NEWS AND VIEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXV, Issue 10751, 12 May 1898, Page 3

NEWS AND VIEWS.

HOBBIES OF SOME OF THE MEMBERS £ OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS. The London Daily Mail says:—The House of Commons has been described as the finest • 'j f club in the world. It- has reading, smoking, and tea rooms, but unlike any other club7|lj§p« it has not a single room specially set apart for the recreation of its members. It is the mother ;of - Parliaments, but,' curiously p&| enough, ; tie children of this great mother art not so. straitlaced. In Melbourno there St|l is' a lawn tennis court attached to the legislature, and in Sydney they go a step further, and provide billiard tables and cards forthe|||||| members.: As Mr. Henniker Heaton onceil||p||l remarked, "We have no amusement in the Sjgß House of Commons beyond the mild excite- s -• ment of handing a lady a cup of tea." It is a fact not generally known that games of •"• -» all kinds are prohibited in tho House of Commons. . It is actually illegal also for" -".'-t a member to drink anything except water ■ when he is making a speech, but these rules y\ are more honoured in the breach than in 5 !.|sf the observance. Chess is daily played in t-lio '• House, and the Speaker " winks'the other &-M eye" at this little infringement of the law. Tennis and golf claim Sir Richard Webster , * and Mr. Arthur Balfour, : while cricket has - ''-1 its disciples in Mr. John Burns and Captain ■'/ price Hutchinson. , It is said in Aston that the latter owes' his election to his proficiency * 7 with the willow." In cultivating his con- \ stituency lie joined a local club, and on '■-> several occasions helped them to win important matches. His opponent, Mr. Boale, >5 Al adopted the same tactics, and the two candi- § \< 7 *j dates met one Saturday on the cricket ground in rival teams. Captain Grice Hutchinson ,v knocked up a rattling 25 for his side, while , L Mr. Beale came out for a "duck." "An ominous sign," shouted his friends, and so it •" yl/rs proved. .. The kodak fiends of the Commons are many \ 'r and numerous. Sir A. K. Rollit, Sir Richard Webster, and Mr. H. Hoare are : - p famous snap-shotters. The latter has snapshotted every policeman and official in the House. Cycling has many devotees. • Dr. Ambrose used to cycle" regularly to the House, and example . was followed by Mr. Matthew Bodkin. The Hon. Mark Napier was the first to pedal into the sacred M precincts, and tho bobby nearly pulled him iW$ off the machine. Mr. Arnold Morley is one ' 1 p|| of the best billiard players in the Commons. : m He handles the cue with almost the dexterity of John Roberts. Watching billiard matches ; he considers a grand sedative for the nerves,. -f| so when a big billiard match is on at the Egyptian Hall you are sure to see the sena- psj torial face of Arnold Morley watching the ■ game. There are many musicians in the Commons, but the only member possessing % a musical degree is Mr. Sidebottom, ; who ■ represents the Hyde division of Cheshire. He is a Mus. Bac. of New College, Oxford. '*■; ~ ?f Music is his hobby. Nothing delights hint more than to get astride a big organ and dance on the keys and pedals with his hands', , J : ;"'i and feet. Anyone would guess that Joseph! Arch's recreation is .gardening. ? But it' - isn't. At the back of his house at Barford, ) near Warwick, he has a joiner's shed in! which he retires for certain hours of the - day during the Parliamentary recess. Joseph V ! i'< is a deft hand with the chisel and the plane, and has turned out many a pretty* piece q§iip§f§ carpentry. Fencing is the chief recreation of Sir Charles Dilke. At his Chelsea home £igjl he has a splendidly appointed fencing-room, ' g into which he retires every morning for a, ' bout with the foils. Genial, jolly John ~OM William Maclure (now Sir John) has many f J /l hobbies, but his chief appears to be to act as a director of companies! John William f is the champion director •of the House oi • St Commons! Everybody knows Mr. Cham-! beriain's hobby—orchids. Of-recreations' he hasn't any.Mr. Chamberlain is an' enigma to the doctors. He won't take exer-.j:f'-S cise, yet he is never ill. Mr. Cumming Mac-! dona (once the Rev. Camming Macdona) is the most celebrated " doggy" man in the: House. At one time he had 500; now ho! • has three. He was the first to introduces < the noble St. Bernard into England, and allthe high-bred dogs are descended from his' " \>f. famous " Tell" and " Monarque." At HilbreJ ' f/4 Cheshire, where he resides, a tower is erected ol to Tell, which is utilised as a Trinity landmark, while on an island in the centre of . an ornamantal lake repose tho bones of over ,C; 100 famous dogs. - - . .M. ■

i; THE LATE ME. JAMES PAYN. - The London papers, in recording the death of Mr. James Payn, the novelist, print soma interesting incidents of his career.. We quote the following

