NEARLY 102.

Auckland Star, Volume LXXI, Issue 309, 30 December 1940, Page 8

NEARLY 102.

MRS. J. PRIESTLEY. j ' HUMOUR AND INDEPENDENCE. "It's the second century that is the haidest, said Mrs. Jane Priestley this morning. And she should know. On January 22 she will celebrate her 102 nd birthday and '"see iu" her 102 nd Xew Year. A resident of the Auckland Infirmary since October, lO.i", she is "Granny" to everybody there. All those around the mere eighties and nineties, of course, are mere youngsters to her.. I haven t lived to more than a hundred for nothing." she said to-day, fixing the clearest of blue eyes on a reporter. This is a remarkable'"ftrannv." Knjoying excellent health and taking a keen interest in everyday affairs she is able to move herself around the ward in hei chair and she possesses an independence that is rare in these days. 63 Years Here. As she pointed out. she has covered the geographical round. She was born ill Kpsom. Knglatid. and now slie is at Kpsom again — but this time in Xew Zealand. Before coming to Xew Zealand she married Mr. John Bennett Priestley. For some years, her husband, who was a stonemason, was employed in the construction of the Southwestern Railway near London.

Mr-. Priestley and lior husband came to Now Zealand (».*? years. ago with their son and daughter and lived in Auckland for a time before going to Papakura. Mrs. Priestley also lived at Wanganui for seven years. Her husband died in li>ls. One of the things of which she was very proud to-dav was the fact that she was wearing a petticoat made by her mother away back in the "fifties of last century. It was as good as on the day it was made. That was the type of work they did then. In the infirmary. Mrs. Priestley, who is the soul of pood nature, is famous for her birds. Winter and summer she insists upon being put out on the verandah so that she can feed the sparrows, the thrushes and all the small fry of the bird world with the ibreadcrumbs she eaves from her meals. She admits she has a slip-lit bias against seagulls, who are inclined to l>e greedy, but she does not let that interfere with their need. Birds Remember. When she has what is called a "bad day" the birds do not forget her. They fly into the ward and flutter around her bed in the corner. Birds have good memories.

But one of the outstanding traits of Mrs. Priestley is that sne refuses to let anyone help her more than is absolutely necessary. .She gets up in the morning, dresses herself and gets into her chair. She eats her meals without assistance and admits a fondness for looking at things —meaning papers or books with pictures.

When she gets angry Mrs. Pi-iestlev threatens to go l>ack to Papakura, where she spent so many yeans of her life. But she is so rarely in a bad mood that she has not been heard to say it for a long time. When she was requested this morning she gave a sample of her singing—for she was a greaA singer in her day in the course of her ordinary work. In a clear treble she sang "Brightest and Best Are the Stars of the Morning." Though her voice was weak her rendition of the melody was excellent. Sang To the Stars. In the old days, it was explained, she used to sit in the cowshed before the sun Was tip, and as she milked and looked at the jjtars she sang the same song. That does not exhaust her repertoire, however, though it seems to be the favourite. Now and again she recalls another song that was popular in the days of long ago. She can recall the chairman of the Auckland Hospital Board, Mr. Allan Moody, as a "eheru,b-faced, mischievous youngster." She can rememlber when the site of the present tram barns at Epsom was the sdte of a cowshed, and the area round about was a rural scene uwtrouhied Iby the traffic that now roars by. Powders Her Face. One weakness she admite—and it is one of those modern ones. Occasionally she powders her face.. Not because she is vain, hut, after all, one must keep abreast of things.

Though she is well a wave that there is a war on she is not particularly interested. She has reached the stage wlhere the past is more important than the present or the future. \oiv and again (her eyes light up with thait rapt expression that shows that !her inand is travel- i ling back across the years to recall those events that are history to most of us. Last year Mrs. Priestley had a birthday party and was the recipient of congratulatory messages from the King and Queen and the Governor-General, Lord Ga lwa y. Then she had a cake with 101 candles. Thiis time she will also have a /birthday party, with the extra candle that shows she 'lias travelled one more year inito the future. i