PERSONAL NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2814, 19 February 1908, Page 77

PERSONAL NOTES.

—In connection with tho death of Dr Wilkinson, Bishop of St. Andrews, a singi lar coinc denco is established. It is a re1 tuneable fact that all the predecessors of Dr Stubbs as Bishops of Ti-uro have dh>d suddenly. The first oceupmt of ihe See, Dr Benson, afterwards Archb:shop of Canterbuiy, was taken ill while at service at Hawaiden Church, and died in a lew in'mues ; Dr Wilkinson was second Bisliop of Truro, and lie died during a meeting at Edinburgh ; and Dr Gott, the third bi^liop, died suddenly while giving directions to his chaplain in his study at Irony thon. — The death of Lord Hotham as a bachelor of 70 and the succession of his ctusin brings to light the cur.ous fact that since its creation 110 - ears ago the barony has never yet deac. .led from father to son. The three Ihsi holders of the title died unmarried, and the numerous Hothams to be found in the Army, the Navy, and the Church are all descended from the second baron. The new peer has broken the spell, for he married a charming Cork lady, and has children, A contrast to this erratic succession is afforded in Lord Bute's family, for example, little Lord Dumfries beinp; the fifteenth in a direct line of father an-d son. — Sir Walter Phillimpre, who has just celebrated his sixty-second birthday, numbers amongst his accomplishments that of being able to write as well with the left hand as with the right. In addition he has a thorough acquaintance with the Italian language, while his knowledge of Church law is unrivalled. Sir Walter's chief fault is sa : d to be his fondness for extra-judicial utterances. On one occas.orr, after a jury had acquitted a prisoner, he turned to them, and said that "they had failed to understand the case, notwithstanding all that had been said to them," which was a distinct refutation of the Lord Chancellor's dictum that a jury was far more likely to be right on a quest on of Tact than was a judge. ! — Contractor, builder, millionaire, art lover, and first Mayor of Pac^dington, Sir John Aird, who has just celebrated his k seventy-fourth birthday, has had a strenuous and not uneventful life. His grandfather was a woi'king man who was killed during the building of the Regent's Canal, while his father held a subordinate position in a London gas company. Sir John, from j small beipnnings. has built uu one of the largest and most successful contracting firms, j in the world Perhaps Sir John's bi^srest? ; undertaking was the damming of the Nile. For five or six years he had 14.000 men working for him oh the banks of that sjieat river; and the huge reservoir which ho • builr. holding 80.000,000,000 gallons of j water, stands as one of the engineering mar- ' iels of the a?e. Sir John's spare time isdevoted tc the' collection of art treasures and entertaining his friends in a right royal manner. — General Sir Cha-rles Mansfiold Chirke, who lat"lv resigned from his post as Governor of Malta, had only just completed his fiftieth year of service in honour of King and country. General Clarke reached the military age-limit for retiring last December, but was specially permitted by royal warrant to held his appointment until next March. But as he expressed a wish to. resign, his resignation had to be accepted. Sir Charles is no "knight of the feather bed." He has "smelt powder" in half a dozen hard campaigns, and has emerged from each one with credit to himself and with an enhanced reputation. In the almest forgotten New Zealand War he particularly distinguished himself, and in the Basuioland Expedition he added to the lustre of his -name. "Clarke's Column" was a force in the Zulu War that struck terror in its black opponents on more than one occasion. — A story concerning Prince Leopold of Battenbprg, who has gone to Algiers with h s mother, recently reached me, and was strongly vouched for (writes a correspondent). He was staying at a hotel in the South of Europe with hie tutor, and struck ■up a warm frierdship with an English lad holiday-making in the neighbourhood with his parents, respectable suburban dwellers with a shop in the West End. The boys went riding together and walking together, I and when the parents of the second boy were about to start for home they received a letter saying how glad Princess Henry of Battenberg would be if they would allow their sen to remain for a few weeks longer as the gup«t of hers. The roqiiest was naturally granted, and the suburban boy had "the time of his 1 fe." On his return to England both hp ar.d the uroud parents felt sure rhe conventions that hedsre royalty wou'd nut an en'l to the fm-ndshin. Such is noi the casp. however, and the youth is frequently asked to spend a day at Kensington Palace. — " A-srjuith will get on ; he is so direct," remarked Dr Jowett, the late Master of Balliol, on one occasion regarding the present Chance.lor of the Exchequer. And there seems little doubt that his sons will follow their father's example and win success. It was recently announced that, Mr O. Asrvuithj the younger son of the_ Chancellor of the Exchequer by his first marriage, bad obtained a scholarship at Balliol.

