OUR LONDON LETTER.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1775, 14 March 1906, Page 2

OUR LONDON LETTER.

PERSONAL AND GENERAL NOTES. ■' .(From Our Special Oorrespoudent.) ' LONDON, February 2. ' A fair New Zealander was married in London on Tuesday last, under circumstances of more than usual intei - est. Mies Mary Copeland, of Palmereton North, who is a daughter of the late Mr James Copeland, of Otago, was the bride. She manned the Rev. William Earle, senior curate of St. Uiem;ent Danes, and it was in that interesting old church ih the Strand that the wedding took place, . The bridegroom, who is an Irishman by birth, has been a curate at St. Clement’s since 1895. H3e assumed in 1901 tbe title and baronetcy of Stragglethorpe, County Lincoln, which had hitherto been thought to have become extinct m 1697. , d . ' ' , The wedding ceremony was pertoimed. by the Rector of 'St. Clement’s, the Rev. J. J- H. Septimus Pennington; Miss Stone, of Streatham, and Aiiss Copeland, sister of the hride, were the bridesmaids, and tbe best man was Mr Robert Stone, cousin of the bridegroom. The bride was given away by her brother. The wedding was a quiet one. Tbe bride was beautiful y dressed in white Duohesse satin, with train draped with tulle and lace, and orange blossoms, wreath and red, whi e V shower bouquet, gift of the bridegroom. The bridesmaids wore charming dresses of floral chiffon, over heliotrope sdh, hats to match, and heliotrope and whit® shower bouquets, and fern-leaf brooches, gifts from the bridegroom. The bridegroom is very popular m lus Strand parish, and the couple were enthusiastically pelted with confetti as they drove away from the church on Tuesday. The honeymoon is being spent at Brighton. On his return a presentation will be made to the bridegroom by the parishioners of St. Element Danes. The bridegroom’s right to the title, according to “Debretts Peer-an-e ” “has not yet been established and recorded at the Heralds’ College” ; but he is confident that additional proofs required will/ be forthcoming. “There ' are,” he said in the course of an interview, “a few things not yet proved m , the legal sense of the word ‘proof',’ but ■ when I can produce this testimony every link in the chain will be complete, and I have no doubt that _ niy claim will Tcccome officially recognised.* and I shall be acknowledged, as in fact I am, a baronet.” Sir William went on to explain ho-w the title became apparently extinct in 1697. The first baronet received tbe title in 1629. - On his death it passed to (his (grandson, who died without issue, and tbe title reverted to an uncle, who was a younger’ son # of tbe first baronet. From him it passed to another of the second baronet’s uncles. On the death of the fourth baronet the : title lapsed, because in the meanwhile the younger branch of the family had migrated to Ireland, and lost all touch with the branch left in England. Moans of comihiinciation between England; and the sister isle were far from perfect in the ' seventeenth century. In-1699 the will of VRobert ‘Earle, of "Coolroe; was' proved at the Record Qfflee in Dublin. “Robert Earle was the sixth baronet,” says the curate of St. ;?Glement’s, “although probably he was never aware of the fact. I am descended from this Robert Earle, and / my descent is - unmistakable. 1 Thereof ore I assumed the title as eleventh baronet, at tbe King's accession ill 1901. - It is one of the oldest titles in tiie baronetage, being only: eighteen years junior to tbe premier baronetcy of. the Kingdoan—that of Bacon, whi'ch whs granted in -1611. I may add that ;%the"Stragglethorpe estates passed to an gaunt on;, the; death - of the' fourth har- \ onet/V ' , _■ v v Mr G. H. Dixon, ‘on behalf of the New Zealand Rugby Football Union, , lias presented to Air C. Wray Palliser, "the representative in England of tbe New Zealand Union, a fine, solid silver bowl, copied by the Army and Navy ‘Stores from an old Irish punch bowl.<. The bowl weighs 430 z, and has the following inscription, pwith the : Well-known fern leaf, surmounted with "the letters “N.Z.”“To C. Wray Pal'diseiv'iromthe New Zealand Football ; /Union.. Ini memory of tho New' Zea- / ■land ! ,team(s tour of. Great ' Britain,' iPOo.” .• Air Palliser=has been the repreihebntatryei ofNhw' 'Zealand; in ' Great ,i /Britain; fori /over v Twenty- yiears. He p lairwith .the-/-“Ail .he attendedj ibesides maldng all' the pi’e- ; tiiminafy arrangements / on this side; in with their tour. / / . ■'Captain ' Bartlett takes the Gothic out next week, in place of Captain Kidley (retired). Tho new commander was at one time chief officer on the Gothic,, since when he has been engaged in the Mediterranean trade ‘ In the Anglo-New Zealand running • there has for years past been no pm? 9U more popular than -Mr; Wy>S.ylnnmm ofbhe Shaw-Savill U steamer. Gothic. Mr Inman has been 'Cih'the Shaw-Savill service for sixteen in the old lonic and latriterly’; in the -Gothic .His .many friends Uin the colony will be interested to v hear that he has now retired from the sea, in order to take up the position

