OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS COLUMN

Otago Daily Times, Issue 16199, 8 October 1914, Page 2

OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS COLUMN

FOR SENIORS AND JUNIORS. (Conducted by Magisteb, to whom all communications must bo addressed.) [Magister will he glad to receivo Nature Note?, tuurkiti papers eoutaiiiiug educational articles, diagrams, details ol experiments, etc., ol scholustio interest to teachers ami pupils. Correspondents must, use ONLY one SIM of tho paper, and whether using a pen name or not, must send both NAMU and AljDltESS.] SCOTT ANTARCTIC MEMORIAL. Es3ay, 1914. Just after I had made up last week's columns (this was written two or three weeks ago, but has had, to stand over),_ I received from Mr W. 11. Rose, the chairman of the Memorial Committee, a circular which, I presume, is being sent to all North Otago Schools —the competition is confined to North Otago pupils. The subjcct chosen this year is " That Britain in the present crisis ie fighting for tho principles she championed at Trafalgar and Waterloo."

The subjcct, at first sight, does not appear toq easy for tho average teacher and pupil to face, but tho circular announcing the subject also contains an admirable outline scheme to work upon; and, as the subject is interesting to all of us, I am giving the suggested outline for other teachers to fill in also. I think I can 6ee the master hand of the Rector of the Waitaki Boys' High School doing tho skeleton work: —

The following suggestions (tho adoption of which is optional) arc offered for the treatment of the subject:—(a) The causes which led Britain into the Napoleonic War, 1802-15. 1. To defend herself and her Empire from Napoleon's aggression. 2. To savo Europe from his domination and to maintain the balance of power. 3. To protect weak nations—e.g., Portngal and Spain, (b) Their counterpart in the present war. 1. To defend the British Empire from German aggression. 2: To save Europe from the Kaiser's domination and to maintain tho balance of power. 3. To protect weak rations —e.g., Belgium, Luxemburg, Switzerland, Holland, Denmark. 4. To safeguard national honour and to bo true to pledges, (c) The parts played by the younger Pitt (foreign policy), Nelson (Navy), and Wellington (Army) in the great Napoleonic War (1802-15)— their characters, careers, and influence, (d) Their counterparts to-day in Sir Edward Grey (foreign policy) and Earl Kitchener (Army). (c) Napoleon and the Kaiser —a comparison, (f) What, the British Empire owes to Trafalgar and Waterloo, and how far to-day she is proving worthy of her founders. (N.B. — Perhaps it is hardly necessary to point out that there is nothing invidious in criticisms of Nanoleon. Democratic France of to-day (our gallant ally) is totally opposed' to the idoals, of Imperial France in the Napoleonic era.) The Executive commend this matter very earnestly to those in authority in all tho schools throughout North Otago, and they also would like to enlist the active interest of tlhe various school committees. I The following are tho conditions governing tho essay writing:—The prizes will be of tho value of about three guineas each for the successful boy and girl. All pupils who arc in the Sixth' Standard are eligible. The date on which the essay is to be written is Saturday, 28th November. A list of competitors, with their ages, must do sent to the chairman (Mr W. 11. Rose) not later than November 14; It is possible that arrangements may be made this year to permit of the essays being written in eaih school. • ■ Now, North Otago boys and girls, get to, and for a commencement read suitable sections from " Tho Nineteenth Century: A History," by Robert Mackenzie, and. published by Thomas Nelson and Sons at 3s 6d. My copy cost me 7s 6d about 30 years ago, but it has been, revised, enlarged, and beautified by 32 full-page illustrations, and tho price reduced 'to 3s 6d. Among the pictures interesting at the present time are " Napoleon Bonaparte," "Lord Nelson," " The Battle of Trafalgar," "The Meeting of Wellington and Blue her," "On tho Evening of the Battle of Waterloo," "The Duke of Wellington," " Proclamation of the German Emperor at.Versailles," "Prince Bismarck, and " Francis Joseph of Austria." And "while I'm in the humour, here are two or three more—all dealing with war, mind! "Lconie, and Within Iron Walls (Nelson, 2s); this is a tale of the FrancoGerman War and tho Siege of Pans. I'ie Story, of the Plebiscite, by MM.' Erck-mann-Chatrian, telling of the same war, but dealing more narticularly with Alsacc and Lorraine. " The Invasion of France m 1814: Comprising the Night March of tho Russian Army Past Phalsburg : lho Blockade of Phalsburg: An Episode of the Fall of tho First. French Empire j lie ' Conscripts" ; " Waterloo: A Story of the Hundred Days," are all by tho same joint writers, and are good story books for boys— ancl firirls, too. These are aU old books, and many adults will probably like to renew 'o/jqiuiain+anoe with +hem. Perhaps ncxii week I'll nam'; some more modern ones, written prophetically.

