AN INTERESTING MEMOIR

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 77, 24 December 1919, Page 4

AN INTERESTING MEMOIR

THE LATE MRS. THOMAS KEBBELL. On January 22 next it will be 80 years since the pioneers of the New Zealand Company landed at Petonc, and laid the foundation of the settlement of New Zealand. Ship after ship followed in succession' laden with immigrants and stores, and among thcjn was tho Bleu- | heim, which cast anchor in Port Nicholson 011 December 27, 38-tO, welcomed'by bright sunshine. Among her passengers was n girl twelve years of age accompanying her father, mother, brothers, and sister, who had left the home of their ancestors to found a new home in a new land, M'Donalds of Druimantorran, in Scotland, they sought a favourable turn of fortune's wheel in New Zealand. The people of to-day cannot really form any conception of travel as it was in those days. The Blenheim was a ship of 378 tons burthen, and on that voyago carried 197 passengers, besides officers and crew. Salt meat and biscuits were the staple food, and the voyage lasted four months The excitement of child on waking oje morning and finding the, ship at anchor may be imagined, and her joy at seeing the beautiful liarbour. of Port Nicholson surrounded by hills, bush-clad to the water's edge and alive with singing • birds, created an impression which lasted her lifetime. For eight years she saw forest disappear to give place to dwellings and pasture during the infancy o? the city of Wellington. Towards the end of 184-S she married Mr. Thomas ICobbell, who was then a pioneer settler on tho banks of the Manawatu River, but in the meantime she had experienced the awful earthquake of Hint year. That convulsion so disturbed the peace of mind of some of the settlers that thov chartered a schooner to la.ko themselves and their goods and chattels to Sydney, They set sail at the earliest moment, and among them was one of three men prominent in the call for constitutional government, and who were known as "The Three F's." The wreck of the schooner at the heads put an end to the desire of ])r, "William Fitzlierberfc to cast the dust of New Zealand'from off his feet, and lie subsequently did great, servico to tho colony h helping to adjust the differences between Downing Street and its distant protege, ending in the launching of '.lie "self-reliant" policy • which quickly brought an end to the Native troubles that hitherto, under the Imperial control. had seemed interminable. The bride accompanied her husband to the Manawatii, making the journey on horseback, which at that time was the only nltcrnnt'TO to walking. Hiding along the Old I'oriruu lioad, and passing the Porirua Harbour on the west side, they swam their horses across- the entrance to the harbour at the ferry east of where Pl : mnierton nnw stands. Following the Maori track through the bush over tho Piilcerua hill and down to the seashore, they rode along tho coast to tlie Manawatu River, and thence to their home.. Few nowadays know of the difficulties which then beset travellers on that coast --high soring tides, tho rivers Waikanne, Otaki. Manakau, and Ohnu each liable to flood, and each with a deep ehannel running 'back into sandhil's. Many a traveller • had been ' compelled to wait for hours or even days until the flood had subsided or the tide had ebbed sufficiently to allow of a, passage in comparatively shallow water near the lino of tho In caking waves; or in the case of tho Otaki the traveller might have made a laboured journev i inland and sought, the assistance of y friendly Maori who would take him across the river in a en imp and low the horse behind In these days the bench was the.main road northward from Paekakar ki as far as Scolt's Ferry on the Pangilikei River. The earlhoiiake of 1856 and unprecedented' floods in the river ended Jim Manawatu venture, and (lie bride of '18. with three children out of four (nue hnviiK' met tho "New Zealand death"-— drowned in the river) were brought to Wellington, where she saw further gr»at changes in the develonment. of the city. She liad nlrendv seen forest removed for dwellings and'pastures: later she sawshoos >and stores veolarc flwellinps. and still ' later she saw dwellings displace horso= and cows. Nurtured iti times wlren ' woman s r ; Kilts" wem motherhood and home management, home life was- the life of tho late -Mrs. ICoVMI. With all her faculties clear t« within a few hours of death, she lived loved liy children, godchildren. and grrat-grandchi'dren. Uith her death : t. mifbt almost be. said that the foundation of this Dominion lin? now passed from the ken of 'he eye-witupss intft the domain of tradition.

Nursina Heroism. Fiftv -'Florence Nightingale" medals aiv. to be »vnrded in' -lajmnry to those nurses who Ia re lielii io have performed the most heroic nnd self-siicrifieing deeds durin's the war, states an English exchange. The awards will be made by the International Hwl Cross Committee of Geneva, and all fiilly-e.erWfiented nurses, of wliaiever nnlionnlity—Allied, "eneinv." or neutral—will bo eligible as claimants. , In future vears only six awards will be made annually. The medals will be ,of silver and enamel, engraved with a portrait o£ Florence Nightingale. Miss Daisy Kennedy. Mr. John Tait. writing privately, says: "In regard to Miss Daisy Kennedy, you will, no doubt, bo pleased to hear that she lias without any question made a wonderful fiensation in this country. She went (o Adelaide first—her native city---and gave five concerts there, and did really wonderful business, notwithstanding the fact that the temperature was over 100 in the shade every time she appeared. The results were astonishing to us; but the whole point of the thing is that she is a remarkable player, and she really created a sensation c-ver there. We thought this was''perhaps by reason ,of it being her native city, but.we sent her over to Sydney. She first appeared in conjunction with the A'erbmgglien Orchestra, and subsequently gave concert!), nnd all I can pay is that Daisy Kennedy is the , talk of Sydney. She is a splendid looking girl, has evidently a remarkable personality, and, what is more, is one of the groat violinists of the day. Her recitals in Sydney are an immense success, and that, is a pretty good achievement for a girl who has not an international reputation like Clara Butt, John M'Cormack, or Mischa Elman." First Aid Examination, The following ladies obtained the St. John Ambnlnnco Medallion ut the examination in first-aid at the Y.W.C.A., on December 3:-Mona Bnen Grace Freeman, Adelaide Dormer, Katherine Weir, Annie Bull, Lilian Fowler. The following also passed and obtained first-aid, certificates—Olivia Shaw, LuVu Morice, Enid Fisher, Agnes Davis, Edna Hawken Molly Morpeth, Daisy Lambert, Mary Morgan, Katherine Miller, Beatrice ■I'liil'lips, Carrie Cramner, Lily Middleton, Ellen Cinrkljje, Florence- Press, lillen AVcst, Fanny Scriveus.