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The Pamphlet Collection of Sir Robert Stout: Personal Volume

A message to the children of New Zealand

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crest

New Zealand—education Department.

The School Journal.

Part III—for Classes V and VI.

At least one copy of each Part should be filed in the school as a School Rocord.

Vol. XI.—No. 10.]

Wellington. [November, 1917.

Chaucer's Good Counsel,

Shun thou the crowd, and make the truth thy bride,
Contented with thy lot, mean though it be,
Who climbs may fall; hate is the fruit of pride;
Crowds shelter foes; blind is prosperity.
Essay no more than what behoveth thee;
Do thy work well, as thou'dst have others do;
Truth hath freed others—it shall free thee too.

Think not in haste to make things crooked straight,
Trusting that Fortune never shall thee fail;
Unhappy ever the reformer's fate;
The foot is pierced that kicks against a nail;
Broken the jar when dashed against a rail;
Reform thyself, and let the others be;
Follow the truth—the truth shall make thee free.

What Heaven sends, with cheerfulness receive;
Who strives with Fate but wrestles for a fall;
Hera is no home, why should'st thou vainly grieve?
Forth, pilgrim, forth—forth from they sheltered stall;
Seek thy true home; look up, thank God for all;
Keep the high road, thy spirit leading thee;
Doubt not—the truth, pursued, shall make thee free.

—Adapted, W. W. A.

page 290

Great Rivers of the World.

7. The Yangtsze-Kiang.

The history and development of a country depend largely on its rivers. Settlements grow into great cities in their fertile basins, and the waters furnish the means of communication between them. Nowadays, in Western lands, railways have robbed them of some of their importance as highroads of commerce. This is not the case in China, however, where railways are few. It is part of the religion of the Chinese not to disturb the graves of their ancestors, and as graves are numerous throughout the country, and the people were long averse to the introduction of Western ideas, they have always opposed the making of great railways; hence the rivers are still the great traffic-carriers.

China is well supplied with them. The Yang-tsze-kiang ranks as one of the great rivers of the world, and the Chinese often call it the Ta-kiang, or "Great River." "Yang" means blue, and "kiang" means river; therefore Yangtsze-kiang means blue river, though it is known by this name only for the last 800 miles of its course.

Three streams rising on the south-eastern edges of the plateau of Tibet unite to form this great natural waterway of China, which at the confluence is three-quarters of a mile wide. At this point the river is 13,000 feet above the sea, and is separated from the Hwang-ho (yellow river), another great river of China, by the chain of mountains whose melting snows feed both streams. For the first 300 miles of its course the Yangtsze-kiang plunges in tempestuous flood through mountain rifts and savage gorges, and is not navigable very far. Many tributaries join it, four from the province of Szechuen (four rivers), the page 291 principal being the Min, which is a broad and navigable stream opening up the heart of the province. Although there are many mountain routes and roads, they are all difficult for traffic, and the Min and other rivers are therefore of first importance.

Keystone View Company.

Keystone View Company.

Primitive Method of Irrigating Rice-Fields.

By treading on podals women turn the beam on which they are seen standing. Up the frame and Over he beam passes an endless chain with pieces of board attached, and at the beam revolves each board carries a small quantity of wake up the frame and into the irrigating channels.

Sze-chuen has a rich red soil, brought to its highest productivity by splendid irrigation-works. For 2,000 years this province has enjoyed boundless prosperity and immunity from droughts and floods through the efforts of the engineering genius who planned the page 292 canals. He also spanned the rivers with iron suspension bridges, which are still repaired or renewed as time wears them away. The grateful Chinese built a splendid temple in his honour. It stands upon a height that towers above the Couching Dragon Gorge. Cut in the stone and golden-lettered the engineer's motto appears on every conspicuous place: "Dig the bed deep; keep the banks low."

Densely populated towns and large villages are thick in this district, and fine farmhouses rise among

Gorge on the Yangtsze.

Gorge on the Yangtsze.

the, cedar, bamboo, peach, and plum groves, Great magnolia-trees heavy with flowers perfume the summer air; huge peonies, scarlet dragon flowers, waxen begonias, and flowers of richest hues paint the fields in flaunting gaiety; and gorgeous butterflies add the last exquisite touch to the blaze of colour.

The whole province is rich in minerals, and produces petroleum, silk, tobacco, grasscloth, grain, and tea. The provincial capital is Cheng-tu-fu, but 200 miles below the junction of the Min and page 293 the Yangtaze is Chung-king, the second trade emporium of inland China. From this city the river proceeds in a course still violent, boiling over rocks and eddying in whirlpools, and rushing in noisy rapids between frowning banks bristling with precipices. For 500 miles it rushes on to I-chang, the last of the Yangtsze gorges. Yet this part is navigable by light boats, and thousands of junks carry cargo up and down the stream. For ages these junks have been driven against the current in the smooth reaches by their huge, square sails, or, the wind failing, have been towed up close to the banks by gangs of ill-paid "trackers," who haul on the bamboo towing-line, dragging the laden junks at a snail's pace over the difficult passages. British enterprise has placed some light-draught paddle-wheel steamers on this part of the river, and speeded up the traffic; but the Chinese opposed the innovation for some years.

