23

E.—s

At the commencement of the session the Committee was obliged to incur a very large expenditure for the fittings absolutely necessary for the class-rooms, with the result that the reserve funds of the association were more than absorbed. The Hon. the Minister of Education having undertaken to endeavour to get the sum of £1,000 placed on the estimates as a contribution to the funds of the association, your Committee represented the urgency of their needs to him early in the session. After full consideration, the Government agreed to make a special grant of £1 for £1 on all expenses incurred prior to the Ist April in alteration and fitting-up of the new school. In accordance with this decision, the Treasury paid to the association the sum of £910. During the course of the year Mr. J. P. Smith, who had charge of the Mining Court at the recently held Industrial Exhibition, brought under the notice of your Committee the desirability of establishing a technological museum in connection with the school. He undertook to secure for the purpose a large number of mining and other exhibits from this and the other Australasian Colonies, and, in the event of the museum being established, consented to act as the first Honorary Curator. Your Committee entered into Mr. Smith's scheme, and has made various efforts to secure a site for such a museum, but hitherto without success. Several exhibits from South Australia and New South Wales have already come to hand, and are stored, pending suitable arrangements for their housing. It is quite clear that already the class-room accommodation of the new school is inadequate, and there is urgent necessity for adding to the building. When this is done, your Committee thinks that provision should be made for a museum. Another departure this year was the commencement of a library. It is hoped that this institution will gi*ow to useful dimensions ere long. The teaching staff of the association has expanded considerably during the year. Including the botany class, which is held in the spring and autumn months, and two classes held at the close of the session, a total of twenty-three classes were held. The number of students enrolled during the session, but exclusive of the two last-named classes, was 731. Of these, thirteen received either partial or total remission of their fees. Four students gained the senior diploma of the association, twelve the junior, and 239 gained certificates qualifying for diplomas in various subjects. The association employed during the past session twenty-live paid teachers and assistants. The reports of the examinations of the City and Guilds of London Institute show that Mr. David Sheriff obtained first-class honours in plumbing and carpentry, and a first-class ordinary pass in mechanical engineering; three candidates won first-classes in plumbing; one a first-class in carpentry; and one a second-class in mechanical engineering. In the examinations of the London Science and Art Department one candidate won a first-class certificate in magnetism and electricity; one a first-class in chemistry; one a first-class in applied mechanics; and one a second-class in the same. Your Committee notes with satisfaction that employers of labour in the city now frequently inquire for students of the association's classes. Since the close of the session several classes have been carried on through the summer months, and your Committee has made arrangements for fitting up the long-promised electrical workshops. An extensive order for the necessary plant has been put in hand, so that it is expected that the teaching of electricity in its practical bearings will be commenced during the coming session. The balance-sheet shows a balance to the credit of the association of £530 18s. 10d. Against this must be placed the cost of the apparatus now on order from England, and the fittings and alterations necessary for its utilisation. In conclusion, your Committee desires to return its thanks to those ladies and gentlemen who gave their services in the last examination of students, to the Otago Education Board for the annual grant voted by it, and to the Board's officers for the assistance so readily given by them. In closing the work of the tenth year of these classes, the Committee thinks that the time has come when the local Education Board should assume the direct responsibility of carrying it on. It has now passed entirely from the experimental stage, and has become an extensive factor among the educational agencies in the city and neighbourhood. As such, its position and capabilities would be strengthened if the Board, with all its resources, were to bring it into line with the other establishments under its control. '

Statement of Beceipts and Expenditure for the Year ending 31st January, 1899. Receipts. £ s. d. Expenditure. S, s. d. To Balance .. .. .. .. 132 2 6 By Salaries .. .. .. .. 513 10 6 Class fees .. .. .. .. 472 1 3 Printing, stationery, and advertising .. 66 17 9 Subscriptions .. .. .. 68 9 6 Rent, insurance, and rates .. .. 98 2 0 Hire of typewriters .. .. .. 5 0 0 Gas and coal .. .. .. 34 14 1 Interest .. .. .. .. 3 10 0 Incidental expenses .. ~ 5 12 0 Government subsidy .. .. 976 16 7 Materials for practical classes .. 43 1 5 Education Board .. .. .. 75 0 0 Premises, furniture, and fittings .. 462 7 8 Proceeds of conversazione .. .. 35 16 8 Expenses of conversazione .. .. 13 12 3 Balance .. .. .. .. 530 18 10 £1,768J6 6 £1,768 16 6 Dunedin, 28th February, 1899. Examined and found correct.—C. Grater, Auditor.

Superintendent's Eeport for 1898. I beg to present the following report of the work done in the session now closed :— The classes have now been carried on for ten years, and it is gratifying, after struggling along with more or less makeshift arrangements for nine of these years, to have the school settled in a