PEOPLE IN PERSPECTIVE

NZ Truth, 15 March 1924, Page 1

PEOPLE IN PERSPECTIVE

Promotion being the almost inevitable reward for good service, BRYDON'S it is not at all surprisBIGGER ing that W. C. Brydon BILLET. has been pushed forward another peg m the employ of the N.Z. National Mortgage and Agency Coy. Since linking up with thaUcompany umteen years ago, Mr. Brydon ascended the stairs step by step until he was handed the managerial ribbon of the Ashburtjon branch. Almost at once everybody who had to do with the company In that district recognised that they had before them a man who knew his job from A to Z, and with whom it was a pleasure to conduct a business deal. On account of the bit of bother with Germany and Co., it was a troublous period that W.C.B. was required to see his concern through during the time he was m Dryaria, but he was always ready to dish out eighteencarat advice, which, being followed, had the effect of bumping him up still higher In the estimation of compnay and client alike. In the office, too, he was personal friend as well as manager, his help always being at call for anyone who wanted it — right down to the lad who licked the stamps. The outcome of it all is that W. C. Brydon I has been elevated to the managership of the Christchurch branch of the N.Z. N.M.A. :i :: :: There is quite an epidemic of 'Murcans m New Zealand, and AN AMERICAN they are made ABROAD. known to us mainly through the Rotary Clubs. Dr, Mayo, one of a brace of brothers whose fame is boosted wherever research i id surgical skill are discussed, is ln the limelight, as a delegate, to the Medical Conference. But there Is one American, well read by New Zealanders, who is keeping out of the Rotary records. That is Zane Grey, author of a dozen big novels, some of which are being photoplayed throughout the Dominion at this moment. The story ..oes that Zane G. slipped quietly into Russell, and has been enjoying himself tremendously with the big fishing up there. And the spirit of adventure Is said to have got Its claw Into Zane Grey, who has found tarpon jumping down the coast of America tame compared with the sport of swordflsh. Many readers of the books of the American novelist were under the Impression for years that Z. Grey was a woman. The wearing of a pair of pants every day In tho week proves that he isn't. There was only one bad break made by Z.G. m hia literary career, and that was when he wrote and published "The Desert of Wheat," Into which he crowded nil tho bombast of the Americans that Sammy won the war.' Thnt would have been bad enough, but the novelist went nntlBrltlshly out of his way to disparage not only Tommy Atkins, but Briton's pons from overseas. This moved a New Zealander to whip a slashing reply Into Z.G.. nnd some of the American papers publlnhed the broadside. It did Zane a whole lot of good. And now that he Is on the spot, he will perhaps he able to do JiiHtleo to New Zealanders ns well as their fine nnd sportHome country. A book on the subject, Zane?

A lawyer of some tonnage m Wellington is L. O. H. Tripp. L. O. H. TRIPP. With an electric lift running to the fourth floor of the building m which ho is housed with his partners, there is nothing m the atmosphere of the place m keeping with the age-old tradition of lawyers* premises being storehouses of musty documents and seedy clerks. Dodson and Fogg premises have gone, with few exceptions, with the days to which they belonged. L.O. is a scion of the Timaru house of Tripp, wellknown graziers of , South Canterbury. He was educated at Christ's College and went to England to qualify at law, which he did. Returning to New Zealand, he and Martin Chapman, a broy ther of Judge Chapman, Joined forces and fortunes at the bar, and later amalgamated with Skerrett and Wylie. Nothing m the conveyancing line could ever trip Tripp and this department ls his especial charge m tho firm's affairs. He has controlled it for many years. Apart from that, he Is Italian Consul and well-established chairman of the Acclimatisation Society. During the war he was an Indefatigable worker ln 'patriotic causes and worked hard as chairman of the Wellington War Relief Branch. A brother m Timaru did similar service m the cause m his district and was decorated for his work. .. It is announced that Mr. P. L. Holllngs is fixing up his waders HULLO, to go out into tho deep HOLLINGS! waters of politics for one of the frenzied fish — the Manawatu seat. What has Mr. Linklater to say about that? "It's my seat!" But the Holllngs reply will be apt: "It's only yours for a loan, old man —get out and let a better man occupy lt!" And as the ex-Mayor of Masterton Is a Lib.-Lab./ the chances are that the seat might be vacated, however unwillingly. But there Is another aspirant that the Otaki nnd Levin folks who live at tho lower end of the electorate arc listening m for. That is Mr. Holms, who, strange to say, has also come across the range from the Wairarapa. The hard luck part for the younger of the three candidates is that Mr. Holms, who Is as experienced as Mr. 'Holllngs on the platform, la handicapped by Indifferent health. For this reason ho wl'.l be slow In calling out Hands Oft to the ex-Magistrate, who has gone back to the legal practice, and Is now living at Foxton, a central position for tho Manawatu contest. Yea, Mr. Linklater ls feeling very uneasy these days, and hates to open tho dally paper, lest ho find some moro hard-to-bear political news m lt.

