ABOUT PEOPLE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 13876, 13 April 1907, Page 14

ABOUT PEOPLE.

King Edward is to reoeivo from the Zamora Regiinenfc in tho "Spanish army, of which ho is honorary colonel, a goldbound album as a souvenir of his associa-' tion with tho corps. In the Ruo Saint Roche, Paris, a lace shop • was ■ recently opened which was organised, and . directed by the ex-Queen Dowager Mario of Sicily. Fifty thousand people were rendered •homeless by an earthquake at Calabria, and it is in order to help* these unfortunates, hor former subjects, that Queen Marie started this shop in Paris for tho sale of Calabrian lace. She has also erected schools and workshops in Calabria, where girls may learn lacemaking and --

That there arc bishoprics and bishoprics, may be readily gathered from the statements of Dr. Stringer, the Bishop of Selkirk. For 10' years tho bisiTop and his wife livod in so remote a part of tho Canadian Dominion that they were nearly 250 miles from a doctor, and their " palp.ee " cost £50 to build.

Another distinguished historian' lias been nominated for the> Mocloratorship next year of the General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland. -This is Dr C. G. M'Cire, of Ayr. Dr M'Ciro is an Edinburgh man, and is 7C years of age. He has written much, and is an acknowledged authority on tlio history of the Church of Scotland and on questions of public worship.

The portrait of Dr Robert Atkinson, Senior Fellow of Trinity College, Dublin, and late president of tho Royal Irish Academy, has been presented to the latter institution, in whoso services •ho has laboured for many years. Dr Atkinson lias been Professor of Romance Languages in Dublin University for the past 10 years, and of Sanskrit since 1871. He ha.s been engaged for a considerable time on an Irish Dictionary, and 15C0 pages havo boon completed. It was he who sunnlicd the glossary to the volumes of the Breton Laws published by tho Commission on tho Ancient Laws and Institutions of Ireland.

The Bishop of Worcester ovidently means to do all in his power to enable the Church of England lo become the Church of ihe masses, which we continually hear it ought to be. He is just now promoting a church extension Khemc. one result of which will be, lie hopes, that during tho coming summer he will himself be found preaching- oil many a village and oflcn chatting with the villagers whilst they are .engaged on their allotments. Amongst the birthday honours conferred by Kaiser Wilhelm the most 'noteworthy is the bestowal of the Black Eagle Order (Prussia's Garter) on Admiral von Tirpitz. the Secretary of Stale for the Imperial .Navy Officc.' It is obviously a special recognition of all the services rendered by Admiral 'von Tirpitz in connection with the Fleet Acts of 1898, 1900. and 1906 3nd with Ihe organisation of the Imperial German navy; and- it 'will silcnce all the absurd rumours of friction between tho Kaiser and his chief naynl advisor, to whor-e counsel it is well known that his Majesty attaches great weight. •

Tho Bishop of Southwards son, Mr N. !. Talbot, has tnlcen up his duties as, presiIcnt for the term of the Oxford Union Society. His pmlceessor—who also bears

j a woll-known name,—Mr G. S. C. Ronton], is, liko Mr Talbot, of Christ Church, and it is a little unusual for tho .presidents in successive terms, to como from tho eamo collcgc. Mr Talbot's right-hand tikmi, " the minister" in charge of,tho Union Library, is Mr W. G. C. Gladstone, of New College. At I'lie president's left during the debates sits the junior treasurer of th socily, Jlr W. S. Armour, who, this term, comes from Jesus College, and has the reputation ot being- the wittiest, union orator for somo years. Naturally, ho is Irish. It is singular that only two presidents ot tho Bociety •have, as yet, Wn supplied by Jesua College, one of them being Dr. K, B. Poulton, t!ie Hoi* professor of zoology, who was president in 1879. Worcester has even a worse record, for it does not seem that tho collcge lias given the society a first-rate speaker since the days of the Bishop of Soutlwark and Dr Sanday

The rocc.nfc death of tho lord Mayor of York while "in offico is a. reminder that Lord Mayors as such very rarely die. .Loudon has had Lord Mayors ever since 1554, and yet in all that long period only 11 died wlrilo Vcaring the chain of officc. The first Lord Mayor to die in office was •Sir William Browne, who died in 1513. A fatal period set in in 1741, tho Lord Mayors of that and tho following year having died in offiec. Tho Lord Mayors of 1750, 1752, 1754, and 1770 also died in. office. A healthy period l then set in, for only ono such death occurred until 188&, when Sir George Swan Nottage died. York's Lord Mayoralty does not lag behind that of London'very far in respect of antiquity, as it dates from 1389. It does not appear, however, that York has claimcd prceedcnco next after Loudon. The claim for sccojkl place when the Sovereign is apprpaohed was disputed by both Dublin and Edinburgh between 40 and 50 years ago, and after a long and somewhat- bitter dispute a Houec ot Lords Committee gravely tried the issue, and- declared, as Sir Roger do Coverlcy used to do, that much might bo said on both sides. Dublin and Edinburgh were given alternate precedence after London; but the Corporation of Dublin is usually "backward in coming forward" ■whenever royalty is astir,

