TIMARU.

Timaru Herald, Volume XL, Issue 2919, 31 January 1884, Page 6

TIMARU.

Tho annual meeting of householders of the Timaru School Distriot was held m the Main Sohool on Monday, there being about JSO persons prfßent. . Mr John. Jackson, the Chairmira of the retiring Committee, read the annual ruport, ns follows: — " Beport of the Timaru School Committi-e for the year ended January 28th, 1894. " Gentlemen, —The Committee has during tho year hold 18 meotings. Of thecc Mr Gibson attended 17, Messrs Joneß and Leggott 16, Mr Jaokion (Chairman) 16, Mr Stone 14, Mr Bszzitt 11, Mr Bruoo 9, and Mr Hill 5. The election of Mr Fisher at the lut annual, meeting having been found to bo illegal, Mr Brace wan elected m his place. Wo hare with regret to record the death m August of Mr Bezsant, Hon. Sec. ' His place on the Committee was taken by Mr Hill, and Mr Lcggott became Hon. Sec. " Teaching Staff. —ln January Mr Sterling was appointed sixth teacher m room of Sti«» Martin, resigned. This post is again vacant, and steps 'aivve been taken to hare it filled, In June the .tecond mistresß, Miss Gillon, re* signed, and was succeeded m August by Misii Kissel. 'Che latter having prornd inoompotent, tb.ij.Board has been askod to praourn m her steid a teacher qualified to dischargo with saljiifnatioß tho important duties of v second mi»tre»s. "Attendance. —Tho following are. th>) numberc returned as belonging to tbe tohool during tho year: — (fr Main Side " SohooL SohooL. "For tho quarter endod Maroh 31st 927 14S "For the quarter ended June 30th 987 159 "For tlio quarter ended September 30th 964 157 "For the quartor ended DcoemborSlst 905 14ti "Durjig the months of July and Augo.it whooping cough was Tory prevalent, and lowered considerably tho average nttendanou, whilo tho. opening of the new school at Waimatavtai hat tendered to lower both the roll number ilnd the average attendance for the fourth quarter. : " Compulsory Clauses. —The Committed, aided by the police, have served notices on the parents of ohildren babitnaily irregnltr m attendance, and m many cases this action has had r> beneficial effect. " Teachers' Salaries —Last year tho Board of Education roßolred, for the convenience) of certain aiibools m country diatriots, to pay teaohera' salaries direct, instead of, oa formerly, through tho Committees. Your Commit^)?, seeing that the arrangement works iatisfaotorily r»pprovo of its continuance. " Allowmce for incidental Bxpensos—The Com mitt )e havo, as m proviouii years, disl>ur«ed' the cum allowed for incidental expenFee, hut lmve to complain filiat it is inefficient for tho purposes for wbioh it ia grantoci. A material addition !><> this fund obtained last year from ront of tho master's bonue lmi been lost, as tho Board now refuse to let ths house. The Committee have triod to supplement tho fund by appealing for assiutaun) to the parents of children attending the nchobl, but this appeal has been poorly responded to, and no little difHoulty hat beun oxperienood m keeping up ordinary repnire to the aohool and sohool grounds. , " PriiS! —The annual entertainment m aid of the prizo fund, was held m tho Theal.ro Boyal pn the 4th December, 1888, and proved highly i ucoefpful m every way, and enahlod tho Copn mi ttco to give valuable pritet without havirig lenourne to thut disagreeablo Bjatem ofoauvaising the town for euboonptions. Thn Oommtt:ee take this opportunity of thanking the pubiio. for their hearty support, and tho parents for their contributions towards tbe incidents fund during the year. (Signed) John Jiokson (Chairman), A. O. 0. Stoifß, J. Hitt, W. Josss, W. Lkoooot, J. 8. QißSOir., ,Tab Betjoh (Members)." The iinlance-ibeet was then resd by li« Hon. 6e0., Mr Loggot, and showed: — Beaeipbi—Received from the Board of Education, Mum School £167 11s 4d, Sido School £35 (: subsoriptioos from scholars m did of inaidoqtal fund, Main Sohool £7 11b 9d, Side. Sohool 17* 7d |—total, £211 0> 3d. Exp.mditure—4l9o 13s 4d ; balance m Bank, £iiO ?e 4d. A^einit. this , latter wera sot aooountu still wing amounting to £22 odd, whioh, when piiid, would leave a debit balance of £1 I7ti lie.. Tbe Soorotary explained that a conl account fell duo toon after tho Committed took ofl.ee amounting to £9 Ss, and the sutr. oi £4 l^s Id we* loft by ths old Oommitten to. go tbuerdt puyiDg it off. But for the pi'jin|! I

off of this account, the Committee would have bad a orodit balance of £2 7e.

