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In the annals of the College history, the year 1957 will be chiefly remembered as the year in which Rev. J. T. Arulanantham, undoubtedly one of its greatest Principals, retired in May of that year. He was succeeded in office by Mr. P T. Mathai, and Mr. A. W. Rajasegaram was made Vice Principal. Rev. Arulanantham laid down office in
a blaze of glory. The College was enjoying one of its best years in all round activity. The examination results were the best for a long time. The Dec. 1956 S. S. C. results which were released in 1957 showed 92 passes out of 151 who sat, 11 obtaining Ist divisions and there were as many as 41 distinctions. The Dec. 1956 University Entrance results were the best produced by the College and percentage -wise one of the best in the island, up to that time, 29 gaining admission out of 61 who sat for the exam. Of these 13 were for Medicine, 7 for Science, I for Engineering and 8 for Arts, of whom 7 got direct admission. 15 passed the H. S. C. Exam and 16 were successful in the London G. C. E. (A/L) Exam with one first division and 2 distinctions.

In sports, the cricket team remained unbeaten for the 2nd successive year, winning 4 matches and drawing 2. The Athletic team did very well in the Group 11 meet and won the Diana Cup for the Relays. In the P. T. Competition,
the under 16 squad won for the 3rd year in running and the under 19 squad also won it this year.

The Cadet Corps who had a week-end camp at Nalanda College came 2nd in Physical Training and 6th in Squad Drill while heir overall position was 3rd among the leading schools of the island. 21Lt. P. James won the Best Commander's Cup. The Scout Troop produced 3 Queen's Scouts that year. Thus it could be stated. that when "J. T." laid down the reins of office, the College was at the zenith of its popularity.

An assessment of Rev. J T. Arulanantham's contribution to St. John's will show that he was one of greatest and most successful Principals the College ever had. He will bear comparison with any principal of his time from other schools in the island. Whatever the sphere of activity and whatever standards are brought to measure his stature, "J. T." is assured of his place on the pinnacle of success. It is said that there are three kinds of lies -Lies, Damn Lies & Statistics. But Statistics have a way of refuting any arguments in certain cases, for example Don Bradman's batting average and his phenomenal consistency. This is so in "J. T" 's case too. When he took over as Principal in 1940, the number on roll at the College was about 440 after an existence off 117 years, and when he retired 17 years later it was more than 1200. The number of boarders increased from about 40 to well over 200. The area of the College increased from about 10 acres to about 12 1/2 acres and this in a locality where land is very valuable. It should also be remembered that Rev, Arulanantham had to find accommodation for the influx of students and boarders and succeeded in doing so, in spite of the difficult times like war, communal tension etc. As he once jocularly said, "Coveting other people's property adjoining the College is my besetting sin". Let it not be forgotten, that the houses & property he purchased along the fringe of the College went a great way in saving St. John's from going under, during the schools take over crisis in the early sixties, when in the early months of it, the College had to depend to a very large extent on the income derived from the sale of some of this property.

His success in building up the college was phenomenal. When he took over as Principal, St John's already had a rich heritage and noble traditions and an honoured name in academic and sports circles. The only thing the college lacked was majestic buildings. "J.T" set about that shortcoming with grim determination. Within a few years, he was responsible for the construction of the Centenary Science block, The Dining Hall, The sick room, The Memorial Hostel Block with its amenities and the Tuck Shop. In addition he has arranged the purchase of Mahendra Theatre which was converted to Peto Hostel, and other properties. The Junior School buildings were also put up by him as was the boundary wall around the College with its majestic main gate. Imagine St John's College of that time without the above buildings (The Jubilee Hall and Arulanantham Block came up in 1974) and one knows the extent to which the College owes Rev Arulanantham. Even the buildings which existed earlier, notably the Robert William's Hall, the Figg Hall & other buildings acquired from the Girls' College and Thompson House were renovated and given a new look by him. Somehow or other, he found money for these schemes, Truly can the epitaph written to Sir Christopher Wren at St. Paul's Cathedral in London be applied to Rev. J. T. Arulanantham - " Si monumentum requiris, conspice."

