People We Hear About

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXIII, Issue 2, 12 January 1905, Page 10

People We Hear About

John Plimmer, who has been styled the ' Father of .r^vnf ° n> v, w ieti < 011 Thurs d ay . aged ninety-two. He t^ZT Wellington ln 184 - and has been closely associated with the growtn and development of the city. He has been ailing for some months. y ' Conspicuous among the Mikado's naval officers is Kear Admiral S. L'riu, who commands the Japanese flying squadron, composed entirely of cruisers. Rear Admiral Unit acquired .his first knowledge of the art of naval wart a re at me United Naval Academy at Annapolis,, trom which he was graduated in 1882, standing fourteenth in a class ot seventy-six. Admiral logo, the Japanese naval commander, is a man ot lew words, but of iron determination. One of his most remarkable chaiacteristics is his capacity for remaining perlectly still for hours without moving a muscle or saying a word. It is said that his habit of musing, with nothing but his pipe as a companion, has stuck to him all through his career, and that it is during these moments that he makes his plans for the destruction of an enemy or the improvement of his own

'ihe King ot Korea, who ascended the throne wliem he was twelve years of age, is seldom seen by his subjects. When, however, he does condescend to appear in public a remarkable t>peclacle is witnessed. All the s'hoips are closed, and his Majesty is preceded by a crowd ot individuals dressed in Mie most lantastic of garments. • The dim created by cymbals, drums, pipes, trumpets, bells, and the voices of the multitude is indescribable. The Emperor travels m the imperial chair of state, which is carried by thirty runners. Count Benckendorft, the Russian Ambassador in London, is a diplomat who is very popular in the English capital, notwithstanding the rude reception which awaited him at tne railway station on his return from the Continent lately to take up the negotiations arising out ot the Hull trawler trouble, 'ihe Count is a man of high standing in the diplomatic world, of considerable culture and education, to whose self-restraint and common sense has been in a considerable measure due the preservation of peace between Russia and England in the recent crisis.

Until a year or two ago the Emperor of Japan was an enthusiastic wrestler. He threw out challenge after challenge to the members of the Court and his council and advisers, and defeated fairly and completely everyone who tried conclusions with him until he met Count Tetsu, who proved one too many for him. Since the encounter, although he encourages the sport in every possible way, he has kept out of the arena. ' Count Tetsu is now champion,' he would say. ' I have failed to throw him. Someone else must try.'

A pretty story is berng told of Oyama, Chief of the Japanese General Staft. During his service as judge advocate at 'iokio he attended a ball one night. He was standing near a doorway at this hall when a beautiful Euiopean woman swept by, and so greatly did her charm impiess Judge Oyama that he exclaimed, involuntarily : ' What a lovely woman !'- She overheard him. With a little smile she looked back over her white shoulder, and, recognising him, said : ' What an excellent judge ! ' Admiral lto, who earned his viscountcy for services in the Chino-Japanesc war, is very European in his methods. A stoL-y is told rather against him when the Japanese landed a torce after the battle of the Yalu. Shortly alter his establishment he w,as one day annoyed by the receipt ot a telegram from a subordinate whom he had allowed olt on furlough, which read : ' Will not report to-day as expected on account of unavoidable circumstances.' The tone of the message was not at all to Admiral ito's mind, and he wired at once in reply, 1 Keport as expected, or give reasons.' Within an hour the following message came over the wires from a hospital in \o'kosuka: 'Train oil— can't ride. Legs off— can't walk. Will' not report unless you insist.' The admiral did not insist.

Mr. Justin M-Carthy received many congratulations on his 71th birthday. Fifty-two years ago he was associated in Liverpool with the birth of the ' Northern Daily Times, 1 the first daily paper published in the provinces. Mr. M'Uarthy was one of the three reporters sent to Lomdon to report Mr. Gladstone's great Budget sipeech in the fifties. The genial Irishman's greatest achievement, perhaps, is that he passed through the most ytormy period of Irish political history in the last century without making an enemy. The opponent of Parnell's leadership and Parnell's successor in the chair, the two remained personal friends to the last. If Mr. M'Uarthy were less true to Ireland he would be a wealthier man to-day, but noi higher in the good opinion of his countrymen.