Hawke's Bay Herald. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 21, 1887. SCHOOL NURSERIES. '

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXII, Issue 7931, 21 December 1887, Page 2

Hawke's Bay Herald. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 21, 1887. SCHOOL NURSERIES. '

The House has decided that the "schoolage" shall not be raised, from Jive to six. This will somewhat disarrange the retrenchment proposals of the Ministry, and will correspondingly relieve the Education Boards, But, apart altogether from its financial aspects, we are sorry to see that the House has decided against raising the school age. We have for years advocated that course, in the interests of the infants themselves, and it pleased us not a little to hear this view warmly upheld by Mr Hill, our Inspector of Schools, at the meeting of the Education Board yesterday. Mr Hill presented a lengthy report in answer to certain questions submitted by the Education Department bearing on the financial proposals of the Government. We regret that space forbids the reproduction of the whole of the report to-day, for it is full of valuable suggestions, vigorously put, and it is a great pity that it did not reach the hands of members of the House before they entered upon the discussion ot the estimates. The same questions will, however, arise again, and it is to be hoped tlat' the opinions of Mr Hill, as well as those of the other Inspectors of Schools in New Zealand, will then be before the House, as expert evidence on a subject which has many sides to it. On the point of raising the school age Mr Hill approaches his subject from what may be called the scholastic, as well as the hygienic, sides. On the first he says :— " My suggestions as to raising the school age from five to seven years when children may be admitted into the public schools is by no means a new one with me. I have for years passed maintained, as my annual reports to the Hawke's Bay Board of Education will testify, that much injury is done to. education by this practice of admitting young children of five years of age: into the schools, and especially into the smaller country ones. In this education district the small sohools are carried »n each in a single room and managed by one teacher — a lady teacher where possible. Now the organisation of a small school is a more difficult problem than the organisation of a large one— that is if the school is to be efficiently worked. In the small school the teacher as a rule has the same number of standards as in the largest schools, besides the difficulties of the former are increased by the addition of say 40 per cent, of children either too young or too backward for presentation in standards. In the large schools the infants constitute a department by themselves under special teachers. In all cases where a single teacher is engaged it becomes next to impossible for infants to be instructed even fairly well, seeing that the teacher must centre his energies upon the preparation of his standard pupils, on the efficient preparation of whom he is judged by his committee, parents, and perhaps the Inspector. But, assuming that a teacher can find time to give instruction to his infant pupils, the kind of teaching is special and entirely different from that required for the preparation of standard children. The carrying on of the former is detrimental to progress in the latter, hence the infantsorthe standard children must be in the main neglected if they are required to be instructed in the same room. All teachers of experience I are aware of this fact ; hence it happens that the lowest class in a country school is neglected for more important work, and the little ones do pretty much as they please, the result being that bad habits are formed- -habits of inattention, indifference, and carelessness, and these habits influence for the worse, botli in school and out of it, the after lives of the children. My experience is that young children are admitted into the country schools not because they are wanted, but as a kind of padding. Their attendance causes an increase in the salary of the teacher, and the trouble they cause is a small matter compared with the loss of salary which would ensue were sucli children debarred from attendance at school. In schools where a separate department for infants 'is provided I believe also that the standard work, of whatever kind, would be improved weie children excluded until the age of seven." Of the second division of his subject Mr Hill says :— " The physical life is first in importance in the life of man, and the mental training of children can well he left until the body has acquired strength, Our infant schools do not cause children to pass the standards at an earlier age, nor, as far as my experience goes, do they produce anything than the making of mud nies such as were made beiore the establishment of nurseries for infants. My opinion on this question of infant training is supported by that ot some of the best infants' teachers in my district, and my wife, who is an English trained infanta' mistress, and for years had charge of the ißfants' department in Christclmrch East sohool, is also of a similar opinion. Were children excluded as snggested, I' believe that the standards would he passed at an earlier age than at present, and that the character of instruction in all the schools would be greatly improved.

On the fourth page will be found an article entitled "A Suicide's Letter to His Wife." The usual meeting of St. John's Band of Hope was held last Evening. There was a good attendance, and a very enjoyable evening was spent.

