THE EDUCATION ACT.

Mataura Ensign, Volume VI, Issue 284, 24 August 1883, Page 2

THE EDUCATION ACT.

The long smouldering feud between the Dunedin School Committee and the Otago Education Board has at last burst into . open flame., and it affords another instance of the necesdty for modification U\ th.o l)du.oatiqn Act. The relations of Boards to Committees and both to teachers and fmpplies afe at present so ill defined tftat H is. a matter for surprise that trouble has not arisen long ere this. There is probably no prospect of any alteration this session, as indications are plain that it is in artiovilo mortis, and iiiembprs. already glioty a strong desire to wing their flight homewards, But there ca.n. h,e nfl doi(bt t)iat nest qesgion sqme change/ will ariso as th.e result qf th.e (leliberatiqns qf tbe Commission recently sitting in the matter of the " Bible in Schools." With a section of the community avowedly hostile to the present system, with teachers without exception dissatisfied, with committees groaning under the burden of making both ends meet, and with Education Boards chfisen jiadej! a plainly absur4 motlpd, who can wonder that reform is wanted ? That any^change which may be made will be of a radical nature need not be expectod. Education must be still free, secular, and compulsory, or it cannot be national. The application of a little oil to the parts where friction is naeded is all that is required.

On dit that a brewery and malt-honse will shortly be established in. Tapanui. •

Mr V. Pyke, M.H.R., is suffering from an affection .of the eye, and it is feared he will lose the sight of one of the organs.

Mr George Eldred has secured the contract for the erection of a pix-roomed house at Gore for Mr I. S. Simson.

Our Mataura readers will learn with regret that their Reserves Vesting and Empowering Bill has been thrown out in the Legislative Council, where the Government opposed it.

Replying to Mr Daniel in the House the >ther day, the Colonel Treasurer said Waipapa Paint light would be completed in about two months, and it would take longer than that to obtain and fix a ball buoy coated with luminous white paint.

Soma much-needed repairs are being made to the Wyndham-Edendale road near the railway station by Mr T. McGowan and a gang of county hands.

Settlers in the neighborhood of Forest Hill and Win,ton will be glad to learn that Mr Driver has at last managed to extract a promise from the Government that a further contract for the Forest Hill tramway will be let almost immediately. The mutter has hit herto been delayed, by departmental differences, which the member for the distxict has succeeded in having removed.

A concert and dance was held at the Waikaka sehoolhouse on the evening of the 17th in>.t. to celebrate the opening of the school. After due justice had been done to the good thiugs provided by the committee in the shape of eatables and tea, the proceedings were opened by the Rev. Mr Wright (who was introduced by the chairman, Air Lamb), witb a short and very appropriate speech. The first part of the programme was a recitation by iY) r Lamb, followed by songs from Mr Brosnan, Mr O'Sh;mcasey, Mrs MathesoD, Mr Smith, and Mr Archibald, all of which were rendered very well. After an interval of a few^* minute* the Waikaka minstrelg: made there debut under the able leadership of Mr O'Shanessey. The songa were good and well given, and tho cunim drums grand, being mostly local. Some" pretty bard hitswere given. The performance on the whole was good, and the Minstrels one and all deserve great credit for the able manner they went through with it. ' Great praise is due to the two corner men, Mr O'Shanessey as " Sambo," and Mr Brosnan as " Bones," more especially to Mr O'Shanessty, who kept the audience in a roar Of laughter. It may here be mentioned that Mr Noble is deservedly worthy of praise for the attention he bestowed on the wants of the inner man» After the performance was over the room was-cleared for dancing, which ; was kept up with ; spirit until daylight under the able M.C.-ship of Messrs Smith and O'Shanessey } and we believe every one left thoroughly satisfied with the night's entertainment.

The weekly meeting of the Gore Literary and Debating Society on Wednesday evening was well attended. The chair was filled by the Kev. J. N. Buttle, and the special business before the meeting was a Shakesperian reading — " King Lear." The various parts were well sustained by several gentlemen and three ladies, the latter acquitting themselves remarkably well under somewhat dis. advantageous circumstances. At the next meeting : ts/erß ■fic&aKf^tw Mining v« Agricultural ami Pastoral Interests.

/ Some people are surely not aware of the dangerous properties of phosphorus. The other night a resident in this locality procured a quantity from a local dealer, placed it along with some phosphorised oats in a bag, and left them on a whisky cask in one of the rooms at Mr Kellie's hotel. Aa our readers know only time and warmth are required for the ignition of phosphorus, and Uv Kellie on entering the room some time after the owner of the stuff had left discovered the lot on fire and the room filled with fumes the reverse of pleasantTo remove the bag and as much of the contents as possible was the work of an instant, and then Mr Kellie returned, and in handling som§ of the !t<emains was severely burned about the hands. Altogether, the hotel had a marvellous escape from destruction by fire. It was a close shave as it was } but had the preparation spontaneously ignited an hour or two later wh.en in charge of the hoiis,e w.o,ulci have been in bed, tlierg is. }iUle doubt that we should have had this morning to chronicle a most disastrous fire in Gore;

We remind our readers of \\\e Soryice of Sqng— '< L.ivipg9tflne "— to be given in th| Presbyterian, Qhurch, Qopd«n, th.ia evening in ?vid of tug c^ioir funds. The piece is a very interesting one, and we have no doubt there will be a large audience.

