PERSONAL NOTES FROM LONDON.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVI, Issue 206, 29 August 1905, Page 5

PERSONAL NOTES FROM LONDON.

I .. ■ . _ I. (From Our Special Correspondent) LONDON July 29. The New Zealand High Commissioner . attending the sittings of the Pacinc able Conference at the request of both he Colonial Oflice and New Zealand's epresentative, Sir Sandford Fleming, it the close of the Conference Mr leeves will be free to go oIT for his ! nnual holiday. 1 mentioned to the High 'orcr-i-ssioner the other day a suggesioa in the New Zealand press thac he j nouid re visit the colony on six months" .-aye of absence. Nothing, he replied, • ovid phase him better than to re-vi_.it '."ew Zealand after nine years' absence, and he trip would be useful as well as pleasant. It could be managed, too, without sarious hindrance to the work at this end, provided that the High Commissioner was back at his post about February, when the financial work begins to come along. In Mr Walter Kennaway he would have an experienced and efficient locum tenens. No suggestion of any such visit, however, has ever been made by the Government, nor has the High Commissioner ever applied for leave for absence. The "Outlook,"' one of the London veekiy reviews, suggests that it would ie a wise step to give the New Zealand iigh Commissioner a sent in the House ;f Lords, "if only for the reason that ye have at present no member of Pariament witl. a comprehensive yet detail- j d knowledge of greater and less problems of the Pacific." At this rate thr rlon. W. P. will soon be Lord Reeves of lakaia, or something else alliteratively i md picturesquely gilded. The same journal, referring to the Colonial Confer■nce, remarks: "It is absolutely eerain .hat Mr Seddon will refuse to atten 1 :e__t year's Cclonial Conference if the j juestion of preferential trading is not i -o be openly discussed." Miss Agnes Donaid. only daughter of j Mr A. B/Donald. of Albert Park, Auck : " -'nd. was married on July 5 to Lieut. j Icorge _-teer. The marriage took place I n St. Augustine's Church, at Queen V • ate, Kensington. The bride, who wa= ken away by her father, lookei weetiy pretty in a lovely white satin vith a yoke, and also panel in the • kirt, of pearl embroidered net. A deep lerthe of superb Brussels lace outI Ined the yoke and edged the sleeves j nd -_anel of the skirt. The bridal veil | i_s arranged tiira fashion on her hair. ) :nd fell in soft folds over the should I rs. and a beautiful bouquet completed 1 .his Leeou_;r:g en setubla. A reception ! ,va._ afteiwards held fit Bailey's Hotel, vhen the bride and bridegroom receiv- | 'd the congratulations of their friends. I .vbo included a number of New Zea- | Ir.ndtrs. A very pleasant time was spent here before the bride left to prepare for her honeymoon tour. Her I smart travelling dress was navy blue j and hat en suite. . | Tom Sullivan has left London en route ' : or Liverpool, where he embarked by thf I rictorian for Montreal in order to scul' , __ddie Durnan on August 23rd on To • .or. o Bay for £200 aside. The ex-New | '.ealander was looking very well indeed j and expressed himself satisfisd that he I would do himself justice on 'the othei dde." He has been sculling steadily or :he Thames during the past month, and has little need of further training tc ■ _ret into the pink of condition. He is I aking out with him a couple of '""best'" ; brata, built by Clasper and Sims resj peetively, and half a dozen sets of AyUng sculls, which the Allan Line man- , agement are carrying free of charge. | Mr Thos. Webb, of Auckland, arrived ; by the Ruapahu on a three months' visit. j the main purpose of which is business. I Mr Webb will spend a good deal of hi? | time in the Midlands. He returns tc j New Zealand by tha Suez route. " Mr A. F. Carey, the New Zealand de i : egate to :be Baotist "World Congress,' was to have addressed the Congress or j the self-support and self-propagation of native churches. He was, however, too unwell to be present, and his place was j taken at short notice by an Americai. I missionary from Assam. The officials of the International j Lawn Tennis Championship Meeting : having shown themselves diffident about I inviting the King to attend the tournaj mant, Mr P. A. Vaile, the Aucklander. ! offered to "arrange the mat er." He ac l cordingly wrote to Lord Knollys, the ' King's private secretary, pointing out the growing popularity of lawn tennis, and the importance