CHRISTIAN BROTHERS' SCHOOL, DUNEDIN

New Zealand Tablet, 27 December 1906, Page 3 (Supplement)

CHRISTIAN BROTHERS' SCHOOL, DUNEDIN

The annual entertainment by, end the distribution of prizes to, the pupils of the Christian Brothers' School, Dunediin, took place in St. Joseph's Hall ■on Wednesday evening. His Lordship the Bishop presided/ and there were also present Rev 1 . Father Coffey, Adm., and Rev. Fathers Howard, Cleary, O'Reilly, and Corcoran. A varied programme of vocal music, recitations, gymnastic displays, etc., was given before a crowded ' audience, who thoroughly appreciated the various items. The - proceedings opened with the chorus, ' The Merry" Mill Wheel,' which was nicely sung by the singing class. This was followed by an excellent recitation, 'The Ancient Race' (Davis), by „ Master T. P. Laffey. A ' very, interesting item was a display by the junior gymnastic class ; then followed a class song, ' The Minstrel Boy.' One of the most taking items of the evening was - a recitation, ' The Flowers,'by junior pupils, in which the qualities of the sweet* briar were championed ' by Master Alfred Neill, the lily by Master Linus Ryan,'- the rose by Master Sylvester Geerinj the poppy by Master M. O'Brien, andHhe shamrock by Master F. Marlow. 'Cato's Soliloquy' was given -with much dramatic power by Mr T. P. Laffey, Master C. Marlow taking the part of Porcius with much success. Master W. O'Connor gave a very pleasing rendering of 'When, the Heart is Young,' and Master F. Marlow was very successful in a humorous recitation, forwhich he was 1 " encored. An amusing item was a scene from 'The Heir-at-law,' in which, the character of Dr Pangloss was taken by Master W. Coughlan, and that of the heir by Master •T; P. Laffey. Then, came another song by the singing class, the programme concluding with a very, fine display of club swinging by Masters. H. Salmon and T., P. Laffey. , The accompaniments during the evening- were played 1 by Miss Clara Hughes. ." '■'.-'- At the conclusion of the programme Rev. -'Brother Brady said that h& would dispense with the usual school report on this occasion, and the labours of bis Lordship would be lightened as only the principal prizes would be distributed, the

others having been given- out at the school that afternoon. His Lordship wo\ild also be spared the pinning on of the 37 prizes that had been won by the pupils at- the recent-Sc hools Athletic; Championship Meeting." The prizes , were then distributed by His' Lordship, the medal -for dux of the" school going to George Albertson, of Port Chalmers

At the conclusion of the- distribution Bey. Brother Brady thanked hi® Lordship for presidiiig, and also the clergy and audience for their, attendance. ,He also thanked ,the parents for the manner in. which they had' co-operated with" the teachers in seeing that the boys attended' regularly, thus showing their ap~ - preciation of the good, sound religious J t and_ 'secular educatdori which the pupils were receiving. In conclusion he wished the boys a happy Christmas and a bright and prosperous New Year. , - His - Lovdsihip . the Bishop . congratulated) .the Brothers and pupila most sincerely on the excellent entertainment provided, and .on -the successful - termination- of- the -year's work. From time to time during the year he ..had .heard ■ most excellent reports on the prosperity of the school ~ from ,;the Superior, and, had on. various occasions visited the school^ when he had ah opportunity of observing the close attention paid to their studies by the boys, andL their cheerful obedience to the instruction of their teachers. It gave him much .pleasure to hear that while the boys were attending to their .secular -Studies .they were also, attentive- to their Christian doctrine and their religious duties. To himself, in the position' "wMch he occupied 1 that was a source of great pleasure. He v was also pleased to hear 'of the success of the boys in their sports. It" was necessary that the boys should have recreation and. athletics, and where these -were carried out, as they were at the Brothers' School, so as not 1 to interfere with their studies, they were of . sreat . benefit to the pupils pßysically. He had heard l with, great pleasure of the success of the pupils at the recent Schools' Athletic Championship Meeting. It was very gratifying that -they hadi such •an excellent school in their - midsf as that presided over by the' Christian Brothers, and he would! say that no better teachers were to be found in any part of the world. The Brothers laboured with great diligence and ability, and they were very. zealous in the work of education. They aimed at giving a good secular education, combined with a good, sound religious education. For this he was deeply grateful, "and he could assure the Brothers that their efforts were fully appreciated by him, and lie hoped they would long continue to carry on their good work. " !The aim of their teaching was to direct the pupils to serve God faithfully, to be good citizens, to be useful in the world, and to ibe good Catholics. — (Applause.) Mr J. B. Callan, jun., in proposing a vote of thanks to his Lordship for presiding, paid a well-deserved meed of praise to the Christian Brothers for their success as teachers. They have had evidence of this in the creditable manner in which the pupils acquitted themselves year after year in the public competitive examinations. There was one thing; to be regretted, and that was that so few took advantage of the opportunities which the school offered in the way of secondary education, the reason being that the majority of the pupils left school after passing the Seventh Standard. Their schools' had "not the advantages of free places' at High Schools, and scholarships which were available in the State 1 schools, but during the coming year it was intended* to put forward an effort' to remove this disadvantage to some extent. A movement was on foot among some of the old boys to do something in the way .of getting up some scholarships which would be available for deserving and promising boys who, if they had not some assistance, would not t>e in a position to continue their studies! Many of their old boys who -were in good positions in different parts of .the colony owed much to the self-sacrifice of the Christian; Brothers in assisting them with their secondary studies, and these boys, he felt sure, would be only too willing to assist others. Mr Hussey seconded l the motion, and spoke also in support of Mr- Callan's suggestion regarding the establishment of scholarships. •

