PORT CHALMERS VOLUNTEER FIRE BRIGADE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 11172, 22 July 1898, Page 4

PORT CHALMERS VOLUNTEER FIRE BRIGADE.

The annual inspection of the Port Chalmers Fire Brigade took place yesterday evening, when big Worship the Mayor (Mr J. Mill), accompanied by Councillors Pedlow, Wilson, D»wson, and Weir were present. The parade state comprised—Captain Leach, Lieut. Colthorpe, and 14 men. X special inspection of the station and gear was made by his Worship the Mayor, who spoke in eulogistic term» of the service* rendered by Captain Leaoh, his officer! and men. His Worship, in the courts of hit remarks, expressed a hope that Parliament would take steps to place the 'Fire Brigade on a proper footing.

— Havana was originally established by a son of Christopher Columbus. He also established the towns of Santiago de Cuba and Trinidad.de Cuba. The cathedra] near the Governor-general's Palace at Havana marks the resting place of Columbus, whose body was taken there in 1795. The palace contains paintings by famous artists of the whole of the Governor-generals sent to Cuba since it has been a Spanish possession. — The battleship Goliath is believed to hold the record for weight at the time of launching. She weighed 6100 tons. The Victorious when launched weighed 5500 tons, and the Prince George 4100. Those, vessels, too; .had some of their armour in position, whereas the Goliath had none. The Ocean, now being prepared for launching, wil) weigh over £000 tona,

•———o. — The moathly meeting of . the Education Board, held od Wednesday, was attended by Dr Brown (chairman), Messrs P. B ,Fcaser, J. J. R Mlaj , H _ Harraway, W. buow, J. Sim, J. M. Gallaway, aud the Hon. J. J MacGregor. | o, u .ELECTION OF A MEMBEH. member m the place of Mr J. P. M. Feaset were ( opened, the result of the votiug being as j follows t-James Mitchell, 121 votes; William | $"? ols°n- 6*- - The Chaikmas thereupon declared ter Mitchell duly elected. . TH6 WAKABI SCHOOL, A deputation from the Wnkari School Com-tutte--oonßUtiag ? ol Messrs J. L. Passmore, ,W. Aitken, and William Wright-waited od the board and asked for a subsidy of 25s or 30s for every pound collected for the erection of a wing to the present shelter shed in collection wita the school. Mr Pansinore stated that he had personally g uarßnC eed to collect £30 for the worK.—iho matter was referred to the architect to report. THE BOARD'S FINANCES. '~ ■* Chairman said before the board conj sirLjred the question of subsidies he would like i <ihem to seriously take into consideration what be was about to briug before them. He had asked Mr Pryde to make out a,statement of the building account, which, roughly spe»king, showed the raveuue from January 1, 1893 to March- 31, 1898,, to be £37,818.,1s Bd, and the: expenditure for the same period;£<H,B9s 19j id the overdraft at the bauk beiug £7077 17s sd. He did not know whether members were held personally liable for the overdraft, but be thought it would be a good thing if they were, as it would make them more careful in the matter or expenditure. The board were over £700Q in debt, and they had requests coming betoie them at every meeting for buildings iv all directions. He really thought they ought to look at the situation, and make up theic minds that except iv cases of extreme urgency they would not undertake any new works for the next nine or ten months ■ that would cost more that. £20. He had also asked Mr Pryde to make up a statement of the amount that had been expended upon gymnasiums. They were very good things in their way, but to spend money upon them was a luxurious spending of mouey. Tbe atnouat spent ou gymnasiums h»d been £1322, and the authorised expenditure for the same purpose was £652. Mr Ramsay •. Have we not another account in tee bank ? Mr Pryde: The bank overdraft in £7077. Mr Ramsay: I want-to know if that is our exact position. I am so accustomed to get statements which are only half the truth _ The Chairman, said he had the statement of the bank account before him. . It showed an 2KoES?" mate debifc bal*noe at the end of July of £6370 Is 2d. MrGALLAWAV said if the buildings had been properly erected, then,the rota .was insufficient The-question was, Had they been extravsgant or not? . ; . . s The.Chairman.said he was very sorry that members .were so thin-skinned. He laid the position before them ai a; plain business man, and if' they were £7000 to the bad he was not blaming them. He simply put the statement before them so that they should not undertake •any works, except of