NATIVE SCHOOL WORK.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 61, 11 March 1916, Page 13

NATIVE SCHOOL WORK.

REMINISCENCES 1886-1807

•(By KEY. H. YOUNG.) v ■■ \ h • ctlv in ISS6—a few months before \ 1 ,Jxarawera Eruplion-I left my pas- s rtli work in Dunedin. to enter upon t **L school work in Hokianga, 1,000 \ ' "to north, at a ; troke. My friond, 8 ■ f • W J-Habens, 8.A.. to whom New Wand owes much for the shaping of 1 rpublie school syllabus and the organ- • • a of her primary schools, "as then 3 Secretary for Education and Inspec- | See-ml for Scholia, and he said to „. "You will not cfasc to be a minisf/bv taking up this important work * on g the Maoris. You will have some Sure, and will find ample scope for evangelistic effort where you are going." { IX THE FAR N'OHTfl. i i S oon found this to bo true, and, J ' mthin a few years 1 travelled hundreds < f miles in our boat and on my horse, 6 to the isolated homes of scattered set- : !] er s far removed from civilisation so J i called and often far from their nearest J natrhhours. But, warm-hearted and writable was the welcome I received everywhere, and it would sometimes oe J said: "You are the lirst minister to enter our house since we came here," or I "i'ou are the first minister to visit us for seven years; will you baptise our < dear children?" which sometimes meant - a house-full! ( s.lhere were no backblock missions then in Hokianga, save the Methodist Maori i Mission, which had been started early in : the '30*3, at Maungungu, near to Kohnkohu, by the Rev. John Hobbs. In the '50's this Maori Mission was intimately associated with the honoured name of Eev. William Gittos —happily, still with us-who was its hard-working superintendent But now many of the lonely spots I then visited are centres of backblock mission activities —Baptist, Prestiyterian, Anglican, and Congregational, as well as Methodist. The harbour had then only canoes and a few small boats; now there are great numbers of capacious and swift-moving launches, plying constantly in all directions. What a change! And only twenty-five yeaia ago! MAORIS AND TELEPHONE. In band of hope work we found ample j scope and gratifying success among the ! young Maoris, as well as educational work • proper. Shortly after we entered upon lie work "Te Waia," the telephone, was erected at the schoolhouse, and was put up in my study, the window of which ; looked out on to the playground. And when my bell rang, at 9 ajn., or for a mEssage, it was amusing to see all the boys rash to the post, a few yards off, tsd the little ones below, and the big o|e3 reaching OTer their heads, but everyone with his ear to the post, listeniig for the message! The Maoris made . ipquent use of the telephone, ar-d would l> gin and end a message much as they di -a letter —"Ehoa" (my friend) —and -.Ttjuld fill three or four forms with one itessage, costing 3/ to 4/. The "eionomy- of war-time" was not then in •Vijue! I TOOK IT FOE HIS SISTER. "* ,-t 3ne day a yonng Maori, named ~- jB meka came to mc at tea time, Please, sir, I want medicine for diarr;lfci.' "Tes, Eameka." I filled a lara ..ijoon with tincture of rhubarb, which he i ■•£«& without even., a wry face! Then jeeking at mc, he said quietly. Tlw , Jwncine is not for mc; it is for my sis;t| at home!" "Oh, Eameka! why did Jji not cay co before you drank itf •-SI audible reply! Perhape "the fun" of til thing" was worth the extra do3e for ;W sister'!" j I THE OLD MAOEI'S HEDimE. ilhortly after this, his father—a .rfat Rangatira, and brother to tlie $F~ ffa - s taiken seriously ill, with j dere spasms in the stomach. He had I -Bfler been ill, was overbearingly headiifong, and a terror to manage! Dr. Gijliam, at Rawene, fifteen miles away, :»s| subsidised to treat the Maoris, free! I ang him up, described the symptoms, «n| he eaid, "Send in a boy, and I will Ml- you out the medicine, with full .iaructions." Tia, a younger lad than HI redoubtable Rameka, went on hie ■lose the fifteen miles and back, in a iiuprising short time. There were two tottles of medicine, and a note. Betsy, .ty wife, and mother—of only 17 ehiloq!—was a good-hearted, intelligent oaßcaste, whose father had. died, and lefathe orphan in the care of Rev. John Bobs and his family, at the mission. TieUate Mib. William Gittos waa then MM Hobbs. With such upbringing it ■wasleasy to explain to Betsy that the raal bottle was poison, and only one ecu] spoonful of it was to be taken dnrig the night, and then onJy if the . pain was bad, otherwise none! But tloslarge spoonfuls from the bi<r bottle everjj three Hours. Betsy recited back to Kej iese instructions correctly. But at diffight nest morning poor Betsy was at-iy door. "Oh, Mr. Young, my husband! has taken aH the medicine from toPbottles, and wanted more. He itoild have it, did not have the pain, and i| much better!" Had Dr. Graham , * paiieit beei a European I should probably lave had to give evidence at a conae's injuest! But as it was, no greater ham eneued than poor Betsy's fright! j A BRANDY POULTICE. In tie lay of Plenty, a Maori, whose little: {abater had a slight attack or bronchlie came one day and asked mc for " a (bindy poultice!" My daughter, who ofce; nursed the women and children, aildiften saved their lives, treating them a}cg_<the lines of " Kirk\s Papers," Use toWply hot bran poultices, and ta-dghtrem to do it themselves. And Jiencc,-ft.., 6 light mistake of adding two letters',!, describing the poultice he wanted ' .MARK OF DEVOTION , . We ient five yearn—lß9s-1900—of happy d successful wonk at Te Kopua, at whi the school buildings were f erecteim the old Maori Mission station, -for years euch excellent service w rendered by the Rev. Thomas Buddl&nd Rev. George Buttle, whose dear i e was cut off in her prime, in tte nvt of his pressing work in ISSS. at 3S. a rs of age! He buried -er and their %T infant in a quiet spot neaT to the 6%0] garden. So devoutly attached *° hcvere the Maoris, thai their chief "ayeithe privilege of being buried at her f(,j a n<l he was laid there, whiln ■Mr. Itle, broken-hearted, had to leave toe fnful scene. -<FRIEND OF THE MAORIS. Tfrwork was taken up, and carried on \V| phenomenal success, by the Rev. Alcx.icr Keci, »-iio taught the Maoris '" to pjvatc the whole flat of hundreds of n--,, with wheat. Secured them a jj • ta-ufflit them to make their own Irea In ISU3 the Waikato war broke

