PERSONAL NOTES FROM LONDON.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXII, Issue 155, 2 July 1901, Page 5

PERSONAL NOTES FROM LONDON.

(From Our Special Correspondent.)

LONDON, May 24.

The Coinmander-in-Chief has selected Captain St. L. M" of the Royal Garrison Artillery, for service under the New Zealand Government in succession to Captain C. B. Mackenzie. The Agent-General is arranging for Captain Moore's passage at the earliest possible date.

. .The "Gazette" this 'week contains the following notification:—The Durham L.I. Trooper A. C. H. Garsia, from 4th N.Z. Contingent (nominated by the Governor), to be Second Lieutenant on augmentation.

Dr. Herbert E. Dawson, who, after qualifying at Westminster Hospital, has, 1 regret to say, been in ill-health, has.been sent to the front by the War Office as one of the Civil surgeons attached to the Army.

Ang-10-Colonia unites in congratulating "Honest John" upon his return to health, and learns with pleasure of his trip to Sydney and his acceptance of an appointment on the Legislative Council. ;

Mr J. A. Gilruth left last Wednesday to join- the Germanic at Liverpool. He will spend some-little time in the U.S.A. before returning to N. 25,

Mr William Singleton, of Newburgh, Leeds County, Canada, left at 'the beginning of the month for the colony,

where he has accepted a position as dairy commissioner. He is the fourth Canadian to enter the service of the N.Z. Government.

Dr. Babcock, of the University of Wisconsin, to whom the dairymen of N.Z. sent an album of views of New Zealand scenery, has been presented by the State Legislature of Wisconsin with a fine bronze medal for his milk test, which he refused to patent, and for which he was awarded a grand Prix d'Honneur at the Paris Exhibition.

. I regret to state that Miss Cclii Dampier, who was far from well at the time of her concert, is suffering from scarlet fever, and is now in the Liverpool Road Hospital, Islington, where she is likely to have to remain for six or eight weeks. ... :■.

The Rev. and Mrs W. J. Williams, ofAuckland, and their son, who have just come over by the Medic, and are staying at Leytonstone, expect to be away from the colony for about a year. Owing1 to the plague at Cape-

town, they were not allowed to go beyond the Dock gates, but the day they spent 'there was full of interest, as they saw Boer prisoners being marched off to the transports, and British soldiers setting out upon their homeward journey.

Mr and Mrs L. Blundell, and. Miss May Blundell (Wellington) have just concluded a. long Continental tour, which was all the more delightful as they made up a party of eleven .New Zcalanders, including the three Messrs Wilson, of Auckland, and were thus able 1o obtain special railway carriages and to do themselves well throughout. They have only had three wet. days since they left New Zealand, and have visited most of the chief cities in Italy, looked at Switzerland, stopped at Mayence and Cologne and seen all the lions of Paris before breaking up their party.

The close pursuit of scientific knowledge necessary to a man who proposes to make a name in the medical workl has noi, it seems, greatly detracted from Mr R. W. Allen's athletic attributes, for on Saturday last he. turned out at the L.A.C. meeting at Stamford Bridge, and from the short mark of 38 yards ran a very close second to Mackinnon, 98 yards, in the Half Mile, which was won in the fast time of lm 57 4-ss. Allen though very far from being "trained to the hour," put in a splendid spurt in the last 100 yards, and Avas only beaten a couple of feet for premier honours.

"Alien" (Mrs Baker), who.se latest novel, "Another Woman's Territory," has met wth an extremely favourable reception at the hands of reviewers, has been honoured by the acceptance by H.M. the Queen of a copy of the work.

The friends and admirers of Sir Arthur Sullivan have decided to commemorate his memory by (1) the erection of a monument in St. Paul's Cathedral; (<J) the endowment of the Arthur Sullivan Scholarship, to be alternately within the gift of the Eoyal Academy o? Music and of the Eoyal College of Music; (3) the placing in some public position (the Embankment Gardens immediately in front of the Savoy Theatre Avas a position which found favour) of a statue or bust of Sir Arthur Sullivan; About £50fi was subscribed at the preliminarjf meeting.

