The Southern Cross. PUBLISHED WEEKLY. Invercargill, Saturday, April 8.

Southern Cross, Volume 1, Issue 2, 8 April 1893, Page 8

The Southern Cross. PUBLISHED WEEKLY. Invercargill, Saturday, April 8.

With the approach of the long nights of winter, so favourable to study and self-improvement, a few words in reference to a subject that has frequently been discussed in Invercargill are in order. We refer to the establishment of a technical school. The. desirableness of such an institution in these days, when industrial skill and scientific knowledge enter so largely into many callings in life, none will question, and yet, so far as this town is concerned, the matter has hitherto ended, as so many mundane projects do —in talk. At the same time we cannot as a town be justly charged with intellectual apathy. On the contrary, lecturers on literary and social subjects who have visited the place from time to time have complimented citizens on the manner in w r hich they gather to listen to their addresses. Other proofs of the absence of mental laziness are to be found in the enthusiasm with which musical and debating societies are carried on here. The younger members of the teaching profession resident in the , district were some time ago, thanks to the efforts of the Rev. J. Ferguson, Mr R. McJlab, and several other gentlemen interested in educational matters, provided with the means of turning their Saturday afternoons in the winter season to good account through the collegiate classes formed for their benefit. These classes, which have answered their purpose admirably, will shortly be re-opened for another session. Another equally useful institution has lately come into being in the shape of an art society, whose promoters appear to have taken the word “ thorough ” as their motto. What is wanted now is the formation of technical classes. Splendid results have been achieved by means of those carried on in Dunedin, where the opportunity for self-culture was welcomed by a large number of the youth of the city, who might otherwise have idled away their leisure hours, or have been left to pursue their studies alone, and thus missed the stimulus arising from friendly emulation. In connection with this subject we notice that Mr A. D. Riley, director of the Wellington technical school, lately invited the master tradesmen of the city to meet him to discuss arrangements for the coming session.

Wlio will begin the good work here P All the elements essential to the success of an educational enterprise of the kind exist locally, and with a. little energy and organisation on the part of our citizens the thing could be done. Here is a chance for someone to distinguish himself. Who will take it P