DEATH OF MR. T.C. LIST

Taranaki Daily News, 18 August 1934, Page 6

DEATH OF MR. T.C. LIST

WELL KNOWN JOURNALIST PROPRIETOR OF THE DAILY NEWS. PUBLIC SERVICE IN TARANAKI. LEADER OF NEW ZEALAND ROTARY The death occurred at Wellington yesterday after-.oon, after a.very brief illness, of Mr. T. C. List, proprietor of the Taranaki Daily News and one .of the best known citizens of Taranaki. * . Mr. List was visiting Wellington, in his capacity as acting-Govemor of Rotary in New Zealand, for the purpose of attending a Rotary conference. On Thursday he became suddenly indispose 1 and was removed to a private hospital, an urgent operation being found necessary. His condition proved to be serious, and in spite of a blood . transfusion yesterday morning he failed to rally. Mr. List was bom at Guidepost, Northumbe land, England, on June 3, 1879. As a child of three he came to New Zealand with his parents, the late Mr. and Mrs. W. A. List, and spent his early years in the South Island, residing at Lyttelton, Kaiapoi and Rangiora. His school days were spent at Rangiora and Southbrook, and it was only this year that he re-visited Rangiora for the jubilee celebrations of his old school, at which he waS one of the principal speakers. As a boy of 14 he moved to Petone with his parents and was apprenticed to the Petone Chronicle, then owned by Mr. Bums. There he showed that capacity for keen study and hard work which was to stand him in good stead in bis later life, and which remained with him to the end, for he devoted all his spare time to study. He also attended business talks and classes conducted by the Rev. J. D. Russell, vicar of Petone, and now Archdeacon Russell, of Oamaru, with whom he maintained a lifelong friendship. CAREER IN JOURNALISM. After serving his apprenticeship Mr. List became joint proprietor when the Petone Chronicle was taken over by the late Mr. George Lundon. Subsequently when the business was disposed of he went to Australia, where he gained further experience on the Melbourne Age and on a Sydney paper. Returning to New Zealand, he was later associated with the late Mr. George Lundon, who had formed the Sun company in an endeavour to establish another newspaper at Wellington. He went to Australia to purchase a machine for the new paper, of which he was appointed works manager. The time, however, was not opportune and the venture did not succeed. Mr. List was for a while on the Pahiatua Herald.

In 1900 Mr. List came to Taranaki and purchased the Waimate Witness at Manaia, and ever since he has played e very prominent part in -the development of Taranaki. He put all his energies into his new venture, enlarging and broadening the paper and establishing a branch at Kaponga, where his brother, the late Mr. C. H. List, had charge. Finding that the Waimate Witness did not afford sufficient scope for the development of his energies and ambitions he investigated other opportunities. He considered the establishment of a morning paper at Hawera, but at that time the Taranaki Daily News was placed under offer to him and he accepted that offer and moved to New Plymouth in 1905 at the age of 25. With indomitable energy and determination he steadily improved the standard of the Daily News and widened its sphere until it became what it is to-day. Recognition of Mr. List’s, abilities came with his election to important offices in the United Press Association and the Newspaper Proprietors’ Association, also his appointment as delegate to the Imperial Press Conference in England in 1924 and in 1930. A busy man in his own newspaper sphere, Mr. List yet found time to devote to the interests of his fellow citizens, the Rotary motto of “Service before Self” being exemplified in him long before he became associated with Rotary. He was prominently identified with the successful move for the reorganisation of the New Plymouth High Schools. As president and a member of the committee of the Taranaki Chamber of Commerce he did good work, particularly in connection with the public schoolboys’ immigration scheme, which he inaugurated. That was responsible for successfully settling in the Dominion a large number of English public schoolboys, in whom Mr. List took a keen interest to the end. He was chairman of the Egmont National Park Board from 1925, until his death, and he took a very live interest in the preservation of the flora on the mountain and was the prime mover in the reafforestation of the Kaitake Ranges. He was an ardent lover of nature and was never more happy than when engaged in the beautiful grounds of his home, “Maranui.” Mr. List was chairman of the Y.W.C.A. Advisory Board since its inception in 1921. . CONNECTION WITH ROTARY. It was perhaps in connection with Rotary that Mr. List was best known. He was one of the foundation members of the New Plymouth Rotary Club when it was established by the late Sir George Fowlds, whose death is also announced to-day. He threw himself wholeheartedly into the movement, and his steadfastness of purpose resulted in his attaining the highest honours that his fellow Rotarians could confer in New Zealand. He was president of the New Plymouth Rotary Club and later District-Gover-nor for New Zealand. How worthily he upheld the honour of New Zealand at the Rotary International Convention in America last year was well known, and he was still engaged in carrying out the high duties of his office, devolving on him owing to the illness of his successor, when he was stricken down by his last illness. He was also a’member of the Ngamotu Masonic Lodge and had been a Justice of the Peace since 1907. Widely travelled and of a keenly observant nature, and with his marked literary ability, he gave impressions of people and scenes abroad that were eagerly read, including also . his book “The Briton at Home.” . Mr. List took a very keen interest in the progress of the town and province. He recently gave evidence of this when, in conjunction with Mr. C. A. Wilkinson M.P., he gave a portion of the HignEstate to the borough of New Plymouth. His charitable actions were many, but were unostentatious. During the war period he took an active part in patriotic affairs. Mr. List is survived by his widow (nee Miss A. J. Bremer, daughter of the late Mr. F. A. Bremer, Okaiawa) and two daughters, Misses Rauma and Betty List. His only son died about six years ago. There are also three brothers, Messrs. J, W. C. List, Puriri Street, Petone, C. S. List, Inglewood, A. E. List, stationmaster at Tauranga, and two sisters, Mesdames W. Walker, Ngaruawahia, and W. Lee, Hamilton. One brother, the late Mr. C. S. List, died at Kaponga, while another, the late Mr. J. G. List, was killed at The funeral will leave St. Marys Church on Monday afternoon for Te Henui cemetery.