STRATFORD DISTRICT PAGE

Taranaki Daily News, 15 November 1926, Page 10

STRATFORD DISTRICT PAGE

(FROM OUR RESIDENT REPORTERS)

Telephone Nos. 152 Office 218 Private

Telephone Nos. 152 Office 218 Private

A GREAT OPPORTUNITY LOST.

VALUE OF BETTER EDUCATION. Arising out of a paragraph in the director’s report considerable discussion took place at the meeting of the Stratford Technical High School Board of Governors on Friday night, and it was finally decided to send to the conference a remit asking the department to make provision in the proposed amendments to the Education Act so that all pupils entering secondary schools must remain there for three years. The paragraph in question was as follow’s: —“It is remarkable that a large number of boys have left the school during the year. A big majority of these have gone to work on farms, more especially on the farms owned by their people. This appears to reflect the economic position of the farming community at the present time.” The chairman, Mr. H. Trimble, said.that through -boys going back to the farm and not being at school long enough they were losing a great opportunity. The position was far from satisfactory, he said. It was quite likely that these boys would drift into ordinary labourers because of their insufficient scientific knowledge, a knowledge which might so easily be obtained in school. Mr. Trimble instanced cases which had come under his personal notice. “We want boys with scientific knowledge,” he said, “with more scientific knowledge than their parents.” Mr. Amess considered that the financial position of the fathers now was often such that they could not afford to employ labour. Twenty boys of the type mentioned had left, mostly out of the second year classes. The drift began in the beginning of the milking season. The Rev. J. L. A. Kayll thought that the new Education Act should make it obligatory, at least morally, for hoys to remain in secondary schools for not less than three years. The fact that they thought they knew more and discovered later that they did not, caused grave social problems, he said. Such boys sometimes developed revolutionary tendencies as a consequence. Mr. Kayll said he was speaking, not wildly, but from his own investigations. The great development of technical education in New Zealand was a costly step; but the country could not afford to go back in she matter. PENNY WISE AND POUND FOOLISH. The plea that the parents could not afford to keep the boys at school was, in Mr. Kayll’s opinion, a case of being a penny wise and a pound foolish. A little knowledge was a dangerous thing, and the speaker asked the board if they thought it possible to approach the Government and ask it to give full consideration to the question of making it compulsory, except in cases where exemption would be necessary, for pupils to remain in the schools longer. - The chairman pointed out that an alternative course would be the raising of the school age. Mr. Kayll stressed the value of the parents “sticking” a little more hardship so that the children might come back to them better equipped for their trade. Mr. J. Cocker drew attention to the present economical position and to the effects of the drop in the price of butterfat. At the present time, he said, unskilled labour was better paid than trained. This, Mr. Kayll contended, was simply a phase and not a permanent condition. The better trained boy was more useful to his father than the other. Mr. Cocker stated that a large number of farmers could not afford to pay for labour this year. It was hard for parents, he said, to take boys back to the farm after a year or two at school. Mr. Kayll, however, did not hold the latter view, and declared that the community mind was not yet alive to the value of education. He instanced the educational policy of the Scottish settlements in New’ Zealand, where the people lived frugally to give their children a good education, with the result that now

they, both parents and children, were prosperous. Mr. Kayll then moved that the depart- 1 ment be approached with a view to making it compulsory for pupils to remain in secondary schools for three years. POSITION AT STRATFORD. Mr. Amess said the matter had been I dealt with all over New Zealand. “Our school is extraordinary for the number it carries on into the third year,” he continued. The Director of Education, on his recent visit, was very much surprised at the number of pupils who went on to the third and fourth years in the school. Tliere was no doubt that the department had considered the matter, and in order to ensure longer attendance at secondary schools it was tightening up free places. The Stratford Technical High School was on a much better basis than city schools. Since he had written his report, three agricultural bursuries had been granted in the school. The boys who received these —by staying on at school for a year after matriculating—would be able to carry on their agricultural studies and might possibly be able to take agricultural degrees. “Fifty per cent, of the scholars studying agriculture under Professor Perrin, at Victoria College, are from this school,” said Mr. Amess. One of these was always top in the examinations. “The boys who are taking the advantages offered are making good,” he concluded. Mr. Kayll’s motion would mean getting better material in the school, though possibly there would be fewer pupils. Mr. Cocker opposed the motion on account of the present financial position. After considerable discussion over the roll and the number of boys who take agricultural courses it was decided to make the motion a remit to the conference where all boards will be able to discuss the matter, Mr. Kayll agreing to this. Mr. Cocker was the only dissentient, saying he did not like the idea of compulsion. Mr. Kayll concluded the discussion by saying that those who did not like com, pulsion could stay put. “What we want to see is efficiency in the backbone of the country,” he said. HISTORICAL PAINTINGS. Depicting scenes of over 60 years ago with wonderful clearness and with exceptional attention to detail, three beautiful water-colours, the work of the late Mr. F. H. Arden, an old pioneer of New Plymouth, were shown to a Daily News representative to-day. The pictures are the property of Mr. Hugh Good, of Stratford, and are not only attractive because of their wealth of colouring, but are exceedingly interesting because of the historical scenes they represent. Two of the pictures show the armed constabulory station near White Cliffs, beyond Urenui, and are evidently painted from opposite sides of the camp, giving a clear indication of the nature of the bush-clad country and the type of fortifications used in the early Maori Wars. The third picture is exceptionally welT done and represents the steamer Airedale high on the rocks near Urenui. Mr. Arden was evidently a master of his art, for the pictures convey a realistic impression of the then condition of what are now closely, settled districts. THE NGAERE POST OFFICE. By arranging with the proprietor of the Ngaere store to attend to the receipt and despatch of purely mail matter, a temporary service has been given to the settlers of the Ngaere postal district, whose post office was recently closed owing to the resignation of the postmistress. The department hopes to be able to re-open the office on a restricted hours service before long and, meanwhile, the money order and such business may be conducted through the agency of the rural delivery service, which will carry the mails from Stratford to Ngaere.

