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Dominion, Volume 21, Issue 111, 8 February 1928, Page 7

At the close of 1926, the Prisons Department canvjd out at tlie Invercargill Borstal institution an experiment which appeared mH of risk, but which proved so successful as to mark tlie beginning of a. new phase of the reclamation of youthful transgressors (says an exchange). 'The experiment was the holding of a camp at Otatara for the association class of the institution, the class comprising 40 boys whose good conduct and general improvement had entitled them to special privileges. No camp of this kind had ever been held before in New Zealand. No one knew whether success or failure would be its fate. It was a critical test of how far the humane reformative treatment of youthful offenders could be carried. But through the sympathy and tact of the officers and the loyal co-opera-tion of every boy, the camp was an unqualified success, and the way was paved for another such outing 12 months later. The expectation of the 1927-28 camp set a goal for all the boys in the institution—a goal that was well worth striving for. The 40 wagging tongues of the happy 1926-27 campers made their less fortunate comrades realise how glorious a week under canvas could be, and all through 1927 the aim of practically every boy in tlie institution was to be included in that select band who were to pitch their tents on the banks of the Oreti. This rich reward fell to the lot of 60 boys—2o more than the previous year's quota, and as soon as the Christmas festivities wc/e concluded at the institution these fortunate youths set out ior their paradise at Otatara. Residents of Waiheke state there is a marked scarcity of fish in the Hauraki Gulf this year (reports the “New Zealand Herald”). The operation of trawlers and seine net boats is blamed, and at a recent meeting held at Ostend under the auspices of the Ostend Road Board, a resolution was passed urging the Government to extend the period for the exclusion of such boats from the existing prohibited area. It was also decided to urge the Government to pass legislation to extend the limits of the prohibited area. A settler at Riverlea the other day observed a family of ten weaeles disporting themselves near his milkstand (states the Waimate "Witness”). Obtaining a gun ho had a shot at them, and killed eight out of the ten.