ARCHDIOCESE OF WELLINGTON.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXVIII, Issue 24, 14 June 1900, Page 4

ARCHDIOCESE OF WELLINGTON.

(.From our own correspondent.) June 9. The midwinter vacation at St. Patrick's College begins on June 20. Very Rev. Dean Carew returned to Greymouth early in the week. Very Rev. Father John Goutenoire left for Meanee on Thursday afternoon. He came to Wellington to attend the Council just concluded. It is expected that the two Yew Zealand representatives to the Marist Chapter in Lyons will not leave here before the beginning of September. His Grace the Archbishop and Rev. Father Ainsworth arrived in Wellington yesterday. The mission in Kaikoura was highly successful. Over £200 in cash was received and £600 more promised. The missionaries beinn in Dannevirke on Sunday. A very enjoyable hour was spent at the College on Whit Monday. Some of the juvenile student*, under Rer. Father Mahoney, got up a play to interest and amuse their companions. It was so mirthful and successful that they have acceded to a request to repeat it. The following took part in the performance :— Masters B. Petre, P. Dwyer, B. MoArdle, F. Whyte, M. Murphy, It. Evenson, P. O'Connor, L. Coakley, and L. Dignan. St. Patricks College football team this season bids fair to outshine any of its predecessors since the famous combination of 1888 and 1889 In the Junior Championship contest in which the team is now leading, it has so far played five games, of which number only one has been lost. Competent judges of the game expect to find the ' boys ' if not at the top at least very close up at the end of the season. The following beqnests to Catholic institutions are made under the will of the late Mr. J. O'Meara :— £looo to the Wellington Convent of Mercy, £500 to the Home for Incurables, £200 to the Palmerston North Convent of Mercy, and £100 to the Murist Brothers' School, Wellington. Besides these there is, I understand, a further bequest to the Sacred Heart Church now being built at Thorndon, but at the time of writing the amount of it haa not been made public. The Eighty Club banqueted on Wednesday an old Wellingtonian, Mr. Thomaß Dwan, een , who leaves to day for a trip to America and Europe. The chair was occupied by Mr. McParland, and included in the assembly were the Acting- Premier (Hon. J. G. Ward), Minister of Education (Hon. W. C. Walker), Minister of Native Affairs (Hon. J.Carroll), and eeveral members of the Legislature. Several toasts were proposed and duly honored, each of the speakers making kindly and complimentary references to the guest of the evening. The Old Boys of St. Patrick's College will regret to hear of the death of Mr. P. B. Skerrett in South Africa. From private letters received on Thursday it was learned that he was wounded in an engagement at Faurenßburg on April 18, and succumbed to his wounds on the 26th He was attended by a priest and died a happy death. Mr. Skerrett was a member of the Cape mounted police. The Misses Skerrett, Mr. C. Skerrett, and a number of friends assisted at a Requiem Mass, which was celebrated for the rep r se of his soul by one of his old professors, Rev. Father Goggan, in St. Mary of the Angels' Church on Friday morning. — R.I.P. On Monday evening last two highly-respected and well known residents of Ohariu Valley, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Bassett, sen., celebrated their golden wedding. In the midst of numerous relations and friends a moat enjoyable reunion was spent. They arrived in Wellington in 1856, and for a short time lived at Crofton. Purchasing land at Ohariu Valley, then a dense forest, they decided to take up their residence, where they have since resided. A large family has been brought up by thorn a credit to the Church and themselves. The respect in which Mr. and Mrs. Bassett are held was fully demonstrated by the large and representetive gathering assembled to do honor to the happy couple on the occasion. At St Mary of the Angels' on Whit-Sunday Solemn High Mass was celebrated by the Yen. Archdeacon Devoy, S.M., V.G., Rev. Fathers Moloney and O'Shea being deacon and subdeacon respectively. The music at the Mass and Vespers was of an exceedingly fine character. The 'Kyiie and Gloria' were from Mozart's Twelfth Mass, and the remainder from Mercadante's in B flat. Lambilotte's ' Laudate Sion ' was sung by the full choir as an offertory. After Mass the Blessed Sacrament was exposed, Jont^s 1 O Salutaria ' being nicely sung by Mrs. Oakes and Miss McParUn°\ The sermon waa preached by the Very Rev. Dean Carew of CrlSfmouth. In the evening Rev. Father Moloney sang the Vespers. Rossi's Magnificat in B flat was sung by the choir, Mrs. Oakes, Miss McParland and Mr Dunne taking the solo parts. Mine's • Regina Coeli ' was also given. Mr. John Fuller sang as an offertory an Aye Verum with orchestral accompaniment, the well known tenor doing full justice to the beautiful setting. Mr. Fuller also joined with Mr. Dunne in singing Rossi's ' Tantum Ergo.' The service con-

cluded with the ' Divine Praises ' and ' Laudate Dominum ' (Oakes). Mr, H. Forrest led the orchestra, Mr. D. Kenny presided at the organ, and Mr. F. J. Oakes conducted. The church was crowded at Mass and Vespers At St. Joseph's Solemn High Mass was celebrated "by Rev. Father Mahoney, Rev. Fathers Clancy and Bowden being deacon and pubdeacon ret-pectively. Miss a Hickling, Sullivan, and Gallagher, Messrs. Rowe and Butcher sang the solos. An in pressive sermon on the Feast of the day waa preachel by the Rev. Father Goggan. Quite a gloom was cast over the community in all oiroles when it became known on Tuesday morning that Mr John OMeira had succumbed to Ilia brief illne.°3, It is scarcely ?ix week* t-inoe I recorded the death of Mrs. O'Meara. Mr. O'Meara was a man of sterling qualities, to the fore in every good work, and a great supporter of the Church throughout the Colony, but particularly in the parish where he resided. An Irishman by b rth, he came out to the colonies at a very early age, joining Mr. Amefl, of Wellington, in the boat-building and whaling trades o> Kapiti Island. Some years later he joined the late Mr. Salvatore Cimino in sheep farming, carrying on the business successfully for some 30 years in the Wairarapa diarrict. Selling oat his interest in the concern, he came to Wellington and lived in the city for several years. He held the position of a director in the Equitable Buildinsr and Investment Company up to the time of his death. Mr. O'Meara had attained the good age of 77 years. He leaves no family, but is understood to have some brothers in Australia. Mr. O'Meara, M.H.R., for Pahiatua, is a nephew of the deceased. A Mass for the repose of his soul was said by Rev. Father Holley on Wednesday, the children of the convent singing appropriate hymns. The funeral took place in the afternoon and waa the largest and most representative seen here for many years. The service held in the church prior to the cortege leaving for Karori was a choral one, the ' Benedictus ' and 1 Blessed are the departed ' being' sung by the choir. Included among the mourners were the Yen. Archdeacon Devoy, representing the Te Aro priests, Very Rev. Dean McKenna, from Masterton, Rev. Father Clancy, representing St. Patrick's College, the directors of the Equitable, and a body of girls from St. Joseph's Orphanage. Father Holley, assisted by Dean MoEenna and Father Clancy, officiated at the church and the cemetery ,—R.l.P.