Manamatu Herald. TUESDAY, MARCH 19, 1889. WANGANUI EDUCATION BOARD.

Manawatu Herald, 19 March 1889, Page 2

Manamatu Herald. TUESDAY, MARCH 19, 1889. WANGANUI EDUCATION BOARD.

We have received from the In" spector of schools a copy of his an" nual report to the Board. He commences it by a statement of the amount of work which he has to do, and which has been only slightly lessened by the help of a clerk. That the Inspector has too much to do is plainly seen by the work he has had , as all the schools open for twelve months, namely, 78, were examinee.; and, in addition, 74 visits of inspection were paid. One hundred and eighteen days were spent in examination, and 51 in inspection. Of 78 schools, 21 were examined between March and June, and the majority were inspected; while the remaining 57 were examined continuously from July 23 to Deo. 21. Examination schedules of each school and reports were posted to the Board's Secretary within from one to five days of each examination, »nd within the same time duplicate copies were sent to the teachers through the Committees. Thirty six pupils were examined for teachership, and 20 candidates for the Board's scholarships. We are aware that the Inspeotor on first taking office made it a decided point, that more time should be given by the holder of his office, to private visits to the various schools, where by timely pointing out the errors of the teachers much valuable time oould be saved to the scholars. We suppose he will be the first to admit that such good intentions have gone the proverbial road, as 118 days spent in examining 78 schools gives but little time to this most important duty. After the examination we can easy calculate how frequent bis

visits of advice were, when ho chronicles that only 51 days - were spent in this work. "We offer no word, upon this point, against the Inspector, as however energetic a man may be, it is impossible to be in two places at ouce. Our object in drawing attention to this portion of the report more particularly, is to point out that the Education Boards of the Colony condemn themselves whenever they make any public •tateinents. This very difficulty of school inspetion arises from the absurdity of drawing hard and fast lines across the face of the country, and teUing one inspector thus far shalt thou go and no farther, when in all probability he could oonveniently take a few more schools in his round, and another board, as in this case, accept an area to manage, which the report issued by their own officer tells them, is not done in the manner the ratepayers expect the work to '.be performed. If the inspection of the State Schools was removed from the Boards and placed in the hands of the Department, the necessity of Mr Bindon trying to supervise 78 schools, whilst perhaps the Taranaki Inspector has hardly enough to look after, would be easily obviated. "We do not say that the Taranaki lospector has not enough to do, but we merely used a neighbouring board as an illustration, for if he has more than he can do, it would make the case stiU clearer, as the appointment of an extra inspeotor could be arranged for the whole coasfc, vrhilsfc neithei* Board can afford to put an extra man on for each separate educational district. We so uphold the expression of Mr Bindon, that supervision would be of more practical use to both teachers and pupils than examination, that we feel that until we gain the abolition of inspection by boards, for inspection by the Department, we are losing half the force and value ofthe present school system. Mr Bindon's report shows this on every page. In the matter of reading he writes, "Two books must be used during the year in each class. As it is, I often find that pupils in these classes read tlieir one little looh by heart. In the upper standards he says it is the same. He asserts that " mumbling is far too common." He blames the teachers for li the method of spelling out words. " In arithmetic as treated by teachers, he says, "there is itill too much examining by given tests, and not sufficient teaching." In closing his report, he remarks on " the very great dissimilarity in the quality of the work at one school and at another." These few extracts endorse our repeated objections to the present system of school supervision, and they illustrate how needed are the visits of the Inspector, not for the purpose of testing the result of the teacher's training ofthe scholar, but to secure to the ratepayer that the scholar is properly instructed by his teacher. It is also shown very clearly that the very few visits paid by the Inspector for this purpose, have not been sufficient to accomplish the purpose. It seems a task tha' ma}'- be undertaken from one years end to another, without satisfactory results, to try and rouse an interest in this question of Education, as parents seem so ready to be frightened by theory that "the system is endangered " whenever an attempt at reformation is proposed. Year by year the expense is growing, month b}- month are the short comings of the system shown up, and every expert's report brings the same unsatisfactory statements before the Board. Thus the very members who a> c popularly supposed to be the guardians of theratepayers interests, become opposed, from their disinclination to abate any one perquisite of their office, to recommend that which is the almost unanimous opinion of the School Inspectors of the colony, viz., the constituting of Inspectors, officers under the control only of the Education Department. We remind contractors that the tendera for the altered work on the County road near Shannon have to be sent in to the Horowhenua County Council at Otaki by the 23rd inst. Mr Bacon has secured a workshop in the town in one of Messrs Thynne, Linton & Co's buildings, the one formerly used by Mr Easton. We are glad to learn that any doubt existing in Mr Bacon's mind when he arrived here ten days ago, about his chances of obtaining work, have been so satisfactorily dispersed. He has been as busy as the proverbial crioket every day. Our new firm of engineers and blaoksmiths, Mr R. H. Barber, have had their turn too, for from the day they started up to now, they have had to push their hardest to try and satisfy their customers wants. Mr G. Bobinson has also had to obtain further assistance, and Mr Arnold never gets cool. Lads are at a premium too, there being many billets to fill, but none to fill them, — the two co-operative companies want lads. All the storekeepers also appear to have been too busy to take agency work, as the owners of the b.s. Napier have sent up a gentleman as resident agent. Business men never lose a ohance to let the public know of their whereabouts. We wonder whether Mr Howard, our local jeweller, was the cause of the riddle asked by Mr Crawford, at the Crawford-Hunter entertainment on Saturday? The riddle ran thus, " What time is it when the clock strikes thirteen ? " Of course everybody gave it up, and the answer followed. " It is time to take it to the watohmakers." Mr Knowles, the agent of the Bank of Australasia at Waipawa, paid a visit to this town for the Irish holidays. He was looking in good health, and his spirits seemed much increased by treading the soil of Foxton once more. He stated the heat to have been very great over in Hawke's Bay, one day the thermometer having stood at 124 in the sunt There haa been no rain fltnoA Xmtm

