WELLINGTON COLLEGE.

New Zealand Times, Volume LVII, Issue 2691, 14 December 1895, Page 2

WELLINGTON COLLEGE.

PRESENTATION' OF PRIZES. Tho annual presentation of prizes took place at the institution yesterday afternoon friends ami relatives ol the pupil*. The main approach was deeorato.l in a Tasteful manner with flags, foliafgo ami dower*. T : i.* arms of the cadet cprps were “piled”. along the passage. The ceremony took place in the main school room, Mr J. K. Blair (chairman of the Board of Governors) presided, and scats on tho platform were also occupied bv Rev ■J. Paterson, Messrs J. Young- and O. F. Powles (members of the Board of Governors), O. fisher, Dr Newman. Rov NY, .1. Habeas, 0. T. Macintosh and the Principal (Mr J. P. Firth) and.other members of the stall', Tho reports of the examiners were read by. Mr 0. P. Powles. Mr A. D. Riley, in his annual report on manual instruction in woodwork, stated that the classes Imd made considerable advance during the year. The work had been eon* ducted upon th* most approved linos. Mr Barrett, the instructor, expresses satisfaction as to the capabilities of tho boys, and had great confidence in the results of his work. Tho awards were Senior .class—Wbittem Tolhurst, Roberts, Richardson, Payton, 1 Townsend arid Edwards being- almost equal in merit. Junior class—Bell ii.; Pym, Kobboll, Halos and Blundell being- almost equal. Tho same gentleman, reporting on the . drawing, stated that there had been an allround increase in tho number of pupils as compared with the previous year. The year’s work had boon confined to instruction in practical, plane and solid geometry and ele‘montary design. The majority of tho boys had made very satisfactory progress, and generally the class might' be) said'.to [be doing .very useful 'and steady work in a practical manner. Although the time at the disposal of tho Instructor (Mr Anderson) was scarcely sufficient to enable tho boys’generally to present themselves for the second grade drawing examinations, a few did so, with the following result: —Geometrical drawing—K, J. Davis, good ; Alfred Odlin, pass. Freehand drawing—Fred. Darnell, VV. Jay, Alfred Odlin each a pass. The following was tho . order of rocommonda-, tion for drawing awards by tho College First year—A. Davis, 1; A. Odlin, 2. Second year—McKenzie, 1; Loudon, 2. M. Carl Harling, who examined tho school in French and in one Gorman pax>cr, presented a favourable report as to the proficiency of the pupils in French. The only candidate in German did. a not very, easy paper very creditably. Ho had pleasure in testifying to the good and thorough .work done during the year. Mr A. R. Meek, the examiner ,iu English L r mathematics and Latin, stated that in Iris opinion tho good work, of tho previous years had boon continued without interruption, and this in .the. face of considerable difficulties. The results of the examinations were, in.the higher classes, bettor than those of last year; in the lower classes quite as,good as.thosq of last year- Mr Firth had succeeded in infusing into his boys his own thoroughness ami earnestness of purpose. Tho papers of bright boys and dull boys alike attested,tho ‘fact that they had .honestly striven to advance, and that they had received the necessary assistance from - their masters. After referring to' tho results of the examinations ; of the. various forma,, ho stated that on the whole lie did not think within his experience the College bad ever done a bettor year’s work./’, i, - - / ; Tho examiner in physics and chemistry (MrR. Speight) reported that satisfactory results were obtained, Tho Principal, in las annual report, stated : that tbo year had been : full of work; success and failure. That the work of tho staff had been enthusiastic, loyal, g earnest and loving iu tho interests of tho' institution and its boys ho could, confidently state. As in former years, so again ho could say that they had not by any .'-means confined their efforts: for the g6od of tho boys to tho regulation hoxTrs. Indeed, had they done so, tho work ;of this largo: and increasing 'school could not have been carried on. nearly ao well and satisfactorily * as -it had boon. The present number .of pupils was 218. Mr A. C. Gifford had joined the staff, and was doing good , wttrk, That , gentleman was an ■ excellent photographer, and since his arrival a Camera Club bad been established and a dark room, built. . ■ Regret was expressed by Mr Firth at the resignations of M. Naverno and Mr J. Tripe, both excellent teachers, and at tho death of Mr W. 11. Warren. For, the'annual outside .examinations tliis yerir the school had & largo number of candidates, Its,,last record was one which it had every reason to bo well satisfied with, and ho ■confidently anticipated fresh success this time. He wished ho could bring clearly boforo: parents and guardians ■ -.the great difficulty caused by tho unnecessary absence of their , boys. Iu some cesca tho merest trifle was regarded as sufficient excuse for late return ; after the’r holidays or absence during the term. If the loss could be confined entirely to tho absentees there woqld not be so much room for objection, but when a boy missed a lesson one of two courses : must bo. taken On his return to school—either ! work done in his absence must bo dono again, or ho was loft behind, and was a clog on tho progress ;of tho-class. It was noteworthy; too, that as a ritlo tho boys most often unnqpessarlly absent wore those-that under any circumstances would have great difficulty in hoeping pace \yith tl\o'othora. The Scripture classes had been well attended, and tho work had been very thoroughly carried out, . Ho had to thank Mrs B. M. Litchfield and Mrs Tripe for prizes in that subject: Ho also bad to tender his very warmest thanks to Mrs Neill for her prize for tho most neatly kept

