TENUI NOTES.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XV, Issue 4771, 12 July 1894, Page 2

TENUI NOTES.

(From Our Own Correspondent.)

On Saturday morning last before ' Mr Raleigh, J.P., William Lawsou ' was fined £ 1 and costs, for using oh- ' sceno language on the highway. : Constable Collerton proved the case, : which was heard in his sitting-room doing duty for an office, ns the doors of the public hall where the police court is held, were locked, and the keys could not bo found. It is time a police court was erected in this district, which is one of large area. The Polico Department pays £lO per annum for rent of the hall, and the accommodation for police records is very limited. Several large parcels of stationery have arrived for the use of the S.M. Court, but theie is no place to stow them. At present the Constable has to use his sitting-room for on office, en-, quiry room, etc. The Court has been held in tlio hall for the last thirteen years and £l3O has been paid invent. A courthouse containing two ante rooms and a large one, well finished could Ijo erected for about £IOO. In ton years the amount that is now paid for rent would cover the outlay. There are two acres of land reserved for a courthouse so there isno excuse of cost of purchasing a sito. A meeting of the Tenui School Committee was held on Saturday ovoning last. There were present: —Messrs Bcllis (Chairman), Hancock, Wick.stead, Perry, Raleigh, and A. Nicholls. In anticipation of lively proceedings several of the public were present at tlio opening of the meeting, but as tilings were prosaic they disappeared, one by one silently but slowly, until only three or four remained, Had the" fun of the fair " commenced earlier there is nodonbt the public would notonly havobcen very much enlightened, i but also much edified, Had not the ■ "war clouds "so foreign to Touni 1 been gathering in strong force during | the week, until they were to burst . with overwhelming destruction on ■ the devoted heads of. tlio School- ■ master and the Chairman, and to ' snuff them out once and for 1 aye ? But, at the close of the ) meeting they bobbed up as serenely as ever from the wordy strife. The opening proceedings of this

meeting were interrupted by one of tlie Committee directing tlic attention of the Chairman totho awful presence of the public, and requesting enliglitonment wliethor the public should not be excluded on tin's momentous occasion. Ho pointed out that the Chairman had ruled at a previous meeting that the meetings of the School Committee were not public. However, tho Chairman ruled that the public wero to bo admitted, and excluded if the meeting went into Committee.

The report of the visiting members was handed in and showed that the grounds had been drained by the cutting of three or four drains. A small culvert had been formed which had necessitated the purchase of thirteen small pipes, various improvement effected, and tho ground had been ornamented by the planting of four dozen trees, tho gift of Mr Kaleigh. It also drew tho attention of the School Committee to the unsafe state of the school chimney, and recommended tho purchase of an iron back to prevent the bricks from being burnt through, It was decided to have a " working bee," on Wednesday next, at 1 p.m., to remove some outhouses, fix tho shelter sheds, and do other work, The discussion relating to the headmaster, in conjunction with tho Chairniau.of the School Committee, having used undue influence with tho Board of Education in securing tho appointment of the pupil teacher, was opened by the master drawing tho Committee's attention to the fact, that he. had been charged by a member of tho School Committeo with having undermined themin the selection of a pupil teacher. It appears that in '92 Mr Joplin wrote to the Education Board recommending one of his pupils as a suitable candidate for a pupil teachership in any school, at the same timo enclosing a testimonial of character for the

youth, During the past two years thcavorageattendanco warranted the appointment of a pupil teachertothc Tcnui School. The master informed the School Committee, and they applied to the Board of Education, who resolved to appoint one. The Committee held one or two meetings, but could not agree which ono of two applicants, who had applied, should be appointed, so resolved to leavo it entirely In. the hands of the Board. In the meantime n third applicant (the youth whom Mr Joplin had recommended in 1892) applied to the Board, and having been waiting two years with his name on the list of candidates for P.T.'s, was appointed.

The Board wrote a letter to the Committee informing them of the youth's appointment, and also stated one of the other candidates was in.

eligible, and tho other's application was marked " no particulars," so the member of the committee in question staled at the meeting on Saturday night, After tho Chairman had received a letter from the Board slating that they presumed that the youth whose name was on the list was to be appointed, ho wrote the letter tho Committee had instructed him to, leaving the matter in the hands_ of the Board, but added the following postscript, which formed the bone of contention: "Mr Joplin and myself are of opinion that Is most suitable.", A copy of the letter had been obtained by the grieved member of tlte Committee from the Education Board ofliee, and lie, instead of interviewing the teachers, admitted showing it to four of the public, with a cqpy of (he old testi: monial, which tliey understood had been written recently, and bore dirccfly on the ease. Of course it became common property, and vouched tho muster, who at once, decided to take steps to prove that he bad not at any time communicated with the Board about tho appointment of the present pupil teacher in this school, and very clearly he showed there was no foundation in the report spread about. He had nothing to do with his name appearing in the postscript, and if anyone used it in postscripts that was a question to be decided between hi™ and the writer, After somedesul I tqry discussion it wa3 proposed avi| carried ■!' That this Committed .aval perfectly satisfied' with the' Headmaster's explanation, ami express regrctthat he has been caused amipyv anco." " ; "■ : ' One of the members of the Committed with great', earnestness proposed that " A vote of censure be, unanimously passed on any member who carries reports of the meetings to outsiders." It.was/not seconded; In this distiictlung-woiiniswovk' ing sad havoc with sheep, hundreds' avo dyiug in spito of the usunl remedies. / / -i

i Tlio condition ohtho roads com- ;'»4| pares veiy. favourably with that of Ml kstyeav.considering the heavy rains, >vl and the roadman desorvos credit for - : m| his work;, It must bo galling to him. , ~f§ howovcr, to see so many cattle w an- *M deriug about the roadside filling in ; ''l the drains- and the water-tables as l 'l fast as he cleans them out, '% Mr Kevins, manager of the Anna- ' '*s dale Station, has kindly instnicted ~% thosowhose fences were M>l}taow n by. some of his cattle/A being ;* driven along the road some time ago, ' M to repaii-themarid debit hmnrith the <k cost. . . • -a