BUSY MORNING

Southland Times, Issue 20662, 18 April 1929, Page 8

BUSY MORNING

HON. I). IL DRUMMOND

IMPRESSED WITH THE BORSTAL

TRIBUTE TO SUPERINTENDENT

Before leaving for Dunedin by the express yesterday afternoon the Hon. D. 11. Drummond, Minister of Education for New South Wales, spent a busy morning in Invercargill. Accompanied by Mrs Drummond he paid a visit to the Borstal Institution shortly after 9 a.m. Under the guidance of the superintendent (Mr C. G. L. Pollock) the visitors saw the inmates at work both in the institution and on the farm. The Minister was delighted with thrilling hakas from the Maori inmates and with excellent gymnastic and physical drill displays. He briefly addressed the boys and congratulated them on the way they were taking advantage! of the splendid opportunities afforded them for learning useful trades and on the general tone of the institution. Mr Drummond made no. secret of the fact that he was most favourably impressed with all that he saw at the institution. In New South Wales there were no such institutions to deal with youths over 18 years of age. He was satisfied that the Invercargill institution was serving a very valuable purpose and was being developed on sound lines. The comparative freedom the boys enjoyed on the farm was also commented on by the visitor, whq said that he was struck with the contrast of these open spaces and the high walls in Liffey street. With such a fine, man as Mr Pollock as the superintendent of the institution he was not surprised at the excellent work being done. Schools Visited. Mr and Mrs Drummond, accompanied by Mr A. YV. Jones (chairman of the Southland Education Board) later visited most of the town schools and many points of interest in Invercargill, including the tepid baths and the water tower. The visitors spoke in enthusiastic terms of the baths which they declared were equal to anything they had seen.

Finally a call was made at Rugby Park where hundreds of happy children from all over Southland were participating in the annual school sports. This visit was one which they both said they would never forget, so impressed were they with the enthusiasm and sportsmanship of the healthy, eager children.