"A SUGGESTION FOR SCHOOLS."' The following I have cut out of a recent issue of ya Home educational journal. What do you think of it? Reference is made to the Victoria League which has done very "ood work educationally and socially here and in 'other parts of the Empire. I ain using it as >a peg to hang a note or two UP °Tlie head master of a secondary school affiliated to the Victoria League, who serves on the local branch committee, has lately been considering possibilities of the development of Victoria League work in schools. We have received from him an interesting and suggestive letter, indicating the lines on which he considers, from his own experience, that our organisation could be made increasingly useful in this direction. jyj r C—— proposes that every head teacher, —of course with the consent of the School Committee—should set apart three-quarters of an hour once ever? month, during which the attention of the whole school should be so directed- as to encourage 'a wider knowledge of and sympathy for our fellowicitizens of Enrpire.' He 'thinks that few, if any, committees would demur to so excellent a work, for the league's efforts cover live geography, history, and civics, and sound patriotism applied to the Empire of to-day. * "Our correspondent divides his proposed 45 minutes thus: (1) A lively and interesting address of 20 minutes on a great life, a yivid description or adventure of some .part ,of the Empire. This might, as occasion offered, be given by an oversea visitor. (2) Interesting letters received by the children during the month from their Victoria League correspondents might be read, the places from which they came being pointed out on a map. . (3) A recitation or two learnt during the month, or a song, might be given. (4) Business might come next ; . as -distribution of Victoria League notes, admitting now members, payment of subscription, issue of noticcs. (5) Finally, if time allowed, an interesting reading from some suitable book._ "Mr C—— ends his letter, 'I believe that any head teacher, who will try some such plan as that outlined above will find it most delightful and inspiring to all concerned—an enjoyment to the teacher, and a time looked forward to with zest by all the children.'

"We should be interested to hear from any ot the schools, at homo or overseas, connected with the league, whether any such idea has been carried out among them, and how far it could he fitted in with their existing arrangements." I think tho idea a apod one, but instead of a set time for 45 minutes this kind of teaching should permeate the wholo day's work.

I prefaced the extract by saying that I was using it as an introduction to a note or two.

Note 1. —A week or two ago I saw a new geography intended for circulation throughout the British Empire. One page is devoted to a, "diagram of the chief imports of natural products into the British Isles." But though Europe,' England, and Scotland, North and South America. Australia, the coast lines of India and of North and South Africa are lined in Ireland and New Zealand are left out. and also the whole of the Pacific and of Eastern Asia. England and Scotland arc represented ns large as South America, though South America is about 60 times greater in area. Wool and feathers, arc given as the exports of South Africa, whereas New Zealand, which is over five-sixths the area of the British Isles (Now Zealand, 104,354 square miles; England, 50.939; Wales. 7376; Scotland, 29,796; Ireland, 32,559) and exports infinitely more, wool is non est. -Again, one of the exports of North America is given as meat. But how much? Is not it a fact that meat as an export from North America is a fast disappearing quantity? And in ony ease do we not export very much more? Dalgety's monthly circular gives River Plato, but does not mention North America at all. And so I could go on. As a diagram the nage is absolutely worthless; and as New Zealand stands second to Canada, and nearly doubles Denmark. in cheese exports; and as our dominion comes fifth —Denmark, Russia. Sweden, Victoria, precede in the order named—in butter exports, the diagram is not only worthless, but teaches much that will have to be unlearnt. By the bye, Russia, Sweden, and Victoria are not mentioned at all as exporting dairy produce. Now to follow out the idea suggested in the extract, and also because the figures are otherwise interesting at the present

juncture I am giving some tables from Dalgety's most recent reports. It should be pointed cut to children that the seasons of the Northern and the Southern Hemisspheres arc opposite. The butter and cheese lab'o.s refer to the year ending December 31, 1913; the price and tho nient tables are made up for the year ending June 30 this jear. I know of no other source giving information so up-to-date, so compact, and so .accurate. If 1 had space I would have given tho complete monthly figures as well, but have confined myself to giving the monthly figures for the past 12 months foe lamb, mutton. and meat. The figures, of course, are confined to imports into tho United Kingdom. Note 2. —This is not so serious a one as tho preced'ng, but it goes to show that men at Home who write for the weekly illustratods and newspapers generally have not yet gripped what the dominions beyond the seas mean. An August iesue of the Illustrated London News, contains a full page pictorial diagram showing that the United Kingdom gets a largo amount ol its food iinpirts from countries with which it is not. at war. But here again, a little care and slightly more detail would have been m'ach more satisfactory. Australia and Nc.v Zealand are given as sending 555,000cwt of chee-se a year, which is an accurate representation for a general statement, but Dalgcty's Tigures give 547,182cwt for Ne-.v Zealand, and 7933cwt for Australia. As a general statement, then, Australia, could have been dropped, or if retained, tho figures should have been separated.

