ROYAL COLONIAL INSTITUTE.

(Incorporated by Royal Charter, 1882).

Northumberland Avenue, London, W. C. 2.

REGULATIONS FOR SCHOOL MEDAL COMPETITIONS FOR ESSAYS ON SUBJECTS RELATING TO THE EMPIRE.

The Council of the Royal Colonial Institute, with a view to encouraging the progress of Imperial Studies in the schools of the Empire, have decided to award in the Summer of 1921 medals and prizes of books for the best Essays sent in by boys or girls who are pupils at schools in the British Empire. See Regulation No. 1 below. The Essays will be adjudicated upon in three classes:

Class A.-Essays submitted by candidates of 16 years of age or over on July 31st, 1921.

Class B.-Essays submitted by candidates above the age of 14 and under 16 on July 31st, 1921.

Class C.-Essays submitted by candidates under the age of 14 on July 31st, 1921.

The Competitions will be governed by the following Regulations:

1. The competitions are open to pupils of any school in the British Empire, and to the children of British Subjects who are pupils at schools outside the British Empire.

2. The Essays should be written on one side only of foolscap paper, with an inch and a half margin on the left-hand side.

3. The length of the Essays must not exceed 3,000 words in Class A or 2,000 words in Class B, or 1,000 words in Class C.

4. Each Essay is to be marked with a motto, and accompanied by a sealed envelope bearing a similar motto and containing the full name, address, and age of the candidate, and authenticated by the signature and description of the Head Master or Mistress of the school, who should, as far as possible, be satisfied that the Essay is the bona-fide work of the candidate. The name of the Candidate or of the School must not appear on the Essay. The whole should be enclosed in an envelope marked in the left-hand corner "Essay Competition, Class A (or B or C)" and addressed to "The Secretary, Royal Colonial Institute, Northumberland Avenue, London, W. C. 2."

5. The prizes will be awarded by the Council after consideration of the Report of the appointed examiners, and the decision of the Council will be final.

6. Essays sent in for competition cannot be returned.

N. B. Candidates are advised to avoid the too frequent use of quotations in their Essays.

Essays for the competition in 1921 must in any case reach the Institute not later than July 31st, 1921.

The Prizes and Medals to be awarded will be as follows:

Class A.-For candidates of 16 and over on July 31st, 1921.

First Prize: The Silver Medal of the Royal Colonial Institute, together with suitably inscribed books to the value of Three Guineas.

Second Prize: If there be a sufficient number of candidates, suitably inscribed books to the value of Two Guineas.

Class B. For candidates above 14 and under 16 on July 31st, 1921.

First Prize: The Bronze Medal of the Royal Colonial Institute with suitably inscribed books to the value of Two Guineas.

Second Prize: If there be a sufficient number of candidates, suitably inscribed books to the value of One and a half Guineas.

Class C.-For candidates under the age of 14 on July 31st, 1921.

First Prize: The Bronze Medal of the Royal Colonial Institute with suitably inscribed books to the value of One and a half Guineas.

Second Prize: If there be a sufficient number of candidates, suitably inscribed books to the value of One Guinea.

The subjects prescribed for the Competition in 1921 are the following:

Class A.-"Discuss the Effects of the Great War (1914-1918) on the British Empire."

Class B.-"Compare the Lives of Drake and Raleigh and the Results of their Work as Empire Builders."

Class C.-"Which part of the British Empire would you prefer to live in, and why?"

LORD MEATH EMPIRE DAY CHALLENGE CUPS & LEAGUE OF THE EMPIRE PRIZES.

EMPIRE DAY ESSAY COMPETITION, 1921.

The following are the subjects and conditions for the Essay Competitions inter-all Schools of the Empire for 1921.

It is intended that the essays be written in Schools on May 24th (Empire Day) or some day adjacent if that be a School holiday.

(a) For what great ideals does the British Empire stand? Illustrate some of these by historical or literary examples.

(b) Show the interdependence of the Empire from the point of view of trade, food production and defence. How does your country co-operate?

Prizes. A Silver Challenge Cup value £10 10s., presented by the Right Hon. the Earl of Meath, K. P., to be held by the School, and a prize of £5 5s. given by the League of the Empire, is offered for competition to pupils throughout the Empire who are over 14 and under 20 years of age, on May 24th, 1921. The Essay must not exceed 2,000 words.

(a) What constitutes "Patriotism?" Illustrate by means of historical examples. (b) Show how the Overseas Empire grew. Give the name of some leading explorer, with dates of his voyages and illustrate his routes by means of sketch maps.

Prizes. A Silver Challenge Cup, value £10 10s. presented by the Right Hon. the Earl of Meath, K. P., to be held by the Shcool, and a prize of £5 5s. given by the League of the Empire, is offered for competition to pupils throughout the Empire who are under 14 years of age on May 24th, 1921. The Essay must not exceed 1,000 words.

CONDITIONS OF COMPETITION.

1. All essays must be certified by the teacher, parent or guardian of a child in the following terms:

"I certify that this essay is the unaided composition of the boy or girl in whose name it is sent in."

Note-This declaration is not intended to preclude a teacher from answering any reasonable requests for information, or from indicating books where such information may be found; but an essay must not be a mere reproduction of a lesson given in class.

It is not expected that the essay will be written without reference to the ordinary and authoritative sources of information on the subject; but it is expected that the information will be thoroughly assimilated and rendered in the writer' own language in the essay offered for competition.

2. All essays must first be judged in the schools, only the best one from each school being sent in for consideration. In cases where the Education Authorities are kindly co-operating with the League, the essays should be forwarded through that department. As the usual sources of information in regard to the subjects are best known in the competitor's own country it is hoped that the authorities transmitting the essays will examine them and refrain from sending on essays which do not satisfy the conditions explained under condition 1.

3. All essays must reach the Central Offices of the League of the Empire, 124, Belgrave Road, Westminster, London, S. W.1. England, not later than September 1st, 1921, and preferably during the month of August.

4. Any essay exceeding the word limit or written by a child over the specified age will be disqualified.

5.

Essays should be written on one side of the paper only, and the com petitor's full name and address, date of birth, and school should be clearly given 6. Essays must be submitted in the Candidate's own handwriting (not typewritten).

7. Gifts of books will be made to competitors whose entries win honourable mention in either Senior or Junior Competitions.

The names of the winning Schools will each year be engraved upon the Cups, which are replicas of the Warwick Vase.

WATERLESS TOILETS FOR RURAL SCHOOLS.

For the information of school trustees we quote the following from the Thirty-Fourth Annual Report of the Board of Health of Ontario, page 111, which details a test by F. W. Ward, B. A. Sc. (See Bulletin No. 4, Experimental Station) of a Non-Flush Chemical Closet made by the Kaustine Company (Limited), of Toronto, Ontario.

"The abolishment of out-door privies for schools and other public places and the substitution of chemical closets therefor is to be recommended. Various forms of non-flush closets are being put on the market to satisfy the demand of those who desire sanitary conveniences in their homes and are unable to instal flush closets. A non-flush chemical closet (supplied by the Kaustine Company) was installed at the Experimental Station for investigation and proved eminently satisfactory.

"The outfit consists of a white porcelain bowl, a cylindrical iron tank of 100 gallons capacity, sufficient white enamel pipe for ventilation purposes and 30 lbs. of Kaustine. The illustration shows the system as installed.

"The bowl is so constructed that solids do not strike the bowl, but fall directly into the tank below. The chemical charge of Kaustine was thirty pounds. On analysis the Kaustine proved to be an electrolytic caustic soda. A series of experiments showed that twenty-four hours after the addition of faecal matter all traces of bacterial life had disappeared, the solids had been digested and only a small amount of floculent sludge was left out of the solution. During the reaction a small amount of ammonia gas was given off, but the efficient ventilation prevented the escape of any odor into the room.

"The solution in the tank contained a certain percentage of potash, phosphoric acid and nitrogen which are valuable as fertilizers. Analysis of the solution in the tank showed that in 100 gallons of the mixture there were:

"These were all in a form immediately available for plant food and should prove extremely valuable as a fertilizer after the caustic solution had been neutralized either by exposure to the air or by the use of acid.

"If the charge of chemical is not maintained this system will be a nuisance."

It appears to be the best system we have seen described for localities in which there is not a water supply for flushing. The Education Office is anxious to have reports from schools which may test the system; for the problem is one of the most difficult to solve satisfactorily in rural schools. Trials so far made appear to give satisfaction.

Further information, with prices, can be obtained from Eagar, Coombs & Co., Ltd., Halitax.