WAITAHUNA.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XIX, Issue 49, 11 September 1891, Page 20

WAITAHUNA.

(From an occasional Correspondent.) •September 7. The annual meeting of the Waitahuna Farmers' club was held on the 2nd inst. The club is in a very flourishing condition, with a membership of 66 and a credit balance of £45 6s Bi. The members are to be congratulated on the result of their year's work an i the wonderful power lor good in the district the club uidoubLedly is. It was resolved in future to hold their mee'ings on ihe last (Saturday of the month and ihe Agricultural Show as usual in December. Mr John Roae was eh cted president or the ensuing year, Mr Hugh Gamero 1 vicepresident, and Mr Gardtm treisur^r. Tie managing committee consis of the following gent'emea— Messrs Livingstone, (Jlaig, M'Ara, Blaikie, M. Corktndale, Siepheason, Cowen, Ryan, Ellis and Treina. Votes of thanks were als ) accorded the retiring officers and committee, and the secretary (Mr Moggath), was spoken of in the most complimentary terms for the satisfactory performance of his duties. The weather is very warm jastnow anl farmers aro making good progress with their seed sowing. Professor Lichtwarh anl his wjnierful skill in training and breaking in horses is dow the prevailing topic of conversation. The professor has opened a class in Waitahuua with a membership of fifteen or thereabout, aud on Wedoesday evening last he gave an exhibition of his wonderful akill in bretking inoneof the moat vicious brutes obtainable. This particular four-year-old has long defied every effort at breaking in and yet iv the space of three hours, aided simply by a few yards of rope, the professor ha 1 the animal under perfect control, and so perfectly quiet that a small boy rode him about at will^ The horae is now at work, its vicious wildness having entirely disappeared, Mr Mulhem, the new teacher of St. Patrick's school, Lawrence, is spoken of very favourably. He comes highly recommended and is likely to prove a most efficient teacher, though the deepest regret is still being expressed at Mr Byrne's retirement. Unler his careful and painstaking tuition the children made good progress, not in simply committing to memory parrot-like whatever they were taught, but in thoroughly understanding their lessons. His system of teaching was Bimply admirable. Only those who, like myself, had the opportunity afforded them of comparing his pupils with others, making apparently satisfactory progress in the Government schools, understood the wide difference, and this significant fact was generally admitted. In discussing the subject, one gentleman warmly interested in educational matters remarked that Mr Byrne's system was beyond all praise ; not only this, but he could readily distinguish when he met them, simply by the difference in their manners, any of the children attending the Catholic school. It is satisfactory to Mr Byrne to know, now that he is obliged by ill-health to relinquish his profession, that his efforts in the cause of education and religion were not thrown away, and that he was appreciated even as he deserved by the friends he has made far and near, who wish him a speedy recovery, and equal success in his fresh undertakings.