ALL SORTS OF PEOPLE

Free Lance, Volume I, Issue 40, 6 April 1901, Page 3

ALL SORTS OF PEOPLE

AMONG the visitors now in Wellington are Captain Grant and Mr. John McLeod, of Auckland. They axe both here for the same purpose — to see their sons off with the Seventh Contingent. Captain Grant is the father of Lieutenant Grant, of the Auckland Company, and Sergeant Neil G. McLeod is the eldest son of Mr. McLeod. Until he resigned the position last year, Captain Grant was adjutant of the Auckland volunteer district, and there are not many men in New Zealand who have been for so long a period prominently identified with the volunteer movement. He now holds appointment under the Auckland Board of Education as drill instructor for the public schools. . • • • Mr. John McLeod is an active member of the Auckland City Schools Committee, and is also the district) secretary (in Auckland) of the Manchester Unity of Oddfellows. He is taking advantage of his present visit to Wellington to make arrangements for a conference, to be held here in June next, of Manchester Unity delegates from all parts of the colony. The object is to set up an annual movable committee to act as supreme governing body of the Unity in New Zealand. Hitherto each district has been independent, looking merely to the British Committee for guidance and direction. The Home Committee is favourable to this federation idea, and the only thing that stops the way is jealousy in Dunedin at Wellington being made the place for the conference. • • • The Manchester Unity ranks easily first among New Zealand friendly societies. It has a membership of 13,000, and of the £600,000 owned by friendly societies in this colony, £300,000 belongs to the Manchester Unity. Old hands still mention as a curious fact that the site of the Oddfellows' premises on Lambton-quay was given them by Sir George Grey during his first term of governorship in the Forties. It abutted on the beach, and was washed by the ebb and flow of the tide. Those early Oddfellows had small means, but plenty of grit and energy, and in the early mornings and after working hours at night they used to carry earth to reclaim their section from the sea, and they also made it the dumping ground for all the rubbish they could persuade in that direction. That was the manner in which they laid the foundations for a valuable freehold building site in the heart of the Empire City. • • • Eden George, a much advertised photographer, who, once upon a time, surprised everybody, including himself, by getting elected mayor of Christchurch, was among the funny items of the Federal elections in New South Wales. It would have been funnier still had he got in, but, ludging from the returns to hand, the intelligent voter wasn't quite prepared to carry the joke as far as that. At latest advices, however, George — height five feet nothing — was stumping the Cornstalk State from Woolloomooloo to Bourke as a working man's champion — poor working man ! — dressed in a frock coat, into which a gen,erous tailor had put an extra yard of coat-tail, and an Eiffel tower Paris hat. Sad to think liow all that style and front failed to win a seat.