Tho Chairman said that any householder who (fished to discuss the report and balancesheet might now do so. He, as Chairman, would do his best to explain the matters mentioned. .Mr Foloy enid that m going through the accounts he noliaod one of £8 owing the Hoard of Education. Would tbe Chairman explain what it was for P Tha Chairman said it was for artioles purchased for sohool use— ink, pencils, etc Mr Poley said it ttruok him as being far tooro preferable- to buy these articles from soion bookseller, not from the Board. He would suggest that for tha future Committees purohase their goods from tradesmen m town. The Chairman said as at present constituted it was out of tho Committee's power to do iiucb a thing. If the meeting liked to move m that direction thoy were at liberty to do so. Mr Foley said there wan another matter he would like to bave explained, and that was, vtheo bad tbe old Committee to have their report ready P The Chairman said it had to be sent mto l;he Hoard before tbe 15th of January. Mr Foley (aid that us the householders' meeting was not held till some days later, could not tha report be published m full m the papers, so that evory householder would Imvo an opportunity of perusing it before going to the usual annual meeting. As at present they heard it road over, but few were prepared to criticise it owing to their knowing so very little about it. In future he would like to see the Committen give his suggestion some little thought. In oonolusion he moved the adoption of the report and balancesheet. Mi P. W. Hutton had pleasure m seconding the motion. The Chairman thought Mr Foley's auggeation a very good one, and saw no reason why the Committee should not aot on it. ,Before ihe motion was put, Mr Westerman asked how many parents were summoned lit not sending their children to school, and alsc the ages of tho ohildren. He had heard that persons had been summoned for not sanding infants to school. He thought this was not right, espeoiolly as there were nunborn of children betweon tho ages of 7 and 12 that were not attending school. The Chairman said cone of the parents had beaa Rumtoonad ; they only got notices from the polioe. As regarded the ages, tlin names bunded the polioe were those of children who hid boen attending the- school, and the Committee naturally presumed that they must be of school age. Tbe Chairman then put the motion — " That the report and balanco-sheet as read be adopted," and it was carried amidst applause. The Ohairman said it was now the duty of tho meeting to oleot a Chairman, and afterwirds nominate persons to form the new Committee. Mr Courtis thought they could not do bo'ter than propose the retiring Chairman, Mr Jackson, and this being seconded by Mr Smith, was put to tho meeting and carried unanimously.

The following yrera then nominated : — Messrs. W. Ingram, Jas. Brace, A. O. (J. Stone, T. G. Bowley, Jacob Hill, Wm. Jones, W. M. Howe, H. B. Courtis, W. M. Sims, W. Moore, J. Foley, J. S. Gibson, A. J. H. Bower, B. Webster, and W. Bush.

Mr T. Smith Baid before the ballot was prooeeded with he should like te hear each candidate explain his nowa on the question of Bible reading m sohools.

Tbe Chairman pat ie to the meeting, and it was unanimously resolved to adopt Mr Smith's suggestion.

Mr Ingram was prepared to ooum forward at a candidate m favor of the reading and explanation of the Bible m the school, but would oppose to the utmost of his power anything approaching denominational teaohing. He hid children attending the sohool, and was quite willing that they should be inttruoted m the Bible — that wan as a class book.

Mr Bruce never turned his coat. At he voted when the queetion was raised at a Committee mooting sot long since, co ho should n^tiin if the opportunity occurred, and would always be found doia£ his duty faithfully and well. They could Dot go beyond the four norners of the Education Act, but as far aa that Act courted and encouraged the teaobine of the Bible ia tchool he would ever be found supporting it.

; Mr Stone said they had all doubtless seen his views on this question m print, and ho should always stick to them and bo m fkvor cf Bible-reading.

Mr S. Davies asked Mr Stone if he would lie m favor of the Bible being read miU entirety oi 1 only certain passages of it. Would, for instance, he be m favor of tbat where it is said " Look not upon the wine when it is red," etc, being left ont ?

Mr Stone stid that would affect his business. He would certainly like suoh pasoages to be left m. (Laughter.) He would, however, be contented to leave suoh questions to the several clergymen. Mr Rowley was m favor of the Bible being read m tho sohool.

