The Hawaiian gazette., 1908-04-24
BISHOP WILLIS
WORK IN TONGA

had it, and thought himself immun
E But an epidemic of this disease of chilC
d hood has lately spread over Tong
o claiming him as one of the victims {
, its uncomfortable and discomfortin
: symptoms. He tells about it in his al
n nual report of the Anglican Church c
i Tonga.
: A copy of his report, fresh from tn
press of William Cate, Limited, He
5 garth House, Bouverie street, E. c., ha
s been received in Honolulu. His accoun
with the Tongan missionary fund show
receipts of 2s7 pounds, II shilliRgs,
' pence, and expenditures of 2O6 pounds
l shillings, 10 pence.
: The Bishop now has six licensed la.
readers in his work in Tonga, of whom
five are Tongans. These lay reader
represent three of the islands of tn
group. During 1907 he baptized nin'
infants, and confirmed five persons. Th'
following are the principal features OF
his report:
Ny Dear Friends: With regard to
the question of a Bishopric being form
ed for this side of the Pacific, 1t Is
probable that you have later fhforma-
tion than / have. All that l knew is
what 1 have read in the Guardian, that
the S. P. G. has appropriated eco
year for the support of Bishop for
! Polynesia, Beyond this, nothing def
mite has reached me.
The year that has just passed was
marked by series of epidemics that
followed one another throughout all the
Islands of the South Pacific. First,
there was the dengue fever, which at
tackled large numbers in Fiji. 1t was
brought to Tonga by a man-of-war:
but, happily, there were only a few
sporadic cases. Then came the whoop-
ing-cough. causing no little mortality
among our native children throughout
the group, and not sparing the whites.
Having had 1t sixty years ago, cher
ished the supposition that l should en-
joy immunity. But not so; 1T incapa-
citated me from the middle of Septem-
Der to the middle of November. Ap.
parently the rule Of having this dis
tressng complaint once for all doesn't
obtain on this side Of the equator.
There were several elderly people, who
like myself, were surprised by having
a second edition. Then, in December,
when 1 had just recovered my strength,
some kind of fever came along, pre-
sumably a variety of influenza, which
IN tt,rr In
house There were very few white
people in Nukualofa whom it spared.
These misadventures have somewhat
curtailed the record of the years work.
MOUGA-ONE.
It is gratifying to report that the
church, for which the people of this
island in the Haabai group have been
collecting funds for many months, has
been built, having been finished in
November. The total cost was about
e12O, of which 1 contributed e20 from
the Mission Fund. The people are de-
lighted to have a decent and commo-
dious building for their worship. Not
being well enough to visit the island
at that date, 1 sent my Lay Reader
up with the furniture,-altar. font, lee
tern, and prayer desk which he had
made on my premises, and he conveyed
my permission for the immediate oc-
cupation of the building, it being nec-
essary to postpone the conservation un-
til some time in the present year
STUDENT AT SAN MATEO OWN
ITY SCHOOL.
From San Mateo Divinity School !
have excellent reports of Mr.. Sang |
Mark. He is making good progress, |
and seems very happy in California. |
A year and a-half has yet to elapse |
before l shall have his services as a |
deacon.
DAY SCHOOL AT NUKUALOFA.
1 have not long been allowed to en-
joy a monopoly of teaching English to |
the Tongan children. Stimulated by the |
example of the Anglican church, the |
head of the largest religious body in |
these islands, at the beginning of last |
year, opened school under English
teachers at Nukualofa, and other
places in the group. 1t was the natur-
II consequence of the school at Nuku-
alOfa, that the attendance at the
Church school was considerably dimin-
shed, and with the diminution of scho-
ars there followed a corresponding
decrease in the amount of the fees, so
hat the school is no longer self-sup-
porting, though it must be remembered
hat Mr.. Broadfoot is not only school
master, but also lay reader and prin-
er. You will observe that the school
lid not raise as much as one half
If his salary. The result of a reduced
roll was that each child re-
,eived more attention, so that very
good work was done during the year,
md the number of children attached
o the Church is increasing.
PRINTING.
In my last letter / mentioned that
Mr.. Broadfoot had started on printing
he Psalter in Tongan. This was a big
OBJ for one single handed. Neverthe-
ess, the work is making good progress,
he sheets already struck off ending
With Psalm 9S
LIFUKA.
Lifuka is the island in the Haabai
rom which Mouga-One is reached by
'ail boat. Hitherto our congregation
m this island has been very small,
'hiefy owing to our having no local
labitation. The few persons who are
members of our Church have met for
in the Lay Readers house.
There is now a movement towards ex-