People are apt now-a-days to speak with envy of those who were here in the "good old days," as if it were the easiest thing in the world then to make fortunes with the chances they had. Just ask Mr. Thomas Whitehouse for his impressions on that subject. Tom, by the way, is one of the very oldest inhabitants of Wellington, and a most affable one, too. If you can catch him off duty any time that he is not trundling bowls up on the Wordsworth-street green, he can Bpin you many a real good yarn of the tough old times. Tom will tell you, for instance, that if a £o note would then have bought a quarter-acre section, it was a mighty etiff job to get the £5 note. • • • He remembers a man being glad to carry a half - hundred of flour to Otaki (then a threedays' journey) for ten shillings, and he knows that his own father had a very steep contract on hand to bring tip a large family on much less than 30s a week. Mr. Whitehouse looks back on those early days of hard tack and few comfprts with a restful feeling. He started his career in the Empire City as a grocer's errand boy in the Forties, and now he derives a handsome income from the shops he owns in Cuba-street and elsewhere, and the profits of the money-lending office of which he is manager. The premises of Messrs. Veitch and Allan, and "The New Shop," are among those owned by Mr. Whitehouse. •• • • Mr. Arnold, M.H.R. for Dunedin, seems to have a wonderfully persuasive way with the Government. At any rate, a cheerful little par. is flying about the Otago papers, stating that the Government have consented to give a lump sum of £2000 towards the erection or a building for housing the electric plant in connection with the Dunedin technical classes. Also, that this promise is the direct result of Mr. Arnold's recent visit to Wellington. Arnold must be a sturdy beggar. And, if the news is correct, the Government may not thank him for making such a song about it. Just think what it means. There are 74 members of the House, and, leaving out the Speaker, the Maoris, and Ministers, there are at least 60 of them with a long list of urgent public wants to get filled up. Wait till they hear of Arnold's alleged luck, and they will descend like an avalanche upon the Government buildings. At least, the "right colour" brigade will. They may be expected at any moment now. Best thing Dick and his colleagues can do under the circumstances is to scatter at once. • tm m John Taylor is a native of Parramatta, near Sydney, and lays claim to a unique record. Says he was standing at the corner of Church and George streets, Sydney, late in 1837, when the town-crier made the announcement that King William IV. was dead, and that Victoria was Queen. Says, also, he was standing on the self-same spot in January last when the news of Queen Victoria's death was brought to him. Perhaps, he went there specially to meet it. • • • The departure for England of Mr. E. M. Smith, member for Tara^naki — the gentleman of the immaculate waistcoat and glossy topper — for the purpose of turning the heads of over-sea speculators with his ironsand, coal, and other projects, recalls an earlier enthusiast on ironsand. The late Mr. John Perry, who arrived at Moturoa nearly sixty years ago, predicted a fortune for somebody as soon as he landed on the beach and noticed the ironsand deposits. He did a little smelting, with primitive appliances, but did not persevere. He made a hammer, however, and presented it to Sir George Grey, who was surprised to hear that it was a local product. Sir George sent it to the British Museum, where it now is.

Lieutenant-Colonel Porter, who has been appointed to the command of the Seventh Contingent, is one of the most popular military men in the colony, and, as an early settler, he won fame as a warrior. In the Maori war he was one of Colonel (now Sir George) Whitmore's trusted aides, and, when trouble threatened up the East Coast, Mr. Porter, then a member of the Colonial Defence Force Cavalry, was given charge of the block-house at Mohaka. His services there won him a majority. It is recorded that, during the war, he distinguished himself at Waerenga-a-hika, by bringing off the field, whilst under heavy fire, a member of his troop who was severely wounded. The major himself got a wound for his trouble. In 1866 he carried on some successful negotiations on behalf of the Government of the day with the troublesome Ngatiporous. ♦ * * Major Porter extended a large hand to grab Te Koqti, when that doughty Maori escaped from the Chathams in 1868, and haunted Poverty Bay. The major volunteered for service against the Poverty Bay massacre. At the siege Te Kooti's band, and fought in nearly every engagement, both before and after of Ngatapa, when serving under the friendly Ropata, Major Porter was one of the storming-party which successfully scaled the outer works, and captured the pah. His reward for his share in this action was a sub-inspectorship of the A.C., and he was given command of the Bth division of the Arawas, who were sent against Titokowaru, at that time threatening a descent along the West Coast. The Wanganui campaign saw the major on continuous active service, and, being a fine Maori linguist, he was often attached to Major Kemps flying columns. One of these expeditions brought him another wound — an ambuscade, at Otauto, on the Waitotara, where so many scouts lost the number of their mess. * * * After the scattering of Titokowaru's forces, Major Porter too^k up the running after Te Kooti again, and, whilst in charge of the Transport Corps, narrowly escaped being one of the party who were treacherously murdered at Opepe. He next was chosen to go with an expedition after Te Kooti into that "terror incog." (as the settlers dubbed it), the King Country. Then the major and a small section of the expedition captured a pah and 80 prisoners, and he took part in the big fight at Maraetahi (near Opotiki), where 330 of Te Kooti's men were captured, and a number of others killed. Right down to 1871 the major kept up the hunt after the Maori De Wet. On the cessation of hostilities, after the capture of Kereopa (the murderer of the Rev. Mr. Volkner), Major Porter had the task of disarming the erstwhile rebels. He has militia district and Native Office Land been Staff-Adjutant of the East* Coast militia district and Native Office Land Purchase Commissioner. During his term in the latter office, he completed the Crown title to over 500,000 acres of East Coast land. He has also been many times mayor of Gisborne. • • • Mr. McCarthy, a Southland S.M., is a rather dull sort of' joker. In fining a prohibited woman, at Wyndham, the other day, for procuring drink, he convulsed the attendant Robert with laughter by observing "It's rather a dear holiday ; but it's better to put the money into the revenue than let it go down youi 4 throat." Doesn't seem to have struck him that in putting her money down her throat in the form of liquor the woman had already been contributing heavily to the revenue. And, if the object of the fine was merely to put the money to a better use than to swill it down her throat, probably her relatives needed it far more than the revenue.

