MAINLY ABOUT PEOPLE.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1265, 28 May 1896, Page 20

MAINLY ABOUT PEOPLE.

The Archduke Charles of Austria, whose death is announced in tiic cablegrams, was born in 1833, and was three years younger than the Emperor Francis Joseph, Ins brother. , . , Mr J. P. Armstrong lias been appointed Returning Officer for the Palmerston North borough. , Sir James Hector and Judge Ward, members of the Brunner Commission, were passengers by the Grafton, which arrived here last week from the West Coast and ISelson. The life of a New Zealand Minister of the | Crown (remarks our Stratford cot respondent) f is not all beer and skittles. limy e.uii j their money,” was a frequent remark heard here after the late visit of Mr Ward. A long | speech in the afternoon at Eltham, the recep- i tion and disposal of half a dozoa deputations, an eight miles drive in an open buggy amidst J torrents of rain, a two hours’ speech at Strut- . ford, two hours’ banqueting with another | speeehand a comic song, “ There’s Bound to boa Row,” with “ Auld Bang Sync at mid- | night; then a series of deputations till well | after 2 a.in. formed quite enough work lor the , average man, and yet Mr Ward turned up lor j the south train at 8.30 a.in as fresh as paint. ' Sir Stafford Nortlicoto, who is now making j a long visit in Washington—as the gossips . say, on a diplomatic mission—has singularly good opportunities to find out just what the , drift of American opinion really is, and pur- , haps also not a little to influence it. His younger brother, Oliver, is in business in Wall j street, and married a daughter of Hamilton ( Fish, Secretary of State under Grant, ; who negotiated the Alabama Claims Com- j mission. Sir Stafford’s father was. a member j of that samo Commission, and Ins brother j Henry acted as secretary to the Marquis ol , Ripon, who negotiated the treaty. His own j wife is an American by birth, who was . adopted by Lord Mount - Stephen, a very I wealthy Canadian peer, and the leading spirit i in the Canadian-Pacific railroad. The brother | of his sister-in-law is the Speaker of the j New York Legislature, and a prominent can- : didate for the succession to the Governorship ( of that State. Sir Stafford dined with the, Venezuelan Minister at Sir Julian Pumice- : foto’s, and within a few days thereafter , though perhaps the two circumstances may | havo° a purely accidental connection—the so- | called XJruan incident was eliminated from the ' controversy. . , j Mr and Mrs Vcrokcr Bindon have been , given a very handsome marriage present by , the teachers in the southern portion of the i Wanganui education district. It consists of | a massive opoignc and two candelabra in oxidised silver, imported from London. . Mr Edward Hencago, one of the now 1 eers, I was M.P. for Lincoln from 1835 to 1838, and afterwards represented Grimsby. He was . Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in , 1886. ... , . -<\ Mr J. J. Kennedy, the well-known actor, is ■ at present a patient in the Auckland Hospital. ; He ha 3 undergone a successful operation, and - is showing signs of improvement. j The young man Charles Bridge, drowned whilo crossing the river near Omaliu. Hr'ze s - Bay, was to have been married in a few days. | Mr McEwan, Government dairy expert, 1 loft last week for the South. He intends, to : pay a visit to the winter show which is being | hold under the auspices of the Canterbury . Agricultural and Pastoral Association, and . on Saturday will give before the Association J a roviow of the dairying of the past year. , Captain Rose, who is now on his way to , England, has been granted six months leave of absence by the Harbour Board. Messrs Warnook and Adkin have appointed. Mr Brown, of Wellington, to be manager of j their Palmerston branch in place of Mr L. Goorgo, who has resigned on account of the ill-hoalth of his wife. An address was presented to Inspector McGovern when leaving Grey mouthy and a gold watch was presented to Mrs McGovern. Mr Donald R. Maedonncll has been appointed a ranger under the Animals Protection Act for Hawke’s Bay. j Mr N. Carless, who has been purser ol the | Huddart-Parker steamer lasmania during | the time that sho has boon in the New Zca- j land-Sydnoy trade, has been promoted, to the i position of inspector of the Company, s bust- | ness on the New Zealand Coast, his, headquarters being at Wellington. Mr Carless during the timo ho has been purser of the Tasmania lias boon a very popular officer. Mr John MeLachlan, M.H.IL, has been appointed a member of the Canterbury Laud . Board. , , , , . , , Mr Robert Chisholm has been appointed a visiting Justico at Dunedin Prison, and Mr William Todd a visiting Justice at Invercargill Prison. . The Trades Council last week decided to send a letter of condolence to Lady Buckley on the death of the late Sir. Patrick Buckley. Thoy also passed the following resolution . “ That this Council desires to place on record their appreciation of the valuable services rendered to the country by tlm late Sir Patrick Buckley as a Minister of the Crown and a member of the Legislative Council, and of his courtesy on nil occnsions to the workers of this Colony.” . At tiie meeting of the City Council last week, tho Mayor moved that a latter of condolence be sent Lady Buckley expressing rfir p rct at tho death of Sir 1 utriok Buokh y . The motion was seconded by Councillor Dovine and agreed to. Lord Glasgow lias given his patronage . to tho Institute for Physical Education, which is to bo opened shortly under the directum ol M. do Mey do Alkemado. The Shipmasters’ Association decided last week to send a letter of condolence to Mrs Key worth, widow of the kto chief officer of the "Wainni. -it was also decided to enclose in the letter a cheque for <£2o oil behalf of tho Association. The Association also decided to congratulate Captain Ewen, lato of tho Wakutipu, on his appointment as Harbourmaster at W Tho P °Hoii J. G. Ward and Judge and Mrs Denniston were passengers to Lyttelton by Messrs Huddart, Parker and Co.’s steamer Tasmania last week. Mr Justice Conollv was a passenger tor tho North by the Take puna on Friday afternoon. Mr E J. Allen, who lias boon agent ol tee Bank of Now Zealand for some years in Foildin", has boon promoted to tne position of manager of tho New Plymoutu branch of C.R. Valentine, of the Colonial Consignment and Distributing Company left London on Thursday evening to catch the Parramatta at Brindisi (writes our London correspondent on April 18th). llu object ip rovisiting Australasia is of course to place before tho colonial producers the multifarious advantages of consigning their dairy liroduco to the Colonial Consignment and Distributing C °Mr a E y 'M. Smith, M.H.R., has arrived in London (writes our correspondent), and has for business purposes settled down under tho