of manager of the Wellington Club. When the Gothic leaves London next week she will carry a new purser, and will have Mr Inman aboard as a passenger, bound for Wellington. Mr G. 0. Gavin, Assistant-Auditor to the New Zealand Treasury Department, has come up to town from Edinburgh, and leaver for the colony by the Orient line next week. Mr Gavin came Home for the sake of bis health, and, although he had a bad attack while in the North, I am glad to say that he is now looking much better. Callers at the High Commissioner’s office this week:—Mr J. Maekay and the Misses M. J. and Olive Maekay, Midhirst, Taranaki; Mr Ernest St. C. Haydon, Hawarden, North Canterbury ; Mr Kent Manley, Wellington; Mr J. W. Walker, Waihi; LieutenantColonel R. H. Owen, Wellington; Mr A. P. O’Leary, New Plymouth; Mrs T. Bradley and Miss Ella Bradley, Te Aroha.

Mr Reginald Hodder, the New Zealander who wrote “The: Daughter of the Dawn” and “The Doubling of Joseph Brereton,” haO collaborated with Mr Edgar Turner in a very readable modern romance entitled “The Purloined Prince,” which the Caxton Press, Ltd., have just published as the first volume of a series of Caxton Romances. The story is somewhat reminiscent of Mr Anthony Hope’s romances, without attaining their air of verisimilitude, that “through the look-ing-glass” atmosphere which makes the unrealities of Mr Hope’s imaginary princes and republics seem so natural. “The Purloined Prince” is a brightlywritten tale, however, and well constructed. The Prince of Honiara, a Casino town by the Mediterranean, is kidnapped by the director of the Casino, in the hope of thus compelling the Prince to sell the Casino l concession for two instead of . three million franco per annum. An Oxford undergraduate and a burly young Irishman, both penniless through gambling in the Casino, are bribed to assist in. the plot, which is carried out successfully after some exciting passages.. The story goes on to relate a counter-plot by a rival syndicate to re-kidnap tbe Prince, force him to abdicate the throne, and then proclaim a republic. The Prince eventually sides with his original captors, and with their assistance, and that of the German Chancellor of the Exchequer, who is on holiday in Montara, he defends the Casino from a fierce assault, entraps a large body of the enemy, and finally surrounds and shoots the leader of the rebels. The shooting episode is the only tragic note in what is otherwise a serio-comic narrative, where German Chancellors, “Daily Million” correspondents, Gaiety girls, Irish brigades, and Riviera beauties appear and reappear with amusing disregard for probabilities. Mi* H. Paterson Gluey, of Christchurch, lias just completed a two years’ course' at the South-Eastern Agricultural College, at Wye, in Kent, preparatory to taking up sheep-farming •in New Zealand. Mr Olney leaves this week Mo- join the German liner Bremen, on his return to the colony, via Suez.

At the last meeting of the Goimcil of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, Mr F. R. Hotop, of New Zealand, was licensed to practise, having passed the. required examinations. Dr A. N. Fell, of New Zealand, who is unquestionably tho best Aving threequarter that tho Scottish Rugby Union can call upon for its international matches, has been passed over in the selection of a team to represent Scotland against. Wales to-day. The only feasible explanation of the mystery is that Fell declined—and quite rightly—to- play for Scotland against his felloAv-New Zealanders last November. With any other union his'decision to stand out of the match against his oavii country Avoukl have been approved of and accepted as a matter of course, but tbe Scottish Union insisted on selecting him, despite his intimation that ho did not' wish to play. Fell Avas thus placed in the unpleasant position of haAung to decline a second time the unsouglit-for honour of a place in the Scottish fifteen. But he is quite eligible to play for Scotland against Wales. Mr F. Lovell, of Taranaki, who/ arrived, by the Gothic a week, or two ago,, has been spending tlie interval:in sightseeing; about London. Next month he proposes to take a feAV weeks’ Avork on a farm'.with a view 7 to learning something of English methods: He returns to the colony in May. /• Miss May Whitelaw, of Auckland, arrived by the Gothic last .week, after an exceptionally smooth ' passage,: :and is noav:-;staying with relatives in. Scor,land. v . ; .V y- ; > Messrs- E. T. Harper and W. S. Glenn, of the Ncav Zealand football team, left London last Avcek on their homeward journey, Avhich will be A 7 ia Suez. They propose to visit Monte Carlo, Rome, and other places on the Continent before joining the Orient linen- Orontos at Naples on February 4th. The Orontee is duo at Adelaide on March sth, the day tho rest of the team arrive at Auckland, via America. Messrs W. Johnston and O. E. Seeling are tho last of tho “ All Blacks ” to leave England. They sail from Plymouth to-day by tlie Gothic, homeAvard bound via Capetown and Hobart. The former had not sufficiently recovered