Great are the uses of photography. A local man, who went mooning round the country, enjoying a little holiday tour "on his own," struck a wayside township the day most of the inhabitants were hououring St. Patrick, and for some misty reason or other he was assaulted by one of a boisterous crowd, who was in a very merry mood. He managed to get away, and, turning quickly round, picked up his kodak, and "snapped" his assailant. The picture has been forwarded to the police, and, so far as identification is concerned, there should not be much bother about securing the gentleman who is so handy with his fists "when the whisky's in him." • • • Mr. Carncross, M.H.R., must have his little joke. Learning by recent newspaper cable that Harmsworth Bros, had offered to buy the London "Times" for something like secen millions sterling, the member for Taieri offers to part with his interest in the local 'advocate" for a little less than the £7,000,000 just refused by the owners of the "Thunderer" of Printing House Square. A sporting offer like this ought to* be snapped up at once, lest Mr. Carncross should change his mind. • • • Dr. Talmage, the sensational pulpit preacher from Yankeeland, has just broken out in a fresh place. Just now he is using the great American dailies to boom a quack remedy for influenza. Whereupon, an irreverent critic remarks he is giving the heat to come a rest, in order to devote himself to the colds that are here! Let us see, was he not a bit of a frost here in Wellington when he passed through some years ago? • * • That quiet little marine hamlet, Kilbirnie, will furnish, perhaps, the most interesting municipal contest in this part of the colony. The very first candidates of the season — Messrs. Heginbotham, Jorgensen, and Topp — have already become known as the Kilbirnie trio. They were out on the one ticket for the three vacant seats in the Melrose Borough Council, and declared that they would stand or fall upon one slan5 lank — the offer of a subsidy to the enkins Estate Syndicate to put a tunnel through Mount Victoria for the convenience of the suburb. Mr. Heginbotham is a prominent and enthusiastic member of the Wellington Camera Club, and runs Heginbotham's Hall and tea gardens out on the edge of Evans Bay. All visitors out near that edge of the water are asked to drop in. Mr. Jorgensen is a lawyer's clerk, and a sitting member of the Borough Council. Mr. Topp is a plumber, and, of course, means to "top" the poll. • • • Last week an opposition trio came out against the above ticket, in Messrs. H. D. Crawford. J. Mead, and T. Highet, and they have been dubbed the Kilbirnie Trinity. They also form a ticket, and strongly protested against "holding any truck" with syndicates. The "Trinity" claim to be progressives, and declare the trio to be retrogressives. The "Trinity" numbers one councillor (Mr. Highet). He owns a milk run, and has had the advantage of a run in the Council, having represented the Roseneath corner of the ward. "Harry" Crawford, who stands a chance of heading the poll, is a member of the family which reclaimed Miramar from the swamp, and made it possible for Wellington to use the estate as a city lung. He vyill be the silent member of the Council, for his election speech only occupied three minutes in its delivery. Mr. Mead was a builder, but he is now-a-days a successful speculator in land. Meads, flowery and otherwise, have often been heard of in connection with land.

