E.—ll

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tion ; but, through the courtesy of Mr. Gill, I was enabled to see the whole of the best work of the students, and also made a careful inspection of the work exhibited at the Adelaide Exhibition. The average number of students of the School-of-Design classes was 151:;;: — Class. Students. Description of Work. Monday and Thursday .. .. .. 12 Elementary geometry, model-drawing, freehand, and shading from the round. Tuesday and Friday morning .. .. U } Advanced classes, shading from the cast, drawing, painting Tuesday and Friday afternoon .. .. 17 j from nature, and the carrying out of original design. These attend during the day—fee, £1 per session of thirteen weeks. Some few are engaged in trade, many are professionally engaged, and the majority arc working with the object of acquiring knowledge, and all do original work. Solid Geometry Lectures. (■These students arc in other classes, and attend these lectures so Friday afternoons .. .. ..39 that they may be able to project their designs upon curved Tuesday evenings, teachers and artisans.. 19 surfaces, and also in anticipation of the perspective lectures [ and the work of the construction classes. Pottery-class, Saturday afternoon, and 15 These are students in other classes who have also worked at Monday and Thursday evenings original designs in this class. Artisans, Monday and Thursday evenings 37 All the various elementary and advanced branches of drawing that are required in trade and in art handicrafts, including modelling. Life class, Wednesday and Friday evenings 11 Advanced students, drawing and painting the head in monochrome, from the model. These students pay the expenses of the model. Building-construction .. .. ..8 Under a practical instructor. Machine-construction .. .. .. 20 Under a practical instructor. These attend during the evening—fee, 10s. per thirteen weeks. Most of the students are teachers, or artisans, or mechanics, while a small proportion use the classes to obtain knowledge previous to altering their vocation. Training-college students .. .. 32 These are prepared for the examinations held under authority of the Board of Governors of Public Library, Museum, and Art Gallery, to be certificated as teachers. The whole of the students are taught by blackboard, lectures, and from the round, flat copies being only used to explain differences of style, &c. The attendance of the students averages 92 per cent. The artisan classes are attended by iron-moulders, patternmakers, turners, fitters, smiths, cleaners, boilermakers, galvanised-iron workers, engravers, jewellers, modellers, brick and terra-cotta workers, architects, draughtsmen, carpenters, plasterers, bricklayers, masons, coach-body makers and painters, trimmers, upholsterers, woodcarver, and signwriters. Free Studentship. —The principal may during each session award either nine artisan free studentships or three day free studentships, each tenable for one session. At the end of the year ending the 30th June, 1887, seven artisans and one teacher were registered as having been free students during the year. The work of the Elementary School under Mr. Eeynolds is of a very thorough character, and it is evident to me that the students are energetic and painstaking in their work, a considerable amount of enthusiasm being shown in class-competitions and lecture-work. In model-drawing the geometric plan and elevation is given first, so that the student must of necessity know the exact form previous to placing the same in its perspective representation. The shaded drawings in chalk and sepia from groups of models and from casts of ornament showed considerable appreciation of the difficulties of light and shade. It is expected of all students that they pass a first-grade course in model, freehand, and geometry as early as possible after entering the school; further, great importance is attached by Mr. Gill to the principles of plane and solid geometry being taught at the earliest stages, this knowledge giving a good idea of form, coupled with accuracy and precision in future work. Erom evidence given before the Board appointed by the South Australian Government to report upon the best means of developing a general system of technical education, Mr. Gill states, " I place more weight on geometry than the English do : for instance, with reference to the standards in public schools, my Standards I. and 11. would include the whole of No. 3, No. 4, part of No. 5, and part of No. 6in the English standards. We should get to freehand in No. 5." Mr. Gill's idea being that the English standards give, for instance, a square to draw, when the child has no idea of lines vertical, horizontal, or oblique, and, further, that objects are drawn without the actual facts being first given. I certainly agree with Mr. Gill upon this very important point. It is a deplorable fact that in a very large number of our schools copies or books are simply handed out to the class. The training of the powers of observation as to actual facts is, as a rule, not in the least considered—it is simply a question of a blind copying of symmetrical forms. In the School of Design or secondary stage of classes, the same thorough grounding and good work was to be found. Amongst the work exhibited at the Exhibition there were several good chalk drawings from the cast, sepia drawings from groups of models, outlines from casts and models, and sheets of geometrical class lecture-sheets, including projection of shadows. Amongst the designs were plaques of considerable originality and skill, door-panels with naturalistic or conventional treatment, carved-wood bellows, designs for painted pottery, cartouche and strapwork borders, Indian and Greek designs for pottery, all of considerable merit, and showing a good knowledge of the principles of designing. The Architectural-modelling Class has been the means of enabling young carvers gaining an insight into the designing and modelling of detail necessary for their work, panels being made up of

* This does not include School-of-Painting students. The above is an average number: thus, each class-day the total is taken of students who are in the class; directly one leaves he is struck off: so that the average number for thirteen weeks is, say, 19 ; whilst the highest number in the class might be 23,