THE HIGH SCHOOL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 310, 27 June 1912, Page 4

THE HIGH SCHOOL.

A NKW DEPARTURE. UP-TO- DATE DORMITORIES. Monday next will see the inauguration of a new and important departure in connection with the New Plymouth High School. The dormitory accommodation for the boy scholars will he thrown open for use. Hitherto, students from the country have been handicapped somewhat on account of the institution being purely a day scholars' school. Now, however, the Board of Governors has erected roomy and splendidly appointed living quarters attached to the residence of tfihe headmaster. Mr. Moyes. This building, also, has been enlarged and renovated. A new wing has been added to it, comprising two servants' bedrooms, and the kitchen has had substantial alterations and additions, while a large scullery and a roomy pantry have also been attached. The old building now shelters the headmaster's quarters (comprising a dining-room, drawingroom and three bedrooms), two servants' bedrooms, a matron's room and a sick room. A wide corridor connects the old building with the new, which is constructed of concrete, finished outside with rough cast, white. It is intersected with a passage, and the first two rooms encountered are the senior boys' study and" the masters' study. The dining-room is situated on the High School side, and without pandering to the luxurious is at once the last word in comfort <tnd design. In size it is 30 feet by 20 feet, is splendidly lighted, and contains a recess-backed fireplace. Like the whole of the other rooms in the new wing, it is finished inside with white i plaster, has rimu-oiled ceilings, and is lit by electricity. Adjoining is the resident master's bed and sitting-room combined—its dimensions are 16 feet by 10 feet—and past it is the main entrance from the High School side into an eight by six feet corridor, with a cloakroom just off it. The dormitories are situated in the back of the building, two on either side of the corridor. Each is 37ft. din. by 12ft., and leaves nothing to be desired from the point of view of comfort and hygiene. For the present, only three are being fitted up as bedrooms, the remaining one, which contains a fireplace, being set aside as the boys' study. Adjacent to the dormitories are two bathrooms, fitted with cold showersi Detached from the building are the washhouse, bootroom, storeroom, and a darkroom for those inclined to photography. The new quarters contain numerous handy niches, which have been utilised for storerooms and the like. Already half the space available for boarders has been taken up, and as soon as the fact that the. New Plymouth High School possesses a boarding-school that will compare favorably with any like institution in the Dominion, is more widely known throughout Taranaki, the number ,»f inmates should be largely increased. The new building, which was designed by Mr. F. Messenger, was built by Messrs. R. L. Roberts and iSon. The sub-contractors were: Smart Bros., plumbing; Reed, plastering; Nippert Bros., painting; Boch, brick-laying. The furnishings were supplied by the Red Post Furnishing Company. In keeping with the advent of the dormitories, the school grounds, which compiise fourteen acres, are being extensively improved. The cricket field has been ploughed, levelled and re-sown; a miniature rifle range has been eTected, while foundation work for swimming baths and a tennis court is well in hand. A few experimental agricultural plots have also been put down. In order to meet the convenience of boarders, the school gymnasium is to have an electric light installation, and is to be fitted up generally.