At I-chang, 1,000 miles from its mouth, the Yangtaze is a magnificent river. No other stream in the world carries such numbers of craft as does this river of China. Tributaries pour into it; one of them alone—the Han—is navigable for 1,200 miles for cargo-boats, and furnishes access to the richest and most populous districts of China. Hankow is at the junction of the Han with the Yangtaze, being one of a cluster of three large towns. Since 1862 Hankow has been open to foreign trade. A railway 700 miles in length now runs north from Hankow to Peking (north town), the capital of China.

For the last 200 miles of its course the Yangtsze flows through fertile plains—a cultivated dead level, intersected by canals and creeks, forming the most complete network of water communication in the world. The Grand Canal, constructed in the thirteenth century, is a partly natural and partly artificial watercourse 700 miles long, connecting the river with the Hwang-ho, and increasing the facilities for page 294 intercommunication. The delta at the mouth of the Yangtsze is a network of canals and lakes, providing 36,000 miles of navigation, and is entirely under water in summer after the crops have been gathered.

Nanking (south town), the former capital of China, is on the Yangtsze, 130 miles from its mouth. Nanking is the prettiest port on the Yangtsze; hills, softly blue, stand up behind the town, and in the

Grand Canal

Grand Canal

early summer the slopes are all abloom with azaleas of every hue. About sixty-four years ago many of the Chinese rose up against the Manchu dynasty of Emperors. This was called the Taiping rebellion, and Nanking was seized by the rebels, who destroyed all the magnificent public buildings for which the city was once famous. There are still the remains of the beautiful porcelain tower and the tombs of page 295 ancient kings, which were approached by an avenue of remarkable atone figures of animals. The Taiping rebellion lasted ten years, British aid being finally required to quell it; "Chinese Gordon," who died at Khartum, dealt the final blow to it.

Shanghai, the most important seaport for central China, stands on an affluent of the Yangtsze, twelve miles from its month. The European part of the city has broad streets, electric light, tram-cars, and handsome public and private buildings. The Chinese part has narrow, dirty streets and densely crowded houses. Shanghai has an enormous export trade in tea and silks.

Avenue of Stone Animals Leading to the Tomes of the Ancient Kings.

Avenue of Stone Animals Leading to the Tomes of the Ancient Kings.

The Yangtaze-kiang reaches the sea by a wide estuary that begins fifty miles below Nanking and terminates at Shanghai This gigantic river brings down in its 3,000 miles of course enormous quantities of earth, and the Yellow Sea between China and Korea is gradually being silted up. The discoloration of the water can be noticed 200 miles out to sea.

page 296

A Message to the Children of New Zealand.

I met one day two Scout boys. They were in Scout costume, and each had a little satchel and a walking-stick. I asked them this question: "Do you know where you are going?" and immediately they answered, "Of course we do; we are going to Makara. We are out for a walk,"

All boys, and girls too, should, especially when their school-days are coming to a close, have this question put to them; or, better still, each one of them should ask himself or herself, "Do I know where I am going?" That it is a mark of wisdom to "look before us," many of our oldest writers tell us. Shakespeare looks upon this power and capacity of looking before us as a Divine endowment; and Terence, a Latin poet, said, "It is true wisdom to look ahead at those things that are to be."

Boys and girls have been equipped for a journey—the journey of life. That is what is meant by education, by going to school. Their life is before them. Where are they going? Have they thought of their future? They are to be the citizens of no mean country, and they have to work. What are they going to do? All kinds of work have to be done. We need good farmers, brave sailors, expert railway men, industrious mechanics of many kinds, patient methodical clerks; we require doctors, lawyers, clergymen, etc. In the future life of our nation there is much to be done, and all kinds of things to be done; and if the question I have mentioned, "Do I know where I am going?" is put, what is the answer to be? Every boy or girl should consider this, and before answering it should consult parents, teachers, and any wise man or woman friend, for on page 297 its proper answer depends not only his or her own future, his or her success in life, but also his or her usefulness to the nation or state.

