PERSONAL MATTERS.

Evening Post, Volume LXXX, Issue 21, 25 July 1910, Page 7

PERSONAL MATTERS.

An Auckland Press Association telegram records the death of Rev. D. W. Runciman, retired registrar of Auckland ■University College. Mt. W. Pryor, Secretary of the NewZealand Employers' Association, will go to Christchurch to-night to attend the sitting of the Arbitration. Court in connection with the hearing of the Shearers' dispute. Mr. C. R. Smith, formerly manager of the Alliance Assurance Office in Dunedin, who has been transferred to Wellington, was presented on Friday with testimonials of the regard in which he was held by the Otago Cricket Association, V.M.0.A., Underwriters' Association, and a number of citizens. The late Mr. P. H. Forster, of the Parliamentary staff, was accorded a military funeral yesterday in recognition oi his military service in New Zea- i land and Africa. The burial took place i at Karori Cemetery. Rev. T. H. Sprott, j of St. Paul's Pro-Cathedral, officiated, i The cofiin was borne to the graveside on j a gun carriage, and there was a large < following of veterans. Tha firing party , waa supplied by the Permanent, Artii- j lery, which also furnished the gun car- | riage. At the graveside "The Retreat 1 at Sunset" and "The Last Post" were played. Mr. J. A. Hutton, late Chief Post- j master, was mad« the recipient of a marble clock, a liqueur stand, and a silver-mounted epergne at a social gathering of members of the mail-room staff on Saturday evening. In making the presentation, Mr. R. B. Morris, acting Chief Postmaster, said that the manner in which Mr. Hutton had discharged the duties of his office reflected credit upon him and the department as awhole. Mr. Hutton, in retiring from the service, was taking the goodwill of every man with whom he had -come in contact, and by his unfailing courtesy 'he had endeared himself to all. In acknowledging the gifts, Mr. Hutton gave some interesting reminiscences of his past career, which had extended over half a century. In 1867 he took charge of the telegraph office in Christchurch ; in 1876 he was j promoted chief clerk at Wellington. He returned in 1903 to take up the position j of chief postmaster, and the last seven years~of his life had been exceptionally busy. He thanked them heartily for the kindly spirit manifested in the gifts.Mr. John Horrax, of "Roundhill," Karori, died suddenly of heart failuro at Nelson on Saturday. He had previously enjoyed excellent health and was in his usual good spirits right to the last, so that the news of his death came as a severe shock to his family and friends. Deceased travelled regularly through Marlborough, Nelson and the West Coast on behalf of the New Zealand Drug Company, and was on a business tour when the end came. , His\ genial personality won him many friends during His travels aoid was an important factor in his commercial success. Mr. Horrax came out from Horns under engagemsnt to Kempthorne, Prosser and Co. lie left Ambleside, Westmoreland, in 1883 for New Zealand. Being a practical chemist and holding a certificate of the Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain, he has acted on occasions as an examiner for* tho New Zealand Pharmacy Board. In private" life, Mr. Horrax ,was known all over tho Dominion as a dog fancier y and colliebreeder, and had been made a life member of the Wellington Kennel Club. His services were much sought after as a judge at dog shows. Deceased, who was 59 years of age, leaves a widow and a family of two sons and a daughter. Mr. Charles Horrax, the eldest son, is a resident of Pahiatua. The only daughter is Mrs. S. P. Girdwood, who has be<Mi on a trip to England for th© saice of her health, and was to have left Liverpool on Saturday on her return to New Zealand. The second son is Mr. T. Harrison Horrax, who is at present studying medicine at Edinburgh University. The funeral will leave the mortuary chapel of E. Morris, junr., in Taranaki street, for St. Mary's Church, KaTori, to-morrow afternoon.