set of boqks,to Mrs Firth for ■writing prizes, jto ; *Mr Q. B. .Iztyrs , fo,r .hia (annual prizes fqr New ;, -Zoaland‘history’/ Mr-'Paterson’ for j bis. armvpv) prizes for reading and recitaJ tiori/ to Mr T.' R. Fleming for examining in New Zealand ..history,'and do Mr Pago for i his annual prize to the most-desen ing boy in the lowest fdrms. 1 Ho had ’ already- reported tq the Board Mr Hulka'a magnificent gift of ; chemical and physical apparatus; and li,o was : not without Uqpo that jtyr Hulka’s wish may ; hoforo long be gratified by the College having , a complete and separate laboratory for ; practice aaVi exiVerimehtsin soienco; The; car- ; poiitry class was' doing excellent work under iMr Barrett. The health of-the boarders li,.id (beep excellent, j and the 'hospital had been ; empty almost throughout th,e year, ; ftjr illlair expressed his ’regret that the. 1 Premier \yas unable to, bo present. Mr Firth i hid been somewhat modest in his report. ; They ' had, -to go back 4:cm a to the groat difficulties experienced in : oqnUauingitue school!. Tile school had gone , down until they only had an attendance of 77. The- question bad to be faced,’ and the Governors were; fortunate in b.eiug able to the services of Mr Firth. Under his aqspices the attendance had continued to grow, and the result of Me ITirth’s that last year they entered no fewer tUam ft- 1 ) now boys. On account of ohjcctioii to night work, many 'qf b6ys ihat came tq tl}q Oqllqgo from the primary schoqls we ro ■ not ’ disciplined .in .the way of study, and the result, was that they found the first few. , months’ work irksome,"and the work of the teachers/was considerab!y'jnbi,’oased. The Board was now in Such a - , financial position as to bo able ,to thoroughly equip the school with the necessary chemical apparatus, so that the boys’ would have the facilities of taking their places in chemical examinations, which they had i a/right ; to'expect^' ,/Wdth reference &o the'playground the Governors had appeared k little diffidentabout entering upon the enterprise, but Mr Firth had been insistent, and atr length.the -‘Governors bad responded; and ho believed the project would turn out admirably. They wore of. opinion , that it was jiist as necessary that the. boys should have adequate play ground as school room. He referred with pleasure to the. fact that the conduct of the boys had boon all that could he desired. He had ascertained frquq parents andothers d-hat under the sfy/ervision of Mr Firth the general behaviour, dl/the boys had been excellent. The prizes were then presented, the' following being the list: — Scholarships, 1895—Rhodes,' .220,' general, Renner; Rhodes, £ls, general, Boulcott; Moore, .£2O. general, Jordan; Moore, £ls, general, McFarland; Turnball/£ls, general, Jacobs; Turnbull, £lo,,Mcs. and Sc., Blackwood; Turnbull,./.£5, general, .Fairchild; Turnbull, £5/general,’ Parkinson; £5, general,. Stewart; Levin, £lO, languages, Reeves ; Levin, £lO, science, Bniidey; Governors’ scholarship,' general, Salmon; Governors’ scholarship, general, Buddlo ii, Barnicoat prize—English, Renner. ? Head of school— General, Renner/ . VI Form —Mathematics, Izard. . V Form—Sciende, Richardson i. ■ , ■ IVa Form—Latin; Reeve; science, RothenisfollFonn—Latin, Davidson / mathematics, Eq.se; English, O.diln; science,. lii 5 French, Pago. v : IVb ! Form Latin,' 1 Sladdcn ii; / mathematics, Hay.; English; Robertson McKcllar’; science, Stoj.t., lit A Form Latin,. Slidden i ;mathematics, Kember ii; , English, .Tolhurst; French, Harding ; science,; Gear. *|/Second division—Latin, Butt i. t Ills Form—Latin, Lowe imathematics, Belli; English, 1 Robertson'; 'Harris ; science. Caselberg. - . . . ITIc Form—Latin,, McKenzie- ii ; mathematics, Dunlop ; French, Flanagan ; science, Thomson i,; general work, Gawith. II Form —Latin, Hales ii; Lee ii; English, Sladden iil; 'science. Godbor. I Form Lat(.U, Taylor ; mathematics, Abbot.-- Second* divison—Latin, Hoby/i. Scripture (Mrs .B. M. Litchfield’s and Mrs Tripe’s prizes)'.*—Upper division—Boulcott, 1; Davidson, 2. . Lower division—Watson, 1; Pliramor, 2.-

