"ROUND THE STONE."

Marlborough Express, Volume XLIV, Issue 216, 19 September 1910, Page 5

"ROUND THE STONE."

A TIME-HONOiiED CUSTOM WORTHILY REVIVED.

On Saturday evening the staff of The Marlborough Express held a session in Chapel "round the Stone, : to do honor to one who had for the past thirty years worthily upheld the traditions of the Fourth Estate, and ; the honor and credit of Marlborough, ', as the arbiter of the destinies of The Marlborough Express. It is now j well-known to everybody that Mr b. , J. Furness has relinquished the con- ' trol of the journal to his sons, and . the Chapel met on Saturday evening ! to make him a presentation of an ; I illuminated address on the occasion or . i.Ms severing his connection with the , working of the paper. A message was received from Mr S. J. Furness, sayi ing that the wrench of parting was Iso severely felt by him that he would ! have to ask the Uhapel to excuse his .absence that night. He was afraid that his feelings would overcome him, and he hoped that the staff_ would not consider him discourteous in not appearing personally amongst them. Later on he, would pay them a visit and say good-bye. in good old orthodox printer's fashion. Mr E. J. Hill briefly opened the Chapel, and stated the object of the session. He then called on the Father of the Chapel (Mr A. Jellyman) to make the presentation to Mr Roy P. Furness in behalf of his father.

Mi- Jellyman spoke earnestly of the regret of the employees at Mr S. J.* Fur ness's retirement. He (the speaker) had been with Mr Furness since boyhood, and so could speak with some knowledge.- Mr Jellyman then waxed reminiscent of the early days of The Maryborough Express, telling of the ups and downs, the joys and sorrows, of early newspaperdom. In all the years Mr S. J. Furness had been the hand, at the wheel, and he had steered the good ship through, the many dangerous shoals to the safe haven it now held. He hoped that Mr .Furness. would be long spared to rest in the autumn of his days, and. that the address, which, he would ask Mr R. P. Furness to accept on his behalf, would, serve to remind him of those who^ had worked under him in the office* and who. wished, thus to tender' .him, •, their, token ,of the respect -and esteem' in, which they^ held him. 1 The 'address was of' unique design, illustrating the old and the new forms of manufacturing a newspaper, and containing in , panels representations' of the old^wooden edifice which once did duty as' The Express office and the fine new building which at present houses the destinies of the journal. The title is fittingly inscribed by the engrosser as "A Journalistic Monument." The body matter of the address, which was illuminated and engrossed by Mr J. L. Higgs, read as follows:—"Smith James Furness, Esqr.—Sir,—We, the - undersigned members of the various staffs of The jMaklborough Express Newspaper and Printing Works, in. Chapel assembled, wish to testify to the heartfelt re,gret with which we hear of your relinquishing all active connection with the Journal with which you have been so long and so intimately connected, .extending as it does for over thirty years. You having watched the business, grow from infancy to its present prosperous old • age, on your retirement we wish to tender you our best wishes for many years of well earned nest; and express the deep respect and esteem we feel, for you. ,In token thereof we hereunder. subscribe our names." Then follow the signatures of the Messrs E. J. Hill and A. M. Shugar (representing the literary staff), F. Dobbie and W. Bush {representing the mechanical staff), F. Pearce (jobbing department), and J. Marsa'ck (clerical staff), all added a few words of testimony to the good ■feeling and respect of the staffs towards Mr S. J. Furness, and expressed the- feeling that the same service rendered to the late proprietor would be given to the Messrs Furness Bros., that they would have at heart the "best interests of The Express; >and that the high standard and reputation of the paper would be, as far as their exertions went, the object of their future efforts. Mr Roy, P; Furness, in accepting the .address in behalf of Mr S. J. Furness, expressed regret at ~- his father's inability to be present, and stated that no more fitting presentation could be made than the one which the staff had given, ' serving as it would to remind Mr Furness of hismany years' association with The Express—the Old and the New. ■ After briefly outlining Mr Furness's connection with journalism, which extended over a period of 45 years, Mr R. P. Furness read the following address from his father:— Gentlemen, —As the founder of the first evening paper in Blenheim, I have put in long years of hard work on The Express, and my path, as many of yon know, has not always been rose-strewn. But the- long years of hard work are behind me, and now I look forward to other long years of rest and recreation in my garden and otherwhere. lam thankful to say that the work of the office is now carried on under much better, conditions than, in earlier years. I retire encouraged by the knowledge that The Express has always striven strenuously to further the best interests of the town'of,Blenheim arid the grand district behind us. As an old-established journal, firmly set on a, solid foundation, it has now, I am sure, a much longer, a much more, prosperous, and above, all, as far as Blenheim and Marlborough interests are involved, a much more useful career. The town is advancing, the country behind us is advancing; and with the settlement of a few more large estates, and the completion of railway connection with the South there will come, so I hope and firmly believe, a period of such increased and marked prosperity as we at pre- ' sent hardly dream of. It is this advance that I am sure The Express under its new proprietary will do its best to stimulate, to render more active, more rapid, and more solid. The new era now commencing for The Express is.one which I trust will be marked ,> by increasing success all round, for all of us, whether towns- , men or country settlers. Unity spells strength, and town and country settlers can do much by unity of. purpose and action when their common interests are at stake. lam confident that The Express will, in the future, be found ever alert and active nr advancing those interests to which 1 have alluded. The Express has never been tied to any political party, and no private person or commercial institution lias had, as ihe Yankees say, a "pull" over the paper. It has been indepeiKlent m the best sense of the word ; and free, unfettered, and independent 1 trust it will always be. Of course,

