Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image

A RESPECTED EMPLOYER.

On Saturday afternoon a number of the employees of the Otago Paper Mill (now a branch of the New Zealand Paper Mills, Limited) waited upon Mr John Mitchell at his residence, " Clydehill," Morning-ton, for the purpose of presenting him with a reminder of his long- connection with them as proprietor of the mill.

Mr F. Burrowes said that they had met that afternoon to thank Mr Mitchell for the many acts of kindness they had received at his hands from time to time, among others that of reducing their hours to 48 per week, and at the same time keeping their wages at the same rate as before. During the many years they had been employed at the mill the relations between Mr Mitchell and the workers had always been of the happiest order. Not to the speaker's knowledge had there been any friction, and now that the well-known name of Ferg-Uisson and Mitchell will no longer be associated with the mill, they still hoped that Mr Mitchell taierht visit them from time to time, as of old. On behalf of the employee?, jt gave him very great pleasure to present Mr Mitchell with an illuminated address. Wrought in the design was a picture of the mill as Mr Mitchell bought it 23 years ago and the mill as it is at present. The text of the address is as follows: — To Mr John Mitchell.

Dear Sir, — On the occasion of the Otago Paper Mill becoming a branch of the NewZealand Paper Milis (Limited), we, your employees, desire to seize the opportunity which this event affords us of expressing to you our sincere appreciation of your uniform consideration for us. During the many years you have been proprietor of the mill you have extended to us as workmen numerous kindnesses, for which we are deeply grateful. Although we have now lost your personal supervision of the mill, we trust your interest in the paper industry will stil! continue. We pray that God may spare you to enjoy many years of active serivce amongst us, and with every good wish,

we remain.

(Signed by nl! mill employees.)

Mi* D. Bracks, in endorsing the remarkmade by Mr Burrowes, said: It was thought by the mill emploj-eas that, in connection with the foregoing, it might be a source of pleasure to Mr Mitchell in time to come if he had a picture of a group of his millworkers, many of whom had been with him since he bought the property. With this idea they had had a group taken, of which the accompanying was an enlargement, and which they hoped he would accept as a further reminder of his good deeds to them. In the future, as in the past, their best energies would be put into their work for the new company.

Mr John Mitchell said, in reply: You have certainly taken me by surprise, not having heard even a whisper -of this affair. It is extremely kind and thoughtful of you all to think of me in this way. and it was indeed pleasant for me to listen to your kind remarks. Aftei all, I have only done what I considered my duty towards you. I wag "scry sorry to lose my identity with the mill, but the fact is competition has been so keen, there has been so much worry and anxiety entailed in the business, that I suppose in a weak moment I consented to amalgamation, hoping at the same time it would lead to expansion of business, and in this way do good to employees and company alike, by keepin.g out of the market much of the cheap class of paper that is being dumped into our colony every year. I can only thank you again, and express my great appreciation of your kind thoughifulness.

During the afternoon Miss Mitchell very kindly provided refreshments, which were done full justice to, and Mis* Mitchell was. accorded a hearty vote of thanks for her thoughtful attention. After some further speaking, interspersed with songs etc., the function was concluded.

WOLFE'S SCHNAPPS stimulates the organs p£ urination.

