Australasian Missionary College by W. E. H.

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Oct 22, 1914

Australasian Missionary College

By W. E. H.

OUR readers are perhaps more familiar with this school under its former name of Avondale School for Christian Workers. It is located at Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia, and is the central school for the Australasian Union Conference. It was established while Sister White was residing in Australia, much of the time near the school itself. Her personal presence and counsels went far toward founding the institution on true principles of Christian education, well balanced in spiritual, mental, and industrial interests. Our people in America had the privilege of contributing of their means toward establishing the school, and of their men also, particularly in the persons of three of its principals, Prof. C. B. Hughes, Prof. C. W. Irwin, and Prof. B. F. Machlan.

During his recent labors in Australia, Elder A. G. Daniells visited the Avondale school for a few days. From a letter on its progress, which he wrote to Professor Machlan, we are permitted to take a few extracts. He says:—

"I was very glad to find the school plant in such good shape, and to find such a large, superior body of students. The enrollment this year is 230. I suppose there is an attendance at the present time of about 200. The church school has an attendance of 30. I must say that the student body of Avondale college is equal to any I meet in our schools in the United States. As you know, the most of them are there for strenuous work, and so they are fairly well advanced in years. There were but few young students. Nearly all are grown. They are a bright, wide-awake lot of young people. They are working very hard in the industrial lines, and I was informed by the principal and other members of the faculty that although the most of the students work from 35 to 48 hours a week, they get their lessons as well as students usually do who do no physical labor. I am sure that they were as attentive and receptive and responsive as any student body I meet in my travels.

"I made inquiry with reference to the percentage of graduates who enter our work. From 1902 to 1913, inclusive, out of 129 graduates, three are dead, 96 are in the work or making further preparation in other lines. Thirty are not engaged in our work. The 96 who are in the work constitute 74.4 per cent of those who have been graduated. Of course there are many others in the work who did not remain in school long enough to complete a regular course, but the 74 per cent of the graduates is a very large percentage to go into our organized work.

"Brother Teasdale [the present principal] and other teachers all speak very highly of the work the students are doing. They feel that they are thoroughly loyal to the industrial features of the school, and that they are trying earnestly to do good work in their studies, so that their grades will be what they ought to be.

"I was pleased to find all the buildings, except the barn, newly painted and in a good state of repair. The church and retreat have both had a fresh coat of paint, so they all look bright and cheery. The barn needs painting and cleaning up. That was the only building of the entire plant that did not give the enterprise credit. Brother Teasdale told me that that would be the next building they would overhaul. I found that the buildings we put up about eighteen years ago of that hard wood cut out of the eucalyptus logs were in a good state of preservation, and are good for a hundred years yet, so far as decay is concerned.

"Brother Fred Reekie is the manager of the farm, the orchards, and the vineyard. As you know, he is a wide-awake, active man. When I was there nearly every acre of land that has been cleared had been recently turned over with the plows. They are making a big effort to put the land around the campus in all directions under good, strong cultivation. The vineyard looks fine, but the orange, mandarin, and lemon trees are dying out. Brother Teasdale thinks that they are so far out of the citrus belt that they are not justified in trying to grow those kinds of fruit; so as the trees die they are dug up, and apples, pears, plums, and peaches are put in their place. They have a very fine young orchard of these last-named fruits at the present time."

Elder Daniells says further that they are installing a new water system, by which they hope to solve, through irrigation, the problem of the dry weather which has given them much trouble the last few years. One feature of the system is an engine which generates their electricity, and which uses charcoal as fuel. They make two tons of charcoal a week, in their own retort, from a poor wood called the ti tree, found on the place. One ton supplies the engine, and the sanitarium buys the other ton for enough to cover the cost of producing the two tons. A boy can care for the engine by attending it once when the lights are needed in the evening, and once at bedtime.

The letter continues:—

"The dairy is doing very well at the

present time. They have thirty-five cows, and are milking between twenty and twenty-five, so that they have all the cream and milk they need for their large family.

"I was very much pleased with the printing plant. They employ 36 persons, 33 of whom are students. The value of work done during 1913 was a little more than $6,000. They print eight papers. The Australasian Record and the Missionary Leader are English papers for Australasia. The other six are in the native languages for Tahiti, Rarotonga, Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, and the Maoris of New Zealand.

"As I talked with the different teachers, I found that they all felt that the school is located in the right place. They are glad that they are not close to some large city. They would be better satisfied if not a foot of ground belonging to the estate had been sold. . . . They feel very glad that no one is living nearer than a mile to the school buildings."

This informal report illustrates well in the concrete some of the fundamental principles of Christian education given us years ago. W. E. H.