Writing {MrsFir tip s prizes].—Forms II arid , I—Fitzgerald, 1 • Blundelli, 2. Now Zealand' history (ilrlaard’s prizes)—• Boulcottj 1; Kirkcaldid,>? . . . ‘ Reading and* elocution (the Rev Sic Pater* son’s prize) —7 Upper division, McKenzie,;; : lower division,; Bell a. ’ ' ' t JShortlvvhd. —Upper, You DAdQlszeu; lower, Plimmer. , Drawing Upper, SfcK-enzle 1;. lower, Dav;s, -- - Carpentry . Upper, ' Whittbm 1 lower. Bellp. _ , . !.. , ;;y ■■■• - 1 V*l - • examination prizes *. Latin, Buddie iii; mathematics,' Newman; Mrs Neill’s prize for most neatly kept set of books, ' Flanagan j-Mr’Page's prize for most deserving, boy in “lowest form, Hoby ii. - PASSED EXMINATION WITH CREDIT! Zealand history—Bonlcott and Kirkcaldiej •'j ‘ •• ; ? YT Form—Renner, Izard, v Y Form—Jordan, McFarland, Richardson, Bonlcott, Bennett, DaUastor^ IYa‘ Form—Jacobs, Salmon, Blackwood, Burnley, Beeves, Burns, Elliott, Buddie i f Has“l wood,.Reeve, London, 1 Daniell, Rotbenber" Underwood, MoAra, Gale ii. Shell Form—Rose, Davidson, Wakelin,