Reviewing Rev. Arulanantham's contribution in educational matters it should be noted that he guided the destinies of St. John's during some critical days of the great war and after, and through varying educational, economic and social changes. Before he became Principal, students at St. John's after completing their Senior Cambridge had to go to schools in Colombo or Kandy in order to pursue higher studies. It was "J. T" who introduced Inter Science and Inter Arts classes which enabled such students to continue their studies at St. John's. Shortly after this, the University Entrance classes were started and soon there was a grand procession of pupils from the laboratories of St. John's to the. Science and Medical faculties of the Universities. During this period St. John's several times topped the list in the numbers entering the Medical faculty. Consequently, the earlier process was reversed, and several students from outside Jaffna sought admission to St. John's, including some from prestigious schools in Colombo. They used to be surprised at the discipline at St. John's, especially the pin drop silence which prevailed just before and during morning assembly and which was enforced by the prefects.

It should not, however, be imagined that St. John's under Rev. Arulanantham was preoccupied with sending students to the University. Time and again Rev. Arulanantham had reiterated that a school should be more concerned with its average student, and his general education. It was mainly for this reason that he introduced the rule that every Science student should do History & Geography and every Arts student should do Biology at the S. S. C. Level. Specialisation started only after that. This move was firmly vindicated when the University made it a condition that from 1959 a student to enter the Science faculty of the University of Ceylon should possess a pass in an Arts subject and vice versa for an Arts student. In the main, its purpose was to provide an all round education.

Rev. Arulanantham also firmly believed that participating in sports was a must for all students. He introduced the group system in field events in athletics (described in an earlier chapter) which enabled more students to participate. His attitude to sports was interesting. He always exhorted his boys to cheer good play. He, killed "professionalism" in school sports by not admitting very good sportsmen who wanted to join St. John's from other schools only to shine in sports, and he .never allowed a Johnian to take part in games on a certain day if he had not attended school the previous day. For his boarders he introduced the system Of "Cottage Houses" which inculcated in the students the art of community living, a most important factor. No wonder that the average Johnian when he left school and went into the outside world, was a finished product with poise and confidence in himself. Rev. Arulanantham's policy in education could best be described by the words of a Head Master from another land; "An education which encourages confidence in effort, modesty in success, grace in defeat, fairness in anger, clear judgment even in the bitterness of wounded pride, readiness for service at all times". He was an authority who was loved and respected by the students.

During the time when "J. T" was the monarch of all he surveyed at St. John's his contemporaries in the Jaffna Educational scene were all great principals in their own rights. Among them was Father Long of St. Patricks, Mr. K. A. Selliah of Jaffna College, Mr. K. Pooranampilllai of Hartley College, Mr. I. P. Thurairatnam at Union College, Mr. A. E. Thamber of Central, and Mr. V. M. Asaipillai at Jaffna Hindu, each and every one of them worth his weight in gold. It is a sad reflection of the system today, that such principals can be found today mainly in Private Schools. How lucky is that generation of students who studied at the feet of those gurus but at that time took it for granted. It is only now that they can realise their good fortune when such great principals have become a vanishing species, mainly due to the fact they are not allowed to stay in one school and build it up.

Rev. Arulanantham's success as a Principal was in no small measure due to the co-operation he received from the Staff. With Mr. P. T. Mathai, he formed a perfect Priicipal-Vice Principal combination. He shared the burden of office with senior teachers and students to whom he gave responsible tasks. It was his view that teachers and senior students represented the culture of a school and were an index of its tone. One should not forget Rev. Arulanantham's contribution as a rural dean to the community at large. The early morning communion service followed by breakfast at the College and S. C. M. meetings for the Senior Christian boys, the evening College services and those much longed for carol services in combination with Girls' College and the Sunday community dinners with the boarders, the boarding house masters and their families were some of his innovations. In all these, one should also remember with gratitude the guiding hand of Mrs. Arulanantham. Not only did she run a

figure to many. Her contribution to music, especially at the Tamil Services was great. Those lovely Tamil Lyrics set to oriental music is something still cherished. One English Bishop of Calcutta was quoted as saying that be enjoyed Christian hymns and lyrics sung in any language but he had never been so moved to ecstasy as when they are sung in the Tamil Language! May these haunting melodies continue to inspire future generations.

