PARS ABOUT PEOPLE

Observer, Volume XL, Issue 9, 1 November 1919, Page 10

PARS ABOUT PEOPLE

THE Avar record of- the Smell family of Auckland is an inspiring one, and is all the more interesting and remarkable because all the sons of Mr. T. E.. Smell, who has been known so well as an adjudicator on the wharf for so many years, are all alive after most strenuous service. The eldest son, StaffSergeant E. J. Smell, in civil life a "Free Lance" journalist and artist, joined up the Auckland Infantry in August, 1914, and was wounded on Gallipoli, arid later wounded in France. The next son is Lieuten-ant-Colonel W. C. Smell, D.5.0., etc., who left New Zealand in the Main Body as a company commander 6th Haurakis. He was invalided to New Zealand seriously wonnded in 1916, and went back on recovery as .O.C. 21st Reinforcements. He was a battalion commander in the great Bapaume and other Paechendaele battles, distinguishing himself for his coolness, courage, and skill. In civil life he is a shipping expert, and is on his wav to New Zealand.

The next son is Lieutenant R. Smell, of the New Zealand Field Artillery, and he has seen much service with his battery in France. He has returned to New Zealand, and is again with the Public Trust Department in Wellington.

Then there is Corporal H. G. Smell, of the Auckland Infantry, who was in the great fights on the Somme, being wounded at Messines, and now a pensioner. In civil life he is an electrician in the employ of the Auckland Harbour Board;

The next son is Corporal P. M. Smell, who went to the war in the 21st Reinforcements. He was badly wounded in the great affray at Ploegsteeite in Atigust Jast, and is pensioned and at home again.

Then there is K. Smell, who saw service on the Somme, and went to Germany with the British Army of occupation. He was one of the few New Zealand soldiers to obtain the coveted Belgian Croix de Guerre. In civil life he is a jeweller in Auckland.

The last son. J. Smell, enlisted three times, and was turned down each time. He went to England, and again tried to enlist, but was eventually engaged in munition work in Carlisle. At present, he is a commercial artist in New York.

The list is not complete without the name of a grandson—Corporal E. J. Smell, N.Z.F.A., and son of S. S. E. J. Smell. He was gassed badly, and was also with the Army of Occupation in Germany. He is in civil life a commercial traveller.

Field-Marshal Earl Haig has had another honour, much sought afterconferred nnjon him—the appointment of Colonel of one of the regiments of the Household Brigade— and he has been selected to replace Field-Marshal Sir Evelyn Wood, who resigned the Colonelcy of the Royal Horse Guards owing to age and growing infirmity. The office is nowadays honorary. Before 1871 it was worth £1,200 a year, with nothing to do except appear on a Colonels' Inspection and one or two

ceremonial occasions. It, is also a Court appointment, -for the three Colonels of the Household Brigade fulfil in, rotation the # office of Gold Stick in Waiting, which means that they have to appear at Courts in attendance on the King. ® -© . © Mr. Donald Monro, one of New Zealand's pioneers, lately died at his residence, Kaiwarra, Wellington. The deceased, who was. much respected, was born in Tain, Rossshire, Scotland, 7.5 years ago, and

his school-mates included the Hon. J. G. W. Aitken, M.L.C., and Mr. William Allen, of Wellington. Coming to New Zealand in 1864 in the ship William Miles, he landed at Lj'ttelton, and spent the-greater part of his earlier days in the Dominion in the Marlborough district.

He-went to Wellington in 1903, and joined the Land and Income Tax Department, from which he retired on superannuation some years later. The deceased leaves a widow, four sons (Messrs. Ken Monro, Martinborough; James, Gisborne; George, Westport; Douglas, Bay of Plenty), and four daughters (Mrs. Wastney, "The Rocks," Picton; Mrs. George Monro, Kaiwarra; Mrs. Mortenson, Otaki; Miss Janet Monro, Kaiwarra).

Alfred E. Whittaker is back again in Auckland, and mostly Shortland Street, smiling, sunburnt, and .happy. Honolulu proved a sweet place to Alfred, the reigning queens of that sunny clime kept him basking through the dog-days. Then the spirit of unrest came again, and longing ..eyes were cast towards the South Pacific and Gods-Own Country.

