PRESENTATION TO MR G. TENWICK.

Otago Witness, Issue 2240, 4 February 1897, Page 30

PRESENTATION TO MR G. TENWICK.

The employees or the Ofcugo Daily Times and Witness Company assembled in the stereotyping room of the company's office on the 2nd for the purpose of making a, presentation to Mr George .Fenwiek, the managing director and editor, on the occasion of the attainment df his .jubilee birthday. The presentation consisted of a set of carvers, a Case of fish carvers, a nase of fruit .knives and forks, a hot-water kettle and stand, . an inkstand, and 'a spirit stand. Mr O. Phases presided, and in making the presentation Haid he had a pleasing yet painful duty to, perform — pleasing because honour was being done to a .gentleman whom they all j -esteemed and admired, and painful because 1 of his inability to adequately give expression to tbe feelings of those associated in making the presentation. The notice given had been so short that he had no lime to collect his thoughts, whioh surgeS and jostled eaoh ofehfir j co that ib was impossible to give expression to ! them ; but if he failed to express the feelings of those assembled there that evening he was 'Sure that Mr Fenwiok would take the will for the deed. It was nearly a quarter of a century since he fi»t had the pleasure of knowing Mr Fenwick, and eince then scarcely a day "had passed but his admiration for that gentleman's character and abilities had increased — (applause) ; — and he could truly jay that he j knew no cne so 'worthy of being held up as ' » pattern to the rising generation .of what a I bnsiness man should be.— (Applause.) His I ■good qualities were so many that it was difficult to single <out any particular one to refer "to. Those -who -wete brought into daily contacb with him knew -of his kindno«e, juntsees, and fairr.esß — (Applause.) They knew how reodil) his sympathy could be evoked, aud .' how cheerfully he rendered assistance *nd wise J .counsel. Mr Eraser proceeded to say that ) c 1 should have liked to refer at some length to the ' energy ana" far-sighted enterprise with which : Mr Fenwick "had conducted the business of the company of which he waa manager. Few save ! Mr Fenwick himself had any idea of the dim- ! culties which had to be surmounted before the | Daily Times and Witness Tiad attained tfieir "present poeitkne, but all there must be aware how much they were personally benefited by the success which bad been aohieved nnder Mr Fenwick-* management. Mr Fenwick was accessible to the humblest boy in tbe office, and his case would receive careful and conscientious treatment. Stern *nd -unflinching in -fciie case ; of wrong-doing Mr Fenwick was ever ready j to giro an opportunity to those who might slip to regain their fcefc. Those ; who knew how ill - requited som*e of J _ his moit generous actions had been would ■ not have been surprised if he were less ready to assist when -again appealed to ; but they all knew that such was not tbe cane : that he was : as ready to day to aefiict with hi* parse or with wise counsel as if he hud never met with disappointment. — (Applause ) Mr Fraser again ' expressed regret that he could not find words to give expression to the .feelings of respect, esteem, and admiration whish ihe whole of the tmplqyees entertained for .their manager and editor. He concluded by asking Mr Fenwiok to accept the articles now before him as some slight token df the esteem in which he was j held by all pre*«rt, and he'hopedthathe would j maintain his health and mental faculties unimpaired until Jib reached his centenary. — (Loud applause. ') Messrs M«fathews (overseer), Hunter (account*ant), Graham .(shipping reporter), and Abernethy (for the apprentices) a'so spoke briefly, and referred in highly complimentary teems r.o Mr Fenwick, and allnded tv the beuificial influence he exercised on all tiaoae with whom he came ! into contaot. Mr Fenwick said 'chat if anything could reconcile a manto the attainment of the fiftieth year of his 'life — when he must recognise that certainly two-thuds of his allotted course had mn — it wa« the satisfaction of -knowing that he bad earned and retained the goodwill and etteem of his fellows. And particularly was this . the case when after a. long and active business life .he had reason to feel, as was the case with the speaker at the present moment, that he Jbad the cordial goodwill of those with whom he was intimately associated in bu>iness. Tbe demonstration that evening had come upon : him with genuine surprise, for he was not aware I that a soul in the office knew that it was his birthday. Hi* brother had indeed asked biro the question during the day, and he had replied, *' Wbj-, to-day " ; to which the rejoinder was made, " Good gracious, is it ? I thought it was the Bth." — (Langhter.) This made him suspicions that something was in the wind, and it led to tbe .secret being divulged that the Bth was to have been marked by a presentation. However, later on in the day he was invited to . meet the whole of the office staff in the evening, ■ and the resuLt was the pleasant gathering he saw before him. "Now, &a to the enoomiums •which had .been heaped upon him by the ohairnu. Mr Fxa&er had expressed himself as being unable to do adequate justice te the duty he had been aiked to undertake, but he (the speaker) was afraid that Mr Fra^er had done him a good deal more th»u justice — that, : indeed, be 'had .expressed his feelings and tho of tbe other employees in too -flittering termCut to leave this aspect of the question, he (Mr Fenwick) said it was very pleasant to him to meet the large gathering before him. Some r>f them had -been employees in the office for 20 years, some of them a quarter of a century nn i more, and as to one of them — he referred to '-" friend Mr Matthew*, — their acquaintance \ • as fellow workmen dated back 38 years, f.>- ■' was just that time niece he (the speaker) entered tbe Witneaß office as an apprentice of 12 years old. Mr Mutt/hews had just previously completed his apprenticeship, and one of the duties of which he was relieved by the new apprentice was tbe delivery of the Witness to subscribers on Saturday mornings. — (Laughter.) He well remembered that the "run" Comprised Rat tray street, Maclsgsan street. Breakneck Hill, and some other stiff climbs in the High street direction. It was rather curious to j look bock on those days now and cull to mind the multifarious duties of the staff, and pleasant indeed wa* tbe delivery of tbe papers to Bubsoriberß uudt r tha tutelage of Mr Matthews. Xhere was a little incident connected with this duty that he thought he ought to relate. Now no one who knew Mr Matthew* then or now would dream of suggesting that he was a person likely to lead a younger companion astray. — (Laughter.) Yet he (tbe speaker) had a confession to make. Mr Matthews and be sat tlown one • Saturday m6rning durißg the source of the delivery of their papers, and Matthews produced lometbing from his pecket which be said was "as sweet as a nufc." It was, in fact, tobacco, and ifc bore the tempting name of " honey dew." With evident appreciation he rolled a portion .in his mouth, and the result was that tbe new boy was tempted to try a bit —(Laughter.) He unfortunately did not quite understand the danger he was in, and he ended by swallowing it.— (Great langhter.) To those who knew what this meant it would not be surprising that the experiment was disastrous in the extreme — BeaeickneßD was not "in it" as to results.—

