DEATH OF MR W. A. PAWSON.

Feilding Star, Volume VIII, Issue 2318, 24 March 1914, Page 2

DEATH OF MR W. A. PAWSON.

It is with great regret that we have to announce the death of another well-known figure in the business community in Wanganui, in the person of Mr W. A. Pawson, who passed away early yesterday morning at Belverdale Hospital, after a brief illness. Third eon of that wellknown old identity, Mr John Pawson, he was a native of Wanganui, and had lived and worked in the town all his life, being at, tlio time of his death 50 years of age. Threshing operations are still in progress in the Masterton district. Mohammed Ah, the ex-Shah of Persia, is living in Berlin and is earning a livlihood as a dealer in antiques. New Plymouth is now electing a carnival queen. There are eleven candidates. Gisborne has a carnival in view. The population of Invercargill and suburbSj as estimated on March 31, 1913, was 1682 V] of Wanganui and suburbs, 15,489. Although the London County Council spent £20,000 last quarter in providing meals for children, they only recovered £8 16s 4d from parents. It took three .kingdoms once to \ make a glove (says the Outfitter), Spain to prepar c the leather, France to cut it out, and England to sew it together. J. Maughan Barnett, Auckland's . City Organist (Jate. of Wellington), > has been appointed conductor of the Auckland Choral Society. ' sue- , ceeds Dr Thomas, who has resigned. At the Court Ball in Homo on ' January 26 two American women, Mrs John Hays Hammond, wife of the famous mining engineer, and Mrs Ira Morris, wife of the Panama Exhibition Commissioner, wore jewi elps valued at £<tUO,OOO. A necklac c ! worn by Mrs Morris is valued at ■ £100,000. ! Writing to a friend in Pahiatua, a ' farmer of the Taranaki district, near \ New Plymouth, states that a dairy ' farmer in that locality recently had ' had bis herd of 80 cows tested. The ' respective tests varied from 3.5 to 9.5 per cent, of butter-fat. The tests of tliree of the herd were 9.5, \ 7.7, and 6.6 respectively. The results of the elections of the Railways Superannuation Board aro set out in last week's Gazette. In the cas e of the first division of the , North Island, Mr Robert Isaacs lias ' r been elected. Those elected to re- ' present the second division (both islands) are Messrs Thomas Wilson, Martin Lee, and Peter Games. They were electee! out of fifteen candidates. The Bishop of Wellington (Dr j Sprott) has written a pastoral letter 1 to the churches of the diocese, drawing attention to the missionary cxhi- . bition to be held in Wellington in l February next in connection with the f Marsden Centenary celebrations, and urging and earnest interest in tho '. scheme It may be stated that the j Town Hall has been engaged from 3 February 6to 14, 1915, and arrangements have been mad e for a unique exhibition. Courts are to be sofc up representing the life, superstitions, history, and products of the nativas of many parts of the world. Lectures " "ill be give.n on the work of the " Church missions. 1 Tho following incident is vouched 1 for by a local auctioneer (says tile - Northern Advocate). At a small scti. tlement not very far from Whangarei j church services aro held in the diningl room of a settler's house. On a rej cent occasion the clergyman was con. . ducting service, and after announcing - the hymn he started to read th c first 3 verse. He got to the end of the first i line, which had """custom, made his presence 'known' by the-remark,-., I'otl Get us a cup of tea." Cocky was immediately i removed and service continued, but 1 not with the solemnity which is . usual. In going through his eorrespoud--3 ence in Wellington ;on Tuesday last, } Mr Paul Dufault, the French-Cana-dian tenor, came across a begging letter of aai unusual character. The writer demanded that Mr Dufault should forward him at onc c a sum of moiiey," otherwise he (the writer) " must and would "put an. end to his ' miserable existence." Mr Dufault j knows th c world fairly well, and his ' comment on tho letter was very brief. 1 "It is an old trick, that sometimes • comes off," said he. "The only • tiling that never comes is the end ' to a miserable existence.' The writer > just keeps on at his letter-writing. ■ It's a great old game in America." A remarkable tribute to the prosperity of the Old Country iv the last two years was ■ paid by Lord Rochdale (better known as Sir George Kemp, head of the great soft goods J manufacturers, Kelsall and Kemp) who is spending a few weeks in New I Zealand, in conversation with a Post ' reporter: "Th c general prosperity in ' trade has been simply extraordinary/ ■ the visitor said. "Why, we have never had so few unemployed in the memory of man. I believe that last year in nearly every t every man ' Lhat was really employable at all was Ln employment, i know this: That in Lancashire thousands of pounds' worth of valuabl c machinery stood idle for mere lack of labour to operate it. No, I do not think that emigration was the cause, .or much of a 1 contributing factor. It was simply our extraordinary prosperity. We Beem to be over the apex of the boom now, and tilings are a. little quieter, but still we are doing well. And 1 understand you are also enjoying great prosperity, I may say that 1 was surprised- -agreeably surprised— to see tho advance of Australia. 1 had no idea it was such a fine country, with .so much fertil c soil and such a wealth of vegetation' You know, the idea in England is that Australia is something of a desert, and that idea needs dispelling."