VALEDICTORY.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIX, Issue 5359, 3 December 1928, Page 2

VALEDICTORY.

MR. O. G. THORNTON FAREWELLED A POPULAR ENGINEER. On Saturday morning,, at the conclusion of work, Mr O. G. Thorntop, resident engineer of th© Publie Works Department at Paeroa, was met by some thirty members of the I'dcal staff of the department to, bid him farewell. His Worship the. Mayor, Mr. W. Marshall, was also present. Mr A. P. Grant said that this was an incident in which they had come together with mixqd feelings. They were all pleased that Mr Thornton s move meant promotion, but, qii the other hand, they were sorry the promotion also meant a transfer. He had been associated with Mr Thornton for five years, and strenuous ones at that. The manner in which the works had been carried out was no doubt due to Mr. Thornton’s energies. He set the pace, and the staff had to keep pace with him. They had had a busy time owing to the large area over which the work took them, but he was satisfied that it was gpod for the individual to have his time fully occupied. They were genuinely sorry to lose such a capable boss, but they wished him every success in his new field of endeavour. Mr Grant then called upon Mr Marshall to make the presentation. The Mayor said that he desired to thank Mr Grant for the invitation to be present. Jle thought it was an honour and a privilege to have the opportunity of expressing his congratulations to Mr Thqmton, who had been vejry closely connected with the work of the borough during the last five years. Thq wqrk throughout the sub-area tfoday was held to show a high degree of efficiency. This he ventured to say was due to the sincerity and ability with whiqh Mr Thornton had carried out this duties. Mr Thoflfton was a man who equid always be relief upon to carry out his duties, and always gave a straightforward answer. Personally, he regretted that Mr Thornton was leaving, as he; appeejated the help he had given and could rely on his Opinion. He was sure that other, local bodies in the sub-areg. would have the same opinion. He was pleased that Mr Thornton was being promoted, but was sorry that Paeroa was not being raised to the same status so* that Mr Thornton could remain. He would for all time have pleasant recollections cjf the work Mr Thornton had done for Paeroa. On behalf of the Borough Council and citizens he wished Mr and Mrs Thornton the best of good luck, and hopejl Mr Thornton would in due time be promolted to the highest position in his department.

Mr Marshall said that he could, hot let the occasion pass without making reference tq the work done by Mrs Thornton. He had heard expressions of regret at her leaving just as much as he had heard r.qgrets about Mr Thornton leaving. Her wk with the Plunket Society and the Church of England would Iqng be r.emqmbered, and what was Paeroa’s loss would certainly be Gisborne’s gain. He had esteemed it a pleasure and a privilege to be assoiciated during 'his term as Mayor with the Public Works Department’s engineering staff and officers.

Mr Marshall thqn handed tq Mr Thornton, with the best wishes of the loc,al staff, a portfolio of records of Gilbert and Sullivans’ Opera, “The Gondoliers,” and for Mrs Thqrntop a double set of afternoon cake forks and knife. The health of Mr Thornton was drunk with musical honours.

In replying, Mr Thqrnton said that he was rather overwhelmed with all the nice things. that had been said about him. He declined to take all the credit for the work that had been carried out. He had at least one strong man in each branch, and, what was more, there was the good spirit of eq-opepation with the staff. This, in fact, had lefi him to take on a larger programme, as the principal work—the river.works —'had advanced to a stage where it could run itself. Although he had bqen kept busy, he had a feeling that he was backed up by his staff, and he; considered! himself fortunate in having such a good, all-rouird staff, ndt only in ability but in loyalty, and embued with the spirit of loyalty to the district. The loyalty that had bepn dispayed by the staff gave him time to go into the back-blocks and lay <Mit a big programme of much-needed work there. He especially wished to thank Mr Grant for the sqrvic.es rendered while he was laid up. The staff, in fact, had been particularly considerate and goqd. He had always tried to be just and fair. To Mr Marshall he said he felt extremely honoured by the remarks he had made. He would never forget the able way Mr Marshall had carried out the works in the towp. He fqlt it a pleasure to be associated with a man like Mr Marshall, whq had such a high sense of service to the public, and ability to carry out the work. The assistance he had given to Mr Marshall was work of moral help rather than engineeying. The credit for. the reconstruction of the streets of Paeroa was solely due to Mr Marshall.

Referring to ithe riverwbrks, Mr Thornton said he had not previously handled this class of work, and it was only through the goodwill of the staff that he had gained a lot of knowledge which could not have beep gained otherwise. Thq spirit of the Public. Works Department service was to take the work as it came; and this, lie was pleased to record, was the spirit of the Paeroa office and staff. He was sorry in many ways tq be leaving Paeroa, as he had enjoyed his term here more than in any othey place. He concluded by thanking the staff for their, help and loyalty, and also for. the handsqme gifts to Mrs Thornton and himself. (Applause.) Mr Thornton, in proposing the health of the staff, said that they were; a splendid crowd qf fellows, dependable in every sense, and he hoped the wheel of fortune w'ould bring some of them under him again at Gisborne. Messrs Smith, Grant, and McDonald

responded to the toast. Mr McDon- . aid, ip replying to the remarks of Mr . Thornton, said that there had been an extreme feeling of loyalty tq Mr Thor nton, and the work produced had been due to his Iqadertfhip. He o>nsidered Mr Thorntch one qf the ablest leaders they were likely to have in Paeroa. They would all like to sqp him on the top of the classification list. The health of Mr Grant was proposed by Mr Wilkinson, who said that they all considered Mr Grant was capable of carrying op, . and were pleased that the department had decided to give him an opportunity to extend himself. Mr Grant briefly replied, and said he was sure the loyalty givep to Mr Thornton by the staff would still prevail.