MERRY MEN OF THE ROAD.

Auckland Star, Volume XLV, Issue 135, 8 June 1914, Page 7

MERRY MEN OF THE ROAD.

HOLD A HOUSE WARMING. AT THEIR NEW CLUB ROOMS. THE BAROMETER OF COMMERCE. On Saturday night the Commercial Travellers aoul Uarehoueemen s new cluh>-r»>oni* in .Durham street were ottieiany opened by mt Joseph M ard at a j'.-nai "" housewarming'' paity. _\lr. Ji ». McLean, ipresideiu of tne club) pre-

sided at a gathering which liiled tbe i-in.'e luncheon roMin to overflowing. Amongst other distinguished quests nuo were present were the Hon. W. H. Her-rir-s (Mii.L-t.-r of RaiUvay&|, Mr. \V. 1!. Leyland il'acirto Club i/Mr. t. Miiroy I Auckland CiuL), Mr. B. Kent (president of the Chamber of Conuntrct-, Mr. H. VI". Wilson iTown Clerk). Mr. J. H. Bradney, M.P., and Mr. A. E. (Hover. M.P. Mir. A. M. Myers. M.P. (who is a past president of toe Club), and other prominent members of the club were a.!so preseat. Proceeding's having been loyally placed on a proper footing by honouring of the toas-t of '" The King." the president read from a sheaf of letitem and teletrrams

oongTatulatorv and valedk-torv messafre-j j from a host of well-wishers. The senders, j included the kindred aEeOcia-cions of ' other New Zealand towns, and oi all the Australian States, from the united bodies of the Dominion and of the Commonwealth, from prominent members far ] ami near, and from the Prime MinisteT j and other members of the Yew Zealand i Cabinet. | HEALTH TO THE CLUB. Sir Joseph Ward, proposing the tou.-t I of •'• The Conrmerdal Travellers' and I Warehousemen's Association," expressed! very great pleas-ure at beinpr pres-ent on suih a distinguished occasion. A housewarming, he said, was always a very intert—tin,' ceremony, but when it signalised the .shifting into larger and more fully-equipped premises, it was an event to arro-t the attention of the outsider ar; marking the irrowth and the import--anee of the work that wad hninpr accomplished by commercial travellers in this! <rr»-at and srowinpr country. Xapoleon had nrvj intended to b e complimentary when he referred to the English as a nation of shopkeepers, but to-day the irreat traditions of British commerce bad spread over the whole world. The forward march of commerce caused the nations to vie one with another, ami' it I was jrratifvinff to find that wherever one j might travel in this marvel km -1 ye> | nipped youn.s country, one would find eoramerrial travellers. The. ?rom.h of the hio; commer-ial houses was due to the efforts an.l to the eapacitv of -their travellers. A.C.T.Vs PRIVILEGES. Sir Joseph mentioned that he himself was a commercial traveller in the strict sense of the term, inasmuch as he had been a member of a Commercial Tra-