extreme urgency, for the next 12 months. If they did not see the matter in the same light as he did, he was very much surprised. Mr Gaixaway, said if the chairman thought he took what he 6aid as a reproach he wag mistaken. He only wanted to know what the object of the statement wa». Was it not a fact that the building grant was too small?. He quite agreed with the chairman that the board should not lend itself at anytime to extravagance. ' . Mr Ramsay said they could not stop building operations. Necesaary building operations must be gone on with. , ~. Mr Phaser was extremely-grateful that the statement had been put before the board. They often sat there in a lordly sort of way and voted away money without knowing how the hrianees of the board stood.- The board bad entered into tbd speculation of building their ■ offices,, and he understood that when- they were ;to be buil* thry were not to exceed something .like £2000. • Bub if he was not very much mistaken the building had very.much exceeded that sum. He intended to; move that the estimated cost o,f the building be placed on the table;. and also the detailed cost of materials and> supervision. If it' bad coat £2500, and gymnasiums had taken £1500, it. was not mrpnsing that they were very much behind with their finances, and when they had appeal* such as they had .that day for absolute'necessaries for carrying on schools, he, quite agreed with the chairman that they must out their garment according to their cloth. He also thought that j it-was very probable that .they would have to | pinch until they, got round the! corner again j As regard* the board's office^, his own opinion hwas that it was the most unfortunate speculation that the board bad ever entered into. STONEBUBNX . . The Chairman of the BtoneburnScuool.Committee wrote statiug that in consideration of the board's carrying. on the school the committee I would be agreeable to acceptione half pf their present quarterly, grant, and suggesting jhafc a i teacher, whom. he - mentioned, should- ba em- , ployed at a salary of £50 peranuum.—The pro- I po3alg were agreed t \ . ■ : ~■ „. . ■ , RAVENSBOURNS. ■_ The Secretary of the Kavensbourne School Committee wrote aekaowledging the receipt of a memo, from the board re work ordered to be done at the echool, and requesting the board to defer building operations until tbe board had considered the following resolution passed by the committee—" That this committee regret [ that the report of Mr P. B. Prater and Mr Sim •hould have superseded the report of the board's architect, and beg to forward for the board's consideration the nubjoiuod reports and evidence on the stale.of the, school buildiugs, ! ;and trust that the board will see its way clear j >fco_ reconsider, the Ravensbouroe School" Committee's petition for a new school." v Mr P. B. Fraser said he might say s word regarding the very strong language the committee had seen fit to use regarding Mr Sim and hinnelf because they had reported adversely to their request for a new- school. He had described Che walls of the school as the dirtiest he hsd ever seen. He did not mean to say more than simply quote from the board's correspondence in proof of his statement regarding the cleanliness of fcho school. The secretary of the Ravensbourne School Committee wrote in 1897 as follows :— "Theschodl is iv rather an uncleanly «tate." Then later the chairman of the School Committee, in a long letter addressed to the board, had the following sentences :—" (1) The school buildings are all badly ventilated aud dirty inside. ■■ . .... (3) The, walls iDside are exceedingly dirty, and have not been painted for very many years." He .(Mr.Fraser) said it was not surprising that when he and Mr.Sim. .wfcnt to the school a year after that letter was written that they should have found it to warrant the language they had used. They had reported recommending more to be dona to the school in the way of improvements than the committee had been able to gefc from the board by persistent applications during tbe past year or two. Mr. Sim agreed with Mr Fraser'a remarks, and said that there were 36 schools older than tbe Ravenfbourne School throughput Otago, which would cost £10,000 to replace. Further consideration of the matter was subsequently adjourned until the following day. KENSINGTON SCHOOL. The Kensington School Committee asked that two pupil teachers be appointed to the school.