PERSONAL.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LV, Issue 13994, 27 August 1909, Page 2

PERSONAL.

Mr. R. Lee was yesterday re-elected chairman of the Wellington Education Board. — Press wire. Mr. Percy M'Cormish, who served his apprenticeship with Messrs. Okey and Rqllo, has just passed his third-class mariners' examination.

Mr. E. W. Dinnie, of the finger-print bureau of the Police Department, and a son of Police Commissioner Dinnie, whp has been on a visit to England, returned to Wellington on Wednesday. While at Home Mr. Dinnie was married.

The dentil has occurred at the New Plymouth Hospital of Mr. R. A. Newton at the early age. of 82 years. The late Mr. Newton was in business at Gill Street as an 'engineer. He was an enthusiastic Oddfellow jjnd was very-popu-lar among the brethren" of the various lodges. The death occurred at Auckland yesterday of Mr. William Adair, one of the first merchants, in the Gisborne district, and, for pver thirty years one of Gisborne's most respected citizens. Deceased underwent' an operation on Tuesday, and did not recover. — Press , wire. Mrs. Simeon, wife of Mr. Fred. P. Simeon, died at Wellington yesterday ,• aged 66 yean (states a Press Association message). Deceased was, a halfcaste and well known among Maoris as "Kurakitiro" and also as She was a close relative of the late chiefs Tohu and Te Whiti. For many years she had been of great assistance to the Native Land Courts in unravelling intricate que^ons bjr reason of her intimate Xqowleqge of ■fcb.e lineage of Taranaki Native*. <-he was born at Te Awamutu, m the Wa&ato district. Her grandfather wait a noted tohunga. Besides the widowmM'he leave* » family of ten.

Mr* EJlep eolhur-ne, whose death at the «ge of 100 yewo was reported on. Saturday from Ofatram, arrived in New Zealand in 1874 with her children. Her husband died at Belfast, Ireland, six years previously. She resided for a year or two in Roslyn, and afterwards went to Outrun, where she lived up to the time of her death. In the course of her long life she never knew what illness meant, and had (says the Dunedin Star) full possession of her faculties till shortly before her life ended. She had two sons and five daughters. Her two surviving daughters are Mrs. R. Wright, of Outran^ and Mi* & W. Wright, of Hastings. \ Count Charles Derm, attached to the German Consulate-General as Vice-Con-sul since July, 1907, recently left Sydney for Europe via New Zealand and South America. The Count is a .dfe scendant of the Austrian noble fajgHs of the Counts of 'Stritee, in, Bohemia, who have ahm branches in, Germany. An uncle of bjs occupied the post of Austrian Ambassador to the Court of St. James. Count Deym possesses extraordinary linguistic talents, speaking besides German and English, French Italian, Spanish, two northern languages, and a few Slavic tongues^ ifc's also familiar with Greek, and Latin, the two dead languages., which are oi great impo/fence in tne curriculum of the student of « German gymnasium.

An old Canterbury colonist, Mr. Richard May Morten, died on Sunday, at the age of eighty-six years. Mr. Morten left England in 1859 for Victoria, and, after a short stay in Tasmania, settled in Canterbury in 1860 as a sheep-farmer at Rakaia. He subsequently purchased "Mount Pleasant," on the Port Hills — a block of 6000 acres and other sheep stations soon after. Going to Christchurch he bought the V»ntl which forms the site of Mort^x^a Buildings, now occupied by. Ok* United Sorvice Hotel, nayw«j. £$TSO, which at that time/ ww -fonsidered an extremely high price. How good the investment proved, however, time has shown. Mr. Morten was one of the oldest members of the Canterbury Jockey C\\\\*.