EDUCATION STANDARD.

Taranaki Daily News, 16 December 1916, Page 6

EDUCATION STANDARD.

COXSIDERF.D TOO HIGH RAILWAYMEX'S PROTECT. At the quarterly meeting of the Xew P l ;.mouth broach of the Associated Society of "Railway Servants, the followi.i;.. resolution was unanimously carried: ''lhat this branch enters ,i strong proGst against the action of the Education Department in raising the standard foi the elimination of children of Standard VI. of our primary schools, and that the Minister of Education be asked to r;vtrt to the regulations previously in fc:ce.

The proposer of tho resolution said his attention had been drawn to a protest made on this question by the Wellington Branch, nad from enquiries he had made he was certain that if was the di.ty of every branch to endorse.the protest. Xo good reason for the change it..; lie had been shown, and it was clearly a retrograde step, whieh would ail'ect I! i- children of the working class niori thai', any other. The seconder of the motion was ee;rally emphatic that the move was a wrong one, and he could not conceive that the Hon. Mr. Hanan, who claimed to be a Radical, could have agreed to penalise the children of working men. That was what the alteration amounted to, iiiul in addition it had beer, stated that n Xorthern paper had' mentioned that it was current talk "that not only had the standard been raised, bir. the inspectors had been advised to limit the patses to liO per cent, of the candidates. Mr. S. d. Smith, who is connected with various educational institutions, explained the whole tosition to (lie meeting, the regulations previously in force, and the existing regulations, and the. effect "it would have. He strongly favored a protest being made, first because any curtailment of facilities for the educating of the children, and more especially the children of parents who were not in a position to pay for secondary or technical education, was most decidedly a retrograde step. It was not a real hardship to a child who failed to gain n proficiency certificate if the patent of that child was able to bear the cost ol sending the child to a secondary school; hut where a child failed to gain such u certificate, and the parent was not able to pay for that child to /receive tuition in a secondary school, it would mean in hundreds of -eases denying to ihildren the right to have a chance to drink to the- full of life's enjoyments. Education is the worker's 'hope, and if you abandon miv of the facilities in the educational world that have been hardly von, then you are doing the little children of to-day and to-morrow a grave injustice. The Hon. the Minister for Education has rightly demanded greater iir tional efficiency, but in his (the speaker's) opinion, and in tho opinion of others, the effect of the new regulations vns going to be that the old system of "eiaiii and more cram." which retards rather than helps efficiency, was going to be re-introduced. In conclusion, Mr. Smith pointed out that-their protest wculd give to those responsible the oppi.rtunitv of endeavoring to justify the ohanec. 'He did not think (hey entile! justify it; on the other hand, lie was ai'iaiei that the financial phase had been P(i»sidered to the detriment of more important phases.—Railway Review.

THE REVOLUTION OF HOUSELIGHTING. MOM WOOD FIRE TO WIZARD LAMPS. .. From prehistoric day?, when tho "cave man'' illuminated his rock shelter by means of a wood fire in order to scare away wild beasts, and at the same time enable him to devote the long dark hours of evening to the making of implements and preparing for the chase on tiie following day, artificial lighting lias !iA.e.n the most important factor in making home life cheerful ami enjoyable. In course of time these primitive men developed a rude domestic economy, and discovered that by binding a number of thin strips of resinous wood together and using the bundle as ft torch. :i brighter light was produced, and a great saving of fuel effected.'

The Hare lamp or rush lights were in vogue for thousands of years, and it is not until P.ible times that we read of ti:e next advance in domestic lighting, when olive oil was used as an illiiminav.t. The production of olive oil being expensive and restricted to a small area, this improvement-affected only a limited number of people, and was only a slight advance on tho "cave man's" method, because the" smoke and soot given off prohibited its use to a great extent in many of the beautiful palaces and temples, which were built of white mirblc. Tlie tallow candle, with its unsteady light and bad odors, was the next step in advance, and many careful housewives to-day can testifythat these are not its only drawbacks. Grease spots on carpets and furniture generally follow in the wake of a carelessly carried candle.

Tlie discovery of kerosene revolutionised lighting in city ami country districts, 'ami the kerosene lamp supplies the illuminant in most country homo and store to-day. How many beautiful homes in New Zealand lose their charm during the evening hours, when home life should he most, attractive, because of an extravagant ami dim light, Headtiful furniture and 'beautiful clothes cannot look their best under such circumstances. The method of lighting by acetylene gas has most of the objections of kerosene, beside? being even more, dangerous, the filling find cleaning of carbide travs beinjr both a risky and unpleasant ilutv, while tlje cost, of running is higher than for any other lightin"%oid. The discovery of coal gas. and, biter, electric light, has almost, completely stopped the use of kcioscnc lamp* in" fit' l "* anil towns, hut only those able to enjoy the advantages these great conveniences offer. Xot until the advent of the wonderful invention of "Wizard Incandescent ("las Light" has the country householder or business man been able to procure a limiting plan for his home or business premise's having practically all'.Hie advantages of both electric light awl coal gas, with these, important improvements—Lower Cost of Running and Absolute lleliability. Farmers linil the '•Wizard" Lighting System makes the home bright and cheerful. Ileal value is received for the money spjut on the plant and money is saved every time a "Wizard" Lamp' is lighted. Vp-to-datc storekeepers use '-Wizard" Lamps and find that the brilliant light is a great attraction to Die store, and the saving in the cost of lighting, together with the extra business that always follows, pavs for the initial cost of the phv.it in a fen- mmiihs. .Messrs. Karly Kros.. .V.) Cuba Street, Wellington, will be pekwd (~ send full narticular.s, ami prices C 7