Mornington School at 60

On Saturday afternoon and evening were held the central functions in connection with the diamond jubilee celebrations of the Mornington School.

The weather was at its worst. Fortunately, even the wettest of rain cannot damp the enthusiasm of a gathering where children are concerned, and great heartiness and happy cordiality characterised all the proceedings. Apart from the home nothing so lays hold on the deepest memories and affections of life as the school of childhood’s days, and men and women had travelled from distant parts of the North Island to be present at these celebrations. A City Council bus connecting with the Mornington cable tram brought visitors comfortably along to the school. The spacious gymnasium was soon crowded. Round the walls were arranged a very comprehensive collection of photographs dating back to the earliest days of the school. Anyone who can look back a quarter of a century or half a century to school days will not need to be told with what eager delight and amusement these pictures were studied and how gladly the recognition of faces long ago familiar was hailed. The gathering inevitably took the form of a re-union, and so absorbed were the majority in discovering old friends and reviving old memories that it seemed they could have quite cheerfully dispensed with any formal programme whatever.

During the afternoon a memorial wreath was laid at the gates erected in memory of the old pupils who fell in the war.

Gorgeous

Though it was viewed through a misty curtain of rain that fell steadily throughout the day, the wonderful scenic beauty of the Waipori Gorge made a distinct impression on the Chambers of Commerce delegates who visited Dunedin’s electric power source on Saturday. All were unanimous in the opinion that Waipori was a coming tourist attraction for visitors to the city, and several remarked that the bush, mountain, and river scenery could not be surpassed anywhere in the Dominion.

Naseby’s reign of terror

The Borough Council is pursuing its policy of keeping the streets clear of cattle with a firmness which does not meet with the approval of stock owners. Attention is now being turned towards the number of geese wandering on the streets, and the council is warning owners of these that similar action will be taken against them if the practice continues.

Some motorists don’t give a hoot

All drivers should remember that:

Carelessness fills the hospitals, and keeps the coroners busy.

A warning hoot before a corner is far better than a repair bill or an inquest. Hoot often; hoot well.

Cross-roads breed trouble. Never take a turn without a signal. It is simpler than being towed back to a garage.

Consideration and care for others is the golden rule of the road.

Boy admonished

At a sitting of the Juvenile Court, before Mr J.R. Bartholomew SM on Saturday, a nine-year-old boy pleaded guilty to the theft of a purse and its contents, of a total value of 33 shillings 6 pence, the property of Margaret Brown. Senior-sergeant Quartermain said that the boy had entered complainant’s house in Cumberland street, and had removed the purse from a coat hanging behind the door. The boy had no authority to enter the house. Mr J. Lock (juvenile probation officer) said that the boy was one of a family of five, who were in poor circumstances. During the past six weeks there had been an epidemic of thieving in the locality, and boys with older heads had influenced this boy. 

Mr Lock said that he was satisfied that others were implicated in the thefts. Money boxes had been stolen from houses, but the boy was not guilty. He had said that a girl had told him about the purse. The boy had attended school regularly, and, save for this lapse, his conduct had been good. Admonishing the boy, the Magistrate said that he was a small boy, who had been influenced by older boys. If the boy had been older his offence would have been more serious. The case would be adjourned for 12 months. An order was made for the restitution of 10s of the stolen money.

— ODT, 30.11.1925 (Compiled by Peter Dowden)