THE Thames Advertiser. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 1, 1876.

Thames Advertiser, Volume IX, Issue 2438, 7 October 1876, Page 2

THE Thames Advertiser. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 1, 1876.

Hitherto the working of the Eclucar tion Act of 1872 has been satisfactory on the Thames, and although .the usual amount of fault-finding with the direct tax imposed for the purpose of carrying out the Act may have heen heard, there has been no decided opposition, even from those who have, by creed or party ties, been brought into antagonism with its provisions. We have no present intention of discussing the Act in its : entirety, or of referring to those clauses relative to secular education upon which one section of the community has taken such a decided stand. It will not be' denied that the Act might be improved, nor, we tlrmk, can it be said that its operation has been as perfect as it might be; but there can be no doubt that it is a great improvement upon Acts previously in existence, and it has earned for itself the support of thinking men. Accepting as a fact that the Education Act is a useful and necessary one, we must feel regret that in one instance at least its working on the Thames is not so satisfactory as it might be.. The dead-lock which has taken place amongst the members of the Kauwaeranga School Committee has been for some time past a subject of general comment. We attribute to each of the members equal earnestness in their desire to work the Act to the greatest advantage, and therefore take no side in the dispute which, has beeen going on, believing that there may have been some faults on both sides. The subject which first led to this singular dispute was the appointment of an assistant teacher to the principal school in the district. Since then, and in consequence of this rupture, no teacher has been appointed, and the school has therefore suffered from want of teaching power. The decided stand taken by the Central Board against the teacher recommended by the majority of the committee, and the equally decided stand which the majority' of the committee took against the teacher nominated by the minority, has brought matters to a climax. At a recent meeting a resolution was carried that the chairman of the committee be unseated, the 'grounds being that he had, without authority, and' Contrary to the wishes of the majority of the committee, communicated with the Central Board. The chairman naturally declined to accept the dictum of his opponents with reference to' his removal, and the result has been that a meeting was held yesterday, at which the three members only'were present, and a chairman and a secretary were appointed, and the. necessary steps taken to have all correspondence with , the- Central Board forwarded to these officials. Thus at present there are two.chairmen and two secretaries in the;'committee, of five members constituting the Kauwaeranga School Committee.' It is a pity that members elected by the ratepayers to see that the Education Act is properly administered in their districts should in this-manner bring it into disrepute. There are really no important questions at issue between the parties j a little mutual concession would bring them into harmony, and a good deal of dispute would be avoided; but when matters are as at present, and each member insists on having his own way, it is impossible that the harmony can prevail which is alone capable of advancing the interests of education in the district, The Act confers on the Central Board the power to appoint a commissioner, or commissioners, to' supersede school committees under certain circumstances. Whether those circumstances have arisen in the Kauwaeranga district we will not take upon ourselves to say, but at all events, it is time that an alteration was made, or that the ratepayers iuteriered. The latter; should either call on the committee for, an explanation of their recent proceedings, or ask them to resign in a body' and stand the test of re-election. The latter course wo should prefer as the most practical. It will never do to allow matters to remain in their pre-: sent state. The interests of the schools and the advancement of education cannot fail to be retarded. The ■taxpayers have a perfect right to call their representatives to account, and it is the interest of all who have the welfare of the community at heart to see.that the Education Act,is worked fairly.

The Hon. the Premier was to have made his Supplementary Financial Statement in the House last night. It appears, however, from our latest telegrams, that the prolonged discussion over the boundaries of the counties, contained in the schedule of the Counties Act, absorbed so much time that the proposed Statement had to be postponed.

The adjourned meeting of the committee of Highway Board and Borough Council representatives with Mr Wo3ton in reference to the Tumping Association affairs, took phej yesterday, but as no definite answers had been received from our members {in Wellington beyond an acknowledgment of the receipt of the telegrams and promises of an early reply, the meeting was postponed. '/ ;

The adjourned annuxl meeting of the Thames Licensed Victuallers' Association .wa3 held last evening at the Pacific Hotel, Mr 0. Curtis in the chair. After tbe transaction of routine business, a special meeting w.i 3 held for the purpose -of receiving •' the'report of the committer appointed to, revise, the rales... .The alterations suggested wero discussed, aim 1 , with some few amendments, were adopted. Fome conversation regarding an anniversary celebration next December took place, but the form which it should take was not decided on. : , .''.;•■

There were no owes forbearing .at the Police Court yesterday.

Mr T. A. Bell has been appointed'organiat at the Grabamstown' Wesley in Church. Fomo inemvenience his ; arisen.,htely'through,tho absence of an instrumentalist, and it is hoped that in future this will be avoided. Mr Bell's ability needs no recommendation.

: At the grand fanoy dress baM given in. Auckland on Wednesday, evening last, Mr, J. K. 'Macdonald appeared .in tbe• character,,as,"a member of tbe Shortland Fire Brigade," M>s [J, K. Macdonald as. "Night/ 1 and Mr W. Brassey as '.'gunner's mate;!' JVTra Louis Ehrcnfried as a .I'Spanish Lady;" Mr W. W. Bobinson as "Zadkie!.'' In no'icipg the fun at the ball the ' Cross' quotes' the following dialogue:—"What's the latest news?' 1 queried a damsel interested in miniug shares to' the well imprinted representative of the ; "News of the Day." " Welcome's* and > Young N'ew Zsaland's : have had a sp'endid crushing," and sotto voce, as she passed on [■'■. :with her budget of papers,' " She's got scrip iu these." •

: The ' Daily Southern Cross' says:—Acting; we understand, on the report of Mr Sheath, Inspector of Telegraphs.for the North Island, the Government have selected the township of Paeroa as the telegraph' station for the Ohinernuri district-., The owners of the township have giren the Government ground for a suitable site for the office.

