All Sports Of People

Free Lance, Volume II, Issue 101, 7 June 1902, Page 3

All Sports Of People

HIS Excellence Loid Ranfuih 7 unroitunateh was not in town to heai the joy bells ring for peace Mr C H Owens, howevei filled the bill yon abh indeed a.s wee-regal representative Most well-known men have a double " and Mr Owens is His Excellency's other self " If you see the Governoi going dow n the street, and dig >oui companion in the nbs and sa L y That's he," it is probable that you aie a clewator fiom the path of actuality, and that the gentleman is Mr Owens. When Mr. Owens went for a> ride to Kaion the othei Sunday on a flash hoi«e, he passed many people on the load. Most of them looked solemn and ie.spectfull> lifted their hats as "His Lordship" cantered by, and Mr. Owens, feeling the responsibility of his office, of com so exchanged courtesies • * * It is leallv a handy thing to ha\e a man about who can be turned on as \ icelegent when Loid Ranfuilv is examining hospitals up North 01 doing the sounds down South Mi OweiW resemblance to the Govemoi is so striking that Ins friends call liim "Lord Ran"' Mr Owen may be deemed to ha\ebeen the magnet that attracted a laige portion of the crowd on the Post Office steps on Monday for he stood in a piominent position, and the people were evidently w r aating to hear him burst forth into a polished harangue on the subject of Peace "Lord Ran" lesembles Lord RanfurK in that he is an Irish gentleman. He was boiu in Dublm, of nch but honest parents, and had no idea that home day he would have greatness thiust upon him m the wav of a peeiage." As far back as twenty yeais ago Mr Owens was a cadet on Mi. Teschemakers sheep station at Oamaiu, and afterwards went fanning on his own" among sheep up at the Boa of Islands, and growing up in the likeness of "His Excellency." He next became a station - holder in Marlboroueh and he is not among those gentleman whom the new-cl.um sheep expert ad\ lsed to ' breed nothing but wethers as the\ ueie the be>-t-paving line." • * * Sn George Owens foimerlv Loid MaAor of Dublin is an uncle of "Lord Ran " and was knighted by the Duke of Abercorn then Lord Lieutenant of Ireland foi his splendid municipal services. Talking about services. Sir George Owens on behalf of the Dublin City Council onoe presented a service of plate to Queen Victoria, and Her Maiestv was much interested in the Knight persuading him to dot some quaint impressions m her autograph album ■* ♦■ * 'Lord Ran" is a source of trouble to aides-de-camp Government House officials and the public generally If he strolled past the guard at Government Hou«o the sentry would "present arms and he might even persuade the viceregal coachman to take him for a drive in the ooronetted carriaee. With all these unsought honours, Mr Owens does not get swelled head, and. in fact is rather unusually diffident even for an Irishman May the genial Hibernian he long with us to cause an epidemic of bareheadedness as he strolls along the streets of Wellington • * * Mr Owens has a pas«ion for sport When he was a small boy no biegei

