OLD BOYS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 178, 14 December 1912, Page 4

OLD BOYS.

A REUNION. . "Old boys" of all ages and varioua walks and stations in life foregathered at the High School last night, on the occasion of their first annual reunion. The evening, which was devoted to song and story, with a few speeches—brief and to the point—sandwiched in, was very convivial and of the most pleasant ''order. The big attendance augured well for the future of the society, and amply testified to the marked interest taken in the welfare of the school by the old boys. After justice had been done to an e*. cellent repast, Mr. J. E. Wilson, president of the Old Boys' Association, pro* posed the health of "The Schooh" He touched lightly on the past, and went on to speak of the possibilities under th« new management, forecasting a most successful future. It was not necessary for parents to send their children away toother parts of the Dominion for highee education, when they had such an ex« cellent institution in New Plymouth both as regarded the school itself and the boarding-house. He referred to the cup presented by the old boys for aitnual competition at the school sports, and assured the masters of the hearty co-operation and interest of the Old Boys' Association. (Applause.) In thanking the old boys very heartily for the manner in which they had honored the toast of the school, the president (Mr. W. H Moyes) said it was the happiest evening he had spent at the High School. He honestly wished that they were all ioys! He referred to the vital importance in the walfare of any school that the well-sustained interest' of the old boys meant. He added: "Twelve months ago, when I came here, I was told that it was no use going to the old boys. I was told that the old 'hbya hated" the school. | only wish that the people who thought fit to speak in that manner were here to-night. During the laßt ten years I have been present at a good many gatherings of this nature, and to-night's func tion, although not quite as large, is quite as good as any I hav.e attended." Speaking of his ambitions for the future tl the school, Mr. Moyes said that it could not yet compare with the other big schools, and it could not hope to untU it had everything to attract pupils that elher schools had. In the first place the school had no swimming baths; secondly, it did not possess a really good gymnasium. It had no assembly hall, and he looked around in vain for a! single record of the past. Not a single photograph adorned the walls. It was hie ambition to secure all these things for the school in the next year or so. He felt sure that if an appeal was made, the old boys would be willing to come forward and assist. A small contribution from each old boy would mean £3OO, which sum, when .augmented with! a Government subsidy, would suffice to erect a new gymnasium. In ChristchurcH they had no difficulty in publicly subscribing £SOOO for Christ's College, and Ifelson College had also been greatly as* sisted in the same way. In New Plymouth £IOOO would give them all that they wanted. It was simply "these other things" that attracted bovs that the local High School had unfortunately not got. He pointed to the big prospectuses issued by many of the other schools of the Dominion, and instanced how, with their photographs of their swimming baths and the like, they naturally attracted boys, to the detriment of other schools less fortunately situated. The school should show something to prospective pupils, and it rested with his audience, as old boys, to make the school what they would like to see it. Ha knew the Board of Governors would provide.all the requirements he had outlined, had they only got the monev, but the trouble was that their finances were .just now extremely limited. Concluding, Mr. Moyes asked to be supplied, on behal of the school, with a photograph of each old bov, for the purpose of having some tangible record of the past. The collecting of old boys' photographs was done in other schools, and if the practice was initiated locally, he would see that they were framed. ■ (Laughter.) Dr. Fookes proposed the health of "the Master of the School," and remarked that a really live bead was just as necessary to a school as an energetic old boys' association. He did not think that it was flattering to Mr. Moyes to say the school had a "really live head." At the present time they all fully recognised that in Mr. Moyes they had a principal who was going to make the school go!" He thought Mr. Moyes would agree with him in stating that as principal he had a really fine set of men associated with him as assistant masters—men who were eager to see the school go ahead as he was. Brief acknowledgment of the kindly expressions of goodwill tendered to them was then made by the various masters, and other toasts honored were: "Absent Old Boys," proposed by Mr. F. C. J. Bellringer, and responded to bv Mr. E. Humphries; "Kindred Associations," proposed by Mr. A. R. Standish and responded to by Messrs. Preston, K. Bain, and J. Clarke. Several musical items were contributed.