There are, it is said, not two men and not two women exactly alike. There is always some difference. Men who have studied the subject tell us that in the whole world—that is, in millions of people—there have not yet been found two persons who can make the same finger-marks. What one person can do and do well, another person with as much general ability cannot do well if at all. Sydney Smith, that great wit of the last century, said of one of our English statesmen that "His worst failure was that he was utterly ignorant of all moral fear—there is nothing he would not undertake." This statesman was not wise, Very talented youths may be able to do many things well. We have known men and women who were able to undertake various callings, but most persons have not such ability, and if they are wise they will try to discover that kind of work for which they are beet fitted. How often has it to be said of one who promised well in his youth, "His life has been a failure!" And how often has the cause of this failure been that the youth has, to quote an old metaphor, "Attempted to squeeze a square peg into a round hole! "Boys and girls, ask yourselves, each one of you, "Do I know where I am going?" Consider well what your future work is to be, and once, after due thought, you have fixed on your career, prepare for it. Equip yourself for your journey; see that you are trained for your service. Dare to be wise, and begin to be wise as soon as you can. Wisdom is not easily obtained, Tennyson says,—

"Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers."

You may have gained much knowledge, but you need wisdom. You have to use your mind—to think, to page 298 reason, to look before and after. Get this habit, and you are on the way to lead a useful life, and to help to make your country a great nation.

A Noon Song.

There are songs for the morning and songs for the night,
For sunrise and sunset, the stars and the moon;
But who will give praise to the fullness of light,
And sing us a song of the glory of noon?
Oh, the high noon, and the clear noon,
The noon with golden crest,
When the sky burns, and the sun turns
With his face to the way of the west!

How swiftly he rose in the dawn of his strength;
How slowly he crept as the morning wore by;
Ah, steep was the climbing that led him at length
To the height of his throne in the blue summer Sky
Oh, the long toil, and the slow toil,
The toil that may not rest
Till the sun looks down from his journey's crown
To the wonderful way of the west!

Then a quietness falls over meadow and hill,
The wings of the wind in the forest are furled;
The river runs softly, the birds are all still,
And the workers are resting all over the world.
Oh, the deep noon, and the full noon,
Of all the day the best!
When the sky burns, and the sun turns
To his home by the way of the west!

—Dr. Henry Van Dyke.

Note.—The "School Journal" will not be issued in December and January next.

page 299

Britain's Sea Story.

12. The Navy in the Great War.

The sea is ours—those shielding lines of billows,
Those rippling sheaves of armour stern and grey,
That's why we sleep secure upon our pillows,
Let come what may.

The sea is ours; we paid the price to win it—
That price the page of history can unfold;
That's why our hearts of oak keep guard each minute,
For what we have, we hold.

Gold-braided admiral and bold sea-rover—
Old days and new cement Britannia's power;
So still our breed, as future years pass over,
Shall claim, "The sea is ours!"

The British Empire is based on that seasupremacy which, a fighting Navy, backed up by an efficient merchant Navy, has gained and still retains. The strategic keys of the world are the Straits of Dover, Gibraltar, Bab-el-Mandeb, and Malacen, and the Suez and Panama Canals. Britain holds all these except the last, which belongs to America and is therefore open to her Allies. At these points, as well as at all the other important strategical positions along the communications of the world, the British Navy keeps watch and ward.

But the term "British Navy" has taken on a new meaning since the Great War began. The Navy has added over 2,500 vessels to its pre-war strength—vessels taken over from the mercantile marine and now doing duty as troop and horse transports, observation and ammunition ships, hospital ships, oil-tankers, colliers, balloon-ships, meat-carriers, and in countless other capacities. A further addition to the Navy is the patrol fleet of motor-boats, tugs, yachts, drifters, and trawlers, engaged in net-watching, ram- page 300 ming submarines, sweeping the fairways for mines, deviating the traffic when they find a nest of German "eggs," hatching them by gun-fire, laying British mines, and charting areas so guarded. Not the least of their services is the rescue of U-boat victims, ruthlessly abandoned on rafts or in small boats to the pitiless waves.

To-day this mighty Navy is everywhere—a far-flung line of ships reaching from Ostend up through the North Sea, along the coast-line of Australasia, across the stormy North Atlantic, down the coasts of Scotland and Ireland to Gibraltar, through the Mediterranean Sea and the Suez Canal to India, with an encircling branch line of ships round Africa. It reaches out from India to join its ally, the Japanese Navy, then stretches to Australasia, and to the waters round South America, thus completing its patrol of the seven seas.

Why is all this necessary when the high-sea fleet of Germany rides at anchor in the Kiel Canal, whither it fled pell-mell after the Battle of Jutland?. It is because some raider more adventurous than the rest may slip through the covering mine-fields under favour of fog and murk, and work havoc among our commerce, as the "Karlsruhe" did. Besides, many German" ships, out on the seas when war was declared in 1914, fled at that time to their nearest neutral port for sanctuary. Some of these escape from time to time, and go forth as privateers, having been supplied with ammunition and stores from one of the many neutral ships that Germany has bribed to enter her service. Therefore our ships must go and come continuously along the waterways, ready to hunt down these sea-hawks, and hold up all shipping in their search for contraband.

