HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Seaforth News, 1932-02-11, Page 2PAGE ,TWO
HURON NEWS.
Injury to Knee. ---,Mr. George E.
Anderson wastaken to Victoria Hos-
pital,London, ,last week. About ten
days previously, lie injured his knee in
the w'arkshop of B. \'\'. F. Beavers. It
apparently was not getting better so
ass X-ray decided on. A slight op-
eration was performed and Me. And-
erson is recovering nicely.
9
Farm Purchased.—'Mr. Albert San-
derson's farm on No. 4 Highway,' near
Blyth, has been purchased by Mr.
frank Bassinger of 'W'ingbam.
Aged Resident Suffers Fall,—\Ir,
James Handford of Exeter, who is in
his 93rd year had the`ncisfortutie to
fall -whilereturning hothe Froin down
town. He tripped over a board on the
sidewalks gear his home, receiving a
gash above the right eye.
Annual Meeting. The twenty-fifth
annual meeting df the Huron Weath-
er Insurance Mutual Company was
held et Hensel] on Wednesday after-
noon of last sveek. There was a splen-
did attendance and the company was
able to present one of the best -reports
in years. The president ll;r. Father-
ingham occupied the chair. The
number of policies issued during the
past year was 1005 and the number
in force at the close of the year was
3129, 'The amount of insurance writ-
ten was $1,863,050 and the net amount
in force at the end of the year was
$5,502,225:t10. The losses during the
year amounted to $2,361:65. The heav-
iest losses were tw-o barn roofs inMc-
ICillop township. One was for $350.00
and the other for $479,65. The com-
pany closed the year with the largest
balance they have shown in several
years. The total resources of the
company are $21.6,425.56. The retir-
ing directors, Geo. Penhale, George
MoKee and Andrew Christie were re-
elected and Henry: Strang and John
Campbell were re-eledted auditors.
The secretary -treasurer; of the corn-
pany is Mr. Chas. Monteith. of Us -
borne.
Death of William Brock. — The
death took place in lJaborne Town-
ship on Friday of 'William Brock, in
his 71st .year. The deceased had been
visiting his son, Warren Brock, of
the eighth concession only a few days,.
and was taken suddenly ill on Thurs-
day night. It was only last week that
the deceased, had celebrated his gold-
en wedding anniversary. .lar. Brock
was born in Usborne township and
uhtil eight years ago worked . the
farm now occupied by his son and
be retired and resided in Granton. He
leaves a widow and two sons, '_Milton
and Warren, occupying adjacent
farms, in Usborne, near Zion. The
funeral took place from the residence
of his son, Warren, on Sunday with
interment at Exeter.
Former Brussels Resident Passes.—
There passed away at Gaylord. Mich.,
on 'Wednesday, Feb. 3rd„ Thomas
Yuji!, brother of Whiter Yuill of Brus-
sels, Alex. of Grey township and John
of Gaylord. He was married in 1557
to Mary Ellen Berry of Greenland.
and who passed away suddenly
on Jan. 9th of this year. Four sons
are left to mourn. His brothers, Alex
and. Walter and nephew. Duncan Mc-
Dougal lit by motor to attend the
funeral.
EAST HURON INSPECTQRATE.
Gentlemen,,— In compliance with
your request 11 ani submitting the fol-
lowing report of the condition of the
public schools in the inspectorate of
Easf.Huron.
In !September general. re -adjust-
ment of inspectorates over the Pray -
Mee ' under the.,direction ofathe Educa-
tion IDeperanee t took place; county
'boundaries, where necessity den4asid-
ed it were disregarded. This county
was, however, tittle affected. I lost
Ilowick. to 'South, 'Bruce and took
over East \\rawanosh in order to re-
lieve the inspector of ;West Huron,
who had snore teachers under his
charge than it was possible for him to
visit as required by the regulations.
I regretted giving up Hawick, whose
schools :I had visited for ,t\venty years,
and where 'L had met with sympathy
and co-operation ise sty. work.
In a year such as the past, it is not
to be expected that there should be
any new building, though with costs
of material and labor down almost to
pre-war times and with the issue of
Tong=term debentures it night be
good policy to do so. The basement
r
, t m school was
of the Lauver �l mgha
fitted up for a class -room and an' as-
sistant teacher engaged to provide for
the increased attendance which 'had'
overflowed the present accommoda-
tions. They have now for the first
time satisfactory means of providing.
for the children's education. I't is the.
only section that has maintained an
increase in 'attendance. The taxation
is burdensome and were it not for the
assistance prdvided by the township
and 'Government it could not carry
on.