of the present tournament, to which represenatives have come from Australia and far New Zea 'and, as well as from Europe and Ame i -ica. The letter suggested that it would j be a gracious act on the part of Hi? 1 Majesty to honour the meeting at i Wimbledon with his presence, and would ! do much to encourage lawn tennis in I his country. The letter was brought : under the notice cf His Majesty, asd ; one of the Royal Equerries was sent to Mr Vaile to inform him that the King , would, if his engagements permitted, be pleased to visit Wimbledon on one j of the three days during the proress j of the challenge round. I j The Dunedin troupe of trick cyclists. | a New Zealand combination, is one ol I the "star" turns at. the Oxford just now. I Of their performance "Carados" write? ; in the "Referee:—"lt is very strangI how a turn sometimes suddenly leaps into the very front rank in its own pari ticular class. Many and many a time ! during the last few years hav e I seen 'he r-v<din<2: net pres-nt?d by the Dunedin troupe, the member* of which, as might be guessed from their collective name, hail from the Antipodes. While remark ab'y clever, th? show has always seemed to lack just that finish and degree of perfection which distin_ruishes the tiptop star performano?. But on Monday the Dunedins' net, which I had not seen for ?ome months, immediately imnresser l mc with the fact that whatever it wa= that had been lscking bad been acquired in the interim. That I was not alone in my estimation of the excellence of the performance was proved by the enthusiasm of the audience." Mrs. Brown-Pott-r's creditors met this week, and appointed a trustee tr wind up the estate. The aetres* stated through the chairman, that she first appeared on the London stage about sixteen years ago, and had since acted in every part of the world. Her average earnings on the stm™ had been fron £.1000 to £.5000 a year. She had purchased out of her earnings nearly five acres of freehold land at Maidenhead upon which she built Bray Lodge, etc The total outlay on the purchase and development of tbe property had beer nbcut £13.000. T*: -was her recent c '?a son at the Savoy that lander her in financial difficulties. A roug'r

statement of accounts had been put in. j -bowing gross Habilities £23,30_>. Theassets consisted of the Maidenhead pro-J pexty, valued by the debtor at £21,750, j upon which a surplus of £3242 was returned, after satisfying the charges on j it, a surplus of £1130 en the furniture, and £455 on the jewellery. In add-tion | _o that there were 110 a shares in ecm- I -. mies, and a concession of certain land in Northern Nigeria. The statue of the late Mr. William -oliesto-i has at length been comp-etcd. nd on V> etlnesday afternoon iht- iiigu oiiindssiontr lor 2\ew Zealand paid a i.it to the studio oi the sculptor, Mr. .-.nip-on, at Maida \ aie, in order to see he statue before it is packed for shipuent to Christchurch. Mr. Reeves wa_ o-companied by the Hen. R. Oliver and .ord Hawkesbury (an old friend of Mr. i-olleston's) - They were all exceedingIly pleased with Mr. Hampton's work. "It is extraordinarily good," said Mr. Reeves afterwards to your correspondent. "On the whole it is the most satisfactory statue I have had anything to 0.0 with during the nine years since 1 carry* to London. It is not only an admirable likeness of Mr. Rolleston as he was about 15 years before his death, but it is also a most dignified and impressive statue. I consider it a real work of art. Mr. Hampton himseH is very proud of his work, and is only sorry that he •tnnot k?ep it to exhibit at the next Royal Academy Exhibition. I ought to know whether it is a good likeness or aot," added the High Commissioner. "I knew Mr. Rolleston from my childhood upwards, and sat opposite to him in the House of Representatives for y.?ar3." The same afternoon, Mr. Reeves drove to the studio of Mr Pegram, at St. Jchn':Wood, and there inspected the life-size lay model of the statue of Sir John Logan Campbell, the "G.0.M." cf Anck land. This model, after wht-eh the I tatue will be fashioned, depicts Sir r ohn as he has looked within the last I our or five years. He is wearing the layoral robes, and with these, and his .atriarebal beard, the effect achieved by he sculptor promises to be rather pie- ' uresque. Mr. Reeves considers the like- .' ness a very good one, and he is also deased with the line 3 upon which Mr. p egram is carrying cut the work. Mr. H. A. Parker, of