—The request was acceded to. MACANDBEW ROAD. The Head Master of the Macwadrew road School wrote asking for repayment of £13 10<s expended by him in adding a bedroom to the school residence, and utating that if the money was refuoded he would spend it upon repairs to the interior of the residence.—The application was granted. ■ XENDKKS. ....... ■ ' ■ _ The following tenders wer6 accepted :—Erection of school buildings at, Momsna—Joseph Mannipg, £367; additions to residence at Kokonga—T. P. Davies, £44. GENERAL. An application by the Awakino School Committee for the rent of a building used as a, school was referred to the architect to report. Claim* for the hftlf-cost of improvements were granted as follows: Asphalting, Balclutha; asphalting and repairing playsheds, Clinton ; fencing and painting inside of school, Patearoa; distempering rooms, Port Chalmer* School; asphalting, St. Clair, • The following applications, were granted :-— Repairs to residence, Ofciake; fencing elebe, Hyde ; repairs to residence and school, Broad Bay ; repairs to school, Teaneraki. Applications from the Oatnaru Middle and i the HampdeD School Committees for financial assistaocs for fencing were declined. It wa« agreed to grant a subsidy to the ! Pom»hak» Downs School Committee for the I erection sf a shelter shed. The board Bub««quently went into committee, Tbe adjourned meeting of the board, heid yesterday, wan Attended by Dr Brown (chair- ; man;, Messrs J. Bim, J. M. Gallaway, W. i Snow, J. Mitchell, J, J. Ramsay, H. Harra- , w»y, P. B.Fraiei, aDd the Hon. J. MacGregor. ACCODNTS. Accounts amounting to £6156 7a lOd were passed for payment. APPOINTMENTS. The following appointments were made :— j Samuel J. Harrison, head teacher, Chaslands, vice A. Chcsaev. promoted ; Gco. P. Graham, head teacher, Gimmerburn, vice H. M'Millan. promoted ; Elizabeth G. Christie, head teacher, Windson, vice Robina M'Gill, left the service ; Marion V, Early, head teacher, W&itabuna Weat, vice J. F. M'Gregcir. promoted; Ellen H Bell, first female assistant, Waiwera townnbip, vice M. S. Shore, left the service; Mary I.oudon, first female assistant, Higbcliff, vice Barnett, left the service.

RESIGNATIONS. ' The following resignations were accepted :— Thomas C. Ffasec, he*d teacher, West Taieri; Samuel J. Harrison, head teacher, Tahora; Georgo P. Graham, head teacher, Lee Stream; Eltea H. Bell, head teacher, Tuapeka Plat; Elizabeth G. Chri»tie, head teacher, Ltuder • Mary R. Fiamank, head teacher, T»batika ; Alexander Bell, first male asiistant, O«naru Middle. GREEN ISLAND. The Green Island School Committee wrote calling attentioD to the fact that the school grounds and fences were in arj unfinished state. It wa» reiolved to instruct the architect to hire the works carried out. waipori, ' The following letter was received from the head tsacher of the VVaipovi School :— -~ c . ' WaipoH, July 17, 1395. The Secretary Education Bosvd. Sir,—fie the Waipori trouble, I have learned incidentally that the board expected me to reply to your letter sent after the May meeting conveying the repprt of ,the committee of inquiry held at Waipori and the resolution of the board that I he requested to advance three of the six pupils failed by me in the Second Standard lost December. I'begto apologise for my seeming want of courtesy, and to say in explanation that I did not think any reply was neceseary, as I nt;ited to the committee most distinctly, when the chairmau there and then asked me to advance the pupils that such a thiijg rould not be thought of T showed that to receive a raw levy of Second Standard pupils into my room'when the school year was half over would result in serious disorganisation of my classes, and would be productive of no benefit to.the pupilnso advanced. Mr Harraway agreed.with me. and remarked to Mr' Know that there was a practical difficulty in the way of my carrying out bis request r consequently thought that this ended the matter. I certainly mjSht have impugned the finding of the committee that 1 had committed an error of judgment in failing those three pupils, but I thought this was un necessary also, as the whole tenor of jnv first letter to the board consisted of tlie plea that it was the inspector ,wKo committed the error of judgment, and th»r I was'in a better position than the inspector or'anyon'e else to judge of the ntness of'tbe pupils to proceed to tlie Third btaudard. Ido not take my stand only on niv legal rights, for I am quite willing to concede to the b.ard a revisory or advisory power, which I shall at all times treat with the greatest respect But in the present case I, must repeat that the children were not fit to proceed to the Third Ntandard, and I was prepared