PERSONAL NOTES.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 11934, 7 January 1901, Page 3

PERSONAL NOTES.

— One pf the greatest figures in the milway world is that of Sir George Paget, who has for 10 years been chairman of the great Midland system, and was horn 10th November, 1841. He began life as a soldier, and he was first a member of a Hussar regiment, then joining the Royal Horse Guards, from which he retired after six years' service. — The first birthday which liis Majesty the King of Italy celebrated since his accession to the throne occurred on November 11. "Fear and Savoy have never met," is the proud title oft his house, and the address to his subjects on his accession showed that his Majesty intends to live up to the spirit of that motto in order that he do the utmost for the country over which the hand of a murderer so unexpectedly called him to rule.

— Lord Rayleigh is one of the most famous scientists in the world. He early gave evidence of his great ability by being Senior Wrangler and Smith's Prizeman in his year at. Cambridge, where, after some years, he became professor of experimental physics, and later on he was selected to be secretary of the Royal Society. Now he is scientific adviser to Trinity House, whose importance in connection with everything that relates to maritime interests everyone knows. He was 58 on November 12. ' — Tho Duke of Montrose sits in the House of Lords by the right of his earldom, which belongs to the peerage of England. He is a descendant of.the nobleman who was created Marquis of Montrose, and was commander-in-chief of tho army of Charles I in Scotland, and was executed in 1650. The Duke, as befits the descendant of so famous a soldier, was at one time in the army, but he retired, He was 48 on November 7. —The Crown Prince of Sweden, who has just been appointed Regent of Sweden and Norway during the serious illness of his father, Oscar 11, is one of the most able and most studioiu of future kings. He is not as fond of travelling as are most modem royalties, and he spends his life between his palace in Stockholm and his country castle of Tullgarn. The Crown. Prince, who was 42 last Juno, married at the age of 23 Princess Victoria of Baden, the granddaughter of William I, and the only child of the late Emperor Frederick's' sister. The Crown Princess is, unfortunately, delicate, and is always compelled to winter in a wanfl climate. She is, however, very popular in Sweden. _ —His Royal Highness George William Frederick Charles, second Duke of Cambridge, Earl of Tipperary, and Baron Culloden, grandson of George 111 and 'first cousin to tho Queen, is the doyen Knight of the Garter (K.G.), having held his blue ribbon 64 years, and received it from William IV. The Duke of' Cambridge is also ICnight of the Thistle (ICT.); of St. Patrick (K.P.); o the Bath (G.C.8.); of'the Star of India- (G.C.S.I. ; of St. Michael and St. George (Ct.C.M.G.) ; of the Indian Kinpirc (G.C.1.E.); and of the Victorian Order (G.C.V.0.). The late Prmce Alfred of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha was the youngest Knight of the Garter. -As a child Madame Albani made such a success in her first appearance on the concert platform that she was surrounded with bouquets. That was in ft convent in Montreal, where she received her education. At 14 sho was first soprano ill a Catholic choir at Albany, New York, and at sudden notice became organist. Then her singing ability was noticed, a fund was raised, and she was -sent to Europe for study in Paris and Italy. The rest is known. — The'first suggestion of the name of Marlborough calls up the deeds of the Great Duke, who was victor of Blenheim, Ramillies, and other famous battles, so tlmt when the present holder of the title, who was 29 on Novem-. her 13, considered it his duty to go to the front, no one was 'surprised. Tho Duke is one of those noblemen who have gone to tho United. States in order to find a wife, for, five years ago, he married Miss Vanderbilt, one of the richest heiresses in the world, and their wedding was on a scale of splendour which outshone any function ever seen in New York i , , ... —If the Earl of Shrewifcury, who was 40 on November 14, were asked of what he is proudest, ho would probably reply that he had done not a little to mitigate the noise of London by having been the first to introduce cabs'fitted with. noiseless tyres. He did the same in Pans, so that the French owe him a debt of gratitude. One of his ancestors, the sixth baron, was a 'distinguished warrior who received immortality at the hands of William Shakespeare, and served under Henry V and Henry VI in France, where, | as Lord Shrewsbury says, "His name became a terror, though he was once captured at Patay bv the Mnid of Orleans." — Colonel William Henry Mackinnon, of the C.I.V. 's, is"an officer possessing all-round qualifications. Though comparatively young in years, he has witnessed and taken no small share in active service in numerous parts of the globe. Every inch a soldier, Colonel Mackinnon has the science of the use of arms at his finger-tips. For some time he was in the Grenadier Guards and also did reliable work on the Headquarters Staff at the War Office, Ttt'o and a-half years ago he was placed on half pay. Ail through his career ho has devoted considerable attention to the Volunteer movement, exerting himself most . loyallv on its behalf. — The new Marquis of Bute, though lie has only turned 19. has had already a little experience of public life. As a boy he has opened a park and inaugurated a dock in Cardiff; and his peculiar position as almost tho only Roman Catholic boy at a great public school has done a good deal to give him independence of character. His younger brothers, Lord Ninian and Lord Colum Stuart, take their names from Scottish saints, Ninian and Columba. The late Marquis bore tho plain name of John Lady Margaret Stuart, the late Marquis of Bute's only daughter and eldest child, was a sharer of all her father s hobbies, her slight lameness fostering, perhaps, her studious inclinations. — Whoever writes the history of the South African campaign can certainly not afford to omit the record of Lord Dundonald, who was 48 on October 29. He has attained fame as an inventor, and was actually in South Africa for tho purpose of looking after the interests of a gun which he had invented when ha volunteered for the front, and was in command of a detachment which did a good deal of satisfactory work. Lord Dundonald's grandfather was known as Lord Cochrane, and won considerable glory by destroying Napoleon's fleet in the Basque Roads early in tho century. - One of the most famous exploits in the history of the navy, indeed, is connected with this hero, who attacked a Spanish ship of war carrying 32 guns.and over 3CO men with a little vessel of 54 men and 14 small .oiuns. and actually'captured it.' /

