PERSONAL ITEMS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIV, Issue 10425, 24 April 1897, Page 4 (Supplement)

PERSONAL ITEMS.

The making of paper flowers is one of the Duchess of Albany's chief pleasures. The German Emperor is fond of light and bright colours, and has a particular dislike to see the Empress in black. Miss Grace Fairweather is the champion lady billiard player of the world. She is a native of Newcastle, and is nob yet twentyone years of ape. Mr. G. F. Watts, R.A., is building a church near Guildford, in which he will paint the frescoes himself, while his wife will design the terra-cotta decorations. The Sultan of Turkey is declared to be a domestic man, intensely fond of bis children, for whom he has a tiny theatre, wherein they play mall part! for the delectation of their papa. The Shah of Persia is a persistent cari. caturist. On the white-paper walls of his private rooms be scribbles quaint pictures when the spirit moves him. When he gets tired of the lot of them the room is repapered. One of the most interesting figures at the New York Hospital Training School for Nurses is a Japanese probationer. When off duty the lady wears her national dress. Her name is Shidzu Naruse, and she is very popular in the hospital. The extreme of luxury has perhaps been reached by the Sultan of Morocco. He has a nat row-gauge railway running through all the rooms of his palace, and travels about on a sort of sleigh propelled by a little motor. The " line" ends at his bedroom. The Ameer of Afghanistan has become a victim to the cycling craze, but, as ha is averse to using the energy necessary to propel a bicycle, a London firm has built him a machine on which he can ride in comfort, while two attendants work the pedals. A great philatelic jubilee will be held in London this year in celebration of Queen Victoria's establishment of a new " record" for length of reign. A number of famous collectors, among them members of the Queen's family, have promised to contribute. Zola says he likes the bicycle for the forgetfulness it bestows. Ho says it is all nonsense for him to take walks as recreation, because he keeps right on thinking; but with the wheel he goes like the wind—he no longer thinks, and the exercise gives him absolute repose. A young lady, only just past her twentieth year, holds an important post as auditor to an American Railway Company. In addition to this responsible work she acts as secretary to her father. The young lady's name is Miss Jessie O'Dell, and her father is a well-known lawyer. A lady who is rapidly making a name for herself in the medical world is Princess Beglarion of Armenia; in her own country she is practising very successfully. She graduated at the University of Berne with the title of M.1)., and has also done a great

deal of work in Russian hospitals. The much-travolled Duchess of Cleveland,

mother of Lord Rosebery, is anticipating a voyage to South Africa. No other duchess living has explored the world so thoroughly, and probably few women of the same age as the Duchess would regard so lightly the prospect of a voyage to the Cape. The Grand Duke Paul of Russia is so tall that no hotel bed is long enough for his comfort, and he has one built in sections, which he carries with his luggage everywhere. The bed is put up by a special mechanic, under the superintendence of the Royal valet, wherever the Grand Duke goes. Miss Margaret Maclntyre, the celebrate 1 singer, has been received in Russia with open arms. It is a recognised fact that Russians are most musical, and when they can secure a singer with a voice they like they well know how to appreciate both it and her. Frequently when Miss Maclntyre sings the house is crammed to overflowing, and ten or eleven encores are often given to her. The Dowager Lady Clifford has passed all the examinations of the Board of Trade, and received a master mariner's certificate, so that when sailing her yacht, she is able, if it so pleases her, to dispense with a captain and manage the yacht herself. Her ladyship is naturally fond of yachting, and spends several months of the year on her perfectly appointed yacht in the Mediterranean. She is the widow of the late Yoeman Usher of the Black Rod.