The Last of the 1809 Celebrities.

Evening Post, Volume LV, Issue 125, 28 May 1898, Page 2 (Supplement)

The Last of the 1809 Celebrities.

I Referring to the recent death of Mary Oowden Clarke, the Scots Pictorial pointed out that Mr. Gladstone alone remained to represent that annusmirabilis of 1809 which gave the century so many of its notabilities. And now the Grand Old Man himself haa gone. The late Professor Blackie was one of the 1809 men, and ho was never tired o£ emphasising the fact. Some little time before his death he met Mr. Gladstone at Pitloohry, and the pair discussed their years, as old men do. 'Yes,' said Blackie, in his own delightful egotistic manner, ' there were three great men born in 1809— > Blackie, Gladstone, and Tennyson.' A twinkle appeared in the old Parliamentary eye. 'Ah! but,' quoth Gladstone, 'Tennyson wouldn't thank you for including him in our set. We are far too noisy for him.'

In the elephant-house at the Zoological Gardens recently the front horn of the female hairy-eared rhinoceros (Rhinoceros lasiotis) was removed. The operation was carried out by Mr. Bartlett, the Superintendent, and Mr. Thomßon, the head keeper, who had for assistance th*e staff of the elephant house and a number of other keepers. A rope was passed under the body of the animal, which was thus securely girthed, and so drawn up to the stout wooden railings. When she was on her side, her feet were secured with straps, and so she was prevented from struggling. This, of course, was the longest part of the business, for she resisted violently and noisily, and a rhinoceros is not easy to handle. The removal of the horn was not a loug operation, and was unattended with paint