People and Their Doings.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXIV, Issue 829, 1 August 1933, Page 6

People and Their Doings.

Mr Frank Wade Rendered Valuable Aid to the Searchers at Arthur's Pass : The Fuck of the New Zealand in the Battle of Jutland : First Labour Minister in England.

jY£R FRANK V. WADE, formerly well known in city commercial circles, and now of the Hostel, Arthur’s Pass, lent valuable assistance to the searchers for the body of Mr Edgar Russell, the victim of the climbing accident on Avalanche Peak. The searchers made the Hostel their headquarters, and this meant a good deal of additional work for Mr Wade. He was up all Sunday night and Monday morning in terrible weather, and his practical suggestions and help were greatly appreciated. Mi Wade is a son of the late Mr W. G. Wade, of Inne? Road. He was for many years business representative in Christchurch to leading New Zealand and overseas firms. He is a fine musician, having been conductor over a long period of the Commercial Travellers’ Association orchestra. Mr Wade is an artist of repute, and at one time was famous for his work on illuminated addresses. It seems that this talent he inherited from his father, for though Mr Wade received training in the subject at the Canterbury School of Art, this phase of art came naturally to him. Since his retirement from business about twelve months ago, Mr Wade has been living at Arthur’s Pass, where he finds plenty of scope for his ability with brush and canvas. He says that he likes the life at the Pass, for there i.s always something to do or something that needs doing. the advertisement of the Majestic Theatre in Tuesday’s ‘.‘ Star ” for a lion, Mr Jack Lavery, of Westport, writes: “I would like to advise you that there will be fifteen of them in Christchurch in September to play for the Ranfurly Shield—the ‘ Buller Lions.’ I would advise you to take your pick, as arty one of these lions can be led and walked around by a young lady. This will, no doubt., help you out of your difficulty.”

r £'IIE story of the use of a Maori charm in action in the Battle of Jutland is recalled by the death of Admiral Sir William Christopher Pakenham, G.C.8., K.C.M.G., K.C.V.0., just announced. Just before the war began, Admiral Pakenham was at sea in command of the 3rd Cruiser Squadron, and in his flagship, the battle-cruiser New' Zealand, visited the Dominion. A Maori chief presented him w'ith a flaxen kilt of the kind worn, by Maori warriors in the old days, and a necklace to which a greenstone charm was attached. The chief advised him to w’ear these adornments in action on the ground that they w'ould bring him good luck. On May 31, 1916, w'hen Admiral Pakenham in the New Zealand took his squadron into action at the battle of Jutland, the word passed through the ship that the captain had put on his Maori gifts, and he wore them throughout. The superstitious can note as an historic fact that the Indefatigable, a sister ship to the New Zealand, was blown up, while the latter fought right through the action and received little damage. A curious point is that examination of the German orders show's that it was intended that the Von der Tann, which sank the Indefatigable, should have concentrated her fire on the New Zealand, but apparently erred and attacked the sister ship. 32? ]\fß ARTHUR HENDERSON, whose return to the House of Commons is said to be practically assured, wa.s the first Labour Minister in England, having been Minister of Education in the wartime Coalition. “ A comfortable man is Mr Henderson,” says the author of “ Uncensored Celebrities.” “He belongs to the ‘aristocracy of Labour.’ He has worked with his hands, but it was long, long ago. He used to be called ‘Uncle Arthur’ by his fellow trade unionists. He has the weight of experience as an uncle should, but all the uncle’s tolerance for the pranks of youth. ‘Boys will be boys, but when you're as old as I am ,’ and then follows the sageness of counsel which fails to offend. I low could it, with that good-humoured face, innocent of all irony, that well-groqmcd, prosperous figure and that heavy watch-chain, all telling of the battle of life well won? ”

iyrß M. J. BARNETT, Superintendent of x Parks and Reserves, Christchurch, in a letter to “ The City Beautiful,” commenting on the fact that the Ginkgo biloba, or maidenhair tree, does not come to maturity until it is very old, says: “It may not be generally known that the Ginkgo tree is dioecious, that is, the male and female flowers, which are borne in catkins, are developed on separate trees. It is therefore necessary that cross-pollina-tion must take place between the two sexes before fruit will be produced. It has been stated that it is possible to distinguish between male trees and female trees, by certain characteristics of growth; but such well-known authorities as Wilson and Sargent state quite definitely that it is impossible to distinguish the sexes until the trees flower. “ The famous tree at Kew bore fruit for the first time in 1919. This was the result of grafting a female scion, obtained in 1911 from the Montpellier Botanic Gardens, on the mature male tree. Needless to say it was only the female branch or graft that •bore fruit.” $F ® 9 SIXTY YEARS AGO (from the “Star” of August 1, 1873) : Cable Messages.—lt is stated in a recent “ Argus ” that a thousand pounds worth of cable messages from Europe were received at Adelaide in one day. Immigration from Canada.—An Auckland contemporary says:—Letters which we have received from Ontario, Canada, show that several families in that State are contemplating removal to New Zealand. We extract the following from a letter dated in April last: “A number of my friends desire me to write to you, asking you to be kind enough to forward, say, three of your leading weekly papers, namely your ‘Weekly News ’* and the Christchurch and Dunedin papers. My friends are mostly farmers with capital. Their object is to buy land and farm it, if such can be done to advantage. The reason they are dissatisfied with Canada is the extreme length and severity of the winters. There is not less to-day than four feet of snow' on the level, and it takes nearly all that can be made from cows in the summer to feed them during the winter.”