THE CUSTOMS SERVICE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13305, 11 October 1906, Page 6

THE CUSTOMS SERVICE.

RETIREMENT OF MR. ROSE AND | TWO OTHERS. Ji - | [BT TELEGRAPH.— special COBRESPONDKNT.} • ' . Wellington, Wednesday.; Mr. H. W. Brewer, of the Customs Department, Wellington, will retire from the public service on pension at the end of the year. Mr. Brewer has been a colonist for over 50 years, having landed at Auckland as a lad of 15 from the ship Merchantman (which brought out Governor Gore-Brown), in September, 1855. "After a few months in the Colonial Secretary s office he commenced learning shipbuilding at Coromandel, but in 1859 he entered _ the Customs Department at Auckland, a- little while afterwards being transferred tto Tar.inaki. He saw active service during the Maori trouble, and was awarded the New | Zealand medal for his services. Early in i 1867 Mr. Brewer was transferred succes- I sively to Brighton, Fox's River. (West Coast), and Lyttelton. Subsequent transfers j were to Napier, Auckland, Wellington, Auckland, Nelson, Christchurch, Oamari!, and finally, 18 years ago. back to Wellington to take up" the work of auditing the Customs accounts, which had then been taken over from the Audit Department. - ' Two other very old Customs officers, Mr. A. Rose, collector at Auckland, who joined the service in 1858, and Mr. Boweii, collector at Napier, will also retire on pension at the end of the year. Mr. Alexander Rose,, Collector of Cmitoms for the port of Auckland, is the oldest officer in the Customs Depart tof New Zealand, he having completed 48 years in the service in July Inst. Ho Mas born at Fishponds, near Bristol, England, in 184(1, and was educated at private schools and (it King's College. London. In 1856 he came out to New.Zealand, arriving at Lytteltoa in the ship Joseph Fletcher, in October of that year. , He came on inthat vessel to Auckland, where he engaged in farming. Mr. Rose accepted a cadetship under Colonel Russell (58th Regiment) on his run ;at Waiapi, Nelson, in 1857, but left.in the following,year fcr Christchurch, where he received' an. appointment in the Customs Department,. This was in July, 1858, and his appointment was gazetted in. September of the same year. Three years later, he bocame sub-collector of Customs, and was sent to open Timaru as a port of entry. In December, 1863, he was appointed landing surveyor at Lyttelton, and after four years was transferred to Auckland, where he remained for a period of 7 years. In 1875 he was appointed to the post of Collector of Customs at Lyttelton, and remained there until 1892, when he was appointed as Collector of Customs at Auckland, which position he has held ever since. Mr. Rose was a member of the General Synod of the Church of England in 1867, and a member of the Diocesan Synod in Christchnrch from 1864 to 1867, and again from 1878 to 1892. He was also a member of the Lyttelton Rifle Volunteers in 186061. Mr. Rose is a master Mason, and an old bowler, having played in representative teams on several occasions. His retirement will 'no doubt be generally regretted by the shipping and commercial community, as he is a very capable officer. In 1873 ■ he. compiled a Customs Guide, which proved exceedingly useful to the public of those days. Mr. Rose received a letter on Saturday notifying him that he was to be relieved from active service at the end of the year, and that he would receive three months' leave on full pay expiring on March 31, 1907, after which he would bo placed on a pension. Mr. Rose's ambition was to . remain in the' Department until July, 1908, when he would have completed his 50 years' active service.