Thus, while every trade route in the world is open to Great Britain, Germany's fleet and mercantile marine have been chased, off the surface of the page 301 oceans, and she has taken refuge in submarines beneath the waters. These hidden foes are a grave menace to us and only the ceaseless vigilance and unconquerable spirit of our seamen have averted disaster. Many fine ships have received their death-blows, but still the Navy carries on, while Great Britain speeds
A Submerged Submarine as Seen from an Aeroplane.

A Submerged Submarine as Seen from an Aeroplane.

page 302 up her shipyards and develops her defensive agencies for meeting submarines.

So far the destroyers have been most effective, and both British and American destroyers are accounting for a large number of U-boats. In the

Destroyee Sinking a Submarine.

Destroyee Sinking a Submarine.

Battle of Jutland our destroyers were at close grips with the enemy, parrying blows aimed at bigger ships and striking blows themselves, and, after preventing the German torpedoes from getting home in the flanks of our dreadnoughts, they drove down the enemy's line. page 303 With splendid dash the "Shark" raced down between two lines of German destroyers, discharging her torpedoes right and left at close range. She sank two and damaged others before, struck in her own vitals, she sank beneath the waves. If, we had enough destroyers, the submarines, which sink our merchantmen mostly by gun-fire, would be forced to stay under water and limit their attacks to the small number of torpedoes they could carry. The fishing-net for catching" tin-fish "is very useful, and is being improved. The seaplane is good as a scout for finding sub-marines, and as a machine from which bombs can be dropped. If the submarine bases could be attacked the destruction of these ships would soon be accomplished; but a navy cannot invite annihilation by going into mined harbours. However, as the inventive genius of England and America is concentrated on our submarine trouble a sure cure for it is certain to be devised in the near future.

Seaplanes on a Battleship. (One is being hoisted on board.)

Seaplanes on a Battleship. (One is being hoisted on board.)

page 304

In the meantime the brawny arms of our shipbuilders are helping our seamen; for it is ships, ships, and more ships that they want. To a ceaseless anvil chorus, to the ring and din of riveting-hammers, mighty ships are growing apace. Some stand almost ready for launching; other huge structures tower aloft, a wild complexity of steel joists and girders, dimly showing the outlines of leviathans yet to be. Snorting engines puff up and down; cranes swing giant arms to the sky; ponderous lathes turn; and monstrous machines cut through steel plates as if they are made of cheese. Truly has Britain learned her lesson—that if she would retain the Empire she has won, she must keep her Navy so numerically and materially strong that it is in all respects equal to its great responsibilities, "On the Navy, under the good Providence of God, our wealth, prosperity, and peace depend." But when we say "on the Navy" so much depends, we do not mean on steel ribs and oaken timbers alone, but, above all, on that distinctive courage, tempered by a traditional and stoic discipline, which, from our boy seamen, to our great Sea Lords, burns in them all—an illuminating fire. This was the quality that sustained Jack Cornwell at his post till the last British gun had boomed out its note of victory. This was the same superb endurance that gave strength to young Musgrave, who, when his ship, the "Aboukir," was torpedoed, swam from it to the "Hogue," and, when the "Hogue" went down under his feet, swam again to the "Cressy," which, in her turn, cast him forth upon the waters. And the boy—such a young lad—swam again to wreckage, and kept afloat till picked up by a friendly Dutch boat. There was also the boy midshipman who was left in sole command of the last survivors of his ship, and who, having shepherded them to the boats, started singing to keep up their spirits. And yet again, there was the boy of the Battle of Jutland

page 305
The Building of a Battleship.

The Building of a Battleship.

1. The timber round the battleship 2. The keel-plate. 3. The magazine bulkhead, the first portion to be erected upright. 4. The ship ready for launching. 5. Placing 11 tons of armour-plate in position. 6. Twelve-inch gun ready for hoisting aboard.

page 306

who successfully navigated his ship home, although her steering-gear had broken down.

Boy after boy of British blood and breeding has proved himself a hero in circumstances terrible enough to make strong hearts quail; and it is this heroic fibre in our seamen that is an even more valuable asset to Britain than her mighty fleet.

Vain, mightiest fleets of iron framed,
Vain, those all-shattering guns,
Unless proud England keep, untamed,
The strong heart of her sons!

Dates for the Month (November).—1st—Old-age pensions became law, 1898; Naval action off Coronel, South America, 1914: 5th—Great Britain declared war on Turkey, 1914: 7th—Fall of Tsingtau: 14th—Field-Marshal Earl Roberts died, 1914: 15th—Domesday Book compiled, 1086: 16th—Suez. Canal opened, 1869: 20th—Failure of the German efforts to reach Calais, 1914: 23rd—British bombardment of Zeebrugge, 1914; Serbian Army retreated, 1915: 24th—Tasmania discovered, 1642: 28th—First occasion on which New Zealand women exercised the franchise, 1893: 29th—Education Act providing for the free and compulsory education of children passed, 1877; Chatham Islands discovered by Lieutenant Broughton in H.M.S. "Chatham," 1791; King George visited the front, 1914: 30th—St. Andrew's Day.