up this -ghly-succcss-ful mission. Mr. Reed had to leave for Auckland, and the splendid mission buildings were all destroyed. But grateful memories of Mr. Keed and his work were cherished when we left the school in 1900, and Ml Arthur Ormsby, the father of a large family attending our school, said to the writer one day as we stood near to two ■majestic bluegutns over 90ft high: "I helped Mr. Keed to plant those two trees when I -was a pupil at his boarding school, 35 years ago," while shrubs, trees, fruits, and flowers in 1900 still bore emphatic testimony to his industry and taste of nearly 40 years before. LN THE KAY OF PLENTY. Wilrile Mr. Reed was toiling at Te Kopua we were removed to the Bay of ■Plenty, where for seven years, in a larger school, we were enabled to do successful work. We 6ent quite a number of boys to St. Stephen's, several of whom have been successful as native interpreters, lawyers' clerks,' Government land agents, etc., while several girls we sent to Hulcarere and Auckland have made successful teachers and all have .behaved themselves with credit to all concerned. We established a Sundayschool, Sunday evening services for young people, a most successful Band of Hope, and a lending library .with weekly exchanges of books, the first case of books to start it being given by Mr. George Cadbuxy, of cocoa and chocolate fame!

After 21 years of strenuous service, I retired in 1907, but have still a very warm place in my heart for native school work and native school workers —when they are genuine^—as co nrany of them really are.

Rightly viewed and honestly carried out, our native school work furnishes an important section of service, educational, social, and evangelistic, among the jjaoris, as our fellow citizens, in our beautiful Dominion.