SCENE AT THE EDUCATION BOARD.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 2, Issue 630, 27 November 1880, Page 2

SCENE AT THE EDUCATION BOARD.

; (From N.Z.'Timea.) • ■ v The ordinary meeting of the Education rioard was..to have been held yesterday morning,but at. 10.15 (a pnarter of an hour after hour of meeting) there wer& only the Hon. C. J. PharazyDj Mr. .Bunnyj ahd.Mr. Bloir, and it was at once proposed to adjoi|rn the meeting- for' a week, doing ho business .then— not ->even readiug the minutes—except passing the Recounts, Mr Bunny said he should not haye comedown that day only for what he had seen in the papers about Gurr v-' the Education Board, ia'whioh the' Chairman, unauthorised by the Boaid,

had applied for a. rehiring, He heid the Chairjnan had Bo busiqesa whatever ;tp do anysuch thing, or anything olae : \vithout the Boards anthority, Herfl jthdy were (fealingvwith-,- p.Qblic. it was 1 was going to the rool .see what it all meant. He. in : papers that Mr had | j?ho was ih the Court, Mediately jampedup and. said, "Oh that is-jiajt I hßt , we sef®5 e f® going to doNow Mr Brandon could not have dono that -without'the authority of the Chairman; and he said again the Chairman had no business to such authority..' The several attempts to do so, aiid : fdr some time there was \an exbeedi.hgiyvariimated - insolubility. between : hiiii; and Mr expressions), Sfr Lee (the Secretary) making several * ineffectual ;attempts to strike in. There was no pause until the parties were out of breath/and'- the matter in dispute had then become no clearer. Mr Bunny repeatedly appealed to the reporters not to publish his observations, which, the • Chairman said, was a uselesij request, as they most certainly would be; but as Mr Bunny ejaculated about 400 or 500 words per minute, the 'fastest stenographer present could not keep, within a " cooey:' of him, so. his wish, was in some degree attained. After the brief pause refered 'toj ;a . letter from Mr Brandon upon -the tlurr subject was produced by the. Secretary, and was read .with excessive ! rapidity by Mr Bunny, who made a ruining comnun* tary upon the contents, and was particularly emphatio where it appeared the lawyers had no objections to a'rehearing, exclaiming, "No objection I I I should think they had not! Of course'they have no objection to arehearing, and then to a new trial, and then a Supreme court case, and a reference to the Court of Appeal 1 and there will be two or three hundred pounds, gone for nothing I—and where ? Faugh 1" and then resumed the reading. The reading and commenting being concluded, Mr Bunny again expressed his fixed determination to go to the very root of the matter by seeing Mr Brandon, for he had been brought down from the country only by this Gurr question, Mr Pharazyn several times feebly protested there was no root, and made a disjointed explanation, from which it appeared that the Chairman had spoken to Mr Davy about a rehearing as to one part of the judgment, but the Magistrate thought it was not worth while to re-open the matter and it had been dropped, but the next thing he heard was that the other side was applying for a rehearing, " which of course, Mr Pharazyn added, "we can't prevent." , Here Mr Bunny exclaimed, wiwjrat that of course they c6uld not prevent it, but why had Mr Brandon said in Court that he was just going to apply for a rehearing? Mr Bunny then uttered a great number of other emphatic remarks with extreme rapidity, concluding by saying he did not think the papers had invented the whole thing, and therefore either the Chairman must be wrong or the papers, had published a myth and invention., Mr Pharazyn said it was all a myth and invention. Mr Bunny said, well, he was going to satisfy himself all about it, and would get at the bottom'o, it somehow. He should first go and ask Mr Brandon about' it, Mr Lea then proposed the adjournment shouldfe tillnext Tuesday, instead of Wednesday, as he had to attend to the examination! Mr-Bunny said they were not to consult Mr Lees convenience, but their own. Mr Lee was paid for being there, but he (the speaker) was not. He wanted the meeting to be on Wednesday. Mr Lee said it did not matter personally, but it would be against the interests of education. Mr Bunny: "Education! Pooh! we've had too much of it, Let the meeting he on ■Wednesday, or else I can't come!" There was then a brief discussion upon no particular subject, when Mr Bunny asked Mr Lee for a copy of the questions which had been placed before the candidates at the scholarship examination at Greytown. Mr Lee aaid he had no copy. The report had not yet been sent. Mr Bunny said he did not ask for the report; If Mr Lee had not the questions he ought to have them , r L L eo " la , do 6evetal att empts to explain why he had not got them, and Mr Bunny then said he had seen the questions, and a lot of them were the greatest rot and uonsence imaginable. Here was one of the questions: "If a man is six feet high on the earth he would be thirty-six feet high on the moon. Why?" (Sensation and great laughter.) Such questions as that to ask children were downright ridiculous, A lot of the questions were such that not six men m the colony could answer them, and it would be no earthly use to any mortal man if he could. He asked Mr Lee to get a copy of the questions. and he would have the matter out at the next meeting. There was here another rapid and animated, irregular disoussion, during which Mr Lee said now was'not the time to have the questions Mr Bunny said he did not oare twopence about tho time. Mr Lee ought to have the questions, and such rubbishy nonsense should not be given to examinees. Thirtysix feet high on the moon I Waugh! H» (Mr Bunny) was not six feet high, but he wanted to know how high he would be on the moon. It was perfect rot giving such questions. There was then a relapse to the Gurr subject, and a rapid interchange of remarks, Mr Bunny saying they ought to let the whole thing drop, as he considered they had got out of it very fairly. The Chairman said they were contending -for a principle. Mr Bunny. "Principle! Fiddle!! Here we are blundering away the ratepayers' money ! Where is the principle in that ?" The Chairman said it was no blunder. Mr Bunny said it was a blundor, They (the Board) had been blundering from the beginning, and there were always blunders and mis<takes. He (Mr Bunny) should be out of < it in a few months, and would then have no share of the responsibility. The Chairman then said they were proceeding very irregularly, and to pass the accounts he-* fore reading the minutes would be most. irregular. Mr Bunriy said no, it would not. If everything they did was as regular as that, it would be a very good thing for'them. The accounts were then passed there being a back balance of £1520,- and the pay-sheet totalling £1454. The Secretary mentioned that thore was yet £2500 building grant to come from tiuj .. Government, and £I2OO msmtonanco for\ the month. Government, too, were ■ taking part of the Board's reserve on the ■ • reclaimed land for railway purposes, for . which they would probably get £2OOO. Mr Pharazyn said he would advise that £2OOO should be used to pay for the Te Aro sohool site, on which there was £2500 owing. The, money would have to be paid one time or other. Mr Bunny laid "No I . don't-let's pay anything, It's no good to ' take a lot of money with one hand and;'' pay jt away with the other. Why should' v.• we pay it? Here we shall be done awayv ■with soon, and somebody will : have to pay <' .it. Why should we trouble ? Not a bit of it 1 Suppose we do owe it, what then t They can't' sell us up as they could a ' private individual. There is nothing they can seize. Suppose Gurr had got a heavy judgment (against us, and we had refusedJ" ] to pay, where: would he have 7 got it|; would he have come here and taken' the-' chairs and.tables, or seized one of the'-' ; schools] Don't let's pay away that' " money, and dont say anything about'-' the ; reserve, but wait and see what', Government will give. don't make offer."

