GOSSIP, ITS USES AND DANGERS Gossip can be mild and light-hearted chat among friends; in fact, some people have the art of making it thoroughly enjoyable. In this way it can make people feel at ease with strangers when they are in unknown surroundings. It can make people relax and enjoy themselves in short, gossip can be fun. Some people, however, use gossip to hurt the feelings of others whom they may dislike. This is a dangerous and even wicked form of gossip; usually it is untrue and just invented by the person who first tells it, or repeated by a person who does not really know all the facts. Many newspapers have gossip columns that are not really meant to be taken too seriously. They often exaggerate a little and are written to be enjoyed. JANE WELLS, 4A. DOMESTIC BLEACHES The lower sixth chemistry set (D. Grubb, P. Saint, C. Mason, A. Mannings, and V. Coleman) drew up an interesting report this year on the strengths of domestic bleaches and their relative costs to the consumer. The strength of the bleaches was determined by finding the weight of available chlorine (the principal bleaching agent) per bottle. This was done by conventional titration techniques. The next stage was to examine the use of these bleaches in the household wash. It was found necessary in the process to establish what was the value of the British standard eggcup and the British standard teacup! The final result showed considerable differences in the strengths of the five bleaches tested in the experiment and in their cost to the consumer! A copy of the full report has been sent to the Council. SPORTS SECTION Football Our four XI's played 64 matches, won 28, drew 9 and 27 games were lost, The 1st year XI made a very good start, losing only 3 of their 11 games. Our 1st XI again had a pleasing season, winning 12 and drawing 4 of their 22 matches. Hensman, the club captain, and Parry-Jones played for Middlesex on several occasions and took part in the Inter-Counties tournament at Bognor at Easter. p18 In the House Football Competition, St. Patrick's became champions with St. Andrew's runners-up. Spirit in the club has been particularly good with a very high standard of effort and enthusiasm during training and in matches. Basketball Club For the 2nd year running we became Middlesex Schools' Senior champions when we beat Chiswick Comprehensive at R.A.F. Stanmore (our second home) in front of 300 pupils, parents and old scholars. Trailing by 19 points at one stage, our opponents must have thought they were sure to win. Our second half fight-back is now traditional and we won. Hensman, the captain, and Steele have played for Middlesex on many occasions. During the season our two sides played 31 games and lost only 5. The House Basketball Competition was won by St. Patrick's with St. George's runners-up. Soon, our up and coming seniors will be starting to practise for a third (they hope) consecutive county schools' win. In the Ealing Schools' Cross-Country Competition, Wilson became the first year champion, a wonderful achievement against a huge entry, and Parry-Jones was joint winner of the senior group. In the House Cross-Country St. Patrick's completed the House hat-trick by winning from St. Andrew's and St. David's. The mid-week training is already showing dividends in good track times as we enter another athletics season. Parry-Jones, Tozer, Connelly, Mason, Evans, Russell and many others look set to improve on the fine inter-school performances of last season. J.H. THE SAFE INSURANCE AGENCY General Insurance Mortgages Investments Life Insurance 41 OLD RUISLIP ROAD, NORTHOLT - VIKing 6121 - p19