OBITUARY.

Taranaki Daily News, 2 November 1921, Page 4

OBITUARY.

MR. JOHN MORTON. The death occurred suddenly at New Plymouth yesterday morning of Mr. John (Jack) Morton,..who was visiting here on sick leave preparatory to taking lip the position of postmaster at Hastings. Mr. Morton, who was 45 years of age, was very well known throughout Taranaki. Some ten years ago he was stationed at New Plymouth, and at one time he was in Hawera, and he married the third daughter of Mr. W. D. Webster, of New Plymouth. For some time he had been in poor Health and was on sick leave for four months, but recently his condition had shown a welcome improvement, so that his sudden. death came as a great shock to his many friends. A brilliant scholastic and athletic career at the Temuka High School, where Mr. Morton was duy, was followed by early promise in the P. and T. service, where he became a very efllcient telegraphist, and in recent years his career had been marked by rapid progress. For two different periods Mr. Morton was attached to the cable station near Nelson, and at various times he was a telegraph officer at New Plymouth, Hawera, Auckland, Wellington and Palmerston North. From New Plymouth he went to Napier, where he was supervisor, and then he was. appointed superintendent at Timaru. Senior clerk in the telegraph engineer’s office at Christchurch was Mr. Morton’s next appointment, and then he was relieving postmaster for the Canterbury district. His promotion to Hastings was recenftly made, and Mr. Morton was about to take up this post. Altogether he was in the service for 33 years. Mr. Morton will be remembered by many in New Plymouth as a prominent tennis player. Earlier in life he tooK » leading part in many outdoor pastimes, and at seventeen he played representa•tive football for South Canterbury. At running be had many brilliant records to his credit, while tennis was always a favorite pastime. Mr. Morton is survived by his widow and two little boys, aged seven and three. He leaves two sisters (Mrs. Geo. Coplestone and Miss Morton, both of Eltham), and two brothers (Mr. Geo. 'Morton, of Inglewood, and Mr. W. MorIton, of New Plymouth). The funeral LvriU be private. -- •