A GREAT PHILANTHROPIST.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXV, Issue 1966, 29 December 1906, Page 3

A GREAT PHILANTHROPIST.

Tho late Mr George Herring was known to colonials as the giver ol ±IOO,OOO to the Salvation Army. As a matter of fact the English public did not know very much about him. His was a strange career. He began in humble circumstances as an assistant in a beef shop in Ludgate Hill, and dabbled in bookmakiug, frequenting a small sporting club in Bouverie street, where the usual bets were half'crowns and *• dollars.” In this club he laid tho foundations of his fortune, and then became a turf commission agent, acting ior several well-known people. He had an intuitive knowledge of what a horse could do. When he had amassed £60,000 he set out —a middle-aged man - to try his fortune on ' the Stock Exchange, and such was his ability that he made a vast fortune, Bo great was his reputation for integrity and business ability that the mere mentioning that ho had taken shares in a company once completely pacified a very hoatilo meeting. The last phase of his career was that of philanthropist. A man of simple tastes and generous instincts, he resolved to devote his fortune to charity, and he applied to his philanthropy tho same acumen that he had displayed in business. He sometimes adopted the stimulating device of offering to givo 25 per cent, of .the total collected for a certain object. Tins .course he followed in the case of the Hospital Sunday Fund, with the result that in seven years he gave £IOO,OOO to that must deserving object. Blit this ' was’ 1 only qny 'of l)is jhany channels of munificence. Ho was a great admirer of General Booth, and after closely scrutinising the work of the Salvation Army, gave it large sums of money. He crowned this good work by placing £ 100,000 at the disposal of General Booth at the end of last year, for the experiment in home .Colonisation of the surplus population. it was quite characteristic of the man that ho demanded tho return of the capital in annual instalments of £4OOO, after the scheme was on a secure basis, the money to go, not to himself, but to the King’s Hospital Fund, No ono knows the sum total of his gifts to charities, hut they are estimated at noarly £1,000,000, quite exclusive of the huge sums ho bequeathed, He was of a most retiring disposition, and refused honors in recognition of his liberality,-but huso prised a 16f’tor ; of thanks from the King that in his will he referred to tho letter as having led him tp order the sale of his town house for the benefit of the Hospital Fund. His ashes lie in a most appropriate spot, under fhc sundial in the grounds of ‘the haven for the poor which ho built near his country-house at Maidenhead,

Mails despatched from Melbourne via Nnpioa on the 21st November iirlived in London on (ho 2-lth December.

A painful accident occurred yoslordnv afternoon to John Gray, who was unloading wool from a waggon at the L. and Al. A. Co.'s store. The hook be was using missed hold, and the man (who was in the employ of A. Mclntyre) fell hack on his head, and nas rendered unconscious. On removal to the hospital it was iound that tho unfortunate man’s spine was injured.

Riingiliiii is slid ill evidence. The N.Z. Herald's Loudon correspondent writes: Kangiuia, the .Maori tenor, continues to make a remarkable success in this country. It is not- merely in Loudon —whore lie has as many engagements as he can possibly lull'd —but also in the provincial cities lie is winning triumphs, lie has lately boon fulfilling engagements in Ireland and in Scotland (Aberdeen, Glasgow, and Edinburgh), to say nothing of important centres such as Liverpool.

The Opotiki Guardian stales: 11 is expected that- Raukokorc will bo connected with Gisborne by telephone within the next week or two. Wo inderstand that the whole of the cost >f this work has been raised by subscription amounting to about ICSJJ. An opportunity will be given shortly to tin 1 residents of Opotiki to contribute to the cost of a connection with Raukokorc. giving us direct communication with Gisborne. Ibe Hon. James Carroll. A1.11.R., will, we are informed, open the line at Rauuikore .

One of the presiding justices at the Wellington Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday morning expressed the opinion that the manner in which bicycles and motor cars travelled through the streets constituted a great danger, and said lie hoped the City Council would take the matter into consideration. Accidents, lie stated, wero constantly happening in consequence of fast motoring and cycling. Sub-Inspector O'Donovan added that many cyclists, etc., failed (o have bells and lights on their machines, and explained that the police wore constantly taking proceedings against them tor breaches of tho by-laws. Corporation

inspector Doyle observed: “ W hat is wanted is a gun; one that won’t kill, but disable.”

A novel and probably unique taclo is at present to be seen on Mr Go Shaw’s farm at Claremont (says the Timaru Post), where there is a cow suckling two lambs, and bringing them up well. The lambs and their foster mother are the best of friends, tho cow appearing to be quito convinced that the lambs are her twin calves, and she

treats them in all respects as if they were, With such a liberal supply of milk as the lambs derive from the cow they have becomo so fat as to bo scarcely able to walk.

New arrangements have boon completed by the Department of Justice for the supply of copies of judgments of the Supreme Court to the legal profession and the public. Hitherto the only wayin which copies of judgments could be obtained was through the judges’ associates, and complaints have long been made thatj the fees charged were too high. The new arrangements made by the Justice Department provide that the copy of every written judgment shall be filed in the office of the Registrar of

tho Supreme Court with the papers in the case —and shall be open to inspection by the public ou payment of the usual fees, Copies will be supplied by the Registrar on payment of a fee of twopence per folio for copying.

Some youths who were enjoying a quiet little game of “ jingle the penny ’ in the Masterton street on Monday even-

ing got somewhat of a surprise (says the AVairarapa Times). The game consists of dropping a penny on a stone behind a paling fence as persons are passing, the object being to delude passers-by that they have either kicked or dropped a coin, and the trick is usually successful.