Mr Hill said they no doubt all knew his views on this quoatioa. He was m favor of clergymen being given permission to instruct tho ohildren out of sohool hours.

Mr Jones was opposed to anything like denominationalisin, and to the Government interfering m. any way with the religion of tbe people, as wherever it bad been done It hud always proved a failure. He was tiot m favor of tbe Bible being read after sohool hours and being explained to tbo ohildren. His idea was that the teaohers should be allowed to read the Scriptures without comment.

Mr Howe would like to see tho Bible taught m the school. He believed tbat if this were done it would help to put down larrikinism and suoh like evils which existed m our midst. As regarded denominationulisra, it was a very nico point, and would have to be worked out at lorae future time- m detail.

Mr Oonrtis, if elected, would be opposed to the reading of tho Bible m school hours, but would support a motion for allowing it to be read outside sohool hours. ;

Mr Sims was quito m favor of Bible instruction m the aohool, and if elected would support any motion to that effect, Mr Moore agreed with the last speaker, as also did Mr Folpy, who added that when be went to sohool Bible-reading came m for a large share of attention, the chapter rend being explained at length to the scholars. 'V Mr Bower was m favor of Bible-reading, and m all matters that were likely to come before tbe Committee would be prepared to give them his belt attention. Mr Bush would osrtainly vote m favor of Bible reading, and Mr Webster, the lost on the list, repeated wbat had bean said .by many before him— that he was m favor of Bible roiidtag. Ho thought that it was a great blot on tho education system of the present day that thn Bible was not read m aIL the schools, and the sooner the Act was amended the bettor. There was nothing more profitable to the ohildren than the reading of the Bible without comment, and it was the duty of every parent to explain to his ohildren the meaning of postages they do not understand.

Tbo Chairman tbon read the portion of (.he Aat bearing dirootly on the business io hand, bd(J a ballot wbd than taken, Messrs Harner and Daries being nppoioted the sorulineors. The ballot resulted as follows : — | James Bruoe ... 156 I A. O. a. Stone 153 William Ingrttm 152 J. 8. Gibson 99 T. Chßowley 98 W.M. Howo ... 79 Jacob Hill , 77 Wm. Jonoi 74 W. M. Sims 0 J. Poloy 89 B. Wobitir ... 84 A. J. H. Bower 82 W. Moore 29 W. Bush 18 H. B. Courtis 6 The Ohsirman dsolared the flrnt sevon duly eleotsd. Mr J. Kirby then moved—" That it be a recotnmsndution to the inooming Oomtnlltoo to oonfor with the Committi'Bs of other Borough sohoola m Canterbury, with a view of memorialising the Department of Ednoation to Mtnovc Borough sohoola from under tho control of Botirds of Eduoatiou, and planing them directly under tha control of the Department, imi that mei»bers of the Houmsof EepreBentntifeo be asked to assist the memortalUU." I The mover eaid this wss it very im*

portant subject, and one that should be dis- 1 cussed by such a meeting as the present. Ever since the establishment of Boards there had been difficulties m regard to allowances, elc. In fact there were many reasons for Committees befog placed m direot communication with the Minister of Education. Money for instance should not be allowed to filter through the hands of the Board before reaching the Committees. Mr Hill seconded the motion, and on its being put to the meeting it was carried unanimously. The annual meeting then terminated with a vote of thanks to the Chairman and to the retiring Committee. A meeting of the new Committee was then hold, there being present Messrs Bruce, Bowley, Stone, Ingram, Howe, and Hill. Mr Bruce was eleoted Chairman for the ensuing year, and Mr Ingram Hon. Sao. Communications were read from the Board asking tho Committee to nominate a person to not on tho Board m place of Mr Waloot resigned, and also to nominate three persons to fill tho vacancies caused by the retirement of Messrs. Steward, Barker, and Walcot. It was resolved that Mr Bruos be nominated to fill the first-mentioned vaoanoy, and Messrs. Steward, Barker, and Bruce tho letter, tbeir written consent to be first obtained.

Miss Lizzie Allan wrote, resigning her position of teacher at the Main School. The resignation was accepted.

The Beard sent a list of application* for the post} of fifth teacher at the Timaru Main Sohool, but it was decided to meet on Thursday evening to oonsider the same. Mr Jacob Hill was requested to attend to some matters which required immediate attention at the Side School, and the meeting then adjourned to Thursday evening at 7.30.