PERSONAL NOTES.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 69, 17 April 1909, Page 4

PERSONAL NOTES.

(From M.A.P.) THE QUEEN'S JEWELS. When the Quen opened Parliament sh.' wore, for the first time, the handsome necklace that has' been manufactured for her out of the cuttings of 'th'Culliuan diamond. Exactly how uiany necklaces of one kind and another she possesses she would herself be puzzled to say. Indeed, only those who haw charge of her jewel cases could say with any degree of certainty. It was "stated a few years ago that she possessed thirty-two tiaras, and since tnat time she has inherited n large portion of the magnificent collection of jewels possessed by her mother, the late Queen of Denmark. She has, however, from time to time made considerable presents of her private jewellery to several members of the Royal family, including her daughters, the Princess of Wales, and Princess Alexandra of Teek. She still, however, possesses one of the largest collections of precious stones in tin' world, and probably only the Tsarina and the Queen of Spain can surpass her in this respect. All her jewels are contained in large burglar-proof cases so arranged in acts that the Qncc, can make up her mind almost at a giance what she will wear on any particular occasion. These cases, of course, are all cnrefully numbered and their contents catalogued; the Hon. Charlotte Knollys alone possesses the master key to them, and this never leaves her for an instant.

THE ADVENTURES OF A DUKE.

The Duke of Abruzzi, who has now left London, having made final arrangements for his Himalayan expedition, is oue of the most successful of living explorers, in which capacity he lias had a fair share of adventures and hairbreadth escapes. During his North Pole expedition, which was accomplished in a ship that had been discarded by Dr. Nanscn as not being strong enough for the work, he had his right hand so severely frozen that two of his fingers had to be partially amputated. In spite of this misfortune, however, the Duke remained the most cheerful and active man in the expedition.

A PERILOUS MOMENT. ! Another time, during the ascent of the Ruwenzori range, as the Duke w»» making an observation in advance of his party, he slipped on a bank of loose stones and fell to the edge of an immense precipice. An officer who came upon the scene threw him his coat, but as soon as the rescuer began to pull the material gave way. For three hours the Duke remained a prisoner on the brink of the precicipe the slightest move would have meant death—until ■more help arrived. Still on another occasion he was surprised by a leopard, which managed to do considerable damage before one of the Duke's party shot it.

| A POSER FOR LORD ESHER. I Lord Eslier,. who is doing so much work in connection with the Territorials, is one of the most versatile of English peers. He speaks German with the fluency of a native, he lias written several notable books, and he possesses a wonderful collection of Court swords from the days of Queen Elizabeth to the present day. He spends a great proportion of his time at Windsor, as he is Constable and Deputy Governor of the Castle, and his ollicial duties necessitate his living close by. During election times Lord Eslier is in great demand by Parliamentary candidates, being an accomplished and convincing speaker. He had an amusing experience on one occasion while speaking for a young politician, fresh from college, in Hie south of England. The candidate's speech, perhaps, was more than judiciously besprinkled with quotations from "Hamlet." After a fine peroration containing huge chunks of the play, lie announced that Lord Eslier was prepared to answer question;.. A man stood up. "1 can't quite make it out," he remarked.

"whether he is a Tariff Reformer or Free Trader." "Who?" asked Lord Kshcr. "The man this speech is about." Puzzled, he again asked what man he meant. "Hamlet," was the reply.

SIR JAMES DEWAR. Sir James Dewar, to whom the Council of the Royal Society of Arts has presented its Albert medal, knows more about being frozen than any man living, lie has liquefied air and ako liquefied oxygen, and in doing so he reached a degree of low temperature beside which the clime of the Arctic regions would seem tropical. His first pint of liquid air cost him somctiliing like tIOOU. The hope of his life is that lie will somehow be able to produce a temperature of absolute zero, lie thinks that by the application of low temperatures to commercial and household matters an entirely new prospect of life will be opened up. 'Think," he says, "of the hundreds of things that we could not do without extreme heat.. Willy should there not be hundreds of others, equally useful, which will be possible with extreme cold? AN ADVENTURE IX THE HIGHLANDS.

Apropos of his name, Sir James Dewar tells an amusing story of how, when in the Highlands of Scotland one summer, he stopped at a farmhouse for a cup of milk. "What a superb place to live in," he remarked to the farmer. "Ou, aye," he answered, "it's a' right; but hoo wad ye like to hae to walk fifteen mile ilk a time ye wanted a wee glass o' whisky!" "Why don't you get a bottle and keep it in the house!" Sir James suggested. The farmer shook his head sadly and said, "Whisky won't keep." THE GRAND DUKE VLADIMIR. The Grand Duke Vladimir, who succumbed recently at St. Petersburg to a violent attack of asthma, a malady from which he had been .sulfering for some time, and for which he tried the Carlsbad cure, was the younger brother of Alexander 111. Of the live children of Alexander 11. but two are now living —the Grand Duke Paul, who live* with his wife (the Coiintvss of Hohenfelscn) at Boulogne-sur-Seine, and the Duchess of Edinburgh, Dowager Duchess of SaxeCoburg. The Grand Duke Vladimir was born in 1847, and in 1874 he married the beautiful and charming Princess Marie Paulovna of Mecklenburg. There were four children of this marriage, the Grand Duke Cyril, who married the Princess Victoria, daughter of the Duke of Edinburgh and Saxv-Coburg, the Grand Dukes Doris and Andrew, and the Grand Duchess Helen, who married Prince Nicholas of Greece.

A ROYAL LOVE STORY. This hitter lady, who i- very beautiful, was the heroine of a romantic, love affair. She eloped with a young Russian student n few years ago. being prepared to leave her country and give up everything for love's sweet sake. But before reaching the frontier the young couple were stopped. The Grand Duchess was compelled to return to her home. The student disappeared, and it is said that he was deported to Sakaliue island. The Grand Duke Vladimir was very fond of music. Whenever possible he attended the repetitions generates, or dress rehearsals, at the Paris theatres. Once he was complimented on the attention he paid to the performance. "Oh, why!" he replied, "f sleep very well at night, as if is, so there's no need for me to sleep at the theatre!"