JAvo pedestrians hearing the rattle of ihe coin that night on their way home •dropped” to the trick at once and re-

irned to the spot a few minutes later

with a well-filled can of water. The ring of the penny again greeted them, and after pretending to he duped to ensure an aim, emptied the contents of the can on to the surprised tricksters, who thought tlicv had enough of “jingling the penny ” for one evening at any rate.

If the Marine Department is going to make the existence of our coastal captains more tolerable—and the Department has announced an intention in that direction - it would not be out of place (says the Dunedin Star) if a few hundred pounds were spent on tho coast of Otago. Some of the lighthouses, for instance, throw beams where they are not supposed to throw them, and some day a ship will go on the rocks, and the wonder will be how tho captain got so far out of his course, Coming to particular cases of misleading lights, Cape {launders is tho most familiar and the most faulty. Its arc takes in the Gull blocks, off the Peninsula, when according to tho nautical publications, these rocks should be obscured. Becently Captain McGilvray, I working an in-shore course up the coast, passed inside tho rocks, and saw the beam quite distinctly.

The picking of a “ double ” by Joseph Trewheela, aged 10 years, who staked his shilling and got back £4, led to a sequel in the Auckland Police Court. Jas. Boach and John Chas. Lynch were charged with having made a bet with tho boy, and Wm. Lynch with assisting in the making of the bet. All pleaded guilty. Sub-Inspector Gordon said the case threw a Hood of light upon the gambling habits which led young follows astray. The boy had selected two horses for a “double,” and asked Win Lynch

to have the bet recorded by his brother. Chas. Lynch had admitted that this was tho case. In regard to Boach’s case, the Sub-Inspector said defendant worn to where Trewheela was employed and showed him a race card, inviting him to bet, People like the defendant lioach, going around touting for bets in busi* ness places, really tempted shop assistants to manipulate cash. Each de-

fendant was fined £2 including costs. Tho information came out through a complaint by the boy’s employer.

The report of the Canterbury Frozen Meat and llairy Produce Expert Company, to bo presented at the annual meeting on January 9th, congratulates shareholders upon a very substantial increase in. the Company's business, and upon its haviog yielded a highly satisfactory result. After having distributed amongst freezing clients, in September last, a rebate on their summer freezing, there remains a credit to profit and loss account for the year amounting to £24,941 15s lOd. Of this tho sum of £6596 14s was distributed in Juno last by way of interim dividends, leaving £18,345 Is lOd now to be dealt with, and the directors propose to allocato this as follows :To payment of a further 3 por cent, on the pret'eronce shares, making 6 per cent, for the year, and absorbing 12250 ; to payment of a further 4 per cent, on the ordinary shares, making 8 per cent, for the year, and absorbing £4347 18s ; to transfer to reservo fund account, 15000 ; to carry forward £674 3s 10d, making a total of £18,345 Is lOd. Tho quantities of stock dealt with during tho year were j-At Belfast, 415,8,14 head'; at Fairfield, 347,588 head ; at i l’areora, 293,483 head, total, 1,056,885 | head, being an incrcaso of 158,070 head at Belfast, 52,743 head at Fairfield, and 154,001 head at Pareora, and a total increase of 364,874 head over the figures of the previous year, or nearly 53 per cent., and the first timo in tho history of the Company that the figures have passed the million. Owing to an in- | creasing deafness, Mr J . T. Ford has j found it necessary to retiro from tbp directorate, The Board wish to plag.o op record not only" their deep sympathy with him in tho causo which loads to his retirement, but also their high appreciation of the very valuablo services which he, the last of the original directors, has rendored to the ppmpany during tho past quarter of a' century,

Dr. Mason again strongly romiiulod a gathering of young mon on Tuesday ni"ht (says tho Evening Post) that tho athlete who desires to win distinction must lend *, clean life “ A man can’t keep himself in lit condition and bo a rotter,” ho remarked finally.

Air. Alexander Stewart, lieadmas r of the Union street School, Duiiiu, for forty-live years, has retired,, is old pupils are to give him a Lesmini ia I.

Tlm s.s. Delphic, which left Lyttelton for London last week (states the Times) was so full of cargo that space could not have been found for anotlirr bah* or uiulrr hatcluvs. .1 ho irlue of the cargo was over .9-100,000.

I’lie .Man,m at in Sfimlaid reports at Mr. Alai tin, mining".- of Colya creamery, wi lit down the well, 10 if in depth, to attend to the pump, ill'll a few feel down the top sec-

tion of the ladder gave way and Air. .Martin fell through some staging in lo ten feel of water. Although very much bruised .the manager climbed to the surface, and his shouts brought assistance. If was found that no hones Mere linike-i, but he Mas badly bruised.

I’lie extraordinary spectacle of a lock walking, cat-like, backward

1 forward over a gable roof, was

vitiiessed at Ta.vlorvillo on Thursday -veiling, states tile Wanganui Herald. \ bullock, an animal of about 13 mm tbs’ growth, was being rounded i(i in .Messrs. Nixon, linddelcy and I'lirlong's yards, after Wednesday's ale, m lien it sprang from the top

al' a cutting on to the riinf of Gordon's .stallh>s, a fair jump. Having got thus far, the bovine paraded hack and forward along tile roof, crossing the gable several times, and if was a considerable time before it could tie induced to return to terra lirma.

During discussion at a meeting of the Hunt County uouneil, a member of that body recalled tint it uas a general practice many years ago to nave the names ol owners painted on drays. Jle well remenilieroil a dray which Imre tho sign “Andrew Jackson, K.sqi.n e. ' 'the solicitor to the Board ventured an opinion that in days gone by the separation of a cart

rum its owner Mas a not uncommon leeui-renee, but in thes.' more sober hues a farmer who went out with

s cart always brought it safely ick, and for that reason tli? paintig of its owner’s name ou the vehicle is unnecessary.