TOWN AND COUNTRY.

Timaru Herald, Volume XCIV, Issue 14450, 24 May 1911, Page 6

TOWN AND COUNTRY.

_ On-e of the papers read before ilia Secondary Schools Assistants' Conference dealt wifchjh© teaching of foreign languages in New Zealand. It "was read by .Mr J. Drummond, M.A., of Auckland Grammar School staff, •out fcihe main principle of modern methods in language teaching .and showed to what -extent these might be .applied to their secondary schools .under existing conditions T)w» \ speaker gave an interesting and instructive account of the methods adopted by Continental teachers of modern languages, who framed their courses with tne idea that the product of their teaching should be ablc,:n a foregia country like Franco or Germany, °to express himself fluently—if not always elegantly:—and to understand what lie heard. Thus equipped, he would bo able to - understand, with a deeper' and more sympathetic insight the customs and manners cf the people with 1 whom he was a sojourner. i ■At a s|>ecial meeting of the Council! of the New Zealand Amateur Athletic Association . at "Wellington on Alon- 1 day night >{essrs A. Marty- j att and J. H. Pollock, repre-1 se'ntativ es oi the Otago Centre, handed # in their resignations. This action is the outcome of Otago's're-, eentment at tie action of the delegates in voting for "Wellington as the to hold ttie Australasian Craraolonships, contrary to the instructions of the Otago Centre. The Otago Centre passed a resolution -revoking the appointment of Messrs Marryatt and Pollock as delegates, and although they believe the Centre has no power to clo this, they regard the resolution as a vote of want of confidennce. and • prefer to resign. The resignations were accepted, and the delegates thank- • *d for their services to Amateur AtH. tetica. - • # jr C!:rmv.o Cii<vt <>nn-»Tn'n« "Wood's j Srcat J'epperi" ut is 6d. 2s Gd...

Commenting briefly on the money market, tho "N.2. Trade Tlovifw'' just to hfrhd^srtvs: "Financial eondituuß show wry little alteration vMihv th* lime of our last report — moiu-v continues in good eUpplv and lending ca.«y. TUp bank returns in our ln-st issuo .shotved a Mibstantinl ex* rt\ e * of deposit* n*nr ndvawe.s :md the Tost Office Savings Hank return* show ■si. steady u,rbut]j in deposits. The iund.> to tin* credit of depositors in th;it institution*. now total over 15 millions. Although tho scale of our imports is high, with evidence of further growth in. tho current quarter, our exports fttiP provide mnntin to cover outside obligations as Woll as paving for our imports.!'

"Noglecfcqd Principles ia Education" "was tae subject oi an inteissUng and jkkifetliy -psi-pur read at tho annual uiceting ui tiio New Zealand Secondary Softools Assistants' Association at on Thursday by Air \Y. A. Kerr, *vl.A., oi' the Napier Boys' High School statf. In tho course of bis paper Mr Kerr said" that \vlien they considered the Question of •eftiuisucy in education they should expect to find i« nn. educat.on largely literary, a fonudncsS for the beot books; in an education professedly scientific, si love of nature; and in an education inclusive of art-, aesthetic appreciation. Their education now was largely literary, and, to sorno extent at least, sri-entifie and aesthetic. Were tho products of their schools distinguished by frmdn&s for books, a love of nature, aesthetic appreciation ? Not generally, he contended, and an examination of the reason for this disclosed, to his mind, a neglect of cardinal principles in education. He reviewi?d the uiain points upon which these had gradually evolved—mainly because those principles were accepted too much as a matter of course—a somewhat casual regard for the conscientious attention which was essential to ihe process of education. If it was important, he soid in conclusion, tliat in tho materials and methods of school education, fundamental principles should not be neglected, it was fathomlessly more important that its greatest aim should not bo lost to view.

Major-General Godley, replying to a I reocnt enquiry by the Wellington lion, i sectary of the Navy League, says! Ihc question of service at sea, in' lieu of training uiider the Defence Act, j cannot at present receive consideration.! Neither- does the Defence Act admit of such an alternative, nor doss tho machinery exist for applying such an alternative, even if it wero allowed/'' In a later communication written ou behalf ot ' the commandant, Lieut.Colonel Burnett Stuart anys:—"You will, I hope, appreciate the impossib lity of our being able, at present, to arrange 1 for any training on tho lines you suggest, mucii as we should liko to do so. Not only would an uiteriilion iu . the Act be necessary to enable your proposals to be carried out, but absolutely no facilities exist for the performance of any standardised training at sea winch could be considered the' equivaleut of the training required under the Act. I know tho General hopes tliat the Amokura will formats own unit of senior cadets. He is very interested in the work of the Navy League, whose objects are identical with those to which the Domin- ; ion has given expression in the Defence : Act; and ho looks confidently, t-o its in spreading the doctrine of | patriotism and seif-saorifico amongst I the youth of New Zealand."