The Holiday Association have decided to grant a general holiday on the 26th of January, upon which date the sports meeting of the Caledonian Society will be held. At the Resident Magistrate's Court yesterday, before Mr G. A. Presce, R.M., Michael Kinsella, Frederick Thompson, and Frederick Henri were each fined 5s and costs for drunkenness. The sawdust and rubbish in the lagoon opposite Mr R.~Holt's mill is still burning Yesterday a number of Mr Holt's employe's, under the direction of Mr S. Spence, dug trenches round the burning mass to prevent the fire spreading towards The distribution of prizes to the pupils attending the Napier district schools will take place in the Theatre Royal at 2.30 o'clock this afternoon. The pupils of" the White-road school will assemble at 1.45 o'clock, and the pupils of the main school at 2 o'clock. The distribution of the prizes in the infant department of the Hastings-street school was unavoidably postponed from the time arranged yesterday, and will take place at 11 a.m. sharp to-day, when the attendance of all parents and friends who can conveniently attend is requested. As the Harbor Board has refused to allow the Council to make a road down the Petane beach to cart night-soil over, and as the Council have accepted a tender for the construction of that road, the result is a complete game_ of block in which the contractor for making the road should be ' interested, The Council will have to cease depositing night-soil at the present dep6t, which is one of the most abominable masses of seething and festering corruption that can be conceived. It is not wonderful, therefore, thatlastyeara majority of ihe typhoid cases were on that portion of the hills which overlook the horrid place, and catch all the fetid odours when the wind is from the westward. Our Waipawa correspondent writes as follows under yesterday's date :— There is to be a great gathering at Mount Vernon, the seat of Mr J. Harding, YYaipukurau, on the occasion of the jubilee of his temperance life. It is understood that two or more railway carriages are to be laid on to convey Good Templars, Rechabites, Blue Ribbon Army, and Band of Hope children to the festivities. • The programme offered by Professor Chainey for to-night is a most excellent one, including as it does the best parts of " Hamlet " and ' Dickens's justly-cele-bvated Christmas Carol. As all who have heard Professor Chainey pronounce him a first-class reader the townspeople will no doubt crowd the Athenaeum and show that they can appreciate and reward superior talent when they have the opportunity. The sittings of the Supreme Court were terminated yesterday. His Honor gave judgment in the 'case of Banner v. Rnddick for £200, less £98 8s paid into Lourt, with costs on the lower scale. In the case of Donnelly v. Iharaka judgment was given for the full amount claimed, £2375, with interest at 8 per cent, added. His Honor said that lie would give his decision in the case of Williams v. Hitchman on the 7th of January. The disappointment of an excursion party came before the Resident Magistrate yesterday, when the case of Simpkins arid another v. Lewis was partly heard. The action was brought to recover damages for failure to supply a vehicle to convey a party _to Te Aute. Three witnesses were examined, and the case was adjourned to secure the attendance of two other witnesses. Mr Moore appeared for plaintiffs, and Mr E. H. Lee for defendant. The attention of members of the Municipal Council is drawn to clause 22 of the Police Offences Act, which has reference to a scandal that is the canse of great annoyance to a large number of ratepayers who have to reach their homes by wav of the Chaucer-road. As the majority of these people are small freeholders, and cannot leave the neighborhood, it is incumbent upon the Council- to preserve them from the wor3t' form of nuisance being forced upon them, The Garrison Band desire to raise funds to defray the cost of erecting permanent music stands in the Clive-square rotunda, and to that end will have collection boxes on the square this evening, when the following programme of selections will be played: — Overture, "Art and Nature" (Heminerele) ; fantasia, "La Passarelle " (F. Boison); quadrille, " Jolities " (Metcalfe); overture, "William Tell' "Rossini); fantasia, " Chiming. Bells"---(Metcalfe); waltz, •• The Bride of the Manor '• (Metcalfe) ; polka, " The Merrie ■ Bells" (Metcttlfe)j "God Save the Queen." ' The Mayor has given permission for the collection to be made in the square and , four well-known citizens have kindly consented to act as collectors ; as the object is such a good one it is to be hoped that i the result will be satisfactory. If every • one who listens to the band would give • only a trifle sufficient weuld be collected, I with perhaps enough, over to pay for re- ' painting the rotunda, which is badly ; needed. . ' The half-yearly meeting of the Hawke's Bay Lodge of Oddfellows, No. 45, . American Constitution, was held last i evening at the lodge-room. There was a good attendance, -and a few absentees were apologised for. ' Office-bearers for the ensuing term were elected, and will be installed at the next meeting by Grand Master Bro. Naphtali.. The secretary '. stated during the evening that the various ' lodges had contributed £30 Is lOd for the , widow and family of the late Bro. J. H. [ Neale, the total being made np of the i following sums :- -Leith Lodge, £1 Os 4d ; . Prebbleton Lodge, £2; Wallace Lodge, £1; Star of Auckland Lodge, £2; Pioneer [ of Southland Lodge, £2 2s ; Alma Lodge, £2 ; Hope of Hastings Lodge, £1 ; Kaeo Lodge, £2 2s; Pioneer Lodj?e, £1 ss; i Orepuki Lodge, £1 14s ; Alexandrovna Lodge, £1 18s ; Southern Cross Lodge, £3 ■ 3s ; Star of Canterbury Lodge, £1 Is ; Ridgely Lodge, £1' ss ; Mataura Lodge, I 10a 6d ; Hawke's Bay Lodge, £2 ; Hawke's j Bay Lodge members, £4 Is. . The railway authorities are to be conL gratulated upon their evident desire to r study the convenience of the public during r the holidays, the special tickets, particu- , larly those to Wellington and back, from i December 22nd to January 16th, offering f great inducements to holid&ymakers. In [ one respect, however, the arrangements ■ might be bettered, and that is in connecs tion with the excursion train to Woodville i and back on Boxing Day, the tickets for which are available for return on the day i of issue only. Many persons would like | to pay a visit to'the Manawatu Gorge, and , to other places of interest,* but this cannot ■ be done if those who travel are compelled i to leave Napier and return the same day. i The 26th and 27th of December are both . public holidays, and if the department ' would make the tickets issued on the 26th available for return on the following day , a boon would be conferred. There does not appear to be any difficulty in the way of doing this, and we hope the suggestion will be adopted. ; The late Ministry managed to make a nice muddle of education, amongst other things. During the course of a discussion at the Education Board yesterday Mr Hill remarked on the number of teachers who had failed to earn bonuses this year, although some of them had done excellent work. This lie ascribed to the ex- j cessive demands of the new syllabus, and to its division into " class subjects " and "pass subjects." Only the latter counted for passes, but the former, which included things in which many country teachers had never been trained, and which they could not teach properly, had to be satisfactorily imparted to enable a "'pass" to ' be given. Thus in some schools excellent examinations had been passed, but owing to inefiicieiicy in class subjects, which did not count in the examination at all, he was obliged to "fail" the schools, and the teachers were deprived of the bonuses they had fairly earned. The distinction seems ridiculous, but, seeing that it was made, it is still more ridiculous to "fail" pupils for inefficiency in subjects which would not count to their credit if they passed. At the Resident Magistrate's Court yesterday, before Mr G. A. Preece, R.M., judgment for plaintiff was given in each of the following civil cases : — Dinwiddie I Walker and Co. v. Jordan, £3, costs and ' expenses 17s 6d, Mr Lee for plaintiffs. S. E. Cooper v. executors m estate of late John Slieelian, £13 13s, costs £1 7s. Theatre Royal Company v. H. Smith, £13 3s 4d, costs £1 Is. M'Auby v. Mahaia Takiha, £2 10s, costs 13s. Lascelles v. Goodyear, £4 11s, coats and expenses £1 16, Mr Creswell for plaiutifl. Lascelles v. Hanlan, £4 12s Bd, costs and expenses £1 5s 6d, Mr Cresswell for plaintiff. Blackwell v. Hamiora Tupae, £2 0a 6d, costs and expenses 10s 6d, Mr Moore for plaintiff. Levy v. W. Higgins, £1 5s Gd, costs, and expenses 16s 6d, Mr Leefor plaintiff. Levy v. Coupe, £4, costs and expenses 18s 6d, Mr Lee for plaintiff. Bradtield v. J. Smith, £3. costs Bs. It, Monteith v. Allen, £8 2s, costs , 11s. Same v. Johnson, £1 3s, costs Bs. Same v. M'Eachern, 19s Bd, costs Bs. Henderson v. Rangania, £5 10s, costs and expene.es £2 2s 6d, Mr Ciesswell for plaintiff. H. WilliamsandSonsv. G. Neill, £55 0s sd, costs and expenses £4 2s, Mr Dick for plaintiffs. Neagle v. King, judgment debt of £7 2s Bd, to be paid at the rate of £1 a month, or in default ten days' imprisonment. Radford v. Callum, judgment debt of £5 ss, to be paid before 17th of January, or in default ten days' imprisonment. R. Moiiteithv. M'Donald, judgment debt of £4 4s 3d, to be paid before 17th of January, or in default ten days' imprisonment. The Post gives the following particulars of the will of the late Hon. John John- ' ston :— The testator bequeaths to Miss j Johnston, his daughter, his late residence and grounds in Fitzherbert-terrace, together with the furniture and effects, as

