All Sorts of People

Free Lance, Volume XVI, Issue 868, 23 February 1917, Page 4

All Sorts of People

JUSTICE has been done at. last to a - 4 hard-working Minister, who so far has worked without salary.. Cabinet the: other day put the Hon. Josiah Hanan fully on-side , with his paid Ministerial colleagues by assigning hini ; a salary.. As this act \- coincided • with the allotment to Josiah of another portfolio—that of. Justice —it would have been a strange anomaly if the Justice Minister were the only, one in the Cabinet to have no salary. Since- Mr. Hanan entered the Coalition Cabinet in July, 1915. he has been Minister of Education'and Minister in Charge of Friendly Societies, and in neither capacity has he been content to be a mere rubber stamp for signing official documents. '' '•.•■'.' * ' * '.' .■'■*:■.' ■' ' *'■.■ ■ He has the meticulous habit of investigating details for ' himself, and this habit of his has already brought to light a good many discoveries from which the public will benefit. Of course, it is understood that the reason why no, salary was assigned Mr. Hanan when he was made a Minister was that the full number of Ministers for whom salaries were provided by. statute had been previously made up: Mr. Hanan, therefore, could only draw the allowance of 30s a day which Ministers are entitled to when, absent from their. homes. The vacancy in the Cabinet caused by the Hon. Dr. McNab's death has enabled justice to be done to ,Mr. Hanan at the same time that . the Justice portfolio was assigned to him. '.;''■.'* : .'-' '.*'.■■ ■*■';■ *■ •■ Sergt. ; A. R. Thompson, who' has been wounded in was in prewar days well known as a purser in the Union Company's service.- .At time of enlisting he, was purser on the R.M.S. Niagara, and if memory is not playing the writer false he was purser on the ilMated Penguin at the time she struck ■ Tom's Rock' or some other snag in Cook's Strait. He was also pursering for a long spell in the' WellingtonLyttelton ferry, run. SergtJ Thompson's mother, Mrs; F.:; G. Thompson, lives at St. Clair, Dunedin.

Corporal John S. Jaffray (third son of Mr. T. Jaffray, of Berhampore), whose photo appears this week in our. "Roll of Honour," went away with the, Auckland Company of the Mounted Rifles in the 11th Reinforcements, and was wounded in the head on the fighting front in France' on' the 27th of last month. : He is now in the Brockenliurst Military Hospital in England suffering from slight concussion. The eldest son (W. J. Jaffray) is believed to be serving as a commissioned officer with the, British forces which have been operating under General Smuts in German East Africa. He also • served in the as a member of New Zealand's 6th Contingent. The youngest son is now in canip at Trontham, so th& . Jaffray boys are quite obviously "doing, their bit.'' :.»■■.'* » « The Rev. Dr. Rentoul, of Victoria, who is one of the leading Presbyterian divines' of that' State and also a Chap : lain-General, of the Australian Forces, has no sympathy for : either shirkers, or slackers in the present wax. Dr. Rentoul, who haß been nick-named by the irreverent as "FSghting -Larry,'' recently declared in London, "God help Australia if'she has to. depend upon '. men with white livers and cold feet.' That just about puts the case into a nutshell. *•,. * ■ :-''' *• ■■■'-' ° Trooper P.: Whiteman (wounded in ; action) comes of a family well known in the Hutt Valley. Hiß people belong to the Upper Hutt. r ' ■ '*'•■. : . & '.' - » "'■'..-*.;■•-, Harry Lauder, the Scotch comedian, . has , been recently telling the world through the press that he believes in "clean -songs." He says.: "I: have spent my life as a comedian singing about ... the Scotsman's yearning' for his home, 'of the'bonny purple heather, of the banks and braes and;the burn that wimples to the sea, of the loch that stretches and creeps beneath the overhanging crags casting their shadows on; its surface. I have sung of the auld wife and the auld man and the wee house among the heather, and now I feel sure that London will. come to hear 'My Bonny Jean.'" ' .■'■'''•'" i- »'.'' . ; ° '■* ;"•.: » :"" That's his latest song, by the way. He also declares that the public want clean songs and wholesome, humour, and that it pays to give them these. "The last week's salary I took was in Glasgow about seven 'weeks ago," he. added. "Remember, it's my own town, . and in one's own town an artist's value is supposed to slump badly. Yet in

that one week I made exactly £1635 14s. That was my share, and that was what the Glasgow folk paid me for making them laugh without being vulgar. I would make bold enough to say that that salary is four times more than any other individual artist can command at the present day.'' ■*>■■■ :#■'■..■..*.■■;■'*■ Harry Lauder also mentions that he has bought two houses for himself in "Bonnie Scotland"—one at Dunoon, up the Firth of Clyde and his Highland estate, Glen. Branter, 16 miles north-west of Ihinoon. He has seven square miles of Scottish earth that he can call his very own.- And with a smile he avows "I bought them all with the money that I earned myself—and I started work at halfc-a~eroon a- week;" Hemy Bracy, who died the other day in Australia at the ago of 70 —although he didn't look within 15 years. of that age —was well known as a fine operatic tenor, and in later years as one of the Big Firm's best managers of musical shows. As Sydney "Sun" remarks, he was the Beau Brummel of the Colonial stage. He was

