IDLE HOURS

Manawatu Standard, Volume LIX, Issue 101, 29 March 1939, Page 7

IDLE HOURS

(By W. J. Croucher)

Part VII

BANKING FACILITIES. It lias boon mentioned earlier that the prospects of Sanson becoming an important commercial centre were very bright at one time, and that investors m township property considered themselves fortunate in being able to secure allotments suitable for business or residential purposes at upset prices. Proof of the prevailing optimism is shown in the confidence of the banking institutions which were early in the field and built premises which in those days were considered rather pretentious. The first to open its doors was the Bank of New Zealand, which occupied the site adjoining the saddlery business. This would be about the year 1878, and shortly afterwards the Bank of Australasia built on the corner section now occupied by the Council Chambers. Just how long these institutions flourished, if ever they did flourish, 1 am unable- to say, but in the course of time it became evident there was not sufficient business offering to warrant the continued existence of both and eventually the Bank of Australasia closed the doors of its branch. The other branch continued to operate lor many years until it. too, was faced .vith dwindling turnover, and, from a laily service employing a manager ind teller, has by successive downward stages, ceased to be of any conse'incncc as far as banking business in the township is concerned. By this it must not be implied that the district is bankrupt. Far from it. but farmers find it more convenient to do their banking in the larger centres, where most of their other business is transacted, and so another bubble has been burst. Evidently those country banks served as good training grounds for voung officers. because several of those who formerly bad charge of branches at Sanson occupied important positions after being transferred elsewhere, one of their number having the distinction of becoming chief at the headquarters of the Bank of New

Jiff usings of an Old-Timer

I Zealand at Wellington. At the time to which these notes make relerence the worries that are inseparable from promissory notes and overdrawn accounts did not concern me. That phase was to come later. Being one of those whose bank balances have always been in a precarious state and generally showing a debit balance, it has been found that the bank manager is one with whom it is wise to cultivate friendly relations. In my boyhood the bank managers of the village were good assets of mine in that they afforded me a most welcome opportunity for securing odd shillings of pocket money which were greatly appreciated. It was not the habit of parents in those days to provide youngsters with anything calculated to burn holes in their pockets, and I was very gratified about having an independent source of income. M.v particular preserve was found in the fact that, in common with all other young men of the period, bankers were partial to a bit of good horseflesh and not a little fastidious about the equine equipment and it became my responsibility to perform odd jobs about the stable and look after the gear. This was before nickel silver had replaced steel in the manufacture of stirrup irons and riding bits, and a good deal of attention was needed to keep these articles free from rust without leaving traces of the emery paper used in the polishing process.

The highlight of my experience as ostler came when one of my employers discovered that he owned a promisijin steeplechaser and decided to put him into training under his own guidance. After school hours it was my privilege to take this son of Pegasus out for an airing and send him at a good hard gallop along some quiet, unmetalled country road. This horse, Speculator, I think be was named, in due course won several imnortant cross-country events. 'l'he horses and their owners have long since gone their . several ways but the original building erected hv the Bank of Now Zealand is still in service; the fact that it lias seen better days, however, is plainly evident. SCHOOL.

It has taken some time during those rambles to reach the site where it is generally accepted that the first effort was made by the inhabitants of the settlement to establish an institution lor the common good. Unfortunately, there is no information available from written records to prove exactly when the first church was erected, but from ! inquiries made many years ago from j those who were present at that time it seems to have been established that public energy was first directed towards providing for the teaching of the rudimentary elements of education to the children at a public day school. One of the original promoters of this undertaking told me that most, if not all, of + he cash required to provide the timber for the two commodious class-rooms was subscribed by the parents and delivered from a sawmill known as the Pukepuketea. then operating on the terraces of the Itangit.ikci River. Tf memory serves eorroctlv, this timber was heart of to tarn r or the walls and roof and matai for flooring. I expect that the dwelling for the teacher on the adjoining section was built at the same time, j It should bo mentioned that all the i early buildings had sharply pitched I gable roofs and were shingled. The

shingles were split from straight-grain-ed white pine which served for a long time until galvanised roofing iron became popular and replaced the old order. At" the beginning, the school was under the control of the Wellington Education Board, and there remains a hazy recollection that parents were then required to make a direct payment for the education of their children. Later, about the year 1877, the administrative control was removed to Wanganui and the present system of so-called free education at primary schools was introduced. It was not long before the original school building became quite inadequate to serve the growing population and it eventually became necessary to remodel the whole structure and provide additional classrooms. At that time the Sandon School had to serve a widespread community, and there would then have been two hundred or more names on the roll. Many of the scholars had to ride four or five miles, but the majority living within a shorter radius came on “shanks' pony” and always had a good excuse for being late. There were some pretty hefty boys attending school in those days, who, when the occasion arose, were not beyond disputing authority and becoming a law unto themselves, but in the main a good standard of discipline was maintained. Punishment varied according to the offence. The

