Personalities.

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 348, 8 January 1903, Page 7

Personalities.

':■ * A JOKA4.JOKE. sSWKPON one occasion, at Vienna, a c|jsk Bavarian noble was uttering a philippic against Hungarian spelling . and. orthoepy. <: aDb,l jiatiirus Jokai, who! was? present," list^nep; with attention until the noble ChaS Then he rose, bow«di marked s" ; -'' ; '''' "-* i " &: ' ■*■ '■•" ' We do spell badly, and pronounce even worse, but, yjur excellency, that is a part of our national courtesy j wo do it to give- foreigners an excuse when they try to speak in our beautiful language,' ..,-» .;. PLON-PLON. The second son of Plon-Plon and of Clotilda of Savoy has for him not only his great name, but, if diplomatic gossip may be credited, the warm friendship of Nicholas IT., and, it K is» hinted, a brideelect in the Grand Duchess Helena, the prtty, hard-headed daughter of the Grand Duke Vladimir. He was little more than a boy when ha entered "tho Russian Army, and for long years he was colonel of one ot the imperial regimente, '■ while it is significant that his address ia the Almanac da Gotha is giveu as 'Peterhof.' Were his rider brother, Prince Napoleon-Victor, once out of the way, or even wholly resigned to abandon his claims, Prince Louis might soon soe himself installed at the Elysee. . I CONNAUGHT. ; /'/' / The Duke of Connaught, though ha preserves, as neither the King nor any of his sisters have done, a look of real youth and vigour, yet enters to-day his fiftyfirst year. As the godson and namesake of the great Duke of Wellington, it wa3 very early decided that Queen Victoria's third son must have a militaryrvogaticn, and. fortunately for himself, HlafjLoyal Highness seems to have taken very Mindly to the;idea;; jlis refusal-;Of jphegSaxo-Cbburg-Gotha succession caused-rib surprise among his friends and those of his young son, but -German cynics declared that the Duke of Coaaaught did not forgot in the circumstances his close connection with the Belgian Throne, to which he is next heir after Prince Albert of Flanders. The Bernadotte who founded the present Swedish dynasty is said to bave exclaimed, when dying: 'To think that I was once one of Napoleon's Marshals and that I am now only King of Sweden J' Perhaps King Edward's brother may live .to say: 'To fchink, 1 was, once British Commander-in-Chief!, and "that I am now only ruler of 'ces Graves Beiges!* '■'■-■ ; - i ■■■-■■ ■ v??|:*~ % -<--~ >

POPE STUDIES MEDICINES. Consternation was displayed in the Vatican recently when Dr. Lapponi, Pope Leo's private physician, was seen going towards his holiness' apartments with a'large microscope in one band and a case containing several vials and surgical instruments in the other. The rumour spread that the pope had suddenly become seriously ; ill; but soon= I§he truth became known. Pope Leo has long taken much interest in the progress or" modern medicine,'and Dr, Lapponi's object was to show him spscimens of the various microbes which have been discovered during recent years, and to explain to him the exact manner in, which each of them affects human beings. The germs of typhus, tuberculosis, diphtheria, anthrax and other maladies were carefully examined through the microscope by the pope, who then asked Dr. Lapponi many questions, especially aa bo the manner in which the germs find their way into human bodies and astothe methods which have been devised for destroying them. ;-";■' •■ ;. THE PEAEL OF SAVOY.' If. the Italians followed the example set by Queen Margherita there would be, fewer complaints of the neglect of native artists by their compatriots. Her love of the arts and artists, and hsr.own .accomplishments are well known, and Italians! never weary of telling oi' her kindheartedness. Many leading artists owe th eir present position to her help and sympathy. It was Queen Marguerite who, recognising the musical genius of Puccini, paid all the expenses of his musical education at Milan. The painter Farretto was a special protsge of he? Majesty, and to be a man af letters or an adept with the brush or the chisei is a passport to her favour. A good story is told of her first meeting with Gregorovius. She invited .him to dance in a quadrille with her, but the poor scholar could no more dance thau fly, and had to excuse himself.. { Whejeupon :the Qnaen remarked: ' Very well j since you don't dance, I will give up the quadrille, and We will have a. chat together..' 1,; - ~ ,

VIVIAN. Mr. Herbert Vivian is always amusing the world with some, n.9W., idea. .. The., btner day he chanced upon ;a eet "of .pic'. Johnson's works, and noticed that 'Rambler' ended with No, 208, and ', some stinging abuse o£ the, blockheads failed to support it. Happy thought ; %vhy not revive the eighteenth century journal, and continue to abuse blockbeads, even though they • make up their minds to buy ? The idea has ' caught oh,' and all sorts of people bave promised to contribute to the Rambler,' which will calmly begin with No. 209. page 1245. Mr.Hanley, Mr. Le Qailienne, Lady Colin Campbell, Lady Helen 'Craven' Father Ignatius, Miss Violet Hunt, and Mr. Hollingshead are to be among the early contributors, and Mr. Vivian's wellknown versatility is a guarantee pf literary surprises. The 'Rambler' will; not appear upon the v bookstalls, but will be served out to regular subscribers only. Among the early features will be a competition for naming the most unpopular Englishman, politician, author, artist, actor, &c, and the worst newspaper. PRINCE HENRY. Princß Henry of Chartre's seams to possess many of the more odious and more brilliant- qualities of his greatgrandfather, Louis Philippe. While keeping on the most affectionate terms with the Republican authorities, the powers that bo, he so manages his affairs as perpetually to provoke a comparison—all to his advantage—between himself and the Duke of Orleans, to whom he owes, a double grudge, the Duke having jilted Princess Marguerite of Chartres, now Daehess de Maganta, the wife of one of those French officers on whom Prince Henry probably hopes to rely when his chance comes. Ptineo Henry is, in a double sens?, a connection of the British Royal Family, for in addition to the old relationship eame that created by > the marriage, sixteen- years ago, of Prince Henry's eldest sister to Prince. Waldemar of Denmark, youngest brother of Qaeen Alexandra. Prince Henry, who had been i hitherto regarded as a confirmed bachelor, is said to be an aspirant for the hand of the King of Spain's youngest sister, who, as things now.stand, has only two lives between berself and the" Spanish throne—those of the frail AlphonsO XIII. and of the newly married Princess of the Astasias