OBITUARY.

Otago Witness, Issue 3861, 13 March 1928, Page 37

OBITUARY.

The death occurred in Auckland of the Rev. Brother C'olumbanus, assistant superior-general of the Marist Brothers Order. Brother Columbanus was a native of County Cavan, Ireland. In 1910 he was named superior (provincial) of the province of South Africa., and his term as a provincial had not expired when he was called upon in 1914 to assume the duties of assistant superior general of the Marist Brothers. In addition to sharing in the government and administeation of tho Marist congregation as a whole, he was especially responsible for the main Eng: lish-speaking provinces. namely, Great Britain. Ireland, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand, and he had to visit each Brothers school in these countries once every three years. It was while he was on his visitation to the South Sea Islands which form part of the New Zealand province, that he was stricken with illness which proved fatal. Auckland commercial men have lost an old and valued associate in the death of Mr John Bell, one of the principals of Messrs Bond and Bell, who died in a private hospital on Tuesday morning. Tues ..ay was Mr Bell’s seventy-second birthday. Ho had suffered from an illness lasting for nearly two years. Mr Harold Thomas, who was well known in insurance circles and as a late resident of Mornington, passed away at Invercargill on March 3. At the time of his death he was chief clerk with the Southern office of the New Zealand Insurance Company, in whose employ he had been for the past 26 years. A Melbourne paper records the death of Mr W. Calder, chairman of the Victorian Country Roads Board, at the residence of his son-in-law at East Malvern, recently. Mr Calder was a son of Mr Arthur Calder, farmer, of Lovell’s Flat. South Otago. Ha came to New Zealand in 1860, and was educated at the Tokornairiro District High School, and later at the Otago Boys’ High School and tho Otago University. He afterwards became a cadet in a New Zealand survey office, and went to Australia in 1887 He was appointed assistant to Mr J. Halliday, surveyor of Footscray Council, whom he afterwards succeeded. After holding this position for nine years he became surveyor to Prahran Council, and served in that capacity for 15 years. In that time he was sent on a world tour, and after returning instituted at Prahran the first refuse destructor known in the State. He was the first city engineer m Melbourne to institute the asphalted carpet tvpe of road service which is now universally used. Mr Calder was a licensed surveyor, a hydraulic engineer and mining engineer He was a member of the Civil Institute of Engineers, London, and _was chairman of the local advisory committee of the institute. He was married to a daughter of the late Mr James Palmer, of the Logan’s Point quarries. The death occurred on Friday morning of Mr Olliver Mewhinney, of Wellington. He was private secretary to Messrs R. J. Seddon, T. Y. Duncan, and R. M‘Nab, and later was associated with Mr J. D. Ritchie, land purchase officer. Before joining the public service he was a journalist on the now defunct Globe, which was published in Dunedin. At that time, when a circus was appearing in Dunedin, Mr Mewhinney accepted a challenge and entered the cage of a roaring lion, for which act he received a gold medal. Mr Robert Francis (managing director of Messrs Robert Francis, Ltd.), Christchurch, died at St. George’s Hospital on Tuesday last, following an operation. He was 46 years of age. and was the second eldest son of Mr Robert Francis, who settled in Dunedin on his arrival from England. He was born in Dunedin in 1882, and at the age of 11 moved with his father and family to Nelson, where he remained for two years. In 1894 the family went to Christchurch, where Mr Francis, sen., established a music warehouse, known as the “ Musical Exchange,” in Manchester street. Mr Robert Francis started work in his father's business, and on the latter’s death in 1905 he beIcame managing director. Under his supervision the firm grew and prospered, and when the new premises were entered at the corner of Manchester and Tuam streets 11 years ago, it became known as Robert Francis, Ltd. The deceased was a member of the Anglican Church, and his genial personality, honesty, and business integrity won for him the respect of the community. Mr Francis is survived by his wife, one brother (Mr Charles Francis) and six • sisters —Mesdames G. E. Moreton (Dunedin), G. Smail (England), E. C. Rowe (Wellington), C. Charlsworth (Wellington), and Sisters Francis and Teresa, of the Community of the Sacred Name (Christchurch).

By the death of Rewi Rangiora, better known as Davy, which took place at Ketemarae Pa, a well-known figure in the Hawera district has been removed. Born in Wellington 75 years ago, he went to Taranaki as a boy. He took part in the Te Whiti rising, and with many of his comrades was sent to Lyttelton after they had surrendered. On returning he settled at Ketermarae and lived there till his death. •

The death occurred at his home in Sussex street, Wellington, last week, of Mr T. Goodwin, an old and respected resident of that city. Born at Sheffield, Yorkshire, in 1853, Mr Goodwin emigrated to the colonies at the age of 19, and was for some years on the West Coast of the South Island. He went to Wellington in the ’seventies, and was for a time employed as a trooper escorting Maori prisoners from the Taranaki district to Lyttelton. Leaving the Government employ, he engaged in contracting, and in that capacity assisted in the construction of the Rimiitaka railway and various other public works. Tn 1879 he took up a position with Messrs John Duthie and Co., Wellington, and was in the employ of that firm until 1911, since when he had been living in retirement.