PERSONAL NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2896, 15 September 1909, Page 77

PERSONAL NOTES.

— It will bo news to many people io know that Count Zeppelin fired the first shot oi the- Franco-German war. -Thie was in -th< cavalry engagement of Neidexbronn, wihicl opened hostilities in July, 18?0, the Counl then being c young officer of Hussars. Th< party which he commanded made a sudder and daring raid across the frontier intc Alsace, when some valuable information as to tha French dispositions' was acquired. —Mr H. K. Raine is a young artist whc paints portraits in a light so subdued ato seem, to the new-«omer's eyes, almost total darkness. He has invented a portable shutter for regulating the light of a, room, and is thus able to paint ihis sitters in theit own homes. One result of his method is that he paints with extraordinary speed. Sittings of about half an hour before and after luncheon for. one week are all that he demands. Mr Raine makes bis own oil, canvas, and colours by a secret process, and anyone may see the dietinot similarity between his colours and those of the old Dutch ccrtourists. — An ingenious Americar writer (cays the World) has divided mankind into -" sulphides '■' and" " bromides." The former are the people who think for themselves, coin their own phrases, and act as stimulants upon a jaded world. The latter, the " bromides," are just the reverse. Thej hold always the accepted opinions, us© always the hackneyed expression. Upon seeing you aftar a long interval they are certain to observe that "you are quite a stranger.-'" If a " bromide " meets casually someone who turns out to be a .friend of a friend he never fails to remark, " How .small the world is ! " — There is a .touch of real romance in the recent appointment of the Hon.- A.- A. Kirkpatrick as, new Agent-general for South Australia. Forty-nine years ago a poor widow with two boys lived in Bishopegate street, close to the 6ite of the South Australian offices. She emigrated with her children to -the Antipodes, and the youngw lad, who was then 12, began work in a printing office at 5s per week. The boy, on reaching manhood, was electee} to the State Parliament, and ultimately he came back to Bishop6gate street as the first Labour Agent-general ever sent by a colony to England. — Sportsmen will be interested to know that Mr Roosevelt's license in Africa is just an ordinary one, and permits him to shoot the following: — Two male elephants, two rhinoceroses, 10 hippopotami, 21 antelope (including two kudos, two" gemsbok, and ono bongo), two' earth' hogs, two earth woives, 10 ohevrotain6 (musk deer), two co!obi or fur monkeys, two marabou*- storks, twe ostriches, two egrets, and one chimpanzee. There are no restrictions on th« numbjr of lions, leopards, and crocodiles that ho may kill, but he may not shoot any of the following: — Giraffes, wild assoe, elands, zebras, female or young elepliante, vultures, saddle-billed storks, whale-.headed storks, crowned cranes, okapi, female buffalo, female or young ostriches, Speke's tragelaphua (female) — Sir William Ffolkcs (says the St. Janu 4' Budget) has been elected president of th» King's Lynn Sons of Reffley, a moat exclusive social society, which has been in exiat-enco for nearly a century and a-half. The members assemble in their temple in Reffley Woods to transact business and to indulge- in old English pastimes. Near the tsmple i-3 a chalybeate spring, the water from which enters largely into the concoction of a wonderful punch which is served at ths banquet, and of which the recipe has been kept an inviolable secret by each succeeding president for over 100 .yeaT3. — The Duke of Cumberland, whose magnificent palacs ir Vienna was burnt to the grouml recently, should have more than a pacing interest to the average English reader. Brother-in-law of Queen Alexandra and eou-sin of King Edward, the Duke is descended directly from George 111, " farmer George " being his great-grand-father. The long-standing quarrel between the Duke and the- Kaissr is, of course, not unknown. Efforts have been made over and over again to establish amicable relationship between him and the German Royal Family, on one occasion by Queen Victoria herself, but without avail, the Duke declining such intervention on the ground that being a German Prince he could not ask the hslp of a foreign Government. — There i* no more interesting figure in Canadian politics than Sir Charles Tupper, the last of the "Fathers of Confederation,'' a* the framers of the Constitution of Canada are called, who recently entered on his eighty -ninth year. Sir Charles is the last Conservative Premier of Canada. He became Prime. Minister in 1896, a fewmonths before Sir Wilfrid Laurier 6wept the polls with the Liberal party behind him, and c-ince then he has sat in the shade-s of Opposition Sir Charles, who now lives in Vancouver, is a Baptist minister's eon, and was educated in Scotland. He has probably made more speeches than any other 'Canadian, and some time ago spoke 25,000 words at a stretch. ' — Lord Rothschild, whose criticism of the Budget has aroused considerable discussion, is one of the richest men living, and in

times of crisis is consulted by everyone who counts in the City He is credited with having prevented more than one war It is but a century ago that the foundatior of the great financial house of which he is the head was laid, and the starting of i< was due to the tact and business ability exhibited by Mayer Amschel Rothschild. Today that fortune is said to amount to sornethink like £400,000,000 sterling. The Paris Rothschilds own a fifth part of "this,, the head of the French branch of the family being accredited- with £40,000,000, while the capital of the "Vienna Rothschilds is computed at £20,000,000, exclusive of the private tortune of the firm. «<;T" Baron d'Erlanger, whose opera, Tess, ' was produced at Covent Garden, recently, will not readily forget the first performance, which took place af the San Garlo Theatre, Naples, some time ago. Vesuvius was in erupt-iota at. the time, and the. theatre contained comparatively few spectators, who were half panic-stricken. During the performance the roofs of some buildings near the theatre fell in, and the lava dust, which got into the theatre, nearly choked and blinded both listeners and performers.' Next day the theatre was closed by order of the municipality. The baron has been a musician all his life. At 5 he was able to improvise on th« piano, and when, quite «a. young man he wrote a great number of songs.' He" is an active partner in one of the great banking houses of London, and, although a naturalised Englishman, his family history is somewhat curious. He was born in Paris, bis mother bem-g an American and his father a German, while his maternal grandmother wa» French. -

