Pars about Notabilities.

Auckland Star, Volume XLI, Issue 31, 5 February 1910, Page 13

Pars about Notabilities.

In December Field-Marshal Earl Roberts entered upon his 69th year of military service, he having received Mβ first commission as a second lieutenant in the Bengal Artillery on December 12, 1851. He became Field-Marshal on May 25, 1895, and his only senior in the rank is Viscount Wolseley, appointed FieldMarshal a year earlier.

It is a curious coincidence that on the very day when Sir John Keller's retirement was announced, the career of Admiral Togo, the Nelson of Japan, should come to an end. He has been appointed a member of the Military Council, and will be succeeded by Admiral Iguin, who was in command of the Japanese squadron which visited England on the occasion of the King's Coronation.

Tie Duke of Alba, whose rumoured engagement to Mies Maxjorie Gould ie much talked of in America, is a Grandee Oif the First Class of Spain, but his -fajnily name of Stuart reveals his descent from that 'House, his direct ancestor having been a natural son of James 11. The Duke is not only an intimate friend oi •the ex-Emprese Eugenic, but is one of her nearest relatives, 'being the grandson of (her only sister, who married the Duke of Alba, of that day.

Messrs. John M'Lean and Thomas Walsh, multi-millionaires of the States, have both ibeen made grandfathers by the birth of a eon to Mr. and Airs. Edward Beale M'Lean, the latter being formerly Miss Evelyn Walsh. Mr. and Mrs. M'Lean, parents of the ibaby, are the only children of the multi-millionaires, and the little newcomer is thus heir to the combined M'Lean and Walsh fortunes. The wealth of Mr. John M'Lean is estimated on a moderate basis at £5,000,000, and that of Mr. Tlomae Walsh et £ 10,000,000.

King Edward does not desire that any record of his reign should be published until after his death, and he has already made arrangements for an authoritative memoir of his life to he written in yeara to come. His Majesty, it is stated, has made it clear that he greatly disapproves of more than one volume of reminiscences that have been published lately, and any who are guilty of a similar indiscretion in future will find themselves excluded from all Court invitations. In the case of one widely-discussed book the King has given orders that it is to be removed from the whole of his residences.

South Australia and Victoria each has an octogenarian legislator, who will be cheerfully stumping the country in a few weeks with a view to re-election. ilr Thomas Burgoyne, M.P., is in his 84th year, and has sat in the South Australian Assembly during the past 26 years of his life. Hβ has held three Ministerial portfolios. Victoria' 3 octogenarian lawmaker is Mr Melville, M.L.C., an active member of the Melbourne Harbour TrustHe has not missed a sitting of the Legislative Council for a iong series of years, and, although in his eighty-first year, is light-heartedly entering the campaign for re-election for Melbourne North.

The gross value of the estate of the late Mr W. P. Frith, the famous artist, is £1380, with net personalty £1310. A clause of the will expressed the wish of the deceased to be cremated, "believing that the duty of the individual to his kind includes providing for such final disposal of his body as shall be least detrimental to those who survive him, and believing that the modern process of incineration provides the quickest and safest mode of such disposal." The late artist left £150 and some furniture to Ins nurse, and the selection of one of his pictures to each child of the first marriage. The residue of the property is to be shared equally by the children.

Mr. George Salting's death followe closely on that of another wealthy collector, whose acquisitions were of a decidedly gruesome kind. Don Domingo, of Dominguez, who made a huge (fortune in Cuba, waa a lover of human remains, and at his death left 232 skeletons and SOO bones of various kinds, which realised £2G,000 when sold by auction at Santiago. The highest priced lot was the skeleton of General Martinez Campos, a Cuban patriot of the last century, which was purchased by an admirer for £3,000. Don Dominguez had left directions that his own skeleton should be included in the sale, and this wa3 done. The lot, however, was bought in by his son, who could not bear the thought oi a stranger holding possession of bis (father's bones.

Her Majesty has lately had her immense collection of jewellery completely overhauled, and some portion of it is to 'be reset in accordance with the newest 'fashions. The Queen has always 'been very devoted to jewellery of. every description, and her collection is to-day one of the finest in Europe. It is kept in large burglar-proof safes at Buckingham Palace, and the Hon. Charlotte Knollye is the only one who carries the key to this. A few years ago a careful inventory was taken of every jewel the Queen possessed, and the result was surprising. Since that time, however, the Queen has made large presents of jewellery to sevei"al members of her family. The Queen is constantly having her jewels reset as new ideas occur to her, while the Duchess of Argyll has drawn several charming designs for her lately. Her Majesty's jewellery is all carefully put away in sets. Each set rests upon a properly designed tray of white velvet, and the whole of the Queen's jewels are carefully locked up each night 'before she retires to rest. It is a proud boast of the Queen's that out of her extremely large collection she has never lost a single article in her life.

