AN APPRECIATION

Hokitika Guardian, 13 December 1932, Page 4

AN APPRECIATION

WILLIAM JAMES BUTLER, Quite n wave- of sadness pervaded fhe town of Rose on Saturday morning when thp news went round that one of our best friends had crossed the Great Divide. Mr ' Bnt]er was the friend of the working' man. a s he himself rose from humble beginnings through grit and foresight by' seizing every opportunity for advancement. JR left his ' mark on any work he took in hand. 'Evidence thereof can be seen even by a stranger on arrival at the railway station. Great credit is due to Mr Butler for lifting Stuart and Chapman’g* sawmill from a very insignificant start to its present huge proportions which practically includes three sawmills. This mill employs most of the working men about Ross and apart from the Lime Works i s the sole sup- - port of the town. Again and again Mr Butler has come to the* rescue of the Lime Works, both with his valuable ex- . perience, os well as with his money. On one occasion when works were closed down, in company with another director ; Mr John Fitzgerald, they took off their coats, put their hands in their pocketg and said “We will see it through.” The grit and determination shown at this juncture by these two men can be seen, to-day on the hill overlooking Ross, and is a fitting monument for the spirit of a pioneer and the -heart of an English gentleman* H : s Worship the Mayor wired to Mra Butler at Wellington—“On behalf of councillors and citizen s of Ross accept our deep.; sympathy in the loss of an Empire Builder,”