ABOUT PEOPLE

Southland Times, Issue 19651, 9 September 1925, Page 6

ABOUT PEOPLE

VICE-REGAL. The Governor-General opened the new Wellington East Girls' College to-day. It was stated that the new school had been intended to relieve congestion at the girls’ college, but with the abnormal annual increase in the rolls of Wellington secondary schools it will not be iong before further buildings are necessary. The buildings had been erected at a cost of £29,145. The preparation of the site cost £3247 and the equipment £l5OO, a total of £33,892. The Governor-General said it was fifty years since his father opened the big sister school. He spoke of the changed conditions since those days, and hoped the object of the college would be the pursuance of education in the widest sense of the word, as distinct from specialisation for one profession. He advocated education on broad lines.—Press Association. MINISTERIAL. The Wellington correspondent of the Christchurch Sun states: The statement is being made freely in Parliamentary circles that Sir James Parr, Minister for Education and Justice, Parliamentary representative for Eden, is to be the next High Commissioner for New Zealand in London, when the term of office of Sir James Allen expires. Sir James Allen was Minister for Finance and Defence in the Reform Government, resigning those portfolios in 1921 to take the High Commissionership. His original term of office was extended some time ago. Outside of his Parliamentary activities, Sir James Parr has held many appointments in public life at Auckland. He was chairman of the Auckland Education Board between 1907 and 1911, and Mayor of Auckland for four years, from 1911. In 1916 he was a member of the New Zealand Parliamentary Commission that visited the western front. Mr B. C. Galloway returned to Invercargill by the express last night. Mr W’. G. Compton was a passenger to Invercargill by the late express yesterday. Mr L. Alsweiler left Invercargill yesterday morning on a brief visit to Christchurch. Sir Joseph Ward is expected to arrive in Invercargill by the late express on Thursday night. Mr W. H. Hagger, Conciliation Council Commissioner, arrived in Invercargill by the express last evening. The death of Mr W. Ryan, for many years a well-known figure in sporting circles, has been announced at Auckland. Mr D. Reece, of Christchurch, arrived in Invercargill by the late express yesterday and is staying at the Grand Hotel. Dr. A. Owen-Johnston, Medical Superintendent of the Southland Hospital, left for Wellington by the through express yesterday morning. Mr Howard Foster left by the through express yesterday morning for Wellington, where he wiil attend a meeting of the Drapers’ Council. Mr G. A. Lamb (secretary, of the South Island Dairy Association) and Mr A. W. Amos arrived in Invercargill by the express yesterday evening and are guests at the Grand Hotel. Mr C. R. Allen son of the New Zealand High Commissioner was placed first in the poetry competitions at the Festival of Arts and Letters, states a London cable. He was awarded a medal and was the only writer from the dominions competing. Mr Wilson Williams, who was a testing officer with the New Zealand Co-operative Herd Testing Association at Hamilton, has arrived at Gore to take up a similar position with the Pukerau-Mataura group of the Southland Herd Testing Association. Mr Alfred Lyon, a solicitor, resident for many years at Marton, is announced to stand for the Rangitikei seat as an independent at the coming elections. Already Reform and Labour are in the field, making a threecornered contest. —Press Assocition telegram. The death occurred a few days ago at his residence, Devonport, Auckland, of Mr Stephen Bond, one of the pioneers of the Waikato. He was a member of the mounted constabulary during the Maori War, and subsequently engaged in farming in the W’aikato. Later he occupied a position in the Public Works Department, and for some years had charge of Government House, Auckland. He was for a time a member of the Devonport Borough Council. The late Mr Bond is survived by two daughters and four sons. All his sons served with distinction during the war, and one, R. J. Bond, N.ZJA, was killed at Messines.

Mr Con Fraser, well-known as accountant at the Palmerston North office of the New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Co., has been appointed secretary of the Awahuri Dairy Co. There were 81 applicants. Mr Fraser takes up his new duties about October 1. He has been for many years in the service of the Loan and Mercantile Co., and is particularly well-known in Wellington, Wanganui, and Palmerston North. He is president of the Manawatu Bowling Centre. As a Rugby referee he won international honours, having refereed in the Springboks v. Auckland match in 1921. He was a Wellington senior referee, and one year at Wanganui controlled the whole three games of the inter-collegiatc tournament. At last night’s meeting of the committee of the Waihopai Croquet Club, a pleasant surprise was sprung on the secretary (Mrs W. Chaplin) by her fellow members. In presenting Mrs Chaplin with a handsome hand mirror, the chairwoman (Mrs T. D. Kingsland) expressed the committee’s appreciation of the untiring efforts of Mrs Chaplin on behalf of the club, and said that the splendid position of the club was in no small measure due to their secretary. At a later stage the president of the Waihopai Sports Association (Mr T. D. Kinsland) paid a tribute to Mrs Chaplin’s work and said that in a sense the committee’s presentation was symbolical, because they all hoped that Mrs Chaplin would be long spared to look back in years to come on the splendid work she had done for the club. Mrs Chaplin suitably replied, and said that at the end of two years they felt they had made a success of it. She had been most fortunate in having the members behind her and the attendance of members of the committee was a gratifying indication of the interest the committee had taken in the welfare of the club. The late Mr Thomas Ronayne whose death by accident was reported yesterday, was 76 years of age and was born at Youghal, Corr. He was educated at Youghal and Wakefield (Yorkshire). He started his railway career with Messrs Smith, Knight, and Company, contractors for the Wake-field-Doncaster railway. He was later apprenticed to the Inchicore works at Dublin. He completed his study of the profession at the Atlas Locomotive Works, Manchester. Mr Ronayne’s first appointment in New Zealand was at Helensville, where in 1875 he was placed in charge of the railway works. The following year he was transferred to Greymouth, and made the first shipment of coal from the West Coast. After 10 years on the Coast, he went to Addington as locomotive engineer. In 1890 he organised the Grey-Brunner line. Five years later, when the Government resumed control of the railways, Mr Ronayne was made general manager. He represented New Zealand at the International Railway Conference in 1906. In 1914 he retired and was awarded the Imperial Service Order. Since the war he had identied himself with the coal-mining industry of the West Coast, being a director of several of the smaller companies to which he acted in a consultative capacity. He leaves a widow, three daughters, and two sons.