INGLEWOOD.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 145755, 14 February 1917, Page 7

INGLEWOOD.

FROM OUR OWN COr.EIiSI'ONDIiNI. Feb. 13.—Preparations are complete for tile .grout event ot the year—the school excursion to the seaside; and the railway department is reported to have printed 2,U00 tickets for the occasion. On picnic day comes a complete migration of the inhabitants, young and old. to the seaside tor a whiff of the ozone. For those who know how to forget their troubles there is no better tonic. “Drawing a section in France' as being eaugirt in the ballot lias come, to bo cynically termed, has fallen the lot of nine Inglewood residents. On the whole the ballpt seems to bo taken in a sporting spirit, and, being a. bit of a gamble, appeals naturally to the Maorilandor. it seems rather a pity that a man who lias consistently tried to pass the doctor—not merely in the street—should find bis name in the list, undistinguished front many perhaps notorious defaulters. Fie is thus left open to the imputation of slackness unpatriotism or oven, cowardice, although be may have the spirit of a. warrior bidden under his mufti. No doubt, however, the authorities are able to simplify the work in the system adopted. One notices in the list a preponderance of farmers, labourers and country people generally, and a. small minority of men From the more sedentary callings, so far as the farmers are concerned, however, they are not greatly to be blamed, as many of them have the greatest difficulty in making suitable arrangements, and as time goes on the hardship ininorcases. The war has put the farmer on his logs, given him his motor car, a fatter balance ait the bank, and a. bigger say in things generally. It seems rough that he is asked to help to end the state of affairs that has brought about his increased prosperity. Not that ho is likely to bold such a point of view, for it must be patent to him as to everybody else that depression of prices will 1 follow elevation as the night the day, tho trough of the wave, after the crest. With the gradual falling off in tho supply of labour and the consequent inability to work farms to their fullest capacity, w© may find the era of prosperity rapidly declining in tho near future. “Goodbye, summer, goodbye, is tho prevailing note in the orchestra of tho weather at present. It almost seems as though « have long-jumped from, January to June, and tho all-pervading cow must bo wondering what tho dickens is up. Parents along the line whoso children attend tho Stratford District Hign School have for many a year complained of the degeneration oi then children brought about by, the daily train trip without supervision. ix is really a splendid thing tnat pnpns are given, free higher education., and a free pasago too and from the secondary school, but if tho fruits of careful upbringing are to be sacrificed becaue of an hour or so of jarnkmism, wha* is the gain? Somo will say: Bovs will bo boys/’ “you can’t put old heads on young shoulders” or ‘dot them out their own salvation.” Granted and nobody wants to intorfoie v itii wholesome worldly education, and pcihaps, in the ease of boys, the process of going through the mill, of rough initiations and of ‘"Tom Brown s Schooldays” ragging is to some extent .necessary ; but it is different with young girls, who have more to and less to gain from boldness, chcekincss and cheap behaviour. Moreover, tho travelling public are often annoyed, perhaps not" deliberately, by tho children. Ido not think I am wrong in saying that there are parents who would prefer to send their children to Stratford, but have boon compelled to make other arrangements in order to avoid the train journey. People down the line speak in high terms of tho Stratford School as a "school, and would like to see something done to minimise _ the risks of getting there. No doubt it is a knotty point to deal with, but it seems reasonable to assume that monitors might lie appointed, or tho guards asked to be more vigilant, if a responsible teacher cannot make tho trip, 1 do not suggest that only the children attending Stratford are guilty of unchecked animal spirits, and 1 do not wish to cast any slur upon the children themselves. For all 1 know the same difficulty confronts other schools, and for all I know I would be as had as the rest were 1 a boy under the. same conditions. It is the system that is at fault, the happy-go-lucky system of allowing numbers of children to travel unfiu.porvi.secl. liven football teams composed of reasonably sensible adults do not always behave themselves under like circumstances, what then can Do expected from immature bo-s and girls-