A UNIQUE EFFORT.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1901, 8 November 1913, Page 14

A UNIQUE EFFORT.

SUNDAY SCHOOL IN A DAY. Vogeltown people badly wanted a Sunday School, and, instead of sitting praying for it, or setting up a society with a multitude of vice-presidents and prospective harvest of guineas with which to pay for its erection, these enterprising people, on Labour Day, started and ouilt one themselves. In one day they built and lined a neat little school, with electric lighting complete, and held a concert in the building qn' the same evening—a fitting monument to Labour Day. The lark was badly left by these lightning constructors, for the buzz of tho sa'w was heard after 4 a.m., and the site of the building presented a most animated spectacle. The casual observer had no part in this busy scene, and was conscious of a Reeling of guilt at being the only drone in the hive. Everyone worked with a will, the piles were put in place,' aid up went the framework. Before 10 a.m. tlie walls were well 'under way, and upwards of 20 men were standing on the' scaffolding, hammering with might and main. A. prominent borough councillors was ■ mounted on one end busily hammering in nails as if he- had never done anything else, whilst a well-known: divine was, astride of the ridge-pole, giving a very effectivo illustration of mus-'' cular Christianity. • Oft -the other side of the bunding an architect-, was Working his hardest' under the directions of, a carpenter, and the whole working-bee of 30 odd hammered and sawed as if their lives depended on it. It was marvellous, says the Taranaki "Herald," to Beo how v great a .leveller .is a common toil, and parsons, borough councillors, architects, clerks, and carpenters all looked wonderfully alike, except that the carpenters knew rather more about the work, and perforce- took the lead. Many a knight of the pen had blisters on his hands that night. Hie best man was he who could hammer in 'a nail tho fastest.

At the luncheon adjournment it was proposed that the building should be fully completed during the afternoon, and not left unlined till a future date, as had been intended, and accordingly after lunch tho working~bee of 40 went at it harder than ever. Plumbers prepared tho guttering and electricians speedily made the preliminary light fittings, and the roof was put on in almost less time than it takes 'to write of it. Five o'clock saw tho roof on and tho lining and oeiling well under way, and the workers, who had been "kicking it in" for over 12 hours, began to see -the end in sight. The inside of tho building left hardly room to turn for busy workers, but there was absolutely no confusion, only bustle, and by about six o'clock the building was up, lined,. fitted with Windows, doors, lighting, and a porch, and that was how Vogeltown got its Sunday School.