When Rev. Arulanantharn retired he received the enconiums of everybody including those of men who had at the start doubted whether he would measure up to the standard of his illustrious predecessors. Men capable of making memorable effect are rare. The larger than life figure of Rev. Arulanantham was one such. That which a school really impresses on its students is the memory of powerful personalities, and a principal with vision and zeal and teachers who stimulate intellectual curiosity and love in their students for the subjects they are taught. This was so at St. John's College, as built up by Rev. Arulanantham., and his predecessors. St. John's was singularly lucky in that three persons of such capability like Rev. Thompson ,Rev. Peto and Rev. Arulanantham guided its destinies successively almost for 60 years. It can without contradiction be stated that Rev.Thompson was the architect who conceived the modern St. John's and laid the foundations for it. Rev. Peto built on these foundations and gave the noble traditions and "body" for the College when his work was tragically cut short. It was Rev. Arulanantham who completed the body, enlarged and embellished it and made it a "finished" product which everyone now recognises as one of the great educational institutions in the island, fit enough to rank among the very best of them. To these three should go the credit of creating the St. John's College of today. May it also be remembered that in addition to his work as Principal of St. John's College, Rev. Arulanantham also was manager of Chundikuli Girls' College, Kopay Christian College, and the C. M. S. English School at Kaithady. On his retirement he was made Manager of St. John's College.

Mr. P. T. Mathai,- who assumed the Principalship on Rev. Arulanantham's retirement, had earlier been Vice Principal for 5 years. He carried on in the manner of his predecessor and his term of office as Principal lasted 2 years, up till 1959. His period also therefore can be considered as part of the Arulanantham era, and will be dealt with as such.

Among other matters in 1957, mention should be made of the S. C. M. members who did manual work in clearing the compound, watering the concrete etc. for the Y. M. C. A. camp building at Casuarina Beach, Karainagar. They also earned money for this project by selling rosettes, sweets, etc at the Big Match, The Y. M. C. A. project was fathered by Mr. P. T. Mathai arid it was he who organised the work camp with several other school S. C. M's also joining in. The College S. C. M. members attended a camp at Kotte too.

In 1957 the Inter-House Athletic meet did not take place as the College grounds were being levelled. But the
J.S.S.A. organised a Jaffna Junior A.A. meet where St. John's athletes won several first places. The Football XI was of average strength, winning 3 and losing 2 matches while the 2nd XI remained unbeaten.

The College lost a great benefactor when Mr. S. C. Samuel died In June 1957. He was followed by Justice Nagalingam in 1958.

1958 was a sombre year which all Ceylonese would like to forget. It was the Year when communal riots erupted with considerable loss of life and property. Hordes of terror stricken Tamils sought refuge in Jaffna and the College roll went up to 1645, Rows of temporary class rooms were put up to cope with this rush, and rooms which were required for other purposes were also converted into class rooms.

The St. John's College cricket XI of 1958 can be considered as one of their best teams ever. For the third year running they remained unbeaten, winning six of their matches (5 of them by an innings) and drawing I. In skipper M. B, J. Tissanayagam they had a shrewd leader and the most consistent school boy batsman in Jaffna at that time. That year he powered his way to 142 against Christian College at Kotte. He was a person of imperturbable placidity, and the bigger the occasion the better he responded. In his five years .as a cricketer for St. John's he never failed in the Big Match, a sure sign of his strong nerve. In Paramalingam and Shanmugarajah be had a pair of fast opening bowlers who could have bundled out any school team in the island. They wore like Jupiter and Mars in conjunction. A. I Somanadar was the best spinner St. John's produced after Thevanayagam, though he was a leg spinner whereas Thevanayagam's stock hail was an off break. In C. Balakrishnan and V. Sivananthan the team had two players who went on to win representative honours. C. Balakrishnan played for All Ceylon vs. Australia in 1968, opening the innings and making a 50 in his debut, against Mackenzie and other leading Aussie bowlers. Sivananthan kept wickets for Ceylonese elevens and only the presence of H. 1. K. Fernando kept him out from further international honours. He was a supremely agile wicket keeper who could rise to unbelievable heights. Some of his catches were breathtaking and one of them; caught left handed while diving full length to the legside off a perfect leg glance was reminiscent of Tallon catching Hutton off Lindwall at the Kensington Oval in 1948.

The other teams were no snatch for St. John's that year, and the big match was a push over, being over in about half an hour on the second day, St. John's winning by an innings.

Four of this team represented the Jaffna Combined Colleges in a cricket match against a touring Indian Schools team, with M. B. J. Tissanayagarn captaining the Jaffna XI.