to demonstrate this to the satisfaction of the sheeting of inquiry had 1 been allowed to do'so. It does not lie upon me to show where the. inspector's examination was at fault, for I did not see him test the children I therefore considered myself justified in exercu'ing my own discretion-U the matter, and I was the more encouraged to do 89 inasmuch as at the April meeting (I. think) of. the board Mr (ioyen reported in these words: "The head tocher has the right, even;in tha face of an inspector's report, to fail children in the Second Standard .that he deems,;UDfit to pass." At the meeting of inquiry I proposed, as the inspector was present, along with the' children of the coraplainauts,/an.d as,the. place'of meeting was the school, with all the necessary appliances ready to hand, that the children should be re-examinod there and then. v The proposal was not entertained. ■ I then, asked the committee to go into .certain tests and results'tff an examination of the pupils in question, hel.il'on the 9th of May -that I put in as evidense. This ab-p was ruled' by the chairman as inadmissible. ,• I then essayed to put some questions to the misti-kp, in order to elicit some evidence' as, to ..-the. attainments of the pupils in the,.NccotH':-standard, when I was promptly silenced by the chairman,'who remarked that that was only "talkingshop." After that Mr .Snow might well say, as he did at the close of the meeting, that the board were in possession ah.!? 0 raore evi<ii}'^ than- they had already. Although the inquiry, was, »o to speak, sprung upon me without my being made aware of the definite scope of.it, yetl hailed it with satisfaction, as affording me an opportunity of rebutting the charge brought against me by Mr < lottou of tailing the children of parentx with whom I was at variance. Butiu this also I was disappointed for not one of tile complainants was present. Ie is true Mr Black-mow was there, but on my attempting fo. questiou him he replied that he merelyanpeared »b thevapresentat'ive of his wife who understood the matter better than he did' It will thus be seen that throughout all this dispute I have never yet beeiv brought face to face with my accusers. Far from there bsing any heat or friction generated in the.district by my action,the Householders hava all but unanimously up. held my discretion. The annual school committee electio.il took place »t a time when the trouble htd fully developed, with the result that Mr Cotton, wlio was a nauilMitte, was iguomiuiously defeated, and ;Mr. BHekmore failed even to find one to nominate ■him; ,MrUottoi» is really-Ilia only person in Waipori. with whom I do not find favour, as a ttaehev. Nor is this the only time he has attempted to discredit me with tba board Two years atio last April he brought a false and slanderous charge against me and'asked for my '.removal,r-'but on, inqniry I wss" triumphantly : exonerated. I very much regret-Mr P. B. Eraser's [attitude towards me'in this dispute. He baa 1 manifested his hostility from the first, and by his remarks seems to have prejudged the case a particle of evidence nu my part was forthcoming. He has referred in open board to ];™% .PuP'ls. .failed by me as "those unfortunate ! children, and in'reply to a coVrespondent who criticised His .action's" in"'the Daily'Tiiufs be I stated that there'were features in'the Waipori case of which the public were not aware.' His j evident Malice andprejudice excluded him from a seat on the committee of inquiry, but there was I nothing tp.prevent him attending as a witness if ! lie had anything to testify. I how challenge him I to show what these other features iii the case are land to . prove ■ that the pupils of the Waipori : School-are unfortunate jh being under mvchaige. And I may,here"remind the board that Mr IJ.l J. B. I'raser at the March lheeting passed some1 unjust and uncalled-for strictures oh the state of my ! room at the;la-*t-examination ; that I wrote in disproof of ms.statementsan'iti'demanded a retraction in op«n board; that he promised at the meeting in April to makg a personal explanation after the inquiry ; and thiU up till now no nucte.. explanation has been made public,' Such conduct besides being unm»nly, is somewhat unexpected in one whose weekly mission is to promote the Kingdom of Heaven arid its justice. In conclusion I beg to say .that I dp.pot wish to take up a. position of antagonism to theboaH. I will cheerfully obey any lawful comniitnd; add if it can be shown that it would be in the interests of education to advance those, children' even