PERSONAL ITEMS

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 93, 12 January 1918, Page 7

PERSONAL ITEMS

The Hon. .Arthur Myers, Minister in Charge of Munitions and Supplies, left for Auckland by yesterday's/express, 'and will be returning to'-'Wellington on' Tuesday. ' . . The Hon". W. D.S:MacDonald returned ifroin,the South Island yosterday morning. Mr;-A.; D. Crawford has been elected a ■ director of the Equitable Building and Investment .Company. of 'Wellington, Ltd.,. in place of-the late Mr. David Anderson, v

Councillor George Frost, chairman of the Wellington City Reserves Committee, returned, yesterlay morning from •a visit/to Canterbury and Otago.

Mr. L. S. R.. King has been appointed Deputy Registrar of • ■ Marriages, Births, and Deaths for the district of Eketahuna, and- Mr. W. Baxter for the district of-Otaki.-

Mr. Alfrod de Bathe Brandon has been elected a director of the Gear Meat Preserving and' Freezing Company of New Zealand, Ltd., in place of the late Mr. David Anderson.

Miss Hcldsworth, of Havelock North, Haw'ke's Bay, and Mr. H. A. Holl, of Auckland, with Chief Guido Graliam and-Guide Lippe, have accomplished'the ascent of Mt. Cook, from the Tasman side. Both are 1 mountaineers ' of considerable experience. .Mr. Holl has.been an enthusiastic rock climber both in the English Lake District and- in Switzerland. He was ono of the founders of the Ruapehu Ski Club, and is the leader of the band of this club that pays an annual winter' Visit to the National Park of this island. At a meeting: of the Presbytery of Clutha, held on January. 4,- the Rev S. Robertson Orr. accepted: the call addressed to him by St. Andrew s Congregation, Wellington. Mr. Orr was ordained to the ministry of tho Presbyterian Church in 1911, and was settled-at Waikaka.. He was placed, in charge of *St. Andrew's Church, Dunedin for a year, during the absence of the Rev. Dr. Waddell. On. Dr. Waddell's return, Mr. Orr accepted a call to c the • Presbyterian Church at Milton; It is expected that Mr. Orr will leave Milton in the middle of next month, and that he will commence his ministry in Wellington in the beginning of March. Mr. John Myers, of- Messrs. J. Myers and Co.. Wellington, has left on a business visit to Japan, and expects, to be away for six months.. Mr. T. Collins, of tho Otaki "Mail" staff, took suddenly ill with appendicitis on Monday -last and was successfully operated upon in Wellington Hospital on the following day. Mr. James Stewart,' hemp grader, who has been stationed at Fox ton for tho past-two years, is being transferred back to Wellington.' Mr.. Scolley, from Wellington, will fill the vacancy. Mr. G. P. Parker, accountant, who spent his earlier years in Christchurch, during which period he was a muchvalued contributor of dramatic notes to the "Weekly Press," writing wider the pen name"old Stager," died suddenly at Te Aroha a few days ago.

Mr. James MoncrielF has been appointed a trustee of the Carterton Cemetery in place of thoiato Mr. W. Moore, and Mr. W. B. Allen lias breu appointed an additional trustee.

. The death occurred on Wednesday morning, after a brief illness, of ik. Georgo Cormack, who has been well known in Christchurch for many years as a contractor. The late Mr. Cormack was born in Aberdeenshire in 1858, and arrived in the Dominion in 1881. He tool: a groat interest in horses, and was a familiar figure at stock sales both here and in Australia. Mr.'Cormack had actcd as judge of draught horses at various shows, and had acted as buyer for the Wellington City Council and other bodies.' For sonic time tho deceased served on tho Spreydoii Borough Council, and lie was. also- a Freemason of long standing, being a member of Christchurch Lodge, No. 91, N.Z.C. He leaves a widow, one son, and a daughter.

Engineer-Commander J. Dunlop, who was oil the H.M.S. Avenger when she was sunk, has received his dincharge from the 11. N.R., and is returning to iV T e\v'Zealand. Mr. Dunlop was chief engineer of the Wairarapa when she was wrecked at Great Barrier Island, and he was awarded the Royal Humane Society's gold medal, a very, rare award, for saving life. Ho was also on the Hawea when she was wrecked. Mr. Dunlop went Home to superintend tho construction of tho . Union Company's 15,000-ton . vessel Aotea Roa, which was taken over by tho Admiralty, and re-named H.M.S. Avenger.

An announcement was recently:.made by the Base Records Office that, tho Military Cross had been awarded, to.' Captain Robert Briffault, who was unknown to the authorities. The recipient of the honour is evidently (states a Press Association message from Auckland) tho Auckland surgeon of thac name, who went to England in May, 1915, received a commission in the Roval Army Medical Corps, served in Gallipoli until the end of that campaign, and during the past eighteen months has been in France.

