Newspaper Page Text
TEN
THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA
MARCH 26, 1938
Florida N. C. C. W. Convention in Tallahassee
APRIL 19-21 DATES
OF ANNUAL MEETING
Miss Lenna Wilson, Field
Representative, Recent
Visitor to Diocese
(Special to The Bulletin)
JACKSONVILLE, Fla —Tallahassee
will be host to the annual convention
of the St. Augustine Diocesan Council
of the National Council of Catholic
Women, Mrs. George P. Coyle, Dio
cesan president, announced here af
ter the recent quarterly meeting; the
hales selected are April 19-21, inclu
sive. and the Floridian Hotel is head
quarters.
Four deanery meetings were held in
the four sections of Florida on the
occasion of the visit to the state and
Diocese of Miss Lenna Wilson, Wash
ington, D. C., field representative of
the National Council of Catholic Wo
men. Mrs. Coyle, Diocesan President,
and Mrs. J. W. McCollum, former
president and now a member of the
national board of directors and eo-
chaiiman of organization of the na
tional board, accompanied Miss Wil
son. Everywhere they were received
most graciously and entertained most
hospitably, and at St. Augustine they
were received by the Most Rev. Pat
rick Barry, D. D., Bishop of St. Au
gustine, who complimented the organ
ization on its fine work in the Diocese
and expressed his hope that it would
grow and flourish in even greater
measure.
ST. LEO ABBEY College announces
that Camp St. Leo will open for the
summer season June 26, closing Au
gust 7. Extensive plans are already
being put into effect to extend the
facilities of the summer camp.
THE SALESIAN Orphanage near
Tampa, where the homeless little boys
of the Diocese are housed, has been
notified through Father Rinaldi, sup
erior. that half the estate of Gustave
Pitscher of Grant Wood, N. 7.. has
been left to the home for a new build
ing. The size of the estate is undisclos
ed but it is believed to be substantial.
Mr. Pitscher, a winter visitor here,
buried his wife here in 1932, and since
had become well acquainted and very
much attached to the boys and thj
orphanage.
ST. PETERSBURG parishoners of
the Rev. James J. O'Riordan who ob
served the silver jubilee of his or
dination £■;. Patrick’s Day, arc rallying
to his supert in his effort to reduce
the church debt with a campaign in
augurated at the jubilee dlnnar at
which $13,500 was subscribed. The Rev.
George J. Hafford, pastor of SL
Francis of Assisi Church, New York,
was the principal speaker at the din
ner.
KEY WESTS Church of St. Mary
Star of the Sea, had a mission the last
week in February, conducted by the
Rev. John M. McCreary, S. J., of the
Southern Jesuit Mission Band. It was
splendidly attended.
KEV. A. L. MAUREAU, S. J., de
livered the benediction at the exer
cises at Key West marking the thirt
ieth anniversary of the sinking of the
Battleship Maine. Father Maureau al
so addressed the Pan-American Poet
ry Society at Key West recently on
Subjects for Poetry.”
JACKSONVILLE’S St. Patrick’s
Day programs included dances spon
sored by Father Maher and Bishop
Kenny Councils of Knights of Colum
bus, the St. Patrick’s Day entertain
ment of Immaculate Conception
parish, and other activities.
P. DONALD DellOFF is president
of the new Jacksonville Chapter of the
alumni of the University of Florida.
AL LASTINGER of Lakeland, set
ting sail on a solo trip from Tampa
to Genoa, Italy, in an 18-foot sail boat,
completed his preparations by asking
the Rev. F. J. Clarkson, S. J.. pastor
of Sacred Heart Church, to bless his
craft. He has a letter of introduction
from Governor Cone which he hopes
to present to Fremier Mussolini. Three
years ago he tried a similar experi
ment, only to have his boat spring a
leak. He hopes to make the 5,000 miles
in 120 days. He is a former seaman and
aviator in China.
CATHEDRAL PARISH in St. Au
gustine sponsored its annual Mardi
Gras the days preceding Ash Wed
nesday at the Columbus Club on Davis
Island. The results exceeded op
timistic expectations.
MSGR. D. A. LYONS was the guest
speaker at the March meeting of the
Catholic Club of Business and Pro
fessional Women. Miss Alice Dorsey
presided.
IMMACULATE CONCEPTION Par
ish Sodality in Jacksonville will pre
sent a minstrel show after the Easter
season.
MRS. G. H. McINTYRE, recently
elected state vice-regent of the Catho
lic Daughters of America, was honor
ed with a reception at the Roosevelt
Hotel, Jacksonville, _ sponsored by
Immaculate Conception Court.
MISS MARIE CAPPICK of Key
West is having her latest book. ''Is
land Pageant” published in New York.
The work is a history'of picturesque
Key West and its vicinity.
