GREY VALLEY GOLD FIELDS.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1473, 24 April 1873, Page 2

GREY VALLEY GOLD FIELDS.

(from our own correspondent.)

EDUCATIONAL,

The Secretary to the Nelson Board of Education makes in a late issue a contra-^ diction of certain remarks 'of mine in~my* notice of his recent visit to the school at Ahaura. In reply, I must begin by exhibiting what the sayaiis of the French.; Institute' wrongly aftnj^uted "to 'Clivier's and Mr .Hodgson's' now - famous crab, namely, the "faculty of making , a retrograde movement.'- rlfsany remark I may have made has touched the educational sensibilities of the .Inspector of Schools, the effect was unintentional on my part, and I at once and entirely retract them. Ido this for two reasons. In the first place; I was not present during Mr Hodgson's visit to the school, although from the interest I take in anything concerning education, I would have made it my business to be at 'the Ahaura and No Town schools, on the occasion of the examination by the Inspector at each place, if I had received any intimation of his coming. In the next place I received the information, which I embodied in my report, from what, at the time, I considered to be a most reliable source, but it appears my authority was also partly under a misapprehension as to the purport of the expressed opinions of the inspector with respect to the school. Had the occurrence, been one of less importance, the visit of the Inspector of the Educational Board of the Province^ might have been passed over without notice, but we all feel too deeply interested in the successful result of the experiments! now being tried by. Father Pertius at Ahaura and the School Committee at No Town, to , pas 3, over, in : silence a circumstance likely to nave'siich momentous influence on] the fu,ture of both schools as the inspector's examina-* tion. With respect to the " elaborate puff" of the Ahaura school, I can assure Mr Hodgson that even if the institution does not come .up to his standard of educational^.perfection, the residents. think it is none the less a creditable result of the unaided j labors 6f a : single individual, and I would also respectfully remind the " keeper of the conscience " 6f|the^ Educational Board, as the worthy 3 Inspector is considered in these parts', that had it not been for the indomitable energy and singleness of purpose of this one individual there would not now be a school at Ahaura to ■ inspect. Knowing this, and seeing that parents from all parts of the Grey "Valley, and outside of it, send their children td'this school, and express satisfaction with the progress pupils make in it, it is no great wonder .that I, as well as others, feel proud of th« school and of its founder, and: we will continue doing so whether the Educational Board grant or refuse the increased subsidy applied for/ ;; ABTOSEMENIS. ' There is now plenty of out-door amusement in the shape of shooting and fishing. In the latter sport there is any amount of success to be had. Shoals of .a fine palatable fish, resembling grayling or herring,, swarm in the rivers. They are caught in such numbers in the Ahaura river that they are retailed in the town for a shilling a dozen, and single fish have been taken weighing two pounds. They are not only palatable, but they are very wholesome, and afford a .welcome change of diet to ceoDle # living so far — The Town Band is in full practice, juaging by the manner these fine frosty nights are made hideous by the discordant noises made by the new beginners ; but this will wear off as they improve, or, a$ all , events, we will get used to the annoyance, as the man who couldn't sleep Unless he was near a crushing machine in full working. — A quadrille party is in course of formation, and a very useful amusement it will be to pass away the winter evenings, if the promoters can succeed in . making it respectably exclusive without introducing the snobbish element.— lt is also rumored that the Literary and Musical Entertain-, ments, which were so acceptable kist year, are about being renewed by the committee of management.