Wellington, was o have been one of Australasia's rei iresentatives in the International Davis | "'up competition at lawn tennis this .veek, but while practising recently he -eceived a blow in the eye from a tennis all, which has prevented him from tak ing part. He has now recovered, how?ver, and will play in the six-a-side ■natch Australasia v. All England on Tuly 31, and he proposes taking part in some open championships shortly after. Mr. Parker is well pleased with the business he has done over here, and states that it will probably necessitate his aking up his residence in Sydney or Melbourne at an early date. He expects to return to New Zealand via New York, Niagara and Vancouver, and leaves th? last-named place on September 15th should reach Wellington about Oe tober 20th. Mr. Albert A. Stichbuxy, of Auckland, who returned to London in .January last from a short business trip to South Africa, has since been travelling the Midlands and Scotland on business .. nd pleasure combined, and is now enjoying a three weeks' tour in Holland. Mr. Stichbury leaves for Australia and New Zealand via Paris on the 27th in stant, joining the Ormnz at Marseilles. The Hon. W. P. Reeves received his official letter of appointment as High Commissioner for New Zealand by the last mail from the colony. An interesting variation from the conditions of his former appointment as Agent-General may be nrted. One of those conditions was that the Agent-General must never go outaide the confines of the United Kingdom without obtaining permission from the New Zealand Government. Presumably it was "ultra vires" for him to spend a week-end across the Channel unless he cabled to New Zealand for permission! However, this condition has been omitted from the terms of the High Commissioner's pointmentSir John Hall has presented to_£he Worshipful Company of Leatherselfers, "in recognition of much kindness," a beautiful casket of greenstone and silver. The framework of the casket, which is supported at each corner by a diver kiwi, is of finely chased silver in Maori design, and the lid and sides are formed of large panels of greenstone. The lid opens in the centre, and carries the arms of the Leathersellers Company and the crest of Sir John Hall, • done in silver. The opening nobs on the lid are in the form of a greenstone acorn and silver fern-leaf. The four ! kiwis on whose backs the casket rests ; stand on an ebony baae, on which is a plate with the following inscription: I "Presented to the Worshipful Company i of Leathersellers by the Hon. Sir John I Hall, K.C.M.G., New Zealand, in recogI j nition of much kindness. Elected Mas- , [ ter, 1903." The casket was designed , i and manufactured by Mr Frank Hyams of New Bond-street, and formerly oi ] Dunedin. I Mr Kyte Collett, a Cardiff provision , merchant and importer, who has beer spending the past 18 months in New f Zealand and Australia, has just return ed to Cardiff. One of the objects bi v his long stay at the Antipodes was tc = endeavour to set the trade in dairy pro . duce between New Zealand and Cardifl .i on a better footing. Sir Joseph Ware ; | informed Mr Collett that he was tryinf , to remedy the long delays caused by i I the slowness of the present West ol ;! England direct service, and hoped tc . j reduce the rate from three-farthings tc 1 a half-penny per lb on butter. Mi i CoUett expresses himself weU satisfied f; with the outcome of his journey, and -: he is convinced that as soon as th« • i colonial Government effect the neces ! ; sary improvements in the West of Eng ' i land service, so scon will there be s . I very large increase of trade, to the mv i j tual benefit of the New Zealand pro ■ j dueer and the British consumer. -j Mr and Mrs Sidney Weetman, o j Auckland, have been spending the pasi two mon.-is in London. They cam. t Home three years ago, and after travel -! ling about Great Britain, went to tht ! Continent, where they remained « - year, spending three months in Paris - about the same time at Geneva, anc i six months in Italy, chiefly at Romi ; and Naples. At the end of last sprin; i they moved on to Florence. Venic-t - (where they spent Easter) and Milan ; returning to Switzerland through th . j St. Gothard Tunnel—a never-to-be . I forgotten journey. They stayed a 1 | Lucerne a short ime, then went on t< . j Lausanne, Dijon, Paris and England, ai - j riving at the end of May. At presen 1 ! they have not made any definite plan -, | as to future tours.

