SOCIAL AND PERSONAL.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1426, 29 April 1912, Page 9

SOCIAL AND PERSONAL.

A Silver Wedding. Mr. and Mrs. W. J. Culver, of ['aimersion, celebrated on Saturday their silver wedding. On April 27, 1887', Mr. Culver, who is now Inspector of Factories, married Miss Chambers, daughter of the late Mi. \\\ Chambers, of 1-Vrtiside. Canterbury. The. ceremony was performed at the Primitive .Methodist Church, Chrislclmrch., by (he Kev. I'. W. Jones, now of I'eildins;. ' Jiorn at JJaUton. Kngland. in 1883. he had iittondcl to follow his father in the Congivjinti.-Miil ministry. He came out to ,\'civ Zealand by the barque Moropi ill ISSS. Soon afterwards he. interested himself in politics and was a member of the Hon. \V. P. K-'eves's committee in Ibß7. .As a storekeeper in the Waikato, although sufleriii},' fiimi bronchial trouble, iiis value as a political worker for the r.iliDrnl party was not lessened. In 181)2 Mr. Culver founded the. New Zealand .Society fur the Protection of Women and Children, and sit on the iirst commit toe. In 1900 he was appointed a Justice, of the Peaco, and in l!ll)2 vas f; 0 " 0 '" , ! secretary of (ho Liberal and l,aliour Federation for a short period. Mr. Culver edited the "Mberal flerald" in lilflO. the publication of which ceased on his appointment to a position in the Labour Department. He was the first Inspector of Factories anil Awards at. Napier, afterwards liciiig transferred to his present position in ' I'alnierston. Mr. Culver is mi enthusiastic Jtason, and is secretary of I.oilrc Huia. He was also a member ol the lioyal Arch Chapter, am] took Side degrees up to (lie lied Cross Knights. A Golden Wedding. An interesting sntherin? took place recently «t Addition, at the residence of Mr. and Mrs. James Sinclair, in celebration of their gulden wedding. The actual wedding; day was March Kl. but the celebration was delayed in order to secure the. presence of their second son. the liev. \V. A. Sinclair, who has just returned to Cliristehurcli us successor to Hit , Ttcv. C. H. Laws, at East Belt Methodist Church. The family gathering consisted of live SDiis and two daughters, with their respective partners and children, viz.:—Mr. James Sinclair, itiur., from Kdcm!.:i)e, Southland, Kev. W, A. Sinclair, Mr. J. K. Sinclair, headmaster of Elmwuod School, St. Albans, -Messrs. Alex, and Kobort Sinclair, from AVaimate, Xlr-. H. K. Bowilen ami .Mis. 11. lirauthwaite, of There were also present a numb?r of old friends, together with the I(.?vs. and Mcsdames S. Lav;ry and S. Griffith. A short thnnkssiving seivieu was followed by the wedding breakfast in a marquee. In response to the toast of Mr. and Mrs. J. .Sinclair, senr:, the Kevs. S. J.awry mid K. Griffith, W. A. Sinclair, Messrs. J. Sincliiir, jiinr., H. 11. Pcr.vman, cf Toi Tapu. bore testimony to the love ami esteem in which the ha;'py couple are held. Numerous telegrams of congratulation wr-re received, mid many presents. Mr. Sinclair was born at Caithness, Scotland, in ISUG, and arrived at I.yttelton by the Indiana in ISSS. In 1862 he married Miss

Annie Mackay, also from Scotland. They were anions the first settlors in Yahiluirst, and in 187S removed lo Tai Tapu, where they resided for 21 years. In I!) 02 Jlr. Sinclair retired, and Ik> ■:\m\ his wife took up tlir-ir residence at Addin;;ton. For many years they have been jirominent members of the Methodist Church, to which also all their family belong, ono son, as lias been stated, being in the ranks of the ministry. The Usual Traveller's Tales. llr. •). Nelson Km?*! , , of the Indian Education Department, who travelled through New Zealand some time ln.-fc. makes some curious statements about tin: .Maoris in his recently-published honk, "In Foreign Lands." According to him, the Maori i< in a parlous plight. "The Maoris who now sin vive—lOWJ in number —arc for the most part (he says) sunk in hopeless poverty and misery. There are some few rich men anion!,' them, and those in regions where, owing, I believe, to missionary effort, something,' like civilised society has been created. Hut for the most part the. Maori is- fallen. He Ins shown no power whatever to learn the lessons of civilisation. His home is dirty and comfortless; whatever money come.,into his hands lie wastes in yam and artificial flower?. . . He is 'educated.' Schools nro open to him, with curricula as useless and unsuitable as it is possible, to luako them. Tho Mitori language, it is needless to say, is not officially recognised."

Miss Browning (Auckland) is visiting Mrs. A. 1L Miles. Mrs. J. ]). Cameron, wlio lias been spending the last three weeks at Muritai, returned ■ to Masterton on Saturday. Mr?. Pomare has been spending some davs in A T npier, and intends later to visit Mrs. Owen Monekton, Onga Onga. Tito following guests are staying at the Albert Hotel:—Mr. and Mrs. Morton, senr., Mr. and Mrs. Jack Adams, Mr. and Mrs. S. Horton, jun., and Airs, l'riddle, of Hlenheim: Mr. and Mrs. Thompson, of Picton; Mr. Holding, Mr. Hamilton Hodges, and Mr. Frank Stirling. Mrs. Gwlley has accompanied MnjorGoneral Godley on his visit to Auckland and tho north, Mrs. T. Mackenzie and Miss Msckenzie aro visiting Kotorua. Mr. and Mrs. William Moore, of Milton, were passengers by the Aorangi. which left Wellington for .Sail Francisco on Friday. They are making an extended lour of the United States and Great Britain, and on their return will travel by the Vancouver route. Mr. and Mr;. Walter Clifford and daughters left by the Tahiti on Saturday for .Sydney, en route for England. Tho Misses Evans and Morley (Xewtown) have returned from a visit to Auckland.