Death of Rev. F. J. Paton

WE have received some further details of the death of Rev. F. J. Paton, notable New Hebrides missionary, which occurred in the Paton Memorial Hospital in Vila, on December 11, and to which reference was made in last issue.

It appears that some six years ago Mr Paton contracted coral poisoning in the foot, and after being six months at Vila hospital and another six months in the Sydney hospital, his leg had to be amputated. But he had no sooner recov ered and been fitted with an artificial leg, than he went off again to his work on the island of Malekula, where he had toiled for half a century. Advancing years and the handicap of his leg took their toll, and late in 1941 Mr. Paton was taken by boat from Malekula to the Margaret Whitecross Paton Hospital at Vila (a erected as a memorial to his mother). There he lingered for several weeks, gradually growing weaker, until he passed away peacefully on December 11.