INJURIES FROM EXPLOSIVES
DISCONTINUANCE OF TEACHING URGED COMBINING OF CHEMICALS IN SCHOOLS (United Press Association) WELLINGTON, November 28. Serious injury which some young persons had done to themselves playing with home-made explosives was mentioned by Mr C. H. Nicholls at a meeting of the Wellington Technical College Board of Governors tonight. Only recently, Mr Nicholls said, a boy had blown his hand off. “Couldn’t we,” he asked, “discontinue the teaching in institutions such as this the combining of chemicals to make explosives Personally I can’t see any reason for it. If it has to be done, could it not be in such a way that boys cannot get together and make this dangerous stuff themselves? It seems to me that boys get their first ideas of making explosives in institutions such as this.”
Mr Nicholls suggested that legislation might be passed to prohibit the sale of explosive chemicals to boys under a certain age. The director, Mr R. G. Ridling, said it would be useless to cease the instruction because formulae for explosives were given in every text book on chemistry. “The only thing that will stop the trouble is knowledge and good teaching,” he added. “Chemistry should be taught by practical work in a laboratory. Academic teaching is one of the things responsible for the danger, but technological teaching will prevent it.”
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/ST19381129.2.68
Bibliographic details
Southland Times, Issue 23678, 29 November 1938, Page 7
Word Count
223INJURIES FROM EXPLOSIVES Southland Times, Issue 23678, 29 November 1938, Page 7
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