FEILDING

Manawatu Standard, Volume LIII, Issue 257, 27 September 1933, Page 4

FEILDING

UNIVERSITY SIDELIGHTS. LIFE AT CAMBRIDGE. The opportunity of obtaining an insight into tlie life of an undergraduate at one of England’s great universities was ; afforded members of the Eeilding Civic Club, yesterday, when Mr John Sugden, of Feilding, gave an interesting discourse on “Sidelights of University Life at Cambridge.” Mr Thos. Watson presided and there was a good attendance. The university towns of Oxford and Cambridge, said Mr Sugden, had not only a peculiar charm of their own, but a peculiar character, also, and it was his purpose to deal more particularly. with the character of Cambridge than its charm. Cambridge differed from the University of London, where many large buildings were grouped together to form the university, the students here living in. hostels or private houses and snaring in the life of the great city itself. At London University only a small percentage of the undergraduates lived a communal life, but at Cambridge and Oxford, on the other hand, it was not an exaggeration to say that for the undergraduate the actual life in his college was what stood for most. In other words it was what. was done in the hours of leisure that stood for far more than the actual gathering of specific knowledge from lecturers and “dry as dust” text-books. At Cambridge there were about 6000 students who belonged, without exception, to one of the various colleges scattered about the town and elsewhere. A large college such as Trinity had about 600 members, but the one to which the speaker had belonged, Jesus, had only 250 members. The conditions laid down for the student were that he had to remain in residence for nine terms, or three years, before he could take a B.A. degree. It was possible, however, for anyone with an average brain to get his B.A. in two! years. Mr Sugden reiterated his pre- j vious statement that the imbibing of! specific knowledge at Oxford and Cam- 1 bridge was considered a secondary ■ though quite an important considera-• tion. The ideal of the university, al- : though not a formulated one, was not j to produce brilliant scholars, but j rather to turn out men possessing! qualities of leadership. There were certain fix*d rules relating to college : life that had to be observed, such as being in college or in residence by midnight. The gates of the college j were closed from the inside at 10 p.m. : and after that hour the undergradu-. ate inside the gate was unable to get out, at least through the main gate, Mr Sugden naively added. Passing then into humorous vein the speaker related some of the incidents that had occurred when students had broken college regulations and had endeavoured to get home unobserved by the college “procters” or policemen who were always accompanied on their rounds by two individuals known as “bull-dogs.” COMPABTSON WITH NEW ZEALAND. At Cambridge, Mr Sugden resumed, a student was allowed more latitude than a student would be at Victoria College in regard to scholastic training. He was not compelled to attend lectures, but was encouraged to read on his own and develop his individuality to the full. The examiners preferred the student to produce his own ideas, provided they were logical, ra-

ther than to take a degree on the ideas obtained from someone else per medium of the text-book. This, Mr Sugden thought, was one of the values of • Cambridge, for was it not the real aim of education to make the student . think for himself along logical lines !' rather than accumulate his knowledge ' by heart from text-books ? In this respect the tutorial system as in . vogue at Cambridge was of immense . 1 value and to Mr Sugden this was one | 1 of the factors that New Zealand Unii versity education lacked. The tutor [' came into personal contact with all his ; pupils and if the work done was not up to standard the pupil soon heard ■ all about it. The tutor tried to bring . out what was best in the pupil and . the pupil found himself in turn doing , his best work for his tutor. They . | were invariably men endowed with ,! the love of learning for learning’s 1 j sake, and one could not help admiring . • these men whose lives were almost monastic in their meditativeness and , whose ideal was to inspire in others : the love of scholarship, sound learning ' and sound reasoning. A classical edui cation was still the foundation of edu- ‘ cation at both Oxford and Cambridge, but it was the other side of university life that Mr Sugden desired to stress •—the side of life that tended to mould the character of the undergraduate. The greatest characteristic of English university life in the speaker’s opinion was the encouragement of leisure. There were no lectures in the afternoon to speak of and none in the evenings. The average undergraduate studying . for a degree seldom did more than five hours of work a day including leci tures. One was. not encouraged to j work in the evenings and certainly not to “burn the midnight oil.” Thus | during the afternoons and evenings the I student was enabled to follow his own desires. There was method in these rules. The lecturer passed on to the social side of life at the great university, ! of its political clubs, its literary, sportj ing and artistic interests, giving his lisjteners a very realistic insight into the i life and doings of the undergraduate. , Concluding, he said that it would per- . haps be asked why did a university dike Cambridge give precedence to a : classical education over a scientific j one. The answer was that the Eng- ; lisliman had the greatest respect for the man with the good all-round knowI ledge and very little respect for the | specialist. The man with the all-round j knowledge was a specialist in the art 'of ruling which was the aim of the i education that began at the great 'English public schools like Eton, Win- ' Chester and the rest and was completed at Oxford and Cambridge. The thanks of the meeting for his address were conveyed, to Mr Sugden on the motion of Messrs G. J. Fitzpatrick and T. L. Seddon. GIRLS’ CLUB DANCE. St. John’s Girls’ Club held another of its series of dances on Monday evening, in the Parish Hall, a large number being present. The hall looked gay with decorations of the club colours, bright blue and gold, while a host of multi-coloured butterflies on the ceiling added a novel note to the scene. Music for the dancing was supplied by a local orchestra, and competitions resulted in Miss L- Adsett and Mr T. J. "Williams winning the Gay Gordons lucky number and Miss F. Hales and Mr F. Waugh the Monte Carlo. The programme included a streamer dance and old-time numbers. Supper was served under the supervision of Mesdames J. A. Sporle, G. Fitzpatrick, F. Mills, H. Brandt, J. Stalker and V. I. Morphy. Those present included: Misses M. Petrie, E. Young, K. Morphy, C. Andrews, D. Allen, J. Benson, J. Bowers, N. Desmond, N. Eaton, M. Fitzpatrick, H. Hocken, D. Wells, H. Hindrup, B. Bridge, S. Campbell, M. McErlich. M. Prior, J. Wilson, M. Collins, B. Mai-