[On the 7th December, 1914, the South African rebellion collapsed, thus enabling General Botha to undertake the conquest of German South-west Africa. On the 8th the British Squadron under Admiral Sturdee defeated Admiral von Spee's squadron off the Falkland Islands; four of the enemy's ships, the "Scharrhorst," the "Gneisenau," the "Leipzig," and the "Nurnberg," being sunk. On the 17th the Turkish suzerainty over Egypt ended; and on the 18th a new Khedive—Prince Hussein Kamel Pasha—loyal to Britain, was appointed. On the 3rd December, 1915, General Townshend reached Kut-el-Amara. On the 19th December, 1915, the Allies' troops were withdrawn from Anzac and Suvla Bay.]

On appropriate days the school flag might be hoisted

page 307

Quotations Worth Remembering.

Christmas and New Year.

The bells that usher in that morn
Have ever drawn my mind away
To Bethlehem, where Christ was born,
And the low stable where He lay.

—Thomas Miller.

Let each fireside, howe'er lowly,
Love the day when Christ was born.

Mrs. Barnard.

Ring out the old, ring in the new;
Ring happy bells across the snow:
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.

Tennyson.

Then pealed the hills more loud and deep,
" God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The wrong shall fail,
The right prevail,
With peace on earth, good will to men!"

Longfellow.

The feet of the humblest may walk in the field
Where the feet of the holiest have trod;
This, this is the marvel to mortals revealed
When the silvery trumpets of Christmas have pealed:
That mankind are the children of God.

—Phillips Brooks.

I hear the bells on Christmas day
Their old, familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good will to men!

Longfellow.

At Christmas-tide the open hand
Scatters its bounty o'er sea and land.

Sangster.

page 308

Heap on more wood! the wind is chill;
But let it whistle as it will
We'll keep our Christmas merry still.
Each age has deemed the new-born year The fittest time for festal cheer.

Scott.

At Christmas be merry, and thankful withal,
And feast thy poor neighbours the great with the small.

Tusxcr.

Have you any old grudge you'd like to pay?
Any wrong laid up from a bygone day?
Gather them all, and put them away
When Christmas comes.

Blood of our blood, in every clime!
Race of our race, by every sea!
To you we sing the Christmas rime.
For you we light the Christmas tree.

A merry christmas to you all.

A merry christmas to you all.

page 309

Looking Forward.

The heights by great men reached and kept
Were not attained by sudden flight;
But they, while their companions slept.
Were toiling upward in the night.

At the end of the year many of you who are now reading this School Journal will be leaving the primary schools. Some of you will enrol yourselves at schools where education higher than that given in the primary schools can be obtained. Unfortunately, however, many of you may be leaving school altogether. Some of these may know the walk of life upon which they are about to enter, having chosen it because of their liking for it or because they think it best suits their abilities. Others, again, may wait for something to "turn up." The boys will scan the newspapers for a "billet" that offers what are considered good wages, and the girls who are not required to help at home with household duties will be on the watch for a "situation." But you boys and girls should not allow yourselves to take up the burden of the world's work in this haphazard way. The work that first offers may or may not suit you—most likely it will suit somebody else, but not you. At it you may prove a failure, or you may find that your talents may be more useful if used in another direction. You will most likely prove to be "a square peg in a round hole." and in the world there are quite enough of such "square pegs" without your becoming one.

But before any of you finally leave school and join the great army of workers—whether on the land, in the workshop, in the office, in the sale-room, or wherever brain-power and skill load to success—should you not ask yourselves, "Am I fit to go out into the world of work? What will my position be in a few years' time if I take up some employment now—even page 310 if the wages do seem to me to be good? Why are some of my class-mates seeking further education? What are those schools and colleges that many of the boys and girls who formerly sat in these desks are now attending, and what are they for? Can they be of no use to me? "If you seriously ask yourself these questions and make inquiries from teachers and others who will be only too glad to give you information and advice, you will soon find answers.

What you will be told is this: "Not many years ago education was regarded as the privilege of the favoured few who were preparing themselves for high positions; now it is understood that if a country is to advance, to be prosperous, and to take a place among the nations, all its citizens must be efficient workers, and this can be attained only by opening the doors of education to all ranks and providing for each worker the kind of instruction he most needs. This is being recognized more and more by the progressive nations of the world. Ability, it is true, will bring any one to the front to a certain extent; but what our country calls for is trained ability. This is necessary also in the individual who wishes to be more than a mere drudge among his fellows. The lower ranks of all workers are crowded, but, in all trades and professions, for the man or woman of trained ability combined with strong character there is plenty of room at the top. Those institutions to which the boys and girls who formerly sat in these desks have gone, and to which some of your class-mates are going, are provided by the State to give to all the opportunity to fit themselves to be more than mere drudges in the ranks of workers, and to be better citizens to the State. When you go out into the world beyond the school-gates you will find yourself among other workers, and if they are better trained, know more about their work, and are more page 311 earnest and persevering than you they will outstrip you, and you will be left behind. Education, just as much as good character, sobriety, perseverance, and good health, is essential to success." Are you answered?

