PEOPLE in PERSPEGTIVE

NZ Truth, Issue 889, 9 December 1922, Page 1

PEOPLE m PERSPEGTIVE

It would be well m regarding "Dorrie" Leslie m perspective to "DORRIE" draw the ( particular atLESLIE tention of the young mcii Whose sporting instincts lead thorn along the lines of least exertion — the young men who obtain what exhilaration they may from sporting supplements m bed on Sunday mornings, , dollar bets on racehorses they have probably never seen, and the slow poison of cigarettes while' watching football from the bauk\ Now here is a man with a white moustache and hair very grey, but with tho firm step arid upright carriage pi the young man. That is the j result of a lifetime of active sport, j which leaves him physically sound as a bell, and wltfi a' rich store of remembrances oC- stirring contests and the better *for having known Intimately all the good fellows who have m the past thirty years performed on the track m New Zealand. In hia earlier days, Leslie specialised as a walker and travelled t the country year by year as a professional, for prizes were good m those days.' The "guns" from Australia Came 1 . -regularly,., and a fine spirit of camaraderie prevailed. Travelling withitheso men. and training each other,' Leslie learnt every trick of the game, so that later he became a most sought after trainer^ The men who passed through his hands are legion. H^s latest big exploit, of course, was In training , the All Blacks for s the final test against the Springboks. ? By»the-way. although a professional, Leslie is convinced that amateur sport if v the only sport. These dayß, he takes a) keen interest In the encouragement o£ the youngsters, and goes round tho schools giving the boy» the benefit of hifl^advice and practical tuition m startlnk and all the other points the successful athlete muat not only Know, but bf able to «»••*« many yearn he hoe boon keeper of Wellington's Town H&U..

Bill TTart of picture: famo isn't tho only Bill Hart on the face of the BILL earth. JiuuUngH owns onh HART who m quitAJ as Important and a whole lo£ more useful than the "movie" star e,vpr was or ever will be. Bill Is a Itrltlsher by birth, but a Now Zea lander by adoption, most of his life having beori spont In the ozone of "Gorzone." lie hit tho earth first m Sunderland, England, but emigrated to Ni>w Zealand the host part of fifty years ago.' A printer by trude, he was for many yearn associated with the lale Hon. George Jones on the Oamaru "Mail." where he quietly amassed enough shekels to enable him. with Walter Joncn, now editorproprletor of the "Southland News," to purchase the Hastings "Standard." which paper the two ran for many years, before the partnership was dissolved. Dill was always a hardworking genial cuss, with a penchant for sports m general" and a liking for local politics, m which he has held all sorts of administrative, positions. After leaving Oamuru for IBisUnys, BUl— ho wait never anything else to those who worked beside him — quickly worked himself into; the chic life of tho community' In the northern burg, and In 1913 ho was elected Mayor, which position he hold until his retirement In 1017, during which period he put In a whole loLof work for tho advancement of tho town. After a spell of retirement from tho offlco of Chief Magistrate ho was again induced m 1921| to ro-accept olHco, and he still holds tho position of Mayor. Incidentally, ho has held tho positions ■of Chairman* of the Hastings Plro Board. Proxidont of tho Hastings Poultry Soclaty (Bill was a formidable

breeder of bantams m his day), Pre- I iSident of the Park Tennis Club, Hastings Cycling and Athletic Society, South Island Reunion Representative and on School Boards and other Boards too numerous to mention. „ !ln fact, tho time has arrived when the citizens of Hastings are not quite sure whether Hastings is Bill Hart or Bill Hart is Hastings. Anyway, 1 the two are inseparable. Bill has a useful family to his. credit who, where the art of well-doing is concerned, tread closely m father's footsteps. s» :: :i Do you want to know how to train and manage a tug--MATTERS..' of -war team— man- j ABOUT MATT age it successfully? ; ' . Are you keen on getting inside information about the handling ot coal supplies? Or does your fancy 'turn to the lucrative calling of a grain merchant? Maybe the telling of humorous anecdotes appeals to you, or you wish to become an expert boxing fan? Soaring higher, porhaps, your ambition turns towards becominga popular boniface— an expert m th« art ot dispensing fermented and spirituous liquors under statutory !ioons« m such case made and provided? Tak* your pick— or take the lot. Right. Then just drivo your -limousine along and have a chat with Matt Qleeson, mine host of the Royal Tiger, hostelry, m- Wellington, who call' put you wise, on any of these subjects. That m because of h lk -remarkably varied experience. Which calling lift will revert to If tho Pussy foots, win the day he has not decided, on. \He has hopes of the liberty-loving. New Zenlunder. IT the worst. comes; to. the worst there is still the possibility of running a champion tug-of-war .t<?iim. Matt is :. native of VietotUu, but In sport enough to be regarded us si New Zenlamler. Anyway,, ho wasn't consulted about his birthplace and he did tho next best thing;- ho eamo- to these shores m 1889 and later took for a life partner a Wellington girl— Miss Sheohan— a prominent social worker, whoso activities. In thai direction have earned her much more limelight than sho has sought. Fbv valuable hints m that Hphero of useful service, apply to Mrs Gieesou at the nddreHS already set fortj) above: Jf you mention our name. you can rely on a royal, tiger welcome — true to label. "Truth" wonders how many of the Moderate Leufiuers of BERT THE the Dominion wlio havo BATTER & watched interestedly tho BUSTLER , progress of Die Rev. Wyndham Heathcoto m tho interests of Stalo Control know tho man behind hl» mo%'cment». Bert Kortland. Tho name will bo familiar to all who know anything about Victoria's cricketers during the past 15 years or more. For Bert is tho Kortland who has put tho family name high on tho list of the Stato's batsman. Ho has played State and in-

