not carried into effect. New furniture has been procured for this district. No. 4 was closed during part of the summer term. This district is very tardy in effecting some very necessary improvements. The house in No. 5, Elmville, has been painted. No. 10 was closed during part of the year.

St. Croix.-All the schools in this Parish have been maintained during a part of the year. No. 5 still maintains its reputation, and No. 3 has supported a more regular school than usual. I should like to see more interest taken in the school at Bartlett's Mills.

St. Andrews. The interest of the Trustees of the town in the welfare and improvement of the schools has not abated in any way. The school accommodations provided by No. 2 are not at all suited to the necessities of the district, nor are they in accordance with the means of the ratepayers. I hope to be able to note improvement soon.

St. David. The schools in this fine Parish are generally well supported and kept regularly in operation. Since my last report the house in No. 4 has been thoroughly repaired. The unfortunate dispute and consequent legal proceedings in this district are to be regretted. The site of the house in No. 2 not being suitable, another location was agreed upon, but I am sorry to report that the Trustees, instead of building a new house which was so much needed, have removed the old one to the new site. The school in No. 6, Oak Bay, which had somewhat deteriorated, is again coming to the front under the charge of Mr. F. C. Wright, a first-class teacher. No. 9 is well and regularly supported. The house in No. 10 has been repaired and newly furnished. Altogether this is one of the most efficient schools in the County. The Superior School at No. 1, Moore's Mills, maintains its high reputation.

Dufferin.-There are only two school districts in this Parish. No. 2 supported a regular school, but No. 1 took a long summer vacation.

St. James. The house in No. 7, Lynnfield, has been greatly enlarged to meet the wants of the district. Nos. 10, 13 and 15 have newly painted their houses and fenced and ornamented the school grounds. New furniture has also been procured for No. 15. The house and appointments of No. 9 are neither in accordance with the wealth nor the requirements of the district. Anderson, No. 4, has not yet made provision for a new school building which is much needed. The schools in this Parish have all been in operation during some part of the year.

St. Stephen.-A movement has been on foot for some time either to unite Nos. 7 and 6 or to divide No. 6 between No. 7 and No. 34. Either scheme would be quite feasible as the districts are small in area. At an informal meeting at which I was. present, held in September, and attended by a large majority of the ratepayers of the districts named, so much opposition was offered to both plans that it has been deemed advisable to defer any action at present. Nos. 1 and 4 have not supported regular schools during the year, and the school in No. 5 has not given entire satisfaction to all parties.

West Isles. The schools in this Parish have been generally well maintained. The practice in Leonardville and Lord's Cove of having two departments one term and only one the next has an injurious effect upon the schools.

Campobello. The schools on this Island are all in a fairly efficient condition. The school at Welchpool has been greatly improved by being graded.

Grand Manan.—A new school-house has been built at Deep Cove, and I hope this district will soon enjoy the privileges of a good school. Mr. N. L. Holmes has retired from the principalship of the Superior School at North Head owing to failing health. He has been succeeded by Mr. A. H. Sherwood. The Primary Department in this district is overcrowded. Grand Harbor has supported a regular school during the year. The Primary Department is still under the efficient supervision of Miss. Bessie Hutchinson. The schools at Woodward's Cove and Whitehead suffer by only one teacher being employed during the summer term. No Parish in Charlotte County supports better schools and pays higher salaries to teachers than Grand Manan.

Town of St. Stephen.-Perhaps greater educational interest is manifested by the people of St. Stephen than in any other part of my territory, and the schools have the impress of it. The teachers feel that their efforts are duly appreciated, and the best results are obtained. The retirement of Miss Fannie Sands from the King Street School is regretted. She enjoyed the entire confidence of the Board, and possessed the love and respect of pupils and parents. Too much work is imposed upon Mr. McFarlane, of the High School.

He has charge of Grades IX, X, XI and XII. An

assistant should be provided for him.

Town of Milltown.-The school grounds have all been neatly and substantially fenced, and the grounds planted with trees. In the Arbor Day celebrations of the year this town surpassed all others in my district. This was partly due to the energy of the Principal of the High School, Mr. N. W. Brown. The room over the engine house is not at all well suited for school purposes. I hope a new building will soon be provided. Milltown appears to be growing rapidly, and increased school accommodation will soon be a necessity. The schools are in a fairly good condition.