than an Insli caubeen," he couldn't stndo a hoise so he lode donke\s He made a rule ne\er to be beaten on the ioacl so oiu> day when the drag', of the uobiht\ tin nod out to go to the moot ot the Maiqms of Waterfoi d's hounds \ou bet the little spoit was theie with his donkey tandem In one of the diags weie the Marouis of Wateifoid LoicK Chailes and Marcus Beresford and then biotliei Lord William 01 Flundi Bill," V.C., and mam othei notabilities Tlie little sport was not some, to let foiu high steppers and a celebrated whip weai him down and so he laced up alongside with his l hgei" (a small bo\ with a pointed stick hned foi the occasion) sitting solemnly in the back of the cai with folded aims The distinguished drag-load enteied veiy merrily into the contest, and tor a goodh spell the Owens' donke\s held then own with the Wateifoid thoroua,hbieds and the affan was club chatter for main a da\ thereafter. As illustrating the lngiamed spmt of .spoit and coinage in the Irish it is interesting to lecall thei feat that Avon Loid William Beiesford ( 'Ulundi Bill") his VC. A troopei attacked by a hoide of Zulus was King wounded, and Lord William clashed m to save him. "Jump up, man 1 " he shouted 'No, m\ Lord, save \ourwlf," the trooper lephed '"Look heie if you don't iump up I'll punch voui liead'" ivas the laconic letort The ttoopei lumped, and both were saved Tt says something for the spoitMiiaulike instinct of the "daredevil Beiesfotds" that Loid William lefused to take the V C offered foi the feat unless the tioopei also got one Twoweie, therefore earned on that da\ Mr. J Costm Webb, who has iv.st been appointed head master of Thorndon public school, in succession to Mr. Mowbray, is natne and to the maamer born He made his debut upon the stage of life m Mulgrave-street Wellington, and about as near to the Thorndon school as he could get. His parents landed fiom one of the fust ships m 1840 Hei name — well it was either the Aurora or the Cuba (which, bv the way aie now associated with Auroia Teirace and Cuba-street), but if you aie curious on the point, the old gentleman (Mi Webbs fathei) is stiU alive, and will satisfy all reasonable inquiries He hails from the Land of Hops, Kent, ami was one of the part^ ot surveyors bt ought out by Colonel Wakefield to suivev a township on the shores of Port Nicholson * * * The\ had laige notions those sturdy pioneeis Britannia was to be the name ot the futuie Empne Cit\ , and they started to lav it off on the present feite of Petone But a violent eaithquake which shook them up, and a heavy flood m the Ilutt which washed tJieir whare& into the harbour, knocked Britannia on the head, and, in lieu thereof Wellington sprang into life on the nairow strip of beach which fringed Lamhton harboui Those were the times when the settlers' heads did not feel too secure on their shoulders. They carried their lives in their hands, and kept a loaded musket within aim's length. The Webb musket is still pieserved as a family heirloom ♦ • • Aftei the suneys were ovei Webb senior started to carve a house out of tlie Hangitikei w llderness, about nine miles distant fiom Sir Win Fox's station As soon as J Costin Webb began to aitieulate, he displayed that thirst for knowledge whioh has kept him thirsty ever since. There was no alphabet handy in the forest primeval, but, with the aid of a. cabinet>saw\ the father of the future pedagogue blocked out the whole ABC from the neighbouring bush. One day young Webb had a lively kindergarten lesson. After repeated warnings, his father put a dose of lead into a Maori pig that had

w locked lus com patch The Maon owuois came do\ui in «iath, and one ot them litted a tomahawk to biain the head ot the Webb household At the same instant Mis. Webb giabbed the old musket, which hung at the bark ot the dooi. It »* the fii-t time s .i> had handled it but the Maon chief, who saw its le-iel band pointed at his head, was taking, no chances, and his tomaliawk mstaiith knocked off woik * * * J C fulfilled l'is destiny b\ Getting bicmght back to Wellington m earh \outh and lost no time in beginning lm leal educition at the Thoriidon scliool under Mi. Mowbray. He armed theie m good time to see the Thorndon ciest — a supple lack rampant — .stamped on the fiactious back of young Maicus Maiks A good name, you will probably remark, foi marks of that kind. In fact J Costin Webb had to wait for Maicus's amval, for he claims, along with his hi others, to be among Mr Mowbrav's earliest scholars in this district You nm Webb bade good-bye to the supplejack rampant at Chiistmas. 1872 and opened 1873 by going to the Giammai School kept bv Mr. Thomas Bow den where afterwards the Teirace School nai reared. In 187-1, he went to the Wellington College, Mr. Kenneth Wilson, now of Palmerston North, being head-master He absorbed knowledge greedily, and likewise imbibed a bias for bowling which many years later carried him to the Thoindon. Bowling Club. Also lie scooped in all the prizes he could lav his hands on. When he was sixteen, he sat for a, double event — a university scholaiship and a scholarship presented b^ Mr Walter Turnbull The papers had to go Home to be examined, but young J.C. made up his mind he had failed and was supremely happy whem as a consolation prize, Mr Tumbull of-fe-ied him a billet at £1 a. week in lus soft-goods warehouse It was wealth beyond the dreams of avarice. Throe months later those papers came back from England young Webb was found to be the winner of the double event and, under maternal pressure, he gave up that pound a week billet to go back to college foi thiee \ears longer *- * * At the end of the thiee years anothei soft-goods opening was found m the house of Tumbull Smith and Co for young Webb and for the next ele'ten \ears he devoted himself to soft sroods But he found time also for study and for football and rowing One of lus pioudest boasts is that in Joe Waibnck's time he stroked a. four-oared ciew tovictoiv at a Wellington regatta Ask him about the time his crew had a gne\anoe against their club, and when they pulled down to Petone. stripped off the club uniform, and won the event m their singlets Pedagogy was too stiong for soft goods amd so, after J. C Webb, m 1880. had graduated B A., aa^d Sargood and Co. had taken over Turnbull Smith, and Co 's business, the young man gave soft goods best and established a boys' collegiate school in Woodw aid-street and soon shifted it to St Elmo, Bonlcott-street. * * ♦ About 18L>3 oi 1894, he took seivice under the. Education Board and was appointed relieving teacher, and very soon aftei wai ds head master of the Kaiwaiwai School, five miles out of Featheistou J C. Webb knows something about, the child slavery incidental to the dairy industry, and does not feel inclined to endorse Mr. Samuel Brown's assurance that the evil is exaggerated Five years ago Mr. Webb came back to his oldest master as first assistant m his own alma maiter. And now he has some into his kingdom, and reigns within a stone's throw of his own birthplace. The sculls he has long since thrown aside for the bowls, and. instead of stroking crews to victory, he now skips Thorndon teams to the kitty. Although he is a neat hand at smashing

