WIATAMATA PAST AND PRESENT.

Waikato Times, Volume LVII, Issue 8052, 8 November 1906, Page 2

WIATAMATA PAST AND PRESENT.

THE SCHOOL. SEVERAL NEEDS AND NECESSITIES. 111. One of tha ni st 6trikin* illustrations of the growth, or rather change, in Matainata ip to be found in the school which ia now a uiosb attractive looking building, in marked contrast to the plain unpretentious barnlike structure, which did du-y until April lot last. Three months after the settlers took possession of their holdings, that is, on October Ist 1004, the school roll was 17, increasing to 31 at tho end of December, when owing to the efforts of a few of the settlers, Mr .1. H. Aloore-Jones, the present master, was transferred from Waharoa, to tike the place of the mistress, who, until that time, had suffered for the needs of the scholars. Now the services of an assistant are necessary, Miss Shanahan filling that position with credit. The new building was designed to seat 50 children, and as the roll now ttands at 71, it is evident that i he ox sting conditions are anything but tav urable to efficient working or conducive to good health. Even at this season, the atmosphere inside becomes stifling towards the close of the day, and when the heat of midsummer ia upon us it wil be unbearable. Fortunate'? the cjmmittce is very energetic, with Mr E. C. Banks as chairman and Mr K. B. Morgan as secretiry, and they have impre-sed on the Board of Education the imperativeness of immediate action being takeu, and an'application has been made to the Department ft a grant to provide doub e the present acoommodati >n. This is all the more nece-sary owing to the approaching settlHnient of the neighbouring estate of Mangawbero, as the attendance will then be certainly augmented. Mr Moore-Joneß, with that kindly consideration for those under his chaige that has endeared him to the young ones and popularised him with tee parents, has seen to ifr that the timetable is drawn up to allow of the heavier inentil work being done in the morning; such exercises as drawing, writing, singing brush drawing and modelling being taken in the af ternojn when the brain begins to lag. For it must be remembered that in Matainata as in all dairying districts, the boys and girls have to assist in milking the bovine supporters of the household, and in many cists the country child goes to sohool alter as many hours' work as the city bred puts in in a week. "More, instead of rtjoicing in all "the free lorn of sohool let out," they have to return to the evening milking. We suppose this must be so, and until a happier time comes, the school hours are sec from 9 a.m. to 2.3J p.m., with half-an-hour for lunch. Questioned as to whether he found working at home interfered with instruction, Mr Moore-Jones said he hid not found it so, that is, under the arrangement mentioned. With the old hours it did, for then the milking children did not receive the same amount of instruction as the more fortunate, as they were always required to leave earlier in order to start work. He did not think that milking or any other labour affeoted the capacity for learning. The annual examinations were held in the last week in September, when, f. r the first time in the history of tbe school, two days were occupied. The results wore highly satisfactory—more to than usual—attributed, by one authority, largely to the tact that Mr Stewart, the inspector, is one of those men possessing the inestimable gift of putting the little ones entirely at ease with him, and their best is forthcoming. So pleased were the Committee with the excellent report given by the inspector that they plaed on record their warm congratulations to tho teachers for the manner in which their arduous and onerous duties had been carried out. Indeed, on all hands one hoard nothing but enconiums, Mr M< orj-Jonea being lagarded as a strict disciplined.n in school, and a child's guide, philosopher and friend outside. Adjoining the Turanga-o-Moana Creamery is a school reserve, on whioh it is quite on the cards that that a school will shortly be erected. This wuuld certainly relieve some tt the congestion at the main tchool. Some of tho parents at the Peria are agitating for a school there, but owing to most of tho settlers there being as yet bachelors, it is doubtful whether one will be granted at least until some of them see tit to take unto themselves wives. Mention was made just now of the cutting up of Maugawhero, an estate of about 5600 acres, lying across the Maugawhero stream from Matamata, the nearest point beiDg probably within 2 miles of the Matamata railway station. There is no doubt that its settlement would greatly assist the present settlers, as all the trade would be done with the Matamata township. Taking the average size of the farms at 300 acres, as in Matamata, there would be from 16 to 18 sections, tbe best of which would be those on what is known as Fiddler's Green. There is a road surveyed from the Tower road, next to Mr J. Pohlen's section over the Mangawhero and Waihou rivers, to connect with the Kaimai track, which would give direct communication with Tauranga and open up the whole of Mangawhero. 1 here is one thing, however, which must be fought strenuously, if what is generally accepted as the Government's present intention is persevered in, and that ia the saddling of Mangawhero with sections of the Huuga block, which is considered worthless, and indeed, if possible, worse than that, not only because the nearest points are more than six miles apart but because the Hunga is overrun with ragwort, to say nothing of other disabilities. If the Government are sincere in their avowed object if giving men with small means the opportua'ty of taking up land in order to better themselves, that is not the way to doit. Surely the State is not under r the necessity of getting rid at all cats of land it would rum any one other than a millionaire to have anything to do with and we hope that they will see the criminality of placing men in Such a false position. Certainly we shall never be parties to such a transaction, even if only by keeping silent on thesubj ct. Reverting to be Turanga-o Moana district, there was placed on the estimates a vote of £'iW for the erection of a bridge over the Waihou to connect with the upper Gordon distriot, which would be reached bv the road leading pist Mr Moore's house, opposite the creamery as suppliers would then bring their milk in 1 these instead of carting it the long distance now necessary. In the matter of roads Matamata, generally, is well provided, as to formation | and condition, but in several instances j there is room for complaint owing to the i cuttings being rather narrow. A number of roads, hovever, have not pissed the survey stage, and settlers are anxious that the Roads Department should speedily oarry out these works so that a minimum of in- , convenience and discomfort may be reached. One settler complained of the exceedingly low valuation put on his improvements, saying that when arranging an advanoe on these tho limit was 3-57 and under the preseut system a farmer waß unnecessarily limited to a very small amount. Perhaps thure may be another I side to this question, but at the same time it is only right that those generally strivi ing to improve their position in the world , should bo uiet in as liberal a spirit as po:I sible. Another crying need for the Matamata. district is better and more convenient railway facilities. At present anyone wishing to do business in Hamilton has to bioik into two days for a return journey of 70 miles, and this entails considerable expense and loss, in addition to the inconvenience involved. The timber trade from Putaruru is assuming proportions suoh as should warrant an additional train being put on, and it is contended that this should be timed as to allow of say even two hours stay in Hamilton before the arrival of the express. At present it is no unoommon I thiug for a man to make all preliminary arrangements by letter—at best an unj satisfactory and tedious method—then ! arriving iu town by the "down" express and leaving by the " up." Then, the ' appointment of a stationnoa -ter at Matamata is another matter requiring attention, as traffic, both goods and passenger has increased many times over, and consignees cannot always wait or meet trains in order to transact their railway business. Besides, parcels of all kinds arc apt to be lost when put out on the platforms without notification of any so't. It has occurred that a parcel of drapery from Auckland has unaccountably disappeared. The ririu in one instance were coniident it bad been right'y addressed, and the guard indignantly repudiated the insinuation that he had landed it at another station. Time went on and the goods went out of fashion, as suoh goods oftentimes do for some reason or other, and the paioel was not fortboom ing, until one d»y a surfaoeman removing a trap door, discovered it among a number of other packages, lying over the ceiling, Those agitating for the appointment of a officer at Matamata poiat out that he | could take over the telegraph and postal business, and that more divisions of that service should be established there,