OBITUARY

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 56, Issue 211, 19 June 1936, Page 5

OBITUARY

MAXIM GORKY. VARIED CAREER ENDED. FAMOUS RUSSIAN NOVLE‘LIST. (United Press Association—Copyright.) (Received! This Day, 9.45 a.m.) MOSCOW, June 18. Maxim Alexei Maximovitch Gorky, the Russian realistic novelist, is dead, aged 68. ‘ Maxim Gorky, who was born at Nijni Novgorod, in 1868, thus described his early life: “In 1878 I was appren—ticed to a shoemaker; 1879 I was apprenticed to a. designer; 1880, scullion on board a packet boat; 1883, I worked for a baker; 1884, I became a porter; 1885, baker; 1886, chorister in a troupe of strolling opera players; 1887, I sold apples in the streets; 1888, I attempted to commit suicide. 1890, copyist in a lawyer’s office. 1891, I crossed Russia on foot. 1892, I was a labourer in the workshops of a railway. In the same year I published my first story.” He was imprisoned as a. political offender in 1905. Gorkiy’s works include: Chelkash, Song of the Falcon, Song of the P‘etrel, The Orloft Coup-1e and Malva, TWentysix and One, Foma Gordyeeff, Mix-kar-Choudra, 'l‘roye, About the Devil, More About the Devil, The Reader, The Night Lodgings, drama, The Spy, a volume of short stories, Reminiscences of my Youth, A Sky—Blue Life and‘ other stories, The Artamonoff Family, The Outcasts, Three Men, Comrades, My Childhood, In the World, Reminiscences of 'I).N. Tolstoy, Fragments from my Diary. The Artamonoif Family, 1926; Bystander, 1930; The Magnet, 1931; ‘ Other Fires, 1933; On Guard for the Soviet Union, 1933. w

The towfi 70f Nijllig' Novgorod was renamed Gorky after the novelist.

MRS WILLIAM STEVENS. AN ASHBURTON PIONEER. The death occurred at Ashburton, of Mrs William Stevens, a pioneer, at the age of 83 years. Mrs Stevens was formerly Miss Jemima Johns, daughter of Mr William Johns, Devonshire, England and was born in 1853. After her marriage to Mr “7. Stevens they came out to New Zealand, arriving at Lyttelton in 1877, and came to the Ashburton district. They re—sided for a time at Longbeach station where Mr Stevens was employed. For a large number of years they; lived at Ashburton where they brought up thirteen children. ‘When Mr and Mrs Stevens came to the Ashburton district the only means of travel was by dray. Later the Ashburton railway bridge was used for vehicular traffic as well as rail. After crossing The railway bridge there were no roads, only tracks through the tussocks, and the journey to and from Ashburton was a slow one and only occasionally undertaken. Mrs Stevens told man tales of the hardships of those eariy days when settlers were far from a doctor and most of the nursing in the district was carried out by those settlers who had had previous experience. Mrs Stevens happened to be able to do this work and. there are many who were thankful. for services rendered by her. Mrs Stevens spent the last sixteen years in Christchurch, with occasional visits to her relations and old friends in the Ashburton district. Mrs Stevens attributed her good health to hard work and plain food, to which she was accustomed since she was a girl, and prior to her death she was only once attended by a doctor. The funeral took place at the Ashburton Cemetery. . _. The Rev. \V. E. Vickery conducted the services at the residence and the graveside The Dali-bearers were:— Messrs W'. T., A. E., R. J., and F. Stevens, sons, and the chief mourners were the sons and Mesdames F. H. Frew, W. Hocking, and \V. Rose-Smith (Christchurch) daughters.