OBITUARY

Gisborne Times, Volume LXXIII, Issue 12140, 30 December 1933, Page 4

OBITUARY

MR H. W> FOWLER (U.i’.A. by Elec. \ ' 'LONDON, peefl ‘ I The:! • Ams ;s£uiT*?d •* ?£. ■■■ss Henry W'atson Fowler, rthp essayistand lexicographer; aged 7J5 years. Tlie Tate Mr Fcivvlor : was educated; at Rugby and Oxford, and subsequently was an assistant mantes* ,4 t Sedbergh. Since 1899 he' had bp&n engaged) 'in writang' translations, essays, And dictioriarfes, being 'a notable contributor to the new Oxforor Dictionary. Mlt JOHN B. WEEDON (Press Association) WAIEt'I, Dec. 29. The death is reported of Mr John. Benjamin Weedon, licensee of the Rob Roy Hotel, aged 81 years. Mr Weedon was a well-known cricketer,, and -played .with and against Dr. Grace..

MR. WI KARATI

Following a fortnight’s treatment for a long standing trouble,. Mr. Wi Karati, of Tokomaru Bay, died at Cook Hospital. He was a veteran of the first Maori Contingent 'which served in the Great War with the N.Z. Expeditionary . Force. -) Born on the East Coast, and brought up in that district, the late Mr. Karati was in the prime of manhood when he was accepted for service with the Maori Battalion, and in the course of his service he took part" in several of the major engagements of the N.Z.E.F. He spent several months of training on the desert sands of Egypt, and later went to Gallipoli, where he was one of the battalion in the line when the Maoris made their celebrated charge, to which reference is made in the majority of. war histories. _ ; On the evacuation of the Peninsula by the British troops, he served for a further period in Egypt, and then went to France, where at different periods he was attached to the New Zealand and Australian tunnelling corps, doing good work with both. He was in at the digging of Turk Lane, the celebrated work of the MaoriPioneer Battalion on the Somme, in 1916, and at Flers, in September, 1916, he suffered a gunshot wound in the jaw and neck.. After his recovery from injury, he again served in the line in France, transferring for a time to the loth North Auckland Infantry Regiment, 2nd Battalion. At Ypres, in 1917, he again was wounded, though not seriously. On his return to New Zealand, and his discharge into civilian life. Mr. Karati found employment in the Thames district for a while, making use of. his mining experience with the tunnelling companies overseas. He became a victim to a chest trouble, however, and in later years suffered from this complaint to an increasing degree. He entered hospital at Gisborne a fortnight ago for treatment, and though on his entry his condition did not cause any anxiety, he gradually sank, and succumbed yesterday. Mr. Karati was a- widower, without children. He has a stepsister resident in Gisborne, Mrs. N. Kerekere, and other relatives live in the Tokomaru Bay area. The burial will take place to-day. the cortege leaving Cochrane’s mortuary at 2 p.m. All former members of the Pioneer Battalion, and also veterans of the loth North Auckland Regiment, are especially invited by the Gisborne R.S.A. to attend the burial as a tribute to a former comrade.