Page:History of Adelaide and vicinity.djvu/532

 5o6 ADELAIDE AND VICINITY Mr. H. A. Parsons Hachelor of Laws was conferred upon Mr. Parsons, and in the same month he was admitted a practitioner of the Supreme Court of South Australia. In January, .1898, he entered into partnership with the well-known barrister, Mr. P. McM. Glynn, B.A., LL.B., M.P. Early in 1897, at a by-election consequent on the death of Mr. George Ash, M.P. (the late partner of the Right Hon. C. C. Kinoston), Mr. H. A. Parsons was a candidate for a seat in the House of Assembly for the District of Albert. He did not, however, go to the poll, having retired in favor of Mr. George Riddoch. From speeches he has delivered, from the interest he takes in public affairs, and from various indications of intellectual strength and judgment, the friends of Mr. Parsons are exceedingly hopeful of his future. Upon him may devolve the duty of carrying on the public work of a useful and influential South Australian family. As a speaker, he has already made a reputation, and the present Minister of Agriculture recently, in replying to the toast of "Agriculture," which had been proposed by the .subject of this sketch, is reported to have .said that " he had often listened to the eloquent speeches of the Hon. J. L. Parsons, and it seemed that the mantle of eloquence had fallen on his gifted son." Mr. William Kither MR. WILLIAM KITHER was born at Bow, London, in 1843, and when 12 years old in 1855 he came to South Australia with his father. The latter opened a butchering business in Adelaide, and the .son embraced the same occupation. In 1870 Mr. Kither h '.d a business of his own in Rundle .Street, and from that time to the present he has been one of the greatest food providers in the Province. Enormous numbers of cattle and sheep have passed through the store of Mr Kither to the tables of Adelaide residents — the sum total would provide supremely interesting pabulum. In 1881 Mr. Kither entered the Adelaide City Council as Councillor for Gawler Ward, and two years later he became an alderman. He has since pursued an even and unostentatious career, being content merely to serve the ratepayers according to his lights. He is not ambitious for high office, having repeatedly declined nomination to the Mayoralty of Adelaide, a distinction for which his training fitted him, and which his splendid services merited. He carefully and sincerely performed the duties of Alderman ; he assisted beneficently in the civic administration ; and as he knew his city thoroughly, he was a model civic father. But though Mr. Kither is not one who desires glorification, he has yet obtained a widely respected name for his charity. Large numbers of people have reason to revere him for his secret gratuities. His donations to public philanthropic institutions have been large. In the winter of 1884, when South Australia was in an extremely depressed condition, and poverty and privation were terribly common in Adelaide, he afforded a great deal of relief to the hungry by providing soup kitchens where the p<jor could obtain food at all hours, and his liberality was appreciated by many starving families. He is a Life Governor of the Children's Hospital, of the Deaf and Dumb Asylum, and of the Institute for the Blind. He .served for 10 years on the Board of Mamigement of the Adelaide Ho.spital.