PRESENTATATION TO MR W. GUNN.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1163, 20 October 1883, Page 3

PRESENTATATION TO MR W. GUNN.

Mr W. Gunn, who for the last three or four years has managed the Orari Estate, was presented by his late workmen and neighbors, last Thursday night, at the Orari Hotel, with a very handsome gold watch, on the occasion of his leaving the district. Mr John Mundell (of Geraldine) occupied the chair, and Mr J. Gregg (of Orari) the vice-chair, and the Rev Mr Barclay having said grace, the guests sat down to an excellent repast provided in Mr Breadley's best style. After the good things had been done justice to>

The Chairman proposed 'The Queen and Royal Family,' which was duly honored. The Chairman then proposed the toast of the evening. He said {they all knew the object for which they had met. It was to bid farewell —a temporary farewell he hoped—to Mr Gunn. He believed that Mr Gunn was not going to leave the district altogether, and that he Would again return to it soon. They all knew what sort, of a man Mr Gunn was. He-was one of those of whom any district might be proud, and in losing him ' they lost a very valuable resident.' He j was a man that never undertook a| task that he did not accomplish, he was always the-mastermind in any movement; with which he was connected. He was really a much better man than he himself thought he....was, and if he had; only t thought a little more of his abilities he would be the best man in the district. The presentation he was about to make to hin; had been got up in a quiet sort of a way amongst those who were latelv employed under him and a few of his immediate neighbors, and had it been made public he was pretty well sure it iwould . have assumed much larger proportions than it had done. It was, however, a sure teat of a man's worth to find the very men who had worked under him holding him in such him estimation as to think him worthy cf a presentation. MrMundoll

ibhen made the presentation of the gold watch, bearing the inscription ' Presented to William Gunn, Esq., by his friends, on leaving Orari, October 18, 1883' He thsn proposed Mr Gunn's health which Was drunk with musical honors, and Mr Binstcin sang ' Good Old Jeff.' The Rev Mr Barclay said he felt exceedingly gratified in being present. It was pleasaut to show esteem to those worthy of it, and there was no doubt but Mr Gunn was. He was a man of ability, integrity and perfect trustworthiness. Colonists were in the habit of criticising each other very freely sometimes, and amongst others he had heard Mr Gunn criticised. The verdict always was that •Mr-Gunn could not easily be rubbed out.' (Laughter.) The district had lost a valuable man in him; the Belfield School Committee had lost an excellent Chairman ; his late employers had lost a man on whose integrity and capacity they could depend, and he (Mr Barclay) had lost a personal friend. He was sure they all would join in wishing him prosperity in his future career.

Mr Gunn felt it difficult to find words adequate to express his feelings. He had been in the district three years and three months now, and he found it impossible to leave without feelings of regret. He had. had the management of a large trust estate, and he was sure they would all realise that it was far more difficult to conduct that than if he had had the assistance and advice of a private owner. As for the management of stock he could always do that, as he had been brought to it when be was a boy. His aim always had been to do what was morally satisfactory to himself, and at the same time agreeable to the wishes of his employers. If he could tak the Chairman's words for it, it would appear that he had succeeded, aod he felt gratified at findicg that he had earned the good opinion of so many. He hnd done his best to do justice to all consistently with the interests of his employers. He had scarcely ever employed a man off the road however much he might sympathise with them, because he thought it was his duty to employ his own neighbors first. He felt that this was a duty that everyone ought to recognise It was eveiyone's duty to put what he oould into his neighbors' way instead of going out of the place, and he had found that it always answered well. He always got his work cheaper and better done by his own neighbors than he would by going out of the district for men. He valued the presentation made to him that evening not so much for its intrinsic worth as for ■the feelings; that prompted it. It was very gratifying to him to find that the men who had worked under him, and whom he had to' treat perhaps harshly sometimes, held him in such high esteem as to think him worthy of such recognition, He wasglad to say too that though he was leaving, the relations between himself and trustees were of the most amicable kind. Orari was for. tunate in having one of the most zealous, obliging and capable officers in the Railway Department in charge of its railway station; also in having an excellent master in charge of the school, and in having such good settlers coming into it lately as Mr James Guild, of Trevenna, and Mr J. Gregg. Since he came into the district a considerable increase had taken place in the number of settlers, particularly in the village .settlement, 'and he had always tried to turn them into account in the working of the place, and felt a considerable amount of regret in saying, farewell to, his small as well.as large neighbors. ■■ <■.

The Ohairman next proposed 'The Agricultural Interestp,' coupled with thb names of Messrs Gregg and Kelman, Both acknowledgedjthe compliment, the latter observing that it was often he wished he could keep as cool and collected as Mr Gunn could. He had opportunities of seeing what Mr Gunn did for the last throe years, and could say that he had done everything to the best advantage. ' The Pastoral, Interests,' coupled with the names of Messrs Pitt and Mackay, (Peel Forest) was also duly honored. a 3 was also the toast of the host and hostess,

The Chairman next proposed the toast of ' The Press' coupled with the name of Mr Twomey, who in response expressed the.regret he felt at parting with so goodnatured a friend as Mr Gunn. Mr Twomey also expressed the difficulty ho felt in competing with the large papers. 'Hie Chairman said that be believed Mr Twomey undei-estimated the value set upon the local papers. He could say from his own personal experience that in his own office there were the Lyttelton Times, the Timaru Herald, and the Press, and yet the first paper the people asked for was the Geraldine Guardian. He believed that if the Guardian continued to imDr'ovo as it had from the beginning it would 'rub them all out' in,the course of time.

Mr Gunn said he used to get several pipers, but for local news, and select articles, he preferred the GerAldine Guardian to any of them. He also felt it it a great compliment' to himself that Mr Twomey had come such a distance that evening to be present at the ceremony.

'The Board of Education' was next toasted, coupled with the name of the Rev George Barclay. ..

The Rev Mr Barclay'thanked th9m on behalf of the Education Board. It was

not nl'ltn ihu Education Bowl got thanks; it generally got more kicks than halfpence He could assure tliem, however, that nothing would be left undone by the Education Board to foster the interests of education.

Mr Binskin explained that the presentation had been got up principally by the workmen on the Orari estate, and it more trouble had been taken it would have been far larger than it was. There was some difference of opinion between the subscribers. Some wanted the presentation to be made in the schoolroom, others wanted it in the hotel, and tha< was the reason some of them had not attended.

Mr Gunn expressed himself more than satisfied with what they had done, and proposed 'The health of|tlie Chairman' which was duly honored and responded to, and the proceedings terminated with all joining in siaging ' Auld Latig Syne.'