PERSONAL NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2251, 22 April 1897, Page 52

PERSONAL NOTES.

• . • By the degree of M.D. recently bestowed upon him, Prince Bismarck now possesses all the doctors' degrees conferred by German universities.

•1" So many inquiries have been made as to Jean Reezke's age that be published a card a few days ago stating that his forty-seventh birthday was just at hand.

• . • Sir Arthur Sullivan realised from " The Lost Chord" more than £1200, and can now command £700 down for a single song. Tosti, it favourite Bong writer, is said to receive £300 for a scng.

' . • "Rev. S. Baring-Gould writes at a high desk, in a standing position, with a quill pen. To this habit he attributes the fact that his long years of literary labour have not produced in his strong, wiry form the slightest Btoop.

• . • Lord Kimberley is really a good linguist — one of the best, if not the best, among political leaders. Russian, French, German, and Italian — with all these languages he is very familiar. Forty years ago be was British Ambassador at St. Petersburg.

• . ■ The extreme of luxury has perhaps been reached by the Sultan of Morocco. He has a narrow gauge railway running through all the rooms of his palace, and travels about on a sort of sleigh propelled by a little motor. The " line " end* at his bedroom.

• . • Kinp Humbert of Italy is a true vegetarian. He lives entirely on bread, vegetables, and fruits. He is forbidden to drink coffee, and his only beverage is a little wine and plenty of water. His favourite diet is bread, potatoes, and oranges, and his favourite edible the peach.

' . • The lady who writes the book notes in the Daily Mail has heard on excellent Authority that Mrs Pearl Oraigie (John Oliver Hobbes) is before long to be married to Mr Walter Spindler, who is the owner of a large estate in the Isle of Wight. If ladies cannot discover the truth in iuch matters, who may 1

• .• Mr Robert Mortimer, Aberdeen, a wellknown player of the bagpipe?, has been appointed piper to the Sultan of Morocco, who is said to have acquired a taste for Scotch national music. It is understood that the engagement is for two years, and that the remuneration is £200 a year, board, lodgings, drees, kc.

• . " •• Lucas Malet," who has recently published another novel, "Carissima," is the pen-name of a daughter of Charles Kingaley. She is the wife of the Eev. William Harrison, the rector of Clovelly. Strange to say, Mrs Harrison never wrote anything till some time after her father's death, being deterred by fail strong prejudice against women doing work other than that of their homes. ' • • . • Lord George Hamilton bas a singular faabit of occupying his hands when in the House of Commons by tearing up pieces of. paper into the smallest bits, which, of course, j are eventually thrown on to the floor. As be j always does this wherever he may be sitting, j it is quite' possible to trace his movements! over the benches by the trail of paper which he leaves behind him wherever he takes a aeat. . • The Sultan of Turkey is reputed to ba one of the richest men in Europe. He receives something short of a million a year from the country, and half a million from bis private estates. He has caved a large account, but keeps a small portion only in Turkey. He wed to have five millions invested in England, but since the relations between EDgland and Turkey became strained the bulk of that amount has been transferred to America, where his Majesty has already three millions invested.

• . • Roar-admiral Markham, who recently welcomed Dr Nansen as a leading member of the Royal Geographical Society, is the living Englishman most distinguished in Arctic exploration. He has carried the Union Jack further north than any man. Thii was in 1876, when, as a member of the Alert and Discovery expedition, Commander Harkham— to use the title he then pos-

sesged—reached a latitude of a little more than 83deg. He was then obliged to retreat, because his sledging party were completely worn out with their exertion and nearly half the number — 17 — were suffering from scurvy.

•• . • Mr Henry Chaplin, the Minister for Agriculture, has had a career in which the f ates have interwoven more chagrin and good fortune than is often found in the lot of the country squire. Inheriting an estate valued at some £-150,000 when he came of age, it is now valued at. iess than half that sum. Again fate haß dealt very hardly with him in matters matrimonial. Those who remember the sixties will recall the amsz°ment which overtook fashionable society when it was suddenly announced that the lady who was to have been Lady Florence Chaplin had become the bride of the last Marquis of Hastings. And when some years after consolation came to him in the form of another Lady Florence — a curious coincidence — and he married the daughter of the Duke of Sutherland, he was only destined to erjjoy conjugal life for a very brief period.

• . • Mathias Zurbriggen, who has just climbed Aconcagua, is the most illustrious Swiss guide of this or any other age. He was with Sir William Conway in the Himalayas, and got safely to the top of Pioneer Peak. He was with Mr Fitzgerald in New Zealand, where he climbtd Mount Cook, and made some other difficult and dangerous ascents. He is a married man, but he and liis wife have only been able to live together for the brief period of three weeks since their wedding, and are obliged to console themselves, the Golden Penny says, v/ith the reflection that they are i,aviug money fast, and will presently be able to make their fortunes as hotelkeepers. Znrbriggen is a man of picturesque appearance, and wears earrings. He is almost the only Swiss guide who does not suffer much from home-sickness when he travels.

• .• Tbe late Dr Herber Evans was at times exceedingly absent-minded. Two years ago, he was on a Saturday afternoon found wandering about Chester railway st*tion. He was to preach tbe anniversary sermons at some chapel within driving distanca ; but upon reaching Chester the recollection of the place he was bound for had entirely evaporated. He searched bis pockeis for bis diary, only to discover that he had left it at home. A wire was despatched asking his wife to refer to the diary, and telegraph immediately where he was due on the morrow. The reply was : " Your diary is locked up in your writing de»k, and you have got the keys." What Dr Herber Evans spent in telegrams that afternoon in endeavouring to find out where his destination was is a matter he never disclosed to any of his most intimate acquaintances. Bat he reached there, after all.

• . • It was on tbe ramparts at Boulogne, ' where he was at school, that Mr Clark Russell first dreamed of adventure, says the Golden Penny. Having saved five • francs and acquired possession of a ' second-hand fowling-piece, he planned an • expedition to Norway to shoot wild-fowl. ' One of Charles Dickens's sons, who was at the same school, was to have gone with him, but changed his mind in coneequence of a letter full of good advice which he had { received from home. Mr Clark Russell then ' punched hi» companion's head ; but the ex- j pedition fell through all the same, and not ' long afterwards, in 1858, the young adventurer went to sea at tbe age of 13 jeais. He was not particularly enamoured of the career; he is of opinion that few sailors are — that 80 out of 100 of them loathe it. Still, he remained at sea for eight years, making«many voyages into distant lands, and the -result \ was that when be took to writing books he made the mercantile marine his specialty. " The Wreck cf the Grosvenor " made him famous. He received £50 for the copyright, and up to the year 1891 the number of copies ! gold was 34,950.

•»■ Tbough the mercantile marine, and more particularly the mutinies which disturb the serenity of that service, are Mr Clark Kussell's specialty, he is interested in, and sometimes writes about, other subjects. It is not generally known, for example, that it was he who started that famous "What Shall We Do With Our Boys 1 " correspondence which attracted so much attention in the Daily Telegraph some years ago. He happened to be walking up and down the office, discusiing the subject eloquently, with particular reference to his own case, when Mr Le Sage became inspired with an idea. "Go home and put that in a letter for up," he said, and Mr Clark Russell, saying he would ne'er consent, consented. Metaphysics is another subject which has an. enormous interest for Mr Clark Eussell. Tho present writer has a vivid reoollection of a certain evening some eight years ago when he and Mr Clark Russell sat up together until the small hours in order that Mr Clark Russell might have plenty of time to prove that space did not exist.