SPORT'S FAREWELL

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 75, Issue 179, 1 August 1932, Page 6

SPORT'S FAREWELL

MR. H. W. COOPER HONOURED COMPLIMENTARY DINNER GENTLEMAN AND SPORTSMAN. Almost every branch of sport played in Wanganui was represented at a pleasant dinner gathering at the Imperial Hotel on Saturday night when Air. H. W. Cooper, on the eve of his retirement from the city, was accorded fitting farewell and presented with a cheque in token of appreciation of a long period of service directed for the moral and physical well-being of the community, particularly of the younger generation.

The Mayor (Mr. N. G. Armstrong) presided and the principal speaker was Air. Louis Cohen. High tributes were paid to the guest, a voice being heard from every branch of sport with which he had been connected and from kindred bodies who had sought his cooperation and guidance. Air. Armstrong applied Kipling’s tribute to Air. Cooper in a passage from “Beyond the Path of the Outmost Sun’’ —“A Gentleman Unafraid.” Air. Cohen’s tribute was that which is held so high in the estimation of tho British race—“ This man is a sportsman.” Apologies for absence were received from Dr. G. J. Adams (president of the Wanganui Rugby Union), Air. J. D. Crowley (selector of the Wanganui Rugby Union), and Air. R. L. Thompson (president of the Wanganui Hockey Association). Air. Thompson, in a letter, conveyed the regret felt by supporters of hockey at Mr. Cooper’s pending departure, and referred to the guidance and co-operation hockey had always had from him.

Primarily, the gathering was one of representatives of sports bodies, said the Afayor, following the loyal toast, but there were two aspects of Air. Cooper’s life, in a measure removed from sport, to which he desired to refer. During his residence in Wanganui Air. Cooper had been a member of the Castlecliff Town Board and had risen to the position of chairman. His work on that body had been of great credit to him. Another aspect of his life to which the Afayor referred dated back to 1914 when Air. Cooper had established a bach at Castlecliff. It was a delight to him, the speaker proceeded, to have accept his hospitality there many young men, but he would stand no rough-house. He believed in plenty of fun in sport, but defined a sportsman as being a gentleman. If he was not a gentleman then he would not tolerate him. (Applause). ‘ ‘ln referring to men like Mr. Cooper, I like to think of them in the sentiment expressed by Kipling when he depicts men who have served the world and have passed on to receive Higher recognition,” said tho Mayor.

“....And oft-times cometh our wise Lord God, master of every trade, And tells them tales of His daily toil, of Edens newly made; And they rise to their feet as He passes by, gentlemen unafraid....’’

“In time Air. Cooper will take his place with that band—a gentleman unafraid.” (Prolonged applause). Air. Cohen, proposing the health of the guest, expressed the pleasure of those present at the fact that the Afayor, who had so much to do with manhood, young and old, should bo presiding over the most representative gathering of sports bodies it had ever been the speaker’s privilege to sec. Such a gathering was due to Henry Cooper and the wonderful regard men had for him. A feeling of sportsmanship, in itself, was an ideal of manhood, young and old, but it could be said of Henry Cooper that he had done more than any man in Wanganui to earn that recognition, that classification, of which British people, in an acceptance of the standards of life, regarded so highly—the classification of a sportsman “What better can you say of a man. than that he is a sportsman!” Air. Cohen asked. (Applause). “And we allude to Henry Cooper as a sportsman. Primarily, that is what he is and why this gathering is so representative of sportsmanship. We do not judge a man by what he thinks or how he feels, but on what he does. Are we not all judged on what we do! Some of us cannot stand the pressure when that judgment is applied. Henry Cooper has been doing for years that which has made him every inch a sportsman —work with young men growing to manhood and during their manhood. This gathering represents very capably what sportsmen think of him. We have not come out of sentiment, but in a tribute to Henry Cooper, in a recognition. with a feeling of gratification to him that his rich endeavours have done something to carry on that touch of ancestry in British sport which is regarded through life so highly. It is not in a feeling of testimony that we arc all here. It is in a feeling of recognition of Henry Cooper as a sportsman, and I am sure that when he looks round at the representatives of the legions of men with whom he has been associated he will feel that he has more than a friend in the community; that he is amongst sportsmen.”

Afr. Cohen added that those with whom Afr. Cooper had been associated would think of what he had done and would feel that he was regarding his past work from not too far away. “And as he looks back over the left shoulder of life, he will know that he has not been unwatched and for what he has done we will say to him: ‘Well done, Henry Cooper.’ ” (Applause). Rugby. Mr. J. Aloye (president of the Metropolitan Rugby Union) spoke of Mr. Cooper’s association with the Dominion’s national game and the painstaking work ho had done as secretary. Air. G. fl. Pownall (president of the New Zealand Rugby Union), said that no job was loft to Mr. Cooper that was not done promptly, properly and well. Rowing. Afr. Alf. Gray spoke for rowing. He said that Air. Cooper had been a member of the Wanganui Rowing Association for a number of years. His decisions as judge at regattas had never been disputed. The association could ill afford to lose such men. Mr. P. Evans said that AL Cooper had been official starter for the Wanganui Rowing Club for 16 ycras and for several years he had been vice-presi-dent. He had always been keen to assist th JrW'f, particularly where novices/ "*-*srned. His” gciual X