People Talked About

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXX, Issue XXVI, 27 June 1903, Page 1766

People Talked About

A Capable Organiser. His successful management of several large gatherings in Auckland has stamped Mr. W R. Holmes the well-known accountant, as an organiser of no mean order. The faculty of being able to run any large concern is not such a common gift that we cannot admire the men who possess it. M’ Holmes is one of those favoured men wno excite our admiration in this respect. His work in connection with the exhibition held here in 1898 :1 will long be remembered by those who came in contact with him at that time, and saw the masterly manner in which he organised the many details which made the exhibition run so smoothly dur ing the several months it was open. Mr. Holmes has been associated with several other public undertakings and his latest work of this nature was in connection with the citizens’ ball given to His Excellency the Governor and the Countess of Ranfurly, the secretarial part of which was carried out in the thorough and capable style for which one looks in anything that Mr. Holmes takes in hand. An Opponent of Preferential Trade. Ever since his maiden speech in the House of Commons, which at once at-

tracted attention to him. the Right Hon. H. H. Asquith has met with a series of successes on the platform and at the Bar. He was Home Secretary in Mr. Gladstone’s last Ministry, and rose rapidly to the first rank in the House. He is a Liberal Imperialist, and his recent utterances mark him as one of the keen est opponents Mr. Chamberlain’s preferential trade proposals will have to en- < mint er.

Mr Isldor Alexander. Ever since the now famous Citizens’ Ball in Auckland, the chief theme of conversation and comment has been the absolute genius shown by Mr Isidor Alexander, who had charge of the herculean task of transforming an exceptionally ugly corrugated iron drill shed into a satisfactory ballroom. That Mr Alex-

ander triumphed over the almost incredible difficulties encountered, and did far more than the task set down, is nowcommon knowledge. Not only had the bare hideousness of plain walls vanished under his design, but the huge hall was transformed into a more beautiful and elegant dancing room than anyone present had ever set-n before. In the Old Country such a feat would not have been possible, for it would have been impossible to procure the many railway trucks of magnificent nikau palms which

lent a truly regal effect to the design. Mr Alexander has received numerous congratulations, and he may rest assured that he has achieved a result absolutely unsurpassable anywhere. Mr Alexander is a very well-known and popular citizen of Auckland, and is possessed of a kindly and generous disposition, so that both he and his wife are ever to the fore in any good work for the advancement of the town or its citizens.