LADIES AND GENTLEMEN AND OTHERS

NZ Truth, Issue 473, 11 July 1914, Page 2

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN AND OTHERS

Sailed quietly -from Christchurch for his' last port— lsaac Gibbs, until last Saturday general manager of the New Zealand Shipping Co. The defunct magnate Tvasj-always: in the thick of public life "duWng his forty years' span m Christchurch. Since his arrival In. the .flat city, I.G. hung on to many heavy positions, in the New Zealand Shipping- fco.r and, by sheer meryit,, cllmbe<L-.tOvihe^jtQp-«iast. On public bodies he was at his best as president of. the Christchurch Chamber of Commerce, and jvas^'also some good on the Ly tteltqn ,Harlibr' Board. He was 64 years of , a^e? ivhen . heart . trouble cut the painter. '."" \ ■.'.■■. ■.• i;.'> ' '•■■ Mrs,, Eunice;: "Hester- Cleland, who passed . a.iiea^ -at. her .liome m Taita last week, m :her 75th" year, carried a^ray with :; her. many memories ot, s<2enes: and^ncidents connected with Poneke's harbor m the very early days. She passed through the heads In the good ship Clifton, m 1842, and for 23 yeans lived with her parerits at Pe-. tone. Here she came into close contact with the' Maoris during troublous times, ,and, to the last, could relate, most graphically, many good stories connectpd. witb^.therii.; . She; remeriabered clearly how; the news of the imponding invasidalby the dark-skinned Dorthernersjwas^first received by the settlers. m 1863 the deceased lady married William Cleland, son of . the well -known Told! sea-dog of the early days, .Cap tain. Cleland. Aiter their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Cleland removed to Talta, where she rested until the end came,' - Duncan M. Yeats, late head master of tho Hutt District High School, a ' weU -known., figjire, m educational circles, and ' held^itt'^the highest respect by all with whom he ever came m contact, pupils, parents, and public alike, had a pleasant , surprise on Saturday evening last, when a party of' young ladies, all ex-pUpils of his, arrived at his houso and presented 'him with a very lino crocodile-leather travelling •bag, suitably engraved, as a tribute ot their affectioja for their late teacher. Miss Flora Stevens, m a neat and appropriate little speech, . made the presentation. Mr. Yeats has had a long and distinguished career as a.pddagogue, extcndingvbver a period- of ,35 yearsr commencing' at the High School ,at Hbbart, m Tasmania. Since then he has 'made nis.. influence felt m Victoria, North Canterbury, South Canterbury Tenui,Ji : -Te :Aro, Pahiatua, Otakl and the Hutt, In every place ho has earned, the best of records, arid, In the last-named, stayed twelve years. He was an enthusiastic cricketer, and hfs school always stood high m the competitions. j.V, • ' ;•"■■ : : *v«..,;:-,';. * *■ ,' ; *'Mrv .'Harringtpn Reynolds — ''Truth's' rep.," said Mr. Walter? Fenner, m introducing the ndbse- paper man to "the Father" m "The Rosary." A placid, grey-hajtred otfl fgentleman rose from : his chair, and, with a stately wave of his hand, said, m courtly, English .tones, r£anu.glaud ,to meet you, sir, , . Poray bsZ%&tM2p My. Fennor added, ; *% t have "brought! 'Truth' rouh'd to get some of your-exgeriences. and impresaions.V' "•'®3cperifthces! > ! said 'the his-; tl^o, "I never had any oxperionces— iijq^cslngjlo^nejfr As for impressions,' ilpass from country to country, and ariji' always daihhjglad.to got out of the last bno into a new one. While you wejje dragging a story out of me, 40,000 Bete •of { kitteriS Jhlght be born to an equal number of cats^" "You are not giVen .to', talking theatres then, Mr. R'eynbltis?" • "Talking theatres!" said he, "I know' nothing about theatres. I am slnit>ly"' a". iSliiiln, actor man, dohig' tho best; I ban" with the part allotted tome." '"Dtjlngthe best I can" drifted, tho talk into sociology ami kindred subjects, during which it was revealed that Mr. Reynolds had been a deep student of the human, and that he had a very broad outlook on life. ' / -, . '■■..'....'*.' "-.''■•■ . •' . ' . '.Tho "personnel" of tho candidates, for election .to four vacancies on the Wellington Education Board is more than usually interesting. "Mary Ann" Aitken Is to be, opposed by Professor Hunter, and committees should have Httld drfOcultyin making a choice. In Bpltc'of his' many good qualities, the slow-witted "Mary Ann" has been anything but a success .as an educational adtnlnistratbr! The Siamese twins, J k GAV. and Wowsery William Allan have "been breaks on the wheels of p'rogrress on an up-hill grade For aripther city ward seat, Charley laiko and Ciement Watson' liavo entered the lists. Here, nga4n, selection presents little dlfllculty. Clement. Watson has earned his spurs m theilcid of pedagogy, and the fact that ho has only recently' retired from active sorvlco eminently fits him for a seat on tho Board. For the Hutt-Horowhenua •ward, three candidates have been nominated, D, M. Yeats, a retired school-

