39

A.—3

Prison Site. —The freehold of a suitable piece of land adjoining the Police Officer's section has been procured at a cost of £40. With the advent of new laws it will be necessary to provide a small prison. At present there is no lock-up for prisoners : they merely work on the roads. Residence for Assistant Master. Tufu School.- A residence is to be, provided for the assistant, master, who is at present, occupying the house of the headmaster, the latter being on leave. The expenditure of I'll) 2s. 7d. represents part of the material which has come Io hand. Erection of Public Conveniences. As then! is a considerable influx of people to Alofi at, ship and other times, the Health Officer recommended that suitable conveniences be erected. This has been done, at, a cost of £18 2s. sd. Improvement of Live-slock.- The expenditure of £6 9s. Bd. represents outstanding accounts of the previous year. As mentioned in my last report, this work has been terminated, and the remaining animals sold. Proposed Public Works. Residence for Assistant Master, Tufu School.—The. erection of a residence for the newly appointed assistant master at Tufu School will be commenced shortly. A suitable piece of the Tufu School grounds has been set aside as a site. The house will contain four living-rooms, bathroom, pantry, storeroom, and a detached kitchen. The estimated cost is £600. Boys' Dining-room, Tufu School, — A building 71 ft. 8 in. in length by 13 ft. wide, with a veranda 4ft. wide each side of the building, is Io be erected shortly. Provision is made for eight tables, each table to accommodate eight boys, or sixty-four boys in all. There will be a food-locker of ample proportions for each boy to keep his food in. Provision is made for concrete floors throughout. The estimated cost of erection is £250. Education. Gratifying work has been accomplished by the pupils of Tufu School during the past year. The present number of pupils on the roll is forty-eight, the average roll being 49-24. The average attendance was 44-42, being 90-2 per cent. During the past year the number of pupils on the roll was reduced from sixty-four to a maximum of fifty, as it was found that the teaching of such a large number, with the addition of technical classes after ordinary school, entailed too much strain on the, headmaster, who was working single-handed. On the 3rd January last Mr. A. M. Cowan, the newly appointed assistant master, arrived in Niue, and a week- later Mr. W. C. Smith, the headmaster, left for New Zealand, on a well-earned, holiday. By a mail just to hand I am advised that Mr. W. (.'. Smith has been appointed headmaster of the new Government school at Ngatangiia, Rarotonga, and that a successor to Mi-. Smith will be. appointed shortly. While lam pleased, to hear of Mr. Smith's advancement, yet the people of Niue will be very sorry to lose him. As the result of the last examination held the pupils were classified as follows : Upper sth, 3 boys ; Lower sth, 6 ; Standard IV, 10 ; Standard 111, 11 ; Standard 11, 10 ;P. 2, 5 ; P. 1, 4. The senior boy of the school (Fasene) was appointed an assistant teacher on the 16th November last at a salary of £24 per annum, and is now assisting Mr. Cowan. This boy has special aptitude for teaching, and is a very earnest student. He has been specially trained with the view of taking charge of the village school at Avatele, which it is hoped to establish shortly. With the proposed gradual establishment in most of the eleven districts of Niue of village schools in charge, of Native teachers specially trained at Tufu, it is hoped that in the course of a few years to give every boy on the island a chance to acquire a knowledge of English. According to the last census, taken on the 17th November, 1911, there were 439 boys and 358 girls over five years of age and under fifteen years, being a total of 797. Under the proposed village-school scheme no provision is made for girls, and. from past experience it is found that if girls are to be educated, separate institutions must be provided. Medical and Health. Dr. C. M. Dawson left Nine on transfer to Rarotonga on the 17th September, 1914. During his stay at Niue, lasting some fifteen months, he worked very hard and accomplished a great deal of good for the people. Dr. J. Pirie Cameron, the newly appointed Medical and Health Officer, arrived in Niue on the 11th September, 1914, and immediately took up his new duties. It was obvious from the beginning that he was not physically fit to undertake the work offering in Niue, but he struggled on manfully with his work until about the beginning of March last, when he complained of feeling unwell. However, he kept, to his work, and. did as much as he could until the 12th March, when he was compelled to give in and take to his bed. On the morning of the 13th March he took a bad turn, and died suddenly from heart-failure. Through the death of Dr. Cameron we are left without a Medical and Health Officer, and, as there is a good deal of sickness on the island, the position is a difficult one. 1 have some hope of securing the services of a practical chemist who is at present employed in trading-pursuits here. If I can make the necessary arrangements I propose to give him a temporary appointment for a fewmonths, or until such time as a new doctor reaches Niue. By these means the present difficult position will be considerably relieved. The chemist will bo able to dispense medicines for many of the common ailments here.