People and Their Doings.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20221, 3 February 1934, Page 12

People and Their Doings .

Mr Justice Johnston’s Oaths of Office : A Story of the Snowy River Flood.

THE TREMENDOUvS INUNDATION that overwhelmed the southern coastal districts of Australia has left a trail of desolation behind it, writes a Sydney correspondent. Even now, when the flood waters have subsided, it is difficult to fprm any accurate estimate of the total loss incurred. The first calculations range.! from £500,000 to £1,000,000 for this State alone, and even the larger amount seems likely to be exceeded. The N.R.M.A. published a sketch map of the flooded districts for the benefit of motorists, and it looks like an old guide to the Western Front, with broken bridges, landslips and impassable roads facing one at every turn. Mr Stevens went down there on a tour of inspection, and so impressed was he by what he saw that he at once announced that the Government would make an immediate grant of 25. per cent of the estimated cost of repairing damages. ® m T-TERE IS A SHORT STORY that comes from a Melbourne paper, dealing with the flood in East Gippsland, where the overflow of the Snowy River spread disaster far and wide. On that terrible Sunday night “ Toby ” Nixon, a 32-year-old settler, went to bed the owner of a property worth £20,000. To-day he is worth not half as many pence. Out of 200 acres under cultivation, - barely thirty acres are left—the remainder has been washed away. The waters tore a gulch 20 chains wide and 50 chains long and up to 20ft deep, through a rich maize crop. The highest land on the estate has been washed away, and in its place is a 50-acre lagoon. Mr Nixon had £3OOO worth of farm, plant, and all that remains is a tractor, a disc plough, a maize sower and one horse collar. But Mr Nixon is not sitting down wringing his hands in despair. He comes of old pioneer stock, and he told the interviewer, “ Well, I've got a little bit of machinery left, and there’s thirty acres I can cultivate, so I’ll start in again.” Nature

herself is powerless to conquer men like this, and, happily, there are many thousands like him in Australia to-day. 3SF W jyjß H. F. JOHNSTON, K.C., who arrives in Christchurch to-day to preside at the quarterly sessions of the Supreme Court, was sworn in on Thursday as a Judge of the Supreme Court, by his Honor the Chief Justice, Sir Michael Myers. Two oaths were administered in the Chief Justice’s chambers. The first, the oath of allegiance, was as follows:—“I, Harold Featherston Johnston, do swear that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to his Majesty King George the Fifth, his heirs and successors according to law. So help me God.” The text of the other oath, the judicial oath, was: ‘‘l, Harold Featherston Johnston, do swear that I jvill well and truly serve our sovereign lord King George the Fifth in the office of Judge of the Supreme Court; and I will do right to all manner of people after the laws and usages in this Dominion, without fear or favour, affection or ill-will. So help me God.” r £<HE JUDGE’S COMMISSION of appointment is ah interesting document. It is printed on parchment, and bears the Royal coat of arms, the pink seal of the Dominion, and the signatures of his Excellency, the Governor-General, Lord Bledisloe, and the Minister of Justice (the Hon J. G. Cobbe), who signed on behalf of the Attorney-General (the Rt Hon G. W. Forbes). The text of the commission, dated January 18, is as follows: “ To Harold Featherston Johnston, Esquire, barrister, Greeting: “ Know ye that I, the Governor-General of

the Dominion of New Zealand, reposing especial trust and confidence in the integrity, learning and ability of you, the said Harold Featherston Johnston, and in pursuance and exercise of the power and authority conferred upon me by the Judicature Act, 1908, and the amendments thereof, do in the name and on behalf of his Majesty, by these presents, appoint you, the said Harold Featherston Johnston, to be a Judge of the Supreme Court of New Zealand: To have, hold, exercise and enjoy the said office and place to you, the said Harold Featherston Johnston, during good behaviour, together with all and singular the rights, privileges, powers, authorities, rank and precedence whatsoever to such office or place belonging or in anywise appertaining.” £JAPTAIN Martin John Coucher de Meric, who has not very long returned to England from New Zealand, where he commanded the Dunedin, will succeed Captain S. S. Bonham-Carter as Assistant Director of Naval Equipment on March 14 next, when the latter officer completes his two years to the day. Captain de Meric will not have to ask his way about the intricate old Admiralty building, for he was on the staff of the Second Sea Lord when he was promoted in December, 1929. His M.V.O. is for a commission in the Royal yacht. 42p S? S? gIXTY YEARS AGO (from the “Star” of February 3, 1874) : Auckland, February 3.—A cutter, supposed to be the Flora Macdonald, was lost yesterday on the Manukau Bar. The signalman saw the cutter labouring heavily in a stiff south-westerly gale. He signalled that the bar was dangerous, and for the cutter to stand off. The cutter still stood in, taking the western channel, and, just when it was hoped all danger was passed, she broached to and capsized, sinking almost immediately. If the cutter is the Flora Macdonald, she had three passengers aboard, beside the crew and the captain, J. L. Kenny.