PERSONAL NOTES.

New Zealand Times, Volume LXXVI, Issue 5293, 3 June 1904, Page 7

PERSONAL NOTES.

(From Our Uv.'u (Jorresd’ondent.) j Aiml 23. 1 •Mr Duncan .Uto.ui, >u u,.»u«, a<son a int.'.-,U:c i. .p/ limy i»«c----,.U aL -\..plc., on i-cvoi'a;....' lUtli I. on* Uis Uiiiiiili, and alter travelling on tJie tun;moni, leached Loudon la-t week, proccea.ng yeat-riLiy to Scotland, ineir future plans uro as yet undcciclocl. Mr ami lirs P. \V. Struck ami -Master Struck, of \t eliingum, arm ed by the 'iVoor liner Star ot Ireland, on a six mouths’ visit to this country, undertaken on private business. -Mr Strack's intention is to visit Oxford, St. Albans, and other provincial towns, afterwards taking a trip to Paris, before returning to the colony, via Capetown. Ho finds London “greatly improved” since his visit of five years ago. -M iss Margaret Howlison. of Dunedin, left London by the It.AI.S. Croya yesterday on her reinrn voyage to Now Zealand. Since arriving in this country ~\-i November, -Miss Howlison has visited various parts of England, and made (ripi to' Scotland and to the Isle of Wight. She leaves with the pleasantness recollections of her holiday in the Old Country. Yonr recent visitor, H. W. Stevenson, whilst having bad so far none of the best of matters m his second match with Charles Dawson, lias succeeded in beating the spot and push barred record break of 721, put up by his adversary. Last night, Stevenson made a magnificent break of 7SS, the only faulty stroke made doing at 510, when, instead of cannoning, Stevenson missed his stroke by a hair’s breadth, and ran in off the red. He played at great pace throughout, but every stroke was executed with 'lino touch and cleverness, and not once was lie ever in a, real difficulty. The way he controlled the halls was marvellous. As is usual with these monster breaks, Stevenson’s breakddwn came .through a simple red winner which r. novice would feel ashamed to miss.

I have received an official intimation to tho effect that Messrs AVcddel and Co. have admitted Mr David J. Goodsir and .Mr Gordon H. Campbell as partners in the firm as from January Ist, 1001. Air Goodsir is the younger brother of Air George Goodsir, who has been a partner with Air W. Weddel since the foundaction of the firm. Mr Gordon Campbell is a native of New ‘South Wales, but has resided in England for many years, and has been connected with the Smithfield interests of Alessrs Weddel and Co. for the last ten.