Mr. G. T. Haskins, -.head of- the Locomotive Department on the Westland section of Railways for the past two and a half years, is retiring on superannuation shortly, when he will remove with his wife and family to Chpstchurch.

Second-Lieutenant T. J. Gordon, of Hokianga, who returned to New Zealand recontly, is, so far as is known, the-only officer of the Zealand Forces who has won the Distinguished Conduct Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal, and the Croix de Guerre. He left New Zealand as a private -in the Main Body, served throughout the Gallipoli campaign,. and while in France was selected for a commission. Ho has never been wounded.

A tour of New Zealand has been arranged for Dr. Morrison, political adviser to tlio Chinese Government. Dr. Morrison will not be able to spend any time in any of tho smaller towns of this country except the one or two places which he will visit for the purpose of seeing something of tho scenic beauties of this land. He is to visit the Bluff on January 17, and Dunedin the following day. On January 21 ho will leave for Christchurch, remaining until the evening of January 25, when he comes to Wellington, iVoin Wellington he leaves for Taumarunui on January 29 to go from there down the Wanganui River to Pipiriki. He will not do the dower reaches of the river, but will return to tho Main Trunk line via Ractihi, and proceed to Rotorua, there to spend a few days enjoying himself at fishing or sight-seeing. He will be in Auckland on February S.

Mr. R. W. Dalton, British Trafie Commissioner |in New Zealand, will .visit tho South Island shortly. He will spend a few days in Christchurch, and two or three weeks in Dunedin, where he . wishes to place himself in direct communication with the business people.'

The engagement of Dr. Jaihieson, resident surgeon at Nelson Hospital, lias been 'extended until six months after the declaration of peace.

Mr.'B. F. Hollands has been appointed electrical engineer to the Stratford Borough Council, vice Mr. Newton (resigned). Mr. Hollands is at present in the Public Works service, being relieving engineer at tho power house in the Lake. Coleridge scheme. He is a graduate, of tho Institute of Electrical Eugineers of Great Britain, and holds a certificate of membership of the Institute of Electrical Engineers of South Africa.

Mr. John Craike, who is at present in Australia, lias accepted the appoint'nient of manager of To Mata vineyard-, a position which lie held until about three years ago. Sinca then ho has been -.working his own farm in Victoria. When Mr. Craike was formerly in charge-of Te Mata the vineyard was owned bv Mr. Bernard Chambers, whose interests have since been acquired by Reginald Collins,' Ltd., Wellington.-

One of the oldest and most respected residents of the;Nolson district died in tho Nelson Hospital a few days ago in the person of Mr. Joseph Packhard, at the advanced age of 92 years. Until a few weeks ago Mr. Packhard was wonderfully halo and hearty for his' years, but after being taken to Nelson Hospital from his home at Motupipi lie gradually failed. He arrived in Nelson in the ship Bcnecia in 1846, and after two or three years engaged in bushfelling, took up land in the Takaka district. Mr. Packhard took a keen interest in-local body and church matters.

Amongst the . recently-returned Taranaki soldiers (says the EKham "Argus") was Sergeant F. H..Masters, of Stratford, who left with the Main Body over three years ago. Before leaving England, Serjeant Masters was informed that ho would be granted threo months' leave of absence, but upon his arrival fin Wellington he discovered that his leave had been curtailed to three weeks, and that his .pay was to be stopped. The matter was_ brought under "the notice of the Minister ot Defence at AVellington by Mr. M'Millan (Mayor of Stratford), and the probabilities arc that the case will receive favourable consideration.

Private advico has been received, in Christchurch that Mr. A. E. Cooper (of Sims, Cooper, and Co., Ltd.) has (says the "Press") been appointed Chief Livo Stock Commissioner of Great Britain under the Ministry of' Food. The five stock section has been' formed to control "the movements of all stock, and for the purpose of tbe control the country has been split up into 19 areas Mr. Cooper will bo responsible for lookino- pfter the work-in." of thpso areas. IrTaddition to these duties Mr. Cooper lias an important post under the War Department's woo" scheme, and he has been. loaned to tho Ministry of Food on the uuderstandinc that he returns to Bradford on May 1, and.keeps in touch with the wool-purchase business. The Auckland "Star" reports that Mr. W. J. Sexton, r.n Auckland boy, who left last year to j'oTn the motorboat patrol, has been appointed chief engineor on the flagsMp of the motorpatrol flotilla in tlie Mediterranean. He is 23 years of ape, ana was educated at the Auckland "Grammar School, and was later with the firm of Turntnill and Jones, of this city. On arrival in London, lie passed the preliminary examination. securins the highest marks for New Zealand. "Ho passed his final examination in June, receiving only one mark below the maximum, and was recommonded for a chief 'rating, which, he received on Dcccmber 24.