LONDON SCHOOL BOARD.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XVI, Issue 6434, 5 January 1900, Page 4

LONDON SCHOOL BOARD.

HOW JIIUN J)EAI,S WITH UNDER KI'MJ SUIIOUiiS.

At llio London School Board recently, the question of underfed scholars was introduced in n curious way. Ilor Majesty's Consul at Milan, foi warded lust year lo tho Korean Ollicenii account of how tho municipality deals with tho problem in that city, and tho Foreign Ollieu liavusontit lo the Board.

"The municipal authorities," ho writes, "advocated the formal ion of district committees, under the auspices of t.!iu school managers, lo raise subscriptions fur food, ami ovon clothing for clestituto children. "In a very largo number of the municipal schools flic very poor children are supplied (luring - the mid-day hour of recreation with a substantial meat, sandwich; any other children may bosuppliod with the same on application by their paronls mid tho payment of ut trilling sum. Listsaro iiimlo out beforehand, and each child whose namo is included therein is given, on entering school, n murk entitling it to the sandwich."

JJut the kindest part of tho arrangement is this: "The greatest possible care is taken that nothing shall disclose which children receive I lie food gratuitously, and which pay for it." The scheme has been in operation since 18H7. A ciiiiti'iict For tho supply of sandwiches was Hindu with n large coopeiativc society, mid everything has given great satisfaction.

The Hoard postponed, discussion upon the .scheme until after its debute (which had previously been arranged) on the whole under-feed-ing question.

Mr Graham Wallas, in presenliiig llio anntiiil report of the School Management Committee, drew utleiiliou to several things which are not as lliey should be. "The variation in educational elliciency among our schools," ho said, "is becoming moiu mid more accenIwiled. Our inspectors slate thai, in our schools the 'oral teaching is unduly in the asceiidmil,' unit that 'this favours a superficial, scrappy, and disconnected frame of mind unless great care is taken lo insisl upon individual performances as well us upon collective results.' " I'higlisli and history, and lu a less degree geography, are being superseded in favour of elementary science and object lessons. . . . The code makes object lessons compulsory. That is the cause. In the ease of many children one or more of these three class subjects, English, history, ami geography, are never taken in I he whole of school life." Ho went on lo refer lo the little help the Hoard received from the .Education Department, whose duly it was to assist it. Indeed, this seemed lo be tho general complaint of Ihespeiikcrswbo followed,whether Progressive or Moderate. The report was accepted, after several members hail called attention lo the lack of facilities fori scholarships among the very poor' children. One remedy suggested was an allocation of .scholarships by districts, so that the poverty-stricken parts of London should share in the hunelits.

There are worse places in (be world than New Zealand:—According to a letter receive! from 11 shearer on the Mutti Shed, Longieach, l,)iicensliiiiil, prospects are terribly bail in the back-blocks. He writes: —"What a season it. has been out here! There has been no rain, and not even the sign of it. There is starvation everywhere. Ten weeks ago I started from a. station with Ii.OOO sheep, and arrived last week with 7000. We have lost twenty-one horses All the station owners are cutting scrub in order to fry mid keep the few sheep Hint are left alive, in the worst of years I have seen nothing so bad as this season." There is an anecdote relative to tho Duke of Wellington when ho posed for Sir John Steele. The statue was to be reared in Edinburgh. In vain did the ( t >necii's sculptor try to have the Duke assume it martial manner. Wellington "showed a lolul lack of interest"; you might have thought that bo bad never as much as heard of Waterloo or Talavera. Finally the sculptor lost patience, and said: "As lam going to make Ibis statue of your (Irace, can you tell mo what you were doing before, say, the battlo of Salamanca ? Wero you not galloping about the lield, cheering on your men to deeds of valor, by word and action '(" " Bah!" said the Duke in evideut scorn, " if you really want to model mo as i was on the morning of Salamanca, then do mo crouching along a ditch, on my stomach, with a telescope in my band."

liobcrt Bonner, the rich proprietor of the York Ledger, who has just passed in bis cheques, made his wealth through liberal advertising, mid adds another lo countless illustrations of the sound business aphorism (hat " advertising pays." It is said that ho spent £250,000 in advertising his paper, He thought nothing of taking a page at a time in the leading dailies. One day be made the New York Herald publish a sixteen-page paper. It was printing eight pages, and Mr Bonner asked what space lie could have for a "big ad." "All the space you want," the publisher said. " All right, I'll lake the whole paper," said Mr Bonner, and an extra eight pages had to be added to hold the news.

A terrible tragedy has been enacted at South Shields. A miner named John Wilde hud for the past two years been separated from his youug wife Catherine, under a Alagistate's order. Of late they hud patched up matters, and he eamo to live with her at her mother's house- at South Shields. They

however, disagreed very much, and all'uirs reached 11 climax. About two in tlin morning cries of" Murder!" unci sounds of a dreadful slruuglo were licaid in lliii room, The mother rushed in, mill bi'liolil ihe pair smuggling on ilia Iluui' iviih ilivir nightdresses in Humes, mid slu' alleges that prisoner held his wife down while the lire did its work. The womnii was taken lo (lie inlirmiirv. where she ilied. Prisoner, who is nlso dreadfully burnt, was remanded on a charge of musing his wifo's dealli.