from his illness to make the journey via America with the team, and Seeling stayed behind to keep him company. The staff of the New Zealand High Commissioner’s offioe put a “ soccer ” team in the field at Kingston-on-Thames last- Saturday, to meet an eleven from the office of the Agent-General for Natal. Sir William Arbuttle, the Natal Agent-General, kicked off, and a brisk game ended in a decisive victory for New Zealand by four goals to nil. The teams and their friends sat down to tea after the game, and afterwards a concert was held. A return match is to be played shortly. The silver wedding of the Rev. and Mrs A. W. Hands, formerly of New Zealand, was celebrated last Monday. The Rev. Mr Hands was married at Wakefield, Nelson, on January 29tfi, 1881, by the Veil. Archdeacon Mules, to Miss Emily Agnes Blyth, daughter of Mr Henry James Blyth, of Wakefield.

Tho Hon. W. P. Reeves has contributed to tbe “ North American Review” an interesting article on State insurance in New Zealand. Mr T. V. Hodgson, who was in the Antarctic as naturalist on tbe Discovery, lectured at Plymouth the other evening on “ The Geysers of New Zealand.”

Mr Phil Braoy, son of Mr Henry Bracy, the leading tenor of the old Williamson-Musgrove combination, is in the cast of “The Little Cherub” at the Prince of Wales’s Theatre. His brother Sydney is now in America. Each has been married recently, the former to Miss' Laura Nicholls and Sydney to Miss Dorothy Martin, of Skegness. Mr Lempriere Pringle, the Tasmanian basso, is at the Glasgow Hippodrome. The Dartos, who Avere in New Zealand in 1901, are appearing at. the London Palace.

Mr H. C. Cameron, Produce Commissioner for New Zealand, has charge of the New Zealand section at the Colonial Products Exhibition, which opened this Aveek at St. George’s Hall, Liverpool. Before the New Zealand footballers left England the Avhole party put their autographs on two neAv Rugby footballs, one of Avhich Duncan is taking back to New Zealand as a valued souvenir. The other they presented to Mr Rasbach, a Gloucester Football Club committeeman, as a recognition of hid many kindnesses. McGregor, Mynott, and Seeling also gave Mrs Rasbach a suitably-inscribed biscuitbarrel.

“Tell me, said a school-teacher, “Avhat is the meaning of the word ‘nil’ ” ? The boy Avho A\ 7 as questioned had no difficulty in answering. “It’s the score that the English teams make against tho New Zealand footballers.” Mr T. Purvis Russell, late of Hawke’s Bay, died on- Tuesday at Bath, in his eighty-eighth year. Since leaving. NeAY Zealand Mr Russell had been living at Warroch, in Kinross-shire, Scotland.

Mr F. Augustus Maurice, who left Christchurch ten years ago to seek a career in London as a teacher of singing, has been \ r ery successful of late years, and is now apparently avoll established in the metropolis, Mr Maurice gave a concert at the Steinway Hall this week, assisted by bis pupils and friends, and met with a very hearty response on the part of the public. His own contributions to the programme aa 7 oi-o Blumenthal’s “My Queen” and Somerville’s “Waves on tbe Shingle Breaking.” Miss May Mukle, Avlio was .through the colonies with Mr Watkin Mills’ concert party, gave as a ’cello solo Popper’s ’ i “Hungarian Fantasie.”

Tho Guy’s Hospital Rugby team does not run .to much New Zealand blood this season, tho only Antipodean regularly, playing being L. B. Stringer, of Christchurch, at three-quarters. Air Stringer is A 7 ery useful, indeed, and last Saturday scored three tries against the Royal Engineering College. All 'were converted, so the New Zealander's share in tlie Hospital’s 34-points-to-notliing victory was very considerable.