The Taranaki Herald. PUBLISHED DAILY. TUESDAY, AUGUST 20, 1878.

Taranaki Herald, Volume XXVI, Issue 2901, 20 August 1878, Page 2

The Taranaki Herald. PUBLISHED DAILY. TUESDAY, AUGUST 20, 1878.

♦ The Education Board evidently does things with the best intentions, but matters are generally brought forward, discussed, and settled without often the members having time to cousidcr the facts 'or bearing of the cases. Some time sinee — before the General Government took Educational matters over — the members of the Board addressed themselves to the subject of economy in its teaching, aud it resulted, in the establishment of half-time schools.* They accordingly were created, nnd iv two or three districts they have been carried . on ever since. Now, if these schools were a source of satisfaction the Board would deserve the approval of the public iv the matter, but from what we can hear from the settlers in the districts whero they exist, the very reverse is the case. Even the report of the Inspector shows that the result - of retrenchment in this direction is far from satisfactory. The Education Board is " penny wise and* pound foolish" in many of their acts. Is it economy to give the teachers, •who are not fouud residences, £15 per anuum to save, at tho most, £150 for a buildtug ? Is it economy to build schoolhouses and allow them to suffer damage rather than go to the expense of repair iug them 1 Is it economy to erect schoolhouses on heights where they are exposed to the worst weather 1 Is it economy to expect a secretary, who has office work enough to keep him at his desk the* bust part of his time, to inspect the school buildings between Stony Uivcr, and Ureuui, when they want repairs done to them? Were a little more liberal spirit displayed in theoe trifling matters,"' as they may seem, we feel assured that not only would the public be far more satisfied, but, in the long run, it would be fouud a more economical way of going to work than the system at preseut adopted.

A telegram was received iv town this afternoon stating that the Hnwea had crossed the Manukau bar at 2 p.m.

At the Mutual Improvement Society this evening Rev. P. W. Isitt will givo an essay entitled — " Reminiscences of the British House of Commons." Captain Edwin telegraphed last evening — " Watch barometer. Bad weather approaching in auy direction between north and west and south-west. Glas will further fall three-tenths. Expect much sea." The Emperor of Austria awarded to Dr. Carl Fischer, of Sydney (and late of Auckland), the Great Gold Medal of Science and Art in recognition of his services in tho domains of natural history and medicine. The Hon. Mr. Shoehan has received the following telegram relative' to the survey of tho Waimate Plaius, on Saturday :— " Some twenty-five of Titokowaru's young men on horseback came to the advanced camp yesterday. They good-humoredly said it was their first* visit to the surveyors, and some one ou>,'ht •to shout ' for them. A bottle of whisky was hauded to them and disposed of, and then they left." During tho debnto oa the Electoral Bill, Mr. Do Latour referring to Mr. Whitaker's measure, said — "If the proposals embodied in Mie Bill of the member for Waikato were adopted, the effect would be that' only men who had made their mark such as the member for Waikato and the member for New Plymouth would be elected, but it was necessary that the young should have a chance because they could not expect to have the aged always with thorn, and more especially vow m they no longer had the nurseries of Provincial institutions." The schooner Kaiuma, which left Waitnrn for Manukau on Wednesday, the 14th instant* with a cargo of 24 head of cattle and 150 aheop' belonging to Mr. T. Bayly, jun., has not boen heard of since her departure, and considerable anxiety is being felt for the safety of the vessel. A telegram has been sent to the captain of the Hannah Mokau asking if anything has been seen of the vessel, the reply to which was that she had not been seen, but that a lot of dead shoep had been washed ashore nncra r Woods' Point. It is feared that the vessel has been lost during one of the late gales. Mr. Bird, the famous chess-player, who has just returned to England from America, is bringing out a work on " Chess Opening," which will exhibit the latest results of recent analysis. O'Leary's late feat of going over 520}|railes in six successive days and nights was, in fact, only a quarter of a mile more than he did when he beat Weston. A school has been established in New York, in which girls are taught technical drawing, and to design patterns, for jewelry, silverware, oalico, carpets, oil-cloths, and other things. An experiment is about to bo tried with india-rubber, to ascertain whether if a ship were covered with that material, a shot-hole iv her side or bottom would close up. Mr. Walker, the trance lecturer, has been on a visit to Sandhurst, Victoria, for some weeks past, and conducted some Spiritualistic services, which were well attended. The electric light is now iv use at the Lizard Sigual Station. It is exceedingly brilliant, lighting up the surrounding land, rocks, and the sea for some miles. Fanny Wiseman, who as a little child delighted the habitues of the old Princess' Theatre, Melbourne, now grown to be a woman, is playing at the new Princess 1 . Kate Field, it appears, was born in Sf» Lonis, Missouri. Her fnther was J. M. Field, editor of the St. Louis Revielle, well known at one time as *' Straws," of tho New Orleans Picayune. Father Curci, whose book, recently published, advocates a complete reversal of the policy which was practised by Pius IX, has been summoned to the Vatican, to give the Church the nid of his teachings. The Rev. G. Brown, Wesleyan Missionary at the New Hebrides, has sent to the London Zoological Society a very valuable collection, in which are many new species of birds, reptiles, and insects. Virginia Citj', in Nevada, is said to be gradually moving down the face of the mountain, owing to the settling of the ground over (he Bonanza mines. The Arsakion is the largest female seminary in the world. It is the great school of Gr^c, and graduates thousands of pupils, many of .whom are destined for teachers. Tom Pearco is about the same age as Miaa Carmichael (nineteen) whom ho saved from tho wreck ot the Loch Ard. Miss Carmichael, who was saved from the wreck of the Loch Ard, is a black haired maiden, who speaks with the naturalness and rich accent peculiar to Irish ladies. Miss Beetham Edwards is engaged upon a popular manual on the Eucalyptus ylobulus, which will contain much new information nnd many illustrations. Oue thousand five hundred tons of preserved meat have been received in England from the United states, piiucipally from Chicago. One huudred Bendigo and Castlemaine miners left Melbourne, on the 6th June, per the Argyle for Emu Creek, and thence by rail to Mount Bischoff, Tasmania. According to the native newspapers, mouey subscribed by Japanese to the Chinese Famine Relief Fund has already reached the lnree sum of 27,800 yen. Tho total number of colleges and schools in Japan 13 24,542. The number of temples employed as school-houses, 8,372; teachers, 45,8i4 ; and scholars, 1,947,143. Williamson's Antibilious Pills.—Bilious complaints nnd irregularities of the system, produced by over-abundant bile, cau always be corrected by a few doses of these inestimable Pills, which are always admired for their rare combination of mildness and power, for, though they conquer with ease aud rapidity the most obstinate cases, they never weaken the stomach. Price, Is. and 2j. 6d. per box, at the Medical Hall.-— Adv.