Mr and Mrs James Howie, who rei cently arrived by the Kunic, are rest- ' ing at Bristol for some days after ! their long- voyage, and will come up ito London for good at the end of this week or the beginning1 of next. Al- ! though "resting," Mrs Howie has (been singing to one of the local musi- : cians and taking a few tessons from him. I understand she is likejy to i place herself in the hands of that expei'ienced entrepeneur, Mr Vert. Mr Howie was up for a day in town last Wednesday, and with him I saw that J veteran lecturer, the Eev. Charles Clark, who looks vigoroxis and hale. Mr Howie confirms the statement made to me by several passengers who have given thy' White Star line from Australia toEnplaTid a trial, that there is need of considerable improvement in the commissariat arrangements.

Seventeen violins and violincellos of the late Sir Arthur Sullivan were sold by auction by Puttick and Simpson on Wednesday. A 'cello by Joseph Guarnerius, dated 1719, on which Sir Arthur set great store, fetched £170. The king of the collection was the famous ' Strad, . with the signature "Antonio Stradivari, Cremona, 1692." The auctioneer announced that while the late owner was positive the fiddle was a Strad, another eminent expert was equally positive it was not. The bidders, however, displayed their confidence in the judgment of \hc "English composer, :ind in about a minute ran the price up to £600, at which figure it was knocked down. The total realised by Sir Arthur's violins was £961.

Silomo, otherwise Sir Ellis Ashmead Bartlett, M.P., has fallen upon evil days. The friend of the Sultan and. the Swazi Queen has been unable to keep his creditors at bay. A fe,w weeks ago an enterprising solicitor's clerk, who could never find him at home, adopted the ingenious expedient of hanging on behind Silomo's hansom and popping in on him with a writ just as the wary politician was about to emerge. Silomo smote the rash youth, and a summons for assault 'was the result. Shortly after it was announced that Silomo would apply for the Chiltern hundreds and live abroad. It was not surprising therefore to learn that numerous petitions were pending. Outside the family claims his liabilities are expected to total about £11,----000.

Mr. Donald Macdonald, who is to lecture on "An Australian in War" on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday next, has been interviewed by the "British Australasian." He said that, with a position even lightly defended, but resolutely held, an attack should never get right home against magazine fire, and advocated the sparing- of the drill instructor and the putting extra time and money into range shooting and field firing. The Imperial Bushmen, he told us, have done nothing else but charge. "They simply extend at wide intervals, drop the reins on their horses' necks, drive in the spurs and go for shooting." He also emphasised the fact that "the men who fought in South Africa are just the men whom Australia cannot spare, except temporarily and for a patriotic purpose," and condemned the proposition to attempt to recruit in Australia for the Imperial Army.

An opponent of "The Right Hon. Dick," while pointing out in the "Pall Mall Gazette" the error into which that journal fell with regard to the Premier's Privy Councillorship, puts in a good word for Mr. Reddon's policy. I am afraid, says "New Zealander," his "widely experimental labour legislation and oppressive land laws" have not had the disastrous effect which you state, and which the party opposed to Mr. Seddon, of which I happen to be a supporter, so emphatically predicted.

Time has shown that the land policy at all events has been1 a good-one, although many of the labour laws are in their experimental stage still, and there will remain so long as present prosperity in New Zealand continue*.* * i

What a contrast the "New Zealander's" attitude is to that of some members of the Opposition a few years back, who, whenever they were in England, with much weeping and wailing 'and gnashing of teeth cursed "Dick" Seddon and his Socialistic ways, and prophesied red ruin to the colony in consequence. The gentle art of fouling one's own nest has, I am glad to see, fallen into disuse.