master of vast' experience, should find ready acceptance from die large majority of committees. There was talk of Dr. Agnes feennett coming out for a city ward, but her lady friends persuaded her to l?;eep heir ambition dormant until a^mPre convenient season. One prominent officialfln the educational; world expressed- ;it very pithily when he said, "God *saveJ,.us from having any women on the Board ! There are enough old-womanish nrien on it now!" ';•?' •'■ ; '.;• ''■ -*, . ■ r't- * ■ •'•'' • ' : Lambtbn-'quay habitues m Wellington, will miss' the welUknown, rotfuhd figure and .genial -countenance of^Alf Lindsay, s.erir., who has conducted a popular emporium for boots and shoes at the corner of. the quay and Wood-ward-street for the past forty-seven years. During that time he _.has ; served''parents, children arid grand-chil-dren with foot-wear, and has grown to be quite an institution m Wellington. Alf wdss born m Portobello, and learn- • ed his ; trade and the art of making money there. He arrived m, 'the. Windy City by the ship'Coieman in' 1867, and injmediately started m business on\ t,tie ' site of his present shop.There, he i has been a fixture ever since. After a successful career m the boot business, he, has determined to retire from the liambton-quay premises, and has handed the reins of government to George Audrey, an immigrant .to "Gor'sone" from Belfast last year. The Cuba.-.street premises will still continue under his name. '' '■ •■'.•.'■"■'.• ■ *•■■' ::< , A "Vlncc Byrne, the popular Greyrfbuth barrister and solicitor, has been spending the week m the Windy City on public and private business. "Truth" is glad to see Vlnce on 'his legs again and almost thoroughly restored to health. For a long time, before resuming the' practice o£ his profession m the Grey, he had a hard, grim, struggle with ill -health;, but grit and determination saw him through and he. is, once more, on the high -road to success. }Jad business engagements' allow^ it, he could, almost certainly, have been Mayor ofjOreymbuth this year. lie was reluctantly compelled to refuse the overtures made to him. by a large circle of influential friends." Vlnce forms quite a. link with the past, as his .father, James iJYanchr Byrne, ; was m the legal business as a 1 mining advocate m the old days, and was tho keen opponent of the burly, strenuous Dick Seddon m many a tough mining case. : * ■ ' * ■' '. * : *' '> "Truth" learns from the "Wairarapa ; News" that during the last twenty-five years Mr. George Geddes, of Glasgow. Green, has saved eighty persons from . drowning m tho Clyde. ,?his, the, scribe of the "News" apparently looks upon as something of a marvellous record m life saving, and, yet it shrinksinto a very modest one when ccompa- t ed,. with the achievement, of Mr.,,Ged-' dess father. "Auld Jqrdie" for nearly half a century, precceded his son as official life-saver of tho Glasgow, Hu- ■ .mane Society,, and when' the bid. man; retired the number of "lives he had res-' cued from a watery and untimely] grave ran into hundreds. His son, of whom the "Wairarapa Age" speaks, '. ..was [then known as, young dordle. ,He; was an excellent swimmer, and followed the sea for a time. In fact, the young chap was; m more senses than one, a "keelle," and is said to have caused the "unco quid" and the Wowser* to shake their heads often concerning several of his,, exploits. However, -the towsle tyke' often furnishes out into a good dog, and it would seem that the misgivings at one time cntprtalned concerning Jordle's . future usefulness have all been proven to be groundless, and that, when" he came to the years of discretion, he stepped into his father's shoes and proceeded to do his duty to the best of his ability, blushing "to find it fame." / ■'■»'•■ • _ • ■ Dr. Starr Jordan, tho principal of tho famous Stanford University m California, whose name Is familiar to readers of "Truth," has been giving a London contemporary some interesting particulars about the youths of America. ■ - . It always appears to -me (he said) that the key to tho solution of the problems of youth is opportunity. Now, m America, youth Is afforded every opportunity — far more, I imagine, than is the case m England. For instance, "we have ten times as many Universities as you have; even California, with only two millions of- population, lias 7500 students m the Universities; that Is a higher average than at any other University In: the States, Well, this Is affecting the whole lives and prospects or our youth. They arc better trained for life than ever before; they are being shown the way of life as never before lit the history of the world. The State pays for all tuition, and no ono,(that Is no ono whoso parents do not need them to start to toll and help maintain the younger members of the family) Is deprived of a University education. Somo day, perhaps, God's Own may approximate to this happy condition of affairs, but It won't be 'whllo Massoy rules tho roost. • '. ,•- ■-■.■•■' Tho Sydney "Sportsman" has been having "a go" at Bill Massey's only meteorologist D. C. Bates. Clever as tho energetic little man is as a predictor of storms, ho Is evidently much out of it when dealing with the human element. In an article headed "BlowHard BatOH" "Truth's" contemporary thus dlHcourße«:— A "gentleman" named Bales, who haH returned to pious drought-stricken ftlaorilund, after a .visit to Sydney, has been opening his tnter-trap In cupncloua atvjo to the Maorllaiul pressmen. On tho subject of sportamunHhip ho is making a desperate attempt to damn and blast tho reputation of thl.s city In particular. In endeavoring to { j>e vitriolic, though, he \n only amusing. Somo 'of the verbal tripe he fires oft Ih to tho effect thai Sydney crowds which attend football nmichcts know nothing whatever about the lino point* of this giimo, but their <ldi«ht consists In Meelng the unfortunate pluyera "laid out." That Is lie No. I. Also, "Violence was ramphnt In ,sy(jnoy, and a wectlon of the people dealt out ftto'uflh to each other oo tho frailest provocation." iTbat i» news u> us.) Ho attrlbtiteH the tirrlt.lc "amount of violence and brutality and lawlea«n<!B.s hitherto unknown In the world."; to tlic popularity of ptmillt«m (anyone would' think we wore living m tho Uulhnn.t or moitu- of tht< utayfiil States of South America, from thu forcgolnK)^ und thai ft flght. promoter woa looked tip to Hkc a Deity. To •■ Which wo wiy. "JRotlenta!" Ho fur-

