OUR LONDON LETTER.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXIX, Issue 8341, 25 January 1907, Page 7

OUR LONDON LETTER.

GENERAL PERSONAL NOTES. (Own Correspondent). i LONDON, December 14th, 1906. Miss Henriquette Maude, of Wellington, Miss Daisy Davidson, and Miss Bertha Bird, are among Australasians who have been egaged for concerts this season. Mr Vivian Riddiford, son of Mr E. J. Riddiford, of Wellington, is, I hear, engaged to be married to Miss Zoe Thorne-George, daughter of the Hon. S. Thorne-George. The will of Mr Arthur Briscoe, of Messrs Briscoe and Sons; of Sydney, Melbourne and New Zealand, has been filed for probate here. The personal property is valued at £381,000. The Rev. E. Blamires, resident minister of the Wesleyan Church at Rotorua, g&ve a- very interesting and well-attended meeting at Torquay a few days ago, on "Maoriland and Wonderland." The chair was occupied by Mr Henry Field, late of Wellington. Mr P. F. McEvedy, now at Guy's Hospital, has passed the M.8., B.S. examination of the London University. The following gentlemen are gazetted to Consular appointments in your colony:— Mr Harold Beauchamp, as Consul of Chili, at Wellington ; Mr George Dunnet, as Consul of Chili, at Auckland; Mr Joseph George Fisher Palmer, as Consul of Chili, at Christchurch; and Mr James Alexander Roberts, as Consul of Chili, at Dunedin. At the Guildhall the Hon. W. P. Reeves distributed the prizes won by the students of the Cusack Institute. •Mr Mervyn J. Stewart, of Auclc-. land, has given a lecture, under the auspices of the Halifax Junior Liberal Association, on the subject of "Land Problems in New Zealand." The Hon. J. Fortescue, Royal Librarian at Windsor Castle, may be remembered in your colony, where he passed several pleasant years. He has given a lecture before the Royal Albert Institute on "Personal Reminiscences of New Zealand." 1 Mr M. W. Burke, son of the late Mr Michael Burke, of your colony, died at Reigate on the 27th ult., at the comparatively early age of 42. Miss Joan Zeala, your well-known soprano, sung at the Criterion Dinner last Sunday. Vice-Admiral S. Sullivan, whose death at Bath, on the Bth instant, at the age of 81, is recorded, took part in the New Zealand war of 1846. At the end of the war he was engaged in the survey of the Great Barrier Reef, outside Auckland. He also served in the Crimean War. A signal success for New Zealand musical talent has been won by one of her youngest scions. Victor Cadogan Harris, born in Palmerston North just twelve years ago, has succeeded in winning the, Associated Board Scholarship. He will now have the privilege of free tuition for two years in all branches of musical art at +he Royal Academy of Music. Victor Harris early displayed marked aptitude for the violin, and actually appeared in public,at the precocious age of six. He was nine ' years old when he succeeded in satisfying with his musical execution the travelling examiner for the Associated Board, Professor P. S. Knott, upon whose advice he was brought by to London and placed under the tuition of Professor Hans Wessely, while Professor Knott directed his harmony and piano studies. Neither of these judicious professors is desirous of forcing him into the ranks of musical prodigies —for both have wisely decided to allow his mental development full scope, and that his education should not be one-sided, he is attending, with good results, the well-known Marylebone Grammar School. Great interest and care will be taken over here in Victor Harris' future welfare. Mr Frank T. Bullen, the wellknown writer, may be remembered by New Zealanders when he visited your shores recently. The Standard, one of our leading dailies, is publishing a series of articles by him, entitled, "Australasia Re-visited." The articles are appearing every other day. A letter which was posted at Tenerifte informs me that a marriage has been arranged between Mr Percy H. Suisted, well-known in the Wanganui district, and : Miss Ethel M. Olive, ' daughter of Mr James Olive, of Queen's Park, Loiidon. Mr Suisted is at present third officer on board the R.M.S. Rimutaka, and intends on his return tc London to sit for his captain's certificate.