, The funeral cf Sergeant Kiliott, late of the jArmed Constabulary, took place on Thursday ;afternoon. The hearse was followed by thirty of tho Armed Constabulary, utidcc Inspector Broham, Amongst tfceni were'ln-sp-c'or Bullen, of the Thames; Sub-Inspector Pardy, and Sergeant Major .Mason. /Detectives ; Jeffrey and Grace followed in plain clothes. About forty civilians also joined the processioa, which smarted from the Albert Barracks at a quarter past 3. The coffin was borne from tho hearse to the grave by Sergeants O'Connor, Martin, Green, : and Gamble,- The funeral service was recited in an impressive manner by the Sev 0. M, Nelson, incumbent of St, Paul's The funeral arrangements were under the dircclion of Mr Wayward.—'D. S.' Cross.

During the discussioa on the county boundaries in the Hoiuie on Thursday (says a correspondent of the 'Cross') "some different boundaries for Coromandel were proposed by Sir ('eovge Grey, and approved, and oil a' division it was carried by 37 to 26, that nearly half of the Piako county should be added to the Waikato and half to the Thames, an arrangement which Sir .Robert. Douglas gave notice of overturning on the rc-committal of the bill."

Sir J. Vogel and family do not leave until the departure of the . next San Francisco steamer.

A londsn contemporary, says;--"Anecdotes concerning the Prince's Indian tour continue to crop ify at the clubs. Here is one, which proves that his Royal Highness can detect a "cad," aud knows how to to reprove him when detected. It will be recollected that the Heir Apparent distributed medallions pretty freely as keepsakes to the notabilities he met on his- trip. Those medals were made of silver One was given to Colonel X, a well known cavalry officer. Next day he appeared with his medallion dangling from bis watch-guard, but the medallion was silver-gilt. The Prioce was quick, to observe it,' and approaching the colonel, said to him, in a tone of playful irony, loud enough to be heard by all present, " Ah, X., so you have corrected my over-sight. You know you deserved a gold memeuto: but tVouldn'fc run to it, old man,' Still, it is hardly delicate of you to: remind mo of my poverty." X blushc 1; and he blushes still when a discussion on pinch-beck, aluminium, and kindred imitations is innocently got up at mess."

Kev. W. Hemphill recently addressed young men on ' Manliness,' from which the following thoughts are extracted: The foundation of a strong and stable character was the granite of faith; the foundation of firm .convictions. He who believes in great things can do great things but he who believes only in little things must lead a poor and ignoble life. Their: creed is ' live'and be merry,' nor have they a thought of their heavenly.inheritance, or of their kinship; with the Creator. . Weare the.builders of ourown.characters. We have that totdo.wbiclju none other can do for u?.;' The work will be one day examined, and whether it .will be .a.solid and noble structure,. or gooraad flimsy, will be of much moment. Young: men, r you have come to that period in life .when, you .must ;act like men. You areno longer children; you should no longer be frivolous. Acquit yourselves like men. ■'■'•l donot frown.,upon/. mirth, il.would not damback the joyspringa of your soul. Your character should observe a manly purpose as deep and solid as the sea, and amusement should be the graceful ripple which occasionally relieves its surface. lar be it from me to frown, upon mirth, when the Bible itself, says, '.'A; merry heart doeth good as a medicine; '-'With, the young of this city, it is the theatre' on ;Mohday, the ministrels on Tuesday, the ' living pictures' ou Wednesday, the circus,'oa Thursday, a ball on Friday and often/on, Saturday and, ay! tho Sabbath evening.-' What do they read! If I am to accept the reports of tho,librarians of the various public libraries, I am to know that not one solid book is taken to every, ten novelf. Some novels are good and give a healthy stimulus to the mind, but the majority areibad and must inevitably emasculate'tue minds of those who read them. If the youth of this city continue to live in the excitement, fun, and'frolic which characterize their lives at present;. ; in a quarter of a century a modern Diogenes wil scarcely be able to find a man amongst them all. The laugh of a young man, .especially after be has been doing some good work, is as. musical as the waves upon a pebbly beach, but the magpie chatter of the society-youth, who can tell you nothing but the name of the latest novel, dance, or the niostaiproximate cut of the coat, is harassing. A'mau'can do no rude thing. The noisy,. boisterous, swaggering ■ demeanor which/young men of the present day practise is not manliness, but'the verier snobbery!. .Their bluntnessof speech, which they fondly imagine is decision ofcharacter, is .rudem'ss. Tho 'man' is polite to all; to the errand boy as well as to the millionaire. His politcnesi.lies atthe bottom of his heart, as in a well/ pure aud f t'esk for whomsoever happens by.' Actors'and actresses seldom retire fora the stage after marriage, aud as sel lorn change their names. It may be strange, but it is true, that actresses who are known,as ' Misses' are. usuilly more generally admired than those known as 'Madames.' ; In inany cases tho roma-ce: surrounding or supposed i to surround heroes and heroines of the stage would vanish with the knowlodge that the said heroes and heroines are the fathers and mothers of families cf various sizes and uses.. .^.. ,i' The Czar of Russia is said to be enjoying himself at Ems, just as if he-had no importanbusiness on hand. His favorite amusement, at whist, and he plays high. He was so enjoying himself when he was informed of the nutans downfall.. He remained silent, twirled' jhjs moustache, and continued his play.