At the Group 11 Athletics meet St John's did very well getting several places and winning the Relay Cup for the 2nd successive year. Two of our athletes, S. S. Shanmugarajah and M. Rajaratnam broke the records in the Putt Shot and Hop,Step & Jump events. At the J.S.A. Junior A. A. meet Shanmugarajah again created a new record in the Putt Shot. At the Public Schools meet in Colombo, N. Gnanalingam came first in the High Jump event for Juniors and M. Rajaratnam third in the Hop, Step and Jump. In the 1959 Public Schools meet Shanmugarajah came 3rd in the Putt Shot event and qualified for Public School Colours.

The 1959 cricket team was another great one, though they lost one match narrowly by 22 runs, the first time that St. John's lost in 4 years. But they compensated with 5 wins and a draw including a dramatic win in the Big Match where St. John's having to make 79 to win in less than an hour, made them in about 40 minutes, significant alterations in the batting line-up making the victory possible. The team was captained by Paramalingam, one of three brothers, Mahalingam and Shanmugalingam being the other two, who were all superb sportsmen and all three won all three colours that were then available for sports at St. John's namely Cricket, Football and Athletics.

Paramalingam was a fine footballer too, playing at Centre half. He represented Ceylon in football and toured with the Ceylon team to S. India after he left School. In 1959 he captained the Jaffna Combined Schools Cricket Team which toured S. India and remained unbeaten. Six other members of the St. John's Cricket XI of 1959 made this tour. Six members played for the Jaffna Combined Colleges against Colombo Schools that year in Colombo which the Jaffna side won, Shanmugarajab, taking he last the last Colombo wicket with last ball of the match. A. Karuniyarajan of St. John's later represented the Ceylon Combined Colleges cricket XI in a match against a visiting Australian School boys team.

The Football teams also gave a good account of themselves. In 1958 first XI won 3 matches drew 1 and lost 7 whereas the 2nd XI won 5 and lost only one. In 1959, the Ist XI won 3 matches and lost only one of six matches they played.

Among other notable achievements during Mr. Mathai's principalship mention should be made of the Senior P. T. side
which in 1958 won the Jaffna Competition for the 2nd successive year and were runners up in the All Island competition in Colombo. In 1959, all 3 squads i. e. under 19, 16 and 13 won the P.T. competition among the Jaffna Schools. The P. T Instructor at that time was Mr. P. James. The Secretary of games was Mr. S. C. Karunananthan, and the happiest of the lot at these successes was ground boy Solornon

Mr. Pararajasingham of the Staff also gained recognition when be was awarded the Wood Badge parchment by Lady Baden Powell when she visited Jaffna. The College Scout Troop participated in a guard of honour to her at the Jaffna Airport.

All these achievements pale into insignificance when compared to the University Entrance results.

At the 1957 Dec. Exam, 24 gained admission to the University 8 for Medicine 9 for Science, 5 for Arts and I each

The Dec. 1959 results were still better. No. less than 42 out of 139 who sat the entrance exam entered the portals of the University, 20 for Medicine, 14 for Science. 5for Arts and 3 for Engineering. 15 were successful in the H. S. C.

Just to show that the College was not preoccupied with exams alone, it must be pointed out that all other activities went on unabated. The Dramatic Society brought out a Tamil Play "Live Corpse" in 1958 and Shakespeare's "As You Like It,' in 1959. That year was the Golden Jubilee of the Prefect Body and it was celebrated with great pomp, culminating in a Golden Jubilee Dinner. Happily the first Senior Prefects of the College, Mr. E. J. Rajaratnam and Mr. K. Chornalingam were present on that joyous occasion. Writing about his school days in the College magazine, Solicitor General R. R. Crossette Thambiah says "The greatest honour a boy could attain was to become a prefect". Rev. Arulanantham in a tribute to the Prefect Body said "I am particularly grateful to the Prefect Body for their high sense of duty and dependability. We have had a succession of Senior Prefects who have always proved worthy of the trust placed upon them Prefects and through them the boys realise that they are the custodians of the good name of the College, and that it is their responsibility to maintain the name and traditions of the College"

When Mr. P. T. Mathai retired in May 1959, he brought down the curtain on the Arulanantham Age, a golden age of spectacular success in all spheres of activity, be it academical or sports or extra-mural activities. From 1940 to 1959 the College had successfully weathered all storms and tribulations through the changing scenes and vicissitudes of life and come out of it holding its head high,

