The Waikato Times. "OMNE SOLUM FORTI PATRIA." SATURDAY, MARCH 20, 1875.

Waikato Times, Volume VIII, Issue 447, 30 March 1875, Page 2

The Waikato Times. "OMNE SOLUM FORTI PATRIA." SATURDAY, MARCH 20, 1875.

What does the Education Board purpose doing for -ithis district, is a momentous question. In same of ,our townships there is no school-house and in others -the buildings are in such a disgradeful state sfcate of repair as to be vtnfh ToKthe purpose to which they ..are devoted^ It is^ hardly necessary to, say that -the greatest disoontent exists amongst parents, they ; say very justly, "We have paid the rates and ore entitled to have the accommodation afforded to pro--vide which they were collected." It is abundantly (dear that so far as the country districts are concerned, the present system is a failure and that ,«some other scheme will have to be devised if the Imajor 1 major part of the rising generation is not to grow ,up in ignorance. Allowing that the schools now in existence in the different townships were efficient, : and others- were- built where they do not exist at present, the difficulty would only be half met. The population lias spread from the original centres over . .such a large .area, of country, that it is impracticable -fop neatly half the children to live at home and attend any of the schpola established in the townships. How to get over this difficulty, is perhaps the most ..serious question' those entrusted with the direction (( of our educational energies have to consider. The gravelling scooolmaster, is,, fr,om the system being already in vogue, the first remedy that suggests itself -Those wh^ are anything of education are aware that -spasmodic efforts are of little avail, it may answer 4n cases "where the parents have the time, inclination, and ability to see that the childaen acquire the ,tasks allotted to them in the intervals between the visits of the master ; but hoAi few parents possess -,the qualifications we have quoted. We suggested a some two years back, whjch we believed at the Jtiime, antf from subsequent observation are convin.ced, is the only possible one. of bringing education n the ,veach of a whole scattered population. We .suggested that buildings should be erected in .gome central place in each district, consisting of dormatories for boys and girls, a large school house, and such other buildings as might be found necessary for the proper care of children, and the accommodation of the masters and mistresses. There A would c )^ #ourse, haye to be a matron, to supervise •the whole*} ,under t^e direction of the head master iind mjstress, who should, if practicable, be man and ,wife ; a proper staff of servants, to carry on an establishment of the sort wonld., of course, be necessary. Parents living at too great a distance from an estabJishecJ sphool to allow of the attendance of the children should be invited to send them as boarders to -£be central establishment. A charge being made which, a> thelowesj; jestiinated, would cover the cost pf feeding the children, which, we take it, would be yery little, as, in districts where a central school, £iich as we suggest, would be deemed necessary, there would be a large number bf children attend. The children who attend the schools already established in tjie township, where the boarding schooj is established, would also attend, the additional cost for teaching would, therefore, qjily be in;proportion to the number of children taught. The idea we have thrown out, we believe practicable, and well worth the consideration, of tjie authorities. \V<? trust hat it will have their attention.

An accident occurred at Rahuipokcko on Friday tost, by which a native boy, aged about nine years, panned Paikau, lost his life. The boy was in il dray **hieh was standing in front of Mr Ralph's hotel, a jujj.frightened the horse and c.itised it to bolt down Jae river bank, the dr.iy was upnefc, and tho boy fell jndor it. When taken up he was found to be quite Jirvl, "\yp regret to learn that a y6\ing man nanjcl Kohort Bruce, who resides Te.Rahu,' attempted mi"bh od Fridky lupt, by cutting hi.**' throat ; ho '.yas immediately removed to Alexandra, in ord<*r (bat "Or W iddington could give him the required attention, under whose care he is icipidl) lecoveriugfioin t1..-* f^ectsof his rash act. We undei-scaud tiT.it tlio young limn. tya£ v:ery much in his mind in COi^eqiien c oi-a, *lhie, aliuir, which did not rim

