Intercolonial

New Zealand Tablet, 19 October 1911, Page 2107

Intercolonial

A new wing of the Christian Brothers’ School, Rockhampton, which had been erected at a cost of about £IOOO, was blessed and opened on Rosary Sunday by his Lordship Bishop Duhig. A new presbytery at Grafton was recently blessed and opened by Bishop Carroll. It was stated that the total cost of the presbytery and furnishings would be about £2500. The subscriptions at the ceremony together with those given at the laying of the foundation stone made a total of £832. On October 11, Monsignor O’Donovan, of Mudgee, celebrated the golden jubilee of his ordination to the priesthood. He has been pastor of the district for many years. The venerable jubilarian was entertained at a public banquet in the Town Hall, when several presentations were made to him. Mr. Laurence J. Harnett, lately Sergeant-at-Arms in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, died on September 29, after an illness of several months. Mr. Harnett, who was nearly 70 years old, was born at Rosebrook, near Cooma, and after being a clerk in the Legislative Assembly, he was made Sergeant-at-Arms on May 7, 1873. He held the position until three years ago, when failing health induced him to retire. Mr. Harnett, in his active days, enjoyed an extraordinary popularity in Sydney. The funeral took place at the Woronora cemetery, Sutherland. Rev. Father J. J. O’Driscoll, assisted by the Rev. Father P. Walsh, officiated at the graveside. A movement is afoot amongst Christian Brothers’ old boys to mark in some fitting manner the golden jubilee of Brother Barrett, of' Nudgee College (writes the Brisbane correspondent of the Catholic Press). This year he completes his 50th year as a Christian Brother. A preliminary meeting has already been held, and it is understood that it was decided to convene a general meeting of old boys at an early date to consider in what form his half-century’s work for Catholic education can be most suitably recognised. . Brother Barrett is the grand old man of his Order in Queensland, and the ties of friendship and affection existing between him and the hundreds of boys who have studied under him, or listened to his instructions and exhortations, are both intense and lasting. The last of the long list of works of religious education and charity in the fruitful twenty-five years of the Archbishop’s rule was blessed by his Grace on Sunday, September 24 (writes the Melbourne correspondent of the Freeman’s Journal), when the new Convent of Mercy erected at Heidelberg, opposite the parish church, was opened in the presence of a large gathering of the parishioners. The convent and site cost £2225. The Hon. J. G. Duffy, K.S.G., in the course of his address, eulogised the Catholic people for their generosity in supporting the cause of religion and Catholic education, and paid a tribute of praise to the religious teaching Orders, who were the mainstay of education. The Archbishop, replying to a vote of thanks, said that the donors would be abundantly blessed in this world and in the next. The collection amounted to £255 12s, including £SO from the Archbishop. In the course of an address at the opening of a new wing of the Christian Brothers’ School, Rockhampton, on Sunday, October 1, his Lordship Bishop Duhig, said that, going into figures, he found that since he came to Rockhampton six years ago they had expended in the Rockhampton diocese £30,000 in erecting and equipping school buildings. Included in that sum were the amounts spent on the Convent High School and St. Patrick’s School, £IOOO on the Clermont Convent School that he would open the following Sunday, £4OOO on the Convent School for the Sisters of Mercy at Townsville that he hoped to dedicate in a fortnight’s time, and £6OOO for the land and Christian Brothers’ School at Townsville, which he opened at the beginning of the year. It was a glorious record, and reminded them of the great sacrifices that the Catholic people had made for the education of their children, because they believed in Christian education.