COUNTRY NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XIII, Issue 4487, 31 March 1876, Page 1 (Supplement)

COUNTRY NEWS.

WARKWORTH. .Educational. , — For some considerable time past, • our School Committee have had their minds greatly exercised in consequence of want of adequate accommodation for the children of the Dome Valley and'Phillipsville districts, and hare now been partially set at rest by the visit of Mr. : O'Sullivan, the School Inspector, who' brings information that the Central Board are wishful to make a grant towards the cost of building a suitable school for their accommodation, the difficulty of fixing on a site available for all the children having been nearly set at rest, the obstinacy of one individual, who could in no way be contented without a'school close to his own door, having been met by a resolution of the Committee, leaving the onus of determining the site on the Central Board, the Committee having placed the whole' circumstances of the district before the In-: spector. for him to report to the Board, to- ■ gether with the recommendation of the majority of the .Committee, who expect shortly to be in a position to call for tenders for the' erection of the new. building. The visit of' Mr. O'Sullivan has been expected for some : time, and- on this occasion-he has made a; thorough,""searching, and exhaustive examination of the children .attending the Warkworth school on the various subjects required : to be taught by the Education Act, and his, verdict, that the school is efficiently and creditably conducted ought to be a sufficient reply to unfounded. reports of an injurious character. The reports upon the two half-' time schools, although not assuring, are of a hopeful character, and when proper buildings and appropriate fittings are at the disposal of the Committee and teacher, better things will be looked for.

Public Works.—Tlie contractor for'--sec- ' tion A 1 of the Maliurangi ancl Albertland Road has not yat made liis appearance on 1 the ground, although it was hoped that i this urgently required, piece of work! would have been completed before the | winter, * but the delay makes that J hope impossible o? fulfilment. The present' showery weather has had the effect of soften- ; ing the surface of the finished portion of this ; road, which is now so slippery that it makes exceedingly laborious work for the settlers' teams who now use the road, two of whom. were compelled to lighten their loads to-day and leave portions at a wayside settler's. The. attention of the Government.cannot be too soon given to this matter, as it is small oomfort for settlers to be told they have a good road, which they cannot even use, and' % if the road is to be of that advantage to the district which, from the cost, we have a right to expect, something must be done in ! the way. of metalliug to the steepest gradients; and the softest places. There is also another matter calling for prompt attention, that is tho very dangerous and unprotected state of 1 the embankments, some of which are of a depth in some places of certainly over 50 feet, and a sheer descent, and liable at any time, particularly in the slippery weather, to . cause very serious if not fatal injury to anyone who has the misfortune to go a few inches too near the edge. Had the accident which lately happened to Mr. Eyre occurredat any of theseplaces itis very doubtful whother he would have lived to tell the tale. The Government, it seems, are doing something towards a dray road to Auckland, Mr. Denham having been for some time employed in prospecting for a road via the Puhoi, and 1 am informed that he has completed the survey of a very good line, the gradients of which will be coach traffic. Our local Road Board are making considerable improvements in the roads about the township, and have also accepted tenders for various works, including quarrying and breaking a quantity of road metal. The Good Templars of our district seem to have had a revival, or something of the kind, in their midst, as for a long time they have been remarkably quiet, but now seem to- be wishful to bring their light from "under a bushel," and cause it to shine abroad, as only a few weeks ago I had to chronicle a successful open lodge meeting, and on Thursday last, the 23rd, we were : enlivened by Bro. Speight, G.W.C.T., de- ■ livering a lecture in the Wesleyan Chapel on-1 the advantages of the principles of Good Templary. Owing to the threatening aspect of the weather there was not a very large gathering, only 40 or 50 persons being present. The . chair was occupied-by Bro. the Rev. J. S. Hudson, who briefly introduced the lecturer. The Good Templar opening ode. was sung by. members of the lodge. Bro. Speight, said the present visitation he was making throughout the .North was not for ' the'purpose of. giving lectures, but merely looking into the internal working

of- strengthening—tliem, and .where need be,.>reformmg theix way of ~conEucti3ig~tHeif" business. There was a' day "when tKe-'inan'or, womiur -_who pledged l ;themselves', to * total' abstinence from intoxicating'" drinks' found' it' 'impossible: to "dovetail that in "with 'their everyday business. - Now ssome of our very best business men are total abstainers and members of the 1.0. G.T., who believe in our principles, and are amongst the most consistent advocates of our cause, and some honourable individuals have not only spent money and time, but even their lives in the cause, and still drunkenness is as large as ever. The vice stands like Saul —a head and shoulders above everything else. The failure of our party to cope with this hideous monster is not to be ascribed to any want of energy on our part, but to the j mistake of the moderate party, who forget | that the cause of drunkenness is not the i quantity drunk but the principle of habitual drinking. The Templars' principle, as now laid down, is that the drink traffic must be laid hold of : the axe is laid at the root of the tree; the truth must be laid bare; and, at whatever cost,' the drink traffic must be cast off. Mr, Speight spoke at some ■ length ' respecting the amount of drink consumed in New Zealand. Law, he said, puts a licensed , temptation,' and then punished them for being tempted. -He considered the man who uses a rotten plank in building a bridge quite as guilty as the poor fellow' who puts his foot on the rotten plank, and breaks his leg in consequence. So,' those who place the temptation in the way ought to be punished equally with the tempted, however virtuous a publican may be, and although he may never intentionally sell drink for.the avowed purpose of making a drunkard, yet, notwithstanding, liceased houses do make drunkards. It is a matter for congratulation that the medical profession are coming round, and now their very highest schools allow that intoxicating liquors are not necessary for persons in. health, and should be used only as medicine; and that was even an open question whether something else may not be found equally good. All arguments now used by the moderate party are narrowed down to the fact that they drink because they like it; and all admit that while they like toddy themselves, those who abstain are all the better. He urged the andience to join the Templars as the safest course to pursue, and argued that Templary was the best means of carrying out the principle of that temperance. He would allow there was some deficiency in templary, but many of the objections were only frivolous; and while recapitulating those, he instanced their regalia, to which he had personal objections.. Others objected because they were a secret society, to all all of whom he gave instructions to come into' the society, • and remedy what was objectionable. They were compelled to make compromises; but so long as they were harmless, he, for one, would make no objections; but they had a right- to hold their own meetings, and discuss in private their own family matters. The lecture was brought to a close by an eloquent appeal to those present to support and help, by joining the cause he was thereto advocate.—Brother J. Grimmer, L.D., rose, and said: The lecture they had just heard delivered by Brother Speight had most fully made up for any previous disappointment, and he had therefore greatpleasure in moving a hearty vote of thanks to Brother Speight for his very able address. Brother Moor, W.C.T. seconded the motion, which was put to the meeting from the chair, and. carried amidst loud applause.—A voto of thanks to the chair, and singing the closing ode brought a very interesting and entertaining meeeting to a close. A lodge meeting was afterwards held, when Brother Speight righted and regulated several small matters of detail in connection with the lodge.—[Own Correspondent, March 20.]