now I will eladly doso- 1. Charles Kgrr. The Chairman* and-Secretary of the School Committee, .wrote with reference to the. same matter. They,' stated' that, Sir Kerr had the almost unanimous support of th 6 people of the district, and the unanimous support ef the ; committee in the dispute between himself »n<i j Messrs Blackmorei Cotton,, and ge&rfe An there were members of the board who had been elected lately it was as well' to draw attention to the »Utement<t' of Mr Kerr'a pppouents— "That, the1 bead teaoh«r's motive in t'siliog those six children was to spite Mr Cotton, as there was an old grievance between them over the commonage question." This statement vra* a despicable one at its-best, as one of, the parties who complained hud received the greatest benefit from tlie commonage grant, and it was not likelr that a teachnr would do himself and bis friends an .injury owing to bis having a difference of opinion with Mr Cotton. It might be mentioned that Mr Kerr's swu daughter was one of the pupils failed,, two others beiug' children of parents who: were perfectly satisfied with his action. Tbe .board in this case had ignored the com-mittee,-and had acted in direct opposition to' , them. ■>■ The '.'■icqajry • ordered by.; the board was of a farcictl nature. ■ The writers urged the board to reconsider the matter, and stated that their.action' in orderinj? Mr, Kerr-to adr:! yance the three children of the parent* who had complained and hot to lidvaocd the other three ; girls, who were jnafc as'fit'to be advanced, teemed ridicujius in.-the extreme. i Blessrs M.' BlaoWmore and K. Cotton wrote once more, calling attention to the matter of j Mr Kerr riot advancing certain children into Standard 111, , and asking" tha board to | earnestly consider the matter and bring ib to au early settlement, as the'children had now lost the best part of the year. The writers further pointed out that-two'.of the children had gained I 100 per cant, under the hoard's inspector, while j the others gained 75 'per cent. Mr Kerr's re- ' funal to advance the children was doing both the parents and children; a great and serious injustice. ' ' The Secretary,of the Kducational Institute wrote forwarding the following resolution passed 'at the annual meeting.-—" That this institute having reoeived <he opinion of tbe ! legal advisers of the New Zealand Educational Institute that Mi' Kerr has acted within his rights coufemd upon him hy the departmental regulations, would respectfully request the Education Board to reconsider the decision arrived at at it* lsst meeting.'? Mr Snow s»id it was evident that MrKarr was within his rights. He understood that the ! board had powe.r,to enforce its resolution to ask the teacher "to advance the pupils, but it ' now appeared that they had not. and that the teacher could snap his fingers at the board aud : do as he liked. ]fc was s pity that it was so. It was very evident that the children were fit to be advanced. « Mr P, B. Fbaseb said from the first he took ' the responsibility, without waiting to know what other members of the bo*rd might think, of saying that these children should be advanced, and that the teacher should be requested to advance thsm. He asked the board not to be misled by what he might call the sophistry that had been brought into tuis matter. The board and the public were asked to believe that the board was interfering with tbe statutory authority of the teacher. It w»« true that he had a statutory authority, but the board were there to say how he had exercised his authority. On inquiry they found that he had exercised his authority in a most unwarrantable way, and they attempted in the mildeit possible way to apply a correcting factor to the misuse that the teacher had made of his statutory authority. In fAce of the advice of every member of the board, in face of the committee of inquiry, and id the face of two or three repeated requests to advane.u the pupils, Mr Kerr said " 1 are within my legal rights." ■■ The Hon. J, MacGrbgor rose (o make an explanation. Mr Frascr had s&id that he SOFT, WHITE. HANDS IN A SINGLE JNIL.HI. Bathe an*.'soak the hands en retiring in a strong, hot, creamy lather of Cutjcura Soap. Dry them thoroughly, and anoint freely with Cuticuiu, greatest of emollient skit, cures Wear during the night r.'.d, loose kid gloves with the finger ends, cut off and air holes cut in the palni3. For red, rough, chapped, and discoloured handa, dry, fissured, itching, feverish palms shapeless nail? with painful finget ends, this treatment is simply wonderful.—"!)

