NEAR AND FAR

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 212, 2 May 1932, Page 4

NEAR AND FAR

Escaped Prisoner. Several Otorohanga residents declare that the escaped prisoner, Charles Bennett, was seen in Otorohanga on Tuesday evening. The escapee knows the district thoroughly, and could probably avoid arrest for a considerable period by taking to the scrub or forest-clad hills. Forgetting Anzac. "It is not so many years since the Great War commenced; it is but 17 years since the memorahle landing at Gallipoli and it is still less since the Armistice was s.igned. Yet already there is a suggestion that the sanetity of Anzac Day is being forgotten," said Mr. B. J. Jacobs, president of the Palmertson North Returned Soldiers' Association, when sounding a warning to New Zealanders for the necessity of keeping the anniversary an evergreen memory. There has been a suggestion that Anzac Day should he cellbrated on a Sunday, while some schools have been holding the services on other days. We should alwayS remember that Anzac Day is a national sentiment and it is not to he tarmshed or forgotten," he declared, in appealing to all to keep sacred the memory /of the men at Gallipoli. Governor's Silk Hat. An unrehearsed incident caused considerable amusement at the carillon dedication ceremony in Wellington. While his Excellency, Lord Bledisloe, was delivering his speech, his silk hat, which had been placed on the balustrade in front of him, was taken hy the wind and deposited in a pond attached to the campanile. When his Excellency had occasion in his speech tq refer to the wind, he was prompted, to lay emphasis on the word. The head-piece was duly returned to him, although he remarked that he did not expect to see it again. Wellington citizens wondered if their Govenor-General was insinuating. 1 School Prizes Condemned. That the present system of awarding school prizes often resulted in, injustice to the children was the opinion expressed hy Mr. J. C. H. Somerville at the quarterly meeting of the Otago School Committees' Association, says an exchange. Under the system now in vogue, Mr. Somerville said, it .was the same brilliant children who usually got the prizas year after year, whereas he considered that the awards should be given to those who had displayed the most industry. In his opinion, any money collected as a prize fund should he devoted to establishing class libraries, which would prove beneficial to such pupild as !had notj' the advantage of suitable books in their homes. Attendance prizes should be abolished; they were an ahomination, as they frequently encouraged children in illhealth ta attend school when they would he better at home. Moreover, these children often spread illness among the others. In any case, parents should be thankful, irrespective of any reward, that their children were sufficiently robust to attend school. It was decided that the subject of school prizes should be fully discussed at the annual meeting c-f the association.