The Right Rev Edmund Hobhonse, D.T)., formerly Bishop of Nelson, who died at Wells on Wednesday of this week, had completed his eighty-seventh year on the previous Sunday. Educated at Eton and Balliol College, Oxford —-where ho rowed for four years in the Balliol boat—Dr Hobhonso was' ordained in 1841, and two years later bccarno Vicar of St. Petcr-in-tho-East, Oxford. In 1853—fifteen years later—he was nominated first Bishop of Nelson, Now Zealand. “It was a time of tho greatest moment for tho Church in Now Zealand and the colonies generally,” writes a biographer. “Bishop Selwyn had moro or loss come to terms with tho Church Missionary Society, and had also succeeded in getting the Colonial Office to assent to the formation of new Bishoprics and of a constitution for tho Now Zealand Church. Selwyn procured 0. J. Abraham tor Wellington diocese, and Kdrmmd Hobhonso tor Nelson, both being Etonians like himself, while Harper, who had also some connection with the school, had gone out in 1856 as Bishop of Christchurch. The first general synod of the Now Zealand province lima mot in 1859. with four Bishops instead of one, Hobhonso and Abraham, who died last year, were consecrated at Homo, but the legal provisions under which they were consecrated made it impossible for them to assist in consecrating any Bishop in Now Zealand without the formal consent of tho Crown and the English Primate. Selwyn, however, wanted yet another Bishop for Waiapu, and the necessary papers arrived in time for his consecration to take place during tho synod on April 3rd, 1859. This act, in which Dr Hobhonso was able to take part, gave the liveliest satisfaction to Selwyn. who wrote of the occasion as “a delightful day.” “I-shall go back,” he said, “to Auckland light in heart, being now enabled to leave these rising provinces under tho care of their own Bishops.’ ” However, by reason of illhealth, Dr Hobhousc was not destined to have a long colonial episcopate. His sphere, which was an area of some 30,000 square miles in tho northern part of tho South Island, was then sparsely populated with English settlers. About Laii-t lus health broke down, and two years later ho resigned and oamo Homo. When Selwyn followed in 1869, having been made Bishop of Lichfield, he invited Dr Hobhonso to become his assistant Bishop.- 111-health lod to Bishop Hobhonse’s resignation in 1860, two years after Solwyn’s death, and since then ho had lived in retirement. Tho late Bishop married in 1854 the daughter of General Brodrick. She died in New Zealand in 1864, and after his return Homo, Dr Hobhonso married the daughter of Dr Williams, V arden of New College, Oxford. Tho Rev Walter 1 lobhouse. editor'of tho “Guardian,” is his second son by Ills first wife,_ and Mr Honry Hobbouse, M.P., is bis nephew. The death of Professor Atkinson in tho prime of life —ho was but fifty years old—is a distinct loss in a field of human activity which has had very few such able exponents of the veterinary art. His skill in bone-setting was marvellous and his fame equalled, if it did not surpass, that of the .Huttons. Like his famous predecessors. Professor Atkinson, though primarily an “animal doctor,” extended his clientele by applying his knowledge of anatomy to the relief of the, human race, and to-day there are hundreds of men, women and children who could be produced as living testimonials to his extraordinary skill. Ho was in great request as a bone-setter where valuable horses and dogs were concerned, and, indeed, in any case requiring a veterinary export of the highest qualifications ho was called in. And ho proved himself a very quick and certain surgeon and physician, some of his racehorse and greyhound cures being little short of miraculous, whilst with human beings ho effected cures which can only he described as wonderful. Born of well-to-do Westmoreland folk. John Atkinson early betrayed his fondness for animals, and a predilection for veterinary work. His father died early, but as a ward in Chancery John found guardians who were not in the least loth to allow him to follow his inclinations, and who, indeed, encouraged them._ Entering at the Royal Veterinary College. Atkinson soon proved that he had chosen the right profession, for ho canned off tho fellowship of the college with brilliant distinction, and won many other honours. A period of study m Pans ensued on his graduation at the itoyal Veterinary College, and on retm ning to London he worked with the Huttons. They were masters of their art, although the profession regarded'them unfavourably, and from thorn John Atkinson learned much that was not to be found in the recognised standard

works of Ins profession. The success ot . Hubert iluuon won ms youinful aumiration, ana v.ucn only tweruy-iour noun Atkinson wrote a Lae of jauuou, wuoioiu in.iv oe found U;e stones ox many wouticmil aomuvomeists m making uia lame to walk uprightly. Has association with the Huttons, with his own splendid knowledge and abilities, enabled professor Atkinson to take a • very high place in the veterinary bold, • and, moreover, bis aid was not despised !by the medical profession when stub- | born bones of human beings mid to lie I coaxed to do their duty. As the foun- ' der of the Animals’ Institute, Protes- | sor Atkinson deserves the gratitude ot every lover of our four-footed friends all the world over. Dr Samuel Smiles, the author of tlio celebrated “Self-Help.” whose death at I the ago of ninoty-two has just occurred, j had ail the sturdy independence of character which ho advocated so strenuously in ids books. Nor was he by any means the prig that the didactic nature of bis writings might suggest. As one biographer expresses it, Smiles ' was all his own surname; was never happier than at a dinner party; and did not shirk his part when beauty fell to bis lot in the usual course of diners’ luck. His own successful career was a practical illustration of his preaching, but at the same time it is worth noting that the course which led the preacher himself to success was shaped largely by good luck. A chance meeting with George Stephenson began a personal friendship which eventually prompted 1 Smiles to write the railway pioneer s biography. The book was an immediate success, and as a popular author Smiles was then able to readily dispose of the manuscript ot “ Self-Help,” lor which he had previously tried in vain to secure a publisher. But for the biography of Stephenson, the books which brought fortune to Dr Smiles might never have been published. Needless to say, how ever, lie deserved all credit for having taken at the flood the tide which led to success. It was in making the most of his opportunities that ho showed that ho could practise what he preached. It may ho added that when Smiles built a residence at Blackheath out of the proceeds of “ Self-Hell),” ho buried a copy of the book in the foundations to mark the fact that “Self-Help-” had bought tho land and built the house.