Another section of the diagram gives butter from the " colonies" as representing 847,000cwt, figures which again are quite accurate enough for a general statement,, but these figures include Canada, which exported for. the year ending June 30, only 813cwt, while wo exported 251,663cwt. Again, objection is now being taken to the use of the word "colonies." If the whole are to be lumped under one heading " Dominions Beyond the Seas" would be much more nreferable

With a little thought I could work out many other instances showing how. writers and public speakers at Home have not yet learnt what tho dominions beyond the Seas mean to the Home Land. Personally I think that anyono at Home writing or sneaking of the Encore outside of the British Isles, should make a tour of the dominions and colonies before doing eo, and especially writers of educational books. But just a word of caution here. Just as writers and statesmen at Homo do not see the variois parts of the Empire in their true perspective, so we in Now Zealand, isolated as wo are. are apt to attach too much importance to ourselves and to overlook or undervalue • other communities. MEAT EXPORTS. FHOM AUSTRALIA.

CHEESE. 1911. 1912. 1913. cwt cwt cwt Netherlands 207,917 268,286 292,134 Italy 75,157 91,060 101,794 United States 150,321 21,227 22,449 Australia ... 12,602 1,408 7,933 New Zealand 397,845 543,917 547,182 Canada ... 1,473,275 1,352,570 1,293(763 Elsewhere ... 31,209 30,319 32.319 Total ... 2,348,326 2,308,787 2,297,579 Lamb sent Home is classified as: Light weights (321b);- medium; heavy; second quality, light (under 301b). Mutton as: Light weights (521b); medium weights (601b); heavy; second quality, light or simply second quality. Canterbury brands bring the highest—Otago not mentioned as an exporter, though Wellington and Southland —always Southlands, never Southland—■ come close up. Australia is inferior to New Zealand, and in mutton is equalled by that marked River Plate (Argentine). In the July report lamb from the Argentine is not mentioned. THE NAVY LEAGUE. October 21 is the anniversary of Trafal gar, and the Navy League (Otago branch) will, as usual, have a fitting programnie by way of celebration. In the minds of those who have followed world-wide events during tho past ten years or more, there is no doubt that the Empire owes it naval supre maoy to the efforts of the league; further, the want of cruisers in the Paoific and Indian Oceans show that, hadi the Two Power Standard aimed at by the league, been adopted, Australian and New Zealand contingents would not now be kicking their heels in Australasian ports. The loss caused through delay, through the extra dislocation of trade, through the raising of insur ance rates and of prices, and so on, wouli. have far more than mode up for the cost of the vessels which would have made up the difference between tho present and th; Two Power Standard. When this' war is over I'm pretty well certain that Canada, Australia, and Ne\y Zealand will see to it that the Paoific will bo properly polioed without calling in the assistance of a coloured race.

Now that we have seen the inestimable value a supreme navy is to the Empire, I hope that all who can will become members of the Navy League branch their district is associated with. The Otago branch, according to' The Navy—a monthly which every associate and member gets by virtue of the, subscription—is about the strongest and' the most effectively worked in the Empire. No other branch, as far as I can make out, spends so large a proportion of its income in educational work or has so many subscribers in proportion to the population, as the Otago branch has. But though the membership is one Otago may well be proud of, it might easily be doubled or trebled if citizens awtkened to their responsibilities. The annual subscription for associates is ss, and for members 21s. All have identical rights except that members have votes at meetings, and are eligible for election on the committee. May I ' ask seniors, then, to pend along unsolicited a. guinea, but if your income is on the moro limited scale, and a guinea is impossible, then to send a crown?

Otago school children, as subscribers, I think lead the dominion, and as the dominion on a population basis leads the Empire, then wc occupy a very proud position indeed. But many of our schools are still unrepresented on the honorary secretary's books. Line up! It is one of the best ways of teaching patriotism I know of. Thecchool membership is only Is a year, and every group of five gets The Navy, and also a quarterly supplement issued for juniors. If teachers in small country schools cannot organise a group of five or afford to become associates then perhaps the committees can present the school with an associate's subscription, for The Navy ought to bo in every educational district. As the years go -by we are awakening to the fact that intelligent patriotism cannot exist apart from a knowledge of history; and as our Empire's history is 60 largely naval, how can naval 'history bo better taught than by using a journal which makes naval history, past, present, and future, its special study? I suppose I have forgotten an important point: Where are subscriptions to be sent? " The Secretary, Otago Branch of the Navy League, Dunedin," is quite sufficient. Try it, and see what a prompt answer you will get. CORRESPONDENCE AND NOTES. Dear " Magister,"- 1 -! have no doubt about "Ornithologist's" identilication of the bird recently sent to you as a yellow hammer, but I must take exception to his statement that it is " the only really yellow bird in this country bar our native canary or yellow head, and the English hybrid canary," for wo also have the cirl bunting, which in the North Island, at least in some localities, is erroneously called the yellow hammer. Both birds were liberated here, and the bunting increased most rapidly, and afterwards disappeared from this neighbourhood. I have never seen a. yellow hammer or heard its plaintive little song for many years, but I have seen the cirl bunting both in Canterbury • ■and the North Island comparatively recently. Frank Finn, in his " Birds of the Countryside," says: "It is very like the yellow hammer, but differs in having an olive crown and breast and a black bill. The hen differs from that of the yellow hammer in being browner, with tips of the yellow tinge." I feel sure the two birds are often confused here or both called yellow hammers. The bunting, I think, is the bolder and moro active bird of the two.— Yours, etc., Old Boy. The following note on the cirl-bunting is from "The Animals of Now Zealand": — "The cirl-bunting, the goldfinch, the starling, and perhaps the yellow bunting, spread into Canterbury from Ottt'jo. The only cirlbuntings ever turned out in New Zealand were liberated in the Otago Peninsula about IP6B. They were not -uncommon about Dunedin in 1878. and in 1891 had reached tho Malvern Hills, in Canterbury."

