HIGH SCHOOL.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LIV, Issue 13357, 22 December 1906, Page 7

HIGH SCHOOL.

-PRESENTATION OF PRIZES^

9L large. ninnber of parent? and friends attended .et the High {School on Friday atfternqori, _ when- >the prizes won 'during 1 the year .were presented Mr N". K. MacDiarmid, Chairman of the Board of Governors, said that uay the school completed the first quarter of a century of its, existence. The school .was opened in -February, 1 882, by the lateuVeii. lAxrihdeaoom Govett. Mr Pridham was the first Principal/ ancl Had held itibie office * ever since. "Wien it opened the aohool had SO pupils, ten' *038 whom 1 at least' nvere ? now no longer irt the land of the living. He*(the , spealser;) oould loot back pin. severfteen -y&aa& of the scKooVs history, and h& could recall the diffi-. culties through* which: 'the scEooi had passed. For some? year*' the! attc-n* dance liad been an alternately in-; creasing- 'and * decreasing quantity, hnii£ ihe flowjngi tide was now witK the, school. This year n^gh-wates! mark •had been touched vriiH KfJ pupils. The school 'deserved well of tKe people, of TaranaM, for it had sent forth" boys' and girls who* were how taking) iheir, part honourably in all the professions in the colony. There Was no^need to particularise; — all he wished \d do -w&s to ycongratulat^. Mr Pridham and .bis coadjutors on the work of the past. Ini order "to- keep pace with the increasing attendance, of pupils the. school had had to be enlarged,; "and since January Ist last year £1076 "had been spent i n additions, repairs and alterations to the school bjuttd&rigs. conclusion, Mr Maolftarmid gave some wholesome advice -to the scholars under the headings, Get Knowledge, Be Reverent and Be Courteous. Mr J. B. Roy said he spoke as the one.o, . continuous^ member since ISSI. v Ife i; co%ratulated : - Mr : Prttfhani on. his "silver wedding" in the sohooU and' hoped he might be present at ' the- .'^golden'; ; wedding," though.it was perhaps an extravagwixLt hope. For years the school hiacl been as a "craft 'in troublous s^a^l and he, as chairman of the Boa&T pf ii^vernors, had often fell despondent; bill Mr Pridham Was alwaySv fit He '''U^'&titeiV ' in| f 4^ tm?ough sto^.in.v; wftqlher, and^. he, hacl •b^oug-lit it at last into srnootii ' seas'! lifer ad\ased 4he childven^ not torjQo'k u^»n tHe Prfrfcipai !as "the fearful 'ty-' krsntk rsnt such pei'sonages were usually reg^cled as, and tb'^remeinber i^iat^lte lig^ ilioir fii'Oure i'nj'hk bands. \l3hi 4 . cotti-, cltSsion he hopecf' "tho.sc who ' were leaving would meet with all success, etnd that those \yho came back would ficial'y»»r. .' r .;•.,„ •.„ ! jtfr plas./Waa^ ;. . .(Ch,amj>an, JotJ ot the 'tSdueatibn Board)" Vsakl he "hacl to ■apologise : for-'i" tW :^ ( of Mr G. Tisch and Mr P. S^ "Wliitcombe, who fptmd it ini^ossiiile" to be present. <■ ,Zle, had. to spealc * ]:ojT one matter whiieh lie,, lejt sttre^ f wauld.; be of interest to % , ..the scholar^: r-«'A*:.r -«'A* : . the recent'" anee.tmg of the Education,. Board !a- committee had be^nvjj;-*^ .pointed to .wait on the ]Vlinist<§Av^sJja^ r Educ a tiorf; and Lt was hojietf^itfo^ justice would - ,;be tgot for t\vcv,,^\«pus » 6i the school; who liad t\"oif Scholarships.- '* -\l Mr MacDiarrai<d. read, apolo^i^f'/'for: absence from 4fre* "Hbn*. *G. B|fwtds» ! th« Sotf. T. -Kelly, and Messrsl^rM/ Smith, Mvfl.R., E. Doclmil, and D. Berry. The proceedings were diversified by a musical { programme by the pupils, the following items being rendered :— "Gau'dearrtua Ijifcus," The Three Ohair ers," VSweet, and Low" (girls only), and "Dulce bo-mum." At the conclusion of th«i ceremony those; present ad joi.iraod to the playground where the boys gave an excellent gymnastic display under the direction . oi ,. Mr. W.' Lints. Many novelancT dfmcult feats , were performed on- the i^arallel and horizontal bars, a . large- number of' prefty ' tableaux were arranged, and ithe whole, concluded with an interesting running" maze. The display as a whole was a distinct, credit to Mr Lints, who has not been long .in charge of the boys. The girls of I*be school also performed Indian club exercises, and gave evidence of careful training. Before dispensing afternoon tea was partaken of at the - invitation of Mr and . Mrs Pridham, and the scholars gave an impromptu "mock", enter-