GENERAL ITEMS. 1 At the meeting of the Stratford Technical High School Board on Friday, the matter of calling and accepting tenders for the erection of a boulder retaining wall on the northern boundary of the school grounds was left in the hands of the works committee. This committee had I already had an estimate prepared (1) for the cost of erecting a concrete wgll; and (2) of the cost of making a rock fence on which red ice-plants could be grown. The latter estimate was considerably smaller and, as this type of wall would effect a considerable improvement to the appearance of the grounds, it. was favoured by the board. At present a painted corrugated iron fence divides the school grounds from the adjoining property, but this fence is on top of a narrow bank which, it is considered, does not give sufficient support. A retaining wall is therefore necessary and the matter of erecting one is now reaching finality. The wall will be 234 ft. in length and will probably have a maximum height of 2ft. 6in. It will consist of piled boulders set in earth in Which a beautiful red-coloured ice-plant will be grown. Owing to the rain which fell on Saturday morning the opening, of the Sportsdale Tennis courts, which should have taken place that afternoon, was postponed. On Sunday morning a peculiar accident happened to Mr. F. Olliver while delivering milk on his usual round. He had driven the cart at a smart pace round the corner of Regan and Silvia Streets, when the tyre came off one wheel and fell unnoticed by the roadside. The drag on the cart in rounding, the corner caused the other wheel to collapse, leaving the vehicle a hopeless wreck as far as that morning’s delivery was concerned. Two boys, who were in the cart at the time, managed to support the milk cans in an upright position. AN EXCELLENT PROGRAMME. The programme presented to a packed : house at the King’s Theatre on Saturday was an exceptionally good one, every moment of the long entertainment being enjoyable. The ever popular screen snapshots, a really funny comedy, starring the famous Aubrey, and a very interesting gazette were the supports of the two great attractions —the first chapter of the exciting serial, “The Radio Detective,” and the picturisation of one of Peter B. Kyne's most famous recent books, ‘The Enchanted Hill.” This is a Paramount picture and is well up to the Paramount standard. The story of “The Enchanted Hill” is briefly: Lee Purdy, the owner of a ranch on the Enchanted Hill, is a retired aviator who finds his wartime ’planes of use on his ranch. His invalid sister is in love with Link Hallowell, his foreman. The Bar K ranch adjoining t'he Hill is managed by Ira Todd, who, acting under instructions of a Los Angeles lawyer, tries to harass Purdy sufficiently to cause him to sell out. Purdy proves one too many for him and while waiting for the train one day he defeats by a clever ruse one of Todd’s ranchmen. On this occasion he meets Gail Armsby, a young lady who has recently inherited the Bar K ranch. Todd, being in hospital through a fight with Purdy, is not at the station to meet her and she becomes the guest of Purdy and his sister. She is instinctively drawn to Purdy and listens to his advice about her ranch. A visit to the Box K proves Purdy’s assertions in connection with its management and the foreman is dismissed. Before leaving, however, he tells the girl Todd’s version of Purdy’s character, and consequently her friendship cools. Attacks are still being, made mysteriously on Purdy, but at last Hallowell stumbles on a clue while he is in the city. Developments rapidly follow, and eventually Todd and hi, colleagues are defeated. The plot is a most exciting one and, as the photograph and technical points of the pictur are excellent, good entertainment is provided. The serial, “The Radio Detective," which will be completed in ten weekly instalments, provides numerous thrills and is most exciting throughout. The programme will be repeated to-night ('Monday).