OBITUARY.

MR THOMAS FOSTER. •' There passed away recently at his residence, 69 Bowhill road, North Beach, one of. the early pioneers, Thomas Foster, in his SSth year. U» was born at Aughnacloy, County Fermanagh, Ireland, in 1844. in New Zealand by the ship Mermaid in 1868, five days after the .opening of the Lyttelton Tunnel. He -lived at Papanui for over 30 years,, engaged[in farming, afterwards removing baa brooks, where he lived for the: nert 20 years. He retired from farming to live at North Beach 5* years ago. Ihe funeral, which took place at the rapa nui Churchyard, was largely attended, the pall-bearers being his two so s, T. C. and J. A. Foster (Lafbrook.) h s son-in-law, A. T. Anderson W J. G. Hughes (Cheviot), and his two cousins, T. Tubman (Waipara) and JVeitch (Papanui).

MR CHARLES PARKER. Mr Charles Parker, better known by his nickname, "Bun." a well-known city cabby, passed away at the Christchurch Hospital yesterday morning. He wa a well-known figure in the city—it wa his custom to arrive with his cab every afternoon at the stand at the, southein eud of the western front of the Cathedral and stay there till 2 a.m. ltwjj his boast that the weather, no matter how bad it was, never drove him trom his stand. During the Boer War Parker, who was a member of one oi the New Zealand contmgents.J™*} to salute an officer of the e » a ' forces, and when his omission was pointed out by the officer concerned Mi Parker told him . exactly what he thought of him, using language that was decidedlv colonial The result was a court-martial, with a sentence ot ''field punishment number one, w&icn meant that Parker was tied to the wheel of a field gun. The New Zealand and Australian troops heard or this and proceeded to release their comrade, challenging the Imperial guard to do their worst. The situation became serious and Lord Ji-H----chener, who was in command, took. a hand in the matter himself, and in order to prevent ill-feeling creeping m between the colonial and .regular, forces, he ordered that the incident should be closed. Mr Parker, though born in the Dominion, had no relatives in New Zealand. The funeral will take place this afternoon at the Bromley cemetery, i

! MR FELIX D. MORRIS. i■ , . The death occurred at Wellington of Mr Felix D. Morris, 'Grassy Banks, Wellington, youngest son of the late ■Mr and Mrs J. J. Morris, of Reefton. The deceased, who was Registrar of the Deeds and Lands Office, Wellington, was a native of Reefton. He was in the prime of life and of robust health until a few weeks before his death, when he contracted an acute form of neuritis. As a lad the late Mr Morris entered the deeds office, Nelson, and was later stationed in New Plymouth, Dunedin, and Blenheim, and of recent years was Registrar of Deeds and Lands Office, Wellington. He leaves a widow, one son, and one daughter, and five sisters and two brothers. The sisters are Ellanor and Cecilia (0.8. E.), and Mrs Duncan (Wellington), Catherine and Sara (Reefton). The brothers are J. A. Morris, telegraph engineer, Carterton, and W. JMorris, sawmiller and coal mine owner, Reefton. Retjuiem Mass was celebrated at St. Ann's Chapel by the Rev. Father Devlin, cousin of deceased, who also officiated at t the grave side. The long cortege to the Karbri cemetery, Wellington, testified to the esteem .and respect in which Mr Morris was held.

ALDERMAN J. B. TUNBRIDGE. (PBOU 01JB OWN CORRESPONDENT.) LONDON, October 16. Alderman John Bennett Tunbridge, whose death has taken place at Hythe at the age of 78, served in.the 0.1.D., Scotland Yard, from 1881 to 1895. He was afterwards for six years Commissioner of Police for New Zealand, and he introduced a pension system for the New Zealand ppfice. While at Scotland Yard he arrested Neil Cream, the poisoner, and he was also sent to South America to~arrest Jabez Balfour, but was recalled on account of an outbreak of malaria. He had been a member of Hythe Town Council for 23 years. In November last he and his wife celebrated their golden wedding, the day being also the birthday of both.

I SIR LEES KNOWLES, BT. L ' LONDON, October 16. Sir Lees Knowles, Bart., died on : October 7th at his home, Westwood, Pendlebury, aged 71 years, after a few days' illness. Sir Lees, who was created a baronet in 1903, married in 1915 Lady Nina Geraldine Ogilvie-Grant, youngest daughter of the tenth Earl of' Seafield. There is no heir to the title. The eldest son of the late Mr John Knowles, a pioneer in the modern de- : veloptnent of the coal trade, he was educated at Rugby and Trinity College, Cambridge, and emerged from the University with distinction as a scholar and an athlete. In 1879 he was the president of the Cambridge University Athletic Club, and in that year he was one of the amateur champion athletes of England. Both at Rugby and at Trinity College he achieved the distinction of winning both the mile and the hundred yards races. He also won four challenge cups —the Rugby School. Athletic Cup, the Cambridge University three miles and one mile cups, and the amateur championship ball-mile cup. In 1882 he was called to the Bar at Lincoln's Inn. Before his return to Parliament in 1886 as Conservative member for West Salford, he had in the previous year contested the Leigh Division of Lancashire. He was for several years private secretary to Mr Ritchie when President of the Local Government Board, and he occupied a similar position when Mr Ritchie became President of the Board of Trade. He also served as a Church Estates Commissioner on i the Ecclesiastical Commission. For- ! merly he was honorary secretary to the Guinness Trust for Housing the Poor. He was also a past president of the Hackney Horse Society, and he maintained a model stud farm at Mobberley, Cheshire. His interest in military matters led to his becoming lieutenant-colonel of the Territorial Force (retired 1913), commandant of the 7th and Bth Battalions Lancashire Fusiliers (T.). and vice-chairman of the Lancashire Territorial Forces. He was the author of a number of books, including "A Day with Corps Students in Germany," "The Battle of Minden," "The British , in Capri," and "A Gift of Napoleon," and he also edited the letters of Captain Englebert Lutyens from St. Helena.