amongst other members had admitted that Mr Kerr had acted uuwisely. What he said w»s that he did not profess to criticise a teacher's action in holding bsck certain children, but he did. not think the teacher wan doing right in fighting out the matter in defiance of the expressed wish of the board. Mr Fhasek proceeded to say that h«- repeated that all the members of the board expressed the opinion in opeo board at last meeting that, the teacher acted without discretion, or unwi«ely, in not promoting these children. — (Mr Ramsay and Mr MAcGflEfiOR .- "No, no.") He would ask the board specially lo notice that the board's motion never asked the ttaeher to do an illegal thing or to act out of his legal rights. They said he could-stick to hi« legal rights, but the board had to consider the rights of the parents and the children as well as those of the teacher ; and the rights'of the children and parents and tbe rights of the board had been trampled under foot by Mr Kerr. The board had bo«in appealed to by the parents,'and they had given a Judgment on the case, and whether they were infallible or not they would lose their self-respect if they wobbled in tbe leasfi after having given their decision The real reason why, the teacher* had taken <the part of Mr Kerr was that they were iguoraut of the facts or this examination which he (Mr Kerr) had conducted.' . Ther« was not a teacher in the colony who would not appeal against 3n inspector wbd pxamiried hi* pupils in the same way as Mr Kerr bad'examined the pupils in the'mistress's room. "It had been proved in the evidence, and Mr Kerr had notrdenied it, that children" who bad passed in spelling he bad failed in that mbjeet because of thsir weakness in another subject altogether. The teacher was entirely out of court, and if the board failed in its duty to see that these children were advanced according to law, surely the parents could gel-. a mandamus from theee great high courts of justice in this land to compel the Education Board to do their duty, if the teacher could not do- hi*. The evidence showed that Mr Kerr was utterly iucompeteut to inlerpret the regulations. He believed he was safe in saying that every unbias«ed teacher in Otngo would say that it was perfectly monfttrous for a teacher to judge a mistress's work in the way Mr Kerr had jud?«d the work of the mistress of his school. In Otago (hern were examined in the Second Standard lout ye*r 2654 pupils. Of that number 2567 passed*nd 87 failed. The failures oo.ly amounted to 3 per cent. That was the judgment of the twaohers of Otago on tbfi mistresses' work. Mr Kerr examined 10 pupiK pnnsed 4. and failed 6 That was to say that 60 per cent, of the pupils in' Standard II at Waipori had been failed. Surely there was something rotten in the state" of Denmark if that was to be relied on. Bub what did the inspector say who examined .the children. He said that these pupils in question did excellently. Two of them made 100 per cent, in pass subjects, one made 75 per cant., while 60 percent, would pass them. Ha would move— "That the board haying been appealed to by certain. parents at Waipori regarding Mr Kerr's not advancing certain pupils f.-om 'Standard II to' 111, and having, found on inquiry that Mr Kerr has uofc acted with such reasonable disoretion as is expected from a head master in the circumstance*, and Mr Kerr having persistently .refused to comply with the request of the board to.advance the said pupils, the board comes to the conclusion that Mr K'-rr cannot, in the interests of education, be longer entrusted with tbe statutory powars conferred- on him, and terminates his engagement on three months' notice; it copy of thii resolution to be sent to the Waipori School Committee in term* of the Education Act, section 4-7." ' Mr Snow seconded the motion pro forma, in order that the matter might be discussed. A» no other member of the board shewed any desire'to speak on the fubjeat.'the Chairman put the motion, which was losli on the voices. ' Mr Snow then moved that all correspondence in connection with the matter be forwarded, to the Minister for Education. - Mr Sim «f-conried the mofcioa, which wag also lost on t.he voices. \ The Chmhman then asked if any member to s*y anytbiugfuttheil in regard toth« matter, but as there was no response the next business on Jthe order paper was proceeded with; ■" ■'■' ■ ■ ■ : ■ • ■. . , ' ALBANr STREET SCHOOL. The committed appointed to report concerning Mr Morgan's charges'against Mr Spetice, second assistant of tbe Albany street ScHool— that Mr Spence had unduly: punished Mr Morgau'a two children,'—reporter] that after having fully1 considered all the evidence tendered, they found that Mr Morgan's first charge against Mr Spence was not proven, and that the second and third charges were trivial. .. • ■ ■•. '■''/■' •■'••••■■■... •...