a head when he is called on, he does not do much biaiuhng with the supplejack lampant. A fellow-feeling makes men wondious kind All the same, J. C. Webb is an excellent disciplinarian, a ripe scholai, a master with his heart m his w ork, and a capital sample of local industry. * * * It is generally understood that there is going to be a pietty large budget of Coionation honouis tor colonials at the end of this month King Edward will bestoA\ his largesse \\ ith a generous hand. Captain Russell has already been mentioned as hkeh to figure on the list We heai also that another New Zealander, who is almost certain to be honoured, is Di J Logan Campbell, of Auckland. This hale old octogenarian lias many claims to distinction. He was the first settler in Auckland, and built the first house in that city. In fact, lie had bought, and was living on, an island at the entrance to the Waitemata when Governor Hobson arrived in quest of a site for a capital. * « • Di Campbell is also the oldest living Cabinet Minister in New Zealand. He was a member of the first Stafford Ministry from June to September, 1856. He i« the oldest living Superintendent of a province, for he was elected Superintendent of the province of Auckland in 1855. Ho has also made his mark in literature, for is he not the author of ' Poenamu," that delightful and pictuiesciue book of eaily New Zealand? And, to crown all his public services, he presented the people of Auckland last veai , on the occasion of the Duke of Yok's visit, with his splendid One Tree Hill estate, which is now called Cornwall Park, and is to be a People's Park for ever. Suieh it is but right and proper that such a grand old colonist as Dr. Campbell should be honoured by his King and count iv * * » There is another early settler and exSupenntendent who has figured more largely m political affairs than Dr. Campbell, who should find a place on that list of Coronation honours. This is the Hon. Wm Rolleston, once Superintendent of Canterbury, and, as a Minister of State, the earliest of New Zealand's land reformers His deserts are large and it would be a graceful and a gracious act to find the Government acting as sponsors for their old political opponent in recommending him for decoration and a title. The Rev. J. Gibb, of Duiiedin, Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of New Zealand, has returned from abroad w ith a mind not impressed by the style m which meals are served on the Yankee steamers. He travelled from San Francisco to Vancouver in a 3000ton steamer flying the Stars and Stripes, and this is how he paints dinner on board that boat — "The table appointments were of the meanest order, and the service was as follows.- I had some fish, which I ate by means of a fork and piece of bread. I then asked the steward for some beef. 'All right, sir ' was the oivil reply, but before he removed my fish »late he lifted the fork and deposited it in front of me. Needs must when an American steward drives! I ate my beef with the fork which had done duty with the fish — the knife, at least, was clean. ♦ » • "This ended, I requested the steward to bring me some apt>le pie. 'All right, sir,' again civilly said he, but, in removing my plate he carefuly lifted the fork and knife and once more deposited them before me. Needs must, etc. Finally, I asked for a cup of tea. 'AH right, sir,' once more was the reply. The tea was produced, also milk. But no milk jug;. A tin of fluid purporting to be milk of some kind was set before me, w ith a hole driven in the end by a boring stob. You simply tipped up the tin. and — hey, presto' the thing was accomplished. And everything else on board the ship was done in a similar style."

