TRIBUTE TO MINISTER

Press, Volume C, Issue 29509, 10 May 1961, Page 16

TRIBUTE TO MINISTER

Mr Gillespie’s Work For College A tribute to the former Minister of Agriculture, Mr W. H. Gillespie, who died at his farm at Bennetts recently, was paid by the chairman of the board of governors of Canterbury Agricultural College (Mr T. D. J. Holderness) at the board’s meeting yesterday. Board members stood as a mark of respect for Mr Gillespie. Mr Gillespie was a member of the board from 1949 to 1960, and chairman from 1951 to 1960. He resigned from the board at the annual meeting recently because of his Ministerial duties. Mr Holderness said that Mr Gillespie’s contribution to the college had been outstanding. His efforts were always directed to the progress and expansion of the college, and his personal qualities earned him the respect of the public and of the board and college, he said. Mr Holderness said that one of Mr Gillespie’s most tangible contributions to the college was the George Forbes Memorial Library. A motion that a letter of sympathy be sent to Mr Gillespie’s relatives was passed by the board. In his report to the meeting, the college’s principal •Dr. M. M. Burns) said that Mr Gillespie had a very deep personal interest in the library. He said it would be fitting if the college was to establish a special memorial and suggested that this be established by setting aside £5OO from library funds for the purchase of appropriate books in plant science, each book bearing a memorial plate. Other suggestions for a suitable memorial were discussed in committee. Bay Recovering.— (A 10-year-old boy, who was run over by a locomotive approaching Palmerston North on April 28, is making a good recovery in the Palmerston North Hospital The boy, Alan Murray McKenzie, suffered a fractured skull and other injuries. After the locomotive had passed over the boy. it was stopped and the waggons uncoupled so that he could be extricated At the time of the accident it was reported that he (tad escaped with only a severe shaking.—(P.A.)