In the Public Eye

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 90, 13 October 1923, Page 14

In the Public Eye

SOME POINTS OF NOTABLE

PERSONAGES

Due de Montpensier will be legally banished from La Belle France upor»he death of his brother, the Due d'Orleans. Though France is a republic, the Due d'Orleans is, if only in the estimate of his aristocratic friends, Philippe the Eighth, King of France. His younger brother, Montpensier will succeed the Due d'Orleans, and automatically will be banished from France under the republican law of 1888, by which the kings of France are forever banished from- French soil. De Montpensier, who is extremely popular with all parties, is a democratic gentleman of quiet though fashionable tastes who lives in the beautiful Chateau of Randon, near Vichy. He is particularly interested in colonial expansion, though he has never atttempted to mix in politics or press either his or his brother's claims. The theoretical queen of France is the young Spanish Marquise de Valderterrazo, whom de Montpensier married three years ago, but who [is not of royal blood.'

Sir W. Guy Granet, who became a member of the firm of Lee, Higginson, and Co., is senior member of their London house, Higginson and Co. Before turning his attention to finance, Sir Guy was general manager of the Midland Railway Company, which he completely reorganised, especially as regards operation. Sir Guy continued as general manager, of the railroad until the war broke out in 1914, when his services were requisitioned by the Cabinet. Among other appointments, he was deputy direc-tor-general, of military railroads, directorgeneral of movements on railways, and later was i n charge of food purchases in America for the. Ministry of Food. In 1921 he became chairman of the Midland ■ Board, and this year, under the amalgamation of the Midland Railway Company with the London ■ and Northwestern and other railroad companies, he accepted the position of deputy chairman. In 1922 Sir Guy -served on the Economy Committee of which Sir Eric treddeg-was chairman. This committee did much to reduce Governmenfexpenditwe m England. ■ *

Robert E. Lee" and "Oliver Cromwell are two of the finest plays in London., The young man who wrote both of them, Mr. John Drinkwater, poet dramatist, and critic, began'work as an insurance clerk. He stuck to his desk for twelve years, and then.the call of-litera-ture and theatre became too stron--and ho launched out a 5 writer and acto?' He wrote Abraham Lincoln"—an inspiring play—and "Mary Stuart" ■ Ji e is, too one of the-leading modern poets and .the joint editor, with Sir William °nd A't°" me °f Liter^re

It ■ may be questioned whether there has every been a dictator quite so absolute as Signor Mussolini. Like all dictators Mussohin is impatient of criticism; he has already suppressed several newspapers, and has just issued'a decree furIher.curbing the liberty of the Press Yet^e himself is, or was, a journalist!

n A J&K J^ c* Tasmania, Sir HeF b.e^..N":,holls;.:says -he -revels' in:,the company of Nature; His :il: of -theopimon thaty diversified as-one's knowledge on general subjects may be .an4.no matter how exhaustively onfehas mastei-ei specific -studies, ■■ there- always is something fresh to be learned from the bush,-which may be taken to signify snakes, birds, insects, and.animals: Jlso from streams, rivers, and the sea teeming as they are with life in other orms, not forgetting the fish. Instinc- • I y«, l S ? XCelencys mind zanders into the.bush, when in the seclusion of his chambers at the Supreme Court ' among piles of law books which- invari- ?< bly t af, e desc"bed by writera as musty Sir Herbert attributes to his father, the late Mr. H. E. Nicholh, at one time editor of "The Hobart Mercury, his fondness for ' out-door pursuits. ' ••■ • " •-

™T- Fred E. Weatherly, the ■ song writer, and barrister, who recently married;. ,at the age of '75, celebrated his jubilee as a lyrist in December, 1919 Ounously enough, his' first song: was entitled "When We Are Old and Grey" written in his 20th year. Mr. Weatheriv once went into a London music hall of the old type, full of smoke and, .•vulgarity.. Presently ■ his own song, "The Holy City," came on, and for a few minutes tHe hall seemed transformed. What did" it matter after that, he asked, if .critics called the song tawdry and sentimental?

Lord Birkenhead frankly confesses his dread of examinations. He: recently said lie hoped never again to sit for an examination. He had to .pass examinations until he wts 26, and then he determined that, under'no conceivable circumstances, would anyone him pass an examination again, i' The retirement of Mr. J. B. Duke* of" the British American Tobacco Co., recalls how Lord Birkenhead began his fortune. There was a dispute between Mr..\Duke and the British tobacco manufacturers. The litigation la6tedi for tVee or four years and Mr. F. E. Smith (as.the ex-Lord Chancellor then was) was one of the counsel engaged. When ultimately a settlement was reached the retailers entertained the liquidator and counsel at a banquet, at which Lord Birkenhead said his fees in the matter had enabled him to marry and set* up his home.

Mr. Arthur Balfour, chairman of Messrs. Arthur Balfour and Co., Ltd the well-known Sheffield steel makers, is one of those men who believe that the way to run a successful business is to trust the people round him, while keeping a general supervision on what is going on. Mr. Balfour controls a. huge organisation with branches or subsidiaries all over the world, but he finds time to devote himself to public work, and .tho needs of industry as well. Mr! Balfour spent a, considerable time in' 1921 and 1922 visiting America to set before the American public facts in connection with the.steel trade.. In the former year he headed a deputation from the Sheffield Chamber of Commerce in connection with the Fordney Tariff, and was accorded a public hearing before the Senate Finance Committee. In 1922 he spoke at Washington before a meeting of the Chambers of Commerce of the United States, putting before them the views of British manufacturers on the economic reconstruction of Europe after the war. Mr. Balfour also has close connections with Italy, France, and Switzerland, and during the war his influence in each of these countries was of great use to the British Government in helping to smooth out difficulties which had arisen over the question of trade. He is Danish Vice-Consul at Sheffield, a post he has held since 1899. As Consul -for Belgium he was responsible for the care of the 9000 Belgian.refugees who came to' his consular district during the War As _a mark of gratitude for his work' on their behalf these refugees afterwards presented him with n portrait by the well-known Belgian artist, M. Andre Cluysenaar^