The Senior teachers who taught during this period and who deserve the acclaim of all well-wishers of the College were Mr. E M. Ponnudurai, Mr. K. Subramaniam, Mr. J. T. Chelliah, Mr. P. S. Somasundaram, Mr. J. G. Aseervatham, Mr. C. J. Eliyathamby, Mr. W. T. Gunaratnam, Mr. C. E. Anandarajan, Mr. S. Panchalingarn, Mr. V. R. Amarasingam, Mr. Y. Edwin, Rev. J. R. Ratnanayagam, Mr. M. C. Francis, Mr. S. Tharmalingam, Mr. R. Panuthevan and Mr. K. Paramothayam. They were generally responsible for the Entrance and higher classes. Among those who taught in the lower classes and did yeoman service were Mr. M. S. Thambithurai, Mr. N. E. Jeyasingam, Mr. V. S. Stephen, Mr. V . Thuraiswamy, Miss. L. S. Thambirajah, Miss. L. G. Thambiah, Mrs. D. C. Arulanantham, Mrs. T. Thangarajah, and Mrs. N. Yogarajah. Individually as well as a team they shone as bright as any star in the firmament. There were several others who contributed their mite, but those mentioned above had all taught for a fairly long period and act the tone of the school. Most of them have now retired, a few have gone to their eternal rest. some have gone elsewhere and one or two are still at St. John's. They are the unsung heroes of the College, and their reward will be the thought that they will forever be remembered with gratitude by generations of students who had passed through their hands.

Mr. P. T. Mathai whose retirement brought to a close one of the most satisfying chapters of Johnian History was one of the most thorough and dedicated teachers who bad taught at St John's. He had been a teacher at the College from 1921 to 1959, the last two years as Principal and the five years before that as Vice Principal. During his Principalship he built a set of temporary class-rooms to accommodate the many students who sought admission in Jaffna after being displaced from the South due to Communal disturbances. The road running by the side of William's Hall was also one of his improvements. Surprising though it may be, his greatest contributions to the College were perhaps when he was Vice Principal. It may be said that the success of Rev. J. T. Arulanantham was largely due to Mr. Mathai, an excellent administrator. Three was not one single activity in which he did not take part and which he did not adorn. Conscientious, hardworking and efficient, whatever he did, he did with thoroughness. A stern disciplinarian, he detested shirkers. Alwavs meticulously dressed with coat & tie, he could not bear to see pieces of paper lying about. If he could not find a boy to pick such pieces or if there wore no dustbins in sight he would pick them up and put it in his pocket to be disposed of later. As a teacher of English and Mathematics he was incomparable. He paid great attention to detail - the dotting of Is and the dashing of Ts-and being a perfectionist, paid special attention to the less able students and their methods. He was a very religious man and was well known in S. C. M. and Y. M. C. A. Circles. The camp building at Casuarina Beach was put up due to his efforts. He was very courteous and always welcomed anybody, be he a student, friend or foe with a hearty "Good Morning" or "Good Evening". In his younger days be was a very good tennis player and for several years he was he staff tennis Champion. He led others by his towering example of rectitude, devotion to duty, diligence in work and singleness of purpose This noble and patriotic son of India has left behind an indelible imprint of his character & personality in the spirit and tradition of St. John's which neither time nor tide can ever erase.

Three other well loved teachers who belonged to this period retired shortly after. They were Mr- K. Subramaniam who retired in 1960, Mr. E. M. Ponnudurai who retired in 1961 and Mr. M. S. Thambithurai who retired in 1962. Mr. Ponnudurai and Mr. Subramaniam were the "variable inseparables" of St. John's, to use a mathematical term. One could not imagine two persons of such different characteristics and temperament hitting it off so well together as they did. "E. M. P" was a picture of sartorial elegance who liked to meet and dine in western style. He was an ardent Christian in his upbringing and was at ease only in the English Language' and his love was for Science and his pet subjects Botany & Zoology which he taught in the higher forms. He bad been an excellent sportsman in his younger days. "Kadavul" as Mr. Subramaniam was affectionately called, on the other hand was equally well dressed in his native white Verti & national but he was a vegetarian as befitted an orthodox Hindu. He was an Arts man to his core and was equally conversant in Tamil, English and Latin, any of which he could have taught at a University. But he was known for his versatility in the Tamil Language and its Literature of which be was an authority. He was almost solely responsible for the renaissance of Tarnil at St. John's. Where both of them came together was in their love of sports. Both of always found together at cricket & football matches, and it was a treat to listen to their discourses on such occasions. Nothing pleased them more than to crack a joke at each other's expense. Both of them were institutions at St John's and used to sit next to each other at College functions. When they retired almost at the same time, it is said that the staff room was never the same again. Within four years, the "Big Four" of St. John's - "J. T", "P.T", "E.M. P" & "KADAVUL" had left its hallowed precincts and it took the College some time to recover from this great loss.