Miss Constance Bamieoafc, a lady journalist in London, who comes from New Zealand, last week succeeded i__ making the ascent of the Aile i-roide, about the worst peak in the Oisans district of the Dauphiny Alps. It had never before been done by a woman, and was last reached about three years ago by an Englishman with the same guide, Jean Baptists Rodier. who accompanied Miss Barnieoat last week. She left La Berarde. the wed-known centre for mountaineers in the Dauphiny district, im Monday afternoon, slept at the p.ountain bivouac Monday night, and, he weather being very bad aud uni-i ■- urf-bie ou Tuesday, Miss Bai-nic-ont nd the guivie left the bivouac at 3.45 <_--i v'ednasday morning and reached the -ummit at ten o'clock. The weather m that morning was magnificent, and he view from the peak was suporb. The descent was very fatiguing, but rhe lady and her guide arrived safely at Aile Froide Village at nine o'clock on Wednesday evening. At the recent examination-- for the diploma of public health at DubliiT, Dr. Guinness, cf Waihi, Aueklaud, passed with honours. The foOowing Aueklanders have called at the High Commissioner's office:— Major Whitney (Auckland), Mr E. AKeesing, Mr R. J. Owen, Mr G. S. Hawke. Mr Tho3. Allen, Mr and Mrs Arch. Buchanan, Mr F. M. Hay, Mr Albert A. Stitchbury. Mr T. Stone, Mr and Mrs Sidney Weetman, Mr and Mrs Isiior Alexander. The Shaw Savill liner Coriuthic takes the following passengers for New Zealand ports:—Auckland: Mr E. W. BeUhouse, Mr and Mrs C. W. Goodson, Mr J. Williamson, Mr H. Brashier, Rev. A. and Mrs Caldwell, Misses Caldwell (2), Mis 3G. Fleming. Mr H. Metcalfe, Mrs R. C. Miles, Mass W. Miles, Mrs M. Sproul, Miss A_ C. Wilson. Wellington: Miss Congreve Mrs R. R. F. Fresnedo and son, Mr W. Hicks, Major and Mrs McDonnell Moore, Mr R. H. Prance, Mr J. B. Reid. Mr C. T. Hall. Mr E. E. Roberts, Mr and Mrs F. Wiikie, Rev. A_ and Mrs Worsley, Misses Worsley (4). Lyttelton: Mr N. T. Cossar Mr C. T. Cossar, Mr G. D. Greenwood, Mr TL D. Greenwood. Mr 0. Greenwood- Mr C. M. Phfflips, Miss M. A. Birch. Miss M_ Ewart, Mrs H. Kirk, Mr T. M. Laing, Mrs and Miss Meiklejohn. Mr and Mrs Walker. Mr and Mrs L. Webb, Mr and Mrs Williamson. Port Chalmers: Mrs J. Bain, Miss J. J. Laing, Mrs E. McGoverne and son, Mr L- Smith. Napier: Miss K. J. Monro, Mr J. H. Nicholas. Timaru: Mr J. C. Bladder. Nelson: Mr E. Edridge. Wanganui: Mr and Mrs H. Stone, Master Stone, Miss J. Stone. Third class number about 300.