Edwards iii, Baddlo ii. Odlin, Pago, Glasgow, Purdie, Townsend, Wiltshire, Cathie, donness, Prince, Dallaston ii. Manning, Dempsey, Brown ii, Hallard ii. .lay, Davis. IVa Form—Fairchild, SUdden ii. Uarland. McKollar, Tustin, Gray i. Bell i, ll.iv. Thomson i. Stout, Mee. Watson, Fairbrother. Roberta. West, Kembc-r ii* Sladdcn i, Moliuneaus, Earle i. lIIa Form—T'airchild, Sladden i, Hay i. Cook, Kember ii, Caseibcrg, Butt i. Witch, Ward, Watson, Neill. Duthie ii, Parkinson, Downes, Lowe, Stewart, Wiggins, Tolhurst, Plimmer, Alexander, Mclntiro, Whitten, Harding. Tripe ii, Richardson iii. Hell ii, Gawilh, Fairbrother, Williams i, Dyer, Gear, Fitzgerald, Simpson, Freyherg ii. Illn Form—Stewart, Lowe, Thompson i, Barron, Hasoldeu ii, Mclnlire, Plhnuvrr, Tulhurst, MeDouga.ll, Beovo, Bell j, Harding, Bothamloy i, Oasolberg, Archilxild, Robertson, Wilson, Vallanoe i, Exley, Neill, X-m* i, Williams i, Vallunco ii. Ulo Form —Gawith, McKenzie, Thomson ii, Wilson, Strong, Gray ii, Bidwill. Williams iii, Spindclor, Dunlop, Vallanoo i, Bothamley i, Lee ii. Hall, Crnickshank, Flanagan, Vallanco ii, Thomson i.“ IT and I Form —Halos ii. Tripo ii, Abbot, Callender, Hoby ii, Munro ii, Newman, Buddie »ii, Sladden iii, Lee ii, Kebbell, Hector, Taylor, Godber, Hoby i. Book-keeping.—Y—Wiggins, credit. TVGrimes, llutchon,'OOthio, groat credit. Ill — Scott, Meo,ogreat credit; McTavish, credit. Jl—Smith, great credit ; Hall, Williams ii, Exley, Davis, Swan, Read, credit. 1 —Williams iii, great credit ; Underwood., credit. Scripture marks. —Division I—Bouleott, 90 ; Davidson, 89; Elliott, SO ; Bennett, Tripo, Izard, ST each ; Frcyberg i, 82; Odlin, 80; Kirkcaldie, 7S ; Richardson i, 77 ; Danicll, Harland, 73 each ; Wakelin, Townsend, Reeve, Edwards iii. Gray i, Gavin, 70 each. Division II Watson, 82 ; Plimmer, 70 ; Harding, 70; Cheosmau ii, 75; Truman and Archibald, 71 each; Wilson, Williuns i. Tripe ii Gawith, Bothuno, MoDougall, 70 each.

Tho prizes won at tho annual sports were then presented by Mrs Firth. Sports.—Gray i, first cricket ball, first mile, second half-mile; Gray ii, first high jump (under 1G); Blundell, junior championship; Tripo i, first long jump ; Izard, second long jump ; Harris, first 100yds(under 1(3), first half (under 10), second44oyds (under 10); Edwards ii, first high jump Kothonberg, second high jump; Thomson i, first long jump ; Caaolborg, first 100yds (under 15), first 4K)yds (under 15); Fairbrother, second 100yds (under 15) ; Haseldeu i, first lOOyda, first, 410yds; Fitzgerald, first 150yda (under 14), second 100yds (under 13); 801 l ii, second 15Uyds (under 14) ; Downes, second 100yds; Grimes, first halfmile, second mile; Road, first walk ; Gavin, second walk ; Buddie ii, second 410yds (under 15) ; Holt, first 100yds (under 13, Mrs Firth’s prize): Glover, second 410yds; Swan, second half (under 10) ; F. Broome, Old Boys’ 100yds j F. Pownall, Old Boys’ -IlOyds. Swimming—Tripo 1, chumpionship ; Manuing, first2ooydshandicap; Smith, first 00yds, first long dive, second 200yds handicap ; feladdon ii, first 80yds (under 15); Roado, first plate diving ; Bell ii, first 30yds (under 12); Willoston, second 30yde (under 12) ; Halos i, first consolation; strong, second consolation. : . .

Mr J, Young proposed that a hoarty vote of thunks be awarded to Mr Firth ami tbo members of the stall* for the excellent work they, had' done, during-tho year. They''* all know of the zeal and assiduity with which Mr Firth and his colleagues had worked during the year. The reports showed that the whole school had been well looked after, and, making due allowance ‘ for cases of ability, tho pupils hud boon brought abreast of each other, which he could say as a teacher of Id years’ experience was tho true test of honest, conscientious teaching. Tho motion was carried by acclamation, and loud cheers were given for Mr Firth, k Mra Firth, the Governors, and “ three good onos” for tho masters. The Principal, on behalf of tho staff, returned thanks for tbo very kind way in which Mr Young had , referred to their efforts. Whatever they had done, they would try to do better in the years to come., With regard to tho hoys, many of whom wore leaving, that was not the proper time to speak to thorn. They all know wiiat ho felt about tho matter. He proposed that they should pass a hoarty vote of thanks to their chairman for presiding on this occasion, and for the unfailing, repeated and continuous interest he took in .education. ‘ Tho motion’was carried, and cheers woro given for Mr Blair, wbo returned thanks. Ho ;had long taken an interest in the cause of education, and hia reward had boon gained so far as this institution was concerned. Its success was long in doubt, but now it was on the high rood to being one of tho foremost of tho Colony.: Tho proceedings then concluded.