BREVITIES

Mr. John Rigby, formerly headmaster of the English Martyrs' School, Sparkhill, Birmingham, has been elected to the Birmingham City Council as a representative of the Sparkhill Ward, in succession to the late Mr. W. B. Griffin, J.P. Mr. Rigby was for many years the representative of the Birmingham teachers on the City Education Committee, and since his retirement has been the Catholic Representative on that body. He is a member of the Catholic Education Council, An event of Catholic and local interest took place yesterday, when the large new extension to St. Rose's Convent School, Stroud, Glos., was formally opened by the Bishop of Clifton. The ceremony began at 2.30 p.m., and was followed by an outdoor performance of A Midsummer Night's Dream by the pupils.
On celebrating his sacerdotal silver jubilee, Mgr. M. I. Morrissey, of the church of Our Lady and St. Patrick, Teignmouth, was presented last week with cheques from the congregation and from the children of the elementary school. In thanking the subscribers, Mgr. Morrissey said he was looking forward to the consecration of the church, which would take place shortly.
A garden fi..te in the grounds of SS. Michael and Martin's Church, Hounslow, raised a substantial sum towards clearing the debt on the schools attached to the church. The opening ceremony was performed by the Mayor, who, with the Mayoress was welcomed by the parish priest, the Rev. W. Musgrave. SS. Michael and Martin's schools have recently been enlarged at considerable expense to meet the requirements of a growing parish.
In an effort to raise a part of the sum of £3,000, the estimated cost of the nave for a new church at Osbeth, Salisbury, a garden fate was held on Wednesday last week in the grounds of St. Elizabeth's Convent, Osbeth. The site of the church has already been purchased at the cost of £530. When the building fund, now £200, reaches £700. work will commence.
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A tribute to the Rev. T. B. Chapman, who was for fifteen.years the parish priest at Melton Mowbray, took the form of a presentation from the parish at a meeting in St. John's Hall, Melton Mowbray, on Tuesday last week. The gift was a silver chalice, The Bishop of Nottingham has appointed Fr. Chapman to St. Marys, Brigg, Lincs. His place at Melton Mowbray will he filled by the Rev. A. F, Bermingham, formerly parish priest at Brigg.
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The Archbishop of Westminster paid an informal visit, on June 23, to St. Vincent's Open-air School at St. Leonards-on-Sea This was his Grace's first visit to this newly-opened school in charge of the Sisters of Charity. The Archbishop expressed himself highly pleased with the efficiency and good order of the school, and with the good work being done by the Sisters for sick and delicate children. He blessed the community and the children.
The thirty-second annual general meeting of the Crusade of Rescue and I-Tomes for Destitute Catholic Children will take place on July 7, at 5.30 p.m., at Archbishop's House, Westminster, when the Archbishop will preside. The report of the Society's work for 1936 will be read by the Administrator, Canon George L. Craven. and the Rev. James Coggin will speak on the Crusade of Rescue—Past and Present. with special reference to the schools question.
A handsome memorial window, the work of Mr Arthur Griffiths. was blessed last Sunday evening, in the chapel of the Agony in the Garden at St. Dominic's, Haverstock Hill, N.W. This window is the gift of Mr. Vincent J. Hull. in memory of his uncle and his father, both of them converts. An inscription at the base reads: " Pray for the souls of James and Thomas Hull and the good estate of their families," The preacher at St. Dominic's on Sunday evening was Dom P. Edward Hull, O.S.B., Prior of St. Augustine's, Ramsgate, a cousin of the donor.
St. Joseph's, Burslem, a spacious church opened ten years ago, was consecrated, on June 22, by the Bishop of Nottingham. His Lordship was accompanied by the Right Rev. Mgr. Canon Cronin, Vicar-General of the Archdiocese of Birmingham, and the ceremony was attended also by clergy from many parishes in North Staffordshire, Following the consecration, a luncheon was held at which Mgr. McNulty presided, and in the evening there was a popular gathering in the town.
The congregation at Wanstead, E., have cause for rejoicing this week by the silver jubilee of their parish priest, Canon Basil E. Booker. The anniversary was on Wednesday last.
ST. Vimcnt•rr's HOSTEL.—The annual report of St. Vincent's Hostel, for Probationer Boys, in Breakspears Road, Brockley, S.E., shows that at the end of 1936 there was a deficit, on the year's working, of more than £25. The report of the chairman of the S.V.P. sub-committee, Mr. John P. Hennessy, states that " the number of our benefactors who send us money or clothing continues to grow; but the need grows faster."