THE CIVIL SERVICE.

King Country Chronicle, Volume III, Issue 129, 8 February 1909, Page 2

THE CIVIL SERVICE.

Retirement of Officers. A number of changes in the Civil Service are about to take place owing to a decision of Cabinet that ail Departmental officers who have reached the ape of 65 must retire. This is in accordance with a provision which has been the law since 1*96, but has not been put into force. These officers will be entitled to superannuation a!- j lowanccs. and some of them will also receive additional amounts under the pensions Act. Their retirements will, however, result in a certain amount of saving to the Government. Following are the- names of some: o£ the officers affected by the provision: Messrs T. W. Humphries. SurveyorGeneral; C. W. Hursthouse, Chief j Engineer of the Roads Department: A. Barron. Land Purchase Inspector; Lieut.-Colonel Hume, Inspector of i Prisons; J. M. Batham, RegistrarGeneral of Lands and Deeds; \Y. T. Glasgow, Secretary of Customs: C. A. Wray, S.M. : G.Shannon, Chief Customs Expert. Mr C. "\V. Hursihjuse lias been Chief Engineer of the Department since its inception in He came out with his parents from Norwich. England, and was only two years old when they landed a Wellington in 1843. 1 He joined the Public Works Depart- : ment as surveyor in IST!, and laid out many road - and railways in Taranaki. ; He wa- transferred in le£2 ti carry ! out exploration work for the North ! Island Main Trunk line, and while I so engaged was taken by hostile Maoris i and kept bound hand and foot at Te Kumi for hours. lie laid out a portion of the Main Trunk railway, and. as Resident Engineer, carried out 342 miles of the work, from Te Awamutu to Mokau. Mr Hursthouse was for many years located at "le knit:, anc; besides laying off a conquerable portion of the Main Trunk line, was responsible for the reading oi a great portion of thdistrict In the ear,y davs before* settlement was commc-ncec • in 'the King Country. Mr Hursthouse ! carried on a grftt pioneering work". . and few men have undergone more in f the way of roughing it, in ai; parts of \ the district. From end to end of the j Rohe Potae his name and personality j are known ano respecten ny rjjropean ; and Maori a<:Ko, ano the esteem in ; I which he is held is some recognition j j of the worth and character of the man. I