PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.

Taranaki Daily News, 30 May 1922, Page 4

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.

WELCOME TO THE MODERATOR. A warm welcome was extended to the Rt. Rev. D. Dutton, F.R.A.S., Moderator of the Presbyterian General Assembly, at a social gathering at St. Andrew’s Hall. New Plymouth, last evening. Addresses of welcome were given by the Rev. O. Blundell, who presided, and by Air. N. K. Mac Diarmid, session clerk, on behalf of the of-fice-bearers and the congregation. In the course of his reply the Rev. Dutton made interesting references to his experiences as a chaplain in the South African war, and more recently, his experiences at Gallipoli, also as chaplain. In passing the speaker paid a very high tribute to the work done by the nurses and medical men, wan whose work he came in close contact on board the hospital ship Maheno. Touching upon matters nearer home, the speaker mentioned that he had previously visited New Plymouth in the ’seventies, and he was greatly impressed by the contrast afforded between those times and now. He recalled that forty-five years ago he had landed at Moturoa in a surf-boat. A great advance had been made in New Plymouth and Taranaki since those days, the speakex- drawing a happy comparison between old Plymouth and New Plymouth, and giving it as his opinion that we in New Plymouth were well on the way towards emulating the older Plymouth, especially as regards importance as a port. During the evening a short musical programme was rendered, those contributing items being Air. and Airs. F. P. Fredric, Mr. and Airs. D. H. Thomson, and Air. R. A. Cocker The ladies of the congregation provided supper.