PERSONAL ITEMS

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3082, 12 May 1917, Page 8

PERSONAL ITEMS

The Hon. G; W. Russell left for tb9 South Island., last night. He intends to visit a number of places in Otago and _Canterbiary before he returns to Wellington at-..the end of nest .week. According to a Press Association cablegram from Sidney last evening, Lieut. J. T. Lang, son of Mr. "J. T. Lang, late of Palmereton North, has been awarded- the Military Cross. The Rev. Father Cronin, of. Fostori. .has been transferred to Feilding, and will be succeeded by the Rev.- lather Corley. A Press Association telegram from Oamaru states that the' Borough Council'.has. api>ointed Mr. I. Dalroer, of Lake. Coleridge, supervising electrical engineer for the new installatioii. . Mr. _C. 0. Trownson, Collector of Customs and Registrar .of Births, Deaths,- and Marriages at. Blenheim, has received notice or transfer to Wellington, where he wiE act as an examining officer on the.wharf (say 6.an exchange). Mr. . William Sibbald has been appointed to succeed Mr. Trownson. Mr. Sibbald was formerly Collector of Customs at Dunedin, and has been ' living in retirement for somo years, but offered to rejoin the service in view of the drain caused' on the Department's staff by the war. f "At yesterday's meeting Councillors W. H, P. Barber and L. M'Kenzie were elected chairmen of the By-Laws and Outlying Districts • Committees of the City Council. A Press Association message from Invorcargill- states: —Mr.. W. A. Browne, manager of the Bank of New Zealand at Winton, was found dead in his bed this morning. ' He was one of the oldest members of the staff, and was formerly in ' the" Melbourne branch. Ho is survived by a widow and grown-up family. The cause of death was heart disease. At the anhual meeting of the Canterbury Industrial Association, eulogistic reference- was made to the services of Mr. W. W. Charters, the hon. treasurer. It was. pointed out that Mr. Charters had been for thirty-seven s'ears a member of the association, during which period he had served for twenty years as treasurer. A vote of thanks and appreciation was' : passed to Mr/ Charters for his. valued services. The following appointments liavo been made by the/Wellington Education Board:—Clyde Quay, assistant master, Mr. F. A. Mason; Te Aro, assistant, Miss M. F. Fletcher; Petone, assistant, Mr. P. M'Caw; Upper Hutt, assistant, Jlr. S. J; M. King; Upper Hutt, assistant, Miss K. R. Boyd; Upper Hutt, assistant, Miss E. Duggan; South Wellington, assistant, Miss L. A. Thompson; Tokoraaru, assistant, Miss M. 6. Straiton; Manakau, assistant, Miss G. E. Cheek; Marlboroughtown, assistant, Miss D. M. Cheek; Worser Bay, assistant, Miss K. G. Smith. •A silver medal for gallantry on the field of action has been awarded to Sapper Peter Dalrymple Holmes. Sapper Holmes was born in Invorcargill, and is an old South_ cchoolboy. Joining the telegraph service, he was an operator in Wellington when war broke out, and enlisted in the Mam Body. He became a specialist in the field wireless service, and was -in the laniding on the Galliitoli Peninsula, and served continuously -until the • evacuation. Sapper Holmes was mentioned in dispatches by General Sir C. C. Monro. It is not yet certain whether the medal was awarded for the Gallipoli service' «r ■ -for a further act of gallantry m France. Sanper Holmes has, however, been in the thick of whatever fighting was going since tlia New Zealand. troops entered the theatre of operations, and has obvious.ly. distinguished himself.. It may be mentioned that three -brothers are also serving-'with, the forces —.Tim (Fifth Reinforcements), - Jack .(Sixteenth Reinforcements), .-and Robert (Nineteenth Reinforcements)-. Lieut. Gerald Mathias, son of Mr. Lewis Mathias, Fairview, South_ Canterbury, has been awarded the Military Cross." After . leaving school lie was farming in the south, but soon after the outbreak of the war joined the Canterbury- Mounted Rifles, and has seen a. good deal of service with the troops in Egypt. The official note attached to the award says: "He led his_ troops with great courage and determination, and as a result between 40 and 50 of the enemy were taken prisoner."