The following is the prize list: — Dux of School — G. Albertson (gold medal). Matriculation Form— E. Spain' (gold medal), C. Marlow (Mathematics and Latin). Civil Service— H. Salmon (let), P. J. Collins, H.'Moynihan, Thos. Laffey. Sub-matriculation Form — G. Wakelin (1st)", -J. Fogartyi J; McGettigan, D. Murphy, H. Drury, J. McQuillan. Standard VII.— W. Ryan (Ist), .J. Stapleton, J. Salmon, C. Spain, J. McDonald, A. Crawford; J. "Lefevre, E. Mullany. Special Prizes. — Irish ' History, J. . McGettigan (gold cross, presented by Mrs Haydon) Christian Doctrine, J. McQuillan ; Football, T. P. Laffey; Bowling (Cricket), E. Spain; Captain, H. Salmon. Christian Brothers' School Sports — T. Laffey,, P. Heffernan, J. McDonald, D. Burke, A. Cameron, E. Barry (silver medals). Standard VI.— J. McKay I.C. Crictyon 2, Wm. McAllen 3, ID. Mahoney 4, J. Baskeville 5, tB. Randell 6. Special Prizes. — Christian Doctrine, J. Baskeville ; Book-keeping, W. Mbnaghan ; History, A. Heffernan. Examinationi Honours. — First in subject : Arithmetic, J. Baskeville j English; C. Crichton; Geography, W. McAllen ; Latin, D. Mahoney ; -French, A. Heffernan ; Reading, Denis Mahoney; Dictation, J. Mackay; Drawing, D. Mahoney; Penmanship, W. McAllen; Comprehension, B. Randell. Standard- V.—T. Layburn 1,. J. Walsh 2, C. Dunne 3, F. Cameron 4, L. Burke 5, E. Salmon 6, W. Gawne 7. Reading and Geography, P. Newman to Studies, J. McDonnell. Examination Honours — Christian Doctrine, C. Dunne; Arithmetic, C. Dunne; English, F. Cameron; Geography, C. Dunne and T. Layburn ; Latin, T. Layburn ; French, C. Dunne ; Comprehension, J. Walsh; Reading,' F. Cameron and C. Dunne;

Book-keeping, C. Dunne ; Dictation, J. Walsh and T. Layburn. Standard IV. — Aggregate : Francis Marlow 1, L. Walsh 2, - "Francis Yule and Jack Hally (equal) 3, - Joseph McKenzie 4, Alfred Neil 5, T. Lynch 6, P. Keligher " 7, James Marlow 8, L. 'Petherick 9, Michael Lawless 10, J. Cameron 11, Ed. Nolan 12, J. Thompson 13, J. Brady 14, H. Sweeney 15, Lawlor Shiel 16, E;- Meenan 17, Slyvester Geerin 18. W. Trail 19, A. Meenan 20, G. Hawkins 21, M. O'Brien 22, A. Fogarty 23, Bert Cantwell 24, J. Monaghan 25, J. Whitty 26. Christian Doctrine, F. Marlow 1, L. Walsh 2. , ■■ . Standard 111. — Aggregate : Linus Ryan 1, Vincent Shiel 2, Simeon McAUen 3, Domimck Keyes 4, H. Carter 5, J. Flanagan 6, B. Walsh 7, F. Kirby 8, T. O'Brien 9, A. Hesford 10, J. Fenton 11, C. Hastings 12, R. Taylor 13, E. Lippart 14, T. Coxon 15, J. O'Connor 18, A. Gustafson 17, J. Browne 18, S. Mulrooney 19, A. Cameron 20. Christian Doctrine, Linus Ryan 1, H. Carter 2. „ - , - " Standard II. — G. Thompson 1, F. Brown 2, E. Barry 3, A. ~ Tarleton 4, T. Ryan 5, W. Gleeson 6, H. Munro 7, T. Hally 8, W. Nolan 9, P. Treahy 10, W. Brady 11, James Mackle 12, A. Scoles 13, E. Wakh 14, J. Tfaill 15, C. Crichton 16, E. O'Sullivan 17, James Sandys 18, J. Maloney 19, D. O'Connell 20. Examination Honours (first in subject) — Christian - Doctrine, G.Thompson; Reading, E. Barry; Writing, G. Thompson; Arithmetic, G. Thompson; Spelling, F. Brown; Drawing, T.-Ryan; Bible History, E. Barry; Grammar, G. Thompson; Recitation, W. Gleeson; Geography, G. Thompson; Home Exercise, A. Tarleton. High First Class — James Lennon 1, A. Tourell 2, James Rogan ;5, F. Perkins 4, J. Dunn 5, C. Begbie 6, John Scoles 7, T. 'Collins 8, H. Fogarty 9, James Brown. 10. Low First Class— L. Salmon 1, C. Collins 2, W. Coughlan 3, Davidson 4, G. Coxon 5, P. Hesford 6, W. Simpson 7.