MAINLY ABOUT PEOPLE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 87, 8 May 1909, Page 4

MAINLY ABOUT PEOPLE.

THE KAISER CAUGHT SMILING.

Of the main- hundreds of thousands of w . photographs 'of the German Emperor | tll which are shown all over the world there • i a is not one which shows him smiling. It, yv is said that he considers such a pose as, Wl being beneath the Imperial dignity. | sc Apropos of this, there is a story just | ],, current iu Berlin of a camera artist who 1 1 | was summoned to Potsdam recently to j r( take a picture of the Kaiser. The y ! photograph was Wton, and in due time 6( proofs were submitted to the Emperor, j „[ who at once ordered the artist to de- y stroy the negatives. It transpired that, s < [when the photographer requested his tl I Royal sitter to turn his head a little on p one side, the Kaiser smiled, and the t I proofs showed a suspicion of the smile. t ONE OF THE CECILS. ' s Lord Arthur Cecil, who ban just re- c turned from Austria, where he has been I ( ' the guest ot the Emperor, is a member 11 of the great Cecil clan who is less iu the i i public eye than some of his kinsmen, I I tut who is none the less a forceful per- ; sonality, with opinions which carry great weight in many matters. Like all his family, lie is a keen politician, but , , confines his energies to matters of or- • ', ganisation, though he lias been asked on several occasions to enter : Once when so asked he replied: "How do you think I could liv e in London lor 8 six months on end?" It entirely expresses his point of view. * LOVER OF THE COUNTRY, e He is a forester by adoption and loves e the forest better than most of its natives. He dislikes motors and says be y never feels so much at home as when d on a horse. He is the chosen champion e of the commoners in their tussles witn constituted authority, in the shape oi 's the Department of Woods and lorest. if He has done much towards the development of a sturdy breed of Nov lorest t ponies. The country is as the ;;v:-•..;_ of 3 his nostrils, and it is that win.'., laaues e him welcome in that country oi big ■t spaces and big sports, Austria. Lord i- Arthur married a daughter ol the l.aron p Otto Von Klouck. who was a well-known n figure at the Austrian Court, and he himself enjoys the friendship of the .3 aged Emperor. )'. AT MAIDEN LANE. '■■ A striking exemplification of the ora:r torical gift amongst the .Tesnits' was to 'S be found at Corpus Ohristi Church in *• Maiden Lane on St. Patrick's Day, when the sermon at twelve o'clock, mass was preached bv the Very Reverend Robert i Kane. S.J. " This gentleman is known as the Blind Orator, and is one of the most impressive and magnetic personalities to be found iri*the pulpits of the day. His sermons' show oratory in the highest I) " sense of the term, and in the wealth ! >' of their imagery and the magnificent le flow of language' keep up the best traditions of a great school. And. as in all ,f fine orators, language, voice, and gcstir'c ' 8 with Father Kan,, all accord—each is the natural and harmonious supplement of the others. In Dublin, where he lives, the knowledge that Father Kane is to preach means an overflow congregation ' for the church. The subject of the sermon on St. Patrick's Day was "The Honor of Ireland." ■° AN ALL-ROUND AHLETE. a t The retirement of Mr. C. B. Fry from the Sussex county eleven will lie heard | v ' of everywhere with the greatest i-grot. 5 V There is. probable, no other living Englishman ' who i= -ucb a line all-round ' athlete as he is, and as cricketer, footballer, huntsman, and motorist he has been almost equally successful. Curiouslv enough, as a boy h 0 was not parlicitlarly noted for his cricket, although he J° alwavs took a keen interest iu the an me. •" It was not until he went to Oxford that ! n he made very great progress as a batsj? man, but since then he has done so much , h as a cricketer that one is apt to forget [, his powers in other directions. One of tZi 0 "greatest compliments that he ever had paid to him was the following joke )• in "Punch" at the time when the present m Government came into office: "Father : (reading from his paper at breakfast): They've made C.8." Prime Minister.' Son: 'Good old Fry!'" A GOOD JUMP. Among Mr. Fry's,' many accomplishments must be mentioned his ability as a jumper, and he has. told an amusing story of how lie first came to know how expert he was in this direction. He was n. quite young at the