Mi Belchei geneial sotictan tin Nt-w Zealand <d tin Austiala-sian Fedeiatocl Sea,nu n's I*llloll, is 111 piett\ laigesi/ed evidence just now at the Aibitiation Court in Wellington He is a solid - looking oiti/.en, willi a in^snc hame an expansive \ocabuhm, and a w a.\ ot using it t.liat, takes him horn one to ten houis as the spnit ino\es him When the Dunedin man inflated Ins cliest. and tluew hack Ins head to open the oa>-e foi the Union 111 the Aihitration Court the other da\ e\er\boch just snt back, and leckoned tlio\ would not be cilled 011 that day , at ,un rate The nussn c *ecietai\ Iwib not ,J«.ns had a fan weather job. toi he shipped botore the mast when lv« « ab thirteen \ O.l is ot a?e and did Ins best to hnd out a,ll about sailonsing. no was stall a saaloi befoie the mast m the. tioublous times ot 1894, and the salts impressed « itli his abihtv in \olclng thin tumbles and tubulatioiis, mace him societal \ ot then union • • Smco then he has ne mm lost an opportunibv ot using that vocabulary ot his and he is heard of piet^ legularh m connection with labour matter« Didn't lie advocate the tonnataou of an independent labour paity, which will not ally itself to either fcide of the House but will hold the balance of now er, and so make the other parties go the wa% they want them to go Ho did really and who =0 capable .of leading that naitv as Mr. Be.cher 0 Ot course it is well known that lie has political aspirations amounting alrncst to an absolute passion, and, like the boy 111 the advertisement who wanted ?oap, no won't be happy till he eets into Pailiament. . . * His ability would have stood him in good stead if he had studied for tho bar and if he had n«en to the la-ikot bosun before he took to union polities, be wouldn't have needed to use a <™>akme- trumpet It should be cistinct.lv understood that Mr. Belcher's union is the Australasian Federated Soamen «* Union not the otlier one. » • * Mr W T Young, the local secie+iarv of \,he Au«tra,lasian Federated Seame-n's Union is a hale and heaitv voui'R chan with a constitution like pm-wne and a suppleness of tongue that would make his fortune as an auctioned He said a,ll the words he could think of in opening the case foi his union the otuier day a.t Wellington. and he finished up an eleven hours' address looking as if ho had a bone to pick with the language that petered out in so short a time. Mi. Young's wealth of gesture is one ot has most pleasms features and the wa^ he handles a, witness must be t.ie envy ot the lunioi bar He look- at a man in astonishment if tha,t man is still iui-w-ithered when the secietan has cluK examined tuin-d twisted panned otT, a"d a slaved him as who should say •And vou'ieahve still, ingrate that you are'" # Karon has the distinction of beine; the birthplace of this budchnor Seddon, ajid his parents were of the hardy Scotch kind. He turned his hand to painting when he left school, and on reliable information it has bee i ascertained that his aitistic efforts were prized so much that several of the houses he painted m his eaih youth have not been deooiated &ince. He milled flax and milked cow* and whatever his hands found to do he talked about with all his might Then ho went to sea not as an admiral but ats a seaman He was wrecked on the Kaipama, with Captain Williams in 1888. and gaive a stump speech on the watchfulness of Piovideneo when he pot to dry land He followed the "squaio-

1 1 jj;<j;t cl " mi wee toi soi.it 1 \i\tis, and Ins ("toque ice wa>s ot that suit that lie <mild alwa..s poisuade Ins skippei to let linn oft to Iwiiack at football Matches Of con isc, when ho washed the t,u off his hands, and took nr> T the sec letan ship foi the Seamen's Union in Wellington, lie still had a penchant tor the sea, and took to the anstooatic pastime ot yachting. He h.us lus foot on tho rung of the political ladder, and someda\ when a stonewaller is required for the Independent Labour Part\ that is to bend the people to its will, what Mi Belchei docs not sax will suieK be added In Mr. W. T. Young It should also be distincth undei stood that Mi Young's Union is tho Austialasian Fedeiated Seamen's Uiuo<> as people aie liable oft-times to connect the sti"iiuous se< ic'it.MA with til i c rival shop o^ ci the load • * * Hie populanty of Rabbi Van St<"neien haiS has been material h liicieased lecentlv by his dignified withdrawal fior.i tho United T'hanksgiwng Committee when it became evident unit> waft out of tliei question The keen, liaidw orking Rabbi has been closeh associated with the inner life of Wellington tor twenty-five yeais, and wheie\er theie v. as good to be done to fellowcitizens, Jew 01 Gentile theie was a held foi him. His gieat business acumen has pulled bene\olenee out of sundi\ holes. • * • Duimg his thiiteen \ ears' chan mansi up of the Bene\olent Institute, he did .sterling deeds, togethei with that dead and gone Hebrew philanthiopist, Mi. L. Lew and Mr. "Wai dell He it was who, without much sounding of timbiels or blowing of shawms, crathe-ied in £3000 for tho Home for t.lie Aged Needy, at Newtown, and Mr J. K. Nathan, also without any drum-banging, used his, financial skill and philanthiopv to help Mi Van Staveren laughs heaitiK at the imputation of meanness sometimes thiown At Wellingtonians Touching the Ohiro Home the acie on wlndi it stands was bought bv the genial Van" from tho trustees of the late Mr. Rhodes This, perhaps, is generalh known, but it isn't generally known that Mr. Van Staveien had to achertisc in the public pi ess the money had come in <\t such a ia,te that Pleasie would they stop " With the excess an adjoining acie- w as bouglit • » «■ In 188() Mr Y^n Sta\eien summoned himself, as, chairman of the WelhngtonWaararapa United Chantable Aid Board, togethei with Onslow , Wa.narapa North, Wanaiapa South and Wellington Borough Councils, to show cause why they did refuse to pay the \e\ les le(|iured of them by the United Chantable Aid Boaid aforesaid With himself in the dual lolc of plaintiff and one of the |oint defendants the wean case diaaged out its length foi two \oais oi moie and when the bill of costs came in it amounted to £4!21 os 3d