Somebody recently described Dunedin as a city of Scotsmen run BARNETT by the Mayor and Arthur THE Barnett Tho statement BOOSTER may not be literally true, but there is more than a modicum of truth m It; it might have been more correct had the order of the names been reversed. It seems only yesterday since Arthur set out m business m a shop that soon proved to be far too small for one with so restless a spirit and such far-reaching ambition. If ever you should require someone to boost a function of any kind just send for Arthur, whose ability In that direction the exhibition executive have recognised by making him a member of the publicity committee. Havo you ever heard him talk? Well, If you are subject to headaches don't make It your business to do so. Recently he and a fellow member of the Roslyn Bowling Club tried themselves out ln an endurance test ln loquacity. Arthur, In racing language, won m a walk, while the other chap suffered from sheer exhaustion for days afterwards. :: :e :: At the end of March tho system of superannuation will A RETIRING claim A. H. Holmes. REGISTRAR. Registrar of the Christchurch Supreme Court. Mr. Holmes Is a Welltngtonlan and It Is 44 years ago since he entered tho Justice Department, his first appointment being on the staff of the Magistrate's Court m tho Windy City. Since then he has held down important Court Jobs m many parts of New Zealand, until In 1914 the Department decided to stop changing him about nnd allow him to drop anchor at Christchurch. He succeeded Mr. Hawkins as Sheriff and Registrar of the Christchuroh Supremo Court During his association with the Justice Department, Mr. Holmes has rendered valuable service In the dh-ectlon of simplifying the procedure of Courts and the work of Court olllclala generally and on several occasions he has been commissioned hy Ministers to effect reforms. It was A.H.H. who laid the plans orul .sawto the Lunatics Act, Destitute Persons Act and Industrial Schools Act being bracketed Into one composite Destitute Persons Act In order to narrow down tho hitherto unwieldy procedure for recovering maintenance under the Acts named. He also saw to the proper indexing of Court records :ind, with Mr. W. G. Riddell, S.M., edited th* "N.Z. Justices' Manual." So that, taken all In all. tho Department will lose on the retirement of the mnn we're discussing, one of its most valuable sorvanta,

who Is, however, leaving behind him, m the shape of reforms and improvements, a monument by which his connection with the Justice Department will always be remembered. "Truth" has the most pleasant memories of. Arthur Holmes as a really good fellow. :: :: :: For the weighty post of "General Officer Commanding the N.Z. COLONEL Forces, Cabinet has MELVILL. picked on tho right man m Colonel C. W. Melvill. An officer of lesser personality would be overcome with the w"eight of his brass hat and the resounding tltlo of his office, but Melvlll 'can be relied on not to take himself too seriously. He ls neither of the peppery colonel — what, what? — nor the "old bean" type, either of which colonials have been apt to associate with products of the English Staff Colleges. Op the contrary he ls, and was at the front, a capital officer for a colonial division. He joined the New Zealand permanent forces ln 1911 aa a lieutenant and later went to a staff college In England for training. War broke out while he was thero and he crossed the channel with the "contemptible little army" a few days later. Just prior to tho evacuation he rejoined tho New Zealanders, then hanging precariously to Anzac slopes, and saw it right through to the finish with them. He went to France again as Brigade-Major of the "Dinks" and when tho last shot wns fired was commanding the -First Brigade. Returning to New Zealand he reverted to tho rank of Colonel and was stationed m Palmerston North as O.C. of the Central District An easy address and natural demeanor made him a popular officer ln the district and as he unveiled war memorials by the dozen m that area he was generally -very well-known. He has a happy knack of not forgetting faces nnd many an old "Dink" who humped the puck round Flanders encountered his Colonel on these occasions and swung the dook. The Labor movement In England has derived much of A LABOR Its latter-day sueINTELLECTUAL. cess from the fact that lt has attracted many men of standing and Intellect to its ranks, who havo probably more to lose than to gain by being associated with Labor. Something of the same tendency Is apparent m this country. 11. G. It Mason, M.A., L.LB., opponent of Christopher Parr nt last general election, wns benten, It was claimed, more by the wiles of strawberries and cream than by any superior intellectual attainments of the aforesaid Christopher J. P. Mason ia a motion man of retiring habits, but extremely practical for all that. Ho has a growing legal practice m Auckland nnd Pukekohe. He was Mayor of the latter borough, which Is capital of Bill Massey's own electorate, and ho left behind him there a record of enterprise and good administration. Even Political opponents recognise ln H. G R Mason a mnn of ability and obvious Hlncerlty, and Labor has here the typo of en mlldate who makes a strong appeal to nil classes of the community. Ho will make another bid next election.