r

^en.

The School 1932

in case someone had heard the crash and came to investigate. No one did.LIGHTS. There was no electricity supplied to the college so we had to provide our own,

that is, the college did. The engine driving the generator had seen better days and on occasionbroke down. When this happened in the early evening (which for reasons unknown seemed tobe the favourite time) and was not fixed up fairly quickly we got off prep for that evening.

FRUIT. In season we had as much as we like of mangoes, naartjies and litchis from.the oldorchard. Paw paws also were fairly easy to come by. During week-ends we sometimes hikedout to a small river where we could swim in the deeper parts. What risks we took unthinkinglyof contracting bilharzia but as far as I know none of us became infected.

CASH. Pocket money ? Well it may seem a bit meagre by present day standards but remember that was 45 years ago. The normal draw (weekly) by each of us, from funds sent by ourparents to the Headmaster, was 1/-, 6 pence to spend and 6 pence for Sunday church collection.6 pence in those days could purchase quite a lot from the school tuck shop. Of course we coulddraw more than 1/- if we had good reason to do so.

P. J. Slabbcrt Sundays at KEARSNEY. On Sunday mornings after letter-writing, it was time to get1Q9R 9Q "^hurch and we had to fetch our suits from the tank room just below the tower ofthe school building. This was the one time of the week that we got dressed up in our navy blue

suits, black shoes, stiff collars, with the school tie and cheese cutters. Before leaving for chapel,we were inspected by the master on duty, with the prefects fussing around the 70 odd boardersto see that all shoes were shiny black and the collars snowy white. Then off we would marchtowards the chapel with Allen in front and Jack Hulett bringing up the rear.

Occasionally some of the prefects and senior boys were invited for Sunday lunch to one ofthe beautiful homes surrounding Kearsney and belonging mostly to members of the Hulettfamily. This was always greatly appreciated as the sumptuous meals provided were a welcomechange to the school fare. This fortunate few however, had to attend these functions in theirchurch clothes and on a hot summer afternoon those lesser mortals that stayed at school werecertainly more comfortable in their much cooler, casual attire.

The rest of these Sunday afternoons were usually spent on cross country runs or justroaming around the open countryside and enjoying the mangoes, guavas and other fruits thatgrew in abundance. (The "orchard", mostly citrus, was out of bounds however.)

A. M. FOSS ff is not very much known or recorded, but my father, the late Arthur E. Foss was the first-jn27_3 3 Secretary appointed by Sir Liege Hulett to get on with the job of starting the School. In fact,

^ it was at a discussion between Sir Liege and my Dad in 1920 that the idea was first conceived tofound a second Methodist School in South Africa and Sir Liege readily granted his old home atKearsney on the North Coast of Natal situated in the most beautiful surroundings of tea fieldsand gum trees. As a lad of seven years of age, I can at this moment still remember as if it hadoccurred only yesterday, Mr. Robert Matterson walking through the gates of our home,Duguza House, in Stanger to report to my father that he had arrived and was proceeding toKearsney to take over his duties as headmaster. I still have a Bible in which is the signature ofMr. Matterson's father who was President of the Methodist Conference in 1915 and baptisedme in the Kearsney Chapel on the North Coast in that year.

NEW BOY. In the year 1927, with my mother, I boarded the train to Kearsney in Stangervery proudly wearing my maroon and white school cap and the school tie, for the first time.30