People We Hear About

New Zealand Tablet, 6 September 1906, Page 28

People We Hear About

Speaking of the smart set' at the Church, of the Vlmmaculate Conception, Farm street, Berkley - Square, London, the Rev. Father Vaughan said :— ' I am proud to think - that my father was one oLtwenty- children,and that I am one of fourteen. 1 The'- Shah of. Persia is supposed never to be off Persian soil. As a matter of fact he never is; though he . does travel. Tojiis boots there is a false sole-; -'Me--tween. the false and- the real a portion of the holy earth, of Persia is packed. He thus strictly obeys the law. One of the - proudest treasures of King. Alfonso's' nurse is a gold ring in which is set /the first tooth shed by -her royal charge. It bears the inscription, 'My tooth to -my nurse. Alfonso .X 111..' In making this presentation his Majesty followed a custom which -has prevailed in the Spanish Royal family for centuries. The King of Norway has~a~son and heir, but there are still six European Sovereigns who have no son to succeed them on the throne. Of these six rulers, the youthful King of Spain has a sister as heiress pre- " sumptlve ; the thrones of Austria, Belgium, "and Roumania; are evidently destined to -fall to nephews, and that' of Turkey to a brother of the Sultan. The Maestro" Perosi of ' the Vatican, since making acquaintance with- Sir Edward Elgar's ' Dream of Gerontius,' has hardly stopped talking of it to his friends. • It is 'wonderful; glorious, its Jiarmonj'/is so strong, -so beautiful. 'I think Elgar - the greatest composer living.' -This and a good deal more has fallen from 'the Italian Maestro. Edward G-rieg, the great Norwegian composer, when only six years old learnt the piano "and the theory of' music from his mother. At nine -he "composed some variations on. a German melody, but he was " told ,to stick to his lessons. As a boy he thought of b|eing a painter, but at iifteen it was decided tbat he should go' to Leipzig to study music thoroughly, as he' showed such a decided gift. _ " , The King of Spain has~ bestowed upon Sir Alfred Jones" the title of ' Knight Commander of the Order of Isabella the Catholic.' ~lhis is one of the highest orders in Spain, and one most sought' after, but only seldom bestowed. It has been conferred because of the great services rendered by Sir Aitred in promoting agriculture in and generally 4eveloping the trade and commerce of the Canary Islands. . 5 Th^ Irish-American investigator of the meat trust, - Charles P. Neill, was born in Rock Island in 1865, anareceived a University education. He has been a social settlement worker in the Chicago stock yards district, vice-president of- the Board of Charities of the District, of " Columbia, assistant recorder of the Anthracite Strike Commission, professor of political economy, im the Catholic University at Washington, and' since February, 1905, United States Commissioner- of Labor. This is the age of tall Queens and small Kings. It is a curious fact that in the case of nearly every Royal married couple in Europe the wife is taller than the husband. The Czar, who is considerably below the averaga •height of men, is fully a head shorter thamhis beautiful and majestic Czarina. The Kaiser, who is a well-grown man, is, nevertheless, overtopped •by the German Empress. King "Victor, Emmanuel of Italy scarcely reaches up to v the shoulders of Queen Helena, who is an unusually tall .woman, while he is a diminutive man. King Charles of Portugal is also - overtop- . ped 'by his Queen, although he makes up in rotundity T of body what he lacks in height. " father, of Mr. Kavanagh, of Borris, the late Right Hon. A. MacMurrough'Kavariagh,- was for upwards of twenty years, till the general election of 1880f one of the mem,bers for Carlow County, for whioh he sat in the, Tory. and landlord interest. Mr. Kavanaglh, jwhot was the .recognised leader of the Irish landlord party in the House of " Commons, supplied a . remarkable illustration of the triumph of intellect and will power over the most terrible physical disabilities. He was born without legs or arms. He was, 'however, a renowned traveller, a daring cross-country rider .to , hounds, strapped on to his horse ; his calligraphy. ~wa» remarkable for its clearness, although he wrote with a pen "placed between his" 1 teeth. He. was, moreover, a forcible and expressive speaker in .the House of Com-mons,-into whose Chamber he was carried, and which* he of course addressed in a sitting posture. His vote was taken, not , in the .Division . Lobby, but in the Ohamfber, in which he was '-allowed to sit during divi- , sions, a teller for the Ayes and a teller for the Noes - approaching) him together to ask on which side- he desired his vote to be recorded.