there are always times when* someI one especially in a small district, is ! dissatisfied with his local paper.■ 1 I was myself when I spotted aibad misitake whidi had slipped past the \ editorial eye; but I made allowance, because I knew that no one, not even the compositors, much tried' ana patient .fellows, were infallible. .it some of'the."smarties" who jeer at printers' errors' had .any adequate idea ■of the trouble, the anxiety, the tact i (especially, .say, with the correspondence column and court reports) ! which are involved in the preparation of the sheet they skim so hastily, ! they would be inclined, I think, to let ; the newspaper down very easy. But, 'speaking seriously, The Express, ! under my regime at least, has always ; striven to give fair play to all parties !in its local and general politics and discussions, and the endeavor hias been to keep it a clean paper —a paper that fathers and; mothers could see read by their children without misgiving. The Express has , never , hounded a man down because it disagreed with his views, and it has never hit a man when he was down. In the matter of actual news, I make bold to say the paper could always challenge comparison with papers published in places recording a far larger population than that of Blenheim. No man can truthfully say that The Express reports of local affairs, or its comments thereon, have been marred by any personal or partisan bias. Townsmen and country settlers have generously supported the paper all.through its career, and I, candidly believe that^ their support :will continue to the publication under its new management. My sons will, I am sure, give a very fair guarantee of the faith that is in them—faith in the continued prosperity of The Express, and in the prosperity of Blenheim and the glorious district of Maryborough/, one of the bonniest portions of "God's Own Country." I thank the "Father of the Chapel" and members of the mechanical staff for their unselfish and loyal duty during .the thirty and odd years of my proprietorship of The Express, and for some years, also, in combination, of The Times. Difficulties were numerous in' the early years, and many a week we have had to go home without otjr wages. However, it was a case' of stick (notice it? no linos): we-all stuck to our strenuous ,work^ we all"hoped for better times; the,sun rose as usual, the moon'illuminated .the evening sky, and in the•course of. time ■ <the old proverb: "Everything comes to' those who .wait," came true to us, and The Express troubles were ended. I regrst that I am unable to meet yon, ias we often niet, "round the stone" —that time^honored custom of newspaper folk, in the olden days, indeed 'as at present when occasion demands. We have gathered "round the stone. to celebrate marriages, to bid goodbye and God-speed to members of the staff who have left to take up more important positions elsewhere (The Express mark on an application, even for a position on a metropolitan paper, was always • regarded as a favorable 9 recommendation), and on various other occasions of social import. If the "stone" could but speak, what stories could it unfold? Perhaps it is well that it cannot.' It is 1 a remarkable fact, however, that during my term as proprietor of The Express no member engaged on the staff, 'in any departmenty has "crossed the border." Certainly, some of those who had served on the paper, and who had left for fresh fields and pastures new, have ;."passed hence"; but it must be regarded as noteworthy that no death has occurred of anyone engaged in The Express Office during a term extending considerably over thirty years. 'Neither has there been any accident of a serious nature. The moral of this, I should say, is. get an\engagement on The Express staff, and you are immune in an extraordinary way from accident or death. My thanks are due to the members of I the literary staff for their unwearied efforts to advance the interests of The Express. In a district such as Marlborough, where so many important public bodies require attention, the work at times is arduous and the responsibilities great. The staff have always been equal to the occasion, and deserve kudos for the manner in which their duties, have been performed. The "copy" has •been proverbially good, and though minor mistakes may have been caused hy undecipherable words, there have been no such -glaring errors as that a railway train had knocked down a cow and cut it, riot into halves, but into "calves," or that a certain lady had died of "her marriage" instead of hemorrhage. , . A signed photograph of Mr Furn.ess was handed to each member of the staff. The gathering dispersed ,with cheers heartily given for the outgoing and incoming proprietors.