PERSONAL ITEMS.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1054, 17 February 1911, Page 4

PERSONAL ITEMS.

To-day the Prime Minister will be en route to Invercargill, the Hon.'G. Fowlds in Wellington, the Hon. J. Carroll and the Hon. A. T. Ng.ita on the West Coast, the Hon. Dr. Findlay in Auckland, the Hori. T. Mackenzie with the Scottish Commissioners, the Hon. J. A. Millar in Dunedin, and the Hon. D. Buddo and tho Hon. R. M'Kenzie in Wellington.

Mr. W. F. Masse? (Leader of the Opposition) and -Mr: Lang, M.P., havo received, an invitation to visit Ivawhia and Raglan, and will probably do so in the next fortnight. 3lr. Masse? has accepted an invjtation to a banquet to" be given in hislionour by tho settlers at Pu'noi, in the Auckland district.

Sir Robert Stout, Chief Justice, has accepted tho invitation to preside at the farewell banquet to bo tendered the I'rimo Jnnistor (Sir Joseph Ward) and the Hon. Dr. Findlay prior to their departure for' England. Thor banquet' will be held in the Town Hall.

Thc Hon. Dr. Findlay .left for the north by the Main Trunk express yesterday. He will deliver a specch at Whaugarie.

Mr. F. M. B. Fisher, M.P., leaves for Palmerston this morning to take part in tho tenuis tournament which is being held there. • ,

Mr. F. Pa ton, stationmaster at Danne-virke,-retires from the service at tho end of the month.

A visitor who called upon the Mayor (Mr. T._M. Wilford) yesterday, was Mr. It. P. Vincent, for several veafs Mayor of Perth, West Australia. Mr. Vincent expressed . admiration at the harbour wharves and municipal institutions of Wellington. ■ During the forenoon he visited th 6 destructor, under th 6 guidance of 6ne of tho City Engineer's staff. At the last Mayoral election in. Perth, Mr. Vincent was unseated by ten votes, but an appeal is pending, owing to alleged irregularities in tho election. The visitor left for tho south last evening, en route for Melbourne and West Australia.

Heir Raimind Pechotsch, late conductor of the orchestra with the Oscar Asche and George Willougby Companies, and a finished violinist, has decided to settle in Auckland as a teacher. Herr.Pechotsch, who has had a distinguished career, visit,ed New Zealand as soloist 'with Henri ivowalski, tho French pianist,' mid toured Australia with Signor Foli and Madame Belle Cole.

Mr. F. L. Branfill, who has been in the service of tho Union Bank of Australia for over thirty years, has resigned, and contemplates a trip to the Old Country. A presentation has been .made to him by the bank's staff in Wellington. •

Messrs. Thomas Cook and Son have booked 'the'following passengers to England, sailing to-day for Sydney by the Moeraki, and from Auckland by the Wimmora on February 20:—Mr. and Mrs. W. 11. George, Mr. and Mrs. H. Robbins, Mrs. and Miss Ritchie, Messrs. Gcorgo f'2l, (1. Haase, H. S. Hart, George Fowlds, .\\\ Caughv, H. Randal, of Wellington; Mr. and Mrs. W.",T. Ogier, of Inglewood; ■Messrs. R. and E. Cobb«, J., Knight, B. M. Larsea, u4 K; S,' Moore, of Ftildins."

Mr. F. Robertson, dark in the FeildingPost Office, has received notice of a transfer to Wellington. He has been in Feilding for three years, and is very popular. Mr. Robertson lias not been in the best of health lately,. and for the Sast throe months has been on sick leave. .p hope.-; fdr better health in tho city. Mr. Robertson is one of; the I'eilding Bawling Club's leading players.

Colonel E. S. Heard, Director of Military Training and Staff- Duties, has recovered from his recent indisposition, ami resumed his dutiei as Commandant, of the traiuing camp at Tnuherinikau.

Mr. A. M'Farland, of Pahiatua, is mentioned as a likely candidate in the Opposition interests, for tho Pahiatua constituency At the next general election. Mr. Francis Stevens, of Oriental Bay, died at his residence, Hay Street, yesterday morning, after an illness extending over, the past ten months. The deceased, who was born at Loughton, Essex, on December 1, 1833, commenced commercial life in a stockbroker's office in iondon, but seeing better chances in New Zealand, ho carao here by the ship Golconda on Christmas Eve, 1859. Rumours of war in Taranaki roused in him the spirit of adventure, and after spending a few. days in Wellington he went >on to Now Plymouth. He served at thp Omata Stockade, Waireka, Kihi-Kihi, and at Warea. Afterwards he undertook cotamissuriat contracts between Auckland and the Waikato, and in 1862 was ap- ■ pointed to the staff of the Deputy Adjutant-General in Auckland, which niterged into the Defence Office on tho removal of, the seat of Government to Wellington. After a long clerical experience, he was appointed chief clerk in the General Crown Lands Office. The deceased returned on. pension, in 1892, and for several years officiated as staff secretary at the prize-firing • meetings held annually' in different parts of the Dominion. Mr. Stevens , was one of the originators of tho New Zealand Rifle Association, and was for several years secretary of that body. He leaves a widow and three sons—Mr. Frank Stevens, formerly a Wellington pressman, who .went to Western Australia as secretary tn Mr! O'Connor, Engineer of Railwavs; | Mr: Gwynn Stevens, solicitor, of Otaki; and Mr. William! Stevens, of Wellington.