The salaries of former years were
fairly well maintained; the townships
that showed the smelled decrease
were East 'Wawanosh and Tucker -
smith, which did not equal the loss in
the grants. They show great un-
evenness in the other townships, in
some being as low as $700, and in
others the former salaries Wave been.
maintained. IIt .should be borne in
mind that with rlow salaries teachers
are at a financial loss when one con-
siders the time and money expended
in their training.
The grants received this year
amounted to $20,578.30, against $3S,
074.45 last year: this does not take
into consideration the special grants
on libraries, household science, etc.
This does not ncsian that the Govern-
ment is economizing on public school
grants. for they expended $250,000
more in 1931 than in 1930 in the
Province, as more assistance was giv-
en to the poorer counties than ever
before, as it was felt that prosperous
counties di Western Ontario were
better able to care fore themselves.
Some consideration, also. was shown
to the larger towns and cities; this is
the first year that lt\'ingham and Go-
derich participated to any- worth-
while extent. The grants next year
will be increased somewhat on salaries
and for the first time there will be a
grant of $30 on interim second-class
certificates.
The small schaol :continues to be
the real problem in rural Ontario;
there are three schools in my ,in-
spectorate within a mile and a half
or more of each other with a total at-
tendance of four, six and fourteen re-
spectively, It would be impossible' to
induce these sections to reach an
agreement whereby their forces could
be combined. No one can pretend
that this is a desirable situation. A
larger unit of administration such as
a township or county board could ar-
range to operate these schools mare
economically and effectively." As :
is. immense sums are lost to the Pro-
vince by the poorest of business.
principles.
A onticeable improvement continues
to be shown in the class rooms and
school grounds. 1fore pictttres,
brighter and cleaner walls and cell -
logs and better -swept floors are gen-
eral among theschools: ea now have
dark b:inds to keep o5.t she light. The
g:'5.„ without exception was cut be-
fore the opening of schools in Sep-
tember and most of ,..e grounds have
Honer -beds.
Tlie seheo fairs • form as attractive
feature of community life as ever:
this year they were quite up to their.
In his "suit against Lockwood arising sta,dand., It is u.sfor Annie that they..
out of an automobile accident. In the 'n re dropped at Eche: and \\`altar,
ease of Mrs. Burkho.der vs. J. 'Mc- which are the centres of thriving
areas. They have an educati.$ial and
socia: va:tte which wen repays the ex-
penee mad !abet. connected with them.
A number of new fifth c:asses have
Seen opened this year in schools dis-
tant from a high school. At Auburn
and Estee: the fully:ower school course
is taken tap. Fifth farts receive con-
siderable Government and county as-
sistance.
There were 274 ds cessfu: entrance
candidates; they showed marked abil-
ity except at one centre. This ntunber
Is 7.7 per cen: of the enrol ed at-
tendance. considerably above the av-
erage over the Province, and is con-
sidered, to a certain extent. to be an
indication of the educational advance-
ment
dvance-nettt or the schools of a county.
There were fewer changes of teach-
Kers this year than in the past. On ac -
THE SEAFORTH NEWS,
count of uncertain salary conditions ven in our schools,' Unfortunately,
and an over -supply of new teachers, many pupils are still being kept at
there was. little inducement to make
a change: 'There was only ,one change
in 'the ,urban schools; they retained
almost the same salary schedule: 'I
cannot pay too high a tribute to the
ablity.aind devotion: to their duties of
the teachers under my eharge. The
schools, on the whole, are operated
under the best teaching conditions.
There are more first class certificates:
than ever before. They deserve youi
trust and sympathetic consideration
in their work.
On account al the fewer number o'f
schools under my charge I have been
able to give a full half -days visit to
each classroom and to pay a few ad-
ditional visits to schools where deem-
ed adivisable.
The Teacher's Institute was held
in Clinton with a full attendance. Ili
was one of the most -successful we
have had. The program was through-
out interesting and practical.
'There will be begun this
year some curtailment of examin-
ations both for high and public
schools. Those ranking highest in
the middle school will be granted cer-
tificates on the principal's recontnien-
dation. Entrance certificates on re-
comtnendations will probably be in-
troduced 'g'ra'dually,at urban centres.'
and some dural schools, .-but on ac-
count of certain conditions they ran
be introduced this year only in Clin-
ton.
Yours respectfully,
JOHN M. FIELD, .
East Huron.
