PRESENTATION TO MR. J. IORNS.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XIII, Issue 4054, 4 March 1892, Page 2

PRESENTATION TO MR. J. IORNS.

■ A Token of Esteem. About thirty of the' friends in Mast terton of Mr Joseph lorns, who ' recently Ie r t for Pahiatui, assembled ' f in the Club Hotel last evening to express in some measure to that gentleman the esteem in which he is held in the district. i Mr A. W. Hogg, M.H.E., was i voted to the chair, and expressed his personal gratification at seeing so B many old and representative settltrs i present. They were all, be said, r aware ot the object for which they ■ had met. He was pleased to see Mr • lorns with them that night, and felt J highly honoured at being called upon fl to make the presentation. He would I not add one word of praise to the language of the testimonial, which expressed in pleasant terms the feeling n of many friends in the distriot toward it the recipient. From what he knew of a Mr lorns that gentleman was & man of. the world and was not susoeptible i> to flattery or what' was known as il "soft soap." (Laughter.) He al--3 ways looked upon Mr lorns as an 1 estimable citizen and as one of the best '. of their colonists (hear, hear), He e had proved himself a good business J 1 man in every shape and form ; and !' was one of those who often did good ' but rarely let his left hand know what his right band did. As ono l( . who he might say had been 'brought up in the town, he was a credit both ; to his parents and the distriot (hear, g hear), The town was not very large t when Mr lorns was introduced to it, ,1 and Mr lorns himself would be very i. young. Of all the settlers of whom a they had been robbed by the Forty* - Mile Bush-and the Bush had taken 0 some of the most enterprising—the d loss of Mr lorns was the most keenly s felt (hear, hear): The presentation ' whioh he (the speaker) was about to make did not in its intrinsio value * convey an adequate idea of the high 1 esteem in which Mr lorns was held. j He had heard much said of that e gentleman, but against him was - never a bad word uttered, The testimonial (which was here read) was one b which Mr lorns riohly deserved, and , one which.he (Mr Hogg) felt the 1 greatest pleasure in presenting, Not ' only was the language it contained J complimentary, but it was in itselt a j work of art the like of which ho had [ never before seen in the colony, It a was a credit to the Wellington artist. The testimonial contained the names i' of 180 friends of Mr lorns, written by - one of his best known and most sin--1 cere acquaintances, He hoped that • as frequently as the eye of the roll oipient caught the testimonial his- , memory would be drawn back to the a many happy years spent in Masterton. , No testimonialhad been presented with 5 a freer heart than that before them, (Hear, hear). The gold watch and j 'silver hammer which he had also to » present were' in themselves intrinsio » tokens of esteem, Une of these articles j had not been manufactured in the' B colony, but was a Symbol of the i punctuality for which the re'oeive'r 8 was so noted (hear, hear), The r other (the auctioneer's hammer) re't fleeted the highost credit on Mr James * King, the well known jeweller of " Wellington, by whom it had been made, and bore the inscription," Pre* '< sented to Joseph lorns, of Pahiatua, as a token of esteem by his many friends lin Masterton." The services of the ~ hammer of Mr lorns had in the past e been of great value to' the district, > and he was satisfied that' in the ■ Forty-Mile Bush, or wherever Mr lorns might be, it would continue to » be wielded with credit, They had 6 had some delicacy in making the presentation, knowing as they did [ that Mr lorns had rather an objection r to anything of the sort, but they- » had selected the articles named in f the hope that they would be of some & value to the recipisnt. They were a ' spontaneous gift, and he. hoped Mr I lorns would live-loDg to wear and 3 wield them, and that himself and ( family would have a long and prosj p.erous career (prolonged cheers.) Mr lorns, in acknowledging the re* , oeipt of what be termed a handsome t present, said "he could .not in words , express his feelings towards- those [ wjip had been so kind to him,' > He had heard that he was to ' receive some sort of a gift, ! but he had neyer anticipated f anything of so great $ value as that . before him, It only proved what had j often been said of the people of Mas* . terton that for spontaneous good will s and charity they stood alone in the 1 colony, (Hear, hear). The presentation he bad reoeived was beyond his fondest dreams. He thanked all for the good wishes and kind feeling i expressed towards him, and hoped ! that he would continue to merit their j respeot and esteem, (Hear, hear). I Although living in Pahiatua he was , connected with seyeral institutions in i Masterton, and would continue to ■ assist any pause which he considered would be in the interests of the dis : trict. (Hear hear). He again thanked | his many friends for their kind wishes , ana; resunjgd' his 'seat 'amidst' loud [ .cheering. >.-...„■ i _ The toast of the guest of the evenr ing was. afterwards proposed by the Chairman and .drunk ip iju'rnpers, the ■ raeetjng then resojyipg itself into' a I gathering of a, SQQiaJkind, ' -■■;■