SAMOAN MISSION

Evening Post, Volume CXXXVIII, Issue 54, 1 September 1944, Page 7

SAMOAN MISSION

COLLEGE CENTENARY sppndent of the New Zealand Press' Association. The two days set a 2 for the celebrations followed thl annual assembly which had been in nf+Wfi fort^ Week- T^ c main Mature of the first day was the opening of a new schoolhouse by the Administrator! Mr. A. C. Turnbull. Grounds are spacious, and to accommodate the hlch- P, umbered between 5000 and 6000 a wide awning of coconut leaves had been erected. Various district groups,, with banners flying inarched, into sections prepared for Sfu 1 ' fu jolne^ in singing the National-Anthem on the arrival of the Administrator and Mrs. Turnbull, with many Europeans representing the official and business communities The principal of the Malua Theological College, the Rev. E, J. Edwards, presided, and speeches were made by Mr Turnbull, Sa'aga (who has a record of forty years1 service as a teacher in the college), the Rev. C. L. Williams (chairman of the Methodist Mission, SamoaJ>, the Rev. P. Knightley (in charge- of the London Mission's work m Tutuila, American Samoa, who spoke on behalf of the .Ellice and Tokelau Islands), and the Rev H W Whyte (chairman of the Church Assembly). After the opening ceremony Mr. Turnbull congratulated the mission on its progress and also the w students on the construction of such a handsome building, which was done entirely by Samoans and mostly "by students. It is a Samoan house with a thatched roof, magnificently ribbed with strips- of breadfruit. wood and with beautifully carved and decorated beams. After a Samoan feast, tableaux on the life of John Williams were presented by the students. 1 The second day was taken up wfth boat races, foot races, basketball,, and many other sports, and by singing competitions. The attendance at these events must have been close to ten thousand.