But, alas! aeroplanes were not in evidence, and steamers nil, so our dear old Aucklander had to paddle

in the warm liquid pook of Hawaii until happy chance sent him the means of transport to his beloved home, and now he" says he sticks- — the wander lust is gone. ® % ®' " " When the forefather of New Zealand fighting troops (the First N.Z.M.R.) sat down to "skoff" in Wellington on October 21, the ancient birds of that forgotten (but glorious) little crowd ferretted round for something t« say. The association, which has carried on for 20 years without calling for the execution of the secretary (a meek, scribbling ass of 50), has about £100 in hand, sent in by members who are never asked for anything. Old Joe Culling, an Otago ex-soldier, with a record for gallantry, which he hates to have talked about, suggested that the last

surviving member of the " Eirst " should liffthe boodle. The"'suggestion was that the last "First" would expire in 1969 or so. Joe said that he "would sell his chance for a fiver." ®® . ® Police Sub-Inspector Hills, of Fiji, who bravely captured Yon Luckner and hia men, received no recognition for his act from the Fiji Government. Mr. Hills has therefore left the Fiji police service, and is in Auckland, hoping to engage in a civilian calling. Prominent citizens, feeling that Mr. Hills-had np't been generously treated, are raising a purse of sovereigns for.the gallant young officer. . . @ &>. . ® Arthur H. Adams, the excellent New Zealand poet and journalist, who wrote a peculiarly inane Australian National Anthem (and got £100 for it), has been for many years the super literary critic of Sydney "Bulletin," and (during its best days) was editor of the monthly offshoot, "The Lone Hand." Arthur, who has talent of a very high order (and who believes this himself), was at latest advices in Melbourne writing special political articles for Sydney papers. He is unusual, and therefore interesting, and one remembers with perfect homeopathy his entrance to the New Zealand "Times" as assistant editor when half an acre of floor, and was turned into a dazzling scene of splendour to welcome him. * • * He astonished the reading' world by cutting convention, and in his first leader writing a charming essay on Princess Ena of Portugal— the kind of imaginative literary effort that is scorned by all writers of "leaders" in New Zealand. It is unforgettable that Arthur once wrote a soulful poem about the rain dripping on his grave, "and I not know"—as if a bloke would! $> © @> The annual meetijngs of large commercial concerns often bring together a diversity of men. There was the South British Insurance meeting the other day. Mr. W. RWilson, one of the directors, made a most excellent chairman. Mr. J. H. Upton, with iron-grey beard, kindly eyes, and tactful speech, was in a prominent position, and Mr. P. H. Upton, the general manager, who arrived only the day previous from an oversea holiday, was sitting before the big minute book. * * • Alongside him was Mr. F. H. Carr. Mr. Carr is the Dunedin manager, 1 who has been acting as general manager while Mr. Upton was away on leave. Then on the other side of the manager Mr. Thomas Peacock leaned back in his chair with every appearance of being bored to extinction by the proceedings. * » * Mr C. J. Tunks was next. All these gentlemen sat facing the audience, as it were, and in the front row, orchestral stalls, one countenance was suspiciously like that of Rev. OH. Radford. The roving blue eyes of Professor Thomas gleamed behind their, habitual pair of spectacles, and just behind him Mr. Tom Batcher was waiting with eagerness for a chance to make his opinions known. * , ' *• * Further along was Mr. J. W. Stewart, who at various intervals said isomething that was not_ in accord with somebody else's views, the next minute made, opportunity of referring to his late antagonist in most complimentary terms. Behind him again was Mr. A. J. Parker, and dozens of other very well-known citizens of this city listened to everything and said nothing.

