A PROMISING CAREER CUT SHORT.

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 5490, 1 April 1910, Page 3

A PROMISING CAREER CUT SHORT.

Mr Bertram 'A rmytage, who commit ted suicide at Melbourne recently under circumstances that were described by cable, was a younger son of thelate Mr Fred W. Arraytage.of Lara. Like his relatives, he was educated at the Geelong Grammar School, and I proceeded to Cambridge, matriculating | at Jesus College, then the great rowing college, thanks in no small degree to the Kah'bairns and Armytages of Vie ■ toria, four of whom gained the r "Blues," while the son of a Fairbairn is rowing in this year's Cambridge boat. From Cambridge he returned to Victoria, but finding an idle life not to his taste he decided to enter the Victorian Permanent Artillery. He passed his examination, received a commission, * but found that life at Queenscliff was not sufficient for his energetic nature. Therefore he resigned his commission, and then took more or less interest in the family j pastoral interests. When the South African war broke out he proceeded to Sonth Africa, and presently was given a commission in the Dragoon Guards But it was now impossible for him to follow a military career, for which he had deciled predilectious, with any hope of success, as his entry was at too late an age for normal promotion. After a year or so he resigned his commission and returned to Melbourne, and attended to his family interests. His intense desire for adventure was ineradicable, notwithstanding increasing weight and age, so that when Mr (now Sir E ) f-haekle ton came to Australia on his way to the South Pole, and wanted recruits, Mr Armytage rose to the opportunity and joined the expedition as a hor. c expert, taking charge of the poaie3 He did so with 6uch success that Sir Finest Shackleton stated that Mr Armytage's skill in looking after the ponies was one of the chief factors of his being able to go so far south. For his share of the wjric the Royal Geographical Society presented Mr Armytage with a silver replica of the special gold medal presented to sir Ernest Shackleton. He was of such a kindly, genial, and cheerful j nature that " his self destruction is ■ inexplicable.