PERSONAL ITEMS.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXI, Issue LXII, 8 April 1911, Page 4

PERSONAL ITEMS.

Mr Harrington, Inspector of Post and! Telegraphs, is at present an official visitor to the district.

Captain R. W. Hamerton, who is; about to retire from the command of the Patea Rifles, has been unanimouslyelected an honorary life member of the* corps.

Mr H. Stocked of New Plymouth,, has been elected to represent the insurance companies on the Hawera Fire> Board.

Rev. Mr Hammond is visiting Australia as a member of the Foreign Missiondeputation, not in connection with* business arising out of the separation.-, of New Zealand from the Australian^ Conference, as previously reported.

A large party left Hawera on Friday evening en route for Sydney, consisting; mainly of bowlers and their friends. The party included Mr and Miss Syme, Mr W. C. Phillips, Misses Phillips and! Exley; Messrs W. Robertson, F. W. Wilkie, Henson, Lambie (2), Dudley.

Miss Shirley, of the Hawera Telephone Exchange staff, who was to have gone to Masterton as supervisor of the exchange, is now to be transferred to the Wanganui office in a similar position. Miss E. W. Kidd, of the Auckland office, will succeed Miss Shirley.

At the monthly meeting of the Hawera branch of the Church pf England Men's Society the resignation of the Secretary, Mr N. Caplen, was acceptedl with regret, and the branch resolved to place on record its appreciation of his services.

The Rev. P. H. Keall and family (our Opunake correspondent writes) will leave Opunake next Monday to take' over the Methodist Church at Whangarei. Messrs Dudley and McFie left per motor to-day en route for Auckland^ to take part in the Taranaki bowling team, which is visiting Sydney.

As recorded by wire this week, Mr James Gear, one of the pioneers of industry in Wellington province, and founder of the Gear Meat Preservingand Freezing Company of New Zealand,' Ltd., died at his home at Porirua on Wednesday. He was seventy-four years; of age, and became a member of the butchery trade in Somersetshire, England, when only ten years old. He came to Melbourne in 1857, and on to the goldfields in Gabriel's Gully, Otapo, in 1861. About 1863 he established, himself as a butcher in Lambton quay,. Wellington, where he was subsequently joined by a Mr Ling. In later years the business grew and prospez-ed, Mr Ling retired, a meat preserving branch was started, and then Mr Gear floated the Gear Company, which was incorporated in 1882. Mr Gear became managing director, and held that office for a great many years, while the company crew and prospered, and became the' large and powerful concern it is fo-day.. In 1879 Mr Gear was married to a, daughter of Mr Joseph Milstead, of Wellington, and he had one son and: two daughters.