ABOUT PEOPLE

Southland Times, Issue 22491, 28 January 1935, Page 6

ABOUT PEOPLE

A London cable message states:— Lady Houston has given £2OOO towards the Prince of Wales Fairbridge Farm School’s appeal. Mr B. P. Mansfield, superintendent of parks and reserves, Invercargill, returned from Dunedin by the express last evening.

Major O. H. Mead, D. 5.0., N.Z.S.C., 5.0.R.D., Regimental District No. 11, is at present visiting the annual camp of the Southland Regiment at Garston.

Mr J. A. McPherson, formerly superintendent of reserves at Invercargill and now curator of botanic gardens, Christchurch, reached Invercargill by Saturday evening’s’ express. He will be in Southland for about a week. Mr G. S. Nicol, of Wellington, secretary of the New Institute of Horticulture, came to Invercargill, by the ex-, cursion train from Dunedin yesterday; and spent the afternoon inspecting the, public gardens. He returned by the train last evening and proceeds to Wellington to-day. Dr. A. G. Couston has arrived in Wellington to join the Mental Hospitals Department. He was born in, Edinburgh, and was appointed to his new position by Dr. T. Gray, DirectorGeneral of Mental Hospitals, on his recent trip to England. Dr. Couston was recently assistant medical officer at the Chester City Mental Hospital. A Sydney Press cablegram reports the death of Sir Langer Owen, who retired from the Supreme Court Bench of New South Wales in June, 1932. He was also a former Judge in Equity and was aged 73. He was twice married, his second wife being a daughter of Sir Frederick Chapman, a former member of the New Zealand Bench. Dr. J. T. Campbell has been appointed to the position of lecturer in mathematics and assistant to the Professor of Mathematics at Victoria University College, states a Wellington Press Association message. Dr. Campbell was educated at the Gisborne High School, where in 1924, he was dux of the school and won a University Entrance Scholarship. Miss Vicki Baum, the novelist, arrived in Auckland by the Monterey on Friday (states a Press Association telegram), on a two weeks’ visit to New Zealand. She intends to motor through both islands gathering material for articles. She was born in Austria, went to Germany as a young girl and lived there till three years ago, since when she has mostly been in the United States.

The honour of Chevalier of the Order of the Crown of Belgium has been conferred by his Majesty King Leopold 111. of Belgium, by a Royal decree dated November 22, 1934, upon Sir Cyril Ward, Vice-consul for Belgium at Christchurch. This award, which is for services rendered in connection with the consulate, is the second order Sir Cyril has received, the previous one being Chavalier of the Order of Leopold 11., conferred upon him by King Albert I. on December 25, 1925.

A Press Association cablegram from Sydney reports the death of Mr Charles Frederick Robert Bell, a promising young journalist on the staff of the Sydney Morning Herald, aged 33. He was the youngest son of Mr Robert Bell of the Ashburton Guardian and Timaru Post and was a native of Timaru. After leaving Oxford he began his journalistic training on the Liverpool Post and later received an appointment on the Sydney Morning Herald as cable-editor. He became ill four years ago and entered a sanatorium _at Springwood in the Blue Mountains, since when, although he had been bedridden most of the time, he had consistently done work, mainly book reviewing, for the Herald. He was held in great esteem by his Press colleagues.

Mr H. C. Walker, captain of the Manawatu Aero Club, has been appointed aviation officer in New Zealand for the Vacuum Oil Company Proprietary, Ltd., and is expected to take up his new duties on February 1. Mr Walker, whose headquarters will be at Wellington, acted as co-pilot to Squadron-Leader M. C. McGregor in the Melbourne Centenary Air Race, their outstanding performance in the single-engined Miles Hawk attracting world-wide attention. For a number of years Mr Walker has been on the staff of the Manawatu-Oroua Power Board, and he is a Palmerston North boy as well as a Manawatu Aero Club-trained pilot. Prior to his trip overseas he had built up for himself a fine record as an aviator by winning competitions in all parts of the Dominion.

A further honour has been conferred upon Sir Robert Anderson, K. 8., C.M.G., in the form of a decoration, from his Majesty the King of the Belgians. In execution of the Royal warrant the Belgian Minister of Foreign Commerce, through M. Armand Nihotte, Belgian Consul for New Zealand at Wellington, advised Sir Robert that the King of the Belgians had been graciously pleased to recognize the services rendered by Sir Robert as ViceConsul for Belgium at Invercargill for the past sixteen years. The warrant enclosed, given under the hand of King Leopold 111 at Brussels on 22nd November 1934, names Sir Robert Anderson “Chevalier de I’Ordre de la Couronne” —Chevalier of the Order of the Crown. With the warrant and the accompanying letter of congratulation from the Foreign Minister, Sir Robert Anderson received the insignia of the decoration. —a handsome star in gold and enamel.