During Thursday and Friday last upwards of two hundred natives, from the Upper Thames, passed through Waikato on the road to Te Kuiti, to which f)laeo they wer« proceeding in order to atteud a nipctiug. They had no other reason for attending than thpy had received an invitation from Tawhiao. They were all well equipped, which shews that the money of tbo pakeha has recently been circulated freely amongst them. It is satisfactory to learn that the yield of potatoes in the Upper Waikato this .season has been very good, in some cases growers have obtained as much as ten tons to the acre. Lust year large quantities of potatoes were imported into the district, a good portion of which were grown in Tasmania. We trnst the success grower's have mot with this year will prevent such an occurrence again- taking place. The new hotel being erected for Mr Canny at Te Awamufcu h rapidly approaching completion. The hotel accommodation in this township,, compared with the demand, has for a long time been simply execiablo. We understand that Mr Lewis, the landlord of the other hotel is also about to build, so that matters will soon improve, Mr A. D. Austin, of Eelson, hua been elected a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society of London. -- A The <( Standard" repoVtsXineeting of shareholders of the Poverty Bay Petrddeura Company, which was held at GLsbarrte r wb^en the chairman said that the ( shaft was then £(13 » feet down, and that a fan had arrived, which wo^requSred to clear the shaft of the gases, tho work, whfah hud been temporarily stopped, would bo again proceeded with. £3,33G had been spent since the formation of the company, and as there had been n bank overdraft of £730, and it was advisable to continue the work, it would be necessary to make another call on tlu shareholders. Tho manager road a report of work done, and concluded by saying : " Our plant and machinery are j perfect, and when the rock is found a very short timo will prove our first well ; and from tho very favourable indicd^ions,Jam positive of a large yield." Mr Parsons, the manager, in reply to Mr MeldruiL, said that he not on.l/*h-io\ confidence in the undertaking, but he was prepared to buy the shares of any shareholder who felt disheartened at his prospects. He had not seen better indications of payable oil ever in America. A £2 10s. call was authorised. We are compelled to hold over our report of the Ngaruawahia ivegatta till next issue. We have received a report, but it is. not sufHcently full to do justice to the cause. Sir George Grey was 'elected to the seat for Auckland City West without opposition on Satur- 1 day. His address to the electors, which it will be our duty to analyse -in ton* next issae; was particularly sensational — irifc fara we have seldom read a more clearly defined Njlection speech. We trust that he will be a little more practical when he takes ! his seat, otherwise his influence on hard-headed men of business will be nil. He makes many assertions which he will be held responsible for on the floor' nf the Assembly. The Right Rev the Bishop of the Diocose conducted two services on Sunday last in the Waikato. In the morning at TSTgaruawahia, and in the evening at Hamilton. On each occasion he administered the right of confirmation to a number of young people, and preached an impressive sermon, for their benefit. The Waikato Gun Club met for gyro-pigeon practice on Saturday afternoon, at 4 o'clock, in Martin's paddock, Hamilton West. T^n members were present, and competed for sweepstakes, with the following results :—lst: — 1st n\kt\ — 5 births, at 25 yds rise ; Hill 4, Hay2 > Dav;soii^,'tJiammoii ( l4, Whitakor 1, [ Wood 3, A, Cox 3, Laing (winner) 5, Campbell 3, E. B. Cox 3. 2nd match— 3 buds, at 25 yds rise ; Hill 2, Hay 2, Daw^on 2, Hammond 2, Wood 2, A. E. Cox 2, Laing 1, Campbell 1. The six ties were fired off with the following scores, resulting in a division between Hay and Wood ; Hi]] 0, Hay 3, Dawson 1, Hammond 0, Wood 3, A. E Cox 2, The Southland News of March 4 & tales that on the previous day the Land, Office was the scene of no small amount of bustle and excitement. This was caused by a large number of deferred payment selectors attending to see the ballot decided who should obtain the areas for which there were more than one applicant, The decision, was made by ballot, each applicant or his representative drawing a number, and the one fortunate enough to pull out the highest obtaining the land. The utmost good humour prevailed during the operations, which occupied several hours.