400 ADELAIDE AND VICINITY Mr. g. Brookman liberally subscribed towards the equipment of the Bushmen's Contingent sent from the Province to serve in the Boer War. In addition, he i>ives large orders within this Province for machinery to be used on Western Australian mines. Mr. Brookman is not ambitious of public life ; but he was for about eight years a member of the Walkerville Municipal Council, and was also for a period its chairman. Some time ago he bought the almost defunct Electric Light and Motor Company at Port Adelaide, which he was principally instrumental in reorganising, and of which he became Chairman of Directors. The new company now supplies Port Adelaide with electricity. Mr. Brookman is also the guiding principal in the P-lectric Lighting Company, which is to supply Adelaide with the new illuminant. At the time of writing he is absent from the Province on a trip to Eiurope. Mr. J. A. Bagshaw THE law of heredity, both direct and reverting, offers much food for reflection to the student of human affairs. No one can gainsay the influence of heredity, for it as been a potent force from time immemorial, and in the direct transmission of traits, gifts, and qualifications, has played an important part in every field of life. The subject is as vast as it is complex, and no writer in modern fiction has described with such unerring detail the influence of heredity on generation, as Emile Zola. Too often in these days do we find the expression " like father, like son," applied in the severely cynical sense of the term ; but it is indeed pleasing to come across instances of a son having inherited all the gifts of his parents and employed them to the best possible advantage. We find this in the case of Mr. J. A. Bagshaw, a son of a worthy pioneer of South Australia who did much to help on machinery manufacture here, and who has shown himself to be possessed of much of the inventive faculty which has made the house of Bagshaw a well-known and respected one throughout the Province. Mr. J. A. Bagshaw is the eldest son of the late Mr. John Stokes Bagshaw, and was born in P'ranklin Street, Adelaide, on September 26, 1838. That was a time when houses were very rare, and when the bulk of the population was living under canvas. Mr. Bagshaw was born in a tent under a large gumtree, at a spot not more than 200 yards from where the Pioneer Machinery Works, which his father inaugurated, now stands. He was educated at Mr. Jolly's school, and finished under the tuition of the Rev. E. K. Miller, in Pulteney .Street. His education completed, he entered his father's engineering works, and, starting as an apprentice, learnt his trade in its entirety. In his calling he exhibited marked ability, and, while a boy, he built a steam-engine in all its parts. He was the first South Australian native to achieve this distinction, and as a reward for his efforts he was presented with a gold medal by the Royal Agricultural Society, at whose annual Exposition the steam-engine was exhibited. The engine was a thorough one in every respect, for it was purchased by Messrs. Harford & Co., and the firm had it in operation for over ten years. In conjunction with his brother, Mr. T. A. Bagshaw, he has patented .several highly useful inventions in connection with agricultural machinery, and these have been greatly appreciated by the young community.