COMPLIMENTARY SOCIAL

Mr and Mrs Andrew Feiguson and their daughters, who Mere identified with the early daj-s of Tuappka district, and Viho are just now on a l-it to Lawrence after an absence of something like 23 yc-ais. were entertained by the people of Tuapeka at a complimentary social in the Town Hall on Wednesday evening. It was felt by many of the old residents who were associated with Mr Ferguson in the early days of the settlement that some recognition of his journalistic efforts on their behalf was due to him. and the complimentary social was resolved upon as the best means of giving- the people of the district an opportunity of meeting Mr Ferguson and his family, and extending to them a hearty welcome to the district. Needless to say, the gathering proved an immense success. About 100 people were present, and among these Mere representatives fiom all parts of the district. His Worship the Mayor (Mr Jeffery) presided, and under his conduclorship the proceedings were carried through in th© most enthusiastic and successful manner. The committee of ladies and gentlemen who were responsible for fhe details of the function are to be congratulated upon the excellence of the ariangen?ents and the tasteful decoration of the hall— features which added considerably to the enjoyment of the evening. The orchestra, under the baton of Mr J. J. Woods, contributed a number of enjoyable musical selections during the evening, Scottish airs being, as a mark of respect to ihe guests, prominent features. Songs were rendered by Mrs Blair (" Kathleen Mavourneen "), Messrs Corrigan ("There's a land"), Woods ("My Scotch lassie Jean"), and Wright ("The song the anvil sings "). The toast of the evening. ' Our Guests," was entrusted to Mr T. M. Darton, one of the olde-st yes Idents in the district, and one- who had taken a prominent part in getting land in the district thrown open for settlement. The toast was in good hands. Mr Darton, after expressing his pleasure at being entrusted with so important a toast, said it was pleasant to think that Mr Ferguson had remembered them after so long a separation, and that he had availed himself of the first opportunity of revisiting the scenes of his early activities. It was also gratifying to them to know that their old friend had been able to make this visit to them in the comfort of a well-earned rest, ancl that he had passed the hard grind of the early days. He referred to the assistance rendered by Mr Ferguson in the agricultural settlement of the district, and said it must be gratifying to him after so long an absence to see the smiling homesteads and other evidence of wealth and prosperity visible on every hand throughout the district. He also leferred to the 'further extension of settlement that was likely to take place by the opening up of the splendid Greenfield Estate, and concluded a fine speech by hoping that prosperity and happiness might still attend Mr and Mrs Ferguson m the evening of their days; that their \isit would be one of pleasure, and one that vvrala be remembered by the younger members of the family when the parents were in their graves, and that the heaths cf tie members of the family would be filled with love to these distant parts belonging to the dear Old Country. Mr Ferguson, in responding, said that cv >r since he had returned from the "Jollier Country both he and his wife had had a stroll desire to visit the old place and v new the friendships of 25 years ago. He regar icd the gathering that night as the best evidence, that the work they had assisted in was not forgotten. Since their arrival here they had frequently been asked what they now thought of Lawrence, and to this they had replied that they thought a great deal of it : that it had made great strides, and showed signs -of stability, wealth, and prosperity. Naturally they had a warm side to the place where their children were born, and around which clustered co- many dear as-ociations ; but. apart from ecntiment, they looked upon Lawrence as the smartest country town hi Otago. He likened the time of his early residence among them to the seed time — the time of planting and of sires, and struggle. Gold, which had been the pioneer and first attraction and on which the whole population depended, was merely a means to an end — viz.. the settlement of the colony. Ihe desire to be a landowner possessed the minds of a great many, and after a o <=vere rtrugcfle land was thrown open for settlement, end nearly the whole of it taken up. It had to be cleared, fenced, ploughed, and stocked, these involving time, labour, and capital. These had been successfully ac-complishou. The rough places of Nature had been brought under and the foundations of the homestead laid. Thanks to the system of free education, schooling was no burden on the parent*. Naturally, after a quarter of a century they found many change. The children "of their day were now the men and women of the present, and the burden of carrying forward the work of their eVers was gradually being removed to their shoulders. In many cases the .-hiicL-en had materially a idee) in establishing the home on its present comfortable ba*is. aad not a few of them had made homes of their cwn. Referring to the opinion expressed \<y some that the town was going back, he said they would always find people who took a gloomy view cf things. It was perhaps true tl>at their expectations in regard to rhe dredg.ng had not been realised ; but the boom if an evil, had not been an unmixed on", for vast quantities of gold had been raised since )t first set in, and the money circulated in the district must have been enormous He reminded them of the r-oef fiver that had broken oat in the early days, when the people completely lost their heads in their eagerness to get a claim or a share in one, and said he believed that the proprietor of the Tuapeka Times had a one better out of the advertisements than the people out of the claims. The settlement cf the land was the first and permanent n cans of the country's progress, and he was pleased to learn that the Greenfield ancl Moa Flat Estates were soon to be thrown open for settlement, and these should give a grand impetus to settlement, and with the construction of roads and the opening of railway communication Lawrence should make desperate efforts to reap a fair share of the benefits. He concluded by i< ferr-ntr to the marvellous advanceme-it that lad been made- in laud settlement throughout the oolony during recent years and to the extent and importance of the \anou~ i'^V"' tries that had arisen, mentioning sj.ecnil«y the frozen mutton, dairying, flax ana woollen manufacturing industries ■' The Borough of Lawrence and Co-.inty of Tuapeka " was proposed by Air Ferguson, aud res-ponded to by Messrs Jeffery (Major) aad R. Cotton (county clia.rauin}.

"The Old Identities" was entrusted to 3lr James M'Kmlay, Mr J. O. Arbucklo rcspondin?. Ills Wov-hip the Mayir proposed " The Journalistic Profession " in a very eulogistic and complimentary speech, ancl this m.is rosponcfccl to by Mr G. Fenwick (editor of the Otago Daily Times), vl.o recalled a number of interesting^ r&imrmsences of life in Lawrence and Tuapoka district in the good old days when the Tuageka Press and the Tuapeka Times vere engaged in a de«perotp struggle for the journalistic representation of the tV-triet "The Visitors" was proposed by Mr T. Pilling, and responded to by Messrs John Edie. M. Whelan, and John Smith. Mr Ferguson, ju*i., having thanked the people of Tuapeka for the splendid reception they had given his father and mother and sister 0 , Ihe proceeding? terminated by the singing of " Auld lang syne."

Apologies for non -attendance were received from Messrs J. Bcnnct, M.H.K., J. A. Matthews (Daily Times), D. A. De Mans (Mayor of Port Ohaimer-), F. W. Ku'ghfc (Waipori), J. G. Anderson (Mataura, Ensign, Gore), Jaboz Burton vßoVnurgn), W. Quin (Tapanui Courier), and M. Cohen (Dune-din Evening Star).

This article text was automatically generated and may include errors. View the full page to see article in its original form.
Permanent link to this item

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/OW19050308.2.291

Bibliographic details

Otago Witness, Issue 2660, 8 March 1905, Page 89

Word Count
2,065

A RESPECTED EMPLOYER. Otago Witness, Issue 2660, 8 March 1905, Page 89

A RESPECTED EMPLOYER. Otago Witness, Issue 2660, 8 March 1905, Page 89