Denton and Haughton Examiner, etc. — 1883-03-10 (Denton, Greater Manchester, England)

DRAWING IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS.  Mr. T. R. Ablett, the drawing instructor to the School Board for London, who has recently made visits of inspection to the elementary schools of Paris, has delivered a lecture in the Saffron-hill Board School on the system of teaching drawing practised in those Institutions. He said that, while by no means wishing to uphold the French style, yet there could be no doubt that in England we were far behind in technical matters, figure drawing, and the manipulation of brushes and paints and modelling. One of the greatest difficulties in the way of the proper elocution of English children in this respect was the lack of proper rooms in which the lemons might be given; whereas out of the 150 elementary school of Paris sixtyfive had been provided with special rooms for drawing, and out of these fifty-six were used by evening classes as well. He then went on to describe the method of teaching employed in Paris, which is divided into three courses, namely, the elementary, the middle, and the superior. The first course includes comparison and division of straight lines, the proportion of lines to one another, the comparison of angl., and the drawing of simple ornaments. The middle course consists of freehand drawing of geometrical and vegetable curves, simple geometric and perspective sketches of models and common objects, as well as geometric drawing on the blackboard, to show the handling of the instruments the pupils will afterwards have to use. The euperior course is geometric and vegetable drawing, elementary notions of archit.ture and cranial anatomy, painting in flat wash., measurements, painting washes of colour to show different materials, and the colouring of plans and maps. In the evening claws the pupils are taught architectural and mechanical drawing, design, anatomy perspective, and drawing and modelling ornament, and from the antique and from life. After dwelling upon the great benefits which these elaborate arrangements conferred upon French scholars, he expressed his regret that out of the 300 London Board schools only one possessed a drawing-data room. In Bradford there was good accommodation, and he quoted the Daily Netae of Jilly 17, 1882, to show that at the national competition at South Kensington in that year the scholarg of that town had taken the foremost place inconsequence. In conclusion, he heartily advocated special teachers and special hours for the teaching of drawing to the children in our elementary school..  Cosouttem—Theßesteernent for Broken Articles, ad., le.. 2e. Postage 2d. Kay Bros., Stockport. Sold everywhere. WILLIAM SHARP, omnibus driver, has been charged at Aberdeen with culpable and reckless driving end culpable homicide in St. Nicholas-street, whereby two men were knocked down and so seriously injured that one died shortly afterwards, and the other still suffers from the effects. Sharp was committed for trial, bail being accepted.  AT a recent meeting of the Cambridge Board of Guardians, the chairman (Mr. Cooke) reported that he and Mr. Piggott had waited on the Local Government Board, in accordance e ith a resolution previously passed, respecting the order proposed to be issued reconstituting the Board of Guardians. The clerk said he had that morning received the order, which he read. It deprives nine of the parishes of one guardian each, increases the two Barnwell wards by three each, and gives an extra seat to St. Andrew the Great, The latter is an addition on the order as proposed, and was prayed for. AT Bridgwater Lord Northbrook and his eon (both of whom came from London for the purpose), Mr. E. J.Stan ley, M.P. for West Somerset, and Mr. Broad mead (High Sheriff of the county) were amongst those who attended the funeral of Mr. Henry Robertson, „LP., at Over Stowey. Nearly the whole of the tenantry and between 300 and 400 persons also took part In the funeral procession. 'The deceased gentleman, who was 61 years stags, was agent for Lord Northbrook's estates in Hampshire for many years, and for more than 30 years had been the acting trustee under the will of the late Lord Taunton.