SCHOOL OF DOMESTIC INSTRUCTION.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 6052, 14 December 1897, Page 4

SCHOOL OF DOMESTIC INSTRUCTION.

I--»M _ ANNUA.L MEETING AND CONVERSAZIONE. A large audience, consisting mainly of la<?ies % assembled last night in the permane,nt collection-room at the Art Gallery on the occasion of the annual conversazione and meeting of subscribers of the Christ-, church School of Domestic Instruction. The Eigh6 Rev Bishop Juivus presided, and Dr Anderson read the report of the coinmitfbeo, which stated that the schaol had reoeived .£BO as its share of tiie special grant raade undec the Act for the promotion of technical instruction;, and the year had been tiie best the school ha<F. yet had. The nuaaber of pupils had been ia©i'© than well "maintained, and the fees had largely exceeded previous receipts. The returns for the four quarters of the classes — cookery, dressmaking and laundry work — were as follow-: — January- Msu-ch, 13 classes, 150 pupils ; April-Juae, 11 classes, 135 pupils ; July-September, 11 classes, 151 pupils; Oct-foer-December, .12 classes, 138 pupils. Dtnring the year cookicg classes had been opened at Ashburton. The I Technical Education Bill now before jj Parliament would increase the capitation grant to the school by 'fcwo-fifths; 1 and eutbodied the principle of a £ for £ siibsidy csa private contributions and donations from local public fotdies. If the Bill became law, however, the school would still have tfeo depend on the generosity of friends for subscriptions. The Committee trusted that means might presently be found of providing a .suitable building, in which domestic economy . might be taught, with other branches o£ technical education. They were glad to see that the Government <irf the day was alive to the requirements of the colony in this respect. Meanwhile, a nioveicaent in the desired direction could best be made through the Industrial Association. The report thanked Mrs Gard'nei*, the superintendent, and her assistants, and expressed regret at the death of Mrs Dyer, teacher of laundry work. The cookery classes had been examined for prizes by Mrs R. D. Harman, whose report was very satisfactory. The honorary Treasurer, Mr W. Chiystall, read the balance-sheet, "which showed re-

ceipts for the year .£448 17s lOd, including a balance from 1896 of -£40 8s 6d, and expenditure .£367 Us 9d, leaving a balance in hand of .£7l 6s Id. The (Bishop moved the adoption of the report and balance-sheet. He said that the school was doing a great amount of good in the community, and he congratulated all concerned on the satisfactory report and balance-sheet. During his work among the poor of England he had become persuaded that a great -deal of crime, wretchedness and misery resulted from ignorance of the subjects taught in this school of domestic instiuctaon. It was not money which made a home happy, but tfee tact which made a little go a long way, the love of tidiness and order, and a knowledge of domestic economy. If they could only make homes comfortable they would do a great deal to remove many of the evils that existed, and threatened to increase in the community. His Lordship spoke strongly of the importance of teaching plain cookery, and of the necessity of teaching- the pnpils to cook with simple and common appliances such as they would be likely to have in a cottage home, and not with elaborate and costly apparatus. Dr Anderson seconded the adoption of the report, and remarked that he thought the management of such an institution as the school should be in the hands of a private Association like the present subscribers or the Industrial Association. He emphasised the need for a building for the work of the school. Mr Chrystall said that the amount received from pupils' fees this year had been .£204, or i£9l more than last year. The total expenses were about .£360, .£l5O of which was for salaries. Materials, after making allowance for products sold, cost about .£1 a week, and the general expenses, rent, gas, &c, amounted to .£l3B 16s lOd. He desired to impress on the meeting that they required a considerable sum to be subscribed locally. This year the subscriptions had been i£3o, much less than last year. They had received during the year .£164, special grant and subsidies from the Government. The financial success of the school was largely diie to the admirable manner in which it had been carried on by the ladies in charge. The motion was carried unanimously. The following office-bearers were elected, on the motion of Mr A. G. Howland, seconded by Mr H. B. Kirk : President, the Mayor of Christchurch ; vice-president, Mrs C. Turrell : committee, Mesdames C. Bowen, Heaton Ehodes, Easton, Chrystall, Misses Jack and Colborne-Veel, Dr Anderson, Messrs Beswick and O'Bryen Hoare ; honorary treasurer, Mr W. Chrystall; honorary secretary, Mrs Hurst Seager ; superintendent and principal teacher, Mrs Richard Gardner. All the above-named, except Miss Col-borne-Veel, held office last year. The prizes and certificates were then presented to the pupils by the Bishop, the list of winners being as follows : — Cookery. — Class I. : Higher branch of household cookery — Bessie Brownley, certificate. Class II. : Plain cookery — Mrs Eyan, Misses L. Turrell, M. Middleton, S. Poppell and C. G.ard'ner, certificates. Class IH. : Plain cookery— Elsie Salter, 1 (Dr Anderson's prize); Jane Preston, 2; B. Kitson, commended. Class IV.: Plain cookery — Amy Hart, 1 ; Jessie Joseph, 2 ; May Rogers, commended. Birdie Ferguson — Mrs Gard'rier's prize for attention and tidiness. Hilda "Wickham — Miss O'Brien's prize for attention and tidiness. Dressmaking. — Class I. — Misses Smith and Blick, highly commended; Misses Tipping and Earwaker, commended. Class ll.— Kitty Gardner, 1 ; Isabel Blick, 2 (Dr Anderson's prize) ; Olive Trent and Ethel Upton, highly commended. Class 111. — Alice Firth, 1 ; Gracie Harrison and Annie Adcock (equal), 2 ; A. Hunter, commended. A very enjoyable musical programme was then gone through, song 3 being sung by Mrs Burns, Miss Davie and Mr Izard, Miss Chrystall played a pianoforte solo, and Miss Gardner acted as accompanist. After the close of the musical entertainment, the company went to the large room of the Art Gallery, where refreshments were served — cakes of many kinds, tea, coffee and excellent lemonade, all products of the school, and reflecting much credit thereupon. Admirable sweetmeats, prepared by the pupils, were offered for sale, as were a number of very creditable specimens of their needlework. Samples of their very meritorious laundry work were on exhibition.