Mr. Julius Wenkheim Is one of the old surviving settlers of the early days of the Shotover “rush,” and has, from the first, been prominently connected with the industrial progress and local government of the district. He was born in 1838, in Germany, and after leaving school was brought up to the drapery business. Mr Wenkheim landed in Auckland in 1859, by the ship “Rob Roy,” 380 tons, and about a year later removed to Southland. On the outbreak of the gold diggings in 1861, he went to Waitahuna, and commenced storekeeping, having brought goods with him from Auckland; and to have these taken to Waitahuna he paid £30 per ton freight. At the time of the Dunstan “rush,” he went there with bullock teams and pack horses loaded with goods, but afterwards returned to Waitahuna. About 1862, when cartage was £60 a ton, Mr Wenkheim came with goods to Kingston and Lake Wakatipu, and opened a general store, and afterwards added a branch at the Nevis. He was one of the first to cross the saddle before the Remarkable Range with pack horses. After being for some time at Kingston; he removed his store to the Nokomai, where he was burnt out, flooded out, and blown out. He courageously started again, but afterwards opened a store at Skippers, and also commenced business in Queenstown, where, in the early days of the settlement, he opened a drapery store. Mr Wenkheim succeeded fairly well, and carried on this page 1027 business till he sold out to Messrs De Beer and Waldie in 1873. Since that time he has conducted a financial and commission agency business. Mr Wenk-heim served for over twenty years on the Queenstown Borough Council, and took an active part in connection with the construction of streets and bridges, in laying out and keeping in order the Queenstown Park, selecting the head of the Lake endowments, and the establishment of the town's water supply. Mr Wenkheim frequently declined to be Mayor. He was a member of the Board of Wardens, and owing to the mixing of sheep, and the general confusion existing, he proposed and carried a resolution, that the Government should either give the Board full power with the runs, or dispose of them by public auction; and the latter course was adopted. Throughout the whole of his long residence in the Lake district, Mr Wenkheim has taken a lively interest in the general politics and the welfare of his beloved adopted country.