PERSONAL ITEMS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXII, Issue 10014, 28 December 1895, Page 4 (Supplement)

PERSONAL ITEMS.

The holder of one of the oldest baronetcies in Ireland at present a policeman, serving in the Constabulary Depot, Dublin. Lady Randolph Churchill is tattooed with a snako round one arm. The operation took place during her visit to India. As the result of a lawsuit Sir Henry Thompson, the famous physician, keeps £77,000 bequeathed him by a patient. Mr, Asquith visited Morley, his birthplace, near Leeds, recently, and opened a now town hall, built at a cost of £40,000. The Duke of Devonshire is a good and successful hand at deer stalking. His patience knows 110 bounds, and he is a fair shot with the rifle.

Dr. Marshall Ward, F.R.S., lias been appointed Professor of Botany at tho Cambridge University, in succession to the late Professor Babington. Dr. Ward graduated 13.A. in 1579. taking first-class honours in the Natural Science Tripos. Soon afterwards he was electod Fellow of Christ's College of the same University. Prior to thisappointraent he held-lhe Professorship of Botany at the Royal Engineering College, Cooper's Hill. One of the most accomplished amateur sculptors of the time is the clever buteccentric Duchesse d'l'zes. She is now ongaged on a colossal figure of tho Virgin Mary. When finished it is to stand on a high cliff 011 one of the Duchesne's ostites in tho hepaitment of Aveyron, and it is calculated that it will bo visible for a distance of at least thirty miles round. The figaro is to bo crowned, and the crown lighted with electricity. Mrs. Dr. Nansen, wife of the Arctic explorer, appears in an intorvew as follows : " I asked her if she had no desire to accompany her husband. Sho answered, promptly : ' No, indeed ; that would be outside the sphere of a woman. That would not have been the proper thing for me to do.' I ventured to mention that Mrs. Peary accompanied her husband on an Arctic trip. ' Yes,' sho said,' and so much the worse for the exhibition.'"

The Duke of Marlborough has turned upon his tormentor* in the American press. "Am I hollow-chested?" ho is alleged to have asked one of his interviewers; and tho latter was compelled to admit that though he was a Duke he could pass the physical examination for admission to West Point. '"Do I whisper?" and "Do I wear red ties?" to both of which questions the interviewer gave a negative reply. "They've told so many lies about me," said the Duke, "that really I hardly know myself any more. I've become a stranger to myself, don't you know?'' It is rare that two brothers gain tho highest distinction awarded for personal bravery in the field—the coveted Victoria Cross. Lieutenant General Sir Charles Stanley Cough and Major-General Sir Hugh (.lough both gained it by their conspicuous valour during the Indian Mutiny. Ajnong the many acts of bravery performed by the former, entitling him to this distinction, was the saving of Sir Hugh's life in an engagement at Rhotuk, on which occasion Sir Charles stood over his brother, who was wounded, and killed two of the enemy. Sir Hugh had command of tho cavalry brigade during Lord Robert's famous march to Candahar.

An artist who goes far alield in search of copy is Mr. Mortimer Menpes. Ho has been sketching in Mexico. Tho women of the Zapatecos district he found to be extraordinarily beautiful, with a classical grace of carriage and firmness of figure. They have a picturesque sense of colour in clothe?, and one of the most interesting sights to bo seen is the dyeing of the natural material by the sea shore. The market at Tehuuntepee, tHe chief town of the district, is a wonderful scene. No man is allowed inside it, as all the trading is done by women; and the blending of colours as the crowd moved about suggested nothing so much as a great pot-pourri of roie petals and violets thrown upon silver sand."