Lout Dc Hop. who is now 80 years old, is. iii addition to being Gold Stiek-in-Wai|jng to his Majesty, Premier Union of England, by virtue of his barony, created in 1264-, of which lie is the twenty-fourth holder. As he has no 6on, his title will eventually devolve upon his only daughter, now tho Hon. Mrs Anthony Dawson. A grandson, through his mother, bom Lady Georgians, Lennox (third daughter of the fourth Duke of Richmond), who was present at. tho historic ball given by her father in Brussels upon the cvo of tho battle of Watorloo, Lord Do Ros has many .interesting recollections of the earlier part of tho last century.

Tho Rev. Richard Apple ton, vicar of Ware, who succeeds the new Dean of Ely as master of. the youngest college at Cambridge, will be remembered by many South Londoners, for lie was rector .of St. George's, Camberwe!!, and head of tho lc.?al Trinity College Mission, before lie migrated to'the "town of fame" immortalised in tho ballad of " John Gilpin.", It seems st range Iha t promotion never camo Canon Appleton's way before, for ho had an ecademio career of remarkable brilliance at Cambridge, where he is still Fellow of Trinity College. Ho'was-Sixth Wrangler, Chancellor's Medallist, First Class in Thco-. logy, and achieved many minor distinctions. Unlike his predocossors, (he new master of Selwyn College is not a high cKurehmaii.

A St. Petersburg cablegram, published ju tho jLondon Daily Telegraph on January 30, states" Rumours to tjie effect that Count Tolstoi is dying arc emphatically '• denied by his son, whoso statement was published to-day that his father had suffered and recovered from influenza last month, and is now ill with bronchitis, is fortunately advancing steadily towards complete recovery."

Mr Birrell,' who was sworn in as Chief Secretary for Ireland at Dublin Castle on January 29, adds a. thirteenth to tho living politicians who have, filled that, office, beginning with tho Duke ot Devonshire, the oldest of the' surviving Chief Secretaries, who went to Dublin in 1871. Of the survivors two have held the 'position twice—Lord St. Aldwyn and Mr John Morley. Since 1871 foUr ex-Chief Secretaries, including Lord Frederick Cavendish, have died. The Irish otlice is a very difficult one. but, contrary perhaps to popular belief, the Chief Secretaryship has moro often made than unmado reputations. Sir Henry Camp'boll-Bannorman/has risen from it. to be Prime Minister; Mr Arthur Balfour first made his mark in (he simo capacity; Mr John Morley certainly'lost no prestige at tho Irish office, nor did Mr Bryco; Mr Gerald Balfour's chief success a 6 an administrator was scored in Dublin Castle; and Mr Wyndham's tenure of tho office, despite its adverse termination, will always bo remembered for the Land Act of 1903. . .

As Bristol has supplied Ireland with tho new Chief Secretary, the same city lias given to tho Government tho now Undersecretary for India in Mr C. 15. 11. Hobliouse, the member for. tho East-division. It_ is a curious fact, by the way, -that Mr Birreil is the third Chief Secretary Bristol has given to Ireland since it was divided into four divisions in 1885. Lqrd St. Aldw.vn sat for West Bristol when ho becamo Chief Secretary in 1886, Mr Walter Long sat for South* Bristol when* he succeeded Mr Wyndham in tho office, and tho present Chief Secretary is the .member for North Bristol. In this connection it. may bo recalled that once upon a time tho merchants of Bristol were tho proprietors of Dublin City itself.

A forcible' speaker, who has worked as hard as most for tho Liberal cause up and down the country, Dr Macnamara has many amusing platform reminiscences. Ono of tho oddest (relates to an occasion wlien ho got to a mooting and could not for tho life of l\im remember when ho camo to speak which town ho was in. It was cither Ipswich or Norwich, but at the moment ho was utterly unablo to say which. It w6uld not havo mattered much, but, unfortimatcly, he had prepared a different speech for each place, having the notes for both in bis pocket. There was nothing for it. therefore, but to seek enlightenment from the chairman, whose astonishment was naturally great.. As to the hecklers lie has met with, Dr Macnamara says that your Cockney beats thorn all. "When I first addressed a Scotch audience," be has written, "I was obsessed with apprehension, for I had, of course, heard terrible talcs of Sandy's prowess as a heckler. Pcloh! Tho Old Kent road can give liim points qvory time. For whereas Sandy is serious and thoughtful, and propounds a question which arises naturally out of tho discussion—and no really wellinformed speaker need fear that: rather, indeed, will he welcome it.—the Old Kent road delights in an impish non sequitur, which is usually very disconcorting."