veller,' ( In!) for about IS years. Even before "the honourable understanding' , 1 had been brought about with Australia 1 he hail always been very kindly received ' by tin- Commercial Travellers' Clubs in < the ( nmmonwealth. Hie C.T. medal, ' with itri attendant reductions, had al- : ways i-arried him through, and at the ' present lime, lie remarked, with a ' twinkle in his rye, bo found it of infinite valuo— a naiMp remark that brought down the house. A voice: What a'.)out the railways? >ir Joseph: All, well, gentlemen", the railways always esteem it a privilege to accommodate a commercial traveller, ' and—they give mc the rijrn; of road. The sally was received with chuckles of approval, which found vent in enthusiastic cheers when Sir Joseph, with : a mischievous smile that took iii his friend, the Hon. .Mr. Ilerries, remarked that he would be glad" to see the Minister for Railways extend the same privileges to uther commercial traveller-. A.N" HONOURABLE RECORD. Responding to the toast. Mr. D. \V. McLean said that the club was naturally proud to be in itti own premises and on its own freehold. The occasion marked I an epoch in the history of the Com-| awrcial Travellers and Warehousemen's r Clirb. Having briefly referred to the | immediate benefits available to members i in the more commodious premises, ha I made spec.a] reference to the not less important objects of the club in thej establishment; of ;i permanent rolief fund, and in the foundation of scholarships for the children of members. The Club, be went on to say, hail been formed in IUO2, and to-day its; membership list I included :!S7 association members and 135 club members, while there were aUo on the board the names of •">! new members to be balloted for. Of the original members, tho following were still in active service:—Messrs. Ceo. >quirrell ich.'irman of the General Committee). E. F. Capper (chairman House Committee), J. F. Pullen (treasurer). A. G. Cook. \V. Sadler. A. D. Wilson, W. Boak. W. R. Goudie. 11. J. Clifton, and C. Takle (committwemem. and D. \V. McLean ipros;- 1 dent I. J The names of the past presidents were | enumerated with the worthy intention of frivin" honour where honour was due. Tbey r were:—Messrs. J. C. Macky I (1902-3). Arch. Clark (1904). H. E. Partridge 11905). A. SI. Myers (1006), A. C. Stevenson 11907), F. E. Jackson iIOOSi. J. F. Connelly (1009), W. J. Rainger 11010) V X." Snedden (1911-12), and Geo. Squirrell (1913). The president I made feeling reference to the death ot I Mr. J. F. Connelly last yrar. To the jrreat interest of his hearers Mr. McLean outlined the negotiations tint had resulted in the establishment ! nf a United Commercial Travellers and J Warehousemen's Association for New ! Zealand, and the consummation of an honourab'e understanding with the Australian Association whereby bona-fide commercial travellers' certificates would be recognised by all kindred associations in the Commonwealth and in the Dominion. PARLIAMENTARIAN'S -WELCOMED. Mr. J. C. Micky, the first president o; the el ib. propot-ed the toast of "Parliament. ■' The commercial men. he paid. dc-irru tn acknowledge their indebtedness to both of the preat parties in Parliament. They would like to see them I j 11 strons. true men. working- unselfishly I in the interests nf the country, such I nen iifi bad made the country what it was to-day. DROTHERS OX THE ROAD. ! The Hon. W. H. Herries, in acknow- ! '.edzing the toast, congratulated the club I on "their new building—a rreehold buildj ins. Very humorously he identified the ervperiences of the commercial traveller on the road with the aspirant for parliamentary honours. Both had thesaro? risks with the family Jo? and the samf rebuff' from the -hut door: tht- same difficulties in sausrina the personal idiosvnrruics of a Ion:: lisr .it people w-n>>"had to be persuaded that they ~wanted just tvhafc yon. ttcio able, to-

supply. His personal reminiscences of pleasant association with "the old crowd" down the East Coast, in the happy days before bridges, or anything like that, struck the mood of Ma hearers. As Minister for . Railways he recognised that the commercial travellers were the best customers they had. The commercial travellers' activity resulted in increase of freight. An endeavour would always be made to deal with complaints I that came through the proper channels. Partial complaints that grew until they reached almost the bursting point might ■frequently have been easily remedied had they come throush the association to the head office. IX ELECTION YEAR. J Parliament, Mr. Herries said. wa3 ! what the people made it. and they would j have a chance at the end of the year to ' make it what they liked.

A voice: Wh-at about the concession ticket';

Mr. Herries: Oh. well, this is election yea r.

The smiling retort was received with great good humour, whicn was increased as the Minister cheerfully explained the jrreat risk he would run (with Sir Joseph VV.ird present) of laying himself open to a charge of making an election bribe. •'lll say nothing about it," he continued, '■hut if' you put it forward as a request trom the association it will be carefully considered.' . In conclusion. Mr. Herries observed that tbe member of Parliament was not so bad as he wag painted, aud it was quite pleasant to hear sometimes that he was "a jolly good fellow." Other toasts honoured were: —"Kindred Clubs." proposed by Mr. A. M. Myers and acknowledged by Mr. \\. BLe'yland; and "Our Guests." proposed by Mr. Ceo. Squirrel and acknowledged t>y !Mr. B. Kent, Mr. S. Miirov (vice-presi-dent Auckland Club), and Mr. IT. \Y. Wilson (town clerk). A concert programme of an unusually \ pleaoinf character comprised songs by '.Messrs. F. G. ourke, R. Noton. C. Archer, and Binnington; elocutionary items !bv Mr. J. Harrison anil Mr. Swan; a cornet solo by Mr. A. White, and an instrumental selection on the violin. Velio, and piano by Herr Kreutzer. Mr. PlumImcr, and Mr. Piper.