Personalities.

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 450, 1 December 1904, Page 2

Personalities.

DUCHESS OF ALBANY, ENGLISH men and women, and Society in particular, have a warm admiration for the Duchess of Albany, the gentlemother doomed so early to widowhood. Since the death of Prince Leopold.she has devoted her life to her children and to works of philanthropy. Withal she has not neglected self-culture. She is. a talented musician and painter, and good judges of embroidery say that the Duchess's skill in this direction is remarkable. If' it came to an impartial examination it is probable that the Duchess would prove the most expert chemist in the Eoyal Family, the King, thanks to his practical training under Lyon Playfair, being her most formidable rival. She has a taste for literature, and Buskin used to be a muchfavoured friend of the family. Of all literary men, however, 'Lewis Carroll' was the darling of the Albany household. He recited the whole of Bruno's thrilling adventures to them before the manuscript Bad passed to the printer's hands, and to his sweet little friend Alice, now Princess Alexander of Teck, he sent a specially prepared copy of the exploits of her namesaks in * Wonderland.' THE GRAND DUKE BORIS. That lover of skylarking, the Grand Duke Boris, whose propensity for '•f scapading' has proved too much for General Kuropatkin, is rather more irresponsible than his elder brother Cyril, and regarded as decidedly less capable as an officer. Duke Boris, who is first cousin to the Ozar, is only twenty-six. but he has already made himself notorious in more than one Continental capital as well as in America. During a visit to New York in 1902 he proved a strong rival to the gilded youth of that city. His motor-car exploits became famous. One of them consisted in felling a tree by running full tilt against it in the effort to win a wager. He was reported to have given suppers to chorus ladies from whose slippers he drank champagne, and to have offended nearly every leading society lady by his breaches of etiquette. In his favour it must be recalled that he was literally mobbed by New York reporters, and doubtless many of the startling statements attributed to him by them were creations of their own too fertile brains. This is said to be a highly-placed determination that he is to be taught that, though he is a cousin to the Czar, his love of skylarking may not bo gratified at the seat of war. EARL OF MANSfIELD. Lord Mansfield is the fifth in line of an earldom in 1776, to which was added a second earldom in 1792. His barony of Scone, moreover, is of earlier date, for it was given to Sir David Murray, Cup Bearer to James the Sixth when the seventeenth century was five years old. and a little later on came the viscounty of Stormont. There was also at one time a barony of Mansfield, the holder being William Murray, younger son of the fifth Viscount Stormont, and friend and companion of Pope. To him came the two earldoms, of which the second enjoyed the distinction of being, in a fictitious title. The first was the earldom of Mans6eld in Nottinghamshire, the .second the earldom of ' Mansfield in Middlesex '—a non-existent place. The two earldoms wore separated for one generation, but became united again in the person of the fourth earl, who succeeded to both and called himself Earl of Mansfield and Mansfield—a title, howevor, which was apparently not recognised officially, since it has never appeared on the roll of poors. The present earl, who by virtue of his peerage is hereditary keeper of Scono Castle, was a Guardsman. Ho succeeded to the title six years ago and celebrated his forty-fourth birthday lately. The curious feature about the united earldoms was the fact that the second Earl of Mansfield married the daughter of the ninth Baron Cathcart, herself already Countess of Mansfield by succession. ROOSEVELT'S RIVAL. Judge Alton Brooks Parker, who has been adopted as the Democratic candidate for the Presidency of the United States, is the chief judge of the court of last resort in the State of New York. He is fifty-two years of age, a big, vigorous, athletic man, with red hair and a red moustache. He was born at Cortland, and until thirteen he helped on his father's farm in summer and attended school in winter, after the fashion of most country lads in the United States.

Later he became a village school teacher, an occupation in which he is said to have found his physical strength a useful asset, and in his leisure moments studied law. At the age of thirty-four Mr Parker became a Justice of the , State Supreme Court. Judge Parker has the reputation of being industrious, conscientious, and a sound though not brilliant lawyer. His capacity for hard work is great. He has a farm at Esopus, on the. River Hudson, where he spends as much time as he can spare from Albany, and here he loves to ride round his acres or along the country roads. He will even wield the scythe occasionally for an hour before breakfast. He has a hundred acres under' cultivation, and makes a hobby of breeding 'fine cattle. He is an excellent swimmer, and was disporting himself in. the Hudson .when the reporters brought him the news of his nomination. During term time at Albany he is up at seven o'clock every morning to take a ride no matter what the weather may be, and among the other personal particulars industriously collected by the American Press, it is recorded that his coats are fashionably out, and that when in town he - .