"Mr Wu," the Chinese philosopher, humorist and diplomat, has granted a final interview in America, where he for long represented China. In a few days he departs for home by way of Europe. He declares that he will not return to the States before 1930. As Mr Wu is approaching the age of three score and ten his interviewers asked the famous Minister how long he expects to live. "Pure air, pure food and pure thoughts," he replied with a smile, "are the basis of perfect human happiness and longevity. Since I adopted the 'simple life' my friends tell mc I look ten years younger. I liave arranged to dine with several of them in Washington in 1959. Fifty years are of no consequence to mc now. I fully expect to live for 200 years. Perhaps I shall visit you fifty years hence in an airship. Who knows?" Mr Wu's great grief is the refusal of his wife to discard meat, live the "simple life," and share his immortality. He sees no prospect of longevity for Americans. "You live too strenuously," he said; "you 'bolt , your food, you do not practise pure-air habits. Your mad hunt for the 'almighty dollar' is the height of racial folly. It absorbs all your energies."'

The death, occurred on December 15, from injuries received in a motor-car accident, of the Hon. Archie Gordon, third son of the Earl of Aberdeen. The end was the more sad from the fact, made known only at the last moment, that a marriage between the 'deceased and Miss Violet Asqtiith, daughter of the Premier, was in contemplation. Archie Gordon was only 25, a bright and handsome young man, very popular with all who knew him. He received his fatal injuries while motoring ion the Andover-road, near Winchester. He was driving towards Andover, in company with his chauffeur. When they were passing the cross road from Haverstock another car emerged on to the main Andover road, and the two collided with terrific force. Both cars were smashed, and all the occupants more or less injured, though Mr. Gordon was the most seriously hurt. He was thrown under the car, but did not lose consciousness, though he received terrible injuries.

King Albert of Belgium, the successor of Leopold, is a mild-mannered person, who would probably prefer his favourite sport of hunting to reigning. It is less than nine months since he left home on a tour in. Africa, including a visit to Rhodesia and a walk of 1500 miles through the Congo forest. King Leopold at first had objections to the Congo part of the journey—he was touchy when the Congo was mentioned—and mapped out a tour which would have taken his nephew elsewhere. But King Albert insisted, and the relations between him and his uncle became strained—not an unknown position in the Belgian Eoyal family. When at home, King Albert manages his shooting expeditions with the utmostsimplicity The party are conveyed from the Chateau dcs Amerois to the forest in motor-cars, and then each guest goes his own way and spends the day alone. The King is as fine a shot as our own Prince of Wales. In one day he has brought down 690 head of game, and has also shot 300 wild boars in a month. Part of his palace in Brussels has been turned into a museum for his trophies of the chase, including the skins of reindeer, elk, Russian buffaloes, bears, chamois, foxes, and wild boars, all the victims of his own prowess in the field.

Rear-Admiral A. A. C. Galloway, who has been selected to succeed Rear-Ad-miral Burney in the Home Fleet, served during the Egyptian war in 1882, received the thanks of the Admiralty for his efforts in connection with the disastrous loss of the Serpent off the coast of Spain, was promoted lieutenant from the Royal yacht, and in 1906 became A.D.C. to the King. His name is particularly well-known from his really wonderful record of gallantry in attempting the saving of life at sea. He began this part of his career when he was a midshipman, in 1873. In Gibraltar Bay a seaman attempted suicide. It was at night, but Mr. Galloway went overboard at once, and saved the man, in spite of his struggles. For this he received the Royal Humane Society's medal. Five years later, again at night, Mr. Galloway sprang from the Pallas, at Port Said, to save a stoker who was swimming to the uhip and was drowning. In 1882 he, with a boat's crew of volunteers, went off from the Warrior, in the Bay ot Biscay, during a heavy gale, to pick up a man who had fallen from another ship. On this occasion, the Duke of Edinburgh, in a general signal, thanked him for his service. His fourth, and latest, attempt, at Singapore, was, unfortunately, less Buccessful, though not less courageous.