JACOB SCIIEEIBEE. winter visitor
in Key West, recently entertained the
faculty and students at Mary Im
maculate Convent Auditorium with a
news review' of the year in film and
sound.
-*»
by contributing to the
RICA SPANISH RELIEF FUND
(Registered State Department, Washington, D, C.)
NATIONAL AND CATHOLIC DIOCESAN MOVEMENT
National Committee — 342 Madison Ave., New York, N. Y.
SPANISH CHILDREN
Must Be Saved!
Can Help
J. C. D0ERNER DIES—
JACKSONVILLE LEADER
(Special to The Bulletin)
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — John C.
Doerner, retired broker, and for
many years president of the Doern-
er-Bryant Company, Inc., died early
in March, aged 64. years. Bom
in Cumberland, Md., he was South
ern manager for the J. H. Heinz Com
pany for years, with headquarters in
Savannah. His wife, two sisters and
a brother survive. He was a mem
ber of the Church of the Assumption,
South Jacksonville.
HAROLD USINA, a member of a
prominent Florida family, son of Mr.
and Mrs. J. O. Usina, and active in
Scouting until his final illness, died
in St. Augustine recently. He was a
member of the Church of the As
sumption, South Jacksonville. He
was graduated from high school in
1934.
MRS. HAZEL M. IRONMONGER,
wife of Frank M. Ironmonger, Jr.,
died in Miami at the age of 39. The
funeral was held from the Church of
the Immaculate Conception, Jack
sonville. Interment was in St. Mary’s
Cemetery. Surviving Mrs. Ironmon
ger, in addition to her husband, are
her daughter, her son, her parents,
Mr. and Mrs. William Henry O'Neil,
of Jacksonville, and her sister, Mrs.
Cyril S. Sedding.
MICHAEL MASSAMERI, a native
of Syria, where he v/as born 64 years
ago, and a member of the Immacu
late Conception Church, died recent
ly. He was in the grocery business
here for many years.
FLORIDA MARRIAGES
O
0
1
-o
RAY-TUCKER—The Rt. Rev. Msgr.
D. A. Lyons, pastor of St. Paul’s
Church, Jacksonville, officiated at the
marriage of Miss Eleanor Cullen
Ray, daughter of Mrs. James C. Ray,
and Joseph Wade Tucker, Jr., son of
Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Wade Tucker,
of Madison.
LOCHRIE-FEE—The Rev John J.
O’Looney officiated at the marriage
of Miss Mary Jane Lochrie, of Wind-
ber, Pa., and David Fee, of Fort
Pierce, the ceremony being perform
ed at Fort Lauderdale. They will
make their home in Fort Pierce.
Marist Missionary Relates
Experiences in South Seas
Father A. J. Laplante, S.M., Survives Floods, Hurricanes
and Shark-Infested Waters of Fiji Islands
(By N. C. W. C. News Service)
NEW YORK. — Survivor of three
South Sea hurricanes, floods 40-feet
high, shark-infested waters, re
markable cures and a score of other
experiences, a modest Catholic mis-
sioner has arrived here after serving
10 years among the Fiji Islanders.
He is the Rev. A. J. Laplante, S.
M., an American-born Marist. stocky
and as strong as a college athlete.
Working with 16 Catholic mission-
ers on the island of Viti Levu inhab
ited by 75,000 Fiji Island natives, he
has brought back with him a com
plete motion picture record of na
tive life, depicting paradoxical feats
of the Fiji Islanders and the laudable
work of the missioners among these
picturesque inhabitants of the South
Seas. He is visiting the Rt. Rev.
Msgr. Thomas J. McDonnell, Nation
al Director of the Society for the
Propagation of the Faith, and in the
course of his sojourn in the United
States expects to visit his Marist
eonfereres in Georgia.
Arriving in the Fiji Islands in Oct
ober, 1937, within three weeks he
had constructed a water supply sys
tem. Within six weeks he taught the
natives how to improve their crops
by plowing and scientific planting.
In three months the Fiji Islanders,
under Father Laplante’s direction,
were building sea-worthy boats in
stead of native rafts.
“Twice a year”, Father Laplante
said at the headquarters of the Socie
ty for the Propagation of the Faith,
“the Fiji natives on Viti Levu spend
days in preparation for their semi
annual fishing expedition—Vara Wai,
they call it, or combing the river.-
This necessitates the construction of
a gargantuan tennis like net of woven
matting, about 300 feet long and ten
feet wide. It is stretched across a
shark infested river by men and
women, hip and shoulder deep in the
water and it it held there until the
male members of the tribe drive the
sharks and fish into the encircling
net. Then it is slowly pulled toward
shore, like a seine, and here takes
place a phenomenon I cannot explain.
church is located, are the happiest
people in the world—proud of their
work for they helped to build it. It
is known as the Church of St. Teresa
of the Little Flower.”