as dainty about his appearance as a cat. One of : his mannerisms was to be continually wiping off the imaginary speck of dust with his handkerchief. A propos of this daintiness an amusing story is told of an incident which happened when "Floradora" was being produced. ■ «■ . « a " . • A well-known beauty actor of to-day ' was then always ready for a. lark. One night he saw an over-ripe orange 'in the wings. It was a discarded "prop." , He also saw. one of the property hands.: The connection' between the two appealed to hiin immediately. The orange became a bomb. Taking cover, he fired it at the mechanic. But it did not find its intended mark. Just at that mor ment Mr. Bracy, immaculately dressed, entered into the line of fire—and the orange struck him on the forehead.' After spreading all over his face, the messy mass dripped on to his clothes. ' Horror-strickenat toe unlooked-for .happening, the offender remained hidden until the atmosphere had cleared, a trifle. « - ■ e © . o Mr. Bracy's wrath may be. imagined. . Of course, he took it that the ripe fruit

was aimed at him. He immediately put a notice on the call board offering a reward of £2 "'for this discovery of the scoundrel who perpetrated the outrage."; Someone added a nought to the figure 2, and noticing it Mr. Braoy stated that it could stand—he would increase the reward to £20. A month later fcbe miscreant confessed his crime. Time had softened the producer's anger, but he said: "If I had known at that time that you had done it I would have discharged you instantly, and you would never have got into, the firm's employ again." ■ », ' Lieut. Dartnell, who was • awards the Victoria Cross after his death for conspicuous bravery in East Africa, where he was killed in action, was an actor by progession, and leaves a widow and daughter in Australia. He was a second lieutenant in the 25th Battalion of Frontiersmen in which that great hunter of big game ; the late Frederick C. Selous, was a lieutenant. Dartnell was the first man to enter the fort at Port Bukoba, Lake Victoria Nyanza, and he hauled down the German flag with his own hands. ■. «• ■ ■ V ' © - ,On the day of his death Dartnell, having been wounded in the leg, was being carried away, when, realising that other wounded men would have to be. abandoned to the advancing enemy, he ordered his bearers to set him down that he might defend his helpless comrades to the end. He knew too well the fate" that menaced them at the hands of the black troops under German command, faithful unto death, he was found surrounded by seven dead enemies, whom he had killed in a last gallant effort to save his friends;

To a Melbourne girl belongs the distinction of being the first woman Town Clerk appointed in Australia. Miss A. Thorpe, 8.A., took her degree at Melbourne University ten years' ago or more, and, instead of flying for the high game that a sound education might have brought, she took up quilldriving as assistant-Town Clerk at a sleepy hollow : named Windsor, in Queensland. A while ago the Town Clerk shuffled off. and applications were called for the job, with \ the result that the BJA. won. Someone asked Miss Thorpe why; with her educational equipment, she did not take up one of the professions instead of waiting nine years for a billet at £5 a week? She admitted that a profession would have added to her dignity." ''But you can't live on dignity;" she said. _ "A woman architect who has been trying the experiment borrowed five shillings from me last week." '

The death of Mr. Frank (Francis Edward) Petherick, a well-known solicitor, of Wellington, was very sudden, and' the news was received with surprise arid general regret. He was fond of niotor-bicyling, and was accustomed to keep his motor. cycle at Williamson's shop, near the. Basin Reserve. After closing his office on the Thursday he went to Williamson's shop as usual to have a run on his bike before going home.

He found a little difficulty in starting the gear out at the kerb, but having overcome this at last lie went into the shop to get a push-off, as he only liad the use of one hand. He lost the left hand when a boy of 15 through an es- . plosion. On entering the shop, Mr. Petherick remarked to Mr. .Williamson that' he felt a little faint, and the latter was just offering to'get him, a glass of water, when: Mr. Petherick fell over into Mr. Williamson's arms and expired almost immediately. It was startingly sudden.

