VALEDICTION AT WAIUKU

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 9, Issue 566, 14 September 1920, Page 2

VALEDICTION AT WAIUKU

MR. AND MM. W. J. KINO AND FAMILY. DISTRICT'S SPONTANEOUS TRIBUTES. PUBLIC FUNCTIONS AND PRESENTATIONS. ("Times" Staff Representative.) A great gathering of residents of Waiuku and the outlying districts assembled in the Waiuku Public and Temperance Hall on Friday night to pay generous and spontaneous tributes to Mr. and Mrs. W. J. King and family, of "Collingwood," Waiuku, the function being presided over by Mr. A. M. Barriball, one of the oldest and mosfr highly esteemed residents of Waiuku.

Mr. W. J. King, who came to Waiuku as a boy, has, by his native courtesy, manliness, and generosity, earned for himself a very high place in the estimation of the people, not of Waiuku district alone, but much further afield, which goodwill found collective expression in the endearing phrase, "Father of Waiuku." For many years Mr. King was clerk to various local bodies, including the Waiuku Town Board, and the Aka Aka and Otaua Drainage Boards, and the old road board.

Apologies for absence were received from Messrs. J. N. Massey (chairman of the Aka Aka Drainage • Board), J. Gribble (member of the Waiuku Town Board), H. 0. Mellsop (ex-member of the Waiuku Town Board, and president of the Franklin Sub-Provincial Executive of the New Zealand Farmers' Union), and , the Rev. Father W. Skinner (Roman Catholic parish priest, Waiuku). Among the visitors present to do honour to the guests were Messrs. C. K. Lawrie (Mayor of Pukekohe). Alan P. Day (clerk Franklin County Council), J. F. Deane (clerk Pukekohe Borough Council), J. Patterson (member of the Pukekohe Borough Council, and an old friend of the guest). There were also associated with the chairman on the platform Messrs W. L West, J. D. Chalmers, Alf. Jones, L. F. Shakespear, and other prominent residents of the district; also, speakers whose names appear in the course of this report. Address of Gratitude.

The function took the form of a concert, many excellent items being rendered. At the conclusion of the first part of the programme the following address (finely inscribed byMr. Arthur Barnaby) was read and presented by Mr. W. Claud Motion (chairman ot the Franklin County Council): — William J. King, Esq., Waiuku. —Dear Sir: In view of your approaching retirement from Waiuku, the residents of the district desire to take this opportunity of wishing you and your family farewell. In doing so we wish to record our deep appreciation of ihe services you have rendered so freely and unselfishly, both in your official capacity and as a private citizen, during a period extending over the past fifty years. In the former connexion we recognise that your efficient and conscientious service to the several local bodies has contributed greatly to the advancement of tiie district, and has thereby benefitted the settlers and inhabitants generally. And we further recognise most gratefully that as a private citizen you have acted as guide, philosopher, and friend to many of us. We desire also to express the deep and universal regret with which your proposed departure is regarded in this district; for by your kindness and never-fail-ing courtesy, as well as by your example and sound views you have created a place which will be difficult indeed to fill in your absence. The fine building in which we are gathered this evening will always serve as evidence of your civic patriotism, for we freely acknowledge that it was mainlydue to your efforts that the work was accomplished and our muchneeded town hall obtained. We would now ask you kindly to accept the accompanying gifts, for Mrs. King and yourself, as tokens of our affectionate esteem and remembrance. We trust that you may have many happy years before you in

which to enjoy a well-earned leisure after your life of arduous and single-minded service, and that during those years both Mrs King and yourself may be blessed with health and strength. The address was signed by many-well-known residents. The reference to the "line building" was an acknowledgment that, in face of both apathy and opposition the promoters of the splendid new town hall had brought the scheme to fruition, Mr. King having been the leading spirit. A Pioneer Builder. Supplementing the address, the chairman said that Mr. King and _he had been school mates, and 30 years ago Mr. King had earned his living by the sweat of his brow, per means of the pic-k, shovel, axe, and hammer. In those days a small building in Kent Street had served as school, church, and public meeting place. None of the buildings then in existence were now standing. An agricultural show had been held in 1869, and continued for several years. In the 1879 book he noted the name of Mr. W. J. King as steward. Mr King had been in the district fifty-six" years, and the departure of the family would prove an irrevocable loss to the district. Presentations.