-.. The Honv J: moving--i the adoption "of'the report, said it'war'satisfactory to find, after v«ry full and careful inquiry, that there was" really no justification for the complaint made against Mr Sp'ence. The evideuce would show that Mr Morgan took the law into his own bauds and committed a very serious assault on Mr Sperice, who certainly behaved in a rery manly arid becoming manner under grave provocation. Hs thought it was due to Mr Spence that it shonld be made known that, Uthough Mr Morgan! iusisted in going into °fcber charges against MKSpence, there: was. tip teajon it'1 ill'■'to' 'distent from the conclusion arrived at-by the school committee,-that-the charges 'were without foiindati6h. MfSpencfe ; had been subjected to a sort of svgtematic petty | persecution. ' '■■ Mr Fraser expressed his great pleasure that Mr Specce had come so well outof the inquiry. The motiou for the adoption of thereport was I then put, and carried unanimously. hooper's inlet. ' A deputation from the Hooper's Inlet School I Cottiinittee, consisting of Messrs D. Dickson, J. T. Nyhon, and Ross, waited on the board, and asked them to erect a new school. I ; It was resolved—" That Messrs Harraway j and Snow, and any other members of the board who wished to do so, should visit the locality in company with the architect and report'to the board with regard to the matter." RAVENSBOURNE. The Raven»bourne School Committee wrote expressing regret that the report of Messrs Fra-eor and Sim had superseded'that of the architect, and asked th« board to consider the I prayer of their pel.ition fora new school instead I of carrying out the suggested additions. Mr Gallaway read the following report on the buildings, which he had requested Mr George Simpson (of Messrs Torrance and Simpson) to prepare :— . . At your request I examined the Rivensbouine school, , and have to report as 'follows :-The bui diner is an old one, and seems to have been built at various times. Por'a school the ceilings arc-too low; the walla, are lined with T. and U boarding, which has been put on off the machines, and is rough and what is known in the trade as woolly, lne,boards have not beea dry when put ' 2,?1' a? al', e, no«r shrunk in some places very badly. The dust blows in at tb« joints'arid'haneir'bn to tlie rough surface of tli« boards. This being wiped oft: periodically gives it the appearance of dust nauginff orj) but to remove' it>is.'.u serious jobnotlnug short of'scrubbing with strong soda will I 1 i ," en tllft boards,being open makes the' whole place not fit for anyone, children or otherwise, to sit in in cold weather. The walls being low, the windows are too near the fl'ior. If they are opened at the too the wind simply blows on the heads of the children. I saw \b children and tbe teacher in a small hole of a place under the ball. As the door opened I,hu close smell wbs very bad. If the JMiicatiori Hoard anticipate making any additions or hn-pi-ovemeuts, then \ nay without any hesitation pull the whole thin? down and build a new scuool, afc least near, if not in line with, modern ideas of .a school. The grounds and outside buildings I found very clean and tidy. One thing wants attending to ; there is no urinal for tbe boy?. Ibis is r, great drawback, for the whole place is wet and untidy. He (Mr Gallaway) thought that the board should not commit themselves to an expenditure of £300 to patch up a school which experts had condemned. He moved —'! Th»t the improvements be not proceeded with in the meantime." Mr Harraway seconded the motion, which, after further discussion, was carried by 6 votes to 2, Messrs Sim and Fraser forming the ' minority. KAIKORAI' SCHOOL, Inspectors Goyen and Fitzgerald, in reporting upon the application of the Kaikorai School Committee i for inoreaned accommodation for Class X, recommended that in the meantime the class might be provided for by hiring the neighbouring hall.—The recommendation was sgreed to. BURSARIES FOR TRAINING COLMSGB STUDENTS. . The Inspectors reported on the suggestion made by the principal of the Training College, that a small bursary be granted to students who kept a second year's terms at ths univer»ity. They stated that a second session would be beneficial to the students taking it, and ultimately to the schools in which they taught, and I they recommended that a burfary bo granted to t j pupil-teacb>r students, who, during their first ; year of traiuiug, kept terms at the university. I ShouM the board grant these bursaries, English i aud mental science should be among the subJ jecta taken by their holders.