Reminiscences: G P Barbour (Master, 1888)

I have read the pamphlet of eloquent addresses given at the opening of the New School in June, 1928. They stirred a pool of stagnant memories, awakening what has lain dormant for forty years. It occurred to me that I might write a chapter of early history that would be found interesting. A B Piddington, first Classical Master, had been given a year's furlough, and I, fresh from graduation, was made his locum tenens at the princely salary of ten pounds a month.

The Staff, mostly graduates had its interesting figures. Joe Coates was distinctly a last century Headmaster, departmentally trained. We respected him for his firmness, his justice, and his wide mathematical knowledge. His devotion to the exact sciences, added to his natural valiancy gave him a quiet contempt for the Classics, and for those softer virtues of sympathy with, and personal interest in the individual boy. Perhaps it was well that the main girders of the immaterial scholarastic fabric were at the start of steel and iron, no wood hay or stubble. The left arm that had been the terror of many a Victorian batsman in the Interstate games, became a greater terror to erring youth, when the ball became a stick. Coates had some constitutional weakness that worried him a lot, and an occasional excess of wrath under provocation was not unnatural. One morning among those marshalled for the stick was an old offender, who was insolent. Up came that "dirty" left, and the open palm caught the culprit fair and square, and lifted him clean off his feet. We are more lady-like now, and less effective. Yet to Coates' strong control and shrewd organisation was largely due High's early scholastic successes, and then was laid the foundation on which have been built many later triumphs.

Among the undermasters I remember well Jupp Elphinstone, a University athlete and footballer - a student of character with high ideals of conduct. He has since had many years on the CEGS Staff.

Another interesting but more erratic personality was Crompton, with more ability than ballast. He came from England at middle age, [and] was first put up among the Gods or Goddesses of the top floor - the Girls' High held the upper regions, the mere males the lower. Crompton was no mean Classic, but his forte was History. He had a marvellous store of historical facts and anecdotes, and he voiced them in a rich and often violent vocabulary. The boys loved to lead him on to some pet theme; listening is much easier than having to think. As I said, Crompton began at the top among the angels, but his reign in heaven was brief as Lucifer's.

The old steam trams passed under the windows. Crompton had just embarked on one of his historical flights, where there squealed a blast from a tram whistle, and the orator consigned all trams to perdition in a blasting orgasm of eloquence, fiery enough to penetrate to the ears of the Headmistress. Crompton found his level; hurled headlong flaming from the ethereal sky, he brought up among us inferiors. If he could not claim to be a founder of High's future greatness, he at least beguiled many a tedious dinner hour for us with a rich fund of anecdotes, historical and others not found in text books.

Others among Old Boys, who are now on the wrong side of fifty, will remember good old Tom Trebeck, who let the boys worry him a lot mainly because he threatened much and performed less, and Taylor a wonder for examination results, mechanical in methods - the trait of Departmental training was over all his work - a son of the Church, but an adept at securing inspectorial praise, and he usually deserved it. In those days there was absolutely no provision for the Masters' convenience, we flung our hats and bags on any old window sill, for lunch we turned the boys out of a Class Room and bestrode their dirty forms.

In the year I was there, the Sixth was potentially a rather remarkable form as these names should prove. There were Grafton Elliott Smith, the world famous anthropologist, Frank Doak, Gordon Craig, A B S Zlotkowski and Falsham, eminent Doctors of medicine, and Wyndham Davies who passed on to the Grammar School and later became head of his year in mathematics, another was Drew, afterwards a Solicitor, remarkable for preserving an inextinguishable public spirit in a most extinguishing atmosphere. Frank Firth was there too, he and his brother became bulwarks of Waverley cricket.

Of sport there was and there could hardly be any, there was no quiet corner for a fight and SHS is poor in tradition here.

The Head, though an Interstate man, seemed indisposed to strive against disheartening conditions. Elphinstone ran a sports meeting. Of football though I played senior football at the time myself, I can remember nothing. There was some desultory, but no organised cricket, a few boys played with outside boys teams on Saturdays, and I got a scratch eleven together of these and we played a few Wednesday games. One of these lives in my recollection as one of the most remarkable games in my fifty years of cricket. The Victoria Barracks had a team distinguished for brawn rather than skill. They swiped around for 80, and by 5.15 pm we were out for only 67, as most of our side had to travel far, I suggested that we draw stumps, the suggestion was received coldly. Out in the field we went again at 5.20. We had a very decent bowler in Traill, and I harmless enough against anything good, was always able to fiddle out rabbits. In half an hour they we all out for 15 (about); it was their turn to suggest drawing stumps, the suggestion again met with a frigid reception. We had eight minutes to bat and 29 to get, two perhaps three overs, but the latter was extremely unlikely as Umpires Sergeants Mulvaney and Orthris were not likely to play into the hands of the enemy. I kept the strike for five balls, and ran a boy out off the sixth, but I still had the strike, we had one ball to spare and about two minutes to go when thirty went up. A game lost by 13 at 5. 15 was won by nine wickets at six o'clock.

In general equipment things were lamentable. The two highest forms had separate rooms. Three others were in corners of the main room, but surely no forms were ever worse housed than the lowest three, who were huddled together in a narrow iron shed flanking Castlereagh Street. The shed was as stifling in summer as it was bitter in winter, the rumble of lorries and medley of street noises incessantly contended with the human voice to its utter discomfiture. Personally I suffered serious and permanent injury, the constant shouting in a dusty draughty atmosphere, gave me a chronic inflamed throat with such damage to the ear tubes that I lost the use of one ear, and damaged the other, and all this for ten pounds a month. That I bear the place something of a grudge is natural. Against this loss I have to place a year's hard but useful experience and a few rich friendships.

I said I would tell something about the initial tottering steps of the Magazine.

There was always much, most healthy rivalry between the two floors. The girls claimed to have the brains and had just issued their first number. I had with another, a year or two before launched Hermes then a disreputable Rag, but the true original of the present pretentious Magazine. Drew, Doak and other knights of the inferior order asked me to help them in a rather ungallant tilt with the upper storey, I don't remember any title other than The Boys High School Magazine. I do remember spreading myself on the opening pages and was rather proud of it then, but considerably less proud now, pioneering work is necessarily crude.

At the June opening , Mr Dettmann in a generous reference to myself said I was responsible for the fact that the "High" School was admitted as a Great Public School. He added that my casting vote was contrary to custom. If I remember rightly the SGS was not fully represented that night and I felt that morally I had a deliberative as well as a casting vote. I was President of the Association for over twenty years of progress and peace (mostly); and these were at least partly due to the fact that I tried to make the basis of control one of equity rather than law.

The Record, June, 1929, pp 85-87.