The chairman then presented Mr. King with a very fine and extremely valuable gold watch and solid gold chain, the former being inscribed as follows: Presented to Mr. W. J. Kingby the residents of Waiuku and district as a token of esteem, 1920. Following the watch came a wellfilled purse of soverigns (Our representative judged that there must have been at least one hundred.); also; an armchair each, of most sump- ' tuous design, to Mr. and Mrs. King. A Straight-going Man. Mr. R. T. Reid (chairman of the Waiukul Town Board) said he had never known a more straight-going or more genial man than Mr. King. He had never been known to refuse anyone assistance, even at a considerable sacrifice of his own time and interests. His departure would be a signal loss to the district, and the speaker hoped l.c would return some day.

Dual Honours. Mr. C. K. Lawrie (Mayor of Pukckohe) averred that Mr. King was held in as high esteem in Pukekohe and other parts of Franklin and beyond as he was in his own home town, which was a singularly fine testimony to the worth of the man. In honouring the guests the hosts and visitors were honouring themselves. A Fine Personality. Mr. Claud Motion (chairman of the Franklin County Council) expressed, on behalf of the people of Waiuku and surrounding districts, regret at the coming departure of Mr. and Mrs. King and family. Mr. King's countless acts of kindness would never be forgotten. Even now he was not leaving the district for his own sake, but for the welfare of his two sons,

who were completing their education in the city. The speaker had in the district for 2U years, and had come to the conclusion that- Mr. King's fine personality and the generosity and honourableness of his nature wefe the secrets of his popularity.

Modesty of a True Gentleman. After the tumultous applause had died down Mr. King rose to respond, labouring under stress of great emotion, manfully suppressed. Standing there on the platform, with the quiet dignity which is. part of his likeable personality, his tall form towering above that homage-paying throng, one could not help making the mental note that he was aptly named.

"Equally with yourselves," commenced the guest, "I have had many difficult problems to solve during my career, but the hardest of all confront me now, namely, to express at all adequately, on behalf of Mrs. King and myself, the very deep sense of gratitude we feel for your splendid generosity, and, even much more than that, for the touching spirit of goodwill which these presents are expressions of. Believe me, we very greatly regret the necessity of severing life-long ties of friendship, and no words of mine can express our gratitude for these handsome and costly presents, to say nothing of the spirit in which they ace given. One would need the nerves of a Stoic to remain unmoved on such an occasion, which a stranger might think was >'n honour of some 'persona grata' instead of two old residents being farewelled. '• The handsome compliments you have paid to me are in no way deserved, for I have merely tried to do my duty and to carry out the golden rule, 'Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.' (Applause.) A man has duties to perform, not to himself and those nearest and dearest to him alone, but also to the

community, and the kind of name, status, or credit which a district enjoys depends largely on the manner in* which civic and neighbourly obligations are observed. .-"V Enthralling Historic Review. " I landed in this district fifty-six years ago, doing the trip from Onehunga in 34 hours, which can now be done in three hours. It was strange for young lads to arrive in a new, quiet district, with no life except the fluttering of the ground larks and the monotonous roll of the mighty Pacific As far as the eye could reach there was nothing but forests, and §and dunes. Messrs. Bregmen were.at Waluku East, whi-

