PERSONAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 289, 1 December 1908, Page 4

PERSONAL.

In connection with the retirement of the Hon. ii. McNab, .Minister for Lands, the question arises whether lie will be authorised to retiiin the addition of the word ''Honorable" before his name. The riylit to do so can only he given by the Imperial authorities. ift-Ministers to wliom this courtesy has been granted include the Jlon. T, V. Duncan, the lion. C. Jl. Mills, the Hon. T. W. llialop, and others,, but it has in the past been the eustom not to extend, it to eolonial Ministers who have held -oilice for less than three years. Mr. McNab, 'it will be remembered, joined the Cabinet about two and a-half-years ago.—Dominion. The deaths of quite a large number of old residents and pioneers of the Auckland province have been recorded during the last few days, and the list has bee n further increased (says the Herald), Mr. Thomas William Clark, late of Thames, died at his residence, lhnid-slreet. .Archhiil, on Wednesday, in hi - 71m. year. The death of Mr. David Dickson, aged ISM, also took place on Wednesday, at his sou's residence, Mount St. .rob)) Avenue, Kpsoin. A very old re-ide.U in tlie person of Mrs. Marion McKwin, relict of the late Mr. Andrew McKwin, has parsed away at Helensvilli', in lu v JfcJnd year. Oil Tuesday Mr, William Comfort Kilmer died at Onehunga. aged 7*3. Sergeant Kmam Whelan. a veteran who served in the Chinese and Maori wars, passed away at the residence, of his daughter at Wellington on Friday, at the age of 7"). Mr. Whclan joined the imperial army in 1848, and later on was sent out with his regiment to China, where lie .saw active service. He was present at the taking of the Bird's Eye Forts and Pekin. .Returning to England after the war. he was appointed recruiting sergeant [or Ule .second battalion of the 14th l'egiment, which was then being raised for service iu New Zealand, lie arrived in New Zealand in the early sixties, and was on active service iu the Waikato and Waitara campaigns. On the return of his regiment to England in 1870, Sergeant Whelan joined the New Zealand Constabulary, and later on the police force, and was ser-geant-in-chargc of the Patea police district for a number of years. He was closely connected with the volunteer movement, having been drill instructor to several volunteer corps in the Wellington province between 1805 and 1875. Mr. Whelan leaves a family t>f several daughters, and was also stepfather f Mr. llobert K. Yaney, of Wellington. It was at Canterbury College that Professor I'utherford, the latest re* I eipient of the Nobel prize, lirst entered on that course of research work which led to such brilliant results. His studies I in the iields of chemistry and physics , were directed and supervised by (Professor Hickerton, who was in charge of these departments of the college work at that time. In the course of a chat with a 4 * Press'' reporter, Professor IJiekerton gave some interesting information relating to the .student days of his pupil. "Professor Kutlierford," he said, "was all through a brilliant student, and showed a good deal of resourcefulness in his investigations, lie had also a splendid physical and mathematical ability. Of course, the great trouble thii|. we had ! in connection with Hie laboratory work was Ihe want of suitable apparatus and a Jilaee to use it. and we lilted Up the I den in order to carry on some branches : of the work. When 'Professor 'Rutherford was last in Christchureh lie made the remark ih;it doubtless a good deal of his resourcefulness was due to the fact that he liad to make shift with much less complex, apparatus than lie would have used iu -j better ei/nipped laboratory, and he looked upon it as having done liim no harm in working with apparatus not quite up to the standard of work he was doing." J»i a recent letter to Professor Bickcrtou, he states that he lias had an exceedingly busy year at the Manchester University.

"I have managed," lie ailds, "to get through a great deal of research work. I have receutlv made an excursion into new chemical attractions, and liave purified the radium emanations and determined its spectrum. which consists of more than eighty brijjhl linos."