Page 8 Advertisements Column 1

Evening Post, Volume LXXIV, Issue 25, 29 July 1907, Page 8

Lecturing upon University life at . Victoria Collage on Saturday night, Mr. Gray reminded his audience of student! that they were making tho customs and institutions of their university life. He would like to ses reform made, especially in coon?ction with the Capping Ceremony, when speakers might bo given a fair chance 01 a heaving. Nothing could be gained by the display of useless barburisras that took place every year and created a low impres;ion ! n the minds of tho public as to tho intel lectual calibre of the average student. The antics of an inebriated individual on tha platform of tho P«tone Railway station on Saturday afternoon came within an ace of ending in a tragedj. Irrititecl by tha shrill cries of the newsboys the fuddled traveller made ineffectual appeals to them to stop their clamour. Naturally they redoubled their importunities and bagan to jostle him in front and behind, Thon he lost hir> temper and singling out one tiny •-mite as tho supposed ringleader, mad& a grab at him and after administering a, ' few culls throve him off the platform on to tho line. Thf boy jumped bad: quickly and regained safety just v.& a train was sweeping into tho station. A few eeconcjs later and thsre would havo been a fatal accident. Tho narrow escape of the boy had a very sobering effect on. the inebriate. Arrangements aro being pushed forward for establishing a botanical observatory ih. tho hill country of Canterbury, in accordance with the suggestions made some timo ago by Dr. Cockayne. When walking up the gangway of tho s.s. Rotoiti at 12.30 on Saturday night, Andrew Rutherford, a cook belonging to the vessel, slipped on n piece of banana peel and broke one of his legs. His injury is now receiving attention at the hospital. A speaker at the open-air meeting on Saturday night waa guilty of a delicious "howler." Discoursing on the dona of iniquity in Chinatown, he saidi: "I was taken into of your streets that is named after a composer of symphonies, but the only symphony I could discover wss a symphony of stink — a very discordant symphony indeed. The crowd scratched its head in puzzled silence, for it quite failed to see tho point. Then at Jength it dawned- on on« or two thnt the orator was confusing Hayiing with Haydn ! And after another Haydn hrd ■won tho two big races at th» Wellington meeting, too. Of such v tho food of fame. The Wellington branch ofc tho New Zealand Society for the Protection of Women and Children met' on Friday. Present — Mrs. W. A. Evans (in the chair), Lady Stout, Mrs. Darvall. Mrs. J. Kirkcaldie, and Mrs. A. R. Atkinson. Casts of ailegod cruelty, which had been investigated, were reported. Iv Tcgard to some others, it was decided to obtain advice. It ■ was mentioned that a five-year-old boy was awaiting adoption. The following subscriptions were acknowledged : — Messrs. A. S. Patterson and Co. aiyl Stewart, Dawson and Co., £1 Is each ; Mrs. J. R. Palmer and Mrs. (Jlu?gow, 10s each ; Mrs. H. Pollen, Mrs. (Dr.) Gibbs, Mr. ( Kensington, Mrs. D. Anderson, and Mrs- (Dr.) M&ckenzio, 5s each. "Unless Labour combines its fniccs throughout this country it will never be treated with anything but indifference and contempt," said Mt. Maclaren at the open-air* nie>eting on Saturday night. He next went on to complain with some heat of Dr Find Jay's "brutal and callous references to organised labour," and remarked that tho only way to keep the Arbitration and Conciliation Act on the statute book^was. to Wf.tbdi. iyraa ad-, ministered in "a. spirit of toaStfcaßfdptSr and conciliation. Mt. Way, of Auckland; would have the present Parliament -wiped off the -map of 'affaire, and* replaced" t»y noble "and vir : tuous Socialist*. His remarks at the. open-air meeting on Saturday night \rew certainly calculated to cause a breach of the peace if some stalwart and pugnacious politician had chaccedialona. "The&s lazy, lackadaisical political squibs up in tho House of Fossils yonder," was almost a term of endearment compared with some of his references to the honourable members. "\Ve mast coxnbizxo «mci form a Socialist-Labour party to take charge of the legislation of our country," he •urged, and then went on to picture the millennium when "ths man from ths hold in the- ship, tho carpenter from his bench, the navvy from his' drain, and th:> clerk from his desk," shall sit in the cushioned seats of the mighty, and smoke the fat cigar of affluence, while the egregious capitalist swings a shovel or an axe. It ■was a grateful and comforting picture. The obligation. 1 : on a hawker in regard to the half-holiday question appear to be the same as those imposed on a shopkfeper by the Shops and Offices Act. This morning an information laid by Mr. Donald, Inspector of Factories, was preferred against a hawker for having failed to observe a recent Wednesday half -holiday. Evidence showed that accused was found selling fountainpens, linen and other goods. Defendant produced a document issued by a corporation official, and taid it gavo him permission to sell between 1 and 7 o'clock on the dat© in -question. Mr. Riddell, S.M., stated thai this inspector was an .irresponsible person, who had no right to overrule tho law. Defendant had said he was a strnngor hero and acted in ignorance. Public ollicers should not issue tuch permits. Defendant^ v/culd be convicted, but neither a fino nor costs would be entered against him. On Saturday evening Mr. W. Gray, M.A., B.Sc, President of tho University Debating Society, delivered an address at Victoria College on "Student Life in England two centuries ago."' The lecturer showed that the beginnings of the present university system were .not to be found in the academy or tho lyceum of ancient Greece, but rather in those institutions which sprang up in ■ mediaeval Italy. These early univorsities were communities of teachers and students without any charter. The fame of the teachor mado the university. For instance, it wae the genius of Abelard that marie the University of Paris *he centre, of learning ! .n tho middle ages •Aniontr the disciples of this great teach>r were- twenty rardinnib and fifty bishop 1 !. The number of students was at one time 30,000. The first of the English Universities were, of course, Oxford and Cambridge. Tho college, system that is characteristic of these ancient universities grew up in the thirteenth century oftur the foundation of Merton College, in 1264, on the conventual system of tho friars. The tutors were paid, or supposed to be paid, by the students many of whom then, as now, wore impecunious and in debt. Some inf creating sketches were given of student life, and of the conflicts that often occurred between townsmen and gownsmen. Penalties for broaches of discipline were severe, expulsion .being frequent. Thero was. no organised spirit .among the student?. Cricket and football or even lowing, were not popular at thit time. Cock-fighting and bntlbaiting were much in vogue. From iht* old universities Mr. Gray turned to ono of the youngest-- -the University of Ne>v Zealand and appealed to hi 3 audience to remember that they also wore* makifl" the institution* of their collpge. Lei them always bear that in mind. The chairman (Mr. E. Fitzgibbon, LL.B.). in moving a vote of thanks, pointed out the advantages of such gatherings, and trusted they would «oon have- a social hall, for tho better '.zcommodation of the audience-.