VICAR'S LETTER.

My dear People,

There is little to write about parish doings this month. As I write we are preparing for a Musical Recital in the Church, which must he described next month. The children are going to Sheerness for their summer outing. May I heartily thank those of you who have contributed to the expense we incur in taking the scholars to the seaside.

The electric lighting installation in the Church is very nearly completed. Mr. Hollands has disposed of some of the lamps, but there are more for sale. In addition to the Church lamps we want to sell the ones formerly used in the School.

A new Vicar goes to Newington in August, the Reverend Joseph W. Burley. He is from New Zealand, and people are asking if I know him. I have not had that pleasure yet. In the War time I took a parochial Mission in a parish where Mr. Burley was later a curate, and I know well the district where he formerly worked. New Zealand has a greater area than this island of Great Britain, and my last parish out there was further away from the Diocese where Mr. Burley served than Hartlip is from Scotland. But New Zealand is thinly populated, having less than two million people to occupy the land. It consists of two large islands, and getting from one to the other means a sea journey and crossing the Cook Straits, a notoriously rough passage - far worse than the Dover Strait.

My wife and I will be away the first fortnight in July visiting Scotland. I have arranged for a clergyman to come if there is urgent need, and application should be made to one of the Churchwardens.

Your sincerely,

CECIL G. MUTTER

G.F.S.

Heavy showers caused us to abandon having our Sale of Work in the Vicarage Garden on the 28th of May as we had planned, so we had

to requisition the School, and no doubt the weather kept many away. Yet we sold most of the goods from the secondhand stalls and also the work done by the girls themselves. After tea the sun came out, and so the members and candidates were able to do their display in the playground. This consisted of Country dances and the Durham Reel.

The little ones did singing games, and the entertainment concluded with the "G.F.S. Alphabet." The girls marched on in single file to music and then formed into horseshoe pattern. Each in turn came to the middle and recited some sentences beginning with their letter, whereby we were all informed what the G.F.S. stands for, what are its aims, and what are its world-wide activities. Finally the G.F.S. hymn was sung, and so there came to an end a very happy gathering and a quite successful sale.

Over £6 was taken, and after expenses are paid the balance is to be divided amongst worthy Church objects.

A little later on some of the members (not the candidates) are to have a day in London to visit Townsend House, the G.F.S. Headquarters, and also do some sightseeing as well.

On Saturday, June 18th, Mrs. W. H. Luck gave a garden party for the girls. Twenty-five were present, and a number of adult friends. After a jolly tea the girls played competition games on the lawn, and Miss Locke presented the prizes. Three cheers for the hostess brought this delightful party to an end, and now the Society will not meet again until the autumn.

On Whit-Sunday, at the Evening Service in Church, Kathleen Reed and Kathleen Crayford were admitted to membership by the Vicar.

BAPTISM.

May 29th - John Walter, son of Horace Walter and Ruth Grace Eileen Tumber.

MARRIAGE.

June 25th - Ernest Alfred Leslie Spicer to Laura Ellen Whitnall.