The Hastings District High School was established as a primary school, and the secondary department was not introduced until the year 1905. Mr. W. O. McLeod, the first master, conducted it for many years, and was succeeded in 1883 by Mr. J. A. Smith, the present headmaster. The school buildings stand on a section of five and a-half acres, situated at the corner of Southampton Street and Karamu Road, which was given by Mr. Thomas Tanner. The larger building contains five lofty, and well-lighted rooms, and the smaller, which includes the infants' and secondary departments, three rooms. The school possesses an excellent workshop, and the large playground is asphalted. There are 700 scholars on the roll, and the average attendance is 620. The school has always done excellent work, and obtained good results at the annual examinations. The head-master is assisted by a staff of four male assistants, five female assistants, and five pupil teachers.

Mr. John Alfred Smith, B.A., was born in Manchester, England, on the 2nd of March, 1858, and is the youngest son of a flour miller. He was educated and served as a pupil teacher in the Manchester schools, and then proceeded to the Durham Training College. In 1879 he emigrated to New Zealand, and in the following year joined the service of the Education Department as first assistant master in the Napier Boys' High School. He was subsequently appointed head-master of the Port Ahuriri school, and in 1883. He is a member of the Hastings Bowling Club, and a past master of the Masonic fraternity.

Mr. Edward Varley Hudson, First Assistant Master of the Hastings District High School, was born at Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, England, on the 13th December, 1874, and is the son of Mr. T. G. Hudson, accountant, of Christchurch. He came to New Zealand with his parents at an early age, and was educated at the East Christchurch public school, where he also served as a pupil entered the Christchurch Normal School, for additionl training as a teacher, and during the following year was engaged as a relieving master in and about Christchurch. Early in 1897 Mr. Hudson was appointed to relieve the first assistant master of the Hastings district public school, was page 452 appointed a year later to a similar position in the Wairoa school, and in 1899 became third assistant master of the Napier main school. He was subsequently promoted to the position of second assistant master, and in October, 1902, accepted his present appointment. Mr. Hudson has always taken a keen interest in military matters, is captain of the school cadet corps, and was at one time lieutenant in the Napier Rifles, and subsequently captain of the Hastings Rifles; in 1903 he was appointed drill instructor to the military classes held during that year at Waipukurau, for the instruction of country teachers in Hawke's Bay. He has also been conductor of various church choirs and musical societies, and is a teacher of singing. Mr. Hudson is now studying for a University degree.

Brown and Ross, photo.
Mr. E. V. Hudson.

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Part of Hastings, showing Public Schools.

Mr. William Henry Jones, Third Assistant Master of the Hastings District High School, was born at Riccarton, near Christchurch, on the 26th of June, 1884. For some years he attended the public schools in Canterbury, and in 1896 removed to Napier, where at the district school in the following year he won a scholarship, and was dux of the school. He proceeded to the Napier Boys' High School, eighteen months later became a pupil teacher in the Port Ahuriri public school, and afterwards served for two years at the Meanee school, where he obtained the D Certificate, with special mention in science. Mr. Jones was then appointed assistant master of the Waipukurau school, and received his present appointment in April, 1906.

Mr. Leonard Francis Pegler, Master of the Secondary Department of the Hastings District High School, was born at Croydon, England, in the year 1874, and came to New Zealand in 1876. He was educated primarily at public schools, gained a scholarship, and was for three years subsequently at the Rangiora District High School. In 1899 Mr. Pegler became a pupil teacher under the North Canterbury Board, a few years later matriculated, and gained the D certificate, and was then for one year at the Christchurch Normal Training School, and at Canterbury College. In June, 1897, he was appointed second assistant master at Kaiapoi, and afterwards became first assistant master at the Greymouth District High School. Mr. Pegler was subsequently headmaster of the Cobden school, whence he succeeded to his present appointment.

The Mahora District School, Frederick Street, Hastings, was opened on the 24th of August, 1903. It is a wooden building, well ventilated and lighted, and has accommodation for about 120 pupils. There is also a fine playground, three acres in extent. 135 scholars are on the roll, and the average attendance is 120. The school has always done excellent work, and obtained good results at the annual examinations.

The Pukahu Public School, situated about four miles south-east from Hastings, was first opened in the early “nineties.” It is a wooden building, standing on a section of one acre, and contains one large classroom and two proches; there is also a teacher's residence of five rooms on the property. The roll number is fifty, and the average attendance forty-three. Excellent results have been obtained at the annual examinations.

Mr. Eccles Alexander McCutcheon, Head-master of the Pukahu public school, was born at Porirua, Wellington, on the 12th of December, 1877, and was educated at the Hawke's Bay public schools. He won a Board-of-Education scholarship in 1891 and became a pupil teacher in the Taradale school. In 1897 Mr. McCutcheon obtained the E certificate, and in the following year was promoted as assistant master of the school. In January, 1904, he obtained the D certificate, and now holds a D2 qualification. For years he attended the technical classes established by the Hawke's Bay Board of Education. He accepted his present appointment in 1903. For three years he was a member of the Napier Rifles, and on the occasion of the Duke of York's visit to New Zealand, the commanded a squad of cadets that took part in the military display in Christchurch. Mr. McCutcheon acts as postmaster and mail carrier for the district.

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Mr. E. A. McCutcheon.

Heretaunga Boarding and Day School (William Gray, B.A., principal), Karamu Road, Hastings. The primary object of this school is to provide a thorough English public school education; the course includes preparation for Matriculation, Medical Preliminary, and Civil Service examinations. The school is situated in a very healthy part of Hastings, and is one of the best in the Hawke's Bay province. It was established in the year 1882 by Mr. W. Rainbow, and subsequently acquired by the present proprietor. The house is a fine twostoreyed building, and is admirably adapted for its purpose. The cubicles are spacious and healthy, and arranged on the collegiate principle of the Old Country. The main schoolroom is sixty feet by twenty feet in dimensions, and is well lighted. Every convenience has been provided, including inside and outside lavatories and bathrooms. The grounds are one of the features of the place, and comprise in all about six acres, including tennis courts, cricket and football grounds, and gardens, which afford ample scope for physical recreation; there is also a workshop, where the boys are given a thorough technical training. The staff includes Mr. W. Gray, B.A. (principal), Mr. S. Harvey, M.A. (first assistant master), teachers. The fees for boarders are fifty guineas per annum, which includes stationery, laundry, etc.

Heretaunga School.

Woodford House School was established by Miss Hodge in the year 1895, and from its commencement her object has been to train her pupils, not only in the usual school routine, but in technical work also, and in physical culture, with the result that—although strictly mental subjects are in no way neglected—the girls are enthusiastic workers at carpentry, carving, cooking, and laundry work, drawing (both model and free-hand), painting and decorative designing, music, singing, elocution, needlework in all its branches—including both chart and practical dress-making—fencing, gymnastics, calisthnics and drill, dancing, and both flower and vegetable gardening. The grounds are five acres in extent, and the pupils find abundant exercise in playing hockey and tennis, and in practising for the athletic and swimming sports. The staff consists entirely of trained teachers, including holders of University degrees and foreign diplomas, and pupils are prepared for the matriculation and civil service examinations, if their parents so desire. The Kindergarten is thoroughly up to date, both in its teaching staff and appliances, and, besides being a popular institution, the result of its training is very noticeable when the children enter the regular school classes. The health of the school is exceptionally good, no doubt owing to the well-aired class-rooms, and the fact that the equability of the Hawke's Bay climate permits classses being held in the open air during most days in the year.