Pars about Notabilities.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXIX, Issue 153, 27 June 1908, Page 13

Pars about Notabilities.

-■'_, •' '•;; , ' - I Signora Toselli, the former Wife of the King of. Saxony, who was married-to I.Signbr- Toselli ;on September .25, gave birth to a son last month at. Florence. She is thirty-seven years' of age, and-is the mother of three Saxon princes and threeprincesses. \.,;:;.....' ._,

The Pope, in receiving Cardinal Agliardi;recently, announced that Archbishop ; Bourne,: of, Westminster,'- would shortly | be'created a Cardinal, says the Exchange Telegraph. Company.

Miss Florence sNightingale last month celebrated her eighty-eighth .birthday. Although her bodily strength is impaired by weight of years,- and her eyesight is dimihed, Miss Nightingale's interest in nursing remains keen and practical, and she keeps in close touch with, the latest developments, of science as applied to medicine and nursing.

The "Aftenpost" states that Queen Alexaridra arid Princess Victoria will go to Christiariia on a yachting cruise at the end of' August or "beginning of September,, and that the Prince and Princess of Wales will'also visit Norway:-hi the course of the summer. The journal adds, that the Duke'of Fife intends to visit Christiania in his yacht, while King Edward has renewed his promise. to come to Norway in the new rtfyal yacht in the summer of next year.

The Marquis : of Queensbeny, who is the latest distinguished convert -to the Old Religion, will take, a place, among British Roman Catholics second only to the Duke of. Norfolk. The Marquisate of Queensberry is considerably older than the Marquisate of Bute. And, if "Old Q." (remarks the "Pall Mall Gazette?) -had been more mindful of his obligations,, he would have passed on a Dukedom as well as a million of personalty, before they put him away urider the communion table of St. James's, Piccadilly. , Lord Queensberry is a second son. His elder brother, who bore the courtesy style of Viscount Drumlaririg, until Lord Bosebery made him Bsren Kelhead, was a promising Un-der-Secretary at F. 0., when a gun accident at Quantpck, cut short his,career, and put his junior in his place of heirr presumptive. ..V, . .:&_■■

The announcement of the death of John McGrath recalls an Irish romance of over half a. century ago. The heroine wss an English girl; Miss Arbuthnot, an extremely wealthy heiress. During a visit to Ireland, whilst still in her teens, she made the - acquaintance ef "Weedeoek" Carden, an Irish landlord, who derived his sobriquet from the number of times he had been shot at by his tenants. Carden became infatuated with Miss Arbuthnot" but his passion was not rci turned. In despair he followed the lady from one place to another. Later Miss Arbuthnot returned to Rathronda. Mansion, Tipperary, and Carden, coming upon her alone one day, attempted to force'her .into a carriage which he had in waiting. ( Her cries, however, attracted the attention of. John McGrath, who was passing, and he went to her assistance.' In the struggle which ensued the; lady escaped, and the abduction was frustrated. Carden (was arrested and sentenced to a term of imprisonment.

rLord Burton has a fariuly" history of 150 years connected with the brewery , town. The first of the Basses to engage in the trade was originally a carrier of beer, who was struck with,the notion that be might better carry his own beer than another man's, and so became a brewer.. ~

The Shah of Persia has taken extraordinary precautions to safeguard his wonderful collection of jewels, estimated to be worth f 17,000,000. Some travellers at Teheran'were indiscreet enough to talk openly about .the wonderful treasures hidden in the Shah's vaults. Their conversation was reported to the Shah, who was seized with the notion that there was a plot on to rob him of the jewels. Jjhmediately he had deeper and: even more secure vaults dug. The iron doors of the passages leading to the vaults have ingenious electrical" contrivances which, when set,, not only will send* an alarm to the palace guard, but will discharge explosives enough to destroy an army ol robbers. ' Night and day a score of picked men guard the jewel vaultsruthless mountaineers, who await only the order to kill.

Mr. J. M. Barrie was 48 years\pf age early last month, and in this connection it has been reported that May 9 brings gladness to a number of the playwright's' well-wishers in a remote Highland parish. (Early in May, 1892—50 the story, goes— the _ Rev. James Winter, Free Church , minister at Bower, in Caithness, to whom 'a sister of the Barries was about to be riiarried, was thrown from his horse,and (killed; and as a mark of (affection for '"the purest soul I have ever known," the author announced his intention of sending £15 every year while I live to be. 'distributed on May 0 among the poor of the.district, so that for the span of life that might have been his his memory kept green.among ; yon." Mr. , Barrie contradicted this story several | years since,.but is perhaps now too tired :of it to' bother about it. The minister of jthe parish, however, has written to the papers intimating that though he has been 15 years ininister of the parish he is not aware of any such sum beinr; received." - • ■

