The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-12-26

appears that at least 790 are fighting that is to say, slightly less than half the number who ought to be capable of fight ing. It is not bad record, but 1t is not as good as those claimed by Harrow and Rugby but it is better than that which can be claimed by Winchester
 There Is Do doubt that the number of Eton boys who enter the army has greatly declined in the past 20 years. But the rush among Etonians to join the col ors on the outbreak of war. if it was not as large as some hoped it would be, is sufficiently large to prove that the aris- tocracy have not yet altogether lost their patriotism.
 There are certainly over 1900 Harrovians now serving with the colors. There were but 40 old Harrow boys holding commis- sions in the army at the outbreak of war, but a week later the number had risen to so, two weeks later a couple of hundred more had poined and then they came by hundreds until the number reached 1900. The annual dinner of old Harrovians is held in London in Sep tenber last September there was an un- usally large attendance of "old' boys in the literal meaning of the word for their average age was over 40. There were some past O. but there was marked de- cline in the number of men under 30 due, as the chairman explained amid cheers, to the fact that so many had volunteered for service to their country in some di- rection.
 A letter was read from Winston Church. i'll (himself. of course, an old Harrow boy) commenting on the number of Har- rovians who at great personal sacrifice had come forward to serve their country. At the end of the dinner the chairman an- nounced that he was prepared to receive the names of of the r1,ar1 present who would care to give in their names as willing to join either Kitchener's army or some other corps. Every man present, even those who were past 60, put his name down. Of these 3S0 volun- teers, 2l5 were later accepted for service either Tn the army or in some auxiliary corps. One man of 5O a famous athlete in his day, was accepted for service in the motorcyclist corps. There were some, however, to whom it would have meant simple ruin for their wives and children to have gone on foreign service, for they were men without any private means who depended altogether on thir professions which they would have had to abandon if they went on active service Some of them suggested the formation of a special corps of old Harrovians for home service later this idea developed into the forma- ton of an "oid boy'' corps for old boys from all public schools who could not vol unteer for foreign service.
 There are 100 old boys from Rugby now serving in various branches of the Brit ish army. The headmaster of Rugby. on the outbreak of the war. sent a circular letter round to as many old Rugbeians as he could find the whereabouts of asking them to do all they could to uphold the honor and fame of their old school " coming forward to serve their country in some capacity, and the appeal was an- AWarPd nrnmnflN th,,~ ,1 Rugby boys Joining the colors in one week, and every week after that saw a How Of old Rugbeians to the colors until the total had reached 1000.
 When the King was lately at Alder shot company of recruits was point ed out to him which contained 12 Rug by boys who, in the absence of uni forms, were wearing their old school caps and blazer jackets at drill. The King noted the fact and, knowing the colors, said to the officer in attend ance: q see 10 are wearing their school colors; have the other two had their uniforms?" "Yes, your majesty. was the answer. And where are they [" asked the King. Well, your majesty, they are doing sentry duty outside your majesty's quarters" and the two sem tries. one a former assistant in the precise department of the foreign of flee. and the other a young squire, the | owner of a recently inherited estate in the Midland counties, were enter tained to dinner that night by the King.
 Winchester has only furnished 600 old boys to the fighting forces of Bri- tain and why this should be so it is difficult to say.
 | One explanation is that Winchester takes the cream of the intellectual | youth of the we'll to do classes and a | large number of them find their voca- 1 tion in life is intellectual pursuits. A professor. say of Sanscript or physics at one of the universities would find | himself almost utterly unsuited for a position in any branch of the army. Moreover, Winchester contributes more
 men to the Indian civil service, the