i ■ Quite an unusual amount of discussion took place one way and another at this gathering. First an auditor was needed in addition to Mr. J. A. Duncan, for Mr. G. S. Kissling has retired, and then was .the,time to fill his place. Many estimable gentlemen put in their applications for this vacancy, but the rule was that nominations must be made and seconded in the meeting. • * * Anyway, Mr. Norman Duthie was appointed. Mr. Duthie has the name of being an extremely capable accountant. He has been away to the war, leaving as lieutenant and coming back again as major. He is to be congratulated on his appointment. After this felicitations were the order of the day, and Mr. Upton, his staff, the staffs of every branch and agency, Mr. Wilson, and all the directors, likewise received eulogium. SS> ® &> ■Mr. Ernest.M. Davis, of Auckland, writing from Norfolk Street, Park Lane, London, W., says that he has not been in good health, but is recovering his normal pep with care. He mentions the great difficulty of obtaining berths aboard ships coming to NeAV Zealand—and this has delayed his departure. He says he ,is longing to see the sparkling waof the Waitemata once more. © ®> ® Mr. H. R. Spence, of the New Zealand Customs Dept., has come back again to "God's. Own Country," which he says he prefers before Aus-

tralia, England, Scotland, Ireland, The United States, Canada. France, 1 Scandinavia, Holland, Germany, Switzerland, and the hundred and one other places where he' has been and seen things -since 1912. Mr. Spence went away in 1912 to establish a Customs agency in London as the headquarters from which he represented New Zealand Customs all over the Continent and in America. His work was hampered a good deal by the war, but still he has been uncommonly successful, and now he comes back to take up the permanent duties of Collector of Customs in Dunedin, with the record of having established this agency and brought it from an experimental nebulous to "unfait accompli" with the goodwill of everybody in the United Kingdom behind it.

Mr. Spence has the appearance of a man who has seen and done things, and when he speaks of "exchange rates," "ad valorem," "preferential tariffs," and such things, he knows well what he is talking about. Of medium height, and rather solidly built, this man with the keen eyes and clean-shaven face, has a dis- - tinguished appearance, and a ready fund of conversation and anecdote.

Lucky Cottingham, Lausen, and P. Evans, three Auckland City Tramway employees, who. struck it rich in Tatts., receiving each £1,350 as their share in divide up. The divvy did not turn their heads, for the trio are sticking to their graft and thinking hard for investments. What about War Bonds?

TVlajor-General Sir Alfred Robin, who swung a blade for South African ex-soldiers at the "First" re-union in Wellington last week, said he hoped the State would come to light with land and loan benefits for the old hands who neither asked for a.-.\-thing nor got anything af.er.the three years' war. The General tin re announced that he was on' superannuation next year, as he will then reach the age of sixty. ® ® $ Professor Thomas Hill Easterfield, M.A., Ph. D., F.1.C., F.C.S., of Victoria College, Wellington, has been given the job of director of the Cawthron Institute of Scientific Research at Nelson, and it,is the best appointment that cotild possibly have been made. The Professor , is a cheerful, modest chap, whose chemical researches have been of incalculable value to New Zealand, and which will be of tremendous service in the future. The Professor is a Yorkshireman, and was schooled first at Doncaster Grammar School, at the Yorkshire College at Leeds, at Cambridge, and later at Wurzburg. He was a foundation scholar of Clare, Cambridge, and a Cambridge University representative in sport, becoming a lecturer and science teacher at the University. -■» * » Before he, left England he was a science master at Perse Grammar School, Cambridge. Professor Easterfield has the happy knack of reducing the - language of science to common terms, and it is thought that even an M.P. could understand

him. He has been a great'favourite with Wellington students for many years. :< .'. ®" ; ® ® At Mr. Aubrey Williams' lecture on "Bolshevism" on Monday night there were elements which would have been obstreperous if occasion had arisen. The lecturer was showing that the Bolsheviki promised the peasants three things—Pealce, Bread, and (a pause) Land. "And they gave it to them!" screamed a man. The lecturer, showing how fiendish was the brutality of the peasants, said that they "skinned landlords and their wives alive," at which the gentleman laughed heartily. The point, of course, is that there are people in New Zealand just as densely ignorant and as brutal as the uneducated peasants of the Steppes. A man who screeches with laughter at torture and murder most foul is ripe for anything. $ <® « Mr. C. F. Bickford, the human dynamo, has bared his right arm preliminary to lifting the. political scalp of Mr. Harris, the Waitemata wonder. Mr. Bickford, who is remembered as an organiser of funds during the War, is nowadays seen hurt : ling around in a motor car in which , you may have a ride if you so desire. The candidate for Waitemata came to New Zealand as a representative of a great lead-pencil company, a(nd has made his mark.