— few men enjoy more popularity in the House of Commons than Colonel Lockwood, who succeeds the late Sir J. A. Jacoby as Chairman of the Kitchen Committee. He has held the seat for the Epping Division,. of Essex for close, upon 20 year?, and although, some haro ridiculed his stories concerning German military spies in Epping Forest, he' rarely foils to command the -lespeot of both parties. The Colonel is a great teller of stories. ' His mother, he says, used to impress on Vim the wisdom of keeping accounts, and his bookkeeping usually worked out" at: "Postage stamps, 4d; j«p, 6d; ohapel, 3d; lost, through * hole in my pocket, £? 10s." He is, it might me mentioned, one of the best-dressed men in the House, and can be identified af any distance by hie smart military bearing and the angle at which he wears his hat. — Earl de Grey, who succeeds his fatihsr, the late Marquess of Ripon, in that title, is not only a clever musician — being one of the principal supporters of the opera in England, — but he is also recognised as one of the greatest game shots in the country He began shooting when he was nine years of age — he is now 57, — and some years ago his lordship made a calculation of th® number of victims that had fallen to hie gun He estimated that in the course "of 28 years he had himself .shot no fewer than 316,699 head 1 of game. Of tihese, 111,190 were pheasants, 89,401 partridges, 47,469 grouse, 261747 rabbits, 26,417,haree, 2735 snipe,- 207:7 woodcock, 1393 wild duck, 381 red deer, 186 deer, "97 pigs, 94 black game, 45 capercailzie, 19 «wnbuir, a 'dozen, buffaloes, 11 tigers, two rhinoceroses, and, in addition, * miscellaneous - assortment amounting to close upon. 8500. . -.

—Dr Knox's services on tho sands at Blackpool, England, have now become part and parcel of the town. A brilliantly effective open-air preacher, he frequently emphasises a point by speaking in ' the Lancashire dialect. An excellent example, of this was given last year when, answering a question from «. Freethinker on the mystery of pain, he told a story of a miner who called himself .:« infidel, and who was working in the mine wihen some coal began to fall. The man shouted, "Lord, save me!" "Then," said the Bishop, "a fellow miner turned and said, 'Ay, there's nowt like cobs' o' coal to knock th' infidelity oot o' a man.' " One afternoon last year the Bishop was surprised to find his improvised pulpit occupied by his son. " Unseen, Dr Knox listened attentively behind a screen at the rear of the platform. Presently the young man finished his address, when hi« lordship stopped forward *nd patted him proudly on the shoulder. Then commencing his own address, Dr Knox told how c Birmingham gardener once exclaimed of an American bishop, " Oh, if I could only get some cuttings from him." "You have heard my son," added his lordship; "some cuttings from him would make a better bishop than you've got to-day." — By fche death of Professor Simon Newcomb a remarkable figure has been removed! from the world of astronomical science. The son of a stone-cutter who possessed a copy of- Euclid, he came, to begin the real' work of his life through &• accident. Like many another Canadian, boy, he early crossed over into the United States in search of a fortune. His first work was teaching in a small elementary .school on the eastern shore of Maryland. After a year 01 two there was a vacancy on the staff of the Nautical Almanac. Young Newcomb applied for the situation, and was asked to> call and see the head of the department, who put 'iim through a particularly rigid examination. Newcomb, much to his own astonishmeret — for he had never seriously studied the subject— emerged fcuccessfully, and was given the appointment. As an example of his skill in astronomical work, he was not lon& since looking over on eclipse observed somewhere ir the Noi+hern Pacific about a hundred years ago by" some Russian astronomers, when he said : " That must be wrong. Their watches must have misled them.'* And upon figuring be *bun<i that they had made the mistake of a day in their calculations. In spite of his scientific attainments Professor Newcomb had. a. delicious senee of humour, and he delighted^

to toll the story of how, on on© occasion, a deputation of influential Kentucky n-egroes visited him at Washington. " W«, the people of Kentucky," eaidl th* spokesman, " have heard of you, sah. I am glad to met you, sah. My people, sah, thin,k you a greater man than Washington." To this the professor bowed, ami replied : "You flatten me. ovearmuoh. Georg*Washington was a very grreat man." "George Washington !"" exckimed the. spokesman. " Thunder, no !- No, Bak. I mean Booker T. Washington."

— Pompey: "De off hoss broke his lef* hin' leg dfe morniri', masea."— -"Bow' did he come to do that?" asked his master. • "It was .his own fault, massa. Wen d:» yer d&isk v back was tinned de wufflev animile *& ;«i< l .k me on de huaA. maesa..*-