Let us now see what opportunities each of you has for better fitting yourself for the duties upon which you may enter. Well, as a true democracy, New Zealand offers opportunities to all, and gives to all, as far as it can, an equal start. After you leave the primary school other educational institutions are ready to receive you and help you on, and it matters not whether your parents are rich or poor. Some of these institutions most of you must have seen, for not far from your home there will be a District High School, a High School, a Technical High School, or, at least, classes at which students can attend in the evening. How are you to gain admission to these? Well, the doors are open to all who can pay the necessary fees; but to one or other you should have little difficulty in obtaining admission free. Let us now look briefly at these institutions and find the keys that will open their doors and give you this free admission.

I. District High Schools.

Number in New Zealand = 60.

Number of free pupils in 1916 = 1,983.

Open free to Scholarship-holders and to holders of Certificates of Proficiency.

These District High Schools are widely established, and at one of them a pupil may receive free education until the age of seventeen years is reached. Here you will receive a good general education, and will learn also agriculture, dairy science, commercial work, and, in the case of a girl, needlecraft and cookery. The courses of instruction have an immediate practical value, for they bear more or less page 312 on the occupations of the people of the district. Can you not attend one of these District High Schools?

II. High Schools and Colleges.

Number in New Zealand = 33.

Number of free pupils in 1916 = 5,826.

Open free to Scholarship-holders and, generally, to holders of Certificates of Proficiency.

In towns where the number of secondary pupils is large, High Schools—sometimes called Colleges—are established. In these the subjects taught have not to the same extent a bearing on the occupations of the people of the Dominion as in the District High Schools, though commercial work, agriculture, and domestic science are taught also. The education is more general than in the District High Schools, and leads to the professions. You see how large is the number of pupils in attendance. Can you not become one of them?

III. Technical High Schools.

Number in New Zealand = 8.

Number of free pupils in 1916= 1,915.

Open free to Scholarship-holders, to holders of Certificates of Proficiency, and to holders of Certificates of Competency in S6 with the special endorsement of merit in handwork and elementary science.

Pupils in these receive, in addition to a general education, instruction such as will enable them to hold their own and attain success in the realms of industry, commerce, agriculture, dairy-work, etc., and, in the case of girls, domestic work. The instruction is very practical, and has a strong bearing upon the work of everyday life.

In the larger centres of population there are both Technical High Schools and High Schools, so that if you live in such a place you are particularly fortunate page 313 in being able to select the class of instruction that best suits your needs. And the choice should not be made lightly, nor made with any object other than that of fitting you for the work you will do after you leave school. Pupils who seek further education and who live near a District High School only are, in general, required to attend it, those who live near a High School only are required to attend that, but those who live near a High School and a Technical High School (or Day Technical Classes) should make up their minds early what occupation they are likely to follow and select the class of instruction accordingly. If you are going to be a doctor, a lawyer, a teacher, etc., the High School will best suit you. If, on the other hand, you intend to take up a trade, enter upon business pursuits, or join the ranks of industry, the Technical High School provides the more suitable instruction. And for the sake of the boys, particularly, it may be pointed out that, in New Zealand. 34 per cent, of the men are engaged in agriculture, 31 per cent, in industry, 15 per cent, in commerce, 10 per cent, in transport (railways, steamers, etc.), and only 5 per cent, in professions. In making your choice keep these figures before you, and consult your parents or your teacher before taking any step that may afterwards prove unwise.

But to those who think of leaving off school-work altogether we must again say, "Are you as wise as your fellows who intend to proceed further? Can you not find a place for yourself in an institution in which technical subjects are taught?"

IV. Evening Classes.

Number of centres in New Zealand = 151.

Number of free pupils in 1916 = 4,060.

Open free to holders of Certificates of Proficiency, holders of Certificates of Competency in S6 page 314 with the special endorsement of merit in handwork and elementary science, and to those who hold no certificate at all if they wish to attend industrial classes, are over fourteen years of age, and have left a public school for not more than six months.

At the three classes of schools that have been briefly described pupils must attend during the day, and they are not helpful to those who are really compelled to engage in work in the daytime. For such boys and girls the doors of knowledge are not closed, however. Indeed, they are open very wide, and even if you have to work during the day you still have the opportunity to improve your prospects in life by study.

