PERSONAL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XL, Issue 12193, 12 February 1903, Page 1 (Supplement)

PERSONAL.

Mr. Hood, chief engineer of the s.s. Petone, lias been appointed inspector of machinery for the colony. The parishioners of St. Luke's, Oamaru, have presented Archdeacon and Mrs. Gould with an illuminated address and a purse of sovereigns. The Government has decided to reappoint Sir James Prendergast and Mr. F. De C. Malet, retiring members, to the Bank of New Zealand directorate.

An Invercargill Press Association telegram states that Mr. Gilfedder, late member for Wallace, has been entertained at a banquet, and presented with a purse of 156 sovereigns by his old constituents. A picnic was held at Masterton on Thursday, the 22nd of January, in honour of Mr. Hogg, the member for Masterton, who was presented with a valuable gold watch, subscribed for by his constituents. A presentation of a gold albert chain and pendant was made on Friday by his fellowemployees at Messrs. Arch. Clark and Sons, Limited, to Mr. W. L. Cardno, upon the occasion of his severing his connection with the above house.

Mr. J. H. Upton, who was waited upon last week by a deputation of citizens, with a request to allow himself to be nominated as a candidate for the Mayoralty of Auckland at the coming election, has declined to accept nomination.

Mr. E. Kersey Coopet, general manager of the New Zealand Jubilee mine at Waitekauri, who was on the eve of his departure for England, has been presented . with an illuminated address and a ease of pipes by the mines staff as a slight token of their esteem.

Mr. Seddon was presented by the Wairarapa natives with a valuable old greenstone mere, as a token of the Maoris' appreciation of Mr. Seddon's work while Premier. In returning thanks Mr. Seddon eulogised the work done by the Hon. J. Carroll, Native Minister.

Mr. James Embling, the retiring general manager of the Bank of New Zealand, was on Feb. 2 presented with an address ami a draft on London for a sum of money from the officers of the Bank in all parts of the colony. Mr. Embling left by the Ruapehu for England. Mr. A. It. Barclay, who was defeated for Duuedin at the general elections was entertained at a social on Jan. 23, and presented with a purse of sovereigns. The subscription lists were not all to hand, but about 80 sovereigns were presented, and the total is expected to reach 100. By the Whakata.ne, which arrived at Wellington from London on January 27, an old and highly-respected Wellingtonian returned to the colony in the person of Mrs. Holdworthy (better known as Lady Buckley), a daughter of ex-Provincial Superintendent Sir W. Fitzherbert.

Mr. R. Whittingham, brewer, of Gore, Otago, has left for a trip to the Old Country, for the purpose of exploiting a patent airship of his own invention, on which he has been_ engaged for several years. Prior to leaving he was entertained and presented with a purse of sovereigns by the business men of Gore.

Prior to leaving for England, Mr. Seddon was entertained in Dunedin. when a draft address was presented. On January 29, the Mayor of Dunedin waited on the Premier and presented the address in its illuminated form. The souvenir, which is signed by the Mayor and councillors of Dunedin, is very handsome.

The Waihi Academy of Music was the scene on Saturday, Jan. 31, of an interesting function, the occasion being the presentation of an illuminated address and handsome and elegantly inscribed gold watch and gold albert to Mr. Thomas Gilmour, consulting manager for the Waihi Gold Mining Company, and a valuable diamond brooch to. Mrs. Gilmour, from the Waihi Gold Mining Company's employees. Mr. John Coombe, who made. the presentation, briefly referred to the very high esteem in which. the employees in the mine had held Mr. Gilmour. Mr. Gilmour returned thanks in suitable terms.

An interesting ceremony took place at the Thames Magistrate's Court on Feb. 2, viz., the presentation to Sergeant Andrew Clarke, on behalf of the local magistracy, with a very handsome tea and coffee service, on the occasion of his retirement from the police force, after nearly 39 years of service. The presentation was made on behalf of the subscribers by Mr. R. S. Bush, stipendiary magistrate. The sergeant was also the recipient of a very appropriate memento from the members of the local police force, who, en Saturday evening last presented him with an enlarged photographic group of themselves, handsomely framed. Captain W. Jackson Barry attained his 84th birthday on January 25, he having been born at Melboum, Cambridgeshire, on January 18, 1819, a few months before the birth of Her late Majesty Queen Victoria. He left home as a boy of 10 with Sir John Alcock, in the ship Rover, on June 28, 1828, arriving in Sydney early in 1829. His life and adventures are fully told in his book on the Australasian colonies, which is now in the press, and will shortly be published. Unfortunately the captain was confined to his bed at Wellington on his birthday, he having been suffering recently from a previous complaint. A number of his the above house.

It is probable that on account of advancing age and desire for rest, Sir James Hector may before the end of this year ask to be relieved of his duties as director of the Geological Survey. Sir James has held this position for the past 37 years, having been appointed in 1865. His first annual report was issued the following year. Since 1868 he has also undertaken a great deal of work in the editing of the transactions of the New Zealand Institute. The volume upon which he is now engaged is the 35th edited by him. Sir James Hector has been Chancellor of the New Zealand University since 1885. In his public capacity and as a member of the Royal Geographical, the Linnaean, the Zoological, the Royal, and other learned societies, he has had a most busy life for the past 40 years—he arrived in Otago in 1861. The announcement of the resignation of Mr. Tunhridcre, Commissioner of Police, was made at Wellington on Jan. 29, and general regret was expressed thereat. It is principally on the grounds of ill-health that lie has decided to relinquish work. He will probably have to undergo a minor operation at no very distant date. During his term of office, Mr. Tunbridge has practically reorganised the Police Department of New Zealand. The force is now on the whole a better class than it was some years ago, and the system of examinations which he introduced was much preferable to the old regime. To Mr. Tunbridge must also be given the credit for the establishment of the police provident fund on a sound and permanent basis. The present position of this fund is most satisfactory. Mr. Tunbridge came out to the •colony for a term, oi five years, and he has now been more than that time in office. He hopes to leave finally on March 31.