Rbminiscshueb off WBLiiHiuxON,—ln the year 1845 a worthy oitizen pioddcd his way with some difficulty through fern aud ti-treo to To Aro Flat baing in searoh of the surveyor's peg which had been drivon in at tlio •corner of what is now Cuba arid Dixon streets. Upon this spot was ereoted a small houso,.in which a very successful drapery business Was' carried on. by two ladies of remarkable-talent';and energy, who-have long siuce retired from the scene to the land of their birth—- ' "Laud o' the mountain and the flood, Land of brown heath and shaggy wood.' In the year 186G it passed into the hands of Mb Jamrs 'Surra, the present proprietor.' who gave to the premises the appropriate name of Te Aro House, and under whose management, business has steadily progressed with tlie rising fortunes of the city,nntil at length it was found to bo a considerable enlargement was necessary, and -the result was, Te Aro,,House,, as at present, one of the most' complete and Extensive Drapery Establishments in the colony of New Zealand, The General Drapery occupies a large space, being 49 feet by 25 feet, amply sufficient, for all Manchester goods, Fancy Dresses, Silks, Gloves, Hosiery, Bibbons, Laces, Ac, The Men's, Boy's, and • Youths' Clothing Department measures 42 jpfeet by 14 feet, and has attached a comfortable sitting-room, Carpets and Household furnishings havo- a similar space alloted to tliem. The Show-room for the sale of Millinery, Mantles, Jackets, Costumes, &c., is a very spacious apartment, elegantly fitted up, and beautifully lighted from the roof, and measures 39 feet by 22 feet. The stock of goods is at all times large and well selected, and patterns are forwarded post free on application. A special feature at Te Aro House is the Order Department, and very careful attention is paid to the wants of Country Residents. All orders are executed under the immediate supervision of the proprietor, and securely packed and forwarded to their destination with that promptness and despatch which have always distin guished Te Aro House, Cuba-street, Welling on.—[advt.l