PERSONAL ITEMS

Grey River Argus, 21 June 1913, Page 3

PERSONAL ITEMS

On- his return from South Westland and before proceeding to Wellington Mr. T. Seddon. M.P., will pay- a visit to Waiuta. Mr. H. H. Coote, Optician of Lamp ton Quay,_ Wellington, arrived by the Mapourika yesterday, and may be con--1 suited- at Revington's Hotel to-day -(Saturday); and Monday. He will pay a' visit to Reefton on Friday and Saturday June 27th amd 28th. • Major General. Godley, accompanied by Mrs. ' Godley, lef tby the Aorangi last evening for San Francisco, «n aroute to England to attend the manoeuvfes.^ The General hopes also to inspect"s^yice schools of the: American" army wKue in the United States and will retyrn to New Zealand about the end ql the year. Tom Gunn, the Chinese airman; has sailed from, San Francsco for Shanghai, where he- intend to etablish an aviation' school. He took away with him . a- biplane and other flying paraphernalia. . : A "private - <:able message received in Wellington announces the death of Dr. Fnaricis Scobie Mackenzie, second son of the- late Mr. Scobie Mackinzie formerly M.H.R. of Mount Ida. The deceased ' gentleman was born in; Cen- 1 tral Qtago " thirty-four years ago, and was educated at the Otago Bpys's High School and dinburgh University He \Vas af one time medical superintendent of Whangarei Hospital., and subsequently ' he % had ' charge of thehospital at Broken Hill, New South Wales. Dr. Mackenzie, who was unmarried;" was travelling by steamer from Melbourne 'to Perth when he died. : ' , „ - ; , In' sayiiig 1 at Glasgow recently that he had received the 1 highest possible (honours at- the hands of the- German Emperor, Lord Roberts -was alluding to the Black Eagles-highest of Prussian decorations, corresponding to the British' "Garter — which was conferred upon him on his return from his last xraT. The Act of favour caused a great outcry at the time among the extreme Chalvinists at Berlin. There is only one other Englishman outside the Royal Family on whom the same distinction has been bestowed, a.nd that is Sir Frank Lrscelles, who. on emitting the British Embassy at Berlin, received this mark of Trnrjeri^l favour in acknowledgment of h ; s efforts in "-h-e cau<=e of a better understanding between the two countries. At. St. " Germain dv Bois, near Paris, there lives a man, Jean Pierre Bossu, who has been the father- of thirty children. He lives in a mis-' erable- thatched cottage ' which he built himself of mud and wood. Of the first marriage there were seventeen boys and one girl, by his second *-wife he became the father of seven more ' boys and five girls. To-day there are only ten living. The child ren have frequently, to the number of seven or eight, in the same room with their parents, on a bed composed of four planks. Their father is now seveuitv-one, nnd of a very cheerful disposition. His wages hove never been more than ?s r>er week, which he earns by cultivating vegetables. The Stptn mnkes him a-™»*._ ment of ten francs n vepr prr child for hpvi.7itr rn^^d a fam'l'- of more than three rhiiWr-er mi to.^." o ge rf' sW'-een. Hi<= I—oibor Cl^iirU hr> c nJsn be^n Tnnr r: ' 1 '" twice, .md -hns p ■ fnmiiV of tweri'v-Hir^". An Ipswich merchant, Mr. E.H. Fison, writes interestingly in the "British Weekly" on a recent visit to Uganda, and describes the boy King of the' protectorate. "I saw him the other day make two of The best" drives at goV that I nave see,n for many a long dav," he wri'es. "He is the captain of the Kampala Football Club; and the associate of the English gentlemen of the town. This year he will attain his majority (eighteen} and will enter upom the first stage of his kinelv dut'es under the Uganda Protectorate, with a sa.l--■arv -of £1200 ncr *.nvv>m. $f> for. all looks well for the future. He Vis ability and rommon-<=e.n?e f«»r n the average. ?s p member of tne C.M-S rhurch here and a liberal donor to it? funds." - ■/-..