This man of many " —novelist, jour- §c||| nalist, critic, and publisher's reader— * si fessed that he never was " a great worker," ■ V; or in any way made a slave of himself. "I . never did imaginative work after one o'clock," he said. "I kept the afternoon' for more mechanical work, and I never worked at all after four or five." , He held a very decided opinion in regard- :lpf to the "New Woman" literature. "It ap-. peals to a very small public," was his die-. : • turn. " I have never seen a ' New Woman,' • and to tell you the truth,.l don't believe! she exists, or if she does there are not more I ,ii than half-a-dozen specimens of her." It was Dickens who accepted his first prose article, and this was the beginning of a life- 1 . long friendship with "the master," as James' : \ Payn fondly called him. Several incidents, 'i narrated by Dickens in "Great Expects- y'v? tions" actually occurred in Mr. Payn's life,: and were related by hint to "the master." VIMr. Payn had an amusing story to tell of his first meeting with Thackeray. The meeting took place at the house of Mr.- Payn's I 1 \ 3 brother-in-law, and Mr. Payn sat next to. I'.' Thackeray, who, after dinner, whispered that he had a most particular engagement, '$jm and was about to wish good-night to liis i'ftS host. "But will you not even smoke a X cigar first 1' asked Mr. Payn, . whereupon Thackeray remarked, " Oh, they smoke here, jfH§ du they ? Well, to tell you the truth, thai- 'SOS was my engagement." He remained many; hours after that. " ! ; 3 Mr. Pavn was a famous whist-player, and, s|S® when his infirmities precluded his visiting hisj -i'lf club, a number of his,club friends were wont' \/1 to visit- Jiim twice a week for a game, anenti which he said to an interviewer:—"One- V benefit that I have derived from my illness'' is the knowledge that I owe to' it much ofptfl the general kindness that characterises tskk human nature. To find that even clubmen, , who seldom care to wander far from club-; • , i land, should be willing to travel a distance- / - of three miles, week after week, in order to come and play with an invalid for whom Ms they have to deal— lam not equal to de.il- & ing now—upsets all \ one's preconceived, iffiggj theories about the innate- selfishness of, human nature." . Whist was ever his only) recreation; he seldom took a holiday for. ;'m more than three days at a time; he always '0% found himself anxious to get back to work' again. Mr. Payn was one of De Quincey's; ; .>>-?s. friends; he was introduced to the opium-, eater by Miss Mitford. On one occasion l the novelist was •; taking lunch with ; De' iifsp Quincey, and was about to pour himselfiS™§| out what he thought was a glass of wine, rf(£ when Miss De Quincey stopped him in the act by informing him that it was laudanum, of which De Quincev partook freely.' • In his "Literary Recollections," Mr. Payn has told us about the first newspaper notice -14 his own work ever received. "It was lik. * - : i 10,000 tonics in a single dose," he says. " When I became a reviewer myself, and had to deal with a young author who had genuine - < merit in him, I never failed to recall the >$£§1 encouragement I had myself received when I -.?$§ most needed it." ■' ■ A capital story was told by Mr. Payn of - himself. Of recent years he had been' af-. flicted with deafness. One day a man called , -j; on him, and the novelist understood his visitor to say.that he wished to borrow, ..' £5. " Not a penny I" exclaimed Mr. Payn, sharply, for the individual in question had' M called before on the same errand. ' Subsequently Mr. Payn learned to Ms sorrow that 11 his visitor had called to' repay the £5 ha ! ; j had previously borrowed. , - . ; ■ '{ ; Readers of the Illustrated London News. will be the poorer for the loss of his pleasant, fS# chatty causerie, which all looked forward to' / every week.