From the News

In Canada's Farthest North, away up on the Alaska-Yukon boundary, there is a mountain recently named by the Geographic Board of Canada, which will perpetuate the memory of a gallant young Ottawa soldier, whose heroism is all the more pathetic because he made the supreme sacrifice in imprisonment, not in battle.

Mount Brooke, towering in snow-capped majesty on the Yukon boundary, was given its name last autumn in memory of Billy Brooke, of Ottawa, who enlisted for overseas service as a private in the 2nd Canadian Battalion. He was taken prisoner at Ypres on April 24th, 1914; and, because he refused to make munitions in Germany, to be used against his fellow countrymen, he was sentenced to twelve years imprisonment. He died of pneumonia on March 13th, 1917, in the Cologne Fortress, Germany, a martyr through his staunch devotion to his country's cause.

It was felt by many Canadians that there should be some lasting recognition of this young soldier's sacrifice. Mr. Robert Lett, of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway; Mr. A. E. Fripp, M.P., and Mr. Fred Cook, of Ottawa, interested themselves in bringing the brief but heroic career of this young patriot to the attention of the Geographic Board, with the result that one of Canada's most northern peaks has been given the name of Brooke. Romance has been associated with the family story in East as well as in West. About the year 1840, a young Englishman, James Brooke, cruising near the Island of Borneo assisted in putting down a Dyak rebellion, and was rewarded by being given the rulership of Sarawak, eventually becoming Rajah of this territory. As his power increased, the Rajah, who was unmarried, considered the question of training one of his nephews as heir to his authority and responsibility. He wrote to his nephew, William Brooke, of Richmond, Quebec (only ten years, younger than the Rajah), and offered him the position of future ruler. William Brooke, however. declined to leave Canada, and the Rajah then chose his nephew, Charles Anthony Johnson, a young midshipman, as his successor, stipulating that the name of Brooke should be assumed. In 1844, this young sailor visited Sarawak, and in 1852 was given the title, "Tuan Muda," of Sarawak, and continued to bear it until he succeeded his uncle in 1868. Last spring this second Rajah died, and his son, Sir Charles Vyner Brooke, who has lived in Sarawak and learned the peculiar duties of his position, succeeded to the title. In 1888, Sarawak became a British protectorate, and in 1904 the position of Sir Charles Brooke as sovereign of Sarawak was formally recognized by King Edward.

William Brooke, of Richmond, Quebec, left two sons. Charles and George, both lawyers. Charles, the elder, was County Crown Attorney at Hull, Quebec, dying there a few years ago. It is his son, Billy Brooke of Ottawa, who has made for himself a memorable name in the Canadian records of this great war. If William Brooke had accepted his uncle's offer of Eastern rulership, the former's grandson would now have been a Rajah in the far-off Island of Borneo. Billy Brooke's traditions were, indeed, those of loyal service. Mr. William Brooke's father, Lieut.-Col. Charles Brooke, died in India, his wife being Ruth Marshall, the daughter of General Sir Dyson Marshall, who had married the sister of one of the native princes. Both Colonel Brooke and General Marshall were of the 63rd Bengal Native Infantry. Billy Brooke's maternal grandfather was Dr. Alexander Cameron, of Huntingdon, Quebec, whose wife was of the famous Scottish family of Wallace. Billy's "grandmother Brooke" was of New England birth, her father being Dr. Weston, of Dartmouth, New Hampshire.

Thus, England, Old and New, Scotland and the Far East, contributed to the traditions of courage and chivalry which held this young Canadian so true to the high cause in which he enlisted. The white heights of the North will keep his name in memory in his native land, and his bright spirit is of that brave fellowship which bade the world Good Morning. When the world had said Good Night."

E. J. G. in Toronto Saturday Night.