Popular Headmaster of the Shanghai Public School for Boys Leaves for Canada: Striking Career in Commu:
The departure from Shanghai of Mr. G. M. Billings, headmaster of the Public School for Boys in orth Szechuen Toad, which took]
Joe on Wednesday, terminates a od of service extending over 20 in Jocal municipal education.
Mr, Billings came out to the Bai shortly after ko graduated from onus College, Oxford, in 1900, ax-iving in Singapore whove he took up an appointment under the then Colonial Secretary, Joseph Chamberlain. The following year he offered a position as organizer of the first school in Shanghai to be originated for Chinese by Sir Ellis Kadoorioan institution still in tence but no longer under private ownership, as it was taken over by the' Municipal Council very soon after its foundation. The follow-Sng year, Mr. Billings became vice-principal of the Public School for Boys and Girls in Boone Road, and fon the retirement as headmaster of the late Mr. George Lanning. in 1907, he succeeded to this appoint mont.
Need for a Larger School As early as 1910 the building of 1 new school, eventually to become the present one situated in North Scechuen Road, was contemplated by the Council and in that year Mr. Billings, while on home leave for three months, visited a large numder of schools in England, He used the data thus gathered to assist the architects in their plans for the new school, and in fact drew a number of sketch plans incorporating some of the points noted in modern English schools as a help to the architects. In 1914 the school was opened.
Since that time a remarkable! organization and development has characterized the institution. All forms of corporate activity ha been the aims of the headmaster sisted by his able staff, and, as far as was possible, in a cosmopolitan community such as is represented by the attendance at the Public School for Boys, the same spirit which had vitalized the Engli Public School has been made the dominating force in the local in-' stitution, Mr. Billings has seen the teath-' ing staff grow from five to 25 dur-_
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.