OBITUARY.

DEATH OF MR. G. D. 88-AIK

The cause of educational progress in this' district in particular and the Dominion in general has suffered an almost irreparable loss in the death this morning of Mr 0. D. Braik, for some nine, years Director of lrimary, Technical, and Secondary Education and Chief Inspector of Schools for the Wanganui Education District, it is no exaggeration to say that he had no superior in New Zealand in the qualities that go to make up an educational administrator of the highest rank, and almost the whole of the wonderful progress and assured success attained in this district in vo>. tional education in particular is ttue to liis remarkable personalty. With very imperfect tools in the shape of harassing departmental regulations devised in such a way as made it impossible for an ordinary .man to compass any great work, he nevertheless carved out a system that is unequaled in New Zealand for effectiveness and self-reliance. If ey-er a man's work is likely to prove an enduring monument to a man's memory, it is what Mr Braik has done in this department of education which will stand out brightly and clearly when the very name of an Education Board is forgotten. But he was not a oneideaed man. In every branch of education—Montessori, primary, second- , ary, technical, and university-—he was equally an expert, for he had at the bottom the very best foundation —an intense love for the little ones and a passionate desire for their real culture and progress. As an examining inspector he was facile princeps, and teachers and pupils always heartily welcomed his visits. He seemed ,to possess the knack of getting out of ithe pupils-.all- the best that was in them, and the ordinary terrors of an examination had little of reality where he officiated. As an economical and intensely practical adminis"trator he had few equals, and the measures be devised and the means lie adopted to provide funds irr" directions where the Government grants were ridiculously inadequate proved how well qualified he was to rise to the occasion , under the most disheartening circumstances. Unswerving as he was personally in his devotion to duty, l he expected great things from his subordinates and there are few men who could have got such devoted service and whole-hearted enthusiasm in the cause he had so much at heart, as he secured from all those who came under his influence.- About eighteen months ago Mr Braik paid a visit to Australia for the purpose of obtaining educational information likely to be of use here, almost entirely at his own expense, and the results of his enquiries were embodied in a series of papers which must prove very useful to all educationists. The* work he carried, out beyond what is looked upon as the work of a school inspector , was enormous. He was responsible for devising the system of classification q£ teachers first adopted in the Dominion; he also established that excellent aid to teachers circulated in the Wanganui district called " The Leaflet;; , and .only those closely connected with his work have any idea of the breadth of his resources and the width of his outlook when anything for the improvement of the education system was. required by the local educational authorities. Wo know personally that no praise can be too high and _no admiration can be too great for his marvellous grasp of detail, his readiness to cope with any • educational emergency, or his patient working out of the most difficult and intricate problems. ' - , ' Mr BraHs attended the Board o> Education meeting on December and was at the office on the next day attending to his duties; he had then to take to his bed, and was operated oii the following week. - Apart from his educational work 1 ;. if one can consider such a man in j such a manner, Mr Braik was worthy of the epitaph, " He'was born a man and died a man." Scrupulously honourable to an infinite degree, a devoted husband and' father whose homewas the .very breath of life to him, he radlat'ea- strength and goT)d;humour amongst a large circle of friends who had the privilege of his intimate friendship. It was only the other day, that his little daughter remarked, in one of the flashes of insight to which few elders are prone, that she only wished people could know how (uiiny father could be, after he had been' amusing her with his conversation, although only a few days from when the call came to him to go to his long rest. Despite Ins busy life, he found some little time for activities that showed he was a great lover of athletics, a deep Shakespearian student,- and a man of the widest sympathies. It is deeply saddening to know that these have all passed away to the bourne from whence no traveller returns, although the world is a good deal better fpr his having lived his brief span in it. > • Mr Braik was born in Scotland about fifty-five years ago, and he came'out to New Zealand over thirty years since, He held an- M.A. decree, and was a teacher at the Gore District High School for some years. Mr Martin, the operator in charge of the linotypes at the Staii, was one of his pupils. He was assistant inspector in Southland for many years, and was selected as Chief Inspector for Wanganui without applications being invited, and has ever since served in that office with faithfulness, devotion to duty and enthusiasm. Ho leaves a widow and a daughter and two sons—the eldest a student for tho Anglican ministry and the young one attending the Wanganui Technical College. The headmaster of the Beaconsfield School is his brother. Wβ feel sure that tlie heartiest sympathy. in their irreparable lo*s will be extended to the relatives by a wide circle of friends and acquaintances. • . « The funeral will take plaoe on Monday, at 3.80 p.m. ,

MRS HENRY TOLLEY. Mrs Hannah Tulley, wife oi Mr felonry Tolley, of Itangiwa-lua-j and mother of Mr H. Tolley, of Feilding, passed away at her home yesterday, aged 78 years. Mrs Tolley, who was a native of London, went up to tho Biriningham (Kiinbolton) settleineut wLth her family 26 years, ago, ami ■. lived a busy lil"n tlwtfA. h good mo-■thei-j a, fine settler, and an ideal neighbour. There arc- three surviving sons-Mr llichard Tolley (Wellington). Mr H. Tolley .(Feilding), and Afr W. Tolley CRangiwalna)—and three (laughters: Mrs A. Bennett (Wellington), Mrs G. h. Lay iHastmgs), autl Mrs AY. Boshier (Rangiwahia). Tl»o interment, to-morrow, will he private.