Buli-Bamana, tribal chief of Bama-
na, had suffered for six years from
a terrible skin disease which almost
resulted in the loss of an arm. The
ministrations of Sister Sabine, of the
Missionary Sisters of the Society of
Mary, who has served in Fiji for -25
years, effected a remarkable cure,
and as evidence of his devotion and
gratitude, he and his tribesmen help
ed to build the modern church.
“No—we don’t have thievery in the
Fiji Islands. We just have what you
might think is a very peculiar cus
tom,” explained Father Laplante. "If
a native goes visiting and sees a
shirt, soap, cooking utensil or some
thing that strikes his fancy in his
host’s cabin, he just picks it up and
takes it home with him. Native court
esy denies even mentioning the word
don’t. You’ve just got to be relieved
of whatever your guest likes and get
it back on your next visit to his home
or something else its equivalent.
‘.‘Marry for love? Not in the Fiji
Islands,” continued Father Laplante.
“No, sir. A man with an eligible son
will look around until he finds a
family who is wealthy enough to ac
cept his gifts of mats, whale teeth,
tree bark and other things of native
value. The deal is not consummated
nor does the marriage take place un
til the bride’s parents return approxi
mately the same value to the parents
-of the groom. This may take from
two months to a year. Divorce was
unknown among the natives until it
was introduced by the Government,
but they are gradually rejecting it.”
Father Laplante will return to the
palm-fringed isle of Vita Levu and
his 75,000 “children” in a month or
so.
Federation News
DAVIS-O’NEILL—The Rev. John
Cotter, pastor of St. Peter’s Church,
DeLand, officiated at the marriage
of Miss Ann Davis, daughter of Dr.
and Mrs. G. A. Davis, and John E.
Q’Neill, son of Mrs. Catherine
O’Neill, the ceremony taking place
at Sanford.
MAHON-LITTLE—The Rev. J. P.
Littleton officiated at the marriage
at Apalachicola of Miss Edna Fer
rell Mahon, daughter of Mr. and Mrs.
Charles R. Mahon, and Henry Guy
Little, son of the late Mr. and Mrs.
John Forest Little, of Ohatchee, Ala.
Recent Deaths
REV. EDW. M. CORBETT, S. J.,
of Weston College, a native of Bos
ton, and ordained in 1895, is dead in
Massachusetts at the age of 74.
ARCHBISHOP HENRY O’LEARY
of Admonton. Alberta. Canada, a na
tive of New Brunswick, died early in
March at 58. He was consecrated
Bishop of Charlottletown in 1913 and
became Archbishop of Edmonton in
1920.
ARCHBISHOP M. J . SPRATT. of
Kingston, Ont., his native archdio
cese, died there late in February at
the age of 82 after an illness of 14
years.
SISTER WINIFRED DOLORES, a
member of the Carmelite community
in Cleveland, and blind since she was
eight years of age, died late in Feb
ruary in the 49th year of her religious
profession. She was admitted to the
order in St. Louis by special dis
pensation.
MRS. JOHN LONG of Montreal,
a cousin of Cardinal McCloskey of
New York, and one of the oldest resi
dents of Canada, died late in Feb
ruary at 99.
BISHOP WILLIAM CODD of Ferns
in Ireland died March 12 in Dublin.
He was consecrated Bishop in 1918.
CARDINAL MINORETTI, Arch
bishop of Genoa, died there March 13
in his 77th year. His Eminence was
made Bishop of Crema in 1915,
Archbishop of Genoa in 1927 and Car
dinal in 1929.
MISS FRANCES MAURAWSKI,
for 10 years housekeeper at St. John’s
Rectory, the residence of Bishop Wil
liam D’ O’Brien, Auxiliary Bishop of
Chicago and president of the Catholic
Church Extension Society, died early
in March. She knew most of the
Bishops of the United States.
WM. G. WILLMANN, father of the
Rev. George J. Willmann, S.J, of
Manila, and of Miss Dorothy J. Will
mann, national secretary for Parish
Sodalities, died at his home in Suf-
fern, N. Y., at 72. Two of his daugh-
ers are nuns, Mother Mary Ruth
and Mother Godfrey, F.M.M., serving
in the Philippines.
BROTHER JOHN SINGER, vener
able educator of the Society of
Mary, died at Kirkwood, Mo., at 79.
He had taught at Dayton, O., New
York, Baltimore, Chicago, Cleveland,
New Orleans and elsewhere.
“Bare handed, some six picked
men of the tribe wade into the water,
grab sharks three and four feet long
by the tail, lift them out of the wa
ter and kiss them on their upturned
bellies. The sharks stop wiggling in
stantly when kissed. The natives lay
them down side by side on the beach'
and they never move again.” Father
Laplante's motion pictures illustrate
this strange native feat completely.