ternational cricket, and has wielded a bat m .every land on the face of the earth where cricket is played — yes, even m the Fijis, where he made a score one day recently of 149. He has 'spent a large part of the 42 years of his life m U.S. He went with the Aussles through the Boer War and with the Canadians through the Great War, receiving numerous woundings. In the past few weeks he has accompanied his parson-pal on tour as chum, companion and private secretary. After the noise and tumult of the Prohib. campaign is over, Bert Intends to settle for a while m Wellington — which should be good news for the city's ■wh&ek^mon on the Basin. :: :: In the. Manawatu, the two letters J.M. are all that it is J. M. JOHNSTON necessary to mention m alluding to J. M. Johnston, the hardest proposition a newspaper reporter ever came m contact with— when ho meets him for the first time. J, M. has been m the district for donkey's years, the last twenty of which have been ftpant m Palmerston North, Aa secretary of the Racing Club and treasurer of the A. and P. Association, he is known for and wide, The duties of tha lattor office arc a labor of love, and he looks after the shekels with A fend cars. His manner is nonplussing to the stranger, especially if he is after a complimentary to the races or tho ahow. but it is a bluftnesa that hides a multitude of virtues. When tho epidemic was rafting J.M. worked hard and unremittingly, and hl» apparent closeness with A. and P. funds is the effect of his earnest hope to see the »how tho biggest, brightest ami bout m tho country. Any suggestion towards this ontl lie exploits to the uttermost. IU« has an unbounded faith m tho district, and m a recent boosting campaign ox perilled ji.s much gnu as the best of them. The Awapuni cour«e is a source of infinite pride to him. as secretary of the club, and when the lawns are greenest and the JlowerH brightest, is tho Ume to touch him for ;i complimentary. J.M. is a familiar llguro In tho Manawatu, and those who know him best realise ho is a very human man, with a great deal of the milk of human kindness under hia expansive waistcoat. Two sous, both returned soldiers, are "coekoying" m tho district. ti ;t : : Ono of the best-known figures In the commercial world m A TOP-NOTCH the City of the Pining SPORT is Mr. Frank Qraham. manager of the Commercial Union insuranco Co. The son of the late Mr. Frank Graham, who was for a great many years a prominent citizen, ho promises to walk long m his father's • footsteps. His solid, burly form is to bo seen Jn Hereford Street every day m the week excepting race ckiys, and even on those important occasions he usually finds time to do business prior to his departure to tho course, Quito ono of the most popular and respected of Chrlstchuroh olUsons Is Frank Qra-

ham. Everyone knows him, and apparently he knows everyone. If prodf were wanted for this assertion, watch Papanui Road and Victoria Street and see the numbers of times he speaks to passers-by of both sexes, whilst m his business street there is invariably "something doing" while he is about. A rare good> sport, too, is he, and, a solid/ patron where the best is to be found. During the last few years he has taken an active part m the sport of trotting, and has been for some years a member of the, Metropolitan Trotting Club. Not long ago he became a steward and a member of the committee, where his sound judgment and business acumen have been most valuable. On the death of Mr. J. S. Williams, last year. Mr. Graham was appointed treasurer of the club. If was not to be expected that he would Jong keep out of ownership, and, ussociated with Mr. J. B. Clarkson and other prominent officials of the club, the fust pacer Wild Briar races for their joint ownership. Wild Briar won some good races early last season, but did not improve sufficiently to race In the most select class and the partners bought at a big figure the Australian pacor Box Seat, who was early favorite for the recent Now Zealand Cup. It was quite evident that the best was not seen of the horse m the big pacing event, but the owners, who are such good sports, accounted It one of the fortunes of war. Quite a young man, Mr. Qraham has gone along m his life on solid lines and is almost certain to achieve any distinction to which he may aspire. May his shadow (he can east quite a big one already) never grow lest. ii it it Ivan M, Levy, ehlpplnv and gonarfcl reporter, and assistant "TIMES'" dramatic and musical CHANGES critic of tho "N.z. Times," lifts voluntarily resigned from tho stnff of that paper after nearly twenty-three years' service. This will como a.T a surprise tc his many friends. Born In Melbourne, Ivan Levy moved with his family to Queensland, and served his reporting cadet ship on the Htaff of tho Brisbane "Telegraph." Leaving Brisbane for Melbourne, Levy wrote for various Australian papers and then went abroad. He returned to Australia and wan appointed to tho literary staff of tho Melbourne "Dally Shipping Gazette," and was subsequently subeditor of tho Melbourne "Australian Cyclist." a weekly, during the great cycling boom. About this time Levy wrote the book "Plugger Bill's Biography," tho life story of Bill Martin, tho famous American cyclist and cxchampton racing cyclist of the world, who, by tho way. is now residing m Wellington. Ivan Levy m his few spare moments has achieved success as a short story .-writer and has won several competitions with the*e efforts. He was n'loo author of the famous sensational adventure stories, "Cornered by a Moa" and "Capturing v Moa." Theso appeared In tho ChriHtchurch "Weekly Press" m I DID. They were copied by the Hearst syndicate papers and circulated throughout tho United State?, besides appearing In tho Johannesburg "Sunday Time!" and various papers In Australia, j m lla and m England. It was Australasia's rocorrt hoax. Levy i« a recognised export on canine matters, and*n«B many limes acted a« a Judgo at kennol showK of each Wellington club. Wo don't know what Ivan's plans are, but be won't bo out of harnoss long.