MAINLY ABOUT PEOPLE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 138, 10 July 1909, Page 3

MAINLY ABOUT PEOPLE.

SIR O'-MOOKE CREAGH. (From London M.A.l'.) A correspondent sends the follow; ing interesting reminiscences of General Sir U'Moure Creiigu, \ .v.., the future ioiih.,aiiiiei-iii-tii.ii in lnuia:--l.i iSi'i), duiing me Alghan War, a ie. L.i.u umeer, a c.iptain, was detaclied

n..,. ;.uiut one liuii.avu and buy liK'ii to ..in : an advanced position, ihe men

...i..i. ins cunmiaiid consisted ui two coi..|i,unes u: the Mcrwurra battalion. The enemy spccuiiy made tile [>*<:* tlie.i uujeii.vc. iiic captains merry jnc.i \Nci>: behind what i» called a "suuguifi, namely, a stone wall hast;ly construct ed lruni material at hand. The pnru was vigorously attacked. During the repeated rushes the captain nuticco th;u one man of the one hundred and lifl\ was nut acting in a soldier-like way. Without hesitation, he lifted the skulkei up and held him over the stone parapet as a target for the enemy. Their lire became concentrated on the pair, but, strange to say, neither of them was hit. After a short time the captain ui'uppid the ollendei' behind the stone wall, and in a very tew minutes a bu.lct from the enemy .passed between the narrow interstices of the piled-up stones and killed the delinquent,

OUTWITTED. The enemy made repeated attacks in vair. on tne slim fortifications, >o the caph.:» devised a plan to alarm them. J.omj before the break of day he and his orderly (the former being in pyjamas) sallied forth with two Snider rifles and many rounds of ammunition. In the r'arkness they managed to get behind and on the Hank of the enemy's fighting line. The captain and his orderly lircd at random, as fast as they could load, into obscurity. The Afghans, hearing the firing, imagined that they were attacked in flank and rear, and retired. The captain and orderly somehow found their way back to the "snugum," the result being that 1500 Afghans' were outwitted by one British officer and his native orderly, and the pressure for a time was abandoned. The fame of the captain .was O'Moore Creaglt, V.C.

ADMIRAL SIR BERKELEY MILNE. Admiral Sir Berkeley Milne, who is now in command of the Channel Fleet, is a sailor of whom not much has been heard by the outside world, but he has long been recognised in the Navy as one of the ''coming men." To some extent he ovyes his remarkably rapid advancement to the King, with whom he had been a great favorite for years. Admiral Milne acted as Commodore of the Royal yachts for several years, and it .was with great reluctance that both the King and Queen parted with him when.lie was' appointed to be second in command of' the Atlantic Fleet under Admiral Sir W. 11. May. Once the King, then Prince of Wales, was on the old Royal yacht Osborne when an effort ■was (being made to reach Portsmouth in, the teeth of a bad gale. One of the suite expressed anxiety and urged that it would be better to run for shelter somewhere until the weather moderated. "What for?" asked the King calmly. "Milne is on the bridge, and he could take a boat through the eye of a. needle if he made up his mind to do so. We shall reach Portsmouth safely enough."

ARCHDEACON WILBERFORCE. Archdeacon Wilberforce, with whom much sympathy is' felt in all quarters on the death of his wife, is the grandson of the famous Bishop Wilberforce, the liberator of slaves. Chaplain to the House of Commons, the archdeacon has been associated with Our Dumb Friends' League for several years. Indeed, his iove for animals almost amounts to a passion, and he is convinced that they possess souls just as human beings. Speaking once at the league's annual meeting, lie told of an amusing sporting experience of the days of. his youth. He narrated how he and a few chums' escaped from school and saw the famous Blink Bonny win the Derby. Knowing nothing about what is known in racing .parlance as "form," young Wilberforce and his friends decided that a horse with such a name must win, so each deposited a .pound with a convenient bookmaker. "Blink Bonny," says the archdeacon in telling the story, "ran as no other horse had run before, and won at twenty to one; but the bookmaker who hadoo r money mus't have run a good deal faster."

LORD GRENFELL. A notable soldier celebrated his sixtyeighth birthday last week in the person of Lord Grenfell. His lordship lias seen an enormous amount of active service. As an aide-de-camp and superior stallofheer he took part in no fewer than four campaigns in South Africa, was repeatedly mentioned in the despatches and twice promoted. As an ex-Sirdar, governor and Coinmonder-in-Chicf at •Vlalta, and Colonel of the Ist Life .Guards, Lord Grenfell. lias had a wide experience m the handling of men, and ns strong and sympathetic personality has been known to accomplish wonders where others failed. THE AFRICAN PALM.

A story is told of him that when in the Afghan campaign he sent n drawing to a London illustrated paper. The sketch was duly published, hut with the metunwrae addition of a grove of palm fWci ] "* Ktun t0 England Lord Grenfell sought out the editor of the Periodical, and explained to him that here were no palm trees in Afghanan; the latter, a clever journalist. »lZ '" e°ogi-«I»liy, said that as the frays expected palms in Africa he felt bound to supply the demand.

™' 31 ?; 111 l' S LEAI ' Foli LIFE. -Mr. C. IS. Fry, who has been advoeatig the cause of temperance „t Lambeth Palace, is a striking instance of a man devoid of ■ all fear. A particular example „f thi, omlmd n £™ ago when, as Sussex captain he was mi.ng.Soutl, Africa on Lricketto.,;. -Uo of his friends were going out for a day's shooting, a „d, mefti„s Air 1 in. the mrlv ol '^ l "',! Pl ' t,sseil I,im tu J"" 1 ' the pa t.y. Mr. Fry consented, and i, lejidcnt farmer came forward with the lias'' In I" o'™ 0 '™- ,Thl ' MilMl ' »•'"'••'' was ty no means a docile 0.,e, wa, etched fro,,, the stable, and very toon oth ndcr and horse were well'under «;0- I'assmg through a gate out of r ■ i \" ] ' however, t | lc hi „ t . , the latter caught the wood \, u \ ;.. . moment or two both were 11yi,,., i |-', Pimmod cavalry across the The v^° K ..n°, , ( ' Wtin . l,is **oth,'and it "I'Ped by aharb,.d wire. If he were o save hi.,- neck | le must come oil; so. »ci gaging lls fwt f , 0m , ]m li' crouched low (lll ,| ,„ ok ~ ||vj u ,"": J ""! i ' "° ,lu "M «ivc,l his life, for a second or two afl'erwn-il« n, , l»v bleeding to dcatl v * lie wir, '«". Mr. Fry , liraSP lf c ap, J only a danraged ankle ' " m "