“You New Yorkers would he
ashamed of yourselves if you really
knew how little contentment and
genuine happiness you get out of
life,” he said. “Our people have never
a worry or care in the world. Time
means nothing. A man would just
as soon take four months to make
a roll of string from beaten bamboo
stalks as do it in four days. Every
tribe has a chief and the chief takes
the responsibility of organizing the
community into a housing group and
a food collecting group. The housing
group, once it gets going can put up
a thatched roof house in two days.
There is plenty of food everywhere.
Yams, bread fruit, bananas, tapioca
an dall tropical fruits and fish are
in abundance the year round. The
natives enjoy perfect health and take
part in a perpetual round of feasts,
dancing, and singing. You seldom see
anybody unhappy.”
Father Laplante told of >the work
of the Catolic missioners who have
been working in the Fiji Islands tra
der the direction of the Most Rev.
Joseph Nicolas, Vicar Apostolic of
Fiji, who has been laboring among
the natives for 35 years.
Crossing the Siga Toka River on
horseback, he said, sometimes in
volves riding in water almost to
the waist.
“I’ve crossed that tricky Siga Toka
River 16 times during my visits about
the parish, “Father Laplante said,
“and remember once my horse fell
down and I was thrown into the
water. The current was so strong it
carried me almost a mile downstream
before I could reach the bank safe
ly.”
The first hurricane he experienced
in the Fiji Islands brought 120- mile-
an-hour winds that destroyed an en
tire villege, he said. “Most of us
found refuge in a small building that
survived somehow, trying ourselves
down with bamboo string that saved
us from being blown away,” he said.
“There was no loss of life, however,
and the natives who have lived
through several hurricanes feel al-
jnost at home during the terrible
winds. The second hurricane I pre
dicted by almost 36 hours, and we
were all prepared for the big blow
when it came.”
The efforts of the missionary group
resulted in the construction of a mod
em concrete Catholic church—100 per
cent hurricane proof, and only re
cently completed.
“Our first church was a native tha
tched hut subject to the whims of
nature.” he said. “But this new one
is the last word and the 800 Catholic
converts at Bemana, where the
Savannah, Continued
The Cathedral Children of Mary try
to participate in all the activities
suggested by the Central Office in
St. Louis. At each monthly meeting
a skit appropriate for the work of
the month is given. These programs
are under the direction of the Social
Life and Membership Committee
with Miss Theresa Smith as chair
man. In February a very interesting
program entitled “Portia and Neris-
sa and the Pamphlets” was given.
This stimulated interest in the Cath
olic Press and called to the attention
of the public the diocesan Catholic
paper and some of the leading Cath
olic magazines and periodicals.
On the first three days of Holy
Week, the sodality will sponsor a
retreat for the girls of St. Vincent’s
Academy. Retreat will close with
Mass on Holy Thursday morning. The
Rev. Joseph Buckley, S. M., professor
of Dogmatic Theology at Notre Dame
seminary, New Orleans will be Mas
ter. Father Buckley is well known
for his interest in and work among
the youth of the Archdiocese of New
Orleans. He has been associated with
the Confraternity of Christian Doctr
ine and the Catholic Student’s Mis
sion Crusade.
On April 7, the sodality will pre
sent the play “Mary Magdalene” in
the auditorium of the Richard Arnold
Junior High School. The proceeds
are to be used for the projects to
be carried out between now and
June.
Mrs. C. D. Dickinson
Is Dead in Atlanta
ATLANTA, Ga.—Mrs. Charles D.
Dickinson, a resident of Atlanta
since her early childhood, and the
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James
Coyne who refugeed in Louisville,
Ky., during and after the War. go
ing there from Atlanta, died here
last week at the age of 73. The family
returned to Atlanta when Mrs. Dick
inson was six years old. Educated at
Immaculate Conception Convent, she
was a charter member of the Im
maculate Conception Altar Society.
For some years past she was a mem
ber of the Sacred Heart parish and
of the Sacred Heart Altar Society.
She was affiliated with the Atlanta
Pioneer Women’s Club and the At
lanta Women’s Club. The funeral
was held from Sacred Heart Church,
the Rev. John Emmerth, S. M, of
ficiating at the Requiem Mass. In
terment was in Oalkand Cemetery,
Surviving Mrs. Dickinson are her
husband, two sons, Frank H. Dick
inson, of Houston, Texas, and James
C. Dickinson, of Atlanta; three
grandsons, Frank H. Dickinson, Jr,
of Houston; Thomas Coston Dickin
son, and James C. Dickinson, Jr.; two
nieces Mrs. W. D. Bowie and Mrs.
L. C. Fuller; and a nephew, Jerry
Blount, all of Atlanta.