PERSONAL ITEMS

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2436, 15 April 1915, Page 5

PERSONAL ITEMS

The Hon. .John Duthie, M.L.C., accompanied by his grand-daughter, Miss Miller, will., leave for Sydney by the Manuka, to-morrow on a holiday trip. Major J. K. Lowe (District Engineer of Railways), Captain W. G. Wray, and Lieutenant, W. J. Melville have had their services accepted for the front. On Saturday evening, March . 13, a gathering of railwaymen took place in Auckland to hid farewell to Lieut.-Col-onel Barclay, V.D., of the North Island Railway Battalion of Engineers, who is leaving with the Fourth Reinforcements as Major in Charge of the ■Engineers. An address was presented to Major Barclay and eulogistic speeches were made, and it was then mentioned that some 'tangible token of the esteem and regard with which Major Barclay was held would be sent to him. As an outoome of that meeting the presentation was made' at ' Trentham yesterday of a gold watch to Major Barclay, by Mr. J. Bevin, Djstrict Traffic Manager, Wellington diß.trict, on behalf of, and at the request of .the railway staff of the Auckland district. Mr. Bevin voiced the pride Mid satisfaction felt by the Railway Servants in the choice made by the Defence Department and referred to the ability of Major Barclay, at the same time wishing him "good luck" and a safe return. Captain Beekman, Lieut. Short, and some of the other officers present also spoke, and Major Barclay He expressed appreciation of the spirit which prompted the gift, and jsbed that his best wishes should be ionveyed to his Auckland 'friends. ' The death occurred in the' Masterton Hospital on Tuesday, after a protracted Alness, of Mr. William Smith. The deceased,' who was thirty-eight years of age, was a prominent member of ,the Wairarapa Caledonian Society and of the Caledonian Pipe Band. ' , , Major Colvin, of National -Headquarters of ■ the Salvation Army, returned to town yeste/day from a tour in Nelson'and Blenheim districts. Mr. Kattanach, second member of the Victorian State_ Rivers and • Water Supply Commission, has beeu appointed to succeed Mr. Elwood Mead, wno has resigned l to accept the post of chairman of the United States Irrigation and Reclamation Commission. —Pvess Association. Gunner Erio Temple Perkins, son of Dr. Perkins, of Wellington, cables that he has obtained a commission as lieutenant of field -artillery, stationed temporarily in Egypt. Mr. A. A. Hastings, a member of the Napier Borough Council staff, has been appointed engineer in charge at the Napier powerhouse. Sergeant Cummings, who leaves Napier to-day on.transfer to Rotorua, was met by a representative gathering of citizens yesterday prior to taking his final leave. Dr. Arthur Martin cabled to his' brother in Christc'hiirch on Saturday from Switzerland, stating that he was en route to join the New Zealand force* in the East. Dr. Martin, who -accepted a commission as lieutenant in the Royal Army Medical Corps at the outbreak of' the war, and has greatly distinguished himself, holds a commission as major in the N.Z.M.C. After very, arduous services at the front and mention in dispatches, he began to feel the terrific wear of constant and often sleepless work in tbo rush times, and was brought to consultant service and direction at a'base hospital in France. He had recently written that, so severely was the long strain telling, he was returning shortly to.Now Zealand, but he has evidently once more accepted- the call of duty, and is to follow the New Zealanders into action, as he did in South Africa. ■>