The late Mr. F. E. Petherick was in his 64th year. He was ./the eldest son of the late Mr. E. W. Petherick, and graduated to the Bar from the law office of Messrs. Bell, Gully, and Izard, where he was confidential secretary to Sir Francis Bell. He has been a practising solicitor in. Wellington for about 20 years past, and was held in the highest regard. His brothers are: Major A. J. Petherick, Walter Petherick 0 (painter and decorator), Arthur Petherick (Regimental Quarter-master-Sergeant of 1 the Artillery at Featlierston), Percival Petherick (managing a picture theatre at' Gisborne), Cecil George Petherick, who went into camp last week. The late Mr. F: E. Petherick .was twice mar-

ried, and he is survived by his second wife.' One of his two solus is serving "his country in France, and the other one has enlisted, and is just about to go into camp. 1 1 ,

Captain Charles Bridge, one of the four fighting: sons of Herbert Bridge, the veteran journalist,, of Oriental Bay, has cut some ice since lie went to the war. The best proof of ifc lies in the solid fact that he now. wears on his gallant breast the British, Military Gross, French . Croix Guerre, the Belgian Croix Giierre, and the Belgian Order of lieopold, to which will be added the regulation war medals for the Egyptian, Turkish, and Frerieli campaigns. The Bridges belong to a fighting family. Grandfather Bridge came to New 'Zealand as. Colonel of the -58th Ttegiment (the "Old Black Cuffs"), and other connections of the family are Admiral Sir Cyprian Bridge, K.C.8., and Brigadier-General Sir Chas. H. Bridge, C.8., retired. ' . '

Norman Brookes, the Australian tennis champion, has resigned his billet as Australian Red Cross Commissioner owing to ill-health, and has just returned to the bosom of his family in order to recuperate. Two years ago he left Sydney in .the capacity- of AssistantRed Gross Commissioner to Mr. Adrian Knox, K.C., of Sydney. They organised the Red Cross work in Egypt,, and then Mr. Brookes went on to France, and undertook the work.there. Red Cross depots have been established at the: vaVious military bases, and the

Colonial Tommy has benefited considerably thereby.

News is to hand that a gallant young Wellingtonian in the person of Lieut. William P. 'Healy, eldest son of Mr. W. F. Hoaly, of this city, fell in, action in France on the 15th November last. He was in Australia when war broke outj and at .once, enlisted in the Australian Expeditionary Force, which was sent away to seize and hold New Guinea. Aftej- six months in Rabaul, where he gained the rank of sergeant, he returned to Sydnev, as a private in the 17th Battalion, and went through Gallipoli unharmed. In due time he went to the front iii Northern France, where he won further promotion, and in September last was awarded the Military Cross,, which was presented to him on the field by General Birdwood. The official report states "He carried out a daring reconnaissance by daylight in front of our /foremost position. After several officers had become: casualties', he; took command in part of the captured trenches and displayed great skill and determination."

Lieut. Healy was a great favourite with his men, and up till the time he met his death he had passed through all the fighting unscathed. Two of his brothers are now serving at the front. One is Sergt.-Major Healy: of the 25th Australian Battalion (now in hospital), and liieut. P. Healy, who is with the New Zealand Expeditionary . Forces.

Sub-Inspector Broberg, who made a first-class reputation for himself during the years in which he was Chief T>etective in Wellington, has just had a very flattering send-off at Dunedin on the occasion of his transfer to Auckland, where he was. born and where he began his police career. Speaking from the Dunedin Bench, - Mr. Bartholomew, S.M., said that thoroughness was the key-note of all Sub-Inspector Broberg's work. He got up his cases very thoroughly, and his grasp of the facts and his knowledge of legal principles in his presentation of the police cases was most able and thorough. He had shown himself most competent to deal with the defences raised against him,

and in his treatment of. witnesses he had shown a quite-scientific knowledge of the principles of cross-examination,, and in this way he had been able torender great service to the Court. lit: maintenance cases he had shown every consideration where thero had been hardship or misfortune, and had rendered valuable, service in exposing shams and impostors.

Mr. A. S. Adams and Mr. C. NScurr bore testimony for the Bar, and the former quoted the opinion of a legal brother, who declared the. Sub-Inspector to be ''a splendid man, one of the' best we had in Dunediri." Also prior to the Court proceedings, the Probation Officer and the representatives of. the Vincent-de Paul Society, the Patients' and Prisoners' Aid Society, aJid the Presbyterian Social Service Association had met and presented Mr. Broberg with a silver-mounted umbrella. Tha police force (Superintendent Wright presiding) also assembled to pay their tribute and express their good wishes, which were accompanied with a. gold wristlet watch and a leather kit-bag; for Mrs. Broberg. The Superintendentsaid the Sub-Inspector "had always had the reputation of being "a, straight goer,", and. he had not lost any of that reputation in Dunedin. Mr. Broberg'sackriowledgments. were expressed con- t cisely and modestly. Wellington can endorse all Dunedm's compliments and congratulates Auckland in getting so fine an officer as Sub-Inspector Broberg.

Australia's tallest soldier is - Privater O'Connor, of Goulburn, New South Wales. This young Irish-Australian stands 7ft 4in in his socks. He has f always attracted the staring gaze of the crowd, and now he is evidently going 'to be put'on show, for liieut.General Birdwood r has lent him so' that • he may act as a commissioner at Australia House, London; On'the trip from Australia to England last year, O'Connor was the proudest ; exhibit of the transport, at every port of call: Aocording to a letter received from London; the undersized British Tommies , gazed in awe as O'Connor walked dowra , the gangway off the ship.