PERSONAL ITEMS

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2398, 2 March 1915, Page 5

PERSONAL ITEMS

_ The Hon. W. Fraser,-Minister of Pub. lie Works went south last night, en route to Mount Cook, where, he pro-, poses to inquire into certain proposed road and bridge works. Mr. Fraser nill be joined at Christchurch by the Hon. R. H. Rhodes (Minister in Charge of Tourist Resorts), who will accompany him to Mount Cook. Mr. Fraser will return to Wellington,at the end of the week. The Hon. J. Men, Minister of Education, has gone south on his way to Alexandra, to inquire into Distriot High School matters in that town.. He will be ,back in Wellington late in the week. Mr- C. H. W. Dixon has just retired on superannuation from the Stamp Department, after many years spent in the Public Service. Mr. Dixon has long been identified with sport of different kinds, and has won "many friends, all ■ of whom will learn with regret that , his -health has not been of.. the best of lato. ■ -. Mr.; A. H. Hindmareh. M.P., whose name has been mentioned as a possible . candidate for the Mayoralty, states that •he has no intention of accepting nomination,for the office. ' • Mr. C. E. Adams, F.R.A.S., New ; Zealand Government Astronomer, who ; is in residence at the Lick : Observatory, : Mount Hamilton, California, for a year, has had the degree of Doctor of Science conferred upon him by the University of New Zealand for his thesis on "The -Sarinonio Analysis of tho Tides." . Mr. John Gibson, a well-known resij'dent of Patea, is dead. Born at Ches- ' ter (England) in 1841 he received a training in mercantile life and came to . New Zealand in 1860, landing first in Wellington. Shortly after he settled >in the ilaagitikei district, where for seme time he waa : engaged in farming. Ho then joined Mr. James Bull in the storekeeping business at Bulls. When the Taranaki War broke out, he went to Taranaki in connection*with Peat and Lewis' 6 commissariat business. In 1868 he started a 6tore at Patea, laying the foundations of a business which developed into a large concern in Patea and Hawera. This he carried on until 1905, when it was formed into a private com* 7 pany. The late Mr. Gibson was for many years prominently connected with the public life of Patea, being Mayor in 1888 and' later member and chairman of the Harbour Board and member of the District Road Board. He was founder of the Bowling Club and presented the club with the land for their jireens. Mr. Gibson was well known on the Wellington Club,'s green," where he often played during his frequent visits to town. Archdeacon Calder. who has been forty years in Auckland, and who for fifteen years occupied the dual position- of Vicar of All Saints and Arch- . deacon of the Diocese, has resigned the latter position, in order to devote himself more closely to parochial duties.— Press Association. Mr. E. G. Jellicoe, formerly a barrister and solicitor, practising in -Wellington, arrived here from England by the Tainui on Saturday. Mr. B. O'Connor, manager of the . ' Friendly Societies' Dispensary, returned / yesterday after a holiday tour of the I South" Island.. . . Mr. F. L. Combs, of Maurioeville . West, has received notice' that he "has passed for-the M.A; degree with firstclass honours, in history. , 1 Mr. J. Moore, secretary of the Sailors' Friend Society, returned to Wellington yesterday; > . llr. T, A. Black, B.Sc., who has been examining some of the northern mines, arrived from. Auckland yesterday. Mr. Black is . a director of the Hauraki Reef J line, in which was' recently discovered the largest auriferous arsenic i ' deposit in the Coromandel goldfield. Mr. Black is,staying at the Windsor ! Hotel. -The meesengers in the various Government departments in Wellington, to the number of upwards of 100, met at a "smoke concert" last night to bid > farewell tc one of their number, Messenger J. Flynn, who has been accepted for service with the Expeditionary Force. Private Flynn's health was drunk with proper spirit, and he received the hearty felicitations of all his comrades in the Government service. During the evening also a certificate of the Royal Humane Society, handsomely framed, was presented to Messenger Robert Casliman, for saving a boy from drowning at the Clyde Quay Wharf on .Jfpwctober 13, 1914. Among the guests W ■ were: Messrs. .James Hislop, UnderSecretary for Internal Affairs, R. 'A. Wright, M.P.. T. M. Wilford, M.P., and R., Fletcher, M.P. There are 17 ladies in the United Kinerdotn who are peeresses in their own right.,