THE LATE MR ALEXANDER REID.

Globe, Volume IX, Issue 1355, 18 June 1878, Page 3

THE LATE MR ALEXANDER REID.

The "John o' Great Journal" of April 25th contains a long notice of the career of the late Mr Alexander lieid. After giving an account; of his early years, and his connection with the London, provincial, and American press, our contemporary goes on to say: — "He sailed in the Great Britain steam-ship in 18G1 to Melbourne. During an eight weeks' voyage, umidst some GOO passengers, he edited and write most of a periodical, entiled " The Cabinet," for circulation weekly on board among passengers and crow. This was so highl.i appreciated that the passengers subsbiibed some £3O, and had it printed in Melbourne. Copies of it having preceded him to Dunedin, New Zealand, it was the moans of

at once procuring him a place on the leading daily paper there, the "Dunedin Times," then under the management of Mr now Sir Julius "Vo (i el. *******

He only staved a week or two in Australia, and then crossed to New Zealand, and in a couple of days fell naturally into his accustomed work on the Press, where he remained for several years, and where part of his duties was the recording the landing at Port Chalmers of thousands of emigrants, among them being many hundreds of Caithness men and women.

During his residence of sixteen years in New Zealand, he edited papers in Ilokitika, West port, Wellington, Christ church, and other towns ; and although there are upwards of ninety newspapers in New Zealand, those who knew him best said " the ablest editor in the colony." His last engagement was on the Canterbury "Daily Press," in Chrislchurch, which, he said, was the most congenial of all his varied engagements. He gave up this appointment in March last, and went over to Auckland to visit his brother, who had then returned from Scotland, and to make arrangments for coming home—alas! never to be accomplished.

He was twice elected a member of the Legislative Council at Nelson —the first time after a hard contest with an Irish gentleman. But he tired of so-called Parliamentary duties ; and, though members there are paid, he gave up the post, and said it was " vanity and vexation of spirit." * * * Sir Julius, under Q-overnment auspices, established in Wellington an important daily paper, and appointed Mr Eeid as its principal editor and manager, but, after a time, this, too, he had to relinguish, as the great responsibility and continued night-work which it entailed was too much for him.

Whilst in Nelson he was appointed inspector of gold mines, at a salary of £SOO, but he declined the office, although there were few fitter for the post, as he had on foot visited nearly every goldfield in New Zealand, and in return it was the miners who principally carried his election. He was a great pedestrian, and went over, as he said, " hundreds of miles where the feet of a white man never trod." He was fond of boating, and when resident at Port Chalmers he had a boat and crew at command. He also was a great swimmer, and, like most swimmers, he had many perils and narrow escapes. A few years ago he accompanied a Government exploration party for many weeks, and wrote a very voluminous and lucid narrative of their travels and doings —sufficient to fill an octavo volume.

From his manly and genial disposition, Mr Reid made many attached friends—we believe he made few enemies—and the sad news of his untimely death will be read with sorrow by many in this place, who were expecting at no distant date to have the pleasure of seeing one whom they so much esteemed. But such longings were not to be realized.