B\ the ua.>, Mi. Van Staveren had appioathed the Piemiei (Sn Hany Atkinson) and the Colonial SecretaM (Mr. Hislop) loi a lettei indemnifying him as (hail man trom payment of the legal costs and Pm ate Secretary Go\ett uiote the lettei But, w hen the genial \ ,111" turned up with his little bill theicwa.s a general Pooh pooh!' They had ne\ei done such a thing, never' All light, no ha.im done, the Rabbi would merely sue the Government, and put the mdenmit\ letter in as evidence. Refeience to the lettei -book cleared up the point and Mi. Van Staveren hoard of it no moie. ♦ • • Mi. \'<\n Staveien does not believe m making long prayers befoie relieving the necessities ot the bod y. He quaintly lemaiks It is fai mcci to pia> foi people with a full belly." Ke has. had ad\entuie^ One St Patrick's day he went acioss in the Countess to Da\ 's Ba\. Tlie weather was rough. A f-aiioiman came to him, bringing a very naitd lady well-known m Wellington. Aie \ou Mr. Van Staveren?" she queried tremblingly. 'Yes " "Well if I can £0 to the bottom with \ou I'll be happiei . Please let me," she sobbed. The Rabbi theieupon placed the quaking lach between himself and Mrs. Van and strange to saw the lady is In ma to-day, and, a^ far as we know , is peifecth chv and comfortable. ♦ * * Mi A* an Staveren is a family man. He remaiks that if eveivbody had a famih of thirteen, they wouldn't lequne to worry about vital statistics." Of couise, the number thirteen is unluc^ , but a small arithmetical defect like that has its remedy. He was born on the ( ontinent, and went to London as an infant and he is unswervingly lova.l to the Ciown as are all the' membeis of his tainih Foi nine years he has been elected at the top of the poll on the Licensing Bench, and he has had a good many more kicks than ha'pence at that business. He is on the committees of the S P (' A and the Terrace School, and whenever and wheievei there is woik to be done m the caiuse of benevolence or truth or justice you will find this bustling Hebrew gentleman on the w ith money if neee<-sar\ , and with \ igour always. Air Olnei Mew limner will now hide In- diminished head, or look for something wilder and fiercer than mere lions and tigers to p\a\ with. An Auckland an I Miss Purcell. has been stiolhng round among Wirth's lions and tigeis m Auckland, patting them on the head, and emng them bits of meat out of hei hand A competent witness says that Wiith's bie oats arched their backs and nibbed against the courageous gnl like domestic felines, and that their puns of satisfaction could be heard all ovei the house. That young lady deserves to get. something extra savage in the man line "VVe would like to spring her on to some loids of creation we know who imagine that the world and

its women weie specially designed tor them. But man is, a good deal more difficult to tame than a tiger. * • • Tom Mann spoke out ot the fulness of his heart the other night when he intimated that m this democratic land the democrats with money and houses w anted to get the fullest, per centage in lent that they could wring out of the tenants Tom did not put it as strong as that, but he might have. Mr. Mann, as a new -chum in Wellington, occupied the usual soap box in town with nearly enough room at the back to fly a two-fn-o-ne Union Jack, and he paid something not much under a pound foi the privilege. Lecturing on Socialism is all right as a side line, but it does not tun to a pound a week rent and expenses * • ♦ Tom is a passenger on the New town tram now, and lives in a modest cottage ait Kilbirnie, facing the southerly blister" at 10s a week. Still, there are those who will cavil at the fact that Mr Mann does not. turn to wharf lumping or something so as not to be amassing too much unearned increment. If Tom can talk rent down about 25 per cent., he will be doing more useful service than he would if he lumped ten thousand tons of cargo lone-handed.