freo use of the supplejack was undoubtedly the most common means employed to enforce diligence and square up the accounts of other misdemeanours in my school days. That was a form of chastisement tliat could always be bargained for when the olTence was lieing committed. There was the chance of not being found out hut at the worst the hiding was soon over and done with. On the other hand, to be kept in for the whole or a portion of the dinner hour, and to lie required to learn the meaning of a given number of words, or to memorise a long passage of prose or poetry, was a really serious .hardship, which usually resulted in measures of retaliation being attempted. In the passage of time the old school has been completely demolished and another very much smaller building has come into being. The teacher's residence, with its trim garden, is no longer there. The scholars are not now numbered in their hundreds and possibly there are not more than fifty or sixty children in attendance at the | present time. There are several very ! good reasons for this decline which do not differ greatly, except in one important factor, from influences that have contributed to the reduction of trade in the business concerns of the village. Tn the first place there are a greater number of schools within a few miles and centralisation at one place no longer exists. Account must also be taken of the fact that the surrounding country is now held bv fewer owners; consequently there are fewer families of school age. For the first twenty years or thereabouts farm lands were held in sections of two bundled acres in extent, which, for one reason or another. have been aggregated to the extent that several of the original holdings are now farmed by the same person. While it itrue that a certain number of married men still find employment as farm hands in the district, it is also a fact that the number of children of school I ago in the same areas is much smaller ! than was the case fifty years ago. )

To pupils of an older generation it; is natural that the present school has little or no sentimental interest- except in one important particular. This sentimental regard is explained by the fact that iviien the pupils of the old school formed their association over thirty years ago one of the first actions of its members was to place in one of the schoolrooms a marble tablet in remembrance of all teachers and scholars who had passed away since the school was first opened. At the termination of the Great War another slab was unveiled in the old building with befitting solemnity. This

i- was tlio roic of honour commemorative g of all past pupils who had given their lives in the service of King and Cound try, together with the names of all >1 other old associates who had been members of that great army which an i- swe red the call of Empire. These silent •- witnesses of respect and esteem now a find an honoured place in the new if building. Such vital links in the chain r of memories will, it is hoped, serve to s reverently preserve for all time the t names of families and of the children t belonging to an earlier generation who s have been associated with the district il at one time or another, o Of my own school days there is notlit ing worthy of being recorded. Never - an over-willing attendant at the class- - room nor a very diligent student durt ing the compulsory hours of confinee ment during lesson time, no honours e ever came to me for distinction in any r branch of learning. Truth to tell, it r> was a happy day for mo when f saw , and heard the last of decimal fr;icn tions, the verb to be, and other items of the school syllabus which I was r never able to master or even become v remotely acquainted with. To this day !_* the sight of three rows of figures , makes me giddy and, as for grammar. f I am still in the dark about the parts . of speech and the relationship of difff crent words used in speaking or writt ing. The fortunes of the Normans. 3 Plantagenots, Tudors and the groat men of other historical periods is now i but a confused memory, but there was [ a time when school children bad to know by heart the dates of the births, deaths, and other particulars of the | bloodthirsty deeds by which those old . J monarchs were made famous or infamous. Up to the time my school days were- ended most, if not all, ol tile lesson hooks were compiled in England, consequently all our studios covering history, geography and reading matter dealt with happenings and places in the Old World rather than with those in the New. For instance, we had to learn where the chief towns and cities of England were situated and for what commercial product they were noted. The same with the capitals of European, Asiatic and other Continents. . . To me geography was the most interesting study of them all. and even now when such place names as Sheffield, Birmingham or Not,ting ham are mentioned they are immediately associated with cutlery, hardware or cotton goods. The old “Royal Readers” used in the upper standards contained a groat variety of miscellaneous 'matter in addition to many gems of prose and poetry, liy a stroke of good fortune a series of three ol these books are still in my possession and despite my boyhood protests about making myself familiar with their contents they would not now he exchanged for any other volume of literature. To add to the Home Country atmosphere of mv school days, the first and second of our head teachers were horn and trained in England and were both wont to encourage the assimilation of knowledge of things relating to Croat Britain rather than to dwell on matters appertaining to the history and expansion of colonial life and activities. One particular subject that was given persistent attention by our teachers was writing From the first initiative stage of strokes and “nnthnnks” and onwards through flic Vere Foster specimen pages of penmanship, great pains wore taken that all capitals, letters and words were correctly and legihlv transcribed. The pen or pencil had to he hold in exactly the right, way between the thumb’ and forefinger and pointed in a line with the shoulder. This was the correct, position, and woe betide the hov who was caught practising what ho thought to he a more convenient attitude. The master himself was one of those whose writing was like copperplate and we must perforce imitate, or try to imitate, his style. (To lie continued.)