BACKBLOCK SCHOOLS

Evening Post, Volume LXXXVI, Issue 93, 16 October 1913, Page 3

BACKBLOCK SCHOOLS

AUCKLAND BOARD ANGRY PARLIAMENTARIANS' STATEMENTS DENIED. [bi telegbaph— -special to the post.* AUCKLAND, This Day. i Some utterances by Mr. C. K. Wilson, M.P. for Taumarunui, regarding the provision of schools in the back- j blocks excited the Auckland Education j Board to a vigorous reply at a meeting | yesterday. Mr. Wilson had said that j an enormous amount of money had been | spent on education, but it was not for | the people of the backblocks. "I want i to give that an emphatic denial," said the Chairman (Mr. G. J. Garland). "If there is any board in this country that gives the backblocks a fair show it is the Auckland Board. The work we do here every fortnight proves that clearly. There is absolutely no discrimination made." Mr. Wilson also made , reference to backblocka children running wild, and had said that yery often they could get a grant from the Minister, but could \ not get the board to spend it. "Noth- j ing could be more untruthful," declared j a member of the board when attention i was drawn to this remark. -"The per- j [ bqnnel of the board shows how the country is represented. Eight out of nine of us live in the country." "This sort of talk is a scandal," ex- \ claimed the Chairman ; "I hope such' a j man as that will never get into the j I House again." ! A member : "He is a Reform Party ] man, isn't he?" \ The Chairman : "I don't care what he | is. A man who makes •wch misstate- ! ments as these should never be in Par- ' liament." In the ensuing discussion it was made clear that in the past two years more backblocka schools than ever before had | been established. The amendment, : which permitted of schools of from 12 ; to 20 pupils being established, being i partly responsible for this. MINING NEWS ! i » j waihi mine. i dreadnought~"reef at 1300 FEEL LEVEL. [BY TELEGRAPH — SPECIAL TO THE POST.] WAIHI, 15th October In the 'crosscut being thrown out from No. 5 to No. 4 level at the 1300 ft level in the Waihi Mine a reef Was intercepted last night. This will no doubt prove to be the Dreadnought Reef, which is just about due, and the largo flow of water coming from the face points to the existence of a strong > body of quartz. At point of interception the lode looks well, but nothing definite concerning values can be said pending assay results. The sampling of the Teef will be awaited with interest, and should the or© prove of milling grade the development will be of considerable importance, as it will serve to show that values exist 160 ft below the point at which pay ore has so far been met with in the mine (1150 ft level). OBITUARY Mr. Thomas J. Bell, who for many years past carried on a bakery business in Newtown, and previously in Willisstreet, on the premises now occupied by Mr. E. Arnold, died on Tuesday afternoon, at his residence in Mem-street from an attack of pneumonia. Though only 60 years of age, Mr. Bell had seen stirring times in the early days at Wanganui, and Kai Iwi. His father had been one of the earliest settlers at Wanganui, and was baker for tho Imperial troop* in the days whea there wero thousands of them on the West Coast of this island. His family did not come out for some years after. The late Mr. Bell, then a lad of fourteen, arrived in 1867 in the ship Wild Duck with his mother, five sisters, and three brothers, and it was part of his duty when, he joined his father to take the bread from one redoubt to the other, often with the bullets whistling about his earsj but such incidents were not uncommon in the days when the great fighting chief Titokowaru threatened Wanganui and all the sparse settlements right along from New Plymouth. The late Mr. Bell was one of the first members of the Wellington Naval, Brigade, and was connected with it up to the time of its merging into the Wellington Garrison Artillery. He 'was a member of the Newtown Bowling, Club from its inauguration up to the time of his death, and will be missed on many of the greens which he visited, particularly Wanganui. His wife belongs to an old Wellington family, and was born on Lambton-quay ■ fifty-nine years ago. Her father, Mr. Lemmington, was one of the band of early settelers, and he was married at St. Peter's Church in 1849, in tho days when Willisstreet was known as "Munster." Of the family who came out with the late Mr. 801 l in the Wild Duck in 1867 only one sister (Mrs, Kerse, of Wanganui) survives him. He leaves a wife and family 'of two sons and two daughters. V.M.C.A. GYMNASTIC CARNIVAL -■ ■ ■«» The annual gymnastic carnival, held under the auspices of the V.M.0.A., was giyen at the Opera House last evening in tho presence of aai audience which comfortably 'filled the building. The calisthenic exhibition reflected much credit upon the institution and its physical director., Mr. C. N. Heward, who, unfortunately, wa-s not able to partici ■ pate last evening, owing to his meeting with an accident on Monday. In tho first half of the programme tho wand exercises by the ladies, and an exhibition of ju-jitsu by Messrs. H. and R. Parker, proved the most popular. A touch of the spectacular was introduced by a pretty lantern march, and in another novel feature, "Tho Human Crocodile," which was responsible for much laughter. The second half of the programme was opened by a very pleasing act — the only one nncored during tho evening— an electric-light club display by the ladies. It required some nerve on the young ladies' part to go through this act, .is a slight mistake might have been responsible for a "baptism of glass." They, however, went through it without, any apparent nervousness as to consequences, and were loudly applauded. Owing to its prominence m the public eye recently, the item which attracted most attention was the exhibition of advanced Swedish drill. Tho various evolutions and exercises proved most interesting, and were given with a precision which bespoke careful training. The skipping, especially that of Miss Ruby Dobson, was particularly good. A tumbling act by Messrs. C. Nicholls and Teddy proved acceptable. The orchestra, under Mrs. Monk, rendered various selections during the evening, in unison with the rhythm of the feats performed. Mr. A. C. Kitto was stajre manager, and, with Mr. D. C. j Sclater, supervised the arrangements. For children's hacking cough at night, Woods' Great Peppermint Cure, It 6d, 2a , 6d,— Advc J