A lovable trait of both Mr. Ponnudurai and Mr. Subramaniam was that whenever a new student joined St. John's, each in his inimitable way would question the new corner as to his genealogy and antecedents, Mr. Ponnudurai to find out whether the new corner had sporting blood and instincts and Mr. Subramaniam to familiarise himself with the students. D. Canaganayagam that famous batsman of the fifties was "discovered" like this by Mr. Ponnudurai. E. M. P. was a raconteur par excellence, especially of the College history and its sporting tradition. He had been associated with the College for nearly half a century, almost 40 of them as a teacher, boarding house-master and sports-master. He had scored a century for St. John's in cricket, captained the football team and had been Senior Prefect of the College. He had been a tennis champion of Calcutta University. North Ceylon and the College staff. He was also the patron of the Lab. Attendants - Vellaisamy, Chinniah and Johnpulle!

Mr. Subramaniam was the second of two great teachers which that noble institution, Jaffna College, gave St. John's., the other being Mr. T. H. Crossette. It is no exaggeration to say that Mr. Subramaniam was the sole architect of Hindu Christian amity at St. John's which is part of the College tradition. He is the sole survivor of the "Big Four" and strongly reminds one of Mr. Chips in that wonderful story of school life "Goodbye Mr. Chips". If a Johnian were asked to write an article to the Reader's Digest about the "Most unforgettable character I have ever met", the chances are that he will select either Mr. Subramaniam or Mr. Ponnudurai. Both of them were responsible for shaping the careers and characters of countless Johnians

Mr. M. S. Thambithurai was the last of the Mohicans, and with his retirement went the last of the Peto recruits. Mr. Thambithurai was a versatile teacher and he taught every conceivable subject, like History, Geography, English, Tamil, Algebra, Geometry, Arithmetic and Scripture with great acceptance in the middle school. He was a truly great Christian gentleman who gave of his time to Sunday school work while he was a teacher and to the Church after retirement. His chief qualities were integrity of character, absolute loyalty and true Christian humility. To go through life without enemies and to put up with life's rebuffs with a smile that disarms all opposition is great. Herein lies the success of Mr. Thambithurai.

The close of an era is always tinged with sadness, especially when viewed retrospectively. For St. John's the end of the fifties was made still worse with the farewell of several well known figures. Three other teachers who retired were Mrs. B. T. Ponnudurai, wife of Mr. E. M. Ponnudurai, who had taught for about 20 years, Mr. J. G. Aseervatham and Mr. M. C. Francis. Mr. Aseervatham had been on the staff for only 9 years, but he had left a clear imprint of his personality in no unmistakable fashion. He had made a significant contribution to the school in training students of English plays and oratorical contests. As Editor of the College magazine he brought a distinct class in style. Mr. Francis as Zoology teacher to the Entrance classes was responsible in no small measure to tile stupendous success the College enjoyed in the Medical Entrance results. Mr. S. Tharmaliugam, Mrs. E. G. Chinnappah & Mr. S. C. Karunananthan also left the College around this period.

Miss. E. I. Kelk, Vice Principal of Chundikuli Girls' College whose name forever will be associated with the College choir and carol services retired about that time and left for her home in England after about a quarter century of work in Jaffna. She joined her sister Mrs. Mary Peto, wife of the Late Henry Peto, but unfortunately Mrs. Peto died withn a year of her sister's arrival. Many Johnians of the twenties, especially those who had been boarders, will remember -Mrs Peto as a "mother" figure. The family of the late Rev. & Mrs. Peto presented an organ to the St. John's Church in memory of their parents. Death also removed Mr. A. M K. Cumaraswamy, a former Acting Principal and one of the most outstanding products of St. John's., Mr. A. G. Charles the Veteran teacher, Mr. J. T. Solomon retired Art Master who had been active in the 0. B. A. and Mrs. M. Rajanayagam who had been on the staff' when she was stricken ill.

Parting is such sweet sorrow, but let it be remembered that when the curtain rang down on the Arulanantham Age, the College was at the peak of her glory.