" Measures, not Men." SATURDAY, MAY 30, 1868. ~

Tuapeka Times, Volume I, Issue 15, 30 May 1868, Page 2

" Measures, not Men." SATURDAY, MAY 30, 1868. ~

"We are under the necessity of holding over our usual leader and rsport of the Town Council and several communications. At Tokomairiro, on Thursday, Win. Longhurst, of the firm of Lpnghurst and M'Masjwr^ butchers, was charged before J. E, Haitian^, Esq., R.M., with forging the name of Adam Duff to a bill of exchange of L 26, with intent to defraud the Bank of New Zealand. Mr. Macassey prosecuted for the Bank, and Mr: W. D. Stewart appeared for the prisoner. The depositions of several witnesses were taken, after which the Bench considered a prima facie case had been made, and the prisoner was committed for trial. The case has created great excitement in Tokomairiro. We beg to draw attention to an advertisement of the. Tuapeka Dramatic Club in another column, where it will be seen they purpose giving an entertainment in aid of the funds of the Club on Friday next, the sth proximo. The attractions on the occasion will be varied. The reading of a prologue, by Edgar Bastings, Esq., of Dunedin, will open the entertainment ; and the pieces selected, " How to oblige Benson," and '.'Box and Cox." being extremely humorous, will no doubt create great amusement. The performers, too, are all local ladies and gentlemen, and that alone is calculated to g've a full house. We are glad to announce that Mr. J. Hay, of Dunedin, who was to deliver the second of the course of lectures on behalf of the Athenaeum last evening, found it convenient to postpone the reading of his valuable paper, formerly read before the Grocers' Association, Dunedin, till this evening, at eight o'clock. We trust the weather will be more favorable than it was yesterday, and that Mr. Hay will have a large audience. The first of the winter course of Headings of the- Blue Spur Mutual Improvement Society took place in the School on Friday evening, the 22nd inst.; there was bnt a thin attendance. Mr. Richard Williams was unanimously voted to the chair, who in a few introductory remarks called upon the President, Mr. M'Lelland, to read a paper on " Music." Mr. M'Leiland then read an eloqeent paper, which' wje | regret we cannot afford space to insert. On concluding, a vote of thanks was passed to him, ; after which several readings and recitations were given. The subject of debate for next meeting (las"t evening) was " Horses versus cattle : which are of the greatest service to «*»?* " t " " " ■■' ■'

The examination of the scholars of the Lawrence District School took place in the Schoolroom on Thursday last. Mr. Bastings, President of the School Committee, and Mr. Jameson, watched the examination, in accordance with the desire of the Committee. The Rev. Mr. Martin, and the Rev. Mr. M'NicolL and Mr. Herbert were present during part of the examination, and we were glad to observe several of the parents of the children present. The examination was commenced by Mr. Bastings rejidjng tha story of " The Gluttonous Bear," of which the children in the first "and' secodd classes, as a test of their composition and spelling, had to write an epitome, as far as possible in their own words. While they were left to this exercise, the younger children were examined by Mrs. Searle in their letters ; and we were highly pleased with the catechetical system adopted by the teacher. First a sentence is repeated by her, which the children repeat after her ; then in rotation each child spells a word in the sentence, and so on. The examination in reading was very satisfactory. Several of the children, especially the girls, and one or two of the boys, read with correct punctuation and inflection bpth in prose and poetry. The Key. Messrs. Martin and M'Nicoll examined the children in one or two branches. Ab a rule, the children showed, by their examination, correct orthography, even in the most difficult words. The teacher acknowledged the second class to be the dullest in the School, and the one he had most difficulty with; but we thought the reading of that plass excelled the first. The highest class, the teacher (Mr. Stenhouse), for the sake of convenience, is obliged to form into two divisions, the first • division consisting of those most advanced in the School. At this point, the first and second classes were examined on their lesson in composition ; and it was remarkable to observe that some tffQ or three of the scholars had nearly the whole of the story of " The Gluttonous Bear " committed to memory, Two or three others, we were pleased to notice, not only introduced extraneous matter into their versions of the story, but gave it in different "■words, showing, if not as good a memory, a decidedly livelier imagination. The grammar class was next examined, and went through their parsing of sentences very correctly. Of Old Testament History the children showed a considerable knowledge ; and the principal epochs of British History, up to the time of Charles I were apparently well known to them. In ,the geography of Europe and their adopted land they were very apt. The Latin class was not so far advanced as we should have liked to see it, only having reached the second declension. They were next examined in Arithmetic, from the lowest rules and the lowest classes upwards ; and in this branch of education, as is gonerally the case, we notictd two or three particularly to excel. Aptness in figures is perhaps more a gift than aptness in any other branch of education j if there is not the natural ability in this branch, it is a most difficult thing to make a good arithmetician. In writing, both in the form of copies and essays, the good ones were so numerous, it was difficult to say which was best. The children then sang two or three pieces of music on the Tonic-sol-fa system, which showed they were not forgotten in this important branch of education. After the examination closed, Mr. Bastings said that he would read the names of the scholars to whom prizes had been awarded, they wer«» as follows: — ENG-liSH. — ;lst division, Ist class, Alfred Anderson, Jane Fowler ; 2nd do., do., Fred. Vause, Jessie Pope. 2nd clasa, Charles Campbell, Selina Bennet j 3rd class, — Anderson, Ann Fitzgerrald. arithmetic. — Ist division, Ist class, Thomas Robertson ; 2nd do., do., Horace Bastings and James Campbell. Ist division, 2nd class, Mary Ann Anderson; 2nd division, do., Ann Lee and Adam Darton. Extra prize for Bible knowledge, Edgar Bastings ; do. for progress made during session, Ann Anderson, whiting. — Ist class, Alfred Anderson, William Little, Jane Fowler. • 2nd class, Fred. Vause,, Edgar Bastings, Lizzie Treweek, Mary Ann Anderson. 3rd class, Charles Campbell, Duncan Campbell, Caroline Richards, Selina Bennet. 4th class, George Treweek, Fred. Treweek, Betsy Lee, Mary Ann Boland. A prize for the best essay will be decided upon, and the prize given on the day of fete. [We are informed that the prizes have arrived from j Dunedin.] Mr. Bastings continued by saying that he had great pleasure in telling the children that Mr. Jameson a.nd himself were highly pleased with the rapid progress they had made; and he and Mr. Jameson hoped they would go on making similar progress. Those of them who had not got a prize must not be discouraged, but gird up their loins to the work, and try to surpass at the next examination those who had got prizes that day. He further said that it waa the intention of the Committee to appoint some day next week for the distribution of prizes, when the children would have a treat. On Mr. Bastings concluding these remarks, the children made a great demonstration with their hands and feet, after which the Scheol was dismissed. We should fail in our duty in publishing this report, did we not acknowledge the great tact and ability shown by Mr. Stenhouse, the teacher of the School. The system of catechising which is adopted is calculated to draw out the young idea. The advancement of several of the scholars in nearly every branch taught at the School reflected very great credit on Mr. Stenhouse ; and we heartily regret that his time, owing to the largnesa of the School, cannot be more fully directed to the more advanced scholars, so that in a Bhort time we might be able to say, that Lawrence Djatrict School has within it some scholars who had passed the higher branches of elementary education, and are prepared to enter any college which may be institutedin Dunedin. | We are glad to learn that a benefit on [ behalf of the. Tuapeka Hospital will take ' piwfft t£«'T*viet OB *• lttti'proripw.