At "Wednesday's meeting of the Otago Land Board Messrs Reid and J)v\upans applied on behalf of F, W- Jhh.otsau for prepiQptjye 4iiyht. Cjf 1*21) acres on run 193, The |and being an education reserve, the Board Jvad iio power to. d^egl with tho application, Messrs Maooasoy, Kettle, and Woodhouse's application on behalf of James Cooney for refund of money paid ty him on deferredpayment section 17, block XII, Chatton, as ou account of ill health he was not \}\ ft ppsi< tion to comply with thf? (^tp.^s of sale, wa,<s } i ef)ttmn,\en,cjer} fox the fa,Yora.b,le co.n.sid.Qr.&tio.n of th,e government,

The weather fqy $h.e past few weeks having been, exceptionally broken, great loss of time lias been experienced by the farmers. Sowing would have been in full swing by this time but for the continued spell of heavy ra,\n, and ploughing is also in arreav, a$ nothing has been done fro; Gjght or- ten days. A speedy change from wet to dry is devoutly to 1)0 wished.

A special meeting of the Wyndham Town Board was held last Monday evening, J*ro* sent .-—Messrs Templetcw (chairman), Walker and Eaymond. The meeting was called for the consideration of tenders for ditching in Itikarman street aud Cardigan road. .For the former Mr M'Biide (£l4^ and for the latter Tassey Bros. (£ls) were respectively successful.

The want of a vfustice of the Peace has been felt in Wyndham for a considerable time, and in response to an expressed desire to that effect some time ago Mr J. Forsyth was placed upon the roll, Mr Forsyth, however, lives at some distance from the town, and it 18 not always convenient to go to his. jresidG.nce. for the purpose of, say, merely witnessing some signature, The residents feol that IK?t only would Mr Forsyth'a hands be strength' W W they would be greatly convenienced if a i«»l 2<JP.tlcman w<sre appointed. With this view a meeting will be Ueld on Wednesday afternoon, m Leahy's Hall, for fcha pflrpfflje of nominating a suitable person to be reepmmended tq.tliG Government for appointment. YOU QAV ?B HAPPY if you Fwill stop all ™ur doctoring yourself and families with exXiv^ dSfs or Ctf re,alls that only harm Jnd use Nature's simple remedies for all your Snents, you will be well and happy Save great expense. The greatest remedy for this, the great, wise, and good will tell jou,iß^op Bitters, 9w#

James Milne, of Wyndham, 9tbrek<?epe r , has filed a declaration of insolvency. ../..Ilia creditors meut at Invercargiil on Monday next. ■ , ■ '■■■*■

Patrick Foley and others, of Waimea,.recently pe itioned the House tfiat a gravel track in' their neighborhood might bve"converted into a metal road. We learn that the public Petitions Committee report that the petition shiduld be referred to the Government for consideration. . . : ..< j . It-is notified in the ' Gazette ' that flections 684 to 707, Hokonui, have been sec apart on deferred payments, aud that «ections 2 and 3» block 13, Chatton. are «pen f or leasing under the Land Act Amendment Act, 1882. The Chatton Quadrille Assembly held it« monthly entertainment on Friday last, there were about thirty couples present. ! Dancing was kept up with spirit to music provided by^ Mr R. Telfer (violin i, assisted by Mr J. Jones, (accordian). About 12 o'clock an adjournment was made for supper, which war provided by the Committee in their best-style. - During th« evening songs were givea by the, following, gentlemen.: — Mr A. Hamilton, " Beautiful Isle of the Sea ;" Mr A. Archibald, " The Anchor's Weighed '"—the latter being espucially well rendered. Dancing was kept 1 up until the small hours, when every one went home well pleased with the evening's amusement.

Some months ago we inserted a paragraph with reference to a servant girl at one time in the employ of Mrs Lou th at; Tapanui. It went the round of the colonial press, and as many of our readers will like to know the outcome tif the muter we reproduce the folio wins from 'Lloyd's Weekly Newspaper:' "In November last we printed an inquiry after Mary Dainton, -who. failed from Plymouth;-pn? November 20,^78, in the, $§$*£*„ #£ TSffir Zealand. She was known to. ; have reached OhristchuTcb, and from there went to Invercargill; but for two years and a half nothing 1 had been heard of her by her anxious, aud, alarmed parents. We asked colonial papers to copy the appeal, and our distant contemporaries kindly did so. : The remit is that by this week's, mail from New Zealand we received a letter from Mr S. E. Horneman keeper of a registry 'and inquiry office at Christchurch, who says :— « I am personally acquainted "with the young 'woman, 'Mary j Dainton. I have got her two or three situations, and I can find her whereabouts now.' This aspear3 ( ,satisfacto^ry, but the. writer .adds* that -.(* jhe ; ordinary.- >ied-K>f teties guinea will have to accompany .the request for information.' We do not like ' preliminary

f ees,' but have little doubt ' that Mr ■ and 'Mrs Dainton will be willing to pay a guinea, for. intelligence of their daughter. Without, wishing for a moment to cast a doubt upon Mr Horneman (who is an ex-sergeant of police, and. gives us a reference to some, friends at Catford, in Kent), we shall prefer to have the facts ascertained before any money is handed over. The guinea ' may be lodged in our hands, to be despatched to New Zealand directly a letter from Mary Damton f is received,"

