A Departure

On the 30th July a small but representative gathering was present to farewell J. C. Beaglehole, Lecturer, Tramper, Heretic, and ex-Editor of this magazine. The luxuries of the Women's Common Room were kindly made available for the occasion. A select little company entertained us with the reading of a play, some who are more musically inclined than the rest of us sang and played, and the women produced an excellent supper at the appropriate moment. Mr. Macarthur, Vice-president of the Students' Association, in a happy speech presented Mr. Beaglehole with a V.U.C. blazer. (We shall not perpetuate his pun.) Professor F. P. Wilson added his best wishes and expressed his regrets at losing so keen a student and lecturer. The victim of the evening's proceedings replied in a characteristic speech that made us feel absolutely heroic and almost brought tears to the eyes of some of our lady friends. The College songs were sung more heartily than we remember ever hearing them sung before or since, and we dispersed, consoling ourselves with the thought that our friend would return, perhaps to V.U.C, bearing with him the ripe experience of the coming years abroad. In the meantime, the sincerest wishes of all those students and professors with whom he came in contact accompany him. A poem written when he was on the steamer on his way to Australia appears elsewhere in this "Spike."