THE AGE LIMIT.

Evening Star, Issue 14001, 6 March 1909, Page 11

THE AGE LIMIT.

f MR E. W. SEAGER RETIRES, ms early" SERVICES. [Special to the Stab.] I' '' CHRISTCHURCH, March 5. Very general regret was felt in law circles to-day when it became known that Mr E. W. Scagcr, who for the past seventeen years has occupied the position of usher at the Supreme Court, was to be re- ; tired at the end of the present month, his 1 age exceeding the limit laid down by the J regulations. Mr Seager has had a long j and varied experience of Government seri vice, dating back almost to the beginning jof the province, and he-is one of the now very lew pioneers in whom rest the traditions of the past (says the ‘ Evening News’), j Ho came out to New Zealand’ when a j m an of twenty in the ship Comj wall, arriving'in Lyttelton on December ] 15, 1851. a year after the historic first j four ships. He joined the Armed i Constabulary, at that time under the comImand of tho late Mr J. E. Fitzgerald, who alilcrwards attained eminence in Provincial and Genera! Government affairs. After a few months’ service, Mr Seager was made corporal. In the following year he was raised to the position of sergeant, and a bon the year 1855 he succeeded Mr (now j the Hon.! C. C. Bowen as inspector of the trn.rtahiikiry. While holding that office he , was appointed Public Prosecutor under the , Arm.? Act, a Maori Commissioner, hispec- | of Slaughter-houses and Immigration I Offices, and for a time a-lso he acted as j clerk, to the Magistrate’s Court. It was i during his connection with the constabuj lary that the gold rush broke out, and so ! fatal a fascination did tho rush become i that practically the whole police force j abandoned the shako and baton for the jsr.ovel and pan. Men were wanted, and a number of Maoris were brought down from tho North Island and sworn in as police constables. But the scheme did not work ; vur , v satisfactorily, and Europeans were cn--1 g‘iged as fast, as they could h© obtained, | until the full strength was made tip again. | On leaving the constabulary Mr Seager | was appointed chief gaoler for Lyttelton, j Ch.ri.-tchurcfi, and Timaru. The gaol was then, as now, situated at Lyttelton, but there eras every difference between the two buildings. The gaol then was built ot wattle ancl “dab” (i.e., clay), and when ;Mr Seager look charge he first of all . caused a strong wall to bo built around the gaol, winch up to then had lacked this pro- ; teetion. And then he set to work, with • fkc aid of prison labor, to build a new' gaol. There were seventeen lunatics in the gaol when Mr Seager assumed control, aud those unfortunates were mixed up with the prisoners, tho consequence being that they i were often robbed of their food and in j other ways ill-treated. Mr Seager noted this slate of affairs with disapproval, and . he immediately caused to be erected a new' i building for ihe accommodation of the 1 patients. Attendants were appointed, and a great improvement resulted. Even this , did not satisfy Mr Ecager, and he forl warded to the Government a strong recom- \ mendation that a proper lunatic asylum or | mental hospital should be established quite i apart from the gaol premises. This recommendation was approved of, a design | was prepared, and an asylum (th© original f part of Sunnyside) was built, and Mr j Seager placed in charge. His experience | in asylum matters was recognised all over I the colony, ancl he was requested by Sir ! George Grey and afterwards by Sir Edj ward Stafford to report on the reorganisa- ; tion of the asylums* at Auckland and Nelson respectively. His reports were apI proved of, and his recommendations adj opted. Mr Seager continued in charge of < the asylum for twenty-five years, when he ■ was succeeded by a medical superintendent, j Hr Macon. I Before leaving ho was granted extended | leave on full pay, and made a trip lo England. aud collected much valuable information relating to asylums, more generally in the cities of England, Scotland, and Ireland. It was the intention of the Government/at that time to build a central asylum for imbeciles and idiots, and Mr Seager was advised that he was to take charge, I but some hitch occurred, and the vote fell through. Mr Seager then left the Government employ for a few months, and was then appointed usher at tho Supreme Court, which position he has held ever since. Some years ago Mr Seager was appointed the Canterbury Law Society’s librarian,. and it is understood he will continue to hold that position.