A PARTING WORD.

Wanganui Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 16030, 22 January 1920, Page 9

A PARTING WORD.

Bro. Malachy, of the Marist Mission in the South Seas, who has been visiting the scenes of his youth, left today on his return to Suva (Fiji). He desires ns to express his regret that his short stay in Wanganui did not enable him to make as many calls upon all friends as he desired, and likewise prevented him from accepting many kindly invitations which were extended to him.

Bro. Malachy is greatly impressed with the progress and potentialities of his native £own. „ Our fine scholastic institutions, the Sargeant Gallery, the Museum, and other public buildings and institutions, our meat freezing and other industries, the gardens and reserves which have been so materially improved with the aid of the Beautification Society, our noble river and harbour—all were a source of great pleasure to him. The Sarjeant Gallery he described as the finest institution of the kind -in Australasia: and with regard to the sheet of water in the river, he remarked that it was also unexcelled in the Southern Pacific for rowing and other purposes. He hoped the youth of Wanganui would appreciate their advantages, and said he would keenly look to seeing another world’s champion sculler being produced here. He trusted also that a clean, healthy outdoor sport would be a feature of the young life of his native town, and that every form of athletics would flourish. The bungalow residences were also noted by Bro. Malachy, who remarked on the beautiful designs of many of those recently erected, which were a credit alike to the designers and buildone thing that disappointed him was the deplorably neglected state of the cemeteries, a matter that has been commented on freely by other visitors. He stated that the contrast between the burial grounds of Suva and Wanganui was very great. In Fiji they were tended with infinite care, and in. his opinion nothing was so pathetic as a neglected cemetery.