The other day, a dealer in mutton in the Tuapeka djstrict had an altercation with an Irishman. In the course of his remarks, the mutton dealer taunted the Irishman by asking him the following question :—": — " Do you know that a countryman of yours received the first prize at the Paris Exhibition?" "No; foi what ? " asked the Irishman. ' ' For ignorance, '" said the mutton dealer. "Well," said tht Irishman in reply, with the usual ready wit characteristic of his countrymen, "be dad, it was well that you were not there, or Ireland would have lost the credit of it ! " In the Sportsman's Arms Hotel, Wetherstones, on Tuesday evening last, as two Cornish miners were wrestling, in play, one of them fell, and when lifted up, it was found that one of his legs was bioken by the falL As soon as possible a horse and cart were procured, and he was conveyed to the Hospital. We believe he is a miner named Allan, of the Blue Spur, and has only just recovered from a severe internal injury he received by a fall of earth, which we reported some weeks ago. A meeting of the Tuapeka Athenaeum was held on Saturday evening last. Present : Mr. Hay, M.P.C. (in the chair), Messrs. Brown, M.P.C., Hayes. t Stenhouse, Morrison, Jameson^ Nicholson, and the Secretary (Mr. Tolcher). The minutes of previous meeting were read and confirmed. The Secretary read a letter from Mr. Grayburn, enclosing the M.S. of his lecture, and at the same time stating that he was unable to deliver it personally, but enclosed it for the purpose of any gentleman reading it. He, however, did not wish the lecture published. Mr. Jamieson moved, " That the letter be received, and acknowledged with thanks." Mr. Morrison, on behalf of sub-committee regarding the site of th« new building, wished to state that he got the site altered eight feet buck from the line of street. Mr. Jameson proposed, and Mr. Stenhouse seconded, " That Mr. Tolcher bo appointed a member of sub-committee in place of Mr. Morrison, who resigned on account of being at work at a great distance." — Carried. Mr. Nicholson was also voted on the sub-com-mittee to inspect the new Athenaeum building. Mr. Brown suggested that a rough estimate be drawn up for inside fixings, in order to send in an application to Government for another £100 before the Council closed. The meeting then closed. • The holiday that was kept on Monday being the anniversary of her Majesty's birthday, was very well observed, notwithstanding the disagreeable weather, by our indefatigable Brass Band, which turned out in full muster and uniform. After marching from the practice room to Peel-street, playing several airs en route, they played with good effect several popular inarching airs and polkas. They then proceeded to Wetherstones, and delighted the eais of the inhabitants there, who appeared to greatly appreciate the treat. We particularly noticed the good time kept, by the Band. Much credit is due to Mr. Francis, as leader, and to the members for the advancement they have made in, the, short time they have been practising. On their return to Lawrence, Mr. Potts kindly gave the use of > his large room and refreshments to the members of the Band and their personal friends, when they (giving dull care the go-by) indulged in Teq>sichorian pastimes ; and in the mazy waltz and more staid quadrille and polka forgot, for the time, the cares and troubles of this sublunar sphere. There was an unusual stir at Wetherstonea on Monday afternoon last, caused by the foot race of LIOO a side, which took place between Arkinstall and Robins. The latter won easily by five or six yards