LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30125, 8 May 1963, Page 7

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

L Letters sent to tne Eaitoo tor pruning must be written in Ink on one side of the caper only, and writers must •end tn their names and addresses in full, whether they wish these to be published or not I Writers must say clearly whether or not their letten are being or have been sent, to other papers a The Editor cannot return or keep any letter which, for any reason is unsuitable for printing nor can he acknowledge unsuitable tetters. although this will be done where tt seems to be needful, or enter Into any correspondence 4. Letters must not be of more than ISO words io length Private Penny.—Name as well as address required. Another Old Resident.—Your assertions are contrary to fact Anti-Turtle.—Your letter could do as great an injustice and more publicly. Why not discuss the matter with the headmaster. R. D. M. Wilkes.—Rather invidious. You could more appropriately raise the question with the president personally. A Farewell ' Sir, —May I crave the indulgence of your columns to say good-bye to all the people of New Zealand, as I leave this grand country for the last time in command of the Rangitane. My 40 years of service and association with the kindly and hospitable people of New Zealand will afford me the warmest memories in my retirement, and I leave behind me the utmost good wishes for the future of the country and the people whom I hold in such high esteem.—Yours, etc.. • R. G. REES. Commodore. M.V. Rangitane, Auckland, May 4, 1963. Education Sir, —Is there not some truth in the School Committee Association’s description of primary education as a “leisurely amble" because the trend is away from pre-

cise syllabuses with textbooks? Sir G. Savage writes: "Good books can play as important a part in teaching science as other subjects. This part is sometimes underestimated by teachers. Books are the ehsef means by which the accumulated knowledge of mankind is passed on.” In your issue of March 7 Mr C. L. Knight writes: ‘Textbooks were the main instruments of learning. In New Zealand a teacher was too frequently judged on his scheme of instruction and search for information. ... It was an impressive feature of American education just how effective textbooks could be if supported by a good oral lesson. .. . Education geared to textbooks also trains pupils in careful reading. .. . This lack is the greatest single cause of first-year failure in New Zealand universities.”— Yours, etc., P. WILLIAMS. Tirnaru, May 6. 1963. More Fountains Wanted Sir, — “JJSjC.” should get his facts right if his criticism is to be fair. I did not advocate hanging baskets of flowers for Christchurch. Further, he is thrice astray when he says I suggested window boxes for buffers of trains as in Swiss villages. No. I recommended the beauty of flower boxes which adorned terminal buffers in the railway station at Bergen. "JSC.” is entitled to describe as “lovely” the Teutonictype war memorial of giant figures which adjoins our Cathedral. Many regard it as a robust piece of over-clut-tered art, and the memory of the brave deserves the best. And, finally, would “JJS.C.” please spare me the crowning injustice of confusing drinking fountains and concrete basins with display fountains and beflowered urns which win such admiration in cities of maturer culture?—Yours, etc., R.D.L. May 7, 1963.

Adult Education Sir,—The University of Canterbury Council reports figures for adult education as* follows: Workers’ Educational Association, 111 classes, 3118 enrolments; adult education department of the university, 390 classes, 7744 enrolments. As I have always understood that the WEA. is responsible for the largest proportion of adult tutorial classes in Christchurch, would the director of adult education give a more detailed report of how his figures are calculated.—Yours, etc., M. ADCOCK. May 1, 1963. [The director of adult education at the University of Canterbury (Mr D. W. Rutherford) said: ‘“Die annual report for 1962 of the Regional Council of Adult Education, which includes a report on W.E.A. classes during that year, does not contain the classification of class statistics as quoted by this letter.”]

Air Pollution Sir, —The very useful informative article in “The Press” today, telling of the relationship between colds and humidity, concludes with an important short statement: “Even with humidity, colds are difficult to avoid if body resistance is low during convalescence or due to fatigue, drinking and smoking, dust and smog." Those who drink and/or smoke, risk their own illness, but those who do not are too often subjected to the vitiated smoke - filled air created by smokers both human and mechanical, malodnous malfunctioning contraptions called chimneys, or vents belonging to neighbouring incinerators, factories with obsolete equipment, and antique motor vehicles belching filth, making breathing anything but a natural, pleasant function, and causing bronchial ills by dehydration. This is overdue for attention in Christchurch, where air pollution is the worst in New Zealand.—Yours, etc., WHY PROCRASTINATE? May 7, 1963.

Mr Walsh’s Speech Sir,—At the least Mr Walsh is very controversial; at the most he probably wields more power in this country than any other man, either in the commercial or political world. In his speech he once again highlights the public debt of £903,000,000, a figure which makes . the average man shudder and seems to belong more in the field of astronomy than finance.

Politicians seem to avoid mention of this debt and the public, in whose name it has been incurred, are left staggered by its proportions and at the nonchalant manner with which Finance Ministers treat it. What is being done about the amortisation of the public debt? Is Mr Lake so indecisive as to have no views on the subject? Might he perhaps tell us what action he would take to arrest its growth? Or, perhaps, he thinks it is like Topsy, and “just grew,” and like Jack’s

beanstalk, will keep on growing.—Yours, etc., ANGRY, MIDDLE-AGED MAN. May 7, 1963. Roast Duck At 8000 ft Sir,—With reference to the picture on page 8 on Saturday I wondered that it had not occurred to the two gentlemen to have their meal at the Hermitage and thus save taking the table and

chairs with them. —Yours, etc., MOUNTAIN AIR. May 4, 1963. Crash Kills Nine.—The British Far East Aiir Force , announced today that ail nine persons, including three crew members, aboard a British Royal Air Force Belvedere helicopter which crashed in the jungles of Sarawak on Saturday were killed in the accident.— Singapore, May 6.