MR. JOSEPH PETRIE AND THE KUMARA SCHOOL COMMITTEE.

Kumara Times, Issue 1488, 5 July 1881, Page 2

MR. JOSEPH PETRIE AND THE KUMARA SCHOOL COMMITTEE.

[to the editor.]

Sir—At a meeting of the School Committee held yesterday, Mr Campbell in the chair, I was instructed to correct some erroneous statements which appeard in Mr Joseph Petrie's letter published by you on Friday last. Mr Petrie states that " the Kumara Committee is now supplied with such materials viz., school requisites—free." This is a mistake, as the Board have up to the present time charged the committee for such materials. The liabilities incurred by the present committee for necessaries up to the present date for the Kumara School alone, amount to £3B 2s, to meet which they have received from the Board the sum of £4 10s 3d.

Again, Mr Petrie states that " the monthly charge of sixpence is made, ostensibly, for ink and slate pencils ; but in reality for committee's expenses." This is another mistake, as the committee have made no charge for their expenses; they give their services without fee or reward, aud their meetings are held in the Town Hall, which is kindly lent by the Borough Couucil without any charge. But for the good feeling which has induced the large majority of parents to contribute sixpence per month for payment of meeting expenses and requisites of the school, the school must have been closed long siuce. —Your obediently, Jamks Wylde, Honorary Secretary Kumara School Committee. July sth, 1881. "STRANGER" AT THE BOROUGH COUNCIL MEETING. [to the editor.] Sir—You will excuse me, being a stranger here, for troubling you with a few remarks anent what you call your Borough Council. Seeing a gathering in the Town Hall the other night, I dropped in to hear something wise. And so I did; for, throughout the whole of the tom-foolery, there were some very wise sayings. I was most taken up with a few of the gentlemen present, whom for want of better knowledge I will give names of my own to them. First, Mr Ironsides had a motion to turn Mr Hose out of the Council for being unclean, by being clean wiped out of town altogether. Hose denied the charge by producing a large roll of paper by way of a petition, signed by non-burgesses and nonratepayers not residing in the Kumara, and taking great interest in the amount of fun given to the public at the meetings of the Borough Council by Hose. This was proven to my satisfaction by Mr Bunkum. But Mr Glasscutter made a trump card of the said roll, ably supported by little Squills, and they euchered poor Ironsides j and, to my way of thinking, Hose will give us another night's fan yet, and prove himself the clean potato in spite of the opinion of Mr Pounce, the lawyer. Another gent spoke—l did not catch the name ; he looked like a huge beercask, with a great coat thrown over it. He spoke with a strong sonorous voice, looking fiercely across the table at Squills. I thought I would not like to be poor Squill, for if that fellow rolls across the table we have seen the last of Squills ; but he run short of gas, and sat down panting. A sigh of relief broke from poor Squills as he saw it was all right for the prespnt. They seem to be a fatherly lot of Councillors, and very good to the miners. I am s?riously thinking of starting mining

on my own account, a-< they are so kind with their timber, as they are the most admirable lot of follows I have ever seen sitting at a Council Board." They dunt come there with serious faces iutent on business, but to do no business and to give a night's fun to the assembled public into the bargain. Ironsides was the only one that was intent on business and no fun. On inquiring off some of the citizeus I was told that nothing short of a surgical operation would take a joke out of him : he is so keen a man of business. I must say that yon are a happy lot of burgesses, and made a happy choice in getting Hose into your jolly Council; for, shift him, and Squills and all the fun is lost.

A Loafer,

Kumara, July 4, 1881.