copy of the 1925 School Magazine.
Magazine Editorial, July edition:
There is probably no feeling of vague uncertainty quite akin to that experienced by a young author, who, on finding that his first work has met with success, is about to expose another craft to the buffets of the treacherous seas of literary criticism. It is with much the same feeling of mingled hopes and fears that we submit this, the second number of the Magazine, to our readers.
Qualms such as we have expressed are not indicative of weakness. No amount of false modesty could prevent us from acknowledging that our last issue was accorded much warm praise, but to what extent can we be sure that such acclamation was not mere conventionality? Perhaps we should be more confident this time, had we received greater support from the Senior School. There has, in fact, been a lamentable dearth of contributions from the higher standards, quite incompatible with the literary merit which we had so long been persuaded resided there.
1925 has been so far a busy year for B.H.S.W. and within six months our activities have ranged from light-hearted merrymaking to grave solemnities.
The House and Prefect systems have already come to be regarded as quite old institutions and continue to quicken the interests of the pupils in competition and to school them in the knowledge of the part they play as units of a regulated whole.
The Fête held last March proved an even greater success than was the similar event which took place in 1924. In fact, so gratifying were the results to its inaugurators that it was decided to make the Annual Fête a regular feature of our school life.
In many respects one of the greatest events of the year in South Africa was the Prince of Wales’ visit. Our school contributed its quota of cadets to line a portion of the route by which the Prince travelled from the Pier to Government House, and a few days later the pupils en masse took up their stand at Waterloo Green in an assembly of local schools, which had been arranged that none might be denied a peep at our unique visitor.
May 1925 witnessed an event unprecedented in the history of the school; for on the 23rd of that month His Honour the Administrator, Sir Frederic de Waal, formally opened the gateway erected to perpetuate the memory of those Old Boys who fell in the Great War. The opening ceremony was followed by an appropriate service, a deep impression of which will be retained by all who were privileged to attend.
We cannot too strongly express our regret at having so little information about past pupils to print. We take this opportunity of once more urging Old Boys to send us an occasional item of news which they consider may be of interest to other readers, that the magazine may thus be enabled to perform its primary function as a link between past and present pupils.
