WHO'S WHO?

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 13796, 8 July 1908, Page 10

WHO'S WHO?

General Sir James Willcocks, who is having a busy time in India on account of frontier troubles, is a' rigid dietist, and apparently believes in the no-breakfast plan. He thinks ' that most people eat too much, and that two substantial meals a day ought to suffice. He never drinks with - his meals,; and attributes . the : : iafct ;that he is always in the; 'pink of condition" to the strictness with which ' he follows out these rules. , Winston Churchill was on one occasion travelling by steamer up the Nile to Khartoum. • The caterer on board ran out of port wine, and on the steamer arriving at Fashoda he hastily called on ;Matthews Bey, an official of the town, with the - result that he managed to borrow two bottles. During the day the Bey paid an official call on Mr. Churchill, who invited him to have a glass of port. The offer was accepted, and when the Bey's glass was emptied the Under-Secretary for.the Colonies, fastened to refill it, remarking,:" Not bad :stuff." j In the brief leisure which his life :in India affords (and he has no-ie while frontier troubles are on),. Lord Kitchener amuses himself by making a wonderful i collection of old chink This amiable weakness is becoming ;"a positive passion with the Commander-in-Chief. Lord Kitchener still holds his view that matrimony means the end of a soldier's career. One lady, the ; wife ;of an officer, is credited with having reduced Lord Kitchener, to ■ silence on this point, by asking i him, " If the officers of: the army of to-day are not to marry, where will you look for the officers of the army of to-morrow?" The Ameer of ; Cabul, * about whose Iqyalty there is some talk at the moment, rivals the German; Emperor in regard • to versatilityat - any rate, so far as hobbies and p pastimes are concerned. Motoring, horse racing, ' shooting, and cricket are his favourite outdoor recreations, and there is nothing he likes so much indoors as a good game of bridge—and he vis a fairly expert player—or to sit down at the piano and sing a song for the entertainment of a party. The Ameer, too, rather prides himself: upon his skill ■ as' a carpenter and drill sergeant, and it wasJ his fondness for gunnery practice which; caused him to lose the fingers of his left, ! hand. ■. : ■ '' ■■ Her ? Royal Highness / the ' Princess ,of Wales has purcliased a car, a 'Daimler of 28-36 horse-power. , It was constructed acceding to her own ideas, and is specially adapted for picnic?purposes. It can hold 'five persons -besides:the,chauffeur and.foot-' man. The shape is that of a large brougham, {and J special care was taken,' at Her Royal Highness' request, that . two # small front seats, intended i for "■; the,'. children, should be placed at some distance from the door, so as to obviate ', the possibility of accidents. There is 'an unusually; large window at the back, and another feature of i the car is' a folding ; table, which can be adjusted in a few -seconds for luncheon or tea. The colouring of the car was decided in a curious manner. ' Walking in-.the grounds of York Cottage, Sandringham, the Princess was struck by a beauuiul contrast in greens on a fir tree. * " A bunch of the leaves was ';■ obtained ; and ; forwarded to the '■ carriage-maker, who coloured ; the •• car exactly in the tone which the Princess had admired.

A few months ago, and -Madame Tetrazzini was unknown to the general i public, but to-day she i ranks with the greatest singers of the age. A couple,of ■■perform-; ances in London towards the dose of "last year, and she achieved a triumph unrecorded by Patti or Melba or Caruso. Already her admirers have dropped the. prefix madame—a certain sign of success—-and speak of her as Tetrazzini. The new; prima donnawas cradled in an, atmosphere fof music. Bom in Florence, she had . for & tutor the celebrated composer,- Signor. Campanini. This period, , however, only lasted i; six; months,; for, like iDe Reszke, ~Tetrazzini was. practically her own instructor.," " Go," said Campanini to her, " neither I nor anybody else can teach you more." And she went. That was 11 years ago. Her first appearance was made' in Theatro Verdi in her native city. Successful as she was on that occasion, not even her warmest supporter ever dreamed that in another decade she would become * Patti's ; successor in; the world of music. 0 To America belongs the honour of discovering her. Her popularity in the land of the Stars and Stripes placed' her in ?; a ; somewhat peculiar predicament last year. Somehow or other; Tetrazzini woke up one fine morning to find herself booked to two impressarios. This was good enough for business, but when the * two were v deadly rivals, then complications began to arise/;; One had - huge bills printed with letters a!; foot long to the effect that ,the only Tetrazzini would - positively appear at His opera house on such and such a night. The other did likewise. ; Here, then, was a pretty kettle of fish. = Each manager billed her to sing each threatened to injunct the other if she did appear.-- But the singer smiled, and refused to sing for either; then both talked of breach of contracts. Tetrazzini acted upon the only possible solution. She took the first boat to England. ... ~ .

Lord diaries Beresford stands for the sea. He is the: embodiment ; of , that i idea , that makes us cheer madly whom we hear a song dealing with Britain and the navy. He does his work in his own -way, and everybody agrees that his way is the best. He has sat in Parliament on several occasions. At one of;.his' election meetings a quiet old clergyman forced his way to the platform and asked for the pleasure of shaking hands with the distinguished candidate. "For," he explained, "I had the honour: many years ago of being confirmed by your- uncle the Primate of All Ireland." Lord Charles 5 eyes twinkled., "Bill, Bill," he shouted to his brother m the hall, "here's an old parson who was confirmed *by Uncle John ' Come up and talk to him/' Once at the cathedral at Santa Cruz he and three more boys were being shown the flags which had been taken at the storming of Teheriffe Thinking that the Spanish guides assumed unnecessary and unduly emphasised the fact that the trophies were taken from the « g - ?. h ' t,s d Charles : tore one > from :an officials hand, whereupon all four made off for all they were worth. Immediately they got on .board, a deputation from the island followed and told the story of t the theft. Oharles Beresford was questioned. He admitted paying stolen it, but refused to say where he had hidden it. : He was locked up in a cabin,- but all to no purpose. Eventually he got a cable from his mother, who' was in England. She had been cabled: to by the admiral, and she sent him a message: >; ' For my sake give l up the flag." He went; below, got it, and then -took it to the skipper. And that was the last he heard of a matter over which there nearly happened an international entanglement. Sixty-one years of age and the second son of the Marquis of Waterford, Lord ; Charles Beresford was selected while only : still a lieutenant to ; accompany ' the Prince of Wales, {now King Edward) on his trip to India.'■; He commanded >: the; Condor at the bombardment of Alexandria, where his gallantry brought him a signalled " Well done, Condor!" He became a Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty in 1886.