As you see, these evening classes are widely distributed, and are attended by a large number of students. Can you not become one of them? Ask your teacher about it and follow his advice.

And here let us say that you should not feel discouraged because you have not won a Scholarship, gained a Certificate of Proficiency or Competency, or taken a high place in your class. No certificate is needed to gain you free admission to these evening classes. All that is required is a desire to get on, and pluck and perseverance to carry it through. Nor does it follow that you have not ability because you did not take a high place among your class-mates at school. The bodies of some children grow quickly and those of others slowly. So it is with the mind. Indeed, many children who have been looked upon as dull at school have afterwards become prominent and even famous in the world.

You have now glanced briefly at the different-institutions that the State has provided for the education of its boys and girls after they leave the primary schools. You have seen that thousands of pupils are page 315 now attending them. Are you going to neglect your opportunities by not attending at all, by attending for only a short time, by being lazy and indolent while you do attend, or by making the wrong choice where a selection is possible? If you do you will be sorry for it only once—all your life.

Whether your talents be great or small you should use them honestly and well. It has been truly said that "If you have great talents industry will improve them; if you have only moderate talents industry will supply the deficiency." One often hears the remark, "What a lucky man Mr. So-and-so is!" But the so-called "lucky" man may have striven hard and made the most of his talents and opportunities, while the "unlucky" man may have neglected his and allowed pleasure, sport, or a thousand-and-one things—not bad in their proper places—to have first claim upon his time. See that you are not going to be one of those who put down their lack of success to "bad luck," instead of to the proper cause—lack of pluck, industry, and perseverance.

In New Zealand it is not lawful for a boy or a girl to leave school until the age of fourteen years is reached, unless he is thirteen years of age and has gained the Certificate of Proficiency. This is the law, and what is enforced by the law. But this should not satisfy a boy or a girl with any self-respect. The law enforces only the least that is required of one, while the State, which makes the law, provides opportunities for more. Make your school life, therefore, as long as you can. Some shrewd boy or girl may ask, "Does it pay to continue my education? "Well, figures showing the extent to which it pays have not been compiled for New Zealand, but let us give you some figures that have been compiled elsewhere. Two groups of citizens were taken, (a) those who left school at fourteen, and (b) those who left school at page 316 eighteen. We cannot give you all the figures here, but it was found that those who left school at fourteen and began to earn money at once received, by the time they reached twenty-five years of age, only two-thirds of what was received by others who remained at school till they were eighteen and for four years earned nothing. Moreover, at twenty-five years of age those who stayed at school for the longer period were, on the average, earning nearly two and a half times as much in yearly salary as those who left school early. Is that an answer to your shrewd question?

Yet the time comes when all boys and girls have to leave school, and the following words of advice may prove useful whether that time is now or later:—
(1.)Consider what you are best, fitted for; ask your parents and your teacher what they think.
(2.)Think of the future. Do not engage in "blind alley" occupations. Many kinds of work, such as is done by messengers, van-boys, errand-boys, and so on, end when a boy reaches seventeen or eighteen, and it is then difficult for him to begin again. Many grown men who earned high wages when they were young have been thrown out of employment because their work led to nothing.
(3.)Learn your work thoroughly. With clever hands and a trained brain you have a double chance in life.
(4.)If you find your work does not suit you, stick to it till you get something better, but do not keep wandering from one kind of work to another learning no kind well and thoroughly. Do not change without good reason.
(5.)If you prefer a trade choose one in which you are likely to find employment anywhere and at any time.
(6.)If you live in one of the larger towns and do not know where employment is to be obtained, seek information and advice from the Officer in Charge of the Juvenile Branch of the Labour page 317 Bureau, who will soon find you something to do.
(7.)Be brave and cheerful in whatever work you choose. The struggle to fit yourself will at first be hard, but it will become easier if you persevere. "Practice makes perfect."

What has been just said applies to girls equally with boys, but to the former it may be specially pointed out that they should fit themselves for the future home life that is their proper sphere. A girl or woman who has so trained herself can, if the necessity arises, command good wages in any part of the country.

The most important thing for all to remember is that you should so train yourselves that in time to come you will be just the man or woman you ought to be, and it must never be forgotten that "The hour of your choice is the crisis in your history."

"Cuddle Doon."

The bairnies cuddle doon at nicht
Wi' muckle faucht an' din.
"Oh! try and sleep, ye waukrife* rogues,
Your fathers coinin' in."
They never heed a word . I speak,
I try to gie a froon;
But ave I hap them up, an' cry,
"Oh, bairnies, cuddle doon!"

Wee Jamie wi' the curly heid—
He aye sleeps next the was—
Bangs up and cries, "I want a piece"—
The rascal starts them a'.
I rin and fetch them pieces, drinks—
They stop a wee the soun'—
Then draw the blankets up, and cry,
"Noo, weanies, cuddle doon!"