(Renewed laughter.) But it ouredhim. Well, speaking of those days carried him back a very long way indeed in th« history of the papers with which he was proud to be ao intimately conneobed. With shoii intermissions he had been 38 years of his life connected with them in one capacity or another. His firsfc severance was in 1866, when he thought he would like to ■ see a little more of the world, and left Duaedin for Australia, accepting in Sydney a position on a paper published in the far north of Queensland — the Cleveland Bsy Express. But a very few months satisfied him that there was not much comfort in life in such a climate, and he found his way backto Dunedin, again accepting work wibh the old Daily Times and Witness Company. And it was shortly after this that his old fellow-employee, Mr Matthews, who had purchased a newspaper published at Lawrence, wrote to him and asked him to join in the ownership of tbe property. This, after consideration, he did. There were j two papers published in Lawrence at the time — , their own paper and the Tuapeka Times, — and after fighting a hammer-aud-{ougn opposition for a couple of yearß, negotiations were entered into between the two proprietaries, and ! Matthews »nd Fenwick sold out to their oppo- ! nent*. Then came the founding of tbe Crom- I well Acgus by tbe firm, the desire subsequently on the speaker's part to get into business in the city, the accomplishment of that desire by his joining the gentleman who is now .Government ! printer of the colony in a general printing businessin Princes street. Thereafterithe I speaker narrated his veleotiou by the directors of I the Gu«r3ian Company a* their general manager, which was irs first introduction into metropolitan journalism in »n important and responsible capacity ; his subsequent . acquirement of a partnership -with Mr G. M. Reed, who bought the Guardian ; and .finally the business coup of his life — v,z , the purchase of the Otago Daily j : Times and with all its attendant responsibilities and anxieties. The final outcome of that purchase was the formation of the present company, -which, having got through the vicissitudes of its earlier history, was now, he was thankful -to say, on a sound i and stable basis, and a company they all had every reason to be -proud of. Mr Fenwiok ocuoluded an interesting and happy speech by i again thanking all present for the warmth of | their feelings towards him. and for the | costly presents they had given him r and in further response to cheers, which, on the invita- ! tion of tbe chairman, were given for himself aud j | for Mrs Fenwick and his family, he said their ' handsome presents would be treasured in his household as mementoes or a very pleasant ceremony and of the goodwill of the company's j employees. Mr Matthews humorously referred to the \ "honeydew" episode, and said it was singular how old associations made their influence felt, abating that he was under the impression that Mr Fenwiok believed to thin day that be remained a tobacco chewer, whereas the fact was that he onlj indulged intbe habit for about four years altogether, and he could, therefore, j rely on his character being rehabilitated. — j (Laughter.) \ Mr Fenwick said that before separating ! there was a pleasant duty .to perform. They had done -him gr*at honour, but they would willingly Admit that he and all df ' them were -indebted to tbe oompauy whose employee, they were and to its board of directors for a liberal and.generous recognition [ of their respective services. Especially did he j (the speaker) recognise the cordiality and good feeling whioh had existed between his codirectors and bimself in his double position as editor and managing director, but 'they bad the interests of all their employees most warmly afc heart. He called for three heathy cheers for j tbe board and for their best wishes for the { continued prosperity of the corapitny. The } iuvitation was responded to with right good \ will, and the proceedings then terminated. j