< Quarters. Sheep. Lambs. Frozen Beef. 254,200 ' 36,250 149,250 194,250 36,750 181,750 323,000 104,000 98,000 462,000 282,050 , 113,750 273,500 423,750 61,250 253,250 186,250 79,400 . 490,000 394,500 104,000 235,500 160,500 82,500 59,500 58,750 63,350 58,500 34,000 68,250 25,750 4,000 121,250 20,500 1,000 128,950 . 2,649,950 1,721,800 1,252,300 FEOM "NEW ZEALAND. 224,000 326,000 14,000 ' 158,000 176,000 12,800 136,000 82,000 6,000 14,000 26,000 400 •13,000 3,000 400 114,000 83,000 ! 8,400 233,000 463,000 ! 28,800 352,000 337,000 14,400 431,000 555,000 36,400 225,000 336,000 22.400 322,000 639,000 40.000 264,000 635,000 37,600 2,486,000 3,661,000 "221,600 FEOM RIVER PLATE, UHCGUAT, ETC. , Quarters Quarters Frozen Chilled Sheep. Lambs. Beef. Beef. 75,750 28,500 118,750 252.000 160,673 51,703 81,500 295,500 92.000 15,000 46,000 254,500 150.500 26.500 54,500 277,500 108,750 40,500 56,500 257,250 141.500 84,500 100,000 291,000 223.500 36,000 104,250 3J4.750 98,750 25,500 84,500 308,500 185,500 146,500 119,500 349.000 215.000 156,000 121,000 '302.500 147.000 42,500 73,000 354,500 185,500 91,500 69,750 308,600 1,784,423 744,703 • 1,029,250 3,565,500 All Sources. TOTAL SHIPMENTS. 553,950 390,750 282.000 252,000 512,923 264,453 276,050 295,500 551.000 201,000 150,000 254,500 626,500 334.550 168,650 277,500 395,250 467.250 .118,150 257,250 508.750 -353.750 187,800 291,000 946,500 893,500 1 237,050 314,750 - 686.250 523.000 181,400 308,500 676,000 760.250 219,850 349,000 498,500 526.000 211,650 302,500 494,750 685.500 234,250 354,500 470,000 727,500 236,300 308,500 6,920,373 6,127,503 2,503,150 3,565,500 Prices. butteb. . ' . cwt cwt Danish 127s to 129s Siberian ... ( 86s to 112s French ... ' 116s to 130s Irish — Dutch — Australian 94s to 114s Australian, unsalted ... 104s to 114s New Zealand 114s to 120s Argentine 102s to 116s CHEESE. Canadian 64s to 68s New Zealand, white ... 64s to 665 New Zealand, coloured 65s to 67s Australian 62s' to 65s BACON. Irish singed sides ... 68s to 78s Danish and Swedish sides 64s to 74s Russian singed sides 56s to 65s Canadian singed sides 64s to 70s These quotations are for July last. BUTTEB. / 1911. 1912. 1913. cwt cwt cwt Russia 638,284 683,650 751,414 Sweden ... 360,357 335,014 332,331 Denmark ... 1,707,178 1,618,048 1,706,759 Netherlands 104,655 113,716 153,172 France 171,080 246,652 248,579 UnitcdStates 23,052 2,596 164 Argentine ... 24,209 67,244 72,418 Victoria ... 441,481 264,522 275,519 N.S.Wales ... 281,588 .186,695 155,936 Queensland 151,330 <f90,036 156,944 New Zealand 276,446 349,012 251,663 "Canada 61,936 27 813 Elsewhere ... 61,096 47,947 33,310 Total ... 4,302,692 4,005,159 4,139,022