An, incident, typical of the Solomon Islander's earnestness in evangelical effort, was related at Sydney by Dr. Nort-hcote Deck in an account of missionary work at Malaita. The Islander had boen converted, and Dr Deck had impressed upon all his converts the- importance of each bringing along another man to school to hear the Gospel. • All savo this islander had done so, and Dr. Deck had to reproach him ior his failure. At length he hauled' a. fellow islander up before the missionary, very proud of his conquest. Dr. I>cck related the story in pigeon-English, which it is impossible i:o" reproduce. "Me bring one man," the native reported. Asking how he did it, he said, 4 'Mo boy him!" Then, he cxplined, "Me say to him, 'You come alonga school eveTy day, you' come alonga school every night, you come alonga school three times on Sunday, bymbye me give you two hob.'

.Following upon a suggestion made by the Tasmanian Agent-General iu London, competitions in essay writing between, secondary schools of Tasmania arid Switzerland' have been arranged. The conditions provide that the competitors in each country shall meet at halls and write essayk, under the supervision of committees, upon their respective countries and their resourceS; Those written in Tasmania are to be in French, and those in Switerland' in English. The Swiss competitions are to be collected by the Director of Education .in Switzerland, and forwarded, to Tasmania for judgment, while the Tasmanian ones will Ih»-collected by the Tasmanian Director of Education, and forwarded to Switzerland to l>e adjudicated upon. Three or "four of the best essays are to be published in newspapers of the respective countries.

The .problem of longevity is being studied not only from the mortality records, of human life, but similar records are now . being kept of animals in captivity, in order that the conditions for keeping them alive may become better understood.- Various life spans wero lately reviewed by Dr P. Chalmers. Mitchell. The classic example of extreme age in man is Thomas Parr, or "Old Parr." who died in London in' 1G35. at the reputed age of 152 .years, and two or three others have been credited with reaching 140 years or more'. Wliilc these figures are questioned, persons are certainly known to live considerably more than .100 years—the number being now on the increase. Man's nearest relatives—the champanzec, brang, and gorilla—probably live CO or 70 years, although the smaller apes do not exc-ecd 25 years. Lions, tigers, and hears may reach 45 or 50*. Of other life possibilities, as near as can be determined. ai)d of the elephant is 100 years; rhinoceros, 50 or 60; horse, 40: deer, 40 or more; cattle "and sheep, domestic cat, and squirrel, 20; eaglo, over 100; owl, SO; parrot, over 100; raven and crow. 70: ostrich, under 40: goose and duck, over 30: canary and some other small singing bird®-, 20 to 30. Men, whales, eagles, and parrots are the only animals ex-ceeding-100 years. Fed animals, how-

ever. reach the greatest possible age. as the average length of "life depends npc-ii enemjes, accidents, disease, and living conditions. The opossums introduced to this country, by a soft-hearted Acclimatisation Society threaten to beccolne a serious nuisance in the Catlins bush (says the ''Free Press.")* These animals hfcve Multiplied exceedingly during the past few years, and we are reliably informed that hundreds are being killed by the railway workers'along the lino. The 'possums are attracted to the men's camjo by the refuse lying around, and the 'flicft retaliate for loss of sleep suffered from the. pranks of these nocturnal creatures by organising a hunt occasionally and continual sniping. Settlers at Uonipapa, Puket-iro, and other settlements cmnblain of apple and other fruit trees being stripped, and the 'possums are not content with the fruit, but even strip the bark from the trees. It would seem to be time for the Acclimatisation Society to remove the prohibition against killing these animals, otherwise the festive Australian 'possum is likely to become another Frankenstein like tho rabbit.

A Ltindon cable dated February 17Ui was published throughout .Now /caiand t-liat "Dr Oswald, at Glasgow Royal Asylum, said important research work showed that a German professor had discovered a substaneo which, ■when, injected into the blood, cured' mental diseases. 1 ' A resident of Hastings,'having* reason to do'sb, wrot-o to Dr Oswald tor further information, and has received a reply that he never said anything to • justify thkit statement. Wjiat ho said'was that certain treatment -applied to a certain disease, had a beneficial efFccfc upon the mental weakness caused by that disease. In the public domain a*- Waihi cn Sunday afternoon an ex-South African Coutiligenter gave a stirring address on the defence scheme, and moved a resolution in favour of compulsory training. The Socialist loaders moved an amendment that- - this gathering against compulsory training. The Socialists insisted-on a *'division/' and about .300 took up. a position in favour of the amendment, and about 1200 on the .other sido. The resolution was declared carried with enthusiasm, the majority singing the National Anthem, whihj others interrupted with rrroan.s.