VALEDICTORY.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXX, Issue 8444, 17 May 1907, Page 5

VALEDICTORY.

PRESENTATION TO MR A. C. SCRIMGaOUR.

About twenty of the leading citizens of Masterton assembled in the Borough Council Chambers, yesterday r afternoon, to make a presentation to i Mr A. C. Scrimgeour, who had been j licensee of the Club Hotel, Masterton, • for a number of years, and who is leaving Masterton to take over'the i Empire Hotel at Waipawa. i The Mayor (Mr J. M. Coradine) i occupied the chair. An apolugy for i absence was received from Mr J. , Macara. The Chairman stated that they had gathered together to say "good-Dye" to Mr Scrimgeour, and to make him a presentation in token of their appreciation of his good qualities. He was sure Mr Scrimgeour was worthy of the recognition he was about to receive. He then called on Mr Hogg to make the presentation. Mr A. W. Hogg, M.H.R., said that Mr Scrimgeour had been a member of the community for a number of years. When he came to Masterton he was known only to a few, but now he was as well-known as the speaker himself, and that was saying a good deal. Personally, he was sorry they were losing Mr Scrimgeour, and he was sure that in saying this he was voicing the sentiments of all present. Mr and Mrs Scrimgeour were highly respected in Masterton. Mr Scrimgeour was esteemed as a business man for honesty in his transactions; he was esteemed as a citizen, and also, he was sure, as a colonist ; During the time Mr Scrimgeour hac ' occupied the Club Hotel it had beer improved in many respects, and now it was a house suitable for any Minister of the Crown or the Governor oi the colony to stay at. When the speaker was in company with Lord Ranfurly, after the latter had stayed at the Club Hotel, he (Lord Ranfurly) said he had not met with better accommodation in New Zealand. In the speaker's opinion Mr Scrimgeour was a model hotelkeeper. He 1 had carried out the Licensing Act to the letter. Mr Hogg also- spoke eulogistically of Mrs Scrimgeour and her daughters. "I have never heard Mr Scrimgeour express a bad opinion about anyone," said the speaker, "nor have I met anyone with a bad word for Mr Scrimgeour and his family. If good wishes were golden sovereigns, Mr Scrimgeour would be a wealthy man in the community." In presenting Mr Scrimgeour with a handsome address, Mr Hogg stated that the address was a great credit to the gentleman who had executed it (Mr W. Sellar). He also presented Mr Scrimgeour with a smoking-case and with a cairngorm brooch for Mrs Scrimgeour and a gold bangle for each of the Misses Scrimgeour. Mr Scrimgeour said he thanked the people of Masterton sincerely for their gifts and kindness to himself and family. He would always make anyone from Masterton welcome at his new home. Mr C. A. Pownall said that those present had found in Mr Scrimgeour and family not only hosts but friends, and he wished them every happiness and prosperity in the future. Messrs E. McEwen, G. Heron, B. J. Dolan and E. G. Eton endorsed the remarks of the previous speakers. ~ The address read as follows:—"To A. C. Scrimgeour, Esq.—We, the undersigned residents of the Masterton district, desire to express our regret on the occasion of your leaving the Club Hotel, Masterton, whose popular host you have been for the past five years. During that time you have earned the respec.t and goodwill of all with whom you have come in contact. You have gained a reputation for uprightness, which we know to be well-deserved, and we ask you to accept this testimony as an appreciation of your many good qualities, together with our sincere wishes for the , future welfare of Mrs Scrimgeour, the Misses Scrimgeour and yourself." Then followed eightyseven signatures.