"RAGGING" ON TRAINS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 72, 26 March 1931, Page 20

"RAGGING" ON TRAINS.

HEADMASTER'S ACTION

"WILL NOT OCCUR AGAIN."

A "ragging" incident on one of the suburban trains last month has closed with a warning by Mr. H. J. D. Mahon, headmaster of the Auckland Grammar School, that first-day "rags" on the train must cease, and any repetition will be dealt with severely. •At the meeting of the Auckland Grammar Schools' Board yesterday a letter was received from Mr. Mahon stating that "initiation ragging" had been going on for years past. It had not been confined to grammar school boys. In the incident of last month a new boy was laid over the knees of another and a third applied his belt. The boy who was the victim said it was carried out in a feeling of good humour and all the new boys treated it as a joke. Letters received from four parents showed that there was nothing in it. Mr. H. S. W. King: It was more than a bit of fun. I can understand that the boy said it did not hurt him. Professor A. P. W. Thomas _ (chairman) : You know how difficult it is to obtain the absolute truth about anything. The boy gave a benevolent turn to it. Mr. King: Mr. Mahon has assured me it will not occur again. The father of a boy who complained to me would not take exception to ordinary horseplay, but in this case it was getting on the boy's nervous system. A suggestion was made by Mr. King that the boys should be allowed to travel in any part of the trains, instead of ■being "herded together like a lot of animals." Professor Thomast If they were allowed to mix with the passengers you would find the passengers complaining. The discussion closed with a remark by the chairman that Auckland Grammar School boys were not the worst offenders, but were probably the best. (Laughter.) Mr. King retorted: Those who travel on the trains might have something to say about that.