WOODVILLE.

Manawatu Times, Volume III, Issue 31, 22 February 1879, Page 2

WOODVILLE.

[BY OUB SPECIAL. BBPOBTBB.T In accordance with a notice publish.cd.in. the Times, about 20 persons assembled at Murphy's Woodville Hotel on Wednesday evening last, to discuss matters relating to the proposed route of the Wellington- an,d : West Coast .Baiiway. . Mr. R. H. Holder . was voted to the chair, who, m a few opening remarks, stated that although, he .knew. : nothing personally of the question to be debated that evening, as he was a comparative stranger m the district, yefc he would be none, the less qualified , from filling- the- ' position, because he had no prepossessions for one; side. more., than, another. Mr. ( Murphy : proposed,, m . consequence ■ of-- the Ipaucity ofl .attendance, that;.the^eejbing; shouta'ppra&jpTirnek^ Fountain seconded- the. mption, and the meeting was. accordingly adjourned sine ■ die. It woa. stated that several of the.principal residents had left for Wellington on : business m, .connection with the settlement, ■ and; most of. those, who were present, appeared sangujne.of a largelattendance.ai soon i as the, meeting was again baUed. The Hon. Mr. Fisher, Ppstetnaster^Generai, and Dr. Lemon, General Manager, of the' Telegraph Department; 'visited Woodville on Tuesday, on matters connected with the proposed telegraph line from Palmerston to Woodville; and also for.the^pnrpoae of ascertaining, the. mpst suitable site for the Post and "Telegraph: Offices. After a careful inspection, tney decided upon selecting the reserve, origmally set apart for the police station as being the most convenient site which the Government has as a reserve. They will therefore, m. all probability, be orected m the place indicated, which is about opposite to the new school building, and is on the Napier main line of road. In the present position of • Woodville, the serve: which was set apart when, the town = was first laid out, would not be at all suitable; butjwhea therailwayis brought there,' and the town becomes more settled, the^ri- , ginal site will, we, have but little ]dbubt, 'Be' found very much more: convenient than at : the present time. The police station .will; it is thought, be also erected- on the'sito" sef: lected/for, tjhe. Post and Telegraph Offices, i some] distance, at the. rear, of those buildlings, [Since the above has been put m ' t]ype, otu\ r'epprter interviewed Dri Lemon, and' that gentleman was good enough to 1 h](form ; him, inanswej?. to an . enquiry ,pn the subject, that no site, had heen. positively ' nxed: hpbh, <but?it Hvas probable . a temporary site would] o&ereclsdln]^ i Thelnew school building,- which was: commenced about three t months" snipe, ' is' now j rapidly approaching completion, ' the ( ; wh'oU? of • the:. . carpenter jng * work.- being nearly finisheji, and the painting is' being pushed ahead. When" finished, it will be found -not. alone commodious, but the building w3L be a handsome, and convenient one, ap well, as a credit to ]the:district' ; and we'csjjr csn- : ] fidehtly recommend any of ; our, school coin-" mittees who. may 'intend' to put up apw^ ; buddings to pay .a visit to the Woodville School; or e]ae to appoint one, of their hum-. •;ber to v' it a visit/. It is a rare thing to 'find such a handsome and conyeniept schoolbuilding m a country district, and I . feel ■certain that the Woodville '.'School,/ when finished, will bear favorable comparison', fpr .its size, with any school m thie;metrdpc>lis.The building is 63 feet long, . by 25 feet 6 inches wide. It is. 1,3 feet high to studs, s^d from there to rjdge 13 feet mora Thej whole is match-lined with white ."pine,'aiid when it; has undergone., the, process of varnishing) the effect will be]- very fine? -Thfer flooring is' of white pine and rimu, and the wincfow sashes' are of.totara. AU-the win- . dowa, of-whicji tjhere are seven, are hung with patent Belf-ad3^ting, weights, and lift either. up or down, as -'may be. required! There.are. two patent self-acting, . noiseless ventilators oi ah improved, pattern, which, ., conbinedv with a fire-place, 'm the] centre . of the-«ooin^i will always be found to ahßwer.;t^re^uJrev mepts of- ; the 'children m, the matter>of: pare;: air. There are two door* to :'the buddingj one being approached by aporeh^ entrancei In the latter a lavatory; has been fitted; upwith a frame m the]' centre, for, hanging cloaks and hats, but the; future, which attracted: most. notice; from those, who visited tjhe building was the handsome appearance of the desks, ahd; the convenient way , m which they' are, !;.'j^ted i -]'^,i.;.-..!l&jfy".a»e erected on a kind of slopmg platf6rm, or gallery, as it is technically, termed are 20 desks m all, and they are fitted up. with a novel arrahgementlifoi >h^lding.eacn ; of the pupil's pensi whils^ the ink-bottles are so fitted into W MO, .t&jat they can