' Robert Watson Dies in Morris.—
The passing of Robert Albert Wat-
son at his home on the 5'th line, \for-
ris on Wednesday morning .n his 46th
year is the second death in the family
in the past year, a daughter. Phyllis,
being fatally injured in a fall in the
school yard while playing. He had
been i t for some time He leaves to
mourn. his wife, formerly Miss Chris-
tina Snell, and four children. two
sons, Reginald and Carson. and two
daughters, Wilma . and Jeanet. Mr.
Watsea was the sort of Mrs. S. Wat-
son of .Brussels. The funeral was held
Friday afternoon to Sunshine cemet-
ery.
Division Court.—The appeal of Wil -
'bur Lockwood cf Clinton. against a
police eteart conviction for re e :less
driving was dismissed by judge Cos-
tello at Goderiche Harry Durnin of
Londesboro, was al:awed $35 damages
home for iw^ork too frequently:, with
the result that such pupils get be-
hind their classes and lose interest. I
trust that the time lost from this
source may be mien -sized in the pres-
ent year,
Attendance grants are naw° given
by the :Department of Education on
the basis of average attendance. This
should lead all boards of schools to
encourage and promote regular,- at-
tendance, and to improve the system
of attendance supervision. The . grant
for the individual. school is not large,
but the stun total for the township is
quite worth while.
Two factors have operated durin,g..
the year to bring about a reduction in
teachers' salaries- These have been
the eetablishinent of a ,new basis for,
the apportionment of the Legislative
grants, and the . prevalent business
and fina.seial depression. Whereas
last year most . teachers in " rural
schools were in receipt of, a •salary of
$1,000, the average for the present
year is $891, or an average reduction
of• more than $100. In a few cases,
teachers In the rural - schools are still
in receipt of salaries of $1,000 or more
but salaries of $S00 are now common
and in the case of twelve schools sal-
aries of $700 per annum _or less are
paid.
During the year, meetings of trus-
tees and ratepayers were held in the
majority of the 'townships at which ..
the new system of grants was ex-
plained and discussed. This has re-
sulted in minimizing the misunder-
standings inherent on the introduc-
tion of the new scheme. The prin-
ciple underlying the present appor-
tianmeat of the grants is to the effect
that the stronger sections shall `bear
the larger proportion of the cost of
conducting their schools, and that
greater assistance shall be given to
the weaker sections. This . principle,
it willbe adnmitted, should b.e funda-
mental in any scheme of Government
assistance, add in this regard the
new system is an improvement on the
one which it displaced. Generally
speaking, the schoolsections of the
county have assessments in excess of
the Provincial average, and this has
resulted in a reduction in the amount
of the grants received this year. This
reduction, however, has not been as
drastic as was at first anticipated.
Whereas in 1930 the total Legislative
and county grants for the inspector-
ate amounted tot $54,402.32, the fig-
ure for the past year was $28,659.87,
or a reduction of approximately eigh-
teen per cent.
An interesting feature of the pres-
ent scheme is that rural schools—and
this applies to such schools only
may receive a grant of fifty per cent.
of the cost of all approved equipment.
Equipment indludes not only books,
charts, maps and miscellaneous ar-
ticles, but also is extended to include
approved expenditure made on black-.
boards, water supply and water clo-
sets. This affords an opportunity
for school boards to make needed
improvements in these regards with
the section bearing only one -half -the
cost of such improvements. In some
counties, extensive advantage has
been taken of the opportunity pres-
ented, aad many schools have install-
WEST HURON INSPECTORATE
,Genttemen,—tI beg to submit the
following report on the conditionof
the schools comprising the instpec-
torate of bleat Huron; for the year
1931.
As indicated a year ago. the ap-
pointment and control of county
school inspectors has beets assumed
by the Ontario Department of Edu-
cation. Under these circumstances
it is no longer necessary that the lim-
its of inspectorates coincide with
county boundaries, and in addition
the size of inspectorates may be
changed at the will of the Minister
of Education. Such a. change came
into effect in this county in Septem-
ber, 1931, when the township of East
°awanosh was transferred from the
inspectorate of West Huron to that
of East Huron, ander the direction,
of Dr. J. M. Field. The decrease in
the number of schools under the
charge of the inspector =makes for
that closer contact between schools.
teachers, trustee boards and the in-
spector which is necessary if the best
results are to be achieved. This aut-
umn.. for the first time, it was found
feasible to pay second visits to cer-
tain schools . during the term, in cases
where special needs had arisen.
