Teachers' Examinations. TO THE EDITOR.

Otago Witness, Issue 2240, 4 February 1897, Page 26

Teachers' Examinations. TO THE EDITOR.

U Sir, — I have not tha pleasure of seeiDg the • Otsgo Witness regularly, so have only now ; learued from a friend that "Civis" — the esteemed — has waxed jooular over the questions prescribed for the recent examinations in Domestic Economy and the Laws of Health. One question very oonsumedly amuses him — the one which invites the young women teachers of | New Zealand to »tat» their ideas regarding ■ ! cycling, and to describe the costume which j i they consider moat suitable for the exercise. , I Cycling may not be largely practised iv Dun- ! edin because of the hills ; but "Civis" kuows ; it is one of the most important fso tor* in present day civilisation. It hat tremnndous influence on masculine health and morals, and an ' j incomparably greater effect on womankind — an J effect mainly due to tha costume e«ienti»l to i the exercise. Women who oycle cannot pos»ibly - tight lace, and cannot wear st superabundance ' of clothing. Whatever the nkirh, or non-nkirt, 1 the under gArmentß must bo "rational,'' and j thus the cycle performs what the centuries j have failed to do. Will Mr' " Civis " help our i friend to see what that implies ? Mothers ' made as nature designed them ; a glorious posterity instead of the arsenaic weaklings of ! to-day ! | Sir, I rejoice in thw paper. The examiner ' who prepared it had tbe courago to be simple, ■» direct, and strong ; he has done inestimable scrvico to New Ze*l.vtul in educing from these young teachers of the young philosophical reasoning on racial concerns. — 1 am, See . i Febimry 4-. Ex-Teacher.

| The arrivals iv th" colony during December • were 2143, and the departures 1036. j