HERE AND THERE.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XLIX, Issue 13863, 16 September 1919, Page 6

HERE AND THERE.

One »f the romances of the Peerage is furnished l»v the case of the Earl of Dueie, the Father of the House of Lords, who entered on his 93rd year Inst month, and is the oldest metnber of the House with the exception o1 the Earl of Hatsbury, who will he 9(i m the autumn. Lord Dueie has heen a member, of the House for 6G years, [t was in ISoS, when M.P. for the Stroud division, that he succeeded hi.s father in the earldom, and although the present Earl of Coventry succeeded his grandfather exactly ten years previously, he did not take his seat in Parliament until he attained his majority several years later. Sir Rabindranath Tngore (the Indian pootf> has sent a letter to the Viceroy, protesting against the measures taken hy the Government in quelling the Punjab disturbances, and asking to he relieved of his knighthood. Here is a story illustrating the tact of 31". Jusserand,' the French Ambassador in New York. A senator at a luncheon said to M. Jusserand: "Take—oer eska von voo-ly I mean—er—nassvmoi—sill voo play—er—" M. Jusserand laid his hand on the senator's shoulder, and in his excellent English said: "My dear sir. my very dear sir. do please stop sneaking French. ' Your accent is so Parisian that, positively, it makes me homesick." Now that pearls are so rapidly increasing in value, it is sad to think some are perishing in the Louvre. Mine. Thiers bequeathed to that institution a marvellous pearl necklace, which -within a few years fell a victim to the mysterious'disease defined by experts as a form of starvation. Pearls live by contact wil.li humanity, and for this reason jewellers'maintain that Ihev should be worn on the bar' skin. Jf flu- Louvre necklace could be worn for a time the pearls would recover their lustre. Put, according to the will of Mme. Thiers, it must not lie removed from its case, so-the pearls are gradually becoming more unsightly and shrivelled, and must ultimately be lost to the world. Mr Mervyn Macartney, the consulting architect to St. Paul's, savs that it seems very likely that Sir Christopher "Wren was imposed upon by some of his contractors. "Wo know that, there were eight or nine contractors, and that not- all of them were of the same o-col!onco. AYe found some poor work when we were engaged on the southwest pier, but the work on the southeast, pier suggests that this particular contractor was tho worst one of lite whole lot. . . . It .has taken us five years lo complete one pier, we are now on with the second, and there are eight, in all. It iray take us another ten years to complete the work."

Miss' Mildred Morris, of Now York, has won tho distinction of being the first American girl in swim tho T?hine sineo the Army of Occupation entered Germany. Miss Morris, a dancer with a company now entertaining in the 3rd Division area, accomplished the feat. at. Andornaoh. Her lime was approximately 17 minutes. Owing to the strong current., she reached tho opposite hank about: a' half-mile downstream from the starling point. ftevoral hundred soldiers and welfare workers gave her a great ovation.

The story of the popular Advent, hymn, "Lo. He Comes With Clouds Descending," is worth recalling in any discussion on our hymn tunes. Apparently it. hegan life as a drawing-room ballad about 1770, and shortly after was being danced ns a hornpiiu', at Sadlor's SVolls. Authorities differ jis to whether the hymn came between the ballad and the hornpipe, or last, of all, bnt at any rate tho ttmo proved itself suitablo for both. A Editor Paris telegram states that Baroness do la Uooho, flying a small Cnudron biplane, boat the woman's height record. Tho flight lasted an hour and 40 minutes. The height aI; tained was 12,706 ft.