ther settlers repaired during the Maori War. To the south-east were the supposedly undrainuble Aka Aka and Otaua swamps, the home of ftfe bittern and the pukeko. . " Now we Fee herds of cattle, tilltfa lields, comfortable residences—a l«#d flowing with 'milk and mortjiy.j (Laughter.) fp| " Waiuku was then a small hamlet) of one or two houses and a few small stores. The only public building was a wooden shed, 3oft by 14ft, used as church, school, and meeting-house. Mr. Henry Worthington, later master of the well-known school in Wellesley Street, Auckland, was the teacher. Every Monday morning each scholar had to bring a shilling to pay for his or her tuition. Also, all bachelors and householders had to pay 10s and £l, respectively, towards increasing the revenues for teachers. If the present Minister for Education were to try and to impose such levies there would orobably be a repetition of the W r at Tyier rebellion. But the pioneers valued education and paid for it ungrudgingly. " What a contrast to-day ? Wellequipped schools, teachers' residences, churches, parsonages, comfortable villas, up-to-date business premises, and distance a negligible quantity owing'to the telegraph and the motor, th*n not thought of. "In 1878 the telegraph came to Waiuku, and I received the first wire sent to a public official. Had I kept it that wire would now be an historic document." Mr. King concluded his enthrallingly interesting histoiic review with further expressions of gratitude, stating that he and his would always remember with feelings of lively appreciation the warm-hearted residents of Waiuku. (The reference to Wat Tyler's rebellion, which occurred in June, IPBI, was peculiarly apt. It was caused largely through the discontent aroused by the Statute of Labourers, the Poll Tax, and the general severity of taxation.—Ed. "F. and P. Times.") Items were rendered as follows, and highly appreciated:—Mrs. Knight and Miss Campbell, duet, "Sea of Glass, accompaniste, Mrs W. Motion. Recitation, Mr. Flett, "That Hired Girl," and humorous stories as encores. Solo, by Miss Vera West, "Hp Heard the Great Sea Calling; encore, "Harb.our of Perfect Rest;" Miss Swain accompanying. Solo, "Sink, Red Sun, Mrs. Motion accompanying. Rev. J. C. Fussell delighted the audience with a number of his inimitable stories. Appropriate airs were finely rendered by the Waiuku Town Band. Other Tribute*. After the public function was over the visitors were served with refreshments in the commodious sup-per-room under the stage of the hall, when a further toast was proposed to Mr. and Mrs. King by Mr. A. M. Barriball. Mr. T. E. McMillan (Pukekohe, and late of Waiuku) was entrusted with the proposal of a toast to Mr. and Mrs. King's two sons, whom, he said, were " chips of the old block," and displayed those fine qualities of heart by which the parents had endeared themselves to the whole community. An especially fine trait of their characters was the loyal filial affection they bore towards their parents. The young scions also displayed in their educational achievements promise of reaching the high mental calibre of their father by the time they reached maturity. The speaker also expressed his appreciation of the kindly courtesy of Mr. and Mrs. King, whose exemplary home life he had had opportunities of observing on their "Collingwood" estate, the fine old homestead of which was guarded and sheltered by a magnificent variety and profusion of native trees, planted by Mr. King's late revered centenarian mother. He had been associated with Mr. King a good deal, and had summed him up as being that rare production, one of Nature's gentlemen, than whom r.o man of the speaker's acquaintance

possessed :i loftier sense of honour and patriotism, both in the local and the national sense. His mind v.'as

too spacious to stoop to pettiness', and his comradeliness and practical sympathy for others were locally proverbial. He had rendered a multitude of diversified services for which he neither received nor expected reward, but if an abiding place of honour and devotion in the hearts of a community could be counted as a reward, then the district's guest was endowed with an abundance of the highest form of wealth mortals can aspire to. Mr. King was also the recipient of numerous other tributes during the week, including a handsome five-piece silver tea-service and cutlery from the residents of Aka Aka, and a dinner tendered in his honour by the Waiuku Town Board. The Waiuku branch of the M.U., 1.0.0.F-, of which Mr. King was practically the founder, gave him an enthusiastic farewell during the week, presenting him and Mrs. King with substantial tokeng oI MtMQk