well as all money to his credit at any bank not exceeding £20,000, £500 to be paid to her immediately after bis decease. is bequeathed to the executors upon trußt, to sell and convert into money all such parts as do not consist of cash, with power to sell the same by auction or private contract. After all liabilities are liquidated the residue is to be equally divided among the sons (Messrs C. J. Johnston, SV. W. Johnston, and Sydney Johnston) and daughters (Mrs Grace, Mrs Westby Perceval, and Miss Johnston). The share of each daughter is to be for her sole and separate use, free from the debts, control, and engagements of any husband. In case the sons and daughters concur in a division in specie of the real and personal estate, or any part thereof, or in a sale of any particular part or parts thereof, to a particular member or members of the family, the executors are to give effect to such an arrangement. Mr W. W. John ston is to have the option of purchasing the land in Waipawa County in one lot, but if he does not care to purchase within three months, Mr C. J. Johnston is to have the option for six months after that. Mr Sydney Johnston is to have the option for six months of purchasing the freehold and leasehold land at Orauawhara, and Miss Johnston is to have the option of buying, within three months of the testator's death, the property in the Rangitikei county known as Brandon Hall. The price of each property is to be determined by a valuation to be made before each option is declared, and the amount of the purchase is to be deemed a charge on the purchaser's share of the estate. B, however, the amount exceeds the purchaser's share, the balance is to be paid into the estate within nine months ot the testator's death, together with interest at the rate of 6 per ceut. The will was signed on the 12th November, 1885.