FIFTY YEARS' SERVICE.

Press, Volume LXII, Issue 18668, 17 April 1926, Page 16

FIFTY YEARS' SERVICE.

OLD EMPLOYEE OF "THE PRESS." PRESENTATION TO MR H. A. KENT. With a record'of fifty years of service to the Christchureh Press Co., Ltd., behind him, Mr H. A. Kent was .met yes : terday by members of the various departments which had been closely in touch with him,-and presented with a purse of sovereigns. .Mr A. M. Burns, manager of the Tress Co., who presided, said that the gathering was not for the purpose of saying farewell to anyone. Therefore it was not tinged'with'any sadness. It was td mark the great record established bv Mr' Kent. ' For SO years without a • break, fie had been an .employee of the company; he was still going strong and giving good service. Although Mr Kent had established a record. • for Unbroken - service, there were three ether employees of. the company still on the staff who had joined the company before Mr Kent,-—Messrs' Durin, Turner; and' Brunt'. But those members had at one time or another, broken their service for other employment. Eventually, however, they, had returned. Then Messrs Crawford, and Cant had very little time to cover before they would be in a position to equal Mr Kent's record. ■

Mr. Kent joined the company on April J 9th, ,1876, as a compositor, and had filled successively the positions of printer to. the .'"'Globe,"'the "Telegraph," the "Truth," 'and the- "Evening News." At one time he was printer of the ".Weekly Press," and "N.Z. Referee.!' Mr Burns, added that the Press Co. had a wonderful record for the length of service of its employees, and also their-loyalty. The Board'of Directors, continued Mr Burns,, was greatly, interested in Mr Kent's 'record, and the chairman had written to . him ing the Board's appreciation of his long and loyal service. As a memento, of the. occasion they had presented him with la, solid silver cigaret/te case, inscribed as follows:—"H. A. Kent, from the Directors of the Christchureh Fress Co., Ltd.; Appreciation of loyal service; Expressing the hope .that Mr Kent would giye further long service to the Company, Mr Burns, on behalf of Mr Kent's fellow-workers, presented him with a purse of sovereigns with' Which to purchase some memento of the historic occasion. Replying briefly, Mr Kent returned thanks \ fpr the presentation and . referred to the progress of. the company during the past fifty years. ; He stated, in passing, that on only one occasion had he been away , from his position through illness. There were many in the room, he said, whom he had known for .many years, and" he had found them loyal and true friends: He gave a short sketch .of his activities during his .period of employment with the company.. At the conclusion of.the gathering cheers, were given for Mr and Mrs Kent. . MR KENT'S CAREER. REMINISCENCES OF THE EARLY ' ' '■ " ' DAY'S. ' '"'■..' :

Wh.en Mr' Kent joined. '' the Press,'' tJie ; first editor 'and,.the..founder of the paper, ,'Mr; James, Edward Fitzgerald had'" just left, and Mr Colborne' Veel had taken up " his duties' as edit'on "The Press" was then housed in its second building in < Ca'shel street, on the site where its.third premises afterwards were erected;, the first office was in a small wooden' building in Montreal street. When Mr Kent joined "The Press." was a four-page paper, all'set'by hand;'the composing room stafi numbered eleven when he was added.to.it.. During the handsetting period the compos'iua room staff ro/se to 30, Then • came 'the .linotype machine. First, two were installed, , then four; now there is. a, battery of j Mr Kent is. a native, of Greenwich; and was born on .January 18th,' lßo2,'and'is therefore in:his 75th year. After his father's death he went with his mother to Melbourne in 1860, thence to Sydney, where he was educated at what is now known as the-Fort street School, but at that time was a semi-private school under the auspices of the Church,of .England.. In. 1862, with his mother, Mr Kent came,to New Zealand at the time when the rushes'to the Shotover, Dunstan,: and Queenstown goldfields, were in. full swing. After a few years' ischooling under. Mr J. Evans, young Kent was apprenticed to Messrs Shaw, Arnott; and Co., printers, Duhedin, and'remained with them for two years. On the outbreak of the rush to.the West ; Coast goldfields, the firm, gaive, up business in. Dunedin . to start a newspaper in' Hokitika. • First Telegraph Messenger; . . Mr, Kent claims to,have been the first telegraph messenger in the Dominion. In 1865, when the first Government line was put through to the Bluff, Harry Kent was appointed messenger. The staff, consist**! of Mr J. Mason (afterwards Superintendent of Telegraphs in Christchurch for several years), who was operator and counterclerk, • /•.:..'.. After leaving the Telegraph Depart-, ment, Mr Kent accepted a good offer to go to the West' Coast where, after following several occupations, he reapprenticed himself to the printing trade , under Mr J. ,P. Klein, the proprietor, of, the "West Coast Times" and "Evening Star." At the conclusion of his apprenticeship Mr .Kent' was made printer of. the "Evening Star," and later, printer of the "West Coast Times." He continued in that position after Mr Kobert Beid acquired the "Times," but business became dull ■■ on the West Coast, and on April 16th, 1876,.Mr Kent.left bV Cobb and Co.'s coach and arrived in ChristcKureh the following day, a Saturday. • Joins "The Press." On April 19th he applied for work at "The Press" Office, and was taken on immediately, and after a. year at the case he took up the position of printer of the "Globe," an evening 'paper printed by the Press Company for Mr C. A... Pritchard. The .Press Company ultimately bought out Mr Pritchard, and also acquired the oppostion evening paper, the "Telegraph," run by Mr de Bourbel and a few compositors on co-operative lines. For several years (he evening paper issued by. the Press Company retained the name "Telegraph," but later changed :the name to "Truth," and ultimately to the "Evening News." Mr Kent, however, continued to be printer of the evening paper until the death of Mr Asquith, when Mr Kent succeeded him as printer of the "Weekly Press and. Referee." When the "Evening News" ceased publication .Mr Kent became a member of the staff of. the daily—"The Press" —a position he still occupies.