SNODGRASS CUP.

Hokitika Guardian, 23 January 1924, Page 4

SNODGRASS CUP.

Till: J L'UT'.V HU'OliT

The following is the Jedge- report regar cling 1 1 10 essay competition on the subject “The Resources of Westland." Sis- We have to report .is iollutvs oil the Essays scut to us to judge in the conipetitii/ii I'or the “Snodgrass" ('up:— Jn the first place, we wish to congratulate the Westland Schools on the general high quality of the essays sent in. Out of a very large number ol essays i'orwariled lor us to adjudicate on, there wore scarcely any that did not reach a. good standard, while the Dost were distinctly excellent. The pupils'of Westland evidently possess a good general knowledge ef the history of their own province, and we venture to express the opinion lliat i! other provinces were set a similar essay, few of the pupils would ..how tiia. they have such an intimate knowledge of the early days of their province. as do the pupids ol Westland of theirs.

Further, we wish to thank the donor of the prize, for The happy thought which inspired this competition. The competitors have evidently ; ntered into it with a great deal oi zest, and must have spent much time in gleaning information from many sources, and the result from an educative standpoint must ho very great. W'e experienced the greatest dike eu'ty in selecting the winning essay, there being quite a number of essays of such a high order that it was most difficult to differentiate between them. We have finally decided to award the first place to the Essay marked bXIH No fi. Next in order of merit we bracket for -second place two essays marked respectively XI.V No l. and Lit No 32. The writer of the winning essay possesses a very fine command of the use of the Mother Tongue, and Imm a linguistic point of view, this essay is considerably in advance of any other sent in. Perhaps in places the language becomes ton ornate. We have not forgotten that the primary importamo ol such an essay a-- this - the correctness of the information given. This writer seldom depaits from facts, and has given due prominence to important matters, while the less important occupy subordinate positions.

The essay marked Xl.\ Xo l is a very ambitious one. being much the longest essay forwarded. It contains much information and detail, hut here undue importance, in our opinion, has been given to matters ot minor importance as, for instance, the detailed account ol the presence ol many late minerals in Westland. These may possibly lie of importance to Westland in the future, hut that is too problematical to warrant such lull treatment in an essay limited as to time to 2.V hours. The writer also made a rather serious error in including the coa!-itidu->ti i \ round Westport as being concerned with Westland. This essay is generally written in good Uncut English, hut certain grammatical errors appeared. These no doubt would have been corrected had the writer allowed time for necessary revision.

The- other essay marked 1.11 No 32, is also of a high order. ’I he writer s information is. generally speaking, true, and important matters have received full treatment. 'l’his essayist: throughout makes use fit" the simplest language, hut occasionally ei i s grammatically and frequently sentences are misplaced. The essay allotted scope, at any rate in the introduction and conclusion, for competitors to show that they possessed a I airly wide voeallndary. ami were able to adorn their sentences in such a way as to stir up the feelings of the reader. Ibis writer makes no attempt at ornate writing, hut from an inlormatiu point of view, perhaps it 'ecL'! by ”e othe! *; o inpot iter.

In conclusion, wo visit to fate llmt as those essays may possibly he published in the press wo hare taken the liberty to make certain < oiToelions,, mainly grammatical. which the competitors would themselves lntvo made had they had snflicient time for revision. Wo think this is only fair to the competitors. W e should like also il the Exhibition Council eouid see its way clear to make some tangible recognition of 11 10 two essays bracketed equal for second place, for. in our opinion, they come very dose in order of merit to the essay placed first. Yours etc.. D. MrCASKTT.L, It A TltOS. IRA'TNK. M.A. Examiners. The following are the places of the .successful competitors:— FIRST I’RTZH. LXITT Xo. C>.—Miss Mary (Cerridgo. Convent School, Hokitika. EQUAL, SECOND. X 1 ,V No. I.—Miss Ethel Alalpass. Greymoutli I’echnical College. ITT. No .'l2.—Miss Phyllis Gardiner, Hokitika District High School. The above three essays will he published in due course.