WAIMATUKU.

Otago Witness, Volume 25, Issue 2321, 25 August 1898, Page 29

WAIMATUKU.

i August 22. — Our hall trustees, finding that their income did not meet the current expenses, had to raise the •"needful" somehow. Their income is obtained from the Wesleyan and Presbyterian denominations, each paying £1 a year for the use of the hall, and the 5s per mght paid by any itinerant genteel beggars.who i.eem to shy clear of us, with the exception of an occasional magic- lantern man. This amount is not sufficient to meet the expenses of lighting and cleaning, sc on the 27th ult. a concert and dance was held, the trustees thereby hoping to raise a few pounds. The affair was both a success and a failure — successful in that about £14 was raised, a failure in that about only £.2 was left after expenses were paid; successful because our young folk seemed to enjoy the dance, a failure because the style of songs and the few performers did not seem to satisfy the majority of the audience. In these days of advanced education an idea is prevalent that a local concert with amateur performers would ;nit be popular ; but I venture to suggest that ' in a country district a local affair consisting of well-known songs, etc., would bo far more ap- . predated than snatches taken from comic operas — " Littk Jack Homer Sot in a Corner " . and su-.h like— no matter how high-class from a musical point of view they may be. Improvements.— Mr W. Gray and Mr W. Eraser have erected and furnished residences which for size, commodious rooms, elegance of finish — outside and m — are equal to, if not surpassing, any outside of Invercargiil. I take this to be an indication that farming does pay, notwithstanding that a Wright's Bush correspon- ' dent found fault with me for over-lauding our farms and crops. t Educational. — On the sth inst. our school j was examined by Inspector Braik. A copy of I a page of the Examination Register will give 1 those interested a better idea of the progress of I our children, from an inspector's point of view, i tha.i anything I could say. It shows : Stan- ! clard VII — 2 presented: Standard VI — 1 pre- , sciited, 3 passed; Standard V— s presented, 5 passed ; Standard IV — 5 presented, 5 passed ; 1 Standard 111—10 presented, 10 passed; Stan- ! dard 11—11 presented, 11 passed, Standard I— , 11 presented, 11 passed. '• Standard II is a particularly good class. Standard I has al&o passed a good examination. The pupils in Class X did well in tho. subjects in which they were examined. 'ihe initiii<3 apppsr to be i making good pro-jros 3 . 'J'hi> rehool has again pased a good examination, 'j-i'o nominal results i are recorded on the examination schedule, but i tho real results cannot be scheduled. One cau | know what they are cily by coming into peiI sonal contact with the pupils, thereby tceiiig I and feeling what a good school can do for the ! minds and dispositions of the children. It is needless to add that here the manners a.ad conduct of the pupils arc excellent."