time, and one day he saw his terrier coming towards him out of a hedge, foaming at the mouth. With visions of hydrophobia. Mr. Fry did not "' wait for him, but took that hedge in a wild leap, lie also cleared a ditch and was up a plum-tree in a moment. The ;e dog. however, followed him. and sat at ,c the bottom of the tree. Then it was that Mr. Fry saw that the animal was' ii- not mad, but that it had a toad in its re nion/ii. So .Mr. Fry eame down from le his elevated perch and went to look at ul what be had jumped over. The hedge w was much higher than his head, not to e- mention the ditch. "And," said Mr. Fry, i"t was many years before 1 jumped so e- high again." I is —. a A SCHOLARLY JUDGE. An interesting legal birthday last I s " week was that of Sir William Rann s , Kennedy. Lord Justice of the Court of " Appeal." 'Sir William is generally re'a garded as the.law's finest linguist, and ln as' a classical scholar he has few equals re either in or outside of his profession. s ' It is said that when he succeeded to i he ,'' Bench another judge sent him congratu- " lations in elegant verse, to which he re- '' plied in an elaborate Greek 'ode. Sil William is keenly interested in polities, " and has more than once tried to get r * into Parliament; but although he con p tested three elections in the Liberal in- '" tercst. he did not succeed in entering "• the House. Sir William married, in y 1874. a daughter of George Richmond, lr R.A.. the famous artist, ff . DAYLIGHT SAVING. !' "Air. William Willett. the author of the j. Daylight Saving Bill, s'omc time ago told ,_ some amusing stories of his daylight .. saving campaign. An enthusiast in the ' r _ country one night made the clocks and ... watches in his house an hour fast. The _ servants' alarm clock went off at five ,', instead of six, but she got up just the same. The cook's suspicions, however. t" were aroused because it was unusually j dark, and by the fact that there was no, v movement in the neighboring house. j, The nurse, too. produced a watch which j, had been overlooked. This confused , s matters tremendously. A passing milk- j ,' man was appealed to. He slated ein-i ',! phatically that it was 1i.15 and not 7.1"'. ' Neither was the canary satisfied: and, the two children — aged six'and four; ._.' years—seemed to think that something! ~ was amiss. Indeed, within the space of i half an hour affairs threatened to be |l come so complicated that to save the | situation th c guilty party confessed his' , Irick. -'.I ' | MR. WELLS-NEWSPAPER HEADER.I Mr. Wells, whose new novel, "Tuiin-| I'.i'iigay, - ' has been already the cause of, a good' deal of criticism, was one of Mr. llenlev's voting men on the National Ob-. server, that brilliant review which was sometimes too clever. One day. when i- Henley was talking'gloomily with Mr.' s Wells of the prospects of the paper, I j there passed the office window at which I) they were .-landing a solitary wayfarer. i- "Do you think." said Henli'y, 'that is j .I our subscriber';" Mr. Wells, uniike somev novelists, is a great reader as well as a' •vriter. He likes' to read the magazines e and newspapers. So much is this the e ease that the novelist has himself said c that, when he is at work on a >•<",!;. he e has to be locked in his sin•' . i-l the f periodicals kept from him, le.-i !e -lioiild spend his working day in reading them. I ANOTHTR OLDEST YEO.VAY f A correspondent writes: "Theie is at present still serving at the Toiler of I London an old soldier who can claim to . be the oldest Yeoman of thc Guard and - Yeoman Warder of the Tower, lie being I appointed to that dual position on Idtli t February. ISOli. His name is SergeantMajor Henry Baker, late of the 01 si I Regiment, into which he enlisted on . 2lith June. 1842, and has served ontinu- - oavly since that date. A few years I after joining, his regiment was drafted 1 to India, in time to take part in the suppression of the Sikh rebellion of 18411, i and was present that awful day at Chili lianwallah when the 24th Regiment, now I ■ the* South Wales Borderers, were praei ticnlly annihilated. lie received a medal : and two clasps for this campaign. i THE MUTINY. ' Again in 1850 and 1851 he served in. ; two expeditious under Sir Colin Cninp-j : bell, for which he also received a medal U ■ and clasp. Then came the awful horrors, i of the Mutiny, during which time his [ regiment was actively engaged, being,: 'present at the assault and capture of i

