b'A H I S T O R Y O F C O O G E E P R E PAll offences, major or minor, were dealt with by caning. Bill had theteachers skill at faking a rage. After the customary Get out in thepassage!, he would stride angrily to the press, where he put on agood show, with stumps, pads and balls flying everywhere, as he triedto reach his cane. The subsequent caning, however, would be quitecontrolled and always a duty. A man whose income came from mod-est fees in the Depression was dependent upon his patrons. Yet, if aparent came to complain about the way Johnny had been punished,Billfearlesslystoodhisground,neverbackingdown.(RodneyKnock:193845).Indeed, Nimmo was an enthusiastic advocate of his methods.AtthetimeoftheschoolsGoldenAnniversaryin1964,onereporter wrote: Mr. Bill Nimmo said with a twinkle in his eye:The only way to dis-cipline a child is to start from the bottom up.Spare the rod and spoilthe child, thats my motto.And Bob Johnson wrote in the Sun-Herald: He also claims to be a little unconventional when it comes to cor-poral punishment. Im all for it, he says, with the ring of authorityin his voice born of years of expectingand gettingobediencefrom schoolboys. A sharp cut with the canenot too severe, mindyouis a much better reminder to a boy that hes done somethingwrong than a sermon. When I was a boy Id have much rather beencaned and have my punishment over and done with than have a longcurtain lecture.MostOldBoysrememberBillsdisciplinarymethodswithaffection and respect. It was a simple systemthere were ruleswhich had to be obeyed and if a boy chose not to, the cane wasapplied without delay, without ceremony and without malice. Theone offence which was guaranteed to earn a caning was cheating.It seems that no real pain was ever inflicted. The worst aspect ofthe ordeal was the dreaded instruction:Go to the passage, whichwas cold, dark and damp. Here, in misery, the culprit would waitaneternity,oruntiltheendofthelesson,whenthesentencewould be carried out. Smokers, if caught, could look forward to a caning. In those5 1'