—The matter was ' referred to Cl*»s X Committee to report. KELIKVING TEACHBES. Mr Fraseh moved—" That relieving or tercI porary teachers, while filling auy vacancy, .shoujd be eligible for no such vacancy." I' The motion was carried on the catting Tote of the Chiiirrnan. MONTHLY FINANCIAL STATEMENTS. On the motion of Me Hareawav it was resolved—" That ths secretary be instructed to i laj on the table at each meeting statements of j the conditions of the different accounts." ! SCHOOL FILTERS. J On the motion of the ('haihman it wa« re- I solved—" That the construction of sand and I grave) filters be proceeded with at otica in all i schools dependent on the Dunediu water mains, and afterwards iv the country schools as occasion demands ; in the meantime tankcleansing rings, limilar to those submitted to the board, be supplied to all schools dependent on tanks. '' JCNIOB SCHOLARSHIP EXAMINATIONS. The Hon. J, Macqregok moved to the I

I effect thai; history be removed from the list of subjects for the junior scholarship examinations. He sn.id he had taken the precaution to write to a number of country schoolmasters , asking their opinion on this question, and only ! two of them were in favour of the retention ! of history as a subject for examination. j Mr Ramsay" secouded the motion. I Mr Phaser moved, »g an amendment—"That this question be remitted to the inspector! to ' report as to the effect of excluding history from the list of subjects." , He thought it was advantageous to. keep history on the scholarship syllabus, because it gave pnpils of different degrees of ability a chance to get a scholarship. All this cry abput history being stiff was entirely refuted by the results. Pupils made more marks in history than in any other subject. The results of the scholarship examinar t.ious. for the p»»t 12 years showed that the ■ total marks made in history was 70 per cent,; | the total made' in geography ■' was 6* pet ! oenfc.. : and the total taade in arithmetic was I 76 per cent. The total made in English for the i past 6ve years was only 58 per cent. I Mr Gaixaway seconded the amendment. Ha I had heard »p much about both sides of the i question that he was in this unhappy position: j that he had not made up hii mind on the ; subject. j At this otage of the discussion it was decided to csli in the inspectors and ask their opinion on the subject.' • Mr Goyen said the inspectors bad discussed the question among tbemiselves, and they were of opinion that history was ,a- thorough cram subject. ..'The answers that theyhad to read year after year were obviously crammed j answers. The little, text books read by;the ! chijdreu wore simply crammed, and the answers I for the most part were without, intelligence. ] They (the; inspector?) h,ad great difficulty in i awarding marks for history, and they would be vary glad to ace it struck o.ufc of the liat of subjects tor examination. , . , Mr Fitzgerald said be was of the samg i opinion as Mr Goyen. They had discussed the ! matter previously with a deputation from the j Kduastibnal Institute. ' • Mr Goysn said, in reply to Mr Gallaway, j that a good many subjects might be crammed. ] Geography, for instance, mi£bt be crammed ; ! but neither English nor arithmetic could be. ! Geography, waanot a cram subject to the came j tx out as history. ' Physical geography was a i question of gci«nce,jMd the examiners could so pub the questions sS|t;o compel the children to show a knowledge of the facts... The- syllabus would be quite snfFieient: without history. Mr Mitchell aupp^orted the - motion*' He thought it was a tajsune of scholarships to: ! sward them to those' who were capable of i memoriaing history pryacy other subject.: The j object of » scholarship, first ofi all, was to ! stimulate actual work, and atudf, and in the j second place to bring out and develop those I who had natural but were not merely i endowed with,' memory. He did not place any j values -whatever, upon'history ag taught in th« I schqols. ."•■' ' '•' ! ,\ '•■■ •'. •■•■ ■" ' '•' The motion was then put to the meeting andj carried by 8 rotes to 1, Mr Fraser being the ," .one dissentient; ::""\'»- :. .' ' :■. '. ■-~; . '- ,'SBN'IOR SCHOLARSHIP EXAMINATIONS.; - . The question of the alteration of the lists of subjects for tb.e.senior i 6cholarsb.ipi ex»|ninatipbs was • referred,,to a oommittee: to report to * ■ future meeting, y .-";;,.. ;"'i'■..'...•"■ ■'.'■!