LONG PUBLIC SERVICE.

Taranaki Daily News, 2 July 1921, Page 6

LONG PUBLIC SERVICE.

‘RETIREMENT OF MR. F. CARRINGTON. W TRIBUTE FROM COLLEAGUES. Eighty-one years of unbroken service by the Carrington family in the survey administration of Taranaki was brought to a close on Thursday, June 30, when Mr. Follett Carrington retired, at his own wish from the position of chief draughtsman at New Plymouth. This record of service is unique and dates back to the very earliest days of settlement at New Plymouth.

Mr. Follett Carrington had been in the department for almost 40 years and his retirement was marked by a large and cordial gathering at the Lands and Survey Office on Thursday, a presentation being made. Details of the long connection of the Carrington family with the surveying organisation in Taranaki were given by Mr. W. H. Skinner in the course of some remarks he made. Mr. F. A. Carrington, uncle of Mr. Follett Carrington, was appointed chief surveyor for the New Plymouth colony of the Plymouth Company in June, 184 Q. On his resigning in March, 1844, his brother, Mr. Octavius Carrington. was appointed and Jield the office until 1870, when he was appointed by the General Government to take charge of the whole of the public worlt; in the Taranaki district, which duties he carried on until 1882. lie, however, continued in private practice for some years longer. Mr. Follett Carrington, after serving with his father for a few years, entered the .Survey Department at New Plymouth in 1881. It is also interesting to note that Mr. Octavius Carrington achieved a record iji training no less than three Surveyor-Generals, two of this Dominion (Messrs. Percy Smith and Thomas Humphries) and one of Natal, South Africa (Mr. George Northcroft). Another of his pupils (Mr. C. Hursthouse) rose to the position of chief engineer of roads for the Dominion.

Mr. 11. J. Lowe, chief surveyor, presided at the gathering at the Lands and Survey Office on Thursday, members of the Land Board being present in addition to the whole of the staff. Mr. Lowe voiced the general regret that all felt in losing Mr. Carrington. The department was losing the services of a thoroughly competent and painstaking officer, the general public were losing a most courteous and obliging servant, and the staff were losing a kindly adviser and friend. The speaker stressed the point that Mr. Carrington was one of the most competent men the department possessed, and had he desired could have attained to the highest position in the service, but, after doing faithful work in other districts he had never yielded' in his loyalty to the district of his birth, and had turned down promotion and hhd elected to return and labor in the Taranaki district, or, as Mr. Lowe put it, “nothing could keep him away from his beloved Egrnont.” Mr. Lowo recalled some incidents when he and Mr. Carrington were young surveyors together, which proved. Mr. Carrington was a man of high integrity, ever courageous and undaunted in the face of dillieulties, and whatever he took in hand he made a /thorough success of. Mr. Carrington's whole career in the service had been on those lines, and he had risen step by step to his present position. Mr. Lowe again voiced the general regret of the staff at losing Mr. Carrington and then presented him with a pair of binoculars, suitably inscribed, and a case of pipes, and assured him that he carried with him the genuine good wishes of the staff for the future. 1

Other tributes were paid by Mr. W. 11. Skinner (ex-chief surveyor), Mr. A. L. B. Ross (district land registrar), Mr. G. W. Palmer (chief clerk of the Lands Department), and Mr. C. J. Ryan (on behalf of the Land Board).

Mr. Carrington, on rising to reply, was warmly received. He spoke feelingly of the wrench it was to severe connections with the staff, and it was very gratifying to know that he had won their respect. Ho did not really believe he deserved all the nice things said about him, but he had always endeavored to do his duty faithfully, and to do his best to help his fellow officers, so that if they did have a warm corner in their hearts for him he felt he was amply repaid. Me was still a comparatively young man, but felt that having had 40 years of rather strenuous work he was entitled to a spell, and so make room for promotion for younger men. He had long wished to visit other countries, and now his chance had come, but he hoped to return to ’New Plymouth andfl'enew his pleasant connections with the staff. He thanked them for the handsome presents they had given him, and wherever lie might be he would always look back with pleasure to the good fellows he had left behind in the Survey Office and the happy times spent there.

At the call of Mr. Lowe, three hearty cheers were given for Mr. Carrington, and the whole company lustily sang

“For he’s a jollv good fellow,” and thus ended one of the most genuine valedictory ceremonies imaginable, for the company felt that Mr. Carrington indeed was a “jolly good fellow.” Earlier in the afternoon the field staff met and presented Mr. Carrington with a gold albert, many expressions of goodwill being voiced. Another mark of the esteem and respect in which Mr. Carrington is held was the waiting upon him on Thursday of a deputation consisting of every practising surveyor in the province. Mr. L. C? Sladden, who acted as spokesman, stated the high place Mr. Carrington held in their estimation and thanked him for his over-willing assistance to one and all. He then asked Mr. ( arrington to accept, as a small mark. of their esteem, a gold watch-chain, jocularly remarking that a surveyor's thoughts ■seldom wandered far from chains. Mr. Carrington suitably responded.