Tom and Dan Fitz-Gerald, of circus fame, had a keen disappointment at the end of last week. Their brother Jack (J. D. Fitz-Gerald, Esq., by the same token) was a candidate for the Commonwealth House of Representatives. He stood foi the Robertson (New South Wales) seat as a Bartonite and Protectionist, and was beaten by Freetextionist Willis. There was sorrow in the house of Fitz-Gerald at the fall, for Jack is the pride of the family. He was originally a compositor by trade, and he became so prominent a member of the Sydney Typographical Society that he went into politics on the formation of the New South W T ales Labour Party, and won a seat in the. House as member for West Sydney. He shone as a politician, but eventually quarrelled with the Labour Party, refusing to sign its revised platform — and he was "passed out." Jack then took up law, and, as a Sydney solicitor, is "doing very well, thank you." The man who put Jack Fitz-Geiald out of New Soutli Wales political life when he refused to renew his pledge to the Labour Party, was "Bill" Hughes, who, at that time, was well known as a peripatetic knife-grinder. Hughes has since become a prominent ngure in Australian labour-political circles,, and is second only to Leader McGowan in the estimation of "otherside" unionists. "Bill" Hughes was also successful in the Federal election, for he won the West Sydney seat in the House of Representatives. As "Jim" McGowan was defeated for the South Sydney seat, it is more than likely that plain iiili" Hughes will lead the Labour Party in the Federal House, as it is not likely that a stronger man will be sent up from Melbourne, Adelaide, or Brisbane, although W. G. Spence, the popular organising secretary of the Shearers' Union, has secured one of the New South Wales seats. Still, the latter will not be a serious rival to Hughes. How these West Coasters do fancy themselves 1 The Hon. Richard Harman Jeffares Reeves had a rush on from the South last Friday, to catch the Rotorua from Lyttelton for Wellington and Nelson. He was m such a hurry that he had not time to take out his steamer ticket, and he dashed on board thanking his lucky star that he was "just in time." Later on, the purser went round gathering in the fares. The young man happened to be such a stranger to the Coast that he did not even know the lengthy Richard of Nelson. "You haven't a ticket?" said he to the passenger. "No, I'll pay now — how much?" He got his answer, and then the officer began to fill in the ticket. "What's your name?" "Good Heavens!" exclaimed the M.L.C., with an incredulous look on his face, "don't you know me?" The purser shook his head. When the Councillor recovered his breath, he replied, crestfallenly, "I'm Reeves'" "Right — R-e-e-v-e-s," repeated the U.S.S. man, writing down the name without a prefix. "Here," interrupted the M.L.C. from Sleepy Hollow — "I'm the Hon. Mr. Reeves, and write that down!" The young man says he'll know Richard the next time. * * i Rose Berkeley is the six-year-old heroine of a New Zealand romance. The other day she was the humble inmate of an industrial home at Nelson. On Thursday last she sailed from Wellington by the Rimutaka for England, to become heiress to a title and a noble

estate. Hers is a remarkable story. Thnteen years ago a young man named Francis Berkeley married an Oamaru girl. He was the brother of Lady St. George, wife of Sir John St. George, an Irish baronet, living at Glasgow, and held an interest of £5000 of the Berkeley estates. Early last year he died, leaving a daughter about five years old, named Rose. Soon afterwards the widow and her child left Oamaru for Christchurch. On the sth January last the child was committed to the Nelson Industrial Home, and the mother was ordered to contribute Bs. a week for maintenance. News of this reached the child's paternal relatives at Home, and a cable was sent out -to say that Lady St. George, wife of Sir ' John St. George, baronet, was anxious to adopt her niece. At first the mother was unwilling to part with her child. It was thought, also, that the interest in £5000 of the

estate, which had been left to her by her husband, would terminate with the loss of her daughter. It transpires, however, that. this will not be the case. Ultimately, the mother gave her consent, the order of commitment to the industrial school and the order for maintenance thereat were cancelled, and the child has sailed for the Old Country to be trained for her altered station in life. Oamaru is identified with more than one notable house. It was there that the last Earl of Seafield for many years followed the humble but necessary occupation of Court bailiff. It was there that he chose a wife for himself, and it was there that the present Earl of Seafield, the head of the clan McKenzie was born. And it is also near Oamaru that the worthy chief of the New Zealand McKenzies — ex-Minister John of that ilk — established his home, and now spends the declining years of a strenuous and useful life.