— Tliflrp arc few names in the whole world better known than that of Rothschild which has became synonymous with great wealth. The head of the house, on whom was conferred the first peerage ever given to a Jew, was 60 on November 8. He is, undoubtedly, one of the most prominent figures in. the Jewith community, whose interests he endeavours to advance by every means in his Dower What his wealth is it would be ••it .it fn oa v So sreat is the power wielded by the house of Rothschild that at oi e time, when the late Czar was persecuting the Jews in Russia, the Rothschilds informed his Majesty that if the persecution continued their supplies would cease, and, as the Busian Treasury at that time could not get on without their assistance, their notion brought about What no. mere humanitarian consideration could achieve. — Serqeaut-maj or Morris, has been lately serving under General French m South Africa, although only 30 years of age, has sen more adventures by sea and land and more fighting than'most men of his age. 5e has been a sailor, fireman, police, trooper, Jameson raider, United State and scout. Be has fought under the Umon Jack and the Stars and. Stripes. His father is rabbi of Temple Bethel, New Jersey, U.S. When 13 he ran away from home and joined the navy. He went to Egypt in the Monarch, and served in the naval brigade in the boudan in 1885. After fighting m the Benin Expedition' lie went to Johannesburg, and was for a while a member of the fire brigade. Ha joined the British South Africa Comnanv's police, and in that, service took part in the Jameson raid. Ho served through the Matabele revolt. Subsequently ho was fHectcd by General Baden-Powell to act as his special scout, When the Spanish-Ame-rican war broke out iie enlisted in the American navy, went to Cuba, and after its surrender got his discharge and entered a United States cavalry regiment and went to Manila. When the Boer war broke out he left for the veldt,■ and joined a British irregular corps as a private. He was soon made sergeantmajor, and Lord Kitchener took hml to Prieska, where he was highly complimented on the handling of bis men; and subsequently he actocl as a scout under General Frcuch. I — Watorlow Park at Highgate will be an enduring memorial of Sir Sydney 'Waterlow, who was seventy-eight on November 1. He is one of the men who have spent their recreation time doing good to others, and has been chairman of many committees,, among them being the Distribution Committee of the Hospital Sunday fund and of the Industrial Dwellings Company, which has 6000 tenements, in which something like 30,000 people are housed. " . — The new Master of the Rolls, in succession to Lord Alverstone, is the Right Hon. Sir Archibald Levin Smith, well known as a judge of the High Court of Justice, and more recently as a Lord Justice of Appeal. Born in 1836, he was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge—where he rowed thrice in the University eight—and was called to the Bar at tbo Inner. Temple just 40 years .ago, for tbo last 17 of which he has had a seat on the judicial bench, The new Master of the Rolls was one of the judges in the Parnell Commission. -What the late Marquis of Bute was to Cardiff, that, in a, very great degree, Sir Charles Mark Palmer, who 1 was 78 on November 3, has been to the town of Jarrow-on-Tyne. It was he who founded the famous iron and shipbuilding company which bean his name, and which brought such prosperity to' tho neighbourhood. Shipbuilding, however, has by no means exhausted his energies, for ho is the owner of iron and coal mines, and he has long been reputed to be a very, wealthy man. As was fitting, ho was made tho first mayor of Jarrow a quarter of a cen-

lU !l]?or a young practitioner in Wales to come to London with practically no money in his pocket, and with only his knowledge as his stock-in-trade, and, while yet a comparatively young man, to become the trusted attendant of Royalty, and to be entrusted at the most critical periods with the lives of Prin-cesses,-.is a record of which anyone may wen be proud. That is the record of bir John Williams, who was 60 on November 6. «e has had' the distinction of ushering into the world the future King of England, as he has always beeii the medical attendant of ;the Duchess of York. Sir John himself is one of the most delightful men in London, rod is gifted, not only with a great fund of common sense, but with a shrewd sense ot MJmour, whidi makes him exceedingly popular, -If he had not been a great soldier, bir William Butler, who was 63 on October at, would undoubtedly have been a great writer, for he lias over and over again shown that he possesses the peculiar qualifications which make for popularity with the pen. Some of his biographical work, like The Life of Chinese Gordon," is regarded as the fines, which hss been done of late years, wlnlo his fiction, in which he frequently embodies instances that have come under his own observation while engaged in his professional duties abroad, has won him a high place among imaginative writers. As befits ft fine soldier, Sir William has taken Napolcdn I for his hero, and it is said there is. not a portrait or a book of importance connected with the Lm peror who made Kings which Sir William does hot possess.