lelhi ill 1857. For his part in the siege b received the medal for distinguished undntt in the field, and was offered her lajesly's Commission, which lie de;iued, however, for family reasons. He lubarked for Mauritius in 1859, which ■as not by any means a health resort in hose days, and finally lauded ill Engrnd iu September, 1800, after fifteen ears' foreign service. Cholera and fever fete very rife in those days, but he eemed to have had a charmed life, neverl laving suffered a day's illness during all hat time with the exception of a wound eeeived at the canting of Delhi. Mr. j Jaker has the distinction of having! ierved for ten years as sergeant-major )f that famous corps the London Scottish Eifle Volunteers, and is the possessor of many appreciative tokens from the officers' and men. He also held the' position of assistant executive officer to the National Eifle Association for nineteen years, not by any means a bed of roses, especially during Ire camping season. He is still hale and hearty, and on the occasion of his eighty-third birthday, which occurred last month, he had the honor of receiving congratulations from King Edward on his long and useful life. • REV. F. B. MEYER.

One of the most interesting person- ( alilies at the Free Church Conference ( last week was the Rev. F. 13. Meyer, who is one of the leading forces in the re- . ligious life of London. Like many other noted ministers, Mr. Meyer began life in business, in a tea-mercliant's office, but he always bad a leaning towards the ministry", and when lie was a boy bis future career was prophesied in a somewhat remarkable manner. In the chapel where he used to worship it was the custom of the clergyman to leave the pulpit and shake hands with the members of the congregation. One day he went up to young Meyer and said: "My boy. some day yon will shake hands with the people, as 1 am doing now." THE STORY OF A GAOL-BIRD. Durii .' his long career as a minister .Mr. Meyer has had many curious experiences. On one occasion in Leicester he niol a discharged prisoner and offered him and his wife a meal at a neighboring collec-hoiise. The oiler was gratcfullv accepted, and after the dinner was over Mr. Meyer asked the ex-gaol-bird to sign the pledge. "Yes, I will," he replied, "but 1 mj|st have a pint of porter first. ' vowed 1 would have one the very first morning I came out of prison, and' I must keep my vow.'' "You ought to break a bad vow," said Mr. Meyer. But the man was obdurate. "Very well," answered Mr. Meyer, "if you "!iav 0 it, will you sign the pledge immediately afterwards!'' The man promised; but then arose the question who was to go and get the beer'; To have let the fellow go himself would have been very uinvis'e, and there was no olio else to send. "So I realised, with a thrill of horror," said Mr. Meyer, when he told the story; "that I had to go myself." FOR A GOOD CAUSE. At that time Mr. Meyer was' the 1 greatest champion of teetotalism in Leicester, but. feeling that he was doing an out-of-the-way thing for a good 1 cause, he entered the nearest publichouse, and. to the astonishment of the barmaid, ordered a pint of porter. With 1 t.his he returned to the expectant exprisoner, but before he gave it to him to drink he carefully Itndcked the "head" off. The man drank it eagerly, but after lie had finished he remarked, with a wry face: "That's the worst pint o' porter . I ever tasted.! Where's your card, sir'; ■ I may as well sign it as drink any I more.' He signed it at once, and from ■ that moment he gave up drinking, which i shows Dial Mr. Meyer has a wonderful • knowledge of .human nature, for, had he ■ induced that man to sign the pledge i before he had fulfilled his vow about the . porter, the chances are that he would i have continued in his old ways. But ■ I rusting him to have one more drink had i touched his pride, and he lived to be- ; conic a reputable member of Mr. Meyer's ' congregation. i MOTOR-CAR ROMANCES. ' The motor seems, in France at least, to have' added new romance to daily t life. Sundry elopements, where sweet seventeen is picked up by enterprising twenty-live in a car of .high horse-power, and speedily 'carried beyond possible pursuit, have been periodically chronicled ■ by the Parisian Press! But such runi away matches do not exhaust the possl- ! bilities of motor romance. A trial still ' proceeding has revealed how Mile. Bassot i was hustled by a hired "detective" into ! a car. whoa on her way to church, and ; carried to a private asylum in Switzerland. During a breakdown, however, she contrived to pass a pencil note to a , passer-by. and was traced and release,!. M. Elicniic. ex-Minister oi State, and his wife were tin. leading personages in ;! another rceeiiL romance. -Motoring in ; Normandy last duly, they met with a ' nasty accident, and were carried to a i neighboring chateau, where a local medical man, M. Stvinhard. was called in. The epilogue of the incident was the marriage of M. Steinhard to MUc. Etienne, the ex-Minister's daughter, a few days ago.