SIR T. LIPTON DEAD

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 234, 3 October 1931, Page 9

SIR T. LIPTON DEAD

FAMOUS YACHTSMAN.

End of Remarkable Career in Business and Sport.

DEATH AT 81 YEARS.

(United P.A.—Eleotric Telegraph— Copyright)

(Received 2 p.m.) ; ;•'•■■ LONDON, October 2. The death was announced today of: Sir Thonlas Lipton, the •world-famous sportsman and yachtsman, and the head o£ one of the largest chain store businesses in Britain. Sir Thomas "was born in Glasgow or Irish parentage in 1850.

Famous throughout the -world for bis. five unsuccessful attempts to lift the America Cup—the highest goal m the yachting sphere—Sir Thomas Lipton started life in his father's small provision; shop in Glasgow. This, however, was a failure, and young Lipton left school of his o.vn accord at the age of 9 to help the family by taking a job as errand boy at 2/6 a week. When he was 17 he left Glasgow for America as a stowaway. There he worked on a plantation in South Carolina. Having got together £100, he left New YorX, and, returning to Glasgow, opened a small provision shop in 1876. From this moUest beginning he built" up a vast business, adding shop to shop, until 22 years later the concern was bought by a company for £2,500,000, the issue being enormously oversubscribed. Within 10 years of starting his first shop he was employing 8000 men, and before he was 40 he was a millionaire. As early as 1888 he visited Russia to arrange for 'the supply of certain provisions to tne entire Russian army of 1,000,000 men, and during manoeuvres on Salisbury Plain he has fed as many as 70,000 troops. In 1S„. he entered the tea trade, and although this ie a business in which England leads the way, he came rapidly to the front, buying plantations in the East and growing his own tea. His success was largely due to bis genius for advertising, in which he was a pioneer. Lipton was full of novel and striking ideas. On one occasion he offered prizes by messages thrown from a balloon to the first 20 persons who arrived with the leaflets. It is declared that once when the liner in which he was travelling to Ceylon was disabled and some cargo had to be thrown overboard, he had the boxes painted with the slogan,' "Use Lipton's tea." Generous Disposition. * While he waj developing his great business he worked 12 or more hours a day, and had no recreations. It was his gift of £100,000 to a charity in which the Princess of Wales Was interested at the, time of Queen Victoria's jubilee, that brought Lipton into society. He soon became .a great friend of the Prince (later Edward VII.), and showed excellent social qualities. One wit declared that he even made the Kaiser feel at home on his own Imperial yacht. Among other things he was a capital after-dinner speaker, with a keen sense of humour.

He first expressed a desire to win back the America Cup in 1887, but it was not till 1898 that he had a yacht designed for that purpose by William Fife. The race was in October 1899, but the Shamrock was beaten. He tried again in 1901, 1903 and 1920, with the same result, and his expenses in connection with one of his efforts then came to nearly £250,000. But the America Cup was an obsession with him, and in 1930 he sailed Shamrock V. across tho-Atlantic to attempt it once more. She was beaten in four races by Harold S. • Vanderbilt's syndicate-owned vessel Enterprise. Admiring Americans presented the old British warrior with a loving cup for "the world's best loser." He had intimated this year, although he was over 81, that he would not yet give up his life's ambition—-the capture of the "elusive mug." Trophies In Auckland. Sir Thomas Lipton's generosity to yacht clubs was known all over the world. Auckland yachtsmen annually compete for two trophies given by him. The Lipton Cup was presented 11 years ago to tho Ponsonby Cruising Club, which had elected Sir Thomas its patron. The cup is contested by boats of the 22ft centreboard class, and is at present held by Mr. Gordon Kells' Marie, representing the Takapuna Boating Club. It is valued at 200 guineas. Another Lipton Cup was presented through the good offices of Mr. Ernest Davis, a personal friend of Sir Thomas, and it was allotted for competition at the Anniversary Regatta in the 14ft Jellicoe class. Its winners include several Southern boats.

So keen was Sir Thomas to see the America Cup back in England that it is well known he has set aside a large sum in his will to enable the contest to be carried on after his demise. He had expressed his intention of challenging this year for a contest to take place in September, 1932, but his friends tried to dissuade his from doing so under present conditions. The yachting editor of "The Field" said that "Sir Thomas was more popular with American yachtsmen in defeat than any other would be in victory." • Although Sir Thomas did not live to achieve his ambition of "lifting the cup" he* was recently elected a member of the Royal Yacht Squadron, the most exclusive yacht clut> in tlie world, for which honour he was kept waiting for many years. Sir Thomas had often expressed a wish to visit New Zealand, but business interests prevented him. Each year the Ponsonby Club send him a report of the contest for his cup, and several pictures .of Auckland yachte occupy prominent positions in his office in City Road, London.