There are now eighty rural and four
urban schools in the inspectorate; in
the rural schools 101 teachers are re-
gularly employed and in the urban
schools twenty-four teachers. All
teachers are legally qualified, and.
with few exceptions, are zealous and
conscientious in the discharge of their.
duties. The number of teachers hold-
iirg first-class -certificates- continues to
increase from year to year; at present
forty teachers in the inspectorate. or
almost one-third of the total, hold
this class of certificate. The trend in
education is now most definitely in
the direction that teachers must have
higher qualifications. Also more fre-
quently than formeriy, school boards
are giving a preference to teachers
with the higher grade of certificate.
Students contemplatinaes entering the
teaching profession would be well ad-
vised to continue at high school until
full upper school standing has been
secured. This would make unneces-
sary a subsequent withdrawal from
the profession for a year, as is now
done by many teachers, to obtain the
higher qualifications.
The number of pupils enrolled' in
the public school's shows an increase
over the former year. Taking into
cousideratIon the decreased size of
the inspectorate, the increase amount-
ed to eighty-nine. 'Whereas. until a
year ago. there had been a steady de-
crease over a period of years. is
t
of importance to mote that dnring the
past two years this decrease has been
checked and even some gains made.
This, toame, is a c.ear indication ;of
the fact that the former trend of . pop-
ulation from the rural to the urban
centres has been reversed. tempor-
arily at lease
Continued stress has been placed
during' the year on the matter of at-
tendance in the schools and the re-
sults achieved have been eminently
satisfactory. The percentage of at-
tendance for 1931 reached the high
level of 91.5 per cent., an increase
of pearly three percent. over the
previous year. This result has been
obtained through the co-operation
and support of the teachers and at-
tendance ofrlcere, and the more gen-
eral realization by parents that regu-
lar attendance is imperative it the in-
dividuai oupil is to obtain the maxi-
mum benefit from the instruction gi-
TIIURt DAY, FEBRUARY 11, 1932
maissiSemiteassaulatatittearaelairt
Gee judgment was given for p:aiatif
in the sum of $50 and costs. The
claim was for '595, Defendant sold
plaintiff a second-hand car. Shortly
after Mrs. Burkholder's siiece drove
:-the car through a plate glass window.
It was claimed that the car was de-
jective and not as represented. The
,defence set up that the accident was
caused by faulty driving and thatthe
tar was in first class shape when sotd.
Mrs. Burkholder claimed that she
was tetd that the scar was insured
when she purchased it but after the
:accident she found out that it was
-.asp, The kale price was $215. One wit -
'tress put a value of $175 on the car.
The Judge awarded the plaintiff $50
and costs.
Want ant For Sale Ads., 3 times o0r.
S
It Lucky
p
Tele. hone
yon. have a
Jim Ross hadn't noticed the broken
fence until his favorite roan mare got
caught in the barbed wire and cut
her leg. _.
It didn't seem a bad cut at first, but
blood poisoning set in and Jim
thought he was going to lose a valu-
able horse. A hurried telephone call
brought the veterinary surgeon.
"I think we can save her, Jim," the
veterinary said, "but another couple
of hours might have been too late.
It's lucky you have a telephone."
ed chemical closets. As there is no
reason for believing that this grant
wit be in effect indefinitely, it would
be most advisable for rural boards to -
take advantage of_ the opportunity
presented.
Under the Public School Act, the
county council is required to pay
twenty-five per cent. of the cost of
all approved equipment, the other 25
being borne by the Department of
Education. Last year, the county
council was required to raise $1023.19
for the inspectorate as their share of
this grant. In addition to this grant,
the only other assistance rendered
the public schools by the county is
the fifth class grant. In 1931, this
grant amounted to $2120.38. From the
above, it will be apparent that the
larger sums required to be raised by
the county far the purposes of edu-
cation can not be attributed to the
public schools.
The improvements made in the ac-
commodations offered by the schools
have a not been as extensive as in For-
tier years. No new schools have been
built, but the two schools in S.S. No.
4, Stanley, were put in much better
condition by ` placing them in new
foundations and' by laying hardwood
floors. The schools, however, have
been maintained in a good state of
repair, and boards have not been ad=
verse to carrying out suggestions
made. The policy of advocating the
painting of interiors has been contin- Y trateeit,
tied, and eight schools were interior
decorated in suitable colors during
the year. in all forty-three schools
have been improved in this way dur-
ing the Plast three years. New slate
.blackboards were installed in nine.
Continued on Page Seven.
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