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NOTES.

v ot\vithstaxding that some of our! contemporaries have condemned anyhing like a scare about the condition of the railway line alonsj the face of the Purakanui cliffs, and arpm d that the recent fatal accident, caused by the falling upon the me of a mass of rock detach c-d from above, was a wholly exceptional r.ccurren c, it now appears frrrn a telegram published yesterday that there \? and has been very real danger to the traveller at the locality referred to. It is now acknowledged that during the winter reason slips have been of frequent occurrence, and that from time to time thousands of tons

have fallen. Under these circumstances it is evident that it would have been criminal on the part of the Government to delay the necessary works to ensure the safety of the travelling .public, as until these are completed, there is a serious risk of a terrible disaster occur ring at any moment after a protracted rain or after a rapid thaw succeeding a sharp frost. A tunnel is to be driven behind the most dangerous place at a cost of from £10,000 to £12,000, and it is intended to have tbis, and other works m connection therewith, completed before next winter. In the meantime the most rigid and careful supervision of the line should bte exercised and every possible precaution taken for the safety of the traffic. This, no doubt will be done, but travellers to Dunedin will breathe more freely after leaving W aitati when it is '< no longer necessary to pass m front of the dangerous spot.

Everybody is aware that the New Plymouth harbor-works have not proved a success, but few people \rere prepared to learn that they have turned out such a fearful waste of money and so disastrous a failure as it now appears upon official authority that they have. In a recent number of the Government " Gazette " there is a " notice to mariners " setting forth that "An extensive sandbank has formed across the entrance to the port of New Plymouth, and directly across the approach to the end of the wharf. This bank extends to 750 ft m a south-easterly direction from the end of the breakwater, and 500 ft parallel with it, its southern end being nearly m line with the outer end of the wharf, which is 540 ft m from the end of the breakwater. From the end of the wharf to within 200 ft of the end of the breakwater, and 200 ft wide, there is 12ft, 13ft, and 14ft, oi water at low water springs, while on the bank there is only from 18iu to 4ft, the deepest being m line midway between the breakwater and wharf, and the shoalest at its southern end. Vessels drawing Bft can cross the bank at halftide, 10ft at high water neaps, and 12ft at springs, m moderate weather (the sea breaks heavy on the bank m bad weather), by keeping the flagstaff just open to the westward of the end of the wharf. This is the deepest water over the shoal. Masters of vessels bound for the wharf should keep the flagstaff and beacon m line bearing B.W. %-W. until the white bollard on the breakwater is m line with the summit of Moturoa Island, bearing N.W; by W. £-W. This clears the outer edge of the bank, with 14ft at low water springs, with 12ft at the outer end of the wharf, and Bft" at the inner end." From this we gather that instead of creating a first-class or even secondclass harbor at New Plymouth by a large expenditure of borrowed money all that has been effected hasheen to render navigation extremely difficult and risky with a prospect of its becoming impossible. This is a pretty state of things, and writes m the largest of large letters to other coast towns which have it m contemplation to plunge into a hopeless contest with Nature the time honored caution " Look before you leap."

Solomon was accounted the wisest of men m his day, hut the parents of the present generation esteem themselves wiser than he, for large numbers of them wholly eschew his precepts, which abound m the book of Proverbs, as to the salutary effect of the rod as a corrective of juvenile transgressors. We altogether disapprove ourselves of indiscriminate or vindictive chastisement, but that it is occasionally necessary there can be no question, and not a little of the larrikinism of the present day is traceable to the fact that physical punishment has been almost altogether abandoned m the training of the young. We by no means desire to see the frequent use of the birch, which was a disgrace to old-fashioned schools, reBtored to those of "to-day, but we do think that the modern schoolmaster has a bad time of it through the almost universal refusal of parents to allow of the enforcement of discipline by corporal punishment even when it becomes a manifest necessity. Every now and then { School Committees are called upon to enquire into complaints made against teachers for venturing to use the rod, and though?sometimes there is found room for fault-finding on the ground of excessive severity, yet as a rule it is generally discovered that there is little or nothingto complain ot Such an inquiry was held at Sanson (up Rangitikei way) the other day and after hearing the evidence the Committee unanimously concluded that it was necessary to uphold the master m his endeavors to restore the discipline of the school. But, given that punishment may and mast be sometimes inflicted, a contemporary of the Sanson cape, thus amusingly alludes to the difficulty of defining as to how it may be inflicted. It says : — " The great problem with the teacher nowa-days is not so much how to teach the boys as 'where to spank them. One mother is very solicitous that the master shall not administer punishment on the hand; with others the ear must not be boxed ; another insists that the legs must be free ; while others again are terrorstricken at the idea of punishment being put on that part of Johny's anatomy upon which he sits, as it tends to dull his intellect and cows him." It is of opinion that there is only one way out of the difficulty, and chaffingly suggests that Sir George Grey be asked to bring m next session H a Bill by which every mother shall be compelled to place a mark upon that part of her youthful Btudent's anatomy that is to be tapu aud sacred from the destroying rod of the schoolmaster, and then leave it to the Committee to see that such part has 1 absolute immunity from attack." The weak point m our contemporary's scheme is thajb come fond and foolish mothers would tapu the whoje boy from hie prow» to j)ie toes,

Despite the, s fact that he was clearly shown that he was m error m his speech at Ashburton m stating that the Licensing Act of last session was brought m at the instance of the brewing interest, and that it had been dropped by Major (Steward because of the proposal to add the Female Franchise clause, we observe that Mr Glover reiterated his erroneous and unfounded statements at Oamaru, and has been taken to task therefor, m the correspondence columns of the " Oamaru Mail " by the member for Waimate. Mr Glover will certainly damage himself m the eyes of all right- j thinking men if he persist m this course, inasmuch as he cannot now plead ignorance of the real facts of the case. He evidently does not like to be himself unjustly attacked, and ha 3 recently had some experience of that sort of thing, which he very naturally resented . It appears that among other places Mr Glover visited Ngapara, and that after he left, one of the staff of the hotel showed about one of those ingenious " pocket pistols " made m the form of a book, and containing a bottle, which he alleged he had seen fajl frqni Mr Glover's pocket. Of course* there has no truth m the yarn, and Mr Glover very properly resented it with indignation. But what is sauce ( for the goose is sauce for the gander, and Mr Glover shonld be as careful of the reputation of others as he rightly is of his own.

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/AG18880929.2.22

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1957, 29 September 1888, Page 3

Word count
Tapeke kupu
1,401

NOTES. Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1957, 29 September 1888, Page 3

NOTES. Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1957, 29 September 1888, Page 3

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