His succew fa She more lemarknMe bf> cause his eLdei brother. Mr Raymond Ac quith, ge-ined the same distin 'ion a fov years ago, both lepentutir tho achievement of then father. The Hall 10. Scholarship lC the highest academical distinction obtainable by a. '.ludent entPifjng Oxford. Mr H H. Asquith got his scholarship in 1870, :in<\ Mr Raymond Asquith in 1899. The father won tho Craien in 187+, the son in iB9C> The father got a Fellowship in>1874,/th\ son in 1902 — ihe former at.^B^Uiol. tha , lafter a. All Souls. Mr f J3sji ( vmond Asquith j added to his brilliant Hist of successes bj carrying off the E'floii Law Scholarship iuv <.1902,-ajnd he is ii&vi a rising member of, Iha Bar, -o! wtiich : '-hil3 < 'ft*her i 3 such a distinguished ornament. l '*>.-,. —It has become a legend that Sing Georflfe of Greece" bears the cares of State • as if they were a feather, and has the happy faculty of amusing himself oven while he works with his Ministers over intricat" State problems. Those who bosl know the King will be vastly amused by the story of a joke which Prince George, who has just married Princesa Marie of Bonaparte, worked'- off on his father. When som'» English warships were crtlisin«r in the , Mediterranean, Greece's "Sailor Prince" ~ visited one of them The officers set going a gramophone, which, aipong other tunes, , plavcd "TSvervbodv works but father." Prince George, who. like his father, spr>ak« English and half the Other lanffuaa-ps of I Europe, was hisfhlv de'.ijrhted with tho ?ir and words. "I must %ot f>iat rorord," he exe'airhed, "and nlav it f <_ . iiy father. I know it will suit hi;r> down to ihe srround." I The Prince obtained thp record, and pave a 1 dinner in Athens to some of his intimate friends, nt which he imifpd his father to be present. After the ban-met a concert, was arranced. and Prince Grorge worked some gvamonhone music into the programme. When it onme to thp "tinned mu*ic" number, the "TVrvvbidv worirs but father" record was inserted first. Everybody present who und^rsiind En^l'sli inpreciated the musical criticism of KiT>g , Georse. hut no one launhod more heartily at ihe joke than he did. — Army doctors bavo pot as much chnnce to distinguish themf.plvna on the field ol battle as their fi^h'-ina 1 brethren, yet. npv<*rtheless, they win iheir fair share of decorations There arp at prespnt alive -.0 fewer than ten discirl"s of JE?culapiu«i who are entiiled to wear that much-covetod honour, the "Victoria Cro's. The doyen ia r^douhtedlv Suro-Pon gpicral Sir Anthq.iv Horr'e, who on November 30 reached the patrif-rcHnl age of 81. Hp. too, holds the record for a medical officer, having- been through no le?s than fivp campaigns — more than many of our full Generals. He was the doctor of the L : ffht Brigs df at Balaclava, and of the 90th Light Infantry during the Mutiny. Tt w?s while pt Lucknow that he won the V.C for bis srallant deforce of fhe wotmdpd in thp R"«'dpncv. only h* and six men beinsr left «v , - o could handle '« ijnu.sket. Throe years later he was in the Norfih of Cbiia, and assisted in the eanture of the Taku Forts. Then fro*n 1E6 1 "! to v 1865 be took rt in the- New Zen T and '^ar ntrsinst thf Mrori«. his" excellent • work winning promotion and a Companionship of the Bath. N«»vt he served in Aslmnfi .aarainst Kine Kdffpe under S- ; r CJarnct, ¥o'- ' selev. his successful medical arrangements for the eamnaisrn bein<* r n wardpd hv nromotton to Surgeon -maior-general and the K.C.B It, is a coincidence that one of +^o three British regiments engaged was his old corns, the 90th Lisrht Tnfantry. the commanding officer beinc Colonel (now ; Field-marshal Sir Evelyn) Wood Sir Anthony retired 21 v»ars ago, after tiearlv 40 years' service. Hq lives in JC^nsinsf+on, and snav often, be seen on a fine day taking 1 his constitutional in Kensington Gardens

— A.t an artilleryman's wedding at BrieliI ton the bride was driven to the church in ■ & bronsfham drawn by six ervm-horses, ' adorned with white rosettes. The driven ! officers in uniform, tjnfd Ifhe team was preceded by 8 mounted leader —By applying electricity to agriculture, Mr W. Thwaite. C.E., who is experiment* . ins; a.t the Royal Botanic Gardens, reyort* j that an increased weight has resulted of J at least 37 per cent, in the case of strawberries, 40 per. cent, in the case of oato. and 90 por cent in the case of rye. — A catch of 4D larife royal sturgeon wag landed at ffrimsby the other day by the trawler Helvetia, whose skipper has beronw known in every fishinjr port as the Sturgeon King. He has caught more rovat fish than any other master of modern trawlers.

— The biggest leaves in the world are those of the Inaj palm, which grows on the f-\nfcs of the Amazon. They reach a length ' c 30ft to 50ft, and are from 10ft to 12ft rfi brchdrh. —It is asserted that the healthiest children in the world dwell in the Scottish Highland? T»eir chief diet up to the ; s.ge of five years j« oatmeal porridge and milk and they laiely wear shoes till they ire V. yeart, old.

[ —Sic James Reckitt, in the endeavour to lienefit those who "have not such a nice garden as himself," laid the first brick at the East Hull garden -village. He has been maturing the scheme for a year. — Iron cloth is largely used to-day by tailors for making the collars of coats sit properly. It is manufactured by a new process from the Bteel wool, and has the appearance of having been woven from hoisehair.