JOHN CAUGHLEY

NZ Truth, Issue 1079, 5 August 1926, Page 6

JOHN CAUGHLEY

State-Managing the Young Idea BRAINS, ■ like murder, will out. That is one reason why John Caughley is to-day Director, of Education for the Dominion. A'man of medium height, his features— somewhat hatchet-shaped — are essentially of the fighting type; his nose, mouth, , chin and cool, discerning eyes revealing strength and determination. ... . ...... . Whilst John Caughley's face may be termed distinctly arresting m its revelation of an aggressive mentality— with even a hint of autocracy m his make-upy-and ability to organize, there are few sighs of • the ; literati about; him. There is little.- doubt, however, that he is well-equipped from an academic point of view, lor what, is undoubtedly one of the most difficult positions m public life. . Born m Auckland 55 years ago, Caughley was educated for the teaching profession. He entered the service as a pupil teacher at Hastings and for a number of years climbed diligently towards the top. .". ■ : ' v Though ambitious and studious, he found time to play a good game of Rugby football, compete' m rifle -shooting matches, and distinguish himself as a long-distance amateur cyclist. He is' proud of the two cups he won

as trophies, for cycling and shooting. .' > After his ' appointment as headmaster of a country school,' he secured : his. B.A. and M.A. degrees. Later he earned^ further distinction by winning the University . Bo wen Essay prize.. He was busy .m 1916, pourTding k n : o w le dg e into young heads at Thorndon Training College. Normal School and lecturing to students; > His appointment as headmaster.; of the West Christchurch "■ District School took place m 1910 and - six years later , the Governments decid- . ed, that, he was too' .valuable a'man to, waste - on : , ' 'othet' than purely executive work. Caligh- 1 ley therefore found himself holding down the job of assistant director of education, and m 1921 took over the duties of director. - Recognition ;o f his brains and abil-' ity m an executive Capacity was shown by t h c members of the New Zealand Educational Institute when, m. 1907, he was elected president. He was also president of .the

Headmasters' Association and a member of the Council of Education. During the regime of Sir James Parr, when officials. of the Education Department were, "all hot and bothered" Caughley gave of his best m loyalty and service, though it must undoubtedly have been hard, at the time.' He still continued to furnish ideas and schemes and heard them paraded forth on the public platform or m the House as the special products of Parr's brain.. While this "pirating" of others' ideas deceived- nobody, Caughley kept his head and waited. The inevitable happened and Parr found himself offered a job that on the surface promised to" furnish him with unlimited scope to indulge his love of notoriety at any cost. .... • Though>at the retiring age, there is little likelihood of Caughley being placed on the superannuated list for some time yet. The new Minister of Education at least possesses sufficient sincerity and honesty of purpose—together with some years' experience of educational matters —to recognize Caughley's worth and the absurdity of a Ministerial policy that disclaims all responsibility for mistakes and grabs all the kudos for successful schemes.

NEVER WARNED OFF THOUGH he; is .often m the saddle* 1 jjruoe Thompson's name is never seen bracketed with the winning mount m any reports of Auckland race

meetings, But it's not his fault; , what takes him there is the fact that he is the police officer stationed at Ellerslie. There is no doubt that lie is one of the most popular figures at .local race meetings, : but being a good fallow does hot interfere with him carrying out his

necessary to read up the books 'and t pamphlets he has ' written on the subject. ...:" Drummond is a journalist on fi the staff of the "Liyttelton Times," and what he doefen't know about report-

[ng doesn't matter. He has, a genial md bland countenance. At Unfed, he wears a far-away expression, as though leeply lost m thought; this is not ecjentricity, but concentration on one of :he many problems he has so heir" at leart m his researches. The birds of the air love old Jimmy, vho goes out among the hedgerows and studies them like a mother does her ihildren. He whistles and they come tt his call. Drummohd is very near to lature m his studies ajid knows more tbout bird and plant life than could je crammed into any volume. MOUNTAINEERS TWO FWO of the quietest and most uh- *■ assuming men on the whole of he West Coast are Alec and peter 3raham, the two brothers who have nade mountaineering their life's hobby. Chey know the Southern Alpß better han a compositor knows his case, and here is hardly v square inch of snow lountry around the Mt. Cook chain ;hat they have not traversed. Alec las spent the bulk of his life on the vestern slopes, but Peter wsß for thir:een years a guide at the Mt. Cook levmitage. With an ardent love for ;he out-of-doors life, the two brothers low guide tourists over the Franz Foseph glacier or conduct them around Lake Mapourika. Tail, tanned men, hey are typical mountaineers, with a jenchant for relating an epic m hajf-L-dozen words, such, for instance, as Peter's story of how an orange once saved three men's lives on the snow;lad slopes which tower above WaihO aorge.