One of the mills of Mr Rutherford had to stop working on Saturday, owing to the shaft supporting the pulleys driving the scutcher and strippers breaking. The men at work had a narrow escape, bnt fortunately no one was hurt. Some people are blest with many friends, and we include ourselves in being thus lucky. It is interesting to note their doings when they become spread. We related m the last issue the success of Mr Fors„ !h mth his school examination, and now "we learn something of his predecessor at the I'oxton school. We always looked upon mm as a man of learning, and one holding strong views, more especially on the temperance question, but we never had an opportunity to test hia valour ; perhaps because we always agreed with him. This Te Kooti scare has aroused the British lion feeling m the breasts we least expeoted to haye found it, and in the Waikato a requisition has been presented to the Mayor of G . * mbridge to summon a meeting to consider the desirability of forming a volunteer corps, and the name heading the list is W. A. Stewart, B. A. Bravo ! At the last meeting-of the Borough Council one of the Councillors brought under notice of the Council the practise that the young men indulge in, of bathing, in a state of nature, at the public bathing place. The Mayor, in accordance with the wish of the^ Council, brought the matter under notioe of the Constable, and lie has acted with oommendable promptness in the matter. He patrolled that portion of the town on Sunday, and in the afternoon caught some of them in the act, with the result that they will have to answer for their conduct at the next sitting of the R.M. Conrt. Yesterday a man was arrested by Constable Seymour at Palmerston charged with having committed a rape. He will be brought before the Court to-day. Petty larceny is being unfortunately de" veloped in this district. On Monday week a case of mixed spirits, and also having some cigars paoked in it, was left at the Oroua Bridge station, consigned by Mr Howe, of Palmerston, to Mr Bert. Some persons thought the contents would be of more service to them than to the person they were consigned to, and therefore helped themselves. Constable Tapp, however, arrived upon the scene, and on Sunday arrested Patrick Wheeler, and yesterday morning also arrested John Dunekey, James Maher, and William M'Lean Jaoks, and charged them with the larceny of the goods. The oase was entered upon at Palmerston and remanded for seven days. The value of the case is about £8. The annual meeting of the New Zealand Alliance was held at Auckland on 12th inst, when Sir W. Fox was re-elected President. Resolutions were agreed to affirming the constitutional right of the people to suppress the liquor traffic, and urging that the exercise of the direct veto be absolutely unfettered, and expressing an opinion that compensation to liquor sellers was contrary to political equity, social justice, and British law, and regretting the proposition for the establishment of State distilleries. The usual fortnightly meeting of the Manawatu Lodge U.A.O.D. was held last Wednesday, Bro. Jenks A.D. in the chair. During other discussions it was resolved that votes of thanks be tendered to Messrs Howard and Startup for their presents to St. Patricks Day Sports, which are to be competed for by Druids only. The meeting closed at 10 with harmony. Mr Justice Williams at the Assizes at Ballarat made the following pertinent remarks re the treatment by Banking institutions of their clerks. " I feel that the clerks of every bank in this Colony are most inadequately and wretchedly paid. They are expected to dress as gentlemen, conduct themselves as gentlemen, and have every appearance of gentlemen, and they are paid in a way that is a disgrace to the institutions to*which they belong. And I say that the same miserable, economy — whioh prompts them to pay starvation wages to the gentlemen they take into their employment as bank clerks — is the same miserable, impolitic, cruel economy th»t oauses the careless supervision they have over their clerks' work in order that they may be able to return better profits to the directors and shareholders. Ido not hesitate to say, from my experience of the banks of this colony, that I would sooner put a son of mine to break stones on the road than make of him a bank clerk." For some days past says the Chronicle ugly rumours have been in circulation with regard to the disappearance of Mr McNish, the Wanganui gaoler. Some three weeks ago Mr McNish obtained leave of absence from the Department, to which his long and efficient services well entitled him. His leave expired on Wednesday last, but he failed to return to his duties, and though searching inquiries have been made as to his whereabouts nothing has been heard of him. On the 22nd of February last he left town with the intention — as he assured his wife — of taking a trip up the river, and returning in about ten clays. He took no luggage, nor change of clothing with him, but departed in an old suit, as if with the intention of roughing it. On arrival at Aramoho he stopped and remained there for the night. But the next day, instead of continuing his journey up the river, he joined the train for the North, and went as far as Hawera. And it was at Hawera that he was last seen, for ever since his arrival at that township all trace of him has been lost. Supposing it to have been his intention to leave the colony, he could of course have caught the San Francisco mail steamer at Auckland on the 25th. But why he should have wanted to do anythiug of the kind, is difficult to understand. It is true that he is known to have been somewhat embarrassed in circumstances, and on one pretext or another to have borrowed sundry sums of money from several genMemen in town just before his departure. According to some reports, there is a lady in the case, but from what we have heard there is nothing tangible on which to war. rant any suoh assumption. Why McNish should have cleared out — if indeed he has done so — is incomprehensible. He was a first-class officer, generally respected both in and out of service ; he was blessed with a wife and young family, to whom he always appeared to be devotedly attached; and he had a situation not to be despised in times like these, and which he may find, it difficult to improve upon. Further, there is no suspicion against him of having brought himself under the operation of the law. Certainly he is in debt, but being in the enjoyment of a good and permanent situation, his financial difficulties could have been easily arranged. Under all the oiroumstanoes, MoNish's disappearance is at present unexplainable. At a meeting of the Acclimatisation Society at Dunedin, the members appeared to be satisfied that the fish caught by lhe ranger in Jacobs River tributary were salmon just putting on smolt livery, aud there is little doubt that the experiment of the Otago and Southland Societies will be a success/ The manager stated that he had removed 300 salmon par to Clinton ; they were the first salmon produced in Otago from fish reared in fresh water with- ! | out being allowed to go to sea. Some 700 | I bybroia w*r« HberAM fa tht. Wftltokl:

The engine arrived on Saturday by the s.s. Napier for the Phoenix mill at the Oroua Bridge We learn, says the Manawatu Timeß, that Mr J. C. Sly's well known property at : Karere has changed hands, the purchaser ( being Captain Williams, of Wellington. The sale was effeoted through the agency : of Mr Henry Axupi Our Sanson friends are pushing on with their hail. The framework has been up some iitt i time, and they hope to open it witli a c^» •'jrt in Easter week. Tlie New Zealand black beetle is, as most people know, very offensive to the olfactory nerves, but according to Major Wilson tho late Bishop Selwyn appreciated their scent as something annalogous to attar of rose. The new justices in the Wellington district aye : — Messrs ,G. Carson, Wanganui ; G. H. Guderson, . Mauriceville ; John Huges, Pahiatua , J. S. M. Thompson, Wellington ; W. G. Tustin, Wellington ; D. G. Riddiford, Halcombe ; Alex. Simpson, Wellington ; and Hart Udy, senr., Greytown. We notiie that off contemporary the Waikato News paid us the compliment of copying the whole of our fashion article by Madame Goodfit but omitted to acknowledge its source. Two farmers, occupying adjoining estates, rather haughty in stock rivalry, and studiously stiff and short with each other, met by the roadside, and the following interchange occurred. , " Good morning." " Good morning." What was it you gave your horse when hehadthebots ?" " Spirits of turpentine." " Good morning." " Good morning." Second meeting, the next day : " Good morning." " Good morning." the same miserable, cruel economy " Did you say you gave your horse spirits of turpentine when he had the bots ?" " Yes, sir." " I gave my horse spirits of turpentine for the bots, and he died." "So did mine." "Good morning." " Good morning." Tenders are invited for the clearing of 120 ohains of drains on the Moutoa estate. Tenders olose on the SOth inst. Parties will be shown the drains any Thursday or Saturday at 9 a.m. All accounts against the Moutoa estat a are requested to be sent in by the end of the month. Tile Deputy Official Assignee, in the estate of C. Whitehead of Palmerston draws the attention of Hemp millers to the fact that in the estate, he has for sale, 1 ten horse multitubular boiler, and a 6 horse power engine by Brown and May of London. If the other articles are not of so | much moment in this district, there can be | no doubt but that a first class London built engine, is very much to the purpose, and will be snatched up in a very short time. This engine is almost new, and can therefore he worked up far beyond its nominal power. The Wellington Acclimatisation Society has fixed the 18th April for the opening of the shooting season. It has not been gazetted yet. The latest telegrams offer us the following extraordinary intelligence under date of 16 March. New Zealand hemp, middling kinds, is quoted at from £11 to £14 ; good sorts are quoted at from £36 15s to £37. Mr Larkworthy is vexed that after giving permission toi a few to out some firewood out of his bush, some persons have taken French leave, and helped themselves. " He that take's what isn't his'n, when he's oatched he goes to prison " should be carefully remembered by these parties, as Mr Larkworthy means to try and catch them and " prison " them.