colmson, P. Matheson, H. Fairweather, W. Hosking, P. Jeffs, M. Milner, G. Overend, D. M. Foster, N. Gilmour, M. Pearson, M. Richardson, E. Shepherd, D. Sargisson, J. Moray, M. Silcock, B. Williamson, J. Richardson, • L. Adsett, N. Burke, J. Telford, B. • Dewe, I. Young. F. Hales, V. Drewitt ; and many others. TENNIS. ! ST. JOHN’S CLUB. ; The 13th annual report of St. John’s i. Tennis Club states that the niemberi ship at the close of the season was • slightly lower than the' previous year, and was made up of : Ladies 23, men ' 25, juniors 2. Inter-club matches were played against Taonui, Cheltenham, St. 1 Paul’s, Methodist and Apiti. St. John’s Club met- with fair success in these matches. A Yankee tournament proved a great success. The winners were Miss E. Worsfold and M. Worsfold with Mr and Mrs Lowther as run-ners-up. “The accounts show that the season commenced with a credit balance of £l3 6s 2d. The total re- ’ ceipts amounted to £62.115, and the expenditure to £SB 7s, leaving a credit balance of £4 4s. During the year £ls I was paid for certain work, which leaves £l4 still owing. The income and expenditure account shdws a loss of 5s 9d after writing off bad debts £1 17s 6d,, and £9 13s 4d off the court improvement account. Before the season opened the courts were top-dressed, which improved the surface to a great extent. It is hoped that the expense of £29 has been justified. The thanks of the club are due to Mr A. J. Geary, the lion, auditor, and to Mr A. HL. Maguire for the use of his room for meetings.” BRIDGE PARTY. Mrs C. M. Sargisson gave a very enjoyable bridge party at her residence on Saturday evening, the rooms having been made extremely pretty with artistic floral decorations. Seven tables of players were engaged and prizes were won by Mrs R. Carter, Mrs J. Foster (Christchurch), Mrs G. Phillips and Mrs H. Foster. Mrs Sargisson received her guests in a frock of wine marocain with a bridge coat to tone. Those present were: Mesdames Revington Jones, R. Carter, J. R. Petrie, W. H. McLean, L. Ewen, J. S. Tingev, A. M. Bailey, Dr. and Mrs G. Phillips, Mr and Mrs C. B. C. Evans, Mr and Mrs A. J. ICellow, Mr and Mrs McEwen, Mr and Mrs P. Pearson, Mr and Mrs H. Foster, Mr and Mrs F. H. Billing, Mr and Mrs I. Caldwell, Misses M. Petrie, E. Ewen and Messrs O. M. Sargisson and J. Foster. FIRE BOARD MEETING. ! The quarterly meeting of the Feild-. ing Fire Board was held to-day, Mr W. E. Carthew presiding. Also present were Messrs V. M. Edgar, D. S. N. MeArtney, A. C. McCorkindale and E. Fair. A letter was received from a Feilding firm of solicitors enclosing a draft copy of the agreement made between the board and Messrs Thos. Borthwick and Sons, Ltd., regarding the retaining of the brigade’s services in the event of fires at the freezing works at Aorangi.—The agreement was read to the board and Messrs Carthew j and McCorlcindale were deputed to | sign it on behalf of the board. i It was decided to take out'a fidelity policy of £SOO, the company to hold the policy to be ballotted for. The application of Mr H. R. Fitzgerald on behalf of the brigade to purchase service honours and medals i to the extent of £6 12s was granted. Mr O. Sporle. superintendent of the brigade, submitted, inter alia, the following report on the brigade: “The brigade has received only two calls during the quarter, both being I chimney fires, leaving the quarter , clear of fire loss or damage. The present strength of the brigade is nineteen men and two officers. There are four men doing station duty. There have been nine musters a.nd the at-

tendance and work have been good. A very even water pressure has been maintained, the gauge at the station registering, dav (average) Sslbs.. night, 95 to lOOlbs. Mr Gaskin, niclitwatchman, is carrying out his duties as set do" r u bv the ooard.” The report was adopted, the board agreeing to purchase a variable nozzle for the fire hose as recommended. Accounts amounting to £358 17s 4d were approved for payment and payment of others confirmed. FEILDING HIGH SCHOOL NEW FARM PURCHASED. As the lease of the “Merry Hill” farm, which has been occupied by the Feilding Agricultural High School for the last seven years, expires next month, an area of about 180 acres in Old Sandon Road, Feilding, belonging to Messrs Orr, has been secured and arrangements for the school to enter into possession of it are well advanced. That area will thus be the permanent farm for the school. A great deal at attention will he necessary before the land can be brought up to full production, but it is suited in every respect for its purpose and I will form a valuable addition to the i school for the training and instruction I o'f the agricultural pupils. The property I has been purchased by the Government I and marks an important step in the ; development of the institution. NOTES. Mr J. Foster, of Christchurch, and one-time manager in Feilding for Feilding Entertainments Ltd., is at present visiting Feilding prior to moving to Te Awamutu where lie has been appointed manager of the theatre.