* Waukrife—Wakeful.

Hap—Cover

page 318

But ere five minutes gang, wee Rab
Cries oot, frae 'neath the claea,
"Mither, mak' Tam gie ower at ance:
He's kittlin' wi' his taes."
The mischief's in that Tam for tricks:
He'd bother half the toon.
But aye I hap them up, and cry,
" Oh, bairnies, cuddle doon! "

At length they hear their father's fit*;
An', as he steeks the door,
They turn their faces to the wa',
While Tam pretends to snore.
"Ha'e a' the weans been gude?" he asks,
As he pits aff his shoon.
" The bairnies, John, are in their beds,
An' lang since cuddled doon."

An' just before we bed oorsels.
We look at oor wee lambs.
Tam has his airm roun' wee Rab's neck,
And Rab his airm roun' Tam's.
I lift wee Jamie up the bed,
An', as I straik§ each croon,
I whisper till my heart fills up,
" Oh, bairnies, cuddle doon!"

The bairnies cuddle doon at nicht
Wi' mirth that's dear to me;
But sune the big warl's cark an' care
Will quaten** doon their glee.
Yet, come what will to ilka ane,
May He who sits aboon
Aye whisper, though their pows†† be bald,
"Oh, bairnies, cuddle doon!"

Alexander Anderson.

Kittlin'—Foot.

* Fit—Foot

Steeks—Closes,

§ Straik—Stroke

Cark—Trouble.

** Quaten—Quieten,

†† Pows—Heads.

page 319

Contents of Part III, Volume XI, 1917.

Geography and Nature-Knowledge (see also History), Page
Mosquito, The 10
Great Rivers of the World—
1. Thames, The 24
2. Mississippi, The 48
3. Ganges, The 175
4. St. Lawrence, The 202
5 Congo, The 234
6. Amazon, The 272
7. Yangtsze-kiang, The 290
Fiords of Norway, The 42
Antarctic Exploration-Rescue of the Ross Sea Party 67
Lesson of the Tree, The 161
Use for School gardens, A 162
Plant a Tree 166
Green Earth sends Us Incense up, The 182
Locusts 239
Making of New Zealand, The 253, 258
Secrets under the Sand (China) 279
History and Civics,—
Britain's Sea Story (continued)-
4. Gloriana's Captains 2,34
5. Drake's Voyage round the World 77
Armada, The 97
6. Spanish Armada, The 101
7. "John Company" 141
8. Romance of Will Adams, The 167
Will Adams 174
9. Mid Arctic Seas 194
10. Sir John Franklin 226
Sir John Franklin 232
11. Policing the Seas 265
12. Navy in the Great War, The 299
The Great War—
Dog in Peace and War Time, The 16
Faithful unto Death (J. T. Cornwell) 47
Graves of Gallipoli, The 65
Russian Revolution, The 75
Mesopotamia-Capture of Bagdad, The 85
United States enters the War, The 108
Western Front, The 114
How the Empire is Fighting (Picture only) 129
General Sir William Robertson 138
Britain's Mercantile Marine 155
Soldier's Kiss, The 211
Land of Hope and Glory 1
Order of Valour, The 33
Tapu 57, 90
My Voice is still for War 66
Never or Now 113
Vigil, The (Prose and Poetry) 116page 320
Danish West Indies, The 119
Empire Day 130
Men of England 140
New Zealand Ensign. The 151
Empire Day Message, An 154
Paper 183
England 193
Historic Ceremony, An 209
Petroleum 212
Patriotism in Schools 223
Love thou thy Land 225
Rubber 248
Our Heroic Dead 264
His Majesty's Mails 285
Message to the Children of New Zealand. A 296
Looking Forward 309
General,—
Quotations Worth Remembering-
1. Shakespeare 22
2. Tennyson 63
3. Burns 88
4. Longfellow 120
5. Empire Day 148
6. Byron 189
7. Moore 218
8. Wordsworth 244
9. Goldsmith 283
10. Christmas and New Year 307
To a Water-fowl 9
Who am I? 31
Outside Dorlcote Mill 41
Lives of Great Men all remind us 41
Vice of Gambling, The 56
Gradatim 74
Home 84
Perilous Adventure, A 95
Pluck Wins! 96
Action-The Destiny of Man 125
Requiem 201
Hints on the Care of the Eyes 221
Don't worry over Genius 243
Book, A 256
Vitai Lampada 257
Chaucer's Good Counsel 289
Noon Song, A 298
"Cuddle Doon" 317
Dates for the Month 15, 55, 66 a128, 147, 173, 208,
Songs 247, 278, 306
Men of Harlech 32
Ye Mariners of England 160
Under the Greenwood Tree 192

By Authority: Marcus F. Marks, Government Printer, Wellington.