Musquash. The districts in this Parish, except No. 6, are poor, but regular schools are maintained in all except No. 9.

Lancaster.-The Primary Department in Fairville has been enlarged. An alteration in the boundaries of this district was made during the year. The two new Departments in Milford are giving satisfaction, and all differences have apparently been healed. No. 4, Spruce Lake, is in no better position than last year, being still without a school.

Simonds.—A new building, well appointed in every way and attractively painted, has been erected in No. 5, Loch Lomond Road. Garnett Settlement School has been repaired, but nothing has been done yet at Red Head. The school at Mispec has been closed for some time, owing to the inability of the Trustees to collect a portion of the taxes. Six new school-houses have been erected in this district in about two years, not to mention those which have been repaired. One or two more are needed, after which the Parish will be well provided with school buildings.

St. Martins.-A very pretty little school-house has been built at Bains' Corner. This and the house at Fairfield, both of which have been built according to plans furnished by the Board of Education, are in this way models in appearance and con

venience. They are painted white, with the windows arranged so as to give all the space possible for the maps and blackboards. The example has been contagious, as Tynemouth Creek and Little Beach have already made provision for houses of the same kind. During the year No. 3 was divided into two districts.

Westfield.—A new house has been built at Bayswater, new furniture is about to be procured for Milkish School, and the house at Nerepis Station has been repaired. No. 2, Westfield Station, has painted the school-house and fenced the grounds attached. Repairs have also been made to the house in No. 6.

No. 3, for

No. 4 has

Greenwich.-Provision has been made for a new school building at Oak Point. The Trustees are having some difficulty in procuring a suitable site for it. some reason not known to me, closed its school during the summer term. repaired its house and greatly improved the school grounds. No. 6 has made some repairs, but more are required.

City of St. John.-I have very little to note in addition to former reports concerning this city. During the second term the attendance fell off seriously, owing to the prevalence of contagious diseases. The alarm excited was altogether out of proportion to the amount of disease actually existing. The closing of the schools entirely was advocated in some quarters, but the Trustees wisely decided not to do so, rightly considering that there was less danger from contagion in well ventilated and comfortable schoolrooms with proper precautions, than in turning the children loose to mingle indiscriminately on the streets. At the beginning of the second term kindergarten methods were introduced in connection with the work of the Primary Grades, and it is believed that the results will be most satisfactory. I think that many of the teachers would be encouraged and stimulated in their work if more frequent visits were made to the schools by the Trustees and parents. Public examinations are a species of educational fireworks pleasant to observe but usually giving a very inadequate idea of the solid work of the school or the methods employed. Much misconception regarding the work of our schools would be removed by a more intimate acquaintance by people interested with their every-day work.

City of Portland.-The attendance in this city was affected in the same way as in the City of Saint John by the presence of scarlet fever. The Trustees pursued the same plan as followed in the neighboring city. During the latter part of the second term evening schools were established—one at first--but the attendance increased so rapidly that others had to be provided. It would appear from the interest taken in these schools in Portland, that like benefits would be conferred by their establishment in other cities and towns, more especially St. John.

SCHOOL-GROUNDS AND PREMISES.

While Arbor Day was more generally observed in my district this year than last, there were not so many trees planted. This can be accounted for. Many districts planted all the trees their grounds would contain last year and only replaced those which had died, this year. In many districts, particularly along the coast, trees will not grow. The observance in these districts takes the form of cleaning the house and grounds. Too many districts' grounds are not fenced and it is labor in vain to plant trees there. Arbor Day, however, is doing a good service in directing the attention of

Trustees and ratepayers to the condition of the school-grounds and premises. A notice. able improvement in my district this year is the amount of painting that has been done to school-houses, and I believe that a taste for the beautiful had quite as much influence in effecting the result as the more utilitarian idea of preservation. In the matter of the cleanliness of school-rooms I am ashamed to report that this district does not excel. The defect is not by any means peculiar to country districts but is present in nearly all the towns and villages except St. John. To clean the schoolrooms once or at most twice a year and to sweep them at intervals ranging from a week to a month is the rule.

In the City of St. John the rooms are cleaned every month and carefully swept and dusted every night. Children are largely influenced by their surroundings, and to neglect cleanliness and neatness is to omit a very important part of their education.

THE SCHOOL DISTRICT.

There have been a good many necessary changes made in boundaries during the year and as usual some disputes to settle and knotty problems to solve. Trustees continue to give improper notice of the annual meeting and ratepayers fail to attend. It is therefore necessary to call a great many general meetings. It is a common error to suppose that because the notices of these meetings are signed by the Inspector, that he should attend them. He has no function in the meeting and if he attended all he calls, would have often to be in three or four places at a time. I have, however, had to attend several school meetings during the year. The retiring secretaries give a great deal of trouble in some cases by refusing to give up school property in their possession until forced, and many Boards of Trustees fail to send me copies of the minutes of the annual meeting. It has not been necessary to displace any Board of Trustees during the year for neglecting to provide school privileges, though several have had to he notified to that effect.

GRAMMAR SCHOOLS.

The Grammar Schools in this district maintain their usual standard of efficiency. A loss was sustained in the school in St. John by the retirement of Mrs. Carr and Miss Robertson. These teachers enjoyed the entire confidence of the City Board and the respect and esteem of the whole community. Mr. G. U. Hay and Miss Maud Narraway have been appointed to succeed them, and Mr. Geo. R. Devitt has been appointed as successor to Mr. Hay. During the past two years a number of the young lady graduates of the High School in St John have matriculated most creditably at the N. B. University. The High School in St. Stephen, though not receiving the Grammar School grant, does a class of work not inferior to either of the Grammar Schools.

SUPERIOR SCHOOLS.

The Superior Schools in this district are admirably fulfilling their function. In Charlotte County there are five-all that the law will allow. In Saint John County there are as usual, three.

COURSE OF INSTRUCTION.

Reading. Taken all in all the proficiency is only fair. The two extremes are slovenliness or want of expression on the one hand and overdone expression, sometimes amounting to affectation, on the other. There are too many elocutionists and not

enough readers abroad. All that should be required in our schools is fluency combined with a simple, natural and unaffected expression of the sentiment of the passage. The discontinuance of the Friday afternoon recitations in some schools is responsible for a falling off in reading.

Writing. The progress in this branch is most satisfactory. If more teachers would give systematic class exercises in this subject still better results would be obtained.

Arithmetic. This subject receives a great deal of attention-perhaps more than it deserves. The impractical part of it is too much emphasized. Many teachers think it necessary to follow text-books very closely in the details and examples given in Practice, Pounds, Shillings and Pence, Circulating Decimals, Conjoined Proportion, Position, Logarathims, Progressions, &c., &c., part of which are useless so far as the business of life is concerned, and the other part, if ever required, will be taken up with more expedition and advantage after a knowledge of Algebra has been acquired. All the additions to our school course have been at the expense of the time formerly devoted to Arithmetic, and it does not appear that our boys are inferior calculators to those of other times. What we want is to make our boys and girls quick and accurate in this subject. It is not of so much importance that pupils shall wrestle with abstruse problems, as that they shall deal with the subject intelligently and self-reliantly.

Geography.-Too many long lists of Bays, Capes, and Islands are memorized, and not enough study is being devoted to Maps. No text-book can keep up with the times in the changes being brought about every day, and the most successful teacher studies. the newspaper and its geography and imparts it to his pupils.

History. This subject is being more intelligently taught each year, less attention being given to dates and disconnected facts, and more to causes and effects. Canadian History is not as prominent as it should be.

Grammar and Composition.-These subjects are receiving due attention-in some cases over much-in the long parsing exercises given and the doubtful utility of exacting nicety in Analysis. More attention is needed to oral composition.

Useful Knowledge.-The manner of teaching the subjects coming under this head, particularly the natural science, is not satisfactory. Great satisfaction is expressed that a text-book has been prescribed. The text is all that was expected it would be, but if our teachers depend on it alone I fear I shall be able to report very little progress for a long time.

During the first term the supply of teachers was about equal to the demand. During the second term the supply was slightly in excess.

County Institutes were held during the year in St. John and St. Stephen. The Chief Superintendent was present at the former place. As both Institutes were convened for the same days I was only able to be present at St. Stephen, where the teachers of Charlotte County were assisted in their deliberations by the teachers of Calais, Me., and vicinity. The St. John County teachers propose to meet in St. Martins next year, and the Charlotte County teachers in St. George.

Respectfully submitted,

WILLIAM S. CARTER.