A meeting of the creditors of Bobert Pattis©n, farmer, Otaria, was held at Gore on Wednesday last, when it was unanimously recommended that the debtor should obtain an immfciiatm <lia»ha.Tgo. ■ - - ■■.;,--'•:• -•■ -'■■~—

It would seem that some unknown law of nature has had a hand in the inundation of rabbit* which is uow spreading over Australasia. They have been acclimatised to Tasmania f»r upwards of fifty years and to the other Australian colonies for about half that time. Yet in these colonies, as well as New Zealand, it is only about "ten years since they began to become a nuisance, and one which bids fair to baffle the utmost energy to overcome. • •'■•'

The larrikins of Wyndham are, it appears, emulous of the feats of former days, ii will btf remembered that two or threesyears ago scaroely a night passed without th« occurrence of some mischievous trick, until, at last the residence of a police constable became an absolute necessity. Since the advent of Constable Fretwell upon the, soen-.e- a check has been pl»c«d upou $e«e things, and the,©rd,?r loving pevrtio© of the community began to" hope, that a permanent cure had been effected. However that may be, last Sunday, night showed that the spirit of destruction is not extinct. There is in course of ereotion, and indeed near cawpjletion^ a neat little Roman CathoHo, Church. - The altar • wid sacristy were alm.oat flnishe<l, and a few days would have seen; .the; woodwork of; the inferior entirely completed. Some person or persons, animated either by the spirit of destruction above referred to or private spite aga,inat the contractor entered the building an Sunday, and with a sr>y' delibmte-Jy set to -work* to sho\y tJ^eiv courage and their skill. The top of ;the altw was defaced, the doors of the sacristy wew sawn almost through, and one of thorn smash,^; The/Ornampnt^t^o^^t the base of the communion rail* was taken outside and smashed, and otUeij 1 g^t-Jike feata wei'e performed. W'q viaderstaud that the contractor fw? aom» »n explained Teasbn has sot pjaeed; the matter in the hands of the police, TJjis ja to hft regretted, and. -we trust that the offender — be he young or old, largo or small — will be promptly brought to justice, and taught to respect the property and feeliugs o£ others.

Our weekly " Chat' 1 \vith the fanners is* held, over this Vf£e&. Next Friday an interesting a.QCAunt of the doings at Mr Ayspn's. fawn is promised.

A shelter shed has just been erected at the Tuturaxi school for the convenience ofscholars. The extractor was Mv- Weeks, whose next job will b« at Fortrose^ where he is to eroct a school to seat about ,70 children, Hitherto the school aud master's residence have been under the same roof ; now they will be separated and the old building con verted into the teacher's residence. This is at it should be.

The regular monthly meeting of the School Commissioners of Otago on Tuesday was attended by Me?Brs J, P, MaitJand (chairman), A. C. Begg, and W. H. Pearson, A letter was received from Mr Alexander M'Donald applying for asiistance towards the erection of \ a school on Run No. 88, Wyndhftm, and the Board referred him to their previous letter on th« subject. The Southland Education Bqard's application for twenty aores. of section 1 on Run No 242, Hokonui (Tor school purposes), was granted. With reference to the disposal of land on blooks I. and 11., Wendonside, X., part 111., part VII., and part IX,, Wendon, aud XI, Greenvale, it was decided-—'" lhat thd ' Government be [recommended to dispose of the land within these, blocks }n terjns qf %. L?M Apfy l *V~i. Amendment' '."Act, 1882, as' fylio^ i-One third on pfilifietual lea§<s, one-third for cssh, and one-third on deferred payment." s> A; letter was deceived from &fr Jt Squires applying fqr th« lease. pi section 19, block VII, Wendon district, and it was resolved— "That the section be advertised for lease at the first convenient opportunity."

The Bankruptcy Bill has now passed through the Upper House. ■. One of the greatest acquisitions to the ris iric town of Gore is the establishment of a boolf;, v and shoa manufactory, where a really genuine 'article will be supplied at a reason able price. Inspection invited. G. W. Bow tell, next Colonial Bank, Gore. — Advt. Terms Cash ! The following goods are on hand and must be soli out to make room for new stock : — Galvanised roofing iron ; Nos 8, 9, and lOvfencing^Wire;" raW / "altd I " ! B'6iiea oils and painty Teas in- half-chests and boxes also lib packets ; men's long leggingsf 15p, men's; good trousers^ from 6s upwards' meii's" cbats and tVousef s, and youths' suits, ltts uptfafds; ladies trim ined hats and jackets. Unreasonably cheap - and all of sterling value. These goods at sale price, cash only.— J, MacGibbon & Sons, Gore and Gordon.