PERSONAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 181, 30 January 1912, Page 4

PERSONAL.

The Anglican Bishop of Wellington (Dr. Sprott) has appointed the Rev. J '■ R. Cassell, M.A. (vicar of Hawera)' Archdeacon of Waitotara. Mr. W. H. Huggett, of Tokomaru Bay. has accepted a position on the-staff of the electric-lighting department of the New Plymouth Borough Council. A Cairo message states tllat the Duke of Fife's strength is satisfactorily maintained aboard the steamer Hykhos, which is returning from Wady Haifa to Cairo. Mrs. A. H. Colvile is staying for a few days with her mother, Mrs. Harcourt Peat, in Feilding. She was delighted with her experiences in the Old Country. The staff of the White Hart Hotel entertained the retiring licensee (Mr. Emeny) last night and made him a presentation. A convivial hour or two was spent. It is reported that the Prince of Wales has been given a commission with the 10th Hussars, and will accompany the regiment to Potchefstroom, in South Africa. ' Mr. J. D. Henry, the oil expert, is at present in Christchurch with Mr. H. J. Brown. He expects to return to New Plymouth next Monday, and will leave for the Old Country via Sydney on February 9. Mr. Hector Bruce Mackenzie, one of the Hon. T. Mackenzie's sons, will leave New Zealand next month to commence medical studies in Edinburgh. He recently passed his preliminary medical examination. , , Mr. Arthur W. Packard, of the' Wellington Evening Post, has joined, the reportorial staff of this journal. Mr. 6. P. Armstrong, who has been doing relieving work on the News, left yesterday for the Waikato. Mr. C. K. Wilson, the new member for Taumaranui, will be entertained by his friends at Te Kuiti on February 7. Thiß gathering will be attended by the Leader of the party (Mr. W. F. Massey) and several other members of Parliament. A Berlin wire states that the Kaisei celebrated his birthday at Potsdam in the traditional fashion. The Kings of Saxony and Wurtemburg were present. Dense, crowds accorded the Kaiser an ovation as he was going to the gala opera. The Kaiser entertained seventhousand persons recently decorated.

At St. Andrew's Church on Sunday night, th« Rev. Mr. Roseveare made the following reference to the late Mr. W. Armstrong, Commissioner of Crowii Lands:—"We have to-day laid to rest the earthly remains of our departed brother, Mr. William Armstrong. Last week he was apparently well and strong, and this weak he is numbered among the 'blessed dead.' His end was sudden * and unexpected, but free from pain and suffering, and we rejoice now that he attended to the warning, 'Be ye therefore ready, for in such an hour as ye think not, the Son of Man cometh.' Mr. Armstrong was born in Dunedin on December 1, 1858, and spent all his life in the land . of his birth. He has resided in several parts of New Zealand, and had fbr the last 29 years taken an active interest in the work 'of God, having filled several offices in th,e Presbyterian Church in Napier, Blenheim, and elsewhere. He resided in New Plymouth billy nine ' months, yet long enough to win the respect of all who came into contact with him in his public and private capacity. As an indication of the esteem in which he was held by this congregation, it may now be stated that lie was last week nominated for the office of elder, which office he would have duly adorned; but he has been called to a higher service above. He leaves a wife, one daughter, . and three sons, to all of whom we extend our deepest sympathy, commending them to the Heavenly Friend, who is touched with the feelings of our infirmities." A life full of interest and- incident closed on the 17th inst. at the residence of her daughter (Mrs. S. B. Gibson, Hazelhurst, Caversham, Dunedin). Mrs. Henrietta Mason was born in Weimar in the year 1818, so that at the time of • her death she was in her 94th year. In her childhood her birthplace was known as "Little Athens," from the fact that the Grand Duke made it a centre for the great intellects of his time. At Weimar Mrs. Mason made the acquaintance of Goethe, who spent his last birthday m her grandmother's house, and who, on the occasion, composed a poem which Mrs. Mason took pleasure in reciting to her intimate friends. The writer of this brief notice recently had the pleasure of visiting Mrs. Mason's relatives in the old house at Weimar. Mrs. Mason's father was an officer in the army of the great Napoleon, and the old lady often told how he used to describe the horrors of the famous retreat from. Moscow in 1812. In 1832, at the age of eighteen, she went with her mother to Paris or a visit to the Countess of Remusat (granddaughter of General Lafayette), and it ; was always interesting to heard the old tell how, on that occasion, she at- ;■ tended a. juvenile .bfill with the two sons of the countess—Peter and Paul de Re- .. musat. The ball was'* given by Queen Amalie at the Tuilleries. Mrs. Mason - remained fifteen years in France, travelling oyer the country, and becoming acquainted with Victor Hugo and his family, as also the family of his brother Leopold. Among others whom Mrs. Mason counted amongst the friends of her younger days were Guizot (Minister at the Court of Louis Philippe), Duchatel, Thiers, and de Courcel (father of a recent French Ambassador at London). Her grandmother was (says a contributor to the Otago Daily Times) a friend of the famous Madame de Stael, whose daughter (afterwards the Duchess de Broglie) was educated with Mrs. Mason's mother. Liszt (the famous composer), Schiller, Heine, Wisland, and two of the sons of the Duke of Wellington are other celebrities who were personally known to Mrs. Mason. While she was blind and somewhat deaf for some years past, her knowledge of languages, her remarkable memory, her clear intellect, and her amiable disposition made her, up to the very day of her death, one of the most interesting and lovable personalities in this Dominion.