roof which shelters the Agent-General for tho Colony. So far as Mr Smith’s mission is concerned, I am afraid ho will find great difficulty in persuading tho right people here to take Taranaki ironsand seriously, jet alone to put money into it. Still lie has faith and energy. Tho Dunedin Relief Committee has resolved, *in accordance with a request from Wellington, to remit the whole ol the local fund, which now stands at £3Oll, and future contributions to the Public Trustee, but rcj commends that tho sums on deposit be allowed to mature. The committee has also expressed the opinion that tho Public Trustee’s charge of 1 per cent, is under the circumstances excessive, and that a reduction should be applied for. i At a meeting of representative citizens m | Christchurch AlrC. P. Hulbort,aresident of 25 years’ standing, who was at one time Mayor of Christchurch, was presented with a purse of sovereigns on the occasion of his leaving for Auckland. Bishop Murray, of Maitland, was a passenger by tho Omapero, which arrived from Westport on Saturday. The late Czar of Russia, whoso sense ol humour was not delicate, used to say with a ; grin that his father-in-law, King Christian of j Denmark, has a separate appetite lor each j one of the four dynasties that he represented in hi;: Royal person. His Majesty astonished Lord Berkeley Paget many years ago by devouring an enormous beefsteak lor breakfast. 11 Big enough for a bargee,’ was His Lordship’s description of the piece of beef which the royal Dane ate. Now the poor old gentleman is a martyr to dyspepsia, and subsists entirely on liquid foods. The street musician has great possibilities. Tho present Premier of China was a street musician in his early days, according to tho Rev Cheok Hong Chcong. The many friends of Mr J. King, the wellknown jeweller, will be glad to learn that though his illness assumed a serious turn oil Saturday, the latest accounts arc that there is a manifest improvement in his condition. Mr George, the retiring manager for .Messrs Warnock and Adkin at Palmerston North, was presented by tho employees with a greenstone paper-knife, silver-mounted. President Kruger is stated to have ordered a smart brougham from a firm of London carriage-builders, a fact which lias caused quite a little comment. jho Democrat, a bright new weekly published in Dunedin, contains an excellent portrait of Mrs Alfred Levi (nee Miss Blanche Joel), who was one of that city’s most prominent musicians. Mr A. McVicar, chief engineer at tho North British Freezing Works, Hawke’s Bay, leaves by the Taiimi on a six months’ holiday trip, bound for the Old Country.

