APPENDIX C.

INSPECTORS' REPORTS.

INSPECTORAL DISTRICT NO. 1.

Geo. W. Mersereau, M. A., Inspector, Doaktown, N. B.

This District Embraces the Counties of Restigouche, Gloucester and Northumberland.

J. R. INCH, Esq., LL. D.,

Chief Supt. of Education,

SIR:

Fredericton, N. B.

-I beg leave to submit my Eleventh Annual Report on the condition of Public Schools in my Inspectorate.

In many respects, the year just closed has been the most satisfactory one of my official life. None other than trained teachers have been employed. Ratepayers have been more generous in voting supplies. Trustees have exercised greater discrimination in employing the best talent available for the money at their command. Parents have shown an increased interest in their children's progress. District difficulties have yielded more readily to reason and common sense. Teachers have exceeded their former efforts to "magnify their office."

Addington. In the Town of Campbellton (Dist. No. 1), the Superior School, as well as the other departments, was conducted even more efficiently than last year. A new department was opened in September, and placed in charge of Miss Clara Shannon, who had made a good record for herself in Upper Charlo school. It will not be many years before the Trustees will require new school buildings. Some are already discussing the expediency of erecting a school house large enough to accommodate all the departments, instead of having them in three different buildings, as at present. The school house in No. 3 was burned on May 19th. The Trustees and Ratepayers are now in the throes of the usual agitation as to location. That burning question once settled, the erecting of a school house will be at once begun. No. 12 has operated a school during

the year; No. 8 only the Second Term. The schools in Districts No. 6 and No. 4 were exceptionally well conducted during the year.

Dalhousie. The Trustees of No. 1 (Town) have made extensive repairs to their school house, and will operate a Superior School if the accommodation and appliances meet the requirements. The attendance at No. 2 has increased during the year. No. 3 and No. 4 need better accommodation. The school house in No. 5 was replastered, and blackboards and desks supplied. The school in No. 6, which has given satisfaction for several years, has reached a high state of efficiency under Miss Susie B. MacPherson, who ascribes most of her success to an attentive Board of Trustees and a most capable Secretary. The school in No. 9 has improved somewhat, but the attendance is very irregular.

Colborne. Miss Maggie A. Currie took charge of the school in No. 1 at the beginning of Second Term, with every prospect of a successful incumbency. The Superior School in No. 2 has improved greatly under Mr. R. B. Masterton. In No. 11⁄2 the school house is delapidated and cold, the pupils without books or slates, and the school is, in consequence, a very poor one. The Trustees of No. 3 were fortunate to secure the services of Miss Lizzie Cook, who holds a license of the First Class, at the beginning of the Second Term. I was so unfortunate as not to see the school on Heron Island during the year. I drove to the Island on January 25th, but found no pupils present, the day was so bitterly cold. At the time of my visit in October such high winds prevailed that I could not cross. The school in No. 8 was closed during the First Term, but during the Second Term substantial progress was made under Miss Maud Laughlan.

Durham. The teacher was absent the day of my visit to No. 9, so I did not see the school. No. 5 has operated no school for several terms, on account of the scarcity of pupils. A new school house is in process of erection in No. 10, and is badly needed. No. 2 needs a teacher of the First Class, but the Trustees, in a fit of economy (?), disregarded my recommendation to that effect at the beginning of the Second Term. The school house in No. 1 was plastered inside during summer vacation.

Beresford. There is a movement on foot to make four Districts out of Nos. 1, 2 and 3, as, under the present arrangement, many of the pupils in each of these Districts are a long distance from school. Such a change would not meet the requirements of the case, as far as Nos. 1 and 2 are concerned. A school house in the second concession would accommodate the distant pupils. No. 2 needs a larger school house, but the Ratepayers will not vote the necessary funds till this question is settled. The school in No. 8 improved considerably during the year, under Mr. Samuel C. Grant. The Superior School in No. 4 has done very good work, when the disadvantages under which the teacher labors are taken into account. First, there is no standard of admission. Pupils are admitted when they have attained a certain stature, regardless of attainment. This makes proper grading difficult, if not impossible. Then there is the difficulty of language. Some pupils can speak only English, some only French, when they enter the school. Again, a different set of pupils attend each season. The school