"I am not a vegetarian, and do not exclude any form of flesh: As to sleep, I formerly used to rise about six o'clock m the morning, but latterly I have been a ...bit later. .My usual allowance is about ten hours a day."; This profession of faith is Lord Gwydyr's, who celebrated his OSth birthday the other day. In point of, age he is tlie Father of the-House of Lords. Lord Gwydyr clearly remembers tho'coronation of George IV., to which he was taken in his .grandfather's State barge from the steps of Gwydyr House, in "Whitehall, where the torch extinguisher may. still be seen. About 90 odd years ago he planted a tree in" Stoke Park, his seat near Jpswich, and a. year since he held his great grandson to root •a-sapling beside it. : '

'Lord Aye bury -has for many years ■made a serious 'study of the ant, and in his book, "Ants,-Bees, and Wasps,'" he has summed up his. knowledge-of. those interesting creatures. His enthusiasm for his subject may be judged from'the_ fact that on one occasion he ".-unceasingly watched an ant working from six o'clock in the morning to nearly ten o'clock at ni/»ht. Apropos of Lord- Avebury's ant studies, the following amusing ' graph appeared in a Calcutta-newspaper-some years (ago: "The dcalh.is recorded in England of an aunt of Sir-John Lubbock. ' It was a large-black insect, called Tdethusaleh,,' which he took back to England some years ago."

Hans Anderson; "the great "Danis-i j writer, ..was an nervous man. and he had'a, very-great fear of being buried alive. Sovgreat. was this dread ■ that every night ,-wheri he went to bed he wondl place by his, bedsidei' a large piece j of paper, • on. which was written, "I am. I only apparently dead.". ■•':

It; is asserted that no other country produces so many "instances of extraordinary, longevity asiTurkey—-the dirtiest country in the world. There is, we learn, at present, living in Keni .Baghtcha.a government :bookbinder. aged .134-year3, who has held' hi 3 position -for eighty years. His father, was. also a government functionary, and died at the age of 142 years. .-... . ,

In the brief leisure ;which his life in I India' affords (and-he. has none while frontier troubles are.'.'Ori.). Lord Kitchener i amuses himself by.making awonderiil I collection of old china. This aini?ble weakness is becoming, a positive passion with ; the •.. Cbrimi'arider-in-Chief:"■•• Lord ; .Kitchener still holds his view that matrix inony'irieahs the end of a 'soldier's; career. One lady, the wife of an officer whose lamented' death at Rawal Piridi has just been announced,; is credited, with having reduced Lord Kitchener .to silehee ..on this point by asking him, "If the officers of the army of to-day arc riot to;iriarry. where will you .look for the officers oE the army of to-morrow?"

The Crown Princess; Sophie of Greeca, v.ho was the guest of the Kaiser on board the Hozerizollerri before the Corfu, on his recent Mediterranean cruise, was always His Majesty's' favourite sister, chiefly she always' took him- far more seriously as a boy and-youth than the others did; and, as Lord Beaconsfield;, makes one of his characters in "Eridymion" remark—"An agreeable person is a person who agrees a mOst.profound reflection. Consequerit-. ly, the Emperor", in the second year of his reign, journeyed to Athens to attend the wedding of . this agreeable -sister,; and thereafter passed.on'to'Stamboul to try to get himseil taken with equal" seriousness by the Sultan Abdul Hamid.

The German .Colonial Secretary i IL?rr Dernberg, is. now in German South-West Africa. Mr. -Chamberlain is only one of the complimentary and imaginary parj'lels that have been applied to'him. Viscount Morley was raised from ari editor's chair to a seat in the (Cabinet, arid Harr Dernberg, .the son of a journalist, was taken • straight from commercial . pursui ts to be Colonial: Secretary, relinquishing a salary of £ 12.500 for one of only £750. , Perhaps some.of his., energy is. due to the jears- he. spent in an .'American'.bankinghat.se. He has made a speciality of un- | ravelling financial tangles, and the JTdrtri-: em Pacific Railway, owes something to hij energy and skill.

(Dean Barlow of Peterborough, whose leath is recorded, was famous in his own line, and equally so as one of the famous Barlow family. It was his son, Mr. Montague Bartow, of Lincoln's Inn,, who promoted ; the. • feast, about eight? ai months ago, at which .representatives of I the Barlow clan gatliertd.in-force. Th«r» was Sir Thomas.'Barlow,-.the famous physician, in the chair, and" confronting him, cr represented by leLteis of apology, were the late Dean, two Barlow MJ?.'s,. the superintendent of the Royal ■ Laboratory' at Woolwich, a R*ar-Admiral, Drl Christopher Barlowj.. Bishop of Goulburn, N.S.W., arid,a host. '.pi.. others., One of the many Barlows present said: '-We: are not all famous yet," but they ar2 going a.good way,to. remove the reproach. It may be.hoped, however, that this custom of family.; parties vwill, not be : indefinitely extended. A careful statistician has found out that in JEnglar-.d there are 292,000 Snuths, 260,0Q0 Joneses (how about Wales ?), 176,000 Williamses, 130,000 Taylors, 115,000 ' Browns, and 90,000 Robinsons. -The Only adequate open space for meeting that we can think of is the Desert of Sahara.