PRESENTATION.

Otago Witness, Issue 2250, 15 April 1897, Page 8

PRESENTATION.

After the morning classes at the Boys' High School on Friday, the members of the ttaff and pupils assembled in the Urge hall for the purpose of taking farewell of Mr J. R. Montgomery, who, after a s-.rvice of several years on the teaching staff, has been appointed to the head mastership of the Geraldine High School. The Rector (Mr A. Wilson), addressing Mr Montgomery, said : The bojs tell me that they desire to offer you before you leave them a small gift as a mark of their goodwill aud of their appreciation of your services to them and to the school. I think the boy 3 are mudi indebted to you for the unceasiDg efforts you have made on their behalf, chiefly of course, a? wa3 only right, in your classroom, but largely also outside your classroom — (prolonged applause)— in their games, their shooting, cadet work, and so on. They are well awara that yon have been untiring in your efforts to raise to the highest attainable point the efficiency of the cadet corp3, and they feel also that you have done a great deal to encourage a proper ■ spirit in athletic?. Since I have myself resumed connection with the school I have found you

always most solicitous that tho school should acquit itself creditably in all manly sports, t *»a. ye *ll?l l?. reforo ™uc!* ?*«««*? in giving the boya tllls public opportunity of indicating to :you tbeir appreciation of your endeavours, and of wishing you in the important position you have boon chosen to fill a long, prosperous, happy, and useful career. I shall bo glad if Georgo Gow will now make the presentation on behalf of the boys. Master G. A. Gow, on behalf of tho pupils, then stepped forward and requested Mr Montgomery's acceptance of a revolving book case and a travelliug bag. In doing so he referred to tho many services Mr Montgomery had rendered on the athletic side of the school life, instancing the cadet corps, the cricket and football clubs, the G voicing the filings of his comrades, wished Ml. Montgomery every success in his futuro career. j ne R ECT(m Baia that as head of the staff he had also to request jtfr Montgomery to accept from them a small gift aa a token of their regard, and to express to him their regret th»t the time had come when ha was to sever his connection with the school. He himself had known Mr Montag .{ and ag coneague. He pould remembei-, as distinctly as if iis"\Vere yesterday, the vary first day on which Mr Montgomery—he was not then Mr Montgomery, bub John Roge'rson Montgomery—entered the school. — (Applause.) At that time Mr Montgomery was> a good worker 'S^^w^Sff (laughter),-but liable to sudden, eruptions of joe«joc«l arity on unexpected c,ccastons.-<Lau3Mer.) And in the fulness of time Mr Montgomery Became

t dux of the school. — (Loud applause.) When tba speaker renewed his school acquaintance with! Mr Montgomery ib was as rector of the school of which Sir Montgomery had then becorna a muster, aud he could not whu for nioro perfect loyalty and ou rte^y thin lie had invariably experienced from him whilst they had been colleagues in the FChool. — (Applause.) Iv evory point of school adip.iiiistr.itiou he (the rector) ever found that his slightest \vi-*li wa? attendo t to by Mr Montgomery, and tha othor musters wh > had been Mr Montgomery's colleagues! longer th.m tho speaker, and therefore prol>*bly knew him better, though not in tho same way, desired him to a.-sure Mr Montgomery of their esteem ami of their extivma !-c#ret a t his approaching departure. Air Montgo m .'ry wus about to take up his work in another I pirt of the colony, and his work there would b3 ,in a ten-e oven more responsible thin that ' which he had done here, because ho would there have to unriei take the whole organisation aud administration of » school, and his; hiiccesa would of onir«e depend very largoly mi lri-j own \vi-,dom and hi 3 own energy, and largely aUo o:i his receiving the single-hearted and generoas support of those who ad'oiuistoved. education in lii-i new bpliore of action, and on' the parents of the pupils entrusted to his care, all of which no doubt Mr Montgomery would receive, together with generous support and encouragej ment from the community aruoug whom h« would : r>sii!e. At any rate ho (the rector) could atf'sure Mr Montgomery that if wishing could secure him happiness, ho took with him the very good wishes both of tin boy 3of the school and abo of his former colleague*. — (Loud and prolonged appl.iuse ) Mr Wilson then a3ked Mr Montgomery's acceptance of a study chair from the staff of tho school. Mr J. R. Montoomehy said be had been dreading that moment for the past week or two— since ever, in faci, he knew that he had to leave them. It Wis hard for him then to think that he was going to leave the work he had been doiDg for about nine years, and it becime harder as tho fact \va3 borne in on him that the parting was now about to take place ; .and their kindness just now would make it harder than ever did v no6 their smiling faces assure him that they were extremely glad to part with him, when it was for his own good. — I Applause.) In the course of the last IS years he had been so identified "\vith the school that he did not think that in all his life he would be able to of it as o*hi r thau hi* school, though he might be teaching in 20 others at various times.— (Applaiibe.) From tha time he entered as a pupil until the present time, with the exception of three years, when ho was at the university, he had been connected with the school. II« w»s conscious that iv many respects his work had not reached the standard that he could afterwards have wished it to reach, but he took a great pleatur* in thinking that all thiough, a3 a rule, he could not, be charged with being lazy in his work, and that in all thoße years, lioth as schoolboy aud as mister, he had met men ar.d boj s with whom it ww t nH a pleasure to be associated, and with whom he felt proud to have entered into the. bonds of a friendship that as long as he lived would never bo severed. (Applause ) In parting from the school, he wished to thank the boys ve;y heartily for the assistance they had given him in a"ny work which called for mutual ro operation. He" felt sure that in few schools would there be found such a hearty spirit of devotion to work as characterised this school. That had shosvn itself in the past in many ways— in the number of scholarships the school had gained, in the prominent position it had, in spite of the disadvantages of ground and climate, taken ia the football field ; in the prominent position it had, in spite of considerable disadvantages, taken in tho ciickeb field ; and last, but to his mind not least, ia the very prominent position it had held among the schools of the colony in a line of competition which more than any other made a man. of a boy— the competition with men before the targets. It was often said that football was good because of the qualities it developed, but he did not think that even football and cricket called for quite the same repression of one's self as a target did, especially when one was required to shoot with Colonel Whitney's ammunition and with tha Snider rifles that were often issued. — (Laughter.) If ha were to talk for a week he was sure he could not succeed in saying what he would wish to say, but he would thank them very heartily forthe kindness they were showing him. He could assure them that that moment would always be a pleasant one in his memory. He felt that the happiness he had experienced in his association with them in the past was crowned by tbeir kindness at the present moment.— (Loud applause.) At the request of Mr Montgomery, the rector granted the school a half-holiday, .but protested nevertheless that the occasion was one for mourn* ing rather thau holiday-making