AFRICAN CATHEDRAL

Taranaki Daily News, 2 December 1933, Page 10 (Supplement)

AFRICAN CATHEDRAL

GOOD NEWS FROM KIKUYU.

PAINTED CHIEFS IN FRONT PEWS. The Church of the Torch in Darkness is the name which Africans themselves have given to the fine- Scottish cathedral church which has been built at a cost of £15,000 at Kikuyu in East Arica. Such a multitude of delighted Wakikuyu folk assembled for the opening ceremony (says the Children’s Newspaper) that, although the church was packed with about 3000 people, hundreds of men, women, and children, had to stand outside. It was a red-letter day to them, for so many had helped with the building of the church. On their own initiative they had offered time and labour. One old woman had done her part by carrying stones from the quarry, and boys and girls helped both in excavating the site and in building the church. Equal generosity had been shown by their European friends, and the service, was a wonderful manifestation of the unity between black and white people. A STRANGE CONTRAST. Many old chiefs with painted faces and headdresses of ostrich feathers sat in the front pews. These majestic personages wore great earrings and robes of monkey-skin and held their staffs of office. They made a strange contrast with the hundreds of young people, most of whom wore European clothes. There were half-naked men with oiled and painted bodies, but many others—office clerks, railway workers, and shop assistants —wore lounge suits and collars and ties; while the women, carrying babies on their backs, were dressed in the latest styles of fashion in civilised countries. In the midst of them sat several hundred white people. African members of the Boys’ Brigade, proud to be in uniform, kept the vast crowd outside the church in control. The service was taken by white and black clergy. All kinds of offerings were given at the collection. There were maize cobs and eggs, as well as money, and during the week quite a flock of goats and sheep arrived as contributions.

It was after the opera. An expensively dressed woman aproached the tall, robust man outside the theatre. “If I am not mistaken,” she said, “I have the honour of speaking to Maruffio, the renowned basso, have I not ?” The man bowed, flattered. “And what can I do for you, madam ?” he asked. “I can’t find my car,” she told him. “Would you be so kind as to call out ‘James’ as loud as you can