FAMOUS SOLDIERS' HOBBIES.

Taranaki Daily News, 6 February 1917, Page 6

FAMOUS SOLDIERS' HOBBIES.

KING ALBERT AS AN ENGINEDRIVER. Sir John French's pet hobby is the 1 study of Napoleonic literature. He is one. of the greatest living authorities or. 'the little Corporal." Very few people are aware that he is also a clever musician, and he has a good singing voice that had he not chosen to be a soldier he might have earned a firstclass income on the concert pratfonn. Sir lan Hamilton has a very curious hobby for a soldier. He writes poetrj, and not of ordinary slipshod verse cf the amateur, but work of the highest cder. Some of his poems have been printed in various papers jmder noms de plume, but the General i;r somewhat shy about his accomplishment and does not put his own signiture at the end of hit. efforts. Besides writing verses, Sir lan Hamilton spends a good deal of his sj.-u.e uni:. in sketching. Sir Douglas Haig's greatest amusement is hunting, and he has a reputat;on of being one. of the best noloplayers in the Army. b'ir John Jellieoe has practically no hobbies except Hie study of cvrrythii.g connected with the sea aa J the Navy. King Albert of the Belgians, who has proved himself to be such a fin? soldier ir. the most, trying circumstances imaginable, lias many recreations in time of peace; but his favorite is the study of mechanics. He understands all about motors, flying machines, and engines, and he is probably the only living monarch who has driven a railway engine in his dominions. This memorably drive occurred when His Majesty was Crown Prince. He had always been anxious to become an ainaetur engine-driver, and one day he determined to put his powers to the test. He chartered an engine and took complete charge, and those who saw him d'iving averred that Jie did so with the Bkill and precision of an old hand. Another of King Albert's hobbies is mcuntaineering. He has done n good deal of climbing in Switzerland, and on Mich occasions he usually travels strictly incognito. General JolTrc confesses tlmt his favorite relaxation is study. Had he not teen a soldier, he would undoubtedly l:f.ve become a professor. The study he likes best is mathematics, and when he wa: quite a boy he astonished all his friends b- the easy manner in which lit could solve the most difficult problem*. Jr. his interesting biography of the Trench Commander-in-Chief, Mr. Alex ander K.ihn tells a characteristic st.ur-> cn" the famous soldier's boyhood. "One evening," says ill'. Kalm, "as his father was getting ready to go to- sleep, the future Generalissimo burst into the room joyously shouting, "It's all right! I'm well! I'm saved!" His joy was not a having won some £un« or beaten an opponent in a fight, bat «bnply bccxmc be hid solved sonic iktfmr jKwblem which had ttxed his