Tho Very Rev Father Devoy was a passenger on Tuesday by the Mawhora for Blenhoiin. . . The young King of Spam recently described an island to his geography teacher as “ a body of land almost entirely occupied by insurgents.” Mr A. M. Loasby, Dunedin, is a candidate for the vacancy oil the Pharmacy Board, caused by the death of the late Mr Elder. General Woyler is making a study of the United States Senate. Ho will have little time for suppressing rebellions if ho makes tho study complete. Tho foundation stone of tho memorial chapel to be erected over the grave of Bishop Moran was laid by Bishop Vnrdon on Friday. Mr Martin, S.M., who for some time past has l)Oon engaged oil the Ilorowlicnua Commission, resumed his magisterial duties on Wednesday. Mr A. E. H. Wall, one of the junior masters at Wellington College, lias given notice of his intention to resign his appointment, as lie is about to go Home to study medicine.

Tho Rev W. Bauinber was a passenger by the Waihi, which left for Blenheim on Tuesday.

With reference to the lato Mr F. W. C. Sturm, of Hawke’s Bay, whoso death was reported in a Napier press telegram published in our obituary column, Mr A. Koch, ot Wellington, informs us that the statement that tne deceased came out to New Zealand as a member of the scientific exhibition under Baron Iloehstetter is incorrect. Mr Koch says that Mr Sturm was sent out to Australia in IS IS by the Prussian Government to search for botanical specimens. Later on Mr Sturm came over to Now Zealand, and after botanising in the Rimutaki and other districts, went on to Hawke’s Bay and Poverty B iy, finally settling at Wairoa, whore lie m irrie 1 a Maori wife.' He was, says Mr Koch, a man of great botanical knowledge. For many vunrs lie ’-"as one of the most prominent horticulturists in Hawke’s Bay.

It is definitely state l that Lord DulTerin, the British Ambassador to France, will retire from diplomat! : life about the mid lie of July. .Mr Haggard, of London, and Mr Harris, ol Auckland, arrived in Wellington on ’1 uesday from Auckland. Ihe former gentlein in i member of the firm of Haggard, Hale and Pixley, of Austin Friars—represents the London syndicate who have lately purchased the Queen of Beauty mine at the Thames, now known as the “Thames H.aiiraki. Mr Harris is the representative ol the sellers of the Queen of B unity. Both gentlemen proceed to London by the next San Francisco mail boat. ft is understood that bdoro making further arrangements Air ! laggard is desirous of gaining the fullest information about the law relating to milling on private property. Sir G. M O'Rorke is returning to tne Olouy bv the Gothic.

Mr McWilliam, who has acted as Government Inspector and Dairy Produce (i ruder since the inauguration of grading, and freezing at ports of shipment, has resigned. Mr A. Busck, lat.! grader at Lyttelton and dairy inspector, has resigned his position in the service of the Department of Agriculture, us ho intends to go Home, via America. The Stratford people are thinking of banqueting the Auckland members as they pass through on their way to Wellington lor the session. They are proposing this with an eye to business, in the form ol a serious talk over the question of connecting Auckland and Stratford by road and rail.