ther mentioned that Jio had called on a "younff Now Zealand friend" who had '•heeh kicked about by tho push, but lived In terror of tolling tho police, because ho feared that "» vondetUi" would bo established against him. It Is admitted that we have pushitos who are Kiillty of putting the hoot m and of perpetrating: other dastardly deeds, but not more ho than In any other portion of the planet, and far less than In some, itepirdlng the present boxInp boom helns; responsible, that la ludlcroUH. Compared with -the assaults and push fights m tho old days when the boxlnj? same was m Its Infancy, there were five hundred per cent, more j assaults and outrages than during the i present day! so thus comes another! shlQKle off tho roof of Mr. Moteorolo- | gist Bates. But his worst spasm of: all i.s v his squeak to tho effect that" wc { are "also the. worst dressed crowd thai be 1 has scon— even though we pay hi«h prices of admission to witness our sports." So for seeing the j spectacles of prejudice, Mr. Blow- j Marti Hales Just about takes the bun. i However. Dr. Thacker, the Now '/.eii- i land football manußcr. when referred to on Monday nl»cht re^nrdlnff UlowIfard l!at«s's criticism. ta\ld: "I havo been In all pans of the world and have seen the crowds of different na- | tlonsi but I cannot say that 1 have ever scon a better-behaved, bettor- j clad, and fairer crowd than In Sydney, ljulles visit the grounds In jtr««at minibcrs. and us neatly ami us fashloiuilily j clad as possible, These and many i tuber evidences only ko to .show that.! the sytlm-y Hpurtltw community •!« -thft j Mni-.st m tbf world." We have nu tinunor 'lesiiv to throw bouutiots at our- ! sclvi's. but us a nu'tcoroioKlst It \»- lo he hnped that Hl<>w-llar«l Rales knows ] im-rr aIHMU tbr weather than v hc.il^;s :i)imiii tin? .sporting crowd of Sydnp>\! ll'- couldn't Wu worth his bull If he I docpn't.