PERSONAL ITEMS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXIX, Issue 9022, 29 October 1892, Page 4 (Supplement)

PERSONAL ITEMS.

The Pope has appointed Bishop MacDonald, Bishop of Argyle and the Isles, to be Archbishop of Edinburgh in room of the late Archbishop Smith. The Duke of Fife has, as is known, been selling his estates. In this he is a wise man, for he is a banker as well as a landlord, and 7 per cent, in a bank produces a larger income than 3 per cent, in land. At the dinner of the Italian Chamber of Commerce, at the Hotel Metropole, last week, Mr. G. A. Sala scored an extraordinary success by a speech in Italian, which excited his audience to rapturous enthusiasm. Ex-Empress Eugenie has been greatly annoyed by persistent rumours that her health had become greatly impaired. We are able to state that Her Imperial Majesty feels as strong as ever she did, and, in fact, enjoys better health now than she has at any other time since the birth of the late Prince, her son. On his journey from Braemar to Pitlochry the other day, Mr. Gladstone was presented by the Liberals of Kirkmicbael with a walking-stick with a ram's-horn handle. "Is not this a stick for a bishop ?" he exclaimed. " No," responded " a voice," "for a leader." The Countess of Carlisle, besides being a most accomplished platform speaker and successful political canvasser, is, moreover, one of the most skilful farmers in England. She delights in superintending every detail of agriculture, and is intimately acquainted with every labour on the estate. Victor Hugo records in his notes that when he was in Brussels he refused to visit the battlefield of Waterloo. To him it represented not only the triumph of Europe over France, but " the complete, absolute, startling, incontestable and final sovereign triumph of mediocrity over genius." The Duke of Edinburgh is third on the list of admirals. He will be promoted to the highest rank he can receive next year, that of Admiral of the Fleet, unless the Queen restores the office of Lord High Admiral, and bestows the post of commander-in-chief of the whole navy on her second son. Mr. Keir Hardie, M.P., never went to school, but taught himself writing, and even shorthand, down in the pit, by the aid of a morsel of shale and lamp-black. The eldest of a family of 11, be began to work for his bread when only seven, carrying and sharpening tools in a Glasgow shipyard, and performing the varied duties which fall to a "nipper." . The Czar's health is much improved by his stay at Copenhagen, although he continues to be highly nervous. The smallest thing will cause him to start and turn pale, bub the Czarina is even worse in this respect. The Czar's health might be better, bub he is a very large eater, and this often causes him some inconvenience. Playing cards is his favourite amusement, and he prefers it to all other distractions. He goes to church daily. The service lasts from one to two hours, the prayers for the safety of the imperial family taking up the major part of the time. Although Madame Patti has, the Daily News learns, no immediate intentions of quitting the profession, she has nevertheless authorised Mr. Marcus Meyer to declare that her tour in 1893-94 will be her farewell of America, and she has promised to write for publication a letter to that effect. The great artist has now entered her fiftieth year, but that her splendid voice has been well preserved is quite beyond question. Under the contract with Mr. Marcus Meyer, Madame Patti will receive £40,000 for forty concerts in the United States and Canada, starting from November, 1893, probably on the anniversary of her operatic debut as Lucie, as a girl of sixteen, in New York 34 years before. According to private news received in Berlin the Emperor's cruise had this year had a very beneficial effect upon his health. He never left the decks of the Kaiseradler, except when business took him into his cabin. He has not only improved in appearance, bat is in the best of spirits. The arrangements for the whale hunt in which the German Emperor is to take parb at Karlso are now complete. The vessel on which he will ship is called the Duncan Grey. She belongs to the Anglo-Norwegian Fishing Company, of Tromso, and has a crew of nine men, including the harpooner. Should the weather prove unfavourable, the Emperor will spend the time shooting Arctic hares on the island of Andammen, close to Skaaro, until the whale-hunt can be commenced. The two expeditions are expected to extend over four days.