PERSONAL.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXV, Issue 79, 10 April 1913, Page 5

PERSONAL.

Obituary: Sir Clement Hill, Unionist member for Shrewsbury, aged 68 (says a London cablegram).

The death is announced of Sir Henry John Wrixon, K.C.M.G., president of the Legislative Council of Victoria since 1901, at the age of 74 years.

Mr C. Potts, of Eltham, has come well through the operation recently performed upon him in Auckland, and is making good progress.

Dr. William Hamilton, a Methodist Church minister at Williamsburg, New York, conducted a service which lasted 21 hours and preached 21 sermons to attract new members.

Mastei Ken. Ward, a pupil of the West End School, New Plymouth, has been awarded the silver medal for marksmanship in the competition which was open to schools in the Taranaki Education District.

Mr It. Campbell has purchased the Taranaki Hotel, New Plymouth. Mr Campbell must come an easy first as being the man who has held the licenses of the greatest number of hotels in the dominion. He has in his time been landlord of over thirty. The Argus says he has been the occupant of each of the hotels in Eltham.

Mr Evelyn Wrench, the organiser of the Overseas Club, has reached Sydney, after an interesting tour of the South Sea Islands, including Fiji, Samoa, and Tonga. He found that a branch of the club, with about fifty members, existed at Suva, where his stay was made very pleasant indeed. On arrival at Sydney Mr Wrench was honoured with a civic reception.

The death of M. Jean Constant, the French painter and writer on art, is announced from Paris. His most noteworthy picture was "Hamlet," which was bought by the French Government. He was also highly esteemed as a portrait painter, and amongst others of note who sat to him were Queen Victoria (whose portrait was exhibited in the Eoyal Academy in the year of her death, 1901), Queen Alexandra, and Pope Leo XIII.

Mr A. Spence informs a reporter of the Post that he has definitely decided to retire from business in Stratford. As is well known, Mr Spence has been dissatisfied with the terms on which his premises were offered to him by the Stratford Borough Council on the expiration of the old lease, and this has largely to do With his present intention to retire.

Messrs C. B. Walsh and F. Arden have expressed their intention of contesting the forthcoming election of Councillors for the Stratford Borough. Meanwhile the present Councillors and possible candidates are singularly reticent as to their intentions. On Friday the southern ratepayers, who appear to be the only citizens taking an active interest in the affairs of the Borough, are holding another meeting. Developments maybe expected.

The death has occurred at Exmouth, in the 84th year of his age, of MajorGeneral James Harwood Rocke, C. 8., late Inspector-General of. Recruiting and Deputy-Judge-Advocate-General at headquarters. He served in the Kaffir war of the 'so's, and the New Zealand war of the '6o's, taking part in the affairs at Nukumaru and the capture of the Putahi Pa. His' services in the New Zealand campaign were mentioned in despatches, and lie received the medal and the brevet of lieutenant-colonel. He saw active service later on in the Egyptian campaign.

Mr Wilkinson, M.P., had a fairly

strenuous time during the Premier's visit in this district (states the Opunake Times), and during the heavy West Coast Lease interviews the member always put a word in season for the landowners who want a better tenure. The farmers on this coast recognise that with Mr Wilkinson to urge their claims and a very sympathetic Premier their chance of a better tenure never looked brighter. That the Premier was interested in the terms of the two leases was shown by his interjections of "Now what I want to be clear of is the difference in the two leases." He admitted that the case for the lessees was put very clearly to him at Opunake.