The ath annual meeting of the subscribers to the i Sea men's Church and Mission Society, in connexion with the "Missions to Seamen," was held on Thursday in the Cathedral Schoolroom, when Sir Everard Fraser, H. M. Consul-General, presided over @ small attendance, supported by Dean Walker.
The chairman proposed the adoption of the report and accounts from which the following extracts may be quoted.
The Chaplain.—The Rev. A. P. Crofton resigned the chaplaincy on account of ill-health, and left Shanghai in June. The Committee is glad to learn that his health has much improved since his arrival in England, and takes this opportunity of again thanking him for his work in this port. To the Clergy of the Cathedral and Mr. Graham Barrow the Committee expresses its thanks for carrying on the work till the Rev. A. J. 8.
Steam arrived in December. To Mr. and Mrs. Steam a hearty welcome is extended with assurances of loyal support.
The Chaplaincy.—The house was let for five months, and has since been re-decorated and in part refurnished. Dr. Stanley most kindly made a full report on its sanitary condition and his recommendations have been carried out.
St. Andrew's Church.—After many years of faithful work as Honorary Lay Reader and Honorary Treasurer of the Church, Mr. J.
Hayward is going home on furlough. He will take with him the respect and affection of his fellow workers.
The Mission Launch.—The Sunbeam has been put into thorough state of repair at a cost to the Society of Tls. 1,100. The Committee is most grateful to the New Engineering and Shipbuilding Works, Limited, for very generous treatment. Extra work not at first foreseen was done for which no additional charge was made by the Company, this being their contribution to the sion funds.
The Hanbury Institute.—The absence of British warships made the maintenance of the Institute a very serious problem. Part of the building being a Sailors' Home it was impossible to close the Institate altogether. The Naval side has now been let temporarily to the Navy Y.M.C.A., and in the early part of the year the Navy League gave a generous donation.
Accounts.—The Committee re-grots that the number of annual subscribers has been reduced 13 (Tls. 183.78), and appeals to the community to throw itself wholeheartedly into the cause. To those ~vho replied to the special appeal the Committee again expresses its 801 hearty thanks. It should be noted that the cost of the Chaplain's outfit and outward passage is not included in the accounts under rei The expenses at St. An-Church have been kept very low while their contribution to the parent Committee is greater than n any previous year. The Committee will again look to Holy Trinity Cathedral for its generous help.
The thanks of the Committee are tendered to the Honorary Auditors, to those who have sent gifts of flowers for the Church and magazin nes to the Institute and also to Messrs. Butterfield & Swire, Mesars. Jardine, Matheson & Ca., Ld., the Kailan Mining Administration and Messrs. Shewan, Tomes & Ca. for much appreciated grants of coal.
The Dean, in seconding the proposal to adopt the report and accounts, said he could not do better than refer them to something that was written by Dean Butcher in 1878:—'Altogether, when I think of the strength of the influences which are at work to lead sailors into evil, it seems to me that we dare not forgo the employment of any effort to lead them aright and, therefore, I must not give up the services at the Seamen's Church and, if some of the community would pay us a visit on Sunday afternoons and see the attentive congregations, I do not think they would regret the liberality of that earlier generation, which responded to the appeals of my respected pro-decesser in 1856 and, by the establishment of a mission to seamen, first in a floating Bethel and later in a permanent building, expre: the general thankfulness to Almighty God for the blessings of renewed peace."
The words could be repeated today, the Dean continued, except a regarded the renewal of peace, but when, perhaps that blessed day came, they might be able further to develop work among the seamen in Shanghai as a repetition of what was done by the old inhabitants of Shanghai. As Dean Butcher had referred to the starting of the mission by his predecessor, so he had to look at the work at St. Andrew's Church, the work of his predecessor, Mr. Hodges. It was in 1801 that Mr. Hodges began stirring up local interest in the Mission to Seamen and he hoped that the purpose of the mission would always clearly remain fore the public as Dean Butcher made it clear in those early days. The speaker also extended a hearty welcome to the Rev. and Mrs. A. J.
The report and accounts were adopted and the following gentle-by -nen elected to act upon the committee in addition to those who act "non the committee in addition to those who act ex officio:—The shining Vice-@onsul. the Rev. O. J.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.