PETONE HIGH SCHOOL.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 342, 31 October 1908, Page 6

PETONE HIGH SCHOOL.

COMMITTEE V. BOARD. PETONE'DETERMINED. . ; :In reference to" an article in yesterday's Dominion, dealing .with the Petone High SoHogl, ■ a reporter, interviewed the Rev. A. Thomson, -.a'-member of - the Petone, School Committee and. chairman of the Technical School Board of Managers. : "Lest the public' should be misled by the specious letter of the secretary of the Education , Board," replied Mr. Thomson, "the following facts should be kept in. view: : Neither the oommittee nor. anyone, else conceiiiod in educational matters in Petone made any move in the direction proposed by the sub-committee of . the , board. The present building' was- given fpr, secondary education in Petone by the late Minister for Education, Mr. Seddon, and up to the present.it has been found suitable'for the' accommodation of the three. classes,in the building. This building Petone, is. determined to hold as its own. ) When .the time comes, that the building ,'is no longer available, it can be sold, and the proceeds devoted to the erection of .an ,for, secondary .education:' ' In, fact,"if. the sub-committee of the board arc sincere -in the desire to further the, interests, of;'.secondary • education in the Hutt.VaJley, which., Mr. Stewart declares must of necessity be, largely of a technical character, they have- a"fine opportunity of doing so by .acquiring, another half-acre alongside, our . .present technical school, selling Price's building ajid erecting a secondary school,'arid tben doing away wjth what is known as the secondary classes at present occupying Mr. Wilford's."house, for which a rental is paid, as the JHutt District High School, and uniting the two schools in the proposed new building." The Hutt have 25 students, and.Petone 65. Of course, this is exactly what,the sub-committee do not want. Their aim-is to, abandon'the building that Petone secured from Mr.-Seddon for secondary education, so ■ that the whole, question' of the place for the secondary school may be opened again.., v ,. , j j "Regarding the; points in the letter," continued Mr. Thomson,-"as to clause 1, in which the secretary points out the greater suitability of the new. building for the secondary classes as compared with the present building: in wbich they, v are housed, no one questions this point-for;-a'moment, but the classes are quite .comfortably situated "in their present building. There is ample room, the building is large,enough, and to transfer the classes-to. .the new b,uilding, as suggested by the secretary, : would really cause a great amount'ofscbnfusion. ..Mr. Lee was present ;)vhen,t.he committee,,,who had to arrange for the furnishing of;;tne, school, went over the rooms and mapped out the requirements of each room; it was found that the,furniture of !any three of thosa_rooms could not be moved or made available for ordinary secondary classes as. conducted in tho present secondary schools. For mechanical drawing, building construction, architectural drawing, etc., they have'heavy" upstanding desks and forms that could not possibly be shifted every night. TKeri.' in the art- room, the models,. easels, and desks could not be removed during the '. day. The third roomy which is arranged for mechanical work and 'electricity, could not possibly be made''available.-''Then," downstairs, it is impossible to. Shift'the''furniture .of the dressmaking,' typewriting, arid shorthand, and cookery rooms so as to maW it suit both day and evening classes. ' .The only available room is that prepared, for .continuation classes, aril it has 30' single' desks. As to the paragraph dealingwith- appliances, the Technical Scheol'is not only available during the day for classes in the secondary department, but -'for'the.whole'School,.'and the same objection would hold good. Jn, regard to the large number of .'pupils in the primary school. Almost all the appliances will not be available every day, and pupils will-require to have special lockers, for these.'■ The-proper solution is not the'total disturbing of the evening technical classes,- for; which tho building was created/by attempting' the impossible, but by erecting a'second building alongside tlie present. Technical , School, and if, as the secretary says,-secondary education in this valley is gojng'to be of a technical character, that certainly'is the wise and politic course for tho. board to adopt. Regarding day. and evening classes occupying the same room in the Wellington Technical 1 School, Mr. Stewart ought to know that those classes are conducted under the Wellington Technical Education! Board; arid riot under the Education Board, and the time will come when similar day classes will have to be conducted under tho Technical School Board of the Hutt Valley. As to the saving in cost, tho proposed solution.of having one District■ High School , in the- Valley Tiuilt alongside the Technical School is- the only sane .way of lessening the expenditure. Petone is not responsible for; two ' district high schools being in tho Valley."

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The agricultural show to be held at Palmerston North on. Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, November 4, 5, and 6, is the twentythird annual event held by the Manawatu and West Coast Agricultural and Pastoral Association. The' first show was held in' November, 1886, and' the entries' were then 73 -horses, 48 cattle, 120 sheep, ,11, pigs, a few hunters, and general exhibits. ( Show takings were: Members' subscriptions, ..£270; Kates, .£llO, and the .yearV.revcnue, .6583... Prize money awards were only ,£100.: Now the grounds compriso 80. acfes, huge grand 'stands, accommodating 4000 people covered, building for 'horses, sheep, cattle,' and'.the. big exhibition halls, the total floor- space in all the buildings- running into 105,000 square, feet. - The grounds and. buildings are valued.at Members' subscriptions come to .£I2OO, show takings .£I2OO, ~ tind in the,, past five;, years .£6500 has -been spent in prize moneys''With fine weather it is certain the attendance_from all pa'rts of the Dominion will far excel"previous figures. The attention ,of.buyers of stock is directed to an announcement made by Dalgety and Co. in to-day's issue. The firm have received instructions to offer at auction some forty hunters, hacks, "harness;''draughts, halfdraughts, and geldings. The stock,,owned by Mr. Rupert Morrison, of "Blairlogie," Wairnrapa. will bo put up at : auction at Masterton Show Grounds to-day. Tl>e sale, commences at noon. . . Messrs. J. H. Bethune 1 and Co. announce in our auction columns that, onFriday, November 27 next; at 2:30 p.m., at their rooms, they are holding: an extensive proporty .auction sale under instructions'.from, the registrar of the Supreme Court. The properties comprise three residences,.each.of six rooms, in Bridge Street, Lower Hutt, a six-roomed house in Derwent Street, Island Bay, a five-roomed cottage in Ribble Street, Island Bay, and a five-roomed house, with outbuildings, White's Line, Alicetown. Full details of the various lots appear in the advertisement, and any further information may be obtained on. application to tho auctioneers. . ... [ RHETJMO SOON CURED ME. ALGAR. Mr. Albert Algar, of the Wellington Woollen Co. ; Wellington, is another gentleman who' bears testimony-to'the marvellous powors of RHETJMO in curing Rheumatism. He writes.— " I have suffered '.for some time from Rheumatic Gout and Sciatica. I found your mediyhe RHEUMO, a quick,remedy; two or threo 'doses arrest and cure an attack."

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