GIMMERBURN.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume 36, Issue 9496, 27 October 1905, Page 3

GIMMERBURN.

. SOCIAL. The spinsters and the bachelors in conjunction gave a ball here at the last full'of the moon. - The ball > was taxed to its utmost capacity to accommodate tue spinnters and bachelors together withm eir Invited friends from surrounding districts. -. The evening was favoured with' suitable-" weather.-.-The arrangements were complete to assure an-i enjoyable evening to those who enjoy dancing, and that appeared to be practically- .everybody- present. (.Messrs Himmel and Poole,of Dunedin, supplied the.music. -Mr .Himmel on. the pianoforte and Mr Poole'on the violin p.'ayed in concert in a styleseldom heard in the backblocks, ,Mr W Davis, jnn., was an efficient M.O, . Lam informed that the ball was altogether-pleasarit.-down to the last detail, " the paying of the piper,"

■' -BDUOATIOiIAIi. ' 'f '•'•■ ! Inspector "Richardsqri is l to examine the school on Ist November; This will be the 9; SerJond examination sinc§- the abolition of the '-'standard pass " ; system,- and the results; if anyy of the new method may be expected to begin to show, and' should be closely watched by everyone; interested -in the advancement of education. Last yp:ar most of the smaller-schools made a larger'number of • " passes "—many 100 per cent. If that can be maintained this year and, for say tm*ee more years, it would be good evidence that the freedom - of-classification now given to head teachers is an improvement on the In- • spectors' pass Bystem. Last year "'■ the work j in the Sixth "Standard, which qualified for a j " competency ?> certificate,' was criticised by many as much too; poor for leaving school and starting to work ■ upon; The'-work required for & " proficiency l " certificate, since ■under a certain age it-alsb qualifies for admission to a secondary'school is, or was last year< . good enough. -Nowadays'our beweraof wood and drawers ol water require tp be highly skilled engineers l ; our' farmers require a- wide' acquaintance with natural ' ! science andimecbanics ; onr cooks and oaf, • bousewives>require a working knowlelgeor thelaws'of sanitation, hygiene, physiology and biology, in addition to the hundred and one things which must be known by the " sensible practical, woman," therefore education is a subject ejf- much importance. \ '- ■■ ' l a . The lambing is now nearly finished. The marking of lambs will be .the order -of the day about the end of October, 1 and I expect to hear of some high percentages. Although a few lots are not quite satisfactory, the whole district will probably: b#,np tolas' 6 year, which was above the averageV There has not been any severely cold killing' rain, else the very numerous twins would' have shown a large number of dead, which "they have not, so far as my observation extends. Feed is none too plentiful, but we have seen worse at this tinfe of the year. The frequent •< light showers keep.up a little growth, but the .continued dryness of the aabsoil makes us apprehensive of what may happen when the heat of summer sets in.v However, that will be a month or more ahead and we may have rain and cloudy weather when we usually have withering heat, THE STUD. - - "'- 5" '•''■ i Foals are beginning to appear.'"'ln'"a small'paddock near the school-three may be seen facing and chasing each other in all the brimming joy of foalbood. Another farmeij not so fortunate has lost a valuable mare in ; connection with foaling, . Entire horses'We again on the warpath, each with a long pe'di-j gree of prize winners. In the true interests of breeding sound horses it is much to'be' regretted that the Stud Bill so much discus-' sed and so often slaughtered' with the end of '■- the Parliamentary sessions has not' become an act of Parliament. It is significant that! owners and breeders of entire horses have' ■ offered, with few exceptions, determined, opposition, not abated even when a clause was put in to-exempt from requiring a cer-: tificate of soundness, practically, all the horses then in service. This session readers ; of Hansard see not a trace of the Stud Bill, i It is to be feared that the true cause of the '■'. studmen'a opposition is a well-founded fear that, notwithstanding the pedigree and the , prizes, the horses could not pass the veteri-. nary inspection against the scheduled t hereditary infirmities. The fact is few, i horses are thorougb'y free from all trace of- i hereditary unsoundness, and there is enor- i ruous loss to ordinary farmers and all other i users of horses. Something should be done < to cope with the evil. It should be under- i stood that lam not referring in any particu- i lar way to'the horses travelling in this dis- ; trict. They, I believe, are a very fair sample ; of the colony's horses and quite as sound as \ the average ; some of them probably quite i sound. October 23rd, 1906. ■■'■ - Later, t Tbe infant son of Mr and Mrs Don- i aid M'Leod, of Eden Creek, died on Sunday about 1 p.m. He was the only, son | and was about 6 years of age. In the sad | event the bereaved parents have our deepest i sympathy. ,]