December 1956 School Magazine

December, 1956

Brisbane Girls' Grammar School Magazine

::;"B:=ris=:b:;:a:=no=· :::G:=~r:=IE:=.' =G=.,l=·(;::=m=:m=:a=r:::S:=cl::=.o:=o=l=M:=a=:':=:az=:\n::,:e'===========D.=cember, 1956

left the laurels in the field of basketball to be won by somebody else. My next attempt to win honour and glorY in the sporting world was in tennis. After borrowing a racquet and a few balls, I launched into my new career as a sportswoman in tennis . Bound- ing down to the court in great optimism, I pictured myself in my mind's eye, a star player after a few games, .one of those pheno- menal tennis prodigies, if there are such thmgs. Confidently, I whacked at the balls, or at least, at the places in which I thought the balls would be, and found myself nearly every time expend- ing a great deal of energy with nothing to show for it. The girl who had consented out of the extreme kindness of her heart to plaY with me, must have got very tired of having to hit the ball over the net, and wait for me to miss it and then retrieve it. After a few minutes of this futile punishment of the air in my immediate vicinity, I decided that I'd like to try my luck at serving. After having been patiently told what to do, I took up my stand very awkwardly, and served-at least I tried to serve, but somehow the ball either landed right outside the court, or did not even go over the net. Its direction was quite unpredict- able, and it seemed to take a special delight in landing in all the most inaccessible positions. As I found that the sight of a ball whizzing towards me only excited my reflex muscles so much so that I dodged away from it instead of trying to hit it, I decided reluctantlY that I was not made for tennis. So once more, I had to back out of the sporting field, wondering what else I could possibly try my hand at playing. Once before, in one of my more foolish moments, · I thought I'd see what hockey was like. Perhaps a hidden talent for it might show up, although this same talent had remained well buried up till then. I advanced bravely on to the field with a hockey stick in my hand, trying to make onlookers think that I knew the game very well and was one of the rising stars in the hockey firmament. However, if anYone had been deceived into thinking so (which I doubt very much) she was won dis- illusioned. I found myself clutching the stick and trying to dribble the ball, only to find my feet getting in the way, so that instead of the ball being dribbled my feet were. I retired very quickly from the game with a firm conviction that hockey wasn't suited to my particularlY tender make-up, as my ankles and shins were bruised and swollen, and I had to hobble away like a warrior home from a battle . I carried away with me the impression that hockey would be an easy way of disposing of an enemy for a few 'days. You take an extra good whack at what you think is the ball, but turns out unfortunately to be the opponent's leg, or

else your foot happens to slip, and-the deed is done, and who can say that it could not have been an accident? As I seem to have tried all the games in the sports line that I would care to take part in, and as all my attempts up to date have been dismal failures, I have come to the sad conclusion that, however bad my physical condition may be, it shall have to remain in that unimproved state. But perhaps, who knows, a new game may be invented in the near future to suit my particu- lar bone formation and bodily structure, so that at long last I shall be able to shine in some form of sport. However, as this seems to be most unlikely, I have resigned myself to the prospect of leading a mostly sedentary life with perhaps occasional bursts of ac:tivity. -T.J.L., Vlb. RUBBER PLANT A'BON-NEW GUINEA On arriving at the Koitaki Rubber Plantation, we were sur- prised to find that the rubber trees were totally different from what we had thought theY would be. The trees were very grace- ful, about 18 inches in diameter at the base and from 50 to 100 feet in height. Trees of this size were about 20 years old. We were warned by the overseer that the women were to stay together and keep well back from the natives. The reason for this was that 600 natives were employed for a term of two years and only about 20 headmen had wives living on the plant- ation. They had just brought in 40 Kuku-Kuku tribesmen. These natives come from the interior; they are headhunters and semi- pygmies and use blowpipes and poisoned arrows. They ca~ne up to our shoulders and had particularly well developed leg muscles. They could not speak Pidgen English or Motu and yet were .vorking peacefully, so far. Each native was given two large buckets, with numbers on, and a spike with which he milked the trees . The pure white latex is caught in cups, which are left on each tree. The latex js washed by running water in troughs, with acid, and it sets into thick pure rubber, which is th,en rolled out on the spot. The rubber is then "cooked" in a huge smoke house for some hours and comes out a dirty brown. It is then baled and sent south. Time flies quickly when one is interested and before long, the busman was blowing his horn, calling us back after an enjoy- able and interesting morning on the Koitaki Rubber Plantation. -JUDITH WHITE, IV -.

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