ST. RITA'S CONVENT. - OFFICIAL OPENING. BABINDA CEREMONY. - The Cairns Post (Qld. : 1909 - 1954) - 12 Dec 1945 (original) (raw)

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Wed 12 Dec 1945 - The Cairns Post (Qld. : 1909 - 1954)
Page 8 - ST. RITA'S CONVENT.

BABINDA, Dec.' 9.-^-8t. Bita's Con

vent School was opened this afternoon . {

bv His Lordship Bishop Heavey, in .

-the presence of over 300 persons. Bus :

Lordship entered the building attended

Kev. Father McCarthy, O.S.A., _ in

his addess of welcome, said: "It ia.su

great' pleasure for me to extend a weRi

come to His Lordship, Fathers from!

Cairns, Gordonvale, Innisfail and Tully

and also the visitors present from

other parishes to show appreciation of

the work we are doing. We are' all

pleased His Lordship, has recovered

sufficiently from his illness to be with

us to-day. He'will be remembered as

taking an interest in Babinda in its

earlv' days and he still does so.

"Our -teachers (Sisters of Merey)

are fully qualified and highly accom-

plished. In addition to the ordinary,

curriculum of school subjects they ex-

cel in the cultivation and preservation

cf the liberal arts-speech, music, sing

.lng-together with commercial .enb

?6^ « The opening to-day is a decided

step forward for the town and district

and I think we are doing our part to-

ward development. Many, people i(>

not realise that to assist with this

school is an '. investment in the' North

of Queensland and for the benefit, of

the district as a whole. W0 hope to

have domestic science-incorporated' in

this school at a later daté. We réalisé -

theré are ..many who do not want de

nominátionaí schools^ You have' fret

dom ' of democracy in. this country and

I hope Australia" will'retain that demo-

'J Statistics show it costs the Gov-

ernment £11/18/9 per annum to educate

a child in the State school and as there

are' some 30,000 children " attending

Catholic schools, we save the Govern-

ment abont £360,000 per annum. We

educate to the'standard of the State.

"Our school , buildings in varions,

towns and .cities, were tho -first to be '

taken over for militarypurposes in the

war; years. ' We claim Government as-

sistance should be forthcoming for

building, ' maintainance". and staffing.. ,

"We are confined by regulation re-

garding building, but when completed

thc estimated cost of this school will

be £3500. The finances of this parish

are good and, we'have secured a Pres-

bytery so our obligation- now is con-

fined, to the clearing of debt on this'

school. We have paid into the fund

i £1000 besides ,£450 from our queen

competition, thus .nearly half the re-

quired amount is in hand, and I ap-

peal to-you .this afternoon to help us

with further subscriptions. This is the

first time in five years I have made

snell a public appeal. I would like to

pay . a tribute to the. architect, Mr.

Barnes, contractors, T. B. O'Meara and

Sons, their- foreman and workers for

the work so far completed."

Father McCarthy'apologised for non-

attendance ~ this afternoon of Messrs.

W. J. Biordan, MÄR, S. Jones

(R.S.8.AJ.L-.A.), and W. C. Griffin

(chairman of the .Mulgrave Shire

Brother Claude said that the Marist

Brothers might be carrying on at

Babinda when the work becomes too

heavy for the Sisters. The musical

items rendered reflected credit on the

.children and their teachers. He hoped

His Lordship would regain his health

,and spend many . years here.

His Lorship in declaring the school

open said: "It is with great pleasure

that I now 'declare this 'school open

for the purpose of education of child-

ren, particularly of Bàbinda and dis-

trict. 'It is a fitting place for educa-

tion. The musical ability this after-

noon was good and I think the other

work will 1|e 'equal The ability and

zeal of Father McCarthy is to be com-

mended J I wás here just after tho mill

first. commenced .crushing. I regret I

am" not" able, to speak very much, but

it is with very great pleasure I declare

' During ihe afternoon'musical items

rendered were by tho' children's choir,

pianoforte duet and violin selections

by the children, and-violin selections

T>y Mr. Séwell (Sydney), accompanied

by Miss J. Satohwill. Misses Mary

Seuble, and .Lydia De'-Brnevs were

the accompanists for the children's

The proceedings closed with thc

National Anthem, after which the

building was open for inspection.

Afternoon tea was served to the

The building is a two-siorey bries

structure, 70ft. long by .30 ft. wide ani

is roofed with corrugated fibre cement

Attention has been paid to secure th«

fullest ventilation and electric lighl

has been installed throughout.- At thi

rear of the building proper, addi

tjonal space has been provided on botl

noora so that the' children may plaj

there without going out into the wei

during rainy weather. A septic systen

is provided. There is quite an amoun

of work yet to be done, but it is hope«

this will be completed iá'íimó for th

opening of the 1946 school, year.

Later, Father McCarthy., announce!

that in response to his appeal £63

had been subscribed during thé aftéi