PERSONAL.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXVIV, Issue 31, 12 January 1916, Page 6

PERSONAL.

Sergeant Claude Harrison, late of the Hawera postal staff, has been given a commission as lieutenant ,"» the Ninth Reinforcements (Signallers' Division.

The West Coast friends of Lieutenant T. E. Y. Seddon presented him with a revolver, sword and compass. Lieut. Seddon was appointed adjutant for the. troopship-Maunganui. ■'

Mi : Wynn K7rkby, eldest son of Mrs A. V. Kirkby, of -New Plymouth, has just recdived a commission., in theimperial Navy. Almost since the outbreak of war he has been serving on one of the monitors which did such good work, on the Belgian coast.

Private Natstke, of Whangamomona. who was reported to have die,d of wounds is, according to advices received by, Trooper T. Malone under date oth December, at present alive and convalescent in Taplow Hospital, London.

In the course of a letter to a friend in Patea. the Rev. H. J. Dean«. Idrmerlv vicar of Patea, stated that in consequence of the death of their son, Trooper Bernard Deane, at the front, both Mrs Deane and himself had abandoned their intention of returning to "the Dominion.

The' Defence Minister has been informed that Colonel F, W. G. Chaytor has been selected to command the New Zealand Rifle Brigade, which will reach its full strength when the Third and Fourth Battalions now completing their training at Bangiotu proceed to the front. Major Gardener will become Brigade-Major.

The Chronicle announces the death of one of Wanganui's oldest, best known and most highly respected settlers, in the person of Dr. R. C. Earle, who passed away on Saturday at tillage of 72 years. The deceased, who was a native of Totnes. in Devonshire, came to New Zealand in 1866, where he practised his profession until three or four years ago. In the early days, during the fighting on this coast, h e was appointed s»igeon to the Imperial and Colonial forces.

Mr K. W. Kane, clerk assistant of the House of Representatives received a cablegram last night from the manager of the P. and 0. Company at Sydney, stating that his brother, Mr A. R. Kane is among the missing from the liner Persia, which was torpedoed in the Mediterranean Sea, on December 30th. Further information was promised should such be obtainable. Mr A. R. Kane was senior inspector for the P. and 0. Company, with which he had been connected for many years. He was well-known in New Zealand, which he last visited a few years ago.

Of the members elected to the House of V Representatives for the first time r at. the general election of September, 1887, four—Sir Joseph Ward, Sir James Carroll, Sir W. B. Percival, and Sir Thomas Mackenzie—have been selected for titular honors, whilst one, the Honj W. P. Reeves, repeatedly re-. 4'iised a title. It is also worthy of note that of the men hist returned at that. election three— Sir W. B. Percival W. P. Reeves, and Sir Thonia* Mackenzie—have occupied the position of representative for the Dominion in London, the first as Agent-General, and the >o hitter as High Commissioners. Of the members returned in 188" only.four remain in the active political life of the Dominion—Sir; Joseph Ward, Sir James Carroll, the Hon. James Allen and Dr. Newman*. The" first two have been in the House continuously since then.