OBITUARY.

Otago Witness, Issue 1652, 21 July 1883, Page 22

OBITUARY.

Death of Mr James Marshall* .' The announcement of the death of Mr James' 1 Marshall, of the firm of Marshall and Cbpeland, caused a feeling of profound sorrow in the city on Saturday, for to the lot of few men ' does it r fall to pass thorough life with a record t of such sterling qualities as were the attributed i of, the deceased, unmixed with anything 1 .in, | his disposition that could lessen the feeling of - respect and goodwill that acquaintanceship", with him at once inspired. Mr, Marshall was ■ among the number of those of our citizens who j can ill be spared, for during his many, years' residence^ in Dunedin his life has beenr characterised by a generous . and unselfish, , readiness to assist the. fortunes of many sons with whom he has been brought into business relationship, and who, by their unfeigned and deep regret at his untimely death, ' now show their appreciation of his sterling qualities. Among his other friends, too— and they are numerous— who through a long course of years have had the pleasure of bis ' acquaintanceship and thp benefit of his always sound advice— friends of bis early manhood in the old Victorian diggings towns, and who had again met and renewed companionship with him when the gold discoveries in Otago blazed >foyth their attractions, and brought the Victorian business element to our shoresfriends also of his later Dunedin life, who- have ' become such from the irresistible attraction 'of a sterling and kindly nature, and whose goodwill and respeot strengthened as 'their know-' 1 ledge of him increased— among these we need • scarcely, say that Mr Marshall's demise,although not unexpected, came as a severeblow. ...- „ .[ i Devoid of all ambition for public positions' and honours, which he never courted, Mr* Marshall was nevertheless a public-spirited man in the truest sense of the word. He waa; never behindhand in assisting with his purse and counsel any project of a, public naturewhich met his approval and on behalf of which . his aid was invoked. ( It is almost superfluous on our part to record the energy he threw into his support of the Dunedin Jockey Club. His, election on several occasions to the presidentship of that body was a justly deserved recognition, of the services he rendered it, and no later than last year the Committee of the Club' further testified their appreciation of their president by giving a dinner to him, which wasi largely attended, and elicited a cordial and spontaneous acknowledgment of the esteem in ■ which he waa held. Mr Marshall was a director of the National Insurance Company, the New Zealand Hardware Company, and of the Otago, Daily Times and Witness Company. He' had been on the tfoara or the latter since the formation of- the Oempany, and a fellow director' who; pens' ■this short tribute to his' memory recalls with' grateful remembrance the aid received from him m the establishment of the Company, and the sound views whichthen and-always characterised his advice and counsel, f / For some months past Mr , Marshall had beenm an unsatisfactory, state of, health, and,' unfortunately treated his ailments, too lightly.. Having the active management of an .extensive,' business, requiring unremitting oversight and necessitating a good deal qf outdoor attention, » urm L tne J v ? t wea t h er of thepast'few months Mr Marshall contracted a severe cold, which he appeared unable to shake off, Bright s disease supervened, and he some four weeks since took to the bed from which he was destined never to rise. His medical attendants were unremitting in' their attention, but gave little hope of his recovery, . and. he gradually sank, and on Saturday morning at about half-past 7 breathed his last, at the comparatively early age of 51. -" The late Mr Marshall was interred in the .Blueskin Cemetery on Tuesday. The funeral procession left the residence of Mr James Wilson, London street, at 10 o'clock, a large number of vehicles following the heavse. Waitati was readied shortly before 1 o'clock! and soon after its arrival the cortege was joined by those of the deceased's friends who had proceeded to Waitati by a special train which left Dunedin at IX o'clock. The whole of those present then followed tha hearse on foot from the Saratoga Hotel to the cemetery the procession numbering fully 700. The Rev? JJr btuart offered up a most impressive and touching prayer at the grave. It, is but a few month* since Mr Marshall's father died at Waitati, and was buried in the quiet little cemetery on the hillside near Orakanui College, now the last resting-place of his son, whose popularity and good qualities, were testified to by the very large number of friends wh<vfol- ' lowed his remainß to the grave, ' • The Late Mr B. Stuart. : ■. ". We take the following from the Wellington ; Evening Post;-" The late Mr Robert StOart, whose death at Napier is just recorded, is an old New Zealand colonist, having been a Southland runholder. so long ago as 1857. His I S™. t was T? hat ia now tno famous Edehdale Jiatate. Ho took an active part in Southland rrovmoial, politics, and was for many years Speaker of the Provincial Council. An incident m his station life down there is not generally known. He had (in 185.8) succeeded in getting conveyed to his "station (30 miles from Invercargill) at great expense, and with enormous labour—for there was nothinga even pretending to be a road, and the country was very rough and swampy— a year's supply of stores for home use. But shortly afterwards, owing to contrary winds, the vessels bearing the usual stores to Invercargill did not arrive, and the inhabitants were reduced to starvation point. One respected citizen lived for a whole fortnight on dried apples and tea. Others ! were not so fortunate as to possess even these limited resources. So in their extremity they sent a messenger to Mr Stuart imploring hie help, and he, with prompt generosity, sent back to Invercargill a considerable portion of the provisions he had just brought up under such extreme difficulties, thus literally saving the young town from starvation. For this bS name was long deservedly held in high honous down there. ' • '