be easily removed when found necessary. Underneath the desk there is a place for holding slates, books <tc., with partition* between, so that each pupil will have an allotted space to himself or herself, as the .case may be. If, as has been preached by pne^ofj greatest men whom England h*V produced, " cleanliness is next togodlineas,'* 'thenvall that will be required for the WoodvilleSchoolwillbeateacherwhohashismind impressed with the full force of that wis* niaxmyand who will, therefore, be likely ,to enforce it upon the minds of his pupils. The Hawke's Bay Education Board has done its part well, through its architect, and it wul not be the Board's fault if tha children are not taught 'habits that, shall cling to them m after life.' There are two very fine black-boards ready for-the master's hands as soon as he takes possession of -tha school. In addition to the number of desks mentioned, there are ten- small forms, each of vrhich will seat five or six children. Altogether, the school will afford comfortable, accommodation for about 160 pupils of • all ages. In answer to my enquiries,! was informed that as sponas the school-house was finished fully IW. children, if not more, would be attending hv' Very few, taking, a cursory glance at Woddvifiej -would b», inclined to believe that such a thing was possible j but I couhiJvery readily understand i|^ As we. ctipve. ii^to Woodville m the evening, we saw a large dray-load of. healthy-looking, chubby-faced children returning towards the Gforge fipm school, which is not so thickly populated si nearer tothe v centre K qf thejtown. Indeed, to see. fchsi number o£ people living m and about Woodvule. the traveller, w^uld. have to go 'off somewhat, f rom, eithcp.of- f^e two main lines ( of road. The only fault which I : regret- to be able to find with the^. handsome builpling -which I have attempted giving a" description of is with regard to the construction, of' the closets, and also their close proximity to the schooh Instead of' being' constructed on the dry "earth system^ there, is an attempt to perpetuate the old abpmina- : of the cess-pit— not tp 4 ' anj gjeafc]] depth] certainly, butt, quite deep., enough t<> breed' the germs of disease amongst\;^e children/ attending the school. People will befound] .to. say, "Oh, the earth systo^wp'^ld not. answer;" but these same. poopl»' v are. not' always aware that there- has beenpsWted. for several years qpast an earth-closetl with: a leyer motion, which discharges sand, earth, ' or ashes, whichever may happen to be m/ preferred, every time it ia; used. > The only condition required for thorough disinfection is, that the earth used shall be well- dried,' -and not aUowed to get damp— surely not a"' very hard matter. I take -leave to bring] this-very important matter under the notice ] ofv the, local School Committee,- in the hope that they wiU. immedktely. take steps to' 'have this one abominafcion.;ini connection, with theb^, handsome,' school. building dona' away .with, the Education department in' Victoria Introdjiced. i^e. r dry , earth closet/ 'system m connection with the public schools m that Colony some years since, and among. a number of teacher*! with whom I happened to be acquainted, I always heard that system spoken of as being an 1 unqualified success.' It is scarcely necessary to add that'the .usual, belfry is erected. It is ' situated at, the, .porch end, and is an additionalyiet, off to ' the' building. 2;The, contract price," Il waa given to understand, was something* over £500. The architect is Mr. W. AvDJ|aeby, ' :of Napier ; and 'the contractor 'xffir.' J. S.owery,.of WpQ^dy-iile. . The budding,] wherr completed, will'certainly be a credit to^tb,' architect and "contractor. ... - The*,' timbprj IV. believe, was' supplied' by Messrs, Richter, Naiihesfcadj and Co., of Palmerston, .and," appeared to be of the-very best dWription. ' I m^s't ' &fe'Jomifr ■$&■■ thank*; iPme" off Mr. " ho Kndly ' c&me from tbeir/residen^^af^^^ and gave me all the details of .the , Mr. Murphy is making ' some moire add!-; fcions to hiß present; commodious] stables," which have bees^ found necessary, to meet, the constantly increasing traffic of- the, place. . v . '■' The owners of town sections arc asking high ppices for;, then: .land, reheard tiaen\ talking of £200 to £30^, and as high as.; ■ £350 being offered, for quarter-acre, sections.' Not a bad price to ask for land.which only] i a very few years back was a dense bush. All I can say is, that I hope the, confidence] i of i the inhabitants may be justified by an in-,' creasing trade, and an increasing prosperity. ''