Death Of Mr. A. B. Gibson

MR. A. B. Gibson, father of Mr. H. B.

Gibson, MLC,<of Labasa, Fiji, died in New Plymouth, NZ, on May 10.

He was the son of a New Zealand pio neer, and he had many public interests.

When his son went to Fiji, in 1926, the late Mr. Gibson took a keen inter est in Fijian affairs, and he was one of the somewhat small band who refused to believe that “copra is finished”. In 1940, he co-operated enthusiastically with his son in experimenting with copra as fod der for pigs and cattle. Although he was not able to arrange for shipments from

Fiji, he was indirectly responsible for the direct shipments from Samoa to the port of New Plymouth, which were of such real assistance to Samoan planters at a time when copra was said to be unsaleable.

Mr, Claud Milton Allpress, who had been with the Colonial Sugar Refining Co. for over 40 years and was well known in the Rewa River district, Fiji, where he was a CSR official for some years, died suddenly at his home in Kew, Vic toria, on May 14. He was 62 years of age. His wife (Mrs. Lilly Allpress), daughter (Rewa), and son (Eric, who is serving in the AIF), survive him.

Mr. Robert Iredale, who was manager for the Vacuum Oil Co. Pty. Ltd. in New Guinea prior to the outbreak of war, now is serving in the Royal Australian Air Force, in Britain, attached to the RAF. Recently, he was given the rank of Acting Squadron-Leader in charge of Blenheim bombers that make nightly raids over Germany.