MELANESIAN MISSION.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 849, 22 June 1910, Page 5

MELANESIAN MISSION.

CLEANLINESS AND GODLINESS. An interesting lecture on life and work in Melanesia was delivered.in tho Municipal Concert Chamber last night by the Rev. W. G. Ivens.. The Rev. T. H. Sprott presided over-a large at-, tendance. Norfolk Island was' described' by the lecturer as a place of beautiful colouring, especially around tho coast, with its. black basalt cliffs varied with patches of red hematite aaid yellow clay, green grass and trees on the. top, a sky nearly always blue, a.nd tho bluest of waves, with wliitc 'foam miming among Mack boulders. Tho Melanesia!! Mission owned 1300 acres, constituting one-third' of tho island. Pictures of the mission- station wero shown, inducting the interior of the church, with its altar and relics of the murdered Bishop Patte'son and its Bume-Jones and Morris windows. At this station, the lecturer explained, native teachers are trained for the whole of the mission, and .many interesting pictures of the students .at work. and play wero' shown. One delightful feature of life in Norfolk Island was the plenitude of fruit. A bunch of 200 bananas could be bought for Gel., and a case of oranges for tho same sum, while there wero amy amount of peaches, loquats, and guavas, and, as for pis-sion- fruit, one could lio under the bushes and eat all 'one wanted. Tho lantern slides shown ' by Mr. Ivpns wero uniformly excellent, and wero of (jreat assistance in enabling him to present a clear idea of tho natural and human characteristics of tho numerous volcanic and coral islands within tho sphere of the Melanesian Mission. Illustrations of the copra industry led the lecturer to point out that "the copra from tho Solomon Islands is shipped to Sydney, and ultimately used in the manufacture of soap. lie explained epigrammatically, "We are necessary to your cleanliness, and you are necessary to our godliness." The lecturer appealed strongly for the prayers of his hearers on behalf of the mission, and dwelt upon, its need of more workers. They also particularly required an 80-ton schooner, with a 40-h.p. auxiliary engine, costing